Rumored names to make next month’s Argentina squad, Nicolas OTAMENDI, more

By
Roy Nemer
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82
Nicolas Otamendi Argentina
Nicolas Otamendi playing for Argentina.

There’s been a change of plans in Lionel SCALONI’s call-up list for Argentina’s trip to Saudi Arabia next month.

Initially, goalkeeper Esteban ANDRADA of Boca Juniors was expected to make the Argentina team along with Sergio ROMERO of Manchester United and Franco ARMANI of River Plate. This would have meant that Real Sociedad’s Geronimo RULLI (who made his debut in Argentina’s 3-0 win against Guatemala) would miss out.

However, during Boca’s 2-0 win against Cruzeiro in the Copa Libertadores, ANDRADA picked up an injury which would reportedly rule him out for about two months. This would likely open the door once more for RULLI to get another chance with the Argentina National Team.

The one rumored name which at this point looks almost like a sure bet to be recalled to the squad is Manchester City’s Nicolas OTAMENDI. The defender sat out the last set of friendly matches.

Gabriel MERCADO of Sevilla is also another one who is expected to make the team. He was initially in Argentina coach Lionel SCALONI’s list for the matches against Guatemala and Colombia but he, along with Eduardo SALVIO, had to miss out due to injury.

There’s still a question mark on Angel DI MARIA as he could make the list but there is still a possibility that he misses out. SCALONI is reportedly happy with what he saw from Gonzalo MARTINEZ, Franco CERVI and Exequiel PALACIOS, which would make DI MARIA’s inclusion a little more difficult.

Lionel SCALONI will announce his Argentina squad on Friday.

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82 Comments

  1. @Gonzalo I usually like most of the stuff u say on here but I dont see why the obsession with Tagliafico, he is average at best. Csabalala is spot on, he was the weakest link in that game vs France. I think Argentina can still look for alternatives for LB and RB…Ansaldi should have started over him….

  2. Csabalala

    the best prove of your personal ridicule predictions and judges about Tagliafico potentiall is FACT he is already NT captain!!! If he was not really good he would not be then captian. You can’t stand it and now you may only try to distort reality.

  4. Isn’t Andrada gud with his feat?? He started as a midfielder that’s why he got good passing skills, I have read it somewhere. Not sure

    Icardi don’t help in building up plays that’s true, but inside the box he is a monster. Put in crosses he will bury it. Sooner or later he will start scoring for us. Lautaro is the one who is gonna challenge him. Not Simeone.

    Well Aguero I don’t think so. We don’t need him. We have to stop with the historicals obsession. They were great, we get it. But there is nothing new they can bring to the plate.

    If we stretch the departure of the historicals till Copa 2019 we r gonna regret. AGAIN.

    • we will regret if left inform Aguero benega otamendi messi at home and participate copa with not best Argentina squad, Copa 2019 is the easiest tournament apart from Brazil no team has chance to win it

        • I’m not underestimating anyone but copa 2019 is the weakest tournament, Uruguay declined, chile finished, Argentina rebuilding only Brazil is contender

          • Mark it, we will not win Copa 2019 with Aguero or any other historicals in our team. I repeat they all r world class for their clubs, but they r broken when playing for NT. Adding them Won’t do any gud for NT. not any more. They had ample chances.

  5. Higuain, Banega, Vasquez all scoring……lo celso was superb for real betis so as parades for zenit…..but still both lo celso and parades can do better.
    And what about druissi of zenit ??…he wants to play for Italy or argentina?

  6. Banega is class those Argentina ex managers never used him properly
    A long with aguero …
    Banega if he was Spanish or Germany
    France or English you will …
    Banega is world class…
    The way he been playing for Seville
    Is superb…..

      • His ball skills are so good..
        And the way he controls the midfielder absolutely amazing
        That’s way Xavi spoke about him
        Highly… it hurts me we never used
        Him properly instead we obsessed
        To build the team around messi.
        That leads to waste talented players
        Like aguero Banega pastore list going on….

    • It’s not the managers’ fault that he never reached the heights that his talent called for but rather Banega’s indiscipline and off field drinking and antics. Talent alone cannot make you world class, drive and discipline are also required and Banega had neither.

      • Mate as far as know Argentina managers.. mainly focused messi.
        Instead to build balance team.. ..
        Since messi and co took over
        The national team become full
        Super stars …. not collective
        The only manager who tried
        To build balance team without
        Relying on any individual player
        Was tat martino…

    • Bànega is a fantastic passer. The only problem is that his defensive contribution is weak. If he played in a team like Chile- he could be a superstar as the rest of midfield & attack will cover him up with their pressing & defensive contribution. In a set up like argentina his slow speed & low defensive contribution shows up. I feel parades will also have same problem when he starts playing the stronger teams

  9. Funes mori playing as hold midfielder his club against rangers tonigh …. they can’t trust him to play as center bk… sorry for him…. Franco Vasquez score wonderful goal… now for Seville

  10. They should continue with the young squad at least until March and give the team time to gel together. Messi and Aguero can come back in June for a final farewell.

    • Messi can play till 2022 and will remain best Argentina player by a distance if not best player in the world, Aguero last tournament will be the copa 2019

  11. I’m doubting FM because he’s just recovered from a year long injury and isn’t playing great for the NT and club. Yet many believe “he proved himself last year” so his spot is cemented in the NT. Hes a bench player for Villarreal and had a few blunders during the friendlies. In no way should his spot be reserved. No position should be “untouchable”. If you think they are, how is your view any different than those claiming the “oldies” should be guaranteed a spot? My point is that Otamendi – Pezzella – Funes Mori should all fight for 2 spots. In the future, FM and Pezzella looking very promising but instead people are saying 2 should be guaranteed RIGHT NOW 1) Pezzella and 2) FM… doesn’t make any sense. Same with Aguero, i think Icardi will lead the front line one day but for now, he happens to play when Aguero came off a great world cup performance. Icardi – Aguero – Martinez should all fight for the spot, just like the defenders and midfielders. Not sure why anyone would be against using players that are INFORM, and making players fight for the spot instead of being guaranteed. Form and competition often compliment each other.

    • “In the future, FM and Pezzella looking very promising but instead people are saying 2 should be guaranteed RIGHT NOW 1) Pezzella and 2) FM”

      Who said they should have guaranteed place?!

      No one. Some people say (including me) just the 2 should continue together next friendlies because they have 2 starts along each other now and looked good. There’s already initial understanding between them and no need to disrupt that. If they will fail in upcoming friendlies we may look for other options. FM had maybe 2 mistakes against Colombia but Otamendi was doing more blunders recently on every NT level, friendlies, qualifiers, WC.

      • suggesting sticking with 2 players is not optimizing our potential. Friendlies are exactly the time to experiment to see who gels the best wth the coaches philosophy and other players, and individual contribution. If any are showing significant positive differences, they should start without question. Overall, no one is undroppable, starting XI should be based on FORM, ATTITUDE, INTEGRATION, and FUTURE in mind.

        Look, i’m hopeful for FM but im not under any elusions he’s better than Otamendi right now. Ota was fantastic during WC14 and COPA16 and guess who was the coach for WC18 in which he and the ENTIRE team played like dogshit? Pointing the finger at Ota when clown Sampa led the charge isnt the correct the view. Lets see what Ota can do now and if he proves himself, he should start.

  12. Tough luck Andrada, The guy deserved it. Hopefully he will be back ASAP.

    Seems like we are back again to square one. Romero as GK, Otamendi as 1 of the Defender + Mercado, Di Maria as Midfielder, Aguero as the Striker. Wholly crap. Added bonus is we may get the legendary Defensive duo of Otamendi – Mori. What a catastrophe in the making.

    • I believe it wtill not happen and only Romero, maybe Otamendi will be there. Mercado as third choice after Saravia and Bustos. Otamendi as 4th after Pezzella, FM, Franco. Aguero? Lautaro Martinez should play both the upcoming friendlies if he will not score then we may think about Aguero, But now it’s the time for new ones. Lautaro, SImeone, Icardi.

      Scaloni must continue the reform that he have already under way and in progress.

        • What do you know about Saravia ignorant? Did you watched him ever before his NT performance? You don’t need to answer. ARROGANCE AND IGNORANCE GO HAND IN HAND. Kidulthood was the one who was always rush and arrogant in judging players about which he know nothing or very little (like Tagliafico) and you are now his replacement in this. Did you make fool of yourself still not enough times? Do I need really name the players you were talking about like that? I have not enough time for that. Just one or two now:

          WHat about Battaglia? Remember you were judging him as guaranteed benchwarmer in Sporting. Remeber you reporting here (with satisfaction) Battaglia and Acuna will bench warmers, just because they didn’t started some game. Troll. What about your predictions from last season beginnings that Salvio and Cervi are going to bench in Benfica? LOL Are you taking any responsibility for your words? Already you are clown of this site with Kidulthood like predictions. Let alone your last WC prediction about oldies. Keep it on.

          Saravia defensively is better than Mercado, Moron.

          • “Saravia defensively is better than Mercado,” ofc, didnt even play against truly quality players, Bustos vs Isco, Tagliafico vs Mbappe maybe their first class opponents and what happened? Humiliations of the year

          • Go and see what was the contribution to the Spain and France goals defenders like Otamendi or Mercado. Bustos have played his second game while Otamendi like debutant despite the experience hw has.. Finally Tagliafico was one of our 2 best WC players, not Otamendi.

          • Admit it we need players from our golden genration to win copa 2019. After that scaloni can play young players whoever he wants then it will be 3 years time to make a proper squad but now they should concentate on copa america 2019 because we all argentina fans qant our GOAT to win a trophy with argentina NT.

      • Not so bullish for Lautaro with inter who plays in 433 with 2 traditional wingers. Even when Icardi was injured, the coach still preferred Balde to him. Unless a change in tactical plan or injuries of someone in attack, I don’t see how his situation can change.

      • Simeone isn’t good enough yet based on what Ive seen in league and the 2 friendlies.

        Pace – Slow, unable to beat defenders.
        Size – Smallish, unable to hold the ball.
        Technically – Dribbling underwhelming, unable to beat defenders.

        He’s a penalty box predator which if we needed one, that would be Icardi and even his performance deserves skepticism for now too.

        Aguero + Icardi + Martinez for now.

        • That is not true mate simeone is fast than icardi… yes he can hold the ball well too yeah he may not dribble like
          Aguero so icardi is not fast can’t dribble either….

          • right, compared to Aguero, he’s really underwhelming. At least Icardi is one the most clinical strikers in europe. Simeone is just as fast as Icardi but he presses more but overall, we need clinical strikers above all that are capable of changing the game on their if necessary. Also, in terms of holding the ball, Higuain and Icardi are bigger and stronger and do a better job that Simeone. He may have similarities to Aguero and Icardi, but the talent gap is still pretty large. Martinez looks like he can take the torch from Aguero and i see him and Icardi leading the front line.

          • Choripan@ i never ever compare simoene to aguero … I said so
            Many time aguero is the best strike Argentina have I was the only who
            Write long pages to defend aguero…
            But I said will take simeone over icardi any day due to his hard working willing sacrifice for him
            Teammates unlike icardi who doesn’t do anything except scoring which is good … but mate that is my opinion…
            I respect your opinion too ..

    • The problem with Andrada the same than with Armani and Romero and maybe even Rulli, good reflexes, but their ball handling sklills dont exist, and sadly not good enough with the ball on their feet

      • A goal keeper doesn’t need to be able to handle the ball with his feet to be effective, what is truly important though is distribution, which is something that Romero and Armani are terrible at sadly. Rulli is the only GK Argentina has that can distribute the ball effectively but sadly his match sharpness has taken a serious nose dive ever since real started leaking goals last season.

    • Disaster??? No way, this team looks scary

      Aguero – Messi

      Palacios – Paredes – Ascacibar – Lo Celso

      Tagliafico – Otamendi -Pezzella – Saravia

      Armani

  15. Independiente – River 0:0

    exciting first half. Good opportunities on both sides.

    I remember Jorge Figal being rumored as possible call up long before his CB partner Franco was called up and he still is impressing. Duo Franco – Figal made did good job again. Franco is concentrated only on defensive duty, why Figal CB going ahead in moments. Not yesterday but he has the prone.

    In first half Pity looked best when played LW. Palacios had solid game, contributed much in defence. Bustos made his defensive tasks.

  16. In my previous post I said Di Maria is not a CM and many disagreed because of his last season with RM in 2014, improvised by Ancelotti(nothing to see with Mou who invented nothing). OK, he was not the worst psg player of the last game, may probably be one of the best. He tried to contain Liverpool counter attack which he did well but nothing in the transition and not always in the right tempo. And when he defended, he doesn’t have any energy left for making the difference offensively. 4 years ago before his injury, he could still be a box to box. Now not anymore and he is not a CM creator like Kroos and Modric. Anyway if Scaloni really calls him back, it’s for playing as attacking midfielder or winger, not CM or box to box.

    Angel Correa, despite his mistake on Monaco’s goal, was quite OK. Technically he is the best of this team. I can see the perfect fit with Costa and Griezmann, supported by 3 hard-working and creative midfielders. I’d like to see the same system with him, Dybala or Pity and Icardi in the national team.

  17. I guess the only reason for Scaloni to call them back (Di Maria, Otamendi, Mercado) is to get some immediate results in order to have more credibility in short term. Or maybe he thinks the current team not ready yet against Brazil and afraid of being smashed. Anyway I hope they are back only for the transition purpose.

      • Tapia doesn’t want to leave Scaloni make his selection in peace. He is the one who wants the oldies to come back. Why Di Maria? What will his contribition be other than overdribbling and horrible crosses? Pity Martinez did a great job in the past two friendlies and he has to continue on the left wing if we really want to build a strong team that can play as a unit.

        • Pity missed a wide open Icardi at the 18 and selfishly shot it… although I see his skill and potential, pity could only learn from having Dimaria around in training. Dimaria has been world class for 10 years and his experience is needed on domenstic Argentinean youth.

          • “pity could only learn from having Dimaria around in training”

            LOL

            What learn? How to fuck up 9 of 10 of his crosses?

            Di Maria playing in NT is like lottery. He looks like he is not conscious of his own decision making. CHaos. There are some inteligent players he can learn something but Di Maria IQ is too low to be mentor to anyone.

    • “Anyway I hope they are back only for the transition purpose”

      The transition already is going and if we took frist 2 steps without them it will be inconsequential to call them up now.

      The starting line ups from last friendlies need to continue almost the same. The only position to try maybe someone new are RW and CF. On the second one Lautaro Martinez and he missed the friendlies because of injury. Scaloni has 2 CBs that did well together in 2 games. He has the third, Franco, which impressed him on trainings. If there’s any logic in this he should continue with them. Otamendi? As sub – instead of Kennemann. The one or two shaky moments of Funes Mori in recent friendlies are nothing with compare to Otamendi NT mistakes of last times. He is not any guarantee of solid defending. He has great intereventions entwined with totally stupid decisions.

      • I can understand sometimes players may have bad time or they may be just average as Mercado. But I can never forgive Otamendi’s altitudes during the world cup. During the last minutes against France, he got pissed and kicked the ball away. Mixture of lack of EQ and unprofessionalism.

        Anyway, let’s hope the young ones will step up and can convince the staff they don’t need anymore Otamendi and co

        • Hahaha

          You are not watching Argentina games. I see him doing stupid decisions in NT again and again.
          Watch only Argentina Spain and his behaviour on every goal for Spain. He has bad part on most of the goals. Especially 1st, 4th, 5th and 6. Watch his pass on 6 goal for Spain. He gave the goal them. LOL Funes Mori is not really best in passing but Otamendi is not better.

          • Who was the player that let Modric did shot on his against Croatia?! Where he was on 3rd goal for Croatia? Really Lazy come back.

            Go and see where he was on the goal for Iceland. He should have bloced that.

          • He was always so rush and irresponsible going ahead with the ball and leaving open space behind. Then lost the ball and too late to be back again on position.

          • 4th goal was mainly Tagliafico mistake just like the first, the second (100%), and the third, your double standards are mind blowing, the others did mistakes ofc too, but not in this crucial match, and they did good things too, Rojo goal, Banega assist, Messi goal and assists, Di maria goal, Mercado goal and assist, Tagliafico only did mistake after mistake, 2nd best in the WC please…

          • He was one of the worst with Caballero and Mascherano (who at least showed great fighting spirit against Nigeria) and maybe with Armani 2 saveble goal vs France, plus very bad reading in the penalties, Meza, Pavon and Enzo were simply useless (it was envelopable from argentine primera)

          • Csabalala, you are way to harsh with Tagliafico, who had a decent world cup overall despite struggling against the incredible pace of Mbappe. To stop a player like Mbappe is very difficult but to say that Tagliafico cost us the WC is unfair. You know what cost us the WC? AFA corruption, Messi dependence and stupid Sampaoli with his tactics. I mean, playing a false 9 in that game was idiotic. Our only hope was to outscore France and if we had Aguero starting that game perhaps we could have done that. That’s what cost us the WC, not Tagliafico.

          • Now you may only try to disort reality because Tagliafio proved himself to be NT standards. Moreover he is already captain!!!! And you want to depreciate him. No doubt one of our best players, if not he would have never been our capttain.

            Otamendi? Everyone see his mistakes. You may watch the goals again. Should I bring more his mistakes?

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