Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Mundo Albiceleste Pod - Diego running out of time
The defeat to the old enemy left us on the verge of a major crisis. Mundo Albiceleste's podcast is here to discuss what happened in Rosario as John, Roy and Seba look for explanations and possible ways out of this mess for MARADONA and our national team.
We take a look on the keys that let Brazil walk away from the Gigante de Arroyito with three points in their bags and a ticket to South Africa and we look ahead to see whether Argentina will be able to get something out of their trip to Asunción on Wednesday.
Simply click the audio player above or right-click on the following link and save it as an MP3 file or listen to it in your computer: download.
Enjoy! And don't forget to send us your views to argentina.correspondent@gmail.com or right here in the comments' box. If you want to participate in a future edition of our podcast, make sure to drop us an e-mail too.
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8 comments:
It is obvious that there are many problems with the national team, from coaches to players, but the one constant over the past decade as we have watched our national team underacheive with the immense talent we have is Julio Grandona, President of the AFA. Is it not time for a change at the top, not just at the DT level? The fact many great players and coaches don't want anything to do with the national team because of him disgusts me. What is the process of replacing Grandona? I don't see the national team reaching its potential with Grandona at the helm. What are everyone's thoughts on him?
Lalo! You are right on the money there! And what a timing to write a comment like that.
Check out my latest post. It's all about Julio GRONDONA, the biggest cancer in Argentine football.
I'm sure you'll like it.
Seba hope your predictions come true. I am not sure why you are very aprehensive regarding removing Maradona. Time and again he has picked up players who are not of national team calibre. There seems to be no clarity in the role assigned to each player. Have you ever seen an Argentina team with such a lean and pathetic bench, leave alone the quality of some of the players in the playing 11. Can give 10 names who will be better fit than Veron, Heinze, Datalo, Dominguez and Ottamandi based on current form. If Datalo had not scored the goal everyone would have been cribbing about his performance. Every time he got the ball he wanted to kick it whether he had space or not. This goes against the basic Argentine concept of holding the ball.
Anyway irrespective of whether we win today or not Maradona will continue and his bloated ego will never allow him to select the great talent we have. Maradona was the person who made me crazy about football and made me an Argentina fan 25 years back. Sadly the person who took Argentina football to the peak is taking it to the nadir.
Another tense 8 hrs of wait. Hope it doesnt end the Brazil way.
Another player that I am really not convinced is Diego Milito. Batistuta and Crespo the classic #9had power in their strikes and also were very strong in the air. I do not see any of these attributes in him. Have to admit that my knowledge is limited to the full games I have been watching him play for inter this year, the highlights of Genoa matches last year and the really sad performance he has had with the NT. Maybe I am missing something.
Lalo: I think I'm completely right if I say NOBODY in Argentina likes Grondona. Nobody at all, not even those that vote him (or whatever process they 'follow', if there's one, to keep him there). AFA is a mafia, no more no less. Grondona is still there because of his knowledge of the illegal activities of his "friends". He keeps their secrets, they keep him there.
But about the podcast: pretty interesting that so many people in Nepal follows our team. Actually, I've read many norwegian newspapers talking about the "Argentine defeat" and not about the "Brazilian victory". It's very positive that we're in the spot all around the world when years ago it was all about Brasil. I mean... somehow, even playing horribly bad, people keeps their interest on the albiceleste.
And I hope you're right again with the result, Seba. I confess I'm a bit more positive now that I listened to the podcast; Paraguay aggressivity could be an advantage. I didn't thought of this before, but it can be. It HAS to be.
Not much to say, you said it all.
Oh... Heinze, please pick some injury.
Raj, thanks for your comments.
The only reason why I wouldn't want to see Diego out is the very little time we would have to readapt to a new manager.
You can say we couldn't be worse than what we are right now, but I'm not sure. On the other hand, I don't see many suitable candidates to take over if MARADONA was to be removed.
It's too late and the crisis would be incredibly deep. The pressure on the new manager to win the last two matches would be almost impossible to handle (for him and the players).
That's why I don't want another manager change right now.
My latest post explains a little bit more how I'm feeling about all this, but the truth is that I don't know what to think, feel, say or write right now. I've never been so confused in my life as Argentina supporter.
Regarding Diego MILITO...it really bothers me to realise that the campaign the media is having for MESSI, TEVEZ and AGÜERO is paying off for them and it's hurting not only Diego MILITO but our team in general.
I can assure you Diego MILITO would score goals for fun if he got to start at least once!
I will always sustain that he hasn't failed until he gets at least one proper start and plays an entire game.
Review with me the following figures:
MILITO played in six matches during the current WCQ campaign for a total of 157 minutes (2 full matches make 180 minutes so you really get to appreciate he didn't play enough to be considered a failure).
But if that's not enough. Lets see game by game:
URUGUAY: 19 minutes with the game 2-1 for us. It ended that way and MESSI got replaced by Cata DIAZ -which indicates that we were pretty much holding on for that result and not attacking-
CHILE: He started along with MESSI and AGÜERO (who wouldn't pass the ball to him -it was pretty evident when AGÜERO decided to ignore a wide-open MILITO in front of the keeper and gave the ball to MESSI, who was marked by at least 4 Chile defenders). Then MILITO got subbed at half time. It was BASILE's last game in charge and we lost 1-0. The team was a mess that day.
VENEZUELA: 12 minutes. He replaced Kun and the match was already 4-0. It was MARADONA's first game in charge.
COLOMBIA: The most he played. He replaced an injured AGÜERO on 40 minutes. The team played horribly and we won 1-0. MILITO didn't have many chances that night. Neither did the rest of our attacking players in one of Argentina's poorest displays.
ECUADOR: Played the last 8 minutes. The minute he was brought in, Ecuador scored the second goal of a match in which MESSI missed a sitter and TEVEZ missed a penalty.
BRAZIL: Played the last 22 minutes and replaced TEVEZ when we were already down 3-1. His first touch, in fact, was in the kick-off after Brazil's third goal. Missed a one-on-one and forced the keeper into two saves (in my opinion credit there goes to Julio CESAR).
In the Copa America 2007, after CRESPO got injured, MILITO replaced him on 21 minutes against Colombia and scored the 4th goal in a 4-2 win for Argentina.
Then instead of playing the next match (1-0 over Paraguay), he was benched.
He returned for the following game but only played 45 minutes. Argentina defeated Perú 4-0 that night.
He wasn't used in the semis (vs. Mexico) and the final (vs. Brazil)
The one time I remember him starting and playing 90 minutes he scored 2 goals (vs. Uruguay) when Argentina was still playing under Marcelo BIELSA.
Instead of going to the archives and review his career with Argentina, the media says: "MILITO played 6 matches in this WCQ and he didn't score" and they keep ignoring him time after time.
In my opinion, he is the most underrated unappreciated striker we have these days.
And because AGÜERO and TEVEZ are more popular and more marketing-friendly than him, we don't get to enjoy a goal-scoring machine with Argentina.
There must be a reason why he scores in every club he plays for (and he gives assists to his team-mates in the meantime).
Poor Diego MILITO. I hope he gets the chance he deserves and I hope others would get their starting places on merit and not on popularity or marketing value.
You guys make a great point about Diego -- he does seem completely alone.
I had assumed that Bilardo was brought on originally as tactics to Diego's rah rah factor, but it's obvious that Bilardo has no input whatsoever on the team. I also thought that Bilardo was included as insurance, break glass when needed sort of thing. But they seem to be letting Maradona alone in the wind.
Tonight's game will decide it, I think. Ecuador plays in two hours.
Seba
Thanks for the detailed analysis. Hope you are right and he turns out to be the elusive #9. The breed of Batistuta - Ronaldo kind of strikers is vanishing from the game and more of utility forwards are being promoted. We need a smart and powerful striker like Batistuta but following Argentines in European football I do not find any. Cavenaghi was supposed to be in that mould but hardly any noticeable performances.
Interesting article in guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/blog/2009/sep/09/diego-maradona-argentina-world-cup
Hope it is okay to post it here. It talks about the Argentine dressing room after the match.
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