Wednesday, September 09, 2009

Player Ratings: Paraguay 1-0 Argentina

By Dave P.

Wow, that’s all I have to say. I remember way back when MARADONA was first elected coach of Argentina how controversial it was but deep down inside I was a little happy to see our great player be coach of the NT. Oh how everything has changed, it has been a while since I have done player ratings and once again I am writing them with negative emotions. I can’t remember the last time I wrote these with a satisfied feeling. In the first 15 mins it felt as if our team was starting to get a little chemistry together but as the clock moved forward everybody drifted away from the mentality of winning. It seemed as if we were just going through the motions, no combination, just lazy passes and sloppy positioning. It’s not like we were
dominated by Paraguay, we just did not have any attack what so ever, which means eventually our defense was going to break down. Especially with our make shift defense at the moment.

Anyways here are my depressing ratings again…

Sergio ROMERO (5): Our best player on the night, he was not tested too often but came up with a few quick reaction saves. The goal that was scored on him he could have quite possibly gotten down to the ground quicker to parry the shot, but then again he is our tallest keeper and it is harder for him to get down compared to ANDUJAR or CARRIZO. Saved ZANETTI's butt at least 2 times when he was quick to come off his line and collect the ball. Good game.

Javier ZANETTI (2): In the beginning of the match was very quiet, but had a few good combination runs with MESSI and VERON. On the goal that was scored he was slightly out of position but the main thing was that he was not fast enough to keep up with HAEDO VALDEZ. I have always had good things to say for ZANETTI, but after tonight’s performance coupled
with his last 3 games I say its time for ZANETTI to move on. Not only was he too slow to catch HAEDO VALDEZ but also he seemed to be lost all game with whom he was defending.

Sebastián DOMINGUEZ (1.5): Wow! Another very shaky performance from a CB. This is exactly what we don’t need, he got beat by the Paraguayan strikers far to easily and too often throughout the game. Was probably the main reason why we conceded the goal. He pushed up way to far to help GAGO and MASCHERANO, which opened up space for HAEDO VALDEZ and spread the back 4 leaving the rest of our defense confused. I thought DOMINGUEZ was a fast player but after tonight, he proved that he is not a NT quality player.

Gabriel HEINZE (3): In the beginning HEINZE had some good tackles when DOMINGUEZ got beat which could have possibly saved us from further embarrassment. But like the majority of our team as the game went on no one seemed to know what playing football meant. He drifted all over
the place and became his reckless self. However that being said he was probably the best defensive player on the team tonight.

Emiliano PAPA (4): One of our most active players, which is sad to say because he is our left back. PAPA hustled up and down the entire left wing all game without ever losing his speed or tiring. Every time he joined the attack his quickness was a problem for the defense of Paraguay, however his final touch or cross never ended in anything positive. Still I was impressed with his endurance and determination. Good outing in a bad game for PAPA.

Jesús DATOLO (4): Played only the first half then LAVEZZI was subbed in at half time. DATOLO was very active and a bright spot for us in the first 20 minutes. He could not be slowed down and was able to beat defenders to get to the end line. Played in some crosses and one dangerous one that our short strikers would never be able to head. However, for some reason after the 20 min mark he drifted out of the game and seemed to not have the hunger that he had in his last two outings. Played good for not having any support from AGÜERO or MESSI.

Javier MASCHERANO (2.5): Very poor outing from MASCHERANO. You would expect his typical bulldog approach in helping out our back four, but instead he was too reckless and caught out of position too many times. On the goal that was scored, DOMINGUEZ was beat then GAGO and MASCHERANO both missed chances to poke the ball away and were beat. Not much else to say for Masche our captain acted nothing like a captain in tonight's consecutive loss. Should be embarrassed.

Fernando GAGO (2.5): Pretty much the same thing as MASCHERANO. GAGO played way too defensive and was part of the problem for why we had no support on any attacking runs. Every time he got the ball he would force a ball up to the attack, which would get us no where, just lose of
possession. Now I have seen GAGO play well before, but this performance was sad to watch. He had no clue what to do when he was on the ball and held on to it not just 1 second too long but 3 or 4 seconds too long. Sad to say but if this is the GAGO that comes to play he is not NT quality either.

Juan Sebastián VERON (1): Terrible. Through out the game VERON was too slow for the pace of our attackers and held onto the ball too long missing any chances that we had for combinations, which were few and far between. Had a few crosses but they were all wasted. All his set piece kicks were wastes as well. As the game went on you could see his tiredness
combine with his frustration build and it was inevitable that he was going to get a red card. Still was very stupid of him for once he get the red card that pretty much made our team concede. I don’t want to seem like a pessimist but he does not deserve to every be back on the
NT either.

Sergio AGÜERO (4): Was very active in the beginning of the game and played well with DATOLO, however not combining well with MESSI throughout his entire performance. AGÜERO worked very hard but no avail. Tracked down the Paraguayan defenders and ran at defenders which no one else, not even MESSI, was doing. Was subbed our for PALERMO in the 58min, which proved to be a dumb idea. No one was doing anything to help AGÜERO. Probably the hardest working player on the night.

Lionel MESSI (2): Hmm, usually I am the first one to compliment MESSI even in our games that we lose. However, in this game he was no where to be found ever. He did run hard, but barely was on the ball and never made any breath taking runs at defenders. You could see the frustration build as the game went on with MESSI. All his free kicks and corners were terrible. Yeah he may have been tired, but if you are considered the best player in the world then you should at least be some what of a threat to the opposition. PAPA was more of an attacking threat then MESSI tonight. Very sad performance for MESSI, I feel for him.

Subs:

Ezequiel LAVEZZI (4): Came in to start the second half and was a great choice by MARADONA. When the team was down and seemed that they did not have any fight in them the ball went to LAVEZZI and he would create or attempt to create an attack. He ran effortlessly and won some free kicks and corner kicks that could have been dangerous if MESSI could play a good
ball. Still when he was brought on our attack had no cohesion, which relates back to the fact that we have no attacking midfielder or player maker in the midfield.

Martín PALERMO N/A: Came on for AGÜERO in the 58th did absolutely nothing but win a header in the dying seconds that gave us our best chance all game but SCHIAVI could not get on the end of it. Would be a different rating if we had scored on that. Way too slow for the pace of the game even with fresh legs.

Rolando SCHIAVI N/A: Would not like to see him ever called up again, like PALERMO way too slow and was beat way to easily in the few minutes that he was in.

…So yeah another defeat in the books and we find ourselves in the 5th place 2 points behind Ecuador and only 1 point above Uruguay and Venezuela. Ok so we had a lot of injuries that limited some of our good defenders from being called up for this round, and hopefully they have speedy recovers for the upcoming October qualifiers. I have said it before and I will say it again, the past couple qualifiers have been sad for me to watch, we are losing our passion and ability to attack. I blame it all on the fact that we have no midfielder that can play with our strikers and pass and mover, also, not set tactic. Veron was supposed to do that but as we all saw the last two games he is no where near what he used to be and does not
deserve to play for the NT. What I think needs to be done, I don’t know how realistic it is. But I feel that we need MARADONA to quit or be fired. Many people think that if we do this that it will just cause more confusion. I disagree we are in a desperate position and are in
immediate need of help and change. Hate to say it but desperate times call for desperate measures, get MARADONA out of here, the first games that he coached we played well but that was because of his initial motivation factor. As the games have gone on we now see that MARADONA has no clear tactic at all and that he is making our players have no clue what we are doing while on the pitch. Get rid of MARADONA now! Bring in a interim coach, or BATISTA. Get a list of different players for the October qualifiers. New faces that will show their passion and willingness to help out their country in times of need, instead of playing the same old defenders and midfielders.

30 comments:

King Aguero said...

I hate to say this SEBA but Maradona will not be fired and he already stated that he wont quit and hes not scared of anyone and he has Grondona's support

Sadly enough i think Argentina wont qualify bro even though i dont understand how that helps Grondona? Isn't he suppose to fear the ppl if they dont make the WC? since his job may be at risk?


Anyway its a sad situation but i doubt Maradona gets moved out of his position

johnny said...

Dead on from Dave and I couldn't agree more. This team is a shambles right now and played much worse tonight than against Brazil. They have no defining personality whatsoever and lack any kind of coherence on the pitch. Some of the players looked like they threw in the towel tonight. A sad thing to say with two huge matches coming up soon, but this team needs a major overhaul right now. AND, they couldn't play any worse than tonight if they had a new coach starting this week and nearly half the players were replaced before Peru. Desperate times call for desperate measures, but I don't think we will see it happen. Without changes, my bet is that Argentina will be watching everybody else come South Africa. This is a horrible team right now.

Was there even one shot on goal ?

Allan said...

I did not see the game but I am just hugely disappointed. Argentina and Messi not going to the WC is just not acceptable.

But even if Maradona gets fired, who is there to replace him? With the situation so desperate, few managers will want to take on the job at such a late stage.

GK said...

Anyone one of us could replace Maradona and do a better job.

Argentina team rating: 0

batigol9 said...

I haven't seen Argentina play so bad in 25 years of watching them.Not a single shot on goal in 90 minutes!!!,no creativity,everytime they got the ball they lost it after 2 seconds.If Maradona stays there is no way we can beat Uruguay or even draw against them.
As the situation stands,Argentina need 4 points to take 5th place and 2 wins would get us 4th,however Maradona needs to go,we bring a new coach,you inject Riquelme+Cambiasso+Samuel+Milito/Higuain/Lopez in the team kick Tevez/Aguero/Domingez/Heinze/Veron/Papa out of the team forever,then we might have a chance of making it to South Africa.I cannot comprehend that teams like Paraguay,Chile,and Ecuador are ahead of us ...it is just not acceptable and a complete nightmare....They need a new coach whoever he is to inject a new spirit into the team..if Maradona has some dignity he would quit right away...why should we suffer of having a World Cup without Argentina ...it is just unthinkable and every fan's worst nightmare....we have waited all those years to see Argentina lift the World Cup again and it seems this is a distant dream so far.I still belive that if we qualify we can enahnce the team till the World Cup.We still have hope but action has to be taken immediately...

Anonymous said...

gk you are correct on maradona but the reality with argentine football is their has been a problem for a long time infact since peckerman resigned.
we have not looked good at all in any of the qualifiers.
who to replace deigo?? i dont really know at all as their are no real options only stop gap measures.
the whole of argentine football is in trouble with the players in many positions that are simple not good enough and the best of the rest are not good enough as back up even.
the only starters are messi and romero with maybe masch as well.
we just dont have the top class players we once had and their is a lot of the up in comers have not made the grade.
were to go from here i just dont know!!
i can only hope we get to the world cup and that will at least give some players time to work togeather as at present it appears none of them have ever played in the same team.

Anonymous said...

Hey guys, do any of u think that this whole thing is pre thought by Grondona and AFA in order to bring down Maradona once and for all? Think about it, hiring maradona was a win-win situation for them. If he does really well, then the people see that AFA made a good decision. If it's not, then the people will turn against Maradona and it ruins his reputation.

Joe said...

I really do not know where to start. I am truly and utterly devastated. There is a real chanche that the second greatest love of my life is about to miss the World Cup. I have already given my wife a heads up that come next summer i could be in a very very bad mood most of the time. I kills me to see such a team with such great talent be so awful.

I echo everyones words when i say that the sole responsibillity lies in the hands of DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA. I truly believe that his heart is in the right place and that he works his socks of. But when it comes to the technicall ability he is very much lost.

I live in Sweden and i stayed up untill 4 in the morning to watch the game. Knowing that i will later only get three hours of sleep i prayed that it would be worth it. BUT it was all for nothing.

I watched the game with a friend and both me and him could see clear cut tactical misstakes and the very small details that makes a diffrent. I would really like to know how Maradona prepares a game? Does he study the opponents strengths/weaknesses? Does he study really his own teams strenght and weaknesses? Does he try to give the players clear instructions on how to play or play in a certain way? I saw many tactical errors that it seemed the Maradonas tactical ability stays with him telling the players play down the flanks or play through the middle. But it stops there! Those he folow up with clear instructions to the rest of the players when the ball is played? Is there instructions for how the defence should act when the ball is played down the flank? Or how Messi and aguero will act, or if the midfield will go up or stay down?

Tactical Misstakes!

He plays the long ball! You play the long ball if you have a strong prefered long target player. So the player could either recieve the ball hold on to it or head it to forwrd to another player.

Set pieces - There is no clear cut instructions on set pieces. That is an area we have to be stronger at because they will foul us alot.

The attack play is awful when we play the attacking game there are not eneugh palyers in offensive area. Alot of the time we had only one player in the box and neither gago or veron or Macherano going forward to take the evntuall balls that might fall to them.

then you got the tactical line up. Maradona wants us to play 4-4-2. Come on were not England.

Finally i truly believe we have to start with a target player. There is no one better at the moment then Diego Milito. Because we have to have some arial precense.

The Positives!

Romero - Really impressed me with his awarness. Great at high balls.

It is still in our own hands, we can make it with our own strenght.

The last time we played the playof games we reached the final in the world cup. Maybe good if we go to the world cup as not favorites.

Dunga started just as badly as Maradona when he took over. Look at where he is now. One can hope that Maradona eveloves in the same way.

messidona19 said...

Fuck this play and the hell with supporting a lifeless team! I won't be sad at all if we don't qualify and that's all because we don't deserve it!!

I assure you that if Maradona stays
with the N.T for the last 2 matches that we won't even make 6th place! Peru have a bigger chance of winning us at home than we do!!
What a shambles of a team! I'm sure if we played San Marino or Faroe Islands that we won't get a goal! I've never seen Argentina play this bad and the fact that Maradona is still coach means that I'll never support Argentina again!

Not qualifying to the WC means that Messi will be another Club legend but National team flop. I've never seen Messi and Masche play this bad. The team will not get a single point if they continue with that joke of a coach Maradona. I'm sorry but it's never too late for Bianchi to come and coach them for the last 2 matches and after the world cup elimination which wouldn't be his fault.
Hell! I'd choose Steve Mclaren,Claudio Ranieri,Hector Cuper and Raymond Domenech all over Maradona who was the greatest player in the world but the worst coach in history too!

Joe said...

Please is there someone who maybe can tell us what the newspappers are writing in Argentina. Because i dont read any spanish.

Anonymous said...

He started off brilliantly...but then he was awful. The only good thing about Maradona is that he knows how to play against the European teams. They always won against the European teams, but the only victories against the South American were just against Venezuela and Colombia at home.

If we look at the remaining schedule, I think it's not that dangerous:

10/10/09 TBA Argentina Argentina - Peru
10/10/09 TBA Bolivia Bolivia - Brazil
10/10/09 TBA Colombia Colombia - Chile
10/10/09 TBA Ecuador Ecuador - Uruguay
10/10/09 TBA Venezuel Venezuela- Paraguay
13/10/09 TBA Paraguay Paraguay - Colombia
13/10/09 TBA Peru Peru - Bolivia
13/10/09 TBA Uruguay Uruguay - Argentina
13/10/09 TBA Brazil Brazil - Venezuela
13/10/09 TBA Chile Chile - Ecuador

the current standing:

Brazil * 16 9 6 1 32 9 33
Paraguay 16 9 3 4 22 13 30
Chile 16 8 3 5 27 20 27
Ecuador 16 6 5 5 21 23 23
Argentina 16 6 4 6 20 19 22
Uruguay 16 5 6 5 26 18 21
Venezuela16 6 3 7 22 27 21
Colombia 16 5 5 6 10 14 20
Bolivia 16 3 3 10 20 34 12
Peru 16 2 4 10 9 32 10

The MAIN thing we have to do is win the game against the weakest team Peru at home. If we win that game, we'll be pretty much OK. Ecuador will have to face Uruguay the next game. If Ecuador won, then it's Argentina and Ecuador who likely go through. If Uruguay won, and then beat Argentina in the last game, then it's Uruguay and Argentina going through.

My most likely scenario for the 5 candidates for the next 2 games:

Ecuador 1 win and 1 loss (3 points)
Argentina 1 win and 1 draw (4 points)
Uruguay 1 loss and 1 draw (1 point)
Venezuela 1 draw and 1 loss (1 point)
Colombia 1 win and 1 loss (3 points)

If that scenario is correct then Argentina will be fourth and Ecuador fifth. Both of them will have 26 points with Argentina have better goal difference.

EVEN IF Argentina fail to win the last game against Uruguay, that would make us have 25 points. Uruguay will only have 24 (if they manage to win against us in the last game).

So again... the key is the game against Peru. So I don't think it's that dangerous.

The most likely scenario: we will finish 4th!

Anonymous said...

you know what that makes me feel a lot better thanks

msi2 said...

jack, you were wondering why we couldnt beat Brazil? Now we cant beat Paraguay? Not only that but it seems we are a far cry from even foresee it... unbelievable.

Batigol said...

If Diego Maradona still continues to be the coach for the last 2 matches, we can get prepare to say goodbye to 2010 world cup.

DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!! DIEGO OUT!!!

Mohd said...

i do not want to be the hope crasher for some of you, but with maradona there is a 70% chance we won't beat pero at home. and it is 100% that we won't even get a draw against urguay.

arg is playing the most horrible football that i can remember.

Unknown said...

If Diego stays on as coach, they aren't just going to not win their remaining games, they aren't going to even SCORE in their remaining games. Peru are no mugs. They might be in last place, but they have many international players, and will play with no stress or burden. Uruguay will be a bloodbath. There is nothing good that could come from an Uruguay game in Montevideo. It'll just be a contest in who will shoot themselves in the head/foot the most.

Arg will make it ONLY if Diego gets the boot. If he stays on there is no chance.

The players have no faith in him as a coach -- it's obvious for all to see. His presence as a player probably does nothing more than stress them out.

Mohd said...

http://goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2009/09/10/1491913/goal-lazio-is-mauro-zarate-the-man-to-save-diego-maradona

Anonymous said...

According to an article in el grafico -- a blog actually -- http://www.elgrafico.com.ar/blog_detalle.php?id_post=
"the rumour is that Grondona no longer wants Maradona and will let him go." The supposition is that Bilardo would step in to replace him. The writer points out that there is no precedent for Grondona firing a DT. But there were no precedents for Grondona breaking a 20 yr TV contract either -- so anything is possible.

Of course, this is merely rumour. As the article says, what must happen at very least is that Diego get some assistance, that Diego ALLOW some assistance in technical matters.

Anonymous said...

i thought it would impossible that argentina loses 3 consecutive quali-games in row, but it happened. out with maradona! bring 0r bilardo or pekerman!

if he stays i hope argentina is smart enough to pay peru 50000000 dollars. it worked in 1978, it will work now.

salvio supporter said...

It's funny how they played with Agüero as 9 in the first half, and when Palermo was in, they were trying to play with him as if he were a 10. They had to play with Palermo the way they tried to play with Agüero. Were they really expecting Palermo to control the ball a la Messi?

Die Maradona. And that's not german.

Anonymous said...

Argentina need a player like Hernan Crespo!

ZiggY said...

I'v had it with Diego, he has proven himself to be a totally clueless and selfish bastard... we are finally seeing the real side of Diego, the side of his personality that we all never saw. His love for himself exceeds the love for his country by far. All he cares about is his image, and you can see that in his "its my way" attitude. He wants to do things the unexpected way, the weird way, the way where if he succeeds, he can tell the world "told you so, i did it my way..". That's his dream, his motivation, the reason behind all his controversial decisions. Im really not in the mood to bash him right now, but i am seriously disgusted with what i saw against Paraguay. That was not football, that was a disgrace to football, a disgrace to Argentina and everything we believe in and support, a disgrace to us, a total and complete embarassment. I cant even say the word Argentina with pride anymore, im humiliated! I feel sick!

Sorry for the ugly words guys, but im seriously pissed and devastated, and i think we all are. As fans of the Albiceleste it is our duty to show our displeasure. Its not only Maradona at fault, but also the players. Even when Basile was still coaching they were playing awful. They lack the spark, the motivation, the charisma and the energy. I have no confidence in these players anymore. This qualifying campaign has made me sick and im starting to realize how over-rated some of our players are, seriously:

* Aguero is terribly inconsistent and will never ever shine at international level.

* Tevez, for all his effort and donkey work, will remain just a "skilled" player, and never a match decider or a winner... he's not one you can rely on to deliver. Too much fancy work, no effectivity.

* Mascherano, for all his skill, is too easy to break. He gives up easily and can easily turn from solid to non-existent. He cracks under pressure, and if the whole team is playing bad, he'll play even worse. I have really lost faith in him and am starting to really think he's way too over-rated. Oh, and not captain material AT ALL!... and definitely not an untouchable!

* Gago, all the hype made about him is totally exaggerated... definitely not international starter material. I like his fighting and aggressive spirit, but he's sometimes way too clumsy with his passes and you cant fully rely on him as part of a solid midfield unit.

* Veron......... nothing more than just a sub to bring on in the second half to slow down play. Nothing more!

* Lavezzi....... only impressive to the naiive few. Europeans who dont know much about dribbling and skill would only be impressed. But for us, who know more about Latin football, we'v all seen much better. Definitely an over-rated player.

* Zanetti....... his days are OVER!

* Heinze........ one word, GARBAGE!

ZiggY said...

The players i mentioned are just the ones that we and the media all consider to be among the best Argentine talent. Clearly im beginning to disagree with many of them... and im not gonna even bother talking about the others: Dominguez, Papa, Otamendi, Andujar and although he didnt play, Gutierrez.

I know i went pretty far by criticizing our beloved players and idols, and i hope it doesnt offend anyone, but i think we should all wake up and seriously re-evaluate some of them and be more realistic than dreamful. Maybe im seeing some things wrong, but all i know is that this is not a winning team. These are not winning players. I cant even close my eyes an imagine most of them so much as even touching the WC trophy... not even a Copa America! The whole face of the team must change, starting from that face of Maradona who i have come to totally dispise!

We need fresh new blood, players that are not only promising but give a team more confidence, depth and ability. Higuain, Zarate, Garay and Zabaleta are just four new faces that SHOULD be introduced! Cambiasso + Riquelme partnership in the middle must be re-installed, with Samuel back at the heart of defence, partnering Demichellis... fingers crossed as well for G.Milito to make a good come back. Lucho Gonzalez, Diego Milito and Lisandro should all be given more chances. We shouldnt at all ignore the experience of our former players as well, we always need a few among the team.. like Aimar, Crespo or D'alessandro. Its never wrong to look at them. As for the bunch already in the team, Gago, Tevez and Mascherano need more improvement and training with the team.

The loss to Paraguay has happened. We'r all heart-broken, mad, and hoping to see SOMETHING come out of it at least, mostly a sack for Maradona, or the call for new players that Diego has been ignoring so far. The way we are right now is a mess, we'r a total disaster. I'v seen women play better than this! I dont know much about Grondona's politics, but im hearing that it's very improbable that he'll give Diego the sack. This is sad and im very worried. I know Diego will not change. I know that his next call ups will be exactly the same, and his tactics the same mess! The only way out is change... and i know Maradona is too stubborn to do that, unless its his way which involves calling up Boca oldies. We'r suffering from a disease called Maradona. Im hopeless guys, i see no light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, we still have an OK chance to qualify, considering what the next fixtures are... but still, even if we do... going like this to South Africa is even worse. I'd rather we stay home than suffer the pain of another 2002 first group exit.

I had plans to go to Spain to watch the friendly on the 14th of November... and now im seriously reconsidering.

I love you Argentina, get well soon...

johnny said...

Following up on Ziggy's comments about Maradona being "selfish". So clear ! So wrapped up in himself. So narcissistic. When he talks about the the constant losing, he states-"this will not break me". Please ! This is not about whether or not Maradona "breaks" but about the TEAM BREAKING ! That is obviously secondary to him as he puts himeslf above the team, not to mention Argentina. Maradona, a great futboler, but an absolute disaster as a manager.

An another thing that might explain the apparent poor motivation and lack of fire with so many players. Don't you think that many of the players see Maradona for what he is as a manager ? Particularly the players who have, and have had, high profile careers in Europe, and have played for, and been instructed by, professional coaches who know what they are doing-from tactics, strategy, player management and all the rest. You KNOW that they KNOW that Maradona is lost ! How could they not !? And with that knowledge they must feel that they are fighting an uphill battle and hopeless about the current mess.

Anonymous said...

ZiggY you are right. toooo many players are overrated. and tooo many players are toooo small.

but imagine if argentina misses 2010? 2014 in brazil, 2018 maybe in england: this will be very difficult for argentina.

Anonymous said...

hey guys i saw some criticising leo but that's an obvious thing he's in the rightest condition how one would see the messi in barca when he's with that can't happen when he got as teamate palermo,d'atolo,schiavi etc...

Batigol9 said...

i totally agree with Ziggy,at least 8 of the 11 players should be kicked out of the team forever,i have never ever seen Argentina play so horrible.
I always thought that South Africa is a chance for us to win the Wolrd Cup but for the last 2 years even when Basile was their,i felt that the players didn't give a shit about playing for the NT.It really is a dilemama of whether it is Bielsa/Maradona fault or the players don't take it too seriously or try to avoid injuries,because it is just unbeliveable the way they defend.We have conceded 18 goals in the last 5 games.This is a really scary statistic.
As others said it,there is no way we can beat Uruguay with such a team and coach.It really saddens me becuase I know that WE CAN DO IT AND QUALIFY but nobody has the balls to take the correct action and kick Maradona out and get a decent coach.I tHink people in Argentina should protest on the streets!! to get something done about this...

Batigol9 said...

btw,I would like to get ur opinion on DeMaria.Do u think he will be back for the last 2 games? I always saw him as a versatile player,and maybe he is the one who might be our winning joker and help us qualify...

salvio supporter said...

Oh! And remember what happened to the U-20 under Batista. They had one chance after another, and everything went wrong. And I'm very scared by the possibility of having him as the next coach, it's probable after all...

No idea on what happened to Di Maria. He's been suspended for so long, when will he come back? We need him to replace Agüero for God's sake.

Serenity Now said...

We can criticise the players all we like, but do Paraguay have better players, really? Do Chile have better players? Do Ecuador have better players? Even Brazil is open to debate, I think. If you look through every one of those teams you can see plenty of problems. To me, it's easy to say that particular players are overrated and that things would be better if only Player X was dropped and Player Y was in the team, that they don't feel the shirt enough, or that they don't have enough hambre de gloria, but it's very difficult to perform in a team with no concept of how it's supposed to play.

Basile, Pekerman, Bielsa, they all had clear ideas of how they wanted their teams to perform. Maybe they weren't the right ideas, or they didn't implement them correctly, but they each had a vision. I don't think Diego does. In every game the formation and the players included have been different and the level of tactical organisation has seemed to decrease each time. It seems that instead of trying to fix the problems with the team on the on the training pitch, he brings in another player (or five) and completely changes the shape of the team. How are they supposed to perform as a team when this is happening?

I don't think you can blame Diego for this either. He is who he is. The greatest football player to ever walk the earth and a man of tremendous charisma, but not someone with the requisite technical skills to be a football manager and, arguably, not someone with the right kind of personality for the role either. Prior to his appointment, he hadn't even been involved in football on a serious basis for many years. (Standing in his palco in the Bombonera doesn't count.)

So, in my opinion, the blame lies squarely with the people who appointed him.