The Houston Rockets defeated the Sacramento Kings 113-106, after needing plenty of firepower and some excellent defense down the stretch from Luis SCOLA to help them to achieve just that having almost lost a commanding lead during the game.
SCOLA lead the Rockets with another double-double for him this season, posting 22 points, 12 rebounds plus 2 assists, one steal and a block shot. Among notable highlights from him was he's basket snapped a 101-all tie with 3:41 to play. He followed with two rebounds that helped the Rockets stay ahead.
“It was a really hard and long week,” SCOLA said. “We had some good and bad moments. We fought, we played hard. We can’t always win pretty but tonight was a huge win for us. We needed a win.”
On the opposite end, Andres NOCIONI played his part in almost wrecking the Rockets party. He posted 12 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists and one steal. His is playing his best basketball since arriving here from Chicago in February.
However there has been several rumours suggesting of another trade involving him in recent weeks. Some reports suggest that in three way deal, Chapu might be heading to play for the Boston Celtics. We will keep you posted once this is confirm.
In another game, a depleted Milwaukee Bucks continued their winning streak with a 103-98 win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Carlos DELFINO, kept in the starting line up, posted just 3 points and 1 rebound. A MANU-less Spurs end their 3 games losing streak with 106-84 win over the Washington Wizards. Fabricio OBERTO had 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 block shot.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
GOL-Zalo HIGUAIN Send Real On Top Of La Liga
I must admit that I love it whenever Gonzalo HIGUAIN turns out to be the difference for Real Madrid this season. Well I’ve got two reasons for that.
First he is our National Team leading striker and for sure we want him to be on top form for his club. The second, not that I’m a fan of them but still it just goes to show that their “Galaticos” approach is a rotten tomato policy.
With Christiano RONALDO still out injured, Real’s last season top scorer kept his place in the starting line up and scored for the fourth straight La Liga appearance in a 1-0 win over Racing Santander. Racing keeper TONO could only push KAKA's low cross out as far as Ezequiel GARAY, whose header back into the six-yard box was volleyed into the roof of the net by Pipita.
With Barcelona only managing a draw with Athletic Bilbao, the result sends Real Madrid to the top of the standing in Spain, setting up both teams perfectly for next week’s El Clasico encounter.
In earlier matches, there were more woes for Atletico Madrid as they went down 1-2 to Deportivo La Coruna. Kun AGUERO gave Atletico’s a perfect start with a brilliant strike as early in the 3rd minute. Diego COLOTTO equalized for Depor in the 21st minute and the winner came courtesy of a last minute penalty for the home side.
Diego PEROTTI celebrated his return to club football after receiving his first cap in last weekend friendly against Spain with a goal for Seville in their 2-1 away win over Tenerife.
Inter Milan moved eight points clear at the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win over Bologna with Diego MILITO continuing his great form in Italy. He opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri in the 22nd minute with a nice turnaround strike from which he blasted to the roof of the net. That goal was his seventh goal in ten league appearance.
MILITO that became the provider for his side’s third goal of the night. With the score line at 2-1 in favour of Inter, Esteban CAMBIASSO put the result beyond Bologna reach with a far corner shot in the 72nd minute, after receiving a cross from MILITO.
Along side Walter SAMUEL and Javier ZANETTI, all four players were starters in Jose MOURINHO’s dominating side. The best that we can all hope is that they keep up this momentum thus putting some extra pressure on Diego MARADONA to bring them back to their rightful place; the National Team.
In France, Cesar DELGADO was on target for Lyon in a 1-1 draw with Grenoble as the defending champion failed to consolidate their chance at the top of Ligue 1. In a lesser know league, Mauricio POY was the hero for FC Xanthi in their 2-1 win over Levadiakos in the Greek Super League.
First he is our National Team leading striker and for sure we want him to be on top form for his club. The second, not that I’m a fan of them but still it just goes to show that their “Galaticos” approach is a rotten tomato policy.
With Christiano RONALDO still out injured, Real’s last season top scorer kept his place in the starting line up and scored for the fourth straight La Liga appearance in a 1-0 win over Racing Santander. Racing keeper TONO could only push KAKA's low cross out as far as Ezequiel GARAY, whose header back into the six-yard box was volleyed into the roof of the net by Pipita.
With Barcelona only managing a draw with Athletic Bilbao, the result sends Real Madrid to the top of the standing in Spain, setting up both teams perfectly for next week’s El Clasico encounter.
In earlier matches, there were more woes for Atletico Madrid as they went down 1-2 to Deportivo La Coruna. Kun AGUERO gave Atletico’s a perfect start with a brilliant strike as early in the 3rd minute. Diego COLOTTO equalized for Depor in the 21st minute and the winner came courtesy of a last minute penalty for the home side.
Diego PEROTTI celebrated his return to club football after receiving his first cap in last weekend friendly against Spain with a goal for Seville in their 2-1 away win over Tenerife.
Inter Milan moved eight points clear at the top of Serie A with a 3-1 win over Bologna with Diego MILITO continuing his great form in Italy. He opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri in the 22nd minute with a nice turnaround strike from which he blasted to the roof of the net. That goal was his seventh goal in ten league appearance.
MILITO that became the provider for his side’s third goal of the night. With the score line at 2-1 in favour of Inter, Esteban CAMBIASSO put the result beyond Bologna reach with a far corner shot in the 72nd minute, after receiving a cross from MILITO.
Along side Walter SAMUEL and Javier ZANETTI, all four players were starters in Jose MOURINHO’s dominating side. The best that we can all hope is that they keep up this momentum thus putting some extra pressure on Diego MARADONA to bring them back to their rightful place; the National Team.
In France, Cesar DELGADO was on target for Lyon in a 1-1 draw with Grenoble as the defending champion failed to consolidate their chance at the top of Ligue 1. In a lesser know league, Mauricio POY was the hero for FC Xanthi in their 2-1 win over Levadiakos in the Greek Super League.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Kruger Send Marseille Fourth in Ligue 1
Now that the World Cup Qualifiers is over, the next important event that we all are eager to look forward to will be the World Cup draw on December the 4th. Watch out for this space.
Now back to European continental football, with plenty of action gearing up this weekend. But to kick things off is the big games in France, the first "Le Classique" match of the season played on Friday between Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain at the Stade Velodrome.
Gabriel HEINZE, who played for PSG between 2001-04 scored with a first half header to give Les Phocéens a 1-0 win over their fierce rival. Mr. Kruger stole in to head home after receiving Fabrice ABRIEL's free-kick in the 25th minute. Lucho GONZALEZ did not start the game as he was on the bench but did came in the 76th minute.
As a result, Marseille will move up to fourth place in the French League standings and certainly this will only enhanced HEINZE’s popularity among the clubs legion of supporters for scoring in such an important encounter; but not necessarily with fans of Argentina.
Now back to European continental football, with plenty of action gearing up this weekend. But to kick things off is the big games in France, the first "Le Classique" match of the season played on Friday between Olympique Marseille and Paris St Germain at the Stade Velodrome.
Gabriel HEINZE, who played for PSG between 2001-04 scored with a first half header to give Les Phocéens a 1-0 win over their fierce rival. Mr. Kruger stole in to head home after receiving Fabrice ABRIEL's free-kick in the 25th minute. Lucho GONZALEZ did not start the game as he was on the bench but did came in the 76th minute.
As a result, Marseille will move up to fourth place in the French League standings and certainly this will only enhanced HEINZE’s popularity among the clubs legion of supporters for scoring in such an important encounter; but not necessarily with fans of Argentina.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Big Night For DELFINO & SCOLA Leads Rockets
In a night which Carlos DELFINO and the ever impressive Luis SCOLA produce big performance, Manu GINOBILI suffered an injury on his groin during SA Spurs lost to the Dallas Mavericks before the start of the second quarter. It was announced that he will sit out for Thursday home game against Utah. We certainly hope that he will recover soon and get back to his best.
DELFINO produced his best performance ever since his return from Europe for the Milwaukee Bucks as they defeated the NJ Nets 99-85. He was chosen to start the game as the Bucks were without Luc MBAH A MOUTE and he made the most of it.
He made 4-8 on threes and 3-3 at the line, tying Andrew BOGUT for the team-lead with 21 points. He was impressive enough as a playmaker dishing out 6 assists along the process. Not that this is something unusual as we have seen him doing something similar to his days with the Toronto Raptors. Hopefully, this will be one of many we will see from him in the coming months.
Luis SCOLA lead the Houston Rockets to an incredible 97-84 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, their 11th lost in a row. The Rockets still without YAO Ming and Tracy McGRADY, needed all the help they can get from SCOLA, so far it has been extremely successful.
SCOLA is always familiar with the idea of playing with responsibility. Tonight he scored 21 points and producing a season high 16 rebounds, another of his many double-double this season. Not to forget a steal, a block shot and one steal to his credit as well.
“If we are able to win against all of the bottom of the standings teams on a regular basis, we’re going to have a lot of wins,” SCOLA said. “We can beat some of the good teams once in a while, especially at home. That’s going to put us in the playoffs for sure.”
DELFINO produced his best performance ever since his return from Europe for the Milwaukee Bucks as they defeated the NJ Nets 99-85. He was chosen to start the game as the Bucks were without Luc MBAH A MOUTE and he made the most of it.
He made 4-8 on threes and 3-3 at the line, tying Andrew BOGUT for the team-lead with 21 points. He was impressive enough as a playmaker dishing out 6 assists along the process. Not that this is something unusual as we have seen him doing something similar to his days with the Toronto Raptors. Hopefully, this will be one of many we will see from him in the coming months.
Luis SCOLA lead the Houston Rockets to an incredible 97-84 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves, their 11th lost in a row. The Rockets still without YAO Ming and Tracy McGRADY, needed all the help they can get from SCOLA, so far it has been extremely successful.
SCOLA is always familiar with the idea of playing with responsibility. Tonight he scored 21 points and producing a season high 16 rebounds, another of his many double-double this season. Not to forget a steal, a block shot and one steal to his credit as well.
“If we are able to win against all of the bottom of the standings teams on a regular basis, we’re going to have a lot of wins,” SCOLA said. “We can beat some of the good teams once in a while, especially at home. That’s going to put us in the playoffs for sure.”
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
MESSI 1986 hair style?
With all the negativity going around, I thought it would be interesting to post this.
Thousands of fans in Argentina are requestion that Lionel MESSI style his hair like MARADONA in 1986. MARADONA as DT, retro 1986 jersey and now this.
Here's the official website, http://www.lapermanenteamessi.com.ar/ which even state some "scientific reasons" and even some "mythology reasons".
There's also an Official Facebook group with over 10,000 fans(they were around 2,000 yesterday).
Thousands of fans in Argentina are requestion that Lionel MESSI style his hair like MARADONA in 1986. MARADONA as DT, retro 1986 jersey and now this.
Here's the official website, http://www.lapermanenteamessi.com.ar/ which even state some "scientific reasons" and even some "mythology reasons".
There's also an Official Facebook group with over 10,000 fans(they were around 2,000 yesterday).
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Maradona banned for 2 months
The FIFA disciplinary committee held a meeting with MARADONA earlier today and Diego has been hit with a 2 month ban and a fine of £14,800. He's banned as of today until January 15. In short, Argentina have a friendly against the Czech Republic on December 12, Diego won't be able to make the match.
For those unaware, following the Uruguay match last month, Maradona went off on his critics(the press) and used explicit language. Initially, FIFA wanted to slap him with a 5 match ban, but cut it down to 2 months instead. For those hoping that Diego would get the 5 match ban which would lead to him resigning, it's not going to happen.
For those unaware, following the Uruguay match last month, Maradona went off on his critics(the press) and used explicit language. Initially, FIFA wanted to slap him with a 5 match ban, but cut it down to 2 months instead. For those hoping that Diego would get the 5 match ban which would lead to him resigning, it's not going to happen.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Spain 2-1 Argentina. Dave's player ratings
I didn't watch the entire match as I missed the first half because of work. Therefore, I don't feel like I should write a report about this game as it wouldn't be fair.
But there is someone who did watch it and he is here to share his player ratings with all of us.
Dave, amigo, this space is all yours...
Was looking forward to this game ever since we qualified for 2010 last month. My initial impressions are that we are reverting back to the style of play that was going to get MARADONA fired before last October. We were playing Spain, which is no doubt one of the most talented, if not the most talented team in the world, but we definitely were lacking world class quality today. In the first half we created a few chances with HIGUAIN and DI MARIA both being off the mark. But other than that Spain ran circles around our midfield, we had no pressure on them and they were free to hold possession and attack the entire half. With the amount of pressure we were receiving, our defense did surprisingly decent, even though we were reckless. In the second half we came out with more intensity and fight, probably because XAVI was taken out of the game, but anyway it was a slightly more convincing performance from our players. Again, the defense and ROMERO were the only things keeping the score from being 4-1 or 5-1.
Anyway here are the ratings…
ROMERO (7.5): A good performance from our young keeper. Was confident in coming off his line to save many attacks from the Spaniards. On the first goal unlucky to have the deflection come out to an unmarked Xabi ALONSO, but Spain’s build up was beautiful. Towards the end of the game he had 4 goal saving saves. The only bad part of ROMERO today was his distribution, which seemed forced and reckless. Can’t do anything about ALONSO’s PK it was rocketed into the upper right.
COLOCCINI (5): Really shaky performance by Colocho all game, playing out of position at right back. As the game went on he settled in a little more, but was caught out of position too many times and would make reckless tackles like many of our other defenders tonight. He did save a goal of the line with his neck, but other then that proved not to be efficient enough as a defender and should not be on the NT. ZANETTI, ZABALETA, or Jonas should play this spot
DEMICHELIS (6): Demi was a brick wall the majority of the game. A solid outing versus a start studded Spain team, he would slow down VILLA, SILVA, INIESTA and XAVI all game. Made many key tackles at the last second and was confident on the ball. Very unlucky to get a hand ball in the box to allow for ALONSO to hit his PK. After the PK was scored in the dieing seconds we had another chance to score and Demi put the header over the net. If he let it go to CAMBIASSO maybe it would have been a tie. But other then 2 very unlucky plays he was the best defender on the night for us.
HEINZE (5): He always seems to impress me with how much passion he plays with, but today he was out of control more often then not. He would always be late with his tackles and was caught out of position on Spain’s first goal. Much like COLOCCINI he was made to look silly by SILVA and VILLA, he got very angry at how good Spain were and got a yellow card for making very silly tackles. Still HEINZE did have a few saving tackles, but I don’t know when MARADONA will see that his days on the NT are over, bring in SAMUEL or GARAY.
ANSALDI (5): Played well with his first International start against Spain. He had a quiet performance and was rarely out of position except for the ALONSO first goal, but could not do anything with such a lucky deflection. ANSALDI showed strength in holding up the midfielders and would push forward sometimes. Every time Spain would attack it was either at HEINZE or Colocho so ANSALDI did not have as much intense defending to do but when he was called upon he did well.
Maxi RODRIGUEZ (4.5): Was completely irrelevant in the first half, was nowhere what so ever to help the forwards and did little to no defensive work. However, in the second half he woke up a little bit an played with more intensity, he got involved with some runs forward and got the PK called for him by attacking ALBIOL. Other than that not much to say about Maxi, our entire team was lacking any offensive creativity or chemistry, we were all content sitting back.
MASCHERANO (5): Helped out in the defense the entire game like he was supposed to do. Did not have the most dominant game and allowed for INIESTA and XAVI to make runs around him all game. Was terrible in the distribution aspect of the game, and could not seem to break up any passes from the defense to the midfield which halted any of our attacks. Played well but with not much hope in attacking.
GAGO (3.5): What can I say? He played horrible. In the first half was just aimlessly running around and getting yellow cards and fouls. He did little to nothing in spreading balls out wide and distributing to MESSI and HIGUAIN. With a performance like this I can safely say that he is not NT quality. In the second half he came out with more hope to play better but it only made him play more clueless. In the 75th min he was subbed out for CAMBIASSO.
DI MARIA (5): Played well in the first half when we had no attacking combination at all. DI MARIA was the only player, that would make a chance out of our attack, he set up the first ball to HIGUAIN, which he missed, and when he had his chance he took it poorly and over chipped the goal. Still had good spirit and wanted to push forward all night. In the second half he pretty much disappeared when Maxi started playing. We could not get both our wings playing well at the same time tonight.
HIGUAIN (4): He made some good runs in the first half but probably touched the ball 4 or 5 times the entire game. Two of those touches were missed chances, the ball that DI MARIA played him he should have kept low into the corner. Later in the second half before he was subbed out he made a good individual run and almost powered the ball into the corner but missed. Good efforts but it was not his night tonight, and had no combinations with Messi all game, poor performance.
MESSI (4): Much like HIGUAIN, MESSI could not get anything going, partly because he could not combine with anybody because when he would look back to the midfield GAGO and MASCHERANO were never there. They were playing defense. He got very frustrated as the game went on and tried to do things himself. He made some individual runs but after beating 2 players he would get stopped or run into a wall of PUYOL or ALBIOL. All his passes were picked off or sloppily played. Good PK but that finish was expected of him. Another poor attacking performance in general by Argentina.
Subs
TEVEZ (4): Came on for HIGUAIN and added his typical work rate to the game, however his first touch could have been a pass that put DI MARIA in and it was horrible as he kicked it over the end line way to strong. Made some combinations with MESSI but could not get anything else.
CAMBIASSO (NA): The player we were all excited to see get called up only ended up playing 10-15 mins of the game. He really did not get settled into the flow of the game. He made some good tackles while he was in, and did make some good passes to MESSI. However, its unfair to rate him for only playing so little. I hope to see him starting in our next friendly if he keeps his form up.
LAVEZZI (NA)
PEROTTI (NA)
Overall in this game we saw more of what we usually see. Terrible midfield-forward combination, there was absolutely none of it today. We needed AIMAR or VERON to get involved so that MESSI and HIGUAIN would have a partner to play with. This is the main reason why we had no attack, GAGO and MASCHERANO are both DM. Our defense was solid against the ever-attacking Spain and played with good intensity but it was reckless intensity. MARADONA needs to stop calling up players like COLOCCINI, GAGO, HEINZE, and Maxi and get better defenders as well as midfielders that can get the attack involved if we want to score goals and get the best out of MESSI. Why call up PEROTTI and CAMBIASSO and only give them 10 mins of play time? Some names that should be considered by MARADONA for the next friendly are SAMUEL, ZANETTI, BANEGA, ZARATE, GARAY, ZABALETA, and INSUA. New tactics need to be tried because this 4-4-2, which is basically a 6-2-2 is horrible.
Hopefully, he will figure this out after witnessing today’s game. Our spirits were high and we worked hard but in the end it was an amateur football experience tonight. No one seemed to be in tune with each other, our work rate, along with ROMERO’s great hands was what kept the score from being 5-0.
But there is someone who did watch it and he is here to share his player ratings with all of us.
Dave, amigo, this space is all yours...
Was looking forward to this game ever since we qualified for 2010 last month. My initial impressions are that we are reverting back to the style of play that was going to get MARADONA fired before last October. We were playing Spain, which is no doubt one of the most talented, if not the most talented team in the world, but we definitely were lacking world class quality today. In the first half we created a few chances with HIGUAIN and DI MARIA both being off the mark. But other than that Spain ran circles around our midfield, we had no pressure on them and they were free to hold possession and attack the entire half. With the amount of pressure we were receiving, our defense did surprisingly decent, even though we were reckless. In the second half we came out with more intensity and fight, probably because XAVI was taken out of the game, but anyway it was a slightly more convincing performance from our players. Again, the defense and ROMERO were the only things keeping the score from being 4-1 or 5-1.
Anyway here are the ratings…
ROMERO (7.5): A good performance from our young keeper. Was confident in coming off his line to save many attacks from the Spaniards. On the first goal unlucky to have the deflection come out to an unmarked Xabi ALONSO, but Spain’s build up was beautiful. Towards the end of the game he had 4 goal saving saves. The only bad part of ROMERO today was his distribution, which seemed forced and reckless. Can’t do anything about ALONSO’s PK it was rocketed into the upper right.
COLOCCINI (5): Really shaky performance by Colocho all game, playing out of position at right back. As the game went on he settled in a little more, but was caught out of position too many times and would make reckless tackles like many of our other defenders tonight. He did save a goal of the line with his neck, but other then that proved not to be efficient enough as a defender and should not be on the NT. ZANETTI, ZABALETA, or Jonas should play this spot
DEMICHELIS (6): Demi was a brick wall the majority of the game. A solid outing versus a start studded Spain team, he would slow down VILLA, SILVA, INIESTA and XAVI all game. Made many key tackles at the last second and was confident on the ball. Very unlucky to get a hand ball in the box to allow for ALONSO to hit his PK. After the PK was scored in the dieing seconds we had another chance to score and Demi put the header over the net. If he let it go to CAMBIASSO maybe it would have been a tie. But other then 2 very unlucky plays he was the best defender on the night for us.
HEINZE (5): He always seems to impress me with how much passion he plays with, but today he was out of control more often then not. He would always be late with his tackles and was caught out of position on Spain’s first goal. Much like COLOCCINI he was made to look silly by SILVA and VILLA, he got very angry at how good Spain were and got a yellow card for making very silly tackles. Still HEINZE did have a few saving tackles, but I don’t know when MARADONA will see that his days on the NT are over, bring in SAMUEL or GARAY.
ANSALDI (5): Played well with his first International start against Spain. He had a quiet performance and was rarely out of position except for the ALONSO first goal, but could not do anything with such a lucky deflection. ANSALDI showed strength in holding up the midfielders and would push forward sometimes. Every time Spain would attack it was either at HEINZE or Colocho so ANSALDI did not have as much intense defending to do but when he was called upon he did well.
Maxi RODRIGUEZ (4.5): Was completely irrelevant in the first half, was nowhere what so ever to help the forwards and did little to no defensive work. However, in the second half he woke up a little bit an played with more intensity, he got involved with some runs forward and got the PK called for him by attacking ALBIOL. Other than that not much to say about Maxi, our entire team was lacking any offensive creativity or chemistry, we were all content sitting back.
MASCHERANO (5): Helped out in the defense the entire game like he was supposed to do. Did not have the most dominant game and allowed for INIESTA and XAVI to make runs around him all game. Was terrible in the distribution aspect of the game, and could not seem to break up any passes from the defense to the midfield which halted any of our attacks. Played well but with not much hope in attacking.
GAGO (3.5): What can I say? He played horrible. In the first half was just aimlessly running around and getting yellow cards and fouls. He did little to nothing in spreading balls out wide and distributing to MESSI and HIGUAIN. With a performance like this I can safely say that he is not NT quality. In the second half he came out with more hope to play better but it only made him play more clueless. In the 75th min he was subbed out for CAMBIASSO.
DI MARIA (5): Played well in the first half when we had no attacking combination at all. DI MARIA was the only player, that would make a chance out of our attack, he set up the first ball to HIGUAIN, which he missed, and when he had his chance he took it poorly and over chipped the goal. Still had good spirit and wanted to push forward all night. In the second half he pretty much disappeared when Maxi started playing. We could not get both our wings playing well at the same time tonight.
HIGUAIN (4): He made some good runs in the first half but probably touched the ball 4 or 5 times the entire game. Two of those touches were missed chances, the ball that DI MARIA played him he should have kept low into the corner. Later in the second half before he was subbed out he made a good individual run and almost powered the ball into the corner but missed. Good efforts but it was not his night tonight, and had no combinations with Messi all game, poor performance.
MESSI (4): Much like HIGUAIN, MESSI could not get anything going, partly because he could not combine with anybody because when he would look back to the midfield GAGO and MASCHERANO were never there. They were playing defense. He got very frustrated as the game went on and tried to do things himself. He made some individual runs but after beating 2 players he would get stopped or run into a wall of PUYOL or ALBIOL. All his passes were picked off or sloppily played. Good PK but that finish was expected of him. Another poor attacking performance in general by Argentina.
Subs
TEVEZ (4): Came on for HIGUAIN and added his typical work rate to the game, however his first touch could have been a pass that put DI MARIA in and it was horrible as he kicked it over the end line way to strong. Made some combinations with MESSI but could not get anything else.
CAMBIASSO (NA): The player we were all excited to see get called up only ended up playing 10-15 mins of the game. He really did not get settled into the flow of the game. He made some good tackles while he was in, and did make some good passes to MESSI. However, its unfair to rate him for only playing so little. I hope to see him starting in our next friendly if he keeps his form up.
LAVEZZI (NA)
PEROTTI (NA)
Overall in this game we saw more of what we usually see. Terrible midfield-forward combination, there was absolutely none of it today. We needed AIMAR or VERON to get involved so that MESSI and HIGUAIN would have a partner to play with. This is the main reason why we had no attack, GAGO and MASCHERANO are both DM. Our defense was solid against the ever-attacking Spain and played with good intensity but it was reckless intensity. MARADONA needs to stop calling up players like COLOCCINI, GAGO, HEINZE, and Maxi and get better defenders as well as midfielders that can get the attack involved if we want to score goals and get the best out of MESSI. Why call up PEROTTI and CAMBIASSO and only give them 10 mins of play time? Some names that should be considered by MARADONA for the next friendly are SAMUEL, ZANETTI, BANEGA, ZARATE, GARAY, ZABALETA, and INSUA. New tactics need to be tried because this 4-4-2, which is basically a 6-2-2 is horrible.
Hopefully, he will figure this out after witnessing today’s game. Our spirits were high and we worked hard but in the end it was an amateur football experience tonight. No one seemed to be in tune with each other, our work rate, along with ROMERO’s great hands was what kept the score from being 5-0.
Possible Argentina/Spain Lines-ups
For Spain, they practiced with the following line-up:
CASSILAS, RAMOS, PIQUE, PUYOL, CAPDEVILA, BUSQUETS, INIESTA, SILVA, MATA, FABREGAS, VILLA
That's a hell of a midfield. All signs indicate that XAVI will NOT start the match, but will be on the bench. Fernando TORRES is injured and was not called-up.
For Argentina, we practiced behind closed doors, but there is some news. For one, we know that MARADONA's #1 is ROMERO, MASCHERANO as the captain will start and after coming out and saying that MESSI should be the leader of the team, it's a no brainer that MESSI will start.
But now that we've got the obvious news out of the way, lets start at the back. MARADONA didn't call that many defenders(5 to be exact). PAREJA has been called-up a few times but has yet to actually start a match, which is why I think we'll see the following:
COLOCCINI-DEMICHELIS-HEINZE-ANSALDI
A horrible back-line, I know, but that's who Diego called-up.
In midfield, we have a bit more options. Do remember that GUTIERREZ is injured and PEROTTI was called-up to replace him. After saying that DI MARIA is doing great at the moment and having played the last 2 Qualifiers, I think it's safe to say that DI MARIA is in. The only question marks are who will play on the right(MAXI or PEROTTI). Everywhere I've read has indicated that it's one of them on the right, AIMAR hasn't even been mentioned as a possible starter. The other question is who will partner MASCHERANO(GAGO or CAMBIASSO).
MAXI/PEROTTI-MASCHERANO-GAGO/CAMBIASSO-DI MARIA
Up front, AGUERO doesn't seem to be 100% fit, TEVEZ is completely out of form, LAVEZZI has always been a squad player which leaves us with HIGUAIN who has started the last 2 Qualfiers for us and is our best striker at the moment. All in all, this is what I think we'll see.
ROMERO
COLOCCINI-DEMICHELIS-HEINZE-ANSALDI
MAXI-MASCHERANO-CAMBIASSO-DI MARIA
MESSI-HIGUAIN
CASSILAS, RAMOS, PIQUE, PUYOL, CAPDEVILA, BUSQUETS, INIESTA, SILVA, MATA, FABREGAS, VILLA
That's a hell of a midfield. All signs indicate that XAVI will NOT start the match, but will be on the bench. Fernando TORRES is injured and was not called-up.
For Argentina, we practiced behind closed doors, but there is some news. For one, we know that MARADONA's #1 is ROMERO, MASCHERANO as the captain will start and after coming out and saying that MESSI should be the leader of the team, it's a no brainer that MESSI will start.
But now that we've got the obvious news out of the way, lets start at the back. MARADONA didn't call that many defenders(5 to be exact). PAREJA has been called-up a few times but has yet to actually start a match, which is why I think we'll see the following:
COLOCCINI-DEMICHELIS-HEINZE-ANSALDI
A horrible back-line, I know, but that's who Diego called-up.
In midfield, we have a bit more options. Do remember that GUTIERREZ is injured and PEROTTI was called-up to replace him. After saying that DI MARIA is doing great at the moment and having played the last 2 Qualifiers, I think it's safe to say that DI MARIA is in. The only question marks are who will play on the right(MAXI or PEROTTI). Everywhere I've read has indicated that it's one of them on the right, AIMAR hasn't even been mentioned as a possible starter. The other question is who will partner MASCHERANO(GAGO or CAMBIASSO).
MAXI/PEROTTI-MASCHERANO-GAGO/CAMBIASSO-DI MARIA
Up front, AGUERO doesn't seem to be 100% fit, TEVEZ is completely out of form, LAVEZZI has always been a squad player which leaves us with HIGUAIN who has started the last 2 Qualfiers for us and is our best striker at the moment. All in all, this is what I think we'll see.
ROMERO
COLOCCINI-DEMICHELIS-HEINZE-ANSALDI
MAXI-MASCHERANO-CAMBIASSO-DI MARIA
MESSI-HIGUAIN
Thursday, November 12, 2009
"SAVIOLA will get his chance"
MARADONA held his first press conference since the post-Uruguay match blowout on Thursday and had some interesting things to say, specifically about SAVIOLA. Here are some quick notes.
-He said that he talked to a few players behind closed doors and that privacy is very important(in the team).
-He once again re-assured that he and Bilardo are fine, but that they both know their limits.
-He then moved on to talk about Benfica's Argentine trio of Javier SAVIOLA, Angel DI MARIA and Pablo AIMAR. About SAVIOLA, he said that he's scoring goals, he's scored goals everywhere he's been, that "SAVIOLA is SAVIOLA" and that he will get his chance. He mentioned that DI MARIA is shinning at Benfica right now and that AIMAR is "an exceptional player".
-Concerning Spain, MARADONA said that if he can pick one player from Spain's squad it would be XAVI.
-Finally, he talked about MESSI. He said MESSI "must own the team", he's the best in the world and that he must utilize him.
My thoughts? It would be great to see SAVIOLA get a chance with the National Team. He's always done good with Argentina and we must utilize the fact that AIMAR, DI MARIA and SAVIOLA play together.
I think I agree with Diego when he said he would pick XAVI from Spain, he would likely be my choice as well.
-He said that he talked to a few players behind closed doors and that privacy is very important(in the team).
-He once again re-assured that he and Bilardo are fine, but that they both know their limits.
-He then moved on to talk about Benfica's Argentine trio of Javier SAVIOLA, Angel DI MARIA and Pablo AIMAR. About SAVIOLA, he said that he's scoring goals, he's scored goals everywhere he's been, that "SAVIOLA is SAVIOLA" and that he will get his chance. He mentioned that DI MARIA is shinning at Benfica right now and that AIMAR is "an exceptional player".
-Concerning Spain, MARADONA said that if he can pick one player from Spain's squad it would be XAVI.
-Finally, he talked about MESSI. He said MESSI "must own the team", he's the best in the world and that he must utilize him.
My thoughts? It would be great to see SAVIOLA get a chance with the National Team. He's always done good with Argentina and we must utilize the fact that AIMAR, DI MARIA and SAVIOLA play together.
I think I agree with Diego when he said he would pick XAVI from Spain, he would likely be my choice as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
