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

Rojo doesnt have footballing brain. He basically just a fast runner with strong stamina.

 

Indeed that is him and Otamendi. You cannot have two reactive defenders as your CB pairing. You need a team mate who can read the game and tell his partner what to do. Better still have two CB's who can read the game like Picchi and Burgnich for Internazionale in the sixties.

I think we would do well to have picked Pezzella a leader and reader alongside Otamendi but that boat has sailed for this WC.

 

It is madness to leave the best keeper on the bench. Armani should have been numero uno without any question. He should have already played two matches. Again he organizes his defence. It's what the keeper needs to do.

There clearly is a lack of communication between Caballero and his CBs. Not to mention Armani is a hugely likeable person.

 

Yea, great goalie should be able to organize his defenders, Caballero was shaky and always punched the ball away, a sign of zero confidence. Cant expect him to orginize his players. Armani should play.

One thing for sure, if Biglia will be dropped from starting 11 from now on, it will improve the team massively. Most of the time, Biglia will just stand there doing nothing. His contribution against Iceland was helping them to score instead of Argentina. You'll also end up with Masche doing all the passing in midfield because Biglia can only make a simple 5 yard passes.

Its too bad that Banega clearly not fully fit. There was a moment where he tried to chase a loose ball near him but his legs gave out... and he only played for like 20 minutes. Hopefully he would be in better shape already by the next game.

I still think Aguero fitness would be crucial as he has been clinical in NT in recent time. Its too bad that Messi played in midfield most of the time and Kun ended up isolated upfront. Still, he brilliantly escaped an offside and won a penalty when Messi put that great lob. Hopefully Pavon can help him in this matter because these days Di Maria is very easy to be stopped by opponents.

 

Win against Croatia will turn the table around. But our chances of this tournament is depend on how sampa is going to organize the defense.

Last time , even we are not able to score much goals , sablleas defensive unit worked like hell and played important role in our progress.

 

If we're going to win the title, then we should have confidence to beat Croatia instead of thinking they're as tough as final opponent. Its not underestimating them but its about having the confidence. How can this team beat France, Spain, Germany and Brazil (if they progress) if they're afraid of Croatia?

 

I don't think they're afraid of Croatia, they're probably feeling the pressure of getting a win. You don't want to start off the tournament dropping points but I can at least hope the changes will be made after that dreadful showing and we can only get better as we progress.

 

Croatia was a lot of people's favorites for the Euros after the group, but they somehow choked against a very poor Portugal team.

There are a lot of similarities between Croatia and Argentina when it come to chaos in the FA. And now it seems their coach has kicked Kalinic of AC Milan out of the squad for refusing to come on against Nigeria. Hopefully, this will destabilize the team.

However, the Croatian midfield will run circles around ours, especially if he sticks with Biglia. I am also worried for Mascherano, he did so well last game, but he was so psyched up being the first world cup match, we'll have to see how well he adjusts to having to track the likes of Modric, Rakitic, Perisic, etc. after being on vacation 6 months in China. Obviously Tevez is a different case to Mascherano as he is a far worse professional, but we saw how playing in China completely derailed his career when he returned to Boca, so we will see if Mascherano is able to step his game up even more against a far superior midfield. He was already piss poor against Spain and very bad in the qualifiers

 

Rumors increasing that Cristian Pavon will replace Angel Di Maria for Argentina vs. Croatia. Lo Celso for Biglia very likely as is Gabriel Mercado for Eduardo Salvio.

— Roy Nemer (@RoyNemer) June 18, 2018

 

So he's gonna keep Caballero and Rojo? Not much hope for the next match either then...

 

LOL, bald privilege!

 

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There has to be a way to make use of Dybala.

What if Messi moves over to the right side and Dybala can play behind Aguero.

Something like this:


Pavon---------Aguero-------Messi
----------------- Dybala
--------Locelco--------Mashe

Maybe Messi can find more space here

 

Sampaoli reverted to a 3-4-3 in today’s training. This is what it looked like:

Caballero
Mercado—Otamendi—Tagliafico
Salvio—Enzo—Masche—Acuna
Messi—Kun—Pavon

 

Well, he dropped Rojo, ADM, and Biglia, three major weak links, now if he only dropped Willy.

Toto and Acuña will work offense and defense with Enzo and Masche trying to protect the midfield, and Enzo will also try to link up the forwards. Pavón is also interesting and I think he’ll do well.

Looks like Lo Celso, like Dybala gets to warm his ass on the bench.

 

Unless Lo Celso is injured I cannot see why he is being left out. Madness. Perhaps he can sub in for Perez. I can understand the defensive and attacking nature of the 3-4-3 even more so given that Pavon also is a tremendous worker up and down his side of the pitch and we will definitely have a wider angle of attack.

Please use Lo Celso and Dybala at some point Jorge. These players remember will be cornerstones of your future seleccion.

 

I think that Sampaoli is realizing that Croatia are really strong on the wings, with Perisic in particular.

Biglia, Rojo, and Di Maria gone --- that is a major plus!

 

I prefer the lineup with Enzo.

 

For those asking for Dybala, forget it! Sampaoli has made it clear he does not rate him and sees him as Messi's back up as he doesn't think the two can play together. So unless Messi gets hurt or suspended or Argentina is left with no other option and on the verge of being eliminated, Dybala won't play.

PS- I don't support this idea at all. There is no reason why two top players can't play together. I said the same thing in 2002 when Bielsa refused to play Bati and Crespo together- even when we were DESPERATE- against Sweden, and I say the same thing now. If two great players like Dybala and Messi can't function in the same side, the fault is of the coach

 

Changes are coming, much needed.

 

The 2 lineups that are rumoured can go extremely well or extremely bad

 

Anything is better than having biglia play. In fact, we could play with 10 men without him and we would be better off.

 

Oh yeah I agree with that, I was just referring to the formations, my bad