The Power of $$$

Manchester United had finally agreed to deal privately with Kia Joorabchian and West Ham United by putting out 45 million Euro, so Tevez could relieve himself of the contracts and choose his own club.

Alex Ferguson is expecting to have Carlito on the team as early as the Community Shield match this Sunday.

For obvious reasons, we recognize this as a very positive move and are very happy to see money worked to our benefit.
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Also, an EXTREMELY EXCITING news for Villarreal fans! It's official now that we've landed Giuseppe Rossi!


I'll write more about this £6.7million purchase from Manchester United. In the mean time, let's hope the defense gets filled in quickly, and we could start preparing for the season.

Vote for Diego!

Vote on this Olé page.

Diego might not be the best option for NT coach. but Basile MUST GO!
Diego has the tactical vision few in the world could rival.
Franz Beckenbauer got his shot, Johan Cruijff had his chance. Isn't it only fair if we let Diego Maradona have what he deserved? Please, honor our hero. choose "Si".


This isn't about whether maradona is fit to coach the NT, it's about making changes. He's the only one able to gain certain tactical freedom from AFA.
Or Coco will just keep sitting there and keep taking orders from Grondona.

As explained by Diego, it's impossible to install a technical assistant position on Basile's Panel. He is the kind of person not to take advise from any tactician. If Diego can replace him, we'll have the Olympic to evaluate his ability to coach the NT. If he isn't fit enough there can still be further switches. The important issue here is, this move will kick Basile out of the office and initiate changes.
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The Words of Maradona

To be technician of the Selection: “My time is now. I do not want to push anybody and it is necessary to calmly work it out with Coco. Perhaps it'll never happen. I did well. I recovered, and I had 22 lions to go to the field with me, but it didn't happen”.

Reflection on Copa America: “To arrive at final stage and unable to achieve the goal is becoming common to us and it hurts us all”.

Final with Brazil: “In last World Cup, we had a restricted force. In this Copa America we played very well and in the end the system was broken down again. We took the best players. Pekereman didn't take Zanetti so he was chosen too… Brazil devastated us with perhaps a B squad, left us like cripples. We didn't have an answer to the Brazilian goals, only a shot from Riquelme that hit the wood. It was a total victory for Dunga”.

The Argentine players: “Players are with too much responsibilities. There's always contract issues with our players when we go into a competition. During the World Cup Riquelme ('s head) went here or there. Messi's mind was in Barcelona. Now in the Copa America it happened again. Tevez was thinking about West Ham, Liverpool, and Manchester. This is what the player have in their head during the campaign. The players have computer, have newspapers, and the media wants to request a press conference every 10 minutes”.

The concentration: “To have the concentration when playing a match is important. Everything else must be forgotten. Only to think about Brazil, only to think about Paraguay… Coco handled that well except the last match. He was too confident because he won all the games before that. Until one lifts the cup, he's nobody's champion”.

Jack, this is what we discussed:
The possibility of a Technical Secretary in the Selection: “With the personality of Coco, he won't listen to anybody. If Grondona wants to put a technical commissioner to improve small things that's seen on television… I do not know, instead of training Basile it trained Ribolzi… I believe that Basile is not going to want support. Unless we have the resignation of Coco, Grondona will continue sending him”.

The trainer vocation: “I say that I have many desire to direct. I said that he had many desire. Grondona said to me after Serbia and Montenegro match where we gave him 6 goals, 'if Pekerman wouldn't stay longer then the Selection was mine.' But I returned here and seems that he lost my telephone number. They did not call. They called every 5 minutes to speak with Claudia. Until I went to see Boca one day and Pompilio told me briefly that I could win the Argentina Selection. ****** to me, I said to him”.

The Argentine level: “I believe that we are good. We have the quality. We're best when we win. When the blood boil in us, when the heart beats faster than it could, there I believe that we are best. Long time we've been moral champions. But the moral champions do not gain Cups”.

The comparison with Brazil: “Brazil was always right there. We always had to fight them. And we always were so obstinate that we went there to fight Brazil. We always went to goad them, in the Amaracaná or anywhere, even when we kept failing on the pitch. To lose to Brazil has been like an anticipated end since the 90s. To win against them is something that would inflate our chests”.

The branching of the Argentine players: “Messi we did not see him play in any Argentine team. There are players who went away for a long time and today we see them like figures. We did not see the splendor of the Verón Witch in Argentina. We had Riquelme in a Copa Libertadores for Boca and they won, but because he had problems with Villarreal...”.

In defense of Ayala and Verón: “If they think that Ayala is guilty for the goal in the Brazil match, they are stupid. And Verón played very acceptable in Copa America. Always supporting Roman, always surely”.

Boca and the Apertura: “Boca is not candidate to the title… I'm not surprised. They did not play the last match well and I am worried. Hopefully the problems of Riquelme will be solved for good because the team needs him… I imagine if they get him and defend better then we will have a championship by few points”

Life is Hell

Found the following from Liverpool's website (Title linked to actual webpage).

This appeared in Sunday Independent in Ireland.
An Article written by Dion Fanning, who normally tells it how it is, with no Bull.
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FERGUSON CONFUSING LOYALTY WITH OBEDIENCE
Sunday July 29 2007

ON his deathbed, Conrad Black's father gave his son the skinny on the world he was about to depart. "Life is hell," George Black told little Conrad, "most people are b******s and everything is bull****."

Black senior's observations might have coloured his son's view of the world somewhat, but they are as valid for sport, so often said to be a metaphor for life that one day it may turn out to be true. And then you come to the Premiership.

Niall Quinn is not the first despairing chairman to wonder if agents are rotting football and, despite Harry Redknapp's anger at Quinn's comments, he is right to point out the distortion of the market. Last Friday in Malahide, Roy Keane remarked that, come next summer, he'd rather not waste his time trying to sign players, spending hours on the phone for deals that turn out to be nothing but negotiating ploys.

It is a brave man, you'd imagine, who wants to waste Keane's time, but new money has made many in football brazen and if they are prepared to see clubs waste their money, they are prepared to try Keane's patience.

Others handle it differently. Last week, Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benitez walked down the avenue of bull**** on which English football parades itself and provided some pre-season entertainment that gave an indication of the year we may be about to witness.

It has been a very long summer and it is ending in the same way it has for the past 20: with Alex Ferguson attempting to assert his superiority over all those who challenge him.

United, with good reason, are extremely confident that Carlos Tevez is their player, so confident that they talk openly about him, pre-judging any ruling in any court, pushing West Ham closer to a point where the various stories they have told since Tevez and Javier Mascherano arrived last summer seem less and less plausible.

Loyalty was the watchword when Ferguson was growing up on the streets of Govan - even if Ferguson seems to have often appeared to confuse it with obedience to a capricious master - but showing weakness was top of the list of Things Not to Do and United's manager has never forgotten it.

Liverpool's victory in the Champions' League in 2005 (Benitez was a little puzzled to receive a tactical breakdown of the events in Istanbul from Ferguson a few weeks later) and the general opinion that Liverpool have worked out European football far better than United has not provoked Ferguson.

But in trying to sign Gabriel Heinze, everything changed. As the dominant team in Britain for the past 15 years, United would appear to have most to gain from the opening of a transfer channel between the two clubs. Three years ago, Ferguson claimed that Steven Gerrard was the most influential player in England while lamenting the fact that he could never sign for United.

Ferguson is rarely unsure of his own righteousness

Gerrard nearly joined Chelsea that year instead but had Liverpool recently signed a player from United, Ferguson could have convincingly argued (or more convincingly argued than normal because Ferguson is rarely unsure of his own righteousness) that Gerrard was entitled to join United.

So Liverpool's interest in Heinze could be turned to United's advantage. Instead Ferguson assumes the position - there will be no deal, the agents are scoundrels, Liverpool are opportunists and Heinze is a United player and will be until Ferguson decides otherwise.

In acknowledging that Liverpool are rivals to be bracketed alongside Chelsea and Arsenal, Ferguson is elevating them to a standard their league record doesn't justify. Yet he is prepared to do it to hold on to Heinze and make a point, criticising Liverpool for speaking as if the player is already theirs.

As he criticises Liverpool, he won't tolerate the idea that Tevez is not his player and the list of signings who were sweet-talked while at other clubs is extensive.

But for Ferguson, sport is a metaphor, not for life, but for war. He is fighting the good fight trying to remind agents of their place, and, if there are casualties, well, in war, bad things happen.

He has tried this before, taking on player and agent power in specific cases, most recently when he decided that Cristiano Ronaldo would not be leaving United after last summer's World Cup. Despite the interest of Real Madrid, the determination of his agents to make a deal and the knowledge that Ronaldo was shaping up nicely as a scapegoat for the English media, looking for a reason beyond the facts for England's failure, Ferguson remained implacable.

Soon Ronaldo was a story of redemption, playing for the champions of England and Ferguson was right and righteous once again.

Rafael Benitez is a curious opponent. He has angered and ignored the media equally, refusing to acknowledge their importance, disarming the bully by treating him with indifference.

He is trying the same thing with Ferguson. Benitez has talked about signing Heinze as if he is buying from any club. There is no acknowledgment of Ferguson's exalted position, just a simple statement of the facts, an admission that he would like to buy the player and the revelation that things are now in the hands of their lawyers.

The lawyers don't need to be asked twice. They will be at the centre of more and more deals as football becomes the stage for men who think they can get richer and richer, quicker and quicker. "I should have kept playing," Keane said on Friday, when he joked about the wages players were on, before noting that we haven't peaked yet. There is plenty of bull**** still to be spread around.

1200 peso man

The U-20 RB is on a 1200 Peso ($400) salary from Racing Club de Avellaneda. Before signing the contract last year, his representative was paying him 300 Pesos...

Mercado's parents work in Puerto Madryn (Patagonia Province). In order to practice with Racing (Buenos Aires Province), he has lived in Avellaneda for the past 10 years, with his grandparents, 2 uncles and four cousins. His parents would visit him occasionally.

Gabriel Mercado gets up at 6:30 every morning. He takes the train to Racing's facility. Sometimes he would dodge the train fair, but usually not. He takes an iPod with him and reads newspapers. He would sit on the floor if the train is packed. The worst is when it rains, since the train station is still 10 blocks away from the stadium.

He wants to buy a car in the future, but needs to learn how to drive first.

His brothers are jealous because their old man speaks of Gabriel all day. He had always brought them souvenirs. A diver watch obtained from the U-20 goalie Sergio Romero; a pair of boots given to him by Messi...

Gabriel Mercado is looking forward to obtain a position in Racing.

Diego Speaks

In an Olé interview with Diego, the legend talked about the Copa Final lost to Brazil, talked about Ayala, Riquelme, Mascherano, Messi and Gago. Diego also praised the youngsters from U-20 World Cup and spoke on the future of NT.

"This time I did not cry. Brazil won so well that we did not have time for the weeping. Robinho, their best player, did not even touch the ball and they beat us 3 - 0…"
"It's necessary to look for the reasons besides 'the love for the t-shirt' or our players' concentration. I'm not throwing the fault at anybody. In fact, we're all guilty. The match gave me the impression that we did not have the physical or psychological answers to Brazil."

When asked whether he thinks Basile should leave the NT, Diego interrupted the interviewer. He didn't want to speak about Basile, which is understandable due to the entanglement over NT and Boca coaching spots last year. I'm with Diego though. Coco must be crucified!

To help readers further understand the matter, here's a translation of another Olé article. Keep in mind, I'm not suggesting that Maradona should coach the NT. I'm simply saying we should fire Basile.

Diego returned from the Germany World Cup, sitting next to Claudia, in first class. He passed the time listening to music, watching a film, taking some refreshments... the typical things to spend the hours in a long airplane trip. But when he was with the journalists of Olé who shared the flight, he ejected from his seat and spoke of soccer. He needed to do it.

He criticized the changes of Jose Pekerman, the exit of Pato Abbondanzieri and left with a wink: “Chau, boys, if they need something, the ex- captain of the Selection, and perhaps the future technician, is here”. It seemed only a desire, but Maradona could not hide his excitements.

- Is is true that Julio Grondona had offered the coaching job to you?

- Yes, it was in Berlin, after the elimination. I said in the program Mañanas Informales and I'll surely repeat it: Grondona said to me that the Selection was mine, but later gave it to Basile… Only that was not after the match against Serbia and Montenegro, as I said, but in the same night of the elimination against Germany. Before I entered to watch the match, Grondona called me by telephone and told me.

Diego thought that was his moment. He was confident, he had acceptance of the players, he thought more about soccer than at night of the Ten. “more enthusiasm than babies”. However, Pero Grondona, inclined to choose Basile, quickly erased Diego's name from the list of candidates, even though Coco was coaching Boca at the moment. Maradona now tells that he was approached to coach outside of Argentina, but he chose to stay.

Ambiguity of 4-3-3

Briefly explained in this earlier article, the definition of 4-3-3 is somewhat ambiguous.

Traditionally, it's understood as an evolutionary product of 4-2-4, which roots all the way to WM. Problem is, this strategy is very flexible from the waist up, and for each of its offensive variations there's a different matching defensive concept.

In Rinus Michels' 4-3-3. The center of upper midfield is left opened. Once possession is obtained, the ball is moved up quickly through the wings, and only the DM at rear pivot is controlling the mid route spaces.


If the 2 outside midfielders move towards the middle, the formation is modified into 4-1-2-2-1 (4-5-1) and the wing spaces are left relatively unprotected. The defense is therefore required to press higher than in normal 4-3-3, basically a concept to restrict the space on the wings by reducing vertical distances between the D-line and midfield.


If more defensive measures are taken by having the wingers dropping back to tighten up the wing spaces even further, then the formation evolves into 4-1-4-1, like what Jose Mourinho's Chelsea played, this could still be considered 4-3-3 variant. In this form, the defense, in particular fullbacks, need to be more aggressive to initiate offensives and counter attacks from the rear so there will be enough attacking elements overall.


Last but not least, there's the offensive adjustment to 4-3-3 by dropping the DM to center defender and push both fullbacks to wing midfield positions. This modification results in 3-4-3, which is an ambiguity headache all by itself...


In other words, what Frank Rijkaard prepared for the upcoming season is quite different from what he had played in the past couple of years. It's Rinus Michels' 4-3-3. The defensive concept employed in such strategy is proved to be more reliable than that of 4-1-2-2-1.

Heinze's future to be decided in court.

To be honest, just few days ago, I still thought that the liverpool defense looked solid.
From certain point of view, liverpool has one of the most successful defense in EPL. Kop's problem seemed concentrated up front. They created a lot of opportunities but failed to capitalize on most of them, in the end there simply wasn't enough products. However, even with such underperformed offense, Liverpool was 3rd in EPL and 2nd in CL. So judging from the results, Red's defense did quite well.

In the last couple of days, I read up on some different opinions.
After a closer look, to my surprise, I'm now inclined to agree with them on the Heinze issue. £6.8m would be money well spent.

Liverpool's defense is Riise-Agger-Carragher-Finnan backed by Hyypia, Arbeloa, Aurelio and the 2 Argentine, Paletta and Insua. The mainline is good, but Benitiz cannot expect them to play all 70 some games, especially not if he wanted to make a stand in both Premiership and Champion's League.

Hyypia and Arbeloa can rest starters, but if one of the starting 4 gets injured, Red's title hopes would be severely jeopardized if it had to rest in the hands of one of these substitutes. Aurelio and Paletta aren't adjusted to English style and had become reliability issues; Insua on other hand, is still far from starting in EPL.

If Rafael Benitiz could "persuade" ManU to release Heinze, not only will he benefit from having a solid backup in the center, Liverpool will gain a more defensive option on the left as well. Riise is more or less a wingback. It would be safer to have a left fullback on the team since sooner or later they'll encounter opponents that focus on exploiting wing routes. A stay at home type LB would relieve some pressure from Mascherano.

Heinze was doing well in Copa and hesitated to buy out his contract (undetermined to leave ManU? After all, they treated him alright there) . Now he has passed the deadline and Alex Ferguson had said no to Liverpool's £6.8m offer. For ManU, letting Heinze go will not only strengthen their opponent that wants to become a competition for Premiership title, it will severely weaken Red Devil's own defense. Heinze departuring meant Alex Ferguson would have to rely on the undependable Evra for LB while losing backup for Nemanja Vidić.

Bah, another Argentine international in the courtroom...
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Since this article is about defenses in general, it's probably somewhat appropriate a place for complains against the Villarreal backline.

last year our defense was:
starters: Enrique-Cygan-Fuentes-Venta
substututes: Arruabarrena-Alvarez-Josemi
Gonzalo Rod hurt.

Cygan is now 33. Venta 32 soon, Arruabarrena and Alvarez gone, Gonzalo looking forward to miss the whole year...

On paper, we are looking for a CB and a LB that could play CB. In reality we'll have at least 3 more (if the Sol Campbell deal goes through) defender positions need replacements within a year (or year and half). This is not what a UEFA Cup side's defense should look like. And even if we throw european competition away, the league season will turn into shit if one defender gets hurt.

we need at least 3 defenders right now. one can be old, but the other 2 must provide stability for at least 3 or 4 years... What a fucking disaster.

My question is, why we kept wasting money on old people! They might of been cheaper for the time being, but none of these contracts will be profitable in the long run. How much longer are we going to bottom feed like this? Haven't we saved enough money to setup some real investments?

I wanted to really ...
screw my brains out tonight, -
- but I'm not
in any condition to fuck.

Carlito must go to ManU

From an Argentine point of view, I rather see Tevez transfered to manU. Not because manU is a stronger team (I like manU no more than WHU), rather that Alex Ferguson is offering Carlito an opportunity to be in his experimental forward system without a traditional #9.

One of the worries of Argentine fans is the lack of potential #9 players. Tevez and Messi are both short and play wide forwards. They'll be competing against each other to pair up with Crespo for some time, and once Crespo retires, there will likely be a "not so good but tall and physical enough" player to fill his role (Diego Milito and Julio Ricardo Cruz were the failed attempts).

Unless, of course, if there's a way to play without a #9. Then Argentina could start her best forwards regardless of their heights. If Alex Ferguson could find a way to make the Rooney-Tevez duo work, it could also set an example for future Argentine NT.


In Copa America, when Diego Milito turned out an unsatisfying replacement for Crespo, Basile tried to make the Tevez-Messi duo work. His tactics achieved limited success but didn't work out in the end. Even though the main offensive problem in the final was our playmaker (Roman) getting contained, Messi and Tevez unable to gain anything in the air contributed to us getting shutdown never the less.

If Tevez stay at WHU, he'll keep playing wide forward supporting a traditional target person (Zamora or whoever they're getting). Then in the NT, he'll likely stay behind Messi and deal with competition from Saviola and Aguero... If Alex Ferguson could find a efficient way to play only short forwards, then Argentina developing a similar system shouldn't be impossible, and we'll have a very sufficient supply of excellent forwards.

Frank Rijkaard's Last Stand

Barça's success is Dutch 4-3-3's success.

For how gigantic a club Barça had been, its record really wasn't all that impressive. Before Frank Rijkaard, there had been only 1 Champion's League title from Johan Cruyff's stint, and the last domestic triumph was from the 90s when another Dutchman, Louis van Gaal, was manager.

Before Frank Rijkaard took over in 2003, Barça was 6th domestically and at the edge of dropping out from European competitions. Given there was Ronaldinho, Rijkaard's first year was still a remarkable success. Barça was in the relegation zone at one point during the 2003-04 season, yet by the end it was 2nd in LFP and secured itself a Champion's League spot. Frank Rijkaard showed tremendous tactical flexibility to ensure the turn around, something he hasn't displayed again in the past 3 seasons.

Because Frank Rijkaard came to play 4-3-3. By 2004-05 season he's already gotten rid of Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert and Michael Reiziger (Roman, Sorin and Overmars were already gone), and 4-3-3 had become his fundamental strategy. By the 2005-06 season, it's pretty much all he played.

Barcelona lost to Chelsea by a narrow margin in '04-05 Champion's League but won the Spanish league by 4 points. Frank Rijkaard continued strengthening his formation and by the end of the subsequent season, they not only won CL, but were also 12 points ahead of Real Madrid in La Liga. That wasn't just a successful year for Barça, it was one of the greatest success for offensive football and dutch 4-3-3.

The big additions to Barça's first squad in 2006 were Thuram and Zambrotta. Then there were Gio Dos Santos and Gudjohnsen each got a backup slot. Thuram just wanted out of Juventus to get some more high end games before retiring, so Zambrotta was really the only starter addition in 2006, and it was quite clear the llama wanted to keep his formation going.

It's really a 4-1-2-2-1, with 1 holding midfielder and 2 attacking midfielders that utilize both the inside and the wing spaces. The main difference from the traditional dutch 4-3-3 is that the attacking wingers and midfielders need to restrict space by maintaining the V-shape, much like in the 3-5-2 "V" midfield once played by Argentine NT. If too much freedom are given to these players, the two wings will become vulnerable to infiltrations since congestion will be inefficient.

In the Dutch 4-3-3, the offensive focal points are on the wings. The middle is less guarded upfield, but the vulnerability is also better dealt with by the holding midfielder who positions himself in the center.

What 2006-07 season proved was that Frank Rijkaard's 4-1-2-2-1 wasn't perfect. If the 0-2 away lost to Real Madrid was ignorable, the 1-3 against Espanyol should of definitely rang a bell. After that, they were tied by Real Betis and then lost to Valencia. At which point, it was obvious that the 4-1-2-2-1 had problems defending counter attacks and it wasn't very efficient breaking down some the tough defenses in the league.

As the season progressed, injury, fatigue and other stupid problems started compounding. By march, Frank Rijkaard's faith in 4-3-3 (4-1-2-2-1) seemed a little shaken. He went to 3-4-3 and still lost to Sevilla, then he readjusted the formation (into 3-4-3 with diamond midfield) and barely walked out alive from their at home meeting with Real Madrid.

The cause of Frank Rijkaard's headaches is Deco.
Iniesta and Xavi are both capable of playing dedicated wing roles as seen in Spanish National Team. Deco isn't. Deco is more of a center attacking character, and his best performances were on the Portuguese National Team where he played CAM. Frank Rijkaard adjusted the 4-3-3 into 4-1-2-2-1 to give Deco a more natural position to play at, but the formation has flaws and wasn't good enough. So he attempted 3-4-3 variations trying to find a more suitable strategy with Deco at CAM. When Barça lost by 1 goal to Real Zaragoza, it was clear this experiment had also failed.

Frank Rijkaard also tried 4-4-2 and 4-2-3-1, but with less than 10 league games to go, he was forced to stop experimenting and stick to the 4-1-2-2-1. The problems with the strategy persisted and a 0-2 defeat against Villarreal really set them back. Barça went on to tie two more times and ended up 2nd behind Real Madrid.

With Zero trophy at the end of season, Frank Rijkaard had been under attack all summer long. If he continue like this for another season, Joan Laporta's own ass will be on the frying pan, let along protecting Franky and the way of the Dutchman. There's no more time for experiments. His only choice was to stick with what was known to work (the original 4-3-3), and readjust his team bearing necessary sacrifices.

Besides Deco, Frank Rijkaard had some other issues to deal with. Gudjohnsen couldn't fill Henrik Larsson's shoes; Thuram's age; Van Bronckhorst-Edmílson-Sylvinho dissatisfactions; Lack of dedicated holding midfielders. These were all problems he had to address with the summer signings, and apparently he did a good job.

He bought 2 defenders (Eric Abidal €15 million, Gabriel Milito €17 million) to build a new line. Abidal-Puyol-Milito-Zambrotta backed by Silvinho, Thuram, Oleguer and Belletti.

He then bought a DM (Yaya Touré €9 million) to fill the holding midfielder position with Rafael Márquez. Iniesta and Xavi can play their outside midfielder roles and shift the formation back into the Dutch original 4-3-3. The real loser in the midfield is of course Deco, since he had dropped to Crosas and Thiago Motta's level in the pack...

Up front Rijkaard bought Tierry Henry for €24 million. That's more than enough to duplicate Henrik Larsson's old role. In fact, Henry will put pressure on all the offensive players and force them to play 100%, this move showed Frank Rijkaard's determination to make a last stand with Dutch 4-3-3. However, in order to compete in both CL and Spain with the 4-3-3, he probably still need another dedicated winger to backup Iniesta, unless he's ready to play Crosas.


In unimportant matches, Frank Rijkaard could still be experimenting with 3-4-3, 4-4-2 or even 4-2-3-1, but for the majority of this upcoming season, expect Barça to field the traditional 4-3-3. There are other teams in Champion's League playing offensive strategies (OL, Ajax, etc), but none of them could be considered realistic contender for the title at this point. If Barça fail again, European theater can effectively be considered dominated by neutral formations.

U-20 2:1 Czech Republic

Czech got to the final playing defensive counter-attacks, making this one of the most successful campaigns that took on the dark path in international football.
However, allegiance to the dark side has its costs. After two 120 minute battles (Against Japan and Spain during knock out stages, both times Czech prevailed in PSO), the team had been severely fatigued even though they had a somewhat lucky break against Austria in Semi.

Argentina made the changes mentioned in previous article. Sigali for Cahais, Matias Sanchez for Yacob and Zarate for Di Maria.


Game started the way everybody expected, with Argentine offensives and Czech counter attacks.

Just 40 secs into the match, Kubáň's brutal tackle on Sigali (who was pushing into Czech half) resulted in the first yellow. The Spanish ref was very good. Not only did he enforce fair play with his strict rulings on the field, he also prevented unbalancing the match with ejections or excessive foul calls. Only instance that I wasn't very satisfied was when he interrupted the Argentine offensive around 70th minute with a yellow on Czech defender. If he was going to interrupt such good offensive opportunity, I expected to see a red card. Never the less, that yellow ensured that every Czech defender carried a card and had to play more cautiously.

Czech counter attacks were direct and fast at the beginning. They were very determined to play crosses, and it was quite effective at the start. Just few minutes in, they've already created genuine scoring chances within Argentine box. However, when Romero was defeated by a close ranged shot, his good friend, the goal post, again stood in the way. Romero has a incredible relationship with his goal post. God bless, may this love fair last forever :D

Czech Republic clearly won the height match-ups all around the pitch. With Cahais and Yacob both suspended, Fazio became pretty much our only starter that could compete in the air. That's why Sigali played instead of Voboril eventhough the later is probably more reliable on defense.

However, apart from dominating in the air, superior height played to Czech's disadvantage. On offense, their height restricted their mobility and agility. They couldn't capitalize on several good chances because their forwards took too long to adjust for shooting. They also blocked one of their own shots inside the Argentine box, which was one of their best chances in first half.

On offense, Argentina focused on exploiting Czech defenders' lack of agility. Especially their center backs. Their height meant there's no way they could turn on a dime, and our forwards exploited that all day long by assaulting down the center.

At the tip of Argentine spearhead was Aguero. El Kun got hold of Cahais' captain's armband today, and suddenly grew into an adult. The selfishness we saw in previous matches had disappeared. What's left was an intelligent player with superb individual abilities.

Our best chance in first half came at 22nd minute. A clever 1-2 between Aguero and Moralez inside Czech box almost pushed us ahead. Piatti and Moralez started showing signs of fatigue towards half time while Zarate was having a rough day at left center. Some hesitation inside the box also gave Czech defenders the time to tackle, and they did well getting the ball away from our players at dangerous places.

Argentine defense played well too, surrendering only 2 corners in first half. On top of that, the free kicks Czech had gotten were generally further out.

At the center of our rear was Ever Banega. There weren't any long shot from him today, but he did an exceptional job organizing our DM screen. Banega was absolutely magnificent at disrupting Czech possessions and redistributions. People thought Gago was good in Boca, wait till this man goes to europe.

Both teams kicked into high gear in second half.

Pitch dried up from the sprinkling before match. The ball started slowing down unexpectedly and surprised defenders on both sides. Attackers quickly took advantage of the condition. Moralez fired at 10 yards straight into the hands of Radek Petr. Two minutes later, Romero went through an almost identical heart attack moment after Banega letting the ball slip through.

Towards 55', Czech started attacking actively. 8 Czech players appeared together in Argentine half for the first time. At 60th minute, Martin Fenin did what no other Czechmen had done all day. He TURNED ON A DIME and took a volley from an off center spot within our box. The shot was flat and slow, but it arched just out of Romero's reach... When finally it was obvious that the end of its trajectory would be within the post, I admit, I almost cried. Fenin goal

I didn't, but not because I was strong.
The equalizer came so quickly I hardly had the time to properly react to the 0-1.


Instead of dropping into testudo. Czech kept on attacking after their goal.
Every hero needs his chance, and the chance had come for one Sergio Leonel Agüero.
It was you Aguero! You took our arms, and led us out from the valley of shadows!

Ever Banega's brilliant through ball went straight into a space left opened by the 2 Czech CB who had pushed up. Aguero got to the ball and created a breakaway right on top of Czech box.
Then it was magic...

After the equalizer, Argentina took control of the pace. Moralez suffered a cut on his forehead but got an adrenalin rush out of it. He was running all over the field and started taking shots from outside the box. These shots didn't hit their target, but they put pressure on the Czech defense, and effectively took the initiatives out of opponents' hands.

At the same time, Czech's other problems started compounding. Their attacking players started to show severer fatigue, and their defenders had each gotten a yellow by 81st minute.

Unable to find a goal, both sides began taking measurements for extra periods. Hugo Tocalli put on Acosta for tired Piatti. Czech coach Miroslav Soukup also switched on 2 fresh legs for their 2 attackers that had cramped up on the field.

Argentina had taken 10 corner kicks thus far. At 86th minute we got our 11th chance.
It was a short corner to Zarate who was standing just outside the right edge of the Czech box. He dribbled the ball into the penalty area, then lasered it at the right goal post.
Radek Petr was right there. But the strangest thing had happened. He let the ball slip pass his fingers and it went a millimeter inside the post....

Even Zarate himself couldn't believe how easily Radek Petr had let that one through. Fate has its own twists. Who would of believed that the Czech goalie could fail at such an easy stop. Who would of thought that the game winning goal could come off Zarate's?
What a farewell present from Zarate!

Zarate is a good player, and his departure from future NT is only due to his career choice and the financial needs of his family. Good luck Zarate, we won't forget you.

Czech came back twice against Japan to take their 1/8 final match into PSO. That miracle was not to be repeated today. The Triumph belonged to Argentina.

Match Highlights

Six Time FIFA U-20 Champions

Argentina reinforced her DOMINATION in U-20 World Cup with a beautiful come back win against Czech Republic.

VAMOS ALBICELESTES!

U-20 Final Preview by Bobby Mcmahon

Instead of writing a preview for the U-20 final match, I've found a good one written by Fox Soccer Channel commentator and analyst Bobby Mcmahon.

I don't quite agree with Mr. Mcmahon's result prediction though.
Our defense won't feature all regular starters. Before the semi, I almost expected Cahais to draw a yellow and get himself suspended, but totally didn't see Yacob's yellow coming. Like I said in earlier writeup, the tactical foul by Yacob was probably necessary, but it turned out very costly. Escudero is injured, so we'll have to play a third string DM, which will likely be Matias Sanchez. We also need a CB to fill in for Cahais. That is Leonardo Sigali's duty.
These players are substitutes for a reason. Never the less, they're capable of fulfilling their responsibilities. But I think a conservative estimation should credit Czech with at least 1 goal.
Also, if Di Maria couldn't play, Mauro Matias Zarate will likely start in his place. Zarate is a good player and his NT career is coming to an end, so this unexpected swap will also give him a chance to say farewell to his fans.

Here's Mr. Bobby Mcmahon's preview.

Sunday's FIFA U-20 World Cup final between Argentina and the Czech Republic will be a clash of the two continents that have dominated the fifteen editions of the youth tournament.

But although Europe (6 wins) and South America (9 wins) have shut out the other federations, it will only be the fifth time that the two powerhouse continents will have actually met in the final game.

Three times South America has come out on top ('79 Argentina beat USSR; '85 Brazil beat Spain and again in '03) while Europe's lone win was in 1991 when Portugal beat Brazil.

The 1991 win by Portugal proved to be a watershed. Up to that point Europe had won five tournaments to South America's three. Since then only a single Spanish win in 1997 has interrupted six South American wins — four by Argentina and two by Brazil.

Now Argentina is poised to make it six wins overall and their fifth under-20 championship in the last seven tournaments. Not unexpectedly Argentina is an overwhelming favourite to lift the trophy given that they have dominated the tournament to date.

FIFA Under-20 World Cup Final, Czech Republic vs. Argentina
Sunday, July 22 at the National Soccer Stadium (BMO Field) in Toronto at 3:15 p.m. ET

The Statistics

Argentina leads in almost all the positive categories — most goals scored (14), the least number conceded (1), most shots on goal (54) and most attempts on goal (98). In six games so far Argentina has won five games and drawn one while winning all three games in the knockout rounds in regulation time.

Compared to Argentina's statistics you wonder how the Czech Republic has even reached the final. In the six games so far they have only won two games in regulation time while drawing the other four. Two of the four draws have taken place in the knockout rounds and in both games the Czechs needed a penalty kick decider to beat Japan and Spain.

The Czechs have scored nine goals in their six games while conceding six. They have only managed 29 shots on the opposition goal and fans have had to wait an average of over twenty minutes between Czech attempts on goal.

A tournament leading 19 yellow cards and a fouls committed tally of 136 (also a competition high) is a clear indication that this Czech Republic team takes no prisoners. The run by the Czechs to the final has been termed a fairytale — if it is then the fairies are wearing Doc Martens.

The Tactics, the Coaches & the Players

Just a few years ago a match between these two teams would have had most neutral fans drooling with expectation. But somewhere along the line Czech coach Miroslav Soukup has moved away from the traditional Czech game and instead he has produced a side built on size, strength, organization and opportunism.

In the sixties Josef Masopust won the European Player of the Year and drove Czechoslovakia to a World Cup runners-up spot. In the seventies there was Antonin Panenka, he of the cheeky European Championship final penalty kick. In the last decade we have thrilled to the play of the likes of Patrik Berger, Pavel Nedved and Karel Poborsky. That legacy is not part of this Czech team.

Perhaps it was losing to the much less talented Greece in the semifinal of Euro 2004 that influenced the Czechs with Miroslav Soukop opting for a more dire strain of football over anything that a neutral fan may find appealing. Or it might have been losing to Belgium and Scotland in the European age-group qualifiers last summer.

But no matter the reason, the Czechs are not going to change what has got them to the final of this tournament. Expect them to play a 4-5-1 with Marek Strestik the lone striker. Martin Fenin (2 goals) and Lubos Kalouda (3 goals) move forward in support and Marek Suchy also pops up from a deeper position now and again. Ondrej Kudela is another midfielder who has got his name on the score sheet and is one of four players to play every minute so far.

Goalkeeper Radek Petr is another ever-present and he may have to reprise his role in the Czechs opening game of the tournament when he almost singlehandedly held off Argentina to record a 0-0 draw. Petr Janda has appeared in all six games but will miss the final match after picking up a second yellow card of the knockout stage.

For Hugo Tocalli it will be his first world final after falling at the semifinal stage in three other tournaments. Tocalli has kept faith with a core of players throughout the six games so far. Goalkeeper Sergio Romero has been an ever present as has central defender Federico Fazio and full back Emiliano Insua. However, captain Matias Cahais will miss the final due to suspension. German Voboril is the most likely replacement.

With a traditional back four Argentina plays with four in midfield and two up front. But just as Cahais is missing in defense Argentina will also be missing a key midfielder and more than likely a forward as well.

Claudio Yacob the defensive midfielder has also run afoul of the officials and will miss the final through suspension. Matias Sanchez is the player that will probably slip into the position in support of Ever Banega. Up front it looks as if Angel Di Maria may miss the game after picking up a suspected hamstring injury in the second half against Chile.

Di Maria did not start a game until the round of sixteen match against Poland but he has been a real spark plug since replacing the disappointing Mauro Zarate.

Di Maria, Maximiliano Moralez and Sergio Aguero have been the main attacking threat for Argentina. Twelve of the fourteen goals have come from this trio and they have also chipped in with eight helpers between them. If he is unavailable Di Maria will be sorely missed.

The Prediction

Unfortunately I hold out no hope whatsoever that this game will be a classic in any way. The Czechs will look to grind out a result and be quite happy to take the game to penalty kicks. Argentina I fear will be looking to exaggerate the Czech propensity to give away free kicks.

Prediction — Argentina to win 2-0.

Roman staying with Boca?

An Olé article in today's paper expressed a very similar (call it 100%?) view to what VIPNERD had expressed and I have supported. Roman will most likely join Boca in their Club World Cup campaign, and possibly remain in Boca. So like always, I happily bring you this non-transfering rumor. :D

U-20 to Final

Great battles had always been fought on rainy days.

Argentina U-20 deployed in 4-3-3 against Chile today.


The beginning of the game was marked by vicious Argentine attacks initiated by Banega that went down Chilean right wing. First one wasn't processed correctly, then second try... What a tremendous hit from young Di Maria that penetrated the little space left out near Chilean right post from Toselli's beautiful positioning. The first goal conceded by this 1.80m goalie in 490 minutes was an absolute screamer, and Toselli should bear no shame for letting that one go.

The next event was the straight red card for Chilean center midfielder Medel at 15th minute. The ref was the same German that officiated the remarkable clash between Valencia and Inter Milan. Wolfgang Stark is one of FIFA's primary referee prospects in Europe for a reason. His reaction after Medel's retaliation was quick, correct and just.

With goal down and man down, instead of giving up, Chileans started playing disciplined attacking football. The game started showing similarity to the group D opening match, where Poland stunned Brazil with a 1-0 win after receiving a red card in 27th minute. At the other end of the pitch, Mini Argentino started showing signs of relaxation again and committed several defensive errors. A Chilean 50 yard long lob was barely dodged by Romero's good friend - the goal post, and Chile continued pressing forward thereafter. An opening kept appearing between Fazio and Insua near our left wing. By continuously assaulting that space with wing plays, Chile was gaining control over the game.

Argentina dropped into 4-2-3-1, leaving only Aguero up front. As mentioned earlier, Moralez had started showing signs of fatigue, and wasn't very active during the first half, which reduced Argentina's offensive capability even further. With the formation dropping into 4-5-1, for a while it seemed we weren't able to fight back, just kept on absorbing Chilean punches and the game was looking increasingly more dangerous.

There are basically 2 different ways of playing 4-3-3. Either play like the dutch team or Barça, utilize individual talents of the players to sustain offensive pressure, or play like Chelski, drop into 4-1-4-1 and rely on hardcore defense + counter attacks. Mini Argentino seemed unable to find a suitable place in this formation. Too much lingering in between and they weren't very successful from either point of view.

There were some chances from both sides during the remainder of first half. Piatti and Di Maria both missed to keep the score 1-0. The missed chances also indicated that these players aren't world class yet, they still need further development to become NT material.

Most Chilean players stayed very calm during the first half, and shown remarkable discipline for a bunch of teenagers. The referee's red card forced them into a position they aren't used to, much like what happened in the Mexico-Paraguay game of Copa America.

The second half saw more attacking from Argentina, and more Chilean hard tackles, fouls and yellows. Then the next important event took place, and that was Yacob getting a yellow card. Yacob had been tackling pretty rough before that, but the yellow without a warning might of been a little harsh. This created a pretty big problem for our final game as Yacob will be suspended for that match due to accumulated yellows. Yacob is already subbing in for our injured DM Escudero! It was a technical foul that was probably necessary, but who are we going to use in the final now? A defender? Matias Cahais also got a yellow at 10th minute and will miss the final match! We will have to start 2 substitute defender... bahhh

Aguero and Moralez also made themselves more visible in the second half. Yacob knew he fucked up and started playing with 110% efforts. Finally Yacob scored at 65th minute to put the game away, eventhough the match saw another Chilean red card and Moralez's stoppage goal before going into garbage time.

Oh I almost forgot. Di Maria was substituted off and carried out of the pitch on stretcher. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious. For a game where we aimed at avoiding suspension and injuries, this wasn't exactly a satisfying result.

What lies ahead is a difficult match. I'll write some analysis on it before Sunday. But tomorrow, gotta go see Transformers :D

Argentina Vs. Chile

19:45 EDT

Once again. those without live TV broadcast could watch the match via LiveFooty, or Shanghai Sports channel with SopCast.

Chile U-20 had generally been playing a 3-4-2-1 christmas tree formation. But against Nigeria in quarter final, due to the vertical through ball threat of African style, Chile pulled out a 1-3-3-2-1 with center back Martínez playing Sweeper!
Sweeper is generally considered obsolete compared to the more advanced holding midfielder setup. But against Nigeria, Chile's retro choice proved to be effective and they successfully shut down Nigerian forwards, forced the match into Extra Periods.

I expect Chile going back to 3-4-2-1 against Mini Argentino. If this is the case, our defense and defensive midfield should be enough to prevent them from scoring. But we've been heavily relying on wing routes to move the ball, and it's unknown how much gas Moralez has left after over 400 minutes of running.


It's possible for Chile to switch onto strategies that could better protect their wing spaces. We must utilize our other weapons, such as Aguero, Di Maria and Piatti. Also it's important for our boys to maintain discipline and coherence. This is Semi-Final. After today's match, it's a team we've had experience with. If we can defeat Chile today, we'll have a good shot breaking down Czech defense in our second meeting with the European dark horse.

The English Patient

The original article published by Olé
Here's a rough translation:

Carlitos is in England hoping to sign with Manchester United and join Alex Ferguson's new team to their pre-season debut in Seoul, South Korea. The English champions will let FIFA handle the conflicts related to the forward's previous club, West Ham United.
David Gill, the executive director of Manchester United announced that his club will resort to FIFA's mediation because West Ham had set forward as a road block in the transfer operation of the 23 year old Argentine.

Tevez returned to England from Copa America to pass the medical before officially joining the English champions. However, West Ham had denied him the permission to participate in the medicals. Gill told the british press that Manchester United is presenting the case to the courts of FIFA and stressed that both ManU and the player are safe in this situation since the decision will be favoring them. "It could take up to two weeks for the court to be formed. All the paper work must be put into order before the case could be evaluated." added by the head of Old Trafford.

Manchester United purchased the player for $60 million via the company Media Sports Investments, who owns the rights to the Argentine forward. MSI, headed by Iranian Kia Joorabchian was the company that bought Tevez from Boca and later took him to Corintians. This operation is currently under investigation by Brazilian justice department on the suspicion of money laundering.

Wayne Rooney was pleased to hear that Tevez will join him and the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo in Red Devil's offense. He said: "Playing with Carlos Tevez would be great. Hopefully things will get sorted soon. He did brilliantly for West Ham last season and I think he'll be a great signing for us."


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Managers sometimes make signings based on recommendations of their players, like in Critiano Ronaldo's case. But when a deal worth $60m goes down, there's usually a carefully planned strategy behind it.

How is Alex Ferguson going to incorporate the Tevez element into his team? He will have 2 wide forwards each worth a shit ton of money. Benching either of them or even a rotation system between the two would be ridiculous if not ludicrous.

In a league like EPL, size matters. Without a traditional target person, what will ManU's offensive look like?

If Alex Ferguson could develop a system to successfully compete with only short, wide forwards, perhaps future Argentine NT could use it as a model to build our offensive setup.
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In other news. Gabriel Milito arrived in Barcelona.
Is Milito really qualified for the Catalan giant? For a team like Barça that plays offensive football, defender's zone capability is extremely important. Milito is a good inside the box tackler, but his lack of speed meant the Argentine defender might not meet the needs of Frank Rijkaard.

I suspect that the Milito signing had been heavily based on Messi's personal endorsements. Of course, with Puyol injured, there's the necessity of a CB to fill in shoes of the Spaniard temporarily, but for Barça, resorting to Milito isn't very logical at the very least. After all, playing for them is the dream of most world-class defenders.

Inquisition

There are two outside midfielders in 4-3-1-2. Their job is to support the enganche (also playmaker) on offense and help the holding midfielder on defense.

Enlisting Veron was to establish an alternative playmaker solution by sacrificing a dedicated outside midfielder. So in the case the playmaker (Roman) is shut down, this alternative playmaker could possibly open up new options.
But by doing so, Veron was distanced from the rest of the offensive group, and he failed to get involved in the first 2 matches.
So Veron wasn't working out as a hybrid between outside midfielder and secondary playmaker.

Veron is more of an CM than an outside midfielder. His alternative has to be a player used to be playing wide. Maxi would of been the best choice but Basile picked Lucho due to Maxi's previous injury.
Then he probably realized lucho sucked ass.
When Veron's invented secondary playmaker role failed to work out, it was too late to get another outside midfielder in (tourney had already began).
So the choices Basile was left with:
1. play Lucho
2. play Veron out to position as outside midfielder and forget the secondary playmaker plan.

Some might ask, why wasn't Aimar put in then?
Because Aimar isn't an ideal outside midfielder either. And Veron has better defensive attributes, is therefore more reliable to play out of position in this case.
On top of that, Aimar, besides acting as supersub for Riquelme, also served as sub for the left outside midfielder position occupied by Cambiasso.

Cambiasso playing the other outside midfielder was necessary. He could play a holding midfielder role and he can still run up to join attack from defensive positions.
What didn't work out for Cuchu was the fact NT moved the ball very fast. 4-3-1-2 maintains possession via speed. So for Cambiasso, it wasn't the same as playing in Inter. There's too much ground for him to cover in NT and he couldn't get to good offensive positions on time when playing with the Albicelestes. Cuchu's offensive contribution in this copa had been generally limited.

Why didn't we have ideal outside midfielders in the lineup?
Argentina does not have a shortage of football talents.


Because Basile took the wrong approach when structuring this team.
He picked out (or other people picked for him) the doctrine and a set general strategy (offensive, 4-3-1-2) to follow. The strategy was obsolete and flawed. So he made adjustments (Veron's hybrid role, Center backs pushing up to strengthen holding midfield, etc) to deal with the shortcomings of the design. But that was like forcing the formula to fit the solution by alternating variables.

The right way is to find out the variables (players) first, then derive a formula (strategy) that would lead to the solution (winning) by utilizing these variables.

In other words. The proper way of structuring a team is to find the best and most talented players first, then build a strategy based on their attributes. So the formation could take advantage of the strength and compensate the weakness of these players.

Alfio Basile took the wrong approach to this campaign and had committed heresy! That's why he lost with such an extraordinary group of players. BASILE MUST BE CRUCIFIED!

Mi Buenos Aires Querido

Carlos Gardel is one of the most influential Tango musician.
His work included Mi Buenos Aires querido, Soledad, and of course Por Una Cabeza.

My Buenos Aires, dear city,
When I see you once again,
There’s no more forgetting or pity.

The little street lamp, standing on my native street,
Was there to witness my first promises of love.
Its quiet light was shining when I went to meet
My lovely sweetheart, glowing like the sun above.
Now that my fortune has me seeing you once more,
The only city that I’ve ever hankered for,
Hearing the plaintive bandoneon,
My heart inside me wants to break out on its own.

My Buenos Aires, Land full of flowers,
My final hours, will be spent here.
No disappointments, under your sky, and
The years go by and we forget the pain.
Memories chasing one after another,
Sweetness of feelings left along the way.
I’ll have you know that just thinking of you
Makes all my heartaches scatter away.

The little window facing my suburban street,
Framing the image of a smiling girl so sweet,
I want once more to walk beside it and to see
Those eyes caressing even as they look at me.
And even in the meanest alley there’s a song
Of pluck and passion, and its echo rings along.
It’s like a promise, and like a sigh.
A tear of sorrow, but that singing wiped it dry.

My Buenos Aires, dear city,
When I see you once again,
There’s no more forgetting or pity.

I didn't want to put Por Una Cabeza on here because the content.
I would have to really drown my sorrow in alcohol or drugs then... For a head of a horse, how ironic. Too much to handle right now.

2 days after the match, the devastation of the loss finally hit home. It's a loss by players who had demonstrated they are of so much higher quality than the rest of the participants of the tournament. In the footballing world, it's a loss at the magnitude of the Spartan loss in Battle of Leuctra.


There are really alot of similarities between the Albicelestes and the Spartan culture. Equally stubborn in their ways of approaching problems; Rely on individual talents acquired through years of developments and training; Employ disciplinary offensive strategies in battles; Neo-conservatively protecting antiquated tradition that's obsolete...

Spartans slowly died off after Leuctra. Will the Spartans of modern football suffer the same fate? After all, the history of heros is a collection of tragedies.

Carrizo to S.S.Lazio

With Angelo Peruzzi and Marco Ballotta both aged beyond control (37 and 43), Italian side Lazio had been actively searching for a new #1. At the beginning of this summer, their eyes finally set down on the two youngsters of Albicelestes, Oscar Alfredo Ustari and Juan Pablo Carrizo.

Ustari signing with Getafe (possibly replacing Pato) forced Lazio to go into intensive negotiations with River in order to lock down this other target. Apparently the $10m (7m into River's pocket) was attractive enough for a club in financial troubles, and the trade was agreed eventhough River Plate doesn't yet have a replacement goalie.
Carrizo will follow the footsteps of fellow country men such as Claudio López, José Chamot, Juan Sebastián Verón and Diego Simeone.

S.S.Lazio's decision was carefully made after lengthened evaluation of possible targets. There's no doubt Carrizo will become their starting keeper in the near future. Compared to Ustari, Carrizo is set to gain massive experience in the Italian top flight and therefore possibly looking better to become the future Argentine #1.

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In other news. Girls with sticks scare me...