The 18 players based in Europe have been named by MARADONA to form the squad for the last double round of World Cup Qualifiers against Perú and Uruguay and the biggest news is the inclusion of Gonzalo HIGUAIN and the return of Pablo AIMAR.
Another important aspect to analyse when looking at this list is the exclusion of some other players that have been the backbone of Diego's national team.
Lets have a look at the names and then discuss whether Diego's decision is fair, crazy or what.
Here are the 18 names that are guaranteed of a place in the squad that will play to avoid the embarrassment of missing out of the next World Cup:
Goalkeepers:
Sergio ROMERO (AZ Alkmaar, Holland)
Mariano ANDÚJAR (Catania, Italy)
Defenders:
Nicolás PAREJA (Espanyol, Spain)
Gabriel HEINZE (Olympique Marseille, France)
Fabricio COLOCCINI (Newcastle United, England)
Emiliano INSÚA (Liverpool, England)
Pablo ZABALETA (Manchester City, England)
Midfielders:
Javier MASCHERANO (Liverpool, England)
Jonas GUTIERREZ (Newcastle United, England)
Lucho GONZALEZ (Olympique Marseille, France)
Angel DI MARIA (Benfica, Portugal)
Pablo AIMAR (Benfica, Portugal)
Forwards:
Lionel MESSI (Barcelona, Spain)
Sergio AGÜERO (Atlético Madrid, Spain)
Carlos TEVEZ (Manchester City, England)
Gonzalo HIGUAIN (Real Madrid, Spain)
Diego MILITO (Internazionale, Italy)
Ezequiel LAVEZZI (Napoli, Italy)
On form Lionel MESSI and Diego MILITO were no-brainers.
Jonas GUTIERREZ makes a comeback from injury and gets another vote of confidence from MARADONA. DEMICHELIS? Maybe he is not ready.
Six players from English teams (two from Newcastle United -currently in the second tier of the English pyramid-), among them is Carlos TEVEZ who has been underachieving big time for Argentina and struggling with ankle and knee injuries lately.
Of course the inclusion of Gonzalo HIGUAIN will make a lot of people happy and relieved and believe me that the exclusion of Fernando GAGO had a lot to do with that particular call-up. Just don't ask me questions about it.
Time to take a look at the names that were virtually erased out of the blue by MARADONA:
Juan Pablo CARRIZO: Days after taking over as Argentina manager Diego said 'CARRIZO is my first-choice keeper'. Not anymore, it seems. Even though the former River Plate and Lazio custodian is playing regularly for Real Zaragoza in Spain.
Javier ZANETTI: Il Capitano gets the axe. His latest performances for Argentina surely let him down and in his place, Pablo ZABALETA is probably the main candidate to become the starting right-back for the Albiceleste.
Maxi RODRIGUEZ: Another victim of his own string of bad performances with the national team. I'm not sure he's got anything to complain about being axed.
Fernando GAGO: Word has it, he did something against Paraguay that didn't go well with MARADONA. Now he is punished and as a bonus track, Diego dialled Pipita's number.
Jesús DÁTOLO: This is a name that I was really expecting to see included after a couple of great performances with Argentina and two goals in his first two matches. The fact that Jonas and DI MARIA are back, really hurt him, but I thought Diego had developed a bond with the Napoli midfielder.
Lisandro LOPEZ: I'm speechless. He is performing way better than AGÜERO and TEVEZ and LAVEZZI combined. Surely something happened behind the scenes at some point between the Brazil and Paraguay matches. He was bound to start against Brazil or Paraguay (or both) and instead he didn't get a single minute. I'm disappointed to see him ignored.
Bare with me because I'm completely disorganised right now and there are so many things to talk about right now.
I'll continue as thoughts keep coming to my mind.
Emiliano INSUA: I'm delighted that he got the call. I'm hoping he becomes the left-back we've been all waiting for since SORIN retired from international football. Yes, he is not the same kind of attacking force, but he'll probably be able to do a good job and he is a million times better than HEINZE.
Here's a name that will make a lot of Mundo Albiceleste's readers in Malaysia very very happy: Pablo AIMAR.
Will he become the play-maker we're looking for since RIQUELME decided to quit the national team?
We are talking about a guy that was admired by Lionel MESSI when growing up and what I remember of the two of them playing together with Argentina (if my memory doesn't fail me) was actually pretty interesting.
Angel DI MARIA's four-game suspension is finally over and he is another Benfica player on this list.
Lucho GONZALEZ gets another chance now that he is back from an injured shoulder. He's at a new club in Marseille and he scored last week in a league match. I imagine him taking a spot on the right now that Maxi is gone.
Kun and Carlitos get yet another chance at a big stage. Will they finally work? Will they still get to start ahead of players that are performing way better every week?
Nicolás PAREJA will surely be used as a fringe player and will again wait on the sidelines while Gabriel HEINZE keeps getting automatically called up, which makes me end up this article on a bad note and with a horrible set of memories from his past performances.
I'm eager to read your reactions and don't forget the rest of the list will be completed with the usual suspects from the domestic league. Names like Rolando SCHIAVI, Mario BOLATTI, Juan Sebastián VERON, Nicolás OTAMENDI, Emiliano PAPA, Rodrigo BRAÑA and Martín PALERMO look like they have a lot of chances to make it, but be ready to be surprised. I'm sure you already are!
For a change Maradona has come up with a fair list. My changes would be
ReplyDeleteDefenders: Garay and Samuel for Colocinni and Heinze. Samuel is the best argentine defender on current form
Midfield: Perotti for Guttirez. Anyway my feeling is Dimaria will play ahead of both. Also Would love to Banega, he has been exceptional with Valencia this season
Forwards: Zarate for Lavezzi and Lisandro for Tevez. If Lisandro is injured which seems to be the case, I would have included Tevez.
My team would be
Romero
Zabaleta Pareja Heinze Insua
Lucho Mascherano
Aimar
Messi ---------------------DiMaria- Higuain
Adding,Aimar and Higuain has bought Diego some brownie points from me. About Zabaleta,Insua are a with me. But Heinze and Coloccini? Disaster written all over it. I know we have to get real, and stop posting dream players to be called. This is what we have from Europe and lets deal with it. And it is A LOT better. BUT I hope Diego plays, Messi,Higuain,Milito together. Or for the love of God start Higuain or Diego, and do not bring them in late! Aimar can do wrong in my eyes. So I think he will start, along with Di Maria. With Mascherano,Jonas controlling the MF. I am a lot happier with this then what we saw in the past.
ReplyDeleteJack!
Yes Seba I agree with you that missing out on Lisandro is a crying shame. Tevez and Lavezzi I do not think should be near our team but it is politics.
ReplyDeleteJack!
Lots of changes and that's good. I hope Aimar is in form as somebody somewhere recently posted was the case. If so, he can be the missing link that has been sorely missed. I hope Maradona starts Messi and Milito but I'll be surprised if he does. Higuain is a nice addition. I hope Tevez and Aguero bring up the rear. I'm not surprised that Datolo is missing. Di Maria can be more dangerous and Gutierrez better defensively. The defense still scares me, particularly the centerbacks. Good riddance to Carrizo. I'd hope in the future Gago can make a return if the "feud" ever gets settled. I think he has played well for the NT. Overall, I see these changes as an improvement, but will a change in personnel be enough given Maradona's lack of tactics and strategy ? Vamos a ver.
ReplyDeleteWaiting for people to start crying about Zarate,Cambiasso,Samuel,Banega,Garay were not called up.
ReplyDeleteOK I KINDA LIKE DAT LIST WHY IS LAVEZZI STILL DOING ON THE NT
ReplyDeleteI LOVE ZARATE BETTR
ok good enough list, demi is hurt still which sucks...will be interesting what tactic/formation maradona uses....i would go with this
ReplyDelete------------Romero----------
-Zaba--Otamendi--Heinze--Insua-
--------Jonas---Mascherano----
------Aimar-------Di Maria----
-------Messi---Milito/Higuain--
i agree with you johnny about diego lack of tactics and strategy.for god sake i hope he's gonna call soon players who got the level instead of local players like schiavi ,palermo ,dominguez etc ... i'm dreaming of seeing cambisso,zarate,garay,samuel,banega who's playing like xavi,and oscar ustari our best goalkeeper even zanetti in a team of quality will shine
ReplyDeletehmmm... thats better list... Aimar, Insua, Lucho, Zabaleta all i want... + my wish list: Banega, Samuel, Gonzalo, Garay, Cambiasso, Lisandro
ReplyDeletemy starting eleven
Romero
Zabaleta---Pareja---Heinze---Insua
----------------Masche-----------
Lucho------------------Aimar/Jonas
Messi----------------------Di Maria
--------------Higuain/Milito
Barca's 4-3-3
Olé reporting a likely lineup to face Perú that would look like this:
ReplyDeleteROMERO
ZABALETA - SCHIAVI - OTAMENDI - PAPA or INSUA
MASCHERANO
Jonas (on the right), DI MARIA (left)
MESSI behind two other forwards:
LAVEZZI on the right and HIGUAIN or PALERMO on the leftish.
Ridiculous if this is true.
LAVEZZI to start? What the hell!
MESSI would be out of position.
If that was the tactic, I'd rather have AIMAR just behind the two forwards. And those forwards in my opinion should be MESSI and MILITO (although, I think Pipita could work there too. But not PALERMO. Please!).
this is a better selection but it would not surprise me if diego ends up still playing messi,tevez and aguro in the same team but i would like to see messi and higuain and milito in the same team pleasssseeeeeeeee
ReplyDeletealso i agree cambiasso,samual, banega,garay,ustari should be in the 18 so far named.
also good to see aimar back.
Much better list, but that likely lineup that Seba just posted sounds horrific.
ReplyDeleteBy the way - Banega has been playing amazingly well so far this season. He looks years more mature, and he's really showing off some excellent playmaking instincts.
ReplyDeleteI've always felt that he's one of the most talented midfielders that Arg has right now (way more than Gago). I hope he finds a place in the NT soon, because he could be a real help. He porbably needs some more time ...or his watchers need more time to figure out if he really can keep this form and professionalism up.
Let me take a deep breath here…….
ReplyDeleteAIMAR back in the team!!!! YEEEEAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!
Surely this news will make many fans of Argentina from Malaysia very happy. He is playing his best football for as long as I can remember. Of course he was better during his time with Valencia. But still we badly need a playmaker right now and I can’t think anyone better at the moment.
Sadly we are still missing a few other great players.
Lisandro LOPEZ is playing great for Lyon and any reasonable coach would have him instead of Kun and Carlitos. LAVEZZI should not even been mentioned at all for the National Team. Gonzalo HIGUAIN? Well my concern why now? Why call him when we all know that he is going to rot on the Real bench? Again our dearest coach is not making any sense at all with his selection.
At least one part of my prayers has been answered that is the inclusion of Diego MILITO. I’ve been worrying to death about the reports suggesting that Diego might not call him up for some unknown reason.
The midfield looks better than anything we had against Brazil and Paraguay. Its great news to have not just AIMAR but also DI MARIA and Lucho GONZALEZ in the fold. However again, we are missing DATOLO, our best player against Brazil.
Any WTF is the Newcastle duo doing there? They’re playing Championship football and I’m sure they are better players that we can use to occupy their place in the NT.
Our defense? Not surprisingly looks scary as ever. For God sake, HEINZE and COLOCCINI!!!!
Where is Walter SAMUEL? Or FAZIO?
And I feel gutted about the exclusion of Javier ZANETTI. Don’t get me wrong here as I do have high regards for ZABALETA but like Pipita he too has lost his place in Manchester City. What’s the point in this?
Now about the starting eleven….
Well I’m not going to comment on that too much because clearly if we look at Diego’s track record so far, he is never going to play the best players we have from this list.
My feeling is that he is going to start VERON ahead AIMAR. Period. A shame indeed because I’m sure everyone at the Monumental will only get louder just to see their favourite son playing on their holy ground.
Even it is great to see MILITO is still in the frame and HIGUAIN finally being given the call, my feeling is that Diego will never drop both Kun and Carlitos from the starting line up. In fact I will not be surprise that he might put PALERMO ahead of them. I hope I’m wrong here. I really do.
And still being critical about Diego, don’t be surprise if ORTEGA makes the cut after a good game against a Ghana C side. Our worst possible nightmare might even be that Diego will start him ahead of Lucho for the Peru game.
We are living in perhaps the most scariest time of our lives as fan of Argentina. All we can do is keep praying for a better outcome.
Aimar... great news.. I always believe that he will be back in the NT. One of my favourite player since he came here (Malaysia) in 1997... But i'm kinda sad to see Lisandro Lopez didn't get the call, he's way better than Tevez at this moment..
ReplyDeleteThis is the best list he has selected since he coached this team! there are some players that i dont agree with and of course we all have wish lists but i dont even mind that diamond shaped line-up that Ole posted!
ReplyDeletehere is the things with Jonas/Lavezzi on the right, Di Maria/Insua on the left that would balance out the midfield and stretch the defense perfectly for Messi and Higuain to execute!
I know Messi is out of position but thats the only position he can actually play in a 4-4-2 system! otherwise without Jonas were terrible defensively but remember this is just speculation and this happened before so expect to see 3 out of the 11 guys being different and even the system itself!
guys i would consider starting are Zabaleta, Pareja, Otamendi, Insua, Masche, Bolatti, Aimar, Messi, Di Maria, Higuain, Millito, Jonas, Aguero
great article mate as always. I still want to see Gago on the squad but ah well. Hope the chemistry can be formed ti make these previous performances a thing of the past.
ReplyDeleteI'm puzzled if Diego has taken noticed of both AIMAR and DI MARIA of Benfica, how could he possibly missed out on SAVIOLA?
ReplyDeleteBecause everyone besides Aguero, Tevez, Messi dont matter...
ReplyDeletestill no cambiasso, samuel, and banega...
ReplyDeleteand yet again tevez, lavezzi, and aguero are included!
aimar, dimaria, and insua are good news, but then again no datolo who was our best player!
too much bad news to be happy!
You can not make a different team for each game. Aimar is doing well in Lisbon, and Banega even better at Valencia. HE did not call Pipita when he was playing every week last season and is called called now, bad, bad. Argentina need a team,..Maradona don't have it.
ReplyDeleteDi Maria spot has been locked for sometime. Him being suspended for 4 games is the only reason he did not get called up. Look we can not put 25 players on the pitch, it does not work that way nor can we call 45 players. Datolo was going to lose his sport regardless if he scored 10 goals in the last 2 games(taking this context from Seba). We would all love Cambiasso and Samuel but well they are not there. Tevez and Lavezzi yes a couple lugs, but we have to deal with it. Kun I am more faithful. What some people are forgetting to really understand is that Aguero is only 21 years old. 21! He is not even close to his prime yet. He is still a talented player, that all of the world will give their arms for to have on the pitch. He has been with Argentina for a long time, that is why everybody is hard on him. In blink of an eye he can change a game. And not taking him to the WCQ or even WC will be a mistake. His problem is that he is not consistent with us. The same could be said about Messi. Lets just be happy that a handful of new names have been called, and it is a start. After these 2 games which I think we will qualify for. We have 2 massive friendlies coming up. 1 vs Spain I think it is Madrid, and the other is vs Nigeria which will be held in London. I am sure we will have more friendlies down the road to prepare for the WC. The next game will explain where we will be. If we trash Peru by more then 3 goals, that will give us a boost to Uruguay. But we escape with a win, that might linger in their heads. Diego should be smart and play Milito,Higuain and Messi. Hell Milito or Higuain for 60+min is a boost.
ReplyDeleteJack!
Wow . Aimar is back . Hope He"ll bring the team to Africa . I"m happy that Higuain was included too
ReplyDeleteWhy did you leave us Riquelme, we wouldn't be in this mess if we had you pulling the strings in midfield, but the shirt is always more important than the player.
ReplyDeleteTony (Australia)
Lets all hope Pipta and Milito gets substantial gametime.....
ReplyDeleteDont think aimar will be starting though..........
Zabaleta otamendi Heinze Insua
Lucho Masch
Jonas Di Maria
Messi
Milito/Tevez/Higuain
This I think is the probable line up.....
But thinking its peru at home a sane coach might put 3 upfront
Extremely happy to see Aimar back!! Diego actually mangaged to do something that brought true joy to my heart by including him in the squad.
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the list is still somewhat crazy here and there.....like always. Nothing more to say.
with the current players, my selection would be:
ReplyDeleteRomero
zabaleta, heinze, coloccini, insua, mascherano
lucho, dimaria
higuain (aimar), messi,
milito
but i still think the stupid coach will play tevez and/or aguero and won't start either dimaria or lucho.
Heinze? Heinze! Ahhgg! Heinze?!
ReplyDeleteDammit, Heinze?!
I just can't believe Maradona will start Veron over Aimar. Please don't do that ! Veron should ride the pine and be available in case of emergency, or mop up duty.
ReplyDeleteWell I've almost forgot an important info here. Thanks to Argentuban for reminding me in the chat room.
ReplyDeleteVERON will not play against Peru because he is suspended, right?
If yes, then it looks like Diego will have no choice but to give AIMAR the start.
salvio supporter,
ReplyDeletewith the AVAILABLE players, do you believe you have a better choice for the central defender role?
PLEASE, OH PLEASE do not say Otemendi, this guy is sooo horrible he makes a turtle looks more faster and alerted!
Great ! I'm guessing that if Aimar gets a start against Peru, then Veron definitely won't start against Uruguay. I don't dislike Veron, but I think if Aimar is in form he will be a big step up.
ReplyDeleteSpot on Johnny! But then again, its Diego that bothers me. There's no telling what surprise he has in store for us. We'll just have to wait and see.
ReplyDeleteHahaha I know Mohd, I don't like him either. But I would risk using some player from a different position or side, like Zanetti (actually, I don't remember if they're on the same side or whatever). I agree with you that there are not many players to choose from, but Heinze shouldn't be on the list of the Most Fit, since he made more mistakes than others now excluded. We have plenty of good 3 (I insist with Clemente Rodriguez), and the central defender role could be played by other 3... just ask him to stay in his central-defending position and everything would be fine. Actually, everything should be fine by now if Diego were giving them any instructions, but from what I remember, we both coincide in that he's got no brain. I'd give Heinze a chance, but not with Maradona.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I completely agree with you about the rest of the players. Maybe Coloccini makes me feel... strange... I'd like Angeleri, he was there before, but I guess there are good reasons to exclude him and nobody mentioned him ever again. I don't remember.
Angeleri tore up a knee playing in Argentina and I don't know where he is in the rehab process. Definitely not available at the moment.
ReplyDeleteOne thing about VERON that you may have forgotten: he is suspended for the match against Perú.
ReplyDeleteHe will surely be included because he'd be ready by the time we face Uruguay in Montevideo (just the thought of playing a crunch game at the Centenario makes me feel sick to my stomach!).
Therefore, play along with your favourite probable lineups to face Perú but don't include VERON in any of them (not that many of you would have done it, anyway).
John, thanks for the update about Veron, i was gonna ask about his suspension.
ReplyDeleteTo make my comment, generally im not too happy with the selections. Yes, the introduction of Higuain, Aimar and Zabaleta is good news, but that doesnt really solve our problem. Ok, Higuain is a potential solution up front, but how likely is it he will start? And if he does play, will it be more than just 10 minutes in the second half? Yes, its a relief he still picked Milito, but will he play??? And, for some friggin' mysterious reason, Lisandro is not called up. Anyway who cares, its not like he'll get off the bench, El Stupido Diego will still play his super-duper dwarf attack with Messi/Aguero/Tevez up front, regardless. Milito and Higuain will probably not even make the bench (like against Paraguay), with Palermo and Lavezzi being prioritized ahead of them.
Our troubles are not only in attack. What worries me most is the players he picked for defence! Despite his FILTHY form, Heinze is still picked, meaning he WILL start! Coloccini is still picked even though he wont get any playing time, his blonde hair will just be decoration for the bench. Pareja wont play either. He just picks them for laughs. Last month he picked them (with Burdisso as well)... and when he found that he had injury problems at the back, he called for other defenders (Dominguez, Schiavi...). Neither Pareja nor Coloccini nor Burdisso played a single minute against Brazil and Paraguay! I mean what the hell??? Why the f*#@* does El Stupido even pick players if he's not even willing to use them?!?! Its obvious he has no confidence in them, so why the hell does he pick them?!?!?
If there's any new faces i wanted to see in defence, they were Samuel and Demichellis, and BOTH werent selected. Instead, El Stupido will continue to deploy his super-duper rock solid defence of Otamendi-Heinze-Papa, and probably Zabaleta instead of Zanetti. Yes Diego, out of your defenders in the previous two games, Zanetti was the weaker link... very smart! Anyway im really confused, during Maradona's era, Demichellis has always been called up when available, and was doing a pretty good job. He was injured last month, ok... but now he's back in training at Bayern! Why the hell wasnt he picked?!? And its clear for all to see, Samuel is playing GREAT with Inter.. always a rock solid defender! Why does he fail to be called to the NT?!?! Is Bielsa the only coach smart enough to see how good he is?? And what about Burdisso?! Yeah, he may not be perfect... but he definitely is better than all those centre backs that El Stupido just called up!
Now to midfield, ill admit im happy to see a few new faces there: Aimar, Di Maria and Lucho. Im still disappointed not to see Cambiasso there, though. Despite his extremely poor form and leadership, Mascherano continues to be an untouchable. This is ridiculous... he's no way near his best form, and no way near captain material. A BIG reason why Argentina have been failing is because our defensive midfield cant close down attacks from their beginning. Mascherano has been losing the midfield battles with every opposition so far... it's like he's invisible! In the eyes of many, Cambiasso is definitely a better pick. He's way more mature, solid, disciplined, constructive and efficient. Im not saying Mascherano shouldnt be called up, but i'd definitely say that he doesnt deserve his "automatic" birth in DM. This is one of the most important positions for a team, and his poor form is affecting us most. Anyway, i guess we'r never going to see Cambiasso under Maradona.. unless maybe if he marries El Stupido's other daughter or something. Come to think of it, the only way we'll see Aguero out of the starting line up is if he gets a divorce :p
Back to football, and the midfield.. Aimar IS good news, but guys dont get ahead of yourselves just yet. First of all, it remains to be seen if El Stupido will actually start him, and if he does, will he know how to play him? Dont get me wrong, im a big fan of Aimar, but he's not the kind of player who can pull the strings in midfield alone. He's not a central midfielder like Veron or Riquelme.. he's more of an attacking midfielder, and most importantly, he needs SPACE. He needs someone like Veron behind him to ease the pressure off him and give him space to run in. Unlike most of you, im not for Veron's exclusion. On the contrary, i think he's essential to having balance in midfield. Without a player like him our midfield becomes vacuum, with barely any link up between defence and attack. Gago failed miserably to fill his position (although it was expected). Anyway, Veron wont be legible to play against Peru, so im really hoping Lucho Gonzalez plays in the middle. He's more of a central midfielder, except with more attacking ability. His presence will surely give Aimar lots of space. Angel Di Maria will be the best option on the left wing, but El Stupido is a big fan of Mr. wobbly legs Gutierrez. He's only good in a defensive sense, so if he's put on the left wing it will sacrifice any attacking options that we'd have in Di Maria. Against Peru, we need to attack... Di Maria should be the man on the left.
ReplyDeleteAs for the attack, i dont even want to bother. We all know its gonna be either 2 or all 3 of Messi, Aguero and Tevez. Milito and Higuain will be on the bench, with Lavezzi and Palermo above them in the pecking order. The best thing that can happen for us is that between now and then, Aguero, Tevez, Lavezzi and Palermo all get injured during their league games. And for crying out loud, Messi shouldnt be put up front in attack! He must be given a free role, based on the right wing, but free to roam wherever he wants! That's how he plays at Barca, and that's how he should be used with Argie.
With these players here's what i hope for:
==========================================
--------------Romero-------------
Zabaleta--Pareja--Coloccini--Insua
------------Mascherano------------
----Messi-----Lucho-----Aimar-----
--------Milito----Higuain---------
This is what we all know El Stupido will play:
==============================================
--------------Romero-------------
Zabaleta--Otamendi--Heinze---Papa
-------Mascherano----Lucho-------
Tevez-------------------Gutierrez
--------Messi----Aguero--------
Again, im VERY worried about our defence!!! I could barely make up my mind with this shit choice of players. No matter how you put them, i wouldnt feel safe with ANY combination :/
Very happy to see AIMAR and HIGUAIN get the call. Whether they play/start or not is another question. Whenever AIMAR and MESSI have played together, they've been fantastic. But since it would be common sense to start them both together, Diego won't do that.
ReplyDeleteDiego seems to have taken a liken to GONZALEZ, even though he hasn't been playing good with us lately. But I won't complain, I'll take him. The thought of PALERMO starting or even just playing ahead of HIGUAIN is giving me nightmares. The exclusion of ZANETTI I'm not happy about(I'm a ZABALETA fan, but still). Overall, I really like this list. Probably Diego's best list to date.
Ziggy's line-up is pretty good.
ReplyDeleteBut as for Maradona's Choice, I still am reallu upset of the exclusion of Samuel!! I mean the guy was a wall against Barca and he still doesn't get chosen?!!!!!!
the European list is very thin and this means that Dominguez, Otamendi and Papa will be chosen again! What is wrong with Samuel,Garay and Gonzalo?! And please everyone stop mentioning Demichelis... He was at the heart of the defence against Bolivia and Ecuador. He's just not good!
As for the midfield, good to see D.Maria in the team and Aimar's inclusion is good too but not seeing Cambiasso and especially BANEGA makes me sick and reminds me why we're not going to qualify to S.A with Maradona in charge, unfortunately.
I said this before and I say it again, Tevez shouldn't play for Argentina EVER again!! I just can't believe he's still there!!! :S This is the same guy who got 2 red cards , missed a crucial penalty and scored only 1 goal! ONE goal in about 12 games or so?!!! Lavezzi too is there??! A big shame that Lisandro and Zarate didn't make the list and these two numbskulls do.
If it was my choice I would have picked this team:
Gk: Romero , Ustari
Df: Samuel, Garay ,
Gonzalo , Zanetti , Zabaleta , Insua , Fazio
Mf: Mascherano , Cambiasso , Banega , Lucho , Aimar , D.Maria , Salvio
Fw: Messi , Lisandro , MILITO , Higuain , Zarate
Wow! Just heard a commentator saying Diego MILITO has the best goal-average in the whole history of the Italian First Division!
ReplyDelete0,80 goals per match. Of course he played 37 matches and that's not a big number, but still...an awesome bit of information and an excellent trivia question.
The selection is far from perfect but at least certain players are selected on merit and not non football related reasons. However the important thing is not who is called but who is selected to play. The team has to have balance and a physical prescene up front. The mini midget attacking force will not cut the mustard. Its nice to see the return of a genuine playmaker and the retention of Deigo Milito. Its also encouraging that Hinguain has finally been called up. Even though he has not played much for Real Madrid he should be fresh and raring to go.
ReplyDeleteI do think that if the right players are selected Argentina will thrash Peru and get a result against Uruguay. However to excel in the World Cup the players who perform at a consitently high level for their clubs and in Europe should be given a fair chance. I think it is unfair that certain players are selected irrespective of their poor form, whilst those who excel are overlooked.
It is also important that key players are not played out of position. There is no margin for error. If Maradona plays with Messi on the right, Arguerro and Militto or Hinguain up front there will be variations. If Aimar also plays then there would be 4 potential match winners on the park which will ease the burden on Messi.
I do think that dropping Maxi, Zanetti and Gago was justified. Maxi has been poor throughout the campaign, Zanetti is undeserving of a place and Gago has done next to nothing. However i do not understand why Tevez is retained. He is one of the main reasons that Argentina are in this mess in the first place. Argentina were cruising against Colombia until he put the whole team in jeopardy with his off the ball antics. He also put the team in danger against Paraguay when he was harshly sent off. Against Ecuador he missed a crucial penalty. The less said about him the better. He may have moved to Manchester City for a good fee but he has become a poorer player. I do not think that English football is good for artists. It makes players work harder, run faster,hold their own physically but their touch and finesse deserts them. Robinho is another example of a player who has regressed by playing in England. Also Tevez has only scored 1 goal in the qualifiers so based on merit should not be given an automatic slot.
I do feel saddened that Lisandro has been dropped. He is an excellent player who will always perform if given a fair chance. Anyway he can prove his worth by performing for Lyon in the league and in Europe. The time has come to build bridges and to do away with the petty bickering and feuding.
There should still be room for the rest of the Serie A and La Liga brigade if they perform. Anyway the selection is encouraging and i am starting to dream again.
I do think that once Argentina qualify they can continue with the rebuilding and set Africa alight. The teams that normally do well in World Cups are teams that had a stuttering campaign.These teams do not get caught up in all the pre tournament hype. They simply let their football do the talking. Brasil and Germany both had poor qualifying campaigns in prior to WC 2002 so did France and Italy prior to Wc 2006.
I have stated before on this blog that there is no outstanding European team. Spain have been shown up, Germany is just muscular, England is effective, Italy is one dimensional and France have not recovered from the loss of Zidane. I predict that one or more of these teams will be brought down from their pedestal by an African team. Argentina still have a good chance of going all the way if the right personnel and tactics are employed. The selection is a cause for celebration. Finally the right decisions are being made.
I'm tired from this criticism of Aimar and his label of Maradona's favourite. Aguero has been consistent and great every time he has taken the pitch, along with his hard work ethic. Far above the entire team and even moreso than Messi.
ReplyDeleteI mean Aguero not Aimar.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous: personally, I only criticise a player when I know they have potential to do better.
ReplyDeleteExcept for HEINZE, who I know can't do any better and can't really perform in a way that would put him up there in a good-enough level to play international football. So when I speak about HEINZE, I know he can't give anything more than what he gives the team whenever he plays.
Now...explain to me how you can say that AGÜERO has been 'consistent and great'.
Are 4 goals in 12 matches a production that can lead you to say he has performed far above the entire team and even MESSI?
I know it is wrong to judge players only on a goal-scored basis because they can contribute with so many other things, but I can't recall many exciting moments from AGÜERO in this WCQ.
In my opinion, and based on what we all know he can produced, he has underachieved as much as any other player in the team (except for TEVEZ who was the definition of underachievement in this campaign).
Kun's 4 goals?
At home vs. Venezuela (the 4th in a 4-0 win)
At home vs. Bolivia (the 1st in a 3-0 win)
At home vs. Uruguay (the 2nd to put us 2-0 up in a match we ended up winning 2-1)
At home vs. Paraguay (to cancel out a HEINZE own-goal and finish the match 1-1).
No away goals from Kun and as I said, only 4 goals in 12 matches.
In my opinion he does not deserve a spot as a starter and if I was in charge of creating the list, he wouldn't be in the squad right now.
And don't even get me started about how Kun will not pass the ball to players that are not his friends in the national team. I think that's pretty obvious for everybody to see.
I hope maradona start with this line up.
ReplyDeleteromero
zabaleta,otamendi,heinze,insua
mascgerano
lucho, aimar
messi di maria
milto
guys one thing stupid maradona will do in the last 2 qualifers is
ReplyDeleteMessi
Augero
Tevaz
in the starting lineup im 95% certain this will happen
and
Ortega will replace Veron who is suspended
Local players will be officially called on Sunday 4th October 2009 for the last 2 qualifers.
ReplyDeleteDepends who does well in the game againest Ghana.
I agree with Seba on Kun, his objection to passing to Milito in one game was an ABSOLUTE DISGRACE!!
ReplyDeleteThe good thing about Higuan is that he is a very complete/mature player just like Milito. They know when to pass, exchange a one-two and head the ball.
Kun cannot boast these qualities. Kun needs a more humble approach and improve his game. Zarate can match Kun in every respect plus has a big game mentality and blinding freekicks.
Lavezzi and Tevez are just riduculous picks. Tevez was injured and poor and Lavezzi struggling for form with Napoli. He needs to grow up too like Kun.
Perrotti would have been a good selection but maybe Maradona can spoils these prospects. I recall Sebas comments for being torn between wishing for a qualification or a total rebirth post Maradona.
COLICCINI being picked must lead to Samuel eating another striker for breakfast. Thats all I say.
As for no CAMBIASSO- he is the most complete, mature, dependable player we had in the last 5 years. However, these qualities are an insult to Maradona.
Feel sorry for ALL the players, really do. Even the poor ones as its not their fault.
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