Nicolas Otamendi who won plenty of plaudits for his performances for Manchester City during their Premier League-winning campaign, but even then, there are those who were often a little unsure of the Argentinian centre-half.
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Those critics have had all of the fuel they could ever need during this year’s World Cup. In the first two group games in particular – against Iceland and Croatia – Otamendi was left wanting as the Argentine defensive unit struggled in a way rarely seen by the two-time World Cup winners.
With goalkeeping issues, right midfielder Eduardo Salvio shoehorned in at right back, the relatively inexperienced Nicolas Tagliafico at left back, Otamendi and fellow centre-back Marcos Rojo were looked at to be the rocks holding the Argentina defence steady. While Rojo won favor by scoring the goal that sent Argentina through to the knockout stages of the tournament, Otamendi has had an extremely disappointing World Cup.
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About the author
Andrew Pollard
A longtime football and wrestling fan who's managed to somehow make a career out of writing and talking about such things, Andrew likes to think of himself as an entertaining, informative, and occasionally humourous writer and radio personality - although you may completely disagree with that.
When not writing or talking about the beautiful game and the squared circle, this Welshman can usually be found watching the not-so-mighty Wrexham AFC, scanning sports channels for any sort of football whatsoever, or re-watching classic Bret Hart matches of yesteryear. Elsewhere, Andrew is known as the Online Editor/Lead Writer of Starburst Magazine, a contributor for outlets such as TheRichest, WhatCulture, and TheQuiz.com, a radio presenter for CalonFM, and a panel host for Wales Comic Con.
Feel free to get in touch with any queries, comments, or criticism on the usual social media channels. Just try to be nice :)
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