Match date: 15 June 2014

Argentina came into the World Cup as the favourites for some pundits, mostly because their attacking players are some the best in the world. Sabella opted to start this match in a 3-5-2, which was interesting considering that Argentina played in a 4-3-3 in most of their qualifying games and because Bosnia were only playing with one forward in Edin Dzeko.

Bosnia lined up in a more traditional 4-2-3-1 with Besic and Pjanic playing as the two holding midfielders, while Misimovic played behind Dzeko.

Argentina’s Shape

As mentioned above, it was a slight surprise that Sabella set Argentina out in a 3-5-2 despite the likes of Higuain and Lavezzi on the bench. With the three centre backs, Argentina had a 3v1 advantage in that zone, while Mascherano dealt with Misimovic, essentially a 4v2 in Argentina’s favour. Rojo and Zabaleta were deployed as wing backs, but neither really caused too many problems for Bosnia going forward.

The biggest problem for Argentina in the first half, however, was the lack of a central forward option. Both Aguero and Messi can play in the number 9 role, but both also enjoy drifting wide and dropping deep which provided good line up play with Rojo and Zabaleta. This could have been fixed easily with forward runs by Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez, but Pjanic and Besic marked them and reacted well to their attempts at penetrative runs.

Throughout the first half, Bosnia looked to be the better side as Argentina’s passing was slow and predictable. Messi rarely picked the ball up in dangerous areas. While Bosnia were only able to get two shots on goal, through four created chances, the entirety of the Argentinian performance was poor, so poor that Sabella used two of his three substitutions at half time, bringing on Gonzalo Higuain and Fernando Gago for Campagnaro and Maxi Rodriguez, to switch the formation to a 4-4-2 diamond.

The switch allowed a number of things to happen. First, it allowed Higuain to push the Bosnian defenders deeper, which allowed space between their back four and midfield to open up, allowing Messi to find more space between the lines and get away from Besic, who was able to contain the number 10 relatively well during the first half. The second thing it did was allow Argentina to play at a quicker pace. By pushing the Bosnian defenders back through Higuain, it opened up more space to the Argentina midfielders, who now had a clear numerical advantage there with Messi at the top of a midfield diamond. Gago’s introduction gave Argentina a player that could really dictate the tempo. Below, you can see the passes by Argentina in the first and second half and the difference between the two. Just from these two images, it is easy to see that Argentina were slow with their passing in the first half, failing to get movement forward.

Messi and Gago both had a huge impact on the match in the second half; Messi in his new role at the tip of the midfield diamond behind Aguero and Higuain and Gago’s introduction in the centre of midfield. While Gago made the most of his appearance, Messi was able to get Argentina’s second goal after good combination play and being able to get into the space that was opened up due to Aguero and Higuain stretching the Bosnian back four.

Bosnia’s Play and Response

Two players stood out for Bosnia in midfield, Muhamed Besic and Miralem Pjanic. Besic was very good throughout the first half of the match as he was able to keep Messi from having much of an influence, but a lot of that came undone when Bosnia’s back line dropped off and allowed Messi to find a significant amount of space to run into in the second half. Pjanic was probably the most creative of the Bosnian players, despite playing a deeper role in the 4-2-3-1 as opposed to one of the more forward midfielders in Roma’s 4-3-3. He was able to break the lines with his passing and switched play between the full backs well, but overall, Bosnia weren’t able to created enough chances.

After Messi’s goal, Susic switched to a back three, taking off Mujdza and bringing on Ibisevic to play alongside Dzeko. Ibisevic was able to get in behind the Argentine defense and score Bosnia’s consolation goal, but his influence was limited.

Conclusion

Argentina were certainly not at their best and it will be interesting to see what formation Sabella puts his side out in their next match. With just one forward for Bosnia, it was odd for Sabella to select a back three. Messi’s influence and Argentina’s overall play was much better in the second half, so it would make sense for Sabella to revert to continue with a 4-4-2 with the diamond midfield.

Bosnia did not look like a great side, despite having decent players throughout the side. Their qualification group made them look a much better side than they were, with their toughest opponent being Greece. Susic needs to get the most out of Pjanic and Dzeko if Bosnia are going to take anything away from the tournament.