I bet Romero is quite happy
Argentina NT
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In the latest episode of the United Hour Podcast, Nik (@Rood) is joined by CEO Duncan Drasdo and Financial Director Andy Green from the Manchester United Supporters Trust for a special episode on all things behind the scenes at Old Trafford including a brief history of MUST and their aims today, views on INEOS and Sir Jim Ratcliffe so far, and the Old Trafford regeneration.
They're actually not even that bad on paper:
Caballero
Salvio - Fazio - Otamendi - Rojo
Banega - Mascherano - Lo Celso
Messi
Aguero - Higuain
Bench: Tagliafico, Meza, Dybala, Pavon, Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez
Caballero
Salvio - Fazio - Otamendi - Rojo
Banega - Mascherano - Lo Celso
Messi
Aguero - Higuain
Bench: Tagliafico, Meza, Dybala, Pavon, Di Maria, Lautaro Martinez
That defence and GK are absolute trash. Salvio is not a RB, Fazio is the slowest defender ever. Otmaendi and Rojo are rash and brainless. The less said about Caballero the better. At this level, mistakes get punished, and Argentina makes too many mistakes back there
That team is terrible.
Caballero is ok without pressure.
Salvio is a winger and not in the mould of Valenica whose tough enough to play RB.
Fazio is terrible.
Otamendi or Rojo would be decent playing CB with a calm head beside them.
Rojo isn't great at LB imho.
Banega is your average CM, wouldn't start at Everton up in the PL.
Macherano is finished and about as fit and useful for running as Yaya.
Lo Celso is very average and not even a regular at club level.
Messi is one of the two best players in the world.
Aguero is excellent if used right.
Higuain is very good but ropey in big games.
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Hey feck off, even we have better defence than this lot
Overdependent on Messi. It's quite sad to see them in this state, but many tactical mistakes were made.
They still can be better and more as a team. If you have a proper team, they can look decent. The problem is Sampaoli makes them all look worse than at club level. Is any player out there performing or standing out? No, their two best players look average too
I can't agree. Imo, those names, in 2018, if you take a careful look at them, are horrible or simply no way good enough.
Caballero is basically an ex-player -ffs the last relevant thing he did by himself was in Pellegrini's Malaga, 2013, iirc- and the alternative is fricking Armani. Salvio was a player who never got to compete in Atletico but who did a decent career in Portugal, Fazio a Europa League winning level player but never elite, Otamendi a bluff I only have seen doing a great season when he was at Valencia making a centreback couple with Mustafi. Rojo is nowhere near elite football. Banega is the most inconsistent player if he's not in a perfect football ecosystem like in Emery's Sevilla where he's the center of the team's universe. Mascherano is an ex-player. Lo Celso is a young prospect who has shown nothing yet but what he has shown, is he's not a wonderkid of immediate impact. Higuain? FFS, we are talking about Failguain. Tagliafico? Meza? Pavon? Lautaro? Not players that will make the argentinian squad exponentially better. Di Maria is another ex-player, and Dybala is overrated and hyped beyond reason, imo.
Messi and Aguero can do nothing surrounded by that herd of massive failed players, ex players and broken toys.
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A collection of individuals. They have superior quality to the like a of Portugal but utterly fail to gel into any semblance of a unit. Its baffling.
Portugal have continuity though, and know how to get the best out of Ronaldo. They also dont chop and change every game half as much as Argentina. Plus winning 2016, they have a group of winners with plenty of experience. Basically everything that Argentina lacks. They need to find a manager and structure for the future and build for the WC 2022 with players that suit the manager and shirt. Half the squad should be left out.
I'm not sure that individually they are superior to Portugal individually for me none of Caballero, Tagliafico, Mercado, Perez, Acuna, Meza or Mascherano as a midfielder (he's a centre back now and has been for 6-7 years) would get into the Portugal team.
Better than what they are atm, certainly but in anyway capable of beating a team like Croatia, doubtful. Just compare a midfield of Brozovic, Rakitic and Modric to that. A player like Kovacic who can't get a game for club or country would walk into the Argentina team and that's telling imho.
I disagree. Mercado, Acuna and Tagliafico are comfortably better than Cedric Soares and are as good as Ricardo Pereira. Perez is the exact same player as Adrian, Id still pick Mascherano over Adrian in midfield in a functioning team, frankly the only supposedly weak player is Meza. Who has only looked weak because Argentina are super disjointed. If you watched any of him playing in the Copa Libratadores he is about the same quality as a Bruno Fernandes. Argentina's problem isn't the individuals. Its the collective. They are as bad as the Ginola generation of France who couldnt gel and put aside egoes to make it to the world cup in 94. Yet they are not even ego trippers like the French were...
....
Let’s just hold on a second
Let’s give credit to @Doctor Tornasol for his very bold prediction. I mean it’s not like Argentina struggled their way through qualification for him to make such a bold prediction that they would struggle. But well done doctor.
Let’s give credit to @Doctor Tornasol for his very bold prediction. I mean it’s not like Argentina struggled their way through qualification for him to make such a bold prediction that they would struggle. But well done doctor.
I know, it was easy, but it wasn't shooting into the air, I really thought they were going to miserably fail.
Btw, we gotta remember at some point in the near past, Sampaoli was one of those new hipster football goodfathers among certain people, and him being hired by Argentina -after deserting Sevilla, where he played all season long with the club showing a gigantic ego, as if he should be praised for staying at Sevilla the entire season, like doing a favour- was like the "turning point" for a lot of football fans.
Sampaoli says:
Last minute news and it seems the locker room has exploded and now is an open war against Sampaoli after the last post match interview. I've seen the video of a journalist asking Aguero later about those Sampaoli words, and he literally had to bite his own b*lls while saying "Let him say whatever he wants" with absolute disdain.
It wouldn't be strange if Sampaoli is sacked before the next/last match lol
youtu.be/zuj6PshgcP4?t=40
This is the moment, then he leaves.
It wouldn't be strange if Sampaoli is sacked before the next/last match lol
youtu.be/zuj6PshgcP4?t=40
This is the moment, then he leaves.
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Sampaoli says:
He's really expecting the players to play for him after that ? He pretty much said that they are shite and Messi is the one dragging them to do anything.
This Argentina camp surely has loads of problems in-between manager and players we don't even know everything about them.
No way they beat Nigeria with this mentality
Hopefully Icardi is fecking all the wives of these "muertos".
Twitter comments are great.
Twitter comments are great.
For the first 10 minutes I thought this 343 was going to work well. Messi was staying up in final third and seemed poised to get into dangerous positions.
Then by the 30th minute or so he was already dropping deep to pick up the ball 10 yards from the defenders surrounded by Croatia players. I know they have tried different tactics and formations but I don't understand how this side seems so discombobulated.
Either play Messi as the playmaker behind forward combinations that include Dybala-Aguero-Higuain-Di Maria or play Messi as a final third player and instruct him to stop dropping to pick up the ball and get on players like Banega, Di Maria, Salvio to get it together and play as an inspired midfield unit instead of just standing around watching Messi.
I feel like they needed a real decisive manager like Bilardo or Menotti but maybe Messi just has too much power - keeping Icardi out for instance.
Then by the 30th minute or so he was already dropping deep to pick up the ball 10 yards from the defenders surrounded by Croatia players. I know they have tried different tactics and formations but I don't understand how this side seems so discombobulated.
Either play Messi as the playmaker behind forward combinations that include Dybala-Aguero-Higuain-Di Maria or play Messi as a final third player and instruct him to stop dropping to pick up the ball and get on players like Banega, Di Maria, Salvio to get it together and play as an inspired midfield unit instead of just standing around watching Messi.
I feel like they needed a real decisive manager like Bilardo or Menotti but maybe Messi just has too much power - keeping Icardi out for instance.
In FootballHQ's post, Sampaoli sounds like Argentina are already out.
I'm sorry, but no team with that much attacking potential should be at risk of not making the knockouts. A real failure. But it's been this way for years with Argentina. They have effectively wasted Messi's prime at major tournaments.
All I understood was Sampaoli and then I see Kun s look on his face. Indeed very telling. You can tell he is livid but protects himself by quickly walking away. Amazing really. France, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Brazil, Italy, etc. It always seems at least one of the star studded teams has a massive implosion during these tournaments. I guess you can't expect to put that many big egos together and expect it to go swellingly.
Sampaoli said before that he failed to apply his system to the players.
the journo kinda twist his words and ask Kun "Sampaoli said you guys couldn't adapt to his system, what u think of that?"
and Kun replies, "whatever"... and storms out.
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If I'm not mistaken, if Iceland beat Nigeria they're pretty much through as they're not going to capitulate like this against Croatia. Nigeria win/draw and it goes to the last goal with possibly Argentina vs Nigeria deciding it.
I bet ten pesos Sampaoli has posted in the Messi vs Ronaldo thread.
I can’t believe the odds bookmakers we’re giving for a Croatia win, but I’m extremely thankful.
I saw this coming. I watched Argentina in qualifying and they were awful and lucky to even be at the World Cup. No semblance of any team work or plan in attack beyond lets see what Messi can do.
I saw this coming. I watched Argentina in qualifying and they were awful and lucky to even be at the World Cup. No semblance of any team work or plan in attack beyond lets see what Messi can do.
They would have been better off starting Messi, Higuain, Aguero, Icardi, Di Maria and Dybala all together, couldn’t have been any worse.
The funny thing is that they still have a decent shot at going through if they were capable of getting their shit together and beating Nigeria. Iceland are a solid side but even against Nigeria they'll likely try to grind out a result, and a draw in that game would be a good bet. Of course they'd have to hope for Croatia to not lose to Iceland (as you would expect, though with a rotated team vs a motivated side obviously that changes things). I just don't think Argentina are capable of getting it together though. They're all talking as if it's over, and it might all but be over by tomorrow if Iceland win, but the body language and mentality is as if they've all given up and are about to implode. Even in a win and you go through scenario, you wouldn't bet on them winning even if Nigeria are the weakest team in the group.
Even if you know thats true, their is no way you throw 22 of your 23 man squad under a bus like that. Sacked in the morning...
So now the coach claims Messi is super awesome while everyone else is s**t, What a bellend. He should be sacked immediately.
As if everyone else should apologize to Lord Messi.
When Messi plays half-arsed about the game and then you blame others. Ridiculous circus
As if everyone else should apologize to Lord Messi.
When Messi plays half-arsed about the game and then you blame others. Ridiculous circus
Just heard an audio from Simeone and he's very harsh on the Argentinian team but his right about everything. The best part for me is how he says Argentina should had played against Iceland like they did today with Croatia, and play against Croatia with the set up they used against Iceland. They're really a mess right now and while I've argued a lot about Argentina having a better 'team' (in the sense of having a better collection of players ) than Portugal they play like complete strangers at times and it does seem like total anarchy there.
I think one of the main problem is that Sampaoli wants to make it all about Messi.. Pass to Messi.. Sorry Messi, rest of squad were crap.. Let us make Messi a WC winner..
And many other players who are also decent stars themselves are not really interested in this business of living for Messi.
It's not just Sampaoli, all the coaches have tried to make all about Messi. Even hearing him today he's taking all the blame and absolving him, and as good as he is and even if it was true I don't think that type of mentality is helping the team at all.
If Icardi was leading as striker, with Dybala starting, Paredes in the squad and so on... I'd concur they could have a better team.
But this thing, with an unproven Meza playing almost two whole games, Acuña getting more minutes than Dybala (22 minutes when you're almost out), Di Maria being ¿punished? for his first game, swapping Enzo and Biglia when they both offer almost the same...
I mean, what's this? Banega comes as a sub vs Iceland, changes the game, gets praise, come second game you're already behind, Croatia is destroying you in midfield, they're going to play deep and now you bring in Dybala, not Banega? And Acuña/Meza play the whole 90 minutes despite doing nothing, but Agüero (did nothing, but we already know he's class) is benched 54' minutes into the game?. I can't for the life of me understand what's going on inside Sampaoli's head.
They're shite. Far too much reliance on Messi, who is playing far too deep, constant changing line ups, different tactics. No direction. Been that way at Argentina for ages now though. With the team they've had, they should have won a few major international honors these past few years, waste of potential.
While true, look at the team without Messi. When he 'retired' those few games and was injured I believe it was, those very good stars were fecking diabolical and were risking missing out on even qualifying for the World Cup. There is something really wrong at Argentina that transcends simply the players. Even without a proper system, these players are winners who have won everything, they should be far more competitive than they are.
People forget if not for Messi they wouldnt be here at WC. Thats the testament how fecking shambles they really are.
Messi worship is killing them.