Nah, those River fans don't represent me. I'd welcome Mascherano back home with arms wide open. However, he clearly has been in absolutely horrible form for an extended period of time now. As for the NT, it is obvious that we need to begin trying out alternatives in that position. But still, he is a crack with huevos like no one else... there's no way I wouldn't want to see him don la banda, at least for a season.
Obviously thats just a small sample. I used to love Mascherano, but he has fallen in my books. I would welcome him back however, Ponzio is 35 after all, but I'm not desperate to see him come back like I was with Saviola, Aimar, and D'Alessandro. I remember when twitter first came, I was practically addicted checking the news to see if any of those 3 would return. As it turns out, they all did come back but 3 or 4 years later than we would have hoped: Aimar played two games, Saviola was one of the biggest flops in history, while D'Alessandro did fairly well, even if he would have torn it up had he come back 2 or 3 years earlier. With Masche, I just don't feel that passion/desire to see him back at the club. Now, if he had decided to come in 2015 at the same time Tevez went to Bosta, I would have gone crazy with happiness but in the past 2 years his stock has just fallen so much. Of the ex-River out there, there are many other players I'd prefer to see come back... Like if I were to make a list of the 5 ex River I'd like to see back at the club in the next five years, it would be something like this: 1. Carlos Sanchez 2. Barovero 3. Vangioni 4. Falcao 5. Higuain So I would have no problem if Mascherano decided to come back, but if any of those 5 came back, or say Kranevitter returned on a loan, I'd go nuts, where as with Mascherano I'd have to see what kind of shape and form he is in. (Either way I don't expect to see him come back, I see him being a Demichelis type staying in Europe his whole career even if its in a minor role)
I always liked Mascherano and will always welcome him back. One of my favorite memories of him was that 2006 Copa libertadores Octavos match against Corinthians. Masche clearly was not giving a fvck and looked like he deliberately sabotaged his own team (Corinthians) by playing like shit and getting two yellow cards quickly so that River will have a man advantage. Maybe my memory is clouded but I swear he played like shit on purpose for River. I know dude loves River deep down.
Buonanotte scored for U Catolica last night against CASLA, taking his good form from the Chilean championship to the Copa Libertadores. I didn't see the game, but el Enano is really doing well over there. Would you accept him back at River? I definitely would, but I don't think he has a place in the current set up, and I doubt he'd come to River to be on the bench. That being said, if Pity moves on in the future, or returns to his form from his first two seasons at River, I would keep el Enano in mind.
Masche is terrible right now. He should go to China and collect a final paycheck. He won't do well back home. Masche woke up one day and was just old. I think he would be more a detriment to you guys than good. He's seriously terrible as most of you have seen with the seleccion. Masche hasn't lost a step, he's lost like 5 steps.
Hey loco, do you think we can get this thread renamed "ex riverplatenses" as I think it should apply to those ex-millos still plying their trade in Arg... One in particular... Teo. He is doing so well at Central right now. He basically is playing as an enganche, and I'd really love to bring him in for the second phase of the Copa even if Alario and Driussi both stay. His role is different, and he could form an amazing partnership with Nacho. We'd have to negotiate his contract with Sporting de Portugal, but I don't think they want him back and even a loan could be possible (if they loaned him to a poor club like Rosario, no reason why River couldn't try for the same)
Done. Really this thread was always to discuss any former River players, even those in Argentina, but I get your point. Not sure if it's still the case, but before he moved to Central they were saying that Sporting still hadn't paid us in full for his transfer. If they still have a debt with us, maybe we can cancel it out in exchange for his return. He clearly isn't a priority for them if they were willing to loan him out to Central for a year to begin with. However, I don't know if Gallardo would want him. He pretty much turned him down in 2016, so I don't know if his mind would change in such little time.
WTF? Guido Rodriguez got called up by Sampaoli in his first official list for the Argentine NT. While we're at it, Mammana and Lanzini also both received their first call-ups (much more deserved and less surprising), while traditional NT Riverplatenses Mascherano, Higuain, and Mercado remain selected for the team.
Leandro Chichizola just released in Italy http://lapaginamillonaria.com/river...zia-italia-otro-arquero-ex-river-sin-contrato Apparently Genoa and Sampdoria are after him... I'm sure he'd love to return if guaranteed the GK spot, since when he left it seemed Barovero would be eternal/irreplaceable in River, but I also feel Gallardo wants to continue putting his faith in Batalla Que lindos requerdos... (y que pelotudo Rojas ese dia, por dios... para matarlo)
Driussi already netting them in Russia.. He scored a double today in his first game in front of his home crowd... That didn't take long I wonder if we'll see el gordo (and Alario) in the WC next year
Oh but the Argentine league is so easy, its so hard for players from there to adapt to Europe, which is such a higher level
I'm watching the match actually (I missed his goal started watching the 35th minute more or less) and Leverkusen is just shit team. They can't even create a half chance for any player, much less Alario. I understand that they are sitting with a 2-0 lead but it just shows the difference between a big club and a small club. Like Nacho said the other night after the match "Haciamos uno y queriamos hacer otro" where Leverkusen is happy playing a team that was nearly relegated last season and beating them 2-0. River wasn't content until we had a 8-0 in a quarterfinal. I wish Alario luck and I'm sure he'll get plenty of goals, and I'm sure he's making more money (though not much more, he was on over 1 million a year at River) he will quickly realize just how good he had it at River playing with these scrubs in Leverkusen
Finally Leverkusen showed a little ambition, and Alario with the assist. Very unselfish, could have easily had a shot himself
I do not think I've ever watched a Bundesliga match before but lone and behold I have tuned in to see Alario start his second match for his new team. For those in the U.S. that are interested, Fox Sports out here in the U.S. has the rights to Bundesliga matches and the match just kicked-off(The match is on FS2).
Alario did score a goal but was ruled offside. Overall he was okay, he had a couple of chances to put the ball in the back of the net. One was saved by the GK and the other he headed the ball over the bar.
Alario scored again for Leverkusen. Thats 3 goals in 5 games so far, which is more or less what I expected for him. It was a very nice looping header over the goalkeeper https://www.ole.com.ar/futbol-internacional/Alario-convirtio-segundo-Leverkusen_3_1893440652.html
Not exactly still a player... but Almeyda is becoming an idol in Chivas. He just led them to a CONCACAF Champions League title (will we face them in the CWC in December??) and is being called a "god" by many Guadalajara fans.. I even hear plenty of people asking for him to take over the Mexican NT. 4th title for Matias since he moved to Mexico. Not at all bad for coaching a team that excludes foreign talents (as opposed to America, Tigres, Monterrey, etc. who spend millions on buying foreign stars) and was in complete shambles before he took over. To give a better idea of how significant his achievements are, they went through 5 different coaches in the year before he got the job and were on the verge of relegation. They hadn't won any titles in nearly a decade (their most recent trophy pre-Almeyda was in 2006; the one before that? 1997) and had only lifted the CONCACAF Champions League trophy once in the team's history (1962, the first edition of the tournament). In Argentina you don't hear much about his achievements. For example, I don't see any mention of any of this on Ole. El Pelado has done an enormous job and merits applause.
Lol I had no idea Andres Rios was playing for Racing nowadays. Today he scored their only goal in their away tie vs Corinthians for the Sudamericana. Talk about a blast from the past. I'll give him props for that goal he scored vs. Botafogo in 2007 for the historic comeback, but other than that he was pretty terrible on a regular basis. La Academia is just like San Lorenzo: all out failures are stars there (Bou, Solari, Rios)
Funes Mori scored two goals last night and is now the top scorer in the mexican league through 7 rounds... We all know the Mexican league is complete garbage, but its truly remarkable how bad this guy was at river (and benfica) to see what he's doing now
Lmao! Rogelio Funes Mori scored on the unstoppable Liverpool (!!) at the CWC, before his team was taken down by Firmino in injury time (2-1 final score). Who would have thought the kid who couldn’t score against an Aldosivi if his life depended on it would be banging one in against the global team of the moment years later. His 100th goal for Monterrey btw
I watched about 20 minutes remaining of the game, and he almost score another. I was thinking the same thing when I saw he was on the scoresheet, I cracked a huge smirk across my face and then I got a cold chill down my spine hoping Scaloni wasn’t watching and would call him up because he scored v Liverpool. Btw, didn’t he say he wants to play for Mexico? Lol. Hopefully, they hurry it up and naturalize him.