PBP: Argentina Vs Brazil - Super classico -October 11 2014

Fede has already said he wants to play for Argentina.

 

Yeah i remember the two of us having almost the same post but like u said alot of issues need to be fixed and Romero better get some club football cause that first goal was a terrible effort and hopefully Fede doesnt fall under the pressure

 

The reason why this result look bad was because we lost it to Brazil. Friendlies dont mean shit compare to tournament or qualifier. Few years ago we beat Germany but lost to Japan in friendlies but that proof nothing for both sides. Germany for intense , often looks like a very different team when playing friendlies but totally change once entering a tournament.

However, we dont have qualifier matches leading up to next year Copa so some players like Messi and Kun better step up their game as soon as possible. Demichellis probably still going to play in next year Copa but for 2018 WC? he'll be slower than today's Maradona.

The most worrying aspect is the fact that we did create lots of chances and pressed our opponent but we couldnt put a single goal from it. In WC final, 3 good chances from Pipita, Messi and Palacio with only goalkeeper to beat and it didnt even turn into shots on target, just ridiculous. This time two chances from Kun, 3 from Messi (all deadball), Di Maria from distance and 6 yards (left foot position) plus few corners and we scored none. NONE.

It would be a crime to blame Tata if we creates even more chances than that next year and we lost because those players incapable of shooting.

 

Its really too early to judge Tata man. I know alot of ppl will go crazy based on this result but its his first list of players and 2nd match. Ill hold my judgements until March where he'll probably have 6 friendlies under his belt and then we can see a clearer picture and the improvement from one game to the next. If we remain the same with absolutely no improvement then by all means ill be the first to criticise the guy.

 

In fairness to Martino and the players, I think a draw would be deserved. Our offense looked slick and not toothless like it used to under batista and maradona.

The fact that we lost despite of enjoying more than 60% possession, lowers our confidence against Brazil just when we were getting it back with recent good results.

But brazil is experiencing a pretty weak cycle right now. Other than neymar, none of their attackers are on par with ours. Their fullbacks are not what they used to. We should be beating them right now. Very naive by Martino.

I agree with Hollywood that we need more movers and less dribblers. I don't care how good perreyra or tevez are playing.

 

No matter what Tata will do, if those players does not step up and couldnt put the ball into the net after series of chances, its not Tata's fault. These guys scores with ease for their clubs and Messi has 4 chances in this games, 3 from deadball including 1 penalty he made nothing out of it.

Why everytime Di Maria could have shoot or Lamela could have run stright , they still end up looking and passing to Messi? When we put 4 goals against Germany recently, we're more direct in attacking. Di Maria would sprint forward and then he'll setup the ball directly to the box while his cross from freekick also turned into a goal, but with Messi on the team, he'll shoots all the freekick straight to the goal. Our attackers and midfielders were being setup to accommodate Messi which will cost us next year.

 

Sometimes our forwards will just not finish. That happens to every team and why you must have good defense. Even if we would have put away 3 of our chances, the defensive performance was garbage.

I don't want to hear anything about the WC 2018 which is lifetimes away. People don't realize that a good player's prime usually lasts only 3 years. A top player can maybe last 6 years.

There is only one focus right now and it is the Copa America which we have to win. I was more disappointed about losing it in Argentina last time than I was about the World Cup 2014. Losing to Uruguay in Argentina with all of our talent was horrible.

We have only about FIVE matches to prepare of the COPA AMERICA. Ignoring stupid money matches like the upcoming one against Hong Kong.

That means that what we can change is extremely limited.

Martino should go back to Sabella's system immediately. Focus on the set piece defense and preventing counterattacks. It worked in the WCQ, worked in the Finals. Do not radically alter it. We only have time for a few tweaks.

1. Find Garay's partner.
FF was cut during the mundial. That is dramatic and it means he is done. Demichelis can stay on as an experienced stop gap in case of an injury. Test Fazio and Mussachio. One game each. Go with your pick and give him the rest of the matches to develop a partnership. There is no time to replace Zabaleta and Rojo. Both are not bad anyway. Rojo makes mistakes but he has a great attitude, is physical, and fast which we need for defending counters. He's also going to have a light season with Man Utd so should come in very fit. Zabaleta might be caught for pace at times but he's smart and tough.

2. Gago's role.
Which midfielder can be positionally aware to not leave Masch alone in the middle, keep moving to provide an outlet for the defenders, tackle physically, play the quick pass forward, not lose the ball in our third by dribbling? None of Lamela, Pastore, or Banega.
Give some of the other midfielders (Kranevitter , Cartabia, anybody??) a try but barring good performances, Biglia has the starting spot. Enzo is a good backup and would like to see another rugged midfielder. Stop leaving Mash alone in the midfield for christ's sake.

3. Test an alternate striker.
I am convinced that Aguero doesn't work well with Messi just like Tevez didn't. Higuain fits but his form is bad and his confidence is ruined. Icardi is a very good striker to have in a counterattacking setup and so is Ulloa. Their game is not pretty but both are great finishers, Ulloa is fantastic as a target man in the air, and both have cojones. One of them takes Palacio's place and if Higuain's poor form continues and/or he comes to Chile unfit, they take his place.

Those are the 3 simple changes Martino should focus on.

 

Good points there however the problem is, Tata is a coach with very different philosophy to begin with, he like pressing and attacking alot thus very different from Sabella which more reminiscent of Bilardo era (which very successfull).

Pipita, Kun, Messi and Angelito connected well throughout qualifier, result and number of goals proof that. However, injuries of Kun and Pipita near the end of the season cost their form in the WC and when you have bad performance at WC your confidence gets ruined especially when it's as bad as those two during the WC.

Crespo isnt pretty to watch, tons of scrappy goal he scored but off course that came from his smart offball movement which Kun and Higuain does not possess. Icardi is more on the vein of Crespo than Higuain and that could be a good thing. Injury can happen before or during the tournament and if something happen to Kun and Higuain, who will lead the frontlines next year? going back to Palacio? Ulloa is in great form but I'm not sure if he will ever get a nod. Not saying he does not deserve but just be realistic since Tata already said Tevez will probably coming back.

 

AFA is so stupid for letting Sabella go right before CA.

Pipita, Kun, Messi, Angel rarely played at the same time during the WCQ. I've shown this many times. I think they only played together 8 times and they were not full matches. Aguero typically has his best performances when Messi is not playing .

I don't trust Martino to make the hard decisions. He's going to play the crowd and AFA's favorite players and tactics and we're going to go down in flames. Hopefully my prediction will be wrong.

 

I don't think Brazil r all that weak as u r suggesting. Brazil defense is pretty good and even beyond the line up that started, they have a lot of good defensive players who r knocking on the national team for inclusion. Their full back might not be as attack oriented as in the past but they r solid defensively. This is the result of the WC debacle that going forward the brazil fullback r going to be tall enough to help on set pieces and r effective defensivly their offensive contribution will not be the selection criteria as in the passt.I think they have a few holes in mid field that but I thing that will get plugged with time. Actually scoreline would have been much different if neymar had done better on one on none opportunities.

Argentine on the other hand needs better center and fullbacks that the one that took the pitch against brazil and also some to replace aguero if he is not doing well, probably tavez whom seems to be on fire