Football News

Shafat.Redondo (Bangladesh)

Posted on 10/14/2012 at 7:34 AM 0 Our current team is okay but i think we badly need Pastore , he could be our Kaka . My preferred lineup would be ----------------Romero------- Campaignaro - Fernandez - Garay - Rojo Banega/gago - Mascherano Pastore Aguero/Higuain - Messi - Di Maria

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 10/12/2012 at 3:31 PM 0 Banega ofcourse is defently more skilled than Gago he is something similar to Pirlo also Biglia too is similar to Pirlo Both Banega nd Biglia can be called as a deep lying playmaker but Gago cant be because he is different type of player as explained by El Principe. And Most say that Banega havent done did gud like he do for his club its TRUE but guys hes only 24 How can u ppl write off a player only at such young age. Its a Common rule here, if some player havent performed well in NT in past then they would never have to be given chances again , Its Ridicullous. Any players Form will vary sometimes they will comeback because of their performances in Clubs we have examples every one is calling for Collocini Why? because he performed well at NC Gutierez also being welcomed here why Because he is doing Gud at NC, Both these players where not gud when they had given chances at NT in the past. So If Banega or Biglia Plays Exceptionally Well they will have to be given chance.(Ofcourse by Sabella which is almost 99 percent wont happen) And how can we tell that they will play Badly like they were used to play in NT before.For Now Gago is playing well for us if not great, is he replaceable ofcourse he is, Whereas Mascerano is irreplaceable. I m not saying Gaago is bad he is so consistent for us But if banega out plays him at some point he also deserve a chance. Dont hang to that old PREVIOUSLY FAILED THEORY ALWAYS.

el principe (United States)

Posted on 10/12/2012 at 4:27 AM 0 I personally would be happy to see both Gago and Banega on our team. Whoever starts doesn't really matter to me as they both fits Masche's game. Gago is a unique DM. Dubbed as the new Redondo earlier in his career, he was trying to prove that he was the next Redondo. He copied everything including the hairstyle and moved to the same club (Real Madrid). But as he grew older, he had his own style. The biggest difference between him and Redondo is Gago loves to take more risk. He loves making killer pass. Redondo is more simple. Redondo, for me is the Messi version of DM. He was very calm and didn't look to do anything special. 95% of his game is like he just makes simple pass. Whenever he had the ball on his feet, it was virtually impossible to steal the ball from him (the best EVER in this category). If the opponents insists on trying to steal the ball when he had it, he'll humiliate you (Ask Manchester United in the Champions league). Ask Roy Keane, considered the best DM at the time, but was totally outclassed by Redondo. As a huge fan of him, I often counted the number of successful and bad passes he made each game. He had the average of just THREE bad passes (no exaggerating here!) each game. Can you believe that? Gago is different. He makes a lot of bad passes, but he makes a lot more killer passes than Redondo did. Both him and Redondo are below average defensively as DM, but they made up their weakness by their excellent offensive skills. Banega? Dubbed also as the new Redondo earlier in his career, but he's completely different to me. He's more like Pirlo or Xavi. He's a pure deep lying playmaker. Banega is less effective when we play with pure playmaker because it is his job. Gago is more effective when playing with a playmaker. That's why he said he would love to play with Riquelme before he moved to Valencia.

pablo.d (New Zealand)

Posted on 10/12/2012 at 12:54 AM 0 im also a fan of gagos but i do think theirs some game that do not suit his style and that is when we get attacted at pace as he gets over run, he is not the quickest. against slower teams he reads the game very well.

Kenneth (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 6:02 PM 0 @El Pipita, i agree with you, it feels like people do not watch Gago play for the N/T and only read about Banega or watch Highlights, yes he is incredibly talented and has great statistics for passing percentage and shot percentage, but he does not replicate that form for the national team. He often tries to dribble to much or makes the complicated forced pass, where as Gago is consistent and is simple he does not try to make galloping runs as if he was yaya tour, and has a very decent shot as well as he can make that cutting pass. His priority is to be defensive though and he has done that well along side Mascherano.

elpipita (Iraq)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 5:35 PM 2 I think the reason why you don't trust gago is because he is "not world class" as you put it and that automatically makes him expendable for many people. However to that I say you're not looking hard enough, Gago is an essential part of the team he's consistent, hard working and talented. Being rejected by madrid is not the mark of a failure, just look at the likes of kaka, Robben, schnider and our own Samuel, they all struggled in Real, doesn't really mean a whole lot! I see Banega being constantly mentioned yet again that indicates that many people tend to go by club status and are not actually watching the Albiceleste games close enough. Banega has BAGS of talent and potential, but he has yet to cut with the NT. I for one wouldn't trade Gago for any1 and I'm very glad that Sabella sees that too. Many of us here comment on the team's weakness in the midfield but we tend to forget that you can't exactly have a midfield without midfielders and thats the case when you case when play with a midfield that consists of only gago and mascherano (di-maria doesn't really count even though he's putting in the defensive effort) but that's the double edged sword nature of having such powerful forwards, lets just hope a balance will be struck sometime soon.

Kenneth (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 4:22 PM 0 Something fifa released in their last couple of articles about the South American Qualifers was that Argentina are tied with Colombia with fewest goals scored against (6) and tied with Uruguay with most goals scored 15. South America is a lot tougher then Europe, if we can continue to get better defensively in South America then we should be able to handle whatever European teams throw our way.

sulav787 (Canada)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 3:47 PM 0 @mik yes gago is gud but but if we could bring in someone better than gago who is defensively sound and more creative like banega( then argentina first XI is complete then sabella will have to work only on bench strength... idk but some reason i dont trust gago... he is gud but not world class... remember madrid let him go ,,,

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 2:53 PM 1 So as @el principe stated about Sabellas interview. We r now gonna see more and more of the fantastic 4 Gud. All those 4 r either best or among top 5 in the world at their positions we cant get better players than them at those positions. But 4-2-4 is a risky formation Dimaria is the Key. More than Messi Dimaria is the one who have to link Defence and Forward.With age he will mature for sure and get a cool head.Hopefully. With that formation we can terrorise opponents there will be a Fear in opponenets Mind when they face us. So i m on for more of the Fantastic 4 still our DM and Defence need some more alterations, Gago is Gud but we can try Banega (who is near to World Class if he replicate his old Form) and Biglia to is another cool headed player Both of these can replace Gago, Mascerano is irreplaceble, No one can replace him, Then our Defence which is still an open shoat. Better FBs would make our team gud.CBs is still a result in progress. GK is Romero almost cemented his position. Its all about the fantastic 4 if they dont click we cant expect any others to click too because they r the Best.

sulav787 (Canada)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 1:46 PM 0 i dont think aimar pastore zanetti samuel will play any role under sabella for arGentina... but he will have to strengthen that bench sooner or later ... especially the creative department.. god forbid but if messi gets injured or suspended during the world cup then the wc is over !!

Fred (Hong Kong)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 11:28 AM 0 @Gaucho96 To have two strikers behind Messi (Messi feels comfortable with it) without compromising creativity and defense, Sebella have to drop Di Maria for a deeplying playmaker (I think of Banega, who is creative and defensively sound, although some here are annoyed his name).

Gaucho96 (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 11:08 AM 0 The midfield is still lacking more creative players. If we tried a 3-1-3-3 (a modified 3-4-3) with Rojo, Garay and Fernandez (Zanetti anyone?) in the back with Mascherano playing a CDM role, put Pastore and maybe a creative playmaker like Aimar as CM's (or just leave in Gago), put Di Maria and Lavezzi or Sosa (as much as I dislike the thought of Sosa) on the wings and of course Messi, Aguero and Higuain up top. Di maria is currently our only really attack-minded and creative midfielder and he can tend to dribble to much. He needs support.

Whizzard28 (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 9:06 AM 0 @ cleanball

Whizzard28 (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 9:05 AM 0 @ i disagree with u about Veron and Samuel If those two started the game, Argentina would have been a much more balanced team so i dont know where u get the oldies were outplayed by the germans.

Fred (Hong Kong)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 7:18 AM 0 @el principe Kaka was an unused sub in 2002 WC. Actually Brazil played 3Rs (Ronaldo, Rivaldo & Ronaldinho) up front, with a rather defensive midfield and two very attacking full back Cafu and Carlos to provide depth.

Lionel Messi (Jordan)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 6:37 AM 0 Sabella : I find difficulties in creating solid defense when Messi, Aguero, and Higuain are on the pitch !!! Source : http://www.kooora.com/default.aspx?n=202416&o=ncar (Arabic)

el principe (United States)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 4:04 AM 0 I just read Sabella's latest interview on ole (maybe Roy can post it here). It is a good one. Sabella said: 1. Messi-Aguero-Higuain are the best in the world and he's very happy to have them. ----This comes after Messi's comment about a month ago saying that he'd prefer playing with 2 other strikers. So I think we'll see less of Sosa now (less of 4-4-2) and more of 4-3-3. If we can develop a perfect balance in attack and defense without going too far to be 4-2-4 (Di Maria moves upfront), we'd look really really good. Remember Brazil with its fantastic four that won the WC (Ronaldo, Rivaldo, Kaka, Ronaldinho) in 2002. We have the potential to rival that in Messi, Higuain, Aguero, and Di Maria. 2. Sabella praised Di Maria saying that his role is extremely important for the national team. He is the main player that holds the key to balance the attack and the defense. “Es fundamental. Es un cuarto delantero y un volante en defensa” 3. About Campagnaro and Zabaleta. He likes them both. Sabella believes Campagnaro is better defensively and with Zabaleta, we can play the style of play. @Tucho I totally agree with you. I said it before too long time ago. Sabella's style is a lot more similar to Madrid than Barca. What I mean is Mourinho's Madrid. Messi said this prior to the Barca-Madrid match a week ago, "Whenever Madrid have the ball, they will attack you in seconds. They are extremely quick." Isn't that the same with our Argentina now under Sabella?

cleanball (Indonesia)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 3:56 AM 0 @Trini well said and in certain point I do agree with your opinion that a good team is a mixture of experienced as a saying Old is Gold and young players and that age is not a barrier to enter the N/T as long as they contribute and make a good team, Remember Dino Zoff won the WC at his 40s ( although he's a goalkeeper but he captains the team),A player like Zanetti is a truly a leader,capitano and role and dream model for every Inter/football players. However from what we experienced in our last WC - under Maradona, we all knew that the old guards ( Veron, Demichels,Samuel) can't compete with the young Germans as in the end we failed. And repeated again in the Copa experience under Batista which had been failure. In my opinion Sabella have refresh and reform the team with more young (new) players with Desabato,Brana and Guinazu plays has a subs role; He is giving trust and more space to develop to Messi, Higuain,Kun,DiMaria,Lavezzi,Masche,Garay,Fernandez and Gago, We can learn from Germany teams with introducing Ozil,Thomas Muller,Mario alongwith Podolski and Klose still in but Ballack sacrifice and written -off and Italian team with Pirlo and Buffon still doing major role with Bolatelli and Osvaldo intro. There's a consistency and long term strategy with its own characteristic playing style (spain) in NT; not in every 2 yrs we change the national coach as I feel the calling of Brana,Campag,Clemente,Guinazu and Desabato is probably more on Sabella's Estudiante sentiment and ex reliable players in order to form a solid team and atmosphere rather than the skill factors. But I believe that time will tell - do Sabella make the right choice to left these veteran and professional players like Samuel or Zanetti and even Aimar? Or Argentina will progress ahead and Sabella succeed in reforming the N/T with little known domestic players or one day we all have to regret that we are not using our full extraordinary resources One final thing, All that glitters is not gold

Diego Maradona (Argentina)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 2:55 AM 0 I'm not talking about our XI but our bench strenth. Many people talking about Sabella's poor substitutings. But how can he do better substituting with this bench players.

Trini Pupi (Trinidad And Tobago)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 2:35 AM 0 Lol i swear after re reading my posts i feel like choking my phone. The spelling suggestions can ruin a post lol

Trini Pupi (Trinidad And Tobago)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 2:33 AM 0 Sorry for typos the autospell feature on phone is annoying. With all that being said..i have happen with the present results but the one thing i hope is that when Argentina secures qualification Sabella expands his mind a little more. Argentina will have competitive games to try things out. I personally have no problem with the defence and no discredit to our midfield they are all ball winners but not of the quality i expect of an Argentina national team player. Compare our current def mids to the previous guys. But by just observation the usual players are returning the lineup slowly but surely basedon the lineup above. With the exception of 1 or 2 newer players this team looks good. As everyone pointed out Rojo and Zabaleta have not fully won people over, but i have seen Rojo improve slowly and its clear they see something in him. He may not be dynamic like our previous players in that position but i see improvements. Another thing to take in consideration football in south america is immensely brutal so wing backs who get used to european style football often have to readjust. Messi even said it a while back refering to defenders in south america as players "who don't hold back" So mayve this would explain Zabaletas strange form for argentina? I think argentina are definitely in better shape than they were before and despite my critcisms i think we are in better shape then Uruguay and i hope we get a nice victory in our next 2 games. This will take alot of pressure argentina and maybe aid in developing the team even more.

Trini Pupi (Trinidad And Tobago)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 2:21 AM 4 Everyone keeps talking about youth but i don't need but does age mean a different thing in south american. Why is it ok to call Desabato,Guizau,Brana etc but not others who are the same age but better quality. Please dont misinterpret my point but all GOOD national teams try to incooperate a mixture of GOOD experience so when the time comes the younger guys will be ready. Argentina did this for years. These young guys if they were to have a bad game alot of people will crucify them and say they are not good enough. I am NOT saying samuel is to replace the current line up but his experience in preparation is excellent. Despite his age he is the BEST cb we have and perhaps the only world class one at that. I dont know about you guys but in training sessions these guys are like GOLD for coaches and younger players. Unless they are very unproffessional they really bring that calm and experience by just their presense. It has been done before with tremendous success with argentina. If age is the argument everyone is going to use to say Samuel should not be called to play a bit part role then Brana,Guinzau, Desabato etc should not be called, because according to everyone we should give he younger players a chance? so why are these guys there? and YES i know Sabella is not going to change anything its pretty clear what his system is but its just my opinion. Veron once said not in these exact words around 2006-2007 "here in argentina we have a bad trait of discarding experience..there will come a time we will come to regret this" This whole idea of a players time is UP for the national team is silly thing to say. Look at spain Xavi, Puyol etc would have been dropped YEAAAARS ago if they were in argentina. I can understand if they are dropped now. Spain plays like how argentina used to (maybe a little slower and a little less flair) Its just my opinion and i know people will disagree but i just dont get how anyone can say don't bring players like zanetti,aimar,samuel etc but have players like desabato,brana etc. They are both around the same age with the exception of zanetti(Who is still a boss). I mean people need to be consistent with what they are saying if you want youth then making statements like that (leave out zanetti and co) is silly. A good is Example why hasn't lucho gonalez been used at ALL? since 2006-2007 except for the odd game against bolovia etc. To summarize if people say they want youth in the line up...well PLAY YOUNG PLAYERS!

Mik (United Arab Emirates)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 1:24 AM 0 As i told before this will be the Lineup, Sabella wont dramatically change he will take time, but as someone here said Simply by playing the Fantastic 4 wont make us win every matches. Never the less Its worth a shoat in every game if clicked there will be lots of goals. But against some teams we may need a midfield. For now its 4-2-4.Anyway hope we win.

cleanball (Indonesia)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 1:09 AM 1 So far Messi has played 73 games for Argentina with 43W 13D 17L [28 goals and 25 assist]; still long way to go and breakthrough.

cleanball (Indonesia)

Posted on 10/11/2012 at 12:04 AM 0 @Kenneth, Yuup, experience and more playing time makes Zabaleta more mature and contribute to the team.Beside his movement is quite good although that can create lost positioning Sabella next choice are from domesctic like Lopez and Peruzzi and Rocaglia (Fior) might be another option.

Kenneth (United States)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 11:30 PM 0 Although i dis agree with the Zabaleta starting over Camp, he does deserve it the form he haas been in has been fantastic..lets hope and PRAY that he can take that form to the National Team

cleanball (Indonesia)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 11:13 PM 0 This mostly is the starting line up. Defense is quite Sabella's favourite with Garay and Fernandez although Zabelata can't do much overlap as he used to do in MC. Tango need reincarnation player like Oscar Rugerri and Ayala. After these 2 matches I do hope Sabella will refresh and try more players especially for the defense and m/f; brings in the youth not Samuel, Zanetti,Demichels or Aimar.

hi2suresh (India)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 10:42 PM 0 1. Happy to see fantastic 4 together. 2. Sabella replaced oldies (Camp & Clemente) from starting lineup so all the start 11 are under 30? its a good sign. 3. As usual not excited & nothing to look forward with regarding to the substitutes. 4.I hope that we will windup(win) the match before we call a substitute. I predict 4-2 score with Kun & Messi on the score sheets.

Sherwan (United States)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 9:37 PM 0 The lin-up is same as before that is not bad. Zabaleta is ok but not that good. I hope we fained replace for Zabaleta somtimes before the world cup. I wish we get Pastore to the team so he can get use to play with sabella information. Vamos Argentina.

Trini Pupi (Trinidad And Tobago)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 8:01 PM 0 I wish walter Samuel gets called instead of desabato. They are about the same age but the experience samuel has will WITHOUT a doubt help garay and fernandez. Like what Sensini did for samuel when he first came on the scene and ayala was injured. I don't know if many of you remember this. Samuel was very young but he played with Sensini for the early part of the qualifiers leading to 2002 qualifiers sensini,ayala,samuel. Vivas would come in as a late sub...sure people will say well the future and i AGREE! use their experience to help these guys. Samuel is proffesional enough to know he wont make the world cup squad so help out. Like what zanetti is doing at inter

Diego Maradona (Argentina)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 7:44 PM 1 @Tucho, Good thinking. This is the reason why Alejandro is getting success. When you have talented forwards and fast players- you can wait for ball and counter attack very fast. But you need a super defense squad- what can take attacks and defend hour after hour. And I think Messi plays the Ozil role in our team.

tucho (United States)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 7:20 PM 1 compare our line up to mourinhos real madrid and/or inter. same formations i say we take maybe at best, 5 out the 11 positions. comments gk romero casillas ceasar lb rojo marcelo zanetti cb garay pepe lucio cb fernandez ramos samuel rb zabaleta arbeloa maicon dm mascherano alonso cambiasso dm gago khedira motta am dimaria dimaria schneider am aguero ozil pandev am messi ronaldo eto st higuain benzema militto

elpipita (Iraq)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 7:18 PM 0 Actually its 4-2-4 and with a shaky defence its a gamble but I can understand the urge to start the fantastic 4. That being said, for the albiceleste to truly be competitive on the biggest stage in 2 years, starting 4 up front will simply not cut it especially against teams with dominant midfields like Germany and Spain.

tucho (United States)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 7:08 PM 0 guys its not a 4-3-3 formation ..... wat we have is a 4-2-3-1 formation.. 4 in the back: rojo garay fernandez zabaleta 2 def mids: gago & mascherano 3 att mids: dimaria messi & aguero/higuain 1 striker: higuain/aguero

Shinigami (Canada)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 4:59 PM 0 yea.......but.......but........Zabeleta -_-

Jack! (United States)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 4:47 PM 0 Not the best game to start him vs Uruguay. Needs a little more experience. Playing Santos is one thing but Uruguay is another story. It's good that he got called, it's good for his confidence, gets to be around megastars.

Shinigami (Canada)

Posted on 10/10/2012 at 4:42 PM 0 Scumbag Sabella Calls up Peruzzi..........Does not play him