Argentina Vs Croatia —Feedback

2-1 in the 20th minute. After giving up a goal in the 4th minute Crespo and Messi scored right away.

Posted from  United States

2:2 after the 52th minute. a restructuring (tomas out, tokić in) brought immediate results in croat gameplay and scoring.

Posted from  Germany

Diego what channel are they passing the game I would like to at least see the highlights until I can watch the whole game. And please leave us some more feedback about the game. Im not too interested in the scoring but more of the chemistry between certain players. Was it Crespo or Tevez that scored the first goal. Livescore.com says tevez did.

Posted from  United States

3-2 final. Crushing 90th minute goal

Posted from  United States

first half, argentina let the ball roll and was in possession of it for most of the time, many unforced errors by the croats.

second half, a much more aggressive and vigorous approach by croatia led to dominance in midfield and attack, and ultimately to scoring the winner.

good times.

Posted from  Germany

Argentina lineup:Abbondanzieri, Burdisso, Ponzio, Coloccini (Lucho Gonzalez 60), Cambiasso, Samuel, Riquelme,
Crespo (Diego Milito 75), Tevez (Aimar 68), Demichelis, Messi.

I heard coloccini had a shocker in this game. Not to worry people. Ive got faith in the albiceleste. I’d much rather they get all the hiccups out of the way now rather than in the world cup.
The defence is really poor and ayala and heinze should stabalise this. What on earth was the first was the 1st and second goals about. Dodgy goalkeeping and a free header with no one within yards of him.Very poor defending, attacking was better.
Anyone feeling nervous after tonights result?

Posted from  United Kingdom

i dont like pekerman. the man cant get the right balance and does not follow the argentine tradition, which is to attack. With bielsa we they had 3 strikers and only needed one def medfielder and 3 defenders. but with this defensive AKA european style of manager/joker. the team needs 6 players back when they only play with 1 striker. he should stop worrying about other teams cos argentina have the attacking quality to counter any team.

Posted from  United States

I am not nervous about the result im nervous about this coaches strategy and how he is setting up the players on the field. Im not nervous at all because Argentina can not play friendly matches theres not that same passion. And some of the players would never see the field in the world Cup. 2 being Burdisso and Ponzio.

Alan I didnt get to see the game at all you stated the line up but what was the formation?

Posted from  United States

Result good because it’ll make Pekerman question how far he’s likely to go without a goalkeeper (I’ve been saying this ad nauseum on this blog…) and because it shows what happens when Riquelme isn’t in a groove. I thought he sucked today and it destroyed the team’s rythm. Aimar should have started the 2nd 1/2 for Riquelme, not replaced Tevez too late…If I’m Pekerman: Fine to start games with Riquelme because when he’s on - he’s unreal. When he’s off - HE’S OFF and if Pekerman can’t make the instant adjustment (presumably to Aimar) it’ll be Bielsa all over again.

Thought DeMichelies was pretty weak. Ponzio OK. I’d really prefer to not see Samuel in the albiceleste again…but that’ll wait till Ayala and Heinze return. Would have loved to have seen Maxi Rodriguez…

Posted from  United States

I like the team when attacking. I don’t like at all when defending. (Even the 3rd goal was only bad luck)

Posted from  Argentina

CRap ! we let croatia beat us …. damit …well at least we know tevez and messi are awesome and both made goals, like you guys were saying we should be worried about defense and the goalie who looked like he was sleeping in that game. Messi and Tevez got offense on lock down !

Posted from  United States

So, turns out Sorin and Maxi Rodriguez were scratched (both for bum calf muscles) right before the game…don’t know what difference they would have made though. After much meditating - this what Pekerman MUST DO:

1) Find a new goalkeeper. Pato, nice guy though he is, simply blows. I could play better than him - I mean it. He already blew Copa America for Argentina. He has yet to have a single 1/2 decent game for Arg in something like 10 chances, try Ostari maybe even settle for Lux…ENOUGH with pato.

2) Call up Aguero RIGHT NOW. If Messi at 18 has outperformed everyones’ expectations 100 fold…so will Aguero at 17. This team is rapidly becoming dependent on Messi - like it was once dependent on Maradona. Give him a back-up, another player capable of re-writing history in one play.

3) The 3-3-1-3 ain’t working. Try something else, maybe 3-2-2-3 ???:
Heinze, Ayala, Sorin /
Mascherano, Cambiasso /
Aimar, Riquelme /
Tevez, Messi, Aguero
OR 3-2-1-4
Aimar OR Riquelme /
Tevez, Messi, Crespo, Aguero

Pato, Crespo and Riquelme are becoming sacred cows like Veron and Batistuta were in the last World Cup…Sadly, we know what happens when the Coach refuses to make hard decisions…

Posted from  United States

I’m sure this argentina team ‘ll be out in the first round itself. If needed to win they have to axe their coach pekerman and give his position to bielsa or someone like bielsa. What’s his achievement in his tenure except the win against brazil in the qualifiers. Can we call it a win because brazil missed more than 10 golden oppurtunities. Look at biels, where he made some formation noone had tried.

Posted from  United States

Lux…… you must be joking. I thought Pato was weak but this guy takes the piss. Hes absolutely terrible and makes your knees wobble when a corner comes in or a weak shot is aimed straight at him. Pato is better than him, not a lot better. Im relying on Franco to produce the goods for us now. Kris formation was as JP said 3-3-1-3 I believe.

Pekerman got problems now.
Hez got to drop coloccini, i never knew he was this bad. We need Heinze and Ayala as soon as possible. Mascherano to provide cover.
”
I am always looking for a balance between defending and attacking,” Pekerman told a news conference. “Although it didn’t work out tonight I am convinced of the strength of our defenders and believe that what happened cannot happen again.”

Posted from  United Kingdom

JP is right when he says the result was good. This result should wake Pekerman up about the current reality of the argentina squad. He needs to drop some of the players that were involved against croatia pronto. Defence was a a joke but that doesnt relieve the attackers of any excuse. They should have thumped more goals in. Messi had a good game though being only 18 years of age. Aimar should have started to see if he is capable of taking over from riquelme.

The sharks are gathering around Pekerman. The only way he can make it to the surface of the ocean is to produce the goods at the world cup otherwise he sinks without trace.

Posted from  United Kingdom

Let me start of by saying I am big argentina soccer fan. I may not watch as many games since I cant get most games, but I watched the croatia game and at some point you have to stop blaiming the coach and put some on the players. This game should have been put away in the first half when argentina had numerous chances to put the game out of reach. The big name players were on the field and just did not get it done, crespo had a couple of golden chances to extend the lead. The second half was dominated by croatia argentina could not hold on to the ball and the back line was atrocious. Of all the games i have seen argentina play i have never seen such a poor display in the second half even in bad losses to brazil in the past the team always had chances to score or had possession of the ball in the second half argentina was invisible. I hope the players see this as a wake up call because this is 2 games to euro clubs in the second half that argentina let get away from them. That being said argentina has a lot of talent and can still make a run at the cup, but i wanna see a better killer instinct in the team to put other teams away, because if u keep good teams in the game they will make you pay for it.

Posted from  United States

What about barbosa, goalie of villareal, looks a safer bet then the current no hopers trying to guard the goal.
My feelings at the moment…

“So close yet so far away”

Posted from  United Kingdom

I’ve been reading all your comments with a lot of interest and as a devout fan of the Argentine side, was a little nervous after the Croatia game. But the fact remains that Peckerman is still tinkering with the team (especially in defence).

Discussions over Riquelme versus Aimar seem a little pointless because they seem to depend on specific days when either of the players are in-form or not.

The focus here should be on the selection of players who overall have shown consistency with respect to their positions and NOT on individual days when players are “on” or “off”.

This means Argentina has to think about who will be their first-choice for goalkeeping as the current player who occupies that role has not shown much quality overall.

With respect to defence, neither Burdisso, Ponzio nor Coloccini seem to be able to consistently provide quality. Mercifully, Argentina has Ayala, but it is too early to ascertain the qualities of Heinz, especially in view of his injuries.

Nobody seems to have mentioned the defensive contributions that Zanetti can make, but they can be significant.

What Argentina was clearly missing in the Croatia game is what the French call a “recuperateur de ballon” -somebody like Didier Deschamps in the French side of 1998 who is able to read the game well from a deep position and release the ball accordingly.

Also, a quality out-and-out striker like Eto’o or Forlan is what would make Argentina absolutely lethal. While Tevez and Messi can score goals, they are not “pure” strikers. For their clubs, they provide support to their strikers and this is what they do best, even while scoring goals.

The sad fact is that over the last season, Crespo game seems to suggest that his best may be behind him. He has been missing golden scoring opportunities at Chelsea -and also for Argentina.

I really do not know who Argentina’s “pure” striker could be. Saviola? He’s been injured too much this year. Figueroa? Not consistent enough. Aguero? I personally cannot judge him, but he seems too young.

In any case, what Pekerman needs to do in the coming friendlies is to stop figuring out which “fringe” players to include in his side, and to give his top eleven players (whichever they are) providing they are not injured, the opportunity to play together as much as possible before the World Cup…I hope he is reading our blog.

Posted from  Malaysia

If we think about it logically the mainstream of the fringe players shouldnt really be first teamers anyway, soo pekerman should get his best 11 playing together asap. The attack and midfield is practically all sorted out anyway. He knows who to take in the areas. Its the defence and the goalie he needs to sort out asap. We’ll be fine as soon as he gets four solid,in form defenders playing together.

Posted from  United Kingdom

I believe that our time has come. No further patience. We need the trophy. Nothing else. WE cannot jujge from friendly matches. Argentina is made for serious matches. The team must begin with Heinze Sorin Ernan Messi Ayala Mascherano. I am of those who think that javier janneti must be present. Dificult to choose between aimar riquelme. Oportunities to diego milito. Difficult to be solved the keeper problem. Full attack and it is sure that wewill score more than the goals we will receive. i would like to know the bio or info about the upcoming aguero. Please jujge my views and respond about aguero.
Greece would like to see another bianco celeste team to lift the trophy after euro 2004. I’m from greece but i cannot compare my love to argentina’s team with no universal team.

Posted from  Greece

To ARGENTINAOVERALL: Aguero is 17 years old and quite possibly - every bit as good as Messi. We shall see… Maybe slightly less ball control than Messi (Messi already looks like Maradona in this regard), maybe less explosive speed than Messi, but unbelievable vision, and an absolute cannon off both feet. He’s also physically powerful where Messi is lighter. Aguero plays for Independiente in Argentina. There’s probably a 50/50 chance that he makes the ‘06 national team.

Posted from  United States

The Fringe players???

Whats ponzio and burdisso like? Any good?

Galletti is one everyone is forgetting, mauro rosales is is an option. Scaloni is crap trust me. The guy was a stinker on saturday for West Ham and was getting turned everytime and couldnt catch no1 up. He ran out of breath at one point. He was seen with his hands on his waist trying to catch his breath whilst the opposition was on the attack!! Lol.

Kily Gonzalez, aint heard about him in ages.

Posted from  United Kingdom