Argentina suffer first ever home defeat to Paraguay

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In what can only be described as a disastrous result, Argentina lost 1-0 to Paraguay at home.

One win, two draws and one defeat are what Argentina have accumulated as results under Edgardo BAUZA and the worst is yet to come. Fielding what can only be described as a massively unbalanced team, BAUZA’s lack of tactical awareness cost him and team. The lines were too far and wide between the midfielders and attackers which was a problem that haunted Argentina the entire match.

The goal came through a massive mess-up in the midfield which left GONZALEZ free on the ball with 35 year old Martin DEMICHELIS trying to play catch up. The result? Sergio ROMERO beatin at his near post and Paraguay picked up all three points.

Sergio AGUERO had a penalty saved minutes into the second half and Marcos ROJO had a goal wrongly disallowed for offside. But that was it. At one point, BAUZA threw in everything including the kitchen sink. Paulo DYBALA, Lucas PRATTO, Gonzalo HIGUAIN, Angel DI MARIA and Sergio AGUERO all on at the same time. But nothing to show for it.

In what was supposed to be Argentina’s easiest match (on paper) in a while turned out to be a disaster. Next up? A match away to Brazil and after that at home to Colombia.

45 Comments

  1. A complete disgrace…
    The plan is apparently pass the ball the to the “skillful” players and hope something happens.
    No passing, no “pause” ….no vision (I agree with Menotti)
    I disagreed with Sabella’s decisions at times but he was very tactically flexible…

    I am not going to push the panic button but being around multiple qualifiers I always knew this qualification process was going to be very tough.

    The AFA is a complete joke…..it is a complete far car from the Pekerman system that was tremendously successful.

    Argentina at least in the second half against Chile in the Copa Centenario final have continued to play very selfish brainless football and we are paying for it. Argentina need to very careful we don’t end up like Holland…who once boasted the best development system and now internationally are in a complete mess!

    So much I can type but I have rambled enough!
    It is not all tactics but all the aspects from organization, to methodologies that affect this team… I cannot see us wining based on what I have seen so far (since copa america final)

  2. The problems are clear

    AFA cannot afford to have anyone other than Bauza. The quality is falling Sabella to Martino to Bauza. Is there any great coach in Argentina who AFA can afford? Or someone who will coach for free? Has to be good and have balls to fight AFA and bring right players.

    I do not blame Bauza, as he is just incompetent. You can make me a coach and no matter how much you insult me I am not going to get better. I may do better than Bauza though 🙂

    Coming to game:
    Some posts 4-2-3-1 is not working. That would work, but we are really 4-2-2(wide))-2. Lets try to see from the opponent’s view point

    Two defensive midfielders are Mascherano and Banega/Biglia etc. They are close to the 4 lines of defense and deep in their half. When they get the ball they have 4 options in front of them. Higuain and Aguero are 30-40 yards away, with 3 opponents in between. So they cannot pass to them. Gaitan and Dimaria are wide and within probably 10-15 yards. So these are the only options. So its very easy for me to defend. Draw a big letter “C”, the big cup is full of opponent players.
    If it was really 4-2-3-1, Mascherano or Banega would have 3 options. Now its more complicated to defend.

    Get rid of Romero please.

    • Hi, I have registered recently and from India. Am an ardent follower of Argentina but increasingly getting frustated by the performance.Last 4 matches including that against Uruguay was bad with no clear strategy in place. More so its high time one gets the combination right by now as ur 9th match from today is a wc game and going by present trend Mess I may not be in Russia. The back needs to be revamped as they are ageing or do not hv regular matches in Europe.

  3. Could have been 3-1. If that Rojo-header would have been allowed (as it should have been) and with better luck in that penalty or Di Maria’s shot to post, we would have praises for the team and (almost) everybody would be writing that now we are solid in top 3 of the table and so on.. blah! Many woulds and ifs and coulds there.. sadly. The game was horrible to watch. And the problem AGAIN was the midfield for us. Or as you guys very well said THE LACK OF IT. Two players in the middle of the pitch creating nothing. Isolated from the back four. Isolated from the attacking four. This could have been corrected by simply telling Gaitan and Di Maria to stay approximately in line with Banega and Masche. And create ball possession with those four and then try to serve the strikers (don’t mind seeing Higuain and Aguero together, just not in that formation!).. so long rant short: 4-2-3-1 is NOT working. IF we are going to play with the same guys in the future as well (as we most certainly are), we should go with simple 4-4-2.

  4. To lose to such a mediocre team is beyond the pale.

    I don’t think there will be a Stadio Edgardo Bauza. He is a clown. He simply has not got the balls to make the right changes. The tactics were poor. Long balls, no control in midfield. Never turned the opposition enough.

    Several of the players in both matches were a disgrace. Even if Higuain had received service in the Peru game I doubt he would have scored one more. A choker. Aguero just as bad. Demichelis still there ? And the list goes on. Prime criminal is Romero turning a routine save into a goal at his near post.

    Why do we have these clowns in the team ? Still ? He hasn’t got the guts to tell them you aren’t good enough anymore. It’s my way or the highway. You want to win something you will follow me or you can leave. No room for cosy friendships.

    What astonished me watching the game this morning but it didn’t surprise me was to see of the three players who actually played well Banega, Gaitan and Musacchio he hooked two of them. We lost width with the removal of Nico (a real team player who actually moves to receive the ball), and some midfield control with Banega.

    He just didn’t have the balls to remove Aguero or Higuain. Two of this trio will be lucky to get a starting spot again. No doubt the glitz of playing for Manchester City rather than Villareal counts more for Mr.Bauza while Gonzalo Rodriguez if a mentor is needed for the schoolkids at Ezeiza is a far better defender than Demichelis. Easier to remove Dybala against Peru than Kun a newcomer to the club. And not only that not to play him centrally where he is best.

    Alario plays well , Mas too and their reward ? To get dropped. Alario versus Pratto ? Eh ? One can actually move which is a helpful addition for a striker. Bauza’s initial match showed the warning signs in his selections and tactics. And unfortunately it’s been reinforced since.

    The man is a clown with no guts. It’s a terrible situation. A good coach instead of pretending to say I am looking at sixty players should talk the talk. Don’t wait. Stamp your own authority onto proceedings. Make sure they know who is in charge. If this team was picked on form which teams always should be half the current squad would have the time to eat more food, have more useless tattoos and spend time on their hairstyles.

    Where is Icardi ? Perotti ? Vazquez ? Three of the top players in Europe on current form. Why not pick Tagliafico ? Or even better Ascacibar ? He picks Krane because he is at Sevilla ? Krane is still a prospect although he has to pick up again after wasting time but Santiago has been superb. You need dynamism in midfield he will provide it. Forget the age. Since when were Argentina scared of blooding kids ?

    The whole thing is a shambles much as it was under the Basile reign. Someone has got to come in make sweeping changes lay down the law and pick on form. A disgusting disgraceful set of performances. Yet again the fans are getting short changed. I hope the flak the team and Bauza gets is sufficient to get it into their thick skulls this is simply not acceptable.

    And one more thing. People think that somehow Messi will rescue the situation again single handedly. I’ll remind him that until Sabella turned up he too was pretty much a non entity when it came to the seleccion. And also that Argentina under a decent coach have actually played very well and can do without Messi.

    Ultimately it comes down to the coach and the players and tactics he uses. Teams with far less ability but a solid game plan and astute coaches can beat teams and win titles that are supposed to be on a different plane. I would honestly think most of us so called armchair pundits that have watched football for three decades or more could pick a better team with the correct tactics than Maestro Boozer.

    ————————————-Rulli———————————-
    -Peruzzi————Musacchio————–Garay(Rodriguez)———Tagliafico–
    —————–Asascibar—————Banega———————————-
    ——–Gaitan/Dybala———–Messi/Vasquez——————-Perotti/di Maria
    ———————————Icardi/Alario———————————

  5. I blame only bauza. 5 points from 4 games and just one of them is considered difficult.
    Bauza , you really made Tata looks like pep guardiola. I can not understand. Is it difficult to realize that half of your team is over and finished. How come you can not realize that playing with Romero and rojo is stupid. These guys are warming the bench at their clubs. Can not you understand ?
    And that headless man who is wearing no.11 , he can not finish one good cross. He can not perform one perfect one-two pass. And what is the idea playing higuain and aguero together ? I can not believe that Argentina has managed to score only 11 goals. Where are your great strikers.

  6. Watching our favorite team has become a form of torture for us.
    Teams we swept away with ease 2 years ago now block our qualification. 7 points lost against 3 of the weakest teams in the competition. Unbelievable and embarassing. We have become the laughing stock of the world. Fifa no 1? More like no 100.

    This calls for drastic measures.
    Fire Bauza (or better bozo) and get Bielsa
    Keep Messi and Dybala and throw everybody out. Start with a fresh group of players. The silver generation is mentally broken after 3 lost finals.

  7. mascherano lost the ball, everything’s that fucked start from him, and then musacchio don’t block the ball well, and demichelis is just too slow, a good goalkeeper can save the ball, but argentina don’t have that.

    it’s mascherano who make that huge mistake.
    mascherano fucked up in the previous match as well.
    blame mascherano for this loss.
    mascherano fucked up every hope left for argentina.
    get rid of mascherano.
    he don’t belong in the team anymore.
    he should left football forever.
    argentina don’t go to russia because of one man: MASCHERANO

  8. Bauza: “Demicareless provides leadership, experience, and mentorship to the squad”….hahaha like losing to Paraguay at home !!!! I love this leadership.

  9. Everyone… it is not the players as much as it is the system! 4-2-3-1 is not working. There is no flow between midfield and. The forwards. That said:
    FACTS
    1- aguero is not a CAM and can’t play there
    2- Romero can NOT get beat 1st post!!!
    3- there has to be two CAM player in the game to control possession in the midfield… banega/pastore…
    4-musacchio/mascherano/Romero cost us the goal not demichelis
    5- dimaria should be coming off the bench not starting

  10. I dont understand why our farking coaches can’t drop all these non performing players..our rival coaches hv made bold decisions to revamp their squad whilst we still ponder and give countless opportunities to our players such as rojo, romero, di maria, aguero, biglia, and di maria…i mean how much more of a damage they need to cause to be axed??! is bauza that stupid?? why is he that myopic towards a host of other players?? Are these decisions made out of political or diplomatic reasons to please a few parties? we are seriously doomed now *SMFH*

  11. Hi Guys,

    After couple of months I am writing my comments here. I watched last two qualifiers match and we played without a proper idea. I have read lots of comments regarding particular player not called up or some players are not good enough to play for national team. According to me, Messi is the only player who plays honestly for national team. Look at Aguero, for City he would have scored those chances what he got it today’s match. There is no urgency from the players. They have to speed up the game, press high on the pitch also coach must demand high on every player. other wise we can’t win anything with any player.

    • indeed you did call it correctly sir,

      I have been quite of late on the “told you so” but I like you (and others who we all know who we are) have been screaming for changes and urgently for an age, what we have seen today is a new low but not at all a surprising and its way past time the door hit all of the following on the ass being di maria, kun, rojo, hig and demi but id still have on the bench mash, zab, romaro (nothing new for him) on the bench only.

      as much as id like to kick out 3-6 more we cant get rid of all at once but had this been done since and after w/c 14 we would not be in this mess we are in today and thank you tata, bauza and lets not forget the imbeciles who of course deserve special mention the afa-bone heads the lot of you and I’m being extremely polite.

  12. Firstly, Mr. Bauza had four games in charge. SO the honeymoon period is over. Can we criticize him now or is it too early?

    – The next two games are against Brazil and Colombia. So let’s see if he calls the same guys or changes something.

    – There is nothing called midfield. Putting two players in the middle of the pitch is not midfield. You have to have an idea of how and what they are gonna do when they have the ball or don’t have the ball. Also putting 5 or 6 strikers does not make a good forward line. You actually don’t need to be a genius to figure that out tbh.

    Honestly speaking, I do not think Bauza will change players or his way of reading games. He will not call the fresh midfield we all want or the new fullbacks. So we will be stuck with this 4 central backs plus 2 defensive midfielder formula for a long long time. Also, I don’t think he sees anybody past Rojo as a LB. So have fun watching Rojo for years to come.

    And I for once don’t think we will be beaten by Brazil that badly that everybody is saying. I think we will lose, but the score will not be that bad.

  13. 1. Bauza needs to take the blame, as the selection of players was completely his. I do not think there would have been any political selection of players except the players themselves.

    2.Bauza need to understand, these players are mentally tired and should not be called for some time.They need time to recuperate.

    3. Romero needs to find a competitive club to start with.

    4. Is the time right for a change in coach? Does AFA has the guts to open up that topic without any money?

  14. Uruguya played a very difficult game against columbia away in terrible muddy pitch..went even 2-1 and eventually draw…Bolivia was almost won the match..Brazil witout Neymer ..marcello..Cassimero beat Venezuela away…How many times these mofos are gonna break our heart

  15. since 2010 we’ve had this cancer eating the team from inside .. mr romero.. some of us want this benchwarmer to start only because he saved some penalties against holland…

    Rojo wont even find a team in b league in England

    Masch– this stubborn MF thinks he is going to run the team??? this is his last season in barca.. they have already started to sense his downhill

    Dimaria , Aguero and Higuain–> if this old fuckface bauza can’t see the bad luck these three brings in the team along with their shit play then this old skeleton needs to be sent to a mental asylum… a coach who is controlled by players is not fit to run the team… we will be lucky if we finish 5th and get to play playoff against some weak team with this old bones bauza, bald shitthead mascherano, and his partners aguero dimaria and higuain running this team!!
    The biggest problem is Masch!! he and his frens are making or forcing the coach to run the team as per their will!!

  16. The blame needs to also go on the players, it is not merely the manager. It is easy to finger point but the players have to take the burden of the blame as well.

  17. May be only Dybala could have been scored as a single forward of there is good midfielders

    Both attacking & defensive midfielders.

    Please God save my Argentina and Football

    • Youngster gabriel jesus is younger than dybala and 1inch shorter yet he is the starting striker for brazile.
      Ofcourse Dybala can play there but as usual stupid politics are ruining the team.

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