Argentina vs Ecuador, Eliminatorias, June 2 2012 (r)

I think the subs were just a test. Sabella did not have much to lose, he wanted to see what will happen. He still brought in Lavezzi, that was for Pipita. Sosa and for Kun, was to tighten up the MF a little bit more, Sabella was not too worried with Messi being left alone, the game was already in hand. In the future, if its a close, game I hope we see some different subs. There will be a drastic drop in attacking, if it's Sosa for Kun, even though he will try to improve the MF, it won't be that much of an improvement. The same could be said for Di Maria for Maxi.

 

ecuador got slapped in the first half. We always seem to play careless after we take a solid lead but oh well.

I also think the fullbacks don't need to be too involved in the attack when you playing the "quads" up front. I d say keep it this way even against better teams. Let them go to toe to toe with us. I would rather this than 3 DMS (including Sosa of course...) and Messi chasing shadows all game long. This will not magically solve our defensive problems anyway. Besides some people believe attack is the best defense. (yes bielsa reference lol)

 

The interchangeability of pepita, kun, lio, di confused the equas. Masche was alright. Gago really did not have that much of influence per say, the 4 upfront transported the ball really. The 2 centrales were fine. Clemente and zaba are there 'cause thats all we got at those positions. Romero again solid.

Against other teams that play more zone and load the midfield argentina would have problems. Think european teams

 

Yes attack is your best defense but Bielsa's defense was superb!

 

I am with you but there is only one problem. We don't have midfielders capable of controlling the tempo from the center position. Banega is a lost cause imo, Pastore is hot nd cold, Gago is decent but aside from side passing and fluidity don't expect much from him and then there is Sosa...

I say ******** it. No need to load the midfield with crap. Let those mighty Euros deal with our attack. We are talking about the best player in the world, 2 of the best strikers in the game ( with great off ball movement) and Di Maria who when on is more than handful.

We need continuity both in attack and defense

 

Argentina

The attack is doing well for now but you never know against strong european team in none friendly match. So far Argentina scored the most goal in qualifier, although Uruguay has one more game to play... but the draw today so its quite an adventage for Argentina.

 

Messi, Aguero, Higuain, Di Maria at the same time won't work always. It's too risky. But I'm glad it did this time. Talk about a powerhouse of attacking force. I still want Lisandro there.

 

Stopped posting because of the new ugly layout, but here I am for the game.

Wow Messi was just awesome all game, assists, nutmegs, and a great goal. Aguero and Higuain did well too they just need to know their roles a little more. Sometimes Higuain will try something complicated when he isn't that good at being creative. He should just be worried about finishing and making the good runs that he always does.

I think Sosa made more mistakes in his cameo then anyone else playing for 90 minutes. Romero is really solid and confident and still unknown to the other big countries which is an advantage for us. Garay was really solid but the other three were shaky at times. Gago and Masch played well most of the time, but some of those giveaways could cost us against a stronger team. Di Maria is working out but I still don't like him because he dives way too much.

 

On the surface someone looking at the result would think it was a comprehensive 4-0 victory.

If Sabella is the coach he is he will have sat the players down after the game and told them there is a huge amount of improvement to be done.

The side still looks unbalanced. There was cohesion in the performance against Switzerland but here attack. midfield and defence were disjointed for much of the game. They did not operate as a unit.

Perhaps it was Sabella's deliberate choice knowing Ecuador would play the Chelsea formation of 10-0-0 so he was not that bothered overly with defence but playing di Maria is a difficult one. Personally I'd prefer players play in their natural roles.

di Maria in midfield crabs to the left and can get bypassed in order to accomodate the front three. Messi is a playmaker in the sense he can pick a pass but he does not dictate the tempo like a true enganche. The team plays too fast at times front to back. Okay against Ecuador but not against stronger opposition. And the ball posession is poor and a step back from the last few games.

Part of it was unforgiveable sloppiness in the second half thinking the job is done. The team needs to up it's control of the ball as will be required against stronger opponents.

Sabella seems quite content with his philosophy than bring in a ball controlling playmaker which seems to be unfortunate and may come back to bite him in 2014.

As for the players. In defence Garay was pretty solid. Fernandez improved in the second half and showed he is an aerial threat in both boxes and a good distributor. However his lack of games this season showed in his match sharpness and fitness. He was wallowing and left for dead a couple of times.

Both fullbacks have played well recently for the seleccion and their clubs but both were poor last night making the centrebacks jobs harder. Both rarely ventured forward and their distribution was a disgrace. One or the other needed to be substituted and it would have been nice to see Matias Rodriguez get a chance. In the future for the leftback role the younger players need to be thrown in now be it Ansaldi or Tagliafico.

Gago. One and a half decent games in five recently. Apart from a role in the third goal his headless running chicken act was terrible to see. Constantly outmanouevred , outmuscled and very poor with his passing. I don't know what he is now. Defensive midfielder ? No. Central midfielder. No.

There was a time he was being compared to Redondo....... yes hard to believe. Time to see if someone like Canteros, Rinaudo can do a better job or when he has recovered from his injury Banega. Banega has everything it takes to be world class and the best in his position but then again it is Ever Banega.

Higuain got into positions as a nine but he looks a tad slower and heavier and his shooting. He seems to be taking just a fraction longer to pull the trigger which allows the defender to get back at him. It is a worry for the seleccion as Milito is past it if he was ever up for it in the first place.

Martinez is a hard working centre forward and deserves a chance but is not prolific. All the rest of the future or candidate nines are kids. Be it Simeone or Icardi who has immense potential and scored a natural predator's goal , his first senior goal for Sampdoria recently.

The others were all up to the mark in their performance although Romero was not tested much. Messi excellent, Masche too along with Kun and di Maria despite his odd placement. Sosa needs to be replaced. Brings nothing extra to the party. Ditto for Rojo. How he is ahead of Ansaldi in the selection picture beggars belief.

Setpieces were poor too attacking and defensively. Messi's corners were very average. No one has replaced Riquelme in what is a crucial facet of the modern game.

Team discipline was poor at times. Needless yellows picked up for diving and dissent which in a tournament can be crucial and referees will pick up on diving and not give decisions if they are genuine.

Having said that CONMEBOL needs to do something about the refereeing standards. They are abysmal. The first goal was offside, a couple of Ecuadorian players were extremely lucky to be on the pitch inc. whoever it was who aimed a stamp at Higuain. The linesman on that side of the pitch needs to have an eyesight test.

Still very much a work in progress.

 

I'm looking forward for the next qualifier game... friendly dont mean much anymore since Argentina win most of the time... even under Diego and Batista they beat Germany, Brazil, Spain and France, yet it proof nothing.

 

Portugal won penalty today from a dive too ... also, the ref on every world cup, they made stupid mistake constantly. I'll bet there will be lots of wrong call in next week Euro. Its hard to say about ref... they always make mistakes whether in League, Champions league, World cup or anywhere.

This one definetely a red card though

 

It may have been my stream, but I didn't notice him for such a long stretch in the 2nd half that I thought he was subbed. He did show in the first half how much of a difference maker he can be...and of course, the well taken goal.

It worked well in quick bursts, partly due to lackluster defending, partly to a clearly well-rested Messi who could pull off moves that often fail with the NT, and partly because of an almost uncanny interplay at times between the four up front. I can't trust that this team can have all those components at the same time consistently.

I actually think the midfield played a little better defensively than it did offensively (I don't count Di Maria as a midfielder really). I had no idea what Gago's role was supposed to be. I'm not sure it was clear to him either. I thought he provided very little offensively, but I don't even blame him for that. Masch started off well, but became a disaster towards the end. That pairing still holds promise though, I think. Sosa? Hmmmm? Nice pass.

I was honestly shocked by Zaba's play. I honestly don't think you can get rid of him like that though. Give him a run of 3-5 more matches. If he doesn't impress, then he can be ruled out for good and be done with. I really liked the central defenders, even against weak opposition. I thought in many ways their jobs were made harder by the midfield's play, but they acquitted themselves well. You add Collocini to the mix, and I think we may have something cooking there.

It's strange to not be overjoyed from a 4-0 performance, but anyone watching objectively has got to have the sense that something is missing in the mix. At this state, is Sabella even looking for a midfield general to control the play? I feel a little better than this side has taken steps to the point where I don't believe that with the players on the field yesterday, this side can lose against a bad side or even get a frustrating tie. However, I don't think it's immune from a real shocker against a solid side where it gets embarrassed.

 

Agree that Zabaleta needs another chance, but I think Zanetti, despite his age, should be called up as a backup. Clemente needs to go, it would be nice to see Ansaldi or Monzon get a run of matches at LB. Valeri is another player worth giving a chance, particularly since neither Banega nor Gago have convinced.

 

We won,could've played better,full backs need to improve, Sabella will make adjustments, need time to grow.

On a side note, I am going to be curious in seeing Pekerman's Colombia side tonight against Peru in Lima.

 

SM, do you have a link for that match?

 

Yeah, just go here. There will be a few pop up's here and there but just click them out. The game is in few hours, believe it's around 3pm PST. Going to watch Mexico-Brasil then Colombia-Peru.

http://www.vipbox.tv/sports/football.html

 

Thanks a lot!

 

Watching the first half of the game, and it looks like Brasil's defense looks very weak on the counters .

 

With someone who didn't watch and analyze the game this result would of been fine, i mean it is a good result, but alot of work needs to be done. The team seemed content after the first half... They stopped attacking and brought sosa (who?) in. They made multiple careless passes in our own half and lost it half the time. He brought maxi in which isnt a good choice when you had matias on the bench... and the team seemed like they brought theyre level down 50%.
If sabella keeps with this estudiantes favoring sh*t, he'll be gone before the world cup (which i wouldnt like). Fede fernandez, desabato, brana, rojo and sosa all don't deserve call ups to the national team along with salvio (still has to prove himself). Fede played an overall game for the amount he gets in at napoli. Sosa is nothing special and is a player that anyone can manipulate. Desabato is 33 and brana also.. Im sure that sabella said the qualifiers are a process, we shouldnt have players that wouldnt be at the world cup playing here or atleast trying to earn a spot. this is pure favoritism. Desabato and Brana have nothing special to them and deffinately dont deserve a call up over riquelme whose form is amazing this season. rojo doesnt even start in russia and brings nothing. we need, not per say younger players.. but players with a grit in them and wanting to earn there spot. we need players that will be here for a while not brana and desabato. atleast players that start and mean something to their clubs. this national team is a joke and will have another dissapointing worldcup with 1/3 of our team ex estudiantes with none of them deserving to be there.

 

Thanks, at the last moment I couldn't watch but it's good to have those links.

 

Fernandez should get more playing time next season at Napoli, remember the young Mascherano did not start for River Plate but was called up by Bielsa as a starter for CA04 and the Athens Olympics. Desabato, Brana, Rodriguez will all be phased out the coming 12 months, I am sure of that. Hopefully Rojo either begins to play better or is let go as well. But Sosa worries me, as I can see him being a mainstay for Sabella into the WC itself.