Fuck you Basile.

Let's start with the excuses for the exclusion of Aimar, Crespo and Cambiasso. aka. Inter and Zaragoza don't want to lent out all their players.

Zaragoza will face R.Murcia (just got promoted) on 26th, and they will play Racing on the 2nd. After that they get a week of rest (Euro '08 qualifier week) then play Bilbao (last place before relegation) on the 16th of September.
SerieA starts on 26th of August also. Inter's first match will be against Udinese, then they play Empoli on the 1st. Don't tell me the Inter Bums can't beat Udinese at home without those 2! Empoli is tougher and away, but it would be 9 days after the friendly. After that, these players would get the by week too for Euro '08 qualifiers.

These excuses are FUCKING LAME! The real reason behind these exclusion is that Basile doesn't want to use them.

Not including Cambiasso is understandable because him playing one of the outside midfielders really limits our attacking options. In the Copa, he wasn't very effective in defense either, so eventhough he's very hard working, his NT future doesn't look all that good if we can find better options to that left outside mid position.

Crespo is necessary at this point, because Diego Milito isn't enough to fill his shoes. Towards the end of Copa, Basile was forced to use the Tevez-Messi duo due to Diego Milito's incompetence, and now he's using him as the last hope?
Higuain dropped out of the list since he injured himself. However, even if he wasn't, do we not have other choice but those 2? There are some names of good #9 players I've mentioned in previous posts and comments, and there are plenty coming up.
The issue here is, we do not need to depend on Higuain or Diego Milito for target person. Crespo is still in good form to fulfill that role in the mean time. Why excluding him from a match where our opponents are mostly tall and strong?

Aimar is the most disappointing exclusion. Roman is in a world of shit right now. Villarreal is set to decline the loan plan, and wants immediate payment if Boca decides to purchase him. That's a shit ton of money for Boca and they cannot afford even if they make up the majority from selling player rights. Riquelme's future is very uncertain.
Now, back to Aimar. Since Riquelme won't be able to play the CAM, Aimar is next in line. Even Maxi playing CAM would be better choice than F.Insua. Picking Insua and excluding Aimar is a clear message, Basile doesn't like Aimar playing enganche.
F.Insua is nothing more than a temporary sub for Riquelme. He's 28, so definitely not a successor. And he's far from a replacement to Roman's genius.

Also excluded was Heinze. This will bring us to the problems in defense exerted by Basile's list.

Our defense looked shaky in both the friendlies and some the Copa matches. Playing the 4-3-1-2 formation, defense must press up to stay within 10 yard or so from the midfield. This not only provides vertical support to the midfielders from behind them, it also provides lateral definition for the entire formation.

For this type of defense, Heinze and Gabriel Milito aren't exactly suited. The later is too slow to press and recover. Against Brazil, Milito's lack of speed was made very obvious as he wasn't able to cover any diagonal runs produced by Brazilian midfielders and forwards. His ability in the air was mediocre as well. On several occasions he was able to head the ball, but not able to control the direction... Heinze shares some characteristics with Milito, but the left back position isn't as popular as CB. We have many proven CB can replace Milito, but not many fullbacks more reliable than Heinze. So, eventhough Heinze's contract is a court matter at the moment, he's still very valuable to the team.

Now, here's the biggest problem of Basile's list. It contains only 1 younger defender. Garay is a very good CB choice because he's awesome in the air, but besides him, Basile's list offers no further opportunity to test defenders for the future. Especially fullbacks. Zanetti will be almost 37 (short by 1 month) by 2010 World Cup. The problem with bringing older players is that they recover much slower. Towards the end of tournaments, they aren't as reliable even if they hadn't sustained any injury. Ayala was a perfect example.

If no addition to the list, there's no testing subject for fullbacks at all. How can Basile do this?! He brings Coloccini! Of all the defenders played on Argentina NT in the past 7 years, Coloccini is probably the most hated. Is Basile on coke? We have tons of fullbacks desperate for a chance to shine in NT, and Coloccini is the best he could come up with? Bottinelli, Ferrari, Eluchans, Voboril, Clemente, Angelleri, Villagra, Alvarez, Insua, Grimi, Torren, Spolli... The list goes on. Since he's bringing F.Insua who plays in Mexico, "European based" is not a valid excuse.

Last but not least, I want to bitch about 2 midfielder choices of Basile.

Some people had argued that Lucho scored 12 goals for Porto last year. Did they realize how shitty the BwinLiga is? 5 of Lucho's goals were from games where Porto had opened the floodgate (won by 3 or more), 3 of his goals were from taking penalty, and he scored an own goal against one of the few formidable opponents in Portugal - Benfica. That match was tied 1-1 due to his autogoal.

In the Copa, Lucho was complete shit. Even when everyone else did well, like in the Paraguay match, he still managed to play like shit. Since the friendlies, the only game he did ok was against Algeria, a completely mismatched opponent.

I don't care what Real Madrid sees in Lucho, he's not a NT caliber player. Plain and simple.

The other shitty choice was C.Ledesma. This is a center and semi-defensive midfielder, a player at the position we're overloading. Mascherano is a beast while Gago offers better distribution, Even if one of these gets injured before a tournament, we still have Banega and Yacob ready to go. Why in the fuck do we need Ledesma? How many fucking holding midfielders does he want to play? In the Copa final, we were already fucked once by having 3 people playing holding midfielder (2 of which, Veron and Cambiasso, weren't dedicated DM), and now we want to find more players of that type?

In sum, Basile's list is total crap. It addressed none of the crucial issues of NT where we need immediate solutions. 2010 World Cup qualifiers start in little over 2 month. There are only 2 opportunities before that to fine tune the NT, and the September friendly will be tougher for players to participate due tot heir club duties.

Do it like Maradona: Give up Coke!

Friendly Player Pool

Basile announced the list for friendly action on Aug. 22nd.
Since I've only seen the list, it's unknown if the Insua is the Liverpool youngster or Federico Insua. Federico Insua had recently signed with Club America of Mexico, so my guess is Coco about to use the U-20 LB.

edit: Turned out it was Federico Insua. Why are we calling one player from South America while not the others?

Carrizo GK
Ustari GK
Romero GK

Burdisso LB LCB RCB RB LM RM
Zanetti RB RWB LWB LB RM LM
Garay LCB RCB RB
Milito LCB
Diaz (Getafe) RWB RB RCB LCB

Coloccini RB RCB LCB RCM LCM CDM
Mascherano CDM
Gago CM CDM LCM RCM
Lucho RWM RM CDM CM
Ledesma (Cristian) CM CDM RCM LCM
Maxi RWM RM RCM CM CAM LCM LM LWM
Insua (Federico) CAM SS FW LM LCM
Sosa (Bayern Munich) LWM LM LCM RCM RM RWM CAM SS
Lavezzi RWM LWM SS FW

Saviola FW
Milito FW
Messi FW

Veron: That's not my position

In an Olé interview, Veron spoke out about his feelings.

- Why did we lose to Brazil in the end?
- Brazil played a very intelligent match, that I at least did not foresee. They contained us, we could not find Roman to support him from the back, and thus our forwards were isolated. Brazil scored in the fourth minutes… Other than Roman's shot and Cambiasso's chance, we did not find the answer.

- You returned immediately to training in Estudiante, is it from fear of losing the desire?
- Yes, it wasn't easy… Because the Copa had just finished. I went back training not to condition physically, rather to clear the head. Later I thought about the first game, and now it is easier. I know I did not make a shine but my performance in Copa was acceptable.

- Maradona praised you.
- His words are very important, because it is Maradona and because his exceptional vision in football. In fact I played in a position that was not mine, and I played with desire, made sacrifices for the team.

- You told Basile that was not your position?
- He asked me if I was comfortable with the position, and later decides that my service is needed by the Selection. I believe that I served the team according to his requirements, although they analyzed that my characteristics were unsuited, and the long route weren't successfully developed.


Nothing we haven't mentioned. The idea of using Veron as secondary playmaker from an outside midfielder position both reduces the effectiveness of his long lobs and the support on Riquelme. The secondary playmaker option came at high costs, and apparently exercising such option against opponents that controlled the air would be difficult, if not impossible.

In 4-3-1-2, the ideal secondary playmaking option should come from the holding midfielder. If Basile insists on playing this formation, he should either urge Mascherano to step up, or consider using Gago for his advantage in distribution.

Besides the more defensive 4-2-3-1, multiple playmakers could also be placed simultaneously in 3-4-1-2. In such strategy, we would want to use Maxi on the right wing because he can be both an attacking winger as well as an outside midfielder supporting Riquelme.

If Maxi plays right wing, for the entire formation to have sufficient capability in defense, the left winger should be a defensive choice, or wing back. We have 2 Europe based left wing backs, Sorin and Clemente Rodriguez. As long as neither is summoned, it's unlikely that Basile would use 3-4-1-2.

Tonight

Tonight at 6:00pm local, Basile will be announcing the player list for friendly against Norway.

Semi Confirmed:
Ezeqyuek Garay, Javier Pinola, Pablo Zabeleta, Maximiliano Rodriguez, Jose Ernesto Sosa (Napoli), Jonás Gutiérrez (Mallorca), Hugo Mariano Pavone (Real Betis), Javier Mascherano, Oscar Ustari, Javier Saviola, Fernando Rubén Gago.

Unconfirmed:
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Lionel Messi, Gabriel Milito, Pablo Aimar, Diego Milito, Nicolás Burdisso, Esteban Cambiasso, Hernán Crespo, Javier Zanetti, Juan Pablo Carrizo (passport issue).

Mentioned:
Iván Gabriel Heinze, Fabricio Coloccini.

Excluded:
Carlos Tevez, Juan Román Riquelme.

Injured:
Gonzalo Gerardo Higuaín (4 weeks), Gonzalo Javier Rodríguez (9 month).

Friend or Foe

The ex Argentine DT, Marcelo Bielsa, is very close to accepting coaching job for Chilean national team. If everything fall into place, he'll take 3 assistants with him, Eduardo Berizzo, Alfredo Berti and Ricardo Lunari. All of them were once Newell's players. (It's well known that Bielsa is tied to Newell)

Bielsa will recieve $2million per year from ANFP (Chilean football governing body), while his technicians will split another $1.5m. After 3 years of meditation behind closed doors, is the "Mad Man" ready to make some money again?


Coincidently, next match for Chilean NT will be against Argentina in first round of World Cup qualifiers on October 13th. (the entire qualification process will take little over 2 years. 4 teams will qualify and the 5th place would have to fight for a spot against 4th place of North American group).

Uruguayan Nelson Acosta was coaching Chile in Copa America. He resigned soon after the campaign due to the hotel room incident that resulted in 6 Chilean players being banned for 20 international matches each. The players suspended were captain Jorge Valdivia, defenders Álvaro Ormeño, Rodrigo Tello, Jorge Vargas, Pablo Contreras, and striker Reinaldo Navia.

Traditionally, Chilean NT liked to play some variations of 3-4-3. Bielsa is a well suited coach for that style. However, with 3 starters and 3 important substitutes missing, he'll certainly be shorthanded.

"My first true coach in Newell's was Marcelo Bielsa, who was truely obsessive when it came to training. At first it didn't go well, and for a reason. I was overweight and slow in my movements. I began playing in the Fourth Special, where Gamboa and Franco also played. Bielsa put me on a diet and when it ended, he brought to me in the room I had under the Newell's stadium, a box of alfajores (filled cookies). My first year in Newell's was difficult for me and not only because of the training. I was very far from my home. After the Saturday games or on Sunday morning, the other guys would go home, while Gustavo Masat, from a town near Reconquista, and I remained in Rosario. I was separated from my family and from Irina, who was already my girl friend. There happened a period when Newell's couldn't give me any money. They called me in and said: "Gabriel, you have to do something to earn some money because we don't have a peso." And I got some work cutting the lawn of the gardens around the club." -- Gabriel Batistuta

Coach Uruguay?

In a press conference for the old people game between Argentina and Uruguay, Diego talked about the possibility for him to coach the Uruguayan national team. "I still haven't spoken with Paco (Uruguayan industrialist Francisco Casal). so I don't know for sure, we're going to see."

According to this Olé Article, Uruguayan press believed another Argentine, Alejandro Mancuso will be contracted. (What happened to Oscar Tabarez?) Alejandro Mancuso is a friend of Diego, and will be in the old people game on Sunday as well. BTW, they have a clip of the interview with Maradona in the linked webpage. He looked healthy and happy.


Diego also phoned Messi to play with him in the old people game (WHAT?!). It's unconfirmed whether the flea will make an appearance.

When asked about Messi, Maradona said: "He's the one that gives us hope to look ahead for senior side victories in the future. He is competent on the pitch, while playing amusing football. We're both left-handed people, we both won FIFA youth World Cup. We both scored goal with our hands... and they didn't see."

Earlier this year, in a press conference, Messi said: "It was a brilliant goal, Maradona would have been proud, as for my Professor in my 'How to Cheat at Football' Class, he came in his pants with excitment!"

Well, now we know there's a mutual understanding between those 2. Bad influence for kids man, coke head!

____________________________________________________________

According to Reuters, Jose Enrique just signed with New Castle for 6 million GBP. As explain in second part of this article, Villarreal's defense was in trouble even counting Jose Enrique. It's totally fucked now. Besides Fuentes and Josemi, we still have the 33 year old Cygan and 32 year old Venta. Other than that, 2 new faces, Joan Capdevila (29 yr old LB from Deportivo La Coruña) and Diego Godin (21 yr old Uruguayan CB). Gonzalo Rodriguez is likely to miss the whole year again.

Capdevila-Cygan-Fuentes-Venta with Josemi and Godin as substitutes. We are playing both UEFA Cup and Spanish season with 6 defenders?!

The boat is rated to 6 metres,
but of course we could go deeper

One more try at 4-3-1-2

I really don't want to see anymore tries with this strategy. Basile is so fucking stubborn, in his eyes there's only 4-3-1-2. (ok, maybe a tiny little bit of 4-2-3-1, but definitely not enough).

This is why I want to see someone stepping up and replace Coco. In the mean time that isn't possible... But hey, at least we get to watch beautiful football. I'm a fan of Scandinavian football. Norway is probably the weakest Scandinavian country but never the less, it's a good team and very stylish. They'll have to finish the rest of their Euro 2008 qualifying journey after the friendly, so the better we play, the better they'll be prepared to gain a spot in next year's european championship.

Basile is preparing a revamp, of players, to play the same 4-3-1-2 "better" :-(

Riquelme, Messi, Crespo, Tevez and Diego Milito will remain in the picture.
Maxi Rodriguez will replace Veron.
Carrizo will replace Abbondanzieri at goal. Ustari will likely pick up the #12 jersey.
Heinze's status is not confirmed, Ayala is confirmed left the selection. Zanetti still on the team. Garay, Pinola, Bottinelli and Gonzalo Rodriguez (when he recovers) will get their shots. Another close to being on the list is Fazio.
"Ensuring continuity in the bond" with Aguero is one of Basile's priorities and the U-20 champ will be integrated into the senior side at some point.
And stated by Olé, Saviola and Higuain are also likely to appear in the friendly on August 22nd.