Why did Argentina play so badly today?

So today we drew 1-1 with a very defensively minded bolivia team. I'm not going to complain about the goal against us since it was a very soft goal and something like that won't happen too often

Reasons
1) Defense- Milito and burdisso weren't Horrible and they weren't responsible for the goal but they were beaten numerous times. I was actually scared even when they were passing the ball amongst themselves that they would mess up. Zanetti was pretty good I thought but Rojo was pretty anonymous; he tried to get forward in attack but LB is not his game. Zabaletta should have started instead maybe.

2)Midfield-Where to start? Banega-Cambiasso-Mascherano is a SOLID line however if we are going to rely Solely on banega to create plays then nothing much is going to happen. Banega is good at distribution but we need a proper AM to link the Midfield to the forward line. But............we HAVE a midfielder like that......Pastore. This is his time to shine, we should give him his chance. However Batista clearly doesn't think so(I am now starting to think that he has some personal spat with Pastore). There are GOING to be games where messi is marked out of the game and we NEED a person in midfield who can exploit the space afforded by that. Mascherano should be in our midfield whenever he is fit.

3) Attack- Lavezzi was the worst player on the pitch. He was worse than tevez and that is saying something. I saw NOTHING of the combinations between him and messi which we saw in games leading up to this one. Tevez had some moments but by and large he was pretty anonymous. Di Maria was ok I guess, but the right back did a good job on him for the most part so he couldn't have the freedom he probably wanted.
Aguero has scored in EVERY game he has played in for argentina since the game with Spain. Quite remarkable. I hope Batista has enough brains to know that Aguero should always start in our team. Messi, well.....he was marked extensively throughout the match but this is Messi, and I think(and I never thought I would say it) this was an exceptionally poor game by his Majestic standards. Here's hoping he recovers.

Final thoughts:
For next game, Aguero-Higuain upfront with Messi playing just behind them in the traditional no. 10 role(that is, if Pastore doesn't play). If Pastore does play, then Tevez-Messi-Aguero should suffice. I don't want to see Lavezzi starting. He is good as a supersub and to inject a little pace into the attack.

What do you guys think about Argentina's less than stellar performance today?

....

its a collective effort.


the coach and the players just sucked.

not all of them but..

@messi, how could u not feel like crucifying lavezzi?

The Madrid One wrote:its a collective effort.


the coach and the players just sucked.

not all of them but..

@messi, how could u not feel like crucifying lavezzi?

He worked hard and tried, he wasn't as involved in play as I would have liked him to be though

I myself haven't watched the game, but rather snipets from it. I plan to DL the whole thing and analyze it over two watches on my flight to Argentina tomorrow.

"So today we drew 1-1 with a very defensively minded bolivia team"

You're Argentine or just a fan?! Anyway, um, yeah basically what you wrote, can't really add much. Also, Lionel Messi should get adjusted to such marking from the rest of the teams he'll be facing in this competition. That and him playing CM really isn't making sense to me. He's isn't one nor can control the motion like one. Batista ought to know this...

Worked hard? you mean when he started raging at everybody and committing tackles that makes you wonder how he stayed on the pitch? you mean when he ran the entire length of the pitch with his head down and then hammer a cross into the stands when he had acres of space?
He is good as a sub, not as a starter.

shinigami99 wrote:Worked hard? you mean when he started raging at everybody and committing tackles that makes you wonder how he stayed on the pitch? you mean when he ran the entire length of the pitch with his head down and then hammer a cross into the stands when he had acres of space?
He is good as a sub, not as a starter.

He had one bad game, not sure why he was playing a different role because he wasn't linking up as much as in the recent friendlies, he may have just been marked out of the game.

Yes he worked hard, he ran the length of the pitch in full sprint, but like I said, couldn't find the composure to put in a good ball.

Doc wrote:"So today we drew 1-1 with a very defensively minded bolivia team"

You're Argentine or just a fan?! Anyway, um, yeah basically what you wrote, can't really add much. Also, Lionel Messi should get adjusted to such marking from the rest of the teams he'll be facing in this competition. That and him playing CM really isn't making sense to me. He's isn't one nor can control the motion like one. Batista ought to know this...

No I'm not, I'm from Trinidad just like you lolz. I'm from St. Augustine but I am in Canada now for University.

To me he should either be on the flanks or playing behind established strikers. However, if he is our main striker it's not a bad idea however we don't have the same players as Barca so it would be very difficult.

I use "we" in the same way Barcelona fans use "we"

ohh poor Batista...The new scapegoat for Messi's NT nonperformance...

Anyways, until Argentina find an adequate replacement for Riquelme, they're gonna continue down this road...

no riquelme

no joy for albiceleste

No Diego milito, no party

Seppuku wrote:ohh poor Batista...The new scapegoat for Messi's NT nonperformance...

Anyways, until Argentina find an adequate replacement for Riquelme, they're gonna continue down this road...

Well it was obviously his fault. He dropped Messi back to CM for the second half after he had a brilliant first half, and guess what? He performed worse, Batista's tactical change backfired. Tevez should have been dropped for Di Maria

Seppuku wrote:ohh poor Batista...The new scapegoat for Messi's NT nonperformance...

Anyways, until Argentina find an adequate replacement for Riquelme, they're gonna continue down this road...

FFS the only thing it would take for this team to take off is common sense. Why is it so hard for Argentina to find a manager that has that?

No Higuain no party

If you really think about it, Bolivia played anti-football. Tons of kicks, 9 men in the box, relying in opposition mistakes to score, the whole works. Same kind of tactics as Stoke and Madrid.

That is, these tactics were in fact an admission of inferiority. From this perspective, Bolivia were actually praising us

BarrileteCosmico wrote:If you really think about it, Bolivia played anti-football. Tons of kicks, 9 men in the box, relying in opposition mistakes to score, the whole works. Same kind of tactics as Stoke and Madrid.

That is, these tactics were in fact an admission of inferiority. From this perspective, Bolivia were actually praising us

I thought you didn't watch the game?

My hat is off to Bolivia for having he defensive discipline they had and the way they worked their arses off to put pressure on the midfield was very valiant.

Making silly excuses for defeat = admittance of inferiority

Gil wrote:I thought you didn't watch the game?

No, but I have been reading a lot of the reactions both here and on several argentine newspapers.

Besides, I wasn't serious

Seppuku wrote:Making silly excuses for defeat = admittance of inferiority

Silly excuses? Defeat? It was 1-1. If there was a heatmap of the match you would see Messi was in the center of midfield the entire time, even Ganso said in the match thread 'Messi is dropping deep'

Doesn't look like you watched the game.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

Gil wrote:I thought you didn't watch the game?

No, but I have been reading a lot of the reactions both here and on several argentine newspapers.

Besides, I wasn't serious

I missed the coffeeguy.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:If you really think about it, Bolivia played anti-football. Tons of kicks, 9 men in the box, relying in opposition mistakes to score, the whole works. Same kind of tactics as Stoke and Madrid.

That is, these tactics were in fact an admission of inferiority. From this perspective, Bolivia were actually praising us

That's why Batista should not be trying to play like Barca. Argentina should find back their identity. Quick passing, defensively sound and a solid, attacking midfield that can hold the ball well. Not necessarily possession based but very quick

Schweinsteiger showed everyone how to play Messi out of the game. xD

I'm not too surprised though, Argentina are kinda like Bayern, absolutely stellar attack but a meh defense. (Apart from Zanetti)

I say Argentina should keep the same Midfield and instead put Messi or Pastore as the SS and 2 Strikers, or play with 2 Second Strikers and a Striker.