WHAT ABOUT TEVEZ?

On 28th, Basile may be starting with this lineup used in the practice game.

Fans want to see Tevez play, but god damn Basile wouldn't let him (not for Argentina's opening game at least).
But we sooooo want to see Carlito! Is there really no way of playing Tevez in a 2 forward formation with the rest of the gang?

OK, I admit it. "Without totally sacrificing holding midfielders, Basically the only realistic chance of seeing all 4 (Messi Tevez Riquelme Veron) starting is if the Albicelestes played 4-4-3" was a lie, as there's another possibility to play them all in 4-3-1-2.

If there was a key to a Veron + Tevez + Messi + Riquelme solution, it's probably in the hand of Cambiasso. :D And if he does have this key, then there's no way Cuchu will give it up free of cost.

With Heinze being a defensive full back, having another defensive player on the same side would put most of our offensive pressure on the other wing. This unbalances the formation laterally and allows opponents to overload our right wing while man marking our enganche, which if succeeded, would make it extremely difficult for our offensive strategies to function.

Now, opponent overloading one flank CAN result in their other flank becoming less protected as a benefiting side effect. But due to Heinze's inability to sustain offensive pressure or to initiate counter attacks, in such case where our right side got totally shut down, the left will not be a more likely place to see real scoring opportunities. Can't win games without scoring you know...

To ensure offensive success, one approach would be to balance the two wings at the cost of the defensive contribution of Cambiasso. Cambiasso is a very good player, and he can play on either side, but sometime we might just not need the extra defense, so playing a offensive 4-3-1-2 with a attacker playing outside midfield role isn't completely out of the question.

For that possibility, I'm sure many are thinking "Messi+Veron".
But that would of been quite significent a setback to our overal defensive capabilities.

Is there any way of replacing Cambiasso without hurting our defense?
Fans of Carlito would probably say yes. Tevez can tackle very well, and he'd been giving excellent performances on WestHamUnited where he often had to play in the midfield. A 4-3-1-2 with Tevez on one side of midfield should be more efficient defensively than with Messi, while still obtain a significent boost in offensive capability over the 4-3-1-2 with Cambiasso and Veron on the sides.



Need to note, all of above were based on a major assumption that everyone in the lineup will be playing disciplined football under all circumstances.
Kindly pointed out by other fans, this is quite possibly an unrealistic assumption because Tevez and Messi are both so offensively oriented. They have the physical and mental abilities (especially Tevez) to fullfill their defensive duties as midfielders, but will they be willing to do it?

Well, it shouldn't be a big deal after all. Copa America games will be played at ~4 days intervals, which is noticeably shorter than in world cup. There will be ALOT of changes to the starting lineup. If Basile really end up benching Tevez (for the first game), he's probably expecting to go very far in this tournement, and we should believe in our team boss' confidence and root for our players regardless who will be on the field against United States. Just chances not all of them togather :(

So, we give up and go with Basile's practice lineup, shouldn't Cambiasso and Veron switch starting sides so it's better left-right balanced.


I think Veron playing to the right of Riquelme in the practice does not necessarily mean he will be starting on the right. As illustrated above, the 5 offensive players (in 5:5) channel all over the field anyway. In many cases Veron would be playing to the right of Riquelme even if he started left.

The central idea is this

Zanetti will displaces to wing front some times and open up space in the right back region. At these times, Cambiasso (RM) should drop back towards right rear in order to maintain control over that zone. Since only Zanetti (right) side will push up, Veron should then stay generally higher than Cambiasso and give him vertical supports, while Riquelme staying more or less to the side of these 2 to provide lateral supports.