Roberto PEREYRA has kicked off the English Premier League season in style scoring two great goals in a 2-0 win against Brighton.
Roberto PEREYRA who scored just five goals in all of last season in the Premier League already bagged two on the first day of the season, one of which is a goal of the season candidate. Watford were awarded a corner kick in the 35th minute, a cross sent in found the former River Plate man’s right foot and a volley into the back of the net gave Watford the lead.
4 – Roberto Pereyra has scored four goals in his last five Premier League games at Vicarage Road; this after netting three in his previous 19. Buzzing. pic.twitter.com/ZVDx0qsj0l
6 – Roberto Pereyra has been directly involved in each of Watford's last six goals in the Premier League, scoring five and assisting the other one. Fundamental. pic.twitter.com/tztysM5nSq
An absolutely wonderful goal to kick start his season was followed by a second just nine minutes after the break. PEREYRA received the ball on the edge of the penalty area as he cut in from the goalkeeper’s right and beat him from a tight angle.
Meanwhile, Roberto Pereyra with 2 beautiful goals for Watford. Forza Tucumano! pic.twitter.com/6xWKznDtDZ
Rumors are already circulating as to which names will be called to the Argentina team for next month’s friendly matches.
Newly crowned COTIF U20 champions Lionel SCALONI and Pablo AIMAR have a lot of work to do with the senior Argentina squad. Their first test will be in September against Guatemala and Colombia in a set of friendly matches to be contested in the United States. For many, this is seen not only as a general fresh start but as an entirely new team which is to be constructed for the future.
Several names are already being rumored to be selected for the squad. The Inter attacking duo of Lautaro MARTINEZ and Mauro ICARDI are rumored to both not only get called-up but would be set to start. Not only those two but Paulo DYBALA, Giovani LO CELSO and goalkeeper Franco ARMANI.
Reunión en AFA: Scaloni y Aimar tienen en la cabeza que Lautaro Martínez e Icardi sean los delanteros titulares en los amistosos de septiembre. Que dybala también lo sea igual que Lo Celso y Armani. Están averiguando Cómo está Romero de su lesión. Hay 45 futbolistas en borrador
AFA president Claudio TAPIA spoke about a number of topics, including Lionel MESSI, the Argentina National Team and much more.
Under fire president of the Argentina federation, TAPIA’s decisions as well as those within the AFA have been questioned regarding many things. TAPIA stated that it was a mistake to say that the Argentina National Team belonged to Lionel MESSI. A massive thank you to Juan Arango (make sure to follow him @JuanG_Arango on Twitter) for translating the interview. Here’s what TAPIA he had to say:
“We made a mistake saying the national team was MESSI’s. He’s a human being and I think it was a mistake throwing all the responsibility on him. He can make a difference, but he is another player (on the squad). Football is a team game. There is no one payer that can win a World Cup.
“If we keep think that way, we will be in bad shape. We have to leave MESSI alone. We thought he could save us and that’s a mistake. This can’t happen again. We are looking at a project to be contenders again. But we have to do things right.”
In regards to the upcoming coach of the country, the AFA were thinking of contacting Manchester City’s Pep GUARDIOLA. Here were his comments about it:
“We asked about GUARDIOLA, but it was too difficult for us. We asked about GUARDIOLA and it was impossible. It would have cost us a lot of money. We spoke with ANGELICI. You have to have tremendous amount of backing (money). It is quite expensive, we’d have to liquidated (assets) and we still might not have enough.”
TAPIA did not even know how much other National Team coaches were being paid.
“We knew that there were coaches that earned as much as Jorge SAMPAOLI, but when we investigated, we didn’t know that it was THAT much. But we did make inquiries, we looked to have discussions, but it ended there.”
Regarding Alejandro SABELLA, Diego SIMEONE and Mauricio POCHETTINO potentially taking over as Argentina coach, TAPIA said there is still a lot left to do:
“ANGELICI didn’t speak with SABELLA and I didn’t speak to PEKERMAN, we haven’t spoken to anyone. We have to first have to have a project. We have to have a national team commission, we have to speak to the right people and then find a person that is going move the project along.
“I would like to hear the opinions of MENOTTI, BILARDO, BASILE, BASILE, MARTINO, BIELSA, BAUZA and many others to see what we have to correct. We also have to listen to historic players. This project has to have the best choice, for everyone.
“There are several coaches that could coach Argentina, but we can’t just look at one. I like POCHETTINO, SIMEONE and GALLARDO. They are good coaches. We can’t make an urgent choice because things come out badly if done urgently.
“We have to reset everything, this transition will help us cure ourselves from the wounds left by Jorge SAMPAOLI. We have to be clear as to what we want to do in order for us to not make the same mistakes.
“(Lionel) SCALONI is a young coach with personality and capability. He already has his badges, he like AIMAR are from the national team. They know what it means to wear the jersey. SCALONI could be up to the task, he was SAMPAOLI’s assistant when he was at Sevilla.
“I don’t regret hiring SAMPAOLI. when we went after him, no one complained. Today, in hindsight, it is very easy to blame him. We wanted to acquire the identity that his teams had and with Argentina we could not find it.”
Once more, a big thank you to Juan Arango (make sure to follow him @JuanG_Arango on Twitter) for translating.
A total of 15 Argentine players will take part in this season’s English Premier League.
Last season’s league winners Manchester City will continue to count on their two Argentine representatives, Sergio AGUERO and Nicolas OTAMENDI. Meanwhile, neighboring Manchester United will have Marcos ROJO and Sergio ROMERO although ROMERO will be the second choice goalkeeper.
For Arsenal, Unai EMERY comes in as coach to replace long time Arsene WENGER but Emiliano MARTINEZ will likely find minutes hard to come by with Petr CECH and Bernd LENO ahead of him in the goalkeeping pecking order.
Chelsea have Willy CABALLERO, who had a disastrous FIFA World Cup with Argentina as their back-up goalkeeper. Thibaut COURTOIS has joined Real Madrid but the west London side have signed Athletic Bilbao goalkeeper KEPA.
Willy Caballero, Chelsea.
Long time servant of Crystal Palace Julian SPERONI has been with the club since 2004 and now 39 years old, only played 11 matches for his club last season.
One time hot prospect Luciano VIETTO has joined his first club in England as he made a season long loan deal switch over to Fulham. The former Racing Club striker will hope to revitalize his career in England.
Runner up with Argentina at the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Federico FERNANDEZ remains in the English Premier League. After being relegated to the Championship last season with Swansea, FERNANDEZ has joined Newcastle United.
Tottenham Hotspur boast the only Argentine manager in the Premier League with Mauricio POCHETTINO at the helm. They also have the most Argentine players in one club in England with Erik LAMELA, Juan FOYTH and goalkeeper Paulo GAZZANIGA (one of five Argentine goalkeepers in the league) all wearing the legendary kit.
Erik LAMELA recently signed a contract renewal which would keep him at the club until 2022 and will hope that a proper run of form could get him back in the Argentina National Team. Former Estudiantes defender Juan FOYTH made only eight appearances last season, not a single one coming in the league. Paulo GAZZANIGA will be the second choice goalkeeper with World Cup winner Hugo Lloris as first choice.
Erik Lamela, Tottenham.
For Watford, it’s Roberto PEREYRA who like Erik LAMELA, will hope to get minutes and impress enough to get called-up to the Argentina team.
West Ham United have two Argentine players but will only be able to count on one for the foreseeable future. Manuel LANZINI who missed out on the World Cup due to injury is expected to be out for most of this season. That leaves veteran Pablo ZABALETA as the only Argentine in the squad.
Here’s the entire list of Argentine players:
Arsenal:
Emiliano MARTINEZ
Chelsea:
Willy CABALLERO
Crystal Palace:
Julian SPERONI
Fulham:
Luciano VIETTO
Manchester City:
Sergio AGUERO
Nicolas OTAMENDI
Manchester United:
Marcos ROJO
Sergio ROMERO
Newcastle United:
Federico FERNANDEZ
Tottenham Hotspur:
Juan FOYTH
Paulo GAZZANIGA
Erik LAMELA
Watford:
Roberto PEREYRA
West Ham United:
Manuel LANZINI
Pablo ZABALETA
Here are the English Premier League matches for this weekend:
Friday:
Manchester United (Marcos ROJO, Sergio ROMERO) vs. Leicester City (Leonardo ULLOA)
Saturday:
Newcastle United (Federico FERNANDEZ) vs. Tottenham (Juan FOYTH, Paulo GAZZANIGA, Erik LAMELA)
Huddersfield vs. Chelsea (Willy CABALLERO)
Bournemouth vs. Cardiff
Watford (Roberto PEREYRA) vs. Brighton
Fulham (Luciano VIETTO) vs. Crystal Palace (Julian SPERONI)
Wolves vs. Everton
Sunday:
Southampton vs. Burnley
Liverpool vs. West Ham (Manuel LANZINI, Pablo ZABALETA)
Arsenal (Emiliano MARTINEZ) vs. Manchester City (Sergio AGUERO, Nicolas OTAMENDI)
Luciano VIETTO has joined Fulham while Federico FERNANDEZ is off to Newcastle United.
Fulham have signed Atletico Madrid forward Luciano VIETTO on a loan deal. The former Racing Club man has bounced around since moving to Europe but now he has landed in England. Now 24, VIETTO has signed a season long loan deal and had this to say about his move over to his new club.
“I’m very happy to come to the club and sign. I’m very excited to get started with the team tomorrow. It’s an important change for me because this is my first experience here in England. I hope to do as well as possible.”
VIETTO first signed with Atletico in 2015 (he was at Villarreal beforehand) where he was later loaned out to Sevilla and Valencia.
Argentina international Federico FERNANDEZ has made the switch and joined Newcastle United. A £6 million move has taken the former Swansea man to Newcastle. FERNANDEZ, now 29 years old, played 30 times for his club last season but couldn’t prevent them from being relegated to the Championship.
