Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

Well that was proper crap for basically the whole game. Another Scaloni disasterclass, been to many lately.

 

I'll say this much... Scaloni did give Paz a start and some time with Messi. But now for whatever reason he has stopped playing him. Mastantuono is not currently better than Paz. Nico has more weapons in his arsenal.

Although, I do recall one of the last times Nico played, he was yelled out for a pass and threw his hands in the air when he did not receive it. I forgot who it was that barked at him and told him to run back. That is not in our character to react in that manner to throw your hands in the air... Perhaps this is him in detention. I don't know but not playing him when we need a bit more dynamism is strange.

I have been pounding away for a sometime now that Scaloni is turning into these managers that never wants to change. He wants to ride with his side. If continues this, it is not going to end well. It has to be said.

 

Exactly! We desperately need someone with pace and directness. All this passing and forcing every attack through the middle is way too easy to defend against.

 

That goes to show you , playing for Perez side means a starting place in NT.

 

Yeah, we need a dribbler or two desperately. Especially with Messi being 38 now. Can’t rely on passing through everyone.

 

Mad. Guy was a sub for the u20s not long ago ffs. And we have to honest here, being good (he wasn’t great) in the Argentine league isn’t all that.

 

A very dubious penalty decided this game.

But crucially Scaloni has to make changes in playing staff and get some of the players mentioned earlier into the squad and give them experience. It is never a great idea to thrust most players straight into a Mundial with little experience

GK: Martinez, Benitez, Musso
DF: Romero, Senesi, Foyth, Anselmino, Tagliafico, Soler/Bernabei, Molina, Montiel
MF: Fernandez, MacAllister, de Paul, Paz, Soule, Palacios, Varela, Gonsalez
FW: Messi, Alvarez, Martinez, Lopez

 

Sometimes the way media hype a youngster could be mischieving. Youngster scores 2 stunners, suddenly they're the next this or that. Garnacho might scored some bangers, doesnt mean he deserves a call up last year.

 

I said it before. We’ll crash like Spain if we don’t fix this. We lack width, dribbling and pace. Teams like Ecuador sit back, counter with speed, and we always struggle. We need to solve this ASAP.

 

Just clocked that Franco even got the 10. What the actual ********…

 

Enzo & Mac has a maturity in their game despite of their young age in 2022 but they're still at least 20+ year old. Mastantuono is still younger than Messi in WC 2006, definetely not ready for this. I wouldnt crucify him either, not every great talents are early bloomers like Messi, ADM and Kun.

 

It's a common failing for managers. Happens all the time. They persist with those they know & trust who have brought them success and are too scared of making changes until it is too late and the side is failing. The best sides constantly change & adapt and bring in new blood.

In hockey someone like Scotty Bowman for instance. AI would not make these sentimental and cowardly mistakes.

 

We can look great against sides like Venezuela at home where we having the time of our lives but that is fools gold. Scaloni needs to drop this notion of being loyal to guys and do what is best for the shirt.

 

As I mentioned earlier, whenever we qualified early, we had a lackluster final game (2006, 2014, 2022), but we won it when the last game was a "must win" like in 2010 & 2018. So there's that.

 

He will succeed he has immense ability but statistically Paz is better. I cannot imagine what youngsters like Paz and Soule must be thinking. Called up then discarded or called up and barely given any minutes while Franco gets his debut. Franco is a Kroos with far more attacking threat & creativity. His time will come and he is trying a little too much trying to impress with country & club at present. But I would have given Paz the start against Venezuela & I would rather see Soule than Simeone. His defensive abilities can be worked on. His attacking threat and creativity from out wide has shades of Angelito.

 

Otamendi wasnt even starting in CA 2024, so I dont know why he's starting all the time just because Licha isnt available. I suspect those winning goals he scored against Brazil, Paraguay and Ecuador (in shootout) made Scaloni thinks he's still a godlike figure at the back.

 

Did we even test the GK? Man im so angry with how we played, but a lot of players got exposed today. RDP is another who who had forgetable day. Misspasses after misspasses. So slow as well.

 

The same reason why Ota still in the squad. That goal at Maracana, that winning volley against Paraguay and winning penalty against Ecuador. He wasnt there because of his defensive ability and form.

 

Funny I literally asked about our second and third choice GK few pages back and this result made us think at least a little bit about it. Emi hasnt really been tested in a long time. Diaz goal was unstoppable and never his fault, but against Brazil, Chile and Venezuela, he didnt have that much to do. Even when we beat Uruguay away, they only had one real big chance to score. He's probably lacked a bit sharpness due to that.

 

Which Fernandez are we talking here? Enzo or Equi? Equi can help with this team. The likes of Equi and Soulé would provide this team with a nice boost.

The defense is just not working. We always struggle with Ecuador. Their pace and physicality gives us fits. As somebody just mentioned, many teams will just give us the ball and sit back to counter. Our defense is much softer than it was in Qatar. A team more deadly on the counter will hurt us.

I will say this much. We have personnel to compete for a fourth star. But if Scaloni is going to need to make changes. I hope he does not chalk this up as... "Ahh, we had an unfortunate red card that changed the game... It's not that big of a deal..." We created nothing and I mean nothing. He brings in more midfielders when we to stretch them out a bit to have openings. We moved like we were in sand.

Is it that difficult to give Echeverri a game or Varela? What more do you need to know about Paredes, De Paul, Mac? Was the Mundial or the CA of last year enough? Give players a chance to make a name for themselves and build up their confidence. If we lose, we lose, we experimented... There is no shame in that but not willing to try is a shame.

It is important to change formulas and stop being so predictable. This is Bauza 2.0 in terms of predictably. I am not saying be like Diego and field 150 players but give the team a new look. What harm is there in that?

 

I don't think Messi would've made a big difference in this game besides scoring a free kick out of nowhere. We just had nothing going with that lineup.

 

I'm glad that Messi skipped this game.

 

Good game to expose the deadweight (Gonzalez, Otamendi, Balerdi, all the full backs).

Bench De Paul please, only play him in finals. Useless player in almost any other kind of match.