Argentina will struggle without injured Barcelona star Lionel Messi but coach Gerardo Martino must also consider changes to the Albiceleste, said former Argentine legend Mario Kempes.
The World Cup 2014 runners-up, playing without the injured forward and forced to cope with the early exit of Sergio Aguero, began their journey to Russia with a shock 2-0 defeat to Ecuador in Buenos Aires on Thursday.
Frickson Erazo gave the Ecuador the lead with a header from a corner kick in the 81st minute, before Felipe Caicedo swept home a lighting-fast counterattack just a minute later to give the Ecuadorians the victory and Argentina their first defeat on home soil since 2009.
Aguero is set for a scan on the left-leg injury but he has already been ruled out of Argentina's game with Paraguay next week.
"Every day there is more dependence upon Messi," Kempes told ESPNFC Radio. "And when we are missing the best player in the world, it is notable that it cost us. We must think about a generational change. This was a great generation of players but they haven't given us the titles that we had hoped for.
"Whether it is Barcelona or Argentina, the team plays better with Messi. Suarez and Neymar play the way they play because of him. They are great players but they are made greater by Messi. The same thing happens with Aguero, [Carlos] Tevez, [Angel] DiMaria," he said.
Kempes, who scored six goals for Argentina en route to their World Cup win in 1978, came down hard on Tevez for his fitness level.
"When great players return they are always talked about," the ESPN analyst said. "He wanted to come back [with Boca Juniors from Juventus] and he did. At any rate, Boca is not the national team and Tevez knows that. He is more than good enough to play in the [Argentine] league, but to play with the Albiceleste you need a bit more. We need him to be there for more than 45 minutes. Not just for him but for everyone else."
Argentina is still trying to regroup after losing the 2014 World Cup final to Germany and then losing the 2015 Copa America this past summer to Chile. Kempes suggested it may be time to make some player changes.
"We must look for players in Argentine football. If they are not in Europe, they are here," he said. "This is the national team that [Jose] Pekerman started [as coach in 2006]. There are some who have continued at that level, but not all of them. We must also consider players in our own league, especially since those who play outside the country do not give us guarantees."
"Watching Paraguay yesterday I did not get the impression that they will create many chances," Kempes said of Paraguay's 1-0 win over Venezuela on Thursday.
Derlis Gonzalez pounced on an Oswaldo Vizcarrondo mistake in the 85th minute to give Paraguay the win in Venezuela and end a slide of nine away games in the preliminaries without a victory.
"They won due to Venezuela error and even though they will be the home team they will respect Argentina," Kempes said. "But they are no longer in awe of us and they know how to take advantage of errors with Ramon Diaz leading. Martino must see how he plays the team so they [Paraguay] cannot score and second, we must win, because if we don't win one of the first set of matches this is going to get very complicated.
With their inaugural Russia 2018 qualifier win, Paraguay have already picked up more points on the road than they did during their entire Brazil 2014 campaign, for which they collected just two points out of a possible 27.
"The so-called smaller national teams are every day getting more powerful. I don't know whether it is because of their coaches, but they are no longer just attending the tournaments. Brazil and Argentina continue to be the most powerful but the rest are not just parking it," Kempes said.
Nor did Kempes buy into the argument that the Argentina team have not had time to practice.
"The process of preparation is always very complicated and it is always said that the team have not had time to prepare but other national teams are under the same conditions," he said. "Losing the first two matches would be a big issue. Martino must find the solution today, there is no more time. He has the players he has called and considers to be the best, but they have not performed for the national team as they do with their clubs.
"In the clubs it is more difficult. But when you have in your hands the Argentina national team, you have the best and most competitive players."