Lionel Messi scored twice for Argentina in their 4-1 win vs. Bolivia.
It was the Lionel Messi show as he had two goals and one assists in a changed looking Argentina starting eleven. The first half saw three goals with the first one coming from Papu Gomez.
Angel Correa receive the ball and drove towards the middle playing a pass onto Messi. He would play a chip over the Bolivian back line onto Papu Gomez who would strike the ball to give Argentina the 1-0 lead.
Papu Gomez would play a role in the second goal as he was tripped up inside the penalty area and the referee would award a penalty kick. Up stepped Messi and he would score as he placed the ball to the side of the net.
Messi wasn’t done just yet. Sergio Aguero would play a dink pass and Messi would time his run perfectly and a first time finish by Messi as he would chip the goalkeeper for his second, Argentina’s third of the match. He has now scored 75 goals and is the most capped player ever for Argentina on 148 matches
The second half would see Bolivia pull one back as Lisandro Martinez over committed and was caught out of position. A low pass into the penalty area and the strike would beat Franco Armani.
Lautaro Martinez would replace Sergio Aguero in the second half and find the back of the net. Messi would start the play as he would pass the ball wide to Acuna. His pass into the penalty area would find Julian Alvarez as his effort was blocked. The loose ball would fall to Lautaro and he would score from close range to give Argentina the 4-1 lead.
Lionel Scaloni would make several changes. The first one saw Julian Alvarez on for Papu Gomez early in the second half. After that was a double substitution as Lautaro Martinez was brought on for Aguero and Gio Lo Celso for Angel Correa. Scaloni would make two more, five in total as Leandro Paredes was substituted on for Guido Rodriguez and Nicolas Dominguez for Exequiel Palacios.
Argentina top their first and will play Ecuador on Saturday in one of the quarter finals of the Copa America.
I can’t believe so many people have left out Di Maria from their team!
Di Maria without a doubt is the best player in Argentina after Messi.
Argentina would have won 2014 world cup if Di Maria was there in finals.
I will close my eyes and trust his match winning ability any day.
The only thing is – because he is so injury prone – I will not play him 90 minutes, but 70 minutes instead.
My team:
Papu Gomez – Kun Aguero(/Lautaro)
Messi
Di Maria – Lo Celso(/A.Correa)
De Paul(/Guido)
Acuna – C.Romero – Pezella – Molina(/Otamendi)
E.Martinez
I think Aguero and Papu should start and Lautaro should replace the poorer of the 2 in the second half.
Di Maria and Lo Celso should play together. I like Lo Celso’s speedy midfield runs.
After 70 minutes A.Correa can replace injury prone Di Maria(or Lo Celso, if he has a bad day).
De Paul is a must because he is a work horse.
I miss Rojo in defence though. He could head the ball in.
I love Di Maria but I think its better to play him in the last 30 mins so he does not get Injured. Imagine in the Final a fresh ADM comes off the bench around 60 mins and we are in Extra Time. So Ideal to have Di Maria for that reason.
Wins always bring happiness. Messi, Gomez, Aguero seemed to have some good connects going. Acuna was as usual dedicated. Angel Correa had his best outing for Argentina till date. Then there was this brilliant free kick which was a good dual effort. It reminded me of the tricky goal we scored against England in world cup. But all these good outcomes cannot overshadow some glaring gaps. The complacency that led to the Bolivian goal to start with. Lautaro missed easy chances because he was always hitting the ball straight without any creativity. Not sure whether he deserves to be in the starting line up in QF. In the QF we need to play a pursuing and pressing game. Lautaro used to play such games when he started. His hat trick against Mexico was a brilliant example. But it has been quite long since he last played such a game. There were innumerable passes which landed in no man’s zone which shows that Scaloni still needs to put more effort in getting the coordination going. May be it’s too late for the tournament but not for pre-qualifiers, where we are in a sticky situation already.
Apart from papu gomez the best play was seen from angel Correa as well… Mess was Messi.. Maybe it was weak opponent Bolivia but this look competitive team.. Nico for first 50-60 minutes and then papu.. Angel Correa should be be brought on for either locelso or DePaul.. This side is looking good.. Acuna is must… Taglifiaco is vulnerable
Emi
Molina Romero ota acuna
Guido
DePaul locelso nico
Messi lautaro
Vamos Argentina
Guys… I would like to know what you all think about the substitutions from Scaloni in last 6 matches. Do you think there are some improvements? I personally think those were substitutions for the sake of that. I am afraid how it is going to be if we are behind after half time or if we are in some kind of adverse conditions.
I have the same concerns, the subs don’t make the team better and it has been the case for while. Against Bolivia there is not much we to conclude, the team was weak, we were already top of the group, we were trying to avoid injury and yellow. It was like a friendship before a big tournament.
My team would be : E.Mertinez, Molina, C. Romero, N. Otamendi, M.Acunia, De Paul, G.Rodrigiez, Gio Lo Chelso, Papu Gomez, L. Messi, D. Maria..
I think Scaloni will use this line up vs Ecuador
Emi Martinez
Mollina. C. Romero. Otamendi. Acuna. De Paul. G.Rodriguez. Lo celso
Messi. Aguero. Papu Gomez
If no one is injured backline is 100% done
Midfield is also done but doubt is whether Papu Gomez would start in midfield or in forward line.
Aguero will start as he has chemistry with Messi.
Scoreline of 4 -1 is what we needed just before knockout round. Great performances and kudos to Scaloni this time for perfect Starting XI n tiimely substitutions.
For the knockout would like
———–Emi Martinez———-
Molina– Romero–Ota/Pez–Acuna
Rodriquez—–LoCelso
(Palacio)
DiMaria — Messi — Gomez
(De Paul) (JCorrea/Gonzales)
Aguero
(Lautaro)
Without any doubt Gomez n Dimaria has to start as their bursting speed, dribbling will exploit both the flanks keepin them busy n if we manage to get a goal in first 30 mins then half the job is done. Many wud prefer Nico Gonzales to start but Gomez is in some form looking confident making decisive runs inside opponents box n most importantly he is scoring too.
Aguero shl also start as his on field understanding linking up play with others eps. Messi is much better than what Lautaro offers. 75% fit Aguero is better than Lautaro.
Guido Rodriquez is anytime better than Paredes as the later makes unnecessary dribbles losing ball possession in dangerous area. Guido is much more stable keeps it simple n more effective enuff in breaking opponents build up.
Good to have fully fit Lo Celso available his flair n creativity in the final third makes our attack more promising.
Acuna n Molina both of them must start as they are better in both aspects of the game than Tagliafico n Montiel respectively.
Romero’s presence makes Argentina defense look more confident n relaxed.
Otamendi in this Copa also did good when teaming up with Romero. So him starting or Pezella starting wont hurt the team shape.
We all know Lisandro Martinez won’t start so in future I would really like him to play as a defensive midfielder where his short height won’t be much of a concern as it now being CB for Arg.
Thankfully after long time we have a much more confident n positive looking GK Emi Martinez.
This time around Argentina’s team is looking more organised, defensively stable n attackingly threatening (of course when attacking mode is on).
issue that still needs to be resolved in defence
1) how is the backup to emi martinez.
2) who is the center back backups
3) should anghleri be tried for taglifico.
4) between foyth or montiel who should be backup for molina
I agree with these 4. Unfortunately Scaloni can’t get rid of Armani and Tagliafico as he always says good things about them both.
As for your number 4, Montiel does not have what it takes to play for the seleccion. He is too average. Foyth should improve.
As for number 2, Pezzella and Licha Martinez good enough. Maybe after this copa it is the end for Lucas Martinez Quarta. Hope Senesi grabs his spot.
for the next back the team should be
———-Lautaro—–Messi
—-Gomez—————–De Paul
———–Lo Celso–Guido
Acuna–Otamendi—Romero—Molina
—————–Martinez
It’s not amazing but it could be solid.
Messi is not even a question, for Lautaro i think Aguero is not fit enough and even if Lautaro is overreated he can work a lot about pression.
Gomez won a spot for me. I like Nico Gonzalez but between his injury and his lack of confidence to score he is not at his best, better to put him in the game at the minute 65 for Gomez. Gomez can create football and have his confidence is at the top. Lo Celso is titular every days, without him we cant create with our midfield i really wish Scaloni will not put his boyfriend the slow Paredes … Guido give a good balance and protect much better the defender. For Depaul i have a big problem with his offense because he dont try a lot and never tried key pass but i admit he helps a lot for the balance of the team for the defense and pression.
In defense Acuna is not perfect but he give much power from the left side and Tagliafico never did 50% of Acuna. Molina is a little more brave than Montiel . And for the defense Scaloni will never change Romero-Otamendi, even if Otamendi play bad so…
For the goalkeeper : Martinez every days, but you can be sure the media will push a lot for Armani now …
For giving away the ball straight to an opponent in his own half is what media will push Armani into the team. He was not at all confident in the first-half corner kick as well, lucky to not concede a goal there.
pazella is better than otamendi. otamendi is same as parades he used to make more back/slowly passess. he is always creating the paressure for backline and GK.last 2 matched it compltely showing the team is going forward if there is no tagliafico, parades and otamendi. montiel also using back passess.
De Paul did give more offensive contribution and key passes when Guido played as it freed him up unlike Paredes
German pezzella surprisingly had good back to back games in this point perfer him over otamendi. From now on it’s do or die arg can’t afford mistakes.I don’t care who plays and how Argentina play, could have 25 % possession as long as they win the copa
I’m more than desperate to see albicelestes get thier hands in that trophy.
Agreed. Otamendi is always a threat for us. That guy will do something wild at some point of time. I had given up my last hope on him when he kicked Rakitic in world cup. He is kind of a bad luck for us in any game. I would prefer Senesi if possible/Licha/Improved LMQ/atleast Pezzella along with Romero.
TYC created a poll of “who should be the man of the match”.
Around 36% chose Messi then second is Papu Gomez, not surprising. Guess who is third?
Franco Armani with 14%! Man so many biased fans. He did not even have a good game.
That’s why I opposed the inclusion of Armani in this Copa. Local media will pressure Scaloni to include him in starting x1.
Just one shot..that’s goal.
Emi and Romero has become integral part of our defense.
Lol. May be for not giving more than one chance/goal which was totally unexpected. We know what he usually do. Some one please help Scaloni to understand Musso is the best option for 2nd GK.
@el_principe,
At one point 30% fans had selected Armani for MOTM, Papu 26% and Messi 20% . It was just 30+ minutes into the game and Armani did not make a single save and barely touched the ball. Check Daniel Edwards twitter feed.
It’s insane.
Unfortunately club before national team mentality exists among fans. It is not something nice to see.
My native country’s football got destroyed due to club politics. During 1990s, my native NT qualified for continental competition and our manager had to select 4 goalkeepers due to club pressure. 4 goalkeepers in 23 man squad.
So when I see such scenario in Argentina NT, I get afraid.
Really?? that’s crazy! I got nothing against Armani, but he was NOT among those who perform well yesterday. He was among the worst 2 performers I think: Him and Montiel.
I remember back then how much Boca fans wanted Tevez to always start for Argentina.
@el_principe,
Who can forget the Tevez saga? The boca pressure forced Batista to select and start Tevez and our copa 2011 was done. Sabella resisted that pressure and we almost won the world cup.
armani was good when there was no paressure in backline because of licha and pazella. if it otamendi and parades was there then armani might get paressure from opponents because of more back/slow/side passess. in qtr AFA should not place otamendi, parades, montiel and tagliafico.
acuna, pazella/licha, romero and molina is enough. DM: guido is betther than parades.
I can tell you as an argentinean living in Argentina nobody really wants Armani every serious critic pretty much aligns with the consensus that most people have on the site without all the bashing that seems to go on a around here.
Some are confused about lo celso,so funny.If Argentine is go with one midfielder the name is lo celso.he is easily one of the most talented Midfielder in the world.The problem was his injury and a yellow card..
I was pretty impressed by Nico Dominguez.. I have to admit, I was not following him much and I wasn’t sure why some of you guys hyped him…
But he had great 29 mins in the game against Bolivia.. I’d like to see him against stronger teams..
A Correa is underrated
There should be someone who is right footed and creative in our team to play along with Messi. Papu Gomez ticks all of that. He is a vibrant player and character. Will Scaloni stick with him for the knockouts? Its good to have someone who can take the Creative burden from Messi. Lo Celso plays similar to Messi obviously because he is left footed.
A.correa, maria and papu is best to take out the burden from messi.
E.martinez
molina romero pazella/licha acuna
d.maria guido a.coreea
Messi aguero papu
This was a type of win which we needed exactly to boost our goal scoring ability.
Messi should have got a hat trick, anyway by scoring 2 goals + 1 assist he made sure he is not way back in the scoring charts too which is important because the world is obsessed with Goal Scorers.
Lautaro hopefully gets back to his goal scoring form from now on wards because at least somehow he got a goal. He need to somehow get back to his rhythm we need him to fire on all cylinders in the knockouts. Messi can’t do it alone against tough teams.
Papu deserves to be started for the knockouts too, but unfortunately who will he replace to start, Lo Celso will return, Paredes and De Paul also will return, Nico Gonzalez is also un droppable for Scaloni. When was the last time anyone other than Messi who scored in 2 matches continuously for us? Don’t even remember, That too a Midfielder.
Angel Correa & Acuna deserves a special mention both looks good.
Scaloni have now some solid alternatives to choose from if his preferred players don’t perform, Players like Papu, Angel Correa, Aguero, Palacios, Di Maria… should be his main subs for the knock outs, all of them looks good. Anyway let’s move step by step in the knock outs, Don’t be over confident in a win over Bolivia, every team in the SA is tough don’t take Ecuador lightly, lets wish ourselves All the best.
On a side note, Bye bye Fluke World Cup finalists Croatia and boring world champions France with pre Madonna players, Thankfully the KANTE chants are over for good at least for now. So the Euro is now so open, I hope neither England, Spain or Belgium win it, anyone else will be fine for me. Germany & Italy? This also mean the Ballo D’Or race is wide open Mbappe & Lewandowski has a Euro disadvantage now, CR7 highness is out of the question now, Kante? I don’t like him to be fair. KDB, Lukaku is looming by the way. Neymar is another threat. Let’s see how it goes on for our Messiah now.
So as it always has been the FIFA warriors are out making up fancy elevens that almost always only work on paper.Some are Nostradamus who predict everything before. At any rate seasonal nutjobs on the blog aside the one great thing I am seeing is the choice and variety of good players we have now. So much of doom saying was going on a couple of years back and we have good solid unit with enough talent to defeat any team in the world.
Also while no one says Scaloni is a great manager I think like any green manager he has done more “player management” than “match management”. But given the predicament our board finds themselves in and what we have as options he has been decent. Surely a better coach would get better results and better football with this set of players.
But , it is what it is.
Onwards and upwards !
Argentina is looking good slowly they are gelling up it seems once back up players are better than starters. Guido Rodriguez,Papu Gomez,Angel Correa,Lisandro all are good.
J. Correa is also a good player but he lacks explosiveness in final third.Right now Angel Correa looks better.
I agree with most of the comments posted here. The truth is I am happy that Scaloni has found 2 equally good players for many positions now.
Right and left forward: 3 players here for 2 positions in Nico Gonzales, Di Maria, and A Correa all show their class. Before this game, A Correa was still a questionable player.
#9: Aguero and Lautaro not 100% at his best but they both are pushing each other and are improving each match. Aguero clicking with Messi more than ever, but still lack of match fitness. Lautaro still needs to learn how to play with Messi but should get his confidence back.
2 central midfielders: Lo Celso and Depaul as starters suddenly have 2 excellent back ups in Papu Gomez and Palacios.
Papu emergence is a very pleasant surprise. He was the Messi of Atalanta but he did not seem to have a problem deferring to the real Messi and play with the real Messi. Palacios is not at his best yet but we can not have all our central midfielders too offensive minded, Palacios is the most balanced one other than De Paul among all midfielders we have.
DM: We have Paredes and Guido. Guido seems to always play better anytime he plays, but Paredes has always been among Scaloni’s key players since day one.
LB: In his last interview Scaloni said that he is happy to have both Acuna and Tagli as his starters. He said Acuna is more offensive minded, Tagli is more balanced. Although I disagree when he said Tagli is more balanced. Tagli is not good going forward and is a liability in defense.
But man Acuna is a huge pleasant. The last time we had a LB that good going forward is like 15 years ago in Juan Sorin. I am glad that Sevilla recreated this guy. I agree with someone said here, he played like a prime Marcelo.
The back ups that have yet to shine are: Joaquin Correa, Montiel, and central defender back ups.
I disagree. Lisandro Martinez was quite decent today with more playing time he will be a rock in defense
El principe…
I have to disagree on one main Point… I think Papu is not a Midfielder.. He’s a Playmaker or Winger but against stronger opponents we need three real Midfielders..
That’s why I would go with De Paul Guido Lo Celso and up front Papu Messi Lautaro or Nico Messi Lautaro
but in the game papu was the direct replacement of Lo Celso yesterday. Papu is more attacking minded though.
Aguero replacing Lautaro
Correa replacing Nico Gonzales
Papu replacing Lo Celso
Guido replacing Paredes
Palacios replacing De Paul
Yes I know it was yesterday that Papu played Lo Celso his part. That’s why I said we can not play Papu in that role vs strong opponents… He is no Midfielder. It’s just my opinion but I think he needs to play one up front… I would love to see Lo Celso and Papu on the same side…
Lo Celso can have some assists I guess.. Because Nico and Lautaro did not convert his Passes maybe Papu can…
Oh Papu is most certainly a midfielder, if you don’t believe me, watch some of his matches with Sevilla where he was at his best playing on the left side of a mid 3. Now, Papu is naturally an enganche or a left leaning forward but because of his creativity, ball control, experience and tenacity (contrary to popular belief he works hard defensively) he works well as a CM and can be a direct sub for Celso.
I’m really afraid it doesn’t work against strong teams because Papu has no defensive contributions… That’s a fact my friends… I watched a lot of the Sevilla games since we have Acuña Ocampos and Papu there…
And that is why it worked… Ocampos and Acuña covered him in defense and most of the time, even though the line up was 433, Sevilla played kind of double Pivot. Papu has a lot of freedom in Sevilla…
That’s what he even said in an Interview…
Lo Celso might not be the best Midfielder as for defensiv contributions but he has a lot of defensive understanding and he can intercept good
Some are too harsh on Paredes do not they remember his performance in UCL, Paredes was phenomenal against Barça, Bayern Munich and man city. Paredes has all the qualities.it is his role is not defined.
Papu Gomez has best understanding of penalty box his positioning and reading of game is very good that is why he and Lo celso compliments Messi.
It doesn’t matter how Paredes was in UCL.. He is having a different role at PSG.. He plays among with a DM…
And I would not sacrifice Lo Celso nor De Paul for Paredes.. He can be a sub
No paredes, if we want to hold on to lead then he can play along with guido that’s it. Guido covers fast and tackles better than him. After paredes came midfield became weak.
The team is starting to gel at the right time in the tournament. No matter what anyone have said I always backed Scaloni. His player management is paying off at the right time. And in given time I think he will bring more players before the WC to replace Otamendi, Montiel, Paredes, etc.
I am not too thrilled about the win against Bolivia but I am happy the way players are growing chemistry and enjoying out there. This will do good in the K.Os.
We will lift Copa after a 28 year drought atlast. I have a stroooong feeling. I did not have this feeling in 2015/16/19. I was too nervous.
Bt we have one of the toughest path to final
I am confident we can beat Ecuador. I hope Colombia will win against Uruguay though as it is always easier facing Colombia than Uruguay.
Its not about the path its about the team that gives me this positive vibe. We are growing into the tournament at the right time.
I came here a few days ago and stated that Messi is the best striker in the world so he needed to play in the opponent 18 yard box more often, be more motivated, run into the opponent box, and pass the ball to the person who is in the best position to shoot. Messi did all of this ( and more) against Bolivia! Scored and had an assist to Gomez. Messi was trying too hard to score the other day because he saw that Ronaldo was grabbing world football headlines so he was being a bit selfish when in front of goal,against Bolivia he was more calm and relaxed.
I was the first person who came here several weeks ago and stated that Papu Gomez needed to be in the starting XI because he can shoot, dribble past defenders and he is one of several world class players on the team. Papu Gomez also proved me right! The same was said for Di Maria and Angel Correa.
I also stated that the players hurting the team are Tagliafico and Paredes, this doesn’t mean I’m hating on them, it’s just the truth, they’re not ready. Remember the stupid back pass Parades made against Italy during a friendly in 2018 which almost led to a goal? Paredes’ game still hasn’t improved since then. Montiel, Alverez and Armani should stay in River Plate. There hasn’t been a world class River Plate individual success story for over a long time. Montiel, Armani and Alverez are just not ready for prime time..
Put the Ajax Central defender (Lisandro?) in midfield next to Guido and the midfield problem will be solved, he can play the Mascherano role for the rest of the tournament. Ecuador is a fast and physical team and will use pace on the flanks. De Paul is overrated, haven’t done anything other than running all over the pitch, just ask Kante how did that work out for France at the Euros. Aguero went deep into the midfield and made a pass over the opposition defensive line to Messi which led to a goal, something both DePaul and Paredes were unable to do for all this time.
Lautaro is a good player but his first touch and dribbling are too inconsistent which impacts his strike rate in the attacking third. Aguero playing at about 85% match fitness level is still more useful in attack at this year Copa America than Lautaro.
This year BDOR race is wide open, there are no clear front runners and if Messi wins this year’s Copa he will put himself at the top of the list.
BDOR Contenders:
Messi, Argentina (win Copa America and put yourself at the top of the voting list)
Kante, France ( no chance now)
Dybrune, Belgium (if Belgium wins Euro he is favorite to win the BDOR no matter how many goals he scored this past season and at this year Euros, the English and a lot of the European media will make sure it happen)
Neymar, Brazil ( if he wins Copa America is name will be in the mix purely on media marketing)
Mbappe, France (no chance)
Lewandowski, Poland (has a shot because of record amounts of goal scored for Bayern Munich but he needed a push from his Polish national team)
Kai Havertz, Germany (scored the only goal in the UCL final and If he brings home the Euro championship for Germany he has a good chance of being in the top three final list)
Suarez, Uruguay ( if he wins Copa America along with his La Liga title he has a shot)
Thiago Silva, Brazil ( is interesting, he helped Chelsea to the UCL title but he is not a starter for Brazil at this year Copa America)
I don’t see anyone from Italy and England being a BDOR contenders. Jorginho won the UCL but I don’t see him winning the BDOR even if Italy goes on to win the Euros. At best he will be included in the Euro and UCL team of the tournament. Spain I don’t see an individual winning the BDOR from their Euro team, way too many new faces.
Ronaldo, Portugal (is not a BDOR contender this is why he was so desperate to win the Euros this year).
Luka Modric, ( No chance)
Good for you for thinking everything before everyone
Congrats for being the FIRST guy on this planet 😉
Are you not the guy who came here few weeks back & FIRST said that Argentina would struggle against North Macedonia, turkey, ukraine, sweden etc? 🤣. We will now patiently wait for you to award BDOR as per your analysis.
Comfortable win over a poor team.
Nice confidence boost.
Papu and Lisandro should be starters in 1/4 final.
Lautaro off the mark is also good.
Nice pass from Aguero who btw has lost a lot of pace.
Messi brilliant again.
My analysis on the game
Franco armani had a quiet game did make a decent save to deny a long range shot and can’t blame him much for the goal still emi Martinez is the reliable player we should continue in the knockout stages
Montiel had a decent game ensured none of bolivia’s attack came through his flank should have been provided more service by his team but maybe argentina preferred to attack centrally rather than involve the wing backs
Pezzella and licha had an okay game lisandro’s weakness was once again exposed as the Bolivian attacker easily brushed off him and fed the right back who put in a good cross in the area lisandro should have tracked back but again was not quick . It’s risky to play lisandro against teams like Colombia who have strong physical players or quick pacy players like Brazil he can only he tried as a super sub to run down matches.
Acuna again showed his glaring inconsistency one match he performs like prime Marcelo and the next match he plays like an average left back.
Guido had a good game although could have tried to prevent the goal . It’s good if scaloni continues with him than Paredes who similar to Acuna lacks consistency
Palacios was okay nothing special
Papu Gomez was amazing yet again he was the main threat for the opposition defence with his incisive running and clinical finishing not to mention his good chemistry with messi I would prefer papu over Gonzalez although Gonzalez also makes good runs in the box and is very quick he needs to be more clinical in the box another issue is that he is too fragile and easily gets injured so it’s best to use Gonzalez as a super sub .
Aguero played fine although would like to see him get back to scoring ways . I think it would be better to go with Aguero over lautaro as although Aguero might not score he does contribute to the team buildup play well than lautaro who aimlessly shoots sometimes than passing to his teammates
Messi was messi.
Angel correa had a good first half although I think in second half he kind of faded but anyways it’s good to see scaloni giving chances to inform players and help them earn the spot in the team it’s good to see argentina have a healthy competition in attack and midfield and goalkeeper spot but that’s not the case for in the defence there is a tough fight for right back spot between Montiel n Molina but there are no other options than romero-otamendi partnership argentina do have a world class right footed centre back in Romero but he lacks competition for his spot and there is not a world class left footed centre back yet in the team hope Facundo Medina and senesi improve their performance and prove scaloni their worth for the world cup spot .in left back also Acuna’s inconsistency is largely due to lack of a competitive left back .
Lich martinez had good game I don’t know what match you have watched mate.
i was referring to the goal bolivia scored not his overall performance
I think the France’s elimination is a perfect example on how important to play compacted and to close gaps. You cannot win a competition with a bunch of stars. Players need to make unselfish runs and when the midfielders have the ball, the defenders need to move closer to the strikers. Same if the team suffering in defense, the strikers need to come back for pressing. That kind of things Argentina did it very well in 2014 and that’s how the national team achieved the final. But to play this kind of football, the players need to be fit 100% and read well the games. I think luckily the players like Acuna, Lisandro, Palacios, Nico Gonzalez, De Paul, Buendia, Ocampos they all have that kind of DNA.
Italy 2006, Spain 2010, Germany 2014, and France 2018 were star studded. Stars in well drilled system will beat out lesser players in a well drilled system 90 out of 100 times.
Of course I agree with that. What I meant is you cannot win ONLY with stars, they need to run and to do dirty work. Yesterday when I watched the France’s game, I saw gaps everywhere, all counter attacks of their opponents were dangerous. Made me remind of Argentina 2018.
France conceided 3 against Argentina, conceided twice in final. They won simply through firepower. Unlike against Argentina, this time they couldnt get their fourth goal.
Argentina has messi, dimaria, Aguero, lautaro, romero, otamendi, lisandro Martinez, depaul, papu they all r stars correa locelso also can be termed as decent star thn if scaloni picks dybala, buendia i would say Argentina also a star studded team not at the level of those european heavyweights who won previously bt still Argentina can be called star studded in a moderate level
Even though the team was previously qualified, the result of this game is very important because it was used to test the 4231 and the results confirming that it’s the way to go. I think this formula is quite good with Papu false winger who cuts into a more axial position when attack and stay on his flank during defensive phase. On the right, the winger need to be right leg and Correa can do the job to swap with Messi. I think Nico Gonzalez and Buendia will be the alternative for the wingers position in the future.
wow great Game Messi was awesome and so was Papu…
I think it was a kind of 4231 Formation… Coz with Papu Messi Correa and Aguero…
We have to be careful against stronger opponents… I think we should stick to 433 and as much as I like Papu he is not a Midfielder we can not play him in 433 or if we do we have to sacrifice Nico Gonzalez as LW..
I watched the whole game 2 times and I’m gonna watch some highlights again.
Right now we are blessed with good Players.. Still one thing is our Strikers I’m happy for Lautaro. But he should have scored so much mire already. Same goes for Nico…
I’m still missing Dybala a lot he would have been great as Sub or frequent starter…
Now let’s not underestimate Ecuador now is Knock out everything can happen…
vamooos
The team played very well. Im happy to see Gomez playing on Messis side because actually I was thinking that he is there to replace Messi in case something happens. As always im really happy about the good result but I don’t think Bolivia in their current form as an equal opponent. I don’t think even the most pessimistic member here did expect our team to lose against Bolivia. I know most of the experts favor Brazil to win the tournament but in my opinion argentina has so much talent and potential that we can beat every team while having a good day.
Absolutely spot on.
A lot of useless hype is created for the European teams. I only prioritize Germany from the Europe, which is and always be a hard nut to crack.
Argentina played beautifully and that’s with a proper strategy and players-in form will guarantee the albiceleste the World cup.
Vamos Argentina.
Outcomes from Grp. Stg. Part 2:
* Continue with Guido. Palacios is ordinary, so a club like RM why waste their money?! So they didn’t buy him. Papu & A. Correa surely deserves to start. Paredes is young but acts like a 60 yrs old man! De Paul, Lo Celso r decent.
* Messi is Messi. If he continues to play, u can use him in 2026 wc also!
* Which portion was always a great blessing for Argentina, the “Forward Lines”, r in a real danger now!
It may cost us if we don’t get any inform, bold strickers quickly. Aguero is dead. Lautaro was overhyped!
Dybala/Icardi/Alario/Simeone/Gaich…..?? I really don’t konw! 🙄
Thiago almada mayb
ii think only dybala and alario are required.
Ayon???
are you serious??? De Paul and Lo Celso are decent????
De Paul is a workhorse, there’s no Midfielder right now who is working like him… He has to cover Messi and the RB… That’s the only reason he is not scoring and assisting like he does with Udine…
As for Lo Celso he is easily one of the most talented Midfielder… The problem was his injury… It’s always the same when LoCelso plays Argentina plays good. He can score and assist. I still believe we should stick to the 3 Men Midfield De paul Guido Lo Celso…
Up front Papu Lautaro Messi or Nico Lautaro Messi…
As for your question… For me Dybala is missing badly. Not even as a starter but Sub or frequent starter… He would bring a lot of creativity…
My team for Ecuador
Emi Martinez
Mollina. C. Romero. Lisandro. Acuna
De Paul. G. Rodriguez. Papu Gomez
Messi. Aguero. A. Correa
Subs
Lo celso
Di maria
Lautaro
Yah..I exactly think same dear!! 💪👍👌
Spot on
I would replace lautaro with Aguero everything else will be same
So..Outcomes from group stage:
* Emi is the blessing for Argentina, so stick with him for long term. Hope his form will continue! & find a proper back up like Musso/Ledesma. & must kick out the dumb shits like lord Armani, Marchesin.
* Acuna is fantastic. Romero is the hero. Lisandro should start. The team needs Molina. Ota & Tagli’s days r about to over!
To me, the formation in the knock out stage should be 4-4-2 with De paul and Papu on the two flanks… And Paredes and Guido as Dm /Cm… Correct me if you have different opinions :
Emi
Molina-Romero-Otamindi-Acuna
De paul-Guido-Paredes-Papu
Messi – Lautaro
I love Lo Celso and Gonzalez, but we’re going through a tournament, so all we gotta do is to pick the players inform.. I’d love to see lo celso after 50 minutes… Personally, I never liked Papu and his playing style, but now, papu gomez has found himself better especially his combination with Leo is working so well…
Hope for the best
VamosArgentina
please stop adding parades. depaul is instead of parades and a.correa can occupy depaul position. correa is defending well and athletic.
avoid to add parades. he is uselss. instead of otamendi lisandro martinez is well in that position. he taking the ball forward and passing cleverly. when lisandro martinez is there acuna is pushing himself much forward.
Please avoid lo celoso, otamendi and parades.
[…] Source link […]
A well written article.
https://www.espn.in/football/uefa-european-championship/story/4422939/frances-shock-euro-loss-to-swizterland-falls-on-manager-didier-deschamps
Seems formations always have a impact however good or poor a team. Defense of three is always a mess. Still remember how Manduzic had acres of spaces in our left flank as a lonely man and missed a header from a cross. Hope Scaloni never goes for a three men defense. Aguero is getting rhythm but still prefer Lautro as hereafter we need more and more running players. That’s why Nicolas Gonzalez should come again for Papu as his defense tracking is not still satisfying. Also bringing Di Maria as sub is still not a best option as we know he’s one of our fittest player (hope no injury concerns for him n Romero). So Di Maria should play all 90 min since no extra time. Lo Celso can play only one half. He lacks fitness. Ecuador will test us in terms of fitness. They play much physical game. Otamendi Romero coming back to defense means we can shift Lisandro to midfield along with Guido. Paredes is never convincing.
I just watched the highlights after watching the game and I saw how many good crosses Acuña put in front of goal. It feels like Lautaro is the striker to finish those more than Kun has been (even though I love Agüero). I feel like Lautaro should start next game. I feel like Papu deserves the start as well.
And I feel like DePaul has been doing better than Lo Celso, so he should start even though Lo Celso is amazing. It just makes me happy that we have such good backups.
Not Lautaro Aguero is better. Argentina needs massive overhaul in striker positions.
players rating
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportskeeda.com/amp/football/bolivia-argentina-player-ratings-copa-america-2021
Why there is so much hate like hating Brazil, Chile or C. Ronaldo. These teams and individual have given football so much they should be at least respected if can not be loved. Football is just a sport not a war. But some members of this site just do not want to understand
I don’t think you have any idea how South American football works. I am going to say it plain and simple: South Americans are all about hating each other’s teams and countries (not necessarily outside of football). It is part of the culture of the sport. I also want to ask what has Chile given to football exactly? This is not a fifa game this is real life. Almost every Argentinian is like that and many foreign fans as well.
First of all hate is never a culture,Chile won two Copa are enough for their achievement. Chile produced Vidal, Sanchez,Bravo etc kind of players.
Respect should always be given just because they beat your country does not mean they should be hated all players in the field playing for their nation. Win or loss is part of game,hate is not.Right is right even if no one does it wrong is wrong even if everyone does it
Well I don’t know what to tell you, go to South America you will be unpleasantly surprised. Maybe hate was too strong of a word to describe the relationship between fans and teams on my part but it is all about back and forth making fun of each other. The Brazilians and Chileans do the same to us. In some situations there are political undertones such as Chile helping England with information for the Malvinas war. Plus I don’t really see anyone strongly hating Brazilian players in particular. It is really ironic to see you talk about respect I must say. If you want you can go preach in the streets of South America and be met with laughter and confusion
@ Olive
Maybe you can ask Kevin to love Pakistani cricket team. The likes of Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waker Yunis deserve nothing but respect from true cricket fans.
@Rahman
I do not know much about cricket but I am curious do Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, and Waker Yunis belong to a federation that politically controls their continent’s federation and always gets their way on everything while using referees/umpires plus VAR to give them the advantage and do these individual players play dirty to stop the opponents from winning? That is the problem many people have with Brazil. Nobody is saying that their players suck and deserve to be hated. If anything Brazilians are fun to watch to neutrals because of the way they enjoy playing the sport and the tricks they do. Hope you understand my point.
@el Redondo
You are watching football in News channel instead of sports channel, i.e. you don’t know what is football..
Stop criticizing asshole, you are not biesla Or Capello…
This Arg NT team has good unity & moral strength.. hope this Copa is Ours..
Scaloni player selection are worthy , Just scaloni need to improve his tactics,, i hope he will learn much before the WC
@Dfox1945
“Some are Barcelona fans, or Messi fans…telling the rest of us that he should have played for Spain or had he played for this country or that then he would have won the WC by now.”
I agree 100%
Rodriguez with some great stats: 3 interceptions and 3 tackles, 7(6) long balls, 5(4) ground duels whereas according to sofascore Paredes has not made one interception all of Copa
Guido should play regularly now
I would take no interceptions from Parades only if he has some long range key forward passes every match, which he doesn’t. That’s the real problem.
I think the fluorescent bulb, Scaloni already identified that Guaido, Romero, Molina, Acuna, Angel Correa, Papu are the starters and not Montiel, LMQ, Parades, Joakin, Pareyra.
I think we currently have enough firepower. In case we are trailing, we can try the following top 5:
Lautaro/Aguero
Papu/Nico | Messi | Dimaria/A Correa
Lo Celso
Messi in the middle of an attacking diamond. With thr full backs also in the picture, Im pretty sure they can break any deadlocks.
Exciting time ahead.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportskeeda.com/amp/football/bolivia-argentina-player-ratings-copa-america-2021
Our best line up
Aguero
Gomes Messi a.Correa
Guido locelso
Acuña otamendi romero Molina
Emiliano
Subs: Lautaro for Aguero
Parcedes for Guido
Dimaria for Correa
DePaul for locelso
Nico/palacios For Gomes depending on score of game… attacking bring in nico; possession needs to kill game palacios
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.sportskeeda.com/amp/football/bolivia-argentina-player-ratings-copa-america-2021
Lautaro essential he presses and defend well with aguero and messi playing we practically play with 8 players in defensive transition plus gomez is also not help defensively much
Today we had great control of the ball and it felt smooth and connected, and it becomes more impressive when you look at the passing accuracy of some of our players:
Gomez: 98%
Correa: 94%
Rodriguez: 96%
Lisandro: 94%
Palacios: 89%
Montiel: 95%
Pezzella: 97%
Acuna: 94%
Also
Paredes: 97%
Lo Celso: 91%
Dominguez: A huge 100%
Alvarez: 89%
Good win although the goal conceded was silly and a stain. But great to see Lautaro get on the score sheet for some extra confidence. Alvarez was alright but I still think he would be much better for the Argentina U23. The pitch conditions were also horrible and I don’t know when this will stop. But it is good to see we avoided any suspensions and I am expecting a full squad for the Ecuador game
Dont worry much about the goal conceded and the defensive performance.
With Emi & Romero, we are on another level. Such great additions they are.
I think Messi,Lo celso,Papu Gomez and Aguero are our fantastic four upfront because of their chemistry between them.
In backline C. Romero,Emi Martinez, Guido,Acuna and Molina looks great.
Where are those Argentina haters who disguising themselves as a fans but keep speaking highly on Portugal , Netherlands & France…?
Are those teams still in Euro?
Unfortunately there are some people in here who don’t have anything else better to do, they show up when a tournament starts or about to start, nitpicking on everything from what player should start to formation to coaching to whatever.
Some are Barcelona fans, or Messi fans…telling the rest of us that he should have played for Spain or had he played for this country or that then he would have won the WC by now.
Some will suck on Christina’s YOU KNOW WHAt and how he is a real leader, mentally tough blah blah blah and Messi is not.
Some will tell you how great European football is compared to outdated and backward South American football.
Some are idiots who just want to stir up shit.
Some will come up with whatever negativity there is just so they can come back here and say, ‘I TOLD YOU SO’.
I’ve Been calling for the IGNORE BUTTON for at least a year and a half now but to no avail.
“Some are Barcelona fans, or Messi fans…telling the rest of us that he should have played for Spain or had he played for this country or that then he would have won the WC by now.”
I hate people that say this more than anything. And a lot of people say it too. It gets on my nerves so much. It is the dumbest thing. Messi is Argentinian and I am sure even if he knew he would have won with Spain and only reached a final with Argentina he still would have chosen Argentina. These are national teams not clubs
About these complaining fans they were last seen a week ago against Paraguay. Their whereabouts are not known now
We call them seasonal fans… 😀
Yea, that kevin guy seems like one of them. Keeps talking about Germany and Portugal instead of our players.
Seasonal fans they are. They are Argentina fanatics when we play “poorly” and display the most amount of incredible emotion and passion I have ever seen. Sadly their passion is not released when we play well
Yea, today we won convincingly, and these people disappeared.
Yep, CR is true leader, he’s sitting on the bench when his team went on to win the final in 2016. He threw the captain armband when they lost recently. True leadership.
Mbappe is Messi successor, but can someone help me to find his team in QF place? I couldnt find it this morning.
guys I really love Argentina and football.
but we have to be careful now.. You’re talking about the so called big European NT who got kicked out from Euros… don’t forget they started Knock Out stages already…
We have to be careful now coz now we’re in Knock outs… one bad game and we’re out…
Let’s now focus on Ecuador, they are pretty tough and also I think our way to the Final is harder then Brazils….
For me I don’t really no who we should start now, we have so many great Players who already showed up this Copa
Let’s hope Scaloni finds the best XI to play Ecuador
I think Kevin is hurt cos Latauro scored. O wait.. He would say its against Bolivia.
I am happy that our no9 scored. Latauro does so much off the ball and if he comes back to scoring form we are complete.
Well, it doesnt matter, because Copa this time is 7 games tournament like WC, while Euro still only 6 games tournament. We have to play more games to win the tournament.
That guy keep pointing about Portugal great young talents even though Portugal won 1 game out of 4. At the end of the day, they only registered 1 win against weakest team. Remember, Uruguay beat them in WC.
France is basically no different than in 2018, their match against Switzerland was similar pattern to WC 2018 round 16 against Argentina. Except this time they couldnt get their fourth goal, it went to penalties and they lost. France won through firepower, always conceided goals like crazy even at group stage. Remember they conceided twice in WC final, including stupid blunder.
I want Di Maria and Lo Celso to play together. 2 fast players.
Locelso is not fast
I missed much of the first half(need to buy a good alarm clock).
Any full replay? Or at least long 25-30 minute highlights?
Also, any live streaming sites?
Anyway, happy with Argentina’s performance so far.
Go to hdmatches. net u will find full matches
Thanks
It was a very good game and an important one to have that good feeling and momentum before the KO.
Takeaways:
3 forwards got into scoring chart for the first time after a very long time.
Papu Gomez got another goal and drew a penalty, will make him stronger for the KO hopefully.
Lautaro got a goal finally and a couple of very good shots. A much needed confidence booster for him.
Angel Correa played really well in the final third.
Aguero though didn’t get a goal, played a great pass for Messi’s goal. That chemistry between them is still intact
Guido Rodriguez performed well, seems he has grabbed the DM role.
Acuna also played hard and we’ll. He also seems to have booked the RB slot.
Lisandro Martinez played well too, a good option at the back and the second player in central defense (first you know who) when you need to play from back.
Armani proved yet again why Emi Martinez is the prized asset in the team.
Scaloni has done well so far and is on the verge of solving the puzzle.
Team for the KO:
Lautaro/Aguero
Papu/Nico | Messi | Dimaria/A Correa
Lo Celso/Palacios | Guido/Paredes
Acuna | Romero | Otamendi/Lisandro/Pezzella | Montial
Emiliano Martinez
Hope all our first choice players stay injury free.
This Copa is for Argentina. Viva Albiceleste.
Team for the KO:
Lautaro/Aguero
Papu/Nico | Messi | Dimaria/A Correa
DePaul/Lo Celso | Guido/Paredes
Acuna | Romero | Otamendi/Lisandro/Pezzella | Montiel
Emiliano Martinez
Montiel seriously?
Ha ha. Montiel!!!
Montiel had a poor game vs Bolivia but put in a great performance in the last game.
But who do you replace him with? The truth is there is no one else.
Damn it I meant Molina. WTF, no idea how could I make such a poor typo. Montiel is a nightmare.
Realistically I think that Scaloni will play:
Lautaro
Nico | Messi
Lo Celso | Guido/Paredes | De Paul
Acuna | Otamendi | Romero | Molina
Emiliano Martinez
I really hope Guido plays over Paredes because he offers defensive stability and does contribute well in attack. With this team I think we can win any game. Papu for Nico and Di Maria/Ángel Correa for De Paul or great options for the right. I do think that the starting line up today had strong attacking potential and could see such a setup late in a game to break deadlocks especially once the other team gets tired. 5 subs really seems like it’ll benefit us in the long run. Only real worry is defense where any injuries there will cause a significant drop off except in the case of Otamendi because L Martinez or Pezzella can pick up there. Montiel and Tagliafico are significantly worse and no one can replace C Romero, Emi, or Messi in this team.
Santi-aires
I think so too about your line up… But I also have to say I still think that is our best possible line up. I just hope Lo Celso is fully fit.. He always brings something else to the game…
Good tune-up for the boys. Papu ready to step in if Nico Gonzalez is not up to par.
You can’t be serious there. It’s a crime that he hasn’t been in the NT all these years. The third best Argentine footballer in the world after Messi and Romero. Papu on the left, Nico on the right, and Messi a free role in the centre. Argentina wasting a player by playing a mediocre CF all the time. Aguero’s time with the NT has expired by a good 6 years, Lautaro makes Moratta look a world beater.
For me these guys are a must. Messi, Papu, Romero, Emi Martinez, Guido Rodriguez, Nico Gonzalez and Lisandro Martinez. The rest of the positions are up for grabs. Proper management, and the WC is up for the taking.
Well said Sergio, and also i think very rightfully said, because your point make’s Sense or actually maybe for some of us it’s been obvious for quite some time, but like we all know we can’t get everything allways like we want in life so offcourse Papu’s inclusion in the team should have been a way long ago and Yes it feel’s like kind of Crime that he has only played 6 times (i’f i’m right, if not your most welcome to correct me) for our beloved Albiceleste! And if i remember right he made his debut, maybe against with all my respect against SINGAPORE! This doesn’t mean that i have nothing against SINGAPORE, but for footballwise we all know their current level on football which offcourse i hope that they are improving a day by day !
So like Sergio said in his post that is has been or felt like like a crime that Papu have not been given more chanches before this Copa and this same thing goes for also for other our players and i won’t mention any name’s now because all of us has offcourse our own oppinion who may be or should be in our team and our first eleven as everyone of us is entitled to have their own oppinion as our current coaching team has too and i deffinetly do agree with this what Sergio mentioned in his post about Papu’s story with Albiceleste and there have beeen and will allways be for sure stories unfortunatly similar to this one as we all know it from the past til’ now very well indeed! So even Still now when he is allready not that young player anymore he Still make’s a huge difference specially for attacking wise, but it is also so true what my friend Cox4 for said in one his wise post’s that good and solid defence is the the one which brings u glory or with glory i mean offcourse Cups so we are talking about mainly Copa’s and WC’s eventually, but offcourse my friend Cox4 did not not need to explain that after any team that has sorted their defence to become a rock solid then offcourse they do need a very strong and well organized middfield with very good technical and strong players who has that great vision what u need as specially for attacking middfielders, but also for deffensive middfielders and nowdays there is not really more any middfielders like Riquelme who did not really need to defend for example so in modern football like we all now allmost every single player have to be able to defend very well and also this has been the case for many teams also in the past and their strongest kind of weapon or abbility to win Cup’s for their team’s like there been also very attacking minded teams who have also been able bring Cups to their team and for their fans ! So we are where we are now and everyone offcourse reacts differently to our current situation, but there is never really a need for pressing the panin button even ofcourse critism is allowed with certain standards and mainly good manners and it allways give’s another kind of view to different things when there is a good discussion or conversation between others to be able to communicate with an each other and this is richness of good conversation which eventually will lead to a better things like viceversus a bad conversation between each other will eventually lead to a bad things etc…! So my oppinion and feeling is now after the latest 2 WC’s qualifiers against Chile and Colombia that at this petetty much same current team also at least 2 great strikers or pochers or whatever everyone prefers to call them and even 3 of them would be much better, but theese days u rarely can Play offcourse with 2 of them together as pure strikers, but now we come to the actual point which is that if your defence is rock solid with good goalie like Emi then Argentina have a chance to try build up that good and very balanced, strong and very technical middfield with certain players who has that certain vision for the game and offcourse we can allways hope and wish for to have great middfielders from the past which i also do because i truly miss them and their way of play and specially those few who had their eyes literally all over the pitch constantly and allways few steps ahead of everyone else in the game and that abbility is the key to be able to kind of read the game better than others on the field and specially your opponent and to be able predict things in advance with allmost 100% most of the times and that is simply just pure stage of art or something very special in life in general like as a truly wise Person’s that we have had through as long as there been a life to be able to live on this planet!
So here for i’m now rootin’ deffinetly Sergio’s wise post which actually went pretty much like this:
” It’s a crime that he hasn’t been in the NT all these years. The third best Argentine footballer in the world after Messi and Romero. Papu on the left, Nico on the right, and Messi a free role in the centre. Argentina wasting a player by playing a mediocre CF all the time. Aguero’s time with the NT has expired by a good 6 years, Lautaro makes Moratta look a world beater.
For me these guys are a must. Messi, Papu, Romero, Emi Martinez, Guido Rodriguez, Nico Gonzalez and Lisandro Martinez. The rest of the positions are up for grabs. Proper management, and the WC is up for the taking.”
Yes those player’s mentioned by Sergio for me personally are a must, but offcourse depending on their current form it’s possible for others to maybe grab at least one of those spot’s and actually what i would prefer like many of us offcourse is that we would have at least 1-2 or ever 3 player for to grab on every spot or at least one very good alternative for every spot! so slowly we are deffinetly getting there or at least we do have enough players from Great Country of talented football players as Argentina who has been constantly producing a great talent and very great individual players through the history of Argentine football ! No need to mention name’s everyone who understand this knows exactly what i’m rootin’ about! So like Sergio said and which i do agree totally with him are those name’s that Sergio mentioned and i did some very basicly counting on my own on top of that which basicly with my poor math’s means that 7 players or name’s at this current situation with our Albiceleste are at least a must for me personally like Sergio said others are for to grab so i really wish from all of my heart that those spot’s will be grabbed either in this Copa allready for continueism for better future or from this Copa squad players like a Molina etc…, and maybe at least in this Copa i would play him on the right and wish that after the Copa there would be at least 2 players or options to be able to grab or compete with him for that spot and same goes for the like of DePaul who i will add on my own to this list of mine and maybe he would also go straight to Sergio’s list so or maybe not, but that is not so important rather i’m thinking now or my idea is that we would then have maybe 8 a really good world class players of 11 and i do think De Paul has it deffinetly in him so like Sergio also said with right management of theese certain player’s mentioned in Sergio’s list where i added De Paul as just great example what we are really looking for and i think he has show’n that allready, maybe not so much yet in this Copa, but this is also about management and offcourse to match fitness where we come to Lo Celso also who i would also add to this list of mine and maybe to Sergio’s list as well which also not that important rather that he would stay fit and on form and then we are talking about allready 9 name’s of 11 players who can be on their best a world class players , but maybe Still not fielded though in the same for Albiceleste on the pitch or perhaps with right kind of management for theese players actually they could very well be on the pitch At the same time, but not need to go so fat yet and get a Carriet away from Sergio’s point, but Still i would consider myself and think about De Paul’s abbility which is great as is Lo Celso’s too when he is fit and on form with right management and well the same goes also to one’s like Palacios, A.Correa, Acuna and basicly for any player who perform well enough to deserve to get to be called in a future too!
Soil i would have to pick a team from this current Copa squad and every player would be fit at least then i would pick the one’s i seen with my own eyes playing great football allready in those 2 WC qualifiying game’s against Chile and Colombia and also what i have seen so far from this Copa. So i would try to fieldd a team based on the player’s form or how they have perform so far etc.. So my pick will be something like this : Emi/= and Musso for his back up
Molina/ if he get’s injured i will move De Paul in his position and other another wingback’s side Acuna/ if he get’sinjured Move Lisandro to his position from left Cb and bring Pezzella on Lisandro’s spot on Left Cb and Romero offcourse is quite an easy pick up/ but if injured, But Pezzella there as a first choice then quarta or otamendi.
So my defence will be : Emi as hopefully allways as our starting goalie until his form stop’s which i higly doubt, but offcourse it can unfortunatly sometime’s happen to any player at any stage etc…
My CB’s starting the right will be Romero offcourse and also very easy pick for me is also Lisandro for Left CB.
My wingback’s will be Molina on the right and Acuna on the left.
Guido will be my first choice for pivot until someone really steps up and give’s him a proper competition for that spot which is very necessary for our future on every spot!
So actually if Guido will hopefully not though, but if will to get injured then i will move Lisandro to his spot and but Pezzella as first choice to Left CB covering Lisandro’s rightfull spot and after quarta or Otamendi and in latest scenario Tagliafigo who i think started as left Cb or at least have played as left Cb at once…
So then i would put my rest of middfield maybe a little bit like this:
Guido.
De Paul. Lo Celso. And my attacking final third will be:
Messi. N.Gonzales. And i will put Papu up front, but this does not mean that it will be cemented like this instead i will at least let Messi and Papu change posiotion like which will suite them as best…
So something like this maybe…
Emi.
Romero. Lisandro.
Molina. Acuna.
Guido.
Depaul. Lo Celso.
Messi. N.Gonzales.
Papu.
And let Papu and Messi change position as which will suite them or actually our team’s chemistry as best.
But, because i’m not Scaloni or even in his coaching team then i rather call this team of my kind of a dream team from current Copa players and in the end dont really care so much who’s playing and where, but Emi, Romero, Lisandro, Molina, Acuna,Guido, De Paul, Lo Celso, N.Gonzales and Messi and Papu have to fielded at least for once at the same time to be able how it will work maybe now it is not the best moment to try or maybe it is ? Offcourse the most important like allways for me in the of day which i think goes for everyone pretty much of a true Albiceleste fan forever is that the right result and that our team will deliver and the more better and more nicely they will play is offcourse a beautiful cosmetic thing on top of very important result which offcourse is allways to go and try to win the game for our beloved Albiceleste !
When lord Armani and his goodwill ambassador Montiel is present thou shall expect to concede at least one goal.
All hail lord Armani.
Wtf was that last pass from him before the final whistle…😂😂😂😂
True. He just proved why everyone rates Emi so well.
He shouldnt even be our second choice GK, keep him as the third choice for he has been with the team so long.
If we didn’t have Emi, I would have been really worried about our chances in the KO.
Papu is really stepping up he is combining very well with Messi and the other Attackers and most importantly he’s taking his chances and scoring ..I think he will get the nod ahead of Nico on the right wing for the knockout games ..Nico could play on the Right ..Di Maria should be a solid option of the bench ..either way I am very happy on scalonis man management so far ..almost every player has got game time and shown their qualitys..We have a good well rounded squad now really looking forward to the Knockout stages
I agree that Papu should start. I wonder if he and Lautaro could combine well?
After 5 years argentina have tipped their group in a tournament. We will now face strong teams only in two matches Either Uruguay or Colombia in Semis and brazil in Finals.
But i have a feeling that Brazil could be Knocked out before Final.
I’m getting that same feeling… Do you think Chile could beat Brazil?
I think it is possible for Chile if they fight hard enough. Either way one of the hated ones is going to be out
I hadn’t even thought about how happy it will make me that Chile could be out. I have Chilean friends, but I hate their national team.
I am worried about Brazil, but it only makes sense because Brazil have been playing well.
Right. I wonder what our planetary astrologist commenters have to say about the Brazil-Chile match hahaha. In all seriousness last game Ecuador played very well against Brazil (albeit Brazil didn’t have all starters) in the second half so they won’t be easy to steamroll like Bolivia. But the performance from Brazil against Ecuador makes me think it is possible for an upset to be caused by Chile
Angel correa instead of Joaquin correa is more productive and defensively assuring. Gives more help to defence and this kid has got a talent for sweet twist and turns. Felt lovely when he was scooping through the defence just by one touch turn.
Was linking really well with Messi. Him, Messi and papu were delight to watch in the first half. Should be used more instead of Joaquin, who’s not useless but is finding difficult to replicate his club form.
Vamos 🇦🇷🇦🇷🇦🇷
well said. messi got support from a.correa, aguero and papu in 1st half.
when they replaced in 2nd half midfield and attack struggled to pass ball forward bcoz of parades, locelso. montiel
Well it’s all good but I won’t blame lo celso for this match. It’s evident that second halves are basically disrupted because of massive changes and tactical rearrangements. Lo celso was rested and he came on as a ball holder. Nothing much.
Can’t blame him, a player like him needs time to set himself to the rhythm, but also at the same time I think scaloni didn’t advise him to do too much because of his frequent injuries. It could be a reason though. A player like him is really crucial for knockout stages since he is a vital part of this team.
About paredes, I would say he is simply off in this Copa. Again, blaming and not blaming doesn’t achieve the things we want and expect but it’s just that all these things happen with players. He was a revelation in last Copa but he, as yet couldn’t affect much this time.
Similarly it’s the same case with lautaro too, ended the season in great form but is finding absolutely difficult to find his feet in this tournament. This thing happens but I’m glad that he got a goal today. Was very much needed for his confidence boost.
But anyways, we’ll believe and hope for the best.
Good game wish Messi got some rest but no big deal. Looked off color in the end there but with our starting line up I am confident we can make it to the final playing good attacking futbol. Vamos carajo!
The great positive is our ready bench – ACorrea, Dimaria, Papu, Parades, Lisandro in bench is very reassuring . Also we enter QF without any card suspensions & hopefully no injury issues ( Romero & Dimaria seem minor & Nico G has had some good time to recover ) . I guess Uruguay in our draw shld be ok as Colombia has a rougher ride in QF against them .
Argentina should have scored 88 goals in this match but they didn’t. Lazy ass bummers didn’t want to move forward.
And then we have some really classic “hall of fame” back passers.
Just give them the ball and I’m sure it’ll end up back to our goalie’s feet.
Much appreciated.
And some fans incl you won’t take anything less than 88 goals. Lol..
C’mon man.. it’s 4-1. If it wasn’t for their goalie, we would have scored 8.
I’m trying to emphasize the irony not exactly the goals …..😂😂😂
I know it’s virtually impossible and I meant that they should have ended the match in a high note. But Yeah, the Bolivian goalkeeper was fantastic as well. Made some really good saves.
Sorry to say, but it was such a poor negative review from you after Argentina playing a very good match.
“Lazy ass bummers didn’t want to move forward.”
“And then we have some really classic “hall of fame” back passers.”
Really? Be positive man.
If it was negative then I might be deluded but criticisms are good even when you play a great match.
My review might look poor but if you watch the full match again you’ll know why I pointed out such remarks amidst all the positives. I have no intention to criticize anyone cuz I love my Argentina but there also has to be limits.
Look at pezzella, look at Montiel, look at Armani. Watching them you’ll recognize why I used the phrase “lazy ass bummers”, similarly watch lisandro; a pure contrast to his three defensive partners. While he didn’t have to do much except some great tackles and clearings, he drove foreward and his line breaking passes were fantastic. At least he tried.
So I’m not being negative but being critical of some certain players who had been playing in this team for quite sometime.
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