Thursday, June 19, 2008

Keeping up appearances?



Last night in Brasil, Riquelme having a warm moment with Messi.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I like your page. You seem to get a lot of content on the team.

I don't think we looked potent going forward until aguero came on, this seemed to spark messi.
Where is Crespo?

Our formation is so narrow as well.
Everyone wants to come through the middle. No wide attack.

Not a bad result though .. defense looked strong .. guiterz is a good worker. gago defended well also.

Anonymous said...

I missed much of the match (..I know, I know, where are my priorities..), but I did see enough to sense a lack of fire in the players. Will there be any hesistancy to replace Basile if he cannot get through to this team ? I am now beginning to think the fluid play of Riquelme in the Copa America has cemented Basile's lineup card for 2010 (with only a decision on whether to start Cruz or Tevez up front).

pintadoazulblanco said...

natew

I think Crespo's time on the national team may have come to an end. I don't see too many callups coming any time soon.

Argentina is loaded with a huge number of young goalscorers like Messi, Aguero, Tevez, Cavenaghi, Palacio, Saviola, Higuain, Lavezzi, and others. Even though Basile is using Cruz right now, I think he is looking to incorporate the new generation of players on to the team with the WC coming up in two years.

The defense did look strong. I was surprised by Gutierrez. I don't really understand why he is on the national team, let alone the starting lineup. Gutierrez has not played well in Spain and his team is looking to get rid of him but he did play well against Brasil. It'll be interesting to see what happens with Maxi Rodriguez. I really don't believe that he is going to lose his spot to Gutierrez.

Gago was fantastic. I thought he was Argentina's best player on the field. The midfield partnership with Mascherano was outstanding.

Even though Gago was in the lineup because of Veron's injury, I really hope that Basile continues to include Masche/Gago combo in the midfield.

I agree, it wasn't a bad result, mostly because Argentina controlled possession of the ball and was more aggressive than Brasil in the second half and if it wasn't for all the missed scoring opportunities, it could have won the game.

Thanks for your comments.

pintadoazulblanco said...

anonymous

Right now Argentina is well positioned and on its way to securing a spot in the next world cup so I don't think that Basile is in any danger of being fired besides the AFA president has never fired any manager during his long tenure.

As long as Basile is the manager Riquelme will be in he starting lineup. Whether that is good or bad is a whole other debate. I don't think that Riquelme played well against Ecuador and Brasil.

Anonymous said...

Ahhhh..That looks so good to see them together. Whatever the world tells they are the driving impulse of our team. Born the same day yet completely different way of play, they symbolize our whole football. Thank you passion Albiceleste for such a great picture.

Vamos Albiceleste

pintadoazulblanco said...

Yeah, the media storm over their alleged rift has come and gone. We'll see what happens with Lio and Roman from here on out.