King Leo
Banned
Tevez has not been called since he the Copa America. This game has been both very entertaining and a true test to the improvement of the Argentina defense. Still more work is needed to beat big teams like Spain and Germany (ironically both European teams todau were caught with a comeback surprise by their visitors). Sabella did a good job. Alexis was very dangerous. Why can't he be this active with Barca?
Higuain will be sadly missed this coming weekend. NOT! still love this guy when he puts on the blue and white.
Higuain will be sadly missed this coming weekend. NOT! still love this guy when he puts on the blue and white.
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XxBradKennedyxX
New member
Argentina havent qualified yet, they play 16 games....
X
xaviniesta
Guest
chile argentina - what a game that was 
this is why i love south american football.
chile is still the most attractive national team in the world though
hope they will qualify to the WC.
like ray hudson said, it was an honour to watch this game.
4 teams go trough, 5th will play with the asia/oceania winner. could be 6 teams for SA to play in world cup (?)
this is why i love south american football.chile is still the most attractive national team in the world though
hope they will qualify to the WC.like ray hudson said, it was an honour to watch this game.
4 teams go trough, 5th will play with the asia/oceania winner. could be 6 teams for SA to play in world cup (?)
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Good win for Argentina, the defensive mids need to show for the ball more though, and Romero needs to stop hoofing at every opportunity FFS 
Chile are a very good team that are wasteful in front of goal, nothing new I guess, that's how they were at the world cup as well. Their pressing is amazing though, disrupted Spain like crazy at the world cup too, I've never seen Xavi and Iniesta lose that many balls in a match till that game, they absolutely dominated Argentina the first 15 mins and could have gone up a couple if they could finish, Argentina's defense was surprisingly up for it and did decent to wave the storm.
Anyone know the possession Stats for the Chile-Argentina game?
Chile are a very good team that are wasteful in front of goal, nothing new I guess, that's how they were at the world cup as well. Their pressing is amazing though, disrupted Spain like crazy at the world cup too, I've never seen Xavi and Iniesta lose that many balls in a match till that game, they absolutely dominated Argentina the first 15 mins and could have gone up a couple if they could finish, Argentina's defense was surprisingly up for it and did decent to wave the storm.
Anyone know the possession Stats for the Chile-Argentina game?
AURELIUS
Member
Perhaps not. I wrote this earlier on Bigsoccer *and cannot be bothered to write it out again so I've C&P it. At present Sabella is playing a very traditional 4-2-2-2 but as I come to later one that requires active laterals to prevent it becoming narrow and confined and the second tier of attacking mids to tuck in and cover. Not always the best thing when you have di Maria as seen against Peru (although it wasn't malicious at all).
Jara should have been red carded as well yesterday and Higuain in his earlier clash with him should have been awarded a penalty. The side is moving forward in the right direction and it will score against anyone. People say the Argentine defence isn't brilliant but which team in the world right now has vintage world class defenders compared to earlier ages ? Germany for instance were exposed notably Boateng and Badstuber. Spain rely on ball retention like Argentina 2005-7 to cover their defence.
2014 might be just a tournament where attack might prevail over defence for once as opposed to recent World Cups. And with the atomic flea becoming the leader of a very united, happy and confident band of players who knows ? People like Tevez can stick to playing golf. I don't trust him at all to not disrupt the harmony of the camp. He has ego issues. Who knows if he forced Pekerman's hand in 2006 or Maradona in 2010 to be included (although in the latter's case being crackers wouldn't help or a dispute with Veron).
*Firstly let's dispense with this idea Masche should be a centreback. He has not got the height or awareness of the back line of a natural centre back. He has been exposed at Barca several times. River Plate coaches are not idiot's in that they saw that his natural position was defensive midfielder.
He should be in there for his ability to shield the defence and ability to play the ball short and long when required.
Coming to Zabaleta's defence. I already mentioned the lack of coverage infront of him and indeed Campagnaro that allowed Chile to overload the flanks several times. With Guinazu who seem's to be picking a lot of unnecessary flak infront he settled down immediately and made some storming challenges.
That Masche look's more comfortable than ever is because he know's there are not some clueless chickens running around behind him.
Romero yesterday made some fine stop's although his punching needs work still. He has improved his distribution much as Messi's setpiece deliveries have now laid to rest the ghost of Riquelme.
Fernandez and Garay ? Garay is not my personal choice. I'd prefer Musacchio or in time Pezzella. But both were dominant in the air something that has been absent from this side for a while. Fernandez and Ezequiel are real targets for Messi.
We've seen that in both of the last games and Fernandez has a very good record for a defender in terms of scoring. So we now have a genuine threat at free kicks and corners. Again something that has not been capitalized since Heinze dived in 2010 for his stooping finish.
Free open play is great to score from but more often than not setpieces are a key determining factor in matches at this level.
Both are no nonsense when they need to be although Federico needs to be a bit more calm (he managed to slice the ball on a couple of occasions) and Fernandez is an excellent passer of the ball both short and long. Great defensive headers, blocks and chasing the opponents and blocking passing oppurtunities particularly in the second half forcing Chile to shoot from distance and protecting that box far better.
Nonetheless even for the chance for Medel the effort of Zabaleta was enough to put him off. In previous editions the defenders who have just watched and thrown their hands in the air with Dimi brushing his ponytail and Heinze yelling at the sky.
Gago needs to stop his concentration slips. Again I'd prefer Banega in time as he offers more physicality in defence. di Maria did set one goal up and made an excellent defensive challenge but was below par as was Kun to a degree. Tiredness perhaps. Pipita as I thought after the game against Uruguay would score against Chile and he did.
No faulting him or Leo who is growing and growing although both he and Kun need to follow Sabella's instructions to defend from the front and Leo missed 2 oppurtunities with Pipita.
As far as I can see we are playing a traditional 4-2-2-2.
-----------------------------Romero------------------------------------
Campagnaro-----Fernandez------Garay----------Zabaleta-------
------------------Gago-------Mascherano--------------------------
------------------Messi---------di Maria--------------------------
------------------Higuain-------Aguero--------------------------
Which can easily change to a 4-2-4. It requires Messi and di Maria to tuck in to protect the fullbacks and conversely both fullbacks to attack to provide the necessary width.
We didn't see it yesterday from either lateral. Rojo was missed. Partly because Chile was taking them the other way whereas Uruguay were content to sit back but nonetheless an attacking fullback in this setup is also a defensive measure forcing the opposition to go the other way.
The predominant axis of attack is to the left in this with Messi and di Maria due to their left footedness creating space on the right but never exploited.
Without the laterals you see Gago more on the fringes and flanks as in the first half which when the ball is lost as it was several times leaves Masche on his own and a large gap between those up the pitch and the defence. Zaba on a rare foray was also caught like this. di Maria was nowhere and as the back three of Campy, Fed and Garay move over to cover it allowed Chile to gain an unmarked man on what was Campy's flank.
All from a failure to tuck in from the midfield.
With Guinazu for Higuain the front man gets isolated and Messi pushed on loses contact with the midfield . We've had the 3 defensive midfield from Basile even with Sabella in Colombia which saw the front two wander around helplessly looking for where the ball was.
It invites pressure. Sabella needs to stop this and ensure a bit better retention of the ball. It was fine at times in patches in the game as against Uruguay (we weathered the Chilean assaults reasonably well) but could be better and this is an effective defence in itself but the game is more geared to Sabella's idea of counterattack at pace and soaking up pressure than methodical approach play (although against Uruguay there was a good balance between the two).
I'm pretty sure Sabella will blood more kids once the qualification is achieved and also in friendlies coming up. The domestic squad should be for the most promising kids.
Possibles for 2014 should inc. at least one young keeper:
Andrada, Gazzanig-ga, Martinez
Defenders: Pezzella and Musacchio in central defence, Peruzzi and Ansaldi as laterals (Ansaldi needs to move from Kazan ASAP. He has played well in the CL SM and has all the necessary attributes to be a success for the seleccion) and the other Lisandro Lopez.
Midfield: Pastore needs to wake up and develop his awareness and determination. Lamela, Mugni, Centurion, Cirigiliano and Yacob along with Ever as well. And Mino as a left sided player for di Maria or indeed Gaitan.
Forwards: Hmmm. Definitely Martinez. Not using him has disappointed me. And a target nine of sorts. Who knows ? The way young di Santo has developed over the last season from a weakling youth into a determined young man as a player has been impressive. Even cast the net further with players like Nicolas Spolli in defence for example.
AURELIUS
Member
It might have looked that way but Argentina had twice the number of chances. And in the second half Argentina protected their box well forcing many longer range efforts which went wide without threatening the goal. Had Argentina indeed Leo been a bit sharper they could have scored a hatful.
This group of four are just full of goals. As predicted Pipita popped up with his customary goal after a quieter time against Uruguay. It is also pleasing to see Rojo attempt to score and Gago although his effort might have been better suited for the Pumas and a real threat at setpieces. Fernandez has already scored versus Brazil and he and Garay have been just inches away from scoring again.
King Leo
Banned
Barcelona and Real Madrid split the cost of the rented private jet 50/50 to get their players back ASAP to Spain as every hour counts.
So the couple merengue Higuain and Di Maria, enjoyed the trip with Barca's Messi and Mascherano. Sucks for Alexis who had to put up with the sarcasm from los cuatro fantásticos. He ended up taking this photo for them.
View attachment 6148
that aside I thought Alexis had a good game and so did his team.
So the couple merengue Higuain and Di Maria, enjoyed the trip with Barca's Messi and Mascherano. Sucks for Alexis who had to put up with the sarcasm from los cuatro fantásticos. He ended up taking this photo for them.
View attachment 6148
that aside I thought Alexis had a good game and so did his team.
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Paganinisrvnge
New member
I can't wait to see more Argentina matches. Do they have any friendlies before the next round of qualifiers? Also, who else agrees with me that excluding Tevez and Lavezzi is the best thing Sabella has done?
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