Nobody could ever manage Mbappe's ego. No matter which team he's in the next season, his term and condition would be the same... "everyone recovers the ball for me and send me clear with a throughball immediately". Its been 4 years since he won the WC and he's still exactly the same player from 2018, He's now already a year older than Messi when Messi won his first treble and first Balon.
Now it's confirmed that Russia is suspended for the UEFA nations league so Israel, Iceland and Albania should be available. Would be great if we only faced Iceland and Albania but seems like we will more likely face Isreal. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022–23_UEFA_Nations_League_B#Group_2 Would have liked tougher European oppositions, but better than facing Conmebol teams or Mexico for the million times.
Palacios in bench again for Leverkusen. Think Scaloni should be dropping him already, 3 seasons in that kind of club and still a substitute is just not NT material (same goes for Nico Dominguez for example). Has not lived up to the hype, which I never bought anyway. Enzo Fernandez just looks like he has a higher ceiling.
Nico Dominguez was a starter for Bologna this starter until he got the shoulder injury back in Feb. I'm just guessing they are just very slowly getting him back to his rhythm with the season practically over for them. On Palacios, I agree with you. He needs to get out of Leverkusen this summer or his place in the WC squad will be jeopardy in by Enzo or McAllister imo.
I wouldn’t count those two out just get. Remember, RDP did not find his groove until a few seasons back at Udinese. He was at Valencia then went to Udinese and even then it took him a little time. Now, he is all but irreplaceable for us. Maybe they don’t go to the World Cup. But I think they still have a chance after the tournament. But I saw this question on Twitter a few weeks back. Will the River supporters give their answer? ¿Enzo Fernández o Exequiel Palacios? Justifique su respuesta 👇 pic.twitter.com/JuZTNixnrW— Debate Millonario (@debate_millo) April 22, 2022
I think Palacios is only better at defending. Passing and overall offensive contribution Enzo is better. He's very similar to Enzo Perez when he was at Benfica, and that was his best version.
Possible calendar: *The Israel and South Korea friendlies are lacking official confirmation, but seem very likely
To me Palacios is still better than Enzo Fernandez at the moment. Of course their current form is on the opposite end of the spectrum, with Enzo balling every single weekend and Exequiel eating bench, but I still have memory of just how great and complete Palacios was for several seasons. Enzo seems to have an extremely bright future and played incredibly at DyJ (key in their historic Sudamericana and Recopa titles) and now River, but he still has to maintain it. It isn’t farfetched to claim Fernandez has the potential to be a bigger player than Palacios. But Exequiel proved himself consistently for a longer period of time. Lets not forget that he played a fundamental role in a team that reached two consecutive Libertadores finals while being only 19-21 years old. This is no minor feat to brush off. He wasn’t a player who simply went through a “hot streak”... he showed tons of fantastic attributes regulary and played with the mental maturity of an experienced 30 year old from the start. Unfortunately his 2 years in Leverkusen have been underwhelming, in part because the first year they didn’t have actual plans to use him and then he was plagued with injuries, so one obviously begins to question what will be of his career. And yes, I agree that there is no excuse for him being a sub... I’m still hoping he makes a move soon. Leverkusen doesn’t seem to be the right fit for him, just like Valencia wasn’t the best place for De Paul or Tottenham for Lo Celso. I think Palacios is still far from a lost cause, but who knows. But the question of whether Enzo deserves to go to Qatar over Exequiel based on current form is definitely a valid one, and one I asked not long ago in the Players of the Future thread. Unfortunately for Exequiel, it he decides to stay in Germany he may be “Alario’ed” before November
Yeah, based on everything I’ve read, I can’t imagine the Australia game taking place unless AFA lets itself be bullied into it. The proposed 6/15 date for South Korea makes it seem like we are indeed considering playing Brazil on 6/11. Hopefully not in Australia though…
For me, its easy: give me the active-dog that can come of the bench and give you a heat check. Neither Enzo Fernandez nor Exequeil Palacios are going to be starters - if they get minutes, it would be coming in the second half to make an impact. I don't trust Palacios because he has been riding the bench, whereas Enzo is ballin every day. Palacios is talented and if he gets to a team that allows him playing time, his career could change. But, right now Enzo is ballin' so for me its about the "hot hand"
Hope Scaloni and the Rulli blunder. No consideration for Rulli ever again. Emi, Musso and Benitez and we have several younger talents developing below that. Villareal were dominating now they have to score two more. Looks like yet another boring predictable CL final which I will certainly not watch.
Aaaaand Rulli having the worst night of his career in the most important game. Don't want to see this clown in our world cup squad. At least Armani doesn't make so many blunders.
I guess we have to hope that Dibu does not get hurt in Qatar. Rulli is showing that he can’t do it in big matches. Armani… Well Armani is… I don’t think Benitez will make it even though he’s had a stellar year in Ligue 1. I just hope this does mean Scaloni will take 4 goalies since he’ll have doubts at the #2.
Terrible goalkeeping from Rulli across both legs of this semi-final. Don't want him near the squad. Lo Celso also did not play well. Liverpool are a tough squad!
Completely disagree, Lo Celso was the best from Villarreal together with Moreno. The performance dropped in 2nd half just like all the team.
Yeah I know he's not playing great but he isn't making blunders like these clowns + a defense with Palomino, Demiral, Djimsiti is trash anyway so there's not much more he can do.
Not sure why Benitez never gets a nod, PSG hasnt score againts him this season in multiple games. Nice result against PSG has been 1-0, 0-0, 0-0 . He's been stopping Mbappe and Messi close chances convincingly.
Although it was disappointing seeing Villa lose like that, I agree with others above that hopefully this opens the door for Benitez to get a chance.
Also has the most clean sheets in Ligue 1 this season. I hope Nice gets either 2nd or 3rd (only 5 points and 2 points behind respectively) to get the team in the CL. Also has a French cup final to hopefully earn him some brownie points.