23 to respect, love, support, cheer and all that

I think that's a headline that explains what will happen from now on. We all have our differences with Diego's choices and we all would have come up with a different list.

From now on, even though we would still have some of our favourite players out of the World Cup squad, the time to support the team unconditionally and until the very end has come.

For all the differences we could have with Diego, his methods, his decisions, his ways of doing things, I can guarantee you that there would be no bigger fans of Argentina than those of us doing Mundo Albiceleste and more importantly, those of you visiting and commenting and living each game with us.

Now is the time to leave everything behind and support the team.

We will continue to discuss tactics, formations, players picked and all those things we love to argue about. And I hope the day we stop doing that never comes! It's one of the beauties of football. To be able to discuss about everything that has something to do with this wonderful game.

In the next few days, you will see a profile of each of the 23 players that Diego has chosen to represent Argentina in the World Cup.

You will get a new podcast edition (we recorded one last week but we were unable to upload it and now it's old!) and we will be here on Monday to live with you our friendly against Canada. That friendly is announced at 4 PM Buenos Aires. Check your time-difference with our capital city and be here for the live chat.

All that said...here are my initial reactions after I heard about the final World Cup squad.

I'm not going to go through each player one by one.

What I will say is that from that list of 30, Diego got pretty much the best 23 he could have gotten.

It wasn't a great list of 30 to begin with and that made things difficult. More than the names included, what I saw last week was a list that gave Diego a very small margin of error.

Not too many experienced guys or players with the ability to cover many positions.

In some cases it looked like Diego had to make a decision between players of different positions. It looked like he had to choose between taking one more midfielder or keep his favourite 6 forwards. With a stronger and a better list of 30, the only choices he would have had to make would have been between players of the same position (or playing in the same area of the pitch).

What he did was to end up with a list of 3 GK; 7 defenders; 7 midfielders and 6 forwards.

If Diego is planning on using a 4-4-2 formation, those 6 forwards seem excessive and 7 defenders and 7 midfielders could look like too small a number.

Even though my favourite players at that position are all out (Javier ZANETTI, Pablo ZABALETA and to a lesser extent Emiliano INSUA), it's refreshing and comforting to see Diego will be taking natural born full-backs. Clemente RODRIGUEZ can play in both flanks and so can Ariel GARCÉ, the surprising call-up. I feared Diego would have been adamant in only using centre-backs to cover all four positions at the back at all times, meaning he wouldn't have had a Plan B or a different option when you need to support your midfielders or your forwards in certain moments during a match.

BURDISSO, OTAMENDI and HEINZE can all play either CB or FB, so he's got options. Barring suspensions and injuries, Diego should be covered at the back and he could have a flexible bunch of guys to deputise in different positions. The question remains on the unproven players and whether the stage proves to be too big for them or not.

The midfield line is probably the most intriguing and the one which raises more questions and criticism amongst fans.

A blend of experience (VERON, Maxi, MASCHERANO) and youth (PASTORE -20 years old, the youngest in the entire squad- and DI MARIA) could pay huge dividends, but it's the lack of depth at some key positions what really worries me.

It's true that if Diego wants, he can switch to a 4-3-3 and bring one more forward to the mix, giving this bunch of midfielders a break. It's true that he could use TEVEZ, AGÜERO or MESSI a few metres behind the forward line and join our midfield, but on paper, I'm worried to think what could happen if MASCHERANO or VERON are not ready to go?

Jonas or DI MARIA? If one of them can't go, Maxi could cover any of them as he can play on the right or the left with no problems.

But, will PASTORE be up for it if VERON is not ready to go? What about BOLATTI's ability to fill in for MASCHERANO?

What if two of the starting midfield stars is unavailable? What if their unproven replacements are not up for it (though I'd like to think they are)?

It remains my main concern. I know I said we shouldn't bring up the ignored players anymore, but since I'm analyzing the list, I have to point out that I think it's exactly in this situation in which I value CAMBIASSO or even ZANETTI as highly as I do.

CAMBIASSO could have covered for both, MASCHERANO or VERON and he could have also played a role in place of DI MARIA (especially if we want to protect a lead or get stronger in defense). I don't see a midfielder in this list with that ability to cover any position and it worries me.

Up front? I tell you what...any manager going to the World Cup would kill for a lineup like that. I'm confident enough to say we are the best team when it comes to depth on offense. And we are even leaving behind players of the caliber of Lisandro LOPEZ or Ezequiel LAVEZZI.

My only fear before the list was announced was for Diego MILITO to miss out. I think it would have been incredibly unfair. Now I don't know if he will see any action in South Africa, but the fact that he is there is comforting enough.

I wouldn't have chosen Martín PALERMO and I think I would have taken Lisandro instead of I would have closed the list with only 5 forwards (with the former option being favourite as I would have used three forwards as starters in most of my matches and I would have needed more cover in that area).

No major complains here as these forwards are amongst the best in the world and Martín PALERMO could bring the X-Factor to the table and be used as a role player in certain moments.

If anything, I think Diego's biggest challenge when it comes to his forwards is to try and find a good chemistry level amongst all of them. If they link together well, the sky is the limit for Argentina.