In this second part about Argentina's visible gaping holes in their squad, it will now be about Javier Zanetti's possible impacts on the team had he been included in Maradona's 23 man squad alongside Esteban Cambiasso, whose analysis on his possible impacts have been explained in part 1. To be frank, no matter how well argued arguments such as the one written by yours truly in part 1 about the justifications for Cambiasso's inclusion in the squad, many would be able to still argue against it in a relatively effortless manner. However, for Javier Zanetti's inclusion, in which he would have been occupying the right back berth in the squad, there can be a much stronger case for his inclusion considering how that right back position has been a continuously persistent problem in Maradona's squad. Also, we have to bear in mind that all four goals that Germany scored against Argentina in that embarrassing 4-0 thrashing of Argentina came from the Germans' left flank (in other words, Argentina's right). Besides that, Javier Zanetti's inclusion will certainly add a plethora of dimension to the Argentine squad and will no doubt massively strengthening it as a whole, and all of these will be outline in the following paragraphs.
The first and main effect of J. Zanetti's inclusion in the Argentina World Cup 2010 squad is certainly to put a lid on Argentina's chronic and totally unnecessary as well as preventable right back conundrum. Throughout the tournament, Maradona has been struggling to put someone suitable for the right back position and throughout the tournament, he fielded players whose positions are anything but the rigght back position. At the beginning of the tournament, Maradona fielded Jonas Gutierrez, and his natural position is as a left winger. Even two victories out of two against Nigeria and South Korea could not save him from being criticized as “uncomfortable and unstable” playing as a right back, and thus for the last Group Stage game against Greece, the right back position was occupied by Nicolas Burdisso, a center back. Again, Argentina marched to a 2-0 victory. In their 3-1 victory against Mexico in the last 16, Maradona fielded Nicolas Otamendi, a center back by trade just like Burdisso, and after the victory Maradona finally settled for Otamendi, fielded him again for that fateful match against Germany in the quarter finals, and the rest, as they say, is history. As mentioned, that deficiency on the right back position was ruthlessly exposed by the efficient Germans and their goals were all from there. Also, Otamendi looked like Argentina's answer for Michel Bastos, as if they were competing just like how the Soviet Union and the USA competed for space technologies during the Cold War. Even in the midst of the thrashing, Otamendi was substituted deep into the second half, and was replaced by Javier Pastore, an attacking midfielder who did not even take that right back position and thus for the last 30 minutes, it was occupied by thin air, again I am sure thin air was “uncomfortable and unstable” as a right back. Jokes aside, all of those chronic problems involving the right back position would not be so problematic had Javier Zanetti was there.
I know I have been preaching a lot about how a player's club performance can never be used as a yardstick for their international performance and names such as Leo Messi, Wayne Rooney, and of course Cristiano Ronaldo will be thrown into the argument. However, let's just think rationally and look at it this way. Which one would you choose? Players who are not right backs at all, or an evergreen, age-defying, world class right back who is at 36 years old is still ready at anytime to give 110% for his team, be it Inter, the club he served with distinction for so long, or his beloved country? I believe most if not all would definitely choose the latter, and rightly so. We have seen from his 15 years in Inter, he has amassed a whopping 700 appearances for the Nerazzuri, and also 136 cps for Argentina. This proves his longevity and level of fitness in which he rarely gets injured or miss a match or two. I know it's futile to do an inquest or asking “what if” questions by now, but just think about it, considering how he has performed so admirably for Inter and Argentina in all of his 700 and 136 appearances for both teams respectively, one might wonder if no less than four goals would have been shipped in by Argentina all from their opponents' left flank (which is Argentina's right) had Javier Zanetti was the one playing for the Albiceleste as their right back... Think about it.
Secondly, besides the obvious fact that Javier Zanetti is a right back and should have played as a right back for Argentina, especially considering the very fact that Argentina did not have a right back at all throughout the tournament, Javier Zanetti's inclusion in the squad will surely add yet another leadership quality in the squad, which I must admit was sorely lacking in the squad. Argentina's staunch backers will ask “how about Veron? He's the one who's supposed to be what you call the team's “pseudo-manager”” Yes, Veron is a senior player, and the oldest member of the squad, but still, I can't remember Veron as a player with plenty of leadership qualities if there's any, and I know I will start yet another of those “Leaders are born vs bred” kind of debates, but I won't go there, but one thing I know for sure, Javier Zanetti will be one of the names that would be cited in the “leaders are born” side of the debate. I am perfectly aware that Maradona, the manager who is in charge of motivation, team talks, and those kind of things in this squad. However, a manager can only do so much, and more specifically, they can only (literally and figuratively) can be present up to the boundaries between the dugout and the pitch. How about the leaders on the pitch? The “pseudo-manager” who is in charge of organizing and keeping the team together on the pitch, during the two halves (or more) of the game especially when things get tough? Maradona couldn't just don an Argentina jersey and go out to the field with the captain's armband, as much as he would love to do oh so much, and thus it will be left to players like Zanetti.
Looking at the players on the pitch against Germany, the only player who is the closest to that “pseudo-manager” that I have been talking about since before the World Cup (mostly about Ballack which I have been proven totally wrong on that, but yeah) was the one wearing the captain armband, Javier Mascherano. He became the captain of the Argentina team when Maradona stripped the armband from Javier Zanetti, and although he continued to field the Inter player for the qualifying campaign, he excluded Zanetti altogether from the World Cup squad, a decision which baffled many, and many more right now including yours truly. Back to Mascherano, I don't think he is suitable to be the captain, not that I could see another alternative from this squad though, except for Veron (who did not feature in the game). Alright, even if Mascherano was still the one wearing the armband, Zanetti's presence will undoubtedly make him the “true” captain of the team and will certainly augment the squad with his leadership qualities and aura. Even if with his presence, Germany managed to score that early against Argentina, there will be Zanetti who will exercise his “pseudo-manager” role in the squad and calm the team down, gather all of them together, and direct them to regroup and not to panic, especially for the defenders and their goalkeeper, Sergio Romero. Thus, they would not leak in more goals and even start to break the Germans down. Even if the effect is only psychological, it would still be significant, just like what I have mentioned and explained in detail in the first part of this on Esteban Cambiasso, in which the mere presence of Zanetti will also psychologically strengthen the squad especially the backline. Besides that, Zanetti will also be very calm under pressure and even possible provocations from the opponents, and he won't have conceded so many unnecessary fouls like Otamendi and even concede that free kick which resulted in the Germans' first goal which set the ball rolling for the embarrassing destruction of Argentina.
The last and another effect, and again similar to what Cambiasso would offer is the fact that Zanetti will help the attack significantly as well. However, while Cambiasso would help the attack with his pinpoint through passes, Zanetti will help the attack as they would be having an extra man forward and he will certainly be able to cross the ball well to aim for Higuain for him to finish it off. In that match, the source of crosses from deep were from the forward running Gabriel Heinze on the left flank, and since he is not the best crosser in the world, his crosses tended to balloon away from Higuain rather than really approaching Higuain properly. In any case, it was such a waste that Argentina bowed down from the competition with Germany exposing their flaws and deficiencies so ruthlessly and perhaps cruelly in front of literally the whole world. The German match really justified the Interista's arguments about the exclusion of both Javier Zanetti and Esteban Cambiasso by ten folds if not more.
In any case, what is done, is done. There's no point in looking backwards. No matter the reason, whether Maradona miscalculated or simply excluding both players on the same grounds as how Marcelo Lippi stubbornly excluded Antonio Cassano and Fabrizio Miccoli, only Maradona himself knows for sure. But the fact remains that both players were not included in the squad, and although the effects were masked as Argentina simply notched victory after victory against teams who are to be frank, not contenders at all and are happy to go as far as they could, and when they really meet the real contenders, the big boys, the team that genuinely and realistically aim for the World Cup Trophy, they simply collapsed and the consequences from the exclusion of Cambiasso and Zanetti, especially Zanetti by manyfolds were ruthlessly shown and exposed, it showed that the Interistas might have been right after all.
Although all of these remain on paper and thus mere theories, and that things might even be not any better had they been included, but still, the way Germany won 4-0, all pointed to those two players and there's simply no room to hide for those who are still trying to justify the exclusion of the two Internazionale players.
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