The Dutch are only better than us in the back(Slightly). The forwards, midfield and goalie, we are better. They pushed around the Americans around but they struggled v Ecuador. They’d managed two shots in the entire match. Ecuador were the better team. People are just worried about the speedy players but we will have to nullify them.
The 2 teams Scaloni lined up today Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Enzo Fernández, Mac Allister; Lionel Messi, Julián Álvarez and Di María Emiliano Martínez; Molina, Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro Martínez, Acuña; Enzo Fernández, De Paul, Mac Allister; Messi and Julián Álvarez
Edul said about the training: -Molina started and was not rotated at any point. -Tagliafico started but was replaced by Acuña. -De Paul started but didn't feel fully confortable and was replaced by Paredes. -Di Maria started and was replaced by Lisandro Martinez, switching the team to 3-5-2. In short, If ADM doesn't start we play with back 3. If De Paul doesn't start, Paredes plays but if he does then Enzo will be the 5 again. Tagliafico/Acuña is just a choice the coach will make last minute.
So would you want Nico to play v the Dutch or Brasil? Because if Acuña plays v the Netherlands and picks up a yellow we lose him for the semis.
I want licha as a right back if Acuna isn't available or saved. It's not like tag contributes much offensively
I feel like the american played really bad tactics and made no adjustments whatsoever. The dutch also have 8 goals based on an xG of 4 this tourney. You'd hope their attack comes down to earth and we are definitely the best team they'll face defensively.
They also got outplayed by Senegal. We haven't given up dangerous counters in this WC. More concerned about a mistake causes by pressure.
Lahoz is the ref and he is known to whip out the cards left and right. He makes the match about himself.
At this point Lisandro might be better than Otamendi for most teams. But most sides have enough tall players to compensate. We pretty much only have Otamendi and Romero. Also, Ota is our de facto captain. Ota has been stellar in this WC except for against Australia where he made 3 bad mistakes. Lisandro has been excellent in limited time.
True. I think at this point you have to focus on the current match and not look ahead. Who knows if playing Tag will result in a Dutch goal, of Acuña will get a yellow, if Brazil will get by Croatia, if nuclear war will end? :/
So the Dutch and van Gaal will know exactly how we will play? I don't like this information leaking. If we do leak information, it should intentionally WRONG to let LVG plan for something he won't see. Why is Enzo not in a more advanced position? Criminal to play him so deep in midfield when he can shoot and create goals near the box. WTF.
Honestly if USA had just taken away two of those easy goals with some basic defending it's a 1-0 or 1-1 match and who knows what happens in the end in the latter case. That was an incredibly flattering scoreline given how many chances USA had to score and didn't convert versus the falling asleep at the back. If we avoid making those kind of stupid mistakes in transition defending we have a really good chance at advancing.
And Pulisic missing that early chance. Changes the complexion of the game. Scoring first in these matches is imperative.
Only insecure teams care about stuff like that. Everyone and their mother knows how Netherlands will line up for this game and it doesn't seem to be a problem for them.
Strangely, i feel the same The only other match i was not nervous beforehand was Australia. I chose to believe
I’ll be honest, I have not enjoyed this tournament as I did in previous occasions. I do not know, maybe it has to do with it being held in the colder months(At least here in the Northern hemisphere) or what… Maybe we got off to the wrong start, where if we won our first game, the third would’ve been much less stressful(As well as the second). I have only enjoyed the matches when I rewatched them.
I really dislike the BS ass back passing that our defense does, which has almost cost us. I hope Scaloni has told these players to stop messing around in our end. We were able to catch the Aussies, and it could happen to any team. It’s the quarterfinals, there is no room for errors.
I'm nervous for every game to be honest. This team never makes it easy on us. But to put a positive spin on it, we are battle tested unlike the sides that are cruising against cupcakes and not facing adversity.
The only game that I was nervous about was the game vs Mexico (partly because it was must-win match and you could have imagined how I felt with the 0-0 score at half time) and a little bit with Poland (where I really wanted us to top the group) From recent news, seems like De Paul and Fideo are doubts. I'd say only play the players who are physically good. We've seen how players not physically well impact our game. This would be my lineup (3-5-2) Dibu---Romero, Otamendi, Lisandro---Molina, Enzo, Paredes, MacA, Acuna---Messi, Alvarez I'm confident that the 6 day rest and our players can give us the victory
I was oddly calm against Australia, at least until Lautaro missing few sitters and I'm thinking this might be cost us an ET or something... but Dibu saves the day at the very end. If its Dybala or Correa, they'd would have planted as least one of those chances. Lautaro is clearly feeling the big preasure because he's been our main forwards for few years. Expectation for scoring goal is the highest on him. Then again, after those poor showings and people making fun of him, the preasure might be off and it could work the other way around for him now.
Agreed. Just play the guy who's 100% fit. If ADM and RDP are 80-90% , they could still come later on.