The Basile era kicks off to mixed reviews in Argentina

	Alfio Basile is in his second stint as head coach of the Argentine national team. This one is not off to a good start. AP
	MAILBAG Submit a comment or question for Gregory Your name: Your e-mail address: Your home town: Enter your question:

Less than a month since taking over as Argentine national team boss, Alfio Basile is already feeling the heat.

After two matches, his squad has dropped two consecutive matches, starting with last month's painful 3-0 loss to archrival Brazil in London.

It couldn't have been a worse debut for Basile, a manager who had been hailed for his good work at Boca Juniors before taking charge of the national team in mid-September.

Basile's second game was a 2-1 loss to Spain on Wednesday, and his side's performance wasn't any better. At times Argentina was outplayed by a Spanish side that has been experiencing tough times. Like its counterpart, Argentina was hoping to get back to its winning ways, with a focus on demonstrating its huge potential, but it faltered once again.

It's no wonder Basile has been questioned by the local press. He is a manager who tends to drastically change the norms of the system when he initially takes charge of a team, and this has led to immense criticism in the past. His side is clearly in a transition period, and it could be a long wait before it begins to play the attractive style of soccer that has become customary of the national side.

But before this happens, Basile must deal with one of his biggest problems: finding a suitable replacement for Juan Román Riquelme, who retired from the national team after receiving heavy criticism back home following his disappointing World Cup performance. Now Basile must not only find a new anchor man, but also get immediate results -- unless he wants to be out of a job by the end of the year.

Obviously, Basile needs time to work with the side, and essentially must have stabilized a strong unit before next year's Copa América, a competition which Argentina has won a record 14 times (the last time under Basile's first stint with the national team in 1993). Basile actually did well at his first go-around, winning two successive Copa Américas and holding the record for a 33-game unbeaten streak before his reign came to an abrupt end after Argentina's elimination from the round of 16 at the '94 World Cup in the U.S.

But this is a new era that begins with promise. Although Basile hasn't gotten off to the best start, there are positive signs. It's clear that his change in approach is going to be vastly different than that of his predecessor, José Pekerman. Here are some of the issues Basile is facing:

Life after Riquelme

Riquelme's sudden retirement from the national team may well mean the loss of Argentina's most gifted player, but for some, it didn't come as much of a surprise. Riquelme was Argentina's key conductor during the Pekerman era, and the team's game plan was centered on him during the '06 World Cup.

He gave an extra touch of class to the side, but his inconsistency got the better of him, particularly during the World Cup when he was heavily criticized by the Argentine press for not giving 100 percent. Many considered him the main reason why Argentina didn't go further in the competition, and this clearly played with his emotions.

But Basile kept faith in him, and selected Riquelme as the captain to lead the team in the Brazil friendly. However, once again it was a below-par performance by the midfielder, who announced his retirement shortly after the match. Basile was strongly against the decision, as he favors the idea of playing with a strong midfield anchor, but he could do little to change the player's mind.

Basile is now without a playmaker, essentially the most important ingredient of his team formation, and it's unlikely he'll be able to find a player of Riquelme's caliber to fill the gap in the near future.

Argentina is a country that produces an abundance of talented midfielders, but strangely, Basile doesn't have too many top-quality options to occupy Riquelme's vacancy. The first player Basile seems to have taken an interest in is Federico Insúa of Borussia Mönchengladbach, a player he coached at Boca Juniors and who is expected to be an integral part of his national team.

Insúa demonstrated that he was the most highly skilled player of last season's Argentine Clausura Championship and has what it takes to fulfill this role, although it won't be easy to make the transition to a very competitive national team. Insúa was given the responsibility of the playmaker role during Wednesday's friendly against Spain, but he was unable to take control of the midfield and was replaced by Pablo Aimar in the second half. (Aimar is another of Basile's possible alternatives for the position, but he has yet to show true national-team potential.)