FIFA World Cup 2018: Argentina vs. Croatia - June 21 [R]

It maybe means when we fail to win against Croatia, and must beat Nigeria and its still a tie at 85 minutes mark, he will bring Dybala's in...

I know that's what Diego did against Germany when he threw in Aguero at 85 minutes to save the day, when they're down 0-4 already....

Our manager apart from Sabella has always been stubborn. Remember that Dybala was never part of Sampa actual plan. But if he's not going to bring Icardi, at least he would need to bring Dybala or the fans would be totally outrage . Now if he starts Dybala and he make the difference to win the game, Sampa would feels like being smack in the face.

For that reason, I'm afraid he's having too much pride on his actual plan, which is what we saw against Iceland. I hope he proof us wrong and make a bold change against Croatia.

 

i hope that is not the case then........that would be really stupid, but egos make people do stupid things. Really thought Meza would be like Pavon except on the right. Turns out he is no different than Acosta and the guy who was so close to knocking Biglia out from the WC. If Samp insists on starting Meza hopefully he decides to be more bold cuz an out of position Dybala brings more than what he brought today

 

Yes, but I dont think Meza was ever the main problem in that first game.. it was the absent of creative midfielder and unorganized defending. Lanzini could have take out preasure from Messi but with him getting injured, Messi now has to drop to midfield again and he'd need to run through forest of defender before he can shoot.

What we saw throughout the game was the other players keep passing the ball back to Messi and Masche. Can you believe that we're actually using Masche to play creative midfielder role?? its unbelievable. We keep doing sideway passings all day.

I wonder if we can actually play Dybala in midfield in front of Masche and LoCelso/Meza. I know it would be attacking overloads, but Dybala is a skilled passer and we will have someone outside Messi who can make penetrating pass. We're missing player who can do that. Yesterday, Sampa brought in Higuain instead.

 

2022 WC

 

That was prior to the first game, lets wait and see what he does in the next following days.

Most of the world knows Biglia is shit and yet he makes our starting 11.

 

This might have worked against Iceland but I think this should not be done against Crostia, atleast not before the half time. Argentina still has the chance to top the group and therefore should not go full attack mode just yet. This might only complicate things If defence is exposed more than necessary as a goal from Croatia first will put extra pressure on the team.

 

True, they're not exactly in do or die situation for now but Sampa needs to react quick if things doesnt look good with his starting line up.

Enzo Perez was able to replaced Di Maria on left wing in 2014 WC. He might not offers attacking ability but he helped to the midfield alot defensively, maintaining & recovering the ball.

I'd start Pavon over Di Maria and if we still stuck by HT, I'd take out Pavon for Perez and put Dybala in midfield in front of Masche and behind Messi who can move further upfront closer to the goal.

Its easier for opponents to nullify Messi if he has to pick up the ball 45 yards from the goal.. and no matter who's the 9, they will not get enough ball supply, because nobody to play with.

Messi & Kun will connect well if they play closer to each other. The penalty was won by Aguero after Messi chipped the ball from midfield, now imagine if Messi can be closer to him most of the time...

Both Pavon and Dybala are young players, their pace / energy will tires opponent defense.

 

According to early reports, this will be our starting XI vs Croatia. I'm still hoping that we can switch Rojo and Caballero as I think they are way too shaky and unreliable. Also I'm hoping that Meza and Pavon are willing to track back often as Messi and Aguero most likely won't do much defensive work.

 

I think that if we went with that lineup, I would be confident to face any team. Maybe I would switch Mesa for Enzo as I think Masche and Lo Celso are not strong enough to sufficiently defend against the world's best. But since we got bigger problems, I would be happy with the line up you came up with.

 

That attack and midfield look alot more promising, but I still think defence can leak 1-2 goals against Croatia with Rojo presence. I think the defence is the first thing that Sampa needs to fix quickly. He needs to makes it alot more organized cause they looked all over the place in that first game and its scary. CR can score 4 goals against that defence and Spain and Germany can possibly hit 6 or 7.

 

I've been suggesting similar thing. We can start with Pavon instead of Di Maria and if we still fail to break Croatian defence with him, then Dybala should replace Meza and Perez can replace Pavon.

 

I can't see Sampo giving Armani a shot, which sucks

 

Caballero isn't even a veteran in the Argentina squad. The only reason Sampaoli has to start him over Armani is bald favoritism.

 

Also replace Rojo and I’ll be content, replace Rojo AND Willy, I’ll be happy and won’t have any complaints. I don’t understand the reasoning behind Willy over Armani... If Sampa is willing to make three changes, he’s already admitting his mistakes, just two more, and there we will have a team that nearly everybody will be good with. Plus, it is smart using ADM as a sub, you can bring him on later in matches.

 

Willy is good with his feet and Rojo is faster than Fazio. Thats pretty much it. They both can pass to build from the back but Rojo has more speed.

 

Even though our defence are shit in the first place, the insecurity that Willy brings to the table makes then twice as bad. Panic mode as soon as the ball is anywhere near our box.

 

I would be happy if Rojo was moved to the left like he played in 2014. In fact, I want Mercado-otamendi-fazio-rojo. All tall capable defenders. Let's lock this shit.

 

No way would I replace Tagliafico with anyone. That guy has more football IQ than our entire squad, including Sampaoli.

 

Id prefer someone who can keep the ball out of the net rather than a GK who can help with buildup play but brings panic when the ball is in our half. Fazio might be slower but he seems more composed and Rojo almost gave a goal to Iceland doing that horrible pass to Willy.

 

Fabio Capello: "Argentina midfield was ridiculous, slow, always trying to go through the middle. I think Messi is a better player than CR7 , but the team isn’t helping him.”

Time for Sampaoli to fix this problem. Replacing Biglia with Lo Celso is a start.

 

Sampaoli is devoted to his system and it wont work without build up from the back. Unfortunate but thats just the way it is. This system didn’t work during qualifiers and he had 7 months to find something else but he sticked to what he likes.

 

Cabellero reminds me of Romero in 2010, never catch, always punching the ball away. That's a clear sign of hesitation and lack of confidence.