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.