Sampaoli takes 'total responsibility' for Argentina's latest letdown
Head coach Jorge Sampaoli believes he's responsible for Argentina's 3-0 thrashing Thursday at the hands of Croatia.
The defeat leaves Argentina in a precarious position as the South American nation heads into the final group stage fixture with just one point after two matches.
Despite a massive goalkeeping blunder and an overall poor performance by the entire team, including Lionel Messi's failure to influence the match, Sampaoli has shouldered the blame for Argentina's worst defeat at the World Cup since 1958.
Related: Sampaoli, not Messi, to blame for Argentina's Croatia collapse
"It’s not the boss’ partial responsibility, it’s his total responsibility," a bewildered Sampaoli told reporters at his post-match news conference, according to Andrew Crawthorne of Reuters.
Sampaoli added: "It’s not right to blame (Willy) Caballero. "If I’d planned things differently, it would have worked out differently ... I honestly thought the plan for this match was going to put pressure on the opponent. But after the disaster of the first goal, it was tough, we were lost emotionally."
Related: How can Argentina still advance in Group D?
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
The floodgates appeared to open in the wake of Caballero's blunder when the Chelsea back-up's failed clearance attempt fell to Ante Rebic, who unleashed a volley into the back of the net from close range.
The majority of post-match criticisms, however, focused on Messi's ineffective performance in a match where Croatia piled on the pressure in order to contain the Barcelona star.
"Our driving force is Leo, but we couldn’t find him. We work as a team to get the ball to Leo, but also the other team (Croatia) works to avoid that," added Sampaoli, whose best players have all underperformed during his year in charge.
"It’s the driver’s responsibility ... Everything that happens to the team is due to the leadership ... Leo is prejudiced by not having in us drivers as good as him."
Argentina takes on Nigeria in the final match of Group D on June 26.