RECENT NEWS

I haven't been around lately, sorry for the lack of updates.
In the last 2 weeks, some important matters took place.

First, we have Roman back with Boca Junior. Villarreal allowed Riquelme to break his contract, and the CAM is already in Japan preparing for club world cup with his beloved team. It's a rare incident where a player is allowed to go free before end of his contract, and this action might have long term consequences for the club. We shall, however, be thankful that the situation had finally resolved.

Then we had Simeone leaving Estudiante to coach River. A promotion for the young DT obviously, a difficult assignment nevertheless. River had been in knee deep of financial troubles, let's hope el Cholo could turn that around.

FIFA club world cup is going on right now. Boca will play its first match on 12th december (early morning here) and AC Milan the day after. This is why Roman wanted Boca. Boca is paying big bucks for the enganche, better get what the money's worth.

Without Tevez, there was only Messi up front.
Let's be honest, our defense is not that good to begin with. When pushing for width and adding help to the front, especially when one of the forwards is missing, it became even wearker... I mean, the best defenders we have playing are probably Zanetti and Demichelis, one is old, one had barely made a name for himself.

I'm not surprised we lost, just disappointed we couldn't even draw when Messi FUCKING SCORED FIRST!

Review when I'm not so emotional...

Download the match here. (Filefront rapid free download, italian commentators...)

Columbia 2:1 Argentina

Not only did we allow goals, we lost.
Red card for Tevez, 2nd Columbian goal also has some offside possibilities.

Torrent & review coming up.

3 : 0 Bolivia

starting lineup:
Pato
Ibarra Demichelis Milito Zanetti
Mascherano Cambiasso
Messi Riquelme Tevez
Aguero

Don't think I'll have to say more. This is pretty much what I always wanted. 4-2-3-1 and it got us a 3-egg without an ideal #9.

International goal #1 for Aguero.
Roman got 2 again.
Gago went on about 70th minute replacing Cambiasso.
5 minutes later, after Roman scored our 3rd goal, Aguero was subbed by Maxi.
Tevez was switched out by Denis in the end.

torrent
Next stop, Columbia.

According to Ole

Bottinelli in

Heinze out


Thank you Jesus!

Last chance for Carlito?

I think not, but his position is definitely threatened.
It is likely that Argentina will continue not having a suitable #9, but it is necessary to deploy such player even if he isn't on par with Tevez in term of skills and speed. The physical attribute of height is by itself a very important quality after all.

Consider this:
Aguero is more used to the center forward role and he's on form. He's tied with Messi for 2nd place on the goalscorer list in Spain. So even if Crespo wasn't hurt, Denis isn't the only alternative.

Tevez could perhaps consider dropping into a more defensive role. I think he would do better than Cambiasso on the left. He has those attributes to become a great winger. He's strong, has good acceleration, shoots well from long distances, tackles well, aggressive and always fights for the ball, has great vision for passes... The best players can play different positions. Cruijff, Beckenbauer, Diego...


Due to Crespo's ankle injury, Tevez will probably start this weekend.

I do hope to see Aguero more than 20 minutes. Get him an international goal. I'm sure all the guys are more than happy to set him up. We need to give everybody pitch time so when we go to South Africa, it would be a well synchronized team instead of just brilliant individuals.

We are building a team to win both the olympics and world cup.

Rest of the list

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe), Agustin Orion (San Lorenzo), Mariano Andujar (Estudiantes)

Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo Coruna), Hugo Ibarra (Boca Juniors)

Midfielders: Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Federico Insua (America-Mexico), Sebastian Battaglia (Boca Juniors)

Forwards: Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), German Denis (Independiente)

Thanks Jack for reminding us of the list.

Goalkeeper: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe, ESP).

Defenders: Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Zanetti y Nicolás Burdisso (Inter, ITA), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruña, ESP), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona, ESP) y Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich, GER).

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, GBR), Federico Insúa (América, MEX), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter, ITA), Maximiliano Rodríguez (Atlético Madrid, ESP) y Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal, ESP).

Forwards: Hernán Crespo (Inter, ITA), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ESP), Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid, ESP) y Carlos Tévez (Manchester United, GBR).

The biggest change is obviously the exclusion of Saviola and reenlistment of Crespo. This means Basile wants #9 and is willing to sacrifice a forward super sub for it. That's fine though, I warned you guys about this while ago. It's unfortunate for Saviola, but that's why it's a "sacrifice".
More importantly though, it means Tevez had moved back to the bench, because very few would agree to a rotation between Carlito and Messi.
Unless, of course, if Tevez could find a place on left wing. That's not likely because the European list already included 4 midfielders that could play wide. There's also Belluschi waiting for the call again.

Playing a #9 also means a target person sub. Our best bet would probably be Germán Denis again. His positioning was exquisite, if we're bringing back Crespo, then Denis definitely worth another try.

I'm quite happy not to see Cata Diaz and Gutiérrez. Diaz is too old for my liking, although he's very experienced... Gutiérrez on other hand, doesn't appear to be ready. In his previous appearance, he got to the ball quite a bit, but didn't seem to know what to do with it.

I liked Ustari more than Carrizo too. Perhaps the later is more an orthodox keeper, while Ustari is a rebel and more likable?
Unfortunately, since Ustari isn't getting enough pitch time (and experience), which he desperately needs, we have no choice but to go with Carrizo... And quite possibly Orion or someone else local for the mascot spot. I watched the Atletico - Villar match today, we can forget about Leo Franco.
IMO, Pato had fucked us on numerous occasions and he is going to keep fucking us with his retirement plan. He had completely fucked Ustari with this Getafe shit.

Basile kept calling up Coloccini, yet not playing him. I don't quite understand why not give Zabaleta a try though. Coloccini is a little taller and MAYBE tiny bit better in the air, but Zabaleta is a tremendous all around defender, and younger. Their positioning are very similar too, and Zabaleta seemed to be more reliable when playing RB.

There's only spot for 1 more defender. I hope we tryout a fullback this time. There are 3 good players for the CB positions, using the last spot to try out a left back doesn't hurt.

WC qualifiers November

This Columbian team could be dangerous.

	17.11.2007	Argentina	vs	Bolivia
	20.11.2007	Columbia	vs	Argentina

News

1. Argentina U-20 coach Hugo Tocalli had resigned. More details from Ole. This is confirmed. Many of us saw this coming. Check my article in August.

2. There's rumor that Basile will resigned from NT coaching position due to health problem. Further more, it's said that Grondona will bring up Simeone if Basile cannot continuous with the WC campaign. Read more on this.

WOW

I cannot fucking believe this, but it made a whole lot of sense.

Today, Dragonlord posted the following on bigsoccer forum. (click on the title to go to the actual page).

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pints Even Forlan was quoted as saying Roman has no right to bash his team and coach. And they were friends. I think your allegiance to Roman is blinding other sides of this story for you.

Actually, that's not true! Today the narrators from Spain made clear what really happened with Riquelme. It seems that, besides the b*tching to the press, he did not like Forlan AT ALL.

He went as far as he telling the rest of the team to NOT PASS Forlan the ball!! Can you imagine that? Your playmaker telling the team to not give the ball to your top striker, just because you dont like him??????? That's absurd, and unfortunately, is vintage riquelme-style.

Eventually a player "ratted him" out to Pellegrini, and that was the begining of the end. Also, a lot of the argentines in the team that were conspiring in this affair were also shown the door.

This is the reason Forlan was sold. He was still a point of contention in the dressing room. This is also the reason why Atletico Madrid chose not to buy Riquelme. Apparently someone found out at the last minute about the 'history' behind these players, and Atletico duly stopped the transfer.

anyway, more money and talent wasted

I'm not convinced by Villar's win over Barza this past weekend. Many of the connections were shaky but luckily went through, and Barza showed nothing more than some individualities. Not to mention 2 of the Villar goals were PK. I'm not saying those shouldn't of been called, but they were calls could or could not had been made.

Torrent for Villarreal Vs. Barcelona match.

Dragonlord posted the following on BS last night:

I will get the name of the guys discussing the topic on spanish radio, but anyone that was listening to the first half between Villareal v Barcelona last weekend should have heard.

some thoughts

Torrent for the Venezuela match.

Let's start from the back line.

Left back position is obviously the weakest link of the entire formation (lack of #9 sits right behind that). Heinze is not only not very good on the offensives, he has also been prone to injuries since his misfortune before 06'WC. So from both productivity and reliability stand points, Heinze is not an ideal left back for the NT.

Some people think Burdisso could play all defender positions. That's not true, and clearly demonstrated in Venezuela match. He doesn't position very well as fullback, and he's not natural to the left side. Several times our beautiful possessions ended on Burdisso. Not only that, he also allowed some dangerous openings. Nicolas Burdisso is a terrific center back or right back (for the left hammer right anvil way we play), but not the solution to our left back problem.
He's ok from the injury. He was unconscious for a few seconds though.

Milito has decent header and can defend in the box very well. His problem is the lack of speed, which means he couldn't cover a large zone. He's actually quite aggressive/offensive, but unfortunately too slow to be a good leftback. Not to mention, we need a wingback...

Daniel Diaz did not impress me. He's also 28 years old so not a real future possibility. He was not really tested since Venezuela didn't go right after Burdisso's injury, but like Burdisso, Diaz did not provide the necessary width on the left.

Now, right back. Zanetti is becoming irreplaceable. He's now also taking care of the right wing due to Maxi's problems. Zanetti is OLD AS SHIT! We cannot keep relying on him, let alone making him shoulder more responsibilities.

Ibarra was pretty good at right back. He's very experienced and he makes the correct decisions. His pass to Tevez was brilliant, and he made quite a few good defensive moves. The yellow card was a necessary foul too. It's too bad Ibarra is 33 years old.

Demichelis is a welcome addition to the CB lineup. He plays LCB for Bayern so we know he can do both sides. This guy is solid, and we still have Burdisso, Milito and soon Gonzalo Rodriguez in the lineup. The CB position is pretty filled up. Few others might deserve a try but it's not necessary.

If we could find 2 good fullbacks, this defense can win the world cup.

Venezuela took the initiatives on several occasions. They pulled out some high class offensives but were ineffective in top 1/3 of the field. On defense, Argentina went into a 4-3-3, alot of midfield disruptions ensured the ball was rarely carried by opponents to striking distances. However, this also has to do with the way Venezuela was setup. They played a 4-5-1 with just Maldonado up front. We had 2 solid CB marking him, making it impossible for Maldonado to open himself up.

Against Venezuela, Basile pulled out practically 3 defensive midfielders. Even when he switched Ibarra off and dropped Zanetti back, it was Gago that came on so there remained to be 3 defensive midfielders. It looked good on defense, but these weren't offensively minded players, and didn't provide enough support when attacking.

Gago is probably the most offensive of these DMs. He doesn't have the touch and control of Riquelme, but he's definitely a playmaker option.
We have other offensive wingers even if Maxi couldn't adjust himself to suit this team, D'Alessandro for example, is probably worth a try.
However, I do think Gago can provide a better balance on the right, especially if we use a more aggressive fullback than Zanetti. He has better distribution than either Mascherano or Cambiasso, and he's better than Cambiasso in defense. What Gago needs to do is to be a little more conservative, he makes some dangerous choices.

Riquelme is the best enganche we've got. It's simple as that. There's no one else can cope with Messi better. Some of the works between those 2 were from another world.

But Roman did not make the same kind of passes to Tevez.
Technically, Tevez and Messi are similar so one should hit them the same way too. AKA. low and tight. IMO the reason Tevez doesn't get the balls like Messi is because he plays on the left more. Our offense leans left, so left forward is more vertically aligned with Roman. This means there would be more defenders between Tevez and Roman, making direct ground passes more difficult to Calito than for Messi.

The solution to that is still width on the left. Provide indirect routes to reach Tevez.

Even if Tevez did get the right passes, he still wouldn't of been very effective from where he played. He didn't have a target to cross to.
We didn't have a target person, so the middle of the box was empty. Over and over, the ball reached Tevez high up on the wing, then he had no target to hit, ended up sending the ball back. That's frustrating to watch, and as much as I've supported the 2 shorties experiments, I believe we're still better off with a real target player.

It's not to say I'm losing faith in Tevez though. In fact, I think he made the right choices to turn the ball back from the left wing. When Messi switched position with him, he tried to cut into the middle and was unsuccessful. Tevez's choices at least allowed us to retain possession.

Denis offered that target person option to certain extends. Once he came on, there was clearly a person to hit in the middle. His positioning was also very nice so he got a few very good chances within the 10 minutes he played. Haven said that, Denis' finish was EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. Everybody is nervous the first time playing on NT, but a professional player like Denis should of known opportunities like that don't come very often. He had 2 beautiful breakaways, one of which there was no excuse for not hitting the goal and he managed to shoot it wide...

Speaking of which. I get more impressed by Messi every time. He went out of his way again and again to set his teammates up. It's true he didn't take the chances, but scoring at that point would do nothing more than humiliating the host. Instead, he choose to move on after reaching scoring position, and forced his way to set up both Tevez and Denis (did the same for Aguero against Chile too). That IMO is more difficult to do than shooting, and it shows the big heart and unbelievable unselfishness from Messi.

Another player satisfying to watch was Mascherano. Mascherano accomplishes his defensive duties like no other, but even more impressive was his ability to produce runs and draw fouls. He's done that many times for Liverpool, and now he's done that on the NT as well. He also scored a goal when playing for River from the same concept. That's one of his specialties, make no doubt.
Mascher was send down the wing late against Chile. It was a stupid move by Basile. Can't believe it takes trials and error for our NT coach to see that...

Last I want to mention Cambiasso. Cuchu has his qualities. He works hard, and knows when to push and when to defend. Problem is, he does neither very well. On teams like Inter, there are plenty garbageman to pick up trash he left off, but on our NT that's not the case. The ball must be processed precisely inside the box for us to score because we don't have a #9 right now (unless Crespo comes back but how long would that last). Cambiasso is a difficult to utilize element eventhough he had done ok at that position in the past.

There are plenty choices for outside midfielders. D'alessandro, Almiron, Zabelata, Ledesma, etc. We need to try them out, and focus on finding fullbacks and target players.

Messi is a GOD

There's some serious problem with our left back Since Maxi's form isn't ideal, Zanetti becomes an option for right wing, so he's not there to take care the left back substitute job.

Burdisso didn't look good on the left. THe head injury he suffered looked very serious. He was unconscious when carried out, with a neck bracer. I hope he's ok because he's an important option for CB.

Milito can compete for the LCB position but he's also useless at left edge. Out of the 3 Heinze probably has the most experience playing fullback, but he's far from ideal. We really need a wingback, or 2.

Gago looked good. Tevez not at his best, Denis blew his chance. Demichelis very solid. Cambiasso is probably dispensable. Everybody else did well. Messi is a god!

Torrent in a bit
Review later

Reminder

We play Venezuela tomorrow 8:40pm. That's UTC-4, so same as eastern time in US.

Unfortunately, GolTV will be airing other stupid qualifier, again. So use livefooty for shitty quality webcast. I'll have torrent posted here afterwards.

VAMOS!

quick words

I'm Lazy.

I'll write a combined review of the 2 matches after we played Venezuela. There are just little too much shit going on in my pathetic life right now, I can't sit here and type out a whole paragraph without being bothered.

I do have couple words wanted to get out of my chest:

1. The Tevez-Messi combo still hasn't been functioning properly. Too much hesitation INSIDE the box, our forward players still don't have the necessary understanding between each other.

2. Heinze is not ideal. I know he looked good and got to the ball many times on the wing, but he lacked the ability to process the chances he received. Right side was more active even AFTER Maxi was switched off and Mascherano was playing winger. ( Didn't see that coming did you? IMO, Mascher did ok on the wing too, for a guy that doesn't know how to cross that is :D )

We also had both of our fullbacks playing non-ideal positions. Heinze was playing wingback while Zanetti playing almost purely defensively...


3. Second half was a big waste of time. They were obviously saving juice for Venezuela, but the timing of substitutions were horrid. If they wanted to save some gas that badly, should of put both Aguero and Saviola on earlier. Aguero went on too late, so he hurried on every chance he got, ended up having alot of good looking touches but got absolutely nothing out of them. Saviola... I didn't even get a good look at him.

4. Throwing Gago at DM and pushing Mascher into attack was such a weird choice, but seemed to be Basile's favorite move ATM.

I guess all coaches think alike. Rafael Benitez also did the samething with Mascherano, and had gotten some good results from it. A DM is generally unmarked. When he pushes, he creates disturbance in the opponent midfield. If only Mascher could distribute a little better... Drawing fouls is cool, but we can't afford the dude getting hurt.

There's nothing worth saving against Venezuela, so perhaps we'll see more of a 90min game on Wednesday.

Again, sorry for dodging the review, I'll make it up after the 2nd match.

Match torrent is here:
Argentina vs Chile English commentator Torrent

Twenty Years

Step One


Quilmes 1998 - The funniest movie is here. Find it

Local players for qualifier

5 names:

German Denis (Independenti) ST
Fernando Belluschi (River Plate) Winger
Juan Pablo Carrizo (River Plate) GK
Hugo Ibarra (Boca Juniors) FB
Daniel Montenegro (Independenti) Winger

The 25 players enlisted are for both qualifiers against Chile and Venezuela. First match on 13.October at 5:30pm, second one in Maracaibo on the 16th.

We got some wingers and forward backups with this local player list. I don't see how Denis will get to play with the current form Tevez and Messi are in though. And even if the 2 have problems, there are still Saviola and Aguero waiting for the call!

And other thing I just had to ask, WTF IS IBARRA DOING HERE? Is this Basile's great white hope for fullback? The dude is 33!

Saint Messi de Rosario

Have you seen Messi playing lately?

From ESPN Soccernet:

Something highly significant occurred at the Camp Nou this week.

Barcelona, normally so reliant on Ronaldinho, put in one of their best performances for quite some time, without the former world footballer of the year. That Zaragoza were comprehensively destroyed in a 4-1 mauling, says much about the team's evolution, not to mention the rise and rise of Lionel Messi.

Don't get the wrong end of the stick. I'm not here to tell you Ronnie is finished, or for that matter, viewing plush property and tasting the nightlife near the Kings Road, as others might have you believe.

Ronaldinho remains one of the finest footballing talents of them all and we have been privileged to watch him sparkle during most of his career with the blaugrana. Frank Rijkaard will still get good value from the Brazilian on the park this season.

The fact is though, Messi is the man of the moment, and probably the future, at the Camp Nou. His performance on Wednesday night had everything and a bit more. At his best Messi gives us Cruyff's vision, Gascoigne's gallus genius and Zidane's touch all rolled into one. Of course, he can also finish like Van Basten and entertain in the manner of a modern-day Maradona.

The little 20-year old Argentinian, while reminding us of these all-time greats, still succeeds in offering us football lovers something that's uniquely his own.

The wonderful thing is the Lionel Messi era has only just begun. A few weeks ago, Kaka looked set to run away with the Golden Ball and FIFA World Player of the Year awards. Who's to say Messi can't close the gap in the next few weeks and even pip the AC Milan star at the post?

Barcelona pride themselves on being 'mes que un club' (more than a club.) Maybe in Messi's case it should read 'mes que un jugador' (more than a player).


Messi is far more than just an illusion of Diego. Stop calling him Messidona, show him the respect a player of his statue deserved!

Player list

For the 2010 WC qualifier against Chile:

Goalies:
Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe)
Oscar Ustari (Getafe)

Defenders:
Daniel Diaz (Getafe)
Gabriel Heinze (R. Madrid)
Javier Zanetti (Inter)
Nicholas Burdisso (Inter)
Martin Demichelis (Bayern)
Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)
Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo)

Midfielders:
Fernando Gago (R. Madrid)
Maxi Rodriguez (A. Madrid)
Jonás Gutiérrez (Majorca)
Esteban Cambiasso (Inter)
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
Federico Insúa (America)
Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal)

Forwards
Javier Saviola (R. Madrid)
Sergio Agüero (A. Madrid)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Carlos Tevez (Man. Utd)


This is for real, so let's hope our NT got their shit together.

I had to ask one question though: Why is Insua still on the team when Roman is enlisted?

Getting pwned by Bielsa's Chileans at our home would really go down well in history... At least, for this occasion, Basile was willing to pick up Riquleme even without the player seeing pitch time at Villar... Like I said though, we don't have a better choice atm, especially so if we continue with Basile's system. Who else would you trust more than Roman playing the enganche? I surely don't see another figure of that statue or charisma.

Crespo is not enlisted. I think it's a good thing. At least Basile is determined to use the short-short combo. We don't have a ideal #9. It's a fact whether we wanted to face it or not, so let's take the hit now, instead of later when we have no time to piece up a solution.
It is still necessary to hope...

The outside midfielder lineup featured the reintroduction of Cambiasso. Cuchu is a difficult to replace element that had worked relatively well on this Argentine NT, but with both him and Zanetti playing outside mid, we will not have sufficient support for Roman... Especially without the width from fullback we so badly needed. So I believe Maxi and Cambiasso will start on the flanks, while Zanetti picking up his usual right back position. We didn't have Maxi in Copa, and he had worked with Riquelme very well in the 06' WC. That's the fundamental difference between this and the summer team. Maxi will add pace and we should become more productive on the floor. In the case Riquelme and the forwards were all contained, Maxi should be able to process the ball better than Veron did in Copa final.

Garay isn't called up, and Diaz is back on the list. Well, there are plenty CB so it's ok to have Garay sitting out for now. I'm not very happy to see that Diaz again became Basile's approach to the fullback/width problem. It's not like he'll play him... Everyone and their mother knows that Heinze will occupy the left rear.

The goalie. I thought he was hurt? Does this mean Ustari is going to get a real game?
Maybe I'm wishing for too much again?

Anyway. I wanted us to lose.
I think we can benefit more from a loss than a win, especially against these mediocre south american oppositions. Better hurt now than later.

World Cup Qualifiers

The first two qualifier matches for 2010 World Cup are coming up.
Argentina faces Chile on 13th of October, and then Venezuela on the 16th.

The good news is, we have quite a few forwards ready to go.
Messi is obviously in the formation.
Saviola is getting goals for Real Madrid.
Aguero is on fire, with 3 goals in 4 matches.
Tevez is playing tandem with Rooney and scored his first for ManU this morning.


Bad news... well, Riquelme isn't getting pitch time. Will Basile still call him up? Aimar hasn't been doing too well in Zaragoza, with only 1 win so far this season.

Defense looked ok for now.
Mascherano doesn't appear to be 100% but he should get his job done in important matches.
For CB we have Burdisso, Demichelis, Garay and Milito. All 4 are quite good in the air, and 3 of them are fast enough to cover ground. Since Chile will probably lob a whole lot, we should worry more about aerial threats.
Zanetti and Heinze can TCB out wide for now. Hopefully we'll have legitimate replacement for both of them by 2010 though.
We have Gonzalo Rodriguez coming back from his injury. If all goes well, we should be able to play him next spring, which would free up Burdisso to take care one flank.

Attacking midfield is a mess, but nothing could be done till the CAM position is filled properly. Which probably means Roman. Maxi is still quite good IMO, he needs to be 100% physically before the 13th. The best combination of the 2 outside midfielders is one box-to-box fighter and one creative playmaker that could work with the CAM. I think Gago sort of fits the bill on both ends, but he isn't getting pitch time in Real Madrid. Perhaps it's time to look into the Argentine league.


We should have an idea of Basile's list by the end of this coming week. Please God Let Us Have A Real CAM!!! And if I may ask for more, can we try out a shorty forward combo instead of using the garbageman again?

0-1

Torrent for the match recording is at the end of this post.

The chances Australia produced were mostly from outside the box. 3 dead balls from almost exactly the same spot. Bresciano has good freekick, but in term of ball distribution there were some problems with Aussie NT and they couldn't get the ball into Argentine box properly.

There were actually quite a few tries of through passes, but Kennedy just couldn't reach. He's very tall and possesses tremendous threat in the air, but in this friendly he didn't produce alot of chances, I think because the midfield could not deliver to him successfully. Australia could of focused more in the air. Playing ground game against Argentina IMO was a sluggish plan.

Luck was obviously on Argentinean side for the most part. The 2nd FK from Bresciano was saved by the back of Pato's head, that was freaky. However, Australia got away with a few fouls, 2 of them could of easily resulted in PK. The refs weren't doing too good a job, not just for the missed fouls, but also interrupting Argentine attacking sequences with stupid calls on Australia. Those calls should of only been blown if they were going to pull out cards, and by international standards, usually only when reds were shown.

Most Australian players played clean though, making the game pleasant to watch. With the exception of their left back area, but I guess it's necessary to stop Messi with technical fouls. Heinze plays dirty too, that's why he's reliable at fullback.

In the first half, before 30th minute, Messi and Tevez pulled some nice sprints, but they quickly tired after that and we saw less and less runs produced as the game went on. I think that's sign of fatigue. Those 2 aren't properly rested after all. Perhaps a little better with Messi...

We've tried quite a few winger/outside mids lately, this time with Gutierrez and Zanetti. Zanetti played obviously more defensively on the right, while Gutierrez was attacking. I actually liked Gutierrez's speed, and he has decent height, can fight a bit in the air. Haven said that, he didn't really do all that well on his touches, we could perhaps chill him off for a while then give him more chances.


The center of Argentine problems is still the lack of a proper CAM. Insua is nothing special, he barely touched the ball in the first half, and for a CAM that's horrible. I don't want to see his ass again, it's like Lucho, makes us play practically with man down. Bring back Roman, he can train in NT.

Defensively, we were ok. Mascherano was distributing more and perhaps better than he usually do, but wasn't 100% when making tackles. However, the backline did very well, and helped out Mascher disrupt Australian possession at higher positions. Australia did get a few freekicks from few yards beyond our box, but at least there weren't alot of chaotic situations inside. Burdisso and Demichelis gave pretty much no chance for Australia on our right, with the help of Zanetti of course. On the left, Milito and Heinze defended pretty well too, but weren't exactly effective support assaults. Milito tried some long distributions, all went to shit. Heinze was providing width, and was there when needed, but failed to process the chances he got, and didn't produce anything despite reaching the ball deep inside Australian box over and over.

We need a dedicated wingback for the left, and possibly have Garay rotating out Gaby Milito when necessary. Gonzalo Rodriguez will be back in action by the end of this year. Once we located a suitable left back, the defense could be considered world class.

Match Torrent

In other news, Bielsa's Chileans defeated Austria 2-0.

Next match will be the real thing. The 2 problems must be addressed immediately. On top of those, we still looked shaky against set plays and long lobs, hopefully there will be some tactical solutions. Bielsa will lob, that's what he does. We cannot just let him do what he wants. Losing to an Argentine exiles is unacceptable.

let's kick some kangaroo asses!

Albicelestes will play the aussies in Melbourne tomorrow.
The Argentine starting list for this friendly was announced:

Pato

Burdisso Demichelis Milito Heinze

Zanetti Mascherano Gutierrez

Insua

Messi Tevez


so, Gago and Mascher will not start together, again!

Australian squad list

Chile international friendlies?

Was it Switzerland?
And Chile is playing Austria on Monday?

I haven't seen any torrent for the match yesterday, still looking...

Can't we all get along?

Riquelme insisted on rejecting 3rd party offers, and now the relationship between him and Villarreal's managements is worst than ever. Since the transfer window had closed, and because a deal could not complete between Villarreal and Boca, Roman will need to wait till at least winter transfer window to get another shot.

In the mean time, he is training with the team, but Roig & Co. are standing firmly behind Pellegrini and the situation is very unlikely to see turn around. The stubbornness from both parties had managed to hurt each other quite badly, and the fiasco will likely continue.


The optimism and sense of security at villar had disappeared after the 0-5 home loss to Real Madrid. The worst are yet to come. Other teams will learn from Real Madrid's success, amd the campaign will only become tougher for Villar.

For Roman, his NT career is in such serious jeopardy that he might not be seen in Albicelestes ever again...

Three down, eighteen to go

Crespo, Cata Diaz and Maxi will miss the friendly against Australia on 11th, September.

The following enlisted will remain:

Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe – España)
Oscar Ustari (Getafe – Espana)
Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid – España)
Javier Saviola (Real Madrid – España)
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid – España)
Gabriel Milito (Barcelona – España)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona – España)
Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid – España)
Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruna – España)
Jonás Gutiérrez (Mallorca – España)
Javier Zanetti (Internazionale – Italia)
Nicolás Burdisso (Internazionale – Italia)
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool – Inglaterra)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester United - Inglaterra)
Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar -Holanda)
Cristian Ledesma (Olympiakos - Grecia)
Federico Insúa (América - México)
Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich – Alemania)

Players to face Australia

The friendly is coming up in 2 weeks. Here's the confirmed list of players.

Pato
Ustari
Romero

Diaz
Heinze
Millito
Coloccini
Burdisso
Demichelis
Zanetti

Mascherano
Gago
Ledesma (Olympiakos)

Maxi Rod
Gutierrez
Insua

Messi
Aguero
Saviola
Tevez
Crespo

No more Garay? Garay just had a wonderful match against Barcelona past weekend. I want to see more Garay!

Demichelis, Gutierrez and Aguero are finally getting their chances. Now this is more like a player testing lineup.

However, we still won't see Fazio, D'Alessandro or Aimar either. Nor Ferrari, Bottinelli or Zabaleta.

Basile obviously wants to get a win. He's bringing the whole forward package including Crespo, Tevez and Aguero. The biggest disappointment here is that we still don't have a left back prospect. Basile gave Gaby Milito a try on the left in Norway friendly, it didn't work well so now we see Heinze's reenlistment.

What's with Ledesma and Insua? And shouldn't we be giving Aimar more tries at CAM?

I'll take a closer look later this week and see what strategy he's trying to play. Australia often plays 4-3-1-2. If the 2 sides ended up playing similar strategies, and if Basile loses... HOHOHO

The return of El Flaco

2 weeks after Marcelo Bielsa came out of meditation, another legendary Argentine coach, César Luis Menotti, came out of retirement to coach Mexican club Universidad Autónoma de Guadalajara.

In 2007 clausura of Primera División de México, Guadalajara obtained first place in group 1, but was knocked out by América in semi final of the playoff.


In 2006, Menotti briefly took charge of another Mexican powerhouse CF Pachuca, that was the last time he was seen near a dugout. In the early 90s, Menotti coached Mexico national team for around a year, when the team was at its low after being disqualified from 1990 World Cup for cheating in FIFA's youth tournament. He turned the team around, and helped establish the image of El Tri today.

news update

just a quicky.

Heinze was finally released by ManU, but couldn't go to Liverpool. So now he had gone to Real Madrid, and had already passed the medical exam.

Real Madrid now has Saviola, Gago, Heinze and Higuain. Rumored they were trying to land Lucho, which I couldn't care less. The funny part is, in the immediate future, none of them will be considered starter by Bernd Schuster. Sad story...


In other news. Boca's first vice president Pedro Pompilio had assured he is going to bid for Roman. Roman had promised a season without pay if Boca could buy off his contract.

Remember this post by VIPNERD? HOHO, fingers crossed :D

2-1 lost to Norway

Starting Lineup

Norway played a 4-3-3 focusing on rapid compression and expansion. When on defense, the formation quickly shrinked into 4-1-4-1 with just Carew staying high; on offense and counter attacks, they hold onto the ball for couple of seconds, allowing their attackers to push into positions, then move the ball through wing routes with 2 or 3 players flanking into our box from the other side.

Basile started with a strange 4-2-2-1-1 with Mascherano and Maxi both playing low to provide defensive screening and creative playmaking in lower midfield while Messi playing SS.


As expected, all the offensive supporters were too far from Diego Milito and weren't able to commute the ball to him properly. There were plenty crosses, but Norway pretty much owned the air. Our ground routes in first half all ended before getting into Norwegian box, there were some long shots but none of them could be considered threatening.

Lavezzi practically disappeared on the wings. One of the only moment for TV audiences to see him was when he pulled a bad and unnecessary tackle on the right wing before half time...

Carew is a large fella. For his statue, he's pretty technical and created disturbance in our back field all day. The other Norwegian offensive players generally stayed low and weren't supporting Carew effectively on several occasions. If they were, the score could of been even worse.

In fact, the only reason score remained 1-0 by half time was because the terrific performances of some the defenders. Zanetti and Burdisso made some life saving tackles. I liked what I saw from Burdisso, and am worrying about our future without Zanetti.

Another notable Norwegian today was Liverpool's Arne Riise. Riise is a gifted thrower, his deep throw-ins are almost like corners. Besides that, he can also hit a hard knuckleball from long range, making him quite deadly an surprise attacking element. Riise also created some dangerous moments today, and he drew Mascherano's foul which gave Norway the penalty opportunity. Carew converted that penalty, but Ustari, despite being a little shaky early on, was very close to saving it.


After the goal, Argentine attacks were chaotic and unproductive. For quite a while, Maxi was the conducting person but the ball going through him just seemed to be a step too much. On our possessions, after all the time spent in the back field, Norwegian defense became well organized and all the options were shut down. This happened again and again till eventually Mascher started looking for Messi directly, but the quality of Messi's processing were questionable at times.

Milito had several header opportunities right infront of Norwegian goal. He headed the ball high every single time. Is this the guy who we supposed to depend on after Crespo's retirement? I think this friendly could serve as a serious warning.

Lucho did nothing great either. He hit the ball couple of times from outside the box, it went nowhere near the goal every time. Lucho sucks. Can we not see his fucking face anymore, PLEASE?!

Second half, Basile made 2 initial adjustments. Saviola came on for Lavezzi who was basically doing nothing, and Insua replaced Lucho. The formation was unchanged for the majority of second half, and the team remained unproductive. The only real chance came early on, when our right wing and full back pushed the ball up front and created a mess inside Norwegian box. Insua was wide open in the center of the box, and he didn't take the shot lightly, but Norwegian goalie Jarstern pulled out a literally finger tip save and score remained 1-0.

However, Saviola looked much better than Lavezzi, and a clever move inside the box almost gave us the equalizer. He was too deep and only had a very small window to shoot, the shot missed the far post by inches, and the disappointment continued.

One other notable instance was when Messi's cross found Maxi 2 feet infront of Norwegian goal. Maxi jumped too early and didn't hit that one right...

Then the Norwegian dominance in the air paid off. Carew raised above Garay (marking him, inches infront of our goal) and headed a Norway freekick home...


Losing 2-0 and Basile was still hesitating to make any changes. Then Diego Milito had a cramp and finally Gago was switched on for him. What seemed to be a forced defensive change actually morphed the formation into exactly what I've been proposing. And guess what, the whole thing started to look different.

Backline 4 with 1 fullback actively pushing for width (in this case Zanetti);
Gago+Mascher DM, one focuses on tackles, the other on distributions;
Maxi and Insua out wide;
Messi CAM/SS;
Saviola forward.

At 80th minute, it was like a second wind had kicked into our players, and for the first time, we started to see composure on the pitch. Mascherano was freed to position himself wider and pulled some beautiful tackles, while Gago was able to distribute the ball directly to our front line. Within minutes after Gago came on, Saviola made a connection inside the box with Insua, and we almost got 1 back.

We did get 1 back, but it would take another few crucial minutes. Maxi received a short freekick and shot it at the far post from outside the box, this time Jarstern was too far to keep his cleansheet.

The defeat could be summed up into 3 points:
1. Lacked creative midfielders. Only in the last 10 minutes had this changed a little with Gago on the field.
2. Unproductive in the air, and Diego Milito was clearly NOT the answer. Even Burdisso's header was closer to the net.
3. Basile sucks.

Heinze lost in court

21/08/2007 12:58, Report by Ben Hibbs

Reds pleased with Heinze outcome

Gabriel Heinze has lost his case to force through a move to Liverpool, after a Premier League arbitration panel ruled in United's favour on Tuesday.

The 29-year-old left-back claimed that he should be allowed to move to Anfield - a transfer that has not been made since Phil Chisnal left for Liverpool in 1964 - because of a letter his advisors received from United which enabled him to join another club if his asking price was met.

Heinze took legal advice after United rejected an offer from Liverpool for the Argentine international, but as the Premier League ruled on Tuesday, the letter was "unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer".

The Premier League announced on Tuesday afternoon: "The Premier League panel has heard submissions of evidence from both parties and has ruled to dismiss the player's case."

A United spokesman told ManUtd.com: "The Club is pleased that the panel has endorsed its case."

In a two-day hearing on Monday and Tuesday, the panel concluded that "the nature and intention of the disputed 13 June letter, especially when taken in context of verbal discussions and Manchester United's transfer policy, was unambiguous in that it envisages only an international transfer.

"Furthermore the hearing finds the letter constitutes an 'agreement to agree', and did not create an obligation or binding agreement for the club to transfer the player to any particular club.

"In other words the letter is evidence of an intention to negotiate, both between the parties and with potential buying clubs, and not evidence of any intention to create legal relations."

One mo day

The Olé report yesterday seemed to be a mistake. I haven't seen any follow up on that, so expect Diego Milito there instead of Tevez.

Furthermore, Basile had confirmed the starting list for tomorrow's friendly.

Ustari will tend toal.
Burdisso, Garay, Gabriel Milito and Zanetti will start on the backline.
Mascherano will play holding midfielder.
Lucho and Maxi will be our left and right winger.
Messi will play a submerged striker role.
Lavezzi and Diego Milito up front.

We lost in Copa final because our playmaker (Riquelme) and secondary playmaker (Veron) couldn't function, but eliminating playmaker options is hardly the solution... I was disappointed at Basile's player selection for this friendly, now I'm even more disappointed by his game plan.

Maxi will have to act as a playmaker. I can see him cutting into the middle, because making Messi running laterally between the 2 wings would be retarded. Lucho will always stay wide if he could, so the formation will likely compact towards Lucho's side.

Being a SS, Messi should position himself higher up if possible, but then our vertical connection in the middle will be weakened. Mascherano isn't a natural distributor. Gago could of been more suited to this situation.

Ezequiel Lavezzi is eligible for Peking Olympic. I believe this is why he's on the NT. He doesn't have the record or charisma to compete against Messi, Tevez, Saviola and Kun Aguero for the short forward spot, so he has to be incredibly overachieving to have a realistic shot.

Unless Norway wants to sent a clear negative message to Greece, they will not sit back and turtle. So again, our objective is to keep the playing at higher up, not allowing Norwegians to cut through our holding midfield screen and create deadball opportunities near our box. If they managed to attack deep into our zone, not only will we have to worry about corners and freekicks from opponents that are taller than us, but also will find ourselves unable to move the ball forward on possessions. In this case, we'll either have to long lob (counter attacks) the ball to our forwards, or we'll have to hold onto the ball and wait for the offensive to build up. Neither is very suited to the Argentine mentality.

Of the ones starting on the bench, only Ledesma, Insua and Saviola are worthy of some testing. A mediocre DM, a soso CAM and an already proven Forward. This is FUCKING HORRIBLE.

We need to test defenders, test #9s, and try to discover young prospects for the offensive midfield positions.

Friendly Player List Update

According to Olé, Cata Diaz is also injured and will miss the friendly. Getafe doctor reported this to Basile and the coach had agreed to Diaz's absence. Basile will not field replacements for the 3 players missing.

This should bump Gaby Milito up on the list (and drop Zanetti or Coloccini to defense if we play 3 defenders). Diaz could still get his chance in next friendly. Although Basile might concentrate on evaluating domestic players then.

Norwegian player list:

Rune Almenning Jarstein, Odd Grenland
Håkon Opdal, Brann
Martin Andresen, Brann
Daniel Braaten, Bolton
Simen Brenne, Lillestrøm
John Carew, Aston Villa
Brede Hangeland, FC København
Thorstein Helstad, Brann
Kristofer Hæstad, Start
Jon Inge Høiland, Malmø FF
Steffen Iversen, Rosenborg
Ronny Johnsen, Vålerenga
Frode Kippe, Lillestrøm
Morten Gamst Pedersen, Blackburn
Bjørn Helge Riise, Lillestrøm
John Arne Riise, Liverpool
Jan Gunnar Solli, Brann
Jarl André Storbæk, Vålerenga
Lars Iver Strand, Tromsø
Kjetil Wæhler, Vålerenga

Starting Lineups:

Norway

Opdal, Storbæk, Ronny Johnsen, Hangeland, John Arne Riise, Bjørn Helge Riise, Andresen, Hæstad, Braaten, John Carew, and Pedersen. Manager: Aage Hareide

Argentina

Oscar Ustari, Javier Zanetti, Ezequiel Garay, Nicolas Burdisso, Gabriel Milito, Luis Gonzalez, Javier Mascherano, Maximiliano Rodriguez, Lionel Messi, Diego Milito, and Ezequiel Lavezzi. Manager: Alfio Basile

Here we go

2 days till we see Albicelestes again.

Jose Sosa is injured. Carrizo hasn't practiced for a while and is, at the moment, excluded from the team for friendly against Norway.

According to Olé, Lavezzi, Garay, Coloccini, Cata Díaz, Ustari, Lucho González and Maxi Rodríguez had already arrived at camp, while Burdisso, Zanetti, Gaby Milito, Sergio Romero, Insúa, Gago, Saviola, Tevez, Mascherano, Cristian Ledesma and Lionel Messi are on their way and will arrive today.

Noticed Tevez and no Milito? I didn't know till this morning. Been busy past week... This is obviously a good news. :D

For those that didn't know, Ezequiel Lavezzi isn't very tall either. So now Basile has NO tall forward, or in other word, no one is an ideal target person. Due to Rooney's injury, the Tevez-Rooney duo hasn't been realized in ManU. Perhaps Basile got more experiment planned for the short-short combination? Well, if Alex Ferguson can't experiment for us, let's do it ourselves.

5 defenders, Coloccini is also a defender. Can be used as outside mid but very defensive. Garay is almost guaranteed to get pitch time, my guess is that Cata (Daniel) Diaz will also see action as a CB. Gaby Milito is also a dedicated CB, leaving Zanetti, Burdisso and Coloccini as our fullback choices.

In the midfield, we have Mascherano, Gago and Ledesma all defensive midfielders. One of them, or 2, will occupy the holding midfielder position(s). Since Sosa is injured, Lucho, Maxi and Lavezzi are our 3 outside midfielder choices. Lavezzi's natural position is alien to Albicelestes. This guy isn't a typical outside support midfielder we generally deploy within the 4-3-1-2. He's more of an attacking winger or submerged striker type of players. In other words, he usually plays wider than even Lucho...

If Basile brings out his 4-3-1-2 again, the positions should be filled like:

GK: Ustari, Romero

CB: Garay, Diaz, Milito
FB: Burdisso, Zanetti, Coloccini

DM: Mascherano, Gago, Ledesma
OM: Maxi, Lavezzi, Lucho
CAM: Insua, Maxi

FW: Messi, Tevez, Saviola, Lavezzi

Without a target person, it's hard to say whether our forwards will be effective against the height of the Norwegians. Notable current Norwegian internationals include: Arne Riise, Martin Andresen, John Carew, Morten Pedersen, Daniel Braaten and Steffen Iversen.

Norwegian coach Åge Hareide had club success in all 3 scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark and Sweden). When he was coaching Rosenborg B.K, their CL matches were almost all played with 4-3-3. The attacking mentality is in their blood, remember Sweden 3 up against Denmark and kept on attacking till it became 3-3?

For Euro 2008 qualifiers, Norway plays away against Moldova on 8 September, and then home against Greece 4 days later.

The following came from Wiki:
Norway had a successful start to to the Euro 2008 qualifiers, breaking a run of eight games without victory. Norway won 4-1 in Hungary, their largest away win in a qualifier since October 2001 after a string of "amateurish mistakes" by the hosts, before beating Moldova 2-0 at home to top the group after two games. However on 7 October, Norway were beaten away 1-0 by Greece, making their group closer again, and with a 1-2 loss to Bosnia and Herzegovina national football team and a 2-2 tie with Turkey in the two first qualifying matches in 2007, Norway lost important points. The team improved with two home ground 4-0 wins in a row, against Malta and Hungary in early June, and is now on fourth place in its group, five points behind first place Greece and with the same number of points as second and third places Bosnia and Herzegovina and Turkey.

If we get shut down in the air (which probably will happen), we'll have to depend on ground touching football to break down the Norwegian defense. In 4-3-1-2, the CAM is the only playmaker. We saw how Brazil contained our forwards to shut down Roman, the same might happen again, except Insua is probably much easier to shut down. Keep in mind, they don't need to actually contain the CAM. They just need to contain the forwards and press on the CAM, then it becomes very difficult to move the ball.

Since there are 2 dedicated attacking wingers on the list, and 3 DM, I'm letting my hope rise again to see 4-2-3-1... we could go like this:

GK: Ustari, Romero

CB: Garay, Diaz, Milito
FB: Burdisso, Zanetti, Coloccini

DM: Mascherano, Gago, Ledesma
WM: Maxi, Lavezzi, Lucho
CAM: Insua, Maxi

FW: Messi, Tevez, Saviola, Lavezzi

Then of course, it could also be 3-4-1-2. In which case, the 3 defenders should all be able to play more central roles and the 2 wingers must retract to defensive positions when opponent has possession.

GK: Ustari, Romero

CB: Garay, Milito
FB: Burdisso, Diaz

CM: Mascherano, Gago, Ledesma
WM: Maxi, Zanetti, Lavezzi, Coloccini, Lucho
CAM: Insua, Maxi

FW: Messi, Tevez, Saviola, Lavezzi

Another possible strategy is 4-4-2. If Basile isn't sured of using the CAM-OM setup or the wingers setup, he might go to 4-4-2 so he could evaluate each player at their natural positions. 4-4-2 is pretty defensive, especially without clearly defining attacking elements.

Last, we should also consider the possibility of Messi being tested at a midfield position.

Changing Lane

What seemed to be a terrific opportunity had completely turned into shit.

Juan Pablo Carrizo haven't been able to obtain his Italian passport due to insufficient paperworks, and he cannot play for Lazio unless the situation is resolved.


S.S.Lazio cannot incorporate Carrizo because they had already met their international player quota. According to Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, Lazio had already started the search for replacement, and their targets include Leo Franco, Mariano Andujar and Marco Amelia.

Carrizo was purchased from River for 5 million GBP. He'll likely get loaned out if playing for Lazio isn't an immediate possibility. As mentioned in previous article, Carrizo was signed by Lazio to become their starting keeper. That would had given him plenty experience from serieA, and an advantage over Ustari when they compete for starting spot in the NT (the later is a backup for Pato in Gatefe ATM).

Now, if carrizo gets loaned out, the situation would had been reversed. Loaned players, especially loaned goalies, need some serious luck to start (Scott Carson). On other hand, Ustari is guaranteed pitch time since Getafe had planned him to become Pato's replacement. It's no surprise that Basile immediately took Carrizo off the friendly list. Not only that, we should also be seeing Ustari infront of the arc in the upcoming World Cup qualifiers.

AGUANTE USTARI!

Riquelme Watch

Roman is out on the market.

First notable offer came from, well you probably have guessed it, Atletico... 3 year contract. Roman gets 4 million Euro per year, which is quite a bit higher than what Villarreal was paying him. Atletico starts from bottom of the table in UEFA Cup, they need some help to gain position in both UEFA Cup and La Liga this season.
There are three Argentine internationals on los Rojiblancos first team. Maxi, Aguero and Leo Franco.

Many Argentine coaches had their stints in Atletico, notably Helenio Herrera, Juan Carlos Lorenzo, Cesar Luis Menotti, Alfio Basile and Carlos Bianchi. Ironically, it was under Basile's short stint that Atletico last obtained the Spanish title (95-96 season), and they gained the Copa del Rey that year as well. Atletico's last major European trophy was 1962 European Cup Winners' Cup (competition no longer exist). They were relegated to Spanish Segunda Division for the 2001-02 season.

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According to Olé, Tottenham Hotspurs had put down a 15 million Euro bid for Riquelme.

The team from White Hart Lane started the season with some surprising struggles. After the promising signing of Gareth Bale and Darren Bent, Spurs managed a 1-0 lost at newly promoted Sunderland in their opening match, followed by a 1-3 defeat at home to Everton. For a team threatens to break into top 4 of premiership, that was unacceptable, even considering the fact some of their key players hadn't been fit.

Aaron Lennon's speed had been a key element in Martin Jol's attack. To utilize assets like that, he usually deploys 4-4-2, but had gone with 4-3-1-2 before. Tottenham has many versatile midfielders such as Zokora, Jenas and Tainio. If they managed to acquire Roman, these players will probably shoulder more supporting duties because Riquelme is a conductor type midfielder and natural to being supported. In the mean time, Spurs could certainly use Roman's help to overcome their injury crisis (Bale, Lennon, Berbatov...).

Just like Atletico, Lilywhites are in UEFA Cup first round. In term of opportunity in European competitions, the 2 sides are similar, and should be equally attractive to Roman. However, for Villarreal's sake, they wouldn't have to worry about Riquelme becoming a domestic competition if he went to White Hart Lane, although the sales price would also takes a dive.

10 days to go.

Ustari to man the arc against Norway

Osky is getting his shot.

Carrizo continued to have passport problems and hasn't practiced with Lazio. Due to his lack of training and match condition, he will not start against Norway.


Personally, I prefer Ustari. He's a little younger, so more time to gain experience and better his positioning. He might of been a little shorter than Carrizo, but has incredible stretch and he's got the amazing ability to hold onto the ball. Carrizo is reliable enough to back up, but I want to see Ustari starting. Just feel safer with him under the arc, and I don't know why. Statistically, Carrizo has better consistency.

Brave New World

According to the Lounsbury correlation, Mayan calendar started August 13th, 3114 BC.

Tomorrow 6:00pm local (noon EST), Villarreal president Fernando Roig will hold a press conference regarding Riquelme's future.


Will Roman sit on the bench for the remainder of his contract? Will he be auctioned? Will Boca loan or buy him back? Where do you want him to be? Atletico? Real Madrid? Milan? Or back in Boca finishing up Club World Cup?

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The shattered relationship between Roman and Villarreal management might of been too much to repair, and it's sale or nothing now. The transfer deadline is last day of August, and Riquelme is out on the open market.


If Roman still wants to play for Boca, he'll have to be prepared to take a significant pay cut since the highest paid player in Argentina doesn't even make a quarter of what he had been getting in Villarreal. On top of that, will Boca be willing to shell out that much transfer fee?

Or Riquelme might have to start evaluating his European options seriously.
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Rooney broke his foot again. To my great disappointments, there won't be a short people striker duo for at least another 2 month. On other hand, Tevez will get his chance ahead of schedule.


ManU and Reading had a 0-0 draw past weekend. Next stop will be the 15th at Portsmouth (right next to Reading in standing last season), who also suffered a draw (2-2) in their opening match, against newly promoted Derby county. With Saha also injured, we should be seeing Carlito on the pitch Wednesday.

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Tevez played yesterday, and ManU suffered another draw. One red card for each side when C.Ronaldo ended up getting send off for a head butt.


Tevez had an assist and almost a goal, David James' impressive stretch saved Portsmouth from a home lost. However, Tevez didn't seem very in sync with his teammates, and several missed chances indicated that he wasn't at the top of his form yet. Paul Scholes' goal

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Carlito's buddy Mascherano also played on Wednesday, with Liverpool in Champions League match against Toulouse. Rafael Benítez was yelling at Mascherano all day, telling him where to play and what to do.


Mascher followed the directions and played excellently. Throughout the 90 minutes, Javier was pulling out tackles and disrupting almost all the Toulouse attacks. He also drew 2 yellow cards by initiating attacks from the rear and producing explosive forward runs. I was quite upset to see Mascherano not on the pitch the past weekend, and Liverpool barely managed to win at Villa Park. In the match yesterday, Javier seemed rested and ready, I think we'll see him again this weekend against Chelsea.
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Also missing from ManU's squad in the 0-0 tie was Heinze. The court hearing about Heinze's future is set to take place on Monday, Aug 20th. Can Rafa Benitez's US$13.2million secure him an EPL title?


If the deal falls out, Liverpool will have to either look for another LB, or start integrating Emiliano Insua into their equation.

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In Barcelona's training match today, Messi was omitted from the starters' team, although he scored a goal and won the match with the substitutes.


Even though he hasn't really played all that much with Barça (50 games since '04), Messi' position there is quite secured. I would worry more about Gaby Milito. In order for Milito to have hope for a starting spot in FR's 4-3-3, he needs to at least move pass Rafael Marquez in the pack.

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The flea hit a wonder volley and propelled Barcelona to a 1-0 victory over Bayern Munich in Franz Beckenbauer cup friendly. Messi goal


Pekerman was crucified because he didn't play Messi. Hopefully FR isn't about to make the same mistake this season. God willing, let Messi play! The boy is healthy and in top form.

Milito was substituted in at 60th minute for Thuram, after Marquez had been subbed in for Zambrotta at the beginning of second half...
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With the Diego Forlan purchase, Aguero's starting spot in Atletico Madrid also appeared in doubt. However, Forlan's consistency can only ensure little over 10 goals per season. It's when he gets the fluke, he'll get a couple extras and make his record look nicer. And he just had a fluke before leaving Villarreal...


Without Torres, Atletico will have to rely on Forlan if they planned to keep Aguero on the bench. Even if Maxi stayed healthy, they'll need more than that to progress in both UEFA Cup and La Liga.

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Despite Javier Aguirre's (Atletico Madrid coach) claim of not planning to start Aguero, he unleashed El Kun in UEFA Cup home match against Vojvodina Novi Sad yesterday.


At 37th minute, an Aguero cross found Maxi, and the Atletico captain touched it in. The Serbians lost Milutinovic to second yellow soon after the restart, and more chances were created by Atletico. At 60th minute, Forlan finally picked up a garbage goal and made it 2-0. Aguero then volleyed in Forlan's cross towards the end to finish the game 3-0.
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What else? These 2...