Should we be Concerned?

Argentine fans should be very concerned. This is by far the worst coach Argentina has had in decades. He is leaving out and benching key players. Do any of you remember the 2004 Olympics. That was the best Argentine team I had seen in a while. Tevez was the star of that team and lead Argentina to the gold. All those players played pefectly together.

How in the world is Tevez a bench warmer now. He should be starting line up along with Aimar, and a new young player they call named Ahuero.

My theory is, “If it ain’t broke then don’t try to fix it. I’m referring to the 2004 olympic team.

Pekerman seems to be leaving out key players and substituting them for , in my opinion, inexperienced players on the national level. If I remember clearly Pekerman use to coach the Argentine sub-20 or sub-17 national team years ago. He’s bringing in his favorites from that era in my opinion. Unbelievable that a guy like Tevez is in the bench.
Argentina doesn’t make it past the first round.

Didn’t watch the game yesterday. I guess Tevez did start which is surprising and he scored. This is what I was told. Haven’t been wanting to watch the games lately because I am in total disagreement with Pekerman.

I can’t remember: who was the enganche on that olympic squad? Was it d’Alessandro?
I remember
Lux (clean sheet)
Heinze, Mascherano, Coloccini
Tevez…I’m having amnesia on the rest:

I think Kily and Celito Delgado were there…

Anyway, I agree with you in theory Ty, but this team is married to Riquelme – which is a whole different ball of wax.

pekerman is a joke. bring bak bielsa, he knows how to utilise an attacking team

why do i have a US flag under my comment? Im from the UK

What role do you guys think Messi will have in Pekerman’s schemes.You think will see a lot of him in the World Cup?

We should see quite a lot of messi but not if pekerman has his way. It was Grondona, (president of the argentina fa) who ordered pekerman to include messi in the squad.

In reponse to the first comments by Ty on this blog about if it aint broke dont fix it- we must remember the olympics was by and large in some ways easier for the argentines to win. Every team was weak, and come on we faced paraguay in the final. This shows the tournament wasnt a big deal to the others.
Pekerman will get the blame for getting it wrong on wednesday night, and he should as well for fielding such a pathetic defence, but the players have got to take a share of that blame as well. They let the fans down big time and they know fully well what to do to make up for it.

Final word: DROP COLOCCINI- The man was whack and didnt know whether he was coming or going.

Im sorry Ty but I find your comments a bit extreme. Pekerman has a great history as an Argentine coach, winning world cups with many of the youth teams. He won the olympics and due to a lack of goalkeeping got second in the copa america. Everyone is criticising the coach but they fail to realise that key players from the back line and midfield were missing (Ayala, Heinze, Mascherano). Furthermore, Bielsa was a descent coach but for gods sake he was not “GREAT.” Are you guys forgetting what happened to us in 2002. That was the most embarrasing display of Argentine soccer, ever. In my opinion our offense is in a fairly solid state, unfortunately I have not been able to watch Augero play so… The fact of the matter is at this point the success of the albiceleste is dependent upon if our injured players can get healthy

Ive been telling you guys Tevez is sick ….I think the biggest problem is the defense and the goalie ……WTF was that goalie doing yesterday ?

Kick pekerman out.
We need more attacking minded coach like Bielsa.

Actually, Iam very, very disappointed about all the recent match-results of ARG. ARG really has a big problem in defence. 6 losing goals in 2 matches (with England and Croa),terrible! How can we explain for these results? I didn’t have an opportunity to watch the match between Argen and Croa, but letting the opponent score a goal at the final minute is can’t be acceptable(the match with England is like that).A great and big team is the team that doesn’t let that thing happen. Of course,I don’t think ARG doesn’t have the good defenders.Conversely, many ARG defenders are the best players all over the world.We have no doubt about the talent of Ayala, Samuel, Heinze, G.Millito, Zanetti, Coloccini.So, the main fault is Pekerman.He has to find the best tactic and formation for ARG. Hurry up, World Cup is coming,we have no more time

what are you talking about Sebas? It was not Pekerman, but Bielsa who won the oplympics and finished second in the copa america

Its true, i always thought it was pekerman who led argentina in the olympics and the copa america but no. So he was argentina manager around august/september 2004, almost 2 years after this years world cup. Hes had the time to use different tactics and strategies.
Hez till experimenting withthe squad, is their going to be another friendly for argentina??

I best hez wishing that the world cup was another year away..lol

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What the argentine fans should do to the players if they produce toothless performances like that again. Play with passion guys.

Relax everybody it was just a friendly game. Pekerman is just testing players. Give the guy a break. His real test will be the world cup. If he gets out of the first round it will be a success compared to Bielsa. The argentinian coach will always be looked at for the blame if we do not win. But do people see now what I mean by Riquelme being inconsistent. The guy is not dependable. He shys in the spotlight. AIMAR = Argentinian Hero if they use him.

Im in Brazil on my way to Argentina for vacation. Ill let you know if the true argentinians are worried.

Ok,I know that’s only a friendly match.But do you think if we get such terrible results, it won’t be good for the players’ spirit???

Everyone is unsure of what to think at the moment. Tim Vickery talks about argentina’s current predicament:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/4777806.stm

You going to need some good wingers to get noticed at thge world cup. Who is by the way, the best crosser of the ball in the argentina team? Someone who can whip them in for Crespo and Cruz to head.

The answer to HANS’ question is Chelito Delgado, and maybe Mauro Rosales – neither of whom will make the team. Wide wingers was Bielsa. Pekerman likes the diagonal game. Which is why Riquelme is now the lynchpin…

well, i definitely believe that pekerman is still trying out some tactical schema, be now it is taking long, he must already have in mind his squad and start letting players to get used with his tactics. but, I think it is also better for us to loose now rather than during the tournament. we still have three month to solve those defensive problems and when mascherano, ayala and heinze will be back we will have a far stable defense. I think if approached correctly i will suggest a 3-3-1-3:
abondazzieri or german lux
ayala samuel heinze

zanetti mascherano sorin

riquelme

messi tevez
crespo
if again well prepared, argentina will shine and we can give to parreira some headaches.
viva argentina, vamos argentina

please watch out argentina is gonna do a great world cup.

Argentina is going to rock!

I think there is problem everywhere. None so critical but needs to be fixed soon. Let me explain what I think

1. Goalkeeper – This is the worst problem. Isn’t there any good talent also. Don’t need the world’s best but who does the basic right. Abbondanzieri is a BIG NO. May be Barbosa. Also keep and eye on Costanzo from Alaves.

2. Defense – Next big problem. If Ayala, Heinze, Mascherano returns may we can replace bad individuals with good ones. But thats not all. Have you noticed the goals against England and Croatia (the last minute ones). For me the basics is, if you concede a corner or freekick in the 85-90+ minutes, you must have 2 defenders in the 2 posts. The reason, you don’t have time to recover. These players were missing, and hence the goals. Please remember, if someone scores a great goal you cannot do anything, but these goals were not great headers. Simic’s goal came from his shoulder.

3. Midfield – What is plan B, if riquelme fails in a match? Too much dependance. Maybe riquelme and aimar should play in tandon. Cambiasso and Mascherano is must.

4. Forwards – Many talents but are they made for each other. Messi and Tevez both great dribblers and cuts into the fields. There is no width and all cramped, what will crespo do under these circumstances? Maybe we should play maxi rodriguez. Have to play different tactics for different games.

Please provide your thoughts. I can write volumes, I am from India, living in USA and a huge fan of Argentina.

Theirs been quite a debate on the argentina blog about what happens if Riquelme fails to show up at the world cup. Aimar is the guy who should replace him automatically if he doesnt cut it although i hope he performs.

Messi should only come on as a sub. We definetly need a wingers in the squad to give some width. Pekerman needs to think about the team playing collectively instead of putting individual talent on the pitch.

[...] Yellow card to Argentina fans. Your team might have given up a late game winning goal against Croatia and the defense might be in tatters, but there is no reason to panic quite yet. There is no shortage of talent from which coach Jose Pekerman will choose for the Albiceleste. [...]

m just wondering why so many people are thinking that we are crashing out in germany in june 2006. i think our opponents know much than any one else our potentials, they are worry really. i do agree with some of the critics on pekerman(tinkerman), it is true that our last display in friendlies was poor such a lack of winning mentality is boosting the confidence of our opponents. i also believe that the reasons of those poor performances are the abscence of key players and also that pekerman is stil trying out things, though he must already have his team in mind 100 days from the kick-off. well i want to respond particularly to some who said that argentina lacks B plan in case of riquelme not on song. it is true that argentina depends a lot on riquelme but tell me which teams can find itself not dependant of such a jewel, gift with such a vision, intelligence and passing ability. that is one thing, who can tell me two teams who can afford having aimar in replacement of riqueleme when is off. which team in the world has the privilege of having mascherano, demichelis and cambiasso for the position of defensive midefielder? who has the possibility of making choice between gabi milito, ayala, heinze, samuel. Argentina is probably the only one team which has the most explosives youngsters for the years to come messi, tevez, aguera.with diego milito, cruz and saviola on the bench we have one of the most lethal striking line in the world. pekerman is the only one coach with various tactical options, he can easily field a 3-3-1-3, 4-1-3-1, 4-3-1-2, 3-5-2, 4-4-2. someone said that aregntina lacks freshness on the wing. m telling you that maxi rodriguez a very important player tactically speaking can really take this role in the right , he can even find himself near to mascherano in the heart of the midfield to take over when riquelme slows down a bit. zanetti, sorin can push forward when needed in the wings
conclusively, i think great teams are made for great events and argentina will raise to the occasion in june. m not worrying for argentina rather m worrying for our opponents. again watch out

I think Riquelme is a fine talent, but Aimar is a great substitute for him. Riquelme doesn’t always shine.

I am quite worried.

And why the hell does it say I am from Germany?

well, every ingredient is there for us to shine again twenty years after our last world cup, we are stronger than ever, this team is a mix up of talents, solidity, maturity and experience. i believe that this is going be our turn. during the england and croatia game we lacked concentration. but we have some warriors players to shout on unexperienced players. the england game could have easily gone 4-1 to us but the lack of concentration prevent saviola, cruz and riquelme to score. we will make life harder for our opponents. some people our saying that we are too much dependant of riquelme like brazil is too much dependant on ronaldinho. but we have various alternatives (aimar, messi, wingers…). vamos argentina! time will tell

Burn this topic. Argentina needs to prove nothing more.

Go Argentina!!!