Guys be honest with me: do you have confidence in our team being able to challenge France and actually win it? The last time we played against a european giant, Spain, we gave up a 2-1 lead and they did not have a few star players at the time. I personally think that France can be beaten.
IMHO they’re overrated, not as much as Belgium, but overrated nonetheless. They’re less than the sum of their parts and they have to rely on two very inconsistent players to lead them (Pogba and Griezman). I’m not saying that it will be a walk in the park, they have a solid defense and in a good night they can break lose on offense; but they have a propensity to make mistakes and they have plenty of nights when their attack doesn’t click.
Are you talking about next Friday’s game or in a WC setting? I’ll answer both. Next Friday - we can win, but it won’t mean anything. In a WC setting, my heart of hearts says that France would beat us. FYI. That Spain lineup we played against would likely not feature in a tourney setting unless it was a 3rd game of a group setting where they were guaranteed to advance. If history has taught us anything in CA 15 and 16 is that we have lost players to cArd accumulation and injuries. Depth wise we don’t stack up to France and other elite countries. If we lose A core player to yellow cards, some of our backups simply don’t have enough experience to stack up with opponents who have players who play regularly in CHampions league and other top euro leagues. That’s what happened by the time we faced Argentina in 15CA and Chile in 16CA. As for Pre international tournament friendlies in general, Two friendlies come to mind.... Our March 2007 friendly against Paraguay - prior to copa America. We all know how the first game of that copa America turned out. In 2010, argentina beat Germany in a friendly before the 2010 World Cup. Germany walked over Argentina 4-0 in the QF of that WC Point I’m trying to make is that the results of these friendlies should not mean anything. A win against France does not send a message nor does it mean that we are ready for anyone else. The most important thing is that we give ample playing time to the guys like barrios, Lerma, Mojica, Uribe, duvan, chara, Davinson and Mina and try out some of these formations that people here have been suggesting. The addition of cantillo at this point is quite interesting. Makes me think that Lerma is going to be used in a RB capacity only. If we use these games to fine tune our areas of concern then we will have made progress. Things like short passing game, set pieces for Mina/ falcao, less long ball play, passing into open space; strategic back passing, taking shots from outside the 18, etc to me will be a great success. Additionally I want all 6 subs in prior to the 65/70th minute. 3 subs at half time and the other 3 between 60th snd 70th minute. Any subs after the 80th minute for these games will be a waste. We already know how to grind out draws/victories. If we lose to France, we can learn more from those mistakes or exposed areas. If we find a good 20 minute stretch of tactics that work for us and lose ill be more happy with that than if we grind out a result via 90 minutes of sloppy play.
Only team that scares me is Germany. Regardless of the result it’s not our strongest 11 without Cuadrado who we will have if we meet France at the World Cup. I just don’t want Bs excuses this is 95% of our strongest 11. But the 1st half we should put up a fight 2nd half who cares it’s time to test people out Also love how you mentioned the Spain game and then not having their strongest 11. They also played at home I think we would beat them in Barranquilla. Only team that worries me is Germany. Brazil/Argentina and everyone else is over rated we just need to not shit our pants in the 1st 15 minutes
So based on Dapip and Lapip I am going to go with a 0-0 match filled with "se la comio" moments on both sides of the field. No matter what happens I just hope we come out healthy. That goes for the Aussies game too which will be very physical.
Yup. ESPN Deportes in Spanish. ESPN3.com/Watch ESPN APP in English. Australia will be on both English and Spanish beIN Sports Channels.
it would really be interesting to see 3 in the back ... we got really strong CBs and interesting wing backs out there not so much fullbacks...... Cuadrado, Izquierdo, Arias, Palacios, Fabra all good options to play in the wings
i really want to see Johan Mojica get some playing time. the only time i saw him play, he had some good pace and explosiveness that could put a scare in opposing defenders. Granted he only featured against Bahrain/Kuwait, but he could be a good option to have if Cuadrado is going to be out of commission between now and June
Yup. To me Mojica is not a LB. But he is also not as good as Izzy or Muriel at Left wing. I think his role is off the bench to add pace and much needed crosses to all our weapons who can head.
I don’t rate Muriel highly. Not great at crossing or finishing. Playing nice, getting into position a lot but shutting the bed at the end isn’t acceptable at his age. He is a slightly more successful Quintero
Even so, he is playing at a high enough level to be competing for a starting spot in my eyes. Especially over a guy like Mojica.
Against France I would line up -------------------Ospina------------------- Arias-------Mina----Murillo-------Mojica Uribe---Aguilar--Sanchez---Izquierdo -------------------James------------------- -------------------Falcao------------------- I wouldn't start two centerbacks who aren't starting for their clubs. Mojica is in-form and gave Carbajal headaches against Real Madrid. Izquierdo deserves a start with his form, plus there is no other true side midfielder since Cuadrado is injured. I would start Uribe as a right mid instead of a center mid to not leave any holes in the midfield. I would start Falcao, so he can get back into rhythm with the national team.
I think it will be a good test vs France; France is a young team with lots of speed, perfect test for our defenders. James and Falcao just came back from their injuries so hopefully they won't over do it, but rather build on some needed rhythm.
3-4 games before the World Cup. It's crunch time and especially vs two solid sides. Everyone needs to give 100% on that field. We didnt have a great 2017 and what's needed here is for us to get back to the path of cohesiveness and clearly understanding what Pekerman expects from this team. That's what's expected when you wear that Colombian crest. Most are well at club but everyone needs to be fighting for a spot. If these guys play to not 'over do it', than what type of conclusions can Pekerman get? The team > than any individual. If the concern is injury than why even take a spot at this point. It's all part of the game. France is playing at home so I expect them to try to please their crowd as Deschamps also needs to draw some conclusions. At the very least I want us to play with tenacity and balance on both sides of the ball.
I really hope that Pekerman will finally switch to 4-2-2-2 and maybe he will since neither Cuadrado or Cardona available to the matches. With France I would go with both Sanchez and Barrios as DM duo but I would give Barrios more freedom in the midfield to join the attack. In his matches under Pekerman he ususally stays in the back, while in Boca he has more freedom to attack, just like hjis assist in their match vs. Tigre. James and Chara as attacking wings while Falcao and Duvan as the strikers duo. Defensively I would go with Arias and Fabra on the flanks, Davinson & Mina should be our CB pair, no doubt about it.
on paper that sounds like the right duo, but pekerman May likely go with zapata and Davinson. Not that I want zapata to start, but what I think pekerman will decide. Maybe against Australia we’ll see Mina start. We all know how pekerman is loyal to a fault with certain players
Just watched a bit of the videos of the practices. They're experimenting with a front 4 of James Falcao Duvan Uribe. Uribe has been playing on the right a lot for America, so I wouldn't mind seeing that. Of course, Chara has yet to report to practice, so that may change.