Argentina vs Spain, September 7 (R)

I asked, begged for Banega here, before Diego convocated his 23. Guy is quality, miles ahead already than Bolatti. He's got vision, and very precise passing.

 

Banega reminds me a lot of Alonso, he the ability to play as a defensive midfielder, but he can also be a playmaker when required, and also, ike Alonso, he can be a dirty b**tard when required.

Although it is unfair to judge him on one game (i.e. against Argentina), and having watched him play regularly for Arsenal there is no doubt he is an outstadning player, but Fabregas is not in the same league as Xavi.

 

Xabi Alonso I never liked. His game has always missed something.

As for Cesc, a bit overrated. When he was the youth teams of Barcelona's they had believed he was going to be the next big thing, until Leo took away his limelight. Must of been a bitter pill to swallow, an Argentino taking the spot of a Catalan. So there really was no room for him, so he left elsewhere. He def is not a Xavi, that should not even be considered. He will eventually come to Barca though. A bit of a shame, Pastore wants to play alongside Messi and Barca(And has shunned off Real Madrid a couple of times already) so he can play in Barca. When Xavi starts to dip in form, then Pastore could of been the perfect replacement. But I know it is politics and Cesc will likely be it.

 

I'd love to see Pastore play for Barca, can you imgaine him in that team. I think Barca see Fabregas as the long term replacement for Xavi, in my opinion Xavi is one of the finest midfielders ever, so good luck with that Cesc.

 

People talk about Xavi and greatest midfielders and all but in reality Argentina has produced the greatest midfielders in the world for like the past 10 yrs and im not talking about just playmakers im talking about all around midfielders from Simeone, Veron, Ortega to Riquelme, Mascherano, Cambiasso, Aimar to Messi, Pastore, Banega and you can probably add Perotti to this list pretty soon.

We always have had a solid midfield throughout even in 78 and 86 we had one of the best midfields in the world if not the best.

 

its silly to talk about xavi as one of the finest midfielders ever when he didn't even become an elite player until euro 2008. i doubt anyone rated him amongst the world's best prior to that.

not saying he wasn't a good player prior, but he was not as highly thought of as he is now. for example, he didn't even start the CL Final in 2006 as deco was the main playmaker in those days for Barca.

 

i am pretty sure if you do a comparison between cesc and xavi, cesc is way ahead of xavi when xavi was 23....

while i hope cesc never goes back to barcelona, cesc will be as good if not better than xavi by the time cesc is 30, which is in 7 years...

cesc is still a top 3 playmaker in the world outside of xavi and sneijder, so calling him overrated is a tad harsh....

 

As well as being a very good playmaker, Cesc can also score on a regular basis, something that has never really been a featue of Xavi's game (not that he has needed to score many goals given the strikers he has played behind), but if Fabregas is to live up to his full potential at club level he needs to leave Arsenal.

 

For the CL final in 2006 he had just come back from long term rehabilitation from knee surgery. Euro 2008 was just his first major award.

 

100% agreed! Sometimes the things that you read on here about Xavi are just mind blowing. People seem to forget that he's close to 30 and never really rated prior to 2008.

 

that's why it's stupid and ignorant when someone rates fabregas as over rated.

fabregas played in every game of the 2006 world cup (at 19)
he was in every game and made it the all-tournament team of the eurocup 2008 - at 21
and granted he didn't play much in the 2010 world cup, but he was a game changer in the final game.

plus at arsenal he has consistently led them to a top 4 finish the past 4 years and has consistently led them to a top 8 appearance at the worst in the champion's league year in, year out.

if that is overrated, then there must only be 2 other good playmakers in the world right now - xavi and sneijder...

 

he is living up to his full potential at arsenal - he's not only become a top scorer for the gunners, he's also the top in assists.

if he goes to barcelona, he won't be living up to his full potential b/c he'll be 2nd fiddle to xavi and playing off the bench or playing in copa del rey games.

where can fabregas go that he can take his game to another level?

 

Well in the long term he will replace Xavi, but that is a few years away yet. He wants to leave Arsenal, he's been there for 6 seasons and won nothing, he's obviously had enough.

 

Erm, I think you find he has been rated well before 2008, the problem is the media likes football players who grab the limelight, the ones with the tattoos, with diamond earrings, the ones who are sleeping with glamour models. Xavi is a player who shuns the limelight and just gets on with his job (he's very much like Paul Scholes in the respect, except Xavi is not a dirty bas**d like Scholes), and he has been playing at a high level for season after season, it's just he did not register with most footie fans until the european championships in 2008.

 

Article I've been waiting for - Sid Lowe, on the aftermath in Spain of the a55-whuppin'.

Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/20...9/09/spain.argentina/index.html#ixzz0z5l4MLNW

"There is, most agreed, no such thing as a friendly against Argentina..."

I fukin' love it...

Vamos Argentina!


http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/sid_lowe/09/09/spain.argentina/index.html

 

Thank god this coach knows what he's doing..... shit what a relief, only 2 months late though.... anyways, great performance, midfield looked VERY SOLID in possession and very composed and organized. The inclusions of cambiasso banega and zanetti completely made a difference in the structure of our play. Banega needs to be a starter from now on same with zanetti, and with cambiasso ehhh i'd rather see pastore get in there instead as i think masche and banega will do just fine in the holding mid positions.

We should work on this for the copa america

-------------------------------------Romero-----------------------------------------
------Zanetti---------Demi/Milito-----------------Samuel----------Ansaldi-------------
-------------------------------------Mascherano-------------------------------------
------------------------Banega----------------------Pastore-------------------------
-------------------Messi---------------------------------------Tevez----------------
-------------------------------------Higuain-----------------------------------------

Or: Di Maria for tevez, milito for higuain. but besides that, this team would be rock solid and very very hard to beat

 

Yes only the two months late unfortunately.

I'd play this like you pretty similar:
-------------------------------Romero---------------------------------
---Zanetti----------Forlin-----------------Samuel---------Ansaldi------
----------------------Mascherano------------------------------------
--------------------------------------Banega------------------------
------Messi--------------------Pastore--------------------di Maria----
-----------------------------Higuain---------------------------------
Subs:
Andujar
Aguero/Saviola
Lisandro/Cavenaghi
Perotti
Cambiasso
Angeleri

I'd like to see some of the young CB's we have also given a chance and hopefully kids like Jara, Salvio mature rapidly this season.

Should be very tough competition for the Copa squad selection and all the better for it.

 

glad you are out of the hospital and hope you have a speedy recovery!

http://espn.go.com/espn3/index/_/sport/soccer-futbol

 

Good to have you back. I hope that whatever was ailing you wasn't life threatening (though it sounds serious), and that you're well on your way to a 100% recovery.

Not that it's anywhere near as important, but you missed the best performance by this side in a very long time. There was quite a bit to feel good about and that should serve as a good foundation.

 

Glad it wasn't worse. Be sure to let us know your thoughts on the match.

 

If you want the match, I have it on hdd. I can make you a dvd. All you need to do is just say so.