World Cup countdown: 50 days, Argentina moment number 39, Pablo ZABALETA

1. As per reports, Sampaoli confirmed 20 players
   GKs : Romero and Caballero;
   Defenders: Mercado, Otamendi, Tagliafico, Rojo, Mascherano, Fazio and Acuna
   Midfielders: Dimaria, Salvio, Lanzini, Lo celso, Biglia and Banega
   Forwards: Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Dybala and Pavon

   • Can you please share the report link from where you got this news. The team seems what we expected. The final 3 would be 1 goal keeper, Meza and Paredes May be. If biglia is unfit then Guido or Battaglia

     • OMG masche is a bad move. He is clearly over at this level. & Who is our RB backup to mercado??

     • report saying centurion mayb picked over meza.1 goalie out of guzman and armani.1 dm out of enzo perez,kranevitter,pizzaro. though i dont believe this is true its all speculation.

   • What would happen if Otamendi or Fazio would be injured?

     • It will be a disaster… Like
       Salvio macherano rojo acuna….!!!!!

     • i dont think this is true.all are speculations.even fazio is not so good as a cb.rojo should not have been there.mascherano should not be there as a defender for sure.he is not even playing cb in china also.we have only 2 good defenders otamendi and tagliafico others are shit to mediocre

   • They are not considering paredes at all…one thing is sure that if masche is picked as a defender there is room for kran/enzo/pizzaro/battaglia…..
     Report says that centurion>perrotti>meza which will be a big surprize….
     But i dont think so…there will be a back up for banega as paredes/ enzo to grab the above spot….
     Biglia/pizzaro or kran
     Banega/ enzo or paredes
     Lanzini/ lo celso
     Dimaria
     Will be our starting midfield with messi and aguero/hig …..

   • With the exception of Pavon, it is a squad Martino or Bauza would have picked. Mascherano and Rojo are way beyond their best, Biglia and Aguero are still injured, Acuna is not a true RB. Suspensions for either Fazio or Otamendi will mean elimination.

     • if fazio otamendi either of them out i will put tagliafico as cb and acuna as lb

2. Watching both Dybala and Icardi in their latest matches, I can assure you that Icardi’s form is way better than Dybala who is kinda slow and doesn’t chase the ball (similar attributes to Higuaín- maybe that’s infectious). So if Sampaoli has to take only one, then he better takes Icardi and not Dybala for these three reasons alone:
   1) We are more in need to number 9 than an attacking midfielder
   2) He’s superb in aerial balls and headers- he’s tall
   3) He’s faster and has an unpredictable movement inside the box

3. Dang. Even in this game, Huigain missed a sitter. I guess he was always like that. Worst is he do not redeem at all. Usually big players after missing easy chances, they redeem but not Hugain. Ronaldo also missed lot of sitters today but he scored one. Suarez too but i guess only Messi do not miss too many chances.

4. If Messi is fit, I can totally see argentina challenging any team. However Sampoali should manage Messi properly. He should be given rest in all games particuraly in group stages if Argen. are up by 2 or 3 goals. Fit Messi will destroy any team. Just watch Ramos and Casimero being destroyed(supposedly best defender by UEFA or Ronaldo for that matter).

   • It is better to play him as false 9 between two speedy wingers/forwards example pavon, j correa, angel correa etc. He is the best goalscorer we have.
     we have enough technical players example lanzini, lo celso who can supply to him. Messi needs to trust them and limit his constant dropping deep and looking for the ball.
     it all depends on sampaoli.

     • Lot of the match, Messi was playing from deep. While he still creates from there, to maximize Messi impact, Our strategy shld be to play him more upfront. For that the midfield has to own the pitch. That’s what gives Ronaldo more time upfront compared to Messi in club level.

       • True. I have been saying that for long time. Use Messi closer to goal where he have excellent brust and dont have to sprint too much. If you look at his goal vs Real Madrid, he was closer to goal and was not dribbling all the way from the back. Ramos and Casimero paniched when Messi got the ball from Suarez, they are rated best in their respective positions. Sampoali need to utilize that. Messi dropping deep will cause both Arg. and Barca problem. Pep brilliantly utilize it but none other barca and arg. coach utilized it. IF barca sign Gerizemann, i see messi dropping even more deep and penaldo get all credits by scoring tapins. Barca screwed Messi.

     • Relying on Huigain or Augero will be our downfall. Messi needs to play closer to goal that is all. If not, Argentina’s chances decrese significantly. Messi is probably the most efficient scorer in the history of football.

   • All games are important and leading by 2 goals also can’t guarantee a win example the Nigeria friendly.so messi probably may not be substituted if no injury.Argentina match has 5 day gap and less of travelling so they should not be fatigued just Argentina need to ensure they win in 90 mins no extra time.aguero dimaria dybala lanzini locelso all will be fresh and I think even messi will be fresh this time around just he should make sure now that classico ended with golden boot all but over won the la liya now rest in at least 1-2 matches out of 3

     • I agree that Argentina should only try to play for 90 min. That will save energy of our players.

5. Messi lost his temper and almost broke Ramos’s leg!! He is also being man marked 2 to 4 players all the time. Hope Sampaoli is watching and thinking how to deal with these situations… Surely he is not relying on Banega’s out of this world play making skills to deliver or else we will endup like Sevilla 7th in the league

   • Banega would easily improve this Barcelona midfield..This current Barcelona midfield is lethargic. I think Roma did Barcelona a favor by eliminating them because Liverpool would have embarrass them home and away. Banega dominated Bayern Munich in midfield at the Alianz Arena, the same Bayern Munich team that outclass Real Madrid over both legs in the UCL. This is the same Real Madrid midfield out muscling Barcelona today in the first half.

     • Looking at Banega’s track record its highly unlikely that he will deliver… His inconsistency is the reason our midfield is slow 🐌 weak and mediocre. Hope he proves me wrong in the WC. I will be the happiest if he does!!

       • You talk a lot man! Let’s look at the games played this season that are more compatible to world cup games? This season Sevilla played Liverpool (twice), Man United (twice) and Bayern Munich (twice). Of those six games Sevilla lost only once and that was the home game against Bayern where Banega was suspended, the only game out of the six Sevilla failed to consistently hold onto possession. In five of the six games I listed, Sevilla never lose possession of the overall game except their home game against Bayern Munich where Banega was suspended. All you do is dis and troll the Argentina national team players, it must be a full-time job for you doing this ridicule of the players nonstop.

       • “Looking at Banega’s track record its highly unlikely that he will deliver… His inconsistency is the reason our midfield is slow 🐌 weak and mediocre”

         @SulaV, this is so true and you’ve seen him the the way I’ve.

         “Hope he proves me wrong in the WC. I will be the happiest if he does!!”

         He will never ever prove you wrong. Mark my word!

         Banega 👎👎👎 Higuain 👎👎👎

         Argentina needs real footballers, not these useless ones.

6. I wish he was younger and he would play now

7. A lot of disappointment and negativity has been going around regarding our team selection for obvious reasons..so just to inject some shred of positivity in this blog i would like to remind some of our bloggers how Roberto Di Matteo
   won the Champions league with aging , injury plagued and out of form team. After our poor world cup qualification campaign and loss in the last few friendly matches , we are no-more a contender for the world cup.. This could be blessing in disguise for us as the stronger teams will attack us and weaker teams won’t park the bus as our defense has regained the bad reputation of being not very good again and our midfield is full of average players who play in mid-table teams (However with Messi in the team its seems unlikely that any team will go for all out attack against us )

   • You’ve been one of the most negative person on this forum, maybe you need to look in the mirror.

     • I agree with KidultHood.

8. Centurion should be in squad but not at the cost of Meza but perroti.Goal scorers- Messi Augreo Higuain CenturionLanzini
   Assister- Messi Lanzini Meza Di Maria LoCelso
   Build up- Banega Lo Celso
   Defence- Otamendi Fazio

9. Centurion should be selected over Perroti or Dybla.Domestic league has some talented players.Centurion is like J.Correabut with better finishing and dribbling.

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