Argentina

DonAndres said:

Today's friendly didn't really impress me in terms of smart preparation.

Argentina are going into this WC with one strong suit: attack. I question why they don't emphasize that much more in their play? Having a central midfield of Masch-Gago is not an incentive to try and play slow-buildup football and it's obvious that any half-competent team that decides to press from the front will force them to be pinned back just playing stale back-passes among the defenders.

The midfield is meant to simply be ball winners and shield the defense when fullbacks go up the flank. You should try and feed your dynamic transition players (Messi, Di Maria) as quickly as possible, play down the wings often, and send wave after wave of counterattack with world class creators/finishers to do damage. Having Higuain and Aguero up front to pin the defenders back makes this an even more obvious route to go by. Masch/Gago simply has to pass it one line ahead to Messi or Di Maria and let them run at the defense in the space created by the #9's with several possible options to get a goal.

The crap midfield should have only as much influence as absolutely necessary, because there is no chance that Argentina will win a game in midfield the way dominant sides like Spain/Germany do.

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DonAndres said:

Gago is decent enough to get involved in offensive passing play but that simply isn't the strong suit of this Argentina team. In the knockout stages of the World Cup, they're not gonna be facing the likes of Trinidad so they likely will be dominated in midfield by the better teams. If they try to play a buildup-oriented game they will be pinned back (like they were to an extent today) and those teams will be strong enough to punish them for it.

In tournament play, it's smart to just play to your strengths. Spain isn't going to bank on their front line to do a good job even if they have decent enough players there, they are going to go full out 4-6-0 or 4-5-1 to dominate possession as much as possible and grind out a 1-0/2-0 win. Same principle of playing to strengths goes for Brazil who's central midfield has decent enough passers yet they emphasize wing play using Neymar/Hulk as well as attack minded fullbacks.

Gago may be good at linking up and Masch isn't clueless on the ball but in the end they are a weak link and shouldn't be the controlling force of Argentina's offensive play. Di Maria, Aguero, and Higuain all play for or have played for counterattacking teams (RM and City) and work best in those dynamic scenarios where they destabilize an opposition defense with dribbling or movement. Messi himself can easily thrive in counterattacking play as well given the space he'd have. If you feed the ball to them and let them run at defenses as often as possible, you're a dangerous team that can be a scare for any side in the tournament. If they try and be something they aren't, then it could play out badly.

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DonAK said:

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DonAK said:

Team photo

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Messi_Goal said:

I think this is how Messi wins the World cup with Argentina 4-2-3-1

------------------Romero------------------
--Zabaleta--Garay-------Fernández--Rojo--
------Mascherano--------Gago-------------
-Lavezzi-----------Messi-----------Di María-
--------------Agüero/Higuaín---------------

If Agüero is fit he plays, If hes not then Higuaín plays.

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voodoomaster said:

Romero - casillias
Garay - ramos
Fernandez - pique
Rojo - alba
Gago - one of Spains genius midtfielders

Thats 5 players were we talk different class, thats a lot. Argentina has messi and is better in attack, but spain isnt that bad either. Cant see Argentina win, too many weak/average players. Fortunately I no Expert, so I still hope they have a solid chance.

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