Mumbai, Jul 17 (PTI) Former England striker Robbie Fowler believes Spain have the edge over Argentina in the World Cup final but warned that Lionel Messi is one player capable of changing the game on his own.
Fowler said Spain’s control of midfield, led by Rodri, gives them a slight advantage, although stopping Messi over 90 minutes remains among the toughest challenges in the sport.
“(Lamine) Yamal will be a different player. He will be a different animal in the final. I have seen enough of that in the semifinal to know that his game will change,” Fowler, a Zee 5 expert, told reporters here.
“But I think overall Spain have the edge because Rodri has been a revelation, he has been outstanding. It is great having the players in the offensive who can win games. You have got your defence, which solid and structured. But if you have control of the midfield, you have got more chance of winning games,” he said.
The former Liverpool forward said Spain’s possession-based style could be the key to limiting Argentina’s threat.
“The obvious one is (that) Spain is going to have a little bit more of the ball. How you stop Messi from dominating (and) dictating games, is you don’t let him have the ball. It is easier said than done, but we have seen the way Spain play. We have seen they are a possession-based team.” “I like the way they play because it is not possession — for the sake of it. It is possession with a purpose of playing forward and through presses and trying to get that transitional game straight away. You are thinking straight away from a tactical point of view, that is Spain in a nutshell.” “They will just try to have control of the ball. They will try to control areas of the pitch and they will stop Argentina from having the ball, and we all know that is a great defensive attribute, isn’t it?” However, Fowler admitted that even the best tactical plans may not be enough against the Argentine captain.
“We all sit here and try and stop Messi. But the crux of it is, you can’t, because he is Messi and he is probably the greatest player that has ever been. Many managers have tried over the years and many managers have failed,” Fowler said.
“There are going to be moments in a game where he is obviously relatively quiet. For a large portion of the game (semifinal) he was quiet, and that was because England were a little bit tighter, they were quicker to get him, stop him from turning.” “… and we see Messi, he is unbelievable at getting the ball, turning and running at you,” Fowler added.
Fowler said England’s defensive tactics against Argentina cost them a place in the World Cup final.
“The tactics in terms of how they finished the game was probably poor. I think that was the big turning point. I get England against Mexico, 10 men and putting many men behind the ball because that was the case…” he said.
“Against Norway, it was pretty similar, they defended pretty deep and probably didn’t deserve to win that game if I am being honest.” “But (against) Argentina, they had a good chance, they obviously won their luck, (for) 55 minutes, they were controlling the game to a degree, stopping Messi from getting into the pockets.” “But when you are dropping deep and you’re getting the likes of Messi into these channels and pockets, it can create dangers. That was a huge turning point,” he said. PTI COR DDV TAP
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