Sadio Mané comments Argentina at the World Cup, Lionel Messi

By
Roy Nemer
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41

Sadio Mané has commented on the Argentina national team’s chances at the World Cup and Lionel Messi.

Mané will be with Senegal at the World Cup. The Senegalese has been in great form for Bayern Munich and scored in a win vs. FC Barcelona in the Champions League.

After Bayern’s Champions League game, Mané spoke with SCESPN and was asked about who his favorites are to win the World Cup. Here is what he had to say:

“Your country, Argentina…”

If he saw Lionel Messi play in the Champions League:

“Yeah, unbelievable player.

“I think there are a few teams which can win the World Cup and Argentina is one of them.”

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41 Comments

  2. Juan Foyth has played more than 70 matches for villareal, showcasing his strong aerial game, his ability to hold the ball, and his capacity to bring out play from the back.
    gernacho make it late unless nico remain injured he has less chance , thiago has more posibility to make the number 26 inclusion, if some overhyped player excluded

  3. Garnacho sighting soon — will start the Europa League match. I assume if he scores a penalty everyone here will be demanding he is added to the World Cup roster.

    • Great to see him starting. ETH has been pretty vocal about proving themselves in training so Garnacho must be doing something right. Let’s hope he does well enough to justify future starts.

  4. Here we go with the Foyth debate again. Repeating some things ad nauseum at this point…

    First of all, Scaloni already indicated where he sees Foyth by bringing him as a sub in some games, namely DM or a RCB in a back 3, not a RB so far.

    Second, Argentina tries to be a protagonist against most teams with some exceptions. We cannot be protagonists with a central defender playing makeshift right-back. Why? Because when Messi and Di Maria both play we tend to have a congested centre of the pitch with only fullbacks providing width. Foyth for all his defensive improvements does not know how to overlap, provide width and cross the ball.

    Therefore, the debate is not so much whether it’s Foyth vs Montiel vs Molina, it’s bigger than that, the implications of which type of player you start as a fullback are much wider and affect how we play as a team. Both Di Maria and Foyth on the right means huge amounts of unused space on the right wing. Ain’t going to happen unless Scaloni changes the formation radically. This is the same reason why I think Lisandro Martinez as a LB is a bad idea too, he would defend well but not overlap and just waste all this space close to the byline in the attacking half of the field.

    Can Foyth come as a sub to preserve a lead? Yes, absolutely. That’s when we can use his strengths to our advantage in the last 15-20 minutes of a game when Fideo is also subbed off.

    Third, Foyth is only starting to recover and discontinuity might be hurting his chances because unlike Palacios or Nico Gonzalez, he is not one of Scaloni’s core players.

    Fourth, let’s not project how Villareal plays onto the national team. Their flat 4-4-2 which essentially became a 3-5-2 with the leftback venturing forward while Foyth stays behind (as a RCB), is not the formation and style of how Argentina plays under Scaloni.

    Finally, would I want Foyth is the final 26? Yes, versatile players in a short tournament are always an asset.

    • @EnganChe Thank you for this. I don’t ever want to hear about Foyth. How many times must a player show you who he is before people realize it? It took 3 games for Enzo Fernandez to show you who he is! Foyth is never a true RB. It was the same for “scared face” Gabriel Mercado. When we had Zabaletta, we see better play. When we lose Zabaletta, we suffered in the right. We tried Foyth time and time again and it was either disaster or compromise in NT playing style. We can’t afford to compromise play in this WC especially.

    • “Can Foyth come as a sub to preserve a lead? Yes, absolutely. That’s when we can use his strengths to our advantage in the last 15-20 minutes of a game when Fideo is also subbed off.”

      – This is exactly where I see Foyth can be very useful.

      “Fourth, let’s not project how Villareal plays onto the national team. Their flat 4-4-2 which essentially became a 3-5-2 with the leftback venturing forward while Foyth stays behind (as a RCB), is not the formation and style of how Argentina plays under Scaloni.”

      – Here I disagree. Argentina under Scaloni played in a similar manner in the past when Teglafico acted as a 3rd center back and Molina moved to midfield. I guess it has to do with Messi playing on the right and needing the width. Having Foyth gives you a similar option but on the opposite side.

      • When did Tagliafico play as a 3rd CB, which games specifically? I don’t remember that. He is a pretty attacking fullback too and usually projects forward quite often.

        Messi is no longer playing on the right per se, he tends to play through the middle. It’s Di Maria who is usually there and part of what makes Fideo effective is having a reliable decoy on the right who provides width which is usually Molina and to some extent Montiel.

    • I agree, for me its always been the type of fullback we need to suit us tactically based on our style. From the parts of games I’ve tuned into Molina is playing very wide as a hub for providing crosses into the box (some of which I’ve really liked). Completely the opposite of Foyth, who can provide a good through ball every now and then but don’t try to convince me that because of that he’s an attacking full back. Both of them have opposite styles of play and choosing them based on form alone would be a massive tactical blunder. Like you say, bringing him on to preserve a lead when the other team starts going crazy with wingers and constant attack could be very useful and even game-saving.

  5. Oh good garnacho made it in the starting 11 with his idol infront. That’s intresting. Right side it is Antony and left side it is garnacho. Both won’t cross. Both will try to cut inside and go for the second post probably. Ronaldo have to be patient to get a good header.

  6. More important than the molina|foyth|montiel debate is our holding mid. Guido Rodriguez is in good form while Paredes has disapeared. Will Guido start??

      • THink you are right!
        I havent had a chance to see Guido play this season but I see he is 2nd highest rated player for Real Betis! Very difficult to do for a defensive mid. He is a boring player but effective.

    • Depends on fitness but guido looked awful in last friendlies i would rather play enzo than guido. Guido should be played against top teams only where defense is the main priority

      • Anuparno, kiddo, realistically, do you think Scaloni is going to prefer Enzo to his very reliable back-up DM in Guido? Do you realize how unlikely it is?

        • Scaloni will not make major changes unless the team comes out playing like crap as we saw with Sabellas 2014 squad. Argentina managers have a saying about not fixing a team that hasnt been broken.

  7. People here seriously think foyth over molina?
    I would even pick monteil over foyth… It’s not that foyth is not good, it’s that we need a proper right back not a defender at a right back position.

    • someone says a good attacker can win you match but a good defender can win you a tournament, so people in here thought montiel is better effective then foyth who much improved his game, even he improved in team chemistry, montiel is prompt he moves frequently but he is not deciplined one it can be seen some of his recent game where he was in opposition area when his team conceded a goal, what is duty of right back it should be first defence then attack, if people don’t understand how much foyth improved recently they never understand football at all

    • Yeah. I mean in villareal the whole team was defending. Lo celso always came down and helped foyth on that right flank. Then also Coman made life hard for foyth. Also there would be less pressure as villareal is clearly the underdogs against those giant clubs. But in copa final it was not the case. Pressure was mounting from the beginning. It was a do or die game. Montiel neatly done his job. Molina is the one who played against Brazil Uruguay and Italy. He knows how to blend in this group well. He is more than just decent. Montiel is very capable of replacing foyth.

      • what do you mean by capable , do montiel capable to match foyth aeriel strength, do montiel capable to match foyth ability on pace, do montiel capable on tackle, do montiel capable to physicality like foyth, when did lo celso comes on the right flank to help foyth on defence, did anyone saw how he now handles ball and try to come forward more often unlike previous term, did anyone saw how much foyth long balls improved, yes copa might be a do or die match but there was clear instruction for player what they should limited in there jobs, when you know how much you have to do it was much easier,

    • Without foyth our chances will drastically drop. Both of our fullbacks are below average defensively. And they are not prime dani Alves also. They practically never score haven’t seen any assist for Argentina and their crossing is also not great. So better to secure the defense. By securing defense we can win 1-0 or in penalties. Right side has dimaria and messi they don’t defend much so better to have good defensive cover in right side.

  8. Scaloni has a 5-3-2 backup option with Cuti-Otamendi-Lisandro making up our spine. Imagine Montiel and Acuna as wingbacks.
    What do you guys think?

    • If it is 5 3 2 then Molina and Acuna should be the wing backs. De Paul, Molina partnership on that right side against Leverkusen was great. It remembers that wonderful play from them against Peru which eventually scored by toro with a beautiful header.

      • True, DP and Molina do combine well. Generally, Montiel is the better attacker though.

        —-Cuti-Otamendi-Lisandro—–
        -Molina———————-Acuna
        —–DPaul–Paredes—–LoCelso
        ————–Messi—————
        ————Lautaro—————

        Would really like to see it

  10. mbappe vs montiel
    mbappe vs molina
    mabppe vs foyth

    leroy sane vs montiel
    leroy sane vs molina
    leroy sane vs foyth

    vini jr vs montiel
    vini jr vs molina
    vini jr vs foyth
    what is the more realistic choice montiel, molina, foyth
    in certain games obviously we needs foyth

  11. I’m calling csabalala stop bullish… mate foyth will go world Cup no defender better than him in 1vs1 situation, good aerial dual too. Both montiel and molina are big liability when it comes to defending yes molina is decent going forward, you can trust foyth with the best wingers and attackers in the world and he proved time and time again
    – foyth flopped in elp what a joke are you serious mate
    How many games did he start,? Ask spurs fans now if Mourinho and Danny Levy made rush decision about him They tell you yes 100% remember before his injury he was going to move fcb xavi wanted him .

    • even he improved on his game chemesitry, he is tall player he is so fast in running, mbappe going to feel hell bcs of him, in villareal his game has more developed, how he operate in that right side for villareal this really gives good feeling

      • Not having Foyth in the team could risk us lifting the trophy. He is that important.

        I didn’t like Foyth, the bumbie boy, for the occasional calamity he brought upon on us as a CB. He was rightly dropped by Scaloni. But, Foyth has developed in the RB position tremendously in Villarreal. Should we progress in nock our phases in the World cup, very likely that there will be few moments when you will feel Foyth could have stopped that run from X,Y,Z- leading to a goal.

  13. @San regarding the debate on Enzo vs Palacios vs McAllister you missed the point that those who are asking for Enzo are more inclined to leave out McAllister and not a fit Palacios. Enzo is not only a holding midfielder but he can also score, assist, and contribute in attack unlike McAllister, which is very one dimensional.

    Scaloni has been showing a fetish (non sexual) with certain players from the very beginning. To name a few, Roberto pereira, J Correa, and now McAllister. There are more deserving players. Unfortunately, his fetish is killing valuable game time for other players to get assimilated to the team.

    • I agree with you. MacAllister is the weak link. If you watch the game with Honduras, an easy opponent, the team really did not interact much with him at all. He doesn’t fit in period. Enzo is more logical, and if you want to challenge Palacios, I think the logical challenge is Thiago Almada.

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