Without Tevez, there was only Messi up front.
Let's be honest, our defense is not that good to begin with. When pushing for width and adding help to the front, especially when one of the forwards is missing, it became even wearker... I mean, the best defenders we have playing are probably Zanetti and Demichelis, one is old, one had barely made a name for himself.

I'm not surprised we lost, just disappointed we couldn't even draw when Messi FUCKING SCORED FIRST!

Review when I'm not so emotional...

Download the match here. (Filefront rapid free download, italian commentators...)

Columbia 2:1 Argentina

Not only did we allow goals, we lost.
Red card for Tevez, 2nd Columbian goal also has some offside possibilities.

Torrent & review coming up.

3 : 0 Bolivia

starting lineup:
Pato
Ibarra Demichelis Milito Zanetti
Mascherano Cambiasso
Messi Riquelme Tevez
Aguero

Don't think I'll have to say more. This is pretty much what I always wanted. 4-2-3-1 and it got us a 3-egg without an ideal #9.

International goal #1 for Aguero.
Roman got 2 again.
Gago went on about 70th minute replacing Cambiasso.
5 minutes later, after Roman scored our 3rd goal, Aguero was subbed by Maxi.
Tevez was switched out by Denis in the end.

torrent
Next stop, Columbia.

According to Ole

Bottinelli in

Heinze out


Thank you Jesus!

Last chance for Carlito?

I think not, but his position is definitely threatened.
It is likely that Argentina will continue not having a suitable #9, but it is necessary to deploy such player even if he isn't on par with Tevez in term of skills and speed. The physical attribute of height is by itself a very important quality after all.

Consider this:
Aguero is more used to the center forward role and he's on form. He's tied with Messi for 2nd place on the goalscorer list in Spain. So even if Crespo wasn't hurt, Denis isn't the only alternative.

Tevez could perhaps consider dropping into a more defensive role. I think he would do better than Cambiasso on the left. He has those attributes to become a great winger. He's strong, has good acceleration, shoots well from long distances, tackles well, aggressive and always fights for the ball, has great vision for passes... The best players can play different positions. Cruijff, Beckenbauer, Diego...


Due to Crespo's ankle injury, Tevez will probably start this weekend.

I do hope to see Aguero more than 20 minutes. Get him an international goal. I'm sure all the guys are more than happy to set him up. We need to give everybody pitch time so when we go to South Africa, it would be a well synchronized team instead of just brilliant individuals.

We are building a team to win both the olympics and world cup.

Rest of the list

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe), Agustin Orion (San Lorenzo), Mariano Andujar (Estudiantes)

Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan), Nicolas Burdisso (Inter Milan), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo Coruna), Hugo Ibarra (Boca Juniors)

Midfielders: Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milan), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Maximiliano Rodriguez (Atletico Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Juan Roman Riquelme (Villarreal), Federico Insua (America-Mexico), Sebastian Battaglia (Boca Juniors)

Forwards: Hernan Crespo (Inter Milan), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester United), German Denis (Independiente)

Thanks Jack for reminding us of the list.

Goalkeeper: Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe, ESP).

Defenders: Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Zanetti y Nicolás Burdisso (Inter, ITA), Fabricio Coloccini (Deportivo La Coruña, ESP), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona, ESP) y Martín Demichelis (Bayern Munich, GER).

Midfielders: Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, ESP), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, GBR), Federico Insúa (América, MEX), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter, ITA), Maximiliano Rodríguez (Atlético Madrid, ESP) y Juan Román Riquelme (Villarreal, ESP).

Forwards: Hernán Crespo (Inter, ITA), Lionel Messi (Barcelona, ESP), Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid, ESP) y Carlos Tévez (Manchester United, GBR).

The biggest change is obviously the exclusion of Saviola and reenlistment of Crespo. This means Basile wants #9 and is willing to sacrifice a forward super sub for it. That's fine though, I warned you guys about this while ago. It's unfortunate for Saviola, but that's why it's a "sacrifice".
More importantly though, it means Tevez had moved back to the bench, because very few would agree to a rotation between Carlito and Messi.
Unless, of course, if Tevez could find a place on left wing. That's not likely because the European list already included 4 midfielders that could play wide. There's also Belluschi waiting for the call again.

Playing a #9 also means a target person sub. Our best bet would probably be Germán Denis again. His positioning was exquisite, if we're bringing back Crespo, then Denis definitely worth another try.

I'm quite happy not to see Cata Diaz and Gutiérrez. Diaz is too old for my liking, although he's very experienced... Gutiérrez on other hand, doesn't appear to be ready. In his previous appearance, he got to the ball quite a bit, but didn't seem to know what to do with it.

I liked Ustari more than Carrizo too. Perhaps the later is more an orthodox keeper, while Ustari is a rebel and more likable?
Unfortunately, since Ustari isn't getting enough pitch time (and experience), which he desperately needs, we have no choice but to go with Carrizo... And quite possibly Orion or someone else local for the mascot spot. I watched the Atletico - Villar match today, we can forget about Leo Franco.
IMO, Pato had fucked us on numerous occasions and he is going to keep fucking us with his retirement plan. He had completely fucked Ustari with this Getafe shit.

Basile kept calling up Coloccini, yet not playing him. I don't quite understand why not give Zabaleta a try though. Coloccini is a little taller and MAYBE tiny bit better in the air, but Zabaleta is a tremendous all around defender, and younger. Their positioning are very similar too, and Zabaleta seemed to be more reliable when playing RB.

There's only spot for 1 more defender. I hope we tryout a fullback this time. There are 3 good players for the CB positions, using the last spot to try out a left back doesn't hurt.