Gerardo Martino has been speaking ahead of the friendlies against Croatia and Portugal later this month and discussed the future of his squad but also the million dollar question of how Carlos Tevez will fit into the currect selection. Martino admitted that although Tevez has been recalled to the squad he still needs to see how the Juventus striker will fit in with captain, Lionel Messi.

Speaking with Radio América, Martino said: “Messi gets along very well with Higuaín and Kun (Agüero). We have to see how Messi is with Tevez“

One of the areas where Alejandro Sabella excelled was findind a system for the national side where Messi carried his club form onto the international scene. This will be the conundrum for Martino, and by calling up Tevez he has already shown that he will be going down a very different route.

Finding the best version of Messi for Argentina is a concern that Martino admitted to and the two friendlies will provide further opportunities to test this. Di María and Messi will form the foundation of his attack and so finding a way to get the two on the ball in good positions is key.

With Barcelona’s current slump, by their own very high standards, Messi’s form is once again in the spotlight. This has been further heightened by Messi requesting that the national team physio, Marcelo D’Andrea visit him in Spain. Messi and D’Andrea are very close and the reports suggest that the physio is with the Argentine captain for psychological support as much as anything else.

Additionally Martino confirmed that he would not be calling upon any players from the domestic league although he admitted that with Marcos Rojo’s injury, he would have brought in River Plate’s Leonel Vangioni.

Ezequiel Garay returns to the squad after missing the trip to China and Martino described the Zenit St Petersburg defender as “a pillar in this team” so there are no doubts over his role in the side under the new manager.