Argentina

soul24rage

Senior Member
Midfield looks powerful and getting better once Enzo and Mac Allister get moves to bigger clubs. Central defense is also good. Fullbacks would need some improvement, but are serviceable. Width is their main problem and Garnacho would have to really explode and get that starting spot. Maybe someone else for the other side. Striker with Alvarez starter and Lautaro as option is good.

I would also not be surprised if the 352 becomes the main formation with the depth of upcoming CBs such as Foyth, Medina, Senesi, Nehuen Perez.

This team gives a lot option in terms of tactical flexibility and Scaloni has shown to be flexible depending on the characteristics of the opponent during the WC.

Though, I do think that a tall striker would be very helpful as the Netherlands showed vs Argentina.
 

Birdy

Senior Member
Lol. Meh football ? Revisionism at it's finest. They won at the Maracana. They dominated Holland for most of that game, ditto Croatia and France. People coming up with excuses well you know the French team was under the weather. Didn't look like it when they were given a route back in by the penalty after being dominated for eighty minutes.

Scaloni's tactics were excellent. Some young players who will be the core in 2026 came in and played very well and they gradually built towards the final getting over the loss of Lo Celso and Gonsalez who had been important cogs in La Scaloneta.

They played some sound defensive football which you need to win tournaments and also some excellent possession football too. Had it not been for some poor finishing, the odd misplaced pass some of the scorelines would have been more emphatic. This is an excellent team with a special ingredient like Messi. As in 1986 when Diego was and it was a functional but very decent side that just needed a coaching shake up. The players in that side remember had played for RP and Independiente and beaten the best club sides in Europe.

The sole criticism lies at Scaloni being reluctant and slow to make changes and the right ones ie Paredes against Holland and sitting on a lead. Congratulations to the seleccion and all Argentina fans everywhere. Now the task is to win in 2026, another Copa and the u20 title with some of the superb talent esp. in midfield that is emerging.

The sole regret is that Messi should have more than one World Cup. 2006 Pekermans awful subs, 2010 Maradona is not a football coach, 2014 poor finishing and 2018 a shambles with some terrible players chosen and awful tactics.

Hi mate, welcome to BF

1) Yeah, it's meh football if you compare it to the football we watch at club level, and the football the greatest NTs historically, like Spain 2010 for example, have played
They proved better than all other NTs in this tournament, I can agree with that, but overstatement is not my thing

2) Good defensive football for sure, but that alone doesn't indicate greatness. In possession, they weren't able to break buses and most of their goals come either from counters or from opposition's mistakes

3) Scaloni was great I agree, the biggest revelation IMO of this Argentina NT, along with some great performances by Enzo, McAllister, and Alvarez who were their best players

4) Messi's performance had nothing to to with Diego 1986 who was making the impossible seem easy. Messi in this tournament was just the same old Messi we see at club level with just 2 moments that reminded us of his past self. Sorry to disappoint you, that's my judgment on him

5) Don't agree that Messi deserved more WCs. ARgentina either didn't have good coaches OR didn't have good players all the years he has been playing.
They didn't even deserve to go to the final in 2014, it was a super meh team despite Messi being individually still at his prime or thereabouts.
He was lucky that a good coach along with some great youngsters appeared out of the blue, so he had the chance to win it at the end of his career
 

AURELIUS

Member
Hi mate, welcome to BF

1) Yeah, it's meh football if you compare it to the football we watch at club level, and the football the greatest NTs historically, like Spain 2010 for example, have played
They proved better than all other NTs in this tournament, I can agree with that, but overstatement is not my thing

2) Good defensive football for sure, but that alone doesn't indicate greatness. In possession, they weren't able to break buses and most of their goals come either from counters or from opposition's mistakes

3) Scaloni was great I agree, the biggest revelation IMO of this Argentina NT, along with some great performances by Enzo, McAllister, and Alvarez who were their best players

4) Messi's performance had nothing to to with Diego 1986 who was making the impossible seem easy. Messi in this tournament was just the same old Messi we see at club level with just 2 moments that reminded us of his past self. Sorry to disappoint you, that's my judgment on him

5) Don't agree that Messi deserved more WCs. ARgentina either didn't have good coaches OR didn't have good players all the years he has been playing.
They didn't even deserve to go to the final in 2014, it was a super meh team despite Messi being individually still at his prime or thereabouts.
He was lucky that a good coach along with some great youngsters appeared out of the blue, so he had the chance to win it at the end of his career

National teams do not play week in and out together. But club football is so much better. They still played as a unit.

Teams that win tournaments even in the past the great ones are tight at the back or control possession. They broke the bus many times as their xG shows. Poor finishing let them down.

In Argentina and those with eyes both Diego and Lionel are feted. They are greats not just of Argentinian football but world football. Messi makes the impossible easy. Diego today would be unplayable with a team of people genuinely protectng him, carpets to play on and thugs like Gentile consigned to the scrapheap.

Messi deserved more WCs. Argentina has always mucked up at World Cups thanks to it's AFA. 1934 and 1938 not bothering to attend. 1950 as well. 1958 banning the players who won the Copa as they had moved to Europe (they had beaten comfortably the Brazilian side that went onto win in 58) and recently a whole series of mismanagement failures until Tapia stepped in. He Messi was unlucky that Pekerman blundered at the critical moment, that he had Diego appointed as a coach for no reason other than his name and that in 2014 Kun was not fit, di Maria was injured from the early moments of the QF against Belgium and 2018 the whole side was in a shambles thanks to the unlucky mismanagement of the AFA and corruption in it's finances meaning.
 

DonAK

President of FC Barcelona
No guarantee players will develop at the rate they can or should, or even fulfill their potentials, but their future is bright.

I think more than half of this squad will also be at what should be their peak years in mid to late 20s in 2026. Now of course a lot of us already knew they were contenders pre-Qatar apart from one or two people who called everyone who thought so for idiots, kinda ironic who they ended up looking like the idiots, but anyway it is what it is.

FksqVQGWAAEcH_L
 

Windhook

Well-known member
I gladly take a huge L for not believing in this squad before the tournament.

Will be interesting once Messi retires who will be the leader of this core. I bet on Mac Allister, Enzo and Julian Alvarez.
 

soul24rage

Senior Member
There's a few others that are not in that image like

-Franco Carboni (19, Inter Milan)
-Facundo Medina (23, Lens)
-Valentin Barco (18, Boca Jrs.)
-Federico Gerth (18, GK - Scaloni brought him as the sparring GK in the WC and has great potential)

Alan Varela has been linked to Barca as a Busi replacement, will be interesting to see how he develops.

Imo, Argentina needs a new LB to compete well in the WC26.

I gladly take a huge L for not believing in this squad before the tournament.

Will be interesting once Messi retires who will be the leader of this core. I bet on Mac Allister, Enzo and Julian Alvarez.

I would say Enzo. Also, Garnacho as the team's best attacking weapon.
 

raskolnikov

Well-known member
It will probably be a soft opponent to give away a show at la bombonera as world champions.
Likely he goes post 100 goals then.
 

Horatio

You're welcome
FlAuwyqXwAM9bc1



Fuck me looks great


[MENTION=20218]Horatio[/MENTION] ?

Yeah I saw that one and really liked it. I'll probably won't get it though. Got the Argentina 3 star jersey and that is enough for now. Have my eyes set on getting some Barca hoodies next. But they need to restock the store.
 

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