Dybala and Icardi has been playing at high level in last 2 seasons. I mean everybody knows Dybala and most elite club has an eye on him. Icardi has been league top scorer and despite limited playing time still scores 16 in 30 matches last season. Yet, the manager stuck with these chokers since 2009. Those guys should have been drop , especially Pipita... I'm ok with 2015 but still the same exact guys upfront in 2016 despite upcoming talents... that's insane.
With all due respects for Palermo, he basically had one shining moment in his international career and that was the goal v Peru. He was left off the national team for good reason. In the World Cup 2002, Bielsa was foolish to start Bati over Crespo. Crespo was not old nor was he was out of form, he was not even 27 yet. But I am not going to revisit that topic since it has been discussed about numerous times. Why haven't the likes of Icardi and Dybala been given a chance? That has to do with our manager(s). The last one to have a mixture of young and end experienced talent was Pekerman. He took a 18 year old Messi to the World Cup. Tata Martino has been a failure in his tenure in many, many ways. His style of play has been a determinant to the team. He plays a very old style of play. What made the team tick was under Sabella, to play a counter-attacking style that blitzed teams on the counter. But Tata views the likes of Higuain, Kun, Dybala and Icardi all as #9's. There isn't any room. For him, there is no point of taking four #9's to a tournament or call them up, because they will rot on the bench. His system is predictable and his subs go like clockwork, we already know who will get subbed for who and how the team will set up. There is no creativity or imagination, there simply isn't a so-called Plan B. For him its, "Higuain has sucked the entire game, let me bring in Kun, who hopefully can suck less". He still has the Olympics and if and only if Dybala and Icardi are permitted to go(And if he Icardi is even picked), you'll see, he will set up that is basically identical to what the senior team is. I do not think he even watches games to be honest. He hasn't seen somebody like Dybala can play behind a #9. Personally, I hope he is gone and stays gone. And whoever takes over his reigns, puts Dybala and Icardi on the pitch TOGETHER.
Leandro Paredes can pass an assist from the parking lot if he had to. However, Messi should be the CAM & Paredes can play Babega's role. Lo Celso is a great option and Joaquin Correa is a really good player who Inter are trying to snap for 10 mil from Sampdoria. Arg's depth pool at the youth rank is soo deep.
Well he did have that garbage time goal against Greece in the 2010 WC, even he was stunned that he actually scored, and it was the type of goal Higuain would somehow miss, lol. That wasn't the point though. Obviously Palermo was not international quality, but there's no doubt at the domestic level he was a clutch, "talismanic" player as the English like to say. We haven't had that on the NT since Batistuta for sure, and we kind of wasted Crespo's best chance to go with Bati again.
Messi will come back from his retirement, likely Mascherano and Banega too. The others don't really matter, although I always have appreciated how Lavezzi elevates his game for the NT. I wouldn't mind having him for WC18 in fact, as substitute winger to DiMaria. Lamela and Lanzini should be given a chance to take the playmaker spot, Messi can play forward alongside Dybala or Icardi. The more worrisome positions are fullbacks as there are very few options for Argentina's standard, none of Peruzzi, Tagliafico, Orban, have panned out into great players. Luckily Mercado is playing really well, and perhaps it's time to bring his partner Vangioni to the NT for the left side.
My starting eleven would be Rulli, Mercado, Otamendi, Funes Mori, Vangioni, Kranevitter, Banega, Lanzini, DiMaria, Messi, Dybala, plus Romero, Garay, Cuesta, Mascherano, Lamela, Lavezzi and Icardi as the key subs to build the core of the team. It has to be a mix of experience with youth.
and then Pekerman needs to apologize for 2006 (WHY TAKE OUT RIQUELME??!), and then Maradona needs to apologize for 2010 (basically b/c Diego should've never been in charge) -
Pekerman also subbed Crespo for Cruz.... not sure what's the point. You got Aimar, Riquelme, Crespo, Saviola, Messi all sitting on the bench at once in that QF. Roman still top the assist table in that tournament.. more assist than Totti.
Zidane? his contribution in first 2 matches was earning himself 2 yellows and France drew their first 2 matches . His team needed 3 points to qualify and they did so without Zidane in last group game. Zidane had 3 good games after that and then getting sent off in the final. Far from the best on the tournament. Its amazing how some people think Messi being voted as player of tournament in 2014 was controversial, but then what about Zidane in 2006... Technically, Argentina didnt lose a single game in 2006 when Roman still playing. They're leading 1-0 at that point. But its not Argentina if they didnt pull a self destruct button. Whether its Ortega's red , Diego getting suspended, Pekerman crazy sub, Pasarella stupid rules which prevent the likes of Caniggia and Redondo from playing the WC or Bielsa opted out of shape Bati (ankle injury that actually forced him to retire later on) instead of league topscorer Crespo.
Reports in ARG that Bielsa called 5 clubs with players he was promised by Lazio, and learned that Lazio had never contacted them.— Pål Ødegård (@paalpot75) July 8, 2016 That'll do it.
Can AFA get the coach that we want before getting their s#&t together? No way!! Why would Sampaoli leave Sevilla for the mess that is AFA? The best we can hope is that FIFA's normalisation committee has an immediate impact. It might look worse before it gets better; if the committee discovers fraud (which they probably will), and Panama Papers type of stuff, it could spread and affect the clubs. No doubt that the mafiosos that have been running AFA for over 30 years have been stealing left-and-right.
About Higuain - yes he missed chances in 3 finals. Yes, he has a reputation of not showing up in the big games. Yes, he missed a crucial penalty in the shootout last year. But... He did send us to the semi-finals of the World Cup for the first time in 24 years with a fantastic volley. I always felt like that chance in the 2015 final was actually harder than it looked. Lavezzi's pass was a bit too heavy. He made that chance in the 2016 final himself. Also, I've noticed he likes to round the keeper from the left side and he was coming from the right. This one in particular was an easier shot for a lefty. Even the true greats miss occasionally in the big occasions. Check out Ronaldo missing in the 2002 final. (at :53, it wouldn't let me post the link with the time) The difference is that Brazil actually made a few more decent chances that they could eventually capitalize on: This all being said, I agree it's time to give some new players a shot. We have some great strikers coming up. But I think we will continue to have problems with players choking in the future if we as fans are so harsh on players missing chances. I think C. Ronaldo said to his Portugal teammates in the Euro 2016 penalty shootout against Poland something along the lines of "If we lose, f*** it." None of the Portuguese missed their shots with some of that pressure off. I also think the real fault for these last two final disasters is Tata Martino. As one of the posters said, he fielded 3 players who were injured somewhat. He had nothing once Argentina (unfairly) went down to 10 men. Based on the way he wanted his team to play, I don't think a player like Biglia should have been part of the team. Instead, Martino should have had a proper backup for Augusto Fernandez. Also, who knows what he said to the players to motivate them before the final? Perhaps something like "Better bring this home or else"? Anyway, sorry for the overly long post. Have been reading this forum for a while and finally decided to join
Theres no question that part of the problem is that Higuain choked. He had 3 chances in 3 Finals and missed. But as the poster above points out, Argentina has a habit of playing like cowards in Finals. In 2014, Higuain's chance came from a horrendous error from Kroos. Higuain missed, yes, but there was absolutely no merit on Argentina's part in creating the chance. The only other chances created were Messi miss and Palacios, plus the Higuain off side. That is 3 chances created in 120 minutes. Compare this to the number of chances Ghana created against Germany. The amount of chance even Algeria- also in a knock out round so don't tell me the pressure wasn't high- against Germany. In 2015, Higuain missed late on. AS the poster above points out, it was harder than it looks (I also said this at the time). Yet this is the only decent chance Argentina created in 120 minutes. Aguero did nothing in the time he ws on the pitch. Bravo was no where. In 2016, we created more chances than in past Finals, but still... Even by comparison, France created many chances against an ultra defensive portugal, 8 saves from Rui Patricio. Bravo made one great save from Aguero and was hardly worked. The Higuain chance was an unforced error by Medel. Thinking of other Finals, I remember my beloved River Plate dismantling Tigres, a team with a payroll more than twice as high, 3-0 in the Copa Libertadores Final, creating many clear chances on goal. Thats how you play a final. So no one take this as a defense of Higuain, its just a statement of how few chances we create in Finals, and the best ones we've had have been thanks to the other team not to our own merit.
Higuain chances arent not the only chances Argentina created in those 3 finals. It should be noted also that all Higuain missess are laughable one , it's comical miss. Messi missed from freekick in 2014 and 2016 finals but freekick has always been harder especially compare to that Pipita's chances where he's basically in 1 vs 1 situation. However, I pointed before that Klose failed in 2002, 2006, 2010, 2012... 2 finals, 2 semifinals but eventually won it in 2014 where he's 36. After 2010 WC lost, he basically said afterward that I dont think I'd ever win the WC . Germany reach Euro final 2 years later, and failed again but they keep pushing in every tournament and eventually won it by a goal in 113 minutes. In comparison, Messi would be only 30/31 by the next WC.... obviously he could help the likes of Dybala, Correa, Icardi etc. Messi status as best player in the world is one of the reason why he's playing under huge preasure... and unlike in Barca, he never had a player who step up in the final and win the game. So Messi always play thinking that if his team fail ... he's going to take the blame.' Di Maria obviously did not fit in recent final and I agree Biglia is one of those guy who looks scared when playing in big games. I knew that he's going to miss that penalty, so predicatable.
I completely agree that part of the problem is that Higuain choked. He has always been known to blow it in the big games. I am no psychologist, but I think once a player dons that "choker" label it could take a lot of mental fortitude to break out. Higuain missing in 2014 put more pressure in 2015, which in turn put more pressure in 2016, etc... And I agree with RiverGaucho that we just didn't create enough chances in the finals either. In 2014 remember Higuain actually did put the ball in the goal, just that he was offside. If we had created a few more chances he might have done it eventually, just like Ronaldo in 2002. (Not saying Higuain is even close to Ronaldo's level though.) What if Brazil had only that one chance and then lost on penalties to the Germans in that final? Would Ronaldo have been considered a choker too? (He would have lost the 98 and 02 finals.) I think the biggest problem is that fear of losing. You saw it when England played Iceland in the Euros. The players on one team are hindered by self doubt and what ifs, particularly if they are expected to win, while the other team has nothing to lose. It certainly doesn't help when people like Maradona say "If you lose, don't come back." But the problem compounds for Argentina the longer the team goes without a trophy.
Messi has 3 chances in 2014 finals. 2 of them in extra time, his header which hit top netting and his freekick which not hitting the target. Messi and Kun had 3 chances each on 2016 finals and we all know Messi wont be scoring those chances if its in final, so did Kun. They just choked. Again, Pipita chances were all 1 vs 1 chances, so did Palacio and Messi chances in 2014 finals ... how many easy chances you would have in tournament finals? since WC 1990 , every tournament finals tend to be very defensive. Great poucher/striker would capitalize opponent mistake with confident. These guys does not need many chances to scores a stunner if it isnt an important game. Watch Messi's league winner in 2015 against Atletico Madrid, tight space , marked by many, similar angle like his chance in 2014 final... off course he'd score because he's wearing Barca shirt. Kun last second winner that won City league title... that also pretty much sums up the difference of Argentina players mentallity when playing for club and NT, not just Pipita... even Pipita is the worst among the lot.