The complicated relationship between the ousted coach and the players was a well-known fact, but more details emerged after the tournament's conclusion.

Argentina's chances of winning the World Cup were slim, but given the tense relationship between the leaders of the squad and their coach, it seems that there was no option for them than to end their trip to Russia with a massive failure.

Argentine journalist Ariel Senosiain published a book called "El Mundial es historias...crónicas de ayer" (The World Cup and its stories...tales from yesterday). In his book, the sportscaster for TyC Sports revealed details of a tense conversation between former coach Jorge Sampaoli, Lionel Messi and Javier Mascherano, which took place right after their 3-0 loss against Croatia. 

According to Senosiain's sources, the players disagreed with most of Sampaoli's choices, mainly because they didn't have a say in what the team was going to do on the pitch.

"Your speech is not getting through, we don't trust you anymore. We want you to listen to what we want. We want to have a say in everything," Senosiain wrote about the incident between Messi and his former boss.

"So, you're telling me you want to decide when we train, what we do, and even the lineups?" Sampaoli asked during the exchange.

"Well, you asked me ten times what lineup we should use, and I've never given you one name. Tell me know, in front of everybody, one moment in which I told you which players to use. Tell me!" Messi angrily replied to the former Sevilla boss, according to the Argentine journo.

The exchange took place in front of the entire squad and was also witnessed by AFA's president, Claudio Tapia, who asked Sampaoli to given in to the players' demands.

To make matters worse, one of Sampaoli's assistants, Sebastián Beccacece, aimed to step down from his duties due to his tense relationship with the team's boss. Tapia convinced the assistant to keep working for La Albiceleste, but he was one of the first ones to hand in his resignation once the team was eliminated from the competition.

Reports from this conflict were leaked to the press during the World Cup, which seem to confirm that the players were responsible for the lineup chosen to play against Nigeria.