Yup, thought it was a nightmare. That was a roller coaster year with if he would make it or not but it really was our World Cup chances are over.
Ospina Arias - Mina - Sánchez - Tesillo James - Uribe - Barrios - Cardona Falcao - Duvan That would be my starting line up. I think Cuadrado is too rusty. Muriel is too inconsistent, though he’d be a good sub. Barrios is better than Lerma and Cuéllar. And Uribe showed last game why he needs to start. I have a feeling he’s going to go with cuadrado instead of Duvan, move James up, and cuadrado to help the midfield when defending.
Not sure James and Cardona can start together like that. Only times they really started together is when Cuadrado is out there on the right. But James has been playing the right side decently so there is a chance.
good lineup - i just wish we saw some more of Duvan-Falcao playing together in these friendlies. only time they were together on the field was the Japan friendly and that was for 20 minutes i think....
I like that team in general, but I feel It lacks speed, but honestly, I prefer the creativity of James and Cardona than someone that can cross the ball at full speed.
Is Borja the starting LB? He just had the flu or a bug or something. He was the only player to get 0 minutes the last 2 games Love the team tho
Reports are that Cardona got a bit nicked up against Peru and has been training separately from the rest of the team in workouts. He may be ready to play on Saturday but starting may not be in his future. We shall see.
Love reading Tim Vickery - you can tell he does his homework on Colombia and South American teams in general. https://www.espn.com/soccer/copa-am...unge-messi-and-argentina-into-further-despair
On paper this is a good side, but a left side of Tesillo and Cardona going up against Messi would be a nightmare scenario. In general I think having Cardona/James/Falcao who all aren't giving a ton defensively is risky against a team like Argentina who can cause a lot of problems in attack, I like it vs weaker opponents where we look to dominate the ball but against Argentina I'd be a bit more cautious.
I Messi really marks his own space. But he will exploit the weakest side. I would like to have a bit more speed on my flanks. Wish Diaz could somehow sneak into this roster. Lastly, I would prefer Lerma instead of Barrios. Just a preference but hard to not like the way Barrios plays the field and his great form.
Perfectly stated. James, when he's playing toward a wing, relies on his lb or rb to do a lot of hustling. That's a recipe for disaster against this Argentina, which appears to be more reliant on Messi than ever. I wouldn't rule out the double forwards for the Copa, but the 433 we've run these past couple matches seems like a game plan meant specifically to play Argentina. As if the data under Pekerman wasn't enough, I think Quieroz has seen the flaws of our play with 2+DMs on the pitch at once, both vs Japan and the 2nd half of Panama. Putting two 8s next to Barrios is ideal. Two guys who can filter passes to our attackers, but who can also read when our laterales leave gaps or need assistance is the key to not compromising either our attack or our defense. Thus the multiple experiments; we don't have any pure nor in-form 8. Cardona lacks stamina, Uribe goes missing in half the atches he plays, and Cuadrado has been making AWFUL decisions on the pitch lately. Yet my gut is leaning toward the latter two. If they play as good as we know they're capable of, this could be the go-to against all top-tier sides from now on...
This is ballsy. I like it because you know Argentina would never expect us to come out with this much attack, and I think it'd be the ultimate form of hitting those fools when they're down. I just can't see anything even like it being fielded due to Messi. Also, I like that Quieroz is beginning to decentralize the team a bit. When every single ball has to pass through James' feet, we become predictable. Granted, with Cardona on the pitch that'd be less of a problem...
You can really see in the Peru match that he is trying to make us play more of his style for sure. Tesillo and Medina whipping in crosses consistently will open up things for us in the middle of the park. As for Argentina I want to focus on one of our clear advantages. We can body them up physically and with our height. With the likes of the aforementioned Tesiillo and other guys like Mina, Duvan if he plays etc. we should be so dangerous on set pieces. Falcao and Uribe are not the tallest but they are also very good in the air too. Hopefully we can continue serving them with good aerial passes.
Most of us talk about offense but I'm looking forward to how our defensive set up is set. I'm concerned about Mina's form especially against a very fast team upfront who will likely not be playing crosses into a big #9 but rather making lots of quick movements and playing thru balls inside the box. Mina tends to be a bit flat footed so he has to really anticipate, which requires lots of IQ defensively. This match to me will be ALL about what kind of winning attitude our players take on the field. The 2015 Chile CA Arg-Col was by far the worst I've ever seen our team play Vs Argentina. Yes, we went to PKs but it was complete dominance by their side and we played a very weak tournament. I think what we have going on for us is these players (even James) are trying to impress CQ, you can just tell because they feel they will get dropped otherwise. We'll see but that Saturday match will be lovely to watch!
This! We gotta take charge from opening whistle. Can’t respect or give space to Messi /Aguero Rip reasonable shots from outside the 18 - keep opposing GK and defense on their toes Create space from short and quick passes Less reliance on long ball and desperate crosses Play physical but smart (No headbutts Barrios) Don’t take foot off pedal once we get an early lead
Colombia is the underdog but this game could be won. Let's hope we can exploit the chaos that's always present in the first match. Messi is the best player on Earth, but there is a chance we'll see the pecho frio version of him, as we are not facing Barcelona. The lack of minutes has affected James but we can count on him to give his all. Very curious to see CQ's formation. If it's just one striker I'm sure it's Falcao - whether he is the right choice or not.
The element of surprise hopefully will be to our advantage. As we all see Argentina has already announced their lineup. Colombian can come out with any lineup they have used in any of the friendlies or even a lineup we have not even seen yet. Argentina really does not know what to expect since we have started so many different players and that could provide them some confusion. The main things I am looking forward to are set pieces. I can't emphasize enough the advantage we have in the air with the likes of Mina, Tesillo, Davinson, Falcao, Uribe, Duvan, etc. Hopefully we can score off a corner or FK and grow some confidence to score more.