Argentine NT: News, Stats & Players [R]

There's just not enough quality in Salvio. Club form means nothing if you don't bring it to the NT. Club form brought us years of Pipita what did that get us? Another example is Pratto hell there's too many to name. Ricardo Palacios is another.

Bring in Exequiel see what he can do. At the very minimum you get a young guy who will press for every second. What you will bank on though is a hungry player ready to prove himself not just for Scaloni but the brain dead of a manager that has kept him on the bench for months despite good performances. If I'm Scaloni I'm betting on youth. Too many managers are afraid and too cautious deferring to "experienced" players even when its clear they're not good enough.

 

Only good thing is salvio isnt 35 years old so all good. Main priority is to get rid of otamendi.

 

Potential lineups for tomorrow. I see the logic in starting Martinez and O'Campos alongside Messi because they'll do the bulk of the work pressing, but something was off. What tweaks would you make to the lineup?

 

Tomorrow is not a real football match, so asking for a more attacking formation is senseless and even harmful.

I personally would start Salvio (just for this game he's worth it) and that's it. Same guys as the other day. I think if we start Palacios we will never reach their box. And if we start Papu he and Messi will be dead by the 25th minute.


Then the coach should make 4 subs, all at once, around the 55' mark (leave 1 in case someone gets an injury later).

Overall we have two big advantages we didn't have in the past against this opponent: no spectators and especially the 5 subs.

 

I dismissed him back in WC 2018 and that is where my pre-conceived bias comes from! He was terrible there too.

On another note, Brazil smashed this Bolivia side 5-0. Granted that game was played in Brazil.

Uruguay will face Ecuador tomorrow. Will be interested to see if Ecuador goes for the same rough game they did against us, and how Uruguay handles it.

 

We will beat Bolivia if only we have a winning mindset. We shouldnt go there thinking , we'll never beat them on that mountain, so 1 point would be good enough. No, we should comes out smoking like we did against Ecuador in that last game of 2018 qualifier and break the myth/curse.

It should be noted even when we actually played well like in Pekerman and Sabella's day, there's always that 1-1 or 1-0 game where opponents just decided to bunker the whole game. I wouldnt surprise if this current team is actually capable of scoring multiple goals once we face opponents who's not afraid to attack. Ecuador didnt even try any , even after they got behind.

 

Playing there is completely different. Perhaps a 4-4-2 or 4-4-1-1 would be better suited for this match. This is what I'm expecting.

4-4-2
GK Armani
RB Foyth
CB Martinez-Quarta
CB Otamendi
LB Tagliafico
RM Salvio
CM Dominguez
CM Paredes
LM O'Campos
ST Messi
ST Martinez

 

They played their substitutes against Brazil. Not that the result would have been much better otherwise but still not the same.

 

Excited to see either Palacios or Dominguez start in place of injured Acuna. Looks like Salvio will be on the bench where he belongs . This is the only change to the starting 11.

 

Official lineup

Armani; Montiel, Martínez Quarta, Otamendi, Tagliafico; De Paul, Paredes, Palacios; Messi, Martínez, Ocampos.

Backline and forwards: no surprises

Glad to see Palacios in the team.

 

Bolivian misses empty net.

 

Montiel gave the Bolivian #9 a clear unchallenged header!

 

Goalie also made a judgment error.

 

This game is already frustrating lol.

 

Ok, will stop watching after that yellow for Argentine player. Gets the ball first. How can you still stand with these refs? They make such bad name for south american people.

 

Yup yup

 

Why is Armani standing on his line? I'm sick of his sub-par, passive play.

Bolivian #9 has been dangerous all game. Best player on the field so far.

 

That was coming. And unfortunately I can only see one team scoring again in this game. All our guys look gassed. And for some reason they look surprised by how the ball is moving, even after training on the pitch yesterday.

 

Lmao I could've scored that header wtf.

 

Number #10 also look decent for Bolivia, seems to have good technique and a cool head.

 

I love seeing Lautaro make those dashing sprints on the wing and when he looks up there is only green jerseys.

Where are you going?

 

Ref almost giving Bolivia a free kick in the box hahah

 

Have we put in a single good cross/corner kick yet?