Poll: Who should start up front for Argentina?

By
Roy Nemer
-
70
Messi Icardi Dybala
Photo courtesy of Google

It’s time for a poll as we ask who should start up front in attack for Argentina against Peru?

With the remaining World Cup Qualifiers soon approaching, all of Argentina’s forwards are in fantastic form. Mauro ICARDI can’t stop scoring for Inter, Sergio AGUERO is on fire and Paulo DYBALA is scoring hat tricks for fun. And Lionel MESSI, well, he’s Lionel MESSI.

Against Uruguay and Venezuela, Jorge SAMPAOLI went with the trio of Lionel MESSI, Mauro ICARDI and Paulo DYBALA in attack and while the team didn’t lose, the trio didn’t score a single goal (Mauro ICARDI’s apparent goal was awarded as an own goal against Venezuela). With that said, who should Jorge SAMPAOLI go with in attack? Do you start a more experience Sergio AGUERO with Lionel and ICARDI? Do you stick with the same front three as the previous two matches? With the match against Peru being played at La Bombonbera, would you call-up Boca man Dario BENEDETTO and start him?

Against Peru, who should start up front for Argentina? Vote in our poll below!

[poll id=”6″]

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

70 Comments

  2. Messi was pretty much neutralized by successful man marking yesterday vs Girona. Despite that, Barcelona managed to score 3, and two of their goals arrived due to involvement from fullback positions. If Peru somehow manages to man mark Messi, it is far from certain that we will find the way the break their defence. I hope I’m wrong.

    • It’s true Messi had a quite game vs Girona but IMO since these smaller teams have very aggressive players whose professionalism is way, way lower than the players from the big clubs maybe Leo decided to not risk himself and save his efforts for the qualifiers. You know at Barca whenever Messi wants to destroy his opponens 95% of the time he can do so. I hope he will stay fit for the qualifiers!

    • Yesterday Sampaoli was on stadium to watch Velez – Boca (Benedetto, Gago, Perez, Pavon). I think Gago is not enough strong physically for Peru. He was mediocree. Pablo Perez is better. Enzo as well. First of all Nacho Fernandez.

      • Gonzalo, I know it’s not a secret Nacho is your preferred choice but I think physically he isn’t stronger than Gago. If the coach wants to focus on the physical aspect of the game more than anything else I think Nacho will not have a chance in participating the upcoming qualifiers. Maybe Enzo or Pablo Perez will be the candidates from the local league if the thing is about physicality or something like that.

        • Agree that Nacho is not strong physically because of lank. But it’s still different type to Gago. Nacho is more like Di Maria. He may be lank but always in movement (he is always playing forward) and just much more brisky and nimble than Gago. Gago is creative but too slow just like Banega.

          Maybe you are right and Nacho would not be right player for physicall Peru but I think he could make much confusion in opponent’s line despite to be lank. He is very similar to Di Maria but more consistent.

          His best trait is instinct to attack and always play forward what is the problem few of our midfileders.

          • That is right he is talented and he can cause headache to his opponents many time, but I think Nacho isn’t the type of a player to compete with a team like Peru. But overall if we qualify he will be part and parcel of the team going to Russia.

      • gago isnt “weak”, he isnt muscular but he always commits 150℅ for the NT.. thats why he gets hurt so often.. I welcome him back, we kust need alternatives for when he does injure

    • He himself doesn’t want to be rested. Messi is the type of a player who wants to be on the pitch week in and week out. But he was very cautious in last night’s game coz he knows the national team is on the verge of not qualifying for the world cup, so he was protecting himself from any harm or injuries.

  7. Ascacibar is making news in germany…become a fan fvrt too..lots of +ve comments about his performance..one guy is saying that he was everywhere on the pitch…our future Captain💪

  12. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_Wh1TG01y_c

    Juan Foyth’s first Tottenham game was amazing. I like how he marshaled the backline. I heard this guy switched from CAM to CB. Is that right? Anybody has heard the same story? Lately, I didn’t see a CB who can dribble like this guy is doing. The other thing I like about Foyth is he is very calm and comfort on the ball and that makes him head and shoulders above the defenders of his age.

  13. I like enzo Perez in midfield as I also like garay in defence
    Bcoz we seen their strength in wc2014

    Garay may be not possible

    Enzo is on verge of recalling in national team

    Gago is also a good friend of messi

    Good midfield will win us the next match… Sampaoli knows it…he is making tactics according to oppositions strength and weakness……

    The form messi dybala aguero papu Icardi are showing will sure give us glowry if anyone of them performs …vamos

  14. Icardi must strat again….but I like Aguero…..but u know the difference between club aguero and nt aguero….so my preference is Icardi……as Icardi is feeded in inter ..here in nt lots of Cross must be feed to Icardi…….

    Argentina may change the formation

    4-4-1-1 Or. 3-5-2

  15. Interesting which central midfielders from Superliga Sampaoli will call up. Nacho, Gago, Enzo Perez and Pablo Perez – all they are great recently.

      • Leandro Paredes would make the midfield more creative. He is tough on the ball and is able to take on the opposition- Banega on the right Paredes on the left and Pizzaro at holding midfield. Messi, Aguero and Dybala upfront.

        • I think we are too much concentrated on our forwards but against opponent like Peru no matter who will start – Icardi, Aguero, Benedetto – all they might be isolated. What if without No.9 but with accent on midfield and players like Nacho who may run into penalty box like forward.

          …………………Romero

          ……Mercado..Mascherano..Otamendi

          Bustos…..Gago……….Augusto…..Acuna
          ………………Nacho
          …………………………..Papu
          ……………..Messi

    • Is that from a reliable source? Could you share the source with us?
      As far as I know Sampaoli even refused to share the pictures of the meetings he had with the players let alone to talk about the lineup and tactics he will use for the upcoming qualifiers.

  18. i still prefer a back 4…as we lack the full backs i would Play 4 Center backs with Little to no offensive duties…just to stay solid at the back and be prepared for the Counter attacks…3 man in the middle to provide and upfront all we Need is one Moment to make it click….

    Romero
    mercado-masche-otamendi-mamana
    biglia-paredes-banega
    messi-icardi-dybala

    our back 3 is so risky as we have no wingers that can properly work to the back….it just doesnt feel natural to me…so i´d go with 4 in the back

    help us god…we Need the win!

  19. So we have one team in Copa Libertadores final for sure because the semifinals are:

    River plate – Lanus

    Gremio Porto Alegre – Barcelona Guayaquil

    Lanus won on penalties against San Lorenzo to make them first CL semifinal. They deserved as league winners 2007, 2016, Conmebol 1996 and Copa Sudamericana 2013.
    One of 10 big clubs of Argentina.

    • River is the strongest of the four IMO, their midfield and attack are very good, but their difense isn’t that good. If they won the CL there will be a big test lying before them coz Real Madrid is already one of their potential opponents at the CWC.

      • To play with Maidana instead of Barboza is unintelligible. Barboza had one game in this season as a starter and was MOTM of course. I don’t know how long the situation will stay but Barboza will be NT player either way. Would already be if not cancelled Bolivia friendly.

        I bet Barboza with Foyth will our base pair of CB in near furure of NT. Two most talented we have on the position.

        • You are right….maidana is too slow, brazil exposed him during last friendly. The only good thing I see in this guy is he can head the ball out of danger.definitly not NT material

  20. I think following is the best lineup for Argentina.

    Plan A – with a natural 9
    3-4-2-1
    Romero
    Manamma | Mashe | Otamendi
    Salvio | Banega | Paredes | Acuna
    Messi | Dybala
    Icardi

    Plan B – Messi as False 9 (more midfield play)
    3-4-3-0
    Romero
    Manamma | Mashe | Otamendi
    Salvio | Banega | Paredes | Acuna
    Dybala | Messi | A Correa

    • i agree messi as false 9, he has been very good for barcelona now and then as false 9. Infact Dybala and A Correa both in good form can also play in their favoured positions. I think giving a chance for j correa wont do anything bad for the team. Sampoli should also give some minutes for Paredes he has great vision.

  21. Would rather start with Messi, Dybala and Icardi and given Kun the chance to replace Icardi on second half or the last 20 minutes. Agreed the issue is with the ball supply from the mid to forwarder.Salvio inclusion will be great

  23. It doesn’t matter who starts up front because the issue is in the midfield!
    The front 3 of Messi, Icardi and Dybala is just fine and to be honest they just need more time to click and the chemistry between them grew considerably between the uruguay and the venezuela games.
    With all that being said I would rather put Messi & either Icardi or Dybala up top and have either papu or Lanzini (when he recovers) behind them acting as a 10:

    —————-Icardi/Dybala———–Messi————————–

    —————————-Papu/Lanzini——————————-

    Regarding the midfield I personally think that argentina has plenty of good midfielders who could do the job but the problem is that those midfielders aren’t being selected.
    Marcos Acuna is perfect for LM position and so would piatti as for the RM well there is salvio, fede cartabia and Gonzalo pitty all to choose from.
    The CM requires box to box types like Nacho fernandez and Lanzini, however lanzini is injured so paredes should be given a chance. And if Sampa is determined to pair a passer with a DM type then Battaglia is a far better option than Biglia or pizzaro not only due to his defensive skills but also for his ball skills, the guy wins the ball often, moves it comfortably and hardly ever losses it and that’s essential when trying to control possession or maintain a lead.

    • Mamoun,

      as always we are very similar in our preferences. Please also watch few games of Gdoy Cruz and in a while share your opinion about DM Gaston Gimenez.

      • already ahead of u Gonzalo, Gimenez is quite impressive indeed, great passer and damn good defensively as well, although he can be abit reckless with his tackles.
        It’s still too early to call for him to be included in the NT but if he keeps it up, then he’d be a great benefit for the albicelestes.

    • This was brutal, especially Perez second goal, OMG, but i dont get what the hell Wilsterman wanted to do, they behaved like someone who dont give a shit about this match. Maybe betting fraud? I want to see this River against Real Madrid.

      • Csabalala,

        now you know what I was talking about. River were losing many goals in Bolivia not long ago but then beat them higher. South America football has it’s specific rights and I was exploring few of them for years. I’m not here to celebrate nothing more than River win but let it be “memento” for you.

  25. River are already 4-0 up and the first half hasn’t ended yet. You see this is the kind of game spirit Argentina need against Peru. Hope River will score two more goals!

  26. Actually, the supply of the ball from the midfield to the forwards is an issue indeed, but to be honest our strikers were horrible throuhout these qualifiers too. Everybody knows that a world class striker needs just a half chance to turn it into a goal, something that all of them are doing with their respective clubs and not with Argentina sadly. It is very hard to believe that Argentina hasn’t score more than three goals in a single game in these qualifiers, even with Maradona we used to score more and this shows us the state that afa and previous managers have put us into, as well as the low mentallity of our strikers too. Sampaoli has to rebuild a broken team from the beginning and this is a very difficult task.

    Anyway, i agree with Dfox, i would also go with Messi, Icardi and Kun only and only if Kun is in red form.

  28. Aligning all the forward together was never the issue. the issue is the players supplying the ball to the forwards. How many balls is Di Maria gonna lose? How many crosses will be going to waste? How fast is Banega gonna be supplying the balls? How many turnovers? Thats where the issue is. Without proper support, these Attackers will always go missing.

    The true question should be “Who should Argentina start in midfield” Because we already have one of the best finisher in the history of game (in Messi), therefore who we have upfront should never be a dilemma.

    • Spot on bro! I absolutely agree with you on this. Midfield is where we need to fix properly and without fixing it the team will always suffer and Messi’s potential will never be unlocked. Abraham Lincoln once said “Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe”.
      Sampaoli has to spend most of his time fixing the midfield then everything will be OK.

  29. I’d start Icardi next to Messi and Agüero. Benedetto will get his chance as a sub replacing Icardi.
    Sampa could still play Dybala as an attacking midfielder in front of Paredes and Biglia. In a 4,3,3 formation, or tend to the classic 4,4,2 with Di Maria next to Dybala behind Messi and Icardi or Pipa.

    Something like:
    Icardi, Messi
    Di María, Dybala
    Biglia, Predes or Mesche for depth in defense

  30. I’d start Icardi next to Messi and Agüero. Benedetto will get his chance as a sub replacing Icardi.
    Samoa could still play Dybala as an attacking midfielder ni in front of Paredes and Biglia. In a 4,3,3 formation

  32. Is Ricardo Gareca the manager of Peru team? I remember he was the manager of velez Sarsfield when they were competing for la primera and copa libertadores season in season out.does anybody remember his preferred tactics and style.How was peruvian team playing of lately?

  33. I would start Messi, Icardi and Kun with Dybala as his backup which could happen or not depending on the situation.
    Kun is on fire….give him 45 and see what happens.

  34. Also my team against paru—-

    ———————Romero———————-Manamma—–Mascarano——-Otamendi

    Salvio——–Biglia—–Paredes—–Acuna

    Dybala————-Messi—————Papu

Comments are closed.