Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

Paz is undeniable by now.

 

I watched Real Madrid vs Marseille

- I had no idea that Balerdi, Medina and Rulli played together?
- they kept a clean sheet against Mbappe, Rodrygo, Vinicius from open play
- they only conceded penalties, one was valid, but one was imaginary. Expected when playing against Madrid
- overall a very good performance against a top attack and it shows that Argentina have defensive depth going into this World Cup.

 

Medina had a nice tackle on the phantom penalty. Balerdi was world’s better than vs Ecuador. 13 saves for Rulli too

 

I wasn't able to watch the match. Did Medina played as a LB or as a LCB in a back 3?

 

Messi with a goal and an assist with about 30 minutes left to play.

Miami's defence and midfield are slow as a turtle. They dont even press players who's only 5 yards away. Almost an assist from RDP but Messi a tad too slow to reach it.

Why does the pitch looks to bad though?

 

Fastest player to reached that number. Took him 100+ less matches than penaldo.

 

Messi could've had a hat trick. His finishing has been lacking for Miami lately.

 

We always had sh!tty final game everytime we qualified early. We only won the last qualifier game when we needed to win it like in 2010 and 2018. Otherwise, its always been a lost or draw.

To be fair, he had like 8 braces this season and also a brace for Argentina recently. Maybe he's just temporarily runs out of goal quota.

 

Franco had a good game. Almost scored twice. Positive signs
He made some terrific runs and gambetas

Last I checked this wasn't a barca forum, and despite those wierd barca fans are saying online about franco, we should be talking positive about our players

ruili also had a 9.7 on sofa score against mbappe, rodyrigo and real madrid in the champions league

 

LPB got their usual helping hand from the officials.

 

Would've been nice if Franco finished that one chance Mbappe set him up with. He understandably rushed it, hopefully he'll be ready next time. I think we were all surprised Mbappe passed that one lol

 

LCB

 

For the last 3 days my soccer chatgroups have been filled with my friends saying "Yo, that Argentinean kid, Nico Paz is a real talent!"

And that's where we should begin, Nico Paz has clearly established himself as a automatic call-up, imo. The talent is off the charts, his finishing is there, and his passing is sublime. Yeah, there are issues he needs to work on (you can all provide what about him you are concerned with), but he is more than good enough to be auto-call up.

When I watch Nico Paz at Como, I can’t help but see flashes of two legends in his game. He carries himself with the elegance and vertical drive of Kaká, THE SPIN ABILITY!! RIGHT OUT OF KAKA'S PLAYBOOK! (see Kaka's spin, pass to Crespo in the CL) gliding past defenders with long strides, always looking to break lines with pace and intelligence. At the same time, there’s a touch of Juan Román Riquelme in his playmaking: the pause, the vision, the way Nico dictates rhythm with a single pass (that's Riquelme imo). AND, Nico Paz can score!

Nico mixes that balance of explosiveness and composure, with the best qualities of both, the flair to beat his man, and the calm to create for others. He is most likely either getting bought back by Madrid (his contract has a buyback clause) or going to an EPL team for over $100M fee. This is our guy.

Mastantuono played probably his best game for Madrid against Marseille. Showed some flashes, but needs to continue to grow.

Claudio Echeverri needs to get out of his situation as soon as possible. I think Echeverri could be better than Paz & Mast, but if you get loaned out, the team doesn't have incentives to play him. ManCity is ruining a great Argentina player! Leverkussen has only played Echeverri for 35 mins this season (in all competitions). Again, I think he might be our best/most talented player U-20, but we might not get to see much of him until he can settle his situation with a club that will play him.

 

My only concern with Nico Paz is that his competition in the national team is fierce with Alexis MacAllister and Lo Celso there.

He could potentially play in the position where Messi plays but obviously Messi is a starter, not to mention that the likes of Soule is also more of a profile that we need.

My assumption is that once the WC26 is over and MacA transitions more to a deeper midfielder and Lo Celso is phased out due to age and the inevitable injury, Nico Paz will have a more guaranteed spot in the starting XI.

 

Where we should begin is being honest with assessing the performance of nico paz. Every debut this year for Argentina, he hasn't really shown anything that says he's a starter

He's 21 years old, he's still young and he needs to be given more time like Almada was given, but he needs to show why he's called up - everyone is waiting for him to do what he's suppose to do

 

I don't think Lo celso is making the squad next year; that spot should be secure for paz since his sealing is way higher - in club form paz is above him

 

That's pretty much my believe as well. Paz is an automatic call-up, not necessarily because what he can contribute as a started, but rather as part of the incorporation process.

@aerez I hear you about he has not performed when he is called, but we have to consider that trajectory that Nico is showing at club level. I really like players like Almada and even a guy like Angel Correa, who are showing more for the national team, but Nico has a higher ceiling that Almada.

 

Almada was given plenty of time to grow, so Nico has all the time. I think we're just impatient because we see him doing it for como

 

Lo Celso will definitely be called up as long as he is not injured. He already made the squad when he was riding the bench for Spurs. He's high in consideration for Scaloni.

 

If we are playing a 3 man attack then Paz should be ahead of somebody like Almada and or Nico Gonzalez and Giuliano. We can keep Mac, Enzo and De Paul(Meh). You play Mac and Paz closely together where Paz can relay between the upper mid and Julian and Messi. What you can’t do is throw Paz on the wing.

To clarify…
Paz>>>Almada
Paz>>>>>Giuliano and Nico G.

It’s not even up for debate. If Scaloni is gonna play like a little bitch where he thinks he needs muertos like Simeone and Gonzalez then he is making a major mistake.

Paz needs to be a starter. He does things that nobody other than Messi does.

 

Your last comment - exactly that.

 

Lo Celso should not be in contention. The three plus two are Enzo & Alexis & Almada/Paz. I would bring in Equi/Varela as they add more bite at the base of midfield and are faster more mobile than Barranechea.

Mastantuono if he has a good season bring him. Same for several others. It should depend on their form and also how they are fitness wise too. Facu, Perrone, Montoro are on the margins.

I have a horrible feeling Scaloni will bring along Paredes and Lo Celso regardless if they are fit as well as de Paul. It's time to move on from them plus Otamendi who was sketchy again at times last night. But he has given barely any time even to Paz which is a huge error on his part or indeed Varela. Equi might have had opportunities but like Almada wasted a season no thanks to his greedy agent.

Paz at the tip & Enzo & Alexis in a free role would be my choice. Those two can do everything which is what the modern central midfielder must be not just an out and out destroyer or creator. For security Varela if he keeps his form at the moment.

We have one of the most deep midfield selections in history since the thirties-forties for the seleccion. And as shown at the last WC legs and skill in midfield win matches. Control midfield always wins matches.

 

He has that style and elegance even when he addresses the ball and a young confidence and attitude in a nice way. Franco has it too although he needs to settle and really he isn't being given his favoured spot which is Guler's now that Modric has departed. After 26 which we hopefully win we will see some stellar talents burst into this side and probably even a better chance at 30.

 

True only to certain degree. You still need solid defence and Cuti, Licha and Dibu has been a revelation since Scaloni's arrival. Plus, you'd still need someone who could scores at crucial moment.

Spain controls the midfield most of the time but only had 1 good WC tournament. We controlled the midfield all the time circa Roman's era but defence often collapsed against speedy team. We controlled the midfield everytime in Tata era, couldnt score for life when it really matter. Paz definetely has a capability to decides the game much like Messi, ADM and Dybala. He's also around the same age bracket as Enzo, Mac and Julian in WC 2022. I hope he doesnt end up in RM for time being, its important to have him having regular playing time leading up to WC 2026.

Speaking of bringing the older guys, I'm going to be realistic, Messi still there means RDP and Paredes will be there aswell , but to includes Otamendi and Lo Celso would be a complete misstep. Otamendi in particular, he's not even good enough anymore to be on the bench.

As for Giu and Nico, we really should just pick one of them. Imagine having to chase the game or looking for a winning a goal and your secret weapons are these two.

We can starts with CA 2028 first. Much like how CA 2021 helped to decides our WC 2022 campaign big time.

 

I'm not expecting or hoping us to lose in friendlies but I do hope we conceided some from Otamendi's blunders. Having RDP, Paredes , Otamendi and Lo Celso all at once in 2026 is just too much. If you can only eliminate one, then it should be Ota.