Thursday, January 07, 2010

Debate 1: Pick your strikers

Time to generate some debate, shall we?

One of the arguments about our team is who should start at the back, who should play in midfield and who should start up front. Most notibaly, as our number 9. Well, FIFA.com has this great article up which talks about our strikers.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1154732.html#insertcomment
(Thanks to GK for passing along the article, which pretty much inspired this post)

We have the usual suspects in Lionel MESSI, Gonzalo HIGUAIN, Sergio AGUERO and Carlos TEVEZ. But we also have other strikers. Some who have played at the big stage for us, like Javier SAVIOLA who's doing great at Benfica, others who are still making a name for themselves like Lucas BARRIOS at Borussia Dortmund and a veteran(though not a fan favorite here at Mundo) in Martin PALERMO. So let's break down the list.

Sergio AGUERO
Hernan CRESPO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Ezequiel LAVEZZI
Lisandro LOPEZ
Lionel MESSI
Diego MILITO
Rodrigo PALACIO
Martin PALERMO
Javier SAVIOLA
Carlos TEVEZ

In that list, we have a mix of experience, youth, speed and killer instincts. My question is, if the World Cup were to start next week and you were in charge of picking the strikers, who would you pick? Going by 2006, we had 6 strikers. Javier SAVIOLA, Hernan CRESPO, Carlos TEVEZ, Rodrigo PALACIO, Lionel MESSI and Julio CRUZ. Assuming everyone in that list is healthy, who would be your 6 strikers?

In your comments, please write something along the lines of FINAL LIST: (Insert names here), as I will be counting all the names and will post the final results later on. Depending on how successful this turns out to be, we'll have a "Pick your midfielders" debate sometime soon.

NOTE: The reason why I have not included the likes of Mauro ZARATE and Lucas BARRIOS is because they have not been capped yet by Argentina, there has been no mention of them by MARADONA. Chances are, if a player has not been capped yet by Diego, he won't make it to the World Cup.

63 comments:

Cornhole Bags said...

Team strategies are very important and the points also...a little mistake could mean win or loss.

Tim said...

Lionel Messi
Sergio Agüero
Gonzalo Higuaín
Diego Milito
Carlos Tevez
Javier Saviola

Anonymous said...

i would start with higuain with saviola and messi as he plays for barca.
the rest awaiting would milito,tevez as he is back in form autho i do have my doubts about him and lopez would be the last pick.
aguero is in horrible form and injured and he only other i would think about in levezzi would be on standy for an injury to my 6.

johnny said...

Final List:

Messi
Higuain
Milito
Lopez
Saviola
Tevez

If Aguero is anywhere near being match fit I think it will be a miracle if Maradona doesn't choose him.If so, either no Tevez or Saviola, and maybe neither if he chooses Lavezzi. Also, I don't think Maradona will choose Lopez.

Anonymous said...

Sergio AGUERO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Lionel MESSI
Diego MILITO
Javier SAVIOLA
Carlos TEVEZ

Craig from Canada

Raj said...

Gonzalo Higuaín
Alessandro Dominguez
Lionel Messi
Sergio Agüero
Carlos Tevez
Javier Saviola

Akash said...

Final List:

Lionel Messi
Gonzalo Higuain
Diego Milito
Javier Saviola
Carlos Tevez
Lisandro Lopez

Fernando said...

Final List

Lionel MESSI
Javier SAVIOLA
Carlos TEVEZ
Sergio AGUERO
Hernan CRESPO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN

with Ezequiel LAVEZZI as a reserve

I think that the best thing is to combine youth with some experience. It should be the older players passing on their experiances to the younger ones. I am not a huge CRESPO fanatic but he does know how to score when you place him in front of the net and he has been to the big show a couple of times and that experience is invaluable.

koma said...

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Ezequiel LAVEZZI
Lisandro LOPEZ
Javier SAVIOLA
Carlos TEVEZ

Mohd said...

wow...zarate is not even mentioned!

Roy said...

Keep the picks coming everyone! Will be really interesting to see the final results!

Mohd, I didn't include ZARATE because he hasn't been capped yet for Argentina and doesn't look to be in the plans.

Mike said...

FINAL LIST

Sergio AGUERO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Lionel MESSI
Diego MILITO
Javier SAVIOLA
Carlos TEVEZ

Mike (Canada)

GK said...

Final List

Lionel Messi
Gonzalo Higuian
Diego Milito
Carlos Tevez (if he keeps up recent form)
Javier Saviola
Hernan Crespo (agreeing with Fernando, experience will be needed in training and on the bench even if Hernan doesn't see a second of action in South Africa I think it'll be beneficial to have him in the squad)


And just for fun, through injury I would call up Sergio Aguero.

Great idea with the voting aspect of the post. Can't wait to do this for the midfield and defence.

messidona19 said...

My list would be:
Lionel Messi
Gonzalo Higuain
Diego Milito
Lisandro LOPEZ
Sergio AGUERO
Javier SAVIOLA


And my starters would be Milito and Higuain in the front with Messi on the right hand side (free role).

Anonymous said...

Good article.

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/news/newsid=1154732.html?cid=rssfeed&att=

Jack!

Rune said...

Lionel Messi
Gonzalo Higuain
Diego Milito
Lisandro LOPEZ
Sergio AGUERO
Carlos Tevez

LM10ARG said...

MESSI, Aguero, Milito, Tevez, Lisandro and Zarate.
Even though I know it is not gonna happen. It's such a shame that Maradona won't pick an excellent finisher like Lisandro Lopez/ Diego Milito and an absolute crack like Mauro Zarate.
Yes Higuain is a good striker but he misses far too many sitters. The likes of Milito and Lisandro are lot more lethal than him. They are excellent finishers. And if we had Messi and Zarate on both wings, we could torment any defense. With Milito/Lisandro as number 9, it would be goals galore. But it's NEVER gonna happen till maradona is in charge and I am afraid we are just doomed with him at the helm.

King Aguero said...

My List:

Messi
Aguero
Saviola
Lavezzi
Higuain
Millito

Anonymous said...

Messi (we need to deliver for him)

Tevez ( he too has world cup experience and his form and hunger he has. he would be outstanding,and ideal if we face england!)

Higuain

We need sombody there who is strong and someone who can head, we have so many small players. i am thinking crespo or parlemo. i am sure parlemo has a point to prove but i am sure crespo has the hunger too, and his goal tally speaks sfor itself. so crespo

i do not see alot of the other players as i am live in england..

but based on experience i would say saviola.

cant wait for midfielders

riquelme
riquelme
riquelme
riquelme
and riquelme... we need the supplier

aaks said...

AGUERO
MESSI
TEVEZ
LOPEZ
HIGUAIN
PALERMO (Strong and good head-scorer)

sirus said...

Messi-Best player in the world
Higuain-True number 9. In great shape right now.
Milito-Another number 9.
Lisandro
Tevez
Aguero


Start: Messi with Higuain or Milito

Anonymous said...

first of all we need some creativity in midfild,riquelme is da ansa,but idont think he will come bac maybe AIMAR he is not at riquelmes level but he is ok.

as for veron i have no faith on him at all,i watched BARCA vs estudiantes,after 60 mins he was exosted,in fact he was at falt for messi"s goal.may be he will be useful for last 15 mins he can help out mid fild by keeping possestions.

my strikers will be:

milito (he will be my number9,first choice)

higuain (i like his never die atittude,still needs to work on finishing)

tevez (stiil not 100% covince with him he was teriable at the qualifiers,he misses too many chances as well,not a good goal scoring record at all,but he offers something different to our other strikers)

licha lopez (briliant move ment,great finsher)

crespo (i will have him for 2 reasons.1.he has expireince from 3 other world cups,will be very importants for our younger players in da dresing room.2.phisicaly he is da stongest of my strikers we can always use him as a target man,one that particularly MESSI will take big advatnage of.)

aguero (if messi is da new maradona ,aguero is da new ROMARIO.he has an amazing talent but i would like him to see more matiurity in his way of playing.)


MESSI (I dont care if he is da best or not,all i want is to repeat what mardona did by winning da world cup,then i will say he is realy da best.but of course its maradona"s reponsibility to get the best out of him,lets hope he does)

my ideal line up will be


ROMERO

ZANETTI,DEMICHELIS,SAMUEL,ANSALDI


MASCHERANO

JONAS DI MARIA

ROMAN


MESSI MILITO

I GUESS I AM JUST DREAMING THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN UNDER MARADONA.

Mohd said...

guys, it really amazes me how almost all of you do not think Zarate has a place in the team. when the team is in a must-attack situation if it is loosing, or when the team must play counter-attacks; can you imagine what the skill of Zarate and his amazing shooting would do to any defence?!

Forza_albicelestes said...

Messi
Higuain
Lisandro/Milito(depends on form)
Tevez
Aguero
Di Maria

Yes I would keep Di maria as a forward and use him as a wing forward instead of a pure winger.

Anonymous said...

Lucas Barrios!!!

why is he always overlooked? tevez and aguero are so overrated.

Candoman said...

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Lisandro LOPEZ
Carlos TEVEZ
Javier SAVIOLA
Hernan CRESPO

A good mix of speed, skill, physical presence, and experience. I would play a 433 with Saviola Higuain Messi starting up front.

ZiggY said...

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Diego MILITO
Lisandro LOPEZ
Javier SAVIOLA
Sergio AGUERO

Anonymous said...

Six months from South Africa 2010 and Argentina coach Diego Maradona has already decided 14 players of his 23-man squad to play with the Albiceleste. Those who have an assured place in the Argentina national team are the following:
Sergio Romero , Martín Demichelis, Gabriel Heinze, Rolando Schiavi, Nicolás Otamendi, Javier Mascherano, Juan Sebastián Verón, Mario Bolatti , Jonás Gutiérrez, Ángel Di María, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuaín, Ezequiel Lavezzi y Carlos Tevez.

These selections, as one might expect, are subject to each player continuing his current run of form at his club. But with 157 days left until the World Cup, these names have a marked level of preference over others. One particularly notable absence is that of Atletico de Madrid hitman, Sergio 'Kun' Aguero, who has spent a good deal of the 2009/2010 season injured, but has been in exceptional form when on the pitch and also happens to be Maradona's son-in-law. With nine spots left in the squad, Maradona will likely be choosing from the following who have appeared for the national team in games past or have caught the Argentina legend's interest:

Goalkeepers: Mariano Andujar and Diego

Defenders: Javier Zanetti, Fabricio Coloccini, Nicolas Burdisso, Nicolas Pareja, Pablo Zabaleta, Cristian Alvarez, Emiliano Papa, Cristian Ansaldi, Emiliano Insua, Clemente Rodriguez, Marcos Angeleri, and Leandro Desaboto.

Midfielders: Maxi Rodriguez, Fernando Gago, Jesus Datolo, Esteban Cambiasso, Lucho Gonzalez, Pablo Aimar, Javier Pastore, Enzo Perez, Rodrigo Brana, and Eduardo Salvio.

Forwards: Aguero, Diego Milito, Martin Palermo.

Maradona is also anticipated to use a 4-4-2 system of play.

from the goal.com

PS: How come no one discusses this?

My guess of the final 9 (NOT my wish): (Maradona needs as follow: 2 goalies, 3 wing backs, 1 DM, 2 AM, 1 forward): Andujar, Pozo/Carrizzo; Coloccini, Ansaldi, Clemente; Gago, Aimar, Maxi; Aguero)

Max said...

Lionel MESSI
Diego MILITO
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Carlos TEVEZ
Javier SAVIOLA
Sergio AGUERO

Liz said...

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Carlos TEVEZ
Javier SAVIOLA
:)

GK said...

Mohd, Zarate is a great goal scorer and a great finisher but he is a selfish player. Do you watch him play in Italy for Lazio or just the highlights of his goals? He refuses to pass the ball to open teammates more often than not, and tries to get around an entire defence on his own. Don't get me wrong, he is a talented young striker and any national team would love to have him I'm sure, but I watch Serie A every weekend and it seems everytime I watch Lazio it seems like Zarate is playing for himself and not for the team, Argentina doesn't need that kind of selfishness on the national team, we have enough trouble scoring already.

I say let him go play for Italy, I don't want him in an Albiceleste shirt in South Africa.

rae said...

i watched di maria play against catalunya on the 22nd i was there at the nou camp.

let me tell you people. i like him think he was great but one big problem that game he had NO defensive mind. he did not know who to mark when they had the ball AND this resulted in two sometimes three argentine players around the player with the ball.

I was annoyed with him. Yes he scored and had great chances.

we have a SELECTION of attacking players i feel we are leaving to much for mascherano to do!

jonas guiterrez he has a defensive mind he can track back and defend as good as he attacks. so can tevez.

Batigol said...

Final List:

Messi
Aguero
Tevez
Higuain
D.Milito

I only choose 5 forwards, as Maradona is likely to play 4-4-2, and having 6 forwards is just too many..

Roy, I feel that it will be more interesting for discussion if you make posts like:

Pick your...
1) central strikers(no.9)
2) forwards
3) central midfielders
4) defensive midfielders
5) right wingers
6) left wingers
7) centre backs
8) left backs
9) right backs
10) goalkeepers


Just a suggestion.

Roy said...

Batigol, after I do the "Pick your midfielders" and "Pick your back line", that's when I will create a huge news post asking people to pick their players for each position. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Keep them coming everyone!

Anonymous said...

piracy affects porn but it's still winner during the crunch

LM10ARG said...

To GK, I wouldn't call Zarate selfish. He is a confident player who thinks he can do wonders with the ball on his feet. If you call him selfish, then Messi is also selfish at times. The bottom line is we need Messi and Zarate in both wings. Then the opposition defenders will start shaking in their boots.

LM10ARG said...

And no GK, we simply can't let Zarate go play for Italy. It will simply come back to haunt us sooner rather than later. In my opinion, Zarate is the 2nd best to only Messi in Argentina.

Anonymous said...

You guys hear about Higuain may go to Arsenal?????

Sebastian said...

No mention of Diego MILITO in that FIFA.com article. No doubt, the most underrated player of all time (or at least one of them).

Why no mention of a foreigner with the best goal-average in the history of the Italian Serie A?

Why no mention of a striker that started his Inter career with more goals than RONALDO, VIERI, IBRAHIMOVIC and ADRIANO?

The media keeps ignoring him and the readers and the majority of fans end up ignoring him too.

It will hurt me to death if I see Diego MILITO's name ignored by MARADONA when he announces the World Cup squad list.

I'm already asking my doctor for his prescription and saving money to buy some pills...

LM10ARG said...

Yes Seba absolutely true, higuain is nothing comparing to Milito. It's such a shame Milito gets ignored for higuain...

aaks said...

ROMERO

COLLOCCINI - DEMICHELIS - PAPA

ZANETTI
MASCHERANO

MAXI DI-MARIA
VERON

MESSI
HIGUAIN
..................................
ZANETTI - IS THE KEY HERE,...HE IS THE JOKER IN DEFENCE TO DO COMBOS. VERSATILITY AT ITS BEST.

PAPA - SPEED= TO LINK WITH DI MARIA. (JONAS FIT HERE AS WELL)

COLLOCCINI - STRONG AND TALL. WITH BIG BALLS.

MASCHERANO - FREE TO RECOVER ANY BALL AROUND. BIG BALLS.

VERON - EXPERIENCE AND BIG BALLS. (TEVEZ FIT HERE. AS SOMETIMES MANCHESTER USED HIM SOME TIMES)

MAXI - STRONG AND BIG BALLS. (CREATIVE WHEN NO ONE EXPECT IT.)

DEMICHELIS - THE BEST AS CENTRAL.

HIGUAIN - ...OR LOPEZ.

ROMERO - BEST GK IN NATIONAL TEAM. TALL MAN AND BIG BALLS.

MESSI - IS ALL SAID. BEST PLAYER IN THE UNIVERSE. (AGUERO CAN FIT IN HIS PLACE AS WELL WITHOUT A PROBLEM)
.............................

ROMERO

ZANETTI - DEMICHELIS - HEINZE

MASCHERANO

MAXI JONAS
VERON

TEVEZ
MESSI AGUERO

Anonymous said...

i think we lacking a good full backs,so the best way to use this formation.3-4-1-2,i think we played with this formatin against venzuela.(maradonas first competative match).

romero

demichelis,samuel,heinze



jonas,masche,cambiasso,di maria

messi

(milito/higuain),(tevez,saviola)


i would much rather have this formation than 4-4-2.partly because messi he cant play in 4-4-2 systam,maradona puts him as a striker he is not a out an out striker thats why in most of da games when we played 4-4-2 he was anonymous for example aginst(SPAIN,URUGUAY,PARAGUAYECAUDOR...etc),.

Sourry said...

Final list:
Messi
Tevez
Aguero
Higuain
Crespo
Lopez

Sourry said...

Final list:
Messi
Tevez
Aguero
Higuain
Crespo
Lopez

Sourry said...

Final list:
Messi
Tevez
Aguero
Higuain
Crespo
Lopez

Sourry said...

Final list:
Messi
Tevez
Aguero
Higuain
Crespo
Lopez

Anonymous said...

milio is a good striker but the reality is the italian league is the 3rd best lge, just look at inter/italian teams in the champs lge in the last 5 years the power base is in england and spainish lgs.
if milito wants to be the best he will have to go to the best ie spain/england = real,barca,manure,ars etc etc etc i hate to say it as i like inter but they are very average and would not win any of the other 2 lges yet alone the champs lge.
italian siera a football is poor and thats why milito does not get more praise.
inter in the champs lge are also poor.

GK said...

Pablo, its agreed that Serie A is third to the likes of the EPL and LA Liga but the point is Milito scores game in and game out with Inter and is tied for the leading goal scorer in the league. You can't ignore that.

He just had another wonderful strike about 3 minutes ago. Sure Inter are playing Siena but the quality of the strike was suberb. I hope Diego is watching.

Anonymous said...

To the earlier comment of letting Zarate play for Italy. He may be a bit selfish but I would not like to see him running at the argentine defence at the world cup. He will drift past our defence and score time and time again. He is our Great X factor and I rather have him for us than against us.
Pronx (Australia)

LM10ARG said...

Yes pronx australia, Zarate is must for Albicelestes. We can't let him go to azzuris. Vamos Zarate kid!!!

LM10ARG said...

Yes pronx australia, Zarate is must for Albicelestes. We can't let him go to azzuris. Vamos Zarate kid!!!

Dave P said...

Final List:
Messi
Higuain
Milito
Aguero
Tevez

Anonymous said...

romero ,ustari,don't know yet who deserve to be the third keeper,demichelis,samuel,zabaleta,ansaldi,insua,gonzalo,mascherano,banega,cambiasso,pastore,jonas,maxi,di maria ,aimar,messi,higuain,tevez,milito,zarate,aguero

GK said...

Pronx/LM10ARG, I'll admit that I got a little ahead of myself by saying Zarate can go play for Italy. Of course I don't want to see another Argentine play for the Azzurri but I will stick to what I originally said, I don't want to see Zarate on the Argentine national team. He is a great player with great talent but I don't like his style. I don't like how he tries to put on a one man show in Lazio. LM10ARG, you made a good point earlier on when you said Messi and Zarate on both wings. I agree it would be a deadly attack but I don't think the style of Zarate would mesh well with Messi. And again, difference of opinion, when I say Zarate's style I mean his selfish style of play. Then again thats my opinion over yours, you make a valid arguement.

LM10ARG said...

Well gk, you never know, Zarate may not be selfish if he is playing for Argentina NT. In Lazio, he doesn't have too many quality players around him so he tries to do too much by himself. But in the NT we have a lot loads of talents with who he can be even more deadly and pass the ball to them a bit more. And as I said, Messi and Zarate on both wings will be absolutely deadly...

Anonymous said...

gk
i know what you say about milito but he has not looked good in the champs lge and if he was so good then all the big clubs would have been after him when he became available.
a lot of players look great in average lges but the test is to be in the best lge or when against the best doing the business.
on the bigger scale with inter with a lot of argies their and they are best in italy but when they go to the next level (chmps lge) they fail sadly.
the reality is a lot of our players are not as good as we think they are and tht is not good news for us.

Mohd said...

GK-->
i agree Zarate is an individual player, but i really doubt he will do this with Argentina. He is the "king" of lazio playing with modest players and a real joke coach. Our coach also is a joke but at least he is MARADONA. Zarate will never has the nerve to upset him. So i believe with the NT he will change his style.

Unknown said...

Lionel Messi
Sergio Agüero
Gonzalo Higuaín
Diego Milito
Carlos Tevez
Javier Saviola
Lisandro Lopez

Unknown said...

Forwards for my team are:

Messi
Higuain
Milito
Lopez
Tevez
Crespo/Lavezzi

I'm a proponent of having a tall, #9-like forward who is ready to head in any cross or clean up any loose ball in front of the goal. Messi must play on the right as he does in Barcelona playing off a #9 (Higuain, Milito, or Crespo) as well as making combinations with Aimar.

The small forwards experiment didn't work so lets put in the players who are scoring in a traditional #9 role (Milito, Lopez, Higuain) with Messi and Aimar providing runs and creativity.

I'm tired of Aguero and Maradona fueding over who's more important in Giannina's life, so keep Aguero at home since we can't get rid of Maradona. Tevez is a workhorse and while out of form in the beginning of the EPL season, he's now starting to look like his old self. Higuain can't stop scoring so he must be included. I'll leave the Lavezzi/Crespo choice up for debate because in reality I don't see either one of them getting much playing time with the players ahead of them on the list.

Unknown said...

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Sergio AGUERO
Diego MILITO
Lisandro LOPEZ
Carlos TEVEZ

Anonymous said...

What a great resource!

Julián - aLma said...

Lionel MESSI (Barcelona FC)
Carlos TÉVEZ (Manchester City)
Gonzalo HIGUAÍN (Real Madrid)
Sergio AGÜERO (Atlético Madrid)
Diego MILITO (Inter Milan)

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