AFA president Claudio TAPIA: “SAMPAOLI is the Argentina coach”

By
Roy Nemer
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153
Claudio Tapia Argentina
Claudio Tapia Argentina

AFA president Claudio TAPIA has stated that Jorge SAMPAOLI is the Argentina coach.

It’s been an ongoing debate since Argentina’s elimination at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. There were even two meetings which were held between the AFA president and the current Argentina manager. However, TAPIA confirmed on TyC Sports that SAMPAOLI is the manager. Here’s what he had to say:

“SAMPAOLI is the Argentina coach. He has a contract.”

It’s been stated many times in the media that the AFA want SAMPAOLI out but as mentioned several times, the federation would have to pay SAMPAOLI 20 million dollars in compensation.

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153 Comments

  1. One More thing for those who think Messi is not capable of playing when he is 35
    if Messi loses 50% of his current potential and abilities to play, he would still be among the top 10 in the world. Leave the little man alone, let him choose what he wants to do. I personally say that he should take a break from national duty. maybe it will release some of the pressure that the media had amassed on him

  2. Media is no.1 Enemy of the NT. along with many who believe and spread everything published or said about the players.
    Our failure in the WC is Sampaoli’s fault, regardless who dictates players selection. If Sampaoli accepted so called ‘friends club’, then he should have planned accordingly, hit tactics did not suit players ability, it’s obvious to all who know how the game is played. unless he deliberately put a plan for them to fail. WE could have beaten France with or without Lo Celso, Dybala or Fazio. He was outsmarted by Deschamps who is not known to be a smart coach. if anyone here can give me a clear plan for Sampaoli during his year in the NT, say it. But he used over than 60 players with 15 different lineups in 15 matches. He was erratic in his formations and substitutions. Messi is not a leader, that is his fault and that’s why I suggest taking the captaincy away from him. all Messi critics agree that he is not a leader, then explain how he can dictate players selection if he is not a leader?
    I said it before, Sampaoli took a Toyota and drove it like a Ferrari until it broke a part. That’s what he did to the NT.

  3. Two incidents shed light on Messi influence in Argentina:

    The Barcelona star clashed with one of Sampaoli’s assistants in March, and also advised the head coach to drop two players for the World
    The Argentinean press has attempted to shed some more light on the apparent influence Lionel Messi holds in the national team camp. An article by daily newspaper Clarín describes two incidents which took place this year — one before the friendly against Spain in March, which Argentina lost 6-1, and the other when the team was congregated in Russia for the World Cup — that demonstrate Messi’s power over the coaching staff.

    The first took place when the team was spending a few days in Manchester to prepare for the upcoming friendly games against Italy and France. During a training session at Manchester Citys training ground, Sebastián Beccacece, one of the assistants to coach Jorge Sampaoli, approached Messi to give him instruction.

    While Beccacece was speaking to Messi to correct him on something he deemed he was doing wrong, he was touching him on the shoulder. According to Clarín, Messi was angered more by the gesture than Beccaceces words, and asked Sampaoli that something like that never happen again.

    Messi tells Sampaoli to drop Fazio and Lo Celso

    The other incident demonstrates the influence Messi has on team selection. Clarín claims that Messi spoke to Sampaoli about dropping Federico Fazio and Giovani Lo Celso, pointing to supposed weaknesses in each players game. After it transpired that Fazio played only the second half in the last 16 defeat to France, while Lo Celso didnt play a single minute at the World Cup.

    In the case of Lo Celso, Clarín offers the hypothesis that Messis grudge against the PSG player was the result of his embarrassment after Lo Celso easily beat him in a game of football tennis during a training session. Although sources close to the player had already denied this.
    .
    Sampaoli is not the only reason for our failure… Messi too.
    .
    Sampaoli has to go. Messi has to retire along with all of his friends. Don’t want to see their faces in Copa America 2019.

    • @chazl that is you never simoene and pochettino or Gallardo or any good manager will be coaching Argentina national team while still messi playing for national team that is the fact

      • Hearsay ………………………the never ending saga of who said what where why how and when. I don’t know who said what or why but I know ARGENTINA would not have made it to the WC if it wasn’t for Messi, and they wouldn’t have played in 3 straight finals if it wasn’t for Messi, they wouldn’t have gathered all the money they did if it wasn’t for Messi, sadly they wouldn’t matter much if it wasn’t for Messi.

        Players play and coaches coach, unless the coach is not good enough to do his job then questions will be asked and lines will be crossed.
        I hope Messi doesn’t retire yet, how long? I don’t know but the man deserves more respect and credit for what he has done for his NT and it not his fault that weakass coaches whose basic job is to teach and improve have failed to do so.

    • NoWho says this to reporter, don’t spreads lies about messi, what is the evidence of it. We know Argentina media do it for their purpose , people like you don’t respect the players , then claim die hard Argentina fan. Blames everything on messi even a new born baby knows Argentina had worst goalkeeper, worst defense, worst midfield and this is the weakest Argentina team in the world cup ever.Shame on fan like you and Simone, pochettino didn’t coach Argentina because Afa can’t satisfy their financial demand.

    • I do not know if this is true or not. But if this is true, Messi should not be on the team or the captain. Players need to take instruction from managers, otherwise what is the purpose of having a manager?
      I tend to believe it’s true given Sampa was asking Messi who to substitute.
      I can see Messi trying to protect his legacy by ensuring a successful campaign, but this is not how you go about it.

    • this is true statement. mess is the culprit. youngsters are not getting chance to prove their worth. messi always like to go the player should not surpass him that is why he don’t like neymar in Barcelona. now it is to coutinho.

      if sampa choose locelso, locelso could show his talents to world top club which will surpass messing too

      • “what is the authentication of this story, every captain will have a say in the team”

        One thing is have a say another is mutiny against coach assistant. Respect for coach assistant is part of respect for coach authority.

        • Yes you are not capable enough to become shit of Messi rest alone Messi’s talent. Keep on posting your bullshit logic of Argentina didn’t win because of Messi. Argentina doesn’t deserve Messi

    • If the stories are true Messi MUST go.

      If not, he should retire at least for a while to give space and time to grow youngsters.

    • chalz: What you just posted wasn’t new. Messi influenced the team selection this world cup, and he knows it, that was why he didn’t appear publicly after the WC disaster to blame AFA or coaching or even does his fake retirement as usual. I even go further to say that the relationship between messi and dybala is still bitter. After beating Nigeria, Dybala came from bench to hug his teammates warmly and chatting with them but he only gave a brief handshake to Messi, that tells they both can’t stand each other, and I blame messi since he’s the captain and he was the one who tried hard to exclude Dybala from going to Russia first and then from giving him a play time during WC just because once upon a time Dybala mentioned unintentionally he found it hard to play with Messi at the same time, it was like showing signs of infidelity, poor Dybala who didn’t recognize how a diva like Messi would take each single word of his comment and overanalyze it to the extreme.

      Yes, it wasn’t the coach failure alone, it was the Friends Club power: Messi should retire, or we are back to ground ZERO. Messi’s player preference cost him CL with Barca and WC with Argentina.

    • Bla Bla Bla, More Media lies and BS. How could people believe everything written about everyone in the Media.
      Media is No. 1 Enemy of the NT, not the Players

      • So much of shit ! Common the same Beccacce came out and said Messi is one of the most respectful players he had been with.

        I don’t care if Messi is still playing or not but please don’t post this bullshit without sources or any link to show some credibility.

  4. Argentina mismanagement ruined Messi legacy, inept manager year after year wasting all those golden years of the GOAT we have in lionel Messi. Mbappe making a difference at age 19, being the starter of France… and what did Argentina do with the 19 years old messi?? That’s right rotting on the bench when he was already among the best in the world at that age. Argentina got the worst managing in football history among all nations, and it’s a shame really.

    • i agree friend ..i mean even now..we got 2 friendlies coming up! it’s time for all our youngsters to start to play now! young simeone is a must ..batistuta was 21 when he got the chance and well all know what he done for the shirt! you won’t know if you don’t try ..it’s just common sense !!

    • Not entirely true, Messi reached 4 tournament finals, 1 WC and 3 Copa. The last 3 finals saw Higuain missing one vs one chance and Messi himself missed a good chance in 2014 final, so did Palacio.

      The players mentallity has been affected by ghost of past failures in last 25 years and the preasure is bigger and bigger for the players that playing today and in the future. They simply need to win Copa and end the thropy drought.

  6. This statement was only escape from reporters. The fight still going on and on between AFA and Sampa. Tapia trying to force Sampaoli out. And Sampaoli resist because apparently he said before he sign the contact that AFA can’t judge him by his performance in 2018. He said it is not his team. They can’t judge him untill he form his team. As arrogant Sampaoli is i don’t think he will leave unless it is really bad. He asked for next Copa and also he said money isn’t a issue but i think AFA wants him to go now. After All this romours and drama and people saying about player influence of the team i think Sampaoli has a point. I don’t care who comes or if Sampaoli stays. I want just a new beginning with proper plan not fucking same bullshit and players. FED UP

    • Yes, that’s pretty much what happened. The national team needs to end the “pass the ball to Messi” era.

      They have so many talented players that are key players in their respective clubs, but looks so average when playing for Argentina because they just prefer to let Messi to solve every problem on the field.

  7. To be honest Sampaoli wasn’t full of under control in Russia, i just remember his 1st call up and 2nd call introduce many young players, dropped Aguero and higuain and dare to bench Mascherano. Not forget Sampaoli is the one selected lo celso despite considering raw. Sampaoli changed Argentina team from bauza Tata but in world cup Sampaoli selected tata buza same 23 with 2-3 exception says everything. I’m not depending Sampaoli who did worst in Russia and all his reputation goes vain and considered worst of all time. I think everyone deserve 2nd chance then why not Sampaoli, let build Sampaoli his own team and win copa 2015, changing coach isn’t solution rather than changing whole squad

    • what surprising me Sampaoli never played mache as DM and wasn’t starter suddenly become undisputed DM in world cup. Lo celso suddenly sidelined, perez who not even 23rd squad became automatically playing XI,

  8. please say me this is not the truth..He do not know how line up the team. He do not know what is the correct formation for the team.He change his team in each and every match. I think its not a good decision for argentina football. Please bring back pekerman who can help us out from this situation. We need good midfielder like riquelme rather than messi. We need good defender like ayala.

  9. Santi Caseres has signed with Villareal for 8 mil from Velez on a 4 year contract. A deep lying defensive mid. Hopefully he fares better than other def mids who moved to La Liga and found football isn’t as easy to play as it was back home, namely Kranevitter, Esteban Rolon, Cechini.

    • Speaking of Villareal, they are in advanced talks with Lanus over the signing of Goal keeper Andrada. Could be a done deal.
      Other deals that could happen within this transfer window, with negotiations under way are:
      Pol Fernandez of Godoy Cruz to Benfica. Benfica already have Salvio, Cervi, Conti and Lema. Although Lisandro Lopez has gone out on a free transfer (to Inter, I believe) and Oscar Benitez returning permanently to Argentina.
      Joaquin Torres of Newell’s to Sporting Lisbon. Issues include freeing up Non-EU slots before they could sign him.
      Striker Claudio Spinelli of San Martin to Genoa. Genoa hit gold with Milito and Palacios and they consider Spinelli a great prospect in the mould of Inzaghi. Their asking price is low, only 4 mil, therefore San Martin are holding out for the time being.
      Ocampos might be signed by Simeone for Atletico if Carrasco moves on. Atletico have though released Vietto and now is without a club, though relegated Deportivo might take him and could play in the second division along with Cartabia.

      Defender Leo Mosevich of Argentinos has signed with St.Gallen in Switzerland. He was a member of the disastrous U-20 team of 2017 world cup in korea. Hardly played first team football last season.

      Jonathan Silva, one of the rare players to make Argentina debut as a teenager in recent times has put his miserable time at Sporting to an end. Moving back to Argentina permanently as Sporting released him on a free.
      Cechini has been released by relegated Malaga and he is returning to Banfield again. Esteban Rolon, will remain at Malaga and play in the second division this season. Hardly played last season.
      Ponce has been released on a free transfer by Roma and looks like Bielsa is interested in signing him for Leeds.

      • “Jonathan Silva, one of the rare players to make Argentina debut as a teenager in recent times has put his miserable time at Sporting to an end. Moving back to Argentina permanently as Sporting released him on a free.
        Cechini has been released by relegated Malaga and he is returning to Banfield again. Esteban Rolon, will remain at Malaga and play in the second division this season. Hardly played last season.
        Ponce has been released on a free transfer by Roma and looks like Bielsa is interested in signing him for Leeds.”

        Absolutely brutal…

  12. I am not worried about Sampaoli staying or leaving. The issues with our team go far deeper than just changing the coach. This team has lacked reinforcement for a long time. No coach can change it overnight.

    I know Sampaoli’s wc performance is probably one of the most bizarre in history. But we should also remember that he had a better CV than Martino and Bauza, both of whom are more responsible for our current woes. Gallardo, Gareca all are looking good right now. But remember, Samp did better than them both in club level and international level with Chile.

    Samp has done pretty well in terms of team building and player development in the past. At worst, we can lose the next Copa with him. We were almost out of the wc last year and we’ve not won a Copa for a long time. We’ve seen the worst possible from Samp. Let’s just wait one year and see if he can bring the goods he is known for this time. Just like Crespo said, ‘He is a coach for the long term’. I’d rather worry more if I see Higuain, Di Maria and Rojo’s name on the team sheet next time.

    We, as fans, should also start managing our expectations. Demanding instant success has done more harm than good to our team over the years. Let’s just enjoy our team play and see when Titles arrive.

    • if Sampaoli remains as coach don’t think any old guard selected even inform Aguero. Only messi & otamendi can continue where Rojo and Romero also has chance. if any new coach comes then automatically seduces to call up big names again but Sampaoli never because at the time with selvia and Chile Sampaoli was considered world class coach now considering as worst which is actually deserving.

      • messi and co destroyed locelso and sampaoli career also some of young Argentina players like parades, icardi, rulli, angel correa.

        first AFA should remove messi. lot of players are there is Argentina.

        you give to Diego placente he will find out the players in Argentina and show to world definitely.

        • @splendor,

          Appreciate what you have now. Otherwise you will be spending the rest of your life fapping at your retired legends. No title since 93, yet you have the nerve to insult Messi based on pure bs rumors.

  15. 1986-87 born Loris is going to lift world cup for France as 1986-87 born Messi Argentina already out from the tournament

    • You believe all this rubbish?
      How can anyone in 21st century be so brain-washed by some Astrologer???

      I guess that’s one more reason to root for Croatia. If Croatia wins, at least some stupid astrologer isn’t going to spread this cancer of superstition.

  16. The AFA strategy (if any) is to wait until another federation or club offers Sampa an attractive contract. That will make negotiations about the amount easier.
    Don’t forget Sampa lost money to get out his Sevilla contract. He would not have come for a 1 year deal. 5 years was the deal. Things went wrong and now we are stuck until USA, Mexico or someone else helps us out.

    Imagine he goes to Mexico and we meet in the final again…

    • first of all…we are not going to play any final in a long time! second…sampaoli and mexico would be a lethal combination! he is an outstanding coach and his aggressive style would suit mexico like a glove. so yeah, no doubt about it that they will trash us easily. the reason why he didnt perform with argentina is simple: we have a shit team. end of story. no tactics will work when the players struggle to do a simple pass or deliver a cross or dont have the pace to win a sprint.

      • Ok genius. Who is responsible for team selection? Who should select players as per their system?

        He had 15 different lineups and learnt nothing. So it means nothing for me if he got Chile a cup or he won champions league.
        On top of it, his dress selection is weird as well.

  17. Tapia decision makes sense..there is no hurry to appoint a National coach..we should focus on youth programs and AFA structure

    • we are in an absolute hurry! we dont have any time to spare. we need a Coach right now. we need a new approach right now. we need a new time right now!

  18. Sampoli should be sacked his mad decisions costed the team.He is club team coach he needs 20 league match to know about his players.Worst coach of WC 2018.Does not have any clue about his players and game.Always talking possession football without the preparation and player management.He thinks he is Pep Guadiola of Barcelona.OK one more bad decision by AFA and I think their mistake would go on and on year after year.AFA destroying the team.

  19. 40 million Argentines plus worldwide millions of supporter will donate more than that 20 million. Let’s make a fundraising website and you will see the result!!!

    • For what ?
      To sack a coach And bring a new one to sack him after 6-12 months !

      Rather rise a fund to nurture some good midfield talents

      • Pallab, it doesn’t make sense. Unless Sampaoli has a twin brother who is pragmattic, we are not going to win anything under this clown.

        Have you seen his substitution? Did he provide any justification why he chose 3-5-2. and false 9 in a crunch matches?
        If you still wish to loose by 6-4 , please welcome him.

        Those who say Sampaoli is okay. Please see all his matches , you will find the defenders were entirely clueless and no one knew what their role is. First thing a good coach would do is fix the defence and mid, once this is sorted , coach can focus on offense.
        And what does Sampaoli do? He changes line up after line up. No wonder the players were clueless. Sorry for the rant! but if we have to win anything, we need to get a stable coach.

  20. Been seeing a lot of talk about people rooting for France over Croatia based on the reasoning that it will keep the winners circle exclusive

    I am in favor of rooting for Croatia. Primarily because this French squad is pretty decent and still quite young overall. This means that if they win now, they will still be a force in 2022. I’d rather have Croatia win this one and keep France at one star rather than risk them getting close to three stars in 2022.
    Furthermore if they lose now, there will be no guarantee that they would qualify in 2022 given how hard UEFA qualification is. If they fall out it will be a strong team not being there in 2022..
    Also, most of the Croatian stars are getting old – Modric is 32, Rakitic is 30, Manzukic is 32 etc. This means if they win now they get their one star and they probably won’t have another generation for a while. Meaning they will be a weaker defending champion.

    I don’t care about the exclusivity of the winners circle. I just wanna protect our 2 star lead till we rebuild.

    • Aside from the obvious disappointment of not making it to the final, we ARGENTINA fans should have ZERO to complain about as far as the last two countries playing on Sunday.
      No Brazil, Germany, Christina, Red Coats, Spain………..to the ones who want France or not France to win, keeping the exclusivity of winning the world cup what are you complaining about??!! Spain and France, Brazil not once but Twice, the Germans…..and we still reminisce about 1986.
      Besides, Infantanto or how ever the hell you spell his name, ruined the wc forever, SIXTEEN new countries added to the qualifying countries. The prestige of making the WC is Gone, but keep complaining people, it might cough cough get us somewhere!

    • Croatia has acted like a bunch of classless punks. they talked a lot of shit before and after the argentina game. and talked a lot of shit about the English after the game. I hope they lose, and lose big

      • yeah….but they didn’t throw away the game against Iceland and in turn helped ARG move on, don’t forget that, besides, who doesn’t talk shit….they can talk all they want, and their manager was hired with ONE game left in their qualifiers, a MUST WIN to make it and that Cock Sucker Sampoali had a year.

    • take the two stars and nail em to your wall! we lost at least two stars between 1994 and 2014! at least! 1998 and 2006 Teams where outstanding. bad bad luck. and a few bad decisions by afa and the coaches and here we are. the croatians mocked us after they trashed us. rebic said argentina was such a weak side he didnt even wanted messis jersey after they where done with us. welcome to our reality. we are fading away.

      • He said Argentina was everything but fair. He said he felt disappointed that noone congratulated after the match which is very normal. At the end both teams shake hands especially the coaches. He wanted messi’s Jersey for a friend who is a big fan but after the match he decided otherwise. Croatia could beat Iceland but they didnt have to. We are all Argentina fans here but let’s be fair Croatia won the game and they deserved to win because we played clueless.

    • I am rooting for Croatia for various reasons.
      Not that I care very much, but Croatia win will be better from my perspective.

      But I don’t really care about the “number of stars” though. To me each world cup is a fresh start.

  22. Anyone knows if there is going to be a Copa America in 2020?
    After Brazil 2019 is it Ecuador 2024 or USA 2020?
    I hope it is 2020.
    Then our players will have 2 shots at copa before 2022 WC.

    I love this generation of players.
    I want players like Di Maria, Aguero, Banega, Rojo, Romero etc (and of course Messi) to win at least a copa before they retire.

    • It is still under negotiations I believe.

      I have no source but I fully believe they will arrange the CONMEBOL + CONCACAF copa in 2020 as soon as the details are hashed out. For a few reasons:
      Messi’s abilities will be going down soon inevitably. These are the final chances for FIFA and other organizations to squeeze as much spectator and advertisement revenue out of his presence as possible and they will make it happen. Doesn’t hurt that other stars like Neymar will be plateauing soon.
      Europe will be hosting the new Nations League cup besides the Euro cup. The 2020 joint copa (and its continuation) will then balance out the number of continental tournaments between South America and Europe.
      The US will make a big push for 2026 home world cup given its financial muscle. They will try to get their international team as much of big game experience outside of CONCACAF before 2026.

      All of this is conjecture of course.
      https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/2017/03/24/copa-america-conmebol-concacaf-2020-usa

    • Yes There will be 2 Copa Americas like last time. 2019 in Brazil (The Last traditional odd year Tournament) Snd 2020 (The Beginning of a new even year Copa America parallel to Euro. And The New Copa will always have both Conmebol and Concacaf to expand the tournament)

    • How will they win against Brazil Chile Colombia Uruguay????Let the probable 50-60 players for mission 2022 have the 2 copa experience …win or loss ..give young blood the exposure

      Let’s introduce young blood….no more old guards…..tried many times…bad luck they lost in 3 finals..move ahead..time for next generation…some of you may say that we will not qualify without messi ..but if not qualify then don’t need to qualify but young new players should be given time now…

    • “I want players like Di Maria, Aguero, Banega, Rojo, Romero etc (and of course Messi)”

      Why not Higuain as well. He is not worse than headless chicken Di Maria. Biglia and Mascherano should be there too. No discrimination. Go with all the oldies…

      CRAZY!!!

  23. I dont have complete faith in AFA, but the guy is dead man walking. They reported he was going to take over U20, then took that away from him. Tapia made it clear to say “he has a contract”. Even after the disaster of the croatia game, where he starts 3 defenders and which has NEVER worked while coaching the NT, he then goes against France without a #9. No striker! We have a world class striker in Aguero sitting on the bench. The guy will be canned eventually. It’s up to the lawyers to negotiate a payment arrangement less than the $8M is owed if he is fired.

    • His strategies and line-ups made no sense.
      Going against France with no #9, and having no plan for Mbappe was just madness.

      The most surprising thing is that a big association like AFA has no money!
      AFA has no money?! How can AFA be this poor?
      Just pay him and get a new coach!

  24. Sampaoli managed to win a copa with Chile (of all teams!) which did not have any megastar like Messi.
    He managed to give Chile its first copa america title.

    Yet he fails miserably with Argentina!

    Sometimes I feel that Sampaoli can actually become a good coach if forgets his “pass the ball to Messi” strategy. Depending on Messi is what costed Argentina. Like Kempes says, Argentina players should learn to take responsibility on their own shoulders if Messi is having a bad day.
    It’s about having team chemistry, not just Messi.

    • he overthinks too much and panics like a little girl. We did not have to abandon our formation in the Iceland against Croatia. (Just sub Biglia for Lo Celso or Banega.) Yet, he overthought it and got schooled like a complete rookie.

    • “pass to mess” isn’t the reason. Sampaoli changed tactics 30 times and tested 100 players throughout the qualifiers and continued fiddling with formations during the WC. No shit we did not have any identity. He also choose high defensive backline against an incredibly fast counter attacking team (FRA). That is what costed Argentina.

    • He made too many mistakes. He definitely has a lot to be blamed for.

      It was complete bonkers to leave Geronimo Rulli out of the squad and then start with Caballero in goal. Both the Iceland and Croatia match could have ended differently if not for Caballero. Not to mention… not using Lo Celso or Dybala was criminal.

      He was especially poor after conceding. Argentina vs Croatia was more or less even until the Caballero’s suicidal error. After conceding, he substituted his entire midfield off. His team was 4 defenders and 6 attackers, with no one in the middle to dictate the play.

      His biggest failure was completely wasting the whole of the last year, where he should have identified his best 11 and played them together for a prolonged period to build team chemistry. Yet he kept drastically changing his line up until the very last game of the group stage. He also formed one of the oldest teams in the World Cup despite Argentina having some exciting young players.

  25. Its like being in a marriage when you know the wife, kids, in laws, neighbors, co-workers HATE YOU and you refuse to sign the divorce papers.

  26. The good thing about sampa is has called many young players But he should give us the fans now answers why he was not using lo celso why Perez was starting although he was not even in the original 23 team we had conceded so many goals in test matches in such short time what was he doing with the Defence There are so many questions we want answers

  27. We are doomed. Now to prove that selfish General Mascherano and co interfered he is going to conduct even more crazy experiments. Prepare your selves , y’all gonna witness One more year of absolute madness of Meza, Pavon, Salvio, Acuna , highline pressing of defenders & DMs in opponent’s box, crazy substitutions and the main event “mental dance on the sidelines” !!!!!

    • I think we need some news on weather Tapia is still planning on eliminating the Europe trips, the sparrings, and if Tapia will allow Sampa to hire assistants.
      This will tell you if he is staying or going.
      Lots of talk to give Gallardo the job. Even Bauza wasn’t as big of an embarrassment as Sampa

  29. I would urge people to look at the TYC sports article where they are interviewing tapia as it relates to this Mundo post. The words on this Mundo post do not do justice to how and what Tapia said.
    They asked him about Sampa and he said he is the manager. But the way he said it is he is the manager because he has a contract.
    Just want to make sure everyone knows where Tapia is coming from.

  30. Sampaoli said before the world cup 2018 will not be messi last, even he signed contract for 2022 knowing Argentina isn’t favorite for the tournament and their qualification chances are low. Messi also said Germany Spain Brazil and France are favorites not Argentina and told reaching semi final considered good world cup where we fan want to be the champion, Sampaoli will not regine i know from beginning the coach debate, lets start the Sampaoli era with young blood then judge because in world cup worst coach award goes to Sampaoli

  31. England manager praised for a semi final

    Tata given abuse for 2 finals – by people on here

    Truth is us people on here are no different to AFA

    • @dammage7 good point
      Tata martino have done fantastic job for national team if he would have stayed till world cup we have beat Iceland and garocia and top our group now would have been talking about final
      He is well balance coach and play attacking football

  33. I will forgive Sampaoli for reaching two coaches in world cup final if he dropped every player from world cup squad even messi for rest

  34. Ok since sampaoli stays in charge of the NT let’s face the truth. He will play his possession based tactic. My question to all of you is do we have the players for that kind of play? I would like to see lineups with players who fit in to his system. Since almost everyone in the squad lost respect after the world cup what are his choices now?. If he decides to keep messi only do we have the players who can get integrated into the squad and play his system? He will probably invite many players from Argentine league since they are fresh and more motivated than the old guard. His system requires lot of running and fast players ofc but they also need to have the skill to keep the ball and stay in possession.

    • the only sure is that first of all he should stop change system in every single game
      and choose 1 to play all time whatever happens. we should build one team with specific ID.

      everybody should know what we play. find chemistry with that system is the second.

      if he want to play 3-5-2 it is his job to find the correct players to that system.
      if he want 4-3-3 the same.

      BUT GOD FORBID HE SHOULD DESIDE FINALLY WHAT ON EARTH HE WANT TO PLAY !!!

    • for his system,only young players below 23yrs can play. this system won’t suit for messi and dybala.
      did you see Argentina U15 players style of play. you see on youtube. only below U20 players can play. Diego placente, he is very good youth coach. sampa has to discuss with him.

      sampa has to pick the players from local club and youth Academy. he need to spend time with this players and discover more friendliest with Italy, Netherlands, Germany, chile, Paraguay. from there he can understand where the team is lacking.

      we dont need the players from European club

  35. Tapia said ” Sampaoli is the Argentina coach ”
    while he wanted to say ” Sampaoli is the Argentina coach …because i don t have the money to send him and take other “.

    this is the truth.

  36. I think this is all a blessing in disguise. We don’t need a new manager today. Let’s wait and actually find someone, instead of erratically taking whomever is available.

    Also next World Cup 4.5 years away. I think this is a blessing. Argentina need the extra 6 months.

    • the international football is not have only world cups.
      exist and Copa americas for us as Euro for European countries.

      especially in Brasil next summer.
      for all the Argentinians is very important.

      • Yes I know Copa is next year but I think that this problem is not fixable before Copa anyway. As in, picking a coach today will not fix us in time for Copa. So It’s really 4.5 year World Cup target.

        Sampaoli had a year and the results were embarrassing. I think making a rash decision to win Copa is a mistake. There needs to be a long view on what the vision is for Argentine football and which coach would plug in best with the talent.

        • About the long term plan ok no argue.
          but we stick with this idiot till next summer so we can t do anything
          else than try somebody wake him up to create one normal team till next summer.

          as about world cup the new coach when he will comes he should start what you said.
          for now we can t do anything.

  37. Guys, I’ve been a massive Argentina fan for god knows how long. I promise you this, if we had any other manager apart from this idiot Sampaoli we would be in the final on Sunday. You look at the players we had in 2014 and compare that side to this one and I assure you, this 2018 unit have better players. 2 ways we could’ve reached this final, winning our group by not panicking after the Iceland result! They played with their whole team in their own half and our Leo misses a penalty(okay fair enough shit happens) it was a bad day at the office but we drew that game 1-1. Onto the Croatia game, there was no need for the drastic changes and form that stupid back 3 hipster piece of shit formation and drop Banega. Awful decision to do that and we got punished by a solid Croatia team… okay so now it looks like we cant top our group and have an easy path to a semi final! So we must do it the hard way, a standard motto for us as its always the hard way to learn. Thank God for us advancing through and avoiding major embarrasment. So now we face France, a powerful and pragmatic France team who have flattered to deceive at this tournament so far despite having such talented players, it seems Deschamps hates the attractive and expansive way of playing. So Sampaoli decides to play Leo as a false 9 with a young Pavon on the right and Angel on the left(god bless Angel) okay so we are 4-2 down almost out of the World Cup, Sergio is on the pitch hoping to dig us out of trouble but our last fucking change is Meza! In what looks like our chance he doesnt bring on Don Paolo Dybala. And then Sergio brings us back in the game via a wonderful header from a marvellous cross from Messi… then in the 94th minute France are shaken! We have another opening, Sergio sends the ball out wide to Maxi Meza… you look up at the screen begging the ball to be cut back because Leo is there free on the edge of the penalty spot but the little Meza sends a rash cross losing all composure. Oh my dear Argentineans 2018 should have been Messi’s World Cup! So so many teams were gone early, we really should have capitalised by winning the group or even doing it the hard way. I still cant get over it. I cannot wait for Copa 2019 but this Sampaoli bastard needs all the help from God if we are to win it.

    • your words express the thoughts of millions. Falling back after 2-1 lead,introduce Aguero and hit on the counter would have put us through. Sampa is clueless. Now we have to live through 4 more years of pain. it had been 32 years, and counting. next Copa is the most important, It is in Brazil, We have to lift the cup on Brazilian soil. All that talk about not worrying about Copa 2019 is total BS

      • Copa 2019 is going to be huge, those Brazilians will want to put on a show after their debacle in 2014 and also their failure this year. I really hope we can win this Copa, hopefully it’ll be, ‘third time the charm’ in terms of Copa finals! In my opinion, if Leo wins this Copa I have no doubts he will retire from the national team and pass the torch to Don Paolo Dybala. Players like Latauro, Santiago and Juan Foyth need to be eased in. Those 3 players can form our spine for 2022. But first our attention now focuses on Copa 2019. Fuck my office job man football is life!

  38. Can’t believe this, what a horrible news. Idiots do tend to hire idiots. What a fat ass loser, and why did you agree to spend so much money on this maniac in the first place?? Pathetic. I’m done. Argentina will still look directionless, unable to score, incapable of defending, just another ordinary selection. With this bald, and bone, headed fool pacing around.

  39. What a pathetic and embarrassing state of affairs that the AFA can’t come up with 20 million to boot this piece of shit.
    My question is why the hell are you negotiating a 20 million dollar contract if you don’t have the money?
    Mismanaging money is a mistake a 20 year old males not a football federation.
    National embarrassment.

    This is what happens when nobody wants the job as AFA president and you give the job to some third rate uneducated loser like Tapia. Idiots tend to hire idiots. There you have it.

    • I think sampaoli didnt have enough faith in the team before he took over so it was kind of like an insurance for him to stay in charge after the world cup no matter what happens in the tournament. It’s the only logical reason why a football federation would consider such a contract. I remind everyone again no one accepted the job. Sampaoli was the only one after simeone and bielsa already have rejected the offer.

      • Where did you get that from?? Not true, are you kidding me, people were lining up to take over. Argentina has never, will never, lack coaches dying to take over that post. You coach Argentina and you instantly become a name in the whole world of Football. This is a prestigious gig so please. Right the fuck now Gareca and Pekerman have made themselves available and will take the job anytime if offered. So that assertion has no basis. It’s Sampaoli and his supporters propagating that smoke screen. I even suspect that all this is also meant to get Pekerman and Gareca to take others coaching jobs so that the incompetent midget can say there is nobody available. He’s forcing himself on the on the team. Pathetic.

        • Your comments are spot on. There are always people that want to coach Argentina. Even Guardiola would come if offered a competitive salary.
          I think when the attorney arrives and speaks with Tapia this will be wrapped up. They will have to fork over some 10-15 million for this mental midget to leave. They will come up with the money someway and then it’ll end up in the courts long after he is gone for default.
          Its all about money. Nobody wants him and AFA is too corrupt to pay this guy off. The real problem is who would trust Tapia to hire somebody else…I sure don’t.

        • Ok let me say it in a different way none of the coaches which AFA preferred accepted the job.
          Simeone: maybe one day atm I like to work at daily basis with my players. I would accept only a part time job.

          Bielsa with all his craziness: it’s not the right time. Sampaoli is a better choice cause he has a plan B which I dont.

          What happened? Sampaoli had a lot of plans to be exact he had 15 different plans and formations in 15 different matches. When I write this believe it or not I have tears in my eyes because of anger.

  40. While possible U-20 player for COTIF tournament Gonzalo Maroni (boca) has now the clause of contract raised to $15M. Hope will see him in U-20 matches.

    • Gonzalo do the clubs have to release the players for the tournament?

      I remember a youth tournament in France I think it was in Toulouse. I used to travel and watch the Argentina matches those days.

      • The clubs do not have to release players. Argentina also will be without few already known names. Still few worth watching will be there.

        • Gonzalo Too Bad i think it was 1998 or 99 i saw Roman playing in France in that youth tournament. Our team won the final against France…..it was great.

  41. Santiago Caseres (Velez) will probably join Villarreal (10 mln). Little surprised as Heinze really wanted to keep all his talents one season more. It was exciting to see under him young U-20 central midfield trio Dominguez -Caseres – Robertone.

  42. Nacho Pusetto really close Udinese (12 mln).

    Surprisingly Udinese may be most Argentine club in Europe with Bizzarri, Musso, De Paul, Iniguez, Lopez already in.

      • Icardi already rocks the league , two times top scorer despite playing at shitty Inter team. Icardi and Perisic literally dragged them to CL spot.

    • That’s a good sign. Our players in the Europe need character or even ego! Cristiano Ronaldo benefited from his ego. Our players are too soft. Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria, and even Dybala do not show strong character which push themselves for the higher standard all the time. Even Messi lack that character. I’d love to see a “fuck it” kind of player who Go to Real Madrid, ask for number 9 or 10 and shine!

      • Icardi is that kind of player. I agree that the 05-07 generations simply has mama boy mentallity, Messi included.

        Btw, CR never come close to win the WC but Messi did 4 years ago. To win a tournament, you’d need quality , mentallity and luck.

  44. I think the WC in person of N’golo Kante is full apologiae and rehabilitation of classic No.5. Defensive midfielder that only have defensive duties. There was many voices of late that No.5 for Argentina and in generally in football is past. No way. Not only France reach final already with such player that is seen by many as quiet hero of the team but also in Argentina was seen the lack of such destroyer in good age unlike Mascherano. Moreover we see now the No.5 may be even as short as 1,68 if he has other outstanding qualities. This is the same height also Ascacibar has…

  45. simeone and pep wont leave their clubs.
    Maradona should come as a motivator only.(maybe free kicks & corner kicks coordinator)
    Kempes resume as a coach is not good enough to take over the NT.
    I dont know about the relation between Sabella pekerman and martino and AFA. Did they separate in good terms?

    I can’t predict anything when it comes to bielsa xD
    Gareca wont wait till after the copa in my opinion.

    • As you said Simeone won’t leave and nor should he, Pottechino is another bielsa worshiper, Sabella has medical issues and unlikely to coach anymore, pekerman seems happy with Colombia and Tata will never deal with the AFA if he knows what’s good for him and lastly regarding pep…..well there is a better chance of peace in the mideast than there of pep coaching the NT.
      To be honest I don’t think any coach will succeed as long as the AFA is in such a disarray; those corrupt ***holes are the source of all failure for the NT.

  46. Let’s see who he calls up. That’s when we’ll know what direction we’re travelling in. If he turns it around from here they’ll be a lot of people who will be speechless.

    • His only chance is to drop almost all the players from world cup and start over with a young and fresh team. But sampaoli is damned to deliver results. Is 1 year enough to get good results from a team he wants or needs to build up first? Will AFA give him full power to work freely? It’s a trust issue in my opinion. Next question and most important one is will sampaoli find the players from what league ever to execute his ideas from paper into the reality ? Only time will answer those questions so we need to wait and see.

      • @Zoroaster Yeah we need to keep at least 4 experienced players. Let’s hope the trust is given. I hope it’ll be enough time otherwise we’ll have the same squad again for the Copa.

          • @Zoroaster So you think he’ll make a completely new squad? I hope we don’t become like England because they needed some experience in their squad against Croatia.

          • Experience yes – Romero and maybe Messi in time. The rest out.

            To that we may take some players experienced in Europe but none of the losers Di Maria, Aguero, Higuain, Rojo, Banega… Their loser mentality will infect our youngsters with defetism

          • Real loser mentality: Olympics 2012, Olympics 2016, U20 2009, U20 2013, U20 2015, U20 2017 our youngsters not even loosers much worse. You said Copa 2015 and 2016 were not success, Copa 2019 final will be the same, only the final would be a faillure even with just the youngsters too, and anything less than the final a real disaster. No more double standards Mr Gonzalo., no more, but i know you well, its a mission impossible for you.

          • Several youth tournaments lost by different generations doesn’t make any single of this generation mentality loser. Another thing is to lose all the the senior tournaments we had in last years. Do you see the difference?

            Shut up, man. You are one of those stupid supporters that were being for our oldies again and again hence we are where we are. After 2014 they were only descending. According to you the oldies were always guarantee of good results while we barely reach 1/8:

            Face it one more time:
            “Argentina-Columbia 3:0, Columbia-Argentina 0:1, if finally the right players’ll play how they can ARG will beat not even Nigeria, France too”.

          • @Csabalala

            Do you want just once again tell us we should go for Copa 2019 again with the oldies?! Come on! Do it! Say that you were saying for 2-3 years. Will they again guarantee of good result in 2019?

          • “According to you the oldies were always guarantee of good results while we barely reach 1/8”: Sampaoli idiotism cost us this WC, bigger clown than Bielsa, and dont forget we lost against the two best teams of the tournament. Never ever happened same. ARG always failed against not even really strong opponents. 94 Romania immediately out after Argentina match, 98 Holland OUT, 2002 Sweden OUT, 2006 Germnay OUT, 2010 Germany OUT ( maybe the only one real strong antagonist, but definitely way weaker than the 2014s version of Germany), now France probably WC-champion, Croatia silver-medalist, France conceeded 0 goal in 5 matches (only a controversy penalty against Australia). Sampaoli is a charlatan like Maradona., these two idiots cost us two good Wcs.

          • “Sampaoli idiotism cost us this WC”

            I said before Nigeria game. Go ahead with the oldies. Just without excuses. They are playing together so long time they don’t need coach – people were almost saying. Now you want just to find scapegoat. The only person that will responsible. No way! It’s too long since players like Higuain, Di Maria are poor to think it’s just coach should. Most of their games were poor yet under Martino and Bauza. Isn’t it? Coaches may change but they are long burned out ..

            Argentina was nowhere near to beat the France. The result 4:3 is confusing. Only the last goal of Aguero convinced me. If not the lucky we had on Mercado and Di Maria goals…. The fact is French team was prevailing so much, I think you know that. The energy that France had – you can feel they may more if it will be needed. While Argentina gave best. The unexperienced defence of France was more reason of 2 goals than our players.

            “we lost against the two best teams of the tournament”

            And what? We are bronze medallist?

            Denmark, Russia, England – none of the teams lost to Croatia in 90 minutes.

          • “we lost against the two best teams of the tournament”

            And still everyone feel that in this WC every opponent could be hard to beat for us. Just like the poor defence Nigeria. We barely win 2:1 on finish. But what’s worst: Argentina created little opportunities in this game even if Nigeria never parked bus. The reason: old muscles, old minds, no passion.

          • “Just like the poor defence Nigeria. We barely win 2:1 on finish.”

            94 ARG-NIG 2:1 2002 ARG-NIg 1:0 2006 ARG-COTD 2:1 2010 ARG-NIG 1:0 2014 ARG-NIG 3:2 where is the difference?

          • Difference is that the last win was really in poor style and you should not compare the last win now to that of past teams because you’ve said many times the generation is better than the previous so why they weren’t able to do this by few goals and in good style having more opportunities. Moreover those previous African teams were probably better than rather mediocree current Nigerian team.

  48. Sampaoli’s tactics were horrible in the WC. And he looked nervous outside the lines when he should be thinking calmly.

    But let’s give him 1 last chance. If we fail at copa 19, then bring any of these:

    Sabella
    Simieone
    Guardiola
    Maradona
    Pekerman
    Kempes
    Martino
    Bielsa
    Gareca

    Anyone will do, but Sampaoli has to leave if we fail at copa.

    • I agree that he should be allowed to coach us for this COPA America. If he does a good job, then we will know that the WC was a fluke. And if he does horrible, then we know it’s a problem and he will also want to leave.

      I am kind of glad that he is in a position to stand up to the AFA right now. They have been getting away with corruption for too long. I really hope that some former players like Zanetti can bring some class to the AFA. It will help them deal with so many issues if they aren’t trying to just make themselves rich.

      It would be great if they just did what Uruguay has done.

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