Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

Mauricio Pinilla's tatoo, author of that shot that silenced the whole of Brazil for a few seconds.

 

When I think of La Scolaneta, these are the players I think of (in order of most influential);
Dibu Martinez, Cristian Romero, Lautaro Martnez, Rodrigo De Paul, Leandro Paredes, Gio Lo Celso and Nicolas Gonzalez.

 

I recently found this chart from a football analyst on Twitter:



This project analyzes all the central midfielders in Europe’s top five leagues.

I see five Argentinian midfielders on here:

- Ascacibar, Dominguez and Guido are all in the 95th percentile ball-winners.

- RDP is in the 95th percentile of ball progression.

- Paredes is in the 95th percentile of both ball progression and ball retention

 

For me is De Paul first, then Dibu, then Cuti (these 3 are the clear scaloni trademark players) and then Paredes, Lautaro and Lo Celso. Im not sure about Nico.

 

Nothing shocking to me as I know that Paredes is criminally underrated. He just isn't a pure DM runner type that people want him to be

 

I think Nico is important as most good teams to have players who could act as extra midfielder when needed. Although compare to Lavezzi, he's a downgrade .

We opened the scoring against Ecuador in Copa because Nico keeps pressing & hassling. Apart from Cuti, RDP & Acuna, our team dont have many players who could run for long period.

Lo Celso is an odd one, in one game he could run alot and very creative, in next game he'd just go through the motion.

 

Argentina have two perceived problems with the midfield of the NT:

1. Lo Celso is not performing at a high level
2. Paredes is not good defensively for a DM

There is potential to kill two problems with one stone: replace Lo Celso with Ascacibar. You add defensive solidity and you move Paredes further up the pitch.

 

Guys. As Loco stated, Paredes is starting. I do not think Scaloni is going to change his ways now. He likes the Paredes, De Paul and Gio midfield. I cannot see him dropping Paredes or Gio to push Paredes up more for some type of destroyer. If anything, which Scaloni has done is playing the double 5, which is brutal to watch and never works out for his. Unless somebody decides to make a huge leap like Cuti or Emi, then it’s not happening. We are not going to get any new formations. My biggest concern is us not scoring enough goals.

 

He just won the copa and his contributions were noted by me. It is just that they go unnoticed because they usually happen in the buildup play and he also has a defensive duty to fulfill it is not his role to be the creative force we have seen guido starting instead of him it resulted in many balls lost. Paredes is good at ball retention with high % passing.



In his performance vs brazil he made many key interceptions and few of his long passes one to lautaro and one to di maria but most importantly he didn't give bad passes. He did make a few mistimed challenges of course no one is saying he is perfect.

No man that's way too defensive we are back to the toothless double 5 that only cause misery. Problem with lo celso is that he is inconsistent even within a game and his work rate varies a lot. I would never add a pure destroyer to this team starting lineup because everyone contributes to the defense but yes we need alternative to lo celso hopefully he improves his form

 

Have the Yanks tried to naturalize him yet?

 

2 minutes into the game, Paredes got an assist after his long range deflected to Mbappe. Should have been his goal.

 

Would be a good idea for them to try. I haven't seen any news about it though.

 

Kun Aguero set to retire from football. Interview next week with the media. Health comes first and we all hope he stays with us a long time.

I am sure Independiente can find him some sort of coaching or ambassadorial role. Thanks for all the memories right from emerging as no more than a kid to the u20 triumphs and the goals in the historic white and blue.

 

He's playing very well at the moment loco. He did say he understands he is down the pecking order and he needs to put in more performances of a high level to gain the attention of the coaches.

That said Scaloni knows him and his potential. He is among the best ball winners in Europe and has improved a great deal going forwards. Of course he has that immense engine. Like Milan I would sit sit him infront of the defence like Mascherano and allow one of the CBs Romero to pass into midfield and push the other 2 midfielders forward.

Paredes is a liability as a DM.

 

There was also an attempt to naturalize Carlo Cuducini a while ago. Emi's goalkeeping coach at Villa has been part of the England set up and knows his ability hence the feelers.

There are a couple of Portuguese players and first generation kids deciding who to play for. England even under Southgate is an attractive bet.

 

Messi still playing under injury, pretty obvious. No pace, stiff movement, no power shots, looking like Biglia. He got a lucky assist , a great throughball that deflected by defender to his own net.

Lol, and he scored a long range after running at walking pace. Messi bailing10 men PSG to win 3-1, even though he's having bad game by his standard.

 

Sad to see Kun retire like this. It is a shame to be honest. And yes, seems like yesterday I was watching him as a teenager. What a talent he was. I’m glad he won a senior trophy before going out. I wish him the best

 

Aguero was so fun to watch. That iconic title winner for City will stand for all time. He was so classy as well. Would've liked to see him on the squad/bench for one last crack at a World Cup, but glad he got the Copa America at least. Hope he has a healthy life ahead of him.

 

Foyth es otro animal, y mes sin jugar y te saca esta maniobra, sensacional pic.twitter.com/ElCqobCmSg

— Jose (@Jose__V3) November 20, 2021

 

Hi everybody, I've been invited by @locoxriver and gladly accepted his invitation, despite our obvious differences hehe. Argentino, born and raised, living in Buenos Aires, hincha de Boca, I have season tickets to Bombonera, Boca is playing today but I'm stuck in Doha, it is what it is.