World Cup 2022 - Group C

Alarez deserves this, much more effective than Lautaro.

After next round basically the QFs vs Netherlands/USA so Arg into the Semis without much problem issue WOOO HOOO~

Eng vs Fra in the other QF should be we know so far.

Score one more to end this misery... we're the worst team in the WC alongside Qatar, nonexistent midfield, zero threat, pathetic manager, embarrasing display

Wow, Saudia just socre, WTF @ Mexico????

some how, some way, we advanced

France will tear us a new one

Must hurt, think its like the first time ever they dont get out of the groups... vs a very bad Poland?

GRude wrote:

GRude wrote:

Casciavit wrote:I've seen this script too much. Poland are going to score a goal against the run of play. Szczesny having the game of his life ffs

Not if they play like that, Poland actually counter attacked with numbers against Saudi and Saudi was impotent. Poland are going to concede in the second half if it goes like the first.
Started well but within 20 minutes went back to the pathetic tactics and performance vs Mexico.
No interests in having the ball or counter attacking.
And it's not even that it's good defensive football either, there's zero press. They just let Argentina get into their final third and wait for the attack to play out.
It's literally just stick 10 men behind the ball and hoof it up to the CF & hope the opposition fail.
It's more crude than even the most crude anti football tactics. It's not even like they're good on set pieces where they should have the advantage either.
Stoke on a cold night are 1982 Brazil compared to this Poland team.

They just scored, told you. There was zero press what so ever, pathetic defending. Polands tactic is literally just defend the penalty box lol.

Oh and look NOW Poland want to start attacking - lol, this coach is the god of anti football.

Spot on call. Poland were awful. Argentina really should've ran away with a 5-0 win.

Poland are so lucky lol. Scored 2 goals overall and they go through

BarcaLearning wrote:Wtf is this subs, Paredes on for Di Maria on 58th, giving up the initiative... Messi has no one to link with now, Im worried

It was a brilliant sub. He came in and killed the tempo of the game. Argentina went into death by 1000 passes mode. That's how their second goal came about.

This was probably Argentina's best game in terms of looking like a cohesive unit, but I'm not sure how much I can credit them because Poland looked awful.

They missed way too many chances. You can't get away with missing penalties and 1v1s in the World Cup knockout rounds. It's too costly. Argentine media were saying Messi nabbed Neymar's penalty taking technique after his missed penalty against Madrid. He's been using it since, but then reverted to his regular telegraphed run up that he has a 78% scoring percentage from lol.

Mex didnt deserve to go through tbh. As I stated before this was the weakest Ive seen Mex and I think them bowing out of the group is a testament to that. Ever since qualfying it was pretty visible Mex was on the decline particularly after Raul Jimenez injury. He's never been the same afterward...

This wasnt the team anymore.

Argentina still candidates imo. They dont play too organized but the have the talent to pull them through and for Argentina theyll have to rely on clinical moments to get them through the latter stages.

Alvarez needs to start ahead of Lautaro. He's a better outlet, even though Lautaro has better hold up play. I also believe he's a better finisher than him.

I've liked how they've seen out the last two games. Argentina look comfortable holding out a lead. They went 5-3-2 against Mexico at the end, and then they played a 4-3-3 at the 60th minute with Paredes, Enzo, and Mac Allister just ball hogging the ball in the middle.

I'm not convinced by them offensively, but defensively they seem way more comfortable. Romero and Otamendi are great at winning aerial duels. De Paul's first touch is worse than mine, but he's a proper pashun merchant who will fight for every ball. If they need a more physical presence in front of the defense they can bring on Guido. Lisandro Martinez can start depending on the opposition.

I think another issue they have is they don't have enough runners who attack the box. No Lo Celso means Messi has to pick up the ball deeper,  so that just leaves Alvarez isolated sometimes. They're going to require more runs from Messi, Mac Allister, and De Paul.

Is the quality of national teams at a modern times low?

A healthy France is pretty good and Brazil are OK, but everyone else out of the big nations seems very mediocre, plus some absolute trash trickles through to the knockout stage, like this Poland team.

I don't think the overall quality of international football has been this low in my lifetime.

Arg also dont have a true aerial threat upfront so theyll be limited to play on floor. Itll suck for them if they concede first.

Art Morte wrote:Is the quality of national teams at a modern times low?

A healthy France is pretty good and Brazil are OK, but everyone else out of the big nations seems very mediocre, plus some absolute trash trickles through to the knockout stage, like this Poland team.

I don't think the overall quality of international football has been this low in my lifetime.

It's complete shit, but then again most of these teams work their way up to form. I can't remember the last time the winners looked like the favorites from the group stages. Maybe Brazil in 2002, but that was after Argentina and France got knocked out even though Brazil before the World Cup weren't considered the favorite that year.

Lord Awesome wrote:Arg also dont have a true aerial threat upfront so theyll be limited to play on floor. Itll suck for them if they concede first.

Yup, they're limited with their chance creation methods. If they can get an early goal then sit back like the way they did in 2014 then I'd expect a deep run. If they go a goal down, especially with how hot headed some of their players you think they'll struggle to cope with that.

Poland played to not lose too badly, it's hard to draw any conclusions from this other than that Argentina were wasteful.

From what I saw this 'sit back and soak the pressure' approach is what they took in the other 2 matches and while you could say it worked out in the end, it definitely won't against France.

If Czczesny had a slightly worse match this could have been a riot.

Yeah it was tease to watch Poland not concede a 3rd and Mex also had 2 correctly disallowed goals to add to the drama. It was good edge of seat stuff to watch from a pro Mex standpoint in spite of the result lol

Still have USA B)

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

From what I saw this 'sit back and soak the pressure' approach is what they took in the other 2 matches and while you could say it worked out in the end, it definitely won't against France.

How did Tunisia play when they beat France?

French subs were deployed lol

Thimmy wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:

From what I saw this 'sit back and soak the pressure' approach is what they took in the other 2 matches and while you could say it worked out in the end, it definitely won't against France.

How did Tunisia play when they beat France?

For the french, it was a friendly. So it doesn't really matter

Lord Awesome wrote:Argentina still candidates imo. They dont play too organized but the have the talent to pull them through and for Argentina theyll have to rely on clinical moments to get them through the latter stages.

of course they are... i told everyone to calma after the Saudi loss. It was important for the them to finish first because now on paper they have an easy path up to the semis.

and i actually think they are one of the best organised teams defensively in this tournament. Good CBs in Romero, Otamendi and Rey Mysterio Martinez. And absolute confidence boosting stud in goal in Emi Martinez. It's offensively where they might struggle. Di Maria needs to be on it like he was today from every game now. Agree with Cas, start Alvarez, especially after that goal the confidence will be there now.

Cruijf wrote:Call me crazy but I still have very good feelings about Argentinas chances. I’m getting very strong vibes of the last 4 winners (Italy, Spain, Germany, and France). All of them started slowly and unconvincingly but (this is the key part) clearly had quality in the squad and had shown it before the tournament. It’s rare for the teams that start strongest (in this case France and Spain) to keep that up and go all the way.

My confidence has only risen with todays game. The trend for Argentina is clearly upward, they’re growing into the tournament and are playing more like they did in the Copa. Yes it’s true that they missed big chances today but when they did go ahead they killed the game completely. No one in this tournament scares me other than France, Brazil included. I’m confident they’ll reach the final at least and hopefully win the whole thing.