Leandro Paredes on the Argentina national team, match vs. Egypt, World Cup

1. It is so very true that every team is giving their best in the knock-out stages. We are going to have specially tough time against Egypt because of the current form we are in and because of bit of cluelessness from Scaloni. He is feeling the heat of selecting Montiel, Almada and a few others.

   • “cluelessness from scaloni” I reckon you’ve been a coach of a team that has won two copa americas and a world cup?

     the level of idiocy some people are willing to go to is baffling.

     • I don’t think there is any need to get sarcastic here. 😊 None of us in this forum has professional coaching experience, let alone the experience of managing a team like Argentina. We are all observing, interpreting and debating based on what we see — and we should always remain humble enough to accept that we can be wrong.

       My comment about “a bit of cluelessness” came from certain observations, not from any belief that I understand football better than Scaloni. I can explain where that feeling came from, while fully acknowledging that there may be things happening tactically which we simply cannot see.

       We watch the game from a camera angle or from the stands. The players experience it through a jungle of moving bodies, pressure and split-second decisions. Even the coach sees the game from one fixed position. So what looks obvious to us may not be obvious or even relevant inside the actual game.

       My first concern started even before the tournament, when Scaloni delayed announcing the final squad. It felt like injuries were not the only uncertainty — maybe he was still trying to find the right balance.

       Then during the matches, his persistence with Almada surprised me. This is not criticism of Almada as a player — we have seen his quality against Uruguay and Brazil during qualifiers. But in this tournament he has not looked at that same level yet. Given that, I expected earlier opportunities for players like Nico Paz or Barco, who bring a different dimension.

       The second concern is Medina. He has actually played quite well overall, but there have been a couple of moments in almost every game where he seemed to switch off briefly and allowed dangerous situations to develop. Unfortunately, a similar moment contributed to Cabo Verde’s first goal. In high-pressure knockout games, those tiny moments can decide everything, which is why some of us felt Tagliafico’s experience might have been the safer choice.

       The third point was the timing of substitutions. When the team started dropping deeper instead of pressing higher, I expected Scaloni to react earlier by bringing in fresher legs and more energy upfront. We know he is capable of bold tactical changes — he has done it before. So the delay surprised me.

       Now, does this mean Scaloni was actually clueless? Of course not. Maybe he saw something we didn’t. Maybe there were fitness issues, tactical instructions, or player conditions we have no visibility into.

       I’m only explaining why, from a fan’s perspective, it looked like some decisions lacked the usual Scaloni clarity. I may be completely wrong.

       Interestingly, some of these concerns were also reflected in José Mourinho’s analysis after the match — and he is obviously infinitely more qualified than any of us to read the game. 🙂

       At the end of the day, criticism does not mean lack of faith. Scaloni has earned enormous respect. We are discussing because we care about this team.

   • Here we go but I’m the “””weirdo””” lol

     You likely don’t even know how many goals bati scored for Argentina

     How is a 4 cup run clueless

     Argentina third choice team could beat cape easily

     Laziness is inexcusable

2. Omg spain spoiled a huge chance seems like strikers these days gets confused when they have only keepr to beat

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