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

Acuna was actually alright imo. Took on multiple defenders and tried to do as much as he could. Basically did what Di Maria was supposed to do. Salvio on the other hand was pretty bad although nobody can blame him cuz he was played out of position. Let his man run behind him multiple times and pretty much clueless defensively while not offering much in attack, which was the reason why he was even selected

 

Yeah, I would have expected Di Maria at some point.

 

I give Acuna points for effort but tactically I think he was the wrong choice. We needed midfielders not wingers.

 

We literally have one of the best goal scorers on the planet, but he gets nowhere near the goal...lol...this is insanity

 

Sabella would have won this 1-0

This makes me appreciate how well we played last time. We were an amazing team. Sabella is a legend

 

"Respeto a Argentina, pero Sampaoli es un desastre". Durísimo comentario de Franco Baresi, histórico de la selección italiana. pic.twitter.com/iCTXPCoxIj

— VarskySports (@VarskySports) June 22, 2018

 

Everyone has different physics. Yea, Zidane still play at 34-35, Zanetti won treble at 35, Klose won WC finally at 36, breaking Ronaldo record in the process, but I can only see Messi playing as midfielder if he does end up still playing for NT till 34-35. He doesnt have that strength and acceleration like he used to, at least from what we saw recently, let alone at mid 30.

Do I think Messi should still be playing ? no, not because I dislike his recent performance, but because it will only hurt him and his family even further everytime we lose. When we win, he'd take the credit , when we lose, he'd take all the blame. Unfair treatment.

If Messi or the fans still wants to play in next WC, then he should skip qualifier at least till only few games left.

The new team will NOT improve as long Messi still become the vocal point because the natural tendency Argentina manager and players to rely on him to do his magic tricks.

 

Said this during his 2014 campaign and kept saying it up until now. Sabella made a team out of a bunch of players. Adversaty hit hard with injuries and fitness, yet he was still able to take us to a final with guys like Biglia.

A coach is someone who can create a system based on the available talent not just enforce a system upon that talent.

 

Argentina dont have same type of players that Chile has. Players that could run tirelessly and pressing throughout 120 minutes if needed. Yesterday, only Salvio and Mascherano that keeps running throughout the game, the rest was static as usual, including Messi.

When our wingers stuck near the touchline, there should be at least 1-2 players that getting close to them and play triangle passes. Instead , our players has always been so far apart from each other that you cant make anything work with that! When Willy tried to made that clumsy pass to Mercado... Mercado was mile away from the rest of the team that its basically a useless pass even he didnt mess it up.

 

Yeah I meant Messi in a midfield role. He might still be able to play as a 10 like the guy Chile (cant remember his name) had in 2015 copa

 

That's a good point about the triangle passes.

I want to be hopeful that the team will continue, but who is to say we can even beat Nigeria. We barely get into scoring positions, and the last time I checked you need goals in this sport.

 

We conceided just one goal at KO stage, despite 3 games went into ET. You dont get any better than that in term of solid defence.

 

If he had a healthy Di Maria and Aguero for the whole tournament, he would have for sure won it. The guy made Biglia very effective.

 

Well, oddly enough, Messi still score countless goals for Barca this season as usual. He still able to kill Real madrid in every Classico, so his teammates performance and his own mentallity played huge role for sure.

 

Biglia hardly made any noticable contribution. It was Gago in midfield that carried us all the way to QF until he got injured. Messi started to shift back to midfield when Gago wasnt there because Biglia dont have passing ability and he never run that much . But yea, no matter who's playing, the team looked solid in midfield and at the back during that time.

You can have the worst players but still get decent result if playing as a unit. We've seen that from time to time especially in this WC where no favorites almost beat the big teams everytime.

 

No offense my man, maybe it's the wine, no clue what point you're trying to emphasize in this (latest) odd post.

 

Guys, seriously. How can we get Messi into more scoring positions. He's one of the best finishers in the world right? Last time I checked, he had most goals for Barca and Argentina.

Do we need Dybala playing the no 10 with Messi as a striker? Just play Messi thru and he'll score a couple.

 

C'mon, Biglia played some great matches in qualifying and added a lot in the WC. Just cause he's old now doesn't mean he was always terrible.
Do agree that Gago's injury was big cause he linked the defense and offense with quick long range passes. Enzo did a good job replacing him though. Di Marias injury was the worst as the final was made for him.
But yes, regardless of who played, Sabella's defense was watertight and that was the difference.
Playerd like Rojo, Fernández made their names under him.

 

Not hard to understand. Messi played at walking pace throughout this game and just walking around hardly making any move when he's not on the ball, Biglia stuff.

 

Strong, well disciplined back 4. 2 defensive midfielders and one all around midfielder. Quick attacks and no tiki taka.

 

Unless Nigeria get a point or 3 from Iceland, Sampa probably gonna fields Dybala only in last quarter of the game and he will also field Higuain again for no reason.

 

Where is Fernandez...And also Garray? They seem more stable than otemendi

 

Its sad how we had become...



Look at the players movement and how quick we hit our opponents. No wonder we thrashed everyone in qualifier.

The goal against Switzerland was another example of a fast counter attack. No pause on that move, just one sweeping move forward. Today, we will get the ball and pause for 10 seconds.

 

That's our team????
You sure???

 

Garay has been our best central since Ayala. I don't have a clue if he's been out of form or what.
Anyhow, more about the system. I think Sabella could have made Otamendi/Rojo/Fazio/whatever work well.