Argentina line-up from training against Newell’s, MESSI, DI MARIA, AGUERO attack

By
Roy Nemer
-
123

Argentina held an informal match against Newell’s Old Boys which they won 5-0 with coach Lionel SCALONI starting Angel DI MARIA, Lionel MESSI and Sergio AGUERO up front.

While the Argentina coach made changes during the match against Newell’s, the starting formation was a 4-3-3 with the veterans in attack. Lionel MESSI scored twice while Sergio AGUERO, Paulo DYBALA (substitute) and Rodrigo DE PAUL (substitute) also scored. Here was the starting eleven:

MARCHESIN; SARAVIA, PEZZELLA, OTAMENDI, TAGLIAFICO; LO CELSO, PAREDES, Guido; DI MARIA, AGUERO, MESSI

Lionel SCALONI still does not have all 23 of his Copa America players. Out of the 23, he has 20 at his disposal. Juan FOYTH was with Tottenham for the Champions League final while Esteban ANDRADA was with Boca and the replacement for Exequiel PALACIOS has not been named.

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

123 Comments

  3. Whats up with boca and this old players ?
    Half the players should retire.
    And i m amazed that some people wanted Benedetto. Lol he should retire too.
    They are total BS.

  4. If we look out of the 40 selected, Nico Domeniguez can replace Palacios, isn’t it. He is young similar to Palacios age too. Having selected in a Tournament will help him immensely.

    Lamela would be my pick among the rumored 3.

    Off the topic Andrada too made an error. See its natural. It’s bound to happen. God know how the Selected 3 r gonna perform for us under the Bar. As of now I will be happy if our GK whoever it is don’t make any school boy error. Like the Caballero showing in the WC.

  5. And as it happened, Tigre claiming the Copa de la Superliga after beat down Boca 2-0. Like other said before, Tigre is a strong team in league, and without Ivan Marcone and Nahitan Nandez, Boca’s important midfielders, it was a tough match. And i still thinking that Lucas Menossi is one of the best #5 in local league, even though he didn’t get a call from NT because his team relegated. If NT goalie is based on the recent match between River and Boca, i’m pretty sure that Armani will claim the 1st position.

  6. Even with DiMaria, we should be playing 4-4-2 rather than 4-3-3. DiMaria must play box to box and rarely running into the penalty box on counter or via a thru pass. He must defend as much as he attack. I hope he’s not given a free attack role like Messi & Aguero.

  9. I am not a fan of Poch because he doesn’t win big games. He got it wrong last night for believing in Alli who is very average and stick with kane who hasn’t been playing for at least 2 months. Simeone did than in 2014 it was costly. You can’t bring a not in form player again a team that as fit as Liverpool. Guys is Alli better than Lamela?

    • Aren’t CL semi vs Ajax and cl quarter against city big? Didn’t he win them. All CL games against big teams are big games. He has won quite a few big games already.

      You need big players to win the biggest games. As simple as that. He competed really well against Liverpool, in fact even dominated them. That’s more than enough.

      • Thanks guys for answering my question… Malabri you can’t count a couple of lucky victories. I meant he has to consistently win against the big ones. Although Simeone loses but he earns respect among the big ones but we can’t say that for Poch. When Leicester won the PL it was the year for Tothenham to win.

      • When you beat Ajax and Man city with the best in form players, why should you change the winning team; Poch afraid to subs Kane and Delle Alli as they are the Spurs favourite player and give plenty chance to Lucas Mohra who play incredible against Ajax. Apologize, i see again another error from our best coach, not having guts to bench down the star and give proper time to in form players. Always doubt and not confidence on subs and players selection. Spur dominate the game and Liverpool are more experience and play efficient with the great wall behind. .What are an unfortunate moment to Lamela and Fyoth for not having the taste of CL Final.

        Anyhow, Liverpool and Jurgen Klopp deserve the CL trophy this year and congrats to Poch for bringing Spurs to CL final first time in their history.

  12. Andrada has one more big challenge before Copa – today’s final of Copa de la Superliga against relegated, but recently one of the strongest teams in league, Tigre.

  14. There we go 433 does turn into a 442.But as the lineup I can see Messi cutting inside from the right hand side and linking with Aguero and Di Maria who are reliable as final third.What I would say here it does not turn into 442 but 433 is more fluid and active roles for all the players we will see them in the lineup.Those who say Di Mariaon right side is better haven’t seen what Di Maria can do from the left hand side. He does drop deep and swap wings a lot of times. His world cup goal come from Playing from left hand side disguiing opposition then go to the right and hurt the opposition.and as a Left Winger he links up pretty well with like Messi with Alba!!

    I do see 2 problem in the squad
    1.De Paul should play, Paredes should be a subs if De Paul fails to convert or impress
    2.The Defense is pretty slow with Otamendi and Pezzella yet better than having Fazio who is really slow.

    We need to get early goal then stay defensive that’s why De Paul is my choice he is creative and has a great right foot like Lo Celso s left foot.I wish Guido was faster than he is.
    Counter Attack,Low attention in game against long pass playing teams might hurt us.
    Vamoss Argentin!!

    • “Those who say Di Mariaon right side is better haven’t seen what Di Maria can do from the left hand side. He does drop deep and swap wings a lot of times. His world cup goal come from Playing from left hand side disguiing opposition then go to the right and hurt the opposition.and as a Left Winger he links up pretty well with like Messi with Alba!!”

      You may say Di Maria was briliant on the left side here and there but certainly not during last WC. Not even against France. One outstanding goal doesn’t change general impression he had very weak tournament. The last time he impressed on the left side was against Ecuador in qualifiers.

      • “You may say Di Maria was briliant on the left side here and there but certainly not during last WC. Not even against France. One outstanding goal doesn’t change general impression he had very weak tournament. The last time he impressed on the left side was against Ecuador in qualifiers.”
        How many minutes Dimaria played on Right side in the WC only last 15 minutes in the WC against and then he most dangerous looking player on the pitch destroying Lucas Hernandez in every time he was facing him and Argentina looked threatning in those minutes.
        Dont lie everytime.

          • Who said he would be a forward?He is a winger and even back in Madrid he played central and shifted from Right to Left.In United he played as a Left winger.But here you see no winger in our squad has the pace like Di Maria and we need that speed on the left side and Messi will easily find him. He is a great Final Third on the left side.

            What I say is
            The front 3 should be Messi will cut inside and look for those through balls and deliver them to Aguero and Di Maria. Both will get in behind. Roberto Pererya has not proven in National Team.Di Maria has been in great form at PSG he is someone who Messi trusts.

            The midfield should be
            Box to Box Lo Celso
            Maybe Guido can cut the passing lines he can’t man mark with his slow speed and I don’t know how good he is with interception.
            Pardes?De Paul both are deep lying midfielders and both have a great right foot.De Paul has scored more goals this season.I would not play both at same time.but give both playing time.
            Defense is predictable
            Lets see.What we say Won’t matter.It will be what Scaloni will go with . Players need to be at best paying full attention to game and Argentina have great chance to get hands on Copa America

  16. I just wonder if Palacios is replaced and how bad is Zaracho’s injured, I think both of them are critical for Argentina coz we don’t have this type of player in the 23.

    I think this 11 shouldn’t be far from the final 11, maybe I’d replace Di Maria by Pereyra, in a more 442 system, with Lo Celso as the right playmaker and Pereyra the left box to box. Having Messi, Aguero and Di Maria who don’t defend much plus Paredes cannot offer enough protection to the defense.

    Otherwise, I’d also like to see a midfield Lo Celso-Guido-Paredes, Messi supporting Correa+Aguero in attack. It’s very closed to Atletico style. That may bring the best of Argentina.

    • “Having Messi, Aguero and Di Maria who don’t defend much plus Paredes cannot offer enough protection to the defense. ” This matters only against Brazil imo. Uruguay’ll only defend, mainly Columbia too, Chile struggles.

  17. I really hope Scaloni will pick someone with good experience playing in competitive league as replacement for Palacios. Counting on inexperienced players in key positions cost us dearly in the last world cup. Especillay our so called trump cards Meza and Pavon were big disappointments. They couldn’t handle the pressure of playing at that level and failed miserably. I am not against picking local players but selecting aging locals over the 2 Correas, Icardi, Lamela, Papu gomez is insanity!! As I have said before High profile players draw more defenders and hence free up space for other!

    Yesterday, Son was running like a headless chicken, getting caught offside and making zero impact and still Pochhetino didn’t think of bringing Lamela!! Next season Lamela have to move to Spain or Italy if he is to revive his career. He is too good of a player to be a backup for Son and Co in spurs and Lo-celso should not move to Spurs, he should play at-least one more season at Betis!!

    • Totally disagreed with you. Son was the only one who could make the difference. He wasn’t helped by Kane because he wasn’t recovered yet, so most of the time he got to finish the action by himself. If Pochettino can bring his team to final of a champions league, do you think your football knowledge could be better than his? The biggest mistake he made last night was not using enough Lucas. Lamela is and will remain the last choice for Pochettino, the reason why he is not sold yet is because he can play in many positions and so very useful if any of them is injured.

      • No, Lamela was told by Poch that he is not in his plans this season , but Lamela chose to stick around anyway. Lamela’s case in Spurs is similar to that of Lo-celso, his coach doesn’t trust him. I am not saying I have better knowledge of football than Pochettino but high profile managers are known to make school boy errors during pressure games and Poch did the same thing yesterday!! This season and also last season on several occasions Lamela never received any passes even being in better scoring position than others which is the reason his stats don’t look that impressive. When his team mates were injured he was their main man and he performed extremely well, but because of his unfortunate injury and return of his injured teammates he could’t carry on the momentum till the end. Lamela is far better player than Son and most of the players there in every department and he could have done much better had he been played by Poch yesterday!! I hope Scaloni will pick him !!

  20. Scaloni should pick either Banega, Bataglia or Lanzini as replacement for Palacios. Banega has experience but has to be aggressive. Lanzini can be good offensive and playmaker . Scaloni should find his best 11 players to start every game and do not change the formation. Just keep it simple.
    4-4-2 or 4-4-3
    Andrada

    Saravia Otamendi Pezzella Taglifico
    Gudio Rod Parades
    Lo-celso Di Maria
    Messi Aguero

  23. While watching Lo Celso I just feels like he and Messi is occupying same spaces. May be its just because both r similar in style.

    Lo Celso and Messi have played only 1 or 2 matches together if I m not wrong.They can operate easily. It’s becoz we r so used to see Messi drop so deep that’s why it feels like they play in same space.

    If Nacho is selected, Messi-Nacho-Lo Celso playing at the same time. Add in Dybala then it is chaos if same styles.

  24. 👕 337 appearances
    ⚽ 231 goals
    🏆 11 trophies in 8 years of EPL career

    🏆 4 Premier League
    🏆 1 The Emirates FA Cup
    🏆 4 Carabao Cup
    🏆 2 FA Community Shield

    Happy birthday Sergio Aguero 🎉🎈🎁

    One of the best striker in current generation!!!❤

  25. This would be the best possible line up, except for the Gk, which I think would go to Armani. I do like MARCHESIN but I think Armani should get the nod for the experience in the NT.

  26. Paredes is similar to Biglia. Biglia is better defensively but Paredes is better in passing. He has better vision than Biglia. Unfortunately we never got the Anderlect club playing Biglia who was a deeplying playmaker. What we got was a destroyer type Biglia which killed our midfield for years.

    Hope Paredes live upto his reputation.

    • If he manages to create one or 2 potent passes per match towards the forwards, which I think he can, we will be fine. Hopefully.

    • Biglia has always been a passanger. Any player being compared to Biglia should feel insulted.

      Also, he always looks like he wanted to cry when taking a penalty (missed 2 penalty at Copa)

      • “Biglia has always been a passanger. Any player being compared to Biglia should feel insulted”

        Biglia was good from 2014 to 2016
        After that he became a real passenger.

        • In many matches, Masche basically had to do a double tasking in midfield due to Biglia lack of workrate.

          Most of the time , you’d you Masche as the one who wins the ball, distributed the ball, covering lots of spaces in both midfield and at the back while Biglia mostly just walking around doing nothing.

          The only notable thing he did would be that throughball which Messi missed, against Germany but that’s minimum contribution for a guy who had so many caps and played in multiple tournaments. Everytime Messi passed the ball to him , he’d simply pass it back to Messi. His only contribution in every matches was making sideways passes.

          I once tried to watch his highlight with AC Milan on youtube, and the video only shows 5 seconds of black screen.

    • Paredes is a true asset with great vision and passing quality who can be key to balancing the midfield by pairing him with a destroyer in a 4 2 3 1. as I see it.

    • It seems you took that comment from @Gonzalo in wrong sense. He must have meant Parades is not a box to box midfielder like Banega. He is literally a central midfielder. He is actively involved in the area between his box and the centre. If he is played with a box to box DM & an AM, it would work out well.

      All our players would give all their best in the Copa. Believe!

      • The fact is no one can say how the midfield Lo Celso-Guido-Paredes will work. It looks promising on paper but who know… I suppose Paredes needs to be more mobile in fact. He never will be B2B however. That doesen’t mean this configuration of players will fail. Let’s see.

  28. Much better team than WC 2018 already I believe. Hope more quality players would be added to the squad in the near future. I was betting on Ascacibar, but it seems his form dipped in the last year similar to Dybala. Also players such as Foyth, A Correa must get more minutes at their clubs to make them much more confident so that they can express themselves.

    I would never be able to forgive for the mess he created at WC2018. I still wonder why the hell he omitted Lo Celso who played all 10 preceding games and brought Meza who was a nobody. Coupled with other crazy ideas like Masche-Biglia combo against Iceland, f**** formation against the teams – what a monumental waste of an opportunity. Even much more than Maradona at 2010.

    • Actually nothing wrong with ascacibar form. He is always card prone. That’s the nature of his game. Stuggart playing bad had nothing to do with him. He played a game last week after his 6 match ban & was perfectly good. For me ascacibar is a sure shot member in 23 & shld be played depending on match situation & formation

    • Still don’t understand on what basis matias Suarez selected over angel Correa. Suarez played some 30mins odd & convinced coach!!!! A correa has been a brilliant impact sub in la Liga & the Morocco friendly. Bad decision

      • Still Suarez was better in the last friendlies than Correa. Suarez played 2 games – 76 mins not 30. More than good 76 mins. He is tall, fast, strong, class on the ball, better passer than Correa.

        • @gonazalo – its not a question of 30 or 76 min. We have already seen this in past when Meza dazzled for 90mins against Spain in a friendly & was considered the best thing to happen to NT bfore WC . All that came crashing down in WC when repeatedly he proved that he dosent belong at this level. I don’t think Correa vs Suarez is even a conversation. Suarez at 31 is an unknown . If he was fast, class on the ball & better passer , he would have done much more than playing in a Belgian club. It clearly shows the pedigree. And Suarez’s gain is Correa’s loss. To me that looks funny bcos:
          1) Correa has proven himself in the highest level competing with Greizmann, Costa, Giminez .
          2) He plays both flanks & has good pace & technique
          3) good defensive contribution ( u cant survive in Atletico else)
          4) extremely impactful as a sub ( proved it repeatedly at La Liga & also against Morocco with an individually brilliant goal in the game where Suarez “presumably played better” than Correa ) . V Importantly this role is a sub & not starter role.
          5) also when ur building a squad for the future , do you bet on unproven 31yr or a 24yr who has arrived at the highest level
          Other than Suarez being tall & maybe useful in penalty corners /set pieces , I don’t see any logical reason for him being selected over ACorrea.
          in the case of JCorrea , atleast the fact that he was never tried by coach can be reason for being ignored. In case of ACorrea , he was given a marginal chance & proved himself with an individually brilliant goal & gets dumped in favour of an unknown .

        • Two completely different positions ! Correa can play wide in a 4-4-2 running flag to flag… defensive and then countering… fast and making runs as well as solid passing! Angel Correa can also play up top as a #9 and as a winger in a 4-3-3.
          Suarez plays as a #9. Plays well with his back to goal, hold up play. Solid passing. And finishes well from 10 yards in. But two completely different players and there is not doubt Correa is more versatile.

          • Yes. Different positions. But the last fwd position would have been a toss between Suarez and Correa & imo acorrea was the right choice

          • Suarez plays LF recently. Both NT as River.

            Suarez is more versatile. He had played most of his career as No.9 but now do well on both wings

  29. This has got to be the starting line up against Colombia. Not sure if guido has the pace but will do for the no.5 role. Armani will no doubt be the starting keeper.

  30. This seems pretty good. Apart from goalie, which is a bit of an unknown, what do you say is the weakest link of this 11? Center-backs? I don’t know what to expect from Otamendi anymore, haven’t seen him play for a while.

  31. Another fine game for Pity against Chicago. He has become omnipresent in games now and is now beginning to look settled now. The crowd and commentators chanting Pity Pity Pity when he gets the ball. Still feel he has some distance to go to come up-to full steam though. No doubt in my mind – Lo Celso and Pity will be the mainstay of our attacking threat in Qatar along with Lautaro

    • It’s unfortunate pity took time to settle in MLS. Else he wld have made the squad. We shld add DePaul also in long term list. Blossomed well this season

  32. This is more or less the closest to the starting 11 for the first match at Copa bar the GK position.

    If Guido plays like Battaglia then it can free Paredes and Lo Celso.

    • Guido has not the grit, agresivness and speed of Battaglia but he is much better on the ball. Superior in passing. I want to see him on the No.5 position.

      • Quote: “but he is much better on the ball. Superior in passing”

        Really Gonzalo? I’ve seen next to nothing from Guido apart from the recent friendly.
        Battaglia was very good with ball at his feet so if Guido is even better then it could mean good things for the team.
        I personally would like to see Foyth tried out as a DM because I think he’s made for that position.

        • Battaglia has good ball control indeed but his passing is nothing special. On this regard Guido a lot better.

    • “If Guido plays like Battaglia then it can free Paredes and Lo Celso.”

      If that works, it will add the necessary balance to the team.

      • “It can free Paredes and Lo Celso”

        I don’t think Paredes will be running, box-to-box midfielder (Lo Celso can play the role) even having destroyer behind. He is not the type. Rather static. He don’t like running a lot. What I expect from him is outstanding passing.

        • Paredes is like a Deep lying playmaker. He is not built to be a box to box. I think playing next to a No 5 will allow him to play his natural game.

          Where as playing Paredes as the No 5 is doom to fail. In case of Palacios-Paredes-Lo Celso trio Paredes was the No 5.

          Where as in Paredes-Guido-Lo Celso trio Paredes will be a Deep lying playmaker.which suits him better

          Anyway he is gonna be there in the middle along with Lo Celso. How those 2 r gonna link up with Messi gonna be the key. Will they be intimidated by Messi or will they be their Natural self. That defines our Copa chances

          • This is exactly what I have in mind. WE can afford to have all three together. Paredes is the closest we have to Banega in great passing and vision and deep lying play making. LoCelso will be our B2B and the link between the forwards and the midfield who join in attack. all Paredes needs to do is a bit of ball holding and potent passes. so even if he is static he will be OK.

          • True. How locelso & mostly parades link with messi will define how well or bad we do in copa. Hope coach plays locelso more as a CAM . He is brilliant upfront.

          • So this should be more like:

            …………..Guido……..Paredes
            …………………Lo Celso

            and not simply:

            Lo Celso……..Guido…….Paredes

  33. Paredes and Lo Celso were stand out performers from that training game. Hope they even get better together. I like Guido in middle with Paredes and Celso. He gives more height and fight in middle. Only time will tell what Scaloni kept his sleeves and what can our new team do?!

  34. With Palacios out, there will be no option but to play Paredes for sure. Not that it is too bad an option but this would have been a great chance to give Palacios vital NT competitive experience. The 4-3-3 will not serve the purpose with this starting line up against better teams. We will be too exposed defensively. And Lo Celso will once again not be given the opportunity to play his preferred role.

  35. wish we could line up our best ( unfortunate injuries & bad selection for GK)
    Ruili
    Sarvia – Otamendi- Pezella-Tagliafico
    Battaglia
    Pereya -Palacios
    Lo Celso
    Messi – Aguero

    Key Subs – Kannemann , Guido , DiMaria, Dybala,ACorrea ,Lautaro

    • its a very risky move by Scaloni . If Saravia has had fitness probs prior to Copa , coach should have dumped 1 of Casco or Acuna & selected Montiel as a backup. Casco can play RB or Foyth can play Rb will be very weak positions in actual game if Saravia is lost bcos of injury. We just don’t have a proper backup.
      Also why do you need 2 backups for Tagliafico . It should have been either of Casco or Acuna. I don’t think Acuna is really needed in midfield as there are enough players there in case of injuries.

      • “Also why do you need 2 backups for Tagliafico . It should have been either of Casco or Acuna.”

        I asked myself the same question, bro. I am not sure if Casco can play RB when he is naturally a LB

  40. Do you think it is fair to assume first half 11 might be close to starting 11 at the Copa (apart from goalie)?
    Is there anyone who actually seen the game? Did anyone from 2nd half stand out? I’d love to see De Paul play to be honest…

  41. You know, looking at the picture above, how many players would keep coming back for more abuse and doubt by their own fans and media ………….they say you’re not captain material, HORSESHIT.

  42. I guess Saravia is fit enough to play. Hopefully he stays fit. 4-3-3 with Guido and Paredes is not a terrible idea as long as Paredes is the only defensive midfielder.

Comments are closed.