He runs that much in a lot of his best performances too. It doesn't make a difference. I'm not saying he played to the best of his ability or even close, but even if he had how would that make him more available for passes that the midfield is incapable of playing?
What are your thoughts on his game vs Iceland then? I think he did the most he could by being the entire midfield and sole source of forward progression, just failed at the penalty and couldn't get a good strike for any of his longshots at the edge of the box (some of which were very close). Today the idea was to place him more forward so he could attack the defense, and that thoroughly failed because he couldn't even get the ball. My point is that there truly is no approach with these lineups besides Messi dropping as far back as possible and starting every move.
The only hope would've been players like Lo Celso, Pastore, Banega, etc. who can actually create things. Too little, too late now tho. I don't think Nigeria can break down Iceland's defense so Argentina are all but out now. It'd take some very big surprises for them to qualify.
