Diego Maradona, the new Argentina coach, is keen to find the cause of the team’s recent poor form when he takes charge for the first time against Scotland. Maradona, who was officially unveiled as Alfio Basile’s successor on Tuesday, will make his debut on the bench at Hampden Park on November 19.

The 48-year-old flew to Spain last night to meet some members of his first squad as he looks to revive Argentina’s flagging form. His first stop on a European tour was last night’s Champions League match between Real Madrid and Juventus, and he is expected to travel to Barcelona tomorrow before continuing on to Manchester and Munich. The South Americans lie third in their qualifying zone for the 2010 World Cup after just one win in seven matches.

“I want to see why the team have collected so many bad results recently. I want to know what they feel, what is happening to them,” he said. “We will start with four defenders [against Scotland], but we’ll change according to each match. I will manage it with Carlos [Bilardo, the general manager] and my assistants. It will depend on who we play against. We can play with three or four defenders depending on how we complete the squad. We can adapt some players in different positions. It depends on how we will plan the Scotland match.”

Bilardo, who coached Argentina — and Maradona — to World Cup glory in 1986, will work closely with the new manager.

Maradona is also ready to include Lionel Messi in his squad to face Scotland if Barcelona perform a U-turn over his availability. Messi has been left out because of a gentleman’s agreement with the Catalan club. Joan Laporta, the Barcelona president, reluctantly released him for the Olympic Games in return for a pledge that he will be rested for friendly matches. However, Maradona has not given up hope that the 21-year-old will be available for his first match in charge.

“Messi is not in the list out of respect to Barcelona,” Maradona said. “When we met [AFA president Julio] Grondona, the verbal agreement was already set. Laporta was a gentleman by letting him play in the Olympic Games so we decided to let him stay in Barcelona for this match. If Barcelona finally let him play, he will be included in the list.”

Javier Mascherano, the Liverpool midfield player, Carlos Tévez, the Manchester United forward, and the Newcastle United pair of Fabricio Coloccini and Jonas Gutierrez are the British-based players in the squad.