FIFA World Cup 2018 - Round of 16: Argentina vs. France - June 30 [R]

The funny thing is lo celso is better than anyone in that French midfield. And he's in our bench

 

Better than Pogba?

 

Especially better than pogba. Banega gave him a footballing lecture in sevilla vs Manu.

 

I must agree

 

I have a love/hate relationship with the World Cup. The last thing I think about going to bed and the first thing I think about. Let me be free damn it!

 

So this rumoured lineup has been getting a lot of traction:


According to reports, Sampaoli has been playing Messi as a false 9 in practice.

Practice XI: Armani;Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico; Pérez, Masche, Banega; Pavón, Messi, Di María.

[@SivanJohn_]

 

So this rumoured lineup has been getting a lot of traction:


According to reports, Sampaoli has been playing Messi as a false 9 in practice.

Practice XI: Armani;Mercado, Otamendi, Rojo, Tagliafico; Pérez, Masche, Banega; Pavón, Messi, Di María.

[@SivanJohn_]

 

Pogba is not even France's best midfielder. Kante and Matuidi are in much better form.

 

Messi as a false 9, what do you guys think?

 

I think this is the latest news I can find on Argentina's plan against France, dated today 6/29.

I will cut and paste it below. Note: the article itself it in Caps letter, I'm not in any way yelling. Link: http://mundoalbiceleste.com/2018/06/29/argentina-press-conference-ever-banega-jorge-sampaoli/

Argentina press conference by Ever BANEGA and Jorge SAMPAOLI.

Argentina coach Jorge SAMPAOLI as well as Ever BANEGA held a press conference on Friday ahead of the Round of 16 match.

It was the birthday boy Ever BANEGA who today turns 30 and coach Jorge SAMPAOLI who represented the team at the press conference. SAMPAOLI spoke about the line-up, Lionel MESSI, the team and more. Here’s what he had to say:

“I HAVEN’T CONFIRMED THE STARTING LINE-UP TO THE PLAYERS. WE ARE VERY CONFIDENT IN OUR CAPABILITIES AND THE PREPARATION WE’VE HAD. IT’S A TEAM THAT WILL PLAY THE MATCH WITH A LOT OF HEART.

“WE TRAIN DIFFERENT THINGS FOR THE MATCH. I TOLD MESSI THAT WE WERE GOING TO USE A PLAN WHICH WE HAD ALREADY TRAINED, A MORE OFFENSIVE ONE. WE ARE IN THE PROCESS OF IMPOSING AN ARGENTINEAN STYLE OF PLAY.

“IF WE DEFEND WITHOUT THE BALL, THE CAPABILITIES OF OUR PLAYERS WILL BE LESS THAN THE RIVAL. WE WILL TRY TO DOMINATE THE MATCH BY HAVING POSSESSION OF THE BALL.”

The coach also spoke about France who will want to neutralize Lionel MESSI.

“FRANCE HAS A PLAN TO NEUTRALIZE LEO (MESSI) AND WE HAVE A PLAN TO BETTER THAT. THEY WILL TRY TO LIVE OFF OUR LACK OF PRECISION DURING THE GAME. THEY WILL TRY TO FORCE ERRORS.

“FRANCE’S GREAT STRENGTH IS THE SPEED IN WHICH THEY TRANSITION. DEFENSIVELY, THEY ARE VERY SOLID WHEN THEY RECOVER THE BALL AND ATTACK QUICKLY. AFTER THAT, THEY GET A LOT OF GOALS WITHIN THREE OR FOUR TOUCHES.”

Jorge SAMPAOLI praised MESSI and stated that we will see a fighting Argentina as he used a phrase made famous by Diego SIMEONE.

“WE HAVE TO BE AT HIS (LIONEL MESSI’S) LEVEL AT ALL TIMES. MESSI SEES THINGS THAT ONLY A GENIUS CAN SEE.

“ARGENTINA WILL PLAY WITH A KNIFE IN BETWEEN THEIR TEETH. I DREAM OF SEEING AN ARGENTINA WITH A LOT OF PASSION BUT ABOVE ALL WITH A LOT OF FOOTBALL. IN THIS GROUP, THE FEELING FOR THE SHIRT IS VERY STRONG. THAT MAKES THIS TEAM VERY DANGEROUS FOR ANYONE.”

And finally, SAMPAOLI spoke about himself:

“THE ANALYSIS OF THE MATCH WILL HAVE TO DO WITH THE RESULTS. I’LL BE AN EXCELENT COACH IF WE WIN AND IF WE LOSE, I’LL BE A VERY BAD ONE. I’VE COME TO A PLACE I WANTED TO COME. I AM VERY HAPPY TO BE HERE AND FIGHT EVERY DAY.”

Birthday boy Ever BANEGA had this to say in regards to his assist to Lionel MESSI’s goal against Nigeria:

“WITH RESPECT TO THE PASS TO MESSI’S GOAL, ALL I HAD TO DO WAS RAISE MY HEAD TO CROSS THE BALL. HE DID ALL THE REST. IT’S ALWAYS A PLEASURE TO PLAY NEXT TO LEO MESSI. WE KNOW HOW HE IS AS A PLAYER.”

As for the team, BANEGA hopes the team can get better:

“HOPEFULLY WE CAN CONTINUE TO GET BETTER. I ALWAYS TRY AND BRING MY BEST. I’VE PLAYED A LOT OF YEARS IN EUROPE AND I’VE GAINED A LOT OF EXPERIENCE. IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR US BUT LUCKILY WE WERE ABLE TO WIN.”

 

I actually think it's worse. Empty space doesn't make bad passes, or shoot 10 feet wide when 5 feet away from an open goal.

 

To be honest, I like Messi as a false 9 as we don't get overrun in midfield, Messi doesn't have to defend much and the wings are more secured. Judging by Sampa's press conference, we might not be defending deep and be more opened to counter attacks from the French. Di Maria and Pavon has a key role to play to make great runs and possibly score or assist.

If Messi plays as a false 9, we can dominate posession, but I'm worried of the pace from the likes of Griezmann, Mbappe and Pogba if we do play open. We really have to be very efficient with our possession and Mascherano has to be very precise with his passes.

 

The false 9 could work exceptionally or could go terribly wrong. This will depend on the team’s execution. I don’t know if we practiced it enough to execute at a high level. It seems like Sampaoli is still experimenting.

 

Could go either way. To be honest Higuains movement is good but he had an elephant touch and his shot... You already know. Pavon needs to try to score. Don't always look for messi

 

France love to play with their outside backs positioned very high in the attacking third.

The 5-4-1/4-3-3 with Pavon and Di Maria could seek to exploit the space the LB/RB leave behind when Argentina look to counter.

The issue with Messi as the 9 is if France dominate the midfield and keep possession. If Messi comes too deep, Argentina will have no one centrally to relieve the pressure. Higuain for as bad as his miss was did this very well vs Nigeria in this regard. Argentina won't have this option. So I fully expect France to press Argentina high when Argentina build from the back or restart off goalkicks.

 

just win please. I ask no more. Please win!!!!!

 

If Messi is a false 9, wouldn’t it be fitting to have Dybala as an RW. This would probably be the best system for him to play in for Argentina. Pavon could be a deadly sub for either flank but Messi dropping deep to make plays would require a lethal striker cutting from the flanks and no one does this better than Dybala.

 

I think that the false 9 position is the best system to play both Messi and Dybala, but unfortunately Sampa has other ideas.

 

I hope Dybala might be used as a sub for either Pavon or Di Maria (Pavon goes to the other side). But Samp is probably gonna sub off either of the two for Higuain/Aguero and move Messi to the right. Ideally it would be Dybala, then Lo Celso for maybe Perez and maybe Aguero for Di Maria

If Dybala ends up only playing 22 min Lo Celso 0 min in this WC it wouldnt even be shameful. It would be straight up criminal

 

I think that will eventually happen. Players that don’t grt mins during the group stages would rarely make a later appearance. Its unfortunate but with the way Sampa has gone about it, Lo Celso seems to be low in the pecking order.

 

I swear there is no other team in the last 16 that would not play those two. Its not like Argentina has world beaters blocking their place. Hope we get to see at least one of Dybala or Lo Celso because Meza has not done enough to warrant more min at the expense of those two

 

How do you sleep tonight?

 

I still dont understand what happened with Lo Celso. He went from being part of the starters to not even being in the radar, aguatero suplente. WTF

 

Vamos carajo!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Not sure if I can. All day, I've been nervous, I am jittery as if it is is a final. It feels like I've got a dentist appointment tomorrow and I am just waiting for the dentist to jam that needle in my gums.

it honestly feels like, if we get past France we will probably reach the final. I don't know, this how I feel. I believe we can grow from each match. I fear we will have to limit our mistakes, and that is not giving up the ball like we did v Nigeria, and I am looking at Masche here.

Countdown is less than 11 hours.