Lionel Messi a doubt for Argentina vs. Jamaica

By
Roy Nemer
-
79

Lionel Messi is a doubt for Argentina vs. Jamaica in New Jersey.

Messi might start on the bench on Tuesday. According to TyC Sports, Messi is a doubt for the game with Julián Álvarez possibly taking his place in the eleven.

Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni is set to make changes for the game. Emiliano Dibu Martínez, Ángel Di María and Cristian Cuti Romero are all set to start for Argentina after having been on the bench in the 3-0 win vs. Honduras.

Alexis Mac Allister, Guido Rodríguez and Nicolás Tagliafico would all also start for Argentina. Guido for Leandro Paredes, Mac Allister for Rodrigo De Paul and Tagliafico for Marcos Acuña.

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79 Comments

  1. I am expecting our midfielder to score long range against Jamaica..
    Paredes or de Paul or lo celso or Guido or Enzo or Mac alister.

    It’s been a long time to see these kind of goals..
    We often score in square pass or through ball

  5. Why Argentina players defends Leo Messi?

    In 2016, when the federation Argentina Football Assosiation (AFA) had no money, some of the federation employees went to Leo Messi to tell him they hadn’t been paid for months. Messi took matters into his own hands and paid them himself.

    • Casabala and choripan are quite new comers. The older generation of 2010 were all different. I can’t even remember a lot of their names now other than Jack and Johny, San Isidro, and Seba (Sebastian Garcia). The one I remember is El Pipita and Roy Nemer only. Oh and Mafioso and Ziggy too. Ziggy is my old friend from the previous forum of Argentina. Seba disliked Di Maria, I always defended Di Maria. But we respected each other. He knew I got good reasons defending him. I know he got good reasons disliking him.

        • Bro el torero I know you well in this forum you are one of the good guys who earn my respect despite we had different opinions of leo paredes back in 2019 when I said Argentina didn’t miss mascherano. As el_principe, I’m talking from 2018 after world Cup basically in scaloni era before that I wasn’t active but still followed this blog I used enjoy reading it.

    • > defending for di maria are choripan, csabalala

      Also our homie Ebo deserves credit!! Mnrial and Cox4 too.

      Unfortunately Ebo got sick of this place and doesn’t post anymore. He had such great insight and balanced view on the team. Hope he comes back for the world cup.

      • Are you the legendary Choripan from New Zealand?

        I was one of the ones defending Di Mari as well. Basically citing the same stuff as El Principe. He was a high risk, high reward player. Desequilibrante. Under Sabella’s counterattacking system he was at his best since there was NO RISK since the defense was so tight. In possession football risk higher but still worth it.

        I always said he was our 2nd best player after Messi. Far more effective than Aguero, Higuain, and even Masch. Took Man of the Match from Messi many times but few liked to admit it.

        Argentina fans always wanted to play Tango football and then it became about mimicking Barca. It never worked! Di Maria isn’t made for that system and that’s the main reason he was hated.

        But Di Maria should now not be a starter except in the final matches! He always gets injured in tournaments and is older than ever. Bring him on as a sub.

  7. @El Principe, I am with you on the MacAllister opinion. I’ve watched him since the U20 days and now for Brighton. Personally, I don’t think he is NT material. Even if he plays in the EPL. Apart from long range shooting and PKs, I don’t see him offering anything better than Enzo or Palacios, whether is going attacking or defending. Even Nico Dominguez is more impactful than MacAllister.

    • First of all, I have been here since 2010. I am never afraid to face the crowd. Never. Back then 99% of people here mocked Di Maria like he is a clown. From all the moderators, experts, until the newbies. I defended him from day one. I know the dude is special. It was one of those 100 against 1 situation. Then July 10, 2021. 11 years after… boom! All those haters just eat their own shoot. Some disappear, some pretend as if they never say anything, some still throwing shit at Di Maria.

      Then here there are many people who try to be “world class scouts”. They scout a lot of trash here, the leader is that legendary Outlaw dude who would promote 10.000 youngters, at least 99% of them have proven to be shitty. But what happened here is once they promote shitty players, when the players become a shit in the future, they act like “nothing happened”. They act like “it’s not me it’s not me…” Then what they did is just promote another shit.

      For example there were so many fans of Gonzalo Pity and Meza here 4-5 years ago. Where are they now? Hello? There were MANY of them back then.

      With that being said, everyone has their own opinion and everyone may like someone or dislike someone. Just because I am against MacAllister doesn’t mean I am a troll or insult Argentina. Back then I was also never a big fan of Veron. I liked Riquelme better or even Gallardo, but the coach always liked Veron. It is something normal to like or dislike someone.

      I will just remember all names that defend MacAllister today, one day I will come to u everyday and remind u this.

      Just one one time that Outlaw dude got so happy when his Gonzalo Pity Martinez got called up and he mocked me. For me, who has the last laughs is what matters. I want to know if anyone will mock me now because of Pity Martinez now.

      Just like here all Di Maria haters just eat your shoot! He and people like me who trusted him from day one got the last laugh.

      • I don’t have any problem with MacAllister, a descent player at best in my sight of view who could be useful at times, but i wouldn’t have put him ahead of Enzo or Palacios by any means.

        As for Di Maria, i have been watching foorball at about 30 years and in my humble opinion, he is one of the greatest players i have ever seen. Easily the second best player behind Messi in this generation and a player who whenever he retires from Argentina will leave a huge impact to albiceleste fans like me.

        • A lot of people don’t like Di Maria because he often loses ball or made bad passes. Yes I agree even now Di Maria still does that, but I remember his interview when he was younger. He said “The job of wingers is to create chance for the forward sometimes you make bad passes but it is your job to supply the ball. You have to keep trying”.

          That interview is the reason why he got so many assists in his career. The game against Switzerland of 2014 is the perfect example to describe Di Maria. He made like 1000 bad passes after more than 100 minutes (plus extra time), but Sabella trusted him and Di Maria was just being Di Maria. In the end it was him who scored that decisive goal.

          A lot of wingers care about making 90% of passing accuracy and all that shit. For me I would rather have a winger who had 10% of passing accuracy but u deliver the final blow than you make 99% of passing accuracy but you do nothing the whole game.

          • In my humble opinion, Di Maria is phenomenal in terms of passing and his accuracy is very good too, especially for a winger. Yes, he was missing the ball often and his passing accuracy was poor at times or at some of his bad games, but as you said, even at those bad performances, he was capable of doing something extraordinary and decisive too.

            Di Maria is a multi dimensional player. He is a complete player, at least for me. Extremely gifted, tremendous skills, technique and dribbling, great pace, even now, great stamina (i remember him at times that he just didn’t stop running), tireless, very good finishing, power and technique in his shot and he is also a fighter.

            I always liked him, even at times that his form was poor and i wish a new winger as talented and influential like him emerge soon for our beloved team.

          • Di Marias millimeter perfect passes were out of this world. Despite his “headless chicken” runs, there are only few players can pass with his precision and handle the ball dribbling as well as he can. He’s truly a generational player and we’re are lucky to have him. The drop in talent right now is alarming, we simply do not have anyone like him coming up in the ranks.

          • When it comes to forwards all we have is J. Alvarez and he is nowhere near Messi, Di Maria, Aguero, Tevez, Higuain at that age. They were all from the same generation.

            But our midfield is better although less hyped. More all-arounders and less flashy softies like Pastore.

      • waveride September 27, 2022 At 12:33 pm
        I don’t have any problem with MacAllister, a descent player at best in my sight of view who could be useful at times, but i wouldn’t have put him ahead of Enzo or Palacios by any means.

        I fully agree on this subject with @El_principe and my friend Waweride, as it is written above, simple as that and not any dissliking towards MC Allister, but i also prefer Enzo even with only cap under his belt so far, but i was watching him since per-season with Benfica until now and Yes he truly deserved that cap as he could have even played a bit more, but what he showed in tha period of time he was given, maybe 30 min+, perhaps if remember right, though fairly and respectly against Honduras, Still it is obvious that he has great future ahead of him and as he hot or maybe even more hotter than many of us expected, which is tremendous news and that’s is why i would also pick him before MC Allister who has improved, Yes, but we are completly talking about 2 different kind of players who has different and maybe also some attributes, but Enzo just has so much more of those attributes than Mc Allister, or perhaps Mc Allister playing in a wrong team or a wrong league as if he we would or could iswap him to Enzo’s place in Benfica as i also consider Portugue’s league very competive and deffenetly the best p,atform for younger players to fullfill their full potential and as we have seen so offently like every year allmost all the best players from Portugue’s league move to a another European leagues, because most of those leagues have got the money and they are also the once’s holding on their fortune’s with together as very greedy players agent’s too and those 2, but i would say mainly the 1st one, because they are one’s in the end who buy those players with whatever price is asked for the player, specially in EPL it has gone completly bananas as spurs for example paid such crazu sum for Dickhead-A-Head-Richarlisonwho, though in the end i so understand that maybe there were no other available who Conte would have liked+he had the experience from previous EPL year’s at Everton, but even once maybe bigger, but now more smaller at least in terms of success for example Nottingham Forest who won the i think 2 times in a row Europa league at maybe 1979 and 1980 and after Pool won also twice in row, though can’t fully remember if the first Nottingham’s Europa league was allready from 1978, but way or another and anyhow now until this year i even can’t remember how long it took them to get back in nowdays EPL which is offcourse much more difficult than before and get’s even more difficult every year, but it is not the best league for me as i’m only intrested on Argentine players who have played there and are currently playing as 1976 i was fan of Valencia and that affair lasted quite long indeed, offcourse i was also fan of El DIEGO, though did not liked how Barca treated him as they did even worse to Messi, not even mentioning Riquelme and Sorin for example and some more Arg players too…etc.

        So even before EL DIEGO moved to Napoli i was a huge fan of Serie A and Still the same, though at somepoint during those calciopoli year’s it got a bit boring, perhaps, but i’m very happily watching it again or any league where there is Arhentine player who kind of can make the difference in my perspective and, Yes there been a quite few like my friend Cox4 also told someone who is all the time fearing different European opponent’s and not like Cox4 explained him that Argentina do not fear anyone no matter who they are playing against as this is offcourse maybe not so known for those who have not watched Arg for decades or not famialar with Argentina football and it’s history from the past til the very present… etc. which is understandable, but those and quite many as i would say in this Forum offcourse know is well, that Argentina do not fear anyone or has never done, (Though, because mainly of some different coaching selections and complete nonsense tactics Arg has suffered a lot, not forgetting our dear friend FIFA…etc… ) enough as some being an Argentine’s and some not, but have been truly only supporting Arg and no one else, maybe exept Uruguay if Arg is not facing them etc…as this also has it is own history by itself, but not going to that now as instead trying to get back to this main subject itself as i often get carried away with so many memories from different era’s and players from Argentina, and Yes i did like Riquelme and also Gallardo very much as it was such hard hit that he could not play for more longer than he did as also in the past there were absolutly indeed many great middfielders from Arg, but maybe this time they are a bit more United if not counting 1986, 1990 and 2014, though 2014 Arg’s middfield options were very limited at least offensive wise as predicted unfortunatly Gago did not even last a game and having players on the bench like Ricky Alvarez did not indeed help at all as whole bench was very weak unfortunatly for Sabella and most of big gun’s were either injured allredy before the tournament and the biggest one offcourse happened to Di Maria as he could have participated in that never forgetting final against Germany, well even some choked and there should have been a penalty for Arg, but it was not given as instead Monzon’s one was given, Still i think not that fairly, though not great fan of Monzon either as even i allways been supporting Arg somehow allways before most of coaches blew it in to sky by either their p,ayer selection as for example Lamela and Pastore should have at least played or been part of 2014 team and many others before that and also after with Sampa, but all that is past history now and again there is an new oppurtunity for Arg to win their 3rd WC, so rather getting back to that from previous year’s as i could talk ages about those year’s, propably so much that i wouldget banned for life for this great Forum that i have been following long enough to remember member names u mentioned and also what did they wrote on different ocassion’s and many are missed truly and hopefully oneday some will return as i would like to hear for example Pablo.D for an example or from the past who know their stuff and do not post, because they are rootin for this player and then swapping for this and that and in the end they all get caught and trapped in a big spider web, which they created unfortunatly by themselfs, most propably many not even regonizing this as from point more like kind of anobserver i so read allmost every post and sometimes, sorry, but like @enganche very well said : EnganChe September 27, 2022 At 10:44 am
        Gentlemen and ladies (if any, but don’t tell RomanceKing), perhaps it’s time to move from Mac Allister back and forth. Your direct opponents are rarely convinced anyway.

        Vamos Argentina!

        So exactly Vamos Argentina ! That what this all is about and that is why Argentina do not never fear anyone and i truly mean anyone, but perhaps at least in the past some of the Coaches could have chosen a bit differently, lol ! But, that is also part of football either win or fall, but u allways stand tall til the end even how worse things truly were in past and, Yes this II due to mainly because some stubborn coaches or multimaniacs who could not stand in front of the pressure as obviously the pressure was too high for them to stand against and they all failed mostly, because they simply kept on either playing the same way as when it was obvious that many changes were needed or as multimaniacs changed their approach differently every single time and even worse got it all upsidedown and failed!

        Well, enough of that and also maybe hopefully soon enough in november we will finaly know the list given by La Scaloneta and hopefully there is no injuries affecting that list as i could not stand any of our predicted 26 players to drop out injury which sadly could basicly happen anytime as in football there is lot of physical contacts and some players also just either allways too Late for their tackles or perhaps some doing it also purposly as it is indeed the year of WC finally again so i would not be surprised to see some fighting and Dodge things between different players playing against each other in Europe mostly and at this point it is quite obvious that most our opponents are affraid and some might be even a bit scared and in some limboilu as correctly Arg has earn it’s current status and has come once again a serious contender for WC, but i won’t dare to say even i wish from the bottom of my heart that they will win, but for sure Arg do not fear no one and has never done!

        So with god bless and with a bit of luck too as it is allways needed in WC never Mind how good some teams are on paper or rather currently on their current form as there is very little time for any nation presented in WC to basicly change their aporoach, offcourse in some game’s they will play approach perhaps differently depending on the opponent as maybe only Netherlands and Brazil might be those who will stick pretty much to same as they have allways done specially Netherlands, even though Van Gaal is playing this time a bit differently than normal Dutch style, but theese are common news which everyone knows more or less so in the end it will come to small details and tight margins and therefore i would not pick Mc Allister instead of Enzo, though it is true that so far Enzo has palyed only once against Honduras and Mc Allister has a few more games or minutes under his belt, but this does not change Enzo’s X-factor and that he is so versatile and looking allraedy like a real deal as he could most propably play in some game’s as a starter allready, but as he has only one cap so far i won’t expect him to be a starter, but rather hoping to bring on something else from the bench when is needed
        , if it is needed, but forsure if Scaloni picks him he would play some minutes depending on others form and physical condition etc…

        +tactically it might in my oppinion benefit Arg as he is not affraid obviously to either play direct passes or to go for it by himself as i wish that also others will try to surprise our opponents by perhaps creating a shot for themselfs, when the opponent is maybe not expecting that or do someting that the opponent is not expecting as scouting and videoanalyzes have come to play such a big role in modern football and everyone is trying to pull of an ace obviously at some point when, maybe not expected, but there is not much time for bigger changes for anyone, so it is what it is and in the end we will hopefully all enjoy as that is my only prayer at the moment, because the world has allways been bananas and are getting more bananas every year so unfortunatly no big hopes for quick changes in future in positivly wise rather everything just getting more and more negative and that is why i gave up following all that crap that has been going around the world for so long as i can remember and much more than that as i feel my Self like small insect comparing to theese mighty tyrannosaurus’ees that have been destroying our planet for god know’s how long…etc…and will unfortunatly continue in the same fashion which much more and much than sad and a way beyond anything !

        And that is why i truly wish that for once world and the stars will favor rightfully Arg this time and also our dear friend FIFA too and the Emirate of Qatar or who ever is in power over there and has also power to fight for Arg’s side if it come’s an one those FIFA’s famous battle’s against Arg again, which has lasted way, way long enough allready…etc…

        Also if Arg will win, maybe it will give hope to the rest of the world as well to regonize finally how to live on this planet as very close unit like Arg is an perfect example, who has an unic togetherness and the best dressing room and the real fighting spirit in their hearts for something what should be rightfully their’s to achieve+ with very great players too and for long time have such good and compact middfield department with very good subs too which has been missed for ages as an true Arg fan for life and forever and also very good CB options and offcourse the most greatest ever together with as R.I.P EL DIEGO were and will allways be as same goes for Messi too, even if won’t be able to lift biggest one, which i truly hope that he will lift with rest of Arg’s wonderfull group players as such united in every Sense on or outside the pitch, which has unfortunatly been allways the case for Arg in the past, but all that is and has been in the past allready for long enough and there is no point of any speculation neither for past or for future either as only time will tell if Arg will crowned rightfully as true born Champions !

        So as i said and as i will apoligize once again it took me ages to write this very common knowledge and very poor post of mine just to say that :

        If Palacios is fit then i will prefer him and Enzo instead of Mc Allister, based on Palacios experience from the group even not in top form i so consider him more used to La Scalonetta’s plans than Mc Allister who no doubtly has got the picture and to has been able to taste how it is really, when u are presenting Arg and most propably if he continue his devolpment at least he will considered again like now, but there is also a new generation knocking on the door and i feel that after this WC what ever happened Arg must try to start involved this next generation or at least their best to Arg’s NT as the sooner u do it the better it will pay itself in the future and that is also how i see this WC as La Scalonetta has had good amount of time to been able to build finally the best group or team for Messi and it is allways easy to say afterwards that what if the previous coaches like allready starting from Sabella the great to Tata and Bauza and also Sampa would just had some younger gun’s like starting from Lamela and Pastore for example to and also intergrate Papu and some others too til Lo Celso Paredes and De Paul a bit more quicker than they actually did and obviously also would had use them instead Ricky Alvarez and CO., lol ! I mean Arg has allways had so much talent amongst their ranks and will allways have, but offcourse u need the right person’s and Coaching staff’s to develop theese younger players and specially to intergrate them at latest when they have rightfully earned it as we are also in other hand a bit lucky that DIBU and CUTI and LiCHA too finally got their chanches and took it by storm in no time, so that is why we must let Alvarez play more or should have let him p,AY more instead for example J.Correa also A.Correa never got full regonizition even he allways been selected i quess when he has been available, buy not properly used like Dybala too and with Dybala as he is unfortunatly a bit injury prone as well as Palacios also Cuti has had his own issues too and now Foyth kind need’s an miracle to get back on form before list is announced as he would be be very usefull indeed if fit and in form at least in some games, but thieese injuries are nothing new as many of Arg players could not present Arg because of their injuries in the past and now also in teh present and when they were or are very needed, so that is the only minus i will give to LA SCALONETTA that specially up front and at RCB and also LCB positions are unfortunatly looking like now the most weakest areas and mostly i’m concerned about RCB and LCB positions which at some point Yes and Still are if all Acuna, Molina, Tagliafigo and maybe Foyth are in form and do not get injured, but what if they will be as how on earth will Scaloni and CO. find basicly in month time some one’s who can cover in there as i can pretty much see only, maybe Medina as an option as i don’t know how good he is playing LCB or RCB or if Perez can play in those positions too, which i’m doubting so my pointtia why when things were fine and Scaloni and CO. knew most certainly that Arg will Qualify to WC at Qatar…etc.

        So why could they not try find someone at least one player that could , maybe cover if inna emergency scenario will occur on at least on the 2 positions as RCB and LCB as they did gave a game for Meza !

        Theese were maybe the only misstake’s they might have done, but i truly hope they better than me and that none our RCB or LCB will get injured as then what ? There is no time for 3 at back and it did never worked anyhow at least with Scaloni so i highly doubt that option, so is then Licha on the left and who on the right if Molina and Foyth will both be injured, Ok there is Montiel, but will he be included in the final list, well i quess we just have to wait and pray until at least the mid november and then pray again that none Arg’s players playing in either RCB AND LCB position’s will not get injured like what happened to ” glasss leg the great Gago ” as that one though was not hard to predict at all, but in the first game, well Yes it was a kind blummer indeed and the first one for Sabella when the tournament had allready started, but Still he should had have much more stronger bench and truly some players amongst Ricky Alvarez should have never been there in the first place, period, as old wounds are starting to Open again in my memories, but i won’t never disrespect Sabella instead i will oallways give him credit that with so many players up front injured and with such a weak bench and also a little Shake player selection he was able bring Arg allmost to the top again, R.I.P!

        Well, this time will be different and if no negative surprises and with fully optimism and zero negatism as Arg do not fear no one and has never done , well things should go according to plan, though Arg’s most potential second round opponent will be either France or Denmark and if that is the case i will rather TaKe the french and avoid the dane’s, but i’m more hoping for some surprise in that group and that with somehow Arg will be able to avoid both of them !

        But, at some point we might have to face the Dane’s or the Fench or who so ever, so there is no point for any speculation as it is what is allways at WC and everything is possible and specially this time for Arg as everyone staying fit and form it doesn’t matter who ever Arg will face as they all will be affraid of Arg as allways, but specially now!

  8. Gentlemen and ladies (if any, but don’t tell RomanceKing), perhaps it’s time to move from Mac Allister back and forth. Your direct opponents are rarely convinced anyway.

    Vamos Argentina!

  9. Dadir10
    September 27, 2022 At 4:38 am
    “It’s funny how El Principe posting the stats of Mac Allister without telling his role in the team in those matches. His role is the most important thing to reach a conclusion about him. It seems he just hates the guy and sticks to it whether Allister scores dozens of goals or never scores a single one. In the past I considered Allister a useless player, but later realized his potential. I am not a fan of him, but I see him as a hardworker who deserves some respect. Whether we like him or not, Scaloni counts on him and he will be going to Qatar as things stand now”

    well said by dadir10 this is pick of the day
    Us fans need to be a balance mac allister isn’t Flashy player but he is decent and deserves respect. Plus it’s absolutely wrong to compare meza with himNot fair Alexis plays best league in the world week in week out While meza plays in Mexican league.

    • It’s not about the level of the league he plays for but the position for which he is playing now. We have good DMs than macallister in our team. Paredes and guido always ahead of him. Then in central area i don’t think he has that capability to control the game in that position in a 4 3 3.Any way today we can look how he can tackle the physicality of the Jamaicans?

      • Vis you Don’t get my point
        I too don’t rate Alexis MacAllister that highly I was just saying he deserves respect that all, as my choice I will definitely take palacios and enzo Fernandez before MacAllister having saying that I believe scaloni and coaching staff likes him which will make him favourite to go world Cup that is me been realistic.

  10. My squad for world cup:
    GK: Emi, Rulli, Musso (3)
    DF: Molina, Foyth, Otamendi, Romero, Licha, Pezzella, Acuna, Tagliafico (8)
    MF: Parades, Guido, DePaul, Enzo, LoCelso, Palacios, MacAllister (7)
    FW: Messi, DiMaria, Lautaro, Alvarez, Nico, Papu, Dybala, A Correa (8)

  12. In basketball, they are more advanced in stats. They have so called “box to box plus and minus”. In futbol there is none like that. Plus minus is perfect stat to show the real value of a player. For example if player A plays, how many points the team scores and how many points the team conceding?

    The higher the value is the higher their impact to the team. I am doing this small sample of MacAllister game in our last 5 games which is very fair because he was introduced to the team after the Copa America in Venezuela match. Those numbers are exact numbers. Go ahead do your research.

    If people ask what position he plays? Well it has nothing to do with “box to box plus and minus”. Even if you are a goalie or a center back, you can tell easily whether your presence makes your team winning or losing.

    For example Licha and Maguire. I don’t do the observation yet but I am sure Licha has tremendous positive value on the whole team when playing (only losing in his debut game and a Euro conference game). Maguire has very negative value on the whole team (almost always MU lose whenever he plays).

    I am giving you the right stats. Don’t blame me if those stats bother you. Numbers don’t lie.

    • Again: Spurs do statistically much better wo Romero than with him in the starting 11? More goals, less goal against, more points. So whats your conclusion? Romero is the problem?

      • People in the Spurs forum also talk about this. This is the answer they give you.

        Cuti Hotspur normally played against strong teams like Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, City, MU where they more likely concede goals. Sanchez playing against small and easy teams where it is easy to get clean sheets.

        The one time Sanchez played against strong teams like Arsenal last year, they conceded 3 goals in 0-3 loss.

        My points is had Sanchez played against Chelsea, Liverpool, City, Arsenal, MU, his record would have been worse than Cuti.

    • Well. Wait we can look in the match whether he could be a versatile player. Atleast take into consideration that he is in good form. And even with this good form still he going for average play against Jamaica means it is worth concerning still he gets into the team. I hope scaloni gives sufficient minutes to Enzo.

    • The numbers totally lie in football because there is far more variation. You need a huge sample. For one, the difference between teams is greater, the scores don’t come steadily, and you have more and varied teammates. I don’t think this + and – system would work well in football, certainly not in international football.

  13. maccllister is not superstar in make neither he is a great player, as a substitute player he has usefulness, his main attribute is his positional sense… coach likes him for that reason.. now if people want to retent him in cost of enzo, thiago , or fit palacios , this is big noooo .. bcs he won’t perform standalone, neither he will be useful in every match , but definitely a coach can use him and understand when using him will be key point , this is what scaloni experimenting

  14. Mac allister is a different class midfielder I think. It’s a wonderful approach by scaloni to select him in WC squad. I m sure he could adapt Scalonis tactics. He is going to be Very talented and useful player in Scalonis squad..

  15. So guido and mac allister will play as double pivot. Guido needs playing time with team. With bailey and antonio up front. It will be also good test for defence.

  16. Again I am forced to write for Alexis..because of continuous hate towards him.
    So, as per our great analyst without Allister Argentina will score goal in every 16 minutes. That means Argentina will score 6 goals in every 90+injury minutes without him. I would have happy for that. But it’s very far from the truth.
    I am sure you lost sleep because of Alexis. May be he has done something to you personally. Otherwise no chance of going to dig this type of sh!t analysis. Hope, you will do same for every midfielders.

    Just to remind you, you should understand the basics. Suppose Allister and Guido substituted IN for DiMaria and Messi..you would say…see after Allister came we didn’t score ..or scored less than without him.

  17. It’s funny how El Principe posting the stats of Mac Allister without telling his role in the team in those matches. His role is the most important thing to reach a conclusion about him. It seems he just hates the guy and sticks to it whether Allister scores dozens of goals or never scores a single one. In the past I considered Allister a useless player, but later realized his potential. I am not a fan of him, but I see him as a hardworker who deserves some respect. Whether we like him or not, Scaloni counts on him and he will be going to Qatar as things stand now.

    • My problem is he will likely be going to the World Cup AND earn minutes. And I give y’all the real stats of how we perform with and without him with the exact numbers. Maybe not a problem for u but for me a big problem because when he plays, we are much less productive. We don’t need rocket science to figure this out. Our best performances in the last 5 games (ever since MacAllister was introduced) were the games against Italy and pretty much the second half of Estonia. 2 games where MacAllister played very little to none.

      You might disagree with me but everyone who’s been here from the very first day (the days of Seba Garcia, Johny, Jack etc) in 2010 or something knows that I am a big stats guy.

      • I have been on and off the blog for the past 9 years. I know your love and addiction to stats. That’s fine. But you should know that stats can mislead you sometimes, and the misleading gets worse when you don’t use that stats properly. Telling the minutes a player played for his club/country without telling what his role was in those minutes is a big misleading. In general, statistics isn’t an exact science and to deal with it you need to consider lots of factors carefully. Anyways, Mac Allister is a young, backup player who can play very well in the last 20 minutes for protecting a lead, so I don’t see him a problem. He could also be useful in penalty-shootouts.

        • Yes I said the same thing as long as he is used in the last minutes to protect the lead that’s fine with me especially he is a good PK taker too. But I am against him playing major role for the team.

          If you are against the stats, I will give you a good one too. One person here says that J Correa scored less goal than Otamendi for the NT. Maybe that’s correct. That’s why not many ppl here like Joaquin. If we bring someone like Joaquin or MacAllister, they are there to protect the lead coz they are willing to defend. That’s their role. It would be stupid for example if we need to score goals and we bring them in.

          Sabella is a great coach but he made a mistake bringing in Gago in the WC final sub because Gago is not one of those fighters.

          • Argentina can go with 3 goalkeeper + 8 defenders + 8 midfielder +7 forwards.
            with 2 GK locked in emi martinez and rulli, 1 goalkeeper spot open.
            in defense, Cuti, Lisandro, Otamendi, Acuna, Taglifico and Molina positions are locked.
            fight for 2 spot ongoing between foyth and montiel for RB position and Pezzella, medina and perez for 4th defender spot with advantage to Pezzella.
            in midfield 6 places locked with lo celso, RDP, Paredes, Guido, Papu, Palacious
            Mac-Allister, Almada and Enzo fighting for last 2 spots.
            in forward Messi, Dybala, Alvarez, Lautaro ,
            Di maria and Nico locked.
            fight of last place is between the 2 correas.

  18. In Current form, National team Mood, current situation…. “Otamendi- Romero” pair is 10 Time better than “Lisandro- romero”pair.

    So stop shouting Lisandro, Lisandro, Lisandro…

      • otamendi adds height to the team. set pieces are a huge concern for scaloniwith oursquad he has said so in various interviews. I could see all three starting in a formation where we play a mid of 5 players with molina and nico on wings. a 3-5-2 emi, licha, romero, otamendi, nico, lo celso, paredes, rdp, molina, messi, lautaro. tbh it would be a strong line up and thrn you could have di maria come off the bench for nico and licha shift to lb or come off and put in acuña/taglia

        • Otamendi adds height bt lisandro is equal to aerial duels if not better. Otamendi is slower now he will be found out against top teams having fast forwards like he was destroyed against Liverpool last yr in ucl. Lets see how he performs against mbappe messi Neymar. Plus he is hot headed he is a tickling time bomb. Imagine in a huge match he gets red carded and that will end our world cup campaign right there

  19. Bring Dybala and give a rest to Messi. Messi will start in the second half and could still score two goals. The team should be rotated and given a chance to test the players.

  20. This El principe is just macalester hatter nothing else.He come with his bulshit stupid statistics.who is meza? Had meza ever palyed epl Against top team? Lol..mac alister palyed regularly Against top team in the world and performance good. Scoloni is not blind unlike you..yes he had bad Olympic games but that’s doesn’t means he can’t never improve…. Since then he improve a lot, its just matter of time he will join big clubs. I like enzo,palacios but thats doesn’t means i ignore alister.I think he is safe for qatar…And who is best creator? So funny..if anapano says its then okay but i didn’t expect it from you! De paul is good midfielder with leadership quality but lo celso is best creator after messi and no space for argument here.

    • Agreed jewel…Alexis mac allister improves a lot in this season and also he is the most in form player Currently on Brighton

      But Enzo is also in from player n also deserves the chance of world cup 26 man squad list.
      Hope scaloni find a solution will pick up both…

      Midfielder: Paredes, De Paul, Lo Celso, GuiDo, Palacios, Enzo Fernandes, Alexis Mac Allister, Papu

  21. Why messi?? He needs to score. He deserves those goals. He is only 5 goals away to break his 2012 and batistuta’s goal scoring record if he is not injured no point dropping messi plus Alvarez should not be a messi replacement anyways

    • But we can see how Argentina performs with both lautaro and Julian in front. It’s like-
      Emi
      Molina- Romero-otamendi- Tag
      Di maria- Macallister- Guido- lo celso
      Julian – lautaro

    • Nobody cares about messi’s record I want to see how can we cope without messi because anything can happen in world Cup….. We may need to rest messi in the world Cup.

      • Nobody cares about messi’s record?? There r millions of people do care about messi’s record. And stop dreaming impossible things. Messi will never rest in wc no matter what he will play each and every game at wc.

      • agree with you shubham messi’s record is not important and he needs rest as well. we also need to see how we cope withput him. it could be important especially in the group stage to rest him

  22. Some people have a habit of using the past to define the present when talking about Mac Allister. He may not be pleased with some people but I don’t see him doing anything wrong. Is he a weak link in the team? Has anyone seen how he performs on the training ground these days? No one has the answer except for bullshit statistics. I think he’s fine, he’s not the second Meza and Scaloni is not Sampaoli. Perhaps the fears will only end when Arg is crowned champion.

    • Dude this is not bullshit statistic. This is his statistic when he played for Argentina in any match he played not Brighton. NOT the past. It is his current games. I was not talking about his games 3-4 years ago. So of course it does make sense in a lot of way. If you want whoscored kinda stats. I can make it too: 4 games: 0 goal, 0 assist. Enjoy.

      Yes he did not do anything wrong but he did not do “anything” either.

      This is what I am afraid of. I am celebrating if he did not play, that is not a secret as we always played better without him on the pitch. I just did my stats:

      Argentina scored 5 goals with him on the pitch in 272 minutes

      Argentina scored 10 goals without him in 162 minutes

      So Argentina scored 1 goal in 54.4 minutes with MacAllister.

      Argentina scored 1 goal in 16.2 minutes without MacAllister.

      (All matches from Venezuela match (Venezuela, Ecuador, Italy, Estonia, Honduras) the first match where Scaloni introroduced MacAllister)

      I challenge everyone to verify this number.

      There is a reason why I dislike him. Numbers don’t lie. In my eyes, Argentina always look more fluid and better without him.

      But the reason I don’t like him is he played.. and quite often too. It is scary to me because that’s like Meza factor.

      If Meza never played in 2018, I would have been totally fine with him but he played a lot at the expense of the likes of Aguero, Di Maria, or Higuain who was not done yet for sure 4 years ago.

      Guido and MacAllister against Jamaica is too defensive minded to me knowing Lo Celso is not that much of a creator unlike De Paul. Especially Montiel and Tagliafico, 2 defensive minded full back likely will start too so our attack would be weakened for sure. But let’s see what’s the line up gonna be.

      To make it more specific:
      1. Vs. Venezuela (3-0)
      He played 70 minutes. Argentina scored 1
      He was sub in 70th minutes. Argentina scored 2

      2. Vs. Ecuador (1-1)
      He played 59 minutes. Argentina scored 1

      3. Vs Italy (3-0)
      He did not play. Argentina scored 3

      4. Vs. Estonia (5-0)
      He played 66 minutes. Argentina scored 3
      He was subs in 66th minutes. Argentina scored 2

      5. Vs Honduras (3-0)
      He played the last 18 minutes Argentina scored 0
      He didn’t play in 72 minutes. Argentina scored 3

      The best way to utilize MacAllister in the World Cup is if we need to hold the lead with 5 minutes to go. That’s all. Other than that; he is a liability.

      • “Lo celso is not a creater unlike de Paul”….. My friend lo celso is playing in this NT because of his creative abilities. He created two chances and a penalty against Hondurus plus he is way better passer than de Paul. What de Paul can do lo celso can’t do however what lo celso can do de Paul can’t do either.
        For me lo celso and de Paul are equal to me for the NT.

      • To be correct Macallister played 298 minutes in NT while we scored 8, in these matches in 242 minutes 7 goals wo him, zero difference and still laughable small sample size.

        • dude i dont count the stats of MacAllister in the past like what 2 years ago or older. He wasn’t even part of our winning team yet. After Copa America, Scaloni started MacAllister against Venezuela right? That’s where it counts. Venezuela, Ecuador, Italy, Estonia, and Honduras.

        • Correction: My stats shows 213 (not 274 my bad) minutes of MacAllister (70 + 59 + 66 + 18) and we scored 5 goals. Which is 1 goal every 42.6 minutes.

          Without him: 20 + 31 + 90 + 24 + 72 = 237 minutes without MacAllister and we scored 10. So 1 goal every 23.7 minutes.

          This is the correct one. So with MacAllister we scores a goal per 42.6 minutes. Without him a goal every 23.7 minutes. Still not even close.

          These numbers can’t be wrong anymore. This is how I count. For example against Venezuela. He played 70 minutes and we scored 1 goal by the 70th minute. Then when he was replaced in the 70th minute, we scored 2 more after he was gone.

          That means in that Venezuela game, he was on the pitch for 70 minutes and we scored 1 goal and he was replaced for the last 20 minutes and we scored 2.

          I did NOT count MacAllister played and his team scored 3. Because when he played we only scored 1 not 3.

          Now this can’t be wrong.

        • To be correct Macallister played 298 minutes in NT while we scored 8, in these matches in 242 minutes 7 goals wo him, zero difference and still laughable small sample size.

          – Sorry man your number is wrong. At least in the last 5 games there are only 90 x 5 minutes available which is 450 minutes.

          He played in 213 minutes (5 goals) and did not play in 237 minutes (10 goals) in those.

      • Whatever differences were there that coulf account for these there are so many. 1) other changes to team sheet at the time macallister was played 2) importance of the game being played 3) were new tactics being tried on a global level 4) did the team as a whole decide to manage a result.. difficult for you to reach any kind of conclusion because futbol is low scoring and because of that you can get these different types of situations so the stats you are mentioning cannot be a holy grail in determining anything close to his performance

    • Bro I don’t have a probelm if macallister plays as a DM as a sub. But playing as a CM from the start is a suicidal attempt. I know this is just for experiment. But if Messi is not there lo celso has to shoulder the attack with di maria. May be its 4 4 2 formation with lautaro and Julian infront.

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