Bolivia 6-1 Argentina: Dave's player ratings

Just like we did for the match against Venezuela, we're publishing Dave's player ratings.

Here's what our man in Albany, New York, has to say about the players' performances from today's disastrous match.

If you're not an Argentina player, you'll enjoy these player ratings even when the grades each and every footballer got is way below sea-level.

Sebastian

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Dave. P:

Wow! Terrible performance all around on everybody’s end. The altitude was definitely a reason why we were tired and did not have enough air in our lungs but still to lose 6-1 with such a skillful and talented team is very unbelievable. That being said I will attempt to
bring up any positives by our players although they are very microscopic if any. We will have to see how Maradona bounces back from this lose and what changes if any he makes to fire up the Albiceleste playing back on normal altitude grounds.

Player Ratings

CARRIZO: 2.5- A little shaky at the beginning of the match but settles in for a couple minutes of the barrage from distance from the Bolivians. The first goal was close range and could do nothing about it. He had some incredible saves from distance but poor reactions from close range, which is not entirely his fault but the defenses. The blunder he had was what unfortunately turned into a PK for Bolivia, and what was he thinking with that attempt to fake out the Bolivian attacker. Also, poor reaction on the last goal that Bolivia scored, not what you would expect from the #1 Argentine goalkeeper. I will not give up on him yet but if he has another poor performance then bring in Romero or Ustari when they are back from injury. Maybe Maradona will bench him in the next games because he probably wont be starting for Lazio either.

ZANETTI: 2- The curious case of Javier was definitely a curious case. He played so well and confident against Venezuela, but today was making every mistake possible. Never made any attacking run, clipped the legs of the player blatantly for the PK, and was last getting back
for two of Bolivia’s goals. If there were any games that showed Zanetti being to old to play, this game was it. Again, I am not jumping ship on Zanetti he has pure talent, is a rock, but he got beat
far to many times today.

DEMICHELIS: 3.5- The best defender on the day which is not saying much at all. Had a few strong challenges and cool calm moves in the back. Was very unlucky that the first goal was scored because of a deflection that fell right into the path of the Bolivian attack. Like Zanetti was late coming back and caught off guard for 2 other of Bolivia’s goals. Seemed to be a bit confused…what happened the Demichelis we saw vs. France.

HEINZE: 2.5- Nothing too ridiculous from Heinze this game, but much like the other defenders was caught flat from the start and seemed confused with how to play defense the entire game. You can’t question his heart though, you could see the passion in his face with everything he was doing and hustled the entire 90 minutes, no reward though. Again like Zanetti and Demi was caught out of position on the ball over the top that put Bolivia up 5-1.

PAPA: 3- Hustle, hustle, hustle. Papa’s work rate is great he is so scrappy and will run up and down the entire pitch the entire game. That being said he was running out of control the majority of this game, he would be up at the opponents box and leave gaps in the back which caused pressure. Should have made the tackle on the player in the box for the first goal that was scored. It will be interesting to see what Maradona does with the defense for the next games. Will he go
back to the 3 man line? There are many defenders that deserve a shot at the NT especially after this result. Gonzalo? Zabaleta? Garay? Monzon? I’ll leave it at that

Maxi RODRIGUEZ: 2.5- Not much to say for Maxi this game. Did get involved with some good runs in the beginning of the game. Did nothing to help out defensively and was really quiet, much like all of our midfield. Did have a few attempts at distributing up to Tevez and Messi but was late on all attempts. Did not play well with the Bolivian’s pressuring him with every touch.

MASCHERANO: 2- Really? Come on Mascherano...Our usual heart and soul of the Albiceleste did absolutely nothing at all today. No hustle back tracking runs to disrupt the opponent’s attack, no helping the back 4 with defense, which he did so well for the back 3 against Venezuela.
It was almost like he was not even on the field. He gave the Bolivians way too much space to attempt all those long-range shots at Carrizo all game. I was sitting hear waiting for the team to be like okay they are taking long shots lets step up to stop this, and it never happened. Poor play by Javier. Also, all his passes were off today as well…I don’t want to sound like it’s the end of the world, because its not at all we just need to take a long break and think and learn from what happened today. I feel that this result will make us a stronger and more aware team in the future.

GAGO: 3.5- Player of the game if we are even aloud to have one after this performance. Was a little sloppy on the ball at times but also showed pure class touches and control. You could see he was trying so hard with everything he did, it just was not working out or was unlucky. Of all the players on the team he was the one that was most involved. Everyone on the team was sitting back and never even seemed like they wanted to attack. Gago would win the ball and push it up
field looking to distribute to Messi n Tevez. Good play by Gago just unlucky that no one else on our team felt like playing hard today.

Lucho GONZALEZ: 2- Should be a 1 but he did score a goal, a lucky goal, but a goal none the less. Very poor play by Lucho today, seemed like he was lost out there on the wing, was always in bad defensive position; sometimes he wasn’t even in any position. In the beginning of the game Bolivia were taking advantage of his side because they knew he does not know how to defend. Many chances were created because the majority of the time Lucho was just walking back and letting players go by him.
The altitude was definitely effecting him the most out of all players, but if it is let the coach know and make a change so that you don’t become a detriment to the team.

TEVEZ: 3- The altitude and the Bolivian pressure was too much for Carlitos today. He did show his immense amount of heart and work rate just to no avail today. Had a few good combinations with Messi that allowed Messi to have 1on1’s with the goalie. When he did combine with Messi it was good combination, but this was only 3 or 4 times all game because we were on our heels the entire game.

MESSI: 2.5- Again Messi is truly a special player, however, today nothing was working for him. He touched the ball a lot less then Tevez and it seemed like he was not coming to the ball at all today, like he didn’t want it. When he combined with Tevez it was good to see that, however both times he got in on the goalie he either went for a chip, when the low shot was the proper choice, or favored his left foot like he always does when the right foot would have had the angle to score.
Not a good performance by Messi today, not a good performance by the entire team today. Hopefully Maradona will turn this around in the next round of qualifiers and make changes that are needed to better our team to seal a qualification spot to South Africa.

Substitutes

DI MARIA: 0- Came on for Maxi in the 56th minute, and was a little spark for us as he added quick pace to the game and even attempted to shoot on the keeper from distance which no one was doing. Then the child and lack of experience came out in Di Maria. The blatant kick of the legs of the Bolivian defender. For this he got a straight red card because he also mocked the referee by putting his hand up like a ref does when they book someone. Very very poor decision, the frustration settled and got the best of Di Maria in less then 10 minutes. He has the talent, but after that decision who knows if he will be called back up.

ANGELERI: N/A

MONTENEGRO: N/A

Again I don’t want to make it seem like it’s the end of the world because it’s not. But this performance was weak especially coming off of the 4-0 win. They all knew that it was going to be in the high altitude, and we are technically, physically, and skillfully far better then Bolivia. It’s a sad day for me, as it is for all us Albiceleste followers to see us fall 6-1. But we will regroup and
Maradona will most likely make some changes for the next games and then we will see what we are really made of.