Jorge Sampaoli made the surprise decision in May to leave Sevilla after just one season in charge to become Argentina manager.

Many were quick to criticise the 57-year-old for chasing money, but he insisted managing his country's national team was an offer he couldn't turn down.

"The way of accepting that I go to Argentina does not depend on me exclusively, it's not up to me," he said. "Argentina has to resolve my contract with Sevilla.

"I cannot generate pressure for someone to hire me. The AFA will have to be bound to my obligations and rights in that contract.

"I felt no wrong in the field. If they poked me, the battle was won by those who wanted to have whistles.

"I'm not leaving here for money or as a mercenary; I'm going to the national team of my country."

Sampaoli's tenure as Argentina manager got off to the perfect start last Friday when Gabriel Mercado's tap-in secured a 1-0 victory over Brazil in a friendly.

It wasn't the most convincing of victories - Lionel Messi and Paulo Dybala both flattered to deceive - but a win is a win.

Next up for Argentina is another friendly away to Singapore on Tuesday, with Sampaoli making the decision to leave Messi out of his squad entirely.

However, the Barcelona ace's omission isn't the most surprising call Sampaoli has made for the game.

It's been revealed that the former Sevilla boss is going to deploy a rather rare formation when his side play at the New Singapore National Stadium: 2-3-4-1.

The graphic below shows how Argentina will line up, with Federico Fazio and Emanuel Mammana due to start in a back two behind three defensive midfielders.

How weird does that look? Given the quality of opposition and the fact it's a friendly, Sampaoli clearly feels comfortable enough to test a completely new system.

Whether it pays off or backfires remains to be seen.

The last time a 2-3-4-1 formation was used in professional football was back in 2014, by Pep Guardiola's Bayern Munich side.

In a Champions League game against CSKA Moscow, Bayern played with two at the back and were rather fortunate to win 1-0 after suffering a number of scares.

Guardiola's side dominated possession but looked like conceding every time CSKA broke forward - and they haven't used the formation since.