On Thursday, the Argentine squad went their separate ways as they returned to club duty following Wednesday night’s pathetic surrender to neighbours Chile in Santiago. Speaking at Ezeiza airport before flying back to Barcelona, Lionel Messi own up to his own mistakes frankly, whilst Real Madrid defender Gabriel Heinze did likewise. There’ll be work to do when the selección meet up for a friendly with Scotland next month…
‘The truth is it was a poor performance,’ Messi said. ‘We didn’t have a clear idea of what we were up against. I know that I didn’t perform well myself, the team didn’t play well either and there’s a lot to be corrected.’ Messi probably won’t feature in the November friendly against Scotland – the AFA and FC Barcelona don’t appear to have yet reached a resolution over whether he’ll miss future friendlies for his country (this was thought to have been a condition of Barça allowing La Pulga to feature in the Olympic Games) – but it’s clear that when he does next meet up with the team for a competitive match, he’s aware of what needs to change.
Heinze was also in no mood to make excuses. ‘We have to realise that we’re fucked, everything we do comes out badly at the moment,’ the Madrid man told the press. ‘I’m not going to let it be said that this team lacks attitude or is in freefall. We’ll get out of this situation by looking at ourselves and working hard.’ He’s not wrong there, but why are the players only starting to talk like this now? Heinze himself is primarily a centre back, with Argentina particularly, but these days is playing full back for his country. Likewise there are those who feel Javier Zanetti, at right back, would be better used further foward. And this is before we even take into consideration why Alfio Basile feels the need to play three essentially ball-winning midfielders (Javier Mascherano, Cristian Ledesma and the slightly more box-to-box Esteban Cambiasso) against a team Argentina sides of old would have attacked relentlessly.
I say it every time a new squad is announced, but wherefore Lucho González? Why no Maxi Rodríguez (Basile obviously watches Atlético, because Agüero’s deservedly in)? And what the hell do Lisandro López, Fernando Cavenaghi, Mauro Zárate (a youngster certainly, but for the moment the top scorer in Serie A) and Gonzalo Higuaín – who’s now more popular in the white half of Madrid than Raúl, for crying out loud – have to do to get in the side ahead of Diego Milito? Why, after using the early summer friendlies against the US and Mexico to find a system that will work with Juan Román Riquelme, do Argentina revert straight back to using him at the earliest opportunity – and stick with the ‘Riquelme-style’ system when he’s not available, as they did on Wednesday night?
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Good questions, Sam. That midfield was begging for somebody with some creativity to put his foot on the ball. Messi’s dribbles and bad passing choices just made me wonder what Aimar, or Lucho, or even Veron would have done in there. That is if Basile is set on playing that system. Which he seems to be.
Chile were awesome, though. Should have had one other goal, at least…I hope they make it to South Africa with that young squad.
Any news on Burdisso/Gonzalez?
Hi everyone! Hello again! I’m back!
And I’m back to start a fight with you, Sam! haha! Oh yeah!
Well…actually…it’s not a fight, but I’ll defend Diego MILITO. I agree with you in the potential players like Lisandro (another favourite of mine and a Racing Club legend like MILITO), CAVENAGHI, ZARATE and HIGUAIN, but I don’t think calling up Diego MILITO is a mistake.
The man has scored at will in every league and club he played. He is La Liga topscorer of the last 4 seasons put together or something like that. He is also up there in the scoring list in this season’s Serie A for Genoa.
He never played a complete game for Argentina and yesterday, he was replaced in an incredibly bad substitution. He was one of the high points of the first half and certainly the best out of the three forwards MESSI-AGUERO being the other two. I’m not saying he is better than them, but he was playing better.
MESSI and AGUERO were just passing the ball to and only to each other and that was evident when MILITO was wide open in front of goal and AGUERO decided to play a one-two with MESSI, who was surrounded by no less than 3 Chilean defenders plus the goalkeeper, who eventually got the ball.
Number 9s are all about confidence. If you don’t build it up as a manager, you’re wasting your resources.
BASILE took 2 clear goal-scoring big physical strikers to Chile: MILITO and SAND.
What was the outcome?
One of them gets only 45 minutes and no decent service sent his way (not even the best KEMPES or the best BATISTUTA in history would have been able to score in MILITO’s position last night). Then he gets replaced and now a lot of people are saying he is not good enough to play for Argentina.
The other one, SAND, gets sent to the lions without a proper football training with the rest of the squad and plays the last few minutes in a team that have no idea what to do and clearly cannot create anything for him to capitalise.
Honestly, I think Diego MILITO is the best option we have at centre-forward. He only needs the minutes and the proper service to show it.
Out of the other names you mention, CAVENAGHI and HIGUAIN can probably have a case, but Lisandro is not a natural goal-scorer. He can, like BERGESSIO, complement a big goal-scoring man, while ZARATE needs another ball to play on his own and can frustrate me when he passes the ball around less than MESSI and AGUERO put together.
Wow…that was quite a rant! I hope you enjoy it! haha!
I agree with you regarding HEINZE (won’t be anywhere near the national team if I was the manager), the horrible midfield we used last night and the absences of Maxi and Lucho (I just don’t get it), but believe me…Diego MILITO can be the prolific big guy we need to become a threat to any team in the world (if we ever become a team ourselves).
Hi David, I saw BURDISSO talking on the TV today. He said his head is still aching but he said he’s fine.
I’ve found this about Mark GONZALEZ, though:
Real Betis’s Chile forward Mark Gonzalez will be out of action for about three months with twisted right knee ligaments, the Primera Liga club said on its website
The former Liverpool player was taken to hospital after a collision with Argentina’s Nicolas Burdisso during Chile’s 1-0 win in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday.
Latest news: BASILE is at a meeting with AFA that has been denied earlier by AFA sources.
Rumour has it he might resign.
Extreme rumours have it he might resign as early as TONIGHT!
Knock, knock…BASILE is gone.
It’s everywhere in the media. He has resigned.
Those extreme rumours were right after all!
It’s in the English media as well, Seba. That is to say, it’s on the HEGS homepage already…
Mundo Albiceleste got it first! haha!
Gah. You finally return to commenting, and you’re beating me to stories. Couldn’t you have stayed in Beijing…?
Kidding of course.
Think about it…if I go to Beijing, I’ll be 12 hours ahead! I’ll absolutely destroy you when it comes to publishing stories first! hahaha!
I’m also kidding!