Argentina v Venezuela: preview and match thread

for whatever it counts I have to say that my experiences with “albo” have been rather difficult. “albo” has shown a repeated tendency to get personal and offensive with anyone who disagrees with him and that includes me. we are here to exchange opinions, ideas, thoughts and when it comes to it none of us truly know what is happening in the lives of those we discuss about such as riquelme and pellegrini. riquelme is a great player but he has gotten himself in bad situation with the coach and the team. why don’t they just release him? who truly knows.

in any event I have to say that I am far from sad to see “albo” leave although I doubt it will be for long but somehow if and when he returns I do hope that he will be kept in order whenever he crosses the line into personal attacks.

Posted from  United States

Mane,
I am from Argentina. I believe it is best
not to entertain any discussion
with my fellow country man as he
has been quite disrepectful to
me, Riquelme, yourself and certainly
to Ken who somehow has managed to rise
above that. Let us hope Pellegrini allows
Riquelme soon back in the game starting with the Barcelona
one.

What happened in Villarreal reflects badly on both Riquelme and Pellegrini, and it should. But we really DON’T KNOW what happened. We can’t judge that Pellegrini was a gentleman in this situation because we have no evidence to the fact. We can’t judge that Riquelme was just a misunderstood genius because we weren’t there.

As a fan, I hate Pellegrini for what he has done. That’s my personal opinion. We only have our opinions.

Posted from  United States

Congrats to the Pumas for a third place finish! Beating France one more time…

Posted from  United States

Let’s put our differences aside and remember that we all support ARGENTINA. I am from Argentina, too. It’s OK to disagree, but let’s not get personal about it. Let bygones be bygones.

Anyway, my question to all:

Based on current performances, who do you think deserves a call-up? I’m talking about players who haven’t received a call-up, or at least not in a long time.

How has Lazio’s Ledesma been playing this season? All I know is that Lazio haven’t been doing so well. Also, how’s Napoli’s Lavezzi playing? Worthy of a call-up in the future?

Alexa,
With all due respect to you,I concur with you in part and dissent in part. It is true that we “can’t judge”, but we can evaluate based on facts and the current action of Pellegrini forbidding Riqueleme to step on the pitch simply because Pellegrini has the power to do so. If Riquelme did not want to play, he would not be training right now at Villareal. Every week he is checking the players list and every time he is not on it. Yet players like Pires have come forward to express his wish to play with such an elegant player like Riquelme.

Assuming that both Riquelme and Pellegrini were wrong in the first place, if Pellegrini could just let go of the past, the artist will be on the pitch in the upcoming weekend against Barca. Even Barca players have stated that it is an advantage to their team if Riquelme is not on. How can Pellegrini not see that?

Given that a football player has only a short working time career, Pellegrini is hurting Riquelme’s career. This problem is compounded in the case of the artist because he is a dying breed according to world analysts.

In conclusion it is Riquelme that should get the benefit of the doubt because he is at the mercy of Pellegrini who is not even budging an inch in the face of the critical world press.

Alexa, thanks for sharing your opinion. I appreciate it.

A,

Aimar is badly needed in the team. So is Sorin. Riquelme has proved that even
if a player is not playing for his local team, he can still perform for Argentina. It appears that somehow once a player puts on that Argentina jersey, he gives his best. Thanks
ken

This is ridiculous.
Here’s the statement that started the riot:

>>>Pellegrini didn’t do anything wrong.
He is an honest man who feels the pressure of the arg. media and fans.
But he is totally right regarding Riquelme’s issue.
Some of us here are “blinded” by our fanatism.
Let’s get the facts before judging people like if we were God.>>>

I don’t see anything wrong with it. And I didn’t name any bloggers!!
But it provoked Ken and Riquelme’s reaction.
The latter wrote:

Albo, for god’s sake, please shut up now !!

I think there’s a big mistake here.
And it is always the same problem.
When Ken is present, there are problems.
When Ken leaves (for ever), we all talk football.

Also, it is simply not true that I don’t accept other opinions.
Toddutah, to name one, can tell you guys, how many times we have disagreed and we never had personal discussions

It is true that judgment of people by people bothers me.
Pellegrini doesn’t deserve this treatment.
I love Riquelme, always did, since he was playing for Boca.
But after WC06 he quit our NT and played for Villarreal for the check and nothing else.
Riquelme couldn’t commit to anything, that’s how he was feeling.
Basile stayed cool (fortunately) but Pellegrini told him, you either commit to our team or you don’t play.
Riquelme started to ignore Pellegrini.
Now what would be my purpose saying these things, if I’m a fan of Riquelme’s and I want him in my team.
The answer to the above is that it is simply the truth. The media love to generate all kinds of situations to sell more. But let’s not be blind. Let’s avoid hypocrisy whenever possible.

Río, I really don’t know who you are.
You say above I was disrespectful to you. When? Who are you?
Every time you start a statement you announce the world that you are an argentinean.
I’m starting to believe it’s all B.S., otherwise why advertise it so much?
And what difference does it make the fact that you are argentinean (actually something I always tried to avoid in this blog, that is to make a difference for being argentinean).
I help this blog almost every night translating comments I pick up on arg. web-sites.
And when I make a comment of my own I make sure it’s clear to see it only an opinion.
I have gotten personal with Ken because he crossed the line with me.
I can cut and paste once again but I’ve already done that and nothing changed.
Other than Ken I have nothing against anybody here. Let it be known.

Posted from  United States

For the LAST time, irrespective what happened in the past between Riquelme
and Pellegrini, if ONLY Pellegrini can pledge that let BYGONES be BYGONES, the artist would be on the pitch instead of rotting in the stands.

Is that too much to ask from Pellegrini given that Villareal is paying
Riquelme about 6.0 million euros to be on the pitch?

In the end though the artist will prevail. On the other hand it would
interesting Villareal does not make it to CL without Riquelme!

I give up! Here’s a Riquelme-centered question:

What do you think will happen in January? Will he stay at Villarreal? Will he leave for another club (providing Villarreal accept the bid and h Riquelme wants it)? If so, where do you think he’ll end up?

Chime in!

A,
I hope he goes to EPL at Man city so that he can get
a taste of the physical game. But I believe he
will end up in either Italy or another club in Spain.
For sure though, Villareal will not let Pellegrini
has his way by not selling Riquelme and keeping him in the
stands. This will NOT happen again in January 2008. The Board
will step in and think in the best interest of Villareal.
thanks for your comments A. Cheers.
Ken

Thanks, man.

Wouldn’t that displace Elano though? I think the only thing that would deter Riquelme from a move to the Prem would be the language barrier, no? I think he’d stay in Spain or maybe a move to Juve. Haven’t they been struggling a bit so far this season?

Whatever the case, it’s clear things aren’t working out for him at Villarreal, so he needs to explore options come January.

Barcelona Plot Mascherano Bid?

The Mail on Sunday has speculated that Barcelona are looking to move for Javier Mascherano of Liverpool in the future…

zoom – galleria Despite mere days having elapsed since Javier Mascherano publicly stated his intention to remain at Liverpool for the long term, sources in the English media have claimed that Barcelona could make a move for the midfielder.

Spanish sports daily Marca went on to claim that the Argentine player’s agent, one Walter Tamer, recently met with the Barcelona hierarchy, who are eager to at least keep the lines of communication open.

But it is not so much with Liverpool that the blaugrana must negotiate, but rather Media Sports Investments (MSI), who seem to own the bulk of Javier’s contract.

Just as was the case when Carlos Tevez moved from West Ham United to Manchester United, it is the third party that could at once prove the facilitator and the stumbling block: MSI are set to demand around 28 million euros for the Argentina international, with Liverpool’s role in proceedings being as yet unknown.

Barcelona are thought to be unwilling to pay such a figure but both they and Liverpool are watching the transfer market regulations closely to see if MSI’s hand may be forced by increased third-party regulation.

In any case, Mascherano, still just 23, is currently happy at Liverpool, where he is fast becoming a key player.

to albo i enjoy reading your posts, and yes you contribute alot to this blog. but for some reason you seem to not get along with other fellow bloggers. i think this can be avoided. in the case with rio you were a bit harsh on him. he made a post some time ago in which he abreveated w.t.f. and you quick to cricise him. if you ever visited rio’s website you would see that he uses explitives all the time but in a comical way. it was not meant to be offensive. i think rio’s site is very entertaing and i visit it from time to time. as for ken i think you both go to far. please guys lets just stick to football, with out words of hatred or disrespect. keep the posts coming.

I love you all please be nice!! Thank you.

Posted from  United States

My opion is that no matter what happened in the past if Pelligrini and Villareal were not going to play Riquelme in the fall campaign they should have loaned him Back to Boca until the end of the year. The fact that they would not do the loan and then dont play him is from any fair minded vantage point vindictive. IT IS IS NOT RIGHT OR FAIR!!! I really hope that he goes to Athlectioco Madrid that would be the perfect fit for him but I know they passed once already. If not there than of course Inter would be awsome!! Bye for now

Posted from  United States

Aimar10,
Thanks for your comments. I have not read from you for a while. Please let me reiterate that I do NOT have hatred or disrespect for anyone. If someone hates the position I stand for, that is too bad as there is nothing I can do about that. This is because I truly believe in what I write. It is not an exercise of futility for me. What is your take about the Riquelme saga?
Don’t you think Aimar should be part of the NT?

A-man,
I think Riquelme will fit well in Man city because Sven
has created a league of nations over there. I do not think Elano
will be displaced. But then as you stated because of language and culture I do not see Riquelme taking that risk.

Riquelme the blogger,
I only watched the Chile game. I am a bit confused because I saw Basile trying a few things that I do not understand. For example Why did Mascherano switch to right wing at some point? In the second half why did
Zanetti stop his usual overlap? Is that part of an instruction from Basile or did he do that on his own? Please do not take that other blogger seriously. We are here for Argentina and we should focus only on that.
Cheers and thanks for all your comments.

Albo, how many times must it be told -ignore Ken! It is not worth the trouble…you’re doing just fine without the fuss he brings about. Cheers.

well my experiences with albo have not been nice. he comes across in a strong manner, condescending and offensive. if he refrains from this then great, but if he doesn’t we will be back in this same discussion again.

now back to riquelme,
I read that milan could be making an offer for riquelme. that is what was said -amongst other things- by somebody from milan.

mane.

Posted from  United States

Looks like Ken is back with his friends.

1. Mane/manolo – It is rather funny that he is accusing others of being condescending and offensive. Iirc, he was particularly skilled in pretending to be neutral while only serving to subtly imply Brazil’s and Europe’s superiority over anything Argentina (including club, nt, country, culture).

2. Riquelme the blogger – The one who blamed Argentina’s losses to the country’s sorry culture and also the one who openly declared that he would like Argentina to lose if Riquelme was not selected.

About Ken himself, the less said the better – in short, he is the PhD (dont remember in what – optometry, egotism, physics) and the paragon of virtue who who likes attention better then his degrees. Either throws tantrums when not paid his due attn or says offensive things just to disrupt & divert the discussion to involve himself.

Posted from  United States

> I give up! Here’s a Riquelme-centered question:
> What do you think will happen in January?

Transferred.

> Will he stay at Villarreal?

No.

> Will he leave for another club (providing Villarreal accept the bid and h Riquelme wants it)? If so, where do you think he’ll end up?

Boca.

Posted from  United States

maradona I have never denied that I am a fan of brazilian soccer but it so happens that I am also a fan of argentina. I am not argentinian nor brazilian so why is such premise anathema? I have not however, proclaimed any superiority for the europeans heck no. I might have said that the european leagues are more competitive and do attract the best talent around but that is a function of economics. as far as the perennial comparisons between brazil and argentina’s soccer well, those seem to be omnipresent in the mind of argentinians more than that of brazilians and that is just my perspective from the outside. brazil has -for whatever reason- a larger pool of players, very skilled players, but history shows that having the talent is only half the race. having the heart is the other half and in that light I still cherish the wonderful argentina in 1978.

in the last cup I was disgusted at both teams and ended up supporting the great heart shown by portugal.

now as for the current team I have to agree that basile is a liability.

for the rest of your attributions towards me well, not mine sir. sorry.

Congratulations to all Argentine supporters. Your continued support to this blog is astonishing. Your blind faith in believing your team can win the next world cup (or next or next or next) is admirable.

The cockiness of the Brazilians Germans and Italians will inevitably be proven right.

Great to see such passion from fans who still remember a coked up Maradonna who cheated his way to his countries 2nd? yes I think it’s still 2nd World Cup.

Good Luck. In 2010. I think you might really have a chance this time. Sorry that was wrong of me to joke about.

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Posted from  United States

maradona

Ken is the following:

Herman
manolo
AL
ali
and all the other ones who ty to mess this up.

Ken is one of those people who live in a fanasty world. Crazy as hell ken claims that he has a great football mind but he is really stupid and is ruining this blog because no one would talk to him in real life.

Posted from  United States