ARGENTINA eliminated from Under-20 World Cup

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The Argentina Under-20 team is out of the World Cup.  As we all know, this is considered a failure for a team like Argentina. They did not make it out of the group stage.  Claudio UBEDA’S team lost their first two matches: first against England (0-3), and then vs S. Korea (1-2).  They did beat Guinea in their last match but it wasn’t enough.

Hopefully, this stirs up change in the youth system in Argentina. The Albiceleste have won this tournament 6 times: (1979, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2005 & 2007).  This is the 2nd consecutive Under-20 World Cup that they have gone out in the group phase.

What do you guys think? Can any good come out of this? Can this be a good learning experience? I think it definitely should be for us.  There needs to be an in-depth analysis of this situation.  Is this generation just not good enough?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

33 Comments

  1. Portugal beat SK 2-0…so..more easy to eliminated home team..you just not to be “naif” team…

  2. Ascacibar like Kranevitter is just an average player with a lot of potential. I haven’t seen a midfielder coming out of Argentina in a long while that blew you away. Hopefully Sampaoli picks can make a mark on the national stage against Brazil.

  3. According to Olé, Fazio is the main candidate to replace Mascherano due to the fact that he was still actively playing football as of last Sunday. Other names that were considered are Garay and Musacchio but both are already on vacation unlike Fazio, that’s why he is preferred. Quarta and Barboza are mentioned as well but more of secondary, last resort kind of options. Having said that, the fact that such young and promising players are even part of the conversation and appear on Sampaoil’s radar is like a breath of fresh air and something that the previous managers in recent years were not doing at all.

  4. I think some of you guys misunderstood me. I never said I want Ascasibar to play CB. I said he needs to move away from Estudiantes to a club that plays midfielders as midfielders and not as auxiliary defenders. This is very vital for his development.

    If he continues playing at Estudiantes, I think we will lose him as a midfielder. Remember Mascherano? He was good enough to play as a destroyer, but due to his defensive tenacity and ability to pass the ball better than most centerbacks he was deployed as a CB and later he became a centerback. We don’t want Ascasibar to become “that” player. The little I saw him, I saw a lot of potential. Potential to play as a pivot (not as a destroyer mind you). He is a very good reader of the game, passes the ball reasonably well and has the ability to dictate play from the back. He just need to learn two things –

    * How to press
    * How to evade a press

    That’s why he must move to a team managed by that kind of a manager who utilizes a highline. This is very important.

  5. I think at least we have a team. We have an idea of how we will play, what to do when we have the ball etc. So in that regard we are fine. Now we must not fire ubeda because he couldn’t get us past the first round.

    We know that we have a good CB pairing, decent wingbacks, an excellent central midfield and a somewhat potent attack. I can bet at least 3 players will be playing in Europe from this group. Ascasibar, Foyth and Lautaro. And Colombatto is pretty much sure to play Serie A football next season. He is a player gives me high hope. All our midfielders are either attacking midfielder or defensive midfielder, but this dude looks like a proper tempo setting central midfielder.

    If Ascasibar doesn’t move from Estudiantes this summer, he will be playing as a Center back in Europe in two years time. He needs to move from there ASAP.

    • “Now we must not fire ubeda because he couldn’t get us past the first round”

      Agree

      Colombatto, Ascacibar, Foyth – first of all

      Martinez, Palacios, Senesi, maybe Torres

      • I don’t think Ascacibar will play as CB in Europe even if will not develope on attacking abilities. He is too short. And too good as classic No.5. Watching few his attacking moments in the World Cup (especially one from second half against Corea) I think he must to be adapted for more attacking one though. At least for the less decisive games.

      • It’s obvious he should be only holding midfielder in some crucial games. Especially of tournament. Remember Argentina – Netherlands semifinal and that phenomenal Mascherano’s work. His tasks were only defensive and couldn’t be in other way when you must stop one of the top teams. Mascherano defending only was still first row star.

        Ascacibar mostly should be the same but on the other hand he could be ‘Mascherano plus’ thanks to his stamina, fast, long pace, may give us few runs in less tough matches. I saw him too many times connecting with forwards by his runs or counterattack raids (in this tournament only few times but he give the team countless interceptions). It is appealing perspective to see such kind of No.5

        First of all he must be more bold. But it is so building thought that he has all this tournaments experience (Sudamericano, U-20 World Cup, Olimpic Games, Copa Libertadores) at his only 20.

        • Fernandinho in Brazil model of midfield is actually commited to defending only.

          I would like to see soon in some NT friendly Ascacibar along Colombatto and maybe the third one CM.

        • Gonzalo, slightly disagree with you on defensive only aspect of Mascherano’s performance vs Netherlands. I remember him not only giving a masterclass in defending but also hitting some lovely long, diagonal passes to the flanks including one for Messi for which he was flagged offside. That was a complete midfield performance from him in that game.

          • EnganChe,

            I saw that match against Netherlands few times but apparently not enough times. I remember Masche for that redemptioning intervences in defence and general warriorihood and bravery but if you saw such passes there were for sure. I just forgot.

            Watched few matches of Brazil in qualifiers to see how it works the midfield in the team and actually I saw Fernandinho as classic-type No. 5. At least when he wass playing along with Renato Augusto and Paulinho. While the two attacking boldly – goals and assists – Fernandinho was aggresive safeguard. But maybe I was still omitting something:)

  6. Ubeda sbould have started Lautaro Martinez in stead of Ponce. After the first defeat he should have substituted the goalkeeper. Both defeats were unnecessary. We need to be more effective. We focus too much on posession and too little on mistakes of our opponents. The days that we easily outplayed the competion are over.

    • We easily outplayed our opponents… we are ranked #1 in the tournament for offensive attack but the goal keeper lost us two games! At least 4 of the 5 goals were his fault. We dominated possession and game chemistry in all three matches. Shame because we would have gone deep once we found our formation and starters.

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