International Friendly – Scotland v Argentina LIVE

I’m stuck at work so won’t be able to watch the game. But hopefully everyone here will give us their updates during the game. Vamos Argentina!

AJ, neither do I. I’ll record the game and try to avoid all the media noise around Maradona’s first game as a coach! Good luck for me!

Crespo could join Real Madrid very soon because they need a true #9. He seems to be Schuster first choice.

Well is the startin glineup confirmed as stated yesterday? If so it is the best bassed on the players avaiable but it would have been fun to see what Maradonaa would have done if he could have picked any player. For me this game is not one of tactics or even an overall preview of what the maradona style will be but rather a chance for players to put in an extra good effort to impress their new coach and for many of the thme their childhood hero. It will be fun but believe it or not with this line up I am keeping my scoring forecast low with Argy wininng one to 0 maybe 2 to 0.

I agree TODDUTAH. I think this is just a friendly to make the first contact with the players, talk to the seniors, etc.

Not much time to prepare the team tactically which is explained by Diego’s choice to play 4-4-2.

Tonight’s game will be very similar tactically to Argentina-France, 2 years ago. The difference might be the fullbacks that will be more offensive (no more central defenders as SW like with Basile, what a relief!).

Scotland is a very very defensive team. They wait at the back and counter attack. Argentina might have 70% of the possession, even without an enganche. With Maxi & Jonas, very balanced players, we won’t get caught.

I hope Maradona is going to switch to 4-3-1-2 if are winning. It would be a good sign to the players, that if we lead, we must keep attacking.

I also really hope he’s gonna send Lopez in at half time. He might be our #9. He must be given a chance to shine.

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i can’t friggin wait!! i got a feeling we are gonna blow Scotland out today… mark my words guys… sorry i’m being a typical argentine but… hey I AM ARGENTINE after all.. haha..

chau…suerto a todos!!!
vamo vamossss argentina!!

MaxiLopez:
I am not saying that Cavegol should be ignored because he plays for Bordoux, absolutely not. I really hope Diego will pick him, cause I like him a lot. I like the sort of player he is. I am only saying that we also have to be honest and admit that there is a reason why he plays in France, not in the really big legues…he is maybe not as good as we, us argie fans, think and hope he is. That’s all. The same thing can maybe be said about some of our other players.

I do not like that Jonas will start the game, I would rather have gone for Lucho.
Anyway, I am off to find a football pub downtown where I can see the game.
Good luck to you all!
VAMOS ARGENTINA!!

just under 3 hours to go, oh my god it’s so exciting a new era is about to start, i pray that it will be the start of something magical.

can wait till the game starts. I will be at work too so I am counting on you guys and the updates. Good luck Argentina Good Luck Maradona

RUNE,
Lucho is a #8, not a left midfielder like Jonas.
Maradona isn’t Basile, he won’t do this mistake. At least, things are clear: Lucho is Gago’s sub for Diego.

I can’t wait. I want to know the starting lineup. Maybe Maradona is bluffing with that 4-4-2?

I know Lucho is not a left midfielder. I am usually not in favour og using players out of position, I just think Lucho maybe could have played as an attacking midfielder when we have the ball and as a left midfielder when we defend…a little like Roman did under Pekerman. I know this is not his ideal position, but in my opinion everyting is better than using Jonas. Hope I am wrong. Maybe Jonas can surprise us like he did against Brazil….Let’s wait and see.

Start posting links guys. I am at home!

well i will be on a flight to Las vegas when the game starts so I will be wifi from an airport as soon as I land. I am very excited about the start of the new era with all this talent waiting to be tapped. It could be great for the next 6 years. It appears to me that Maradona sees gago ahead of Lucho. I think having Lucho their would have been a little more offensive but i am sure he will sup in the second half. In this line up who takes the free kicks today ?

Maxi and/or Tevez can take the free kicks. Gago is a better passer than Lucho. I do like Lucho because of his physical presence in midfield. Can’t wait till the game starts.

http://www.watchlivefootball.org/

http://www.justin.tv/luchoquirozzzz

http://www.justin.tv/boquerodesdemiami

http://www.justin.tv/wwwfutbolargcom

http://www.rojadirecta.com have not posted any links yet, these are the ones i’ve found so far

sorry it’s http://rojadirecta.com

another link is http://myp2p.eu/broadcast.php?matchid=24160&part=sports

Christian, i don’t think it starts U.S. at 2:30PM ET/11:30AM PT.

It starts 8PM UK time, which means 3PM eastern and 12PM pacific. Is that right or am i missing something here.

RUNE,
I agree with you concerning Jonas. I hope Lucho will come in and make the system switch to 4-3-1-2 when we have the ball.

AJNYHC,
I agree concerning the physical presence of Lucho. Not easy to choose between him & Gago.

Still no news about the official starting lineup?

Amit Singh, that’s what I got from Live Soccer TV’s site. I think that’s when the transmission starts, not the actual kickoff.

http://www.livesoccertv.com/match/63987/scotland-vs-argentina/

ESPN deportes is showing the game in US. Its at 3.

The game starts at 3pm eastern, noon Pacific

Dang right when my flight leaves Hopefully i will catch most of the second half and they willl be up 2 to o when i get off the plane

So whats everyone’s predictions? Will Carlitos finally score for the NT?

Carrizo
Zanetti, Demichelis, Heinze, Papa
Mascherano, Gago, Maxi Rodríguez, Jonás Gutiérrez
Lavezzi, Tevez.

ALL SET! ITS ALL ABOUT MARADONA….SEE THE FIELD~

PLAYERS IN THE TUNNEL, MASCHE CAPTAIN

2pm Central Time Zone…
3pm Eastern Time…

CARRIZO

ZANETTI-DEMI-HEINZE

MASCHE-GAGO-JONAS

MAXI-TEVEZ-LAVEZZI

THOSE ARE THE PLAYERS

SORRY THERE IS ALSO PAPA

MORE LIKE 4-4-2

does anyone know what the moment of silence was for? i’m watching the game in class so i can’t have the volume on.

I have a nice stream

http://www.ustream.tv/videoplayerpopup/channel/343149

No Nico, but I see that Zanetti has started.

Hopefully no injuries.

For the late Boca Juniors president Pedro Pompilio and former Scotland coach Ian McColl. Can anyone suggest any free websites or radio stations online that I can listen to the game?

MAXI 1-0 GREAT GOAL

If you have the TVU player installed, TyC is on 71232. It can take a couple of minutes for the sound to kick in for some reason. It’s in Spanish.

defensively i think for every scot attacker there are two argentine defender. the denfence area looks too crowded when scots are on attack

Christian where are you ? Can you please post highlights about the game. I am at work and dying to know what is going on pleaseeeeeeee

GOOD SOLID FIRST HALF.

WHAT A GOOD AND USEFUL AND UNDERRATED PLAYER MAXI RODRIGUEZ IS. NOT HERE AMONG US, BUT IN GENERAL.

DEMICHELIS ALMOST MADE A MESS AT THE END OF FIRST HALF. THIS HAS TO STOP. DEMI HAS BEEN LITTLE VULNERABLE THIS SEASON. LACK OF CONCENTRATION.

GUTIERREZ MADE A GOOD ASSIST BUT HE LOST LOTS OF BALLS.

PAPA LOOKS CALM AND COMPOSED.

OVERALL A GOOD PERFORMANCE IN FIRST HALF.

I read somewhere that Argentina took their foot off the gas after scoring the first goal? Any truth to this or has Scotland been playing well?

Also any substitutions?

Argentina absolutely dominant in posession and so comfortable.

However remember this is a weakenend Scottish team and for all the chances created with which the score should be around 5-0 its still only 1-0.

All the players look sharper on the ball more hungry and trying to play one touch. They have relaxed in the second half but Lavezzi should have bagged one.

Against harder opposition this tendency to create many chances but convert very few will cost us.But of course the talent is stupendous in that area when called up.

Highlight has to be Maxi flicking the ball up and up before passing to Mache for a fiercesome volley. Masche has been given license to go forward and he could become a real scoring threat.

Its good that we won
Its good Maradona started with a win.

AURELIUS, I really do not think we created chances for 5-0 scoreline. I think 2-0 or a 3-0 or as a matter of fact could have been 3-1. Demichelis totally gifted one in 42nd min.

But I agree, we had total dominant position. Scotland was never a threat. Papa was very decent I have to say. Maxi very good. Gago great in m y opinion. I have said this many a times, the kind of game Gago plays and amount of effort he puts in, he is very disciplined. Look at Bangega in the same role. Gago, Mascherano, Maxi are all assets.

Will post it details later.

Great game by Zanetti, Mascherano and Gago.
Yet, I think this Scottish team is not at the level that Chile had during our last match.
But a W is a W.

Other than that, to me, it was pretty much the same thing we are used to see from the Albicelestes lately. Not much.

Maxi had a good game, Zanetti looked great at times, Papa did well. Considering we only had 2 practice sessions b4 the match i think we played well. Masche did well too.
I don’t think Denis has enuff pace/mobility, he looked a bit slow.
Even without Riquelme or Messi we created a lot of chances, which we need to learn to put away. All in all a good win for Diego, and it was nice to see him go up and hug every player.

Agree Albo. It doesn’t really tell us much except what we knew already.

I’m a bit harsh Debashish but perhaps 4-1/2 ? I’d loe us to crush the opposition for once. We’d certainly need to tuck away chances like that in future. The opposition have to come out and play into our hands.

Shame about the crowd , but bearing in mind the financial situation and the exorbitant ticket prices unsurprising. Football at least in Europe loves to take fans for a ride to pay the fat agents and prima donnas of the game (ie most of the players).

You heard it hear first. England to win in 2010 on the back if a 2-1 win over Germany in Berlin. Yawn.

Saludos.

One other thing the defence needs working on, but on the plus side when we lost possession all of the players chased back.

Debashish….Don’t forget the spectacular save by Demi in the first half so it sort of cancels out..no it doesn’t, i’m kidding myself…Defence has to do those saves plus no blunders…

Did anyone count how many times Heinze fell on the ground, i lost my count mid-way…this bloke had all his jersey soiled within 15 mins…

Maxi was the best player on the ground (i just watched 45 mins). I wish maradona had started Denis or lopez instead of Tevez.

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Javier Zanetti, what a football player he is, what an athlete and what an example this guy is.
Pupi Zanetti has more than 120 matches wearing the blue and white.
He has gone through 5 different coaches, only for NTs. !!!!
Yet, he silently and with a smile on his face, gives up is captaincy to Mascherano.
And after playing for Inter last Saturday, he shows us 90 full non-stop minutes of his experience and his energy.
He is by far, the very best right full back/midfielder, lateral, winger we have.
Always, every time.
What a guy.
I think we’ll see Zanetti playing next game. And if he keeps delivering that type of effort he’ll be an Albiceleste in South Africa.

Thumbs up for brazil…
c.ronaldo gone in the big game again…
-.-”

Ronaldo who claim himself da best…ronaldo that is the 1st, 2nd and 3rd best player in the world -.- ”
better than messi?what a joke….
where is c.ronaldo again?
it’s the same thing,Ronaldo goes missing in the big games
again n again -..-”

did not see it but the press said Argentina played amazing futbol the first 15 minutes. I will weatch when I get home on friday . Congrats to Maradona a win is a win.

Maradona will experiment more with his tactics but I think Argentina will score more goals and win the world cup if this happens: Messi gets to create chances for the upfront team, Aguero and Taves. Complementing messi, the two wingers Di Maria and Levezzi attack from the corners with their tremendous ball skills and long range shots. Aguerro and Taves can also mop up the long range shots of Di maria, Levezzi and Messi. Argentina’s attack has a new dimension this time around and it is not the great Messi and Aguerro it is their natural wingers Di Maria and Levezzi.

congrate to every Arge fan , i couldn’t saw the game. can any one say me who was the best player on the pitch and about strikers.
is there a free tv channel from where i can watch the arg’s matches? oh, not of internet bcoz here the speed is very slow

Zanetti is a legend for Argentina and Inter. I think he will get a position within the Inter organization for sure.

Like Redondo he is a gentleman off the pitch and does a tremendous amount of work for charity inc.his own PUPI foundation for kids in Argentina.

He is my type of footballer.

Enough with this stereotyping. Many Americans love football and there is no need for vitriolic comments directed at them.

Maxi was MOTM.

First of all it was so nice to get a win in Diego’s debut. This Scotland team is not a good team, so it is a bit difficult to say how well we performed when the oponents were so weak. But in my opinion Zanetti, Gago, Mascherano and Maxi played a great game. Maxi was mam of the match for me. The goal was great! Absolutely fantastic play. Great job by Tevez, great pass by Jonas and a nice finish from Maxi. A wonderful move.
After the goal we played very well for 15 minutes and then, just like in the olympics when we scored early, we stopped to play. We saw flashes of brilliance and nice combinations later in the game, but it was the first 20-25 minutes that were great. We didn’t do more than we had to. That’s ok.

Here is my verdict on the players.

Carizzo-5: Ok game….he almost didn’t have to do anything. Lost one ball when diving towards the near post in the first half, but Demichelis saved him on that occation. He also made a little mistake when Scotland had a corner after about 70 minutes.

Zanetti-7: Good game. He defended well and also joined the attack. Typical Zanetti. I love El Pupi!

Demichelis-5: He made one big mistake near the end of the first half that could have ended in a goal, but he also made some important tackles and was fighting well. Solid game all in all.

Heinze-6: The best game I have seen him play for a loooong time. He is a fighter. Didn’t do everything right, but a pretty good game from him after all.

Papa-6: Looked to be a good left back. Speedy and with good tecnique. I wanna see more of this player.

Maxi Rodriguez-8: Man of the match. Scored a great goal and ran and ran tiredlessly like he always does. Nice combinations with Tevez, Gago and Mascherano.

Gago-7: Good game. Lost some balls, but 90% of his passes were exellent. A very good passer of the ball. Also worked very hard. I like this player.

Masherano-7:Good game. Safe on the ball. His first cap as a captain. A leader, a fighter and a good passer of the ball.

Jonas Gutierrez-4: Started of nicely. Combined well with Papa, he also set Maxi up for the goal….but he faded. I didn’t see him for the last 70 minutes of the game…..

Tevez-6: He worked his socks off like always, but he seems a bit out of it when it comes to scoring. A bit to selfish at times. Combined well with the midfielders.

Lavezzi-5: Not his best game. He didn’t work that well together with Tevez, I am afraid. He showed flashes of his tremendous speed and dribbling abilities, but this was not his day. Should have done better when Tevez set him up in the first half.

Lucho came in and played 20 minutes as a right midfielder(not his best positon even if he has been used in this position under both Basile and Pekerman on some occations). He should forget this game as soon as possible. Lost the ball too much and missed with too many of his passes.

Denis, Diaz and Sosa didn’t play enouhg for me to judge them.

We need time to play together. I don’t know how they gonna do it with football seasons running all year long. 3 man defense according to Bilardo needs 3 years to do it right. I guess that’s probably why Diego wants Ruggeri to speed up the process. Passing game needs timing and familiarity among players. It’s not all about passing but the effectiveness of it. Some were off terribly and some were simply unnecessary passes which lead to missed opportunities. When Scottish pressured, again our passing affected. We need to improve our movements. I hope our forwards watch closely how Crespo, Riquelme and Saviola hold the ball to maintain possession. Sometimes our game is too fast for our passing game to develop properly.

I’m just worried the time they need to play together as a team.

Anyway it was a sweet win for Diego…

Four in the back and a double five.
The legacy of Basile was still alive, though we all know that with Bilardo, this is not enough, problem is the team doesn’t have a chance to practice defensive alternatives.
Besides the old issues we have with the defensive line, getting to actually play with 3 defenders is not going to be easy.
We saw a little change in the midfield, though.
Gago (and at times Mascherano) became more vertical across the midfield line attracting the attention of the opponent’s stopper.
This is nice to see, Gago takes a few steps ahead and forms some kind of diamond with Mascherano.
The team surprised a little with this small change, opening some opportunities for our forwards.
Mascherano and Gago had more space and complemented each other much better than usual.

The only problem is that when Riquelme comes back there’s going to be a little mess with the positioning. Maxi is the perfect 8. So somewhere in the attacking midfield there’s a situation to solve. Gago and Riquelme might find themselves too close to each other. Not good.

On top of this, Maradona has mentioned several times already, that nobody has clinched a position in the team except for Mascherano.
And added, everybody has to run and help on defense.

All the midfielders played a good game last night.

The reading of all these issues, Imo, is that Riquelme and Maradona might have some clashes in the near future. Unless Riquelme changes his “walking” habit when he doesn’t have the ball.

The double 5 works great when used the way Diego used it last night.
The question is when Riquelme, Messi and Agüero come back, what going to happen with the defensive midfield.
Saludos

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Rune
I agree with you regarding the Heinze having a really good game. I was quite shocked to see him play that good considering he’s been so sloppy and rusty for Madrid. If Heinze plays like he did yesterday then our Backline will be very strong and yeah if Demichellis gets back to form too!!

Zanetti definetely my favourite players on the pitch alongside Mascherano!!
I really want to see Higuain and Zarate in the NT soon. Cavenaghi will be awesome but I do not think he’ll be called unless he moves to a bigger club. Even though I think Cavenaghi is somewhat better then Zarate and Higuain bt simply coz he plays in France makes it a problem for him
Wish he gets a big club move sometime soon. La liga or Serie A will be great for him!! rumours are Liverpool want his services in January as they need a striker to partner Torres upfront as Keane hasnt lived up to the hype!!

well if CR7 keeps this up Messi might just win the big awards .

http://www.goal.com/en/news/468/internationals/2008/11/20/973934/ronaldo-tried-to-break-my-leg-silva

Toddutah, is it true that “El Guille” Barros Schelotto is the MLS’ MVP of this season?

yes it is true

i think the fact there was no atackting midfielder on the pitch is where we went wrong, but gago and masch are awesome next to each other, when the big boys come back and el diego wants to play 3-5-2 the those to should play right behind riquo, jonas bad fitness showed hes only just returned from injury and im prety suprised he was even in the squad, heinze was quality and after el diego comments demi is beeiming with confidence.

Hey guys –just started a new job, but trying to keep up with the Arg NT just the same.

Question — what’s up with Maradona’s daughter? I heard problems about that?

Is anyone here going to MLS Cup on Sunday?

And congrats to Guille for being named MVP for the season, and by a wide margin. One thing I wasn’t aware of is that he isn’t on the books as a “designated player,” and he actually makes less here then he did at Boca. Granted, he’s actually playing here as he was pretty much finished at Boca. Still, I’m surprised he stayed here for 2 years than finish his career at Gimnasia, which he still may do.

Alexa, it’s great to see you around again, dear friend !!!
Best of luck with your new job
Gianinna Maradona had some problems with her pregnancy but it has been reported that she’s alright and already left the hospital.

Christian, thanks for your words on Guille. Coming from a die-hard River fan, it’s really appreciated.
I personally doubt that he’s making less money than in his Boca years, though

Messi picked up an injury during training this morning. It doesn’t look to be a very serious injury, Barcelona’s website says that he is probably out of Sunday’s game, but with Messi you never know. Here we go again….

Nice words on Tevez by Shane Evans:

Carlos Tevez, Manchester United: The diminutive spark-plug known as el Apache will surely see time for the Reds on Saturday when they take on Villa in a vital top four match, given Dimi Berbatov’s injury. He’s had a tough year, but the Argentine has been a solid teammate and has not complained or stated he is a want-away. Here’s hoping he scores a brace and supplants the lazy Bulgarian in the starting line-up, if only for the short term.
Shane Evans in an Associate Editor of Goal.com USA.

Many sources talk about the possibility of Tevez going to R. Madrid.

Thanks Albo! Even though I don’t like Real Madrid, being a Barca fan, I think that Tevez would be great there. He deserves more playing time!

Hello everybody. I’ve just watched the game & will read you guys next time.

I like Scotland and its fans. They are great people and are very fair play.

The game was very similar to the one we played against France, as expected.

We played a simple 4-4-2 with Maxi & Gutierrez on the flanks. A basical strategy that could allow us to play without Riquelme. I don’t have much to say because Maradona is starting from zero. So we can only judge individual performances.

BAD POINTS

- Zanetti always tends to forget to mark his opponent who brought danger with 2 crosses that could have been blocked by Pupi. A typical Argentinean problem that cost us WC 2006.

- Tevez & Heinze don’t control themselves and their bad temper. They might be excluded by FIFA referees soon.

- Even if Gutierrez made a nice assist (that could have been done by a #9), his technique is very poor. He loses many balls. The only benefits he brings to the team is his physical impact, he’s very solid defensively. But will this kind of player make us dream like Maxi Rodriguez in 2006? Certainly not (Di Maria is probably Maradona’s starter). We attacked almost only from the right with Maxi & Zanetti. Never from the left with Jonas & Papa.

- For some months now, De Michelis sometimes stops focusing on what he’s doing. Maybe a confidence problem? He must take less passing risks.

- Except maybe Denis, the subs that came in were really quiet. I’m expecting more from Lucho (who was played as a right midfielder still in this 4-4-2) who showed us only 20% of his potential during 25 minutes.

- Not many moves except from Gago & Maxi : ( Maradona will need to work on this.

POSITIVE POINTS

- Basile was not on the bench : ) It’s totally different with Maradona who’s sensitive and affective approach with the players is nice to watch. Where was Bilardo?

- We defended with 10 players and this is very important in modern futbol!

- Almost everybody performed really well. Gago, Mascherano, Maxi were great. Maxi is really an outstanding player. I’m a bit sad Lopez didn’t play.

- De Michelis is essential. He did one or two big mistakes it’s true, but for the rest, wow! It’s like we were having another Gago in midfield, when we had the possession. What a defender. 80% of the central defence passes come from him. When he’ll come back and really focus 95 minutes on what he’s doing, he’ll be as important as Mascherano & Maxi. Like before.

Last things I want to say concerns our central defence. In general, it worked very well. I hope some people here will understand how important it is to have a compact midfield in front of the defence. Defending with 10 players secures more people like Heinze for example. Some here could think about this before criticizing. I still strongly believe that Gonzalo should start with Argentina though.

Maradona wanted to win to bring confidence to the team. He got his victory.

VAMOS ARGENTINA CARAJO!

Yeah, I agree with most of what you guys have said here. Problem is, though that this game is pretty pointless to analyse. I mean, Argentina played within themselves after,what? 20 minutes and a full strength team in a compeitive match would have won by a lot more so all it really proved was how much potential the squad has. I’d say Scotland are as good as some of the teams who will ‘make up the numbers’ in 2010 or maybe just a notch below so it was encouraging to see Argentina play well again.
What will be interesting is the first game in qualifiers: who will stay and who will go? Gago and Mascherano played well together, but if Riquelme comes back does Maradona keep those two? If so, who goes? Maxi Rodriguez? Surely not. Gutierrez? Sure, but then what do you do with Di Maria? Maradona loves Tevez, we know but surely he can’t play when Messi and Kun return? So the Scotland game was just a run out: we still don’t know what Maradona will do in a ‘real game’. I will say this, though: a belief and an arrogance has will come back to Argentina now so it is exciting.
On a side note: D’alessandro has been great for Inter in the Sudamericana this year: they are in the final against Veron’s Estudiantes. People might say he is not playing in a cometitive enough league but he is a player (unlike Riquelme and Aimar) who will be in his prime in 2010, has experience of playing in so many footballing cultures (what style and atmosphere will intimidate him?) has a winners attitude and has never played badly at any club he has been at . Hell, Maradona once described him as one of the best players in the world. Mind you, that was in 2001….
Anyway, with Maradona I feel everyone has been given a lift and every player now feels they can get in tot he team on merit as opposed to the Basile days.

ALBO & ASIL,
I absolutely agree with you.

Yes FELIPE, we are breathing now that Basile is gone.
I prefer D’Alessandro instead of Sosa, by far.

ALBO,
Riquelme likes to come back very low in the midfield to organize… but there is Gago there! That’s why we discovered a Riquelme-striker in 2007 at la Copa. Riquelme had to let Gago evolve and be more present in attack. What is nice with Gago is his ability to move and to get unmarked. I love this kind of player, so class. Maradona could solve the problem with switching the “double 5″ to a “double enganche” with De Michelis running around at the same time Just kidding… What a team we have. The combinations are endless.

Messi has another muscle problem. Not surprising when we know that he spent last summer in China. Messi might be burned for WC if we aren’t careful. Hopefully, Guardiola protects him this year unlike Ridjkaard. What about AFA?

Guradiola has been taking care of him better than Rijkard, but not good enough in my opinion. There has been a few games recently where Barca have killed the game in 20-30 mins. Whats the point of playing Messi for 90 mins when you are up 3-0 within 30 mins. He should have been subbed in the second half.

I remember a report for Barcelona medical team some 2 years back about Messi and his muscles. His pockets are small so during the game the muscles work out to be big and then takes longer than normal to come back into those small pockets. In short he needs longer recovery time. I think he plays too much. Messi also has to learn by himself, he runs like a mad man trying to defend in 82nd min, when his team is up 5-0. Its great, but there is no need.

Last night, Estudiantes squeezed out a greedy, ugly, 1-0 win over an Argentinos side that showed a lot of heart. El Pincha face Internacional of Porto Alegre next Wed. in the first leg of the Final. José Luis Calderón will be present in his second consecutive Copa Sudamericana final match. More than one reason to watch.

Here’s my report of last night’s match if you’ve missed it.

http://sudamericana.theoffside.com/copa-sudamericana-news/estudiantes-with-a-one-goal-stunner-to-meet-inter-in-the-final-match.html

Thinking about Demichelis, whenever a central defender makes a mistake it’s almost sure the other team scores.
Smart and fast forwards make a living out of scoring on defensive mistakes (Romario, Rossi, Agüero, etc).
On the play before half-time were Demichelis lost it for a split second, Carrizo should have yelled at Demichelis, that he was not coming out.
Those things require more time together.
But I like Demichelis a lot.
I can see him and Samuel as a solid pair.
Heinze, in that case, would be a sub. He did have a good game though.
The good thing about Heinze is that he intimidates some players with his bold sweeps.
I’ve seen that happen a couple of times.
From the school of CDs like Passarella, Ruggeri, you know, the “gentle boys”

a win is a win but…..let’s stay grounded here: this was not a top notch scottish team wasn’t it? not only is scotland a first tiered contender but for the friendly they were shorthanded with seven players off for a variety of reasons so it begs the question why? why didn’t argentina win by a larger margin? there is time and time will tell if maradona has what it takes to put a good team together beyond the pep talk and into true strategic thinking but for now our two best teams argentina and brazil are weak and for now the strongest soccer is to be found in europe so let’s hope that the teams from our corner of the world react and be truly ready for 2010 or we will see yet another european team coronation.

Off course Heinze is better when he is helped in defence by the whole team and by a compact midfield. You are not the only one who understands this, MaxiLopez. Every defender would like to have it like that. BUT Heinze has been playing centre back behind Gago and Diarra in Real Madrid many times…and has not been doing well. So it’s a bit early to say that Heinze’s problem is gone when he is helped by the “double 5″, after playing this poor Scottish team. But having said that, I will for sure shut up about all this if Heinze continues to play like he did against Scotland when we play real “games”.

The only objective Maradona had against Scotland was to win. It’s was nice to test our defending tactics during 80 minutes (like against France), a domain that made us fail in 2006. Only the victory counted. It was all about tactics, Scotland never come out of their side, even when they lose. All they do in general, is to rush at the end of the game and try to score last 2 minutes. Against Scotland, I believe it was impossible to conceed a goal if we were defending with 10 men (it won’t be the same case against other teams..). Diego must have given very clear indications to manage the score (our fullbacks weren’t very offensive).

I’m sure Maradona won’t be a defensive coach (like it happens with ex-offensive players).

The Ayala/Heinze partnership scared more than one forward, for sure, ALBO. Heinze is the kind of very usefull player that impresses the opponent, shouts, provokes, kicks and seem mean. Every team needs a Gattuso, Simeone, Wise, Effenberg, … But players like this often go too far like Van Bommel. Heinze is in the middle. It’s always risky to have a player like him because he can be excluded. But he’s a fighter and that’s a quality.

I didn’t know this DEBASISH. Messi really needs a specific management.

Mane: the ‘top teams are in Europe’? You mean like Portugal who lost 6-2 to Brazil?? You ccan’t take anything from these friendlies other than getting a gist of how the team wants to play and, like I said, Argentina played at 60% after 20 minutes and were without their top 3 goal scorers too.
Here’s how it is: there’s a group of teams who on their day and beat each otherand it will be down to the strategies of the teams, the form of the players and luck as to who wins that day. Argentina are in that group of teams. I would say they have more of a chance because they literally have 2 or 3 quality players in each position. It’s up to Maradona and Bilardo now to pick the right players and strategy.

Anyone interest in the Davis Cup Final between Argentina and Spain…

http://mundoalbiceleste.blogspot.com/2008/11/davis-cup-final-day-2-live.html

the fifa confederations cup draw was announced and i am so dissapointed that argentina will not be there. there still is a bitter taste in my mouth when brazil thrashed us 4-1 in 2005. at least they are in the group of death this time which includes italy and the usa. i hope they won’t win a single game.

part of me is glad we’re not in confederation cup. I think we need to focus on WC 2010 and rest this summer.

Confederations Cup is a waste of time. FIFA marketing nonsense.

All the players have been at it without a rest for nearly 30 months. It takes its toll physically and mentally.

Messi could end up with lower back problems a la Owen who was also not nursed through his early career. Similar stature and running style.

Pumas had a poor result. Only to be expected .Santiago Fernandez first cap along with Figuerola and a very inexperienced backline.

Fernandez will go to France and improve. Some naievitie ie Aramburu chipping and creating a penalty situation.

Don’t worry the Pumas are rebuilding and will be back in 2011.
Saludos.

Playing confederation cup would have been suicidal. We’ll have our (other) Brazil revenge another time

I know this might sound stupid but believe in destiny and I also get these feeling that something is going to happen and when I get these feeling I tend to be right 95% of the time I was right about phillies winning the world series before the season even started same thing with the spurs couples years back now this feeling is telling that Argentina will win the world cup and also destiny has something to do with this maybe the loss in the final of the copa america was a good thing now over the players will be well rested and have incredible seasons for there club and countries and the fact that Maradona is now the manager also adds to why I think its destiny. I had a dream a few months back before the olympics and in my dream it was me and south africa watching the world cup and the star was diego buonattoe and he was our main attacking force and at the end of the dream Esteban Cambiasso scored the winning goal against Netherlands in the final and remember Esteban Cambiasso was the last person from argentina to take the penalty and he missed it and talk about destiny and I hope this dream because a reality and remember I’m right most of the time

Golazo, i believe in your dream bro

hi felipe, when I thought of europe I did not think of portugal per se but rather spain, italy and germany. netherlands and portugal could be top tiered contenders but portugal without scolari just seems lost. spain was awesome in their last tournament but the coach is gone so we will have to wait and see. I truly want our teams to improve and bring the cup to our continent but so far both argentina and brazil have been far from confidence inspiring. there is time, I hope they don’t waste it.

I believe England will be a nightmare to play in 2010. For me, they are the team to avoid. It’s impossible to breath in their physical midfield and their 4-4-1-1 two walls. And they have Capello in addition…

But our worst enemy might be our defending tactics & our mental. It’s pretentious but true.

Maradona will “learn” to some players a winning attitude. I don’t think he’ll have problems with Tevez, Mascherano, Gago, Messi, Heinze tough. These ones already have great experience.

Maxi, most of the teams will try to suffocate our passing game. And will try to take advantage of our mistakes at midfield. I think we have not solved that. We’ve seen that a bit during friendly with Scot.

But we’ve seen the solution during 2006 WC and last Copa where Riquelme lead our passing games to the level where teams run like headless chickens to catch up. It can be done but I’m not sure whether Riquelme is where he once was.

Golazo, I pray that your dream will be a reality…

Milito has scored for Genoa against Lazio.

Lavezzi scored for Napoli as they drew 2-2.

ASIL,

You know that Riquelme always need moving people around him (like Maxi Rodriguez or Sorin) to be really efficient (the difference between Zidane and Roman is that Zizou didn’t need a system built for him to transform his teamates).

If Maradona carefully works on movments and manages to create lots of mobility around Riquelme (I let you immagine what it could be with Gago, Maxi, Di Maria & Messi..) and the perfect passing tempo like you mentioned last day, our opponents will seem running like chicken, like you say

Only 18 months left to work on this… because of the mafioso

PS: Milito +1

Golazo, very nice and positive posting.
I should learn to dream the way you do.

Aurelius, thanks for the info on the Pumas.

MaxiLopez, I think Bilardo has a lot of work to do.
To play 3 in the back line we need 3 central defenders.
To play 4 (as we know), 2 CDs and to full backs.
5 in the back can be with the regular line of 4 plus a libero as last man, or our 3 CDs plus to full backs.
And the biggest problem is to learn the transitions when we change tactics during a game.
All that takes practice and of course time.
They’ll have to experiment these things during the qualifying games, I guess.

Congratulations to Spain for winning the Davis Cup (without Nadal) for the third time.
This last one, a real heartbraker for Argentina, who hosted the finals.

Higuaín got injured yesterday.
With Real Madrid still looking for another striker, Javier Saviola might get some playing time, at least against BATE Borisov for CL.

Interesting post ALBO.

Central defenders who know how to play in a 3-men defence: Heinze & Coloccini (Bielsa & Pekerman) and Samuel (Bielsa)

Central defenders who can play in a 3-men defence but with less experience: Gonzalo & Milito (Pekerman) and De Michelis

Mascherano & Cambiasso can complete a 4-men defence a defend like a libero.

This is why Heinze and Coloccini might have an advantage in 3-5-2, in order to partner Micho.

Bilardo & Maradona should spend next summer at players home to teach them

>>>This is why Heinze and Coloccini might have an advantage in 3-5-2, in order to partner Micho.>>>

That’s right my friend. Coloccini may not be everyone’s favourite defender but he can really play both CD and FB positions without a problem.
Heinze can do that too, but less consistently.

Viatri scored again.

I don’t talk much about Boca Jrs. as a form of respect for ALL Argy football fans, but I have to mention this.
Boca jrs. yesterday took the lead of the Apertura 08, playing with out their 2 central defenders, Cáceres and Paletta, and their 2 star forwards, Palacio and Palermo.
Viatri seems to be there in the zone. He really can score.
Battaglia is pure class.

Monzon should be the future LB of Argentina, he’s our version of a young Roberto Carlos (power shot and all)

A lovely free kick by El Pocho Lavezzi!! What a goal!
Diego Milito missed a penalty and also saw a goal wrongly ruled out for off side before scoring yesterday.

Anyone watch the Barcelona game? They are toothless without Messi. Good news for Higuain – its only a sprain and he’ll be back in 3 weeks, and might even make it for the big match Barca Vs Real.

yes bardelona certainly is a different team when Messi is not out there.

Had a great time yesterday at the Home Depot Center for the MLS Cup final. It was good to finally meet Mauro from the Copa Libertadores blog, and all in all it was good display for MLS. Here were thoughts on the game:

The Good:
Nice to see so many Columbus fans make the trip. They made themselves heard throughout the match and created a good atmosphere. NY fans had a good showing too, but they were easily outnumbered. The game itself wasn’t a classic, but it was pretty entertaining thanks to NY, who created a lot of chances in the first half, despite being a weaker team than Columbus. As for the Crew, they deservedly won the title after proving themselves all year to be the best team in the league. And 4 goals in one game is always good.

The Bad: The AYSO contingent in the stands. The empty seats. The lame music played after each goal. A crazy playoff format that allows a team with a losing record in the regular season (NY)a chance to play in the final against a team with the best record(Columbus). Don Garber not knowing who the captain of the Crew is. The $20 parking. And all the goddamn Boca fans.

Ok, no more MLS talk for now, at least until next year.

Walter Samuel had another great game against Juve.

Keeping an eye on him. Great defensive position, tough tackles, strong physical presence & great CB distribution. The one for Stankovic was superb.

I didn’t understand why Basile ignored him last year when he was performing so well at Inter. I hope he will avoid injuries. At Roma, he was one of the best in the world at his position. The guy is pretty mean and scares his opponent. I hope Maradona will include him in the group instead of someone like Diaz or Burdisso (which means “mistake-isso” in French!).

What a gol from Monzon indeed. No reason to call Diaz anymore

An Englishman was arrested on the day when Diego Armando Maradona made his official debut as the coach of Argentina against Scotland, after planning to decapitate the Argentine football legend.

The aggressor was identified as Ian Wellworth, a 43-year-old, who was detained when found in the possession of a machete outside of Hampden Park Stadium.

It has been claimed that he was hoping to enact revenge on Maradona for his controversial “Hand of God” goal against England back in the 1986 World Cup. Wellworth made a bet on the game, and had borrowed money, but lost everything because of the result, including his wife, who left him.

The amount of money in question was 600 euros, but if England had won the World Cup he would have earned five times the amount.

According to reports, the detained person is currently unemployed and suffers from psychiatric problems.

Apparently, the aggressor stated that he wanted to cut off Maradona’s “little head and to make him pay”. He also called the 48-year-old an “Argentine cheat.”

Wellworth’s detention was only made public almost one week after the incident took place. He faces up to five years in jail

It must be noted that there have been no reports on these events in the British press yet.

The part of the article shows the english press bias of not reporting this. My second point is how dumn is this guy if he is that mad about the hand of god goal he sould have been thinking of Maradonas hand not head

Also for those of you that surf the web and can find the goals please paste them here so all of us Argy futbol bloggers can see the goals.

Ok Saviola here is your chance:

The last thing thing Bernd Schuster needs in this time of crisis is to have two first choice strikers injured, but luckily for the German he has talent in reserve at Real Madrid.

Argentine international Javier Saviola might not have been a star since he joined Los Blancos but now, with the club in a time of need, he says he is ready to help.

“With the situation we are in there are possibilities for me to play for the first team,” El Conejo told Marca.

“I hope the coach will see it in the same way. I am always willing to play for the team, always ready to help.

“We have a very bad run of injuries, but one must take heed of the situation. In this squad there are other players who can do the job well.”

http://www.goal.com/en/news/1717/editorial/2008/11/22/976748/south-american-debate-who-are-stronger-brazil-or-argentina

Fun article to read and especially the comments.

hopefull samuel can keep up his good play and earn a recall to the nt. this might be at the expense of burdisso which i would be glad to see with samuel starting in front of him i can’t see burdisso continuing to start for the nt. we have so much top clas defenders who are just not getting there chance gonzalo, garay and samuel so why do guys like burdisso and diaz keep getting chosen.

i read that article to todd utah and its very interesting. though most of the people who made comments prefered brazil i enjoyed the article. i learned that argentina won 18 official tournaments to brazil 17 actually one more than them. but recently brazil does have the edge on us. they are more loved by the media and many neutral supporters. and they have more fifa world player of the year winners than we do, they have won more world cups. in all honesty i think brazil are better than us both past and present but that is what i like about argentina they represent that underdog that you want to see so badly come out on top. lets face it to any that watches sports its easy to supprort a team which is the favourite. but to back the underdog not as easy.

Samuel and Monzón really getting in form. That’s good news !!
We need them both !!!

On a different note, it has been confirmed that Argentina will be hosting Copa America in 2011.
Argentina has not won it since 1993.
Who knows, maybe, as world champions, we win it again.

What makes this new squad different?

Di Maria, Zarate, Lavezzi

Di Maria is the new Cannigia and by far the most dangerous goal scorer since the hitman himself. He has the best concentration in front of the goal of all Maradona’s squad. He also has the best long range shot which is very important againt stingy zone defenses like the Italians

- Zarate is the best freekick taker since Maradona. Another critical weapon to shoot down some opponets. He is also excellent winger.

-Lavezzi is the most dangerous and useful player in an open, up down games. He is extremely important in uptempo games with teams like Mexico, England and Germany. I am not sure Aguero or Taves are good such games.

Conejito will never have a chance at Real, even if he scores a hat-trick tonight. Saviola is a jewel.

I hope Maradona is going to call Micho, Gonzalo, Coloccini, Samuel, Garay for next friendly in France. Samuel has 3 months to prove his quality to Diego.

Zarate has an incredible potential. He’ll be a “star” player next 10 years. I’m sure he’ll be in South Africa. Competition between Lavezzi, Palacio, Aguero, Tevez & Zarate will be hard.

I think Tevez should be dropped for the time being – based on form alone. Aguero, Zarate, Lavezzi and Palacio are ahead of Tevez in my opinion. Now that I’ve said this watch Apache score a hattrick and make me swallow my words.

you guys are mad

tevez is important

he was one of the best players against Scotland…. he creates a lot of opportunities

Is Palacio really playing that good? I have watched many Boca games and think he is not playing very well. I think lavezzi and Zarate deserve a shot ahead of him.

Tevez is trying to do too hard, in my opinion. He looks heavy and not pleasant to watch nowadays. He’s playing like he wants to kill somebody. No wonder he’s collecting red cards. But we can’t underestimate him, yet. He’s the man of big moment, man of the tournament. He didn’t start in Olympic, but end up top scorer. When people doubt him, he’ll prove us wrong.

Maxi, I love Zarate. Explosive and phenomenon. But, is he reliable? He lost his starting spot during WC Youth. But I want him to mature fast.

Now here is a weird story:

Peru Expelled From World Cup Qualifiers
FIFA have suspended Peru from all international competition after a long-running feud with the government of the country…
»Comments (29) Print This Story Send To A Friend Contact Us galleria zoom The general secretary of the South American Football Association, Eduardo Deluca, announced on Monday that Peru will be suspended from all international competition after a conflict with the Peruvian government.

Peru will be expelled from the South American World Cup qualifiers, because Arturo Woodman, the president of the Instituto Peruano del Deporte, has refused to recognize Manuel Burga as the FPF president.

MaxiLopez, ajNYHD, Toddutah,
Palacio is as good as they come but unfortunately he has been injured for most of the year.
He was supposed to get back in the lineup a week ago, but once again, his injure (pubialgia) came back.
He is not so prone to injuries but this one is really taking a long time to heal.
With him out for the season and Palermo with broken cross ligaments, Boca had to bring kids from la cantera. That’s how Noir and Viatri had a chance to show their talent and speed.
Luciano Figueroa was the only player Boca bought this year.
Too bad for Palacio. I hope one day he regains his best game.

Palacio has a pubalgia, the kind of injury that happens to every play but more around 30 years old than at his age. It happened to Pablito Aimar last year and badly affected Vieira during several months. Anyway, his class & beautiful technique won’t disappear. He’ll be around in 2010 (if he comes in Europe..) like all the players I mentioned in my post just before.

ASIL,
It’s true, Zarate is very young that’s why he isn’t really reliable yet. Sometimes too individual. But his potential seems incredible isn’t it? I’ve only seen him twice with Lazio, and at 20 years old, he seems to know everything: nice crossing abilities, amazing dribblings, …

I agree AJNYHC.

Maradona will have headaches when he’ll have to choose between all these second forwards…

Are there any of these seconds forwards that could play in the midfield on the national team? Which one would be the most likely to have the ability to scoot back ?

None of them in my opinion. They can all be part of 4-3-3 tough

Lisandro +1

lopez +2

This might be cool for Napoli :

Napoli make contact with Velez Sarsfield for Emiliano Papa
25.11.08 | tribalfootball.com
Velez Sarsfield winger Emiliano Papa is being tracked by Napoli.

Napoli have already asked agent Jorge Cysterpiller to open talks with Velez about a deal for the left-sided attacker.

Papa was part of Diego Maradona’s inaugural Argentina squad last week.

I agree Maxi but if yoiu ever played a 4 3 3 i think that you could not have Roman unless he decides that he will get back on defense.

Ok Now its really time for tevez to leave. He got in the game in the 86th minute. And that with no Berbatov!! What does that tell you .

Aguero has won GQ 2008 Man of the Year Award as Best Athlete.

Is Tevez the next Saviola?

no tevez loves the game so much more then saviola does

Tevez’ contract is up and expensive, and MU don’t want to keep him at that price.

Remember that United have the right of first refusal for Giuseppe Rossi who’s tearing it up at Villareal right now, so it’s not like United are going to be lacking in strikers in the near future. So Tevez would do well to start packing his bags. I would love for him to stay in the EPL because he’s proven he can be successful there, but I doubt United would want to do that. He would perfect at Chelsea or Man City.

better he go back to la liga so he can re adapt himself to a style more compatible with out nt

i mean go period…he never been there

Guys I have said it before. Man Utd is doing this deliberately with Tevez. If he has a wonderful season, then there will be plenty of clubs who will be ready to pay the price – Chelsea, Inter, Real, Man City etc.

However, if he has a bad year then not too many clubs will come up for him. Then Man Utd. can get into negotiations with MLS and keep Tevez for a low price.

Regardless, Tevez needs to play, a move to Spain would be good, i hate Real Madrid, but at least he will get to play. Saviola needs to find himself a club where he actually gets to play rather than warm a bench, and the sooner he does it the better.

day1star I agree. I will happy to see Tevez in Spain too.

I do not care about Saviola anymore. I thought he was a clever player, but he surely is not that clever outside the pitch.

Saviola looked pathetic in every sense yesterday. We have truck load of talents for his position in NT. So let him do whatever he wants to do with his career.

I think we are all agreed on tevez and the sad part is that he had a great season last year and man u were much better but like all managers Fergie had to tinker with success.

I care about Saviola.

I do too.

I care but in a manly way lol I think that Saviola would be great somewhere like Villareal or Sevilla he did well when he was there .

Yes I care, too. But it is his problem: I will scream if he doesn’t move in January! He would be perfect for so many clubs (he was great at Barcelona whenever a coach finally put faith in him, whatever Barca fans say now). It’s always tempting to think of Saviola as this young player but realistically he is nearly 27: 2010 is his last shot at a World Cup and he has so much top opposition for his position. He needs to get to a club asap and play.

Its nice of you if you guys care about Saviola. But if the guy himself is not bothered then what the heck. He could have had a great career. Saviola chose money over anything else. There were 14 clubs interested in him at one point. He chose Real Madrid. Its only for money.

I will be very happy if he wakes up. But there have been so many players who have come up at the NT level.

DEBASISH,
Almost all players do this for money. It is even a big problem for our very young generations in Argentina that prefer to go at 18 in Russia or Qatar for petrodollars instead of finishing their training in futbol schools. I care about Saviola because of his futbol. In 2006, he was a sort of Maxi Rodriguez turning around Crespo & Roman I absolutely understand what you feel tough. I don’t think it’s only about money concerning Saviola. There is ambition too. He wants to prove that he is more than a Monaco or Sevilla player if you know what I mean. His objective is to succeed in one of the 2 giants in Spain. But sometimes coaches will always be a barrier, on his way. He must move. Napoli, Lazio, Villareal would consider him as a hero. This is worth to sacrifice a bit of el conejito salary. Better to be a hero than warm a bench with stars. WC is coming, this winter, he’ll be loaned another time.

Maxi Rodriguez +1. Using him as a fullback in the NT would mean forgetting his amazing fox skills. How did he score?

Messi has been subbed. He created the first goal for Henry and scored the third. This is shrewd by Guardiola. And Messi gets his rest.

Why the hell is Cavenaghi not starting?

Cavenaghi is finally on.

I said it many times AJ, it’s because of 4-5-1. Blanc prefers a strong #9 upfront.

Agüero, Lavezzi, Tevez, Saviola, Palacio, Zárate, Buonanotte and I don’t know how many more I’m forgetting, each of these floating forwards can score at any given time, and it’s aweful hard to decide who to play in that position.
Heck, Boca played two #9s last Sunday because it’s all they had available.
They won and each of them scored. Go figure…

You are forgetting Messi ALBO

Maxi, I swear I didn’t forget Messi.
It’s just that Messi is a lot more than a floating forward to me.
Mascherano and Messi are non-negotiable in my book. Even in a not so good day.
Just healthy.

Messi is out of this world good. 3 to 0 when he left the pitch with total domination. After he leaves the other teams scores to quick ones and the game gets way to close for comfort. Messi is a difference maker. The other teams play differently when he is out there. They play with fear and lack of confidence because they know they will need two or three of their players to stop him . What a player he has become. Oh how I hope Maradona builds our NT around him and only him. If we just play the other ten players that most compliment him we will win the next world cup. Players that are great at the one two and players that will run off the ball to space created by messi.

one player who can drive the talents n speed of young blood is Aimar. He will complement very well with messi , gago ,aguero .any news about him?

New thread up. Enjoy the holiday everyone!