Football News

los matadores (Argentina)

Posted on 9/18/2012 at 2:25 PM 0 Here's a clip of all of Sanchez Mino's tourches during his last match. On the channel there are a few videos of this kid. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VK8fO5sUsI&list=UUiWxoRh-2otGMDAkwJNTA2w&index=1&feature=plcp

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 9/18/2012 at 4:43 AM 0 I think Biglia can be an upgrade to gago in some ways Banega(we can now forget him till he starts playing) And Sanchez mino seems to be a nice contendenter for Dimarias replacement. But it will take a hell lot to replace Dimaria. Sabella we all know sticks with his players for long times. And for Pastore Hmm he defenetly deserves to be in the bench atleast. but selecting him and keeping him rotten in bench wont do anything gud for him. More over Sabella wont play enganches he believes in attacking through the Wings.Hope Pastore improves under Ancellotti.

los matadores (Argentina)

Posted on 9/18/2012 at 1:25 AM 0 @ Leandro I don't think Pastore keeps possession in midfield. He loses the ball a lot. Also, I don't think he's even a midfielder. He's more like a second striker. Gago was considered a failure in Roma by almost all their fans. I followed him last season and read the Roma forums. Roma was a mid-table team with a horrible defense. Gago has to be at least partially responsible in his role as DM. He does well when a team bunkers and gives him space; he does terrible when a team presses. At least from what I've seen. @ El Principe I agree with most of your post but I'm not advocating a top possession type midfield as we had with Masch-Cambiasso-Veron-Riquelme. That 2006 world cup/2007 copa team was probably my favorite Argentina team of all times despite of the big loss in the final. The weaknesses were 1)breaking bunkers 2) defending counters 3) defending set pieces. Sabella obviously doesn't want that kind of club. He wants a defensively sound, counterattacking team. We need a strong defensive midfield to make this happen. We don't need an enganche.

Leandro (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 9:36 PM 0 Guys, if anyone wants to see Sabella at work, here is a link to the past Estudiantes - Barcelona final for download: http://forum.rojadirecta.es/showthread.php?77670-FUTBOL-FIFA-Club-WC-Final-Estudiantes-Barcelona-19-12-09&s=4bf4f4ddc251aeb5970e2e37ee74eea8 Cheers.

msi2 (France)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 7:08 PM 0 I agree with Jack, Sanchez Miño is a midfielder, an offensive one and maybe the best emergence in the past years in argie football. Brilliant kid.

Johnny (Thailand)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 7:07 PM 0 Exactly Jack, which is why he played more as a winger today in Falcioni's rejuvenated 4-4-2. He scored a golazo as well, from distance.

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 6:34 PM 0 Sanchez Mino is more of an attacker then defender, you won't get the best out of him at full back.

tucho (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 6:15 PM 0 romero sanchez-mino mascherano fernandez peruzzi gago biglia aguero messi dimaria higuain ustari ansaldi garay campagnaro zabaleta costa banega centurion mugni lamela tevez

Leandro (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 5:29 PM 0 @GAB :)

GAB (Australia)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 4:13 PM 2 It's a real shame to see what's happening to Pastore. At Palermo, he flourished and had a swagger about him. But at PSG, he seems to be losing his confidence obviously because he's not playing the same role there. At least time is on his side and I really want to see this kid shine for Argentina's sake. @ Los Matadores...I agree that our current midfield is a joke and needs serious attention. But Gago has been the one consistent and solid performer for Argentina so you're definitely a bit harsh on him there. I do agree in seeing Tino Costa or Yacob have a shot. I do like the fact that Faurlin is 6 foot 2 as height in the midfield is something we definitely lack and need, so I would like to see Faurlin have a shot too as the guy looks intimidating and something we need in the NT. @ Leandro..As always muchacho, well said.

pablo.d (New Zealand)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 2:50 PM 0 as i said at the moment pastore is not for us at n/t level,im also a fan on him but at the moment its not his time but he has plenty of time to stand up and be counted. i also would like aimar to be given a chance and to me their are plenty of other players who deserve a chance ahead of pastore at the moment. as for the team chemistry we are lacking and the peru,bra and ger games showed we cant even do the simple things, this shows the lack of team chemistry. when gago got attacked where was every one? we stood around doing nothing, if a team mate gets attacked a close team will react (look at barca, real or manutd)even for a bad foul let alone an attack like gago had apon him. what i see is moments of brilliance from the front 4 and not a lot else.

River Plate (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 12:59 PM 0 Pastore should at least be given the chance to practice with the national team. so when he starts a match (IF he ever starts a match)he would already have chemistry with the players.

el principe (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 12:27 PM 0 Forgot to add one thing: The biggest difference between Maradona and Messi: Maradona hardly needed helps from wingers. Messi is the other way around.

el principe (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 12:23 PM 0 For those who is Pastore fan (including me), please understand that if he ever gets to play for the national team, we'd need to not sacrifice a winger. I mean a winger who can overlap, not fullbacks. If you really watch Messi's game, he does really rely a lot on wingers from both sides. In Barca he gets helped a lot by Alves and Pedro/Alexis from the right, and Alba/Adriano and Tello (the new Di Maria) from the left. Watch Messi again please. Whenever he dribbles through the center, he always looks for two things: 1. pass to someone near him and expect to play 1-2. 2. pass to the winger and expect the winger to pass the ball back to the center. I KNOW Argentina is not Barcelona, but think about this. Our two fullbacks is one of our biggest weakness. Whoever you try there, they won't be Alves or Alba ever. They are either too defensive minded (Rojo or Campagnaro) or too slow (Zabaleta). So we do need someone who's offensive minded and excellent on the wing. So someone like Di Maria can not be replaced because only him and Lavezzi are our only two players with that characteristic. We have tried playing with 4 great central midfielders (either offensive or defensive) in Masche, Cambiasso, Veron, and Riquelme in Copa America by Basile years ago. It was like this: ------------------Masche ---------------Veron---Cambiasso -----------------Riquelme Upfront, it was Messi and Crespo. The result was: We did look good before the final (got beaten badly by Brazil), but Messi was just an ordinary striker. The final game against Brazil was anticlimax. We relied too much on our attack through center. Brazil neutralized that and won the game easily.

Leandro (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 12:08 PM 1 @Matadores - Pastore is a sidenote, yes.. but irrelevant? He is a midfielder that can hold possession and associate with Messi. "Our staring midfielders are a joke OTOH. Masch played as a CB." Masch plays as a center back in Barcelona, so he is not a regular centerback. He plays at the same position on the field as in any other team.. deep in midfield. Only difference in Argentina he has some dudes behind him. Mascherano is more than capable of playing both, in fact his performances have improved. Mascherano is world class. "Gago was a failure in Roma and doesn't even necessarily start with Valencia." Gago was not a failure, he played alright. He wasnt purchased because Madrid wanted too much for him. Roma did want to buy him. And how can you judge him in Valencia? Season just started. And if he was irrelevant why would Valencia send their medical staff rushed flight to Buenos Aires to overlook his medical procedures? Its because the club cares and is depending on him this season. "The rest of the Estudiantes trash can go to. " I agree that its time to phase them out. And its happening, lately they only come in as subs. You are being too harsh on our players. Its a coaching problem, not a talent issue. Even dead beat players like Maxi and Bran~a can perform well with a structured team. The biggest issue is our wingbacks offering no creativity and being shakey in defence (except Campagnero) and DiMaria not giving us any solidity. 90% of all our troubles defensibly are through our flanks. Our centerbacks and our double 5's in mid are the only reason the team is holding together.

Flaco (United Kingdom)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 8:40 AM 0 Well written Leandro :) Hope Pastore will improve in the upcoming matches.

zizo (Jordan)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 8:21 AM 0 saviola scored thats more interesting dont care about pastore either

los matadores (Argentina)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 8:06 AM 0 "I am in no way saying he would be a saviour, but for games where defensively we are covered I think he would be a good alternating starter for DiMaria in midfield." We don't have a problem breaking defensive teams. We have a problem against teams who destroy us in midfield, where we we are not defensively covered at all. See Germany, Brazil, Peru. Pastore is irrelevant. Our staring midfielders are a joke OTOH. Masch played as a CB. Gago was a failure in Roma and doesn't even necessarily start with Valencia. The rest of the Estudiantes trash can go to. We need to start working on our midfield and the top candidates are Biglia, Tino Costa, Yacob, Faurlin.

Leandro (United States)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 7:42 AM 2 In Pastore's defense, even though I agree he is not starting material for Argentina, from the little bit I have watched him play for Palermo and now for PSG he went from playing in his natural position (Palermo) to an experiment in every position but his own. In PSG Nene holds the steering wheel and he overlaps ALOT with the style of Pastore, as a consequence he is usually played too deep or too wide or not used as an enganche, he is a supporting player there. Pastore shines when he is given the ball frequently and allowed to pull the strings of speedy forwards and wingmen. I am in no way saying he would be a saviour, but for games where defensively we are covered I think he would be a good alternating starter for DiMaria in midfield. While DiMaria has a bit better caliber at scoring and in 'theory' could defend better Pastore understands the enganche position naturally. I would play him a few games to get his feet wet. I think he would work well in this line up considering our talent pool: aD = Attacking Defender capable of 1-2 passing and wing play with good defensive tracking and understanding with opposite wingman to alternate in attack. dM = Defensive midfielders, Costa, Banega, Masch, Gago, Biglia, Canteros, bla, bla.. NO DiMarias.. real midfielders. - - - - G - - - - aD - D - D - aD - dm - - dM - - dM - - - - Pastore - - - Messi -- Higuain Personally I would play Aimar over Pastore, and sub Pastore in early on the second half when Aimar starts to waste away. That would be a 4-4-2. Sub in Aguero or Crazy Tevez for Pastore and you now have a 4-3-3. The key with having 3 defensive midfielders is that they all a) excel at defense, b) have decent ball control c) Have wingbacks that can attack (people call for Monzon or Pillud). Essentially you have 5 defenders in the core and the wingbacks shift in and out creating either a 3 man attack when defending or a 5 man attack (realistically 4)when on the counter. Having the enganche will take pressure off Messi and lay the blueprint to NOT play Messi if he is hurt. A forward line of Pastore / Aguero / Higuain is not too shaby. Time will tell.. I am hoping someone like Min~os cements themselves as the new Veron.. we all know Sabella is comfortable with creative defensive mids.. we need a Pirlo in our team desperately. We have prospects (Biglia, Min~o, etc.. ) all young.. but maybe they will shine enough to make the team next year.

pablo.d (New Zealand)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 4:54 AM 0 vik, im with you and i get annoyed with people going on and on and on that hes is the saviour for the n/t, at the moment he just is not good enough for even a place on the bench. i will say when he was called up he was not given a fair chance but as its stands in the last year he has not done any thing near enough to be recalled ahead of a few other names that should be.

vik (United Kingdom)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 4:02 AM 1 apart from a nice finish, not much else from this boy. he really needs to bulk up! lose the 'flaco' nickname. when asked to control the tempo he seems to be lost in this team, he drifts too forward, leaving a gap between himself and motta. i am afraid he is not NT material just yet

los matadores (Argentina)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 2:35 AM 0 I don't really care about Pastore cause he plays almost the same position as Messi. Faurlin OTOH had a very good match as DM against Chelsea. He's paired with Granero so it will be interesting how he plays this year. Last year he was good. We should keep our eyes on our two DM's in the PL as we are really lacking there - Faurlin and Yacob.

Johnny (Thailand)

Posted on 9/16/2012 at 1:20 AM 0 @Dante-what a great boxing match ! Martinez is a true warrior.

Dante Pastrana (United States)

Posted on 9/15/2012 at 11:28 PM 0 Great job and motivational goal for "el flaco". Way Off Topic here: Shout out to Sergio Maravilla Martinez tonight!