5 Reasons Lionel Messi Should Retire From Argentina After World Cup 2018
1. Messi-Dependency Needs To End
The Spanish media coined the term 'Messidependencia' back in 2013 to describe Barcelona's dependency on Messi's goalscoring exploits, and it's true that the Spanish side wouldn't have enjoyed so much success in recent years without him, but Messidependencia is a major issue for Argentina as well.
Rather than playing their own game and acting as a unit, Argentina rely on moments of magic from their talismanic forward to win them games, with some players even admitting that they tend to just give Messi the ball and hope for the best. Every manager of the national side talks about building systems to 'get the best' out of Messi, rather than giving Argentina an identity and style that could feasibly work if the Barcelona man wasn't on the pitch.
This 'dependency' isn't Messi's fault, but if he does choose to retire, it will finally force Argentina's FA and future managers to start thinking of new plans, tactics, and ideas to bring the great South American side back to life. It might take time for those ideas to be put in place, but there are four years until the next World Cup gets going, and if the preparations start now, there's no telling how much progress Argentina could make.