Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni: “Mauro Icardi is still in our plans”

By
Roy Nemer
-
61

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni spoke about Mauro Icardi’s exclusion from the team.

Lionel Scaloni gave Mauro Icardi several call-ups when first taking over as coach of Argentina. However, Icardi was later dropped from the team and did not make the Copa America squad. Speaking in an interview with DirecTV Sports, here’s what he had to say:

“Icardi is still in our plans. He knows very well how things are. I spoke with him on the phone when he was in conflict with Inter.

“I explained to him that he was going to be out because the others were playing with their clubs. And after the Copa America, Lucas Alario ended up appearing. But Mauro is not out, he’s included. He’s at the right age to be a great goal scorer.”

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61 Comments

  1. Hey guys, I am new on here. I am not from Argentina nationally but from Cameroon living in the UK. I have always been a big Argentinean fan and always admired the unlimited list of playmakers you guys have produced and my favourite being Riquelme.

    I think Argentina should have won the WC in 2002 and 2006 if certain players were not left out. From 2011 to 2019 Argentina should have easily won a handful of Copa Americas but didn’t.

    I am a firm believer of positional play/Guardiola football. Will get back to that at the end. To add to that it is vital that Messi and Dybala play together and in a formation that does not hinder Argentina.

    I look at the current national team and I see a problem that has never been addressed.

    1. Not making Pastore and Banega free Messi.

    Since the retirement of Riquelme and Veron or Aimar, argentina have not been able to really produce CAMs or deep lying playmakers who can find the killer pass and dictate games. Pastore and Banega came close to this description. None of them were used and were not used properly. Messi had Riquelme in the olympics as well as the copa america 2007 and you could instantly see how dangerous Argentina were. Having a deep lying playmaker is what argentina never prioritised. I think of Veron and Redondo. Banega again comes close to this position. Never used properly. Now he won’t get called up due to the current crop.

    Solution: Argentina need to understand how vital Lo Celso can be for the national team. Lionel Scaloni has to understand that he needs Lo Celso and should be his first midfielder on the team sheet. Just like Veron was. Argentina already wasted the chance of Pastore and to some extent Banega.

    2. Putting together a strong back line be it a back 3 or 4 has been a problem

    Gone are the days when Argentina had the luxury of having in my opinion some of the best CBs in the world in Roberto Ayala and Walter Samuel. CBs like those come once a generation and although Ayala for me cost Argentina the Copa final in 2007, this is a position that Argentina has really struggled with collectively. Garay, Demichelis, Coloccini, Milito to name a few were good CBs but were never world class could argue Milito was border line. But now Argentina need to focus on building a strong defence. You don’t have to have a world class defence to win a major tournament as Greece and recently Croatia have shown that you can form a strong collective unit.

    Solution: A strong defence unit that understands each other and what they have to do will put Argentina in a strong position.

    3. Lionel Scaloni in my opinion is slowly beginning to build something but I can’t help but think a manager like Marcelo Gallardo (one of my other favourite Argentina players) would be tailor suited for the national team as his style of play and attention to detail along with his youth development would give Argentina the boost they need. Scaloni has tried to shore up the defence and at times not been able to enhance Argentina’s strength which is attacking with such vivre.

    Solution: a possession based style would suit the national team. This is where Marcelo Gallardo comes in. However he should be appointed if Argentina do not do well in the Copa but if not after the WC 22 Gallardo should be considered. Argentina are capable of implementing this style of football and maybe their defence is not the strongest suit, they have great ball playing CBs in Foyth, Belardi, Figal, Romero, Barboza, Senesi. Lo Celso would be a good metronome. The forward players would have more time on the ball to win Argentina games.

    Overall there should be a certain element of flexibility in the formation depending on who Argentina play.

    GK: Franco Armani/Geronimo Rulli/Agustin Marchesin
    RCB: Juan Foyth/Leonardo Belardi
    CB: Lucas Martinez Quarta/Nicolas Otamendi
    LCB: Marcos Senesi/Walter Kannemann
    RWB: Fabricio Bustos/ Gabriel Montiel
    CM: Lisandro Martinez/Leandro Parades
    CM: Giovanni Lo Celso/ Exequiel Palacios
    LWB: Nicolas Taglifico/ Marcos Acuna
    SS: Lionel Messi/Di Maria
    SS: Paulo Dybala/Angel Correa
    ST: Lautaro Martinez/Sergio Aguero/Mauro Icardi

    This would be ideal line up and this in some way gets the best out of Messi and Dybala. A back 3 and wingbacks that can cover the whole width of the pitch and in the centre Messi or Dybala could easily drop in the 10 position to support Lo Celso and Martinez. These 2 CMs have work rate and will be able to connect the midfield to the attack.

    Overall Argentina have so much young talent coming through and I am impressed with the amount of ball playing CBs that are coming through as well as CMs and AMs. I hope long term that Marcelo Gallardo takes over Argentina NT as he plays a possession based game which suits this squad and upcoming squad of young talented players.

    • Welcome bud. I’m a huge admirer of Bielsa Ball but I accept the reality that building up a team which relies on possession style of play is a very time intensive process. Beside the time you need a coach who really believes in that philosophy and has the knowledge and not the desire only. Most important thing is that you need the players who suit that kind of tactic. You need young players with stamina and pace+ the skill for passing the ball safely most of the time. You need everyone in team to believe in you so they run their asses off on the pitch. I dont see such kind of process happen in the national team. But I would be more than happy when our coach proves me wrong.

      • You are absolutely right. But Argentina have alot of technically skilled players and have players that will believe in the style of play. Nobody wants to be chasing shadows for 90 minutes. Just about every footballer wants to play and go forward. I believe when the time is right Marcelo Gallardo for me would carry out this play style. The players for me are certainly there in every position. As I said in my post, there is an influx of ball playing CBs and a DM in Martinez who plays the Ajax way. I just think the potential is there for it to be done. Lo Celso can transform into a really world class playmaker as well.

  3. Icardi scoring winning goal in the final for Argentina and Wanda cute smile with flying kiss is enough to kill me.

  4. Why would we want Icardi and Wanda to come ruin the harmony and atmosphere of the newly rebuilt team??? He is a good striker but we have Lautaro Messi Dybala Aguero Alario Gonzalez Avila Gaich Correa ffs don’t pick THE ONE that would ruin the overall wellbeing of the team!!!

    Let him play as one of the overage players in the Olympics but keep him as far away as humanly possible from the senior national team!

    • i support you 1000 % my friend.
      i am beside you.

      the only way to say yes to Icardi come to national team is to divorce with Wanda and she go live far to India together with our friend here Romance king !!!

      NO OTHER WAY my friend.

      • @Cox4 bro how can you even think about a solution like this it won’t gonna happen. The main problem when it comes to Icardi is in my opinion that he doesn’t move and doesn’t get involved in building up the game. That means if you want to use Icardi you need build up the game around him so he can profit from deadly passes.

    • Icardi is easily in top 10 strikers in the world and if a players personal life is the criteria for selection in the NT then Cristiano Ronaldo,Brazil Ronaldo and even ARG NT Exequiel Palacios personal life theatrics are quiet famous among the media but were /are still called to their NTs’. Icardi should be called asap if Alario or Aguero form starts to diminish and Aguero(one of my favourite players) whose age is 32 now but we cant say whether he can last till 2022 WC remember Mascherano also lost his form at 18 WC so for this reason Icardi could be integrated into NT during WC Qualifiers depending on his form at PSG

    • We have enough talents upfront. No doubt. But we always had it no? And what happened in 2014 semis n final! We had an under confident Rodrigo Palacio coming in as sub for our Number 9 & wasting chances.

      Who wouldn’t want a solid No 9 like Icradi as super Sub in late minutes.

  5. Balerdi on the bench again, half of Borussia defenders are injured and still…an unproven kid…and he is an argentine NT-player. for God’s sake..how bad should Balerdi be in trainings… Borussia play rather with a side back Pisczek and a midfielder Emre Can instead of him as centre backs…all of our centre back talents are unproven on the highest level, small club warriors or benchwarmers, Foyth, Balerdi, Cristian Romero, Quarta etc. no options instead of Otamendi-Pezzella…the very sad reality.

    • You are somehow right, but you are too pessimistic, I mean you could’ve wait to see balerdi playing for ten minutes in today’s game as he entered the pitch 10 minutes before the match ended, so his case ain’t that bad. At least he enters as a substitute in almost every match for Dortmund, unlike palacios for example who hasn’t played yet since the return of football for an even weaker team like Leverkusen. The important point imo is that balerdi is utilized as a CDM, in place of either witsel or Delaney, so he is developing into a defensive midfielder, which is a position argentina NT suffers due to lack of quality player in it, so let’s hope he is the future world class CDM of argentina NT. I say world class bec. he has the potential to be it. Don’t also forget that C.romero and N.perez are actually juventus and atletico Madrid players respectively, 2 defensively great teams, so this must be a good sign and hope for us.

    • Relax Csabalala, things are looking up at the back for Argentina.

      Quarta might not be proven at the highest level but the kid is only 24 and played to 2 copa lib finals (winning one of them against Boca!). He’s great in the air, excellent at reading the game and good enough with the ball to easily play midfield. Legit talent.

      Licha Martinez, proved himself in the dutch league, which isn’t saying much but more importantly proved himself in the CL at both CB and midfield. Again a legit talent.

      Crisitan Romero, might not be playing for a big club but he does belong to a big club (Juve) who in turn thought that the kid is talented enough to warrat a 30 mill price tag for his potential and Romero has proven himself time and time again with a struggling team in one of the top leagues.

      Nehuen Perez, again not playing for a top club but does belong to one (Atletico). He has been a stand out at the U23 and in Portugal and at just 21 he’s just beginning to realize his potential.

      Others like Senesi and Balerdi need to be monitored continuously.

      Right now, Argentina has no world class defenders, but what they do have are ‘classy’ defenders that are more than good enough to play for the NT and can, with the right conditions, become world class.

      • ARG always had young(er) centre backs in bigger or even top clubs from top five leagues with regular playing time.

        In the last 25 years:
        ‘Negro’ Caseres—Valencia, Celta Vigo
        Ayala—Napoli, Milan, Valencia
        Sensini—Parma, Lazio
        Chamot—Lazio, Atletico, Milan rather a left back but could play in the centre too
        Pochettino—PSG
        Pellegrino—Barcelona, Valencia the great partner of Ayala in that legendary Valencia team 2 UCL final, Uefa Cup, 2 Primeras, and played only 3 times in NT due to lot of good defenders

        Heinze—PSG, ManU (player of the season in MU), Real Madrid, Marseille
        Gabriel Milito Zaragoza, Barcelona very underrated defender with good passing skills
        Demichelis—Bayern, Malaga, City
        Samuel—Roma, Inter, Real Madrid
        Burdisso—Inter, Roma
        Coloccini—Atletico, Villarreal, Deportivo, Newcastle
        Hugo Campagnaro—Napoli

        Gonzalo Rodriguez—Villarreal, Fiorentina very underrated only 7 caps
        Garay—Real, Benfica, Zenit, Valencia
        Otamendi—Porto, Valencia, City
        Federico Fernandez—Napoli, Newcastle
        Pareja—Sevilla
        Fazio—Sevilla, Tottenham, Roma
        Rojo—Sporting, MU
        Mercado—Sevilla

        Now we have such players as old Otamendi, old Fernandez, old Fazio, Pezzella, maybe Musacchio after his peak…out of top5 leagues an always injured Mammana in Russia, Senesi, Lisandro Martinez duo, and talents who need to step up Foyth, Romero, Quarta, Balerdi, Nehuen Perez, Facundo Medina.

        • Remember that you’re talking about the 2000s period when Argentina was dominating the youth tournaments.
          The 2010s were a barren waste land when it comes to youth competitions, I mean Argentina didn’t even qualify for olympics 2012 to defend their title! And in 2016 they go knocked out in the opening round. The 2011 U20 was solid but the 2013 version couldn’t even make it to the youth WC. The 2015 and 17 teams were knocked out of the opening rounds of the U20 WC and the 2019 team were eliminated from the 2nd round of 2019 youth WC after stupidly giving up a 2 goal lead.
          You are always lamenting about there not being enough Argentines at top clubs but the reality is, top clubs keep a keen eye on youth competitions and Argentina hasn’t done well in those for quite a while.
          I do however see things turning around, albeit slowly. The AFA is somewhat stable, Aimar’s u17 WC ended in disappointment but they did play well and showed organization and the likes of Palacios (not exequiel but the other one) stood out. The pan american team won it’s competition, which is a cause for optimism even if the competition itself isn’t that important and we saw alot of those players excel in the olympic qualifiers that followed.
          Quarta, Licha, C.Romero and Nehuen Perez are all legit talents and are a cause for optimism. The latter 2 or maybe 3 (if Licha goes to the olympics instead of copa) could end up in the A-list if Argentina does well in the olympics (not necessarily win the thing but go deep).

    • The 2 central midfielders who start in Leverkusen are better than him, not skill-wise but experience-wise as they are older, both of them are in their 30’s, however palacios can definitely develop into a better and more complete player than each of them, but not now, in the future. Bosz sees him as a future indispensable asset in the midfield of Leverkusen after the form of either aranguiz or baumgartlinger drops.

      • Very disappointing. Thry are getting thrashed . 5 substitutes used. Still palacios getting zero minutes . Bosz is giving chance to all other youngsters like wirtz, Paulinho. Only palacios losing out . He is definitely better than that clowns who played today.
        Also look at the level difference in German league between Bayern & a number 5 side like Leverkusen. Also German youngsters are so dangerous & so many alternatives

        • Wirtz is a german promising player, so most prolly he will be favoured by his countryman coach, moreover, he scored his first ever goal in bundesliga against the German giant Bayern Munich and at age of 17, so he ain’t clown by any mean. However Idk what on earth makes players like paulinho and demirbay better than palacios in order for them to be given minutes instead of him. This is incomprehensible, because I can say in a heartbeat that exequiel is more talented and overall more quality midfielder than both of them. I think he should go on a loan if bosz continued to ignore him like this till the the end of the season.

  9. Yup, soon Icardi will force himself to our NT. He has an attitude of a rebel and of course a great poacher. Let’s see who all will be in shape next year.

    By the way Marchesin with a horrendous blunder. I for one have never been convinced about Marchesin even though all goal keepers makes blunders. At present it is between Armani and Andrada for the No 1 in Scalonis mind. Who knows by the time next year NT match resums Musso or some one else may be in contention for the No 1 spot too.

    I think Andrada should be the No 1 considering his apt age. Where as I am sure Armani will defenitly want to play the 2022 WC as a swan song. He will give his best in River for sure. Can’t take him out of contention. In fact had the Copa kicked off tommarrow Armani would have been the starter.

  10. Icardi is easily in the top 10 strikers in the world and in case Aguero or Alario forms starts to diminish then Icardi needs to be called asap to the NT depending on his form and to guys here dont compare him with the likes of Balotelli(Huge potential at that time) but with all due respect he was never the top goal scorer in Serie A which ICARDI won twice and might even win Liegue 1 Top scorer later in his career and there is huge differnce in their personality Balotelli was an eccentric guy while Icardi personal life is an isssue for some regardless of what he does on the pitch so both can be compared. Hopefully Scaloni gives chances to Icardi and Benitez in WC Qualifiers

  11. It is unrelated to NT . There are rumours going around that Marcelo Galardo could be at Europe Next season and PSG are tracking him to make their Coach in case Tuchel fails and Gallardo replacement at River plate could be German Burgos who is currently assistant to Diego simeone at atletico madrid and he also will be leaving atletico madrid at the end of the current season in oreder to become the head coach for some other team. Regarding NT Coach Scaloni I understand that he dosent have much experience but till now he has performed well and has managed to rebuild ARG NT from scratch but he needs to learn from Simeone in how to create a tough defence which cant be penetrated easily by even the best offensive teams.Dont forget even people where pessimistic about Sabella when he first became the coach of NT but in the end he was the one who took NT to WC Final which favourites like Pekerman,Maradona,Sampaoli and even Bielsa where unable to do and Scalonis style is similar to Sabella in some ways so lets wait and watch what unfolds in WC Qualifiers and upcoming Copa before saying things like Scaloni is not good coach for NT and that he cant win them trophies.

  12. Scaloni – suddenly becomes a very good coach for everyone here. No results to prove mates. He is no tactician as such. Will never take Argentina to glory days.
    .
    But he is here to stay riding on Argentina’s & AFA’s economic situation and currently the world situation.
    .
    One day would love to see Bielsa take over NT and help them lift the world cup with his flowing style of play.

    • i like your post and i was ready to support it till i read the last sentence.

      i give you advice to watch the games of Argentina in 2002 world cup.
      you will wake to see the reality.

      As about Scaloni you don t know him yet to judge if he can be good coach or not. Maybe he will be good maybe not. Now is very early to know if Scaloni can bring us to glory or not.

      • Well in 2002, he was a bit lost, He didn’t anticipate that some of the key players arrived tired and injured and he didn’t want to make any change, that was his mistake, but I won’t say he’s a bad coach. Right after that, he won the Olympic games with a very sexy football, maybe the best football that the national team has played during the last 2 decades.

        • other thing world cup and other thing one Olympic games football tournament my friend.

          in reality all the Olympic games football tournaments is B class football games. with the exeption of the glamorous name of “Olympic games” that give sure prestige there is nothing more than that.
          personally i find the U 20 world cup as higher level class than Olympic games football tournament.

          i am speaking about football sport only. in all the other sports Olympic games tournaments is the biggest exist.

          Of course our subject is Bielsa and personally i blame him completely for the 2002 tragedy. the biggest humiliation we had as long as i live and remember myself (1990).
          i don t want to see him even in picture. how much more to see him close to national team.

          • To me the biggest humiliation was 2018, total fiasco 🙂 After I agree with you olympic is not the same level as world cup for sure. Biesla had his part of responsibility on 2002 for sure.

  13. Argentina attacking option must be world class players like Messi, Aguero, Lautaro, Dybala, Icardi and please no more farmers like alario or gaich

    • Alario is good too take nothing away from him.If chances are given to him in NT he will prove himself but yes right now Icardi Aguero duo would look great

  14. Yes Oblak in top 3 goalkeepers but positioning and ball distribution of Allison is better than Oblak.Oblak is better shot stopper than Allison.But every plauer has some weaknesses and strengths.Allison also participates in build ups so Allison is better choice overall.

  15. It’s a diplomatic answer and i don’t mind that Scaloni is not being called yet by N/T; to be frank Icardi is not welcome by N/T players unless the new generations take charge. Beside Scaloni now have Lautoro, Alario, Gaich, Correa and more are coming.

    The reason for Icardi exclusion is simple, harmony of the team is more important than talent or lone star

    • true that. Icardi is clearly a bad influence. proved it at Inter also. & the Wanda angle is so much drama .
      Icardi is like a Balotelli… has talent.. but the drama quotient offsets that & there is alternate talent .
      There is only one player ever who could justify his high drama bcos of his extra terrestrial footballing talent & impact – Diego Maradona . & Diego was always loved by his teammates. Its the establishment that hated him for his rebellious outlook

  16. Right now we have a great coach. However the only thing i dont understand is why he keep on selecting Otamendi who doesnt know anything about defending. Even gaurdiola left him in the bench. Ayala please help scolani to select better defenders. If not what is the use of you being there as an assistant.

    • YOU NEVER KNOW MAYBE POST COVID PANDEMIC WHEN WC QUALIFIERS ARE RESUMED MAYBE SCALONI MIGHT REPLACE OTAMENDI WITH A PLAYER LIKE CRISTIAN ROMERO OR MARCOS SENESI DURING WC QUALIFIERS SINCE OTAMENDI FORM HAS BEEN DETEORIATING AND THAT MIGHT BE SEEN DURING PL WHEN IT RESUMES IN JUNE.

    • You 16 year old kid knows nothing about football.Otamendi is one of the best Center Back for Argentina right now.Look at the last six matches which we have played against football giants like Brazil,Uruguay,Chile,Maxico,Germany.The only thing Otamendi needs is right pairing both in Argentina and Man city.Pezella and Laporte are best pairing for him.Otamendi in recent time has given man of the match performance for Argentina.

      • agree here Kavi . Otamendi is our best CB & its factually incorrect to say he dosent defend well. Overall has done very well for NT in last 5 years. Also ball playing skills are very good to help build attack. But i dont see him lasting till WC2022. Hence i would really want Scaloni to infuse a new young CB. Derisking of Otamendi for WC22 is much needed. He can be a very useful sub – but not a starter for WC22. Cant make same Masherano mistake of WC18. Masche would have been a great sub in 2018 . making him starter was Sampoali’s mistake.
        Lucas Quarta MArtinez has already shown 2 good games .. between him-Cromero , one should lock the spot rather than bringing them in 2022 without adequate experience.

        • Even Thiago Silva is playing in world cup and in Champion league at this age.23 or 24 year players has no good sense of football.What happen in 2018 Tagliafico,Meza,Pavon all were flop.It is the character which decides man and Otamendi has that character in himself.

      • I have been watching Argentina since 2002. I follow most of our player from all over the world. Right now we have Martinez Quarta, Belardi, Cristion Romero, Nuhan Perez. Why dont we give them a chance..Otamandi is simply a brainless chicken. He simply slide into the ball sometimes luckly he may win the ball but most of the time it create serious problems.. You better to watch again 2019 copa against brazil match.

        • I agree with you. Otamendi has decent skill and good on 1 vs 1 but definitely not a leader. Who will kick the ball out of the pitch when your team is 3-4 and only few minutes left? However I see him more as a temp solution, he should stay in the 23 and share his experience with younger players until they can replace him.

    • I don’t trust Otamendi’s emotional response anymore given the past blowups during critical minutes (like Canadian points out with leader comment). However, you can speculate all day about the “potential” of other CBs but right now, Otamendi is still our best.

      Also, your point “Even gaurdiola left him in the bench” is somewhat ridiculous. He plays for city often and when he’s benched, its because the its for one of the worlds best CBS Laporte and Englands darling stones. If Otamendi played for clubs not name City, Bayer, Barca, Juve, PSG, etc, he’d easily start.

  17. Allison and Fernando Muslera are the best goalkeeper in South American football.I see no one near them even not in Europian soil as goalkeeping is most important position in football so that gives a slight advantage to Brazil and Uruguay.
    Andrada is best for Argentina his ball distribution is second to none,he is best goalkeeper in ball distribution,his reading of the game is good but in shot stopping there are some issues.
    Franco Armani is average goalkeeper should not be used as starter anymore.
    Juan Musso and Andrada are best for Argentina 3rd place is up for grab.

    • Allison is definitely the second best GK in the world after Jan Oblak but Fernando Muslera is average at best and he look good while playing for Uruguay only because of that teams brilliant defense and I also disagree that Andrada is the best option for Argentina.No offence against Andrada but he hasnt played in Europe which is the reason he is not better than Allison and even Muslera who both play in Europe and have been improving their game and There are better options compared to Andrada and Armani like Juan Musso(Could be the first choice for NT since he is in top 5 in terms of clean sheets in serie a),Walter Benitez(should be called before he is poached away by France NT) while for 3rd place a GK from ARG U20 NT can be taken like Pouratu or Facundo Cambiesse .These 3 choices hopefully are implemented for 2022 WC Qualifiers

      • Muslera is average at best really?Look at his reflexes and shot stopping abilities these are second to none.

        • muslera is just decent. like colombia’s ospina or our romero. nothing exceptional. he also benefits from tabrez’s strategy of keeping players long term . if he was so good he wouldnt be languishing in galatasaray. Cant forget his Karrius-que howler in World Cup against France!!
          To me the 2nd best GK in South America is Ederson . Without doubt Allison is definitely the best GK in world . Dont know what happened to the Venezula guy ( Wuilker Farinez ) .. seemed a great potential a couple of years back.
          I dont see we as world beaters with Armani or Andrada . Not seen Musso much except youtube highlights. But hoping he is our guy.

          • whoever comes , i just hope scaloni gives stability to No1 GK. too much of rotation ( armani-andrada – ruili-gazzaniga-marchesin -musso ) . it always help GK confidence & his chemistry with defenders when he is undisputed No1 . Romero actually improved bcos of coaches consistency of retaining him. I give Sabella a lot of credit to retain Romero at a time when Cabellero was doing brilliantly well at Malaga in 2013-14.

          • I agree about Musrela but about Allison no he is not the best GK in the world Jan oblak is better than him and regarding Musso he is one of the best shot stoppers in Serie A at the moment with only Donnarruma having more clean sheets than him in the current season of Serie A so maybe he could be tried as starting GK for NT during WC Qualifiers and then there is Walter Benitez hopefully he is called by Scaloni before Deschamps gets him for France

      • Messi10 – Oblak is awesome. no doubt & its a mystery how a small country like Slovenia produced Oblak & Samir Handanovic in same era.
        i just rate Allison better bcos of his success at club & national level in last 12+months. In skills – not much to differentiate IMO
        Benitez looks quite a character . Not sure why he has not even been given a chance by Scaloni. hope he doesnt rot like Caballero . France will benefit – he may not be a starter but can force his way in the 23man squad. france dosent have good goal keeping options & even Lloris is like just ok.

  18. Aguero and Icardi duo upfront would be best duo for Argentina.Icardi should be included in place of Alario.Icardi is simply one of the best center forward.

    • aguero , icardi , messi upfront wil bring so much pressure on midfield as none of them defensively contribute. Its gonna be aguero- lautaro-messi or ocampos replacing aguero as a wider attack option. In all permutations Dybala is the super sub till Messi retires. Icardi scoring goals in PSG wont make a difference in Scaloni’s plans . Maybe when Aguero fades away – icardi may claw back into team.

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