I am as happy as every Argentina fan because we won.
I also feel like I have a responsibility in front of all of you to avoid getting too carried away and I feel the need to try to analyse things as objectively as possible.
The truth is, Mundo Albiceleste will be one of the main victims if Argentina doesn't get to the World Cup. What would we be writing about if we miss out? I don't even want to think about it. The thought alone drives me crazy.
That is why, first and foremost, I desperately want Argentina to qualify to South Afica 2010.
On the other hand, though, tonight's win left me with a bittersweet taste that I can't take off my mouth.
We won. Other results went our way and now we can probably afford a draw in Uruguay to make it to the World Cup. But I'm afraid our manager will be blinded by the result and will forget or ignore the fact that we needed to get a fluky goal deep in injury time to beat a team that have lost all their previous away matches in this World Cup Qualifying campaign.
MARADONA will probably disregard the fact that we were clearly outplayed during the entire second half by a below-average Peruvian side (they were without at least their three best players: Claudio PIZARRO, Paolo GUERRERO and Jefferson FARFAN).
We panicked when we went up 1-0 and we lost the ball from then on.
MARADONA, who clearly got out of jail with that last-gasp goal from PALERMO, is surely thinking we won because of The Beard (God). That certainly is not the best recipe to follow when our national team is going through a phase in which a cool head is needed much more than hot mystic delirium and belly-surfing goal celebrations.
Our team had no balance. I applaud the intention of playing offensive football. I welcomed the inclusion of AIMAR and HIGUAIN instead of insisting with AGÜERO and TEVEZ.
AIMAR gave us another dimension going forward because he knows how to bring the ball up from midfield and he's got an eye for the killer assist.
AGÜERO and TEVEZ are great players, but they were not clicking together with MESSI and they were nowhere near a decent level considering what we all know they can bring to the table.
Giving full debuts to unproven Enzo PEREZ and young Emiliano INSUA was a different matter. PEREZ didn't convince me. He had a chance in the opening minute that would have changed the entire evening had it gone in and after that, he faded out. Didn't convince me.
INSUA, on the other hand, had a good game, but considering his youth and the stage freight sometimes can come together with matches like this, could have given us all sorts of headaches.
I won't go name by name. I'm just trying to analyse Diego's decisions and the effect they had on this game and on the current state we are in.
To start the second half, Diego introduced PALERMO (a second big target man, traditional striker or Number 9 as we call them in Argentina) and decided to take out an engine like Enzo PEREZ from midfield.
Yes, we needed to score, but sometimes, just sending forwards to the pitch is not the solution. It's not something that will guarantee you get a result. In my opinion, that substitution came a little too early. It looked more like a substitution a manager would have made in the final 15 or 10 minutes when you desperately need to score and the opposition will be happy to seat back and wait for you to attack them.
Not when the second half is just starting. Because then you score in the second minute of that second half and what? The game changes. Perú has to come out and attack you and they will be more prepared to battle it out in midfield.
Argentina were left with too many attacking players on the pitch (MESSI, PALERMO, AIMAR, HIGUAIN and even DI MARIA who was more in charge of attacking than defending). That's half the field players you have. The bench wasn't ready to give you too many options because our only defender was DEMICHELIS and then you only had one midfielder that could do a job defensively (Mario BOLATTI). The rest were all offensive players (Federico INSUA, Carlos TEVEZ and Sergio AGÜERO).
MARADONA simply took too long before he decided to change a few things but by then Perú grew so much in confidence that they were winning all the key battles in every area of the pitch.
The emergence of Sergio ROMERO as an immense goalkeeper has to be one of the best things to happen to Argentina in recent times and in more than one occasion, he was there to save us from disaster.
The inevitable came, though, and Perú got their deserved equalizer in the dying minutes. Again, because Argentina were unable to keep control of the ball. I can't recall a single decent chance after HIGUAIN's goal until that miracle from Martín PALERMO, deep into injury time.
We can't keep relying on The Beard to give us a hand and guide us to the World Cup. We can't keep relying on other results to go our way and oh boy they did go our way in every match from our region on Saturday.
We need to sort it out and we need to open our eyes and understand that PALERMO is not the solution to all our problems.
I'm sure we all do, but I'm also sure (unfortunately) that our manager doesn't.
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thinking ahead to Urguay match. i would like to have the following formation:
---romero---
junas, demichelis, heinzi, insua
mascherano, bolatti, dimaria
messi----aimar
higuain
--------------
Shiavvi HAS TO GO. while enzo perez is a complete waste. against Urguay we need another holding midfielder, so i would go with Bolatti.
do you agree?
I can't stand HEINZE, so...for me, I'd change that defense and use PAREJA or OTAMENDI (or even Kun AGÜERO in that position instead of HEINZE! ANYONE!).
I don't see how MARADONA will leave VERON out of this one. He'll definitely play in midfield together with MASCHERANO.
PALERMO will probably start ahead of HIGUAIN. One thing MARADONA confirmed in the press conference after the game is that he won't use PALERMO and HIGUAIN together up front (who had that idea in the first place???)
I think we could be back to 4-4-2 with AIMAR being the main victim of that change.
I'd think Diego could use PAREJA as a right back, Jonas back in midfield (maybe on the right), a central-midfield pair of MASCHERANO and VERON and DI MARIA on the left.
MESSI and PALERMO up front.
Diego's lineup could look a lot like this (not that I suscribe):
ROMERO
PAREJA-DEMICHELIS-HEINZE-INSUA
JONAS-VERON-MASCHERANO-DI MARIA
MESSI-PALERMO/or HIGUAIN, but I'm thinking PALERMO.
What I'd do?
With the players we've got right now?
ROMERO
PAREJA-DEMICHELIS-OTAMENDI-INSUA
Jonas-MASCHERANO-DI MARIA
AIMAR (in the hole)
MESSI-HIGUAIN
I can even go without DI MARIA (seeing as we would need more destruction than creation in midfield and in that case I'd switch Jonas to the left and use BRAÑA in midfield on the right).
I like VERON and his experience but he suffers when he plays wide on the right and if I'm going with a playmaker right now, it has to be AIMAR.
No doubt a win is a win and all credit is due to Martin PALERMO for being at the right place and the right time. However I’ll agree with you Seba in every sense. The manner of this victory was achieved can only mislead Diego to God knows what against Uruguay.
I’m beginning to get the feeling that we have had too many divine intervention during these last few days but there is NO way that we can go on pretending that we can rely on that to qualify.
I think the first half was a good half for Argentina! but those debuts killed us! and gave Maradona another reason why you dont give someone a debut in a crucial match!
Higuain missed 2 sitters
Perez missed a sitter and wasn't good he looked scarred.
Insua backheeled a pass that built up to their goal!
I mean this wasn't a great performance but was better than the other ones! however against Uruguay this is how i would go
---------Romero
Pareja--Demi--Otamendi--Monzon
----------Mascherano
--Messi-------------Bolatti
-----------Aimar
-------Higuain-------Di Maria
This is more balanced defensively and offensively, creatively and even in holding the ball in midfield.
Perez was on the right, Jonas pushed on the right and Messi was playing on the right! it was conjested! Perez did a good job of holding the ball to free Messi from being pressured but i would have played a more defensive CB in that case to keep the pitch balanced or drop Messi to midfield and play another striker
By the way if he drops Aimar or Di Maria then this guy is trying to tell everyone that he doesn't know what the heck hes doing!
Seba
You know that the guy who scored for Peru was suppose to be guarded by Heinze right? check out the highlights :>
OK first half. Messi, Di Maria and Aimar had some great moments.
Aimar's assist made me very happy, nice finish from Higuain. From then on the game was shit, shit, shit. Incredibly bad. I was waiting for Peru to score, and they did. Palermo rescued us with a lucky rebound goal...nice for him...and for Maradona who of course sees this as a personal victory for him, that his genious plan to bring on Palermo paid off. At this level in 2009 Palermo is rubbish, we all know that.....the problem now is that with this goal he will be part of Diego's squad forever. Terrible. I am of course happy we won regardless of who the scorer was, but this Palermo goal is bad news for all our great attackers.
I am in general a little disapointed in Aimar, he gave away the ball far to much. But I love him so much and it was great to see him back, the assist was class. Higuain...nice goal...but he is nothing special in my book. Our defence was and is a mess. If Peru can put us under pressure, just imagine what URU can do. They will eat us alive. I can assure you 100% that this team will NOT get anything from the next game. It's all down to what Chile does against Equador. That's why I was so depressed to see URU win in Equador. I am sad for Alexa(Paulina) too. I wanted Equador to beat URU so that URU was out before the last game and that would mean that we were guaranteed the 5th place. Now we're not guaranteed anything at all, and it scares me so much. Uru will beat us, no question about that.
If Chile can win or draw, we are guaranteed the 5th place even if we lose by 10 goals to URU. If Equador wins in Chile we need a draw in URU, but with a draw we're guaranteed 4th IF Equador don't win by 5 goals in Chile. If Equador beats Chile by 5 goals, we're still guaranteed the 5th place if a miracle happens and we manage to get a draw in URU.
To sum up: in this chaotic situation, with this team and with this manager, it is MUCH, MUCH more logic to expect Chile to get a result against Equador than us getting a result in Montevideo. Sad, but true....
hi everyone today i woke up in a very good mood after last night victory over peru but not with the performance of the second half .for the next important match against urugauy i think we have to do same changes if we want to win or get a draw.romero last night was very good. guitterez i prefer him in midfield he play a good but i prefer him instead of perez.shiavi many times in the second half was out of position and i replaced him with demicheles.heinz i play him because he got the experiance and i think he was good last night but with heinz i prefer a guy example like ayala because i see heinz not a leader in defence and i want a guy to guide him.insua for me had good game but some times he panic when he got the ball and the goal of peru was a big mistake from him.mascherano and di maria i confermed them for the next match.instead of perez play gutirrez.aimar i like him with messi and higuain lost 2 great chances but he scored and i prefer bein higuan instead palermo because i do not see palermo play the whole 90 mins and it better and it better see palermo came on if the result is not in our favour.for the next match i play romero...rb zabaletaa if available cb demicheles and heinz lb insua...mid mascherano gutirrez di maria aimar att messi higuain....vamos argentina
Seba,
your formation is similar. however:
--i like Jonas physical presence, so i would prefer him over Pareja who is not so string physically.
--Bolatti, i have to admit i do not know but with the continous snubbing of Cambiasso and especially Banega, he is our only option.
--Heinzi, well i also do not like. but really after seeing Otemendi playing...well he makes Hienzi looks like a world class player!
--and it would be a real crime, if Palermo starts. i mean in the name of god, this is a match where Arg will play counter attacks. how would Palermo even fit in this situation? a turtle is faster than him! Higuain has to start.
however, i really fear that your analysis comes true, and suddenly we see Veron and Palermo starting...and THEN WE PLAY COUNTER ATTACK!!!
Seba what I am scared to death of is that we may chase the game vs Uruguay. If we chased a entire half vs PERU, then URUGUAY will us. Uruguay at home will be NO EASY task by any means. Next few days are going to tough for all of us, the time is what is going to kill us. If we score on Uruguay first, can we continue to play the same game? Attack and not chase? The likes of Suarez and Diego Forlan puts shivers down my back vs our defenders. We can not and I mean can not just sit back AND HOPE Chile will help us out. We can only help ourselves. We get a single point I will be happy. Still gives us some hope you know. But like I said, lets try to stay positive.The more chances Pipita gets the more he will burry them, that I promise you. He thrives on confidence, Diego gave him a big hug when he left the pitch and I bet that meant the world to him. So if we can actually put the ball in the back of the net it is now. If we ever needed Messi, it is now.
Jack!
You have to be kidding me! i got home from work not knowing anything on who won, to seat back and watch the replay.... after peru hit back to make it 1-1 i smashed my tv remote and trun everything off only to find out a few hrs later that PALERMO won us the game.... fuk me!!! How bad was the 2nd half??? we stoped playin and everything we did right in the frist half we just changed after we open our acount with the first goal... What next!!!! are we now safe for at least 5th place???
Vamos
Lucas
I really do not know were to start.In the first half we played well. Created enough chanses to go up a goal or two. I really loved aimar and he did not disapoint me.
The second half was awful. Even thou Maradona will blame it on the weather Arg did fall back before the storm. It was shamful to see Peru pressing us that much. And to be honest they deserved at least a draw. I was watching the game with my cousins (all argie fans) and after the match was over we were reflecting over the game. I asked them a question:
I told them would you rather losing in Uru but sealing the play off spot, meaning that Maradona gets the sack. With a new manager coming in. Or with you draw in Uru and going straigt to the WC, but with diego in charge? Lets just say it ended with us Arguing/discussing untill four in the morning.
I can tell we did not get a felling of joy after the game. But a felling of relief. Thank God for the three points.Should I be thanking God for us winning in the last seconds of the game against the weakest opponenets without there best players? Well I did! And sow did Diego aswell i am guessing.
Argentina lacked confidence against a weak peruvian side. They just wanted to claim the three points. They did not believe in them selves getting the second goal. Pure and simple they lacked confindence.
To see Diego celebrating as he did. Was a bit annoying. He celebrated like they won the world cup. Sow did the players. But I understand the players its been a while since they tasted victory under Diegos managment.
To the positives of the game.
-We won
-Aimar had a very good game.
-Messi had his best game under Diego.
-Romero Had a very good game
- As did Di Maria and Jonas.
To the negatives.
- I aged ten years from this game and had a minor stroke i think.
- Awful second half even thou the weather played its part.
- The players were out of position most of the time.
-Diego will probably stay in charge.
Until Wendsday i am praying for a miracle. But just in case i will have my doctor with me. If we do not qualify i will have heartattack not a stroke.
See you my friends
Wow what a drama.. amazing! Entertaining game? Definitely... Good game for us? Hell no!
The first half looked very promising for us. The new look attack was looking great (Aimar, Messi, Di Maria and Higuain). Aimar was all over the place, taking command of midfield very well. He did exactly what was needed, and with his experience he was able to live up to the expectation.
It was obvious what an impact Di Maria's return made. He was hyper active the whole first half, causing danger in every way... probably our best player of the night. His movements were exactly what we were missing in our previous games. The Benfica factor (Aimar and Di Maria) was the highlight of the night, the solution to our lack of attacking creativity in the previous games. They were the link up between midfield and attack that we were missing. When i go back and even think of Gago, Tevez and Aguero as starters, it makes me sick.
Enzo Perez was average, but did manage to link up well with his anchors (be it Messi or Aimar). However we must not forget that it was his debut, he was nervous and still was able to put on a decent performance. I give him great credit for that. But still, we cant say he's the man for the job just yet. But definitely a good option to have on the bench.
Lucho, Bolatti or Veron would be better options at his Perez's spot. They are more central midfielders and can provide more balance and support for Aimar. Out of the three, i'd prefer Lucho coz not only is he a good holding midfielder but he's also good coming forward and providing attacking options. He's more volatile and flexible... so i hope to see Lucho in place of Perez against Uruguay. The formation Diego played against Peru was too offensive, and it had to be since we needed the win. However, playing this way can be very dangerous and cause you lots of headaches at the back, and that's what happened in the second half. So in place of Perez, we need someone who can be offensive when needed, and at the same time be more central and supportive in the middle with the DM. Lucho provides that option. Plus he'd give the support needed to free up Aimar to have some space.
Messi tried very hard as usual, but again as usual he was always very tightly marked and was being fouled way too much. True, he isnt the Barca man we see in the Liga, but still what he contributes is essential to Argentina. Im sure that once there's a proper system in the NT (be it under Diego or not), he'll excel. The NT are just lacking direction at the moment. If you realize, we have been playing desperately for the past 5 games now, ALWAYS pressured to win. This is not a favorable condition to play in. Argentina should get the chance to play more relaxed, without playing with desperation. They need the chance to focus on clicking as a team and building an understanding rather than fearing the worst. This is essential to the building of a proper team.
I think Higuain had a great game. I was so happy to see him score on his debut.. im very sure that he'll be our next Crespo. He's quick, very skilled, physically strong, good in the air... and most most important of all, as he demonstrates for Real Madrid, he's a big game player! He always rises to the occasion in critical games, derbies, and especially when his team are behind by a goal or two. He thrives under pressure and is made for such games, and i never doubted that he'd score last night. Great to see him finally and officially commit to Argentina.
As for Palermo, i never commented on him much before. But generally i just wanna say something to the Palermo haters out there. First of all, dont get me wrong, im not a die hard Palermo supporter, nor a Boca supporter. Im very neutral. I DO admit that we have other great forwards playing their trade in Europe, especially Milito and Licha at the moment, and would prefer to have Milito start any day. However.... i think you guys make it seem like the end of the world if Palermo plays up front. Guys, like it or not, you must give him credit for all that he does. He's a record scorer for his club and has been a very consistent Boca player for more than a decade! His goal-scoring record speaks for itself, he's a goal scoring machine. He might not know how to dribble or make those fancy flicks... but nor did the legendary Batistuta either. Palermo is strictly a classic #9. He is a lethal player in the box who knows exactly how to take opportunities, hit the target and score. When a cross comes his way, he knows how to reach it and bury it. There's no denying that he's an excellent finisher and he WILL get you goals at the end of the day. Considering a cross coming into the box, or someone in the box with the ball aiming to fire for goal.. honestly, between Messi, Aguero, Tevez and Higuain, who would you prefer and bet on scoring it? I'd definitely put my money on Palermo. He's a natural scorer. Yes, we have Milito, and as i said, i'd prefer Milito any day... but also it doesnt mean that Palermo is a bad option. We NEED someone like him in the box at all times... some might disagree with me, but for me he's definitely an asset for us. And btw, forget those three missed penalties 10 years ago... such an unfortunate incident isnt what defines a striker. Cut him some slack and give him a break...
Going on to defence, im gonna be very brief. Its a MESS!! Schiavi is a disaster, and i hold him accountable for Peru's goal. If you look in the replay, when the cross came in, he totally moved away from the scorer, leaving him comfortably unmarked in front of goal. Also, that shoe right before Insua's hand ball in the box, look at how he did exactly the same thing when the pass came in for the guy to shoot... he totally left him unmarked, what the hell?!?! As for Heinze.. HORRIBLE! Thank God for Demichellis, he came in and seriously gave us more safety at the back. There was nothing he could do about the goal.
As i said in my post before the game, our two center backs are horrible. They must both be changed against Uruguay or else Forlan and Suarez will bury us alive. Demichellis and Pareja must start. The former will definitely take Schiavi's place, im sure of that. Heinze will continue to be our virus at the back.
On a great note.... we finally have a reliable goalkeeper!! Two thumbs up for Romero... FABULOUS!
Now on to Mascherano... played a good game in the first half. He was the Mascherano we used to know. But in the second, he was the same Mascherano of the previous games... horrible. He was nowhere to be seen in midfield, giving Peru's attacking midfield too much comfort coming forward. This is what's killing us, his absence! When the team plays bad, he plays even worse. This is very worrying... again, BRING CAMBIASSO! Oh, and WHAT THE F#$%@#$ was he thinking at the beginning of Peru's goal?!?! More than Schiavi, i blame Mascherano even more for what he did... the ball was friggin' dead, then he comes and does that STUPID back heel, and gives the Peruvian winger comfortable possession in the box!! Totally unprofessional stuff from the player we call our captain. VERY VERY VERY amateur play! He almost cost us the World Cup... I'm seriously having it with Javier!
Last but not least, our full backs. I have to say, Jonas did a GREAT job against Peru.. one of our best players on the night. I always wanted to see him as a full back and finally we had the chance to see that last night. He was everywhere on the right, from up to down. Very energetic and great stamina.. he worked tirelessly and contributed very well coming from the back. Yes, he came forward way too much, but that's what was required, we needed a win. Against Uruguay he better stay more quiet and sit at the back more. But all in all, i loved him as a full back. He reminded me of Sorin big time. As for Insua, we didnt see much of him, but on average he had a decent performance. His deflected shot in the last minute gave Palermo the goal... i loved how he came forward, and is definitely a better option that Papa. I hope we saw the end of that guy.
In conclusion, we had a great first half. We finally displayed some good and constructive football, and were very lucky not to be ahead by half time. The second half started great with the goal, but after that, things went very bad. But initially i wouldnt really be that critical as the weather did become crazy... they played in the middle of a storm. That's definitely a factor that contributed to our game dying down. But anyway, lots of good notes to take from this game.
I would have preferred Ecuador to beat Uruguay, instead the opposite happened and now we'r in a very dangerous situation. It is VERY possible that we'll lose to Uruguay in Montevideo, and if Ecuador manage to win in Chile, then it's all over for us. The Argentine im depending on most is not anyone in our national team. Guess who! It's Bielsa... Chile are already qualified and have nothing to play for. But they'r playing at home, and Bielsa will DEFINITELY want to do his country a favor by shutting down Ecuador. He's built a great Chile side and im very optimistic that he'll know how to close down Ecuador.
Im very nervous, but as usual... keeping the faith! :)
In this qualification campaigne we je have socered just more goals than Peru, Bolivia and Colombia.
IM SICK OF IT, IT CANT BE HAPPENING
Great insights from all of the fans,but I have to say that I can't see Argentina sitting back and holding Uruguay for 90 minutes with that horrible defense of ours.The maximum they will last is 25 mins like the Paraguay game.
Yes,we need a big big favour from Bielsa to motivate his team to not throw the game against Ecuador.I am not very optimistic about the Uruguay game.We still have serious problems scoring and our defense is in shambles.It's gonna be one tense night on Wednesday...Go Chile!
F%%$$##@# PLEASE we got 2 make it do ma!!!!! URG 1- ARG 1,, ECA 1- Chile 0
i hope maradona realizes that a draw against URG will be enough for Argentina to qualify automatically. maybe Argentina should start with 5 defenders, 5-4-1 system. bilardo would like it.
Vitalij
I'm still tired after witnessing the extraordinary phenomenon that was the match last night. Not enough sleep but still excited. I will always remember the exultant roar from the packed house when Palermo knocked home the winner in a torrential downpour. And, coming as it did right when it looked like we had been done in by the last minute Peruvian goal (right in front of me-I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA DIE !) Once in a lifetime experience, and made even more so as I am a Boca supporter.
But, the morning after it is clear Argentina is still struggling. The worst team in the qualifiers could have easily beat us last night except for Romero. I wish Maradona would settle on two players in front of Romero and let them develop some chemistry. My picks would be Demichelis and Samuel, but that ain't happening for Uruguay. I also hope that Aimar is allowed to start against Uruguay, along with Messi and Higuain. No Veron and no Palermo in the starting eleven. Yes to Di Maria and Gutierrez. It's only one match with Aimar, Messi, Higuain and Di Maria together and I thought they showed enough promise to stick with them.
As for THE TITAN, without Milito, Lopez or Crespo, Palermo is the number 9 option off the bench. Why go to Tevez or Aguero when Palermo brings height and his own form of Johnny-on-the-spot danger ? And, despite looking like nothing more than a big lug, he is a smart player who sees the field well, and capable of making a winning pass with his foot or head. Lots of intangibles with Palermo. He's not just a slow guy standing in front of the goal waiting for garbage time, though he does that extremely well !:)
So, on to Montevideo where it will be hand to hand combat to qualify. Argentina will have to not only play better, but also show some cojones and will. No pathetic second period performances allowed. And please, no getting up 1-0 and then playing "prevent defense" which is a surefire way to allow another goal.
Interesting debate. One thing, though, a couple of you've been saying Emiliano INSUA made the mistake that allowed Perú to scored but in reality it was Javier MASCHERANO who tried that back-heel clearance and gave away the ball in that crucial moment.
So I nearly died, about 3 times during the second half. I gotta say, when PALERMO knocked home the game winner, I was freaking out and jumping up and down like a little school girl.
ROMERO was by far the man of the match. Key saves and cannot be blamed at all for the goal. I remember that 1 on 1 with the Peruvian striker, he came out HUGE.
Both HEINZE and SCHIAVI had bad matches. Again, ROMERO bailed them out more than once. INSUA was probably our best defender and it was his first call-up. GUTIERREZ I thought did decent at right back. Nothing special, but we can't go with him versus Uruguay.
DI MARIA more than made up for that Bolivia mess up. He was quick, he was tricky, he sent in dangerous balls into the box. I'm with Johnny. 1 match in and DI MARIA, AIMAR, MESSI and HIGUAIN showed some good chemistry. AIMAR had a good game. A killer pass to HIGUAIN on the goal. MASCHERANO, well he's seen better days. It hasn't been the best season so far for him. PEREZ... eh, nothing special.
MESSI I found had a good game. Nothing great, but good. Much, much better than the match versus Paraguay. Kind of disappeared once it started raining(but the same can be said for all of our players, except ROMERO). HIGUAIN should have had 2 more goals. One of his shots was saved by the goalkeepers toes and he missed another chance after that. I would still start him ahead of PALERMO though.
ROMERO
PAREJA-MICHO-OTAMENDI-INSUA
GUTIERREZ-AIMAR-MASCHERANO-DI MARIA
MESSI-HIGUAIN
I'd go with that versus Uruguay. Though something tells me VERON will start. And any news on LUCHO GONZALEZ? He's been called-up, but I haven't heard any news from him, at all. Not saying I want him to play, just curious.
Roy I agree with most of your points. It was good to see a decent chemistry in the first 35 mins between Aimar, Messi, Higuain and Di Maria. For once there was something to look forward to from a Maradona team. However as always something happens during the half time break and everything goes for a toss. It looked like a 3-7 combination after the substitution of Higuain and Aimar. Messi - Palermo and Di Maria in the attack. No midfielders and rest of them defending. Really sad state of Argentina football. By the way have any one of you see any team that is in the top ten of FIFA ranking playing against a team that is ranked significantly lower sitting back and defending once a goal is scored. Only MAradona can make that happen.
Everybody seems to be focussed on ripping Messi. We need to accept the fact that we are not BRazil who defend 90% and are very proficient in counter attack. When Messi was involved in the first half, the passes he made were pure class. Unfortunately some of them were not converted. Why did Lucho not play? Maradona brings in Perez who had no clue of pass and play game. I am not sure why everyone is gaga over Gutirrez. He is an average footballer with good athleticism. He will never fit into the traditional Argentine mode of holding and passing the ball. There are so many better players available. I am shocked that people think that he is so emotional and passionate. Every damn player in the national team is. Some are expressive and some are not. People that understand football will never compare Barcelona to this Argentina. The simple reason that Messi did not perform in the second half was there was no midfielder available to link the defence to attack. It was shocking to see Messi falling back deep.
If we get into the strategy of defend and counter attack we will lose badly to Uruguay. When a team like Peru got 4 clear chances, if it were Uruguay they will surely score atleast 3 of them.
My only hope for Argentina now is for Chile to beat Ecuador. The fact is there is a real identity crisis in the team on who needs to play what role. With Maradona at helm it would be perfect for the Datalo's, Guttirex, Palermo and Schiavai's to play. Not the MEssi and Aimar. Mascherano one of the best defensive midfielder after Maradona has taken over has lost confidence in his play. It is reflected in the way he plays with Argentina and Liverpool.
I know it sound's pessimistic but having followed Argentina soccer for 25 years I am absolutely down and shocked. Unfortunately the person who I adored most has been responsible for the debacle.
By the way what would your reaction be if Schiavi or Heinze would have scored the goal instead of Palermo. They need to be a permanant fixture. That is the amazing stuff I am reading in Argentina press. Just that luck was smiling on Palermo and the ball fell in his lap. Any player in that position would have scored. Have nothing against Palermo, just that there are so many strikers better than him at this time.
Just hoping that Argentina qualifies and Maradona resigns. That will be the best that can happen to the world of football and any soccer lover.
agree with seb about palermo,i hope we'll make directly to the wc and then diego will be franck with himself of his unaptitud of being in charge of this great team .grondana should should call back pekerman who i'm sure will bring brigthness in our darkness
This would be my team vs Uruguay
----------Romero
Pareja---Demi---Otamendi--Monzon
------Mascherano--Bolatti
Messi---------------------Di Maria
-------------Aimar
------------HIguain
You want counter attacking? this is our best bet!
This image is very immpressive, you are good photographer
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