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)