Lionel Messi comments on the 2022 World Cup

By
Roy Nemer
-
74

Lionel Messi spoke to the media on Friday about the 2022 World Cup.

Messi scored two goals for the Argentina national team vs. Honduras and would speak to the media. He had commented on Thiago Almada and Enzo Fernández making their debut with the Argentina national team.

He also spoke about the 2022 World Cup. Mundo Albiceleste was part of the media scrum when Messi was speaking. Here is what he had to say:

“With a lot of desire, enthusiasm and anxiety because it’s getting here. But at the same time, with calmness because we know that there is still a little time and we have to be well at our clubs to arrive well at that moment. The truth is that we are doing very well as a group and as a national team. We want to continue like this until the World Cup.”

On the fans:

“We are the same as them, with the same axiety, desire but with calmness because although we have a great team, a great group, the World Cup is special and we have to go step by step.

“I think it’s complicated at the level of games. There are many games and little rest time but you have to face it as always. If you are going to play thinking about the World Cup, taking care of yourself or not messing up, in the can, it can be worse.

“I am someone that thinks that things happen because they happen and if things have to happen, they will happen. God willing, nothing happens to anyone and we can all arrive as we are.

If that is the message he gives to the younger players:

“It’s the coach that gives that message or who has to give it. We are all great now and each one knows how to take care of themselves. What they have to do, how to prepare and what is best to arrive in the best way.

“We are enjoying every moment that we are together and we are preparing with seriousness when we work together. Working on a lot of things because it’s the last time that we will all be together and we won’t have a lot of time before the first game at the World Cup. We take the opportunity to continue growing what we know and to try new things too.”

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74 Comments

  1. i think final list for world cup scaloni almost given, the player who will be not be make the list,
    1. montiel
    why look at current squad in the upfront argentina has great player interms of ground playing but most of them are not so strong in air, execpt nico, and enzo fernandez but enzo may not be come front for set pieces lautaro is strong too but he is short, lisandro, tagliafico all are good in air but they are short and they won’t come infront to take set pieces
    and
    currently strong header we got, 1. nico 2. romero 3.otamendi 4.foyth 5.enzo 6. guido(guido won’t be used as starter) 7.pezella

    montiel is short height player and his campaign didn’t go much convincing, the things he did in that copa final that is guarding that right side, which foyth can do much better than him,, he could be edge over foyth if his attacking ability faster but those are average.

    2. joquen correa/a correa
    everyone can understand why joquen will be out..

    3.4. pezella vs medina vs nehuan
    among this three medina is strong in man marking, his concentration is much better, but i didn’t see him have some goal from header,
    defensively he is better than other two..
    pezella is strong in air and he is not that great in concentration
    and nehuan he has to prove more.
    among this three if medina is chosen that won’t be bad decision
    but i think pezella won’t left out.
    5. martinez quarta will be out..
    6. it suppose to be armani but musso will be out

    if this six players out from the 32 players list then the list is 26 players + one will be added that is foyth so
    among
    1.enzo 2.palacio 3.macc 4.thiago .. 1 will out to make list 26 players
    macllister won’t be replace locelso no chance he is not that great but he still could be make squad for his defensive attribute and positional sense…
    personally i wanted garnacho but scaloni choose thiago which is also great
    so locelso substitute would be may be angelo correa,dybal, palacio,thiago..
    if palacio don’t come back quickly then thiago will take the last spot

  2. Julian alvarez is a very good finisher..He has true goalscoring ability and he has potential to challenge Lautrao.just one bad finishing doesn’t say he is overrated, world top number 9 misses even More easy chances…i think he will next big thing from Argentina

  4. Typical Mundo knee jerk reactions, one bad game, no longer NT material, one good game for a club, Scaloni needs to immediately call up that player.

    Alvarez is just fine…

    • Or, typical mundo knee jerk response- there is no color between black and white!

      Who said Alvarez isn’t a National team material?

      How many (which) games Alvarez had with the Argentina shirt that deserved a 8/10 rating? Or, what will be his average rating with Argentina?

      People here, even some veterans, are so much captive of their own emotion that they can’t take a slightest amount of even constructive criticism of a player or the coach. They quickly put labels like “haters”, “knee-jerk reaction” etc..

      Let’s be objective and rational and be able to read between the lines

      • Constructive criticism is more than welcome, however more often than not what we get is a pretty shortsighted reaction to a one-off situation. When it comes to Alvarez the reaction of some was a bit premature and can and should be characterize as knee-jerk reaction. This pattern is not uncommon.

        Would have been fine to say that Alvarez had an off game, he was not effective and leave it at that. But the alarm bells that went off were going far beyond just that, it was unnecessarily fatalistic, doom and gloom, etc.

    • I have told this since day one dybala, both Correas and even alvarez are not no. 9…..we lack a proper back up for lautaro due to lack of talent. It’s not because of one bad game in fact I think alvarez played well yesterday he was making runs and was always available for ball, however he was not playing as a no. 9 , messi was playing no. 9…even scaloni thinks he can’t play 9. The only 4 forwards who have done well for this argentine shirt are messi, di Maria, lautaro and n. Gonzalez. The rest are unproven and how u people think that it will work on world Cup when it hasn’t worked up till now. My point is always same I don’t care what they do for their club, I will only judge their argentina performances and how well they get in our system. And when things are going well, I always look for more improvement, when things are bad I look for positivity.

      • How many matches Alvarez started?? This is futile. To make a player establish you have to start him for some matches its very difficult to make an impact in 30-35 minutes time when most of the his teammates are tired anyways

        • New players do not just walk into a starting 11. They play 10-40 minutes in sub role and if they impress- move to the starter position. That is how deMaria forced himself into the starting eleven in copa final. How many minutes did Enzo took? Stop giving lame excuses.

  5. Talking of Potential competitors in Qarar; majority are ignoring threat Portugal pose in this world cup. Forget about likes of Brazil, France, Netherlands; as it stands, Portugal has strongest squad depth.
    However I have faith in Scaloni and am praying for him to get things right.

  6. Serbia and Switzerland who are in the same group as Brazil have beaten Sweden 4-1 and Spain 2-1 respectively. Brazil hasn’t faced any European teams since the last world cup. The only strong opponent they faced was Argentina twice and it was Argentina 1 win and draw!

  7. I am watching spain vs suizerland match and commentator said an interesting thing is that “Luis Enrique set up a gps radio system on every spainish player during the training and that’s why he can communicate and video analysing on training time” when commentator said this story spain just conceded a goal and i am laughing for Enrique.

  8. Julian Alvarez is absolutely necessary. All strikers miss chances. The important thing is he is getting into the position to score. His off ball movement is fantastic and eventually he will start scoring another 2 months training under Guardiola and with the best players of city will further improve him. Im not that guy who wants someone’s injury but this time im biased i want haaland gets injured and Alvarez plays more before world cup he needs that match sharpness

  9. when i and that guy @anu praising enzo here is lot of people says he is still not ready and he is slow he can’t dribble fast he is retention dribbler etc lot of negativity come forward, actually enzo is complete midfiedler as scaloni recently said he still has lot to improve to become one of the best midfielder hope he continue his progress for a much longer time. among this three pala,mac,enzo enzo is must bcs as you can see how he contribute on that third goal, he will give you power up feeling whenever he will be in the field.. this is same kind of feeling argentina has when de paul play in midfield… macallister and palacios both are decent player i won’t say maccallister is nearer to locelso in offensively and dynamic game he is not that good, but i agree he has good positional sense defensively good.. if macallister is using as just as back up , he is not a bad option too, but i think if palacio don’t recover and perform in time , he has less posibility include up in final list..

    in last match alvarez has some bad performance, but it’s not like that he is not right player, he is perfect player for lautaro substitute, but he needs to calm his head and needs to thing intelegently after he moves in city he try to do everythings in hurry, he needs open up his conciousnes little more in the game, then everything will be perfect, with time he will be good nothing to worry

    • Yeah I’m not worried about Alvarez either, it’s just one game and I’ve seen enough of him to know he’s intelligent enough that once he adapts fully to his role in the NT system and his role in City against the higher level his positioning will improve since that was actually one of his main virtues at River. He seemed a bit nervous/off at moments yesterday but still put in a huge shift and he’ll need to do much more to be written off. Hey, worst case scenario in the World Cup we convert Dybala to a striker off the bench

      • I am sure he will come alive (hopefully in next few weeks) – we need him to his best now. He got a decent amount of minutes under Scaloni and should have been acclimatized to the National team over the last few months. His integration to the team is still a work in progress. Given the time left for the tournament, it’s a concern.

        Look at Enzo, Cuti, Emi how they have proclaimed their arrival to the National team in the very first match. Now is the time to talk about performers- not who has a lot of talent. If a talented player isn’t a performer, let’s talk about him after the world cup.

        Julian better start performing wearing the National team Jersey. It doesn’t matter how he performs(ed) with Man City or River. His time with Argentina has arrived and he better steal the moment.

        On a psychological point of view, players with a weak mentality usually do not stamp their arrival to the scene as boldly as players with a strong mentality, no matter how talented they are. It perhaps, is about players confidence, composure, or other attributes. For example, look at Javier Pastore, LoCelso, Foyth, and probably Julian as opposed to Emi, Cuti and Enzo.

      • Folks are overreacting to yesterday’s performance. It’s just 1 game, they need to chill out with these fatalistic opinions. Toro, Dybala, and Alvarez are the best choices right now.

        • I have seen all the Argentina National team matches over the past few years and I am not talking about Julian’s last game performance but his overall performance with the Argentina shirt. Don’t be hasty interpreting a comment.

          No doubt that those three are the best choices right now. And, that’s why they need to showcase their value with the jersey NOW ( which toto is doing), not after the world cup.

  11. World Rankings of our opponents before the WC.!
    Honduras – 80
    Jamaica – 62
    UAE – 69

    On paper Jamaica is the strongest opponents, we face before the WC.
    Almost all of the Honduras and UAE players playing in local league where as almost everyone in Jamaica NT is playing outside.
    Honduras was very defensive. Hope Jamaica will play an open game, so that we can unleash our free flowing football.

  12. Sorry for being negative but felt little bit our ball recovery is not satisfying.. there are few phases Honduras held the ball for a long time.. any strong team in that place may convert it to a goal eventually..

    Another painful reality is Julian Alvarez is not going to make much difference at least in this world cup..he really takes time to settle.. not sure how much he can adapt to a very short period of time like World cup.. his position is confusing both in our side and man city..as someone mentioned Simeone will be more useful than Alvarez at the moment even though almost everyone here including me like Alvarez more than Simeone..

    Ledesma is brilliant against Valladolid last week..at least he got fast reflex.. Armani inclusion is a never ending mystery..

    Our purple away jersey is good indeed..

    • I also agree with you…. Alvarez is not ready for world Cup but again who we have other than him simeone is not world class either. And both Correas don’t bring much optimism.
      Our weakest point is centre forward. And our strongest point is our midfield.

      • Strongest point is our midfield?? Really?? Forward line is still our strongest point. Lautaro is a fantastic striker. Messi can play there. Alvarez can play there. Dybala can play there. J. Correa also can play there. We have 3 world class forwards
        1.messi
        2.dimaria
        3.lautaro or Dybala
        Where as i don’t think anyone in our midfield is world class yet. They have good chemistry and decent players bt not a single midfielder is a superstar in world football. Actually i think even defense is better than our midfield right now as i feel emi Martinez Romero and lisandro all 3 are very close to be termed as world class.

    • I was under the same impression that Julian wasn’t ready to be a direct backup sub for Lautaro but his last few games at City has changed my perception. Especially, after he scored those two very good goals against Nottm Forrest. May be the opposition weren’t very strong but the goals were of quality from tight angles very few seconds to decide. Also, he has started to play on wings too. I would like him to get more time in City but with 15-20mins per week and training with the City players has certainly improved him a lot. However, I still believe that moving to City was a poor decision on his part. At this age he should be playing regularly and the reason he missed that one-on-one yesterday was due to lack of playing time and shooting chances in real match. Enzo was smart enough to realize that at his age he needs to play regularly and its yielding diligence for him now.

  13. “What I am worried about is that Palacios recovers, that he arrives well. After, at a World Cup, there is no time. You have to value it. He is in good form. He is a player that for us, has always been there. It’s important for me that the moment to give the list, it would be a technical decision and not one because of an injury.”

    Lionel Scaloni

    • What you think, he will tell about Palacios? He doesn’t have any chance and hes injury prone, he’s going through bad form..etc..etc?
      Coach will always support his players. Scaloni is very intelligent in press conference. He always speaks wisely.
      Check what he said about Foyth too.

      • What I think is you’re kinda funny honestly. You do everything to promote MacAllister here until being delusional a bit. I mean…

        “According to TYC in case Lo Celso is not fit then MacAllister will replace him” (3 days before Honduras)

        “According to TYC Enzo and Palacios fight for one last spot” (2 weeks ago and yesterday)

        “No one knows what is inside the dressing room except Scaloni himself, he keeps changing his ideas” (yesterday when finding out that Enzo leaps ahead of him and Lo Celso is declared fit)

        “Papu declines” (2 days ago)

        “According to Ole, Enzo has the most chance to make it and could beat Palacios” (today)

        All comments with one purpose that MacAllister should be promoted to the main back up or even starter. And I find it hilarious because the reality is far from that.

        You even did not even want to admit that Palacios played really well against Estonia and just went crazy praising MacAllister with the comment of “it is a joke that Palacios played better than De Paul”

        While I am just stating the fact of what Scaloni did really SAY and How the game against Honduras was yesterday. Enzo had 37 completed passes out of 37. He had an excellent debut.

        I mean it is almost like that dude whatever his name is who is a fan of Foyth here and no matter what, he always says that Foyth is the best. And anytime Foyth had an excellent game, he would go crazy here and anytime he had a shitty game, he would say nothing. You do the same to MacAllister.

        Look man I am not a fan of Palacios nor Enzo but I will say what I see if they play good or bad. For me they do quite well. Well enough until Scaloni dares to say that Palacios IS in good form. The same as Almada, I was neutral. If he played shitty, I would say so, but he played quite well yesterday. My feeling to Enzo and Palacios is exactly the same as to Almada.

        • If I write anything regarding Alexis, it’s because of your continuous message against Alexis. I started to reply you since you said” Alexis is a below average and will never become a good player.” You were not even ready to give him time. You said you “know the output and hes next Meza.”
          These all of your comments were because your love towards Palacios and Nico Dominguez. I liked all these players. Suddenly, Nico is out from NT and now Palacios on the verge of that. l know you are frustrated. I never liked when you write against Alexis this much of worst things.
          Alexis is improving year be year. Check his stat.
          Now you became Enzo fan…and I am also praising him. So don’t put Enzo name in our previous Palacios, Nico and Alex’is talk.

          • These all of your comments were because your love towards Palacios and Nico Dominguez.

            -Nico Rominguez? Maybe you confuse me with El Pipita, he is a fan of Dominguez not me. I never say anything about him at all. I already made it clear my feeling to Palacios. He is just one of Argentina players.

            As for MacAllister sorry you can’t force me to like a shitty player. Just stop being delusional about his status for the NT. No he is not the main back up of midfielders, no he’s not gonna win over Papu as back up left midfielder. He is the third DM of the team. And probably 7th or even 8th in midfield pecking order after De Paul, Paredes, Lo Celso, Guido, Papu, and Enzo. That’s the pain reality.

            And one more thing it is you who got frustrated because all my prediction months ago takes place now. But the situation of MacAllister keep getting worse for the NT (after the emergence of Enzo) when you thought he would be promoted to the main back up after his Brighton matches.

  14. “Of the three debutants, the one with the most chances of fighting for a place in Qatar is Enzo Fernández. The former River is breaking it with Benfica in Europe and could beat Exequiel Palacios, who is going through a season with several injuries in Germany”

    -Ole. Today.

  15. Very early possible line up against Jamaica, according to sources. It is likely Scaloni will field his strongest line up especially some of the regulars were rested/unavailable against Honduras.

    Emi; Molina, Cuti, Otamendi, Acuna; Paredes, De Paul, Lo Celso; Messi, Di Maria, Lautaro.

  16. we can hope Taglifico Molina an montiel could thr foam back in important times.Thr foam is very important factor for Args progress in WC. we know braz is lacking Marcelo Alves type players in thr wings. That gap is a problem for Brazil. But Arg can adjustable if thr talented wingers back in foam..

  17. I think Scaloni must don’t try Alvarez as a backup for Lautaro bcz he is not an experienced player. He can’t give his full in a major tournmenr. I think trying giovani simio I as a sub for lautaro is a good answer for lautaros sub..Bcz of Europian experience and always fit makes him very advantage for Arg. in a lengthy tournment.Using Alvarez in No.9 role can’t acceptable.

  18. This world cup really has no team over the others. I believe it is really the tightest one ever, all of the have their weakness, here is what I have observed since a while:
    – England is really average collectively, some talented players but overrated. no tactical plan, players out of their natural position, don’t think they can qualify for the quarter finals
    – Germany: some good players with a fast transition football but not solid defensively(which was their core value in the past).
    – Spain: very Barca style, they play with their philosophy which I respect a lot, pleasant to watch but unlike Barca no wingers can make the difference.
    – Portugal: lot of young and gifted players in all the positions but the coaching is so bad. If they had a decent coach, they could go far
    – Brazil: Neymar is back to the top along with some top players like Vinicius but all of their central backs quite old, slow and out of form, besides they never beat any European teams in big competition since 20y.
    – Belgium: still a good team except the attack. KDB is the best playmaker with Messi
    – Netherlands: not impressive on the paper but one of the best coaches ever, he can always qualify his team in the last 4.
    – France: too many egos and extra sportive problems but now some senior guys were replaced by young hard working players and they could be dangerous again if the young players do their job. Believe that they are the most competitive team, traditionally, they play better with less talented players
    – Argentina: Messi back to the top, top class players in some positions and the coach who understands his players but some players recently out of form, need to fix it asap

    So for me, the top 4 teams would be Argentina, Brazil, Portugal and France but almost no difference between them. It will purely depend on players’ form and the efforts that they make.

      • Portugal is struggling at the moment. But they are capable of beating any team in the world. They have so many good players playing in big clubs. Don’t write them off. They can be a serious threat.

    • Portugal is a very good side, look at their fullbacks, wingers. Midfield is just good. It will be dumb to write them off. The good thing about current Argentina Squad, is much better c/f to the 2014 .

      Belgium is a big No, Netherlands both on papers and form are dangerous and pose biggest threat to Argentina alongside Brazil.

    • Nice post. Think France, Spain, and Brazil pose the greatest threats.

      Spain – I know they’re lacking wingers but we rely pressing and they’re very resistant. It will be hard to keep up the intensity for a full game.

      France – as dysfunctional as they are, all it takes is 1 missed pass or some screw up in midfield or back for their clinical pacey front line to exploit.

  19. If you go and re-watch the match you will notice our forwards and midfields weren’t able to display the team chemistry they are used to displaying. There were few instances where the players were not picking up the run and passes of their fellow teammates. When playing after 3months gap, it is understandable and unlike 2018 where we had to build the team chemistry from scratch! This is why playing against relatively weak teams is important as it will help players get out of their club approach and rebuild the team chemistry.The match against UAE, will be very important as that will be the match when the team will need to truly execute the years of chemistry we have build. We can’t experiment in the world cup like we did against Iceland and Croatia. We have to win the first match to take the pressure off. Once slip up and we will face France in the second round , not that our bracket is going to get any easier but France and Brazil are the teams I would like to avoid until the Semis and I am sure they would like to avoid us too!

    The bad news is club matches end on 13th Nov and the match against UAE is on Nov 16th and almost all the teams our major players play for, PSG, Juventus, Inter, Villa, United are playing on Nov 13th. Not sure how Scaloni will manage to get his players to play that match! Also yesterday, our coach was smart enough to play Messi as a pure out and out striker. He knows we need Messi needs to be in a top notch scoring form and the second goal must have boosted his confidence. Messi was involved in all three goals and he did miss some good but difficult chances yesterday but he is slowly getting his goal scoring boots back!

  20. The positives:
    1. Joakin Correa wasn’t used- hopefully Scaloni came to a resolution of him.

    2. Enzo – He had a Cuti/Emi like debut with the National team. In this regard, I completely agree with al_principe that now the midfield calculation changes for Scaloni. It’s likely McAllister who is now in danger. Honestly, why would Scaloni need another DM backup when he has Guido and potential makeshift backups in Foyth, Lisandro, and off course, Enzo? Does it make sense? Enzo is a complete package who can replace anyone in the midfield trio. Not only that, he is kind of a player who gives the impression that he can change the game anytime. I just watched 30 mins of him and I can say that he is here to stay.

    Negatives
    1. Julian isn’t living up to his expectations to fill in Lautaro’s shoes. A fit Dybala is very necessary.

    2. Without DeMaria, the right side of our play is mediocre. A fit DeMaria will again be crucial to win it in Qater. The same way, a fit Nico is also critical but not as much as DeMaria.

    • We can’t depend on dimaria only. He may get injure during the tournament also. I believe we can now play Dybala in right wing. I believe Mourinho using Dybala in right wing at roma

  21. I would like to remind some people who don’t follow Arg players to keep quiet instead of making trashy comments. The current coach is Scaloni, he has proven his findings on the players who can best contribute to the team, no matter where they play. Scaloni could even let a few pre-selected players stay and replace them with some better new ones, as long as they respond better than he has. You need to understand that the coach is Scaloni, and I trust him more than anyone here. We have to wait and see.

    • With due respect, it’s a native comment. How on earth fans will not analyze players, team selection just because the coach is developing a good reputation winning games?

      Scaloni’s record of player selection has been marred by Devine touch, if I may mention.

  22. it will be better if this team now arrange a friendly match either with japan or korea, both of this honduras and jamaica examine your physicality but not your awareness and concentration. there is 0 attack from honduras in argentine defence, i would like to see a friendly match with one of japan or korea this would give perfect preparation to arrive in best shape in qatar for nt

  23. Emi, Cuti, Otamendi, Acuna (if fit), Guido, Di Maria (if fit) will surely start against Jamaica. They are the first team/main back up players. Impossible not to to give them the minutes they deserve. I hope Guido, Enzo, and one of De Paul/Lo Celso will start in midfield.

    • I agree with you on MacAllister. We all want the best for the NT. MacAllister is not consistently good enough. Honestly, he just isn’t good enough. After this WC, win or lose, you have Soule, Carboni, Almada, Enzo, Nico Paz which will all be in their prime and they all have the potential to be far better than this guy. I hope I am wrong as this would be a great problem to have but frankly I just don’t see great value from Mac

  24. Fun fact:

    Messi currently has 8 goals this year for Argentina in just 5 matches. The best record for Argentina is 12 goals which is shared by Messi and Batistuta. Argentina at least has 5-6 games to play at minimum and the next 5 games are against Jamaica , UAE, Saudi, Mexico and Poland. If we remains unbeaten till second group game, we’d also break Italy 37 winning streak.

  25. I will remind people what I said several months ago about Enzo emergence. It seems that I got it right this time. Back then I compared this situation to Cuti emergence when Scaloni already promoted LM Quarta. The situation is not exactly the same but similar. Very similar.

    Back then Scaloni desperately needed a good partner for Otamendi. He had Pezzella, but he knew that he needed more. He had LM Quarta ( a project) and Funes Mori at the time. Then LM Quarta got really high on Scaloni’s pecking order almost equal to Pezzella’s. Scaloni had believed that LM Quarta would be his defender for many years to come.

    Then suddenly a superior one who just won the defender of the year of serie A, the 7th best player of the Champions league 2021 (according to whoscored) entered the scene named Cuti Romero.

    It took just a couple of practice sessions to convince Scaloni that Cuti is a superior defender. He jumped in to the starting line up replacing the previous project, LM Quarta. The result was Argentina conceded just 2 goals in any games Cuti started and won Copa America, Finalissima, and undefeated in many games.

    Now it is the same. Scaloni had prepared a new project named MacAllister. Then a superior one in everything, a better passer, finisher, shooter, character, younger, more talented, more confident, named Enzo suddenly enters the scene. In this case Enzo is like Cuti and MacAllister is like LM Quarta. I predicted the similar result as Cuti vs LM Quarta scenario. Scaloni (and all of us) see how much Enzo is superior to MacAlliter. Let’s see how it turns out.

    How about Palacios? Palacios role is not like Otamendi in this case in that he was never the first choice midfielder (unlike Otamendi’s position in defense). But Pala is like Pezzella in this case: Someone that Scaloni already knew from day one and is quite reliable and is good enough to be a rotation player.

    We’ll see the final midfield spot. As I always believe that whoever played in the finalissima (a prestigious cup) is the indication of who Scaloni really thinks of his pecking order. I don’t believe MacAllister is safe. Yes “on paper” it looked good as he started against Ecuador, Venezuela, and Estonia. You can easily say that he started in 3 of last 5 Scaloni’s matches, but he did miss the most important one, the finalissima AND the last game (where Enzo clearly already jumped ahead of him in pecking order).

    Based on Scaloni’s last interview. It seems like he gives a hint that Palacios will be among his World Cup squad. And the game of Honduras kind of a win situation for Enzo to show his actual worth that he deserves to also be included in the World Cup. If I have to guess: Enzo and Palacios in. MacAllister is out.

    Everyone here knows I am against him. Yes, my reason is simple. He will add close to nothing to the final 26. Defensively he is pretty good but offensively he is below par. There is a reason why Scaloni does NOT think of him as left sided midfielder anymore (Lo Celso’s position) and moved him to DM because he IS a limited player offensively. His best attribute is set pieces. 4 of his Brighton goals are 3 from PK and one from FK (If I am not mistaken). Other than that he is below average. But then we have:
    PK: Messi, Dybala, Lautaro, Paredes, De Paul, Nico as our PK takers.
    FK: Messi, Dybala, Di Maria, Paredes, De Paul, Papu as FK takers
    CK: Messi, Di Maria, Dybala, Paredes, Acuna, De Paul as CK takers.

    Will he ever take any set pieces duty above any of these players? No. So without set pieces, his value even worse.

    • Yes.. again came up with your usual Allister hate stuff. A long story for that. Before it was Palacios, now you became Enzo fan..at the same time you are sticking with Palacios. Good job. I still believe, it’s Enzo vs Palacios. Only one will go. Currently, it’s Enzo in.

      BTW, I don’t remember anybody predicted here Enzo going to be in the WC squad before few months. Yes, many started to say after his excellent display in the local league. He continued his form to Europe. Anyway we have a great player in Enzo. Hes growing at the right time. Much needed player.

    • “He will add close to nothing to the final 26. Defensively he is pretty good but offensively he is below par.”
      May be you are aware that hes playing as DM for Brighton now because of their situation. When he’s playing in DM position, what you expect from him other than set piece goals? He rarely going forward now for Brighton, always sticking back. He holds the ball well even in tight situation. Thats the main thing Scaloni want. The player who can hold the ball, win back, distribute, defend, shoot from distance, good on penalties and free-kick, play any role from DM to SS won’t add anything to the team?

      BTW, I never hated or disliked Palacios. His recurring injury is the only concern to me. And he never reached the potential that I thought he will reach by now.

      • I am just talking about the reality as of NOW based on Scaloni’s latest inteview and Argentina last game 10 hours ago. You keep saying that TYC said the final spot is Enzo vs Palacios. OK then Enzo played like this today. That literally means you’re saying Pala is out right? Because in your book MacAllister is already safe.

        Man I believe in what Scaloni said in his last interview less than 24 hrs ago more than what TYC said 2 weeks ago in an article about who will be left out.

        If one player played good, it is normal if many (mundo, ole, youtube, tyc, etc) praise him. That’s never the case for MacAllister games for Argentina. None of the 3 matches he started, he got a praise from anyone.

        As for my love to Enzo or Pala. I am not that much of a fan of them honestly, but I see them can add something to the team unlike MacAllister.

    • I discovered Enzo just recently. From what I saw on his matches in UCL, he is really the “modern” midfielder that I like. He can replace Paredes or De Paul, or can play with them. Moreover I think he’s so compatible with Messi with his playing style. I’d like to see Paredes as 6, De Paul and Enzo both as box to box with De Paul in a more advanced position. That should compensate the space left by the fullbacks when they attack and support Leo in the axial position.

  26. We have to salute Scaloni and other coaching staff as they made a great group. We are now thinking about winning the 2022 WC. We have the team and confidence. Let’s go. Vamos Argentina.

    Would you believe or not, Scaloni already have a team for 2026 WC. He’s planning really great.

    Emi(Musso\Rulli)
    Molina-Romero-Lisandro-Medina
    Enzo-Allister-Palacios
    Nico-Lautaro-Alvarez

    Surely, there will be competition and tuning. So many wonderkids waiting. Some from the current NT group will be continuing. Anyway, we can surely say… the foundation has been made for the 2026 WC.

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