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
5 comments:
By bionic messi | October 14th, 2007 at 5:14 am
i have noticed some points through out the game and i’d like to get your opinion about them:
1. we didn’t have a striker to recieve the ball in the middle…tevez tended to drift to the lift and with messi always being on the right riquelme had no oppurtinity to show us his classy throughs! but when aguero came we saw some threat in the middle! saviola or aguero with messi upfront can be a better combo till we find a crespo replacement or if aguero proves himself in that position in the NT….i have a feeling he will be the no. 9 similar to romario in the coming future he just needs time to grow.
2. when maxi was substituted with gago- something i haven’t understand- we saw mascherano as right winger!!! what the hell is that?!!!! he even made runs upfront when attacking and he almost got injured!… for a moment i thought basile is trying to imitate milan with pirlo-gago- as DM and gattuso-mascherano- and ambrozini-cambiasso- on the flanks….is this what basile trying to do? the whole setup after substitutions was confusing and riquelme was back in our half….not the riquelme roaming in the other half making gaps in thier defences! i know he’s been idle for three monthes and he needs time to get back to 100% but basile was not clear in his plan during the game!
3. in the second half zanetti didn’t make a run as he usually does. something that we rarely see….was he instructed by basile not to go upfront?
4. demicheles althouh not tested is making me confident about the defense …something you rarely feel when ayala is not there. i hope he proves himself when it matters the most!
bionic messi
Good points.
1. this is true. Aguero can play both supporting forward and striker, even though he isn't all that tall. He's heavy up top, can fight for the ball.
I agree with you 100%. As soon as aguero went on, we started seeing more frequent touches in the middle. My only concern is whether Roman knows how to set Aguero up. But hey, gotta give the chance or they'll never learn right?
I was rooting for him to get a goal, I think many people were. In fact, I think the whole team was trying to set him up. Especially since chilean were man down at that point and had given up fighting. Haven said that, the 20 minute pitch time Aguero saw wasn't exactly a test. Nevertheless, first cap for el Kun.
2. There are many ways to look at this. From a different perspective: There are only 3 subs, best to preserve the gas tanks with those. Who are the biggest 3 gas hogs on the pitch? Messi, Tevez and Maxi.
What Basile didn't do right was subbing out the 3 too late. Or at least 2 of them. He should of done it at beginning of second half, then leave 1 sub for later in case we get an injury.
Basile could of either put Gago or a winger in for Maxi. There were 3 wingers on the bench, so why not?
1) Mascher can attack. Remember the goal he scored in river? He had that in him since the beginning. It's rarely exercised.
2) Basile wanted to further evaluate Gago. Gago doesn't get to play in Real Madrid.
3) With 3 DM on the pitch (counting cambiasso), Chileans could effectively give up. 7 defenders when necessary.
4) The rest of the bench aren't worth testing. They are injury substitutions.
3. Zanetti is old. Old people are disgusting!
4. I like Demicheles. He showed he can effectively shut down the wing when fullback pushed up. Even better than Ayala because he's more aggressive and faster. I like this kid, he should get that spot permanently. Garay should get more tests too. When Demicheles isn't 100% we could possibly use him to fill in.
Remember though. Gonzalo Rodriguez will be fit to go around new year. Next year qualifiers we could possibly see him back, and have Milito out.
Regarding sending Mascherano forward, you mentioned if only he had better distribution skills. Well we do have a DM with good distribution in Gago/Banega.
hey tkorl.
we would still need a more dedicated box-to-box type like Mascherano. So in order for Gago to have a starting spot, we need to either play formation that has more than 1 DM, or have Gago replacing Cambiasso.
Cambiasso is still more offensive than Gago, and he's proven to work ok with Roman, although not great.
The right wing is the 'fast' wing since Roman plays left. So Gago is even less suited to the right outside mid position.
Yea, I agree. Gago scored 1 goal in his entire time with Boca and zero with Real Madrid. He rarely ventures anywhere near the opposition's goal. Cambiasso, despite his deficits is a better choice. As for Tkorl's remarks about Banega, his progress has been stunted lately with an ankle injury. He has been playing again, but seems to be a little slower, and recently booted off against River with 2 yellows. In addition, his ability to distribute the ball with Boca has never been what it was with the U21 squad. At present he is still learning to play effectively against top flight competition in Argentina. He is a ways away from being a factor for the NT. I love the kid, but he has a ways to go yet.
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