All eyes were on Argentina in this round of qualifiers. After the disastrous Copa Centenario final loss against Chile and the fiasco that ensued with Messi’s supposed international retirement and AFA’s self-destruction, everyone awaited this game to see how Argentina would fare under their newly appointed, “not-first-choice” coach Edgardo Bauza.
So how did they do? Well, considering it was a debut game under a new coach, coming back from a chaotic morale-destructive summer, playing against arch-rivals Uruguay, in a physical game, with 10 men down for the entire second half, being the better side, clean sheet, winning 1-0… i’d say pretty good!
Bauza fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation: Romero in goal; the now familiar Funes Mori and Otamendi as center backs (where in the world is Garay?), Zabaleta taking back his right-back position, Emanuel Mas as left-back; Mascherano and Biglia the two DM’s; Up front with Di Maria on the left, Messi on the right, Dybala down the middle; Debutant Pratto up front as the #9.
Argentina started very positively, and i must say i was impressed from the get go. There were many noticeable improvements to their game:
First off, in the first half with 11 men, you could finally feel a sense of comfort in possession, passing the ball around well with better accuracy and much less needless giveaways. The players were much closer to each other, always giving each other options and making themselves available for the pass. Their game was more fluid, the players continuously moving and getting into favorable positions, looking for space and constantly stretching the Uruguayan defense. Their off-the-ball movement was excellent.
Above all, the best improvement was the great link-up between midfield and attack, the lack of which was a huge frustration under Martino where they always looked so disjointed and ineffective. Messi tracked back and was more involved in the final third, having much more of the ball in favorable positions, with his face towards goal and teammates providing him with options running into space. If it wasnt Messi play making, it was Dybala, or Di Maria, or Mascherano from deep (!). The play was more direct, especially down the middle with well-timed chipped in balls for players running at the offside line.
During possession, the full backs came forward adding numbers in midfield and giving options up front when possible. Im not sure if Uruguay initially planned to play so defensively and physically, but Argentina forced them on their back foot the whole time. Argentina played with intensity, pressuring from high up the field, not allowing Uruguay to keep possession for too long. Suarez and Cavani were isolated up front, desperately attempting individual skill (or shooting from the half way line) rather than team work to enter the box, simply because they couldn’t pass the ball. Credit to Argentina’s defense and DM’s for closing them down.
Messi’s goal was pure genius, instinctively catching a rebounded ball with his back heel, finding himself crowded by defenders (a familiar sight), slowing down, turning round and taking a shot at goal from outside the box. With that many players in front of him, the ball was bound to hit someone, and it did, luckily deflecting goal-bound and leaving Muslera paralyzed and helplessly watching it roll into the back of the net. It was a special moment for the blonde hero, rushing to celebrate with the crowd after his retirement “hiatus”, not that he missed a game, but fans all over were definitely pleased to see him back scoring winners for Argentina, yet again.
Moments later at the very end of the first half, Dybala got his second yellow and was harshly sent off. The referee ruined Argentina’s momentum at that point, forcing them to change their game in the second half. Personally, i was obviously mad about the decision, but at the same time i was very interested to see how Bauza would react at half time, given the circumstances. The task was obvious: maintain the lead. Under Martino we had grown accustomed to being out-coached in the 2nd half, and so this was an important test for Bauza to prove his mettle.
Surely enough, despite being a man down, Bauza’s men impressed: Lining up in a 4-4-1 formation, with Messi up front alone for most parts, with Pratto and Di Maria tracking back to defend down the right and left, respectively. Going forward they ran their socks off, and when out of possession (although seeing much of it), they systematically tracked back. We saw Mascherano all over the pitch, and interestingly, in many cases in very advanced positions up front near Messi, applying pressure high up the field. Understandably Argentina didnt get the better chances, nor did they allow 11-man Uruguay any good chances either. All in all, they defended well, cleared most crosses, crowded every shot and frustrated Uruguay’s attack with the offside trap.
In terms of individual performances, here are some points in random order:
– 32 year old Mascherano was a beast, clearly the man of the match. He was everywhere, martial-ling both defense and midfield, sending excellent long balls in as well as uncharacteristically moving up front at times.
– Emanuel Mas impressed as left back and it remains to be seen if Rojo will take his place again.
– Dybala linked up well with Messi and it’s disappointing that we wont get to see them together again in the next game due to his red card. Unlucky to be sent off, and also unlucky that his shot hit the post and then somehow defied the laws of physics to rebound off Muslera and over the goal instead of in it.
– Lucas Pratto had a quiet game as he didnt get much service up front where Uruguay made it very tight.
– Lucas Alario came on in his place and showed better ball control and composure with the ball, but unfortunately he only played in the 2nd half where he had to play deep in midfield. Hopefully we’ll see more of the two Lucas’ in the next game.
– Di Maria was probably the weakest link up front as he had a bad game, but his inconsistency has become a bit too familiar. Personally i’d prefer to see Lamela in his place, though in the second half with a man down, Angel was the right choice as he can be a player and a half with his abnormal energy and endurance.
– Biglia (another Lucas) did his job well, filling all the gaps behind Mascherano’s constant movement and doing a lot of dirty work.
– Zabaleta had a decent game, though im still not quite sold on him starting ahead of Mercado who was immense in the last few qualifiers. It will be interesting to see how they compete for the right back position in the future.
– The center backs, Otamendi and Funes Mori, were exceptional and almost flawless, doing very well to keep world class strikers like Suarez and Cavani at bay.
– The goalkeeper Romero had a great game as well… always so confident and assuring between the posts. He wasnt tested much but did well to parry the few balls that came at him.
– As for Messi… one word, he was Messious. Cant think of a better word to describe him, that should be a word!
So overall it was a dream start for Edgardo Bauza in a tough match. Argentina’s win puts them outright top of the CONMEBOL WC Qualifiers table with 14 points. However this is no reason to relax, had they drawn they would have been left in 7th place with 12 points (out of the World Cup), behind Brazil (5th) and Paraguay (6th) considering goal difference and goals scored (see the WCQ table here). That’s how tight the competition is. Despite a horrible start to the campaign (a loss and 2 draws), this is Argentina’s 4th consecutive win since, and their next game is on Tuesday away to last placed Venezuela who have lost every single game so far except one (an away draw to Peru). Obviously Argentina are expected to win this one and further separate themselves from some other teams in the pack once the next round ends.
With caution, i say this: Things are looking good for Argentina again, let’s hope Bauza continues to impress… VAMOS ARGENTINA!
Enjoy extended highlights of yesterday’s match below:
Excellent analysis! Almost nothing to add. Except, (imo) Mas wasn’t that impressive. Players like him can get cards anytime from referee. I want to see a new, but confident LB in our team.
Really good analysis there. As always, our defense did it’s job very well and that helped us keep the score as it is despite being one man down. Our fullbacks are still defensive and that limits the team as an attacking unit esp. with two defensive mids of whom Masch seems to be the more attack minded. This has been the problem for a long long time and hopefully Bauza will resolve it somewhere down the line. Zaba has been our stalwart for so long and Mercado has done a great job recently but I feel its time to try and test the likes of Bufarrini, Peruzzi, Tagliafico, Pinola and esp. Ansaldi at least during the friendlies. Rojo and Mas do not inspire any confidence esp. the former as he has had enough opportunities to have cemented his spot.
Ziggy, nice write-up, kudos.
I really liked what I saw. We played with heart, grid and skill.
Romero – Confident display, no issues here.
Zabaleta – Not much in terms of going forward but did his job well defensively
Otamendi – Solid
Funes Mori – Did really well against Suarez who had a pretty mediocre game by his high standards. Excellent display.
Mas – Two things come to mind: first one offensively, when he lay the ball with head after receiving a log diagonal pass to Messi who blasted the ball that deflected for a corner, the second is how he handled Cavani in one episode shielding the ball with his body. Good job overall. Exceeded expectation in my opinion.
Mascherano – Brilliant! Absolutely phenomenal game by El Jefecito.
Biglia – Decent, especially defensively.
Messi – Ran with desire and it showed. Great job by the captain.
Di Maria – Ran, ran and ran but more often than not the end product was lacking.
Dybala – Did very well and did not deserve to be sent off. No matter, we have one talented kid at our disposal.
Pratto – Did OK in my opinion. I will give him a pass for now and would allow a few more chance to prove himself.
I concur with your footbal analysis. Personally I saw a lot of improvement going forward. Last night’s brought back my confidence in NT. My main focus was on how is Argentina going to play under Bauza?
I saw 5 things, that were not visible in Tata Martino’s tenure. solidity, fluidity, balance, hardwork and collective intelligence play.
Now I feel like we’re picking up from where we left off in 2014. In the game of 2 halves.
1st half we managed to crack a park the bus defenses after threatening Uruguay for sustained pressure. Even with 10 men in the 2nd half, by the 70 minutes, I felt like it would take some major fuck up from someone for Uruguay to score as Di Maria’s recklessness almost did.
I’m relieved to see Messi at last getting the same off ball movemnt support as he receives from his Barca mates on the pitch.
I also like the return of direct attack and 2 strikers. It is obvious now that Tata was either too proud to give up his obsession with style and to try and adapt his tactics to his players particularly Messi; or he was just one bone head clueless coach whose football IQ is not up to the standards of the modern international football and was out of depth in his position.
I will always maintain that titles are won 50% by players and 50% by the coach. Tata came very short on his 50.
Therefore for me, overall we lost the 2 COPA finals because of Tata’s incompetence, not because of Higuain’s misses. If the tactics were right on both ocasions, Argentina would have at least created a few more opportunities.
It’s still too early to draw conclusions on Bauza but I am impressed with the balance he has brought to the team already in his first game.
Funes and Otamendi is freaking beast
Excellent post!
I have nothing to add. I really liked the attitude and appreciated the hard work. Everybody put in a lot of effort, even Biglia.
Like many other posters I would like to see the trio of Messi – Dybala – Icardi upfront. When these three get some games under their belt and know each others movement, we will be lethal. Hopefully they start during the October qualifiers.
I am pretty confident that we will qualify for the WC. After the first few games it was bad, but after 7 games we are suddenly top, although there are many teams just a few points behind.
Dimaria-Lamela
Biglia-Agusto
Zaba-Mercado
Pratto-Icardi
I think these changes will improve the team.
I would stick with Zaba for now. Let’s see how Mercado performs at Sevilla before we kick out the experienced Zabaleta. He won over Pep’s heart and mind. That means something. Other changes: yes, please.
I completely agree with your analysis. However I think Dybala’s send off was justified . The first yellow might have been too harsh, but the second one was spot on and he should have been more responsible, knowing he has a yellow. He’ll learn from this, that’s for sure, and by being sent off he gave us a glimpse of the defensive capabilities of the NT under Bauza. One thing I can’t decide on though – is Funes Mori about to be the best center back in the world, or is he already there?
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