Former Manchester United defender Gary Neville believes that Man City striker Julian Alvarez is Argentina's only constant alongside Lionel Messi at present.
Alvarez has moved from strength-to-strength with Argentina since the start of the World Cup in Qatar. The 22-year-old came on as a substitute in their opening two fixtures against Saudi Arabia and Mexico but made enough of an impression to start their most recent three games, notching two goals versus Poland and Australia.
Head coach Lionel Scaloni has opted to keep faith again with City's youngster as the South Americans look to overcome Croatia to reach the World Cup final on Sunday. This is despite Scaloni deciding to tinker with his starting line-up throughout the tournament.
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On Friday night, Argentina played a 5-3-2 against the Netherlands but although they overcame Louis van Gaal's team, Messi and co lined-up in a 4-4-2 against Croatia. Speaking on ITV Sport's coverage of the semi-final, Neville criticised Scaloni for his chopping and changing but also gave Alvarez a huge compliment in the process.
"The rest of the team is so unsettled in the sense that they’re changing systems game-to-game," the former United man explained. "You’re thinking you want continuity, Argentina aren’t doing it that way, they’re changing all the time - 4-3-3, 4-4-2, playing a narrow four today, 5-3-2.
"But him [Messi] up front with Alvarez has become a fixture and they recognise that the rest of the team is just there to give a foundation to those two." Since moving to the Etihad Stadium in the summer, the ex-River Plate striker has struggled to establish himself as a starter at City ahead of Erling Haaland who has been in immense form.
However, Alvarez has shown glimpses of the quality which he possesses, scoring seven goals in 20 appearances for Pep Guardiola's team this campaign.
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