Argentina national team coach Lionel Scaloni to make changes vs. England at World Cup

1. If history is any indication, Scaloni will probably go with Nico González. Personally, though, I’d prefer Simeone. His work rate would be invaluable in helping Molina deal with England’s pace down the flank. They already have that understanding from Atlético, constantly covering for each other and working both ways. Against England, that defensive support could be just as important as what he offers going forward.

2. I sincerely hope Scaloni doesn’t fall for the “European” model of width-transition bullshit and sticks to his guns. We need to be more “Argentine”, more tough, and more lethargic against England than we have even been in this tournament.

   The trap is to think like an average EPL fanboy and decide we need to put Nico Gonzalez and Simeone’s kid from the start, and play a standard European game against the most European style team remaining int his tournament. This will be a total disaster because you cant play like that against England, at least not with the players we have.

   Let’s think about our strengths. What is our greatest strength? MIDFIELDERS. And what is our weakness? We have no wingers and fullbacks.

   So why not utilize our strength and play a more tighter, slower and more sensible game? Yeah, De Paul hasn’t been at his best, yeah Macalister hasn’t been shining bright, and yes, Enzo has been trying to play like Bellingham ever since he started living in England, but deep down they are all Argentine midfielders. Let’s shove all these midfielders and possibly even Palacios and starve England of the ball. We win by monopolizing the ball, not by playing transition football coming out of Germany.

   • Why would you want us to play more lethargic?

     • Slow and steady wins the race. In the story of Tortoise and Hare, Tortoise won the race.

       …team should be lethargic, slow in transition and walk.

       • IAM also with that

     • You play slow in midfield and FAST in final 3rd. Remember, the faster you are in defensive and middle third, the faster they are able to attack you.

   • Your suggested idea has been tried and tested and it just doesn’t work for modern football. That’s why a change is imperative.

3. Guys messi have only two games left with argentina🥲🥲
   Messi the last piece (and the ultimate talent) of our absolute golden generation of goal scorers
   Messi, dimarria, aguero, higuin(yes he made mistakes) these 4 plyaers where giving us absolute treat of worldclass goals each week.
   Hope our current and next gen will give us that consistant happines all week 😌

4. Actually 4 different media sources giving 4 different lineups
   Job done by Scaloni… he has confused the enemies😂
   #VamosAlbicelestee

5. De paul will be 100% dropped both palacios and paredes will start

   • If its for palacios better keep depaul and ask him to pass sideways and back he will do that better, why we need to drop him is just to keep creativity and passing accuracy de pauls defencive skills are not second to palacios.

   • Palacious for Molina?

   • If we drop De Paul then we have to start a winger, not another midfielder. We miss those runs by Di Maria close to the sideline. We need to start someone who can run fast through the sideline. It is better if we start Giuliano Simeone in place of De Paul and bring De Paul after we took lead in the second half 🙌🏻

     • Simione palacios will play

   • If we’re going for a back 3, there’s no space for Palacios.

6. Paredes has been outstanding on the ball, but I still don’t think he has the physical profile to be our defensive midfielder. He only recently came back from injury as well.

   Yes, he made a crucial stop against Egypt that helped us win the game, but I’m still not fully convinced by his defensive work as a No. 6, especially when it comes to be more aggressive in stopping attacks, pressing, and covering ground…We were getting destroyed in counter attacks against egypt/swiss and most times paredes was nowhere to be seen.

   I think we need someone whose main job is to chase the ball, make interceptions, and break up play, like Mascherano or Guido used to do. Maybe Palacios or Licha ( as CDM) could fill that role. Let them handle the defensive responsibilities and give Paredes the freedom to dictate play alongside Mac Allister.

   Defensively, I just don’t see enough from Paredes as a lone CDM. As a ball playing midfielder, though, he’s absolutely top class.

   • Parades has done better as DM than Mac Alister .

     • Yeah, he’s excellent as a ball playing midfielder, but both he and Mac Allister have been pretty average when it comes to their defensive duties.

       I also liked how Lisandro played much higher up the pitch in the last game after the red . I’d even be open to trying him as a CDM. He has the composure, passing quality and, most importantly, he’s defensively much more solid than Paredes or Mac Allister.

       One of the main reasons I think we’re getting overrun on counterattacks and right through the middle is that we lack a true defensive midfielder whose primary job is to break up the opposition’s play. Paredes is more focused on controlling possession and dictating the tempo, but defensively, I don’t think he’s good enough for that role.

   • Honestly, Licha would be a disaster at CDM against England. He doesn’t have the legs to cover large spaces for that position in general – he’d get eaten up by Rice and Anderson. Can’t see him dealing well with Bellingham’s runs if he does so.

     The Lisandro pushing forward and stepping into midfield thing later in the game after the red was just Scaloni pushing men forward and committing more and more to get the goal he needed. He did at against Egypt – which was a risk in itself against Egypt’s pace in behind and sometimes only had Paredes and Romero sitting back as the rest defence.

     Honestly, Paredes is the best we’ve got. Scaloni made no effort into trying to integrate Maximo Perrone, Alan Varela or Enzo Barrenechea over the last 3 years. Varela and Perrone at a minimum deserved more opportunities… but hey-ho it is what it is. We’ve gotta deal with the cards we’ve got.

     • @alexzayn10

       If this is the best we’ve got, then we’ve got a lot of trouble waiting for us, my friend.

       I have absolutely no complaints about Paredes’ attacking play, but I honestly think we’ve become extremely vulnerable defensively ever since he started playing as the CDM while Mac Allister and Enzo push higher up the pitch.

       If Lisandro gets overrun by players like Bellingham, Rice or Anderson, then so will Paredes. He doesn’t have the legs either, and his man marking and defensive duels are significantly weaker than Licha’s.

       Now The only viable option left is Palacios. We haven’t seen enough of him in that role, but he’s worth trying. Replace De Paul, play Palacios as the CDM, and move Paredes into his natural CM role alongside Enzo and Mac Allister…

       • I mean is the defensive fragility just his fault? Our entire midfield is a step off. Sure Paredes is old, Mac Allister is physically washed more than anyone else, Enzo’s sacrificed his speed for endurance and bulked up (Chelsea fans call him fat after every subpar performance) and has only been useful as a box crasher. His aerial success rate halved in 2025 to 25% compared to the year before. De Paul is older and winding down in Miami. Lisandro isn’t a great box defender and has had long-term injuries, Cristian Romero’s been riddled with injuries and has played for a mediocre club like Tottenham which rubs off. Tagliafico is older and less agile. Julian Alvarez’s ankle blew up against Arsenal and is still carrying it.

         It’s not Paredes alone that struggles physically. We as a team aren’t the strongest athletically. I haven’t even gotten into Giuliano Simeone lol

         Palacios is a good RDP replacement. If we consider 4-2-3-1 as our formation, he’d be great in a double pivot alongside Paredes, I’d have Enzo as the LW in that system to be similar to what Blaise Matuidi was doing in the 2018 World Cup, sitting in the halfspaces, Messi at RW and probably Mac Allister at #10 – but anyone of Paz, Lo Celso and Almada would be better than him.

         Truth is, outside of that, in a 3-5-2, Palacios wouldn’t get in. Guy hasn’t placed a through ball since 2018 from the looks of things but does a lot of defensive hard work – I do like him as a player though. We have no clue about his fitness level given Scaloni’s lack of rotation – but he has a good portfolio of performances for Leverkusen so wouldn’t mind him playing. He’d still be our best RB probably lol

         Paredes is the best tempo controller we have in this team and the best in our squad at breaking lines with threaded passes besides Messi. Given how our initial game plan is to try dominate the ball (which we have been failing at due to the lack of form, movement and athleticism of our players) Paredes suits that purpose better.

   • Paredes hasn’t been playing as a defensive midfielder tho, he’s been playing as a pivot. Scaloni hasn’t played a typical number 6 (Or, Argentine number 5) in our midfield since 2022. ALL our midfielders needs to put in immense shift in defense, hence Paz and Barco doesn’t play. Scaloni never trusted these two to be effective enough in defensive phases.

7. Both should be in the first team, in place of Molina as well as De Paul. Simeone on the right. Gonzalez on the left. Argentina will look like a different and much more dynamic team.

   Paredes and Tagliafico can play the role of extra defenders during counters if those guys are too far forward.

8. That means RDP will get the spot by default and no changes will be seen.

   • Yup. As much as I want to believe in Scaloni in making positive changes, all precedence points to otherwise.

   • Nah they wouldn’t report a changed team if they didn’t know there was a changed team. Would lose credibility otherwise.

     Alexis still starting is the big issue here. Almada came on and did better than him – neither are our best player in that position but we know Scaloni won’t use him.

9. A new ball is going to be used in the semis, they say it’s only color and graphics change

   • Correct. Just gimmick stuff, no actual change.

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