Messi still recovering from hamstring injury that basically started after those tackles at Copa America especially the 6 yellow cards of Colombian players that were all from tackles on him. He's still never look quite right since then. There's two reasons here... Firstly, he didnt manage himself well by keep playing for Argentina even when not needed, secondly, preasure from PSG to play as many games as possible. So he has no option now but to keep playing even if still injured since Leonardo already made a remark when Messi decided to travelled for that latest qualifier round and he basically did nothing in those 2 games. Poor decision.
And Enzo Fernandez with another good assist to open up the game. Enzo Jr. has had quite an important growth over the last two months. Who says he doesn’t end up sneaking into the Qatar roster? Palavecino has been great too. I’ve been very keen of his form this second half of the season.
I have a feeling he’s going to accept, unfortunately. It’s a good project and he has always had ties with Uruguay (coaching Nacional; bringing in a bunch of Uruguayan reinforcements). In a way, it could serve as an understudy for him to coach the Argentine NT in the future, kind of like his year at Nacional served as preparation for River. But hopefully I’m wrong and he turns it down
I was going to ask, what do we do with Scaloni after this World Cup? Unless there is a major catastrophe, he should return, or at least bring in Aimar or Samuel. I do not think we should scrap the project we’ve had with the sub teams. But I would’ve liked to see what Gallardo could’ve done with the team. Gallardo is an interesting guy. Uruguay will be fortunate to have him. They could cause serious problems for any team under his tutelage. But is there enough time for him to build something? That is the question.
Well I think Uruguay’s idea is for him to build a long-term project for 2026, not 2022. If he can get them into Qatar, good... if he does well there, even better... but I don’t think they are expecting him to work wonders in a matter of months. If he fails to make it to this upcoming WC it wouldn’t tarnish him since the whole cycle was practically under Tabarez. However that was kind of the deal in River too (no immediate expectations), yet he ended up winning the Sudamericana a few months after taking over the role and then the Libertadores right after, so who knows... he’s definitely a special one
Well as soon as the tickets for Argentina-Italy are on sale I shall be off to Wembley with the shirt and scarf. There will probably be a large number of Italian fans given the size of the Italian community here and there is a small but sizeable Argentine community in London as well. Plenty of neutrals if only to see a glimpse of Messi which only happened in the stands last time at the Etihad. The new generation of England fans don't really remember 1986. It's the older ones that moan at the hand of God but even so quite a few from then describe Diego as the GOAT and others saying if an English player had done that no one would have complained. I was hoping Gallardo would stay at River long term to nurture the youngsters of which he has done a fine job over recent seasons but a man of his ambition would probably like to test himself in Europe. Uruguay seems a bit of a sideways move and ultimately I would like to see him in charge of the seleccion. He's a clever tactician. Gets the best out of his sides and brings on youngsters. He's a canny individual. I'd be happy to see the current set up carry on for another cycle as well. Bring some continuity although we desperately need a higher quality of under age managers like Zubeldia rather than Batista for instance. Cristian Romero is likely to be out for several weeks with his hamstring injury. A big blow to Tottenham. They are looking at de Vrij apparently as well to partner him which would be a huge upgrade on Sanchez or Dier for instance. Matias Palacios who decided to venture to Basel for no good reason is not really settling either. The coach is not helping either in building his confidence by playing him regularly. San Lorenzo will only benefit greatly if he is sold and it's not great for the seleccion going forward either.
With 4 UEFA nations league matches scheduled in June and not a lot of time between the Champions League final (for the players who do participate in it) and the 1st UEFA nations league match, I do wonder when the Euroamerica cup vs Italy will take place in June. FIFA only allows the June window until June 14 which is the date the last UEFA nations league match is scheduled. Also not sure when or even if we are going to face some European teams before the WC start as even the September window is scheduled with UEFA nations league matches.
Hope Italy qualifies, otherwise it will kinda suck to play that cup against a team that didnt even qualify for the WC
Its actually make sense for them considering his price tag isnt absurd (very low compare to his quality) and their current lack of quality forward especially with Kun current situation. Also , Barca isnt team of superstars anymore, probably less toxic dressing room these days compare some other big teams.
Foyth having bad game againts Barca. Caught out of position on counter and gave away penalty againts Coutinho for Barca third goal . Lautaro coming off the bench and scored from the spot after his shot hit defender's hand.
Messi with hat trick of assists, one of them for Di Maria. Mbappe misses like 100 chances but so many clowns would focusing on Messi playing at walking pace Messi had 1 goal + 5 assists in last 3 games, he's slowly turning into Roman Paredes came in late, and he had to jumped around raising his hands cause his teammates wouldnt pass the ball to him when he's free
PSG players just don’t pass to Messi. Neymar seems to be the only one who seeks him out. Despite Messi’s 3 assists, his dribbling has seemingly declined quite a bit. Maybe he is just missing the first step acceleration.
Papu Gomez outplaying Luka Modric. Ocampos also having a strong game. Should try him at #9 instead of Correa in the NT.
This seems to be the game that started his most recent hamstring injury and his running never look quite the same since then... All 6 Colombian yellows were from tackles on Messi.
I wonder if Francescoli is talking to Gallardo about this? I don't want Gallardo to leave River for Uruguay, something about that just doesn't seem right to me
He probably is tbh.. Another thing that makes me think there are quite some possibilities of this happening is that after I made that post River won the championship and Gallardo finally gave us some hints in the post-match interviews. He said he was “burnt out” and that coaching River requires a lot of energy and 100% devotion. Going to coach a NT like Uruguay would allow him more free time throughout the year since it isn’t a daily process like coaching a club team... and if they miss the WC he’ll practically have the whole year off. Besides if I’m not mistaken, I believe he had another son recently. Switching to a NT would allow him to focus more on his family life while remaining employed. With that said, there are elections in a few weeks in River, and Brito (D’Onofrio’s right hand man and the main contender for the role) already met up with Gallardo and promised to fulfill a list of demands (5 or so specific requests) Marcelo made should he stay. That’s a step in the right direction, although it doesn’t guarantee anything by any means.
I hope he stays to look after all the up and coming talents in the River cantera. He has done a great job in promoting youth. On the other hand a coach with his credentials could earn a small fortune in Europe. He has been very loyal to River has a plethora of titles. I can understand the link to Uruguay in his connections to Nacional and former rumours of PSG and Monaco as a former player but he deserves a top job where he can run the show.
Messi 7th ballon d'or He kept talking about argentina and the NT And recognized Lewandowski What a GOAT