Argentina news, updates, and analysis

Maxiiiiii (Diego won’t forget about that goal against Mexico in 2006 anytime soon)

Grondona has not controlled Diego up to this point, so I’m inclined to not believe in his ultimatum.

Take Gutierrez, Palermo, and Veron off the list and I’d be happy, though I guess they are not catastrophic.

I like the defenders (especially compared to the alternatives). We’ll see what happens.

Diego could scrap his list and start over – it’s Diego!

I am a Boca fan, but that’s not why I say this:
I believe Palermo should be respected for all he has done, and it’s not his falt if Diego picks him for the world cup. He is just a footballer, a striker, trying to do his best every day for his club. And he will do the same for his country.
But everyone with a brain understands that Milito, and 4-5 other guys, are better strikers than Palermo. So I actually believe MAXILOPEZ, to some extent, has got a point. Palermo is being picked by Diego cause he playes for Boca, Diego’s club. Would Diego pick Palermo if he scored his goals for River, Estudiantes or Racing????? No way! But this is NOT Palermo’s fault!!! It’s Diego who lets his emotions run the show.

Well guys, I’m happy and thrilled to see Samuel’s name being added to the potential list. But bringing in Palermo, oh I don’t know about that, that kindda messes things up and kills a spot that we so desperately need for the quality of our young and gifted athletes. I believe that were just gonna have to put up with Diego, cuz the prez won’t do anything about it, so I’m like whatever. But our attack will have to center on Messi getting the ball and making sure he has enough space to do his magic. So we need to add those player makers who will be creative enough to allow that chemistry to ooze into goals. Our defense so far is good with Samuel, Demichelis, and Heinze on the pitch, but I would also like to see Zanetti back and take over the captaincy of this team. I’m just crossing my fingers now and hoping we add some great players like Cambiasso, Aimar, Banega, Higuain, and others.

Rune, I don’t like Maradona and you know it, but to say that he is calling up Boca players is ridiculous to me.
Maradona has fallen from grace with Boca Jrs.

The first kick in Riquelme’s butt was the first day Diego took over our NT.
“My Selección will be Mascherano + 10. Remember???
A biased Boca fan doesn’t do that because it was obvious that it was aimed at Riquelme. It was plain provocation.

man hearing that samuel will be in SA is the best news ive heard since maradonas been at the throne. palermo i dont mind on the team as long as his not starting in important games. the guys deserves a call up his got not skills but the guy scores when its counts you cant deny that. the man knos how to find the back of the net when the pressure is the most. and none can protest to that. the man is a prolific threat in the box with his head or foot. his deadly. but doesnt mean he shuld start without him we wouldnt be here. so i say give him the call up for the last time. higuain or milton shuld be our striker up front starting. i prefer having both of them up there but maradona most likely will play his usuall 4-4-2 formation with most likely masherano and veron in the middle and di maria n gutierrez on the wings and higuain n messi up front. i realli hope that maradona puts alot of thought into this n puts out the best lineup we can put out there. one thatll put fear into teams like brazil and england. milto and higuain at the top is the scariest force we have.

Hey you guys, how is everyone doing? hope all is well. I have been so happy for Banega. I remember watching him and actually meeting him when the argentina team came to LA to play against guatamla. I posted the my take on the game and i sat first row behind the argentina bench. Banega was the stand out player in that game. Even riquelme was over shadowed by banega in that game. His long passes and tackles and accurate short passes were supurb. I am just happy he has made a commitment to change, because his off the field drama was getting out of hand. the second player that was great in that game was Higuain. He scored two goals in that game and he was just a beast. The last couple of goals he scored are just wonderful. His goal last week was amazing.

Also Pastore has been doing wonderful as of late, supposedly he dreams of playing for Barca and hopes to one day take Messis place(the # 10, he jokes). He said he would like to be compared to Riquelme and Kaka. Could you imagine a creative player like riquelme with a speed of Kaka??? wow.

Here is my dream team for the World Cup. btw there is a 75% chance i will be in south africa

——————Romero————–

-Zabaletta—Demichelis—Samuel—Heinze–

———Mascherano—–Cambiasso——

—————–Banega—————-

–Messi————————–Di Maria-
—————–Huguain—————–

Pekerman used sorin to run down the flanks in 06 and made sure burddiso/coloccini/scolani all stayed in the back and the only defender that was free to attack was sorin.

for this formation i would let zabaletta attack on the right side just as dani alvez and messi do it for barca. so when attacking we would have 3 CB with mascherano holding the mid and cambiasso moving up to help banega. On the left side Di Maria could help defending with his spead.

so when attacking it would be

–Demi–Samuel–Heinze
——Mascherano—
-Zabaleta—–Cambiasso–
Messi-banega–Di Maria–
——Higuain—–

i wouldnt mind putting Aguero in place of Di Maria and subbing Di Maria in the 60th minute or vise versa.

sub in Aimar for banega around the 60th minute if needed. or Banega for tevez. Or even subbing Zabaleta for Tevez and having mascherano and cambiasso help on the defence and let tevez play as an eganche.

hope i am making sense. but that would be my dream 11.

It was really great to see gabby milito play a full 90 minutes. i know some people dont like him, specially for the way he played against brazil in London and at the copa 07, but i think he is a solid CB who could be a great option for us come june. here is a good article about him

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/soccer/fifaworldcup/blog/2010/02/gabi-militos-return-good-news-for-maradona.html

everything is coming together

our players are reaching there prime just in time

now its a race against maradonas madness

Palermo has to stay home. With only 6 strikers on the list to go it should be: Higuain, Milito, Messi, Tevez, Aguero and Lavezzi. to leave any of those guys home would be a crime.

Palmero is not even in the some class as Milito or Higuain and his name is mentioned before their’s!!!! a complete disgrace….what is Jonas doin on the list? he’s plays in the second divison….Veron mentioned just makes me more nervous that the fat slob won’t call Banega or Cambiasso…Heinze in means Insua or Zabaleta are not both going…watching plenty of Man City Zabaleta looks lost or beaten way too much.

thats true. zabelta does look lost alot of times. zanetti or otamendi on the right side are great choices i think come world cup time maradona will plug otamendi on the right demichillis and samuel in the middle and heinze on the left side.

Otamendi scares the hell out of me.

dudes you have to let go of d milito…he will never be called to the team

Why not? If Schiavi gets a call..anyone can.

Diego Milito has to be called to the team. He is the hottest striker in Europe. AS for Jonas he should never be starting before Perotti. He should however be in consideration for Right Back which he played when Basile was there. Im good with Veron, he has proved himself a leader. Where is Cambiasso?????

Sorry but Lazezzi doesn’t belong in that lineup. Licha Lopez or Barrios or even Palermo (who scores goals) should be ahead of Lavezzi.

ajnyhc,

i agree Lavezzi should not be considered b4 Licha or zarate…

argiefan,

jonas has no right being called befroe Perroti or even Pastore

—-romero—-
otamendi—demi—samuel–heinze (rather insua)

——masche—-banega—
messi————–di maria
——higuain—milito—–

l

Lose Otamendi and I’d be happy.

argentuban,

i agree, but who would you put? not zanetti…as we need someone who wont leave us exposed on counter attacks? Garay?

if u want to win the world cuo 2010 in south africa then juan requilmi is the main key of your squed.otherwise i can not believe.your main problems are mid filde. thatr is your worst part of yourgame.otherwise what you want

Messay, nice post and great lineup !!

Amit Singh, I read your comment from the last thread.
You make a very good point regarding Milito. Well said.
He is the sub for Higuaín, when needed. At least in my book.
And I know he’s conquered the hearts of Inter fans with goals.
But after Higuaín, honestly, at this moment I don’t like any of our 9s.
I would leave “el pibe” Barrios aside simply because of total lack of experience.
I have hope that our other guns will create plays for Higuaín, because he looks and feels like the Matador we have needed for long.
(Batistuta is playing polo these days.)

Albo:
I am not saying Diego is calling up Boca PLAYERS, but I believe the reason why he calls up Palermo is because Diego has been sitting in his box in La Bombonera celebrating Palermo’s goals for years and years. Like all of us Boca fans, he is very greatful to a player that has become one of the biggest idols in the history of the club. That’s why I say that Diego is letting his emotions run the show when it comes to picking Palermo.
I know Diego doesn’t attend Boca games any longer because of the Riquelme thing and that the fans have turned against him and his family. But all those years as a die hard fan in his box in the stadium still means something. Palermo is a weird fellow, some say loco, and he has never been a player with the biggest talent but a real fighter and a true poacher. Diego kinda like’s all that, I think(including Palermo’s weirdness). Palermo deserves to be treated with respect for all he has done. But he does not deserve a place in our NT. I guess we all agree in this.

Futbol is not politics. It’s just a game. Unless it doesn’t talk about tactics, I have always thought that reading sport news more than 5 minutes per day is a loss of time. But it’s just my opinion.

Mundoalbiceleste is a great NEUTRAL place that SUMS up eveything about argie futbol. For people who don’t have the time to watch games or read dozens of websites pages that all say the same thing, it’s nice to catch up the gols thanks to the website’s youtube videos and read from Seba & John (even if I don’t agree when they criticize some players). These guys are as disappointed than us. They are fans, like us.

I want to thank DARYL for excluding the trolls from the blog. I don’t know how the moderators did but now, it’s clean. I’m sure ALBO is already missing his old buddy KEN.

ARGENTUBAN, I’m obviously with you on this. We have outstanding #9s. Yes, “OUTSTANDING”, is the word. All ahead of Tronco Palermo, by miles. Milito? He played pieces of games and scored when the pressure was huge. Barrios? He’s a monster, missing experience or not, and I’m just waiting for a Dortmund game to finally watch him. But I don’t want to enter in this ridiculous debate that has been brought on here so many times.

Hi MESSAY. Rememeber the time when we were all discussing about meeting eachother in South Africa for 2010? Already 4 years have passed, amazing. If only Maradona could start your 4-2-3-1/3-3-3-1 squad…

GINO,
If Samuel is brought back, then I think Zanetti & Cambiasso will be in the package. But lets prefer to wait and see. Maradona words have the same value of his brain

RUNE,
The only neutral NT coach we’ve had since 2005 has been Pekerman. Maradona probably hate River because its the “millonarios” club, excluding the fact that River fans are not richer than others. Who knows…

In my opinion this is what I think el diego shud pick, but what I think and what he thinks is totally different, I would have put riquelme in for veron but theres no chance he’ll be in the squad, but theres a small chance leo franco might be.

———-leo franco———–
zanneti–samuel—demi—-heinze
———————————–
messi—-masch—veron——dimaria
————tevez—————–
—————-milito/ higuain—-

It is great news to read Samuel is called up ! I wonder a lot abour maradona because he never selected the right players, but finally, he seems to comme back to reason.
Selecting Samuel is obvious but also surprising, Palermo is just selected for the life out from the picth, even pekerman selected bad palyers such as scaloni or colocinni just because the locker room life would be better. Anyway you can’t play with 23 players on the pitch, be sure palermo should not walk on the field.
May be diego was doing testes with weak players, he wanted to show to the best players that he could avoid to select them, as a result, a player like Samuel is much stronger than he’s been during the past 3 years, probably because he was really upset to be ignored by maradona. European argentines have been ignored by diego and they also are all doing a great season, probably because diego forced them to work harder than they thought they could, and the result could be great if finally select all of them (cambiasso and samuel ahead)

WAMDIEGO,
I don’t think Maradona is clever enough to do things like this. And that wouldn’t be that clever because it would delay cohesion among players and most of all, be soooo risky when Argentina needed to qualify for WC (we qualified thanks to little miracles).
Sometimes, I wonder if Diego doesn’t want to try people, one by one, as much as he can. For example, after seeing what Samuel could do before the French game, he wanted to test all the other Argentinean central defenders. The problem is that we’re talking about futbol not war. Maradona must build a team around 2 dozens of players that must know eachother perfectly. Not an army that is going to fight the Maradona enemy USA. Anyway, we haven’t won more WC because of the so short terms visions of our coaches. That’s the way it is. That’s why it is stupid to blame the players, before or after WC.

Lets wait and see. Maradona will annonce the list against Germany. In theory, it will be very very close to the WC list. Palermo, Bolatti (who was very average with la Fio lately), Jonas (poor, only defends), Veron (slow, old), Mascherano, Messi, Lavezzi will be on it for sure. Maradona really frightens me with his European, physical, dribbling, counter attacking ideas. I’m saying this because Dominguez will be on the list. I have nothing against him but who will be out then? Aguero?

When is the next friendly against germany scheduled ?

march 3rd

I saw veron play yesterday …hes good i mean really good

veron is good against weak competition Golazo, against the likes of the England National team or the french its a whole different ball game…

All I know is that if he does indeed call Samuel that resolves a lot of problems at the back.

If he had played against Brazil with De, for example, that match would have been a draw. Two of Brazil’s goals were due to HORRENDOUS defending.

MAXILOPEZ
If you play defensive and counter attacking football, you don’t need much time to find chemistry between the players. if you play with that way of play, I think it could be clever not to select some players for a while in order to touch their pride and then to get the best of them. The loss in chemistry between players is smaller than the improvement of the player.
Of course, my way to see things is quite biased, maybe diego never thought about that, but he may have done something good involuntarily.
At that time, we must just try to believe and to find reasons to smile ! Since diego is the worst coach ever, let’s hope he’ll have the cheek luck of silly heroes like droopy or inspector gadget ! lol

Maybe because he’s a “motivator” (only), WAMDIEGO.

There are too many problems WAMDIEGO. When I read your post, there are so many things I would like to tell. But I don’t want to repeat myself. All I want to say is that our players may learn quickly how to play counter attacking. The problem is that they would apply that “strategy” very badly. We are not used to let the opponent have the posesion and it caused us WC 2006. Most of all, Maradona’s “tactics” failed in 10 games out of 10. Our boys don’t know how to play without the ball simply because they come from Argentina.

I can’t wait for Tuesday’s list and finally know if we have a little chance.

GOLAZO,
Veron is good but he can only play 30 minutes. That’s a fact. Against England, he wouldn’t even be able to breath. Even against Greece, Nigeria & Corea (if they play like in 2006).

ARGENTUBAN,
Samuel failed at Madrid. All central defenders fail when they are exposed and not protected by the midfield. Samuel wouldn’t be the savor that would solve all problems in defence. Also, you know like me, that there aren’t any tactics after 10 minutes, only “vamos” screamt by Maradona. And that’s where the experienced Micho-Samuel-Heinze combo would explain the midfield to net get exposed. That’s why Samuel is so important. To find cohesion and also to improve our defence on free-kicks, like you said. Because in all these domains, Maradona is useless.

I think this is worth a look – all of Messi’s goals so far for FCB, from Barca TV:

http://www.theoffside.com/leagues/spain-la-liga/leo-messis-101-goals-for-barcelona.html

Great video.. thanks for the link AJ

I can’t wait…..Tuesday can’t come fast enough. If Diego doesn’t include Banega in the Germany sqaud, we have very small chances of seeing him in the world cup. The Germany squad will tell us 90% of the players going to SA. I guess there will be a new posting record in this blog when Diego anounces the squad on Tuesday.

I agree with you Rune, Banega is one of the most talented young players that we have.. without Aimar (he is the best option to play an attacking midfielder in Argentina, really), we dont have much of a choice. Also, Veron lacks the flair usually associated with attacking midfielders.. So, I pray that he would play either Aimar and Banega or both of them in the midfield with Messi, Dimaria on either side, Masch as the holding midfielder and Higuain/Tevez up front. I am not so sure if Zanetti still has the legs to play right back as compared to some of the best (Maicon, Dani Alves, Johnson). But Samuel and Demichilis in central defend would solve a lot of problems.

the post below found in http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/. this reflects mara mindset

“Hurry Up ..Hurry Up..Hurry Up

All Argentine origin footballer across the world please have your Luck . Maradona going to call more new 50 players Germany match . Please contact 00888822355 for info .

Your chances of selection are bright because the selector has lost his mind .

Just wear a Argentine jersey when you came for selection and fill the name favorite politician as Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez in your selection form . You will be selected .

I lost all my respect to Diego maradona .. self centric person ..”

whats happening on tuesday? his going to name the squad for the march friendly against germany?

hi everybody,

my opinon for the starting lineup is as follows:
USTARI (gk)
Zanetti
Demichelis
Samuel
Heinze
Aimar
Dimaria
Messi
Mascherano
Tevez
Higuian

NB: i’m following all getafe games and ustari is the answer to our goalkeeping problem.the guy hass heart.he is a good fighter

After all lets wait and see the Diego

ciao

panama, costa rica, ghana, jamaica…

we have seen and heard coaches trying their different systems and also testing players after players.

but MARADONA has played the above unofficial matches with local players maybe to train himself or test his own coaching abilities.

i feel we will be just fine during the world cup…

Another assist by Banega!
Does anyone have a link to where we can see how many assists he’s got so far this season?

Wait until the end of the season RUNE. The cake isn’t finished yet! What is your prediction for Tuesday: do you think Aimar, Saviola, Banega will be selected?

D’Alessandro said that his relations with Pekerman were better by far than with Maradona. Diego has always treated the players like sh#t, and it’s a fact. I believe he doesn’t know what is a phone.

“Los técnicos tienen su manera de ver el fútbol y si no soy parte es porque Diego no me necesita”. D’Ale is not in Maradona’s plans because he’s an enganche. Or because he’s from River like Aimar?

Delgado +1

Rune…counting this assist Baenga has the highest no. of assist in la liga (tied with messi ) they both will have 8 assist..xavi has 6

MAXILOPEZ:
I have afeeling Diego will surprise us and call Saviola now. Not Aimar. Maybe Banega. Banega is off course the one that deserves a call up the most.

AMIT SINGH:
Thanks for the info, Banega is just wonderful this season. I have watched every second Messi has played so far tis season, and kept track of his goals and assists. He has 7 assists in the legue, in my book.

Zarate +1

Guys, I’m outta here. need a vacation.
This place is becoming a Boca-River discussion. (because of Maxi)
It’s just not fun for me anymore.
I got over that a long time ago.
(in example, Nobody here knows who Fabbiani is because I din’t wanna burn River Plate when they were down at the buttom.
Again, this is not fun for me.
Que les garúe finito.

rune i definitley agree zarate is one of the players we need, he turned down a chance to play for italy so im really hopin diego can give him a chance for la seleccion. zarate is also one of the bbest players in seria A and it would suck to not have him play in the world cup

i beleive this is the best squad diego could take to the world cup

Goalies: romero, carrizo, ustari

Defenders: zanetti, demichellis, samuel, insua, g. milito, zabaleta, garay

Mids: masche, cambiasso, di maria, maxi, perrotti, banega, aimar

Forwards: milito, higuain, messi, tevez, aguero, lisandro, zarate/lavezzi

all of these guys are top class players and we do not have room for guys like veron, palermo, and heinze who are gonna cause problems for us

my line up would be 1 of these

Romero
Zanetti-Samuel-Demichellis-Insua
Masche
Messi-Aimar-Di Maria
Higuain-Milito

Romero
Zanetti-Demichellis-Samuel
Masche-Cambiasso
Messi-Tevez-Di Maria
Higuain-Milito

shane,

i like ur line up BUT you NEED Banega in ur starting line-up and Zanetti will be exposed in counter attacks…i do love the fact the you have brought the isuue that Zarate should be picked over Lavezzi!!

anyone who follows and has played high leveled soccer/futbol would agree this a great line-up w/options

Garay-samuel-demi-insua
——-masche——
———–banega—–
messi————-di maria
——milito—-higuain—-

we are not a team that can afford to play w/1 foward…mardid/barc/inter don’t and we shouldn’t think we can as our coaching staff is a bunch off bumbs

read these reports guys..

http://www.serieatalk.com/is-karim-benzema-joining-serie-a/2095

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2559/rumours/2010/02/14/1790144/manchester-united-linked-with-cut-price-real-madrid-striker

Higuain could be facing stiffer competition in the form of Villa next season.

As for Real, if this is true, what a bad business move – Buy for 30M and sell for 18 M !

junneb i agree either way is fine for me although i have a little more confidence in cambiasso, and im hopin zarate will get called up. also id prefer zanetti over garay hes still got the legs for 90 minutes

albo, i feel u shouldn go as u hav made blogging very interesting here with so many true facts and latest news . . . my humble advice pls do write again as this is teh most important time as aorld cup is nearing . . . looking forward to see yr blogs again . . . God Bless

so tomorrow v will know teh list that could make it to the world cup . . . hoping for the best . . .

Tomorrow will be an important day for futbol in Argentina. More than we tend to think. We’ll know if there is a chance for our players to balance the tactics and avoid Maradona’s Europeans counter attacking ideas.

AIMAR & BANEGA must be selected. And then START. Because Messi & Higuain need Aimar. And Aimar needs Banega.

I hope Maradona selects Zabaleta. I know he’s not fantastic but this kind of very physical right back can perfectly balance the team if Heinze is staying back on the left. He’s fast, he can track-back well.

Finally, I want to know if the Samuel thing is not another lie from Maradona. I haven’t jumped yet on my chair and if tomorrow, I see his name on the list, I’ll destroy the ceiling

Come on (stupid) Diego, please do this with your 4-4-2 (defending 4-4-2/attacking 4-3-1-2):

—————-Andujar—————
Zabaleta—DeMichelis—Samuel–Heinze
Maxi—–Mascheran—-Banega—–Aimar
————Messi—-Higuain———-

Piatti +1

ALBO,
No need to runaway, this is only futbol.
I will make things clear because I respect argentinos who have discussed with me more than 4 years on our website. You know better than me that I don’t hate Boca but the whole Pro-Boca environment that is around the NT since Pekerman left. That’s why I criticize the press in Argentina which is pro-Boca because it sells more paper, for example by counting and praising the San Palermo tales. Especially when Grondona asks them to (ex: Riquelme episode lately). Also, that’s why I have been criticizing Basile/Maradona for selecting dozens of Boca guys who had (really) nothing to do in the NT instead of continuing the work Pekerman had achieved to prepare 2010. You’ve been totally Boca biased for years and that’s a common point you share with AFA, even if it’s for different reasons. If the AFA management was normal, we wouldn’t being losing our time right now. Nevermind.

Albo, the blog misses u . . . pls do keep writing and do go away . . . i hav learnt so much of soccer especially argentine soccer from the keyboard of albo and maxilopez . . .

albo, i meant ‘dont go away’ in teh previous blog

Yes, MaxiLopez . . . a messi-aimar-banega-dimaria with higuian upfront would be just a dream combination . . .
.
jus think of this . . .
++++++++++++++Romero++++++++++++++++
Zabletta++Samuel++Demichelis++Heinze
++++++++++++Mascherano++++++++++++++
++++++Aimar+++++Banega+++++++Dimaria
Messi+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++Higuain++++++++++++++++
.
Im just praying for teh best list tomorrow . . . thzt all v can do . . . maradona pls dont bring any players who are not world class

Chalz

Love that line up!!! Have a little doubts over Zabaleta though as i’d still prefer Zanetti there anyday..Rest of the team is perfectly balanced!! Only if Maradona could see what we all can then we can go all the way in the world cup!!

Zanetti, i really wanted Javier Zannetti as right back as we all know that he teh best in that position but i had thought since already we had messi at teh right so to fill that gap a player should cover messi staying back (while defending) as we all know javier zanetti moves forward quickly . . . anywayz if maradona is selecting our list we all would feel the most happiness in all.

maradona will not select any new players i think as he has lot of options now . . . but the fact that he hasn really called up very good players as Lisandro lopez, Zarate, etc.

id rather pablo aimar and janus to rotate the right side if messi up front maxi has lost it for me he seems burned-out,

benega evan wen veron is central as veron tires ben in middle and aimar can come on for right side fuck maxi his all washed up….

-someone–dem–sam–henz-
ben—–mass—-veron–dimaria-
—–messi————-
—————-hig————

-someone–sam—dem—henz-
—aimar—mass—-ben—-dimar–
—-messi—————–
—————–hig—————

play a peckerman 4-4-2 and use ben/aimar from right side so you got aimar/ben/veron and always 2 of the 3 on pitch aimar and ben and veron can share playmaking and tempo resposabillitys and veron and aimar also get there rest and recovery time…..we got messi and dimaria we dont need a winger right side we need inteligents and strength and link play with messi….aimar/ben/janus for right side

veron/ben/gago for center

ben is flexible as is aimar and janus offers cover for fullbacks and left side also

chalz i like your lineup but i also prefer zanetti over zabaleta and i would not have heinze in the lineup he makkes too many mistakes in the back. also i beleive higuain and milito will work extremely well up top together with messi coming in from the right.
my lineup would be like this

Romero
Zanetti-Demichellis-Samuel
Masche-Banega/Cambiasso
Messi-Aimar-Di Maria
Higuain-Milito

zanetti in a back 3 hmmmmmmm
against costa rica yes against are wc group teams or say germany/england i think not…..

back 3s id go dem–sam–henz-

or dem–garry–henz never zanetti unless its exabition match teams that argentina can spank with simple clever play..
coll–dem–sam–insua as back 4 only insua attacks as a fullback

aimar–mass–ben–dimaria as midfield

if it was a back 3 say 3-4-3/3-3-1-3….

—garry–dem–henz—
zan——-mass——janus-
———–ben————–
messi——-hig——–dimaria-

zanetti back 3 wc finals your posting wilst smoking crack lol

garry–dem–sam–henz
———-mass———
—aimar———-dimaria—
————ben————-
——-messi—————–
——————-hig————

4-4 diamond-2 that switches to wide attack flat 4 with wingers

Fuck it.

Angeleri/Ansaldi – De- Samuel – Heinze

-Zanetti/Cambiasso—Mascherano——-Banega

Messi—————————Di Maria

—————Higuain—————

zanetti goes up u have mascherano slide over and cover that side, also leaving banega at the holding mid spot, or wecould have zanetti demi samuel and insua/g. miltio on left side, not heinze though he makes too many mistAKES

very close to my fav

——gabi – De- Samuel –—

–Cambiasso——–Mascherano——-

-Messi————————benega——–Di Maria

—–—————Higuain—————aguero—-

I’m trying to find Argentine football fanatics – who can speak English OK – for a Budweiser World Cup web series. 1 passionate Argentine fan will be selected to travel to South Africa. Please help me find that fan by spreading the word about Bud House… budhouse dot com Thanks!
-Casting Director, BUD HOUSE

My dream lineup

—————–Romero———————-

——Heinze—–Zanetti——Samuel———

————-Cambiasso—–Maschareno——–

——Messi——-Aimar——–Tevez———

———–Higuain————Palermo——–

Subs: Aimar(Banega), Tevez (DiMaria), Palermo (Aguero)

you cant have a 3 man defense with heinze in it it will get ruined. and palermo? is that a joke theres so many better world class forwards, if palermo gets calle to the world cup i will call maradona the dumbest person EVER,
guys to pick before palermo…. diego milito, lisandro lopez, mauro zarate, kun aguero, lavezzi, barrios, even saviola and cavenaghi id prefer over palermo

my lineup:
Romero
Zanetti*Demichellis*Samuel*G Milito
Mascherano
Messi*Aimar*Di Maria
Higuain*D Milito

john – you might want to read Menotti’s comments regarding criticisms against Messi. I would say that he is right on target in the way he describes the people who blame Messi for the issues that are beyond his control.

you cant blame one player for the failures of a team of 11 players

messi is the best…he should be surrounded by the best..that’s the coach’s duty

FAB, your line-up is my line up…

very close to my fav

——gabi – De- Samuel –—

–Cambiasso——–Mascherano——-

-Messi————————benega——–Di Maria

—–—————Higuain—————aguero—-

Subs: Aimar(Banega), Tevez (DiMaria), diego milito (Aguero)

to maradona..pls pick up our very consistent goal scorer ..diego milito….every teams he plays…he will score….he will be our deadly finisher..instead of palermo….pls drop him!!!!!!

Assists..

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/topassists?league=esp.1&seasontype=4&cc=3436

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/stats/topassists?league=fra.1&seasontype=4&cc=3436

So as far as assists goes in Spain we are ruling.. Messi and Banega with 8 assists.

Lucho with 5 assists in France isnt doing too bad either.

Anyone knows Aimar’s stats ?

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=11829&cc=5901

Ok I found Aimar’s Assist stats :

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=11829&cc=3436

not bad at 5 but I was expecting a few more..

to be honest I am not sure if these stats are correct as if you look below in the earlier( Valencia) seasons he has zero assists! Surely that can’t be true, I mean the man was on fire in those early seasons at Valencia !

Ha Shane ! .. u beat me to it .. funny i couldnt see ur post earlier

First indications of the list. Zanetti should be back (I think he deserves it for the past, even if he gets us out of the Cup because of his tendency to never press the wing). Banega should be called instead of Gago but would be behind Bolatti & Veron in the hierarchy. I wonder where Maradona will put Chori Dominguez because he has his top 6 in attack. Like they say “el mundo maradoniano todo puede cambiar en segundos”.

KRISH,
Lucho has been injured most of the time in France so his stats are not that bad indeed. But regarding stats, in general, I only notice the ones for #9 because futbol isn’t NBA.

I hope players like Gabi Milito or Monzon won’t be called. We need our top players at WC.

Maradona says he isn’t gonna call people who sit too much on the bench. Well, in my opinion, I prefer Gago than Bolatti or Brana. I prefer Zabaleta than Alvarez. I also tend to prefer players at the highest level (Cambiasso, Zanetti, Milito, Samuel) than players in second division (Jonas, Coloccini).

Maradona will call South Americans players (Veron, Schiavi & Palermo? Others?).

My first post is the press prediction, not mine (!)

what time is teh list coming out??/ . . .

jus cant wait to see the most preferred list for teh world cup?? . . . (my predictions is that 90% of the palyers selcted today will make it to teh world cup . . . (maybe 20/23 out of this list maybe be retained??) . . . but v can never predict maradona (well, thzt why he is famous even now after his retirement!!!!!!!!!)

MaxiLopez, i see that albo has totally disappeared? . . . hope hez coming back. and do u rememebr debashih he also disappeared . ..so many of them . . . well world cup is coming .. . they all need to be back

maxi gabi milito is doing great, he came back from injury and held down the defense with 2 defenders red carded

we need him

FAB,
I wouldn’t be upset if at WC, Gabi Milito was Samuel’s sub. In my opinion, my CD top 3 is Micho, Heinze, Samuel. Milito needs time to come back, he hasn’t played for more than 1 year (!) if I’m not wrong.

Tonight it’s Lopez VS Higuain
Lopez is playing in a Maradonian team where players are pretty lost because of a coach who wants them to play with their passion (he reminds me someone…). Lopez is in the middle of all the mess and most of the time, he is played as a left winger (like Chelito), out of position. When he’s the #9 which is very rare, prepare yourselves to watch gols. As the #9, 10 minutes were enough for him to send Liverpool out the CL.

MAXI,

I for one hope he (Lopez) impresses today in the left. We need someone there.

It just accured to me that the list we’ll get to see later today may still be lying a bit, when it comes to being close to the final wc list. Since the date March 3 is a clausura date, only european based players will be called.

Krish, don’t trust espnsoccernet stats for portugese league..they are wrong esp. in assists…they always miss or wrongly give credit to someone else. 3-4 months back Aimar had two fabulous assist i waited another 2 months to see if they add it or not ..never got updated

same with skysports..they misspell players names and stats if they are not from england…ignorant

Apparently, Lopez starts tonight as the #9. And the good news is that Chelito Delgado should start on the left (out of position unfortunately). Some of you guys have probably not seen him for years, he’s still excellent. Higuain will start the game too. He is a poison for his opponent. Vamos Argentinos!

RUNE,
Grondona has precised that Argentina based players could play the game against Germany (if Maradona wanted them to…and he will). I’ve readen millions of times that the list was going to be released today. Still nothing coming…

ARGENTUBAN,
But Lopez is a #9, not a left winger.

CHALZ,
Don’t worry, the blog has always worked by cycles.

could i just point out creativity and playmaking goes way beyond a COUGH ASSIST hhhmmmm aimar 5 assists then people go hmmmm i thought he had more

HOW MANY GOALS HE ACCUALLY CREATED AND HOW WELL THE BALL WAS DIRECTED AND CONTROLLED is what makes great AM’s and linkers a great player (playmaker) can pass a wonderfull ball knowing 2/3 more touches by those attacking the goal will lead to a goal scored “““vision””” no one earth does the above like roman

stop with the assist counting as if its a graff that proves something benegas midfield control and long ball passing has frilled me more than his assists and the goals he personally created goes way beyond his assist rate…..

veron is called little witch for exactly what your explaining 4321uk

yes your right and benega and veron and aimar have this abillity

the itallian defensive creative midfielder is it pielo ac milan has the highest goal creation in itally doest mean he has the highest assist does it he has vision of what will happen if he passes to a area at a time and how will result in good play alonso spain again very good at this we need benega and veron in rotation or even together and aimar at wc 2010 also assists counting isnt proof of anything

zan—dem–sam—insua
-benega-mass-dimaria-
——–veron——–
messi——-higuain———

veron/ben rotate in playmaker role aimar on bench cover for veron/ben/dimaria beloved 4-3-1-2 returns lol

MAXI,

I kno what his best position is. But we have no solid left winger outside of Di Maria, and then we have nothing in midfield if we use him up front.

THE SQUAD HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED!

http://www.clarin.com/diario/2010/02/16/um/m-02141476.htm

it only says 3 local players otamendi clemente and veron and samuel and benega

yeh i dont kno why but thats wat i got so far theyll prolly give a whole list little later. its prolly the same squad as always plus those 5

i dont see any squad just a few names

true that

Well Milan got beat, deservedly so. JEJEJEJEJEJE!!!!

And Real lost.

If Lyon don’t try to sit they could knock Madrid out.

delgado had a great game today man of the match for me, higuain ans lisandro did alright wish higuain wouldve put that one away.

I thought Lisandro was so-so at best and Higuain was getting more involved as the game went on. the problem with Real is that they bought Ronaldo and now feel obligated to play him. he doesn’t suit their style of play. he bolloxed up so many swift movements and Ramos, Alonso, Arbeloa et al kept on playing to Ronaldo, instead of playing a more deliberate game.

Higuain didn’t help his cause much, in the begining, reading his team mates wrong (particularly Kaka) and constantly staying up close with 2-3 defenders … later on he began to move more and create space to receive, but Ronaldo was still doing stupid flicks and tricks that killed other players runs and allowed Lyon to close down vital space.

Delgado was excellent, might be worth keeping an eye on.

I think a midfield devoid of an “anchor man” would be best for Argentina, a Gago-Banega setup or a Cambiasso-Gago unit behind Banega… they could move the ball forward earlier, with vision, as well as plug gaps and close down play…

Well, I think we are missing style like Di Maria…

an a estar Burdisso, Samuel, Pastore, Higuaín, Milito, Messi, Tevez, Clemente, Ottamendi y Verón”

thats all he really mentioned also palermo will be at the world cup…so i guess that means that aguero will stay home or lavezzi

From mundoalbiceleste -

It is confirmed. It is official.

Here are your names for Argentina to face Germany in Munich on 3 March.

Goalkeepers:

Mariano ANDUJAR
Sergio ROMERO

Defenders:

Walter SAMUEL
Nicolás BURDISSO
Martín DEMICHELIS
Gabriel HEINZE
Clemente RODRIGUEZ
Nicolás OTAMENDI

Midfielders:

Javier MASCHERANO
Mario BOLATTI
Javier PASTORE
Jonas GUTIERREZ
Angel DI MARIA
Jesús DATOLO
Juan Sebastián VERON

Forwards:

Lionel MESSI
Gonzalo HIGUAIN
Sergio AGÜERO
Diego MILITO
Carlos TEVEZ

can’t believe he did not pick Banega

From Ole- (translated)

“At 50 percent and warned them”
Maradona spoke at Ezeiza and claimed he already confirmed and notified them, half of the players who will be in South Africa. Oh, to face Germany only three locations: Clemente, Veron and Otamendi. “The rest are outside,” the coach said.

Diego Armando Maradona has confirmed medium travel roster for the World Cup. Yes, coach, today presented the list for the match against Germany on March 3, not only provided that: “In 50 percent of the players who will be in the World Cup, and I told them.”

Like, the surprises did not cease to appear in Ezeiza, “From local to Cite Veron, Clement and Otamendi and then the others are outsiders.” Yes, Diego cited only three local football, including not Martin Palermo. “In Martin I will leave a bit quiet, but always” he said.

The list to play Germany in Munich:

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero and Mariano Andujar.

Defenders: Nicolas Burdisso, Walter Samuel, Nicolas Otamendi, Gabriel Heinze, Martin Demichelis and Clemente Rodriguez.

Midfielders: Juan Sebastián Verón, Javier Pastore, Angel Di Maria, Jonas Gutierrez, Jesus Datolo, Javier Mascherano and Mario Bolatti.

Forwards: Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain, Carlos Tevez, Sergio Aguero and Diego Milito.

no benega for germany game no real fullbacks ether AND NO MAXI HHMMMM IS HE OUT…..

dimaria right jesus left veron and mass in center messi higuain up front solid back 4 unit MAYBE

try pastore right side thats what id do…

diego is playing mind games with benega keep him fighting for a place witch he will get for wc 2010

bardisso–dem–sam–henz
pastore–mass–veron–dimaria
———–messi—————–
——————higuain———–

not a bad unit hay

pastore over aimar? bolatti over perrotti or maxi? veron over banega or cambiasso? datalo over zarate? whers insua and g. milito? im hoping this is not the world cup squad……

————romero——————

—burdisso—–samuel—demi—-otamendi–

——————-masche—————-

—messi—pastore——-veron———di maria

——————–hig———————-

-Romero
-Burdisso-Samuel-Demichellis-Heinze(unfortunately)
-Mascherano
-Gutierrez-Messi-Di Maria
-Higuain-Milito

In defence.. I would have wanted Ansaldi in that list.

Can’t believe the midfield.. it SUCKS!! WTF??
No Aimar ?! No Banega ?! No Rodriguez ?! No Cambiasso ?!
I am so dissapointed.. I mean Pastore,Gutierrez,Datolo and Bolatti over those four ?.. I cant understand what Maradona is doing

On the plus side, cant complain about the forwards.. thats the saving grace.

Ehhhhhhh not that bad but cambiasso and banega needs to be there and FUCK Otamendi

Wait… No Palermo !?!?!?!?!!?!!!!!1=]=]=]

Maradona: Spots still up for grabs

http://www.espnstar.com/football/world-cup/news/detail/item398372/Maradona:-Spots-still-up-for-grabs/

He actually did pick the best five forwards we have.

MAXI-R DOESNT DESERVE TO BE THERE ITS THAT SIMPLE,
but benega and aimar do belong

fab good line up maybe get that 4-2-3-1 we all crave

messi—pastore–dimaria
———-hig————

obviously mass–veron as are deep center 2

we should play with two forrwards up top (higuain&milito) with messi behind them or to the right so messi can be a playmaker and get way more touches on the ball, also he will start making those runs from deep in midfield like he does every game for barcelona.

Ignoring Banega is awful & atrocious , i just hope this does not affect his moral…Bolatti, Datalo, veron, over Banega (esp. bcos of his super form) is criminal.
after mascherano, the second name on the sheet should be Banega…maybe it’s just me but he’s too good.

This is why the midfield sucks.. at least for me !

http://guardian.touch-line.com/StatsCentre.asp?Lang=0&CTID=15&CPID=16&pStr=Player&PLID=201023&TEID=527

Bolatti – I don’t follow Fiorentina, but look at this link – Bolatti has made 2 starts this season.

Pastore- I can still understand his selection, but he is someone for the future, he has the talent but remains unproven and is obviously inexperienced.

Gutierrez – As if we can start pulling players from the 2nd division!!

Datolo – A guy who couldn’t get a first team spot at Napoli.. and now has run away to Greece to get some game time !
Check this -

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/players/stats?id=60269&cc=3436

Now, to think that 3 midfielders who are currently on fire..Banega, Aimar and Cambiasso have been excluded, this whole midfield starts to look like a Greek tragedy

I really hope that this Maradona experimenting with these rejects and deciding if he is going to select them at all rather than the other way round!

Where is Banega??????????????????????
Where is Aimar???????????????????????
Where is Zanetti or Zabaleta??????

And what the hell have Jonas, Datolo, Bolatti, Otamendi and Pastore done to deserve to be in this squad????????
Pastore….I really can not understand all the fuzz about him….he has often been a sub for Palermo! How can he be given a place in Diego’s squad over Aimar? And Bolatti over Banega and Cambiasso? Jonas(1.division player)over Maxi? Datolo over Perotti? Otamendi over Zanetti/Zabaleta?
I am so tired of this shit!!!

By the way: The 5 forwards picked are perfect. Just add Lisandro and I am happy with our attackers, at least.

Pastore is at least a man for the future, allthough he doesn’t deserve a call up now at all. But the likes of Jonas, Datolo and Bolatti should never wear a NT jersey. They are in the same category as Palermo. Club players, but at best mediocre at the highest level.

I got so pissed of after seeing that midfielders list, that I forgot who he picked in defence. But I will not at all celebrate that he called Samuel….why? Because we all know it was about fucking time he called him!!!!! Burdisso……never never been his fan. He is mediocre in my book, and a player that gives away lots of dangerous free kicks. BUT he is experienced and he has ONE big asset that maybe can justify him being a part of a WC squad: he is versatile, can play anywhere in defence.

this maradroga is really brainless and full of contradiction, he said few days back that he will not pick players who are not playing regularly for the clubs …. and yet he is picking bolatti and pastore who are sub in their respective clubs, what the hell in not picking banega whom i believe is amongst the top 10 midfielders in the world at the moment…, why did he call aimar against peru, he called cuchu for 45 min and banega played if i recall against catalunya for 20 min and showed great composure to control the mid when he came in. the only logic this man has in his mind is no logic. now i believe those who have said that he has taken too much drugs that he is brain is affected for life. m really starting to hate this man who was once my pride as football fan, you know what diego argentina is gonna vomit you, argentina is gonna reject you. m pissed off , so disappointed, how can i call datolo, in any day i will pick maxi or zanetti over this clown of datolo, how come cuchu is not in that list. you know why palermo has not been selected? very simple the answer to save him from criticism that will result in his poor display against a quality opposition! why he is picking banega, coz he simply does not to convince himself that banega is better than his beloved gago, he knows that if he gives ever banega a chance, it will be game over for gago, that is why he has got to limit as much as possible banega chance .

i am very disappointed by the management of one of the greatest armada of football the history has ever produced..

Hi everyone,

first of all am very happy that Samuel and Burdisso are back. Maradona needs to focus on sorting out the defense before the world cup. The selections this time were much better than previuosly.

However, Zanetti should be at the world cup because we need him as he is great when it comes to counter attack. I dont know whether he should start or not because that depends on tactics and the opponent (whether the full backs should attack or not). I strongly believe that the back 4 should be European based players coz they have more experience and are used to the kind of pace that will be played at the wc.

Also Benega should be called up. Also where is Aimar??? I think that Aimar plays well with Messi and should start from the begining. I was never a fan of veron but he can only be used in last 20 mins of a match because he doesnt have the stamina to last a full game and his qualities are good if you need to keep possession. I personally prefer Riquelme but thats not gonna happen.

———————-Romero—————————
——-Zanetti—–Demichellis—Samuel——Insua————————-Mascherano———————————–Messi——-Aimar————–Di Maria————————-Higuain—–Milito——————

subs: Banega(aimar), Tevez (di maria), aguero (higuain)

Buffon is a bastardo. Pure and simple.

Leaving out Banega and Cambiasso from thne midfield is mind boggling.

How does Bolatti get ahead of them ? And how does Perotti who has done more in Sevilla than Datolo in his time at Napoli fall in the pecking order ?

Jonas struggles in the Championship yet gets picked behind Maxi who has the experience and quality to still be an asset. Who will defend the flanks ? Burdisso lacks pace and Clemente okay going forward but….

No Ansaldi who proved in the CL he can cope with what is thrown at him.

Awful selection. This had better not be the definites for June. Seven of that list are not fit to wear the shirt.

The most criminal absence is Banega who is many commentators top midfielder in Spain at the moment and when you consider what he is up against…..

Sod that cokehead says and select Bolatti.

Someone do away with him. Send him to Mexico and the scum drug barons there.

Saludos amigos.

And thinking a little more who will run the midfield where the battle will be won ?

Veron is so slow he will get eaten alive. No service upfront it wont matter what we have there because no quality ball will be available and the movement will be static.

Looks like we will be aiming at individiual plays whilst defending with six or seven.

Hurray.

maybe this selection will be a good thing. Germany will hopefully eat us alive in the middle of the park forcing Maradona to come to grip with the fact that his MF selections are holding the team back (in terms of squad selections).

coming to Jonas, as much as I dislike him, I would rather have him as our LB than Clemente, Monzon, Ansaldi, Papa, Heinze. Insua maybe but he hasn’t played much for the NT. Heinze is good as a CD, but not out wide. So Jonas, I really don’t mind in that capacity, but not as a MF.

As you all have already stated, we’re making some progress. Our D (save 2 players) and Forwards are pretty much the same players we have clamoured for. So now hoopefully the MF gets rounded up.

On a range of disapointment, I’m at 95%. We know that there are no tactics with Maradona. So if the best players had been there at WC, we would have had some hope kept alive.

What is this list? No Aimar. No Maxi Rodriguez. No Banega. No Cambiasso. No Lopez. No Zanetti. No Saviola. No Lucho. No Insua. No Zabaleta. Only people who don’t complain and who will praise Maradona like their “Fidel Castro” commander just to have a piece of albiceleste. Maradona wants the power in the locker-room. He has it. The problem is that he doesn’t have the futbol.

Samuel, DeMichelis and Heinze (who is still injured!) will be exposed like hell, like in the past games. Our fantastic forwards will have to do kamikaze dribblings. Nothing will change than against Bolivia.

And guess who are the 2 guys missing to complete the 23-men list? Palermo & Schiavi.

What do we conclude about Clemente Rodriguez’s presence? That he will start and that Samuel will sit on the bench.

Enough. I won’t comment. What can I say? What can we say? Guys, we have been losing our time for so long.

See you in June and cry together.

Typing mistake: “See you in June when we’ll be all crying together”

you guys gotta relax jus cuz he put up this lineup doesnt mean he wont be calling up other people. for all you people who are dieing for him to call up zarate… which includes me 2. his about 99% not goin to. he hasnt called zarate up to thispoint. bad news… but on a good note at least he got the defense right. he said the main focus is the partnership of demichillis and samuel so he got that right at least. his def goin calling up palermo and also maxi rodriguez for the world cup as he has said already. saviola… i dont think so guys lol. i do think he should call up one more striker after our best 5 tho. lisandro lopez. THE GUY IS A MONSTER. he played awesome against RM last night. and also that dude delgado had a hell of a game but there is no shot of him playing either. maradona is in love with gutierrez who is not a bad player but we have BETTTER ones. gutierrez is a def player to go to the WC. im pretty sure he will call up banega for the WC though cuz he has said he hasnt kept his eye off of him and i think it jus mite be a test for banega to play his heart out and get the best out of him. so i see banega getttin there. cambiasso i dont think so. its jus so unpredictable with maradona theres only a select few that are guarenteed. mascherano, romero, andujar, messi, tevez, aguero, higuain, milto, veron, gutierrez, di maria…. HEINZE 2 which if he plays the left back isnt too bad i mean insua is a good player but too young to throw him out there into the wolves. and dont wry schiavi wont be on the team anymore so stop worrying. but i def see banega on the squad idk bout starting though. i wouldnt be surprised with a front line of mascherano veron gutierrez di maria messi and higuain up at the top like always. veron has to get outta there n so does gutierrez. some1 put some sense into this lunatic!

Messi+10,

I agree with most of what you say as you make alot of sense and think the same way I do. I agree that Veron should not be there. However, Gutierez has proven that he is a hard worker and has got pace to run on the right wing and is physically strong. If we want to be a match against teams like Germany and Brazil, we need to have players that are not only skillful but also physical and Guiterez can provide that. I want to see Aimar start in every match coz he deserves to be our main play maker.

I agree that Zarate wont be called up before wc. It would be great for him to be called up and tried. However there is massive competition in the strikers department and therefore he wont make it coz the main strikers are in great form for their clubs.

My main concern is the defense and I hope that he makes up his mind on our defenders and sticks to them in next few games so that they can develop good understanding between them. A defense of Burdisso-Samuel-Dimichelis-Heinze looks solid even though am not a fan of Heinze but he seems to play much better at left back than centre half.

What to say about this man maradona . . . hez everyonez fav but see what he selects for a world cup . . . no aimar, no banega, no zanetti, no perotti, no zarate, no lisandro lopez, no maxi rod, no cambisso, no ansaldi, no angelari, no zabletta, etc. what to say? . . . i think bolatti, datalo, veron, otmandi, burdisso, milito, had smiles when they put on the ‘albiceleste’ . . . thzt why maradona selected them!!!!!!!!!!! (v cant help it) . . .

Guyz in this wonderful blog, i know everyonez half upset to see ‘our strike force’ to the world cup is missing a lot of wonderful talents . . . . v know itz tough on not to call them all up but maradona is checking out loyalty factor. anywyz i wouldn like to say more as all r already mad at maradona . . . maybe it all can be a ‘Blessing-in-disguise’ . . . come june-july and v argentinez will show teh world ‘football’ and life the world cup once again (God’s Grace and Mercy) maybe not in the usual style and flamboyance as the stylist riquelme, alsandro, aimar, perroti, and etc. r all not travelling and its a known fact . . .

Don’t worry guys. Our defence and forward line is well set. Think about the situation 2 months back.. we were quarelous about our defence and forward line. Now the midfield, I am sure we will be all set. Maradona is not dumb.. day by day I am going to believe it. He was ignoring some key players of our defence and forward line.. and we get the devastating form of Higuain, samuel, hainze. Now he is ignoring our midfield….I believe it is a way to bring out the best from Banega, Maxi, Aimar, Cambiasso…. And Ever is improving day by day..Maxi is trying hard. We will be all set. Don’t get fool telling Maradona a lunatic. He is stubborn and arogent, thats way he is the only one who dare to take this ignoring tactice not counting what the supporters saying, even AFA. I see good chance of Argentina in SA.

Batigol,
i agree, i mean zarate was in amazing form last year im not sure this year, he only has two goals im not really sure how he has been doing so far but the 5 strikers maradona he did pick are all in excellent form, at least he got that and the defense right. i would actually prefer otamendi on the right he is tough and plays with alot of heart im not a big fan of burdisso, never been. but the midfield is just a mess. veron should never be there. 2002 was his year n he blew it. 8 years later, 2 world cups later and we give him another chance?? crazy… i dont even want riquelme in that spot anymore his not as good as he once was (2006, 2007) i would love to see banega or aimar in there. i actually been watchin banega play past couple weeks n the guy has great vision, great passing. the guy has been good since he came from boca juniors. alot better then gago in my opinion. his even considered one of the best midfielders in the liga. i mean i think maradona is playin games with banega and will def call him for the WC. i mean he called him up recently for a friendly so there is a chance. i dont kno why maradona doesnt call aimar he played way better then veron in that peru game, our problem in that game adn in almost everygame was defense. our defense was shaky until demichillis arrived back from injury and changed evrythin in the urguay game wehre we shot those guys out. i do agree with gutierrez being played in a more physical game, i would actually love to see messi play that right wing n di maria on the opposite side jus like he plays for barcelona. i thnk my wish is to see diego milto clickign it for the national team like he does for inter. batigol can u imagine milto and higuain clicking at the top of our attack? with messi and di maria on the wings an mascerhano (the best holding mid in the world) and banega or aimar feeding them balls?? with samuel and demichillis anchoring the D? that team is a team to reckon with. wat do you think

correction – maradona = dumb

he has lots of other less incompetent people around him telling him what to do while he sings in la la land about LA CAMISETA and honor blah blah blah

that’s what you get when you hire someone with no experience to lead the best team on earth

when its hard to fail and you have all the right tools to succeed…that’s amazing

us fans are schooling this guy on what he is doing…we know more tactics than this imbecile
he tries to answer a question and instead leaves us with more puzzling quagmires

add a crucial player but drop 2 others,its painful to see how little this man knows about the people he is in charge of, that ridiculous shat when he called injured players and players who will be playing games with there clubs…he has no clue

I’ve got to believe that half the players on the list for Germany won’t be int he final squad. Maybe I’m just delusional. But that can’t be his idea of a real list.

That midfield is horrible.

Maybe intentionally so? Maybe to test the defense and forwards? Then once the midfield gets settled and they’ve struggled to form some coherent path without one, they bloom?

Help me here, please.

Maybe he is trying to keep the team from peaking too soon, and forcing the front line and the defense to operate under duress to see who can handle it and doesn’t quit.

I tink it’s called clutching at straws Argentuban.

It’s only fifteen weeks away and we at least have finalized the squad and reserves , set up a couple of systems of play to test in the friendlies we will have.

Players like Banega and Saviola are asking to be called into the system.A great chance to see how they perform against tough opposition and start to get people familiarized with one another.

Dimi and Walter have not even played together yet and we are fifteen weeks away. Had he a gnat’s idea of what he was doing all of use here would have selected Higuain halfway through the qualifiers.

Sorry Gonzalo but you missing the 2007 u20 WC was a capital crime. Give us strength please.

And we all know who is playing well. But no thanks I’ll try Sebadom and Crapa. Forget Samuel who is he ?

Veron who cares if he can only play a game every week and a half at that. Stuff Banega and Aimar.

We have no pace down the flanks of our defence so that will not help our centre backs who will get exposed in the channels. Masche will have to help Veron win the ball when he loses it because he has no legs.

It’s a sad farce.

The man is a clown and I have no doubt will be the laughing stock of the World Cup. But in his own drug addled mind he is the Alexander of the new millenium.

Saludos amigos.

I have to clutch at straws at this point, because the commitment to Samuel indicates some awareness of the need – and, well, because I want to win and not waste the talent we have.

Some good news:

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=742894&sec=europe&cc=5901

Nigeria did NOT get Hiddink.

Maybe Moratti and Mourinho promised him ,Alexander a job in the Inter organization Argentuban ?

Samuel has been called up which is welcomed by us all. Thing is it should have been as all of us here could see during the qualifiers, and instead having to endure the likes of Sebadom and co’s amateurish efforts.

Turkey get Hiddink which is a small mercy I guess.

The irony is under duress it won’t be the team that will fall apart. Their own skills and initiative will see to that it will be the said Alexander.

Saludos.

Great game from Delgado yesterday. Better than Datolo at present. But who cares.

Who cares AURELIUS…

Who cares about Aimar, Banega, Maxi, Zanetti, Cambiasso, Lucho, Saviola, Insua, Zabaleta, Riquelme, Lisandro Lopez, Barrios, Insua, Delgado…

Who cares about POSESION futbol…

Who cares about ARGENTINA…

Futbol is dead. Grondona killed it.

We wanna play like Germans so lets be like Germans. Gehen Sie l’ argentinisch l’ Team, das mit seinem Herzen spielt. Lebhaft es entgegnet Angriff. Langes Leben an Oberst Maradona.

the comments of this blog!!!!

veron can only play half an hour

veron is well past it

veron couldnt play at that level

veron cannot provide passes balls

VERON WAS VOTED SECOND BEST PLAYER OVERALL AT CLUB WORLD CUP SECOND ONLY TO MESSI VERON LED ESTUTIANTIES TO SOUTH AMERICAN CHAMPIANS LEAGUE GLORY AND TO THE FINAL OF CLUB WORLD CUP WERE IT TOOK EXTRA TIME AND THE WORLDS BEST PLAYER TO BEAT A VERON LED TEAM ALSO IN VIDEOS THE ONLY PLAYER TRACKING MESSI WEN HE SCORED WAS VERON

HOW DID THE ABOVE TAKE PLACE IF VERON CAN ONLY PLAY HALF AN HOUR

THIS BLOG AND ITS FANTASY WRITERS IS PRICELESS

VERON OUT PLAYED EVERY SINGLE PLAYER IN THE CLUB WORLD CUP INCLUDING THE BARCA TEAM EXCEPT MESSI

HOW WAS THIS POSSABLE IF HE ONLY PLAYS HALF AN HOUR AND IS SHIT

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOUR TYPING SERIOUSLY

veron out played and out passed xavi and iniesta at club world cup PLEASE EXPLAIN HOW THIS HAPPENED IF HE IS SHIT

COME ON BRAINY FOOTBALL KNOWING GUYS TELL US HOW THIS HAPPENED

this was also while playing with estudiantes not a top european side which veron could not do the same thing, dont get me wrong hes a good club player in the argentine league but should not be represting our national team which there is so many better players, his chance to shine was 8 years ago in the 2002 world cup HE SHOULD NOT BE CALLED UP FOR THE 2010 WRLD CUP.

this was also while playing with estudiantes not a top european side which veron could not do the same thing, dont get me wrong hes a good club player in the argentine league but should not be represting our national team which there is so many better players, his chance to shine was 8 years ago in the 2002 world cup HE SHOULD NOT BE CALLED UP FOR THE 2010 WRLD CUP.

and if u watched the last qualifiers that veron played he was absolutely dreadful, kept slowing the play down ans constantly giving the ball away, not what argentina needs

Yes, the elite teams at the Club World Cup. Clearly a good means of benchmarking one’s performance.

Estudiantes played a whopping 2 matches, the first of which was against the mighty Pohang Steelers who scandalously finished with 8 men.

Get serious. When Veron plays a top flight set of teams from Europe, Africa, and South America in a compressed schedule, he will not be fit to play a full 90 every match if he stays up front, and will leave the team further exposed.

He’s old. Not his fault.

He can, however, still pass the ball very well – that is undeniable.

He isn’t shit. He is wanton, however, compared to what is available. Shit – that’s reserved for guys like Datolo and Otamendi and Papa, who thankfully was left off this one.

best player official MESSI,,, second best player official CLUB WORLD CUP veron that includes all players from all teams that took part including inesta,xavi,etc of barca…

veron also voted best player in south america champians league also

noone disputing his 36 IM DISPUTING THE BLATENT LIES AND RE-WRITES OF HISTORY IN THIS BLOG

STOP MAKING SHIT UP

“Futbol is dead. Grondona killed it.”

This blog is dead. Maxilopez killed it.

I’m joining Albo, bye

tell me the people who vited veron second best of the tourney…are these the same people who set up coca cola’s fifa international list?

i dont care what veron was voted as doing, i have seen him play for our team and he fails to get the job done

if you want to go on votes then know that benega was voted best midfielder in Spain by the commentators

vited = voted sorry

Messi+10,

I havent watched any of the Lazio games this season but it seems like Zarate’s form has dropped compared to last year, but he has great potential. But its very hard for him to break in as all the 5 strikers (except Aguero maybe) are in great form.

My only concern about Otamendi is that he doesnt have European experience and not used to the pace of the game that they play in Europe. I have only watched him when he played for the NT ad remember when he played against Brazil but not sure if it was his fault that day or Dominguez. I havent watched Burdisso lately but he is a good option on the right if he is in good form at Roma. But I would like to see Angeleri play on the right, I hope he recovers on time before wc. I remember he put on a great performance against Columbia or Vanezuela when they were defending with 3 at the back.

Same as you, I dont know why the hell is Veron still there, we need Aimar as our playmaker. I havent watched Riquelme play lately but if he is not playing as good as he used to be then we dont need him. As for Banega, there will be competition with Cambiasso and Bolatti. I have heard alot about Bangega and he should be given his chance.

I like your idea about messi and Dimaria on the wings and Higuain and Milito up front. Messi should always be on the right a bit after the half way line and pick the ball from there and try to run and create space in the middle or look for dimaria on the wing like he does for Barca. However, Milito has done nothing for the NT and he needs to transfer that form that he has at Inter into the NT.

Maybe I am clutching at straws too but I desperately hope that that ARGWNTUBAN is right.
The only rationale behind my optimism is Pastore.. I mean him being in that horrible midfield could be indicative of Maradonas’ true intentions with the midfield.. i.e. he is simply trying out all the players and see if they pull off a good performance – if they do then they might be considered for a WC berth, else they are all out!
Call me delusional, but I have to keep hoping, without hope man has nothing.

sorry I meant ARGENTUBAN

At last Diego did it. As I posted b4, Samuel in, now he’s in. No Aimar and Saviola, theyre out. However, I dont understand his midfield, lacking creativeness.

saviola wont get called up but aimar will, aimar has to get called up and start every game considering hes our best playmaker, he needs to play behind higuain and miltio with messi on the right and di maria on the left with masche holding mid. and with samuel and dmichellis at center back with zabaleta/zanetti right and insua/g. milito left. come on diego u gotta realize what a quality team we can be wth all these players hes just gotta get the line up right….. and NO VERON OR PALERMO!

Let’s try and not be too personal guys.
Both Maxi and Albo are my bro’s

KRISH, ARGENTUBAN, BATIGOL, FRIENDS,
Things are simple. Maradona/Bilardo want us to counter attack. Like in 1986, a date that is always present in AFA’s communication. So Maradona/Bilardo consider that the most suitable players to match their demands are:

- the defenders: if possible, strong, tall, efficient in defence (Jonas, Bolatti, Veron, Samuel, Otamendi, De Michelis)
- the counter attackers: fast and good dribblers (Lavezzi, Datolo, Di Maria, Tevez, Messi, etc)

Add all the biased criterias (family, friends, nationalism, Boca, military) and you have chaos.

Maradona doesn’t want posesion futbol and technicians that we used to watch & love under Pekerman. We will never see Aimar, Riquelme, Banega, Cambiasso, Saviola, Lucho, Maxi, D’Alessandro and all the people who make this game beautiful.

AFA gave its chance to the posesion futbol in 2006 (and we were so close…). Now they want to bring 1986 back and let the most technique players aside. This is in my opinion, the biggest mistake AFA has ever made. It’s when our opponents start to understand that games are won because of the possession (ex:Spain) that we decide to do the contrary and let down our traditional strenght.

The team that will face Germany will start at WC, even if it fails (guess who’s more stubborn than a donkey?). Maybe Maradona/Bilardo plan this:

—————–Romero——————
Burdisso—DeMichelis–Heinze—-Clemente
Jonas—–Mascherano—Veron——DiMaria
————-Messi—–Tevez————-

With this kind of tactics and players not confident without the posesion, if the opponent scores first then we are dead (like against Brazil, Catalunya, Paraguay, Ecuador, Bolivia, etc).

Maradona/Bilardo will get destroyed after WC.

The friends of my friends are my friends, RUNE

Interesting post from TOTTI on mundo:

1. If we win (of course not by tactics, but by masterpiece players moment on magic): Argentina press will praise Diego to heaven. Diego is smiling hes silly smile again and then he is sure, that he is one a hell of a coach. Players(who plays) will definetly momentum in WC squad and then you can say bye bye to Lisandro, Lucho, Maxi….

2. If we lose by little score: Diego will send off players, he didnt put on the game (for example Milito will play 5 minutes, and he can not convince Diego) and for the next game he will invite strange names and benchwarmers like Gago (again!).

3. If we lose by a large margin: Diego is furious and he is sure, that the problem comes from the players. Many of our favourite players (for example Samuel, Higuain) get “fired” and he will call players who fight (as diego said) and that means more men from domestic league. We cept clean sheet against Uruguay and if we concede lot of goals against Germany, then Diego is sure, that defenders against Uruguay are better then Samuel.

That twisted logic is erxactly what would be going through his mind Maxi.

I hope you’re right Krish regarding Banega and I also sincerely hope Saviola who I’d take ahead of Kun.

I guess we will have to await that moment which is one we will all dread.

I find no reason why bloggers leav this wonderful blog . . . why? itz jus teh opinion and nothing personal . . . v all may agree or disagree as all r unique individuals and has distinct taste . . . i say maxilopez wrote nothing wrong and then why do people jus quote his name and then leave . . . comeon guyz? maxilopez is jus a wondeful blogger as do albo or any other .. . itz time for what we all were waiting for and at this crucial time v all should flock around our team Argentina and support and pray for it to teh core rather jus fight or leave teh blog . . . keep blogging and enjoy the ride coz Argentina is winning teh world cup this year 2010 (God’s Grace and Mercy)

LOL
MAXILOPEZ is a nice a guy, he’s just got too much passion ! And it is nice ! This blog is all about passion ! Sometimes his reactions are a bit “strong” but never agressive. I’m used to read (and sometimes to write) this blog from its creation, 5 years ago, and MAXI has probably been the most regular poster (he’s got a lot of time to waste ) so no matter with this guy.
Personnaly I don’t agree with him concerning Aimar, to me he’s a great player but he’s not strong enough, he plays in benfica, his carrer is decreasing since 6-7 years. I like the beautiful game too, but the matter is to win !
What is the best style of play to win ?
Beautiful game ? We saw in the past that it did not work but it seems to work TODAY ! With spain and barca.
With the kind of player we have I think we should play like this.
But maradona wants a defensive and counter attacking football, it could work, but I am not sure that we are a better team when we play defence.
If only he selected the best players ! Damn I’m afraid the last starting 11 you gave is right MAXI LOPEZ !
The same as before, Samuel on the bench, jonas on the pitch, and the messi-tevez combo who worked only against france (and only once ! lol)
wait and see

Vamos ARGENTINA ! Marc bretton is a fucking copy of Mathieu Bastaraud ! VAAMOS LAS PUMAS ! MARTIN EL MAGO HERNANDEZ ES EL MEJOR DEL MUNDO!
ACHERES IS SHIT ! LOL

MAXI:
Bilardo’s 86 team did NOT play ONLY a counter attacking and defensive game. There was quite a bit pass and move going on there aswell. Some nice possesion football.
But Bilardo’s 90 team was playing only defensive and on counter attacks. But there was a difference between these two teams, not very big, but worth to mention. I’ve got all the games from both 86 and 90 in my video collection, and I guess everyone who has seen the games from both of these tournaments from time to time will agree with me.

maxi lopez if that is the lineup for the world cup then god bless our souls we will get smashed

i really dont understand why or how any NT coach selects its players, if I follow Diego’s example as correct then all others are quite stupid and lucky with results.
Or other way round I fu*(ing dont understand this new coach of ours.
I completely disagree related to Aimar being in a decline, he is the enganche, the hook who makes the team play, he or any enganche is pretty useless if we dont play posession football or atleast a #8 to protect the #10. He is playing at benfica and playing well, he played in Zaragoza and till the time he was playing they were competing for champions league spot , with his injury the club got relegated .
He brings the best out of the team game, for statistics lovers he is a not important, for any team players or coach he is main ingredient.
I think liverpool is going to jump for him and DiMaria, Maxi the #8 is already there, Rafa will move Gerrand as MediaPunta and he will have fantastic team. This is only my speculation.

isnt it more than coincidence that higuain and gago get dropped out as wc2010 apporches and real-madrid are so tight to spain spanish goverment and are the club of spain and barca are the club of catalans ITS CLEARLY A PRO SPAIN ANTI ARGENTINA MOVE
talk about OBVIOUS CONSPIRASY ill put my soul on it reals manager has been told to do it

argentina football team and nintendo the company have so much in common HATED AND COMSPIRED AGAINST FOR NO APPARANT REASON

JUST BIZZARRE

MAXI HASNT DONE SHIT AT LIVERPOOL HE IS A BLOWING PANTING BURNED OUT HAS BEEN IM TIRED OF HIS BS HE HUFFS AND PUFFS AT LIVERPOOL LIKE HE SMOKED 40 CIGERETTES BEFORE EACH GAME…..

veron played whole game against barca and tracked messi into box in extra time MAXI ON THE OTHER HAND IS PANTING AND TIRED AFTER 10 MINUTES AT LIVERPOOL IM SICK AND TIRED OF THAT GUY

not opinion FACT MAXI IS A HAS BEEN

Valencia lost in Europa league, Banega was not in the squad for some reason. It’s strange everytime when Banega has not started/substituted/not played Valencia has lost points.

DiMaria +1

MAXI.. ur logic is undeniable…sad but true.
We will play a very counter attacking game, when we DON’T have the best players to do it.
I guess it’s a question of philosophy.. i.e. . a fundamental belief as to which style of football actually gets the job done.
For example if you take Murinhio during his days at Chelsea (they were the masters of Counterattack), he definitely locked up the defense and played a very counter-attacking game – and he won the league twice with it!
But, frankly that style is boring, and more importantly you need PHYSICALLY DOMINANT players to successfully implement it. That’s why he needed the BIG AFRICANS!
His Chelsea team had GIANTS !. Terry, Drogba, Essien are all very BIG POWERFUL men. And Murinhio wanted Ballack on top of that- another mountain of a Man.
Argentina simply doesn’t have these type of physical players.
There might very well be NT’s who can potentially go on and win the WC playing that style, because they have the PLAYERS to do it.
But Jonas, Datolo, Pastore, Veron are NOT the best exponents of the counterattacking game.
Herein lies the fallacy of Maradona’s logic.
If we had the right players, I would have grudgingly accepted this style of play- because it would have worked. But it is NEVER going to work with the players we have now. We are going to be outmuscled and outrun.

I personally believe that Argentina will always produce, cultivate and encourage players who play possession football.. And all that a NT coach has to do find the right combination so that we start playing like Barca/ Spain.
And when we play that style we don’t need big men – Aimar, Banega and Cambiasso can complete with much bigger men because they will pass the ball around like Spain/Barca. This style of play is infact our STRENGTH

And it drives me crazy to think that we are not doing this.

But but.. but.. I still keep hoping..

Europa League update..

Saw a bit of the Atletico Madrid match.. Augero played reasonably well, he had an incredible run where he went past 3 players, but the shot was saved well by Leo Franco.

Also Marco Ruben scored a brilliant late goal for Villareal.. hadn’t heard of this guy before, but his goal was superb!

Did anyone manage to watch Rubin Kazan’s match ? I couldn’t watch any of it.
They won 3-0 : But I am really interested in how Ansaldi performed.

WAMDIEGO & CHALZ,
There are some little flies around here who want to give me an image of Dracula… Of course, I’m a “nice guy”

Who cares RUNE. You know better than me that there isn’t even a single substance of tactics. It’s all intox. I don’t want to talk about 1986, it belongs to the past, you know what I mean. Another time. Another futbol. In the middle of a century of posesion. Lets see what the boys will do when they will be thrown in the arena. Probably dribble, dribble, again and again.

KRISH,
Yes. Our futbol can’t be thrown to the garbage like that.
Unlike you, I have lost hope : (
That is why I will be more quiet, like many of our other friends…

You’re right MAXI, Messi and Tevez/Aguero will try to dribble each time they’re on the ball. In stead of being true to our style and tradition, it’s just counter attacks or a moment of brilliance from Messi, that’s the “game plan”. Terrible. We haven’t got the players to play a counter attacking game. It’s like telling the norwegian NT players to play the beutiful game like Spain or Argentina(under Peker). Impossible.

bilardo DID NOT HAVE A DEFENCIVE TEAM AND TACTICS IN WC 1990

HE WENT THAT WAY WHEN AFTER THE FIRST MAYCH IT WAS CLEAR MARADONA WOULD NOT BE WINNING IT ON HIS OWN

BILARDO MADE A HUGE MISTAKE HE WENT TO ITALIA 90 WC THINKING MARADONA WAS GOING TO WALK IT AND WIN IT ON HIS OWN

THE 19990 TEAM WAS DREADFUL IT WAS A CASE OF NO REAL TEAM BUILDING AND TACTICS AS ARGENTINA DIDNT NEED TO QOL AS CHAMPIANS

AND HE HADNT BOTHERED TO BUILD A TEAM INSTEAD THINKING MARADONA WOULD DO A 1986 ALL OVER AGAIN

WEN IT WAS CLEAR AFTER FIRST MATCH ARGENTINA TEAM WAS CRAP

BILARDO PANICKED AND WENT DEFENCIVE WITH MARADONA AND CANIGGIA ATTACKING ON THERE OWN

THERE WAS NO COUNTER ATTACK TACTICS IT WENT THAT WAY WEN THE OBVIOUS HAPPENED AND BILARDO AND DIEGO CAME UP WITH THE IDEA OF FIGHTING THEE WAY TO THE FINAL

INSTEAD OF PLAYING FOOTBALL

YOUR SERIOUSLY SUJESTING BILARDO BUILT A TEAM TO PLAY THAT WAY BEFORE WC 19990 EVEN KICKED OFF

AGAIN HISTORY GETS TWISTED IN THIS BLOG

1990 HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH COUNTER ATTACK

IT WAS A LATE IN TOURNAMENT CHANGE OF PLAN FROM PASSING GAME AND MARADONA INNING ON HIS OWN TO

PANICK ATTACK TIME WE ARE CRAP LETS KICK SPIT TIME WASTE AND MIND GAMES ARE WAY TO FINAL WITH MARADONA LEADING US USE EVERY TRICK IN THE BOOK

AT IT WORKED UNTILL THE FINAL

DO NOT FOR ONE SECOND THINK BILARDO PLANNED THIS IT WAS A LATE CHANGE AFTER THE OPENING MATCH

BASICALLY BLINK PANICK BECAUSE STUPIDLY BILADO HADNT EVEN PREPARED THE TEAM

BARDISSO–DEM–SAM–INSUA
——-MASS–VERON——–
MESSI——PASTORE—-DIMARIA
————HIGUAIN———–

OR

BARDISSO–DEM–SAM–INSUA
PASTORE–MASS–VERON–DIMARIA
——-MESSI——-
—————HIGUAIN—————

ONLY WAY ID PLAY ARGENTINA VS GERMANY ON THE PLAYER LIST WE GOT

CANNOT SE ANY OTHER SYSTEM THERE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWNtDBtKIpk

its Di Maria Another dribbling master.

maradona didnt call up insua…….. replace him with heinze i guess

Very interesting article, and fun to read. The information provided by you is very good,is very excellent. I got good knowledge from your summery.

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now where is the forgoten man ‘abel balbo’ . . .?

dude I’m like wtf? are you from argentina? like not shit huh? VERON? lol he did nothing when he was 24 y/o for argentina, are you expecting him to do you something when he is 34 y/o?

i think that’s a simple but good point

he played shit for argentina when he was young and playing in europe…but you think he is gonna be great in his 30″s while he plays for an argentine team?

very true im just waiting for march 3rd to see how shit our midfield is gonna be with no banega or aimar

Fazio had a hell of a game today for Sevilla. He could be the future of Argentina’s central defense. Maradona needs to try and call up this kid.

- – - – - – - – - Romero – - – - – - – -
Zanetti – - – Samuel – - Fazio – - Insua
- – - – - Mascherano – - Cambiasso – - -
Messi – - – - – - Banega – - – - DiMaria
- – - – - – - – - Milito – - – - – - – -

Higuain has played terribly these last several games and is not a true #9. Milito has been in top form for most of the season. I think this is our best possible formation/lineup. But as long as the fat bastard is in charge, this is just a dream. Fazio will be a great central defender.

Our biggest problem in the NT is our defense, yet we have such great defenders who don’t get called up.
Central defense: Samuel, Demichelis, Milito, Fazio
Left back: Insua, Ansaldi
Right back: Zanetti, Zabaleta, Jonas??

C’mon Maradona.. Wake up!

argentinefan yes higuain has not scored the past few games but he also has been getting subbed out in the 65th minute the last couple games, but higuain and milito need to play up top together they will be the most dangerous forwards in the world cup alongside torres and villa. with messi behindthem or on the right we will have such a dangerous attack. my lineup would be like this:
——————–Romero—————————–
——Zanetti—-Demichellis—–Samuel——–Insua—
——————Mascherano—————————
———Messi——-Aimar———–Di Maria———-
——————Higuain-Milito———————–

zanetti—Demi—Sam—Ansaldi
Masch—–Banega
Messi—-Pastore—Di Maria
Milito/Higuain

Fazio was one of my choices early in the season as a tall commanding physically capable centre back but this is the first game he has played in Sevilla’s first eleven this season.

He needs to put a series of performances together. Even so he would likely be ignored.

As for Higuain he missed a great chance against Lyon failing to cut in past Lloris and instead shooting straight away.

However he may still be carrying the injury and I think needs to be rested a bit more and played by himself upfront.

As for not being a nine ? A modern nine is more than someone who just sits in the box and scores. Players wil be expected to be more multipurpose than ever before .Higuain fits the bill admirably.

As for Maxi Rod ? He will need time to adjust to the EPL pace. He has already shown some lovely touches and thinking but the system of lumping the ball to Ngog with Kuyt coming in for the bits and pieces does not suit him.

The ball bypasses him.

Saludos amigos.

out of maradonas recent selection this should be the lineup:

j guitterrez–demichellis–samuel—heinze
———–veron—–mascherano———–
messi—————————–dimaria-
————Higuain—-Milito————–

Does Maradona practice 10 vs 11 in trainings? I have a feeling Mascherano would be red carded in one of the WC matches. we should be prepared to defend 10 vs 11.

perotti +1

Higuain +1
and I would include him in my starting lineup =]

scratch that last post, and +2 Higuain!

argentinefan i hope your watching…… higuain+2

Piatti is going to be strong for us in the future too. Lots of rising talent.

Haha, Higuain made me eat my words. I’ll put him back in.

- – - – - – - – -Romero – - – - – - -
Zanetti – -Demichelis – Samuel – Insua
– - – - Mascherano – - Cambiasso – - -
Messi – - – - – - – - – - – - – Di Maria
- – - – - -Milito – - Higuain – - – - – -

No enganche, but with 4 amazing offensive players in Messi, DiMaria, Milito, and Higuain.. who needs one?

argentinefan-shane

like ur line ups but we need Banega (attacking play maker w/defense skills) instead of cambiasso…i would for sure sub the two of them as i love cuchu…Aimar is too much weak against european countie…guys image if we had Mourinho as our coach?!

also after watch the Pool-City match i have to say Maxi DOESN’T belong on the national team.

as long as we have that lineup with either cambiasso/banega/aimar i am fine with it i like all three of those guys. first we have to worry about if they are goin to get called up or not which 95% they will but who knows with diego. and i agree maxi has not been performing for liverpool but hes still getting used to the premier league, i would prefer perroti over him though hes had a solid season at sevilla and has been in the starting 11 almost every game

this is a fantastic list maradonna called for the upcoming friendly against germany. two of my favourites players aimar and di maria were left out but i can live with that. i am glad to see samuel back in the mix though. i would go with this 11.

romero
clemente-de’michilis-samuel-heinze
messi-macherano-veron-jonas
higuain-milito

Perotti definately needs to be called up for the WC as a sub for Di Maria. He’s been great for Sevilla. I’m really indifferent between the 2; both provide speed and width.

Pretty cool thread that I’ve been reading.

http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?s=fe1d3e7719b7ad2781de761c3977de8a&t=1267361

They’re discussing which 23 should be taken to the world cup.

This is a new lineup. What do you guys think? I found it on that site and changed some names around

———–Romero———–
Angelieri-Demi-Samuel-Insua
Zanetti–Mascherano–DiMaria
—–Messi——Aimar——-
———-Higuain———-

Heres my 23

GKS: Romero
Ustari
Andujar

DEFENSE: Samuel
Zanetti
Demichellis
Insua
Zabaleta
G.Milito
Garay

MIDFIELD: Di Maria
Mascherano
Banega
Cambiasso
Aimar
Perrotti
Gutierrez

FORWARDS: Higuain
Messi
Milito
Aguero
Tevez
Lisandro

———–Romero—————

Climente—Demi—Samuel—Hainze

————-Masche————–

—–Banega—–( )———
Messi———————-Demaria

————-Higuain————–

I am not sure yet who will be best at the ( ), but I will not prefer Aimar as a starter in that position against Nigeria, Greece. What about Pastore? As Veron will be in SA, then may be Veron-Aimar 50-50%.What u think guys? I dont see we need two strikers while we have goal scorer like messi, De-maria. Rather, I will provde some extra strength in midfield.

thats a solid lineup right there with a few adjusments in the back and add milito uptop with higuain like a 4-1-3-2

———–Romero——–
Zanetti—Demi—Samuel—Insua
———Masche——
–Messi-Banega—Di Maria
—-Higuain—Milito—-

Yes JUNEB.. Maxi Rodriguez was dissapointing..I guess he is stil settling in, we need to give the man some time.
On the positive side both Mascherano and Zabaleta had solid games.

Higuain back among the goals

RUNE,
It’s not only Messi, Aguero & Tevez who would dribble all the time. The players selected by Maradona are very individual and carry the ball far too much: JONAS, Di Maria, Datolo, Lavezzi, etc. The collective players are all out of the team (Maxi, Zanetti, Banega, Aimar, Lucho, Chuchu, Saviola, Gago, etc) and they must feel very weird. It’s so paradoxal, and most of all stupid, to want to change Argentina’s futbol when the country has reached such an amount of futbol quality.

We’ve watched Maradona’s team for more than 1 year. Has the counter attacking efficiency evolved? NO. Worse, the level was not any lower than VS Uruguay, the last game. Messi and all our players were all ghosts in 2009 because Maradona was their coach. It will continue I’m afraid

I think Norway have more chances to play nice futbol, than Argentina to play well counter attacking. Yes, our forwards may learn one day how to counter attack well (of course they can, they are the best!). But how many gols will we concede before giving them an opportunity? Also, our players are weak mentally. We lost WC 2006 because we let our opponent play. And now, Maradona wants our boys to never touch the ball

AURELIUS,
I think you over-rate a bit Higuain’s movement abilities. He is not that excellent outside the box (not better than Milito, in my opinion, who is very clever, “even” if he plays in 2 touches pretty often). But anyway, in the the box, Higuain has appeared to be a devastating #9. What impresses me the most is his ability to shoot wherever he is, anytime. Before you understand it, the ball is already in the net. Higuain is another player when he is in the box. I was so wrong about him 1 year ago. He really is a #9, like you said, like Crespo said. Higuain, Milito, these guys might sit on the bench the whole WC…

Yes KRISH, Maxi needs time like all the players that move in England. The priority for him is to defend well which limits his movements a bit. It is really difficult to play in England, the speed is huge and the game so shaky & in the air. Benitez believes in Rodriguez. Unlike Maradona who believes in nobody except himself.

Zabaleta, Cambiasso and especially Zanetti were excellent this week-end.
Piatti +1
Palacio +1

Shane thats a great squad right there. but you know for sure his goin inclue veron and palermo in the WC2010 squad. i love lisandro in the lineup though great pick. i would even consider picking up zarate as well but im not sure about that. i mean he plays alot like tevez, aguero and messi. why have 4 players with the same skills? there would be no playing time for everyone to be happy.

milito cannot perform for the NT he never really could..that’s just the truth sorry

Fab,
how many chances has milito been given for the national team?

argentine fan,
great lineup, but diego did not call aimar, or cambiasso… did he not call di maria? and failed to call zannetti again?!?!
another thing is that mascherano cannot and should not be the captain for the team. it should be samuel or zannetti if they play.

today is my birthday, and I am hoping for good news… unfortunately I dont think we have a good defense if demichellis is our best, and watching bundesliga last season gives me many many many many doubs on demichellis ability in the back… and again he is our best in the last line.

mark my words, if we revolve our midfield around veron and place messi up front with one other striker then we can all plan to get round trip tickets that return us home at the end of group stage or the game after.

also I am heaing here that maradona is setting up a meeting with riquleme… is this just another rumor? if he returns will he be our answer?

pato abondinzzeari was just relocated to a different club I believe… not saying we should bring him back.. but we should bring back some of pekermans tactics… and no matter what, i think we will always complain about our coaching… maybe after the devastation of this cup we will hire a foreigner, or should we hire ortega?? I hear he has been having alcohol and drug problems… he sounds like he can be a good candidate.

This is what i posted in the last blog to defend Milito..sorry for those who already read it-

Milito from my standpoint as i beleive he is the best #9 for Argentina (after Higuain)

He made his debut in 2003 and as you said has made 21 appearances scoring 4 goals.

year——started——substitute—–Goals
2003——5————0————–2
2004——1————1————–0
2005——0————0————–0
2006——0————1————–1
2007——3————3————–1
2008——1————1————–0
2009——1————4————–0

He has made 5 starts & 9 sub appearance from 2006 onwards, he has always been used as a fringe player. No coach Pekerman, Basile or Maradona has shown any confidence in him. he comes to ground with all the pressure to score or he will miss out on the next match now this situation is not good for anyone to shine. This is where a manager’s brain should come in play and try to find te answers “why Milito has scored 4 goals in 21 matches” or “why messi can’t do what he does at barca” ?

The fact is Argentina has stopped scoring goals, if u look at the stats Messi with 13 goals in 41 matches, Tevez 8 goals in 51 matches, Aguero 7 goals in 20 matches (and these are all mostly 1st team appearances)

So, to say Milito has choked for NT would be gross mistake. Nobody has done a great job in scoring goals because NT has been shit after Copa 07.

sorry insua isnt on list so ill correct my line ups i do not see any other systems with these players vs germany

bardisso–dem–sam–henz-
——-mass–veron——-
—-pastore—————dimaria
——messi———————
—————–higuain————–

dimaria true winger

pastore romon like roll

messi wide right and inside right free roll

veron deep playmaker come leader

the movement and passing of messi veron pastore could be fantastic higuain plays as the 9

bardisso–dem–sam–henz
——-mass–veron——
messi—pastore——dimaria
———higuain————-

i do not see any thing else other than 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1

PLEASE NO MAXI- R HAS BEENS NOT INCLUDED

Climente maybe as fullback ether side

two attaching fullbacks and two wingers SORRY THAT WOULD LEAD TO SLAUGHTER

Yes JUNEB.. Maxi Rodriguez was dissapointing..I guess he is stil settling in, we need to give the man some time.
On the positive side both Mascherano and Zabaleta had solid games.

Higuain back among the goals

theres no settling in MAXI IS A BURNED OUT YESTERDAY MAN = FACT NOT OPINION

THE ONLY THING TO MAKE MAXI WORTH TAKING TO WC IS A COMPLETE BODY TRANCPLANT SORRY BUT TRUE

krish-shane

tell me what you guys think of this 23 man roster (VERON-OTAMENDI-HEINZE) are not my picks but Maradona for sure will call these guys.

Goalies- Romero,Carrizo and Andujar

Defense- Samuel(Captain),Demi,Zanetti,Insua,Ansaldi,Garay,Heinze

Midfield-Mascherano,Banega,Cambiasso,Di Maria,Messi,Veron,Perrotti

Forwards-Higuain,Milito,Tevez Aguero(would rather Zarate or L.Lopez but chubby has to call him).

we have to take into consideration at some point we’ll lose Masche/Samuel and Demi for one game due card trouble and with a bench like this we would be covered in every position.

starting line up—

————ROMERO———
ANSALDI–DEMI—SAMUEL—INSUA
————MASCHE———
———–BANEGA———-
MESSI—————DI MARIA—
—–HIGUAIN——MILTIO——-

for a defensive game i would switch in Cuchu for Banega and bring on Zanetti for expierence.

Messi+10- would you bring on Pastore instead of Perrotti?

Amit-thx for Milito info

i heard benega did well today

as for d milito..i guess he will get his chance to prove himself

Banega could have had a few goals tonight. he can still take that next step but he was impressive in most facets of the game. defense splitting passes, and overall rotation was excellent. how are he, Aimar, Lucho and Cucho continuously overlooked. unreal.

messi +10 i know veron is going which makes me scared but maradona hasnt confirmed palermo yet it looks like millito will be going instead, and palermo should not go anyway i can list 5 other strikers that should go before palermo. and yes very dissapointing that zarate is probably not going considering how much skill he has. JUNEB thats a good lineup but also missing pablo aimar who can be our supersub and start a few games in the world cup. also cosidered putting zanetti on the left which ive seen him play well there for inter many times if ansaldi (havent seen much of but everyones saying hes good) plays on the right.

http://goal.com/en/news/11/transfer-zone/2010/02/21/1800560/chelsea-close-to-sealing-36-million-deal-for-benficas-angel

http://goal.com/en/news/12/spain/2010/02/22/1802194/barcelona-and-real-madrid-could-compete-for-signature-of

di maria wanted from the best teams

shut up John.

Inter 4 – Milan 0
Inter 2 – Milan 0

Sour grapes from sore losers.

JUNEB.. most of us in this blog actually agree on the players.. i.e. we agree on almost 20 out of 23 players.

My squad:

GK

ANDUJAR
ROMERO
CARRIZO

DEFENCE-

DEMICHELLIS
SAMUEL
ANSALDI
HEINZ
INSUA
ZANETTI
ZABALETA

MIDFIELD :

MASCHERANO
CAMBIASSO
BANEGA
AIMAR
DI MARIA
PEROTTI

ATTACK :

MESSI
HIGUAIN
MILITO
TEVEZ
AUGERO
LOPEZ

But then there is Maradona’s list which is totally unpredictable. Honestly, we can’t be sure of almost 10 of these players.. in any case that was my list

And the formation should be 4-1-3-2

to that list I would include MAXI RODRIGUEZ if his form improves.. instead of PEROTTI

thats a good list right there its only 22 add garay/g. milito to the D and id say thats the best squad we could take, and to be honest i rather have zarate over aguero but i know that wil never happen

or maybe even lucho

SKYWALKER,
Maradona wants counter attack, only. The players with technique are left at home. It is unreal indeed. Especially from the most talented footballer of all time. Which gives you a clue about how much his brain is fuc#ed up.

Sometimes, Diego manages the NT like in a Real-TV show. 150 players have a chance to be selected in a 23-men final list. If we had the chance to vote by sms, we would maybe have good possibilities at WC (and the mafioso could even eat better).

AMIT,
Nice (constructive) post. You ask the write questions regarding Messi/Milito. In general, how can we explain the fact that all the Pekerboys were at an outstanding level in 2006, were pretty average under Basile, and look now like their own shadow under Maradona? Why do the best forwards in the world don’t score with Argentina? There are reasons which the majority doesn’t want to think about. It’s frustrating for us fans to understand them more than the NT coaching staff.

PS: at Pekerman’s time, I think Milito was in Serie B with Genoa

Maxi…

I think Maradona calls all these players up to stroke his ego. he can go and tell them when other coaches looked the other way, I was the one who gave you a chance to wear the shirt. It’s utter nonsense but what can you do. The NT is not a toy that you can play with on a whim but he’s doing that and getting away with it.

On the counter attacking issue, Brazil play the same style and if you doing to do that, you need someone from MF to thread the needle and either induce defense splitting passes or go over the top with long balls for the strikers to get. Veron is Maradona’s guy for that. But then he’s got no replacement for him and that’s why I cannot believe one of Banega/Aimar isn’t included. don’t get me wrong, I like Pastore here like the next guy, but he’s still a little green. Bolatti is a waste – like Palermo, right time, right place, right goal shouldn’t give you a place in the squad. While, like you, I disagree with his counter attacking style, he doesn’t even pick players for this.

I think if the team plays with the following players, with the subs thrown in there, we could have something. This is taking into account no tactics by Maradona. Note: I mean practice with these players for a month before the world cup. We could definitely seem some chemistry then.

— Romero —

–Zabaleta — Demichelis — Samuel — Insua

Macherano — Banega — Jonas

—- Messi

–Higuain ———– Aguero

Jonas is in there – strictly because he’s hard working, and he can cover up for Insua on the left wing. If we need more offensive power, sub Di Maria in for Jonas. If we need to scale down, sub in Cambiasso for Ever. Aguero and Tevez can rotate. Messi in a free role, but not as a playmaker. Ever can push up when needed.

Milito can be subbed for Higuain, or even Aguero/Tevez and then we have ALMOST have 2 #9s upfront.

From Goal.com
1) Argentina 1990

Argentina 1990 are undoubtedly the most universally-detested World Cup team of all time. The then holders somehow made it all the way to the Rome final, despite containing just two players with any real attacking ability – Claudio Caniggia, and Diego Maradona, who was dreadfully unfit and playing through injury.

Carlos Bilardo’s men were the modern definition of anti-football. They scraped their way through the group stage, having lost to Cameroon in the opener, and having beaten the USSR only after Maradona had a clear handball off the line not spotted by the referee.

In the second round against Brazil, Argentina defended with 10 men behind the ball, and were battered from start to finish by their bitter rivals, only to win 1-0 courtesy of their one attack of the game, a piece of Maradona genius in the second half, who set up Caniggia for the winner.

The negativity continued in the quarter final against a far superior Yugoslavia, who played 90 minutes with 10 men. The game went to penalties, where Sergio Goycochea, a clown of a goalkeeper who could do nothing except save spotkicks, proved to be the hero.

Onto the semi-final against Italy in Naples. In truth the Azzurri did not play their best game but they were the only side trying to attack, and all looked good after Toto Schillaci gave them an early lead. Caniggia equalised in the 67th minute following an horrendous Walter Zenga mistake, and Argentina resorted to their negative, spoiling tactics. They wasted time at every opportunity, and it couldn’t have been any clearer that they were playing for a shootout, which they won again thanks to Goycochea.

Anti-football won the day, and never could this have been more illustrated than by the fact that Roberto Donadoni, the brilliantly skilful Milan winger, who had been unplayable all night, and the clear man-of-the-match, ended up being the man who missed the most decisive spot-kick.

In the final itself against West Germany, Argentina played for penalties from the first whistle. Their shameful pessimism contrived to make this the worst final in the whole history of the World Cup, yet ironically they were defeated by an 85th minute penalty by Andreas Brehme. It was never a penalty in a million years, but many would say that justice had been served.

Aimar + 1 for Benfice against Hertha Berlin

AJNYHC,
Are you watching the game? How is Aimar, my favorite player?

Sorry not watching the game, was following live commentary online.

Aimar scored.

Barcelona are getting schooled in Stuttgart.

Barcelona is lucky to just be losing 1-0…Messi is the only one doing something

messi was lazy as hell what you talking about man very slow on the ball too…he has been like this last 3 games his runs were so half hearted

ur right i watched the 1st half then just turned my attention back to work

ariel ortega for the world cup

Messi played as well as anybody on the team. His passing was definitely off in the first half, but even Iniesta and Xavi passed the ball poorly. It was bizarre to see Barcelona play so poorly – it was like Stuttgart had an extra man on the field. Toure and Marquez were HORRID. Milito played well in replacing Marquez. Barcelona really miss Abidal and Alves – without a strong defense they have been struggling considerably. Gee, sounds familiar….

Leo is clearly very tired, and unlike a lot of the other players, has gotten little rest from Guardiola. In some ways, this is where injuries and suspensions actually help a player, so long as they are minor, because they get to stay somewhat fresh. I’m hopeful Pep recognizes this and uses him sparingly in a couple of matches.

I have a feeling Mexico will rely too much on Marquez this summer, which could be good for us if we somehow make it into the second round to face them.

Messi has been off his game for 3-4 matches now, but he’ll be back on-form soon enough. but what about Xavi and Iniesta? Xavi has been below par for well on 3 months! he’s gotten by on reputation (like most top class players do) but it’s begining to show in the commentaries now.

Iniesta is another one who is no longer even half as effective. he looks fabulous, dribbles, does tricks etc, but his final pass is mostly sideways or backwards, he can’t seem to pick out a good pass, his distribution is poor and often enough, he is too selfish/ponderous on the ball.

Messi is the better passer and chance creator at Barca, but because he’s their main attacking threat, they leave that stuff to Xavi/Iniesta, imo.

what puzzles me about Barca is their insistance on playing the utterly useless, inelegant, cheating and downright disgraceful Sergio Busquets.

he’s utterly crap, why on earth have him in the squad when you have Kieta/Toure?

I agree on Busquets. I think he is total garbage. Barcelona always play below their par with him in the lineup

just been a documentry on BBC1 about wc 2010 talk about getting your facts wrong

higuain is a unnown who maradpna picked ahead of tevez
his not higuain his name is higA whoever that is rolling my eyes tevez was descibed as a world beater and higA a no one wen talking weird selection choices the tv camera went up close to aimar,aimar assist and higA lol scored that game it wasnt even mentioned

it then went on a BIZZZARRREE RANT about maradonas poor managerial choice to help belivia play there home games at high altitude THIS WAS A ACT OF KINDNESS AND MARADONA HELPING BOLIVIA FIGHT FIFA but no it was a poor move by arhentina manager YET JE WASNT MANAGER THEN HUH ,,,typical british get it wrong anti argentina rubbish HIGA for gods sake blaming maradona for belivias altitude WTFE

then ironically it got a fact right it was the two centerbacks fault we lost the brazil game WITCH IS 100% TRUE stupid bbc 1 fact right 1000000 wrong

HIGA yes he really is unnown iv never seen him LOL WTF

messi has not scored in more one on one with keeper situations this season so far than the entire last 2 full seasons combined its been noticed a lot he seems half hearted at times,, also (yes he plays closer to box this year and a lot last year)messi is not running with the ball at all and is not doing that dimaria wing wonder high tempo play we all love him for thats the messi i want at wc 2010 the messi that scares teams not just scores goals

have to agree iniesta being selfish and well below par,,xavi for me is over-rated off course he can be great ID BE STUPID TO SAY OTHER WHYS but he gets scared sqicky bum shit scared at times and looks nothing like the player he should tonites game perfect example of xavi becomming lost and irelivent to good play goes missing kinda like roman and veron do at times IS WORLD CUP TENSION REARING ITS HEAD I GOT A FEELING SPAIN WILL FLOP

Yes, Barca played totally Un-Barca like.. On the other hand Benfica creamed Hertha Berlin.

For the following I assuming that we will be playing possession football like 2006.. AND NOT Maradona’s counter-attacking style.
I have a couple of interesting observations regarding the two teams Barca and Benfica- both of whom play a passing/possession game. Both had German opposition where the defences were well organised

One team (Benfica) was able to break down the defence totally, the other (Barca) couldn’t and kept running into the German wall.
The other broke down the Berlin wall! You could say one had home advantage, offcourse that’s true to an extent, but I think there is deeper underlying lesson here:

Namely, once in a while teams that play a passing game will come up against very well organised defences that they are unable to break down..
This Barca game was a typical example..Stuttgart was absorbing the pressure and hitting back hard on the counter, and Barca was getting beaten soundly !

In the second half. Observe some of the changes that Barca made, Marquez was pulled of.. and they made a strategic re-alignment.. i.e. they didn’t press as much, and started playing some long balls- it’s no surprise that the goal came from a long ball. So I think sometimes a tactical shift is required if one strategy is not working..

Garduola, the intelligent man that he is, realised Stuttgart’s strategy and adapted accordingly.. I guess the point I am trying to make is that sometimes a successful team will need to be versatile in the style of play and deviate from normality if “Normal” is not working
Barca lacked this dimension last season with Eto.. He wasn’t your typical target man with the long ball.. he was limited to the 1-2 passing game. Now with Ibra in the mix, Barca is mixing it up a lot more..he is getting some long balls and more importantly goals are coming from this strategy.. I don’t know if you guys have noticed this change up, but it has happened a fair few times this season. Ibra is sort of acting as a reference point in the attack.
For the same reason Barca had to wait 183 minutes to get their first goal against Chelsea as they didn’t have an alternative. This season they do.

The lesson for us is very simple I guess.. We won’t ALWAYS win with possession football. Sometimes we will need to change it up a bit. I can vouch for it that we will face this problem against a defensive minded team like Greece.
This is where I think relatively tall and strong players like Higuain and Milito, who can receive the long ball will be indispensible. Our midgets ..namely Tevez, and Augero should totally be benched !
Do not get me wrong guys.. I am all for Posession style play.. infact as I have said before that is our STRENGTH, and should be our A-Game day in and day out.

All I am saying is that for those occasions when you just cannot play THROUGH the opposition then play OVER them as a change up.. surprise them with the unexpected and chances are that it will work.. in the Barca game the defence actually got confused and mixed up because they were not expecting that style of play.

Anyway I have written enough.. but I wanted an opinion on this.. what do you guys think ?

sorry.. It should have been spelt “Guardiola”..so much for my knowledge of Spanish last names !

Perfectly analyzed Krish. Could not agree more.

I’ve been saying this for a long time. We always play infront of the opposition.

It makes the defence’s task so much easier.

We need width and we occasionally need a long pass or dinked pass over the top to keep the opposition defence from settling and uncertain of where to play its line, not to mention the creation of space.

We have width in di Maria certainly and pace to get in behind with Higuain, Aguero and Saviola.

We have become predictable and that with tactical inflexibility or a complete lack of it (witness Peru where buffoonio yanked off a midfielder the useless Perez for Palermo) and we started to go downhill.

We could barely hold the ball then and then completely lost that midfield and as a consequence the game.

Saludos.

PS Come on Red Machine.

Barca is so clever. Guardiola did the mistake to start injured Touré and Busquets in the middle. Busquets was not able to connect the midfield to the attack (in the 4-Touré-Busquets+Xavi-3) so the whole team was depending on Xavi. Iniesta, as the left winger, had to come back in midfield and it was clear that Barca were pretty disorganized (!). But they hang on against the Stuttgart players who were succeeding everything they were trying (that Brazileiro Cacau was incredible!). Barca waited for the end of the storm and came back in the game when the Germans were getting tired and when Iniesta was finally back at his natural position. This team doesn’t lose even when its coach does mistakes. But it also shows you how players can easily be in trouble because of little mistakes from their coach. Even Barca players…

On the otherside, Datolo and Ledesma from Olympiakos were very ordinary. Datolo… I have nothing against him but he has absolutely nothing to do in the NT. The only quality I see in him is his dribblings. But he’s too individual, he loses the posesion too easily and that’s why he failed in Italy. The best this guy can bring to the NT is throw-ins or corners (like yesterday). Nothing more. Datolo, Jonas, these guys are all the same in terms of futbol. They belong to the NT only because they su#k Diego and treat him like a god even if they never watched him as a player.

I was sad to learn yesterday that Galletti, the speedy winger who was in Pekerman’s plans, has a bad disease.

KRISH,
Barca played badly because Guardiola did wrong decisions in his starting 11, not because Stuttgart outplayed the Catalans.
Remember 2006. We got out of the WC for mental reasons, but also because we stopped playing. I’m sure that if Pekerman had included Saviola instead of Tevez, and Messi & Aimar sent in during the game, the result would have been different. Pekerman wanted to do what you wrote: adapt his team to the opponent (include Tevez VS physical opponents, Cruz in, muscle the midfield with ChuChu) but at the end, the players forgot about their futbol. In my opinion, a team must adapt to its opponent but must play its own futbol (that is what Spain 2008 did). Posesion futbol will finally win us WCs. But not before at least 2014. We only need a coach.

No problem AJ. Anyone watched Aimar?

Forza Pazza Inter.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/304532-2010-world-cup-preview-and-prediction-from-round-one-to-the-final

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/310081-2010-world-cup-predictions-and-preview

woops the first website was wrong this one everyone shuld read.

england vs argentina final?

MILITO SCORES WITHING 3 MINUTES!!!!

I have been saying that milito is a must start for NT for over a year now. look at inter milan’s formation today. we should play this formation and have messi play in sneijders role. I know that isnt his exact position but I dont think messi is the type of player who really has one natural position

Fantastic goal by Milito. What a player!

Vamos Milito!

Milito can “sh#t in his pants” as much as he wants with the NT because he deserves it. What a player.

This guy only needs a chance.

We have 2 of the best #9s in the world. Who needs Palermo?

Pazza Inter ama la!

excellent play by Milito but Inter are not a good team. they’ve been lucky with that penalty appeal at the end and also with Drogba’s freekick.

Lucio looks awesome, really love the way he’s handled Kalou and Malouda.

Samuel is very poor, tough but an accident-waiting-to-happen kind of player… might have been a legend back in the ’80s, but nowadays he’s the sort of defender that strikers love.

Zanetti too, has been awesome… so so dislike Pekerman for his idiotic decision to leave Zanetti out. moronic decision :no:

Inter are playing on the counter at home, it’s quite sad to see that happening… not a good example for Argentina to follow.

can we play two forwards and messi is there a way can it happen

milito and higuain would be amassing but milito does lack confidence with the nt

so many forwards and wingers PLEASE DONT WASTE THIS TALENT POOL IN THE SUMMER DIEGO

INTERS FORMATION WHAT IS IT

THAT GOAL JUST SCORED WAS 100% CAMBIASSOS FAULT

was only a matter of time … 1-1

peckerman made ZERO mistake leaving out zanetti

he had the best attacking fallback on earth sorin WHY PLAY TWO ATTACKING FALLBACKS AND BE LEFT WITH ZERO DEFENSE

HE PLAYED 3 CB’S AND 1 ATTACKING FALLBACK LIKE A WING BACK SORIN LEAVING ZANETTI OUT WAS A GREAT MOVE

CAMBIASSO YOU OWNED YOUR TEAM THAT FOR THE LAZY TOE IN THE BATH WATER LIKE DEFENDING

NO ONE CAN STOP CHELSEA WITH THERE BIG TOE ONLY ETHER MAKE A CHALENGE OR NOT

INDECISION IS WEAKNESS

Put this in your nose Maradona!
VAMOS CHUCHU!

gago will never offer that like cambiasso and banega do

proper midfielders BOX TO BOX LIKE REAL MEN lol

Eidua… he took SCALONI. nothing you can say could possibly give ANY justification for that.

if you tell Zanetti to sit back and knock balls away, he would still perform better than Scaloni. and no Sorin wasn’t the “best …” he was good, disciplined and worked with Maxi and Riquelme well, but not close to the best. he looked far better because Pekerman got the movement coordinated down that side of the team (unlike with Scaloni).

anyway, 2-1 … Inter need to attack and bury Chelsea, they have them physically, they can have them completely, if they press home.

zanetti playing left back ironic hay LOL HA HA HA

ZABALETTA RIGHT BACK

ZANETTI LEFT BACK

DEM–SAM IN THE MIDDLE

IF TWO ATTACKING WIDE DEFENDERS WERE USED I WUD PLAY 4-3-3

AND PLAY DIMARIA MESSI AND HIGUAIN UP FRONT

AND PLAY A SOLID MIDDLE 3 BANEGA–MASS–CAMBIASSO

THEN YOU COULD PLAY ZANETTI AND ZABALETTA AS ATTACKING WIDE MEN

INTER LOOK VERY SOLID

PRO,
It’s logic to play on the counter attack at home because the priority is not too conceed gols. Inter should attack in England, but with Mourinho and his negative football, we never know…

(PS: Ignore the wii troll)

Maxi,

you are a 100% correct on not conceding goals…people need to wake up and realize that Milito deserves to start up top w/Higuain and Chuchu and Zanetti need to called to the NT.

wonderful goal by milito today he tore terry apart, cograts to him and cambiasso for getting the goals that inter needed. JUNEB i agree cambiasso and zanetti need to get called to the NT how could they not with performances like this.

zanetti consistently playing well now at left back for inter so dont understand why diego wont want him considering we dont have a solid left back

shane…maradona does not watch soccer games…he only spends his money and talks about himself

Diego Milito made Terry his bitch.

I love it!

Without team discipline and hard work the best and most talented players lose.

Russia ballsed it up against those boring physical bastardo Canadians.

Milito was great last night but he needed the efforts of Eto’o off him as well to help him create space. Great finish .

Cuchu all over the pitch and great strike. Samuel looked pacy last night but was outshone by Lucio who read everything.

And he was lucky not to be sent off after getting caught ball watching.

Zanetti some nice passes and defensive coverage. But of course he and Cuchu for reasons only known to buffoonio are not in the reckoning.

I think I’m feeling at this very moment what I’m going to be feeling at the end of July as a supremely skilled team capable of great artistry and flair are dumped out of a tournament.

Nothing like a gold medal inducement to murder an athlete.

Saludos.

uhhh Canada destroyed them…don’t hate

boring and physical? ….i believe the final score was 7-3!!

if russia was so good they would have won or at least lost like 3-2….not 7-3!!!!

samual has been sent off red carded for a last man chalenge only last week then he does it again in champ league

its clear samual is still the liability he has been since his time at real madrid

iv sead it all along samual is more dangerous to us than henzie but i gave in and included him in my line ups

after watching him i don’t want him near the national team so fuking clumbsy

he did the same mistake twice in 1 week got away with it in champs league didnt in italy

he was responsible for Micheal owens goal in friendly before the last world cup also

his far worse than henzie come on admit it

GARRY I WANT GARRY AND DEM AS CENTER BACKS BOTH HENZIE AND SAMUAL ARE RUSTY AT THE HIPS TO STATIC

I thought American fans were boorish and rude but the Canadians have taken it to the next level. Cheering when the Korean womens team were disqualified just because their own team then gets a silver instead .

This own the podium garbage which has left many foreign athletes complaining of partisanship.

Hockey is our game ? What ? The Russians have brought so much to the game in terms of flair and excitement and stick handling skills. 1972 when the Canadians thought no one could touch them and the nasty surprise they received from the Soviet Union.

Cheap soft goals given away hardly earned. Hardly a destruction through skilled crafted play.

I suppose all Canadians must be related to Don Cherry. It’s their attitude that riles many European fans .

They could not even provide the required Olympic sized ice.

I follow Argentina in football and Russia in hockey for the same reasons. The ability to create artistry on the pitch and ice and outstanding flair and technical skills in terms of ball/puck control and vision.

You can keep your Canada and Germany their footballing equivalent thanks. Dull , overly physical and methodical.

Saludos.

somebody’s bitter……booo F@#$King hoo

if you want to make generalized and stupid comments for a whole country then your a child

grow up and wipe those tears away stop being a sore loser and taking it out on the country that made you sad

and more over stop crying over it in a football discussion forum

just keep your stupid comments about Canada to yourself
its just ignorant and pathetic

its not like your incessant whining is gonna change anything

in the meantime here is a little something to ease your pain

http://www.topparentingtips.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/tears.jpg

Mascherano +1 a great strike from 25 yards out

Does everyone have a serious mood disorder on this blog?

The only way to go for this blog and the team is up. Maybe we will win it all after all.

walter samual a disaster waiting to happen

henzie a disaster waiting to happen

we need a entire defense rebuild

AURELIUS.. I am no fan of Canada but to say its ok for Alex to nail Jagr and the Russians basically out muscle the Czechs, why can Canada not do the same. The one thing I always say about Canadian hockey teams is that not only do they have the top notch skill players that other countries have, but they also have tough physical players that are willing to do the ‘dirty’ things needed to win a game like hockey. Canada is not Germany of hockey. do you realize the in the top 50 scorers in the NHL, over 30 of them are Canadian. But when two teams like Russia and Canada are so evenly matched in terms of skill, you have to turn to areas where you have the advantage. And in hockey, physical play is a major part of the game. they ain’t playing figure skating.

anyway, back to soccer. Mashe scores!!!

Banega..good game nice assist for the second goal in europa league

i think benega may be a serious answer for us in the middle of the park

also…call me crazy but i like this pastore guy i think he can turn it up too

——?——————

—zaba—demi—samuel—zenetti

————–masche————

–messi—-benega—-pastore—di maria

—————-hig——————-

Banega not being on the team is criminal.

Zabaleta-Demichellis-Samuel-Zanetti-
———mascherano———-
—Messi–Banega—–Di Maria
——-Higuain–Milito

Banega had some great passes.. he is also starting to score goals more regularly this season and will truly become a world beater if he sharpens his finishing a bit.. not a huge concern anyway as finishing is not his primary job.

We now have two world class strikers in Milito and Higuian, two midfilders who are playing beautifully in Aimar and Banega and also scoring goals, DiMaria out wide who is a good finisher as well.. not to mention Messi who is in a league of his own.. This truly is a world class attack, and a very important factor of this attack is we have 5-6 people who can score..a crucial determinant in the outcome of any WC.

Tezez and Augero will be my Subs.

And if Maxi gets his old form back, we have another option as well..
Even Masche is starting to score!

MAXI.. ur reminder of the Germany game brings back painful memories

What you say is true.. Pekerman didn’t have the right players on the field that day.. especially during the second half..
and the tactics were different as well..
I think that Germany game is not the best example in terms of the point I am trying to make.

Because, in that game we never really applied ourselves.. We gave the Germans too much respect and never committed oursleves to serious attacking from all the possession we enjoyed.. we were hogging the centre line playing horizontal passes!
It was an Argentina team I couldn’t recognise from the previous matches..

All I am saying is that we need to spread the opposition defence a bit like Barca is doing.. They go do wide.. and so did we..
infact back in 2006 that Cambiasso goal( Best example of possession football ) was a product of some excellent play along the flanks.. in all those passes, we systematically stretched their defence.. expand to the flanks.. contract to the centre.. then do it all over again..
Now, Barca obviously does this day in ad day out.. but this season they are playing in the air a bit more.. they started developing this last season(remember Messi goal in Champions league final ?) ..

I believe that it is a very effective addition to any team that plays all its football primarily along the ground.. both these Barca goals were Xavi assists that originated well inside the opposition half.. on both occasions the defence was well set to defend any threat along the ground, so Xavi just sort of chipped it over them !

Rest easy MAXI.. I am not suggesting that we start to play 60 metre long balls EPL style.. but instead it is the 20-25 metre chip or lob that goes over a well set defence, and more importantly starts well inside the opposition half..it can be a vertical/diagonal ball right into the goalmouth. or even a diagonal one to the flanks to spread out the play from the corners..these deliveries if executed properly can be very effective to break down organised defences and is something I think Argentina should start mixing..

MAXI.. ur reminder of the Germany game brings back painful memories

What you say is true.. Pekerman didn’t have the right players on the field that day.. especially during the second half..
and the tactics were different as well..
I think that Germany game is not the best example in terms of the point I am trying to make.

Because, in that game we never really applied ourselves.. We gave the Germans too much respect and never committed oursleves to serious attacking from all the possession we enjoyed.. we were hogging the centre line playing horizontal passes!
It was an Argentina team I couldn’t recognise from the previous matches..

All I am saying is that we need to spread the opposition defence a bit like Barca is doing.. They go do wide.. and so did we..
infact back in 2006 that Cambiasso goal( Best example of possession football ) was a product of some excellent play along the flanks.. in all those passes, we systematically stretched their defence.. expand to the flanks.. contract to the centre.. then do it all over again..
Now, Barca obviously does this day in ad day out.. but this season they are playing in the air a bit more.. they started developing this last season(remember Messi goal in Champions league final ?) ..

I believe that it is a very effective addition to any team that plays all its football primarily along the ground.. both these Barca goals were Xavi assists that originated well inside the opposition half.. on both occasions the defence was well set to defend any threat along the ground, so Xavi just sort of chipped it over them !

Rest easy MAXI.. I am not suggesting that we start to play 60 metre long balls EPL style.. but instead it is the 20-25 metre chip or lob that goes over a well set defence, and more importantly starts well inside the opposition half..it can be a vertical/diagonal ball right into the goalmouth. or even a diagonal one to the flanks to spread out the play from the corners..these deliveries if executed properly can be very effective to break down organised defences and is something I think Argentina should start mixing..

sorry about that happy icon in that other post guys..my PC is playing up.
I obviously wasn’t happy on that day..infact it was one of the worst days for me in 2006.

Aurelius

You have made numerous great posts on this blog and I consider you an asset to the blog, however, I will agree to disagree with you on the Canada Russia olympic game. Canada not only outskilled the Russians, they outmuscled them as well (this is well within the scope of the rules for hockey). Canada cycled the puck better, passed better, checked better and had a higher intesity and tempo. That style of play is “Canada’s” and it is exciting to watch.. To play it any other way would be wrong for Canadians. Much to the same extent that if Argetina did not play Artistic futbol and Brazil did not play Samba futbol we would all complain of the loss of identity in our futbol.

But what if we won? Would we still complain of a loss of identity with a couple of extra stars on our crest?

just a thought.

Sorry I have been gone as of late. My 14 year old son was playing in a big soccer tournament in Phoenix arizona. Pretty cool news was that my son who plays offensive mid was invited by the Burnley FC coach from England to join their futbol academy full time. I dont know if we would be able to get the visa but it was pretty cool.

Anyway my obeservations on the National team is that many players are stepping up right now and will make Maradonas decisions very hard. I really hope that he will give up on some of the local league players and focus on who will give us the best chance to win. For me Aimar, Banega should be ahead of Veron but I am sure that Maradona does not see it that way.

———–Carizzo———————
Zabaletta—–Demichillis—Milito——-Insua

——————Mascherano——————-

Messi—————Banega————-Di Maria

Milito———————–Higuain——

That is how I would do it.

Feb 26, 2010 12:25:00 PM
Photo GalleryZoomDiego Maradona, Argentina (Getty Images)
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Diego Armando Maradona
Diego Maradona is on a collision course with the AFA (Argentinian FA) after refusing to play a friendly against Canada that had been organised to celebrate Argentina’s bicentenary.

Maradona argues that playing a friendly just two weeks before the World Cup in South Africa will add to the burden of keeping players fresh, fit and injury free.

“I don’t want to play on May 24 against Canada,” he told TyC Sports.

“The leagues all finish late and players will arrive having played many games this season. We want to give them some days of rest before we start preparing for the World Cup.”

The AFA tried to cool the talk. A spokesman said: “If there is a request from the coach then we will listen to it, and evaluate the situation.”

I agree with Maradona for once. Let the players rest, and focus only on the training sessions.

Romero
Zab-Dem-Sam(I feel some1 better than Sam needed; bt can’t see any !)- Ansaldi (Insua,Hzne ; easy to beat)
Masch – Cambiasso
Messi- Aimar- Dmaria(feel he will be the man for Arg)
Higuain

Sub :
Tevez(Aimar), Palermo( Hig).. and the last one may be from Lavezzi, Aguero,Maxi… depending on situation.

should keep Guti(for no. of position), Heinze(or Zanetti), Gago, D Milito,Veron/J Datalo.. and Arg must keep a defender who can read well rather not worried abt his ..

to win a WCup u need luck and a good defense above all.. in WCup all play tight football; nice football can entertain u bt u hav to win ugly in bad days; Arg hav so much talent in front so they should(i think) try to make the midfield combnation well n balanced.. a DEFENDER must alongside M Dem..

Romero
Zab-Dem-Sam(I feel some1 better than Sam needed; bt can’t see any !)- Ansaldi (Insua,Hzne ; easy to beat)
Masch – Cambiasso
Messi- Aimar- Dmaria(feel he will be the man for Arg)
Higuain

Sub :
Tevez(Aimar), Palermo(a physical threat indeed; for Higuain).. and the last one may be from Lavezzi, Aguero,Maxi… depending on situation.

should keep Guti(for no. of position), Heinze(or Zanetti), Gago, D Milito,Veron/J Datalo.. and Arg must keep a defender who can read well rather not worried abt his height..

to win a WCup u need luck and a good defense above all.. in WCup all play tight football; nice football can entertain u bt u hav to win ugly in bad days; Arg hav so much talent in front so they should(i think) try to make the midfield combnation well n balanced.. And a DEFENDER is must.. alongside M Demchls..

(Corrected)

Romero
Zab- Dem- Sam(I feel some1 better than Sam needed; bt can’t see any !)- Ansaldi(Insua,Hzne;easy to beat)

Masch – Cambiasso
Messi- Aimar- Dmaria(feel he will be the man for Arg)
Higuain

Sub :
Tevez(Aimar), Palermo(a physical threat indeed; for Higuain).. and the last one may be from Lavezzi, Aguero,Maxi… depending on situation.

should keep Guti(for no. of position), Heinze(or Zanetti), Gago, D Milito,Veron/J Datalo.. and Arg must keep a defender who can read well rather not worried abt his height..

to win a WCup u need luck and a good defense above all.. in WCup all play tight football; nice football can entertain u bt u hav to win ugly in bad days; Arg hav so much talent in front so they should(i think) try to make the midfield combnation well n balanced.. And a DEFENDER is must.. alongside M Demchls..

In defence we should also consider Pareja, he’s been in good form for Espanyol and is the reason they are mid-table instead of relegation zone!..He’s good with free kicks and technically better then Samuel! Moreover he done well in the Olympics too..Another defender with better pace then Demi n Samuel is Garay (He was playing as a stiker in his younger years thus the pace!)
Burdisso has been surprisingly good in the last couple of months, I have been following Roma’s matches to see him and according to the Serie A media he’s been one of the signing of the season!! Another name is Spolli of catania i think, he’s been rock solid too as is Hugo Campagnaro of Napoli!! but they all get over looked and instead shit defenders from home are picked!
In Midfield, Banega is a must and so is Mascherano, both in terrific form.

The best attack line up should be

Mascherano..Banega..Cambiasso

Messi….Higuain…Di Maria

Both Messi and Di Maria like to work on the wings and cutting in so in that case we’ll need good balance. I believe Mascherano and Cambiasso will do wonders together to break play and quickly spread the ball to our pacey attackers! Banega will be the central midfielder so spray the balls all over!

Veron,Palermo n co not needed here!!

Another thing to add, I’d like to see Gutierez playing as a right back as he did against Peru! I think he’s got tremendous work rate and attacking prowess to do well in that position. Glen Johnson of England began his career as a right midfielder and moved back as a player was injured and since then he’s not reverted to his original position so I am sure Guttierrez can do well there too only if Masch and Cambiasso play in midfield to cover both sides of our slighty weak defence!

I like your lineup.. but it lacks fullbacks. We won’t have much width except from messi and di maria. I wanna see this so bad:

………………Romero……………..

Zanetti…Demichelis…Samuel…..Ansaldi

…………….Mascherano……………

Messi…………..Aimar……….Di Maria

………Higuain………….Milito………

http://goal.com/es-la/news/1546/argentina/2010/02/23/1804300/mercado-el-ajax-quiere-a-gait%C3%A1n

http://www.tribalfootball.com/man-city-boss-mancini-admits-adebayor-tevez-frustration-670011

http://www.tribalfootball.com/chelsea-push-sparks-real-madrid-barcelona-di-maria-action-661421

http://www.tribalfootball.com/man-city-scouts-follow-valencia-sensation-banega-658751

so its almost inevitable that banega HAS to get called up but diego still hasnt done it!!!

———–Romero———
Zabaleta-Demi-Samuel-Zanetti
——–Mascherano——–
-Messi—Banega/Aimair—–Di maria
—–Higuain—Milito

glad to read todduttah blogs again . . . but where is albo? . . didn return yet?

both Zabaleta and Tevez on the field against Chelsea..lets hope that Tevez leaves behind all the recent controversy behind him..

Tevez +2

what a weird, strange game between City and Chelsea. Chelsea were in complete control, should have been up more than 1-0, but one long ball, Tevez with some decent moves followed by a scuffed shot that somehow went in and the game (mostly 2nd half) was all helter skelter after that. and good to see Carlitos take PK with confidence again.

and oh.. Ballack, what a German piece of work he is. when he got the red for the tackle on Tevez, he had no intention of getting the ball. a little lower, Tevez misses the WC.

Thoughts & prayers with Chile.

And how bout that. Different weekend, different Argie, same result.

John Terry is every Argie’s bitch.

bardisso–dem–sam–henze
pastore–mass–veron–dimaria
——-messi————
————–hig—————–

theres your german side it better be any hows

both john terry and ferdy have been bitched by argy strikers

john terry by milito and tevez

and ferdy by tevez

its looking like Argentina’s attack is far to much for England’s defense

higuain +1, great left footed finish

higuain +2 assist from garay. very nice goal

Everyone is hitting their stride at the right time. Now Messi needs some rest.

So 25 minutes through the Barcelona game, Messi has been playing media-punta, and it just seems kinda odd. he has set up some nice plays with his outlet passes, but whenever they are setting up a good attacking play, he goes from the top of the box into the box and gets ready to head in a cross instead of what we’ve grown accustomed to.

I think Messi’s doing an apprenticeship under Xavi. Messi and Barca clearly know that he can skin a few players and score cutting in from the right but they’re trying to develop a more varied game and Messi’s trying to become a more dynamic player and so he’s moved in field more.

Messi’s distribution is great, the ball to Pedro was awesome in particular. very much like a left-footed Xavi.

Messi just needs to learn to knit the different facets of his game together, into a single package – then he’ll be as close to Maradona as I’ve seen a player get, in my life.

Higuain is simply breathtaking at times, the guy improves exponentially… you think “wow, he can finish with elegance now, didn’t expect that so soon in his career” then he starts doing ridiculously good ball-juggling in tight spaces and floors you, you think he’s reached a new level as a forward and then he punches past it like it was nothing.

today, tidy finishes but wow, the one he didn’t score… the one that hit the bar, that is really Ronaldinho territory, I’d have never expected that kind of audacity and vision from Higuain!

who knows, come the WorldCup, we may be talking about Higuain as Argentina’s savior!

on another note, what’s happened to Aguero? one of my favourites out there… poor kid, Maradona family drama really must be getting him down.

oh and is Salvio injured? haven’t seen him play for Atletico Madrid yet.

messi again not that good last man in box seems tired

higuain wot can i say best 9 on earth shits on villa

game ends 2-1 barcelona and…

+1 messi

Who can complain about argi strikers? messi…….goal

Messi made some very good runs and some great passes. Ibra especially was served a ridiculously easy goal by Leo and wasted it. If Higuain was in that spot he would have had a hat trick today for Barcelona.

Iniesta botched an easy back pass (easy for him anyways( that would have surely resulted in a 3rd goal and second for Leo.

He is no longer playing as a true forward and Pep seems to be playing him back more. I think this is good preparation for him in the Cup.

di maria hat trick

Goals today….

Higuain-2
Tevez-2
Messi-1
Di Maria-3

di maria is a serious threat from the left flank his goals are very nice as well

the team is forming nicely up front…now if only maradummy can wake up early enough to watch these games

Just think about it…

….Higuain….Millito…
DeMaria….Banega……Messi
——-Mascherano………..

or

…………Higuain………
DeMaria….Banega….Tavez……Messi
——……-Mascherano………..

What a threatning line-up.

Actually, these 3 goals by Di Maria is his first legue goals this season…….

will maradona use samuel in defense? and will he use pastore? so many questions? . . . but i think messi needs rest and maybe he can just watch teh game with teh others given a chance? . .. whzt u guyz say? . . .

really dissapointed we wont be seeing banega in the germany game everytime i watch him play he is just what argentina needs in the midfield, diego has to call him up soon

Aguero +1
Milito +1

milito did score today though and last week in champions league so dont realy think diego will think less of him if he had a bad game

http://en.kendincos.net/video-tlrtldj-leix-es-0-4-benfica-27-02-10-.html

di marias hat trick

i m from brasil i lives americana i m jail mr chairman globo tv mr roberto irineu marinho this men put police eevery day adress globo tv rue doctor chucri zaidan 46 morumbi at sao paulo sp

All need rest. not only Messi. As Armando said before, “we dont have enough time to play friendly matches.. we need rest”

I don’t want to see anyone in pain. GOOD LUCK …….. score more.. hello Tevez..! don’t forget about the Golden shoe ok.. And Messiiiii You mustbe very careful about the shit tackles.

pleace sir (maradona) my world cup dream team 1st eleven

Sergio Romero gk
Clemente Rodríguez
Nicolás Otamendi
Gabriel Heinze
Martín Demichelis
Javier Mascherano
Jonás Gutiérrez
Ángel Di María
Mario Bolatti
Lionel Messi
Carlos Tévez

there is 0% chance of that sorry to say 3 of those guys shouldnt even make the 23.

starting lineup which many people have agreed on would be the best is this

Romero
Zabaleta
Demichellis
Samuel
Zanetti
Masherano
Banega
Messi
Di Maria
Higuain
Milito

1-0 halftime higuain goal. di maria hit the crossbar with a fingertip save by the keeper, team not lookin that bad but verons gotta go hes in banegas spot

Hinchas de La Albiceleste:

Seguimos buscando al afortunado hincha que represente a Argentina en la casa Bud House. (http://budhouse.com/) Llevaremos al fan escogido en avión hasta Ciudad del Cabo, Sudáfrica, para la Copa Mundial de la FIFA Sudáfrica 2010 donde, sea él o ella, gozará de una estancia de lujo, excursiones emocionantes y la oportunidad de obtener acceso a los partidos como pocos fans han tenido. Treinta y dos hinchas – uno por cada país clasificado al mundial – vivirán juntos y compartirán su pasión por el equipo de su país con el resto de los participantes y del mundo entero, mientras que una galardonada empresa productora captura en cinta la emoción de los partidos y el conjunto de lo que es la experiencia del Mundial de la FIFA.

El plazo se cierra el 12 de marzo.

Gracias,

Bud House Casting

I THINK MARADONA IS DOING HIS THING AND LIKE ALWAYS WE THE PEOPLE SIT BACK AND CRITISIZE THE MAN WHO BROUGHT GLORY TO ARGENTINA FOR THE SECOND TIME.I DONT GET IT WE SHOULD GIVE HIM THE OPPURTUNITY TO SHINE.I THINK THEY PLAYED STRONG WITH TECHNICA,AND MOST OF ALL BALLS….VERON IS OLD BUT HE HAS BALLS, AND SOMETIMES THE COMMON TOUCH AND GO PASS US ARGENTINO’S PLAY SO WELL ISN’T ENOUGH THESE DAYS WE NEED F—’N BALLS!!!
CARAJO! ESA SANGRE GAUCHA’ QUE TENEMOS ADENTRO AND THATS WHEN THE BOYS GET SEPERATED FROM THE MEN,ANOTHER
WORDS “VERON” STAYS FOR WHEN ITS TIME TO DIG DEEP.WE WILL WIN AND F— THE SHEEP.!!GRACIAS CHE’ DIEGO POR TODO LOCO EN MI CORAZON SIEMPRE AY UN LUGAR POR VOZ. EL QUE NO LE GUSTE “ALA CONCHA DE SUS MADRE”CIAO..

DREAM TEAM ARGENTINO
ROMERO
BURDISSO
DEMICHILLES
SAMUEL
C.RODRIGUEZ
VERON/BANEGA
MASCHERANO
DI MARIA/DATOLO
MESSI
TEVEZ/AGUERO
HIGUAIN/MILITO

I CAN’T BELIEVE SOMONE BANNED MY COMMENT AS I SAID BEFORE “VERON” IS OLD BUT HE HAS BALLS.. AND IN THESE CERTAIN TIMES OF SOCCER WERE IT SEEMS NO ONE HAS BALLS
HE DOES !!!!!!!!!AGAINST GERMANY THEY SHOULD THERE SUPERIORTY,THEY SHOWED ME AS A ARGENTINO TO NEVER FORGET THE TRADE MARK OF TRUE HEART,TECH,AND MOST OF ALL “LIKE US ARGENTINOS LIKE TO SAY” SE JUEGA CON HUEVOS” MARADONA IS GREAT ” GIVE THE GOD A CHANCE”
ARGENTINA IN HOSTILE TERRITORY HELD THERE GROUND WELL AND PLAYED THE WAY ARGENTINOS PLAY.” IM HAPPY LETS GO TO SOUHTH AFRICA.” VAMOS VAMOS ARGENTINA VAMOS VAMOS A GANAR ESTA BARRA BUJANGERA NO TE DEJA NUNCA DE ALENTAR

Higuain Tevez

Veron

DiMaria Banega Maxi

Mascherano

Zabaleta Smuel Zanetti

Romero

why is everybody forgetting cambiasso? does maradona not like him?

Messi
Tevez
Higuian
Milito
Arguero/Pastore

Di Maria
Gaitán
Aimar
Zanetti
Marcherano
Cambiasso

Forlín
Samuel
Demichelis

i m from brasil i lives americana i m jail mr chairman globo tv mr roberto irineu marinho this men put police every day because i had tshirt argentine

I am a huge Argentina fan and with the wealth of talent at their disposal they should be going to SA this summer as favourites. Sadly, under El Diego, they have played poorly, and while he is at the helm I can only see them continuing to under-perform.
In the WC qualifying it was patently clear the side had no pattern to their play, an incoherent formation, no balance, no cohesion; the complete polar opposite of the wonderful Argentina side of WC 2006 that operated so smoothly and poetically.
El Diego seems to have little clue over the best players to use, and the right tactics to deploy – with so many players used during the ugly qualifying campaign, little wonder the side played in such a confused state.
El Diego is too emotional in his choices – picking his favourites like Veron and overlooking others like Cambiasso.
Argentina, to succeed at WC 2010, needs to revert to the same formation it used in 2006, with Cambiasso alongside Mascherano. It needs a playmaker – which should be a choice between Riquelme and Aimar but Riquelme is out of favour having fallen out with Diego (surprise, surprise), and Aimar continues to be criminally under-used and overlooked.
In central defence Argentina is crying out to have Gabriel Milito back – he is different class to Demichelis who should be nowhere near the side. And Diego is wrong to now be shunning the classy J.Zanetti. To me, he is still playing brilliantly regardless of his age – just watch his performance for Inter in the 2nd leg of UCL vs Chelsea this week.
One thing clear in the qualifiers – a pint-sized forward line is easily negated and does not work. Argentina needs a target man, an old-fashioned big no10 – the role Crespo performed in 2006. Personally, I would have Crespo in the squad for his experience. He has been playing well for Genoa. And, by the way, what has happened to Saviola, another class act from the 2006 squad now overlooked?
I’m sorry but Veron should be nowhere near the squad. How can he get in the starting XI? Watching him in the qualifiers he was a liability, plodding around like an old man and offering very little by way of incisive forward passes. He is one of the most over-rated players in world football, and has been for more than a decade.
And Gutierrez is just not good enough – what is this journeyman pro doing in the side? Utterly insane.
Aguero, Palermo, Demichelis, Veron, Gutierrez, Colocchini – sorry, but these are SO not Argentina’s best players. There are far stronger choices available to Diego. It was apparent Aquero, who was invisible in the qualifiers he played in, only got in the side because of his family association with Diego. He is another over-rated player.

To summarise, I fear, in fact I know, El Diego will pick completely the wrong personnel for SA this summer.

The squad should include these defenders: Heinze, G. Milito, Samuel, J.Zanetti, Insua, Burdisso

midfielders: Cambiasso, Mascherano, Riquelme, Aimar, Maxi Rodriguez, Di Maria

forwards: Saviola, Messi, Tevez, Higuain, Crespo, Milito

Good luck this summer Argentina. I hope I am proved wrong.

I’d say the best Argentinian squad would include a few more defensive players to hold back, kill off opposing attacks, and free up the creative players. I’d include Cambiasso alongside Mascherano, and play them just in front of the defence, similar to how Inter Milan used Cambiasso and Motta so well against Chelsea. Liverpool’s full-back Insua could be a surprise and very useful, energetic addition. I’d say Zabaleta, too, but he hasn’t played enough for Man City. So Zanetti, still excellent, would play full-back, opposite to Insua. Samuel and Dimichelis are the centre backs – certainly if Samuel can play as doggedly and fiercely as he does for Inter sometimes. Then the attack – Messi, naturally, perhaps flanked by Di Maria. Then, Ever Banega in a busy, central or attacking-midfield role. Higuain, as a lone centre-forward, assisted by the roaming Messi, similar to Messi’s complimentary relationship with the forward players at Barcelona – Ibra or Henry. It sounds, in theory, a surefire winner, a champion team – but Maradona will have his own ‘maverick’ master-plan. I really hope it works.

Argentina is definitely going to be very unpredictable team in this World Cup. I can see them winning the title and can also see them ending up in tears after the first round.

http://goalazo.com/discussions/7/who-will-win-the-world-cup-2010

maradona must call up the front line player aimar,zenatti,requelme,crespo,saviola,ayala for tis world cup.in last few month some players performance who selected by diego is drop n cannot hold the tackle by opposition player.so,diego must select the very strong,high skill n counter attact players.