One of the reasons I wanted to see players such as Aguero, Gonzalo and Bilos (and others in the squad) is because they are hungry players who want to do well and make their mark in the national team. Players such as Coloccini know that they can play rubbish for their club week in, week out and still get into the Argentina team, he is terrible. Lets just hope Messi doesn't start getting disillusioned with seeing his brilliant work f***ed up by the likes of Coloccini and Pato.
cordobesenUS, By the way I'm going to be in Germany for the world cup, will be staying in Berlin so if you are around and want to meet for a drink with a fed up Argentina fan then let me know closer to the time.
I am unable to know why Pekerman always chooses wrong player or partialy injured players , because there is no shortage of talents and good football players for Argentina. perkerman should be waken up by someone immediately. and i don't want to blame any players for our failuer against Croatia because we know it's the duty of the manager to choose the appropriate player for appropriate match.
I think Pekerman may as well go for broke (if he has the courage) and pick the likes of Aguero/Bilos/Gonzalo because the way Argentina are playing at the moment they are not going to get through the group stage, I would rather they went out fighting and giving it everything rather than tamely surrender as they did in 2002.
the criticism of crespo and roman is harsh in my opinion. crespo is a predator of the highest order. he thrives on service. if none is forthcoming he will be invisible. but give him chances and he will convert more than most strikers. his record for argentina is brilliant. his record at every club he's played for is brilliant. in our last game against england he scored two good goals, one of which was disalllowed for no reason. roman was the star of the england game. he is not match fit. both these guys will have bad games, like everyone else. we must not judge them on one game. i have serious reservations about peker. pato in goal. give someone else a chance, see how they cope with the pressure. franco, ustari. colo hopefully has played himself out of the squad. why did he play samuel at left-back and burdisso in the centre, totally opposite to their natural positions? why did he randomly bring scaloni into the squad and then not look at him? all very strange. he is not a clear thinker. the worrying thing is some of our guys are playing for the best managers in the world at club level, they must be losing a lot of confidence in peker. we were walking away with the qualification, beating everyone in sight. now we look a mess.
i agree Crespo should not be criticsed because it's not his job to take the ball all the way from midfield to the goal, if he had missed chances then it was ok. as far as Riquelme, he is the best player in our squad and he didn't play well yesterday because he was not match fit. so the only person to be criticzed here is PEKERMAN because he choosed to play with players like burdisso, colocinni and pato instead of Milito,Gonzalo,Zanetti, and Ayala.
I agree about Crespo and Riquelme. The team are disjointed and good players are under performing (with the notable exception of Messi). It's worrying that our best player and our hopes for the world cup are being pinned on a 18 year old, the more experienced players should be helping him, not the other way round. Pekerman does not inspire confidence in me and I begining to doubt if he does in the players. If you look at it in the cold light of day, apart from beating Brazil in BA, what exactly has Pekerman achieved with this team. Most of the hard work for qualifying had been done before he took over and since then we appear to have gone backwards. There's nothing that can be done about it, as it is not realisitc to think he would be replaced so late in the day. So we just have to hope that he can inspire and motivate and tactically organise some of the most talented players in the world, otherwise another world cup is going to end in dissapointment and I can't take to many more of those.
good luck there! I wish I can.....just to see 3 or 4 games, any of them.... did you guys saw ivory coast yesterday? GolTV had the replay of the game vs spain last nite.... esos morenos estan rapidos y como pusieron a sufrir a espana, en el marcador siempre se fueron arriva, espana reacciono a tiempo! OJO
I agree (although they looked good in the first half of his first game...which is probably more of a negative than a positive). The first half against Brazil was excellent. The team will be in much better shape with Heinze and Mascherano back...it sounds like both are progressing well. I would like to see Milito get more time up front...other than that, I think the goals will come with Crespo, Tevez and Messi once Roman is fit (or with a healthy Aimar). The down side is that Crespo will probably be injured shortly before the WC, given his poor luck in the past. My biggest concern, as with many on this board is the back. Clearly, Pato is a liability when he plays. Samuel scares me as well. It will be encouraging to see Ayala back, although he isn't what he used to be. The trend of giving up goals late, even though the last few examples were in relatively meaningless friendlies, is not a good sign. Ayala f-ed up at the end of the matches against the Netherlands in '98 and Brazil in the Copa America final in '04, and others have shown the ability to screw up late when he isn't playing...a very troubling trend.
Then I may be the only one to disagree. Crespo has missed occasions (like being alone in front of the goalie) that he should not have. It would have given us a larger edge and we could probably have won, or at least come even. It's easy to blame a defender or a goal keeper for a goal received, but strikers have the same responsibility not to miss their occasions. As for Riquelme, yes, he was not match fit. So what? Are we going to say that when we are kicked out of group stage? This is something I don't understand. A serious coach would see within 15 minutes that his main playmaker is not doing well, and then he would directly replace him and try other options. I find it pathetic that we are so completely bound with Riquelme, even when he sucks. Don't get me wrong, he is an amazing player, and he was indeed the MOTM against England, but his fitness is fluctuating a lot, and back problems don't get sorted out one day just like that. So my friends, I think we should really prepare for having to do without Riquelme at one point or another, unless you are ready to see the whole ship sinking with him... Maybe Aimar can do the job. If not, then what other options do we have? I am close to regret Veron; after all, there's not that much harmony in the group that he would be breaking, is there?
bsas, I agree about having a plan B if Riquelme is injured/not playing well. Aimar would be a good option, but also Messi could play in that role, he has on ocassion done so for Barca, and like everything else he does, has done it very well. To be honest mate I was cluthing at straws in my defence of Crespo and Riquelme, after all I've got to have some hope for the world cup.
I don't completely agree with you. Sure a player that isn't performing shouldn't be on the field. Conversely, a star player needs more chances than an average player because the poential for them to do something great is high. A star player might only have a couple of flashes of brilliance and that are often enough to warrant him a place on the field for the entire game. Look at Ronaldinho's performance against Chelsea; for most of the game he was useless but then his 5 minutes of brilliance remind you of why he was left on the field. What is needed, are different forms of attacking that don't rely on Riquelme, this will leave him time to adjust to the field. This emphazises the importance of players like Zanetti and Sorin who are able to attack up the flanks. And then Messi and Tevez also need to generate chances. Argentina can't be Riquelme-dependent, or else we might as well not show up.
Very true. Thanks for the precision. It's just the Riquelme-dependency of this team that keeps me worried. Anyway, as you clearly point it out, Zanetti and Sorin were 2 of the players that were missed in this game, along with Ayala, Heinze and Mascherano. So all in all I am confident that our final team will be of a much higher level than the poor display of yesterday. If Pekerman finds the way to make these people anticipate each other's play, then we are going to kick a55. If not, then we are out at group stage.
As minutes and hours passes by, i am more and more confident that yesterday's result doesn't correspond our team, we have great players. Riquelme was just back from his injury, this is the reason we were lacking for chances against Croatia. Defence was not good because we lacked almost every players who will be starting in WC, i am almost certain that Zanetti, Ayala,Heinze and Sorin will be our first priority in those positions. so, this 4 player will without a doubt make a differnce in this team and noone can disagree this. As many of you, i am also concerned of being very much dependent on Riquelme because he might not have the day everyday. So IMO, if this happens Pekerman should react immediately, i don't mean he should take off Roman but he can take one Defencive midfield and put on Aimar or lucho. so, that Roman will get more space in the midfield. And we all know what he is capable of when he gets more space.
I agree with you on many points. No chance the back four from last night stand a chance of all playing together in Germany. I just cant figure out what Pek see's in Coloccini, he must be thinking back to the excellent youth player with upside. I'm also in favor of the Aimar (1st choice) or Lucho playing in place of Cambiasso. Mascherano owns the midfield most days and based on the little playing time Aimar and Romy had in the Confed Cup, they read each other well. I've never seen Cambiasso as a D Mid anyways so why not put on a pure attacker in his place?
I appreciatte the invitation but this summer I'm going to Greece, I'm in Texas right now but I used to go to Berlin evey once in a while, I love that country, it's cool. I'm sure you will have a great time, it's an awsome city.
if you guys want to win the world cup tell pekerman to put the Boca Juniors squad since its the only team ive seen that could get the job done when its needed.
except for pato, lol On a serious note, I tend to agree wih most of the things said above, so am not gonna be repititive here, but do feel criticism of Cuchu is a bit unjust, he actually had a good game, covered up his end for the 2nd Croat goal, etc. Yes he was the one who lost the final header, but its more of a tactical question to ask, how can a team defend a corner in the 92nd minute and not have some1 standing in the far [post? its beyond me.
sorry but i don't see what cuchu is doing in the side. he's a solid enough player but not solid enough to hold the midfield on his own in the way of mascherano, and offensively we have far better options. he doesn't offer us any width either which i think is what we are lacking. unfortunately he appears, along with pato and colo, to be one of peker's favourites, and he'll be picked regardless of what he's offering the team. the coach has to be tough enough to make tough decisions. i'm convinced peker doesn't have the balls. can you imagine him ringing pato and colo and telling them they're not in the squad? me neither.
Peker has not got the guts to drop his favourites or take a risk (i.e. take Aguero). He is going to take Pato and Coloccini the clown and when it all ends in tears he's going to claim it was all down to bad luck.
Some good news... MAscherano should start playing this week.... in 3 months he can get back in shape. I am confident.