Yep, my only gripe would be our team sometimes would sleepwalking / just going through the motion after 2-0 up. It happened againts Netherlands, France & Australia in 2022. Recently againts Brazil, we had similar defensive lapses after 2-0 up. You just cant allows that to happen againts too often againts strong side, especially a team that has someone like Yamal or Mbappe. At one point you're going to pay for it. So while I think our midfield is more than strong enough to battle Spain midfield, 1 or 2 errors at the back like Pezzella, Ota, Montiel & Cuti did against Netherlands, France & Brazil, it can be costly.
It looks like Facundo Medina will be leave Lens FC finally. Atletico does need a LCB/LB and he would fit in well. Tagliafico on a free agent this summer. Dibu leaving. Almada wanting to stay in Europe. RDP and Molina rumoured to be leaving ATM. Important transfer window for the national team for several players. 1923888914533642593 is not a valid tweet id
Let’s just schedule the game after the World Cup. This would be a good game for a farewell for many of our senior players.
I thought about this too, but UEFA nations league 26/27 is starting in Sept. 2026. and ends in June 2027. UEFA is absolutely a joke
Nations League is such a ********ing drag. They need to limit most of the playing schedule to the lesser nations where it actually might be of use to them. The top league sides should just play a couple elimination games at most or something instead of making it such a full schedule.
2 goals and an assist for Julian. The assist was to Correa who likely played his last game in front of the Atletico fans. Soulé with another assist early for Roma. This was from a CK. He does a good job with his dead ball plays.
Julian , Enzo & Paredes should take the FK when Messi isnt playing. Molina showed his counter attack speed but his goal unfortunately was slightly offside.
All three are right-footed. We would also need a left-footed option. Giuliano almost scored a goal that would’ve made a prime Messi proud. He unfortunately hit the post. Hell of a run.
True, but I think a great FK taker would be able to score from each side. We've seen Messi, Roman, Batigol, Dybala scoring freekicks from both left and right side of the goal. That Julian freekick supposed to be easier for left footed taker but he curled that one perfectly. I remember Roman scoring 2 freekicks in qualifier with Messi standing next to him, he planted both of them from very different position. Yea, Giu's ability is taking a huge leap within a season. You could tell he's simply more talented than his brother.
Rumors are circulating that Kein Lomónaco will be called-up by Scaloni. He and a few other local players will get the nod. Let's see. Sure as hell will be better than Pezzella(Than again the statue at the park will be a better job).
Did you see Pezzella vs Independiente del Valle? Check out his marking in IDV’s second goal (2:23 mark) He actually started off pretty solid the first few months he returned to River, but ever since Hulk owned him in the Libertadores semifinals back in October his confidence has been in the dump and it’s been a lot of the above
n Holy crap, talk about a blast from a past…. Michael freakin Hoyos, the kid who grew up in SoCal and repped us for the Sub 20s. Not to mention, Spinelli, who I vaguely remembered repping Tigre before being sold-off in Europe or something. I am already bracing for Scaloni to call up Pezzella. Dude was awful in Qatar and he’s been a whipping boy recently. If Scaloni wants to take him to the US, give him a Kun like role. Be a cheerleader and pretend to be a part of the squad. Give him some consulting role, anything but not a player. That is non-negotiable. Taking Licha who will be recovering from an ACL, Otamendi who is older than the hills and Romero who has checked out of England are all concerning signs. We all can see it, we saw it during the CA; when our defense got pushed, we had to hold onto for dear life. Anyways, we are all waiting for changes and Scaloni simply has not pulled the trigger. He may do so on the fly but as a long term plan, he is hesitant. I hope somebody in his staff just lets him know… Or just comeback and read BS Argentina. We all helped him last time around. We’re here for you, Lionel.
The problem is, he might just look at the stats and we literally conceided just once in the whole tournament. The fact that we ended up lifting the trophy (something we couldnt do even once with players like Ayala, Samuel, Zanetti, Aimar, etc), I'm afraid Scaloni will see things differently than us. The truth is, Dibu bailed us many times , the tourney literally could have ended against Ecuador. Lautaro being in top form also helped. But imagine having to face another shootout in next WC, we might escape 1 shootout, but to survive 2 shootouts again? One thing that seems to cover our weakneeses would be the strong mentallity and grittiness. Our penalty takers looked confident because of Dibu . I dont see Pezzella can be that joker like Lavezzi and Kun. If anything he'd simply be another Armani.
Scaloni has the opportunity to experiment by picking some new, younger players who can play in competetive games, but ones that don't matter in terms of results. In my humble opnion the squad needs fresh faces, just in terms of other teams, in my view France are stronger than they were in 2022, they now have Barcola, Doue, Olise, Spain, well, we know what Spain have. No team has defended the world cup since Brazil when they won it in '58 and '62, so to give ourselves any chance we need to freshen things up. And that means dropping Pezzella.
Very early prediction but I would think this is more or less the 26 player World Cup squad that Scaloni will go with GK: E. Martinez (33), Rulli (34), Benitez (33) RB: Molina (28), Montiel (29), Foyth (28) CB: Romero (28), Otamendi (38), Balerdi (27), L. Martinez (28) LB: Tagli (33), Medina (27) RM: De Paul (32), Palacios (27) DM: Enzo (25), Paredes (32) CM: MacAllister (27), Lo Celso (30) RW: Messi (39), Paz (21), Giuliano (23) FW: Martinez (28), Castellanos (27) LW: Alvarez (26), Almada (25), Nico Gonzales (28) Alvarez (26)---------------Martinez (28)—--------------Messi (39) —----—-------MacA (27)--------------------RDP (32) —--—--------------------------Enzo (25) Tagliafico (33)----Otamendi (38)----Romero (28)—--Molina (28) —-------------------------------Dibu (33)
Pleased for Romero, although the game itself was like watching 2 bald men fighting over a comb. Harry McGuire is a twunt
Cuti won Player of the Match. Strange, I think they ran out of medals for the himself and Son. But anyways, I think we need a healthy Cuti going into 26. He is one of the most irreplaceable players that we have. His intensity, timing and will to win is second to none. I know he is a hot-head and plays on that line but man, we are lucky to have him.
He's a big game player isn't he, in the day to day games he can be erratic, but come the big games he's always on it.
He's the type of player that needs motivation/hype to perform to his best. A bit like De Paul in that sense.