Argentina’s possible starting lineup

By
Juli2014
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98

Hey everyone,

SAMPAOLI has tried out a totally new formation in a practice yesterday.  It was a 3-4-2-1 formation.  As we all know this isn’t the usual formation Argentina has used in the past few years. Sergio ROMERO kept his place in goal.  The three defenders were: Nicolas OTAMENDI, FAZIO or MAMMANA, & MERCADO. There were 4 midfielders: DI MARIA & SALVIO as the wingers and BIGLIA and BANEGA played the middle.  Up front, SAMPAOLI had Gonzalo HIGUAIN as his main striker, while Lionel MESSI and Paulo DYBALA are set to play in the hole.  Here is a picture of what it looks like: What do you guys think?

 

This is a very attacking formation but it’s just a rumored possible lineup.  It’s way too early to know the exact starting lineup as we all know it may well change a little, but it’s nice to analyze and possibly provide SAMPAOLI with ideas.  Argentina has tons of players at their disposal. SAMPAOLI has options and will be able to tinker with the lineup quite a bit. It will be interesting and exciting to see what he has in store for the Albiceleste.  What do you guys think? What lineups would you like to see him try?

Here are some images from the practice sessions:

 

VAMOS ARGENTINA!!!

 

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98 Comments

  1. I really like this lineup. Sampa must have plans A,B or C if needed as he is not like Bauza or Tata. Its a good chance to asses players in real time with this friendlies. As most memebr comments against Di Maria – be sure Sampa will get best out of him or kick him out of team. My only problem is with Benega as he is sometime exceptional, sometime good, sometime average and sometime just poor. Parades could do better I guess. As Sampa called both so must have something in mind. And I wish Icardi gets fit soon – I hate Higu – lol.
    Lets relax and watch then we can discuss later 🙂

  2. I am not a coach but one thing i know for sure is that you can’t win a World Cup with midget at the back. You only have Fazio,Romero and Higuain who are more than 6’0 tall..are you kidding me!!!how are ypu going to defend those crosses coming from team like Germany or England…good luck.
    Sampaoli’s argentina going to be very attractive in terms of style of football but definitely not stable at the back. I terribly missed Sabella, defense win championship period

    • I guess I’m the only one to agree with you here on that. I’ve seen Mascherano being exposed for his lack of height. ( I don’t want to see another If only Sorin was a bit taller, he could have contested/defended Klose’s equalizing header scenario).

      Anyway, IMO, El Jefe’s role should be locker room captain and coming off the bench but not a starter whether in defense or midfield. At 34, I don’t think we’re really expecting the him to be the 2014 version of himself. That being said, we need him in squad for his leadership with limited game time.

  5. Here is Mateo Mussachio, I’d rather see him as the captain in the defense. Leaving Otamendi behind as the main defender is very risky. He is not a paused defended he will tackle and make nasty fouls that could cause penalty. Where is Garay why is he not in the defense. He has world cup experience.
    Mussachio Garay Otamendi Mercado

  7. Unlike all of you, I have never really been a supporter of any coach. Maradona, Batista, Bauza, or Sabella, Martino, or Sampaoli. I don’t care. Whoever the coach is, I will support the team 100%. I prefer to talk about what’s happening out there than just getting my favorite players or coach playing or coaching. If not, I would be complaining the whole day, weeks, months, or years. I got not time for that.

    I haven’t been reading most of the posts in more than one year because I just read a lot of stupidities in almost 2 years in every post here. Our mentality here has become as worse as Real Madrid fans, who booed their best player ever, Cristiano Ronaldo this season. And as delusional as most English press who once thought that the young Michael Owen, Wayne Rooney, or Theo Walcott as the second coming gods.

    For that reason, I stop reading…
    I prefer to focus on the actual news and watch futbol by my own eyes.

    I praise Sampaoli for two things:
    1. Keeping the core of the team that are still among the best in their position in the world such as: Messi, Higuain, Dybala, Di Maria, Banega, Biglia, Mascherano, Otamendi, Romero, or Mercado. 9 of 10 of these will actually start in 2 days but Mascherano. Well Mascherano would start if he was healthy, so the team’s core 10 players are still there.

    The only core player that he got rid of are Sergio Aguero, and probably Marcos Rojo (if the report is true that Sampaoli is not a fan of his game).

    2. Getting rid of the role players of Sabella’s, Martino’s, or Bauza’s. The role players of these three previous coaches such as Gaitan, Fede Fernandez, Kranevitter, Angel Correa, Enzo Perez, Zabaleta (too old now), Roberto Pereyra, Augusto Fernandez, Lucas Pratto, Martin Demichelis, Mateo Mussachio, Lavezzi, or Lamela (my favorite player yes).

    These role players are not big parts of the team. They are just there mostly as back ups or when the core players were injured or unavailable.

    Then I praise Sampaoli for calling up fresh BACK UPS! Again, I would say BACK UPS because people here are too demanding such as: Lanzini, Paredes, Gomez, Icardi, Gomez right back, Guido (I wish the other Guido was called), Mammana, Salvio, Joaquin Correa, or Fazio. These new back ups do look a lot better than the previous ones.

    However, we can not put all of them, who NEVER played together into the starting line up + Messi like most wish here. It does not work that way especially in the first game against arguably the best and the hottest team in the world, Brazil.

    We can put, however, one or two of them into the starting line up.

    I understand why Sampaoli thinks highly of Salvio or Jose Luis Gomez. Have you guys really watched Sampaoli’s Chile or Sevilla’s? Or Bielsa’s futbol? I like what Mafioso says: Why did Di Maria is out there as a left winger because Sampaoli’s focus on crosses.

    Yes, watch Bielsa’s futbol, and Sampaoli’s futbol and you will understand. Argentina do NOT produce… I repeat do NOT produce too many wingers. Yes some players can play as wingers as as Alejandro Gomez, Joaquin Correa, or Lanzini, but it is not their natural position and they lack of pace and instinct to play wingers.

    The likes of Salvio and Jose Luis Gomez is a good one. The first time Argentina appointed Sampaoli weeks ago, I was already thinking: “who will play the left and right wingers?” Because I do know Sampaoli’s system. The wingers are extremely important for him. I knew it weeks ago that Di Maria is a lock for left winger. But I was hoping that Jose Luis Gomez would get the right spot, although weeks ago, he wasn’t even among the players who would be called up. And I got it right.

    So people here, please… watch Sampaoli’s futbol. Watch Bielsa’s futbol. Juan Pablo Sorin was a huge part of Bielsa’s system. That’s because Sorin was our best left sided wingback or even winger we had. Again, Argentina do not produce too many PURE WINGERS. We produce TOO MANY 10’s but not wingers.

    As for the domestic players. Well again, this is getting too overrated. Have you guys watch Dleague? Maybe some of you don’t even know what Dleague is. Dleague is the development league of the NBA. I want to ask you. IF a player is a superstar in Dleague, does it mean that he can be a superstar for the San Antonio Spurs or Golden State Warriors (in this case, Argentina, one of the best teams in the world is comparable to the Spurs or the Warriors)? Just think!

    Some Dleague superstars sometimes can barely play in the NBA. The same thing with the domestic league. The likes of Alario, Maidana, Pinola, Nacho Fernandez, Acuna, or Tagliafico (I won’t say Jose Luis Gomez here as he is the exception) are just called to be back ups! BACK UPS! Hello….

    You can’t say that a Dleague superstar is better than Klay Thompson. The same thing you can’t say Marcos Acuna is better than Di Maria just because you don’t like Di Maria. You can’t say Alario is better than Higuain. That is the same as saying Kevaugh Johnson or whatever American basketball players of the D’league who just scored 40 points maybe yesterday is better than LaMarcus Aldridge.

    Argentina domestic league and the youths development have almost reached the very bottom now. We won like 6 WCY or something, 5 of them came in the era of late 1990’s until late 2000’s. Now those days are done.

    Back then the likes of Boca Juniors could still beat Real Madrid in the intercontinental cup with my man Martin Palermo doing the job done and steered by Juan Roman Riquelme. But now the game of South American Libertadores champion vs. the Champions cup winner is like the game of amateur vs. a world class team.

    The level has regressed significantly. Do NOT BELIEVE in the report here. If you just go here, you will think that the Argentine league still produce a lot of jewells. No they don’t! Some are “quite talented”, that’s about it… nothing more. Maybe they will be a lot better in the future. I hope so, but nothing more than “quite talented”.

    Watch the Argentine league yourself. Today there is Rojadirecta.com where you can download full matches or atdhe.com where you can watch anything live. Do not believe in English like press reports here.

    Or if you are too lazy to watch, read Tim Vickery’s articles. This guy knows Argentina futbol and is not biased. He is not one of those guys who says oh-Michael-Owen-must-be-the-next-god-of-the-world-futbol anytime he talks about young Argentina players. He is very balanced.

    I won’t go as far as saying that Argentina senior team will be in trouble in 10 years from now because of lack of talents, but I am saying today’s best talents are not in Argentina anymore. France has a lot of world class youngsters today. Pogba started in and Mbappe continues it. They are good, really good not just overrated. And the world recognize it…. not just in a small community like people here.

    A lot of things can happen. There are always be late bloomers like Alejandro Gomez for example or Nico Otamendi. They both are late bloomers.

    As for now, well I will just enjoy the game. Sampaoli’s tends to have a poor start in his coaching career, but I hope not this time.

    • Great post @El Principe! Cannot agree more.

      I do value coaches. I think it makes a lot of difference in terms of tactics, preparation, physical fitness and motivation if you have a good coach. Else it can quickly be a mess, as we have seen with Bauza.

      Agree we need to keep the core and not make wholesale changes. But would like to see Rulli getting chance over Romero. Some changes are required. As I mentioned earlier Di Maria can be used positively if the coach is proper.

      I am also tired of world beating young stars coming from domestic league every day. All I see is that in this summer transfer market there is no one (read big European clubs, or even mid sized clubs) interested in domestic Argentine players. There are very few in CL, who are automatic starters. My observation is, Argentina used to produce good your players. Now, they have “potential”, if lucky they go to a smaller European club and get polished by them – Dybala for example.

    • ahhh principe my boy suuup dude??

      good points , all the way even to the D-league

      and yes i thought about the corssing system too
      hell thats y bielsa’s teamed topped the WCQ, because not much south american
      teams are good at handling crosses and we killed them at that, esp as we had Bati and Hernan inside

      Sorin i think would have been the extra midfielder and striker regardless of coach or style of play 🙂 he was just always forward.

      The back up winger of Delgado made a name with Bielsa ; case and point!

    • El Principe,

      on what base you judge Jose Luis GOmez as the only of domestic players that is on NT level? It’s just abuse of your discretion. Jose Luis is on the level and the rest is on that level… bla bla bla. You and KidulHood are best in baseless statements but there’s some minimal logical culture you must keep to be taken serious. I’m the last who is stats follower but even after the stats Gomez is maybe the lowest-rated among those called up PRimera players. And not to be misinterpreted I think Gomez is one of most talented our players at all. Just wonder how you explain Sampaoli is calling up so many Dleague players like Tagliafico, Pinola, Acuna, Alario, Nacho Fernandez, Gomez. And some others may come soon.

      “The same thing you can’t say Marcos Acuna is better than Di Maria just because you don’t like Di Maria”.

      As far I didn’t saw a man here who is talking Acuna better than Di Maria. But I see many that may say Acuna no way better than Di Maria. Just because he is Di Maria and plays in Europe. We just speculate about few players (including Acuna) that may replace one of the most annoying Argentina player of last years.

      • Gomez, Tagliafico, Acuna, Pinola, Nacho, Maidana, Acuna, Alario – Sampaoli must be idiot after El Principe and KidultHood if calling up so many players of this ameteur league.

        + Guido Rodriguez who was not long ago just River bench/reserve league player
        or Mammana which is less then a year French league player. Before somwhere between starting eleven and bench of River. I wonder how Principe would be classify him? Is he still on that ameteur league level player or just he suddenly, within only few months, transformed in world class player just because left Argentina and went to Europe. Which category player is Mammana, El Principe? Stiff task for you.

        • If you are dividing European players and domestic league players so strictly you make fool of yourself and make fool of Sampaoli as well because too many players from Primera in his selection and few others left the Argentina not long ago. Are the last suddenly world class players just because left Primera just few months ago? At the end of the day almost all our footballers were playing once in domestic league so this is like cutting their roots which is at the same time weird operation on logical thinking – as if they were Argentine and they were not at the same time.

          Some people here are only as far as well known old generation names are back and they like to take the comeback of oldies as their own triumph instead just support Argentina. They are interested with status quo.

    • Yeah with all due respect I disagree with EVERYTHING you just said, infact if I didn’t know any better I’d say this is kidulthood no elprincipe who is writing this post especially when the gist of your message is:

      keep the core players that played and failed during that last 3 finals and keep the domestic league players on the sidelines where they belong.

      Higuain, Dimaria, Biglia, Mascherano, Romero, Banega etc…should be the backups and not the otherway around!! Yes these guys got Argentina to 3 finals and I’m the first one to thank them for their valiant effort, but it’s clear from recent qualifiers that they’re all over the hill and fresh blood is needed.
      I watch the primera diligently and let me tell you that players like Nacho, Tagliafico and Acuna are NT worthy and I’d take them over dimaria, biglia and rojo any day of the week and twice on sunday.
      You say players from the primera aren’t good enough yet Brazil’s midfield consists of players who play in china yet brazil are at the top of their game since 2006!.
      For god’s sake how long are we gonna stick to the tried and failed group of ‘Messi amigos” and not give the young blood a chance to show their stuff in a freaking FRIENDLY game where there are no stakes!!!!

      • I have the same feeling of absurd as you, Mamoun, when people disdain Argentinos for playing in Argentina league.

  9. Hello everyone, I’ve been frozen for so long since, the defeat of the last copa if im not mistaken and since the layout of Mundo has been changed. I’ve been following up reading the updates but not e interactive with the members over here, I guess I’m not the only so many are missed due to disappointments and the failure of the old dark era of the AFA. Anyways, it’s a new era and from here we begin!

    I was waiting for this moment to see a true coach leading the selection, with all the world class coaches AFA had in their disposal, the worst were being selected due to the insufficiency of the AFA’s fund (corruption) and in other words (In abundance of water, the fool is thirsty)

    Sampa’s calls ups were really satisfying to must of the fans, though few names were being missed, the overall players selection is way better than what we have seen before. Here we have in from young men with potential and might from the starting lineup soon. (Icardi (I prefer Allario), Paredes, Tagliafico, Nacho, Rulli) mainly and the rest. I really wished to see the most in form striker in the primera, the new bomb of La Bombonera, Dario Beneditto.

    However, looking at the current lineup, It’s pretty obvious Sampaouli wants the strength of the squad to be from his midfield, dominating position, while playing wide by giving the role of Halfbacks to Di Maira and Salvio, with their pace, they can supply the attack form the flanks and track back when we lose the ball to defend. Sabella tried it tough, but the with the wrong selections I guess, he was using Rojo and Zabeleta instead, both lack creativity and pace!

    With the current squad I’d go with a 4,3,3

    ————————————-Romero————————————–

    ———— Mercado———-Fazio———-Otamendi————Tagliafico——

    ————————————-Paredes————————————-

    —————————Dybala————-Di Maria—————————

    —————-Messi—————-Icardi/ Alario———–Gomez/ Lanzini—–

    —————

  10. guys, don’t freak out.

    It’s a friendly and we must experiment. May be you will not get 11 of your favorite players in the lineup but at least wait for the full 180 minutes to judge! Yes, I said 180 minutes because, we will be playing two friendlies with 27 players on our roster.

  11. The lineups will not win matches.Yes on PS FIFA yes but in reality no. Coaches with different mindsets will get different performances from the very same set of players. Therefore we must all wait for the game. Then we can complain about things we don’t like. I personally Don’t want to see the Biglia and Banega slow combo in the middle but I can’t just dismiss them as I don’t know what instructions they’re working under. Maybe we’ll see these 2 excel in their roles with new instructions. On the other hand if they struggle against the physical Brazilians as I expect them to, Sampaoli will have his reasons to exclude some members of ‘the club of friends’going forward.

  12. I am doubtful with Banega and Biglia working together and control the midfied; 3-4-2-1 need a strong wing which will be great under Maria and Salvio but can make a hole in the mid if the two mid play slow. A dare experience by Sampaoli. As it will be just a friendly match so lets not worry.

  13. At any angle of analysis, Higuain is a shame for the albiceleste, if Icardi can’t play, I think Alario should be the best option to substitute him…just saying

  14. I don’t feel good about this game. In 2006 we played against Brazil under the exact circumstances, it was Basile’s first game for Argentina and was the first time he had time with the players, we lost 0-3.

  15. I don’t mind the rumored lineup.. he is playing tenured players for a team like Brazil… I would love to see the following though

    Hig

    Dybala Messi

    Dimaria or nacho paredes banega lanzini

    Mammana otamendi mercado

    Romero

  16. Mwen tande nap di “Sampaoli will get the Best out of di maria ” di maria te janm gen yon best ladan I just know di Maria is a hot and cold nothing else I never consider him as a great player nor a big gun.

    Neg sayo sanwont Anpil pou yo ap pote koule mayo sa toujou sepaske yap touche si sete gratis neg tankou dimaria mascherano biglia higuain Romero yo tap gentan Abandone SHAME ON THEM AND CO

  17. disappointed with rumoured line up romero not deserve no1 spot anymore Rulli must start ahead of him sampaoli system need quality GK with good feet how sampa chose romero hope official line up will be good

    • @ The Romance,

      There is no need to be disappointed. Romero has proved, he is good for Man Utd and has serious given a challenge to one of the world’s best keeper De Gea.

      Cannot overhaul a team in the first match. Many of us are happy with the selected players (Young mix and in form players). It is only a friendly match. It cannot be as bad as Bauza..We have seen the worst…

      • if it was world cup qualifier then i will be happy with this rumored line up but its a just friendly Rulli deserve chance ahead of Romero

        • Understandable..unfortunately we are not near where we need to be and not many matches to experiment..so we will have to go with the coach wishes..also this is just a rumored lineup..probably he might make many changes in the match with substitutions…

  18. I don’t know why are people getting overworked out here, even if it’s a RUMOURED lineup. Wait and until we see the real CONFIRMED lineup. Not every coach foolish like Diego, Tata or Bauza who would naively announce their lineups weeks before even training camp has started. I think Sampa knows the advantage of surprise element.

  19. The player i am most angry about is biglia. Why him? We have so many midfielders to try out and they picked biglia….I was excited to watch nacho and paredes,but now meh

  20. it is a new beginning and a friendly and just like all coaches before ill give samp a chance to see what they are about.

    I do realize time is not samps friend but as we all seem to agree this guy can coach, has some ideas and has A, B and C plans, their are players who I think should not be their today but maybe samp can motivate them to prove me wrong.

    I also don’t imagine he suffers fools lightly and Id say their are players who know if they do not preform, their is only one way its going to end for them and non preforming players will pay he price and be removed.

    for now I trust samp.

  21. Big part of Sampaoli’s football is about crossing.If Di Maria there , it is for two reason: Does not get rid of all players at once, Di Maria is the best crosser Argentina got.

    • How is Di Maria the best crosser Argentina got? His crossing in NT is horrible of late (countless crosses without any effect). And I’m not talking about his clubs performances. Papu Gomez seems to be better crosser even with closed eyes.

    • rumored lineup is the same players used by tata and bauza except a couple who are there because of injury.
      Di maria has been crossing to chubby higuain since for ever and not many headers came from it. Our best ball header is warming the bench.

      • Gomez is a forward.Left wing forward.

        Di Maria crosses 3 times per match, Gomez does 1.7 times per match, almost half. Cavani scored some of his goals from Di Maria’s crosses.

        Icardi is lightly injured, was training alone.

      • You can’t change whole team in your very first game. Plus when it’s a classico. All the media supporting and understanding of to many familiar faces in first XI. Things will change definitely.

    • i love this decision too. He’s indeed a very smart and technically gifted winger who would provide so much width for us thus easing Messi’s duties.

    • A good read. Future looking bright indeed. I am agree with writer there. I have nothing against Masche(he is my idol) but i don’t want him in NT midfield anymore. He is not same as he was once in midfield.

  24. Anyone has any idea about the status of Bolivia CAS Appeal ? If that appeal gets accepted ARG will move to the 4th position , bringing Chile to 5th .

  25. Higuain,di maria,biglia,romero shouldn’t be in the team let alone starting.if this true (i hope not) it means the so called friends cartel are still in charge and should expect the mediocrity to continue.
    Starting higuain over icardi is criminal at this point.

    • icardi is carrying a minor injury and did not play for inter’s last 2 games and also has been training alone with fitness coaches, that is why hig is starting I guess

          • Chill Guled. Icardi still isnt too fit but may be able to play/start against singapore. Reports are suggesting that he might not even be on the bench this friday. Trust me if your “friends cartel” allegation is true, Icardi wouldnt even be called up for these games.

  26. luckily we have two games before wcq against uruguay.one thing is sure that we will see a different line up against Singapore.hope sampaoli would get a decent look at all the weapons he has…
    personally i am okay with this line up.but i really want to see peredes in that midfield.

  27. I personally want higuain to score winner in 2018 wc final.
    Argentina 2-france-1
    Messi higuain umititi

    how is it my dream?

      • Inshaaallah we will qualify…and Argentina’s current situation in WCQ is making me hopeful to win the world cup in 2018…under sampa player will be more motivated, organized and they will be more aware about their game plan/responsibility.. moreover he has not only one strategy in his mind…he will have 2 or 3 more back up plan..in the past i saw many people in mundo questioned abt replacement of players like di maria
        Or other…for me we dont need any replacement…what we need is bunch players to change the formation at any point of time of the game to unsettle opposition..and i am sure argentina hav that much quality in their depth..we need a stratigically flexible team…so that any 1 or 2 changes in the team we can change the formation to surprise our opponents.. and we are luck enough that we have player like messi… He is most complete player in football history…….. Vamos Argentina…

  28. In this formation, the player that suits best to play in Di Maria’s role is Acuna. He can track back and defend well. In attack also he is better than Maria. Players like Acuna should be the back bone of our team. To me he should be treated as the second most important player of the team after Messi (especially with respect to current form).

    By the way I didn’t understand the role of Di Maria in the team.
    If we need a winger who can attack and defend, play with Acuna.
    If we need a Left Forward or an attacking player who can create as well, play with Gomez.
    If we need a Left Attacking Midfielder, play with Lanzini.
    Di Maria is there simply because he is Di Maria.

    Anyway I trust Sampaoli. Hope that he will get rid of Di Maria soon.

    • I don’t think Di Maria is going anywhere soon, Sampaoli is apparently his fan, we can only hope he can bring the best out of him, especially in terms of passing.

      • Very sad to hear this!
        One thing is clear. If you play with a high line defence and lose the ball (which Di Maria is an expert at), you will have to pay the price!

      • I was thinking same. Instead of cursing we can hope Sampa gets best out of Di-maria. Plus it’s only practice phase. There will be alot experiment.

    • In my mind Di Maria has played horribly for the national team of the late. However, that does not make him a bad player. He will play extremely well under Mourinho or Ancelotti. Basically, his problem is his decision making. The coach needs to clearly spell it out to him what he is suppose to do. The coach need to explain to him that he is a supporting cast and not the main player. If the coach can control his head he can work hard and contribute positively.

      • If not for his obstinacy, Maria would have been sent to the Chinese league by Emerie last Jan itself. Then what would you have called him? Players’ worth is estimated not by which league one is playing. If you have observed Acuna this season, it is not difficult to see that he is better than Maria at least in terms of current form.

        • This Sandy guy need to stick with cricket, he doesn’t have clue what he is talking about. Why is Messi lobbying for Di Maria to join Barcelona and not Acuna? Why is Di Maria Barcelona new coach number one priority summer signing and not Acuna? Local league level of football is a JOKE compare to Europe, J League and the Chinese CL. Players in Argentina are not as good as they were 10-15 years ago.

          After what those overrated kids pull off at the U20,Olympics etc. I don’t want to read or hear anything about the local league. BTW, the Chinese league is far superior to all of the South American leagues right now.

          A good Argentina player in the Premier is about as good as a player from the Ukrainian league.

          • Just don’t forget maybe best player of last season of Serie A – Papu Gomez – was not long ago Ukrainian league player.

            “I don’t want to read or hear anything about the local league”

            and this is real problem for you because apparently Sampaoli is more open to the league than previous coaches 🙂 You should send the message to Sampaoli.

          • @kidulthood,
            Better you should stick to your whims and fancies(yes you are doing that).
            Sampaoli is calling up players from the local league like Tagliafico, Acuna, Alario and other south american leagues like Guzman, Guido Rodriguez. He is also calling up players from clubs like West Ham which you may not rate high! But it is true. It is happening. Sampaoli is proving you wrong by selecting players like Gomez, Lanzini and Rulli. Unfortunately for you, for the next 6 years, you will have to watch quality players getting selected and crappy players getting omitted! Yor last glimpse of hope will be Maria, Higuain, Biglia, and Romero. Even if you dont think that local league is good, Sampaoli thinks the otherway. He is going to observe the domestic league. He is already doing that. Thats what the selection of Pinola shows. He is inform player. He is in Golazo Argentino’s team of the month. Sampaoli selects in form players and he will not say in advance that player X or player Y is going to Russia like your favorite Bauza. Now you can live in the golden memory of Bauza era!

      • “You can’t tell that acuna is better than dimaria”

        Why you can’t tell? It’s really arbitrary statement. You can’t tell things like that till Acuna will not gets few chances.

        The fact is Di Maria was most iritating player of last years in NT and for few players of this new team it’s just hard no to be better than Di Maria. I don’t think any coach can makes him just more intelligent player.

  30. For me midfield is main in current football sense. If you can control the midfield you can win the match it doesnt matter whom you are playing with for example real madrid against juventus..they won because pf their midfield not ronaldo…..though i have doubt Banega and Bigila but still i have trust on our new coach sampa.. 2nd half replace banega with Lanzini….dybala for papu gomez/ paredes..just my thoughts

    • That’s not true, Sevilla dominated Real Madrid at the Bernabeu all over pitch except in attack; the difference in that game was the gap in attacking talent between Real and Sevilla. The likes of Biglia, Banega, Di Maria, Salvio etc. are far superior to any of the mids and wingers Sampaoli had to work with at Sevilla. Zidane took a struggling Real Madrid team from Benitez and won the UCL with the same players in the same season. What I like about Sampaoli is that he feels almost like a foreign coach in charge of the Argentina national team.

      • First he won against real madrid but in 2nd they lost by 4-1. My point is…we have plenty of world class striker…but due to lack of control in midfield we lost all the finals…because midfielder create you the chances.. even if look back to spain.. they have controlled the midfield against Netherland and germany in world cup… without the control of midfiled we just cant won anything…

        • On top that if we can build a strong midfield it will give plenty of space for our attacking player like messi and dybala..if they can get space they will just destory any team..any where in the world… Messi dont need full 90 mints to win the match…he just needs some moments..that moments will make the difference…😊😊😊

  31. I thought before about Mammana to use as LB (on 4 defenders formation) while we have not more attacking one. It’s interesting idea with Mammana’s pace.

  33. But a little credit for Jorge Sampaoli I got a feeling he’s going to be the boss of the national team hat up for you Mister Sampa .

    I need a 4 3 3
    Any goalkeeper is fine
    Because we don’t have a Goygoechea or Gianluca Pagliuca Francesco Toldo or Carlos Roa

    Mercado Mammana Otamendi Tagliafico

    Rodriguez Paredes Papu

    Messi Icardi Dybala

    • So you want to put out a lineup with seven new players in the starting XI against an experience Brazilian team? Against Singapore, yes, but not for the Brazil game. Nothing wrong with the starting Xl, just sit down and watch Sampaoli put his touch on the Argentina national team.

      How many teams have you coached or played with?

      • He should be cautious in defence farmation indeed but in attack more courage while no way Papu Gomez would be worse than Di Maria. No way.

        The same with one of Biglia/Banega.

          • If Di Maria can run his lungs out in La Paz without showing an ounce of tiredness then he should not have any problem in a 3-4-3 system in Melbourne. Di Maria also have the influence of pulling players out of position. Messi and Di Maria are Argentina best two players hence the reason he will be selected by Sampaoli in the biggest of games.

        • Kid- It’s not just about lungs. What do you think a wingback does? They only run?

          A wingback needs to do these things incredibly well to be effective –

          1. Control the ball in tight spaces and keep width by staying wide at all times. While a midfielder has both his sides to control the ball, oftentimes an wingback has just one side to control the ball. That’s why there are only a handful of good wingbacks and fullbacks in this world. Di Maria and Salvio will have to stay wide all the times, which is Di Maria’s major weakness IMO. He just doesn’t want to stay wide, he drifts in all the time, which loses the team shape and width.

          2. Wingbacks needs to tackle well. I think the most fanatic Di Maria supporter will tell you that he tackles well.

          3. Wingbacks needs to cross well

          4. Wingbacks needs to run a lot. This I tell you he does well.

          • Whoscored says Jean Beausejour is very weak on tackling and Mauricio Isla is weak on defensive contribution.None of them are traditional wingbacks. Even for their clubs sometimes they play as wingback, sometime as midfielder.

            Defense is a collective effort. Ancelotti defended with a Alonso, Modric and Di Maria central midfield.Needless to say Alonso is a defensive midfielder who can’t defend at all. But Ancelotti developed a winning side with them.

            Sampaoli’s defending consist of pressing, harrassments and man marking(Does not mean you have to be Walter Samuel while marking, just being close to opponent player so he does not get enough time with the ball). Lets he how he implements it.

  34. I don’t say that I don’t like this lineup but how good dimaria and banega biglia are to be still in the lineup of this renovated team . Although I don’t see their quality and importance therefore all Argentina national team coaches see that .On the other hand I will never believe that

  36. I want to see—–

    ———————-Rulli———————-
    Mammana——–Fazio ———-otamendi–
    Salvio———paredes——Nacho——-Lanzini
    —–dybala————Messi———–papu —–

    • my team
      rulli
      mercado mammanna otamendi taglifico
      peredes
      banega lanzini
      messi
      dybala higuain
      NB:messi should play false 9
      This formation should be balanced.
      3-4-3 should ultimately be flop.because we don’t have players such as bbc of juventus.even close to them
      mercado and mammanna are less experienced.we can’t trust otamendi at alltimes.
      I think 4-4-2 is the best available position for our team.

  37. very attacking…i expect a 3-4-3…but the wingers…salvio and di Maria…im not confinced These two can Play this vital position…they are very good in attacking but can they can they Play the defensive part as well?! not sure yet…

    • This is actually the attacking shape of the team. However, the defensive shape will probably be a 4-3-3.

      Biglia will come down in defensive line making it a 4 men line. And Di Maria, Banega and Salvio will play the midfield 3 when team is not in possession.

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