Day 17: France-Argentina, Uruguay-Portugal.

Argentina have such a weird team. I mean, such an average defense and midfield and then three of the best attackers in the world on the bench.
 
duffer said:
I hate the cult of personality surrounding Messi and Ronaldo (and to a lesser extent Neymar). I could not care less if they both missed the final through suspension and someone like Quaresma or Dybala stole the show.

As you say, football is about stories, I just don't like the predictable ones!
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I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed for Ronaldo or Messi to win the WC, unless they have the dominance and leadership Maradona had they are at same level as other greats just under Maradona.
 
duffer said:
I hate the cult of personality surrounding Messi and Ronaldo (and to a lesser extent Neymar). I could not care less if they both missed the final through suspension and someone like Quaresma or Dybala stole the show.

As you say, football is about stories, I just don't like the predictable ones!
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That's a fair point. It is about stories, however it decides to be written. It's unusual for anyone at all to see Messi as some kind of underdog, much less Cristiano, too. The other guy was right, though, I ought not to presume anything as it relates to how anyone else views the WC story. With that in mind, it's only my own interest in this happening as a result of scores and scores of people, mostly on Redcafe, over the duration of two WC's repeating the opinion that Messi is in the shadow of Maradona and Pele unless he achieves this very specific goal. You could say the same for Ronaldo with Portugal, sure. For me, two or three decades down the line, when the present craze of Ronaldo/Messi fades into footballing legend, I think about conversations of 'what if'. Dybala or Quaresma making WC magic would be a story in itself, no doubt, but perhaps their footballing status wouldn't be obscured by an almost as much as say Messi, who has a direct comparison to Maradona to live up to.
 
Imagine having Dybala, Aguero and Higuain and not having any of them in your first XI.
I know they don't perform well for Argentina. It's just weird.
 
barros said:
I don’t really understand why people are so obsessed for Ronaldo or Messi to win the WC, unless they have the dominance and leadership Maradona had they are at same level as other greats just under Maradona.
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You answered your own statement. In winning that WC it is the ambition to rival Maradona and not settle for being "just under", right?
 
Irrational. said:
Giroud must have nudes of Deschamps. There's no other explanation. He's an alright finisher with zero pace. Most average player in that French squad.
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Au Contraire, Giroud is one of their best players. He may not have the talent of Griezmann but he always delivers in crunch situations.
 
Javi said:
78 minutes played as a winger and Pavon still only succesfully completed one fake-cross trick. Earns starting position...
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Disagree, think Pavon's been good, certainly better than more hyped Meza from Argentine league. He should've got penalty v Iceland for instance. I think v Pavard could be a rare position where Argentina are stronger as Pavard struggled v Australia.
 
The Argentinian coach is just a moron. Di Maria was absolute shit. Drop higuain sure but not play Aguero. A team selected by the CAF would do better.
 
Theon said:
At Barca he had Xavi / Iniesta dominating games, possession and territory which was the reason he had this constant supply higher up the field. He didn't need to drop back as that Barca team was so dominant there was no requirement to.

Looking at that Argentina line up it just doesn't look like they'll have anywhere near the level of supply Messi was given at Barcelona. It'll be interesting to watch though, I can see Messi needing to drop deeper to try and gain some possession but maybe the midfield will surprise us.
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Yep. He also played the false 9 role years ago now, 2012 so given he saves his energy for short bursts he's not going to be pressing the French CBs much. Mascherano still has great passing spirit but his basic passing has declined so much in last 18 months hence Barca letting him go mid season.

Argentina need Pavon in the game and Di Maria to actually look like he's playing Football today. France keep both out of the game and I really don't see how else they will score unless Messi goes on a mad dribble beating 5 men.
 
Shearer just gone for Argentina even though he's been slaughtering them in this tournament. :lol:
 
The system is more important than the sum of its parts. Playing all their best players in one team hasn't contributed one iota to making them more effective. Di Maria and Pavon both play because, for the first time, two genuine wide men are playing, stretching the play wide. Also worth considering that instead of Messi playing wide, they now have two wingers who will be able to defend on transition. Makes no sense having Aguero out wide instead of Di Maria, regardless of how poor Di Maria was. The system dictates the type of player in the given position for it all to work.
 
Looking forward to this:drool:

Don't care who wins, just hope Pogs has a good game. Have a feeling Argentina might nick this.
 
Messi looked a bit more relaxed there but won’t last long with Kante chopping at him
 
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