By the way, in response to your pointed question, there is nothing to “inflame”. If we cannot beat a team that cannot qualify for WC, how can we be a CONTENDER, less qualify for WC2010? Do you call that inflaming? This is just plain common sense.. Thanks for asking me a question? I appreciate it.

I am so glad you also got it right. Unless we put a THINKING coach in place of Basile, we are screwed! I have taken a lot of sticks for standing up to that point of view. Time and again, Basile has proven that he simply cannot think on his feet!

Does anybody know why Aimar was not picked? Is he injured or is Basile continuing with that preferential treatment trend, typical of Argentinean coaches?

I cannot wait to hear Maxi’s report about this game. He will say it just the way it is with no sugar coating.

Aimar10,
I would to hear what you have to say since you are always very analytical in your views.

In any case, congratulations to Norway. I did not see the game, so I cannot comment on any of it, but for those who hope this loss will jolt us out of complacency, I am unsure of what you actually expect. For Basile to resign (when he took us to the finals of the Copa)? For us to suddenly find young world-class defenders to replace the current lot?

Two losses in a row is obviously not very promising, but there can be no quick fixes either. For some problems, there may seem obvious solutions -improper positioning of players for instance. But others, like the absence of a point person in attack or more skilled defenders are long-term concerns which most professional coaches would well be aware of. Getting a Mourinho on board will not necessarily get immediate solutions either.

Brazil doesn’t win all their friendlies – that’s just not true. They tied England and lost 2-0 to Portugal.

Arg’s side was pretty ragtag – and no matter how you look at it, if you best player is not on the field, your team will suffer.

The problem is that Basile (and any Arg coach worth his beans) is trying to play a style that requires a lot of time and practice. Defensive teams do better in quick slap dash friendlies because it’s easier to set up a defensive structure than an offensive game plan.

Arg has proved in the last world cup that they can get together quickly and produce amazing football, but it’s important to note that they did this with Riquelme. They did not look convincing, other than the game against France, without Riquelme. If they are going to play Basile style, they need Riquelme. If Riquelme isn’t going to be around, they HAVE to change their approach.

The smart people on this blog say this over and over, and it’s true — your game depends on the players you have.

I really hope we lose the Australia game and couple of qualifiers right at the beginning. Then only we will have any chance of qualifying.

We could not beat Norway, England, Croatia, Germany, Brazil, Spain etc. Only team of any substance we beat was France.

Its so hard when we lose so much. Wish we could do something about it. But alas.

Individual players are good. But we need a manager who can think. Pekerman was better than Basile int this respect. Even, against Germany he had a plan, he did something, which backfired, but at least he was thinking. If we would have survived for 10 mins we would have hailed his strategy. Point is he applied this thought and it did not work one day. Much better than Basile, who just hopes it will be all fine.