Mauro Icardi substituted off for PSG with shoulder injury, a doubt for Argentina

By
Roy Nemer
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65

Mauro Icardi had to be substituted off injured for PSG.

Icardi was unable to finish the match for PSG after having gone down and landing on his shoulder. He was holding his shoulder while being substituted off and was seen leaving the stadium with his arm in a sling. PSG coach Maurico Pochettino stated the following:

“It will be necessary to see the analysis, the scans when we land in Paris. We will see but it doesn’t look good. Let’s hope it’s just a scare and nothing serious, he has pain in his shoulder.”

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni was expected to include Mauro Icardi in the squad for September’s World Cup qualifiers. With the injuries to Lautaro Martinez, Lucas Alario and Sergio Aguero, Icardi was next in line to be included but this injury could keep him out.

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65 Comments

  1. I see some comments about Mascherano and I actually like the dialogue because when speaking of current player forms we tend to forget Mascherano was in some pretty embarrassing games as well.

    I feel Mascherano was a great player, yet at the same time held the team back (think in terms of style of play and creativity that we had. Yes you need a defensive-minded midfield, but think of Spain and Barca during 2008-2012 – no weak link). He should have retired in 2016 as he was finished (Just like Busquets has been finished for about 4 years now with Barca).

    I’m probably the minority when I say that I never rated Mascherano highly as he only gave us defensive work and was never a complete DM who can contribute in offensively (Xavi Alonso). Some believe he was great and he did save us in 2014 albeit after getting beaten on dribble by Robben – Robben thought he was in the clear for goal and if he saw Mascherano, he would have taken a foul and dived for a penalty as he did throughout that WC – still great tackle from him, but my heart always stopped during these yellow card-risking sliding tackles -always.

    For me, Mascherano had to be on the squad because he was the best DM we had available. He was in my opinion overrated (Cambiasso was more complete).

    Better DM Midfield than Mash:
    Casimero, Rodri (Man City), Vidal, Xavi Alonso, Brozovic, Prime Nemanja Matić, Granit Xhaka, Sergio Busquets, Fabinho, Sebastian Schweinsteiger, Kimmich, and Kante in 3 years more successful than Masch (if we are all honest with ourselves). Masch was our version of Gary Medal (Mascherano being a Mercedes Benz S Class and Medal is a C class, but same vehicle just different model – both only contribute defensively).

    • Mascherano also used to spray long, accurate, diagonal passes to the flanks, mostly to Lavezzi in 2014. He was more complete that you give him credit for. Contrary to what some believe he was not just a superb tackler, his passing was great too.

      People are blaming him for shutting down Icardi call-ups though. As if a static finisher, a pure poacher, no matter how prolific would have solved our problems at the time. We were shambles all over the place and a pure number 9 would not have helped much.

      • I agree in the latter part of his career Masch was a better passer, but I still think he was overrated given the DMs I mentioned. I also agree that 2018 was a waste and that was due to Edgardo Bauza.

        • > Casimero, Rodri (Man City), Vidal, Xavi Alonso, Brozovic, Prime Nemanja Matić, Granit Xhaka, Sergio Busquets, Fabinho, Sebastian Schweinsteiger, Kimmich, and Kante in

          Rodri (Man City), Brozovic, Prime Nemanja Matić, Granit Xhaka – none of these guys were better than Masche.

          Xavi Alonso, Sergio Busquets, Sebastian Schweinsteiger, and Kante – All generational talent. If they’re better, doesn’t really mean anything.

  2. Icardi is out for 3 weeks. Will be out for the WC qualifier.

    I just hope Scaloni won’t go for mediocre replacements. Hope Dybala is will make a return now although he is not a 9.

  3. If Scaloni had released the players list – Atleast some players can play carefully..this was highly unprofessional from Scaloni..

  4. I watched almost all of Palacios minutes today and I am disappointed on how they are using him. A complete system player with no contribution in attack and rarely gets the ball, when he gets it it is only from the center backs. He played well for what they want him to do but I hope he finds an escape route and leaves. At least any minutes are better than no minutes

    Buendia’s stats seem to be a lot better than last game, with three key passes for example, but based on what people who watched the game say it looks like he is still adjusting. Many people on this site have high expectations of him including myself, but let’s not use these expectations to judge him harshly because he will probably take an adjustment period. For him to have gotten called up for these games it would have required no less than for him to kick the ground running.

    • haha I find it interesting that my conclusion regarding Palacios is opposite to yours though I think our observation is same.

      You are quite correct they are using him very deep, very centrally, in conjugation with aranguiz to drive the engine of the team in a very tactical setup. a ball hunting role with periods of very high intensity from that midfield. close down, win it, move it along to next player upfield – a very german approach.

      it is a particular role player in a system with little room for creativity as you say, but I actually like that. Too often i find our midfield players “lost” in europe because they come from argentine systems where there is a lot more freedom of play and thought. In europe structure and discipline in center of pitch is lot more valued i think so I am kind of liking this.

      • That is actually a very good point which I had not considered, you may have swayed my opinion entirely. Look at Buendia, the hot topic of today for instance. He was too used to being a free role main man in Norwich like many of our talents are in Argentina and is now tasked with adapting to a system where he has the same level of importance as the other players and will have to make do with less touches of the ball and less freedom. My main disappointment is that I love to see Palacios do one touch passes in attacking areas and I love his qualities in that area of the field, essentially I miss the “River” Palacios. But of course that comes from a viewing perspective and now when I think about the NT I realize we have too many “10’s”. Even our DM Paredes started off as a 10. De Paul is not used the same for us as he was in Udinese and Lo Celso while he can play almost anywhere in midfield prefers playing higher up. Let’s not even get started on the Messi-Dybala situation or the fact that the overwhelming majority of our talents in Argentina are 10s. So maybe like you say it is a good thing for Palacios to be learning from the more controlled German-European style (which might even make him more attractive to other top European clubs). Thanks for pointing that out.

  6. I still don’t see what you guys see. I watch the Aston Villa Game. Buendia is, if even, average.

    And by the way if we have an overload of great or the best players, then it’s RW… We got Messi, Dybala, Di Maria and A Correa. I don’t see Buendia near NT right now… I watched the last few games of second Division Norwich and now the Aston Villa Games. But I’m not impressed by Buendia

  7. It’s time scaloni summons Girotti. He would be dead crucial if as soon as he’s integrated.

    At this moment gaich is not a good option. He’s out of club, haven’t had any games and is going through a rough patch after the Olympics, as with other argentines.

    Girotti should be the deserved and better option here.

    • The problem is Girotti is going through a dry spell. He is not the same Girotti of four months ago. He doesn’t even get many minutes. I feel that he would give a bad image if he were called up now

  9. I watched Aston Villa vs Newcastle. Emi Martinez and Emi Buendia both start.

    Emi Martinez:
    Emi gets his first clean sheet this season. Newcastle hardly has any chance against him, In the first half the Villa defender error creates a one on one chance between a Newcastle striker against him but his shot goes wide.

    Second half, Emi commits a foul exactly like how Nauer fouled Higuain in the WC final of 2014, penalty is awarded against Emi, but the the VAR shows that the Newcastle player is offside when he receives the ball, so no PK.

    My rating for him: 7

    Emi Buendia:

    Second below average game in a row for him in 2 starts. He plays in Di Maria position as forward right but most of the Villa attack comes from the left where there is Ashley Young. So Emi rarely touches the ball. When he touches it, he is very average. No key pass, no shooting, no good movements.

    Emi has been playing in EPL for a while, he is not a new comer to EPL. Yes Aston Villa is a new club for him but the adaptation shouldn’t be that hard for him. The only difference is in Norwich, he was treated like he was Maradona. All offense went through him. In Aston Villa, he was just one of the 11 players playing. The attack does NOT go through him.

    I am not saying that Buendia is overrated. It is just he needs to show that he can be useful and still looks good when touching the ball less. If he is to play for Argentina for example, there is no way he will get a lot of touches because the ones holding the ball usually are Messi, Di Maria, De Paul. But what I am disappointed in Buendia is his off the ball movement is very poor. He almost always is nowhere to be found when Aston Villa attack in counter attack or in a build up play.

    So guys, it is too early to say I know, but so far in 2 Villa games, he does not deserve to be called up. Maybe in the future, but not now. If he makes it to the squad this time, I am sure he will not get any minutes as his Argentina teammates who play in his position such as De Paul, Lo Celso, Nico Gonzales, Papu, Di Maria, Palacios, Correa are all superior to him.

    Again Buendia needs to show that he can be effective when touching the ball less, otherwise, he will not be a good asset for us. I used to worry that Papu Gomez would not be good for Argentina because I thought he was the main man in Atalanta. Then in Argentina he has to defer to Messi, but then Papu did his part good. He can be very good either when touching the ball less or more. Buendia still needs to learn that.

  10. 2018 was a result of brainless strategies of Sampoali and ridiculous team selection of AfA and Sampaoli’s predecessors. After 2016 Copa final loss, especially when Messi’s emotional retirement from national team, we had to completely overhaul our team. 2018 world cup was the easiest world cup to win but we crashed out like an average team. Macherano, even though was the best defensive mid in the last decade for Argentina , arrived at the world cup totally washed up. Biglia did nothing but played back pass the whole time, Higuain should have retired after horrendous misses in 3 consecutive finals, Rojo shouldn’t even be on the backup list let alone as a starter, Caballero was selected 4 yrs too late. Date expired Enzo perez replacing injured Lanzini was mind boggling!! 2018 disaster was a collaborative effort of players , coaches and management!! Since 1994, Argentina’s every other world cup campaign has been nothing but disastrous!!

  11. Some people saying Masche was a problem in 2018? With all due respect that’s completely wrong. In 2018 the problem was first and foremost AFA and then Sampaoli. Masherano was not a problem.

    • No one is saying Mascherano was problem but Paredes would have been much better. Lo celso and Paredes should be in midfield in 2018 WC.

      • I beg to differ!! A team needs time to build chemistry. Even Maradona, Riquelme, Redondo couldn’t have saved the 2018 disaster. It takes a while for a team to get into rhythm and the best time to make changes was right after 2016.

  12. Jewel hey don’t call people stupid
    If you have valid argument come to table
    Plus I don’t think you loved Argentina nt as much I do.Only crowds set behind the screen and call people stupid or insults others because you know for fact
    You can’t say in front of me what just said.

  13. Absolutely rubbish on Lionel Scaloni – for not naming a squad..This is Covid times – why does it take so long to put a squad – if the club are not releasing – then try some other players..

    we all know the majority of the team is going to be PSG, River and Sevilla..

    • Come on guys, let’s be patient. It shouldn’t make any difference to us when he releases it, it may be a good thing for him to be secretive on what’s going on to keep the other teams guessing

  14. ow we rally need Dybala and he can play as starter Nr9 He played for Juve as Nr. 9 woth some free role…

    I don’t see anyone else right now

  17. Mascherano is legend and one true leader inside and outside pitch.
    Paredes have long road yet to arrive there. maybe one day he will arrive there. i don t know. he is very good player strong character and he have the potential to arrive to be like Mascherano one day. But now he is not.

    as about idiotic rumors that saying about fake injury of Icardi the only i want to say is that we are make only the level of this forum lower by even mention here this kind of nonsense.

  18. Btw the €80 million man Hakimi is amazing. Messi would love playing with him. He is Dani Alves 2.0. If one of our RB turns out to be half as good as Hakimi, I’d be happy.

  19. I feel bad for Gaich. There are 2 young players in his age and height (above 6’3) who are shining and are worth €70 million-€120 million named Haaland and Vlahovic. Gaich is the same age pretty much, the same height, same position. And when we desperately need a number 9, what we have is a very mediocre Gaich.

    I hope he will improve somehow though but as of now, no coaches are even interested in him. I hope not even Scaloni.

    We will have 3 WC matches within 10 days. Lautaro is needed more than ever now. Can’t think of any back up number 9 now. Maybe Scaloni will go safe and make J Correa and J. Alvarez as back ups.

  20. The damned curse again. It never fails to happen. Pretty unbelievable that all of our number 9’s can’t make it. I hope lautaro can recover in time even if it’s tight or that the Icardi thing is not as bad as it seems. This is especially concerning because Brazil is one of the fixtures, if it was just venezuela and bolivia it would hardly matter. We still have some quality players up front but hopefully tactics can be tweaked right. No way we are playing gaich against Brazil

  21. I said it before and I say it again, Argentina will not find another Mascherano easily. To blame him for being selected in 2018 World Cup or the omission of Icardi in the National team (based on speculative dressing room situation) is ludicrous. Mascherano played in 2018 maybe, because the coach couldn’t find a better one. Had we had a player like prime Mascherano in the team today, we would’ve been much much stronger.

    • Mascherano played with defenders likes ayala, Samuel, heinze, millito, zanatti and sorin list goes on
      Midfielders he played with cambiasso maxi Rodriguez ,Lucho gonzalez
      riquelme, aimar, banega, veron, di maria and more importantly he played with Messi with his prime. While paredes plays with likes otamendi, Pezzella, tagliafico and montiel yet paredes had won copa in Brazil’s back yard and previously had good one too as he made team of the tournament capa 19.
      Top of that arg nt just lost two compatative matches with paredes play as anchorman. Who had played better team and better coach’s with nt is mascherano or paredes?

  22. “An’ another one gone, another one gone, another one bites the dust!”

    It’s now Lautaro, Kun, Alario and Icardi….wow, this is the worst run of injured forwards for Argentina yet……and honestly I don’t think it’s that big of a deal! I still don’t believe that Argentina needs a 9 because Lio can play false 9 sandwiched by Angel (Correa or Dimaria) on the right and Papu/Nico G on the left. Also, lets not forget that Dybala (assuming he stays fit) is still another option.

  23. Yeah Mascherano stayed in national team too long. He should have retired after 2016 Copa or should have been a substitute in 2018 WC not starter.Back then Paredes would have been much better than Mascherano and Biglia.

  25. What happened to all you guys. Writing bullshit against one of our legend. If a player selected for national team whether he is good or bad is not depending on the player himself, team manager/ coach is selecting plyers for NT. We have won copa thanks to the NT players, coaching stuff and all involved with NT and the fans. But that doesn’t meant we have to write against our former players. Hope all albiceste fan will understand.

    • gaich career in so much flux now. some say he is not even registered in russia this season. i have a hard time seeing him with a call up. i think between the correa doblete, gonzalez, dybala and alvarez, Scaloni will make his adjustments.

  29. I think we have to know the squad list by looking at the lineup and bench on the day of the match… every Albiceleste fan has probably guessed the list with 95% certainity..but an official list is all I want to see… not sure why it is talking this long- not like we have 180 in-form players to choose from

  31. Alright , here we come again. Aguero , lautaro, alario now Icardi out. Who gonna take their place? J.Correa? I can’t really name who can replace No.9 spot right away.

  32. I read a comment on y o u t u be where someone thinks this injury is faked so that he doesn’t play with Messi. The commenter is suggesting that Icardi will be sold and that PSG doesn’t want controversial talk in the media regarding Messi’s influence in both PSG and NT.

    Sounds farfetched, but I looked that this fall at least 20x and don’t understand. Anyways, it seems like a lot of players have bad luck when they finally get opportunities. It’s amazing really.

    Hopefully, it’s nothing. Otherwise, I wish him a speedy recovery. If not, maybe it’s not his time.

    • I don’t think Messi hates Icardi so much that they can’t even share the same dressing room. I think everyone has moved on from that scandal!! However, there was a strong rumor that Macherano was super pissed at Icardi as he and Maxi Lopez were buddies!!

      • Messi don’t hate icardi at all, however mascherano was main influence, icardi not to get involve for nt When he was at inter Milan and was scoring goals for fun. I said it before and I’m saying now Argentina nt hasn’t missed mascherano a bit in fact nt is better off without mascherano because he was so dominate in the dressing room.

        • Argentina wouldnt be in WC final without Masche commanding the defensive line at the time. We conceided just 1 goal in 360 minutes over 3 finals. But yea, he should have retired for good after 2016 final. He’s just terrible and slow throughout 2018 qualifier. He made it through to WC 2018 merely because of his seniority. Then again, even Higuain still play in that WC instead of Icardi or Dybala.

          Argentina wasted that WC just like they wasted WC 2010.

        • Prime Masche is 1000X better times than Paredes, Battaglia, Guido, Ascaci and pretty much anyone you can list as current or potential options. GLC – MACHE – RDP midfield would be far superior to any of your combos.

          To claim the NT hasn’t missed him is just a bizarre statement and not based on reality. Especially knowing how shit porous our defense has been for years. Just even last Copa anytime the offense came at us we crumbled and looked shaky as hell. We leaked goal left and right, there was hardly any defensive stability. Paredes was involved in so many of the goals is laughable. I remember some people saying we would have won 2018 is Paredes was there instead of Masche..cant believe these opinions sometimes.

          Mache absence hurts bad and hasn’t been replaced, not even close physically and mentally.

          • Amigo I don’t think anyone discrediting mascherano and how good he was for nt. I’m saying he hasn’t been missed at all.Come to paredes I believe he is under a appreciated and probably bit underrated the job he has done or doing for nt and psg too. Paredes is good as any midfielder in the world on his day But espn pundits and mainstream football pundits will always mention Verratti or wijnadulum
            When it comes to psg no matter how good he performes because he is Argentinian, Ask scaloni and poch how crucial he is in thier system of play.

          • Mascherano was there 2007 when Brazil beat arg 3-0 copa final, He was there when young German team humble argentina 4-0 at 2010 he was at Russia 2018 when minnows like Iceland drew 1-1 vs arg, he was there when Croatia humiliated arg 3-0 he was there when France put 4 past arg. so don’t acting argentina wasn’t conceding goals or been look shaky when mascherano was there .
            But I almost guarantee you argentina won’t conceding as many goals as that while scaloni still is the coach of the nt regardless who plays weather is Guido or paredes
            The reason been is the currently nt is built as team rather than relying on individuals brilliant.

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