Ever BANEGA did not train with the rest of the Argentina team while coach Jorge SAMPAOLI put out the same eleven in training.
Muscle fatigue has kept BANEGA Out of training on Tuesday as he was the only one who didn’t train. Per a report by TyC Sports, BANEGA’s availability for Argentina’s opening match at the 2018 FIFA World Cup is unclear.
Those who did train were separated into two groups. The first group was the same eleven as the one’s from Monday while the second were the substitutes. Here were the two groups:
Gabriel MERCADO, Federico FAZIO, Cristian ANSALDI, Marcos ACUNA, Enzo PEREZ, Giovani LO CELSO, Paulo DYBALA, Gonzalo HIGUAIN and Cristian PAVON.
The second group consisted of:
Eduardo SALVIO, Nicolas OTAMENDI, Marcos ROJO, Nicolas TAGLIAFICO, Javier MASCHERANO, Lucas BIGLIA, Maxi MEZA, Lionel MESSI, Sergio AGUERO and Angel DI MARIA.
That Lanzini injury really threw a wrench in it. Looks like he wants Salvio to overlap on the right and does not want to unbalance the side by adding more defense in midfield. What’s odd is that Samp himself was not a fan of Biglia and Mascherano together. He must be seeing something out there to make him go back on his stated preference. Also there is a possibility that this isn’t the starting midfield duo.
We are either good enough or not. The players we have will show us in 3 days. All of this crying about Higuain v. Aguero is silly to me. We will see if the next generation can even get to 3 consecutive finals.
Whatever the odds I wouldn’t be surprised if this group is pissed enough to win this tournament for spite. It’s our way.
And we can sing like in 86:. Argentina va salir campion/Argentina.va salir campion/ y se lo dedico a toda la re puta Madre que Los re particular!
Don’t wanna overreact but i really don’t like the idea of playing Masche-Biglia. That’s idea making me think we back to square again. Anyway i hope we see something new this time. Lo celso really impressed me. His late run in the box and 1-2 and dribbling and passing is exceptional. Sampa don’t ruin it dide 🙁
Lol I would be so disappointed if Sampaoli reverted back to Masch – Biglia combo after using the majority of trainings working on the Masch – Lo Celso pairing…. Anyhow, I will try not to overreact . Perhaps tomorrow he will feature Lo Celso again in the starting 11.
ESPN dogs are not giving a single chance to Argentina. I hope we win this world cup especially for those Media barking.
to bench Lo celso would be crazy, considered the situation of the Argentia midfield. He has enjoyed a phenomenal season in France, however, migrating from his position at enganche to become a reliable presence in the middle of the park. Overall, Lo Celso made 33 appearances as a central midfielder, 13 in defensive midfield and only one in the number ten role.
The 22-year-old has acted as a fulcrum throughout the season, scoring in the French Cup final as well as the title-securing win over Monaco, which suggests an aptitude for the biggest games of them all.
Giovani Lo Celso’s Ligue 1 by numbers:
91% passing accuracy
58 tackles won
34 take-ons
18 chances created
16 interceptions
5 assists
4 goals
I dont think Lo Celso will be benched. Lot of guys in this site are over reacting. i see Messi hattrick if we play lo celso and pavon against Iceland. We need Messi closer to goal, so he can score goals and get momentum. However I hate to see Di maria shooting from impossible angle when there is team mates waiting for tapins.
Argentina coaches are anti young players. Very obvious, no brainer.
I don’t think he’s against young player, I think he spent time with this guys he know what to expected them mentally (WC chock) from this young player; as we all remember Lo celso against Real Madrid ” he literally shake like that was hes first time” the same happen to Messi too throwing up, obviously that doesn’t make them a bad player but the coach fail them. a player like meza would have such problem, some this people doesn’t understand, sometime some injury are not just physical, it can be mental, adapted or intimidation; there could be multiple reason not stated your best player not technicalities.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHxMtUgaGmE
exclusive interview!
Some people on Mundo believe that Aguero is the best striker we have. But when it comes to choosing the striker that plays against Iceland they go for Higuain. Why? They claim that Finished-and-Flop Higuain is good only for easy and less pressured games such as the group games. They want Aguero to play in KO matches since he can handle the pressure to a great extent.
I really can’t understand and will ever struggle to understand the logic behind such a mentality. Here is my question:
Do Argentina have any guarantee to play the KO matches? I think we all agree on the answer which is No. So why don’t we use Aguero from the beginning in order to have a bigger chance to score more goals and then qualify for the Round-of-16?
Messi, Aguero, and Dybala can score the goals we need if the team plays collective football. No need for blind tortoise HEAVYAIN!!!
Since Aguero is coming back from an injury, I’m not sure if he should be used from the start. He had to drop out of tournament in the middle many a time in the past, so we should be cautious with him.
I would use Higuain more in the group stage and use Aguero more in KO. So that we would have a fresh, fully fit Aguero for the knock outs.
IMHO, we would need Aguero badly in the KO, not during the group stage.
As you said there is no guarantee that we will reach the knockout stage. But if we don’t plan well, all of our players would be exhausted by the time KO reaches. In case we don’t get a positive result from the first game (which I’m sure won’t happen), we could use Aguero from the second game right?
Btw, I don’t think Higuain is as bad as you think. Not long ago, Allegri benched Dybala, but played Higuain upfront. That says something.
I understand your point, but not convinced with the plan of using Higuain more in group state, and using Aguero in KO. Then Every big team Coach should follow such system like as follows:
Firmino in Group, Jesus in KO; Rodrigo in Group, Costa in KO; Gomez in Group, Werner in KO; Bathshuaye in Group, Lukaku in KO; Vardy in Group, Kane in KO.
See, such things dont happening in other big teams. They will use their no. 1 striker all time, with proper plan of substitution in the group round matches. Unless that striker would frustrate like hell in those round, the coach would always prefer him all through the tournament.
if Argentina cant win against Iceland they wont move to the next phase; Iceland is the weaker team in the group. if they don’t move to the next stage, they don’t deserved it bottom line.
No Iceland is not Nigeria is the weakest team
I think sampaoli in the beginning will bank on the old guard. We will not play well and there will be pressure to make changes. Sampaoli has no problem to flip flop. He has done that a 1000 times this year. During the tournament we will find our team and then we will maybe win the world cup. This is my hope to win the world cup.
Hopefully it is not too late by that time.
Any body remember Iceland vs Peru 1-3 Peru, Iceland vs Mexico 3-0 Mexico, every team in Latin American beat them, if Argentina can’t beat them we don’t even need to watch this WC.
EXACTLY.
well said.
Those are friendlies and they will play differently and they missed their best player Sigurdsson.
I agree, but playing in europe and sa conditions are not same
Argentina always struggle against defensive teams and our players don’t shoot from distance even Messi doesn’t shoot from distance.we had lanzini but now he is gone .we have dybala who can shoot but will not start for sure.remember the Iran game last wc and Iceland is better than Iran.they beat England and drew with Portugal.they beat Croatia in wc qualifiers.
Why can’t Meza and Lo Celso play together? Why either one of them can start. Is it really hard to include both of them as starters?
Why would Sampa used them at the first day of this big event, against Iceland there’s a process.
No he can use them in Nigeria game when that game doesn’t matter if we are trailing behind qualifying. Great logic.
Theoretically, it’s possible as both Meza and Lo Celso are dynamic players and they have both played at DM. So they can both play without making the defense vulnerable.
But the problem is Football doesn’t work in theories and Sampa hasn’t got enough time to test it practically.
It’s easy to understand why would he want to replace one of them with Enzo or Biglia. I hope in such cases, he uses Enzo as Biglia doesn’t pass the ball forward.
The Catalan paper, claims Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli has decided to start Sergio Aguero over the Old Lady’s strikers who managed 49 goals in all competitions last season.
Guys, these things happen remember 2014 kun was injured/sick when he came for the WC. Still we manged to reach finals. Have patience with Sampa. I hope he is trying various combinations which will be useful n some stage. Be positive n our positive vibe should reach out to the players…
My team for Opening game vs Iceland:
Higuain – Messi
DiMaria – Lo Celso – Mascherano – Meza
Tagliafico – Fazio – Otamendi – Salvio
Armani
Subs:
Aguero for Higuain
Pavon for DiMaria
Enzo for Meza
An attacking team with cautious approach. This is a must win game. We need to find a goal early. If we don’t, the pressure would get in and Iceland might sneak a win through a corner.
vs Croatia:
Higuain – Messi
DiMaria – Enzo – Mascherano – Lo Celso
Tagliafico – Fazio – Otamendi – Mercado
Armani
Subs:
Aguero for Higuain
Pavon for DiMaria
Meza for Lo Celso
vs Nigeria:
Aguero – Messi
DiMaria – Lo Celso – Mascherano – Meza
Tagliafico – Rojo – Otamendi – Mercado
Armani
subs:
Replace Messi with Dybala at HT if we are winning
Pavon for Dimaria
LoCelso for Meza
KO:
Aguero – Messi
Pavon – Lo Celso (Enzo) – Mascherano – Meza
Tagliafico – Fazio – Otamendi – Salvio (Mercado)
Armani
Note: Enzo would play for either Lo Celso or Meza and Mercado for Salvio if we play against superior teams such as Brazil, Germany, Spain etc.
The Catalan paper, in fact, claims Argentina boss Jorge Sampaoli has decided to start Sergio Aguero over the Old Lady’s strikers who managed 49 goals in all competitions last season.
Yes, If we lose the first game I don’t see us recover from that! We have to win it no matter what. If we lose against Iceland and play against Croatia in a do or die game then we are doomed!!It will be 2002 all over again except last game was our do-or-die game back then. All the blame will go on Messi’s head and rest will just sneak out from the back door as usual. I am sure Sampaoli knows the consequences of losing the first game and therefore he will start his best XI! It will be too early to bash Sampaoli without even kicking a ball in the world cup. Yes he went for some players that should never have been picked which I still can’t comprehend when we clearly had better options but I’ll wait until the end of first game before bashing his tactics. There is no point criticizing him over the different formations and strategies he tried in the training sessions. I am confident that only one out of Biglia,Masch and Banega will start and Locelso and Meza will be the other two Mids. Also if Aguero is fully fit he will start over Higuain. If we happen to win first 2 games,which I am sure we will , then Sampaoli will go with the likes of Dybala,Banega,Enzo etc in the last game against Nigeria. Most importantly the form of Rojo, Higuain , Mercado ,Masch and Biglia will define our world cup. If they play good we will do good or else we will be knocked out in the quarters.
The worst thing I’ve done in my life while waiting for a world cup to begin was listening to TYC SPORTS today …man how can a well known tv/press bashing the team like that and we didn’t even start the tournament yet? I’m literally shaking right now trying to write this. They say Sampaoli doesn’t have a plan, we can forget about beating croacia because their coach said so and even if we get to second round we can’t beat teams like France or Spain .. but as a true ARGENTINA team I can guarantee a victory I feel it coming I can definitely sense it ,the fact that everyone is writing us off makes it even better ..idk if you guys watch American football/NFL the press used to bash the Eagles the same way they are bashing Argentina right now and guess what happen they won the Super Bowl beating the patriots yes the great patriots coach by one of the best to ever put a team together…Argentina is going to win the damn thing yes we are going to win it and shut all them up
I told you so, selecting this Bartender from the first place was a disastrous decision, now Sampaoli can play with only 22 players in the tournament. Awesome plan.
espnfc article on Argentina .
http://www.espn.com/soccer/club/argentina/202/blog/post/3521066/argentina-world-cup-preparation-full-of-scandal-and-chaos
Sampaoli wanted to proceed with his style hight press. The press can create attacking chances, but it can also leave a defense exposed if an opponent can pass through it. To effectively play such an aggressive, hard-running style, Sampaoli may opt for neither Aguero nor longtime Argentine starter Gonzalo Higuain, but rather Higuain’s club teammate Paulo Dybala, who has scored 38 non-penalty goals for Juventus in the last two seasons, playing primarily behind the striker. Dybala offers less pure goal-scoring ability than Aguero and Higuain, but he is younger and provides energy and creativity for a manager whose team must run all day long. Messi at 30 is already unable to press as he used to, and pairing him with another old striker risks blowing up Sampaoli’s plan before it gets started.
I have seen it . In my opinion Not a reliable article. But if it’s like that way, good. Me too prefer dybala. He shoots better than both. But no evidence to suggest that sampoli will try him.
Will c.
Higuain can press better than any striker we have but he can’t score either.
Iceland game is a must win game! I don’t want to play Croatia and have to beat them to qualify. losing points against Iceland is not an option.
Yes it’s a very critical game if we lose it’s a disaster
EXACTLY.
I don’t think we should worry too much about iceland match . It will be the pressure of first match nothing more.
yes true. i think that way too.
especially if we score quick in first half i believe we will win 4-0 or something like that.
Hahaha you guys think wc is cakewalk lol.this Iceland side beat England drew with Portugal in euro.beat Croatia in wc qualifiers.you think its Haiti.let me tell you first two matches will be the toughest match and I’m really scared.
sorry my friend but i don t afraid at all.
that was 2 years before but despite that Iceland is very poor team from technical point of view
.
they will park the bus as they did then too. if we score early first then the game is over. they are playing physical game and they run a lot.
beyond that nothing.
we can t compare ourselves with Iceland. it is embarrassing even to think it.
If Argentina can’t beat Iceland, then we can’t be taking about winning WC.
I don’t we should worry too much about iceland match . It will be the pressure of first match nothing more.
Mache and biglia, uhhhh… whatever i just hope we win the WC… hoping lo celso for biglia atleast first game .. I hope sampi gets a little creative..
If we go till the final of 2018 WC, I think almost all our 20 players (excluding GKs) will get some playing time. In the last WC, except August Fernandez and two GKs, all other 20 players got some playing time, and the least playing time was for Ricky Alvarez who replaced Messi in the Nigeria match at 63rd minute. Basically, all 23 need to be sharp. It is immaterial to discuss a lot on who are playing in the training session.
Yes. True
.
Argentina2018 won’t agree with you.
Off the Topic, Sorry, Hey anybody knows good Streaming websites which works well in UAE. I know ROJADIRECTA but anything better guys?? I can only watch Matches in my old Laptop :((
Try the spps of channel which broadcast.
No idea about UAE.
In India we have JioTv & Sony Liv..
Works on pc as well..
U r an indian how can u be cristian pavon fan . Do u watch argentinian leagues?
Yes I’m also Indian and watching Argentinian league although through highlights in YouTube some of my favorite teams are Boca, river, indiepidiente, Velez etc.
you can t have favorite teams Boca and River.
or you are with us or with the others 🙂 🙂 🙂
i am jokeing of course my friend 🙂
you can like whatever you want 🙂
just happened i am River plate supporter 🙂
Yes. Used to watch boca matches . I like Pavon. not a pavon fan in particular. I support all Argentina players playing in all leagues. But i like his style
till today i was like you because your opinions was well spoted
but from now on i don t like you anymore 🙂 🙂 🙂
because i am River plate supporter.
i am jokeing my friend 🙂 🙂 🙂
i just make fun 🙂
Go for total sportek.
Lanzini injury has put us in a great crisis, Now Banega is not 100 Percent(In this situation he should have been replaced by LAMELA a player similar to LANZINI), Now the Only Creative midfielders who can control the Midfield is MEZA & LO CELSO, If these 2 plays together and clicks for us then it would reduce so much burden from Messi’s shoulder, ENZO(A very useful addition to the Midfield), BIGLIA, MASCHE all r defensive. PAVON, ACUNA, SALVIO, DI MARIA (We cant count him) all r Wingers so basically our only hope is MEZA & LO CELSO to control the midfield, that is a tough ask from both (They have hardly played for us, Frankly saying i don’t think Lo Celso can handle against tougher opponents ( I like Lo Celso a lot but i still think he is too Raw(My opinion) . MEZA meanwhile will be the Key Player he is matured by age and has character which he already showed against a far tougher side like Spain. I think we are now in a box. As of Now its not looking good because of Lanzini & Banega situation. Hope for the best. All the best to all.
I agree with you. But if Lo Celso can do well in group stages.. he can evolve & mature during the tournament.. we don’t need too many creative players.. if meza n lo celso do fine… it’s ok
During the tournament Sampaoli will be forced to make changes but I hope it will not be too late. Flip flop manager, his statements and decisions dont mean anything. He is biplolar. Dont be surprised of his actions because he doesnt stick to his plan, anyway he said in his book he doesnt like to plan.
off topic: Pitana will be the referee of the opening match.
Masche Biglia pair is insanity. Disgrace from Sampaoli. Whenever they become Argentina manager, they become clueless.
The tournament has not started and our bartender is already having calf injury and muscle fatigue. What can we expect from him I don’t know. If we go all the way by the time the tournament is over he won’t be able to get up from bed. It is safer to replace him with Paredes or Centurion or even Perotti
You are right. He is one of the injury prone player. We have too many such.
I wonder all other teams boggers will be see their teams as we see our team and coache. !!! I have only one team and I don’t know what other teams fans say. But we have to agree our team boggers have too much knowledge about football especially about Argentinian football.
There is only 1 message I want to send to Samapoli: take the risk and nobody will blame if it doesn’t work. We tried so many young promising players like Acuna, Pavon, Lo Celso and we finally don’t use them. It’s a shame.
We should not draw into conclusions from these training sessions. However, I must confess I fear Sampaoli playing double pivot (or 3 men defense & a DM) to bolster the defense which is a weakness for us.
I hope and pray Lo Celso plays. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be Messi’s team (a team created for Messi) as Sampaoli himself promised. This would be Masche’s team as in the last WC (esp in the KO).
I would like Sampaoli not to be pragmatic and play offensive football by keeping one of Masche or Biglia on the bench. I just wanna tell him: TRUST MESSI
Giving the team to any player is not good thing. Wheter it’s Mascherano ore Messi. None of them is coach. Great player doesn’t have to be good coach. What for we have taken one of the best coaches of the world – to see him giving his function to Messi?
I may only repeat: Messi being best player of the world still is not able to win the WC alone. He may win a group matches in the way but anything more can be did only colectively.
@Gonzalo, you didn’t get my point it seems. When I said it’s Messi team or Mascherano team, I don’t mean they call the shots. But the coach setting up a team central to a particular player. It’s true that with the current players, we can’t have a team where both excel. (There is still a chance in the case of Messi that’s why the coach goes that route)
Messi needs players like Lo Celso, Meza and Salvio etc behind to play his best game.
Mascherano needs players like Mercado, Biglia, Enzo around to play the best defensive game.
Our previous coaches opted to bolster defense and thus Mascherano became the central player. Hence, Mashe’s team. Messi was able to carry till the KO stage even with that team, but since then Mascherano took over understandably.
I want this to be Messi’s team. Again it doesn’t mean the team is selected by Messi as some may mistake, but having the right players around to bring the best out of Messi.
@Malabari
Ok, now I understand. My english still is limping
Now I even agree
No probs 🙂
This Argentina team was never Messi’s team.its always mascherano’s team.he always calling the shots.before wc 2010 maradona said this is mascherano side.its mascherano and 10 other players.sampaoli still prefer mascherano’ partner in the team rather than messi’s partner.
No , maradona said we have carlos tevez and 10 other players.
you are completely wrong. there is not such a thing. Messi and Mascherano is from 2006 in the same page. they control the locker room. they are not in different side. just opposite.
As much as I love Maradona the player, I hate him as our coach.
He ruined our team when we had Messi flying (his dribbling speed has reduced since) as a goal scorer. Messi was played in a team that had no creativity in the midfield and some of the players were even past their prime (Maradona selected Veron instead of Riquleme, what a joke). Messi should have been played as a false 9 or atleast as a second striker in that tournament.
Maradona should not have played Tevez since he had no chemistry with Messi. Many a time, he even collided with Messi as he moved in the direction Messi moved rather than moving in the opposite direction. Such was their chemistry, lol. Maradona should have played the only AM in the team, the inexperienced but talented Pastore, instead of Tevez.
In fact, that squad was itself joke. Packed with forwards (6 forwards). Maradona didn’t select Zanetti, Cambiasso, Gago along with Riquelme. All of these players were playing for big teams during that time. Although in Riquleme’s case, part of the blame should goto himself too as he rejected an earlier call by Maradona because the latter criticized him.
When you look at the squad, its easy to understand why Argentina lost out in the QF stage. And that’s why, we all have hope this time and even in 2014. Our squad and team were much more balanced in 2014. And even more balanced in 2018. Yet, the squad is still only 80% balanced now, but that is due to the lack of quality players from GK to Midfield. If this squad is a lot more balanced than 2010, you can assume the level in 2010, LOL.
At first, I also misinterpreted your comment.
Actually you have told the most logical reason why Lo Celso is MUST for the team. We need more attacking creativity in the midfield behind Messi so that Messi can deliver perfectly. Creative support by Lo Celso from behind and Meza (or even Dybala or Salvio) from right, Messi and Kun can be so explosive in our attack!
I hope Sampaoli should not miss such attacking opportunity, bcos he is known as an attacking-minded coach.
That is right. Messi will be most dangerous if other our players will draw attention away from him.
Though the other side of this problem is wheter our new players like Lo Celso or Meza will not be too much concentrated on Messi looking for him everytime instead making optimal decision – wheter pass or dribble and to whom pass or dribble. I saw many times before the supposed creative partners for Messi in midfield that turned into attendants without much initiative.
If Di Maria performs well, I am sure those optimal passes would not go in vein. Moreover, Messi always take the right position in the right moment, so I hope most of the optimal passes will find Messi anyhow.
However, if it were Pavon instead of Di Maria, we would not have problem with those passes.
Lets see how these young kids perform. All my hopes depend on how these 3 kids links with Messi, especially in KO.
May I should have been more clear. 🙂
This is the team I dream of from KO stage.
Aguero – Messi
Pavon – Lo Celso – Mascherano – Meza
Tagliafico – Fazio – Otamendi – Salvio
Armani
For this to happen, all of Aguero, Pavon, Lo Celso, Meza, Fazio, Salvio & Armani would have to perform well during the group stage and earn their starting position. Instead of playing Biglia and going for double pivot or 3 at the back, I would rather have Lo Celso, Meza & Pavon play more defensively than they do usually. All of them can do that. That will not only make our defense solid, but also make our midfield strong. (with Messi, & 2 full backs, we will have 7 at the midfield, even Spain would find it difficult to take control over us).
Initially, this could seem like the team is weakened defensively, but having Lo Celso, Meza & Pavon play deeper would solve it. As you know, all of them played at advanced position against Spain. So when Spain counter attacked, there were only 2 aging DMs & an out of shape defense in front of them. No wonder they shipped 6 goals. Also, Salvio wouldn’t attack as much as he attacked against Haiti in case you wonder.
That would be some team and kind of unstoppable.
As per some source if salvio started then biglia as salvio when attack biglia will drop deep to protect the defense, where marcado start since marcado defensive minded so lo celso will start along with mascherano.
Then no point starting salvio.start Mercado and play locelso.its not Haiti .its a top European side who will easily tackle salvio.
I think we can start both Lo Celso and Salvio against Iceland who won’t do much attack. They rely mainly on set pieces. They are effective in that aspect. Most of the goals scored by them were headers. We can bring Fazio to counter that head.
Yes you’re totally right. I have actually noticed that too from his lineups.. Wheneve salvio is featured in the starting 11, Samp always introduces the double pivot of Masch and Biglia to balance out the formation and buffer the defense. Personally, I don’t think salvio is necessary when you already have a winger in Meza on that side. So it might be best to opt for Lo Celso who is excellent at initiating the attack. He wastes no time pushing forward unlike Biglia or Masch (mainly Biglia) who always tends to slow down any attacking opportunities.
Messi, Caballero, Rojo, Otamendi, Fazio, Mercado, Ansaldi, Biglia, Mascherano, Higuain, Aguero, Di Maria, Enzo，Banega, Guzman and Armani will probably be playing their last games for Argentina in this world cup. After the cup, Sampaoli will be free to rebuild the team and take it from there.
Everyone remember there are game to game tactical decisions based on our opponents… starting XI against Iceland wouldn’t be the same against Nigeria for example! where we will need more speed out of our midfield against Nigeria and a more physical doble 5 against Iceland …
“stay calm and Vamos argentina!”
-TM
First of all we must not conceed goals against Iceland. So I don’t mind we back to double pivot. If it was in 2014 Macherano and Biglia together would be at least some guarantee of solid defence but now…?!
It should be Mascherano – Lo Celso. Biglia is no guarantee of good destruction. Mascherano and Lo Celso as well. Though Mascherano is always better destroyer than Biglia (I have some hope he will be much better when it’s going to tournament) while Lo Celso for sure better than Biglia in construction.
The problem is: Sampaoli, just like previous coaches in critical moment is backing to starting position as if playing with Biglia, Macherano, Higuain, Di Maria were guarantee of anything while it is not.
These are 2 primitive defensive reflex of our coaches:
1. Back to the oldies
2. if the oldies are not enough reduce the team to Messi and wait what happen
Though I ha still hope Lo Celso, Meza, Aguero and even Salvio will start.
I guess the reason he is using biglia-mascherano is because he want to use salvio as rb and going for attack from wide areas. In this way they have defensive stability.
Having said that I too want lo celso instead of Biglia
I just thought exactly the same. He takes Biglia instead of Lo Celso because of taking more offensive Salvio over Mercado. This is his idea of have balanced team that. He thinks probably who is going to give more in attack Salvio or Lo Celso.
In my opinion Lo Celso is the best player in our squad after Messi. His linking and passing is top class and that is a very important element which is missing in our game for a long time. I do hope he starts because I think he can be a deciding factor of a game.
Why Mascherano and Biglia?Lo celso and Enzo Perez would be best for this team.Masche and Biglia should come as sub’s in 80 minute.We already have lost Lanzini so our attacking threat has already suffered.Enzo is better than Meascherano who can only pass the long balls.Enzo and Lo celso are best in providing build up.Messi’s pass to Augreo are very lethal.Why Caballero..Armani is better.Only good addition is Rojo over Fazio.We may win the match against Iceland but Biglia and Masche as starter is big no if we have likes of Lo celso and Enzo.Lo celso is the most creative midfielder of our squad but with Messi Augreo Do maria Meza otamendi and Salvio we gonna win the match vs iceland.Biglia Masche can not take us far they are good for wasting time.Sampoli do not make any mistake it is the thing which comes after four long years.
I remember Sampaoli’s 1st games with Argentina, with lot of new idea, innovation, possession football and lots of creative midfielders. By the end, he finished with the same players and same style as before: Double pivot Maschereno-Biglia, we let Messi fix everything. To me it seems like we go back to the initial point, all the work done during this year do not really serve.
I hope locelso starts.if again biglia-mascherano starts I will give up for this team and will prepare myself for a group league or 2nd round exit.i had a lots of hope and again reason for our downfall is our coach.sampaoli is spineless and I can see some external factor effecting our team selection.even selection of caballero as he is 37 years old doesn’t make sense.after 6-1 we didn’t drop rojo or caballero and again planning to play that dreadful biglia-mascherano pair.that too when everybody knows Iceland will not attack us.ridiculous.biglia is unfit still picked so why drop Romero?// that’s called politics and unfair.
Ya dude.
Caballero is old. He got 137 caps for Argentina, because he was Friendly with messi.
In a YouTube video, at 13:03:43 i saw messi Hugging Caballero.
It’s all politics. Messi is defeating this team.
We have 43-50 World Class Goalkeepers, who have great great experience of playing in World Class Tournaments like UCL, first class Leagues like Laliga, EPL..
Still Messi insisting Caballero. What a great tragedy. We will lose all games in group stage.
Because Coach (who don’t know anything about Winning a tournament) is not using the players & line up which i decided to use after watching secret training videos in YouTube & reading Ole, Tyc etc papers…
What a tragedy Argentina!
what a pitious remark it is !!!
Biglia and mascherano are slow and should play together against teams like Nigeria, Spain, Croatia, Germany, Brasil. Yet against a team like Iceland, a physical but not fast team, it is suitable.
Guys come on dont panic. Sampaoli knows what he is doing. We need to trust him. The last time rojo and otamendi played together they were marvellous. They also had the best pair of midfield in front of them biglia and mascherano who are dominating the world of football for years. The only problem I see Meza. He should not start because he could not cross well to higuain against Spain so he forced the best striker of the world Do the unthinkable and miss a chance. Happily the best crosser who crosses most accurately di maria is back so meza should be benched for beneha who i hope will be fit. Guys why are you making a fuss about lo celso, he is simply not ready his world cup will be 2026 because because even in 2022 he will be to young we need him to benover thirty to get his experience and than we can tslk about starting. So shut up and support the team or you are not an Argentina fan.
Well said
Satire is a good response to misery
Haha…
I think it is very stupid of people to think lo celso wont be starting starting the game guys is it is just the training lo celso is the best midfielder we have and even sam Paoli knows it so I can bet it 100% he start the midfield so no need to panic guys
Banega should have been sent home. He has no business in this team, let alone his injury.
Higuain the sole striker is sick and disgusting.
‘Lo Celso is not a starter is a suicidal plan from the coach to keep all young players subs and gamble with old fart folks
The goal keeper is weak and that adds even more pressure to our defenders.
Sampaoli changed his philosophy when he was coaching chile. Now he relies hardly on deadwoods and leaving the best players to warm the bench.
dont be too panic, Banega is fine and can be used as a subs. Sampaoli knows what and why he is doing all on the training. I’m sure Lo Celso definitely will be the starting XI, he has build a good link to Messi. Sampa will not go to Masche – Biglia double pivot, too risky unless we are leading.
Meza, Pavon and Lo Celso plus Dybala are the unknown that can bring creativity and new dimension to the team -something that we missed in 2014. Just pray that Kun will stay healthy and will score many goals.
Not again. Lanzini is injured , if banega will be out there will be no creativity in the midfield then defenders and CDM will keep short passing and will spoil the game.
What? 😂
Were you counting Banega as a starter.
If so, how can Satisfy all you great great managers.. ?
I am not counting banega as a starter but he will be a good sub.
We need speed on the wings… whether Dimaria and Meza or if you put Pavon in there .. the speed will allow Messi space in the middle or will create passing lane for Messi to create space through quick lateral runs by our wingers!
Tomorrow if Sampaoli decides to rest Messi and play Dybala instead in the training session I am sure you guys will think Messi is going to be benched and right away start cursing Sampaoli!! Whats wrong with you guys? No wonder all the good bloggers prefer to stay silent on this blog. The headline is Banega is still injured and you are fighting about why sampa chose this lineup for the training session yesterday? Already Banega when fit offers very little to the team and now world cup is 2 days away and he is still not fit. Unfit players should worry us more not the formations and combinations in a training session.
+1
🙂
People are too impatient mate! They tend to get signals where there is no transmission 🙂
Said it and probably 100times, the high is too high and the low is too low, its either doom and gloom OR woohooo we’re going to win the WC, guaranteed. I honestly come here to check out the latest news before anywhere else and for entertainment purposes and yes, I’m being sarcastic, but definitely not for a rational and meaningful discussion.
Basic nature of being negative, habit of impatience & crying crying & crying..
Interest to spoil the mood… We know everything but those (even if it’s Sampoli & Leo messi of football) guys no nothing attitude….
We can’t do anything but being sympathetic with these guys.
I even saw someone say “Messi’s weakness is shooting..” SHOOTING!! 😀 😀 :D. What else can you expect from these people? 🙂
😂😂😂
The person who says this has no idea of football. These people turn up during big tournaments.
Good point.. sampaoli knows what he is doing… intergrating players into the system and starting XI to see how there interact and react. Banega will be back training with the group Wednesday/Thursday. Reported by Olé.
Lo Celso is a brilliant player, and for me, without a doubt, he is Argentina’s best midfielder. He is very creative, mobile and regularly creates chances. How could Sampa prefer Mascherano and Biglia?
4 days left. really i can t wait anymore 🙂
last night i was watching old games of our team from 1986 and 1990 world cups 🙂
i am like drug addicted anymore 🙂
i can t wait till saturday 🙂
Same here bro..I travelled all the way to Goa (equivalent of Las Vegas in India). Now down few Budweisers as I type this. Am I the only one seeing an aura behind Messi’s Head. My God Messi…..
Haha nice. Mohanlal bro..
Cheers
I hate waking up and reading this shit. HOW many DAMN FU***NG TIMES do we have to play that double pivot slow as shit Masche and Biglia to realize that lineup provides ZERO for our forwards up front? I swear Mascherano and Biglia must have naked pictures of somebody in the AFA for these coaches to become stupid overnight.
I NEVER HOPE for injury but something has to change to prevent Biglia and Masche playing together. Ridiculous bullshit. Now we can pass the ball side to side for 87 fucking minutes and hope for a Messi miracle.
Win Lose or Draw, the best thing about this world cup is this will be the last time I have to see Higuain, DiMaria, Mascherano, Biglia, and a slew of other players that are not well rounded and keep getting shot over and over again.
Bigilia is still not 100 percent fit, I heard he has some problems with his back. I doubt he will start.
Lol… I feel your pain but have faith in sampaoli.. now these old farts have youth mixed in with the likes of Meza, loCelso, dybala, salvio, Pavon and Tagliafico.
Guys chill… it’s not absolutely necessary that the second training XI will be the exact same one turning up for the World Cup matches. Lo Celso has started all of our current friendlies and is a good fit into the Sampaoli system, he would be real foolish to drop him.
Pavon and Meza too have impressed, and Samp isn’t a fool to persist with Rojo only, Spain showed that. Fazio will get his spot, sure.
Enzo Perez’s work and experience will not be ignored, surely at all.
Dybala has a role in this team’s strategy, of course that’s why he was picked over Icardi despite the fewer goals.
He’s just splitting the group of 23 into two such that both have chemistry with each other, so even the substitutes know what they have to do when they are off the bench and rotations of the squad doesn’t affect the team, and it’s not a necessity that only players of one group will get selected either.
Take a chill pill and relax!
You guys are fricking out on rumours, lets wait until the official final XI is announced
Till then, enjoy the training sessions
BTW I’m tired of waiting, WORLD CUP PLEASE START ALREADY!! PLEASE!
Hope you are right friend
1) Armani
Ansaldi Fazio Otamendi Tagliafico
Locelso Masche Meza
Messi Pavon
Kun
2)
Cabellero
Otamendi -Masche -Rojo
Salvio LOCELSO Acuna
Messi MEZA Pavon
AGUERO
First one is exactly my preferred squad, only differs in formation – i prefer 4-2-3-1 formation with this squad (Armani; Ansaldi, Otamendi, Fazio, Tagliafico; Mascherano, Lo Celso; Meza, Messi, Pavon; Aguero).
I hope Sampaoli would also place the starting eleven in 4-2-3-1 formation against Iceland with couple of changes (Salvio instead of Ansaldi, Di Maria instead of Pavon; and might be Caballero instead of Armani)
You don’t want to have 7 first time World Cup players in the starting line up … experience is needed. So maybe 4or 5new timers
i saw the training video…. it was 3-3-3-1….
if iceland play back 3 we have to attack on the wings more …. thats why he chooses this line up….
—————————————–cabellero————————
——————-mache———————–otamendi—————————rojo—————
—salvio————————————-biglia——————————————taglifico————
—-meza————————–messi———————————dimaria———————
———————————————aguero————————————————
so dont worry about mache and biglia combination………. i trust sampaolli…… wait and watch the syntalating attack…. performence from argentina…. goals will flow………….
Lo Celso deserves to be in the starting 11. He is the best midfielder Argentina has.
Lo Celso impressed so much in midfield position that I could not even think of him out of the starting eleven!
I really wish Sampa would not do such stupidity!
it is not a starting lineup…
as i am said already….. locelso and lanzini is very important to argentina… one gone…
sampaolli know this very well…. he will use this formation… in middle stage of the game… untill banega gets full fitness… i am sure…. meza and locelso… will be in the starting 11… after 55 minutes… pavon replace dimaria…
i know sampaoli very welll….. otamendi messi aguero locelso definitely sure starters for me….
this is nothing but glorified 3-5-2
I think this is a good line up but again I don’t like the pairing of mascherano and biglia I think lo celso is for better then then in terms of creativity and is young and faster.
But Iceland would not start with back 3.
They will play against us with either 4-4-2 or 4-2-3-1 for sure.
If Locelso not in starting Xi ,
as reports are coming it is very disappointing .
We lost Lanzini already so Locelso should start atleast.
But I have faith in Sampaoli strategy
Hope he will use first 50-60 minutes of Masche Biglia
Then he may introduce Locelso,Pavon etc..
If Sampaoli wants to create a team around Messi then he should play Pavon and Lo Celso. Also Armani is much better than Caballero please make him start.
Let’s just have faith in Sampa
He’ll get the best players of these two teams from training…
a proper 3-5-2 looks better than this formation. Three CBs, Salvio and Tagliafico as wings, Mascherano No.5, Lo Celso and Meza as CM, Messi and Aguero upfront
personaly i hate that system.
reminds me 2002.
and imagine that back then the roster of 2002 was much much more good than the present.
for not say that the 2002 roster was one of the best we had ever.
i don t know but i hate that system.
Sampoli should go lamela or Angel Corria insted of Banega..
Team is selected friend
Yes he can did that specifically after injury news….
But he has faith in Banega
May be that’s why he prefer him
If its true i think sampaoli is looking for a plan B to implement a 3 men defence.masche will be playing a libero and biglia will be the no.5 to open up wide play by making free tagliafico and salvio more up to the pitch….
But sad to see lo celso missing…lets see all the permutations and combinations in the training.he might be using it in open door to confuse the opponents too…who knows…!!
I still think lo celso will start against iceland….
Very pathetic if Locelso miss to start due to Masche Biglia double pivot
Salvio may be the reason Sampoli trying Biglia instead of Lo Celso. With Salvio instead of Mercado, it is certainly a plus point in attack against Bus parkers..
Fazio would have been a plus point, considering the height of Iceland players..
Corners & other set pieces will be crucial, especially since we don’t have Romero.
Now its my turn to congratulate you to find out the main reason to drop Lo Celso. ‘Mind-blowing’ tactical analysis that Biglia could be better instead of Lo Celso if Salvio plays. How come you guys so easily agree with the exile of Lo Celso with his current form? Its really amazing! Congratulations once again
I agree with you….
Lo celso has to start the midfield in the absence of lanzini he is highly creative and has been consistent in recent friendlies he has been involved in three of the Hiati goals Argentina don’t have chance without a player of this quality that is why is starting every game in PSG and the midfield should be mascherano and locelco also with Di Maria Messi and salvio or meza affront with Aguero as Central striker
Well said…very true. Argentian almost for a decade lacks a midfielder like Lo Celso…Thats why all the pressure had to borne by Messi himself. But now Lo Celso’s presence and creativity will surely release some pressure from Messi’s shoulder.
Sir, there is called tactics, which is different for different matches.
Of course, sam used 3_3_3_1 line up.
With Salvio & tagliafico in advanced role & biglia making it 3 cover line.
There will be limitations to use Lo Celso however talented , in that set up. It might be little tougher than drawing conclusions from YouTube videos.
Since sampoli knows one or two things about winning Tournaments, the better thing for a better minded people to do is, show some patience & first see the output of what he tried
Listen, first of all, I only told about my sensation of a rocky relationship between Lo Celso and Messi outside the football ground from those Youtube training videos. Go and check that comment of mine again, where I did not talk about any tactics. So every time you dont need to talk about Youtube Managers bla bla.
Anyways, I still believe whatever formation/tactics Sampaoli could choose, Lo Celso is a MUST starter. He can quite easily be a part of this so-called 3-3-3-1 formation instead of Biglia, or any other formation Sampa prefers.
Finally I just have one question to you: if Sampaoli dropped Messi from starting eleven for tactical reason, due to limitation to utilize Messi in spite of how much talent he possesses, would you agree with that? This is highly unlikely though, but I just want your answer, would you disagree with this tactical move, or you should stay calm and patiently wait for the outcome?
The simple answer is, Lo celso is a great player, a workd class. It’s a joy to watch him. But he’s not that great, like Messi to sacrifice tactics/ build tactics around him. It is as simple as that.
Said that, i also, like you hope Lo Celso will start because it’s a joy to watch him, he’s better for messi…
My only point was it’s not right to rely on practice training set ups & whatever little information we have to draw conclusions about the team & sampoli. They are professionals. I am not saying, “so don’t question them”. I am just saying wait for at least the first match or the official confirmation of Formations…
Try to avoid building on silly Rumours & fake narratives like messi choosing friends over World cup glory n all..
If i get personal in my comments, i apologize, that wasn’t my intention. But I’m seeing too much negativity here n there without a solid reason..
Some where yesterday complaining Mercado over Ansaldi.
Some were crying on top, that sampoli preferring Higuain over Aguero..
What happened to those… These are just different news coming out. Let’s wait for a little more.. do enjoy this build up. Have fun.
.
Vamos Argentina.
However, there is not a single excuse to bench Lo Celso. He is Argentina’s most creative midfielder.
Pathetic.I’m scared and dissapointed at the same time
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