...In traning that is! Here were the teams in training earlier today.
ROMERO
ZANETTI---DOMINGUEZ---SCHIAVI---PAPA
MAXI---GAGO---BRAÑA---SALVIO
MESSI---PALERMO
CARIZZO
COLOCCINI---PAREJA---OTAMENDI---BURDISSO
VERON---BOLATTI---MASCHERANO
LOPEZ---TEVEZ---AGUERO
Again, those were just the line-ups in training, not the official line-ups. MESSI scored twice for his team where-as AGUERO scored the only goal for his team. It looks like MARADONA was experimenting everywhere(from back to front). News coming out of Argentina is that it's either MAXI or DATOLO on the left, which is what I think we were all expecting. It looks like it will be VERON and MASCHERANO in midfield, however VERON has a knock and is doubtful. ANDUJAR, DATOLO, HEINZE, MILITO and LAVEZZI trained with one of the trainers, but did not take part in an actual game.
A quick reminder that debates are more than welcomed, but do keep it clean.
Salvio, Messi and Palermo. Don't like Palermo, but Salvio-Messi is truly explosive.
ReplyDeleteRoy...this was a mixed teams playing in an informal training session.
ReplyDeleteYou see ZANETTI-MAXI-GAGO-MESSI on one team (all pretty much starters) and you see OTAMENDI-VERON-MASCHERANO and one from AGUERO-TEVEZ-LOPEZ who are the other players that would be starters.
Add ANDUJAR, HEINZE and MILITO (if he makes it in time to recover from injury) and you've got your starting XI.
Also...I'm sure you meant the 'left' when you mentioned Maxi or DATOLO (because DATOLO couldn't play on the right).
I expect to see very different training sessions from now until they travel to Rosario and what we see on Wednesday/Thursday may be something to pay more attention to.
Now I expect all sorts of negative comments complaining about the fact that PALERMO played with MESSI in training, anyway...
Seba:
ReplyDeleteIf what you are saying about the realease of european based players(10-15 days) is right, then it's a whole different situation. I would love to see a link or something that could verify this, but thanks anyway for letting us know this. I still think it's incredibly weird by Diego to call Burdisso, Coloccini and, to be honest, even Pareja when we have Samuel, Gonzalo and Garay. I would also take an injury prone Aimar over Veron any day. BUT if what you say about the european release dates is true, I can of course easily see why Diego has called the local players that he has now. So I will calm down on this subject now :-)
When it comes to the strikers, I am not as angry as many are. Licha and Milito are really good at the moment. And I do NOT think Higuain is better then any of them as a #9. And Zarate is a pure second striker, and we kinda have enough in that position with Messi, Aguero, Tevez and Lavezzi. He could maybe compete with Lavezzi for a place in this squad, but remember that Zarate(and even Higuain) hasn't shown anything on the highest level against the toughest oponents(in the CL) yet. That's why I belive it is right to include Aguero and Tevez in every squad, they have proven themself on the highest level.
Rune, have you truly seen Zarate playing? if there is one thing that Zarate is, then its that he is a big-game player...decider if you like.
ReplyDeleteas for the CL, Lazio are not playing there so this is not his fault.
messi and zarate playing behind higuain will give Arg the best attack in the world and probably the best attack for Arg in generations.
based on player performances, my ideal formation is:
ReplyDelete----------
Angujar,
zabaleta,gonzalez,samuel,zanete
mascherano, banega, cambiasso
messi, zarate
higuain
-------------
of course 7 players are not selected by maradona so i can kiss my dream formation goodbye.
I use to hate Zarate but after watching him play with Lazio last season this kid is sickening good! he is as good as it gets guys and if Aguero doesn't start putting on performances he can surpass him easily! because in my opinion hes already over Lavezzi and Tevez!
ReplyDeleteAn article in the local Buenos Aires Herald this morning lists both D Milito and L Lopez as "doubtful" for the match. I don't know how accurate that could be and the BA Herald has a reputation for shoddy work when it comes to sports. So, we will see. If it is true, then there is a possibility that Palermo could be partnered with Messi.
ReplyDeleteAs for the heated discussions about Maradona, player call ups, etc., I want to be on record as supporting Diego and the squad, despite my reservations about some of Diego's decisions. If things don't work out against Brazil and Paraguay however, then I think any reasonable person would have room to think that a change at the top might be the way to go.
Love ya Seba !!
Yeah, I will also always support the NT no matter who's in charge. I've supported every team we've ever had, and I will always do that. Even if I don't agree with what the coach is doing. I even supported Passarella, the coach that didn't wanna call my big hero Caniggia and Redondo. I know he called Cani 3 times and Redondo once, but that's not enough.....
ReplyDeleteMohd:
I just do not agree. Zarate has great potensial, but he's not there yet in my opinion. Great free kick taker though, something we will be needing. His time will come.
Seba -
ReplyDeleteI knew I was going to get slammed about comparing Arg to Barcelona...I know it's hard to ask for a national team to play like a club team, but I think that if any national team can do that, it's Argentina. Peckerman created a team dynamic that did just that. We all remember the goal that Arg scored against SM in the last world cup was created out of a 24 pass play.
Of course -- this is a "derby" in the loosest sense of the word, and derbies are ugly.I'd be happy if Arg won, but unless they play amazingly well, or at least amazingly smart, you can't give that to Maradona.
Dunga isn't playing "beautiful" football - but he has developed a team that is actually pretty exciting. Fast, athletic. They aren't donkeys out there. They aren't like they were in the Copa America.
Rune...I'm trying to find that regulation that prevent national teams to call European club players after a certain deadline. Not easy to find it. I heard it many times on radios and TV channels here, but I haven't seen it printed.
ReplyDeleteThink about it this way, though. You welcome an injured player from Europe (he got injured playing a match just before boarding the plane to Argentina, so you didn't know he was injured when you called him up). He arrives and there are only 6 days left before the match with Brazil.
What do you do? Even if it was allowed to call European club players (which I heard it's not). Do you call another player from Europe, which will at the very earliest make it to Buenos Aires to be ready to train with the team on Thursday? (say Wednesday if everything clicks)
Instead, you have to make do and call up players from the local leagues. Players who will drive their fast cars into the Ezeiza training ground in about half and hour and be ready to work with the team from the first training session.
Not the best of scenarios, I know, but surely the best of the available options.
Mohd...you said BANEGA???? Dear lord! BANEGA???? Are you on something? No disrespect, but BANEGA. I don't even know where he is playing these days. He's got an attitude problem and the fact that he went to the Toulon tournament after he had played a big part for Boca in the past, won a Youth World Cup in 2007 and secured a big money move to Europe in recent years, really tells a story.
Which other legit national team players went to Toulon with the youngsters?
And you're preferred lineup...who plays down the flanks to prevent MAICON-Dani ALVES or who ever plays there's runs?
Paulina: One thing that I will repeat until I'm tired of it: PEKERMAN had time to work with the team. It's as simple as that.
He also made horrible mistakes and we paid for them. He remains a great coach and a great developer of youth talent, but he lost the plot against Germany and managed to crash our Ferrari (as the saying goes).
If you compare Barcelona's way of play with Argentina's, it's unfair (for the number of reasons I've explained before).
If you compare PEKERMAN's World Cup team, it's unfair, because Diego barely had time to work with his players.
Put Diego as a manager in our next World Cup. Watch us play horribly and I'll have no problems agreeing with you there.
Just not now.
And ask all those Brazilians paying silly money to see their national team draw 3 consecutive times at home 0-0 (against us, Bolivia and Colombia) and see if they think they are fast and exciting.
The ones supporting DUNGA in Brazil are those who only care about the results.
The others? The ones who care about how the team plays hate DUNGA and are there waiting for him to collapse (believe me, I know people who think this way), preferably on Saturday against Argentina.
Seba
ReplyDeleteSeba
ReplyDeleteBanega had a great game on Sunday with Valencia and he also had himself a good preseason he was voted La Liga's player of the week so maybe hes finally finding his groom
As for the NT since Diego used a 4-3-3 during pracice do you think he might use a 4-3-3 against Brazil since its the best system to use against counter attacking teams and with a thick defensive/passing midfield in Maschrerano, Veron, Bolatti???
(Just a note beware Patricio Rodriguez & Javier Pastore) future icons :p
King Aguero, just for the record, I know where BANEGA plays! ;)
ReplyDeleteWhat about his rumoured move to Everton? That would have been great and that would have given me a perfect play of words for the headline: EVERton BANEGA! Of course!
All jokes aside...Ever has a history of bad conduct off the pitch and in my opinion, even when we are talking about a very talented player, he may retire in the future without ever fulfilling his potential.
Regarding the 4-3-3. MARADONA said in the past that he definitely wants to play 4-3-3 in the long run. He also said that so far, it's not working for him.
We played in Russia with only 2 up front (same at Ecuador, where we didn't have such a bad performance as many people suggest and we are still cursing those chances and the penalty-kick we missed).
My gut feeling is that he won't use a 4-3-3 formation on Saturday.
I tend to think that in order to control (or try to control) Brazil's counterattack, Diego will use two wide players (DATOLO on the left, probably and Maxi on the right) to prevent their full-backs from making those dangerous runs forwards.
MASCHERANO and VERON (if VERON is fit that's the most likely pair of central midfielders we will see) will then patrol the centre of the pitch to try to keep KAKA on check.
That's where my main fear is. I haven't seen a team able to control Brazil when they launch their counter-attacks.
I hope we score early and we score a couple so then they have to attack rather to wait and hit us on the break.
That way we would also be able to unleash MESSI and our other forward (if we're leading, I'd like to see AGÜERO or Lisandro as they play better when they counter-attack).
The probable lineup we may see on Saturday will look something like this:
ANDUJAR
ZANETTI - BURDISSO - OTAMENDI - and unfortunately the liability that is HEINZE
Maxi - MASCHERANO - VERON - DATOLO
MESSI - TEVEZ or AGÜERO -with a small chance for Lisandro and Diego MILITO falling down the pecking order due to his injury-.
Not the best of lineups, just the one I'm thinking MARADONA could be using.
No Tevez plz :<
ReplyDeleteSeba,
ReplyDeleteplayers should be selected based on performances..i do not care if Banega had attitude issues. if he is briiliant (which he is) then he should play. do you drop Viera out of france or Rooney out of england because they have attitude issues? did not think so...
oh by the way, i am sober thanks for asking.
and regarding who might play on the flanks to stop brazil...thats why in my formation there are 3 central midfielders. two of them cover up wide shrink back inside. not all teams have wide players. and seriusly argentina suck big time in this area...i mean really maxi and jonas; if these are the players we count on then we are in deep shit.
ReplyDeletemohd i agree with you about banega he's a world class player and tougher than gago he can also give decisive passes.maradona comparing to the former argentina's coaches is that were letting one crack while maradona's ignoring a whole tem
ReplyDeleteHey Mohd, perhaps if BANEGA manages to play at least 10 consecutive matches for his club (for the record, if he was so brilliant I don't see why he wouldn't achieve that), then I could agree with you.
ReplyDeleteI'm not talking about attitude on the pitch. Impossible to compare BANEGA to VIERA or ROONEY. I'm talking about the off the pitch things.
Let BANEGA establish himself in any team (be it in Europe or in South America) and the story would be different.
There's no point in keep bringing names to the table.
Now Jack names FIGUEROA.
I'm sure if players like MILITO, Lisandro LOPEZ or even Maxi were left out by MARADONA, you and many like you would be bringing up their names.
Some people will always complain. Some people will never agree with the manager. Be it MARADONA, be it BASILE or any other manager.
Take a deep look at BANEGA's recent history and think again.
Regarding your 3-central-midfielders tactic. I beg to disagree.
If you go with such a formation at home (when you need to win) you're conceding Brazil the initiative. You have nobody to take care of creating some plays from midfield and you're forced to always be on your back foot.
Two is enough. Plus...with two on the flanks, not only you have somebody to chase the occasional run forward from their full-backs, you also have two weapons to keep those full-backs busy and you make them think twice before they decide to join the attack.
Now if we are leading by 2 goals, I wouldn't mind introducing a third defensive midfielder to the mix to free up some space for our counterattack and take advantage of the fact that Brazil would be desperate and would have no other option than to attack us.
As for Lucho Figueroa, he was not very impressive at Boca. He scored a few goals, but missed many, and I don't think he is 100% fit. If he is marked tightly he doesn't battle. Nice guy, maybe too nice. He doesn't have the warrior mentality that I see with many others.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Seba about Banega. I loved him at Boca and was very sorry to see hime leave, but he has only just begun to show flashes of his old self in Europe. Let's see if he can keep it up and be more consistent and dependable.