Bit Quiet on the Team News…

Kris makes excellent points. Arsenal spent all their arsenal (pun intended) to shut out Riquelme.

Even great players can get shut out with a lot of markers.

Also he got a yellow card pretty early and that’s when I started to worry.

He didn’t want to do anything risky because that would have him out of the next match.

But I KNOW he will set the stadium on fire next leg.

Also I do agree with you guys that Riquelme could be facing problems at Man U because of his style and size. Then again he could adapt and could become a force with quality players around him.

He is 28 and any move that goes wrong could really be bad for his career.

Anyway I think most of you are over reacting. I don’t know why Riquelme gets so much flak. He is a dangerous player who had an off color day.

The English national squad has a much tighter structure than Arsenal and he ran needles through them.

When he aces through Arsenal next leg, the same people will be singing praises.

Posted from  Pakistan

Also on Sorin, to me he is always been an average player with a BIG heart. I think it is fair to think he should be replaced by Heinze but you have to realize what Sorin brings to the table.

Posted from  Pakistan

On the whole i agree with a few comments made by kris and lol. but moreover something i feel the majority of the ppl on this blog are failing to see is the diff. btwn the argentina of now vs. 02. no team will be able to shut us down just from shutting down riquelme!!! this is not 02, we are not placing all of our trust on riquelme like we did veron. messi and tevez are players that can go at take on a guy or two and lay it off, these types of players put teams off balance defensively. if riquelme has a down game for arg. it will not be the end of us we have other playmakers. and as far as pace!!!???? ARE YOU FREAKIN KIDDING ME!!!! how can u compare the pace of villareal who is 75% MEDIOCRE players to argentina that has one of the best goal scores from england (crespo), the best goal scorer from any league in south america (tevez), two of the probably top five best players from spain (riquelme AND messi). more importantly, argentina is known for their fast pace that comes from our defense, yes ill admit that puzzle piece is not fitting at the moment but it will come cup time…. common guys some of these comments make me question whether you have ever seen argentina play

Posted from  United States

What Pellegrini gets from Riquelme:

Pellegrini’s particular talent lies in getting the best from players who have underachieved at previous clubs. Juan Roman Riquelme, Villarreal’s inventive playmaker, looked washed up after a season at Barcelona and Forlan was a figure of fun at United. Both have flourished at El Madrigal. “Riquelme’s great merit was that he convinced himself that he’s not a player who will play at a mediocre level,” Pellegrini says. “He realised that he can demonstrate here in Europe what he did in [South] America. He needs to be fresh to create so he doesn’t exhaust himself tackling. I don’t want him running from box to box.

…more from this link:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/story.jsp?story=687515

Posted from  Malaysia

Whilst watching the game all i was watching was arsenal go in high tempo, trying to win the ball wherever possible and trying to knock the ball from one end to the end as quick as possible.They were quick with their counter attacks. When Villareal had the ball they attempted to do the same but as soon as the the ball went to riquelme he slowed it all down, calming everything down because villareal were trying to do the same as arsenal but kept losing the ball. When he has the ball he brings such elegance to the game. No doubt though, Arsenal knew he was going to pull the strings and used gilberto to chase him. They tried to keep him out which is why villareal didnt produce a greater threat to them.

I’m seriously looking forward to the next game in spain.

Posted from  United Kingdom

I think we must never be too quick to pass judgement on Roman. No one doubts his ability on the ball, but as expressed here, many are less than impressed with his work rate off it. I believe that next week’s clash at El Madrigal will be a true test of his abilities and his class.

No doubt, Arsenal will mark him as well as they did last night, but this time, with Villareal forced to take the game to the Gunners and the attack centred around him, we will really see what he can do. So I think we can all look forward to that game.

With regards to Argentina’s set up, it seems that we all agree that while Villareal is essentially a mediocre side built around Riquelme, Argentina is a side with some really talented and skillful players, but also built around him. With that in mind, I agreet that shutting Riquelme down is unlikely to blunt our attack. Also, with Messi (and Zanetti) in the side there isnt any lack of speed in the attack. And with Mascherano and Cambiasso around, the midfield will still win the ball.

The defence also looks strong, though evidence of recent friendlies tells another story (but Heinze and Ayala were not playing). The keeper seems to be the biggest bugbear. Barbosa doesn’t inspire much confidence, Abondonzieri still has more experience. I guess he needs a little confidence.

Posted from  Trinidad And Tobago

To be honest, I think that the Riquelme we saw against Arsenal is the Riquelme we will see in the games against Serbia and Holland in the world cup. On the absolute highest level, the opponents defensive midfielders will shut him down. So my point is that we HAVE to play with Messi(if he gets fit)together with Riquelme. It`s kinda easy to shut down one creative force, but much more difficult to stop two creative forces. One of them will create trouble for the opponents for sure.

By the way; if Riquelme goes to Man Utd, he will be a flop for sure. His playing style does not fit a team like United. Stay in Spain, Roman!

Posted from  Norway

If you play against any team with only one creative player, the tactics for the other team are obvious: stop that player.
I don’t know many players who could have handled the marking Roman received against Arsenal: at times there were two or three players around him when he had the ball. So, of course, if you have more creative players you can use as Argentina do then you should do that as teams can’t put two or three guys on a player.
I don’t like this ‘Roman can’t make it on th highest level’ stuff: he is one of the finest players in the world: he can. I don’t want him to go to Manchester United because I still haven’t forgiven the English press for their treatment of Veron: plus Argentine playmakers are better suited to Spain and Italy anyway.
All this is irrelevant anyway: If Roman plays great next week everyone will love him again.
Also I wish people would stop worrying about the Ivory Coast and Serbia games: Argentina have enough talent and will be so motivated for those two games: it should be Ivory Coast and Serbia who should be worried.

Posted from  United Kingdom

“All this is irrelevant anyway: If Roman plays great next week everyone will love him again.”

EXACTLY. And he will play great.

Posted from  Pakistan

no offense Rune but I think u got it wrong. Gilberto is not great defensive midfielder. In fact he is only average. Villareal were playing with a defensivive style to begin. Riquelme was marked by 3 players when he received the ball. The ref allowed too much contact which didnt allow Riquelme to do anything. Riquelme is the best playmaker in the world. He already made in the higher level!

Posted from  Canada

Hola Argentina,

I’m a Dutch journalist and I wonder what you expect of our clash in the ‘Group of Death’.

I’ll go for a 4-4 draw since the defence is the weakest of both the teams.

You seem to be very nervous about the cup. Injuries; need for revenge, but can we win it without Maradona?

Good luck against Serbia and Ivory Coast.

Hey Dutchie. We Argentina fans have been through a lot of pain in the past. We think that we deserve much better but luck was never on our side ever since 1990’s final. We obviously hate to see our favourite players get injured just like any other football fan would. But deep down we know that Argentina is about to rise again, this is simply our destiny as a leading footballing (and sport)nation.

We wait are waiting for that day to come and we hope it is going to be during this World cup. If Pekerman puts “the” lineup to conquer them all, similar to the one that beat brazil 3-1, the one where there is no crap player just getting tested (see confederation cup) then we think we can and should easily top the group.

On top of that we believe we have the real Messiah. Leo is indeed the one, when he touches the ball he is no longer a little 18 years old boy, he does not feel any pressure of playing with likes of Ronaldinho or against the like of Chelsea, he just lets his adrenaline explode.

Then we have Tevez, someone who will give everything for the shirt, a real warrior, someone who is not afraid to try to dare the defense, to shoot from range, or to set-up his companion for the opportunity.Untouched by failure he does not know any limits.He will simply give his all for the best of the team.

Both of them of course lead by the Maestro, a real artist of the ball whos kind is a rare to find in the modern game, I am talking about the artist Riquelme of course. His vision is like an that of an eagle, he can see every angle of the field, every movement, he can even picture plays before them actually happening, yes he can see into the future. He can slice the best defenses open in less than a second.

Those players will be supported by the “Old Guards”. Those who has been in the old continent for so long, those who have failed in the past but are here with a revenge and a mission to guide the new generation. Zanetti, Ayala, Sorin and Crespo all want to redeem themselves in the World Cup. They have been in many battles and remember the tears and the short lived happiness of 98. They remember the “Oranje” perfectly.

Of course there are many other player worth mentioning. The “Clown” Aimar, the rabbit “Saviola”, the tireless Heinze and Mascherano and last but not least our secret weapon. A very young new hero ready to take the world by storm, he is “El Kun” Aguero. A player who’s natural talent has not been seen since the time of Diego. He will be our red devil.

So of course we want our team fit, but we are not afraid, not even close, we are just very anxious for this World Cup to start. We are anxious regain what we deserve. We are anxious to beat Brazil in the final ;).

Posted from  Canada

sorry for the many typos and brain farts I just felt an urge to write this. Maybe inspired by the footballing God ?? ( I am talking about Maradona of course :p )

Posted from  Canada

Man, you cannot compare argentian and Villareal.
In Villareal, the other players cannot even control the ball.So Arsenal can put all the defense on Roman.
This obviously doesn’t work for Argentina.

Besides, Roman is slow, and Villareal is slow sometimes. However, for argentina, Roma is to help Argentina to “Slow down” because Argentian was TOO fast before (as in 2002).

Posted from  United States

Besides, based on the first topic, we need other “fast” players.

Yes, it’s true, but not Aimar! Or Aimar can play the LMF or RMF, not the CMF. We actually already have Messi and Tevez, who are the best supporter for Roman. As in the most recent game against Croatia, Messi and Tevez made the 2 goals.

Posted from  United States

Dutchie:

What you HAVE to understand is this: Every Argentine, despite the conversations herein, EXPECTS to win the world cup…Our luck would have to be very bad indeed to fall to Holland or, frankly, anyone (except maybe Brazil) which we still wouldn’t accept. Argentina has so much talent it’d be a crime against god & man were we not to win…

Posted from  United States

I agree 100% with you JP. Anything other then victory in the WORLD CUP is like death. Just look at the passion by the fans when you watch a game from the Argentine league. It is ridiculous! Non stop jumping, fireworks, toilet paper all over the place, total hysteria! I’ve watched every top league, and I’ve never seen fans like the ones in Argentina. Not even fans in Brazil are like the Argentine ones…

Anyone else watching Villareal tonight? First half just ended with some agonizingly close chances for the yellow subs.

Sorin is a big fighter but he is just not getting the balls in. Riquelme has looked a bit better as well.

Posted from  Pakistan

What the hell is Franco doing? It is disgusting.

Posted from  Pakistan

You could tell from his face he was going to miss.

Posted from  Pakistan

I am talking about the penalty of course.

Posted from  Pakistan

Riquelme’s penalty miss was justice served as Villareal didn’t deserve to have a penalty awarded to them in the first place. They had had several other opportunities and couldn’t convert them. I don’t think Arsenal were the better side in this game, but I think on the whole, over both the games, Arsenal deserved to go through.

Posted from  India

all you americans dont know anything about football you cant even say the right name its FOOTBALL we created football and your little american football so dont say anything

Posted from  United Kingdom

Gatti…be nice.

Posted from  Canada

?

Download Cool Ringtone Right This Time: ?

Posted from  United States