Rodrigo De Paul Mentions His ‘Difficult’ Sacrifice for Lionel Messi & Solving Argentina’s ‘Missing Player’ Problem

In 2018, a young Argentine midfielder by the name of Rodrigo De Paul was making waves. In December of the same year, De Paul had made more key passes than Eden Hazard and as many as Lionel Messi (39 each)! At the end of the season, his stats read nine goals and seven assists. Fast forward four years later, De Paul is synonymous with the fans as a box-to-box midfielder with endless energy. Notably, his performance in Qatar 2022 earned rave reviews.

So, how did this transition from a creative wizard to a tireless team player happen? De Paul looks back at his journey in a recent interview and how he solved one of La Albiceleste’s considerable problems in the process.

What Lionel Messi and Co lacked, Rodrigo De Paul provided!

Per De Paul, he started as a playmaker (#10) at Racing Club (2012-2014). However, there was a problem with this position. The Atletico Madrid star said, “That position was lost over the years and, well, I understood that I had to convert into another type of player. This wasn’t easy for sure.” However, in the national team, it became evident that De Paul had to change fast. Here, Lionel Messi was the playmaker bestowed with the creative responsibilities. In comes the midfielder, whose style saw an evolution.

De Paul explained his new role, “Not being a little more defensive but covering a lot more distance. Run a lot more for your partner. There was a player missing like that (in the national team).” De Paul also added that he was never shy about doing the dirty work. De Paul’s new role worked wonders for Lionel Scaloni’s side. Although he didn’t score a single goal at the World Cup, his tireless shifts freed Lionel Messi to work his magic. And that proved to be a deadly combination.

However, the Atletico Madrid star was not the only one who made adjustments to Lionel Messi & Co. In fact, Argentina boss Scaloni had altered his style to suit De Paul and others at Qatar 2022.

How Scaloni tweaked his style to suit De Paul with Argentina

In a recent interview, the Argentina boss explained how he changed his style to coach Lionel Messi and the team. Per Scaloni, the likes of Lo Celso, De Paul, Paredes, Palacio, and Messi, were all playing well. He detailed, “Playing well means that they are close together and united as a single bloc. We asked them for speed or passes for 40 meters. We showed them some pictures that when we completed 10 passes, it was like a goal.”

Judging by the results at Copa America and the World Cup, this plan worked masterfully. With the next Copa America on the horizon, will Scaloni repeat his tactics? Or is there another tactical evolution on the cards? Tell us below.

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