Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

The issue is if Lloris is replaced then they will be looking to buy a replacement. He has hardly played and he is now 26. This is a real issue with our keepers. Most seem happy to sit on the bench and pick up their wages. Look at how many games Carrizo has played since he left River. Damian Martinez. It's not acceptable.

Juan Musso looks pretty decent in his first two starts for Udinese which is another option for Scaloni to consider in an area we are exceptionally weak.

In my honest opinion our midfield should remain anchored on Lo Celso and Asascibar with Caseres as I mentioned a couple of months ago alongside the emerging Palacios although Nicolas Dominguez of Velez is catching my eye as another worthy contender.

I am worried about Palacios. He showed great maturity in the semifinals of the Copa. Yes a couple of errors but still a kid and dealt with the match very well and looked composed for the most part. However why would he go to a circus where he will end up with little playing time ? Santiago Solari is not going to remain manager of that horror show.

He should do what Redondo for instance did and what Lo Celso is doing now. Getting minutes under the belt at a so called unfashionable club. Learning week in and week out. He is a tremendous prospect and I really fear he could be throwing his career under the bus. He should have gone to Internazionale for instance.

And as for the so called big clubs and smaller clubs. I don't know if you missed out on the articles in German magazine Spiegel which have highlighted what certain clubs have been up to in trying to get around FFP. Manchester City in particular along with PSG have been especially culpable.

And all it shows is that Infantino is as bad as Blatter and corruption and favours still are rife in the corridors of footballing power.

As for that horrible club Benjamin Garre is really impressing in the reserves and hopefully can force his way into the bench. At the very least he also needs to start playing first team football even if on loan.

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I am pleased Foyth gets his chance. But for how long ? Vertonghen is likely to be back in two weeks. He played very well last week and the second penalty against him was weak.

However while Juan carries the ball superbly and his passing is excellent he needs to improve in several areas. He too should be an integral part of the seleccion going forward but where ? Defensive midfield for him for now I think.

He needs to sometimes play the simpler ball first when in possession. His positioning is often all over the place. He is still unaware of runs in behind him, he over commits and follows the ball. At set pieces defensively his positioning is poor and he is caught under the ball. He needs to learn to take on one player stand off, follow the track of the ball and just attack it.

The thing is that he is a good learner and he himself said he is learning and will learn. He could also build himself up a little bit in the upper body to get the strength to hold off attackers. We all must remember though he has only played less than ten (TEN) first team games. Huge potential just as Pochettino says. I am very pleased for him. Lovely kid.

 

For some strange reason he is very popular among the female fans.

 

Lo Celso toyed with Barca’s midfield today

 

Pipita just isn’t a big game player.

For those who don’t know, today (against Juve) he missed a penalty and then got sent off.

At this point I wonder if he has some kind of mental problem. If the penalty was against Chievo then I’m sure he would have scored.

 

Inter got thrashed even though Icardi did score their only goal, his tenth goal for Inter in all competition.

Barca lost 3-4 but Messi returned from injury and scored twice (dejavu).
He's so far averaging more than 1 goal per game.

Aguero scored against MU, similar strike like Batigol against Arsenal.

 

Rather disappointed by what is happening with all the Argentines signed by Benfica. Ferreyra and Conti have barely played. Lema is injured. Only Cervi and Salvio are getting any playing time.

Alario has also had a rather slow start and consequently is in and out of the Leverkusen side.

 

Armani came up with a HUGE saved against Benedetto that kept the Boca-River 2-2 at La Bombonera. He should've done better for Boca's first goal but came up huge that kept the game up at 2-2. He's been great for River and we will need him as our #1.

Benedetto has done well since returning from injury. It is never easy returning from an ACL injury but he's done so very well.
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Pussetto got a goal for Udinese over the weekend.
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As for Fatso...

 

#SelecciónMayor Scaloni en conferencia🎙: "Marchesín, Saravia, Foyth o Mercado, Funes Mori, Tagliafico, Correa, Lo Celso, Paredes, Acuña, Dybala y Lautaro Martínez; ese sería el equipo para mañana".

— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) November 15, 2018

 

#SelecciónMayor Formación confirmada para enfrentar a @miseleccionmx: Marchesín, Saravia, Foyth, Funes Mori, Tagliafico, Correa, Lo Celso, Paredes, Acuña, Dybala y Martínez. pic.twitter.com/iDdGWkv6sp

— 🇦🇷 Selección Argentina ⭐⭐⭐ (@Argentina) November 16, 2018

 

What a sloppy game and it seems like our forwards have forgotten how to dribble.

 

I think soon or later, Scolani will needs to settle with his starting 11. Dybala tend to hold the ball and run too much by himself although he did create alot of dangerous situation and eventually got the winning assist.

Our forwards needs to score to finally get their game going. Icardi for the second time in NT should have scored, but the defender did the job for him once again with an own goal. Lo Celso was good aswell overall, made some dangerous run and it has been a while since we had midfield who can run pass defenders like that and won fouls.

 

Some flashes and we did dominate for stretches but not quite there yet. Mexico were poor outside the first 5 minutes or so where they gave us a scare and that one counter that Paredes snuffed out. Tata has his work cut out for him.

Still waiting for Dybala to impose himself on a game. Lo Celso seems to be the main driver of this team for now, and it's nice to watch.

Apparently they gave us a trophy after the match so hey we won something!



Foyth won MOTM

 

Foyth, Paredes, Lo Celso, and Dybala played very well. I also liked De Paul in the second half.

Two things to note about Scaloni’s team is that they do play some noce short tikki passes around the box which has been lacking for so long. Also, they press hard as soon as they lose the ball which is relieving.

 

The players didn’t seem overly interested. At times, there was too much individualism and at other times it made me hopeful.

Dybala played one of his better games and was trying to get others involved. This shouldn’t necessarily be his role but I guess he tried to boss the game in front of his supporters. Lautaro seemed a bit rusty, which is not shocking. He should’ve finished that open chance he had and his dribbling was a bit too much at times.

Leandro and Gio had decent games and I am an admirer of both. But I also like the likes of Palacios and Santi, so we need to figure something really out in the midfield.

Saravia outside of the early mistakes was overall good. I liked him bombing forward. Nico was pretty quiet.

I know RMF scored but I don’t think he’s going to permenat fixture in the starting 11. Foyth showed potential in his first international. If he gets regular playing time at Tottenham then potentially we could have him on the seleccion on a regular basis.

I also liked De Paul, he was much much better than Correa who was terrible. Perhaps we see more of Rodrigo in the starting 11 and Correa needs to do better if he wants to be called up regularly.

And lol at Meza.

 

A couple of notes:

1. RFM may have scored but defensively he is still an accident waiting to happen. I don’t trust him, at all. I want to see Mammana and Foyth play together, they could be the centreback pairing of the future.

2. Tagliafico/Saravia is the best fullback pairing we have right now. I prefer them over inverted fullbacks like Mercado and Rojo, who are better CBs anyway. Saravia in particular has been a revelation.

3. Paredes and Lo Celso are both creative midfielders, but the defence was exposed a few times. Paredes did make a nice tackle, but I’d like to see Ascacibar play just to increase our workrate in midfield and kill Mexico’s chance on the counter.

4. Apart from that donkey Meza, Acuna was a weak link in the team. He doesn’t offer enough going forward to be a winger. His passing is average, he doesn’t dribble, and he’s slow. I would much rather have Lamela in that position.

I’d like to see this lineup in the next game:

Icardi - Dybala
Lamela - Ascacibar - Paredes - Lo Celso
Tagliafico - Foyth - Mammana - Saravia
Marchesin

 

I like your lineup a lot. Seems to be very balanced as well.

 

Dybala has come out and said that the players want Scaloni to continue.

Icardi hinted the same thing.

One thing Scaloni has absolutely done right is call the right players for the most part. These are the best we have.

The only thing now is to settle on a starting 11. I hope Ascacibar and Lamela are given their chance tomorrow.

We could be on to building a really special team.

Also, on one of Barca’s twitter feeds, it is being reported that Messi will skip our March friendlies, and rejoin the NT June 1st, just in time for Copa America.

 

Scaloni has now confirmed what the Argentina XI will be for Tuesday's second friendly against Mexico will be:

Rulli; Mercado, Funes Mori, Kannemann, Acuña; Ascacibar, Meza, Lamela, Pereyra, De Paul; Icardi pic.twitter.com/2b6MUooCBz

— GOLAZO (@golazoargentino) November 20, 2018

 

Hmm. I’m assuming that either Scaloni does not fear Mexico at all, since Ascacibar will be the only line of defense in the midfield, or that they’re gonna press to win the ball back. Not sure what Meza is doing there but I do see that he’s trying to set up the side where Icardi is playing alone uptop. He should get plenty of service. The addition of Coco, Pereyra and De Paul starting are all a plus. I think this is a bit more dynamic and flexible side than the first game. We’ll see how it goes.

 

wait so is it 4-2-3-1??

Back 5---Ascacibar, Pereyra---Meza, Lamela, De Paul---Icardi?

 

I think he was more concerned with rotating than formation, but we'll see.

 

GOLAZO ICARDI!!!!

 

Finally! May it be the first of many, many goals.