Argentina eleven confirmed against Nigeria, DI MARIA starts

By
Roy Nemer
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117
Angel Di Maria Argentina
Angel Di Maria Argentina

The Argentina line-up to play Nigeria has been confirmed and Angel DI MARIA starts.

Following the team’s 1-0 win against Russia, coach Jorge SAMPAOLI has made a few changes to the eleven which are going to start against the Nigerians. Here’s the starting line-up:

MARCHESIN; MASCHERANO, PEZZELLA, OTAMENDI; Enzo PEREZ, BANEGA; PAVON, LO CELSO, DI MARIA; DYBALA, AGUERO.

The line-up means seven of the eleven players that started the match against Russia will start this one. Javier MASCHERANO, German PEZZELLA, Nicolas OTAMENDI, Enzo PEREZ, Giovani LO CELSO, Angel DI MARIA and Sergio AGUERO all repeat for the second straight match. Goalkeeper Agustin MARCHESIN comes in for Manchester United’s Sergio ROMERO, Ever BANEGA comes in for Matias KRANEVITTER, Cristian PAVON in for Eduardo SALVIO and Paulo DYBALA replaces Lionel MESSI.

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117 Comments

  1. Wow that second half was what I call a ‘catastrophic breakdown’ the like of which I haven’t seen from the albicelestes since that fateful 4-0 loss to Germany all the way back in 2010, infact that was the last time that Argentina conceded 4 goals in a game.
    Aguero’s incident certainly played a big part in that second half performance (think real Ronaldo’s seizure in 98) especially after seeing how well the team played in the first half.
    With that being said I am VERY HAPPY with the result because it exposed alot of the problems that Sampaoli seems to just brush over namely a 3 man defense, Mascherano as a CB, Banega in the midfield and Dimaria being an automatic starter.
    Argentina does not have the players to play an entirely effective 3 man defense, infact I can’t think of a single NT that has the pacey, ball skilled defenders to pull off a 3 man defense hence why no major NT even attempts it.
    Argentina has a list of good CBs like Fazio, Otamendi, Pezzella, Rojo, Mammana, Musacchio not to mention the likes of Barbosa and conti in the primera. There are also a few FB options that could be tried like Bustos and Mammana (can play RB and CB) on the right and Tagliafico (deserves another chance) and Ansaldi on the left. A 4 man, deep backline is the way to go IMO.

    Mascherano lacks the pace and the height for what Sampaoli has in mind but continues to be untouchable due to his rep and that’s gonna cost Argentina dearly if it continues.
    Also notable is his recent streak of poor judgement where he tends to dribble in his own half thus losing the ball in dangerous situations as it happened with Ecuador and Russia. Sad to say but Masch is a bench player at most.

    Lo Celso is a talented kid but right now I see players like Lanzini, Nacho and Pablo Perez ahead of him.

    Dimaria should be a supersub but not a starter. His pace is a huge asset when coming in the last 20 mins against tired defenses but for now I see Acuna (on the left) and pavon (right) ahead of him.

    Banega is a liability in the midfield, he’s too slow and too inconsistent and if he must be used then he should be a 10 behind messi and kun.

    Honestly the problems are clear and more importantly fixable; go for a 4 man backline, remove Masch from defense, Maria as a supersub and find another individual to pair up with Enzo in the midfield.

  2. POSSIBLE ARGENTINA GROUPS:

    1. ARGENTINA; SPAIN, DENMARK, NIGERIA.

    2. ARGENTINA; ENGLAND, SWEDEN, MOROCCO.

    3. ARGENTINA; CROATIA, ICELAND, JAPAN.

    4. ARGENTINA; MEXICO, TUNISIA, AUSTRALIA.

    5. ARGENTINA; SWITZERLAND, IRAN, HONDURAS. (Australia and Honduras play for one of the two remaining world cup spots)

    6. ARGENTINA; DENMARK, SERBIA, NEW ZEALAND. (Peru and New Zealand play for one of the two remaining world cup spots)

    Three, four, five, and six scenarios are manageable groups, Argentina will possible top either of these groups or at worse get a second place finish. Argentina need to avoid scenario one and two because these games are basically quarterfinal & semifinal match ups. It would be way too early to be facing two of either Spain, England, Denmark and Sweden during the group stage. Spain, Denmark, Croatia, Nigeria, Japan and Mexico are the most likely teams to play open football against Argentina during the group stage. Argentina can expect park bus, frustrating set up from teams like Iran, Switzerland, Serbia, Iceland, Tunisia, Australia/Honduras, New Zealand (if they get by Peru), Sweden, England and Morocco who will likely defend with 9-10 men in their own half then try and counter. I wouldn’t necessary mind Spain, I feel they would be way easier to play against than the likes of England, Switzerland, Serbia and Sweden. I love Argentina chances against the likes of Pique, Ramos and Jordi Alba in defense for Spain. Same for Croatia, their style of play will suit Argentina. England will be tough and stubborn. A similar situation can happen to Argentina against England at next year world cup like what we saw from both teams during the 2017 U20 world cup; Argentina control most of the game while creating tons of chances yet all it will take is for Rashford & Kane/Vardy to take one or two of the chances England might get during the game from a long ball play over the top or even from a counter attacking move. So if you ask me, Argentina need to avoid England, Switzerland, Sweden, and Serbia in the group stage. These four teams will be more difficult to play against than all the other teams that Argentina might draw in the group stage.

  3. I wouldn’t read a ton into this game other than a few things.
    I don’t like 3 defenders, we need 4.
    Romero may still be our best goalie.
    Dybala isn’t ready for the big stage
    Benedetto had his 15 minutes–Alario is better, Icardi is better, even Higuain is better
    We need a real number 5, I’d say Biglia or Enzo but not Banega
    DiMaria needs to be a sub

    Biggest disappointment though was Dybala. This game was just to try different formations but man he is out of form. If playing with Messi is hard Paolo, now you see what its like playing without him.

  4. Argentina have always struggled against physical teams who can play at a high tempo. These are my observation from the game against Nigeria.

    1) Argentina midfield were too slow to move, to pass and to provide cover against any quick counter from the opposition through the middle.

    2) Whenever Argentina had the chance to launch quick counter the momentum would be instantly killed off by the midfield who preferred to play back/side passes instead of the more adventurous through passes to cut the defense open or diagonal passes to make quick switch plays. Other than the move which created Aguero’s goal, there was no fast counter attack launched by Argentina against Nigerian defense. Because of Argentina’s turtle speed attack, the opponents have all the time in the world to retreat and to be organized in defense. In other words, Argentina let the opponents to park their buses in defense.

    3) As a result the middle space was too congested and Argentina were forced to play on the wings more often than they would have liked. Both wingers were also forced to push forward to support the attack.

    4) This is fatal because Argentina became too exposed on the wings. There were 2 big spaces in Argentina’s defense which Nigeria’s speedy attackers managed to exploit successfully. Those were the space between LW and LCB and the space between RW and RCB.

  6. If di Maria is use properly, he is Ozil of Argentina…….. what the fuck he is being used as winger ……he is totally rubbish……..I find sampioli as a shit manager…

  7. Poor from Saompoli.

    1) Its so OBVIOUS DiMaria is useless in the wing. He has the stamina and class to play as enganche in central mid. He should be used there (He should play in the same place Enzo and LoCelso occupied, deep and central. The link from Defense to Offense. Up front, he cant finish, he cant penetrate and all his crosses where lost balls.

    2) Of our 3 man defense, all are average to slow in pace. Its ok to have one slow one there, but not all 3. I like masch out wide the mostm excellent passing and that wing was secure most of the game, he is a liability in Central defense.

    3) Sampolis BIGGEST STUPID MOVE is to play Banega as DM. He sucks as DM and he especially sucks with a slow back line of 3. Its suicide. Banega has no tenacity in defense. We are a million times better with Bilglia, Kranevater, Pizarro, etc.. Banega should only play as a true #10 (Dybalas role today) where he has others doing defensive duty. In that role his offense is valuable and he does help defend, just not enough to hold the midfield.

    I generally like what Sampoli is trying to do, but he is making a big mistake playing both Wings so high up the field at the same time. Our midfield is way too thin. And the wingers are not generating enough to justify the risk, no good crosses all game, no one on one isolation plays.. Other than the Pavon assist, not much came from there. Most of our threats where passes from Otamendi and Mascherano to Kun.

    He needs to have Dimaria in midfield and keep Pavon up high. Better yet, bench DiMaria.

    • Well almost our coaches used Di Maria in Wings, I think he would a good playmaker, He used to play great under Ancelloti. May be just may be he may click there. He used to provide so many assists during his RM days.

      • yes .i also believe that. but atm sampaoli is clueless about di maria.he can make our midfield more fluid di maria—- lo celso- -lamela killer combo.

  8. Just finished watching the game and I felt same as Gonzalo. Today there wasn’t any support for the back 3. Now we know how crucial a DM is. Biglia or Krane or anyone play as true destroyer is backbone of Sampa tactics. On other note I enjoyed few Run from Perez in opposition box from midfield,this kinda run will cause alot trouble for opposite team. Enzo should be use as a box to box not as a 5. I think Sampaoli got his 5 already but other two position in the midfield still in doubt. Like box to box and a playmaker. Sampa trying Banega and Celso and i think he will try more in that position. Enzo and Nacho should be in for box to box. It can be fixed what happened today. It wasn’t that bad. Need to progress and practice. In my view For 5 Sampa locked with Biglia,Kranevitter and for one more spot Guido and others will fight. Box to box Enzo is confirmed and Nacho will be tested and few more local in next local friendlies maybe. We had so much argument and swearing when Biglia play as 5 (DM) and now we saw how important he is in his job or young Kranevitter aswell (in last game). In 3-4-3 no way we will succeed without a pure 5. Enzo can’t play as 5 in Sampa system. As for playmaking he already tried and still trying with Banega,Manu,Celso. I think he should consider playing Di-Maria in that rule for playmaking. He makes a lot sense when he plays in that position. Like he did for Mourinho and Sabella. Di-Maria would be perfect in midfield as playmaking role but in wingback i am not convinced with him. With all respect to Angel in my opinion Acuna impressed me more than him in that position. Pavon on right wing and left wing is Acuna for offensive play but we need atleast one or two proper fullback aswell for backup plan. Anyway it’s nice and blessings for ending this year with a shocking defeat. Honestly i think It will bring out only best from coaching stuff and players.

  9. Without black players (especially at LB and RB) this Argentina team will never win the world cup. Sorry to say this but it is the truth. Modern football is all about speed and and physical strength, and this Argentina team lack these two important attributes of the modern game. Way too many ballerinas on the team and Dybala is the biggest ballerina playing for Argentina right now, he took the title from Pastore. Neither Brazil or Argentina will win the world cup with their current squad. Brazil basically have the same midfield they had back in 2014. Brazil game is all about counter attacking, and England neutralize their main weapon with their quick athletic players.

  10. 3 goals of Nigeria were fucked up by our central midfielders mostly and lack of stoper/destroyer-man on DM. Every team may score against us when we depend on Banega as CM and last defensive instance in midfield. Clearly Argentina cannot to play without more or less classic No.5 We suffer in central midfield in post-Masche times. Banega is snail. Lo Celso and Enzo played well but they were also to blame on Nigeria goals. None of them is enough diligent and dutifull on the defensive tasks. So, once again: Rodrigo Battaglia on DM. Against Nigeria even Kranevitter on No.5 would be rescue against conceeding so many goals.

    • Good points, Lo Celso is an enganche so lack of defensive contribution can be understood, Enzo Perez on the other had played in that role many times. I think you are right, Biglia, Kranevitter, Pizarro or Bataglia would have helped. Having Banega in that No5 role is naive. Sadly, Masche was also at fault for conceded goals.

      • Only good thing i see form Masche playing as CB is his passing ability. He might be weak point for us. I hope he proves me wrong. He is a beast.

  11. I am worried about 3 man defence too. We always has problems with facing pacy wingers from opposition team. Plus we have no quality box to box player for 3-4-3. Player has told they not comfortable with 3 in the back. I hope they watch the game video again and again so they can come up something suitable. I like Sampa talked about players mental strength and said he will work on it. Now without today’s defeat this issue wouldn’t even come out. Our players mental strength is big issue like our middle

  12. SERGIO AGUERO COLLAPSED AND TAKEN TO THE HOSPITAL IN THE HALF TIME.
    He gained consciousness but the reason is still unkown. He is undergoing some tests.
    ABOUT THE GAME.
    I am not looking too deep into the loss against the superEagles. Its just a Friendly and its a good thing Sampaoli tasted his first loss with the team. I think first half Argentina was SUPERB.
    Ofcourse i can see the loss of Aguero put a huge concentration lapse. But got to give it to Nigeria, They were fascinating to watch. Come WC this result would be reversed. Still have my faith on Sampaoli and hope he makes the best out of this loss. We were unbeaten under Sampaoli so far. He has work to do. Lets be patient.
    The game i would simply put it as
    A TALE OF TWO HALVES

  13. Today gave Sampaoli some reality check about his personnel selection as well as thoughts for tactical reconsideration.
    Am I hurt by this defeat? Hell no, I never believed that Sampa has selected the best defenders. Let alone best players for his own system. Sampa needs to find athletes and workhorses to get efficient performances instead of washed up players. Mussacchio, Rojo, Funes Mori, Mammana and Pezzella are younger and real defenders. 34 year old Mascherano as a starter at the WC would be a big joke.

    Obviously, I don’t expect this to be the WC team. I still believe we don’t have the right combative players in the midfield. Today there was no protection for the defense.

    IMO only Aguero, Enzo, Otamendi, Acuna and maybe Pavon have shown that they belong in the WC.

    There is still enough time to overhaul the team. By this I don’t mean wholesale changes though.

    In the positive note, we played more like a unit in the first half. But most of all this game was a rude awakening to Sampaoli’s selection and tactics. I don’t like the fact that we don’t play the ball behind the defense vertically often enough (e.g. Dybala’s pass to put Pavon behind the defense) when opposition defense is in transition we seem to want to score only one way from crosses and square balls. Very Bielsasque, very predictable. Playing with flankers will not suit Messi’s game.

  14. Guys if we have fit Messi, Argentina would not be dared to attack. Even Germany that beat brazil with 7 goals did not attack as much against arg because they needed two or three players for Messi. As long as Di mari and other do not turn into headless chicken during crucial time, Argentina has chance. Messi is carrying barca team this season in his back and he will do the same for Arg. He just needs some help and Sampaoli is trying to do the same with player surrounding that complements Messi. Remember before, Argentina was mocked the same with Maradona saying Argentina only have Maradona but we won the WC. So keep calm but i have to say we need more concentration on defense.

  15. Relax ya all. This defeat was blessing. I would take defeat than a win now. Imagine if it was in Group stage. Germany lost against Chile before world cup and few us here were wrote them off but rest of history now and they are World Champion. This defeat means our coaching stuff has now more things to work on which is good. I do not see any negative sides from that defeat. Just SHAKE IT OFF. It was good defat against a small team so there won’t be any excuses. Although our Midfield has to improve big time

    • You will not like it. Argentina defeated on top of that the player you do not like score Augero and player you like Dybala continue to play bad in big matches.

      • It’s not that I don’t like Aguero. But he is loser. He may shine in friendlies but wait for tournaments and crucial moments and you will see him either injured or most inertial man on the pitch with just few touches of the ball. Unreliable player. Just wait and mark my words.

        And it’s not that I like Dybala more. I’m sure he is just better player than Aguero. Apparently still needs time. He was not that bad. Great pass to Pavon on second goal.

  17. Smapaoli is a crazy man, it seems like he is building a team for the 2019 Copa America. Argentina need continuity and this team is lacking big time. All needed was to build on the positive of the 2014 world cup team and progress from there. Sampaoli is trying to rebuild the entire structure of the team for the 2018 world cup. Not going to work when you have well establish teams like France, Brazil, Germany, Spain etc. who all have players that performed through tournaments after tournaments be it FIFA international or the UCL. We have players currently in our team that neither play in the UCL let alone a FIFA international tournament. Kylian Mbappé is 18-year-old and he is already playing football at the highest level on the UCL stage. Name me an 18-year-old Argentinean professional player who is making head ways across world football?

    The new young players Argentina is currently producing are mediocre/average, period!! They’re all overrated and over hyped. Where are the new young Messi, Aguero, Di Maria, Mashce, Higuaín, Zabaleta,Garay, Lavezzi, Cambiasso etc coming out of Argentina today? When was the last time a player from Argentina transfer from the local league straight to a top European team? We have players representing mediocre clubs in Europe then people expect them to improve the national team. You’re not going to win the world cup with players representing the likes of Zenit, Atlanta, Torino, Genoa etc. Just look at Italy, they can’t even get by Sweden over two round of games.

    Argentina like Italy have a mediocre generation of young players, and Argentina were even fortunate to qualify for the world cup against an Ecuadorian team that had little to play for. If Ecuador had a chance to qualify for Russia in the last game, I can assure you Argentina would have been watching the world cup from the side line.

    Dybala is overrated, I have never seen this guy played a good game for Argentina. His constant poor touches and cringe worthy dribbles are on display every time he set foot on the pitch for Argentina. This game was set up for Dybala to shine and take control of the match against Nigeria given how people hold him at such a high standard here. But instead Dybala was clearly out shone by Kelechi Iheanacho (age 21) and Alex Iwobi (age 21), Nigeria youngsters.

    Argentina young players are not good enough to help progress the current national team. Even England in terms of young players is far ahead of Argentina. Argentina young players rarely get to play with top quality players on their club teams which can improve their game. How in the world is Kranevitter and Paredes going to improve their game playing in Russia alongside other Russian international?

    For many people here, starting for a mediocre team is good enough for a national team call up. As long as you start for say an Eibar, and look like a stand out on the team given how the other players are mediocre, then this should merit a call up to the Argentina national team. Now you wonder why Argentina is going in the wrong direction.

    I have been a huge fan of Argentina youth football for many years and it’s sad to see how a country that have won so many youth tournaments over the years have regress from top to bottom. You guys can continue to kid yourself over the local Argentina Primera, but I will never buy into this hype. I can assure you that many MLS clubs would trash plenty of these Argentina local clubs on any neutral ground, because the league is that bad.

    Benedetto over Higuaín? Are you kidding me Sampaoli? LMAO…. This must be a prank or some kind of joke Sampaoli is trying to pull off. Benedetto wouldn’t even start for Nigeria of all teams. Seriously though, Benedetto? SMH Lo Celso was a part of the Argentina 2016 Olympic team that flop big time, how in the world was he going to help Argentina at the world cup especially at his age? People here need to wake up!! Mediocrity talent don’t get you out of a world cup group stage. These guys can’t win an U20 world cup or an Olympic Gold medal yet people expect them to do any better at a FIFA senior world up.

    • You find faults only in new players what about old players i.e. mashce,banega and di maria were horrible too….and also for me pavon was our best player today.

      I believe we can correct today’s mistakes by some tactical changes and players acquiring some mental strength

    • Well its true but what now happening is a new beginning, We cant do anything about it, At least now Sampaoli is trying his playing style is implemented on all levels Under 15, 17 & 20 levels. So the Upcoming under 20 generation will be very good. But the next Era of Dybala, Icardi, etc etc is the one who are gonna be in trouble. Its a transitional phase from the Messi Era to the next, I have huge fear for the next World cup qualifiers. We have to get used to the likes of Lamela, Lanzini, Lo Celso, Paredes, Dybala, Icardi, etc etc. And just hope that they will put their heart and soul while playing for Argentina. We cant always hang on to the Messi Era guys like Di Maria, Mascherano etc etc for ever.They are running on their last gas. They will have to be disposed after World Cup. So adding some of the Next Generation players like Dybala, Lo Celso, Paredes will help them to learn from the best ever.

      This is all because we didn’t care about the Under 20’s for long period.So now we are suffering due to that mistakes. Now at least theres is a small hope, A small light in the end of the Tunnel.

  18. Today we played very, very bad , but that is OK coz it is a wake up call for us. The coach now knows well our strenghths and our weaknesses. If you remember prior to 2006 WC we were defeated in two friendlies with England and Croatia. In both games we had the upper hand in the fisrt half and lost control of the game in the second half. Friendlies are very different to competetive games so don’t take it to heart. We will play Italy and Japan in March and will plsy two more games early in June just before the start of the WC so the coach has a good chance to omplent his idea and select the best players for the WC.

  19. On the other hand Russia plays much dangerous against Spain, 8 shots in the first half yet, and much more possession too. Messi is not just the best attacking player ironically even the best “defender” too, the Messi-fear factor is soo strong that neither of our “enemies” dare to attack with his full potential against us when Messi is upfront on the field. Maybe the most important reason Argentina barely conceeded any goals in the 3 last big tournaments.

    • When you put 3 men to defend one guy, it’s bound to curb your offensive outlet.

      If you put two men to defend him, he will kill you.

      Only in this site, people will tell you Messi is not good enough. Go around the world, visit the best team’s forums and you will realize how fucking good Messi is.

      • Who said Messi isn’t good? If anyone said that ignore him for ever and never ask him about football. Russia couldn’t create clear-cut chances vs Argentina, tonight they scored three goals against Spain (WC favourite). Messi is more than a player. He is half a team in my eyes.

    • Yup thats a great point. The FEAR FACTOR is a great point, We will understand how good he was when he retires. We already know it whichever match we play without him, it clearly shows, Cant blame because he is so freaking good.

      With Messi Only we can win the next World Cup, Without him there is no chance at all. We cant even play the negative football like Portugal did at Euro because we dont have that many good defenders too.

  20. Today Benega was poor as always. He is such a terrible players and do not have hard working ethic or pure talent. Dybala is on hype train, if he wants to be better players he needs to play with more heart and move to better teams like Barca or RM. Playing along side hugain has made him poor. I always thought fit and sharp augero help argentina than any body else. Also Di maria was useless and Masch should be played in DM not CB, we need his creativity.

  22. I said that on the forum…. Its not time for experiments. This is the time for consolidating the ideas and players that you already got. This will create a lot of doubts in the coach’s mind. With few friendlies left we shouldn’t call new players unless that player is really good. When you bring Belluschi who is almost 40 isn’t a starter why bringing him? I think that Sampo is making amateur mistakes. Banega and DiMaria prove they can’t be in the team, only Samp doesn’t see that. Mascherano should be in the midfield only Sampa doesn’t see that. We need 3 holding midfielders the same way we had it in 2014 and 3 offensives players like Messi, Aguero and Dybala.

  23. Missed the game. After seeing the results i could not believe my own eyes. I hope they learn something from that defeat. Good time for few defeat now. Ole saying it was disastrous defence.

  24. Sampa you fuck head …. Stop running around like a fucking clown and end this 3 4 3 shit .
    To be honest …. i did celebrates the 4th goal like a proud nigerian
    Wish the cameras showed me our coach face to complete the 4th goal moment for me

  25. Not a surprise at all. Celso, Banega and Perez in midfield. What the outcome will be. Apart from Perez to some extent, other two are not really interested in defending. The game proves Biglia is the most important player after Messi. Well attack wins matches. Defense wins cup. Sampaoli is adamant that our attack will get us glory. But nice reality check overall.

    • I don’t know why lo celso isn’t getting his usual place where he is comfortable .sampaoli prefers this banega who isn’t good in midfield nor in defence.

  26. If this team will go anywhere then players like Aguero, Di Maria, Masch should be out. These guys are done and are only holding the team back by a mile.

    Bring in Garay, That guy is a great defender. Bring in Ansaldi, stop this bull shit 3-4-3. Full backs are absolutely necessacity in todays game.

    Throw out that garbage keeper. WTF Is wrong with these fucking coaches? This guy plays 1 game every 5 months for his club and somehow he is the starter?

    Rulli/callbero/or someone better unkown
    Naco – Pazzella – Garay – Ansaldi
    Agusto/Pizzaro
    Paredes – lo celso
    messi – Icardi/alario – Angel correa

    if iCARDI or any striker doesn’t work,put messi as striker with
    Pavon – Messi – Correa

    DONT FUCK THE CHANCES. I HATE THESE MORONS.

  29. This team is capable of anything…..we may see a team that plays lovely football and goes through the group stage in style. BUT we can just as well see this team play all three group games without scoring a single goal.
    It was just tragic to see what happened today from the 44th minute of the game. As soon as we suddenly were in trouble when Nigeria made it 2-2 just after the break the game was over. They were toying with us and we couldn’t do anything to stop it. Frightening! Top teams from Europe will kill us on the counter….we will be eaten alive.
    It is also sad to see how Dybala seems to be cursed whenever he puts on the NT shirt…he was ok for some parts of the game and his involvement before 2-0 was pure class…but mostly he seems to really struggle and loses the ball far too easy.
    Just as the thought of Ota-Pezzella-Masch as our new great three men defence was starting to establish itself in my head….then BOOOM!…..welcome back to reality! Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.
    But at least we are going to participate in the world cup.

  30. I would like to see just 4 players from today’s team to our starting x1. They are Otamendi, Perez, Pavon, and Aguero. None of the other really deserved.

  31. Yes, our defense exposed today but you know they are not playing high intensity. Our defense use strength and tactical foul if necessary so it can be fixed easily. Nigerian can’t do nothing in first half but why sudden in second half, Sampaoli probably want to do his homework. People are complaining about Di Maria and so on . . I don’t see noone is ready for his place. Look at the perotti, he can’t even make a 1 proper cross or win a duel. I am not talking trash about them but they still need time. Lo Celso on other hand, I think he will be ready by the time WC start. Dybala need to think himself what is wrong with him because he has lost everything in the field. Pezella , I think we should replace with more aggressive player or i don’t know. Overall, attacking wise; we perform much better than in the past. Pavon has potential on right wing. Enzo is good enough for box to box. Playing selection is almost over I think. We need to start training playing as a team because they can’t perform more than 2 players combination.

    • Angel correa or bring back lavezzi. Angel Correa is the answer on the left side.
      Are you kidding me, Di maria is a chicken shit flapping around for its owner who shat it out.

      • Yes, you are very disappointed because Di Maria never produce end product. At least, he made channel run and some crosses. Perotti on the other hand, he play safe stay wide bring the defender out and made a safe pass. But you should understand that those wings are vital for Sampaoli attacking system, that’s why he is picking wide range of player to test on the wing. I don’t see anyone else is performing much better than Di Maria at the moment. You can see how our attacking is threatening in first half but not in second half. There is problem in our team “PEOPLE PLAYING TOO SAFELY TO AVOID CRITICISM INSTEAD OF PLAYING TO THEIR TALENT” that might make you think that Iwobi and co are much better players than ours. I am not a Di Maria fan but trust me he and Messi are the only ones who will be there when we needed most because there is noone who can step up and take the team on their shoulder right now.

  33. what a utter mess! but relax guys we’ll win the world cup next year ..tapia said so ! dybala is too slow and just total hype ..not a national team player!

  35. Talking about a collapse… Today’s performance confirms We have a mediocre team. Messi is world class just like Aguero. Midfield and defence are not. Expect an early exit at the WC. Forget experiments. We need 4-4-2 if we don’t wanna lose big next summer.

    • Are you comparing that shit Aguero to messi? That kunt scores every 5 yrs for argentina. His contribution to the team except for his pathetic tap ins is nothing/

      Even against Russia the overrated epl fooker couldn’t score a tap in and thanks to the shockingly bad defender he scored on rebound. any good defender wud have cleared that.

  36. As it looks Sampaoli’s wet dram is a all wingers formation.
    _______________________Romero___________________________
    _____________Salvioa_______Acosta________Acuna_________
    _____ Gomez_________Dimaria___________Perotti__________
    ____Rigoni___________Belluschi___________Pavon____________
    ____________________Messi_________________________________
    ___________________Lavezzi________________________________

    As soon as they become our coach, they lose their mind.

  37. Today the defense was exposed. I don’t trust Mascherano as a defende Maybe as a DM but defender he’ll no. Always making avoidable costly mistakes. Neither I do see Banega’s worth. He can play horizontal passes but we have many players who can do that too. This games exposed his limitations. Time to play real CBS.

    • Yes Mascherano was scary at defense & good teams will rip him apart. Pezella maybe needs more chance. Mercado – Pezella – otamendi- Rojo

  38. Totally a useless match… these matches must be played to make strong stratigies and make strong bond between players.. but as usual defense the most problemetic position.. 1st half was excellent but the 2nd half just killed the dominant nature of 1st half.. if nigeria is doing this just think about a match of arg vs ger or arg vs esp or arg vs eng.. mostly arg vs brazil.. we should prepare for the 2018 world cup with these matches… but i have no idea what they are doing.. vamos argentina.. you deserve more..

  39. I told here last day…Nigeria will be very difficult opponent than Russia.
    We now know how good our 3 man defense is..! I would like if Sampaoli takes Mascherano out of the team. I don’t trust him anymore. Dimaria utter waste. Why all coach trusts him…! Dybala lost something. Argentine play is slower than the turtle. If Messi not there Argentia is simply a mediocre team. Banega should not be a starter at all. Sampaoli underestimated Nigeria.

  43. Perez is playing brilliantly today. His versatility to defend and make forward runs to find spaces causes so much distress to the opponents. Lo celso is playing well too. Otamendi, Pezella and Mascherano as a defensive unit is a marriage made in heaven lol. All three are a joy to watch. Aggressive yet so composed at the back. Sampaoli has to be credited for that.

  45. Di Maria and Pavon wings are working. Lo Celso is much better today. Benega become deep lying playmaker and replace typical #5 role which is not necessary against certain team. Overall team play much better today.

  47. I swear defenders can’t handle pavon’s pace. Impressive and timely runs he makes to beat the offside trap. Cliche of his runs and assists for benedetto.

  52. Im actually more eager to see how lo celso performs today after the expectedly nervy first game for him the other day. Trust me his performance that day doesnt at all justify his many brilliant games for psg throughout the season. Usually he is very composed and has great ball controlling ability.

  55. Kranevitter was a late scratch and now banega will play at the #5…. kranevitter is faster against Nigerian counters but banega has that composure and experience … game about to start … vamos

  56. That means Sampaoli likes Lo Celso.
    Kranevitter was not impressed against Russia…thats expected.
    Salvio was ok but Pavon has to be tested.
    MARCHESIN became the second choice..?
    And Dybala is Messi sub…?

  57. I’m excited by this lineup. If they work well, then it’s a good alternative if Messi needs to be rested. I also like that Messi could come in in place of Dybala, Di Maria or Aguero in this setup.

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