Football News

sandy (India)

Posted on 6/9/2012 at 11:50 AM 0 Yes, we have an abundance of talent. But we play with guys like Mascherano and Sosa. These players will kill the flow of the game. I cant find any justification for playing them. Canterose and Lamela should get more chances. Pastore is also a future prospective.

chandran! (India)

Posted on 6/9/2012 at 3:44 AM 0 Ohhh God...argentina had an abundance of talents..hop still there too..but lack of creative midfielders in the team.....after riquelme argentina never has a creative attacking MF who can controle the tempo of the game..dats y we cant use d talents of messi,kun.higuain,dimaria up front...is there anybody to suggest. Alvarez,lamela,moralez,piatti,perrotti,pastore,canteros or some other guys to inject to the MF..want to see dat old argentina..holding and passing game...heeyyy it wasnt invented by barcelona..d one touch short pass game..it was our privilege....daat beautiful game..wan 2 see dat again...

Rune (Norway)

Posted on 6/6/2012 at 12:13 PM 0 @ddr1123: yes I am the same Rune as the one in the wordlcupblog:-)

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 6/6/2012 at 3:06 AM 0 Its gonna be a really tuff match for us...Brazil is never gonna give space to Messi like he got space against equador...they gonna mark him with 3 players around him...Thats a big pblm for us...atleast play Augusto Fernandez for some more creativity with Dimaria..Salvio i dont think is that much creative but better than Sosa...But have to say sabella is trying different formations...even though his players selections sometimes sounds ridiculous to most of us..but he seems to have some idea unlike some other coaches we had before...

Akash (Suriname)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 11:59 AM 0 Starting 11 in training today 5-3-2: Orion (Romero está en Italia con la Sampdoria pero jugaría ante el Scratch); Clemente Rodríguez, Mascherano, Federico Fernández, Garay y Zabaleta; Di María, Gago y Salvio; Messi y Agüero.

QuothTheRaven (Singapore)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 11:45 AM 0 @El Negro Dude. You do make sense in terms of the fragility of Brazil's defence. But by placing so many attackers on the pitch, you are putting the defence into huge danger. As bad as they are against Mexico, Brazil are still able to dominate the midfield, to thread some passes through the middle (If you shut out the flanks) Another point to take note is the proficiency of the strikers. Ecuador certainly have plenty of chances to score, but their attackers weren't that clinical enough. I can't say the same for Brazil. I just have this huge feeling that it might be a 4-4-2. Higuain might not start. Lavezzi and Messi upfront, coupled by Di Maria and wingers for counter attacks. Then Masch and Gago need to put up another good show in enforcing the midfield. I can't wait for the match!

El Negro (United States)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 11:11 AM 0 Why all these speculations? It will be only a friendly game. One thing I've learn from watching the Selecao's matches is that their defense is extremely shaky. Thus, had I were Sabella, I would play the same way against Brazil as he played against Ecuador. Better yet, I would probably throw Lavezzi in the line-up to cause even more headaches to Brazil's defense. As for our defense, Neymar, Marcelo, Hulk and Lucas will cause our defense a ton of problems. The answer is simple, as we witnessed from Brazil against Mexico. If you shut down Marcelo's flank, then Neymar is disabled. Sabella should have Campagnaro on the right to party with Neymar and Marcelo. As bad as he played against Ecuador, Sabella should play Zabaleta as Argie's left back. Argentina should play really tight and narrow in the back. That would leave Hulk to fire shots from yards out. On the counter, Argentina would have so much options ranging from Di Maria, Aguero, Higuain, Messi, and Lavezzi, it would be ridiculous. A 4-2-4 or a 4-2-2-2 the ladder would do it with Di Maria and Mascherano in midfielder and our lethal attacking power up front. Di Maria should have the option to go forward in attacking mode and drop in defensive mode. my comment may sounds crazy, but it makes sense.

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 10:39 AM 0 Its sad to see GAGO who is a gud player not going to get playing times at RM..I wish he gets somewere else ...In EPL may be bcoz he deserves it hes such a gud player for our NT,,,By the way one gud news..Most probably LUCAS BIGLIA will be coming to a better leagues..either Arsenal,RM(which i dont want to c happen bcoz he may have to be a bench warmer) or Fiorentina...but any of these 3 leagues will make him more experienced,,,and may be he can get in sabellas radar...I really like his style of playing a deep lying Playmaker...so similar to Andre pirlo...Hope Bigila gets into our team...so as Banega...these 2 r different from Gago and Mascerano...

red tide (Antarctica)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 10:00 AM 0 It was similar to Maradona's lineup against Germany but it definitely wasn't that weak. For one thing we had a true DM in Gago rather than a slow, past it AM - Maxi Rodriguez - who played more like a winger in that match. Secondly, Di Maria hugged the left boundary in that match. He was told to stay super wide under Maradona in every match. Here he tracked back a lot more and played more centrally. Third, Maradona didn't play any full backs. As bad ad Zabaleta and Clemente were, they're at least real full backs. I thought Zab and Clemente's performances were funny. They both sucked for different reasons. Zab was consistently beat by both Ecuadorian wingers. He was turned inside out, outpaced, fouled stupidly, etc. Can't remember a single good stop. It was shocking how bad he marks. His zero contribution on offense was to be expected though. I supported him until this match. Clemente actually held his own against Valencia -- their best player. Valencia put in a couple crosses but nothing too bad. In the 2nd half he just made a slew of stupid mistakes. Most of them came during a 20 minute period. Offensively he did a little bit.

ddr1123 (United States)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 9:46 AM 0 Sabella's, team against Brazil ------------Romero------------ Zabaleta---Federico--Garay--Clemente Sosa------Mascherano--Gago---Dimaria -----------Messi----Higuain-------- My team against Brazil considering every player in the world ------------Romero------------ Zabaleta---Federico--Garay--Clemente(give a good name) ------Mascherano-----Gago-------------- Messi---------Banega----------DiMaria ---------------Higuain---------------- When we don't have the ball ______________________________ 8 people defend when the ball is with Brazil. Messi and Higuain/Aguero for counter attack. Masche helps Zabaleta. Dimaria helps Clemente. Banega and Gago block the midfield. As soon as you get the ball release Messi and Higuain/Aguero.

ddr1123 (United States)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 9:37 AM 0 I agree with Rune completely too. Rune, are you the same one from Worldcupsoccer blog? Gago factor - This guy plays well for NT. Now what happened to him at club level is bad. He is going back to RM on 15th June and rot on the bench to see out his contract. I hope he gets a transfer. I personally feel he could go to England. Something like Tottenham. The game is less skillful but fast. It will be good experience for him and he will gain the expertise to control a more fast paced game. But I just wish. I will be hoping for a good transfer for him. He sat the whole season before 2010 world cup. Looks like that can happen again.

soumya (India)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 8:59 AM 0 Jesús Dátolo and mario bolatti is another option ....should try them....

haman (Bahrain)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 5:43 AM 0 What about Alejandro Gomez "Catania".. He deserves a shot very skillful midfielder and a hard worker. According to latest news his been approached by Inter.

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 3:58 AM 0 I agree with Rune, the issue with Diego's side was that he played 4 CB's in the back. We were able to push around many teams but yet our defense at the WC was so fragile it was bound to break. The mistakes vs the South Koreans, the mediocre games against Nigeria and Greece, we were troubled by the Mexicans. Just on raw talent alone we made the QF's, we were so fierce up front teams were punched in the mouth. However when we got punched we were in serious trouble. We held on for about 67min against Germany 1-0, without being a serious threat, Germany missed many chances prior to that, we had scored but was ruled offside. So, the defense needs to be fixed, as Rune pointed out, the CB's are fine, but the wingbacks, are bad. We have time to fix this, so it is a positive sign.

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 3:45 AM 0 I agree with @rune...thats what Sabella has to prove ...Against Bigger teams..and Brazil and Germany r 2 of the best in the world...next 2 matches is soooo important...this matches will prove Sabellas tactics...

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 3:40 AM 0 Now how is he??? i havent seen him play...So have no idea...But Velez has always played well..and have some gud players who left the team recently..like maxi Moralez,,Alvarez..And what about Canteros???i dont think he will get playing time Sabella ofcourse will again go for Sosa...And glad to see atleast this time Sabella didnt go for any estudiantes player...

Rune (Norway)

Posted on 6/5/2012 at 3:20 AM 3 It's maybe true that this game could have been played under Maradona. This 4-3-3 with DiMaria in midfield looked very much like what Maradona did in the world cup. The thing is that what Maradona did was kinda right in the first 4 games, but wrong against Germany. We have such a force in our attack that I see no problem in playing with lots of attackers against small and mediocre teams. So Sabella did right against Equador, who are a good team but not great. I think it is wrong to judge now what Sabella will do against a strong team based on this game against Equador. Against some of the top 8 teams in the world I am 100% sure Sabella will not be playing with 3 attackers and Di Maria in a 3 men midfield. This is where Sabella differs from our last 3 coaches, he is a tactician. Unleashing all your attacking talents and putting the oponents under pressure in a home game against mediocre oponents is also a proper tactic. Let's wait and see what he does in the future against top teams. If he is as romantic, stupid and naiv as Maradona when he faces strong teams, the I am 100% ready to kill him. This is where some of us disagree. Some want perfection all the time, a well balanced team playing possesion with slow build up play and 8-9 players defending everytime we lose the ball. That is not wrong, it is right. But in my world it is worthless to play Equador or Switzerland and then try to act or behave like it's Brazil or Germany you are playing. It's not possible. When you play Norway you play Norway and try to beat them in the best possible way in that specific game. The same with Equador, Belgium and others you play exactly like you should when you meet smaller teams. Against top teams it's a completely different story. Every game aquires a spesific game plan. Again, I have a feeling Sabella knows this, in contrast to our last 3 coaches. The positive signs I saw in this game were: 1 Messi, he is getting more and more like the Barca Messi. 2 Gago was a monster 3 The attackers worked really well together in the first half, great off the ball movement 4 Garay and Fernadez looked quite solid, apart form some small mistakes. The negaitves: Our wingbacks, Zaba and Clemente were shaky for 90 minutes and our defending as a team were still quite shaky for some parts of the game. Nothing new here, but then agains we played Equador. In a game against a stronger team our defenders will get more help from midfield, and maybe things will look better. But then again it's only a maybe.....

Tonoy (Bangladesh)

Posted on 6/4/2012 at 11:49 PM 0 i think this lineup would sabella choose............ --------------------GK ROMERO ---------CB FARNANDEZ CB GARAY RB MATIAS LB ZABALETA -------DM MASCHERANO DM GAGO CRM DI MARIA CLM SOSA SS MESSI CF AGUERO against brazil we do need more midfielders in the lineup.that`s why i choose sosa.because we do not have more good midfielders in the squad.now Augusto FERNANDEZ in the squad.but i don`t think sabella will play him in starting lineup.mejor suerte.

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 6/4/2012 at 7:25 PM 1 Yes, much better than Maxi Rodriguez. And congrats to Maxi Rodriguez for becoming a father(not sure if he has any children prior to this). Lets hope it's a son, and he becomes as good as his father ala 05-06 Maxi.

Shinigami (Canada)

Posted on 6/4/2012 at 6:57 PM 0 Is he any good?