Walter SAMUEL begins work with Argentina coaching staff

By
Roy Nemer
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59

Walter SAMUEL, who recently joined Lionel SCALONI’s coaching staff, has already started working with the team.

Along with former Argentina team mates Diego PLACENTE and Pablo AIMAR, SAMUEL has joined the two assistants as well as SCALONI in working with the U20 team as they prepare for their friendly match against Uruguay on Wednesday.

As we reported a few days ago, SAMUEL has joined SCALONI’s coaching staff and will be there for the two friendly matches against Guatemala and Colombia in September.

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59 Comments

  1. I think Gallardo is more into Copa Lib than the Superliga. Is it Correct? And Armani OMG.

    And I believe Time will Conquer everyone even the so called historical Players, All of us r thankful to the Historical players for what they did for our NT, but then again its time to move on. We all will have a definite favorite players. But none of the players are above the Argentine NT. We wont win anything with the likes of Higuain, Di Maria, Aguero, etc etc. No Chance, They r broken players.

    • I agree with higuain,Dimaria,mache but why Aguero who single handily gave 2007 u20 wc and won Olympic 2008 too. Real loser is higuain 1st Real Madrid failed in Champion league then Juventus, higuain is serial choker and mentally broken. Did Aguero missed any one vs one or penalty for Argentina. Aguero hardly get opportunity despite messi friend because mache/biglia higuain admired. Aguero is was in form and injury free in wc 2018 but not used properly still best player as well as top scorer for Argentina

  2. Tonight i’m impressed with garalldo tactics how his team played even though.
    He wasn’t in the tough line .I also impressed with palacios the boy look like.
    Box to box midfielder…but it’s too early to charge him..

  3. rigoni, angel correa, palacios…. only thing argentina does not lack are wingers. why did they use meza acuna pavon etc 🙁
    oh palacio is midifielder. anyway he’s small so

    • As you said Palacios is not a winger and A.Correa isn’t a winger either, yeah he can play as a winger but he a right midfielder with Atletico and he’s a support striker by trade. If you add in Paredes, Ascacibar, Celso, De Paul, Caseres, Pity in addition to Pererya, Lanzini and Lamela (I know,they all are injury prone but still) and it would seem that Argentina may actually be alright midfield wise.
      Still you’re right about Argentina not lacking wingers especially with the likes of Ocampos, Cervi amd Pavon (more of a forward but can play wing).

  6. Unexpected order in Superliga after 3 rounds. Only Racing out of favourites in top 10:
    1 Rosario Central
    2 Racing Club
    3 Godoy Cruz
    4 Aldosivi
    5 Atletico Tucuman
    6 Defensa y Justicia
    7 San Martin San Juan
    8 Union
    9 Belgrano
    10 Velez

    • I hope Racing will progress today. Derby of Avellaneda would be great quartefinal of Copa Libertadores.

      • lol 3-0!!!
        lucas pratto scored lol and palacios(19) scored and played full time
        i wish argentina league keep rewarding young argentinian players. that’s the start of project. hopefully he can help at least copa america trophy soon

  7. argentina lacks speed thus lacks threat in the attack even though they have names in fowards.
    Fazio, Otamendi, Caballero, Mascherano, Banega biglia = these are slow players who need world class player to cover them only suitable for superior possession team. by possession it mean does not mean the way of play, it means the team who can stay in opposition box for 90 min like peak guardiola team. so it’s impossible
    Messi said in press France is fast team but using Otamendi and Mascherano coupled with static banega, subbing in fazio was the road to disasterclass. i don’t know why rojo was subbed off even though he did not make huge misatke, his substitution fazio’s speed and slow cutting pass miss like that. mascherano just could not catch up the speed with any fowards. di maria is just so inconsistent during 90min in National team and Higuain was just fat unclinical unprofessional. coach should have not called up a player who is fat and did not prepare body for national match. did they even check medical report?

    player like aguero does not fit international team, even though he does not score at least fat higuain press opposition defenders, but player like aguero is only useful against easy team and less pressing teams, because he roams. argentina team can’t plate never ending chance like de bruyne does to him. this kind of striker is not useful in national match. he was useful in this worldcup when subbed on but that’s it. this is the reason why big name was not good for argentina but is icardi and dybala different type of striker? are they fast enough to press opposition defender line or presses a lot? dybala was benched from 2016 in big game because allegri did not like this and wanted to use 433. unless he improves his style i am not sure anything will change when it comes to argentina national team idea. you have to ask yourself. maybe gio simeone is. different.

    if argentina wanted to build a team around messi they should have used him as a foward(right winger or second striker) not midfielder. and partner him with foward who presses a lot and good in the air to supplement what he lacks. that was lucas pratto was useful than striker like aguero, how much he pressed against colombia and strike header from high? in national match maybe u needed those type of player.
    national team, but you can’t blame players it is technical directors job to find useful players.
    i am so glad mascherno left nt
    , players with slow feet always has flaws in modern football team selection and tactics. pressing and use of space is the most important thing in modern football.

    same for otamendi and banega. i’d rather see player like ascacibar santiago caseres and paredes rather than biglia or banega because at least they have speed and agility. don’t know much about centerback but otamenci is surely not a good choice for me. short and slow. why would you like otamendi. are you going to play our defender’s passing game in ur risky zone? sometimes u need to build from back but defender should first be good at defense. funes mori musacchio all taller more physical and faster. and there are some argentinian defenders in benfica too.

    it’s so shame argentian does not have star defenders or star midfeidlers. france does not have star is BS, they were most stacked team in the world thanks to french league youth rewarding system.

    • also argentina needed winger not named di maria who is consistent for whole 90 min in national team. why did they focus on icardi only. winger is also problem. meza acuna are they really better than angel correa? joaquin correa can also play on the left wing instead of di maria.

      player like lanzini joaquin correa and lamela are much suitable as central midfielder with attacking skills in international match . if argentina has luck next year this player will all be available.
      messi better stay on right wing or shadow striker and stop dropping deep to that position.

      • to stop brazil defenders from overlapping you need winger with fast feet. winger also do defensive work by controlling opposition’s defenders line. i think only thing argentina does not lack are wingers so you should make use of it. and again. if messi plays. the most important thing is field real central midfielder and make him play foward (wing or shadow striker and not drop deep because most of the time he has the ball and it’s no threat or even risky if you have the ball far from the box, is simple fact.

  10. Out of the three teams that have played last night in Copa Libertadores 2 are progressing: Independiente and Atletico Tucuman. Estudiantes is out of CL after penalties. They had really weak second leg but still this young team surprised against CL title defender.

    • Independiente is progressing after 2 goalless games against Santos and Conmebol walkover for first game but they were I think a bit better team generally in this competition.

      • Atletico Tucuman is revelation.They never played a competitive international match and eliminated 2016 CL winner Atletico Nacional. It was close to kick out two last CL winners Gremio and Atletico Nacional but Estudiantes lost second goal against Gremio in 92 min.

        Tucuman will play Gremio next round.

    • Independiente should have won the game. Meza lost penalty. There was also shot on post. Bustos have played in midfield. Hope Martine Benitez will back from injury for next round to reinforece attack.

      • Have been keeping up with all the games’ news and results. Independiente regardless of the sanction should’ve knocked santos out. Estudiantes was super unlucky too.

  11. Walter Samuel, one hell of an intimidating Defender Called as The Wall, Hope he can especially help rectify our Center back situation.

    And about our future we used to have so many Superstars who play in Big Clubs, Messi, Higuainnnnnn, Di Maria, Tevez, Aguerooooooooo, Banega, Mascherano, Otamendi etc etc (Well most are attacking players there was no Big Club in Europe with an Argentine Goal Keeper and we got a Bench Warmers in the Big European Club) frankly speaking what is their Achievement in NT Colors?? They all r Great or Good Players The Superstars, Agree, But what is their best they could do. Well reaching a WC final is no small task, And that’s their biggest achievement, 2 Copa Finals which they should have won, they should have won in in Normal time Why they didn’t do it, Is it because of the Coach and formations? See its like this Only winners will be Remembered forever, Being Second wont be remembered. Being Winners Matters nothing else(Whatever the field generally). France Won the WC by playing bad, Does it matter?? Not at all. They r the Winners they will be remembered as the 2018 WC winners forever.

    The point is being a Team with full of Superstars didn’t help us to win anything, Maybe a low profile coach with Low profile players can help us to build something good for the future. It doesn’t matter whether they r playing bad for their club, They must play well for the NT. That’s it. If Players like Dybala, Icardi, Paredes, Lo Celso, Ascacibar, Rulli, Tagliafico, Pezzella, Angel Correa etc etc Cant show hunger for the NT then they don’t deserve to play for us(These should be the most hungriest players, They were always living in the Shadows of the Messi Era) They have to be hungrier, and they should be hungrier to Perform at elite level for the NT.

    But I still believe without a proper Project we are wasting all the available youngsters now. Without Planning we cant win only by Luck or individualism, It have to be a group effort, Its bloody Football not Tennis or any Individual game. Hopefully in New Year like Tapia said we will have a 10 year project.

    • France don’t have superstars??? Lol, One of the best GK loris, Best center back for barca and real untiti varane, EPL best player kante, overrated pogba, Balloon d’or/ucl finalist Grezmaan, Barca biggest shining balloon d’or future winner dembele and Overatted player ever mabape. French team has maximum number of superstars at peck while in Argentina only messi and Aguero where icardi not selected , Dybala unsued. No team with mediocre player team the world cup otherwise Argentina can win it after messi n Maradona era. With playing team game a less superstar player can reach semis not more like England this year

      • What do France, Germany, Spain, Belgium etc r having in Common apart from Superstars??A PROJECT, Its been going for them for last 8 or 10 years for them. They r reaping the rewards of that now. Superstars are only made because of the Projects, its not the other way around.

        The problem is most are Obsessed with the generation of Messi, What they have done is done, Let us move on. We cant win a World Cup without a Proper Project, But we can a Win World cup without Superstars.

        • is caballero or armani superstar? come on. france nt keeper lloris was ballondor nominee in 2016. i think u r the one who is obssessed with certain narrative. every nt has stars. it’s better if you have stars. what u r talking about is not about selecting new players, project starts from argentina league and afa youth system and that’s not easy for every south american countries.
          for national team’s job is selecting player that are useful to do the job coach wants, not developing new players. it’s afa’s long term job. keeping the ball? penetrating the box? tackling? physicality? tall? fast? scorer?

    • I m not totally agree with u….i understand that u stand with ur Argentinean league players or European small club players ….but what I don’t understand is that why u guyz don’t stand with big club players….i see people here criticise di maria, higuain Nd etc….I also want young players to replace these oldies but that doesn’t mean that what these oldies have done is not admirable…..if u r playing in the biggest clubs of Europe that means u hv something extraordinary in u …..I m not saying that people who dont play for big clubs are not good…..but u can’t say that if someone is playing for big clubs are trash….so many people here thinks of big club players as if they are overrated……I want argentina to win every trophy …i don’t care if they win it by Diego simeone style or by 30+ players or by under 20 players

      • Higuain will continue to score goals after goals for AC Milan, Di Maria may again tear apart Barcelona at the champions League. Aguero of course will keep scoring the Winning goals for Man City. They all will play good for their Clubs, But they wont play well for the NT (Now don’t say that they r playing bad only because of the Coaches and Tactics – It is also a factor) But These guys have been playing together for 8 years or more Di Maria still cant play a neat 10 passes while playing for us. Where as, he always rectify his errors after 1 or 2 matches in Clubs. Playing well for their Clubs doesn’t matter at all, But playing well for the Argentine NT does matter. Because we Argentina Fans not any particular players fan. This is about the NT not about any one player, Whoever it is.

        • Agree mate …. especially di Maria.
          You so correct about him .
          You also correct we re Argentina fans. Not any particular play ..
          To be honest mate I couldn’t give f…
          What they do thier clubs….

    • Yes, France played with their force and they deserved the victory even though it was not a spectacular football. They had many attacking players injured or in bad form and Deschamps had this intelligence to use Giroud as the key player in order to free space for others. Griezmann didn’t mind playing the 2nd role. Once scored everyone defend together as the old school contenaccio. Well organised tactically and players covering each other. This is good coaching + team spirit.

    • Take out the “Superstars” and replace with a of bunch of local players and/or players mid to low table Euro teams with the exact same coaches and tactics for the last decade and you think they would performed better????????

      I can’t believe the logic here. And you’re not the only one with this sentiment either. competely misguided blame on the old guard. Truly baffling and naive

      • no team with small club players win the world cup and never win it future. In the best case scenario goes 2018 England or 2014 Colombia way. Umtiti, kante, varane, dembele, mabape was small club player before but attract big clubs due to talent then why not Argentina, only Netherland golden generation retired trophy less and considered chokers if Messi and Kun can’t win anything then Argentina is the new choker always came close of winning but choke at crucial moment. I’m hopping miracle and Argentina young players become key for big clubs and Argentina win every trophy. Higuain is finished, Dimaria is not needed as starter. I only want inform player young or old or experience inexperience not matter

  12. Matias Pellegrini our 18yo prodigious attacking midfielder (who is attracting several european clubs) started for estudiantes earlier in a game they unfortunately lost on penalties. How did he perform can anyone here tell me ? Maybe @gonzalo

    • He slept, Estudiantes parked the bus, Gremio with 81% possession and 25 shots versus 2!!!!, anti football didnt win this time, not like Atletico Tucuman’s anti football vs Atletico Nacional.

      • Sad that our teams not even try to play football away, River-Racing probably a big 0:0 again, Independiente was lucky but at least they dominated at home. (opponent’s idiotism just like in San Lorenzo case, so they started the match with 3:0 lead)

      • Ohh that’s sad cause the guy seems immensely talented. Cant really question the coach’s tactics though since they almost knocked a good team out. Only luck prevented them from going through. Nevertheless i shall continue following this boy’s games this season.

        • The team of Estudiantes is so young: Pellegrini is 18 years old, Erquiaga 20, Gomez 21, Rodriguez 21, Apaolaza 21, Lattanzio 21. Most of them have played their just second game in Copa Libertadores as they are introduced by Benitez only now with new season start. They already beat Boca and were close to kick out title defender in CL. It’s worth to follow them.

          The startegy that usually is efficient in SA club cups(to win at home and park bus away) this time was too radical. They yield the floor too much.

  13. Icardi is nowhere near the likes of crespo, let alone batistuta, but name to me just a single 25 years old brazilian or german 9 who is better than him. Dybala, a bench warmer or not, is still condidered one of the hottest young talents worldwide. Ascascibar, lo celco, pavon, corea and others have the prospect to be world class. But their development is another story.

    Some may say, we didn’t win anything with all the insane amount of talent we had so what should make us think that we win something now? I say that teams with much less talent than we used to possess won something in contrast to us. We are getting through difficult times but in football you never know, sometimes when things look bad tirn into something good in the end.

  14. I agree that there is noone as next maradona or next messi currently. Besides, those two are the best players ever played the game. I even agree on the fact that there are no any players who seem to turn into the new batistuta, caniggia, redondo etc. But still those players were phenomenoms and all time legends of world football.

    However, i still believe that argentina has players with lots of talent that could turn to world class if they develop properly. The development of a player has to do with many factors and the same goes for every single player. For example, mbappe seems to be the greatest young talent currently but if he won’t develop properly he won’t be the player that he is expected to be. We may don’t seem to have the talent that previous generations used to but i believe that argentina never had problem on producing talented players anyway. It is about people who are behind argentina’s steering wheel, it is about people who run argentine football and are rensponsible for it’s future.

    Finally, people are talking about brazilian or german talents, because personally i wasn’t impressed that much especially from brazilians, can someone name to me some of these talents and justify why should they deserve more hype than our talents?

  16. Today is a sad day for the world of sport as Argentina best basketball player of all time, Emmanuel “Manu” Ginobili, arguably the third biggest athlete in Argentina of all time after Maradona and Messi has retired at the age of 41.

    Unlike here where the majority of people hate the oldies, the Spurs fan never wish to see Manu retire. They love him to death. Today I read a lot of comments where a lot of (Spurs) fans cry when he retires. Something that probably would not happen in Argentina the day Messi announce his retirement from futbol.

    Manu is not close to being the best of basketball all time, but he was definitely one of the best non American players who ever play the game. He was famous for being the ONLY team that beat US Dream Team in the Olympic in the history of basketball in 2004. Argentina golden generation led by Manu along with the likes of Andreas Nocioni, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, and Walter Hermann beat the dream team led by the great Duncan, Dwyane Wade, Allen Iverson, and the young possibly the best basketball player of all time, Lebron James and won the gold medal. It was US first defeat since the NBA players represented them.

    Just like the futbol department, in basketball, Argentina produced its golden generation and the team relied on it heavily for more than 15 years. The result was not bad at all. In 10-15 years, the “Manu’s and friends” got 1 gold medal, 1 silver medal, and one bronze medal. That is considered superb result because the US team already use NBA players to compete.

    And just like in futbol again, the basketball golden generation of “Manu and friends” has finally come to an end at a very similar time to our golden generation of “Messi and friends”. These names: Andreas Nocioni, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto, and Walter Hermann have all retired from the team. Just like in futbol, most of Messi’s friends are retired or will retire in less than 4 years.

    Some here are dying to see changes in Argentina futbol. Some believe that after the change (finally!), we would finally win something. However, that is far from the case in the basketball department. After the golden generation, Argentina basketball team, as of today, is as mediocre as just most other teams. They are no longer one of the world’s best. No Argentina players play in the NBA currently. Their youngsters are average. They won nothing in the last Olympic, not even go to the quarter final of the tournament.

    Let me warn you, be ready for this: I see a major decline in Argentina futbol today. The season has started, but as I see, things are not looking good. Most of the youngsters from Argentina do not get the same respect as the European youngsters from France, England or Germany or Brasil.

    Pavon is one of the best players in the local league without doubt. Some say he is wanted by Barca. Yeah right…. Just because he had one assist against Guatemala or something to Messi and then Messi praised him in the media, then Argentina media (as always) made a story that Barca offered a bid to buy Pavon. Dude, be real…

    Not only the youngsters, the players who are between 20-30 also show regression. They either play for smaller clubs now or are no longer one of the world best, for example, Gonzalo Higuain. Some players still try to prove that they deserve to play in Europe, like Rigoni, or Roberto Perreyra, but most of them are still in the status of “trying to prove”. None of them are world class.

    The one that we hope to replace Messi one day, Paulo Dybala will not take PK and FK anymore for Juventus with the arrival of the higher profile name, CR7. Do you think Dybala will still be effective without the set pieces and a much reduced role?

    If the Argentina basketball become “no one” after their golden generation retire, get ready for our futbol department to be worse than ever in the last 20-30 years. Germany had gone through this many years ago. Some expert wrote an article saying “Save Germany football” many years ago after Bierhoff era, but they bounced back. Today they produce a lot of amazing talents, yes more than Argentina.

    Argentina players are normally not known to be late bloomers. Very few Argentina players get better when they are 29-30 for example compared to when they were 23-24. Their graphic of progression just stays the same or even get worse (like Pastore or Lamela) as they reach the end of 20’s. It is different from Brazil who normally have a lot of late bloomers. Rivaldo or Roberto Carlos, or Cafu, or Ronaldo for example got so much better when they were 27 or older compared to when they were 23-24.

    I still hope for a miracle. I do NOT see, I repeat, I do NOT see any high profile name that at the age of 18-19 is ready to be the next big thing today. The last high profile name we had was Angel Correa, and although he is not a failure, but he has yet to develop as well as we hope for. If you still remember, the 16 year old Kun Aguero was already a phenomenon for Independiente before Atletico purchased him. We have no one with that caliber now.

    I do not have much hope for players from Argentina league to replicate like what Neymar did with Santos or Riquelme did with Boca for example. Think about this, if the 58 year old (I mean 32) Maxi Rodriguez was the star, and one of the best players, of the Argentina league with Newells Old Boys a couple of years ago, when he was just a so so player in Europe, you know what level they are in.

    Usually, in most sports, after the golden generation is over, the team starts to rebuild and make major decline. For example:
    1. Netherlands did not even qualify to the World Cup after the Robben and Van Persie era
    2. England was super horrible for many years after their golden generation of Beckham is done
    3. Chicago Bulls became a lottery team after Michael Jordan and Pippen retired.
    4. Many more NBA examples….
    5. Manu’s Argentina
    6. AC Milan became really bad after Baresi and Maldini and many others retired.

    So many other examples… Do you still remember how mediocre Napoli was when the likes of Maradona, Alemao, Careca, and Fernando Di Napoli left them?

    Spain and France used to have their golden generations, but they produce really good players that is why it does not take a long time for the to recapture the glory.

    I really hope for late bloomers for Argentina. Again in terms of talents, there is no more the next big things as of today. But the likes of Batigol or Abel Balbo was not that much of the most promising wonderkid when they were young, but they still ended up really good players.

    Now that is our hope: No more youngsters with superstar talents, but with the good developments, hope they can become better than expected.

    Enjoy your next stage of your life Manu Ginobili! Thank you for everything.

    • Excellent post, El Principe.
      There is always hope. Remember last Copa in Argentina that Uruguay won? That team had many mediocre players but hard work, team spirit and a bit of luck helped them win the trophy.

    • We can still remain competitive. Majority players of 2006 wc were not of superstar status. Maxi, lucho, cambiasso, masche, sorin, burdisso were not superstars, at least not at that time. The team reached Copa and confed finals.

      We had to let go of batistuta generation in 2002. Ayala-crespo-generation began declining in 2007, finished in 2011.we have a new cycle.

      We had a golden generation, still we are trophyless. Missed opportunity, missed penalties. We never had a weaker opponent in final.still could not win it. What is the benefit of golden generation? We played 2014 wc like a underdog, defending our 30 yards most of the time.

      With whatever player we have, we can still remain competitive. We need a good manager, who understands the situation, type of players we have. Brazil was struggling before Tite. Brazil clicked from his first match. Good manager is the key.

      • But I agree quality has declined. Di Maria had 24 assists 2009-10 season for benfica. His replacement in the scaloni’s squad , cervi had 8 assists last season.

        Aguero was scoring 20+ goals a season for atletico when he was at the age of angel Correa. Correa is yet to score 10+ goals.

        But I think our midfield option can get better than Messi gen which consisted of biglia and masche mostly, Augusto, gago , banega briefly. Paredes is definitely an execellent midfielder. Ascacibar’s Europe start is a lot better than of masche. He is regarded as one of the best talents in bundes Liga. Caseras has made a bright start at Villarreal. All of them has balance which masche and biglia lacked, all defence no skill on ball.

        Defence option I think more of same. Zabaleta was not better than tagliafi I at the age of 25. Pezzella is a club captain. Mammana is a bigger talent than garay was.

        We do not have superstar attackers like Messi gen, but defence and midfield option is similiar if not better.

        • Attack wise Argentina always superior Icardi already a superstar and simeone very soon, Argentina still week in midfield, let make messi as a xavi/inesta role permanently because without ball supply from midfield messi always had to drop, how can a single person scored, assist, creating chances every time

  17. All,
    have not posted in many days. Here are my thoughts

    There are certain formations that are easier than the other. For NTs, I think one should keep things simple in terms of formation. Play a simple 4-4-2. Most of the players who will be in NT, have played 442 and are fully aware of the duties. This is easier to train. And if we have a above average player, skilled, and committed we will outplay and win the games.

    BTW, 442 is just an example, there are a few other formations which are easy to implement.

  18. This generation of players(Heinze, Scaloni, Aimar, Samuel) are highly influenced by Bielsa and Pekerman. With Bielsa, it was total fooball with no place for playmaker because he wants the fullbacks, central midfielders and the wingers share the job. That’s why Riquelme did not have his place with him, Aimar and Ortega played as winger, Lucho and Veron played as central midfielder. Pekerman’s football style is different, more traditional and simple 442 but his choice of players always the same and very specific: 1 of the fullbacks is actually 1 CB, 2 defensive midfielders with at least 1 who has good vision of the game with good shot, 1 playmaker, 1 winger, 1 9-half and 1 tall forward. I love both style.

    Me I guess Pekerman’s football is better fit with the current players: why not Mammana as right fullback, he is not tall, not strong enough in the physical battle but quite decent technically and smart. That can fix our issues. The 2 CM/DM would be Paredes + Ascacibar. Lo Celso and Dybala as playmaker and half 9 role, winger will be Angel Correa and the forward should be Icardi.

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