Hernan CRESPO on Argentina: “Who helped MESSI against Iceland?”

By
Roy Nemer
-
154
Lionel Messi Cristian Ansaldi
Lionel Messi and Cristian Ansaldi with the Argentina National Team.

Argentina legend Hernan CRESPO gave an interview to TyC Sports where he spoke about the team and coach Jorge SAMPAOLI.

Hernan CRESPO knows a thing or two about playing for his country at a World Cup. He was part of the team in 1998 which eliminated England on penalty kicks, was there for the heartbreak of 2002 and the lost to the Germans in 2006 in Berlin. However, the now retired former number 9 gave his thoughts about the Argentina National Team. Here’s what he had to say:

“The first game is very difficult. All the favorites suffered. You know you have been working for the past four years and you play a little bit of it in 90 minutes.

“I’m worried about the National Team because they have very little time to work. We have players to make it (out of the group) and after that to the quarters and move forward. What worries me is not knowing what the team can give. But there’s enough reason to dream. but the match (versus iceland) was meant for dybala.”

In regards to the coach, CRESPO thinks he’s one for a long term project:

“As a coach, I like him and he makes me enthusiastic. But I didn’t agree in giving him the National Team because I think he’s a coach for a long term project. These 10 games are very little in terms of what he can bring for us.”

In a separate interview with La Gazzetta Dello Sport, CRESPO went more indepth on the match saying MESSI was left alone and DI MARIA didn’t have a good match.

“He’s a phenomenon if he’s put in the right conditions, like in Barcelona, otherwise it’s hard for him. Let’s start from a fact. MESSI, as a vote, deserves 5. If he had scored the penalty, I would have given him a 6. Of course we expect more from him, but here the talk is broadened. MESSI is not MARADONA, he doesn’t win a World Cup by himself.

“Who helped MESSI against Iceland? DI MARIA didn’t get away from his marker once. The central midfielders didn’t help. They didn’t play like a team, didn’t move like a team. They were all there waiting for MESSI but it isn’t possible to hand all the responsibility of every action to one player.”

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154 Comments

  1. San Isidro, i always knew that obviously he dont have that great iq in him, but never belived that he will go weeping and be acting like somebody stole his lollypop during the tournament about that he’s been rightfully benched, which i really hope is through !

    NEWS ALERT
    The headless chicken is now complaining on instagram about being benched.

    Screw you DiMaria. Quit pretending like anybody gives a shit about your dead ass runs. They benched your sorry pathetic ass at PSG and finally somebody coaching Argentina may have realized what an absolute piece of shit you are as a player
    And by the way, you got schooled by a 22 year old Boca Juniors player. Now sit down and shut your pie hole you self centered pile of trash

  2. San Isidro, i’m also starting to getting so mad with him that for killing that bastrard, which i quess could easily happen if he has the courage to land there, but i dont think he will ! He will just go hiding to somewhere else until if there is somebody truly after his head will find him, then i wish he ror his sake that he truly knows how to run or defend himself because that would deffinetly be the ultimate end of this sad soap opera saga which is not really looking to have a happy ending ! Still to wish to be wrong, but if we somehow manage to win still i won’t give him that much credit because i just think if we win it will have not that much to do with him rather more because of our players will and have to fight for it, even he should be the one to take control of team and make them win, but so far haven’t really seen nothing more than bad player selection and so called bad “coaching” from him yet and i dont personally think that he has not that much more tactical improvement left in him, unfortunatly ! He might and deffinetly should change players and the way they are performing, but like crespo said there’s not that much time left, so i quess we just all wish 4 miracle to happen that the players them self will find more suitable playing style for Messi as himself has to also participate in that process if they and himself want to get that barca level out of him ! :

    He leaves dybala and Lo Celso out of our line up for acuna salvio and Perez. If we lose Sampaoli better find a different place to live because they will kill that guy the minute he lands in Argentina.
    2 games into the wc and he still can’t figure shit out. This guy overthinks everything and has attention deficit disorder. Complete embarrassment this line up is
    If this is his idea you can expect a DiMaria and banega substitution.
    Pathetic

  3. I hope we play 442/433 going forward with this below first 11:
    Caballero (this dude has to stop palming those balls straight to the opponents and learn how to get hold of the balls)…I don’t know. I think Armani could be a better choice…
    Ansaldi-Otamendi-Fazio-Rojo/Acuna
    Enzo-Banega-Mascherano (with Lo Celso and Meza to sub)
    Messi-Aguero-Pavon

  4. • for me as an Argentina supporter, their was nothing wrong with Argentina style of play versus a team like Iceland.

    • everybody new that Iceland was going to park the bus, and they (Iceland) didn’t just have their eleven players be hind the ball no, Iceland took “parking the bus” to the next level. They (Iceland) had their whole eleven players inside their (Iceland) own box every time Argentina attacked.

    • yes messi should have put that penalty away and he didn’t, but he will make up for that because he can.

    • also I am so happy that aguero stepped up. Congratulations aguero. Now we know Argentina can have more goal scoring quality in that squad that can step up and that was no tap in, no that was aguero trade mark type of goal.

    • a player I would like to see get a chance is ansaldi on right back because of he’s attacking abilities which Argentina needs and same goes for acuna at left back, not that theirs any problems with tagliafico but acuna as for me is Argentina best left back with that attacking and defending quality. As for tagliafico he does not have much attacking quality but he’s defensive work rate is 100%.

    • good to see rojo on he’s game.

    • You have a chance to see Acuna attack on the left with Tagliafico on the left side of defence judging from the new rumoured formation from training.

  5. For the Iceland match, in the first half, I thought I saw a very hungry Messi stealing the ball off Icelandic players by charging from their backs several times and running forward with the ball, making some good passes. Did anyone else see that? I notice no one is talking much about this at all, so now I am doubting whether I have seen correctly.

    Anyway, I think we have discussed a lot these few days. The main problem of the last game was very slow moving of the ball around and not enough width in our attack (Di Maria dribbling aimlessly to the left corner with no penetration) and Salvio not having much activity on the right. And the 2 defensive midfielders not helping much in attack. Meza was promising and trying to make runs (he got us the penalty), but it was not an easy game for the youngster with the packed Icelandic bus and a rather static Argentinian team. From the post-match comments, Sampaoli know all this too, so now let’s hope he can rectify this for the Croatia match.

    I have watched many Barcelona games, Messi is one of the most unselfish superstars I have seen and is very much a team player. He never hogs the ball more then necessary and has always been happy to play his team mates (like Suarez, Neymar, Coutinho, Paulinho etc.) into the game and let them score. When Pavon was active in the Haiti game, Messi was so happy he highlighted this in the post-match interview saying he has found a new partner. In the Iceland match, I see Messi trying to pick a pass while dribbling but it may be because his team mates were too static and not running into space off the ball or that the Icelandic defenders were really crowding out all the spaces. Argentina did not have have a player like Jordi Alba or Dembele or Roberto to use the flanks effectively that day.

    For the penalty, Messi is not having a good spell, that we can all agree on. Maybe Aguero can take the next one.

    And people who appreciate Messi are not blind fans, it is a fact that he is one of the few today who can change a game with one moment of magic. Even if he has an effect of causing other players to just defer to him, no team can afford to leave him out. If there really is such an effect, then the team must come together and solve this issue. The answer is not to blame Messi and leave him out of the team.

  6. What’s wrong with Lo Celso and Dybala? he should go with all three: Messi, Aguero and Dybala so both Messi and Aguero have better scoring chances.

    • I think we cannot afford to play with 3 purely attacking players and relieve them of all defensive duties as out defence and keeper are not very stable yet. And Dybala may not be willing to track back to defend and run from box to box. Unless we play Dybala in place of Messi. It is different from the Coutinho-Neymar case as their wing backs and midfield are defensively solid.

    • Locelso yes.. but 3 small forwards is playstation tactics. Especially with our defense and mid.

      Pavon, locelso, acuña, Ansaldi… Enzo.. Mesa.. these are the solutions, not more forwards.

  7. As per Ole:

    …………….Caballero

    ……………Otamendi
    Mercado……………….Tagliafico

    ……….Mascherano..Meza
    Salvio…………………………Acuna

    ……………….Messi
    ……….Aguero…..Pavon

    I want that. Best thing Di Maria and Biglia out

    ole.com.ar/seleccion/sampaoli-cambios-nombres-sistema-lineatres-mercado-pavon-acuna-croacia_0_2035596509.html

  8. i hope till Thursday things change and team will have better picture.
    my psychology is destroyed from Saturday.
    really i don t have mood to write something here after the game with Iceland.

    i am just reading the posts of fans here.
    anyway.

    GOOD LUCK to Tunisia !!!
    Vamos Tunisia !!!

  9. Poor Crespo was part of FOX’s pre and post-game show when ARGENTINA played getting hassled by this idiot and that about what they did and didn’t do, Messi missing the PK blah blah blah

  10. Crespo I love Messi but even if u feel like he didn’t get no help but what about that penalty that he miss he didn’t needed help on that

  11. I beleave that all the Argentine Coaches(No one) till now haven’t utilized Messi in a proper way for our NT. They have all failed to understand him. Nothing to do now its too late. He could have been far more devastating for us. We have the players but we didnt had the system till now.

  12. I’m not sure why he’s so obsessed with wingbacks. Argentina should be trying to create with a player like Lo Celso from the middle rather than through wingbacks.

  13. He leaves dybala and Lo Celso out of our line up for acuna salvio and Perez. If we lose Sampaoli better find a different place to live because they will kill that guy the minute he lands in Argentina.
    2 games into the wc and he still can’t figure shit out. This guy overthinks everything and has attention deficit disorder. Complete embarrassment this line up is
    If this is his idea you can expect a DiMaria and banega substitution.
    Pathetic

  14. Hi I just wanted to share my thoughts now seeing a lot of negative comments from fans and ex professionals after the opening match.

    1) Argentina played a good game overall. To get a goal against this team was a positive sign and Agüero getting his first even more so.
    2) The Argentina pressing machine – if Argentina press as hard as they did vs Iceland they can beat anybody. If anybody wants to sit like Iceland, not everyone will survive with 27 shots on goal and 22% of the ball like they did. Argentina would not arrive at the knock out exhausted like before, by dominating the game.
    3) Commentators said Messi had 11 shots but didn’t score as if this should be negative. At first thought it is, but Messi is already seeing the ball more than ever before.
    4) Paulo Dybala and Mauro Icardi already played under Sampaoli and did not provide all the difference people think they would make. It’s easy for us to make comments after the final whistle. I think Sampaoli will enter Dybala at the right moment.

    5) PAVON is GOLD

    6) Vamos Argentina, I hope this will be your year, all the best from the UK!

    • I agree.. but.. we are also very fragile defending and our wingers did nothing offensively all game (except Pavon).. we need improvements.

      Acuña, Locelso and Ansaldi should play, they have grit and are daring offensively.

      ………………aguero………
      …. Acuña….messi…pavon…..
      …………locels…..masch………
      Tagla…..ota…..merc….ansaldi
      ………………..armani…..

      Is my wish..

  15. NEWS ALERT
    The headless chicken is now complaining on instagram about being benched.

    Screw you DiMaria. Quit pretending like anybody gives a shit about your dead ass runs. They benched your sorry pathetic ass at PSG and finally somebody coaching Argentina may have realized what an absolute piece of shit you are as a player
    And by the way, you got schooled by a 22 year old Boca Juniors player. Now sit down and shut your pie hole you self centered pile of trash

  16. Gonzalo, you of all people should know better. Our weaker opponents park the bus and stronger opponents like Germany, Spain attack us. Against stronger, attacking teams our lack of ability all over the pitch is evident. So we don’t blame Messi for trying to dribble too much because he barely gets the chance to.
    Against weaker teams, the bus parking problem arises. Now we enjoy most of the possession but struggle to break down defence. If you look at teams that play possession football and have to break down bus regularly, they have good players all over the field. Specially CM-Wide Midfielder/winger-overlapping fullback is a common combination. When they play this combination fast and precisely, they create opening at the heart of the parked bus. When they cant do it precisely or fast enough, they struggle. Same goes for Germany, Spain or the great Barcelona of past. If you replace Tony Kroos in the German side with either of Biglia, Mascherano or, Enzo Perez, do you think Germany would dominate tournaments again? Can Mercado or, Salvio play as a RB at any of the successful sides that face parked bus regularly? Guardiola is a proven, experienced coach. But his Man City was frequently exposed in his first season. He had to pay record fee for a goalkeeper and Right back because he couldn’t break down bus or, his system wouldn’t work with a very limited quality ,low priced player. Before Tagliafico came through, we even had a problem with our LB as well. Sure, every player could make better decision at times. That includes Messi as well. It’s true he dribbles a bit more and mostly fruitlessly at times. But those moments come when he gets frustrated, when even the fans can see that our team play isn’t going to break opponent’s defensive bus. Ronaldo takes a lot of long shots when he gets frustrated. But nobody complains about it. Because there was a time when he was really good at long shots. even today, Ronaldo’s shot contains great power which can force goalkeepers into making howlers. So this is one of his weapons. Not a very good weapon any more, but it’s still a weapon. Same goes for Messi. Messi knows Messi can make a difference if he can go on with his solo run. When nothing works, he tries it. But pinning the failure of a whole system on just Messi’s dribbling doesn’t solve the problem. We like it or not, when Messi is on the teamsheet, our weaker opponents will park the bus. Because they know they don’t stand a chance if they leave space for Messi. We need to prepare for it by adjusting our style and play our best capable attack minded CMs, wingers and full backs.
    When we are hammered by Germany or Spain, we don’t talk about Messi over dribbling or ignoring his team mates. We just say that Messi didn’t show up and he doesn’t have leadership in big games. He barely receives the ball anywhere near the opponent goal and can’t try going solo when everything falls apart. We dont mention that our CMs failed to take command of our midfield and play a pass to wide midfielder who can slip in a pass to the onrushing full back. These guys have been awfully short of quality over the years.

  17. Messi first World Cup game ending in 2014= JOY, ELATION. Messi last World Cup ending in 2014= SADNESS, TEARS. Messi first World Cup ending in 2018= SADNESS, TEARS. Messi last World Cup game ending in 2018???? JOY, ELATION. CAMPEON.

  18. Biggest news….!
    New lineup…3-4-3..!! Still no Lo Celso..!!!

    Caballero
    Mercado-Otamendi-Taglifico
    Salvio-Mascherano-Meza-Acuna
    Messi-Aguero-Pavon

  19. Too many comments to keep up.
    It’s true that the other players are star struck when Messi plays.
    Whose fault it is I don’t know.
    All I know is Messi is trying to do too much and everyone involved must solve this issue.
    We must play a team football.
    We have great players but sadly they seem not to mesh or our coaches cant figure out.
    Team football is what we must strive for.
    4-4-2!

  20. Mascherano need to be dropped . Mascherano plays side pass always,predictive negative passes, less creativity or moving forward with ball,too slow for a 90mins game,lack of vision, awful shooting painful

  21. The other day Croatia scored 2 goals against Nigeria . First one was an own goal and the second came from a penalty. Something that makes me hopeful is that, even with such great midfield of Croatia they had to rely on defensive mistakes by Nigeria who has below average defense (as I read on media) . Though its not wise to draw conclusion from first match . With the inclusion of pavon, celso , marceodo If we can improve our defense a bit we may have hope..

  22. Chill guys. We will win against Croatia and Nigeria and top the group. This is our world cup. Remember struggling in group stage is better than struggling in knockout rounds.

  23. Why does everyone say it’s gonna get more difficult against Croatia and Nigeria..

    Iceland and Croatia where in the same qualifying Group.. just to remind everyone Iceland won the Group and directly qualified as Croatia had to go to a knockout game…

    I think Iceland is as good as Croatia

    Vaaaamooos Argentina

  25. I love this VAR technology…..does anybody realize that had this been available in the last WC then Higuain would have been awarded a PK for Neuer banging into him. That was our WC on Brazilian soil sighs

    • Well of course, considering their opponent is Panama, they should look good. And they were expected to dominate, 3rd team against 55th team in FIFA ranking.

      As a matter of fact, I haven’t tuned in the live to watch the game. Is panama any good? I think they are better but not far from Haiti (went to read the concacaf qualifocation the other day), although Haiti is far below Panama in ranking.

      Russia demolishing the Saudi (67th) is better if you look the result alone, normally Saudi shouldn’t play that bad. They’re one of top three or four in Asia.

  28. I think what crespo mean, he wanted more individual run from Messi’s team mates, cause as far as I could see, Messi has tried his best to make his team mates involved. The return was not always good, but even when it was supposed to be good, Iceland players blocked the ball from returning to Messi.

    As I’ve said, it’s difficult to try a central attack against these team, unless you want to do some run in the penalty area hoping they would foul you into getting you a penalty. That would be great, but if what happened is a clearance, it’s a counter attack situation and every counter attack doesn’t look good for our defense.

    Hopefully Pavon could go away from his markers more often than di Maria in the game against Croatia.

  30. I read kids saying messi dosent pass, dribbles and dribbles
    Messi passed when maria scored vs swis in 2014
    Messi passed when higuain scored vs bel
    Messi passed and passed and passed in 2015 copa semi
    Messi made that pass in copa final to lavejji that higuain wasted

    Messi has made enough passes many of which have been wasted, do not teach messi, he is not neymar, he is not selfish.

  31. Criticise lio does n t make us haters especially when we are his biggest fans but we have to say what we did see on last game he wasn t at all in a good day so why did he persist to shoot and making action only by himself come on guys
    He uses to ask for di maria presence but it makes him vulnerable and all the left side was a mess
    Now i really don t know if people here support the team or messi s accomplishement
    Don t think that croatia will be a bit easier than Iceland bus cause you re totally wrong. Playing croatia will be more difficult than playing france if we re gonna pass the group they re more aggressive more technical they will be too difficult in counter especially when you see our defensive level
    We re not haters but we re not blind nor stupid
    Hope that next game will be in total contradiction with the first
    We need this world cup and don t forget a champion team will improved all along this mounth so please sampa improve this team

  32. I like how people on here are finding excuse for Germany loss and Brazil tie in their opening game then dismiss the result as, oh the Brazilian and Germans still have better team chemistry or Mexico and Switzerland are tougher opponents than Iceland. Iceland made the quarterfinal at the 2016 Euros, they manage to hold Portugal to a 1-1 score line in the group stage, the same Portugal who went on to win the cup. Iceland top their 2018 World cup qualifying group over Croatia. So how is Iceland worse than Switzerland (who needed playoffs to qualify for the 2018 world cup) and Mexico who got humiliated 7-0 by Chile during the 2016 Copa Centario and the same Mexican team lost to Jamaica later on by 1-0 during the 2017 Gold Cup semifinal stage? Come on guys stop this spinning and call a spade a spade.

    Germany was horrible, it’s that simple, they have been for several months now, it was no surprise Mexico won. Germany went into the friendly game against Saudi Arabia coming off a run of five games without a win. And the mighty Germans needed an own goal to defeat a not so good Saudi Arabia team in front of their home fans. If anyone watch the Germany game vs Saudi Arabia several weeks ago you would have seen the writing on the wall going into the world cup opener against Mexico…Germany right now has a lot of out of form players; Muller, Draxler, Hummels, Boateng, Neuer, Khedira, Reus (who played some of is best football from 2012-2014) and Mario Gomez are several of the German players out of form going into this world cup. Moreover, you need great strikers (at least one) to win the world cup and Mario Gomez is not in that category while Timo Werner is still growing as a player. Khedira was never a great passer or dribbler, his strength on the pitch back in 2014 was is dynamism, running into the opponent box, scoring goals and breaking up play. In 2018, Khedira is a lot older and slower now hence the reason he was ineffective against Mexico.

    Nobody gave Mexico a chance not even their own media, it was always Mexico fighting for second place with Sweden in the group. Everyone laugh at Mexico and dismiss them going into the game against Germany and the sad part is, even the Mexican journalist on ESPN went along with the other pundits as they make fun of the Mexican team. With all the tribulation everyone said the Mexican team was facing, they came out and humble Germany and all the so call football experts with their fanboying punditry. Nobody saw this coming, now it’s all spinning for Germany and Brazil. What did I say after the 2017 Confederation Cup? That the team who win the Confederation Cup always struggle at some stage at the upcoming world cup.

    Everyone hyped Brazil because of the 2018 qualifiers and the pre world cup friendlies. Brazil scored three against Austria and the media anointed them as even more of a favorite. So after scoring three goals against Austria in the previous friendly it was realty check for Brazil at the world cup. Brazil looked great in CONMEBOL because all the other teams were poor even my beloved Argentina. I haven’t seen any improvement with this Brazilian team with the exception of Coutinho from the previous version that participate at the 2014 WC, 2015 Copa and 2016 Centario. Brazil is doing the same thing you guys blame Argentina for, they play with two double pivot who can’t create a goal to save themselves. Brazil is one dimensional, all they do is counter or rely on individual brilliance (i.e. Coutinho goal against Switzerland). Brazil put two CDM in the middle to shield their back line while the wingers initiate all of their attack. If you notice all of Brazil attack comes from the wing plays, the team rarely do anything through the middle because all they have is CDM on the pitch. Switzerland foul Neymar a lot (which was strategical) and shut down the wings and handed Brazil no counter attacking opportunity. If Brazil think Switzerland was tough just wait until they face Serbia who has a better midfield with a solid defense and arguably one of the world best LB in Kolarov. Brazil have now conceded in six straight world cup games and I thought it would be different this time around.

    The worse game at the world cup thus far was the game between Portugal and Spain. The defending and goalkeeping from both teams was atrocious given they were two of the bigger teams at the tournament. Portugal should have scored at least five or six goals if Guedes made better passes on several Portugal counter attacks. All the Spanish players are ball hoggers, too many touches and ball hogging. Spain have too many midfielders and not enough explosive players especially in attack. Spain defense is overrated too.

    Russia surprise everyone, they won big in the opening game and all the media had to say was Saudi Arabia was bad (the same Saudi who Germany needed an own goal to win against prior to the world cup). If it was Brazil or Germany or Spain had the same results as Russia everyone would be saying ‘’world class, this and world class that.’’ Russia was under a lot of pressure given how their world cup preparation went yet they settle their nerves and won big. The media just needed to give credit where credit is due instead of spinning because the game didn’t fit in with their narrative.

    • As far, behind Mexico, Peru (sic!) showed football that impressed me most. Depsite the unlucky lost.

    • Kid I really enjoy your posts. I don’t agree with everything but your not a clueless person talking/writing out of emotion. Island is a good team which played an extremely defensive game. Our problem is every team will play for a draw against Argentina while trying to win the other matches. If Argentina can’t break the defense of teams who park the bus we will be out with 3 points. After the group stage maybe it will change. Caballero is a penalty killer maybe that’s why sampaoli is not giving up choosing him over Armani.

    • Yup, at least Iceland is better defensively against any other team that has performed in WC 2018, until this day.

      Has there any other team that has 23% possession of the ball and has heat map area this tiny ? (Too bad can’t embed pictures).

    • @KidultHood,so what is your point after this long thesis–go back and read your opening statement then the conclusion. I am confused…I read through the six or seven paragraphs…what is your point. I didn’t see or heard many people making excuses for Germany.

    • Kid, I value your opinion and logical explanation. How do you see about Argentina’s upcoming match against croatia considering present situation. I am very anxious about the team and progression to the second round. I believe this Argentina will be deadly if we reach KO stage.

  33. Reading some of the comments here
    Argentina and its fans do not deserve messi
    They deserve a quarter final team, not a final team.
    Messi is the problem right? okay….

    • We re talking about the team not about a group of players everybody is able to be criticised even if it s your little god who miss an important penalty
      I support messi more than you kid that s why we were expecting more from him especially that fucking penalty which could make us in better situation
      Don t never forget that in wc you play every game as a final

  35. So according to the newbies in this site we can’t say anything about Sampaoli’s tactics because Sampaoli knows better and our ex players are dumb fucks like us… They are greater Argentina fans and we just started watching football!! we are also not allowed to point out that instead of trying to dribble pass a bus Messi could have gone for better option like passing to players who are in better position. Instead of hovering outside the box and trying useless long range shots he could have waited inside the box and drawn some fouls like Ronaldo does. As soon as some one come up with some constructive criticism we become enemy no1 here. We are labeled Messi hater and are spread negative feeling. There is a difference between trolling and constructive criticism guys!! Some of the over optimistic fans have no idea how difficult next game is going to be after our dismal performance last game. Our defense our midfield and our attack all got beat by Iceland!! Iceland not Spain or Germany!! Not only we have to be on top of our game but also have to handle our nerves.Sampaoli has to come up with a solid plan a to stop Mandzukic and Modric. They have to have an off game for us to beat them. Atleast 2 players needs to be assigned to be Modric and Mandzukic’s shadow the whole game. Rojo can’t afford to fuck up this time.

    Some here want Dybala and Pavon both to start. Who is Dybala going to replace Locelso or Meza or Masche ? Already our defense is so vulnerable and they want to sacrifice a CM so that Dybala can start? We can only have so many attacking players in the starting XI.He can either play ahead of Pavon or as his sub or replace Meza later in the game if we desperately need a goal or when saving a goal becomes least of our concern. But Yes Dybala needs to be used. He can play where Messi plays and Messi can move further up. He should get a nod ahead of Dimaria now.

  36. I think also Rojo should stay. I expect to see him and Otamendi understanding better with the minutes they had already against Iceland. I’m not sure about that but coming with Fazio now is also risky.

    The only changes should be of course Pavon for Di Maria, Lo Celso for Biglia.

  38. So now Dybala rush is back. I saw here Dybal ruch already in the past. It took few Dybala games to see Argentina fans giving up on him.

    I saw Icardi rush. After 2 games I saw resignation over him.

    I saw Lo Celos rush – and resignation over him

    I saw Tagliafico rush

    I saw Paredes rush. After one game (against Italy) when he was not impressive people forgot about him.

    I saw Meza rush. Now mostlu the same people who were asking for Meza want to bench him.

    Now here is Pavon rush.

    The rush for every player is backing cyclical. If only enough time had passed to forgot why they rejected that youngster… If new player is not impressive in his first game they will ask for that youngster who was rejected previously because of the rule of “immediete effect”. They change favourites as spoiled kids.

    When Mundo members will finally grow up to understand that new player needs some time?

    THey will always give another chance Di Maria but new player has only one chance to impress.
    Now I must to say: I’m not against Dybala. I think the 10 games he had in NT it’s still not enough to estimate. THe more in Icardi case. The more in Paredes and Meza case.

    No player is enough good for these Argentina moody, capricious coddled fans that only want immediate gratification.

  39. even Panama midfielders are 5times better than biglia and mascherano. they are moving the ball forward.

  40. messi is threatening to all the players if you are not passing the ball to me you won’t be there in next match that’s why all the players are not performing individually. if messi is out you could see the difference.

  41. I think if this team can’t earn at least 4 points from the remaining 2 matches, we don’t deserve to go to the next round. I believe Pavon- Messi – Banega (or Dybala) would be great combo behind Aguero . However, I don’t know how Pavon and dybala would contribute to defense. But I hate to hear that messi and dybala can’t play together. Lo Celsco and Macherano can link the defense and forward. I am not a football pundit ,but I feel Rojo- Fazio- Ota- Marcedo may work better. I think Rojo should go back to its usual NT position which is left Back and which has worked well for us in past 3 major tournaments.

    • Well said. If you can’t earn 4 points you don’t deserve to advance. And we can stop all this hero worshipping and start talking about building a team that we can all be proud of. Not just one individual we are proud of

    • I hope Sampaoli continues regardless of our wc result. Even though I didn’t like the way he built this team that blindly depends on messi , he is the one who brought some fresh amazing faces like lo celso , meja and pavon . We need a long term coach . Anyway, it would be a great shock for me to see messi leaving his last tournament without achievement .
      P.S. No offence to any of my fellow mundo friends, these are simply my wishes. I just hope things turn out well for us ..

    • Well, it’s a rare thing to pass with 4 point. It require the team that is on top to win all games (in this case it should be Croatia), while defeating the team in 2nd position with only a goal and that the team in 2nd position has better goal difference than the third team on the table, from which team the draw is coming from, and the bottom team always lost (in this case it’s Nigeria).

      But it’s only one game.

  42. Do you guys thinks it’s coincidence that best games in NT of our several attacking players had place when Messi was out of for several reasons? No it’s no coincidence.

    Di Maria running and fighting like a hell against Germany (4:2) and playing like leader

    Meza running like a hell against Spain

    Aguero the same. He had his best matches when Messi was injured. Remember him in one of qualifiers matches under Sabella. He was real leader dropping back and taking even playmaking roles.

    Banega the same. Most best games without Messi.

    They just feel more responsibility for the game when without Messi hence a much of initiative. Now there is DNA of this team that will tell our players: “first wait and see what Messi will do because it’s his team”

    • Why the same didn’t happen when Messi was unavailable during WCQ? I mean if they took responsibility, we wouldn’t be almost ineligible for a wc spot.

    • Gonzalo i have been reading your anti-messi comments for a while in this forum and some of them dont make any sense. Now i am an Argentina fan first and then individual players come next in that order whoever represents Argentina.But to say that others play well without Messi means you have pretty much missed the entire Argentina qualification games for 2018 world cup where they had to play some crucial games without Messi. Heck you even might have missed the final scoreline for the Spain and Nigeria friendlies where Argentina played lights out without Messi right ? One always says before you make a closing statement please refer to statistics and what happens on a pitch with a certain player, blindly making statements like does 2 things in a group forum

      a) Incites fans of the player you are targeting creating a needless environment for back and forth childish arguments, is that what your intention is ?
      b) Makes one look stupid stating something completely hypothetical with no facts attached.

      Gonzalo you might or might not be a long lasting Argentina fan or you might or might not be a person who visited this website for long, but please we already have many folks trolling in this website, for the sake of sanity please keep things in perspective. Peace !!

      • I don’t see his comments as anti messi at all. These are facts. When messi plays everyone is waiting for a miracle . Messi had a bad game but I really believe from the bottom of my heart that messi won’t have 3 bad games in a row. That won’t happen. He will shine in the next two matches.

      • I said this many times: every team needs time to adapt. Barcelona without Messi in 2015/16 season was poor at the beginnig but then were great to beat even Real 4:0 away. I’m sure every our player (including Di Maria) Is able to give more then they are giving when Messi is around. You have not to believe in my explanation. Just wait and see what will happen in the tournament if we will still depend so much on Messi.

        But just don’t try to tell that I was wrong if in game against Coratia or Nigeria Messi will score 3 goals and have 3 assist. I know very well the scenario is possible but situation is that it will only exacerbates the problem because we will expectate from him too much and he will fail trying to do it all by himself once again in final stages against stronger opponents. WHeter I’m right or wrong final stages will tell and our last game of WC. That’s all.

        • Gonzalo ppl take your comments as a direct attack against messi but I understand what you mean. On the other hand I don’t see any solution for this problem. You need cojones as a coach to decide something for whatever reason against messi. They will lynch sampaoli. I disagree with our friends stamping sampaoli as a clueless coach. He didn’t have enough time for his philosophy with argentina national team. Maybe everyone forget the fact that he took over Chile from bielsa and the team was ready to play the style he demanded. He took over Argentina as a decision of honor. You see sampaoli restless on the sideline during the match and he almost started crying after aguero scores. He is under huge pressure. I hope everything goes well and tapia keeps his word to continue working with him no matter whats the outcome of this world cup.

        • Gonzalo we will surely tell you are absolutely wrong if Messi wins this world cup. Atleast you have agreed for that. Thank you.

  43. Mascherano is not a DM in modern days he never get a chance in midfield when bousqets or ya ya toure was there for barcelona. Barcelona has so versatility that they even can play mascherano as striker and yet win the match 5-0. So stop dreaming argentina is not barcelona.we can’t afford playing mascherano as a midfielder

    • Hello pundit, at least do a little research when hitting out your jokes. Mancherano is the pillar of Argentina Midfield. Argentina used Busquets because they never needed destroyer, they needed who are extremely good with short passes like Busquets. Busquets is world’s best in that role. No match. Argentina story is different.

      And For your Kind Information, Masche Joined Barcelona in 2010, they sold Yaya Toure that summer. They never were in same team.

  44. Midfield is the main concerns for winning next matches. You can’t wait for goal to be made without midfield is not attacking or it’s speeding moving forward than backwards or sideways

  45. One of the biggest issues for the last game is the position of the fullbacks, they were always late in replacement. Things went better after the 1st half not because of any tactical change but only because Iceland decided to defend 10 behind. Our fullbacks Salvio and Tagliafico are good players but not made for such a role which requires high pace and work rate. Only Kimmich, Marcelo and Spanish fullbacks can be fit for that. Sampaoli got to be very realistic and understand what he can do with his players.

    I would be even more conservative on the midfield with Maschereno as 5, Lo Celso as the Cm and 1 more player who can press and win the ball. So that we save energy for our fullbacks. Probably a profile like Enzo Perez or Acuna. I won’t just go for a double pivot because we will see the same problem when Messi got the ball and the team cut into 2, just like what Crespo said. I don’t know if Meza can be used as a box to box, from what I saw, he was not great.

    Up front, Pavon-Kun-Messi is obviously the best solution.

  46. Mascherano need to be dropped . Mascherano plays side pass always,predictive negative passes, less creativity or moving forward with ball,too slow for a 90mins game,lack of vision, awful shooting

  47. Again we heard another Crespo late question and comments. It should be given before the World Cup and directly to Sampaoli ear. Now the team urgent need is encouragement and support from all the fans.

    To push Sampaoli having the guts to change the old players and his game plan. One crucial moment is to to substitute the off day player without delay. Don’t wait until 70 minutes. The mentality of One for all and all for One spirit must be in every heart of the players, Sing the national anthem song with full passion.

    Move on and fight till the last blood. Go to hell with all the negative comments.

  50. Stupid comments again. Why is everything about helping Messi? How about say it like this. We didn’t play good enough to win. The defense gave up a cheap goal as it is our new trademark now. Caballero was awful. And even Jose Mourinho said “caballero played as well as I would play in goal. One attempt and one goal”.
    And last I checked it was a Rojo pass to Aguero that got us a goal.
    These fucking morons don’t realize that it takes a team effort to win. And the other guys want to win also. And last I checked it wasn’t the other 10 guys that missed an easy penalty.
    You want to see what a real Argentina team looks like? Go watch the 86 final on YouTube and every one of those guys came through. Today though, it’s not about Argentina; shit more people are worried about him winning the cup than our country.

  51. Sabella was a real tactician sampa is clearly not. I m pretty sure that dybala will not have his chance untill the exit and messi s retirement. Don t be surprised next game when you ll see di maria the useless on the starting lineup the last game when di maria was good in argentina was against swizerland 2014 but who cares he s imposed by leo himself biglia too because they ve always been by his side since 2005 title u-20 and they will be the same reason that lio will never have a world cup you re not in Barcelona dude you could nt choose who ll play with you except the coach decision and that coach is more focused on who could play with messi than finding a style to win
    Hope he will change his vision before we re gonna be exit from competition
    And waiting along for 4 more years with tears
    Damned come on argentina it s been too long since we haven’t held these fucking trophy

  52. This is only Argentina fans choice if they really want to believe that only Messi is fighting and the rest just standing and watching. Bullshit! Watch the game once more and see he had everytime a player to pass. When Messi is passing quick there is usually something good of that, the game is rushing up. WHenever he is getting tangled in driblings against 3 defenders the game is slowing down.

    Our team is looking like that long time. Now do you really believe that all the players who comes through our team since some time are idle and lazy?! No, it’s just Messi presence making them apathetic when they see him as alpha and omegha what is in addition boosted by countless asks about Messi in every interview and so on.

    To understand and recognize sad reality is first step to change anything.

  53. Meza works really hard but something was missing, I don’t know what, Its really gonna be a tensed next 3 days. Whose gonna take us to the next round??

      • or maybe because this is a higher level against better defenders, where Meza has no idea what to do, I am very curious the lo Celso-Masche-Meza-Pavon lineup vs Croatia

        • Everyone who knows reality of South America club football knows it’s damn tough just like qualifiers for Argentina against, it would seem, lower teams like Bolivia, Peru, Venezuela and other. Latio on their land are like devils. Flamengo on their Maracana as well.

    • Meza did his best in my opinion, look at Werner from Germany, same attempts but with no result. So I don’t think Meza is different than other young folks in other teams, but he has a great potential.

  54. I am 200% with you crespo and Maradona. Very very valid points.
    But I don’t think Sampaoli as a coach have learned anything against Spain and Iceland. There is no link up between mid fielders and forwards. No flowing attack whenever in possession. No plan, nothing!!! Only dreaming and dreaming and dreaming.
    So this coach and assistant should keep dreaming until team exit from group stage. Sabella was far better in his plans

  55. Sampaoli is shit…worst coach ever Argentina produced…not all time pressing attacking is not good for the team or it doesn’t give u the 6-0 5-0 4-0 results..defending is the another art of football and also counter attack..but Argentina never create counter attack it modern day football if u didn’t create counter attack then u will pay for it..our defence is horrible and how sampaoli select rojo who was not played more than one year..I have huge doubt of sampaoli’s footballing logic..regular starter players are benched in their nation team..worst players are getting started…just kick out Di Maria biglia rojo…and setup the team Messi dybala pavon lo celso meza and then feel the heat..and another question is if sampaoli dosent fix the problem of Messi dybala on the pitch then what type of coach he is?if a coach nothing new to produce in tactics with Messi dybala starting 11 then kick out sampaoli…if Barcelona sign dybala then u see that both Messi dybala played together and both will scores dozens…but sampaoli fail to put them together ….another disaster world cup for us…

  56. There’s always two sides to a story. Everyone knows the situation from school sports ground: if there coming to your team player who unusually likes the ball and loves dribble and dribble at certain moment you have enough of asking for pass to you and you will stop running and engage. Now we should ask seriously what was first:
    – Messi who began to ignore his partners trying do it all by himself – hence they are inertial

    – or Messi stop to pass to them because they yet before became apathetic

    • When Meza finally made a good run Messi gave him a great ball=penalty, they have to make runs, no clue to pass the ball to them on the wings, if their next step always a back pass to Messi, no 1 on 1, no forward passes. Messi dribbles can make holes in the defense, a back pass never, our players must make risiko in their passing, or at least movements. Vs USA in Copa Lavezzi good run Messi brilliant through ball instantly=easy goal. OK it was harder vs Iceland bus.

      • Csabalala

        valid point. btw, Salvio made many runs and people didn’t give him passes.
        i’m not talking about specifically Messi here, but all of the players. Salvio did not less than 10 runs and never recevied a ball. this reduced the formation’s output as we played smth like 9 versus 11, because we had two people on each flank when one of them was always staying without a ball.

      • I agree. But look how many times Messi had player around in better position to pass him but still he choose dribling. Messi’s driblings are long time mostly no effect, it’s just slowing down the tempo. He is not that fast as in past.

        Meza may play Lavezzi role with his runs but he don’t feel like running (other player too) when Messi is passing to him only 1 of 3 such situations when they are seeking the ball from Messi. RUnning ahead without the ball and not to receive the pass is disouraging for player.

        • i dont see those runs, maybe only from Salvio, ironically Messi made the most runs after Banega came in, but his Messi seeking through balls were inprecise, and man Meza is still not fast, Lavezzi had great pace

          • Meza also does not takes the runs with the ball as against Spain or Flamengo. WHy?

            Because he knows it’s Messi privilege. “Just do not much initiative because here Messi is for taking the ball and glory”.

        • look at this video:youtube.com/watch?v=0IyxIwIdcKc&pbjreload=10

          What happens when Messi get a good runner who feel the rythm. (Christian Tello, a limited, but unbelivable fast winger).

          • Sorry but whatever happend in Barcelone unfortunately far to comparison to Argentina.

            Against Levante Messi is taking easy the things – he knows no need for crazy driblings because they will win thatno doubt. Levante is easiest opponent for Barcelona at all.

            Completely different when Messi is on WC and things goes wrong. Then he is losing his head and trying to do all by himself. Forgetting about passes. All I want from him is to pass more and will be much better.

  57. He’s right you know! Messi was all by himself. Di Maria DIDNT do anything, Meza, Biglia, Mascherano Kent just trying to find him, the full backs, nobody. Aguero you can’t expect much, his job is to stay up and score, which he did and wonderfully might I add! He needs another creater in the midfield. He’s also right about Dybala being that man! Dybala and Messi playing together will be like Iniesta and Messi playing together, where Messi has someone to look to for help! It should be for against Croatia
    Armani
    Tagliafico-Fazio-Otamendi-Mercado
    Mascherano-Lo Celso
    Meza-Messi-Dybala
    Aguero
    We need our best players to play if we even want a chance to advance, much less win the WC! Let’s believe! Vamos Argentina!!!!!!

  59. i’m still fuming why pavon didnt get a clear penalty
    referee didnt even ask for VAR

    today sweden they got var penalty bloody 10 hours after the foul

    • My friend the var doesn t work for all the teams equally look for exemple france has got it even if nobody claims a penalty just by message audio the referee call for penalty
      I thought it was a solution but with var technology we just gonna see more a more injustice

  60. Crespo played for Argentina in three world cups, copa america and Olympic games results: Olympic finalist against Nigeria in 1996. Nothing more. Now is the time to get behind the time altogether. The team is under tremendous amount of pressure. If we like the team do not add more. We can always criticize, give opinions, show our doubts and concerns but after the tournament. The only thing that the team needs now is confidence and encouragement. Argentine legends, former players, journalists GIVE THE TEAM A BREAK!!!!

    • Crespo had warned about Icardi’s exclusion a few months ago. Yes, he didn’t accompish something with Argentina, but don’t forget that he was a Bati substitute in 98 and 2002. He finally got his chance in 2006 and he was really good, it isn’t his fault that Pekerman substituted Riquelme for Cambiasso, and him for Cruz against Germany. Pekerman is the real culprit for Argentina’s failure in 2006. He snubbed Zanetti for the disaster called Scaloni. Maradona snubbed both Zanetti and Cambiasso and the retard Bielsa didn’t take Riquelme for the World cup 2002. Coaches are the main plague for Argentina. I still hope Argentina wins the WC, but if not, we should get rid of Sampaoli and take Simeone.

  61. I really don t understand you guys we really making great mistakes comparing ourselves to Germany and brazil. First at all mexico and swizerland are a way better than Iceland. Second thing everybody here saw that the cohesion between our players comparing to the others are relatively bad you know making pass back and the way germans and Brazilians play is different. Third thing and the most importing stop carrying about messi he s no longer 22 or 26 he s 31 now and considering him as the best or not who does care about it i just want to see argentina with a third star i don t have a sheet if it will be messi who brings it or dybala even if it s caballero i think that everybody here wants to see argentina champion not messi title except little kids of course. I know he s human i m his greatest fan but he really shouldn t miss that penalty.

    • I agree with you that we don’t have to consider Messi as he’s 21 or 26 years old, definitely we shouldn’t rely too much on him. Bring on the young guns and fire them to inspire the old folks. Drop Di Maria and let players like Dybala and Asaldi have a shot.

    • The only thing i really don’t understand is snubbing Lo Celso. He is the best and most talented Argentina midfielder. And Dybala should have got his chance at least in the second half against Iceland.

  62. Crespo played for Argentina for at least 2 decades, results: Olympic finalist against Nigeria in 1996. Nothing more. Now is the time to get behind the time altogether. The team is under tremendous amount of pressure. If we like the team do not add more. We can always criticize, give opinions, show our doubts and concerns but after the tournament. The only thing that the team needs now is confidence and encouragement. Argentine legends, former players, journalists GIVE THE TEAM A BREAK!!!!

  63. Exactly Hernan. This has been Argentina’s biggest problem for a decade! If Messi has the ball 10 Argentines stop playing and watch. In Barcelona players move, open spaces by drawing defenders with them , offer themselves for quick one-two’s etc. Sampaoli cannot change this. The players are to blame.

  64. Crespo understands that. Most of Mundo members understand that. But Sampaoli cant..!
    When Sampaoli dropped Lo Celso, he cut a link for Messi, a good combination. And when he ignored Dybala, I think he has no clue at all. Sending Higuain instead of Dybala was another joke after inclusion of Biglia instead of Lo Celso.

  66. Sampaoli should just find a way to play Dybala and Messi together. He would reduce the pressure off Messi. Messi will be free and the burden on him would reduce. It is not an excuse for a coach to say two players cannot play together. Why is he a coach then if he cannot work on his players to play together? His best players for that matter. Messi and Dybala behind aguero or higuain would definitely work just like doughlas costa and Dybala behind higuain in Juve, that is on a Xmas tree formation, 4321. He can also play Dybala and Messi in a 4231 with one in the middle and one on the wing then Pavon on the left. Pavon, Messi, Dybala behind aguero. Do it for us. Can’t afford to see Argentina crashing out.

    • exactly what kind of ma coach says two players cannot work together??? it is his job to make sure they can and find a way to do so thats why he’s fu**ing paid!!

    • I’ve been watching analysis from around the world and in different languages (translated) and all of them agree that Dybala and Messi should play together. In fact they all emphasize that the trio of Messi, Dybala and Aguero up front will be unstoppable.

    • This. Samp has to field Dybala, Messi and Aguero together….he just has to….Dybala will at least draw a defender to himself which in itself helps in adding to the balance and defence of Arg. And just like Crespo said, I really thought Iceland game really needed Dybala. This was the game he could have tried him. Anyways no point of regretting lost chances and lack of a friendly game. There is no way biglia brings anything to the team. He has to be dropped. Arg defence will be shaky no matter who is selected from the pool we have.

  67. As thoughts have settled and I have watched a few more games, here are some of the main feelings I have right now

    1. We are in for trouble. We may get out of the group, just like we qualified in the last game. We cannot afford to lose the Croatia game. At least we have to draw and hope Iceland and Nigeria draws too. Not interested too much in style of play etc. Its back to the same thing, need help from results of others and our results to go through. I don’t think we will win both the remaining games.

    2. WC takes a pattern every time and we can see a pattern again. Big nations are just not winning easily. This was a pattern last time too. I am not super confident we will win the Croatia game. They would be tough. They have a win in their pocket and they will sit back. A draw is good for them. Any team in group stage would think a draw against Argentina is a good result. Counter attack and they have a good chance to win actually.

    3. Don’t compare ourselves to Brazil and Germany. Brazil does not look like conceding goals. They day they score 2 they will easily win. Their defense is very strong. Germany could have scored a few too, their defense did not look that great. But Germany has relatively easier games left. If our first game was against Croatia, and we drew 1-1, it would be OK.

    Overall, I am worried. No team is easy. Our defense look scary. The penalty miss could cost us big time by next Tuesday. Hope not.

    What I do like: Every other team is trying to win. Argentina seems like, is more interested in making Messi successful than winning as team. Somehow, the objective has changed. I agree with Crespo. It seems like everyone’s objective is to help Messi to be successful. Whereas, everybody’s objective should be to help the team win matches. The objective has to change.

    Closing thoughts: If I am Di Maria or Aguero, I am thinking, if we lose its Messi who is going to get blamed anyway. I don’t have much skin in the game. Not saying I am going to sabotage, but I am not really responsible to make Argentina successful.

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