Wednesday, July 04, 2007

I would love to see our "B-Team" (is it a B-Team?)

With CRESPO out of contention (injury) and Gabriel MILITO being suspended, Coco BASILE is forced to make at least two changes from last Monday's lineup.

But...will he make only those two substitutions?

What is the strategy that COCO should adopt now?

To go the distance with the core team?

To try and rotate them and keep them fresh for the following rounds?

Let's analyze this situation:

I think we need to improve our defense and probably the best thing to do is give them more minutes to gel (impossible with MILITO as he is suspended, but the other three should start tomorrow).

As for PATO, we know how fragile the mind of a goalkeeper can be. To replace him for this game against Paraguay could be dangerous to his morale and it could affect him if he returns for the quarter-finals. So I don't think he should be replaced. He can have a good game and win in confidence.

But from MASCHERANO to MILITO, I think there is no harm in trying other options and use some rotation. They are all GREAT players and I don't think our starters need to play every minute in this Copa America in order to fine-tune.

The official word is that COCO is still to decide on tomorrow's lineup. He'll "talk it out" with his players! That's the way I like it!

What he did say today at a Press Conference is: "Diego MILITO is CRESPO's natural replacement".

I'll be surprised if we change our formation (Rio might shed some light on this through his comments). I don't think that would send a good message to our players. They need to get used to one formation and improve it until it is clear it doesn't work and needs to be changed. So far, so good! So I'd keep the play like this, just changing a few actors.

My picks?

Would like to give MASCHE some rest. He runs A LOT and there is no relief as we played Monday and will play Thursday and Sunday!

Will be great to see GAGO getting a chance. Of course, it will only be possible if RIQUELME is replaced too, so we can have a midfield full of players who actually RUN! haha!

In this case, I see AIMAR taking on ROMAN's place. LUCHO in for VERON. TEVEZ and MILITO up front (replacing MESSI and CRESPO).

CAMBIASSO might just stay in the starting eleven. GAGO won't have MASCHE's ball-recovery skills, but LUCHO and CAMBIASSO will be asked to help him more than what VERON and CAMBIASSO help MASCHERANO.

So...to recap, my lineup for tomorrow would be:

ABBONDANZIERI; ZANETTI, AYALA, CATA DIAZ (PATO's new team-mate as he was signed by Getafe today!), HEINZE; GAGO, LUCHO, CAMBIASSO, AIMAR; TEVEZ and Diego MILITO.

No MESSI, RIQUELME, CRESPO, VERON or MASCHE and we still look like a very good side!

14 comments:

johnny said...

Nooooooooo !!!!!!!!! Cata was signed by Getafe !? Clemente is being courted by somebody. Palacio might be Barca bound. Riquelme could leave. It's tough having the best local players. Damn it ! If the dollar gets stronger I'm moving to Madrid.

Roy said...

Seba, I completely agree with your line-up. I know in a different post I said I would take out Pato, but your right, I would keep him in there. I said in a previous post that I would take out Riquelme and Messi and put in Aimar and Tevez, it seems as if we agree!

So far we have a winning squad and since we're already through to the next round, I don't think a few changes up front would end up being something negative. Aimar for Riquelme is perfectly fine and Tevez for Messi is perfect aswell. It would let Tevez and Aimar gain a bit of confidence and Gago aswell(seeing as how he only played the last 10 minutes of the USA game).

Anonymous said...

johny im only mad that cata is going to a rotttttttttten team like getafe and not juventus as was rumored. man lol seriously people here wont know how angry i am at that, getafe has no business getting cata. it just seems like our argentines get shafted when it comes to european teams (look at the demand for saviola... no one wants him, and how guys like d'alessandro faded in europe going to a nowhere team).

johnny said...

Well, it's always tough to lose players from your favorite team, especially your favorite player. That said, it's the nature of the beast these days. I was reading recently where the local tv contract for rights to televise matches was renegotiated-with more money going to the clubs. The bulk of that money going to Boca and River(if I was a fan of another club, I would be very unhappy with that). Anyway, one can only hope that in the future there will be a little more money available, but it is likely a pipedream that Argentina could ever keep the very best from moving to greener pastures.

Anonymous said...

I like the lineup as well. The only question I have is if putting in Aimar will hurt Riquelme's confidence at all. Still I really like the lineup, it's still strong enough that it won't seem like we are taking the game lightly.

-argentinafan

Rio said...

we should use a mix. have to try get a win to play peru in quarter final... sent paraguay at brazil/mexico wouldnt be a bad thing either.

4-2-4?
http://albicelestesforever.blogspot.com/2007/07/how-to-play-king-of-negative-football.html

John said...

Seba, I do like your line-up and perhaps COCO should give it try. It does bring something new and a lot of freshness into the team.

From my own perspective, any coach that has a group of players like COCO has at his disposal must remember that these players more than just bench or squad players. Each player has his own element of power (MASCHERANO ball winning, LUCHO calm ball control, ROMAN visionary passes, MESSI pace, MILITO sharp shooting etc.) that serves as a key figure to the team and if these elements are utilize to the best, than there is no stopping our team, the Copa America is definitely ours.

Lets admit it, that VERON performance as of now, all I would say is good and average, nothing more than that and on the bench there is LUCHO or AIMAR who could bring in a whole new different dimension to the team. And we all know TEVEZ should be given more time play than just mere 30 minutes

In the end COCO needs to decide what is best for the team. I don’t see any harm in resting some players for the Paraguay game and keeping them fresh for the quarterfinal match.

David N said...

Nice line-up, Seba. It would give Basile's "first choice" line-up a decent game. I'm hopefully looking forward to seeing Gago and Aimar playing together...

Rio said...

seba, things i think your lineup failed to dress:

1.gago and mascher are both needed to lock down as much of rear midfield as possible. also allow defense to drop back and protect against counters.

2.burdisso should go in ahead of diaz for center sub position. coco has already demonstrated this in his practice before copa

3.because 1st, cambiasso's position wouldn't be avaliable, therefore aimar would be a good alternative to roman for the other offensive midfield role and be a connection piece.
we want a win. play mexico instead of peru is not the best outcome.

Rio said...

------------keeper-----------
zanetti ayala burdisso heinze
--------------Mascherano-----
------Gago-------------------
------------------Aimar------
--Lucho----------------------
---------------------Tevez---
-----------Milito------------

Rio said...

an option on right side is to make ibarra play right wing back and zanetti for right wing mid. this way no lucho...

Rio said...

and dont forget coco sort of demonstrated a square midfield intention towards the end of game 1. except he kept aimar on the field instead of getting lucho in. since no additional sub was avaliable.

Seba said...

Rio, I was thinking following COCO's logic. He wants to play with a traditional play-maker, and your suggested lineup doesn't have one.

I understand the tandem of GAGO and MASCHE, but somehow I don't think we'll see it very often.

COCO sees his players as "inter-changeable". He plays one formation and he just moves the pieces when in need (suspension, injury or bad performance).

BURDISSO to replace G. MILITO instead of CATA could be another option.

We'll find out tomorrow!

Rio said...

Abbondanzieri; Ibarra, Burdisso, Díaz y Zanetti; Lucho González, Gago y Cambiasso; Aimar, Tevez y Palacio.

no milito...

negative football here we go