Argentinas Squad (may contain craziness)

dreamers75

Goalkeepers
Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)
Mariano Andújar (Catania)
Diego Pozo (Colón de Santa Fe)

Defenders
Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield)
Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)
Walter Samuel (Inter)
Gabriel Heinze (Marseille)
Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes)
Nicolas Burdisso (Roma)
Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Newell's Old Boys)
Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle)
Ariel Garcé (Colón de Santa Fe)


Midfielders
Jonás Gutierrez (Newcastle)
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
Juan Sebastian Verón (Estudiantes)
Angel Di María (Benfica)
Maria Bolatti (Fiorentina)
Javier Pastore (Palermo)
Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors)
Jose Sosa (Estudiantes)
Sebastián Blanco (Lanus)
Jesús Datolo (Olympiakos)
Maximiliano Rodriguez (Liverpool)


Strikers
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Diego Milito (Inter)
Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors)
Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)


Dodgy back four and unknown midfield (i mean noone knows it only Diego).


Think the other Milito is fit atm which tbh depends on the wind today.

flahavaj

No Cambiasso?

DazMarz

flahavaj wrote: »

No Cambiasso?

This struck me as well when I read a magazine on the run up to the World Cup... Cambiasso didn't get a mention. Is he injured or something??? He's been animal for Inter of late!

nullzero

flahavaj wrote: »

No Cambiasso?

Or Zanetti...

eagle eye

Lol at you saying dodgy back four.

As for the midfield its full of class but missing the master linkman that is Riquelme, such a pity.

They can still win it of course even without him.

Glico Man

No Cambiasso :eek:


And haha Martin Palermo...bound to be dropped on June 1st surely

Plenty of fire-power up top but that defense will surely get caught out on the counter...lacks any sort of pace

Pinturicchio

Cambiasso, Javier Zanetti, and Ever Benega have all had great seasons but were left out.

SlickRic

aaronh007 wrote: »

No Cambiasso :eek:

he's never played under Maradona.

frightening really.

Headshot

a few estudiantes players in there, class team

mayordenis

some madness indeed - none of the goalkeepers have more than 5 caps,

back 4 is going to be crazy slow - at a guess

Burdisso-Samuel-Demichelis-Heinze

Sure all good defenders from a corner but pace could destroy them

Still I think the Midfield and strike force is incredibly strong, I don't know why but I've had an inkling they could win it - especially now, they're just so ridiculous.

Seaneh

Burdisso should start.

Been great for roma.

Pastore could be surprise of the tournement. quality player.

Mr.Nice Guy

Their forward players are absurdly strong. If you put all the great strikers Ireland have ever produced together, it still wouldn't compare to what Argentina have got right now.

RichTea

The craziness will only continue when he names the 23-man squad. Expect Milito to be dropped and Palermo to go to South Africa :eek:

Kirnsy

SlickRic wrote: »

he's never played under Maradona.

frightening really.

Has Maradona ever explained why he's not picked Cambiasso Slick? Absolute joke considering between himself and Masch they'd have the most fearsome central midfield (bar a fully fit Spain) with the likes of Veron or Tevez ahead of them.

And what about France player of the year Lisandro and Lucho Gonzalez??

Oh and Mauro Zarate of Lazio. Jesus what a squad they could have had!!

Edit : spent 15 mins trying to pick an Argentinian line up there and couldn't. Their forwards are the strongest in the world. Might as well pick names out of a hat.

Pinturicchio

mayordenis wrote: »

some madness indeed - none of the goalkeepers have more than 5 caps,

back 4 is going to be crazy slow - at a guess

Burdisso-Samuel-Demichelis-Heinze

Sure all good defenders from a corner but pace could destroy them

Still I think the Midfield and strike force is incredibly strong, I don't know why but I've had an inkling they could win it - especially now, they're just so ridiculous.

Otamendi will probably be first choice RB. Yes, I know he's a CB.

Pinturicchio

Kirnsy wrote: »

Oh and Mauro Zarate of Lazio. Jesus what a squad they could have had!!

Zarate really isn't that great. Very selfish player.

Kirnsy

Pinturicchio wrote: »

Zarate really isn't that great. Very selfish player.

I agree he's not great but he is very good. Not good enough for Argentina (not that that's saying a lot) but definetely would get into most of the other squads in the WC

Pinturicchio

Kirnsy wrote: »

I agree he's not great but he is very good. Not good enough for Argentina (not that that's saying a lot) but definetely would get into most of the other squads in the WC

Oh, without a doubt. He doesn't even compare to Messi, Milito, Higuain et al though.

Le King

Cambiasso Mascherano
Riquelme
Messi Higuain Tevez

What could of been.... Such a shame Cambiasso is continuously overlooked and Riquelme and Maradona will never see eye to eye.

LuckyLloyd

dreamers75 wrote: »

Goalkeepers
Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar)
Mariano Andújar (Catania)
Diego Pozo (Colón de Santa Fe)

Defenders
Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield)
Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich)
Walter Samuel (Inter)
Gabriel Heinze (Marseille)
Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes)
Nicolas Burdisso (Roma)
Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Newell's Old Boys)
Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle)
Ariel Garcé (Colón de Santa Fe)


Midfielders
Jonás Gutierrez (Newcastle)
Javier Mascherano (Liverpool)
Juan Sebastian Verón (Estudiantes)
Angel Di María (Benfica)
Maria Bolatti (Fiorentina)
Javier Pastore (Palermo)
Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors)
Jose Sosa (Estudiantes)
Sebastián Blanco (Lanus)
Jesús Datolo (Olympiakos)
Maximiliano Rodriguez (Liverpool)


Strikers
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Gonzalo Higuaín (Real Madrid)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Diego Milito (Inter)
Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors)
Sergio Agüero (Atletico Madrid)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)


Dodgy back four and unknown midfield (i mean noone knows it only Diego).


Think the other Milito is fit atm which tbh depends on the wind today.

Xavi6

No place for Mad Zab either

Kirnsy

Osu wrote: »

Cambiasso Mascherano
Riquelme
Messi Higuain Tevez

What could of been.... Such a shame Cambiasso is continuously overlooked and Riquelme and Maradona will never see eye to eye.

That would have been my team with Veron in instead of Riquelme.



Then I saw I had left Aguero out .... and I rate Milito extremely highly. So I can't make up my mind!

SlickRic

Kirnsy wrote: »

Has Maradona ever explained why he's not picked Cambiasso Slick?

Maradona wrote: »

“I don’t have him for my team. It’s a matter of tastes. I don’t have anything against the kid, on the contrary, I’ve known him since he was little, but no. Because of the position where Cambiasso plays, on the left side, it doesn’t seduce me.”

this was in 2009 to the Argentinian Press i think.

obviously he's blissfully unaware of the fact he's one of the best central midfielders in the world.

no idea about Zanetti. Zanetti played for a while under him, then was left out of a squad a while ago, never to be seen again.

Pinturicchio

SlickRic wrote: »

this was in 2009 to the Argentinian Press i think.

obviously he's blissfully unaware of the fact he's one of the best central midfielders in the world.

no idea about Zanetti. Zanetti played for a while under him, then was left out of a squad a while ago, never to be seen again.

That Maradona quote makes no sense. Left side? For Inter, he actually plays to the right of Thiago Motta most of the time.

Nalz

Coloccini and Demichelis are awful imo

SlickRic

Pinturicchio wrote: »

That Maradona quote makes no sense. Left side? For Inter, he actually plays to the right of Thiago Motta most of the time.

i know.

it's genius.

here's the link to the article it's from.

http://pasionalbiceleste.wordpress.com/2009/07/28/maradona-on-cambiasso/

Kirnsy

SlickRic wrote: »

this was in 2009 to the Argentinian Press i think.

obviously he's blissfully unaware of the fact he's one of the best central midfielders in the world.

no idea about Zanetti. Zanetti played for a while under him, then was left out of a squad a while ago, never to be seen again.

Imagine....two Newcastle players Championship Winners are going to the WC while two players who will be named on the Champions League Team of the Tournament and potential treble winners....are left at home. :eek:



Nothing against Newcastle by the way !

Gillington

dreamers75 wrote: »

Goalkeepers

Diego Pozo (Colón de Santa Fe)

Defenders

Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Newell's Old Boys)

Ariel Garcé (Colón de Santa Fe)


Midfielders

Juan Mercier (Argentinos Juniors)





.

Never heard of any of those before which is a weird thing to say of an Argentina team

Exclamation Marc

I'm a huge Argentina fan, been following them for years, and throughout this qualifying campaign.

Cambiasso, Zanetti, Diaz, Lucho even Aimar deserve to be in this squad far more than half the players here.

I've no idea why these players have been overlooked, especially Cambiasso not even getting a chance under Maradona, especially when players like Ariel Ortega are consistently getting chances to show off.

I really think Maradona is going to have to take this team far in the WC otherwise with the talent he's left behind, he'll get the sack. Mercier for example has only played two friendlies for Argentina and is unexceptional at best, whilst Cambiasso has been a lynchpin in one of Europe's best leagues. Pastore has no caps.

As far as I know, Zanetti questioned Maradona's tactics in a very fair and relaxed manner after Paraguay beat them and that was the end of him under Maradona (and likely his international career at his age.

I can see this going very very bad for Argentina, considering the only players who have seemed to shine under Maradona are Higuain and Palermo when he's used as a sub. Tevez, Aguero and Messi have gone missing on several occasions this qualifying campaign and the defence is creaking, and as someone else said, will be seriously exposed to pace.

mayordenis

The odds tonight stand at an unprecedented 1000 to 0. A bet of zero dollars on Argentina pays 1000 dollars if they win. Still, very few takers.

Exclamation Marc

mayordenis wrote: »

The odds tonight stand at an unprecedented 1000 to 0. A bet of zero dollars on Argentina pays 1000 dollars if they win. Still, very few takers.

Haha, its not even a value bet at that.

It's such a shame though, if Cambiasso, Zanetti, Diaz and Riquelme had gone to this World Cup, Argentina really would have had a chance, but I really can't see how they'll get enough decent balls upto Higuain etc, or how Messi will be able to work his magic, when a lot of his supporting cast probably wouldn't make it into a top 4 team in any of the big leagues. Two of them are Championship players for Christ sake.

eagle eye

Trilla wrote: »

Coloccini and Demichelis are awful imo

Coloccini had a very good season in the Championship but it is the Championship and not the Premier League. Demichelis is a class act.

A Primal Nut

Coloccini ahead of Zanetti and Milito is rediculous. If they went with Zanetti-Milito-Samuel-Heintze they would have a back four as good as anyone else in the competition. Now, instead all we will here about is how Argentina have problems at the back.

Some team though all the same. Enough quality to win it.

Mezcita

Where the hell is Luciano Becchio?

Idiot Maradona. Obviously hasen't got a clue.

A Primal Nut

He seems to put a massive emphasis on home-based players as if to encourage the league's development. Rediculous.

eagle eye

A Primal Nut wrote: »

He seems to put a massive emphasis on home-based players as if to encourage the league's development. Rediculous.

The Argentinian league is very good. I wouldn't say its too far behind La liga and the Premier League and probably on a par with Serie A.

Pinturicchio

I find that highly unlikely.

eagle eye

Pinturicchio wrote: »

I find that highly unlikely.

Well I regularly watch the Premier League, La Liga, Serie A, the Argentine Primera Division, Brazilian Leagues, Mexican Leagues, MLS, the A-League, Champion's League, Europa League, Copa Libertadores, ACF Champion's League and the CONCACAF Champion's League. I don't follow Dutch, German, Belgian or French Leagues, watch very little Portugese although I'd watch games between the top sides.

A lot of players that come to Europe from Argentina look better in Europe than they did in Argentina, some don't of course but usually thats more often because they are at a very big club or they are homesick.

Its very similar to Serie A in that a lot of teams are defene first teams. I personally reckon though that if there was a real world club competition that River Plate, Independiente and Estudiantes would go very deep on the tournament and of course Argentinos Juniors who have been brilliant this year.

Stky10

Any squad with Heinze in it will win nothing. Good player in the past, but now way way past his best. That he's a likely starter says it all

Frisbee

No Cambiasso is mad.

Would have liked to see D. Milito and Perotti get a spot too. It's a shame Riquelme won't get called up, I'd definitely have him in ahead of Veron.

Ush1

Stky10 wrote: »

Any squad with Heinze in it will win nothing. Good player in the past, but now way way past his best. That he's a likely starter says it all

Guess that's why Marseille have done so crap this yeah...oh wait....

Ush1

No Aimar, Saviola or Perroti is dissapointing. Delighted to see Lavezzi in there. Would love to see him, Messi, Aguero et all clicking, like loads of fast ants running around.

Catenaccio!

eagle eye wrote: »

I personally reckon though that if there was a real world club competition that River Plate would go very deep on the tournament

Did you type in the wrong club name or something? Any time I've seen them recently, they've been dire. And I generally find the Argentine League to be pretty poor all round. 18 games, 8 defeats, scored 15 and conceded 16. Would be a shambles against proper sides.

Eirebear

A Primal Nut wrote: »

He seems to put a massive emphasis on home-based players as if to encourage the league's development. Rediculous.

I'm unsure what to make of this post.

The above conversation discusses the fact that he has included players from the lower leagues in England, so you theory is a little off there.

Even so, surely promoting your own countries leagues is a good thing? It can hardly be described as ridiculous can it?

I understand that he should be picking the best players available to him, however he wouldnt be the first manager to let home based players take precedence.

Ush1

Eirebear wrote: »

I'm unsure what to make of this post.

The above conversation discusses the fact that he has included players from the lower leagues in England, so you theory is a little off there.

Even so, surely promoting your own countries leagues is a good thing? It can hardly be described as ridiculous can it?

I understand that he should be picking the best players available to him, however he wouldnt be the first manager to let home based players take precedence.

If he is doing it to the detriment of the team, which I think he is, it's clearly not a good thing.

Little hidden agendas that managers have can absolutely destroy squads.

Eirebear

Ush1 wrote: »

If he is doing it to the detriment of the team, which I think he is, it's clearly not a good thing.

Little hidden agendas that managers have can absolutely destroy squads.

Im not defending Maradonna's decisions here, to leave out Cambiasso is an amazingly stupid decision imo.

The post just confuses me thats all.

Exclamation Marc

Eirebear wrote: »

I'm unsure what to make of this post.

The above conversation discusses the fact that he has included players from the lower leagues in England, so you theory is a little off there.

Even so, surely promoting your own countries leagues is a good thing? It can hardly be described as ridiculous can it?

I understand that he should be picking the best players available to him, however he wouldnt be the first manager to let home based players take precedence.

I think promoting home grown players is good if they are able to make the cut, however if you're trying to win the World Cup, you take the best players at your disposal, otherwise you're detrimentally affecting your squad and your chances. Plus some of these local players will probably get little pitch-time, one hasn't even played for the team yet, so leaving out key players is just poor management.

Warper

Whatever about his mad cap tactics and selections it is going to be great entertainment having Maradona at the World Cup.

patmac

mayordenis wrote: »

The odds tonight stand at an unprecedented 1000 to 0. A bet of zero dollars on Argentina pays 1000 dollars if they win. Still, very few takers.

Must be worth a punt on Nigeria, South Korea and Greece to win that group.

RandolphEsq

If Argentina could play all their attackers A-LA Pro Evolution Soccer, they would destroy every team

That_Guy

Personally I'm delighted that Colo and Jonas have been included. Both had incredibly good seasons for us this season.