Wednesday, August 05, 2009

OK...who wants to play vs. Russia? GAGO injured!

Four less players in two days. The list is down to 19 now. To the injuries of Carlos TEVEZ, Juan Sebastián VERÓN and Martín DEMICHELIS, we now have to add that of Fernando GAGO.

The Real Madrid midfielder suffered a micro-rupture in his abductor muscle (and please forgive me if I'm not writing the name of the injury and the muscles in good English!) and he will also leave his seat vacant on the plane that will take Diego MARADONA's team to Moscow to face Russia next Wednesday.

Now we've got a definite chance of seeing Mario BOLATTI in action for Argentina in his first call-up, although he still needs to beat competition from Boca Juniors' Sebastián BATTAGLIA.

We hope no more players get injured. My worry in GAGO's case is that his injury sounds like an important one (or at least one that takes long to recover). Real Madrid, apart from signing Xabi ALONSO from Liverpool to make him play in GAGO's position, has announced the Argentine midfielder will not make the trip to Toronto, Canada, where the white team has some commitments.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cambiasso would replace him and be a better fit. I bet he will play Messi for a very short time. He is scared that he may get hurt. Look for Mascherano,Messi to play a single half.

Sebastian said...

I agree with what you say, but I don't see CAMBIASSO getting on the team. MARADONA said he is not 'seduced' by how CAMBIASSO plays.

It goes without saying that I would welcome CAMBIASSO back any day of the week.

MASCH and MESSI will be handled with care by Diego in Moscow.

I'm hoping MARADONA uses MILITO for the entire 90 minutes so he grows in confidence and becomes an option for the near future and the long term.

For Brazil, though, in midfield, with GAGO in doubt, I see Diego using MASCHERANO and VERON in the middle with Maxi and Jonas on the flanks and two up front (MESSI and TEVEZ, though I'd use MESSI and MILITO -we need a big man to battle LUCIO and JUAN in the middle-).

Jonas to cover those scary runs by MAICON and Maxi to keep whoever plays as left-back on check (my guess is DUNGA will use Dani ALVES out of position but intentionally placed as left-back to be able to be well-positioned when MESSI cuts inside from the right).

ZiggY said...

I totally agree with you Sebastian, Cambiasso for the national team any day! But i guess we'll never see him wear the Argentine jersey under Maradona. It's become very clear that Diego is one of those stubborn coaches who like to challenge the public saying "no, ill do it MY way!" hoping to later say "i told you so... now bow to me!" in the end, and what's worse is that he still hasnt "told us so" :p Maybe the public should reverse and beg him NOT to call up Higuain, Samuel and Cambiasso so that he does...

The Brazil game will be his ultimate test and challenge. So far it looks like he's sticking to his guns and refusing to resort to any plan B. His plan A has given us two humiliating defeats in the qualifiers already and to be very honest all i can do is worry about the outcome against Brazil. I dont know about you guys, but personally im very pessimistic. We havent seen any significant lesson learned by Diego from the Bolivia defeat and poor display against Colombia, and after the deserved Ecuador defeat you'd expect to finally see some changes. But disappointingly, no. Right now, as weird as it may sound, i hope Diego fails miserably against Russia. Such a slap in the face would only help put more public pressure on him to call those players, and who knows, maybe it would finally happen. All i know is that a win against Russia would not help this cause. Not that i have much optimism against Russia anyway (under normal circumstances).

Argentina are currently playing the cheapest football i'v ever seen them play. With no dynamism and with Diego always sticking to the same failure tactics, our game has become very predictable and exposed. Plus dont forget who is Russia's big chief on the bench... one of the most genius coaches ever: Hiddink. I have no doubt in my mind that he'll lead Russia to a very positive display against us, and he'll surely give Diego a hard day.

Sorry for all the optimism guys, but im a realistic person. We are currently in crisis and our national team needs serious changes. With all my love and respect for Diego as a player, but i have become more and more convinced that he is no coach. He is only destroying us. His stubborn reliance on crap, inconsistent, out of form players and his ignoring the promising in-form players is a big concern.

Buckle up guys, we'r in for a nasty ride... unless......

ZiggY said...

Correction: "sorry for all the pessimism guys"...

(thats what happens when you dont proof read :p)

Roy said...

Gago needs to get out of Madrid, right now. He's not going to get any playing time(especially now that Alonso signed with Madrid). With that said, I'm with everyone else, Cambiasso for the NT.

That's something I don't understand. The Higuain situation is one thing, but the Cambiasso situation I just don't understand. He's the type of player that leaves it all on the line for the shirt and is considered by many as one of the best DM's in the World. Yet Diego refuses to call him-up.

Seba, I'm actually worried about Maxi playing. I love him to death, but he's been really inconsistent lately. Jonas on the left I'm fine with because he's the next best thing to Sorin that we have. But surely we have to have a back-up to Maxi? Only time will tell, I suppose.

Mohd said...

well bad news keep comming! Gago will vanish with real madrid; we all knwo Xabi will play with Lass in the midfield. moreover, if schnieder stays, then he will be Xabi's back up and gago might not even find a place in the bench. even the young Granero has been getting the nod ahead of him. if gago has a tiny brain he should request a transfer immediately.

as for Cambiasso, what to say? having a uselss, brainless, an execuse of a coach we have; we can excpect anything.