Comments on: World Cup 2010: Peru 1 – 1 Argentina

By: chris leonard

chris leonard — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 04:09:30 +0000

i love JRR but his inconsistency overshadows his grace and intelligence. My enthusiasm is wilting.

By: hastaelgolsiempre

hastaelgolsiempre — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 17:34:55 +0000

That Brazil match was held in Botafogo’s new stadium, Johnny, which ‘only’ has a capacity of about 30,000 or so I think, as opposed to the Maracana. It was a bit of an odd decision and the ticket prices were absolutely ridiculous. Still, the fans who stayed away didn’t miss much…

By: johnny

johnny — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 12:29:16 +0000

Thanks Sam for your take on the NT’s problems. Yes, Roman has not been in his best gear since the Copa Libertadores before the last one. Why, who can say ? He was injured some, but there is apparently no current physical problem. It is frustrating watching the team struggle as they do, though they are not the only very talented team having their problems as we know. At least the argentine faithful come out to support the team. I read today that there were only 20,000 in attendance the other night in Rio for Brazil and Bolivia. Cheapest ticket-55 US bucks.

By: David N

David N — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:04:15 +0000

I love Riquelme, but he probably won’t be around for 2010 anyway, so why not replace him now? Messi will play as enganche. Gago and Masch behind him, Di Maria and Maxi on the wings, Aguero/ Tevez/Cavenaghi/Denis/whoever upfront.

By: hastaelgolsiempre

hastaelgolsiempre — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 20:37:44 +0000

It’s surely more a question of changing the style of the team and not playing Riquelme, Johnny. Riquelme does what he does, and if the manager of the selección (whoever that is at a given time) includes him in the starting XI, it’s because the team are going to be set up to make the most of JRR’s (undoubted) abilities.

What I didn’t get – and recorded my disagreement with the decision on this site – was that a few months ago Basile spent the ‘mini tour’ of the States, when Argentina played the USA and Mexico, working out a formation that would allow the team to function without Riquelme. When the next round of qualifiers came round, though, Riquelme was back in the squad, even though he wasn’t fully fit – and Argentina ended up playing Ecuador with effectively ten men.

In my opinion the creative duties should be shared more evenly across the team – which means I’d have Messi or Agüero in the enganche position, bring Lucho back into the team, and have the carrileros playing higher up the pitch. That makes it much harder to shut down the whole team just by shutting down one man.

But what do I know.

By: johnny

johnny — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 17:30:25 +0000

My question-Roman reacted last night to the collapsing defense on him the same way he has done at times in the past. Rather than look for the quick pass before he is completely surrounded, he does his fancy footwork thing only to eventually lose possession. My guess is that this bad habit is some sort of ego thing with Roman, i.e.-”I can beat this and I won’t be forced to change my style”. What to other readers make of this ? Am I off base with this observation ? Is the only alternative to eventually go to Messi as the enganche ? And, would Messi be as dangerous in that role and still get his scoring chances ?

Anyway, a horrible ending to an ugly match last night and you got to think that some changes will be forthcoming.

By: Nolan

Nolan — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 14:01:27 +0000

Basile must go, enough of enough. These tactics just aren’t working, it’s time for Coco and possibly Riquelme as well to step down.

By: johnny

johnny — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 12:38:06 +0000

I’ll make some more comments later, but I think a very good summary by Sam. This reminded me of Brazil’s strategy in the Copa disaster. Hammer away in the midfield, quick countershots and see what happens.