The All Purpose Other Teams Thread - Pt. III (R)

Excellent point and so true, only 4 years ago we had perhaps a slight issue with defence and goalkeeping now we broke the whole "cart" as it may . Hence we need to nurture players like Pastore and Banega in the national system and give them ample opportunity. However instead we are playing useless friendlies with useless players against useless teams and losing all for the want of quick money .

 

Eh? It isn't like they can be called for the domestic team friendlies. And if you are talking about the friendlies against Nigeria and Poland they didn't really make any money from that.

 

my point is this, they are useless friendlies irregardless, seriously why bother ?? Instead of trying yet another player and or system we should concentrate on sticking to a game plan, building a core group and rebuilding some confidence. can't do that using a plethora of players , losing to second rate teams and playing games that don't matter, can we ?

 

According to Batista he's thinking beyond Copa América and the qualifiers, and well friendlies can be used for that, however that was a failed experiment clearly, I don't think we should worry about that again. And besides those the call ups he made in the other friendlies have been nearly the same, so I don't think that there's a lacking core or anything.

 

Batista has alot of failed experiments and La Seleccion isn't a place where you can fail.

He failed at the U20 level but he eventually got the team to play pretty in the U21 Toulon tournament. It seems to be hit or miss with Batista but unfortunately we don't have the option to fail this time around.

 

Yeah but he did help us get gold in Beijing. As I have said, I am happy the team has this much time to work together.

 

I don't know if this has been posted already but youtube is gonna be broadcasting the copa live.

http://www.youtube.com/copaamerica#p/c/31/byg8wW2TLRs

 

Bielsa is reported to have taken the Athletic Bilbao spot. Interesting move, he is taking on a fierce challenge. Bilbao only has players that are Basque, it was reported he had turned down Inter's head coaching job. Best of luck to El Loco at Bilbao.

 

This is true. However their academy is not too shabby and he can look forward to working with youngsters like Munain, Javi Martinez and Llorente for instance.

Best of luck to him. Would have been interesting to see him at Internazionale.

 

He probably did not want to go to a club where he would have the spotlight on him day in and day out. I think he learned his lesson with us as well as the drama that happened in Chile. He has a great attacking mind and lets see where he takes them.

 

Really ? Please name the core. Is Cambiasso and Zanetti 2014 material? Is the so called 4-3-3 really working? Banega with the national team is still very green and unexperienced. Do we have the back four sorted out? Heck is Romero good enough to be our number 1 , who else could be??? Don't mean to be a pest Andres, not at all, but all i see is the same posturing, the same mistakes, the same useless politics all the while some very good talent gets older, is used incorrectly, is not picked and our team is underachieving. Am I wrong???

 

No. I agree with you entirely. All the planning seems haphazard, muddled with no long term thought applied to it. Certainly since 2007 when there was a degree of direction from the age group sides to the senior seleccion.

That defence needs a serious overhaul and yet the best of the kids have yet to be blooded in it. Perhaps Batista will make the cuts after the Copa.

I do think he could have made better use of the friendlies but they are seemingly more arranged with the purpose of promoting brand Argentina and lining the pockets of certain people than with any constructive thought as to how they will help define the team.

SupaMario you are right I think. They had a decent season and it will be interesting to see if they can make the top four as one of the traditional heavyweights of the Spanish game.

Also if Malaga can make any impact too with their financial clout.

 

But the U20 wasn't much of an experiment on anything, the squad they could get was far from the ideal, and that was because the players weren't released.

On Marca they say that on Sport.es however they say he may be heading to Inter.

Banega will be part of the core like most of the other players that have been regulars so far in the cycle, Messi, Mascherano, Romero, Lavezzi, Banega(he may be "new" but he's a regular now), Rojo(Idem Banega), Zanetti may still be around for 2014 and others which may be part on occassion(For example Tevez and Agüero who were part before but had a "hiatus" if you want to call it that) and others that have been called up but need more opportunities like Zabaleta(who's finally getting some recognition by the media) and Garay. Think of this, the qualifiers are a long way and before the World Cup, with all the other matches between that, that we have the Copa América, while it may be important or not but the ultimate goal is the World Cup 3 years down the road, so far Batista has coached in a handful friendlies we have to see how this team performs in the Copa América and from there what can be done to fix whatever is there to be fixed. Unfortunately there's not much for us to do other than wait and see.

 

Well Andres I hope you are right, but since 1994 I heard nothing but talk and in all these years I have seen greats, true greats lift no international trophy and then retire, a shame Andres and if this makes me the most `sour`poster on this here board than so be it .

 

I don't know why so many people are burning calories discussing the WC in 2014, but not Copa America?

Do you think we are good enough that we don't have to put our best 11 to win La Copa? Do you really think that we should tinker with giving more minutes to Banega over a more inform Cambiasso? Don't even argue who is better (Banega v. Cambiasso) that's not the point, the point is that if Batista believes and is convinced that Cambiasso is better, he must play Cambiasso.

In order to win La Copa we can't afford to play anything less than our best. This is a must win tournament for this generation of Argentinean players. Messi, Tevez, Aguero, DiMaria, Mascherano, Higuain, Banega, Cambiasso and Co., need to win this tournament. Otherwise, where do we go from here? If they can't win a South American tournament played in our home soil, where are they going to win anything?

This is a must win tournament. And Batista needs to play the best 11 and play-for-it all, win is the only option.

 

I agree, this is a must win tournament for Argentina - animically, the repercussions can be catastrophic if the NT does not win it. Banega seems to be a sure starter for Batista, he will play either Mascherano-Cambiasso-Banega on a 4-3-3 or Mascherano-Banega-Pastore-DiMaria in a 4-4-2 formation. I really hope Pareja has a great tournament, he can then become the defense anchor for the three-year run finalizing into the next WC.

 

batista said he's thinking is beyond copa, so he would be forgiven in case he failed at copa

with players like messi, mascherano, aguero, higuain, di maria, etc plus home adventage, winning the thropy should be the target.

 

Of course it is a must win, how can it not be? We have the team to win and our road to the final seems to be written.


I see the groups ending like this.

Group A-
Argentina
Colombia
Bolivia
Costa Rica

Group B-
Brazil
Paraguay
Ecuador
Venezuela

Group C-
Uruguay
Chile
Mexico
Peru



I do not see us having much trouble in our group. Okay Colombia are there but I am not overly worried about the Colombians. The Bolivians are the Costa Ricans(U23 side). I see us beating the Bolivians by 4 goals, and the Costa Ricans are going to be a poor side(not sure if La Volpe is managing them at the Copa).

If we win our group, I believe we match up against the best 3rd place team. That could be Ecuador,Peru,Mexico(these are the 3 options). Ecuador has the likes of Valencia who is well known for playing for United. They also have Caicedo who plays in La Liga for Levante.

Peru will be managed by Markarián who is a well respected manager. His team will be up for it. The game vs the Mexicans will decide it which brings me to Mexico. Mexico will be also bringing a U23 team, very much like the Costa Ricans. The Mexican team is playing now in the Gold Cup, will not be the same as the Copa. The Dos Santos brothers(Gio and Jonathan) will likely be there. Both coming up the ranks in the Barcelona academy, Gio has since left and Jonathan is in their reserve squad. So, we can again, play Mexico, again(That will make it, the 05 Confederations Cup, 2006 World Cup Round of 16, Copa America 07, World Cup 2010).



If we get passed that, then we play the winner of the runner-up up of our group(Lets say Colombia) and the runner up up group C, which could be either Chile, or Uruguay(Uruguay and Chile are in group C together). If Chile was being led by El Loco, I would give them the edge because their games would be played western part of the country, in Mendoza and I believe Santa Fe. So that is a group that I will keep a close eye on it. Who knows which Chile we are going to see? They have a starlet in Alexis Sanchez who can put on a show. Uruguay's last group game will be against the Mexicans in La Plate. Which is a short distance from Uruguay. So it will be either Chile or Uruguay but I think Uruguay will win that group.

On the other side of the bracket, Brazil will get the 2nd 3rd place team, which will likely be Ecuador. Which I think this will make them play 2x in a row(Not sure if that is allowed, might want to get clarification on that before I can really slot that in). Winner of group C, will get the runner up up of Brazil's group, which will probably be Paraguay. A Uruguay y Paraguay match will be a great! great game! to watch. This is a game that probably can go to shootouts, Tata Martino did a good job, and Lucas Barrios will be their main hitan. I expect to see Roque Santa Cruz, and Nelson Valdez there for them. But I have Uruguay going through, the likes of Suarez,Cavani,Forlan,Hernandez(Not sure if Loco Abreu is with them anymore) will be too much to handle(yes not all 4 will be on the pitch the same time, but they are deep in forwards).

This will be another Uruguay and Brazil semi. Uruguay wrongfully were taken out last time(Brazil's GK moved a bit too early to stop the shot) and I think this is going to be another great game. If the game was going to be played in La Plata, then I would of said, Uruguay will win this(Even though Brazil won in Montevideo in the last qualifiers). This is a tough game, which I believe will be played in Mendoza, a logical answer would be, Brazil will win this. But I am having a hard time, its like 51-49 for Brazil, but I will say Uruguay will win this, there I said it!

So the final will be Argentina and Uruguay. The same final/location from 87(Which we lost).

But again, my bracket could fall apart if Chile wins their group(Which again, playing in Mendoza for 2 games will be a huge help). Which will then mean, we play Uruguay in La Plata in the semis and probably Brazil in the final.

 

Quick correction the Chile, they will be in San Juan not Santa Fe.

 

What I like about our group stage is that REVENGE should be a motivating factor; (1) Colombia - see 1993. This Copa is our chance to erase the bad memory of the WORST BEATING EVER AT HOME. The Colombian side is not particularly strong, so I want them demolished, then there is (2) Bolivia. Ohhhhh, I want to f#cking destroy those fools. They celebrated the 6-1 victory like a WC victory and their newspapers ran stories after stories making fun of us. I WANT THEM DEAD! Their hopes DEAD! The future of the national team DEAD!! Their homes BURNED TO THE GROUND!

The Colombia and Bolivia games should serve two purpose: (1) REVENGE and (2) set the tone for the rest of the tournament. Get out like gangbusters and kick ass.

- - - btw, Colombians have the best looking women in the planet, but I want a thrashing of Colombia.

 

It's alright.

I do think that like while it'd be nice to win this tournament, it isn't like anybody is gona lose sleep over us winning a Copa América at our own soil, but losing it would bring many unneeded questionings from the inside. So I guess that the deal of this tournament rather than winning it is a matter of "not losing" it.

Hmm, not sure about the strenght of Colombia, individually the team looks strong, got to see how they work as a team. I also want to defeat Costa Rica just to see La Volpe's excuses.

 

Have you seen the Polacas from Misiones??? Blond hair, blue eyes, brown skin, long legs I mean just plain heart stopping

 

Watching the Brazil game so far I have noticed a couple of things. One, is that some of their players need to fire their hair stylists, it's really bad. Sorry Robinho you can not pull off the fauxhawk. And 2, it seems that Brazil might be a bit soft in the middle of field with their defense and MF. 0-0 at HT, Brazil have hit the post and almost scored a goal but so far 0-0. But I expect Brazil to score at least 2 in the 2nd half.