Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni press conference, talks Lionel Messi injury and the team

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Argentina coach Lionel Scaloni spoke at a press conference on Saturday where he commented on Lionel Messi, the team, Brazil and the undefeated streak.

Lionel Scaloni’s team started off their first of three matches with a 3-1 win against Venezuela on Thursday. Argentina play Brazil on Sunday and he spoke about the starting eleven for that match. Here is what he had to say:

“I have an idea on how the team will line-up but we still have not been able to do a training session with those who played against Venezuela. We will probably make a few changes thinking about the upcoming matches.

The changes are not because of how they have performed. They all did. It’s important to be able to enjoy them all without the team feeling it. It’s not for the performance, it’s a question of rest.”

Scaloni also commented on Lionel Messi:

“Leo (Messi) is fine. It was a scare but luckily he is fine. We will confirm his condition 100% this afternoon when we do some work on the pitch.”

In regards to winning the Copa America and the friendships in the team:

“We won the Copa and I we had to go to Venezuela and be protagonists. It’s not over. It’s not that we won and that’s it. We don’t relax. These guys are used to competing at a high demand. Them winning the Copa did not change them. It’s a huge satisfaction.

“When you are enclosed together for so long, an affinity develops. These guys have known each other for a long time and they even went together on vacation. All of that adds up.”

About the match against Brazil on Sunday:

“Brazil are the most winning-est team of all time. Whoever plays, plays. Brazil is always an important opponent. They come off an incredible positive streak and show that they are up to the task with their high quality players. We know that they are playing at home and that we are playing against a team that has won all seven matches. We take every match the same way, we face the match with the highest demand.”

Regarding Emiliano Martinez and if he will remain as the goalkeeper:

“He is in a good moment but by no means do we consider him to be immovable. This is in every position. We have made changes and the team doesn’t feel it. As long as you perform well, you’ll surely keep going. We think that they should perform for their clubs first and after that with the Argentina national team.”

About the World Cup qualifiers:

“A World Cup qualifier has nothing to do with a World Cup. We are lucky that most of our players are used to playing in Europe. The difference is in the speed of the ball. I do not think the position in the standings is important but how you get there.”

He was also asked about the leagues being against the idea of the players being released:

“After this fixture, FIFA should hold a meeting to see what will be done for the next one. I imagine action will be taken, this can’t go on like this. This date was played with everything fair in terms of the decisions. You cannot compete like this. I understand the other national teams and they have the maximum support.”

The undefeated streak:

“I didn’t even remember the streak because I know it’s going to end. It doesn’t worry me. We aren’t invincible. Hopefully it will arrive later but if it happens soon, it has to happen in a good way. That the team feels good even in defeat.

“We are prepared for different circumstances. At any time during the match, Argentina is dominating and we know what can happen. There we have to know how to defend. But it’s also clear what we have to do when we have the ball. There are opponents of great quality and their offensive power can complicate things. If you are not prepared for that, you will suffer.”

 

17 Comments

  1. Its important to maintain motion and qualify for wc quickly thn we can experiment. We can’t win wc with otamendi as cb and molina as rb because otamendi is slow fast technical European sides will destroy him same way molina will be destroyed by fast technical wingers i think in order to win wc Dybala or icardi will be needed dimaria cant be a starting player he should be used as a sub also we need a fast young cb in place of otamendi and foyth in rb spot if not montiel improve drastically also defensive midfielder position is a big concern. Bt this changes can’t be make before we qualify so winning every match from now on will be top priority.

  2. Scaloni changes tactician mode when the match starts with his substitutes. That’s the great thing about world-class coaches they are prepared for any threat.
    Also I just got a feeling he will come-up with a surprise first 11 like in the final to keep the and boys under presure

    • I generally go to Facebook and search Arg vs xyz live.. and one of the links always work. You can check the channel BD tube in FB. Its a Bangladeshi channel and generally shows a stream from some Arabic channel

  3. On paper we look better team than Brazil, but still i don’t think i will be easy to beat them once again at their home, it’s 50-50. Players will have to give their all like Copa final.

  4. According to Tyc , anyone returning from UK needs to quarantine for 14 days in Brazil. Brazilian media are quite vocal about our 4 players from EPL.

  5. Based on the last practice he is debating between montiel/molina, acuna/tagliafico, and guido/paredes. It makes sense to me based on how he came out versus venezuela and how brazil generally plays.

    When the 442 is used we see a tactical tendency we have seen in the past. That the team likes to attack low block opponents by combining in the central areas rather than pushing the play wider (makes sense with the absence of an aerial threat). This we have discussed in the past how the team breaks opponents by cramming plays in the middle. The 3-2-5 possession game is similar to the 433 but with a twist.

    lo celso is a critical element of that as he is less of a wide midfielder unlike nico gonzalez and is used to drift inside more and create plays from the middle. however because of that you see that guido is used to sit to the left of the LCB (otamendi) in the holding 3 rather than how paredes is used (in between the CB). This is due to having to protect cover on the left channel behind acuna when lo celso drifts.

    However, playing against brazil scaloni will be aware of their full back threats. Thus debating the question of tagliafico vs acuna makes sense to me. Going with nico would probably mean now he can use paredes in the middle of the CB rather than in the protection lane on the left like with guido. Further with casemiro in the middle now to hamper our mids up the pitch it makes sense to have a holding midfielder in the center to dictate rhythm from further back than placing one wider.

    So his debate between the LCB’s and the DM’s make sense to me. The question of the RCB is more straightforward i think for him. He is possibly just deciding whether to go back to the previous neymar neutralization formula of montiel+de paul or just stick to molina.

    a ver!

  6. So far he have allready done tremendous job ! Never Mind what will hapoen in the future he and his coaching team will allways be rembered for that great last Copa trophy at Maracana ! As what he said in his interwiew it seems like things are going great as it is clearly one unit working together ! Hopefully they as unit will give even more joyness to all !

  7. Sometimes it is sad we always play against the same teams. Conmebol is small with only 10 members. Surinam, Guyana and French Guyuna are on the same continent but not a member. A federation with all countries in America from Canada to Chile would offer much more variety.

  8. Pastore is now an elche player. Hope Elche reaches a higher level so they can recruit national team level players or future stars from our league

  9. We passed Italy in elo ratings to reach number 3.
    https://www.eloratings.net/
    This our highest ranking in quite a while even though on paper our personnel is weaker than it’s almost ever been. For example, our 2nd most important player is De Paul and he’s not considered a world class star.

    A lot of credit should go to Scaloni for tactics. Also the team seems to have better than normal camaraderie. I think Messi’s matured leadership has something to do with that.

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