Argentina legend Roberto AYALA spoke about the current state of the Argentina national team, who should coach moving forward and Lionel SCALONI.
One of the most capped players for his country, Roberto AYALA played over 100 matches for Argentina. In 2006, he even played alongside current Argentina coach Lionel SCALONI at the World Cup when the two started and played against Mexico. However, when speaking with Infobae, AYALA confirmed that he didn’t really speak football with SCALONI. Here’s what he had to say:
“I haven’t spoken football with him. If he was working with SAMPAOLI, he should have similar ideas in regards to the style of play. Taking into account the new players being brought in, it appears to me something which should have been done a long time ago.”
In regards to his generation and the 2006 World Cup, AYALA had this to say:
“On an individual level, it was a successful generation but as a team, it cost us. Some will wonder if we didn’t get along but no, on the contrary. It was a very good group. I don’t know if it was all down to bad luck, it could be that at certain times, we weren’t up to the level.
“At the World Cups, luck plays a factor but at a minimum percentage. There were teams that qualified to the Round of 16 with 4 points and we (in 2002) didn’t. Against Germany, we weren’t able to maintain our advantage and we missed on penalties. It was on us and to a lesser extent, on luck.”
AYALA also spoke about the number of missing domestic based players in the current Argentina squad to play in Saudi Arabia:
“Did they lose the hunger? I don’t know, I imagine that a player from the Argentine primera would want to wear the shirt of his national team and compete. If that’s lost, it’s the fault of those that came before for not having been able to transmit (the feeling).”
When asked about who should coach the Argentina team, here’s what he had to say:
“SIMEONE, ALMEYDA, GALLARDO and POCHETTINO are coaches that need to work on a daily basis and that would be complicated for them. It has to be a name with more trajectory and baggage but I don’t know if there is one.”
