“I don’t like 4-3-1-2 for Argentina because it excludes Gago of the starting 11. Also, when the team attacks, Mascherano has too much distance to cover”

That is the problem Albo. I am sure Basile will not play Gago because he believes he’s the best replacment of Mascherano. I’ve also never seen Gago playing on the left side of the midfield. Maybe, I don’t know.

Mascherano will have kms to cover on his own, sometimes chasing butterflies, if Maxi and Cambiasso attack too much.

Basile will probably use Cambiasso on the left and Maxi on the right. And if I see Cambiasso attacking like Maxi but not repositioning hiself like it was the case against Brazil, I’ll become crazy.

Albo tell what you think about this?

Mascherano, GAGO and a #10 should be the core of the team.

Were the f#ck is Aimar, the most elegant player of the world? Warming his armchair. Riquelme doesn’t even play at Villareal. Aimar deserved to play since 2002. Stupid coaches.

Seeing Jonas, Pato and Insua in the team makes me sick.

I admit these days, I am very pessimistic for Argentina in 2010. There is lots of time to prepare. Maybe I am afraid of losing again. Even if everything is possible in futbol, it should be easy for us. With a minimum of tactical efforts, we should be the best. It’s not the case.

I even believe the result at la Copa is a positive thing…if Basile reacts.

I strongly believe that attacking 3-5-2 or 3-2-3-2 formations are the best way to use our best players and to adapt regarding our opponents.

1) Defensive 4-4-2

—————X—————
X——X————X——X
X———X——X———X
———X———X———

2) 4-4-2 Diamond

—————X—————
X——X————X——X
—————X—————
———X———X———
—————X—————
———X———X———

The first one is defensive:

X
X X X X
X X X X

X X

If we have 9 of our eleven players in our defensive half, obviously we’ll be giving the ball to the opponent and wait for errors and fast breaks.
It is used by small teams facing more powerful teams or by a conservative coach after scoring a goal. (It worked perfectly for Dunga after they scored on us)
The second one is called 4-4-2 “Diamond” and is more balanced and designed exclusively for an enganche.

X
X X X X
X
X X
X
X X

As we can see, the middle four are based on the movement of the # 5 and the # 10, the core of the formation.
For Basile, Mascherano and Riquelme are the core of our team.
This is a very balanced formation, as long as the other 2 midfielders (left and right) move up and down according to the needs of the team.
These 2 side midfielders are usually Maxi and Gago.
The rest is obvious.
Messi plus one and the best 4 defenders we can find.
The two lateral defenders can, at any time move up the field and join the attack. But only one at the time, please! (Heinze should forget about all this).
At that moment there’ll be 3 defenders but our team will be getting to the opponent’s box with 6 players ready to shoot on goal.
So this 4-4-2 (diamond) is not defensive at all.
It’s based on the belief that a player like Riquelme deserves a formation to fit his needs.
I don’t know if this is the best way to play. But there’s no doubt in my mind that Basile is 100% consistent with his style of choice.
The proof is that he keeps calling Román after making clear a number of times that he wouldn’t use any player who is not active on a competitive team.
I personally would like to see Gago (or Cambiasso) more involved in the organizing tasks to give Riquelme a little room, and Mascherano more willing to share his territory when it’s time for a double 5.
My team at this point is:

Ustari
Zanetti Demichelis Diaz Heinze
Mascherano
Maxi Gago
Riquelme
Messi G. Denis

Saludos