Argentine NT

i love argentina because of the one and only Maradona, in fact, had it not been for watching maradona at the age of 6 scoring with his hand, then takin on the entire English defence.. i probably wouldnt be here talking bout football today God Bless the fat git.

I love argentina because Teee loves them.. and Teee is the BEST

j/k

the thing i dont understand about argentina is the fact that they got LOADS of talent... the messi's... the aguero's.... yet none have been able to fill maradona's shoes

lol that was quick!

the answer is actually coded in your question ahmed.

It is because Maradona is actually a curse to every new talent that comes out in argentina.. i cant be bothered to count how many players i have known to be dubbed the tag 'new maradona'- the sheer weight of expectation is what buries these players.

another explanation, at least in recent seasons is in my opinion manager's consistent failures to use their players effectively. What springs to mind here is the world cup 2006, against Germany in the quarters.. Argentina leading Germany 0-1, then Riquelme gets replaced, along with another attacking player, on come 2 defensive players and that was the end for argentina. The manager decided to 'protect' his thin lead, the gamble failed miserably.. not to mention the little detail that he actually left Messi on the bench for the entire game.. that was more unforgiveable.

also, the team relies (too heavily I think) on the efforts and creativity of Riquelme; for me this player is a genius, unfortunately he is the 1 they look up to for inspiration when things do not go argentina's way (in the same way Gerrard is for liverpool)- and even though he plays well as a play maker consistently, the finishing touches from his team mates dont always match his creativity. Gerrard doesnt tend to get the same blame Riquelme gets if argentina fail *0-3 defeat in coupa America.

but i do not worry about Argentina no more, least of all because they're notoriously unpredictable (in the same way ronnie o'sullivan is with snooker)- they were THE team in Coupa America, easily the best team throughout the tournament up until the final.

the other reason i tend not to worry about them is because, similar to brasil, Argentina is capable of producing at least two world class first 11, although they dont have anybody similar to Riquelme or Messi in sheer talent. Still, many young players come through on regular basis for Argentina, Aguero, that kid who is currently playing for Napoli also seems genuine class. Maradona won them the cup with his performances but he sure had a good team around him, to win the world cup again they need a good manager above all, i think. Because there will never be another maradona just like there will never be another Pele or another Zidane.

Every legend makes his own name; once france stopped looking for their 'new platini' a genius named Zidane came out of nowhere to inspire them to world cup glory, but if france began looking for a 'new zizo' then french football will not win the world cup for decades to come.

Had Brasil dubbed their up coming stars the 'new Pele', Brasil wouldnt have won the world cup since his days. Argentina needs to move on, if they get a genius who will inspire them to world cup glory then he'll join the world's ellite list of legends, the heirarchy what won the world cup almost single handedly- then he wont be called the 'new maradona'- he'll have his own name that players will generate more inspiration for the younger generation.

that was also quick... and quite an impressive post.

im promoting you

lol

i take it ur a boca fan aswell?

i like boca because of maradona n stuff.. but i been dyin 2 buy River Plate's top (prefer addidas to nike) lol

cool shirt ...

do you know anything about this gerardo bruno guy?

http://www.goal.com/en/articolo.aspx?contenutoid=430516

i read the article, i must confess i know NOTHING about this kid :S

source: Goal.com

Messi Eager To Link Up With Riquelme On-form Lionel Messi arrived in Buenos Aires late on Monday in anticipation of Argentina's match with Chile on Saturday...

Lionel Messi (pictured) flew into Buenos Aires last night with victory for the national team on his mind.

While the young forward has been on form with Barcelona lately, he insisted that Argentina was now his primary concern.

The albiceleste face Chile on Saturday, Messi remarking, "I've come here full of desire to play well and win."

The Rosario-born striker shared a flight with teammate Gabriel Milito, as well as Atletico Madrid pair Maxi Rodriguez and Sergio 'Kun' Aguero, whom he played against in Barca's 3-0 weekend win.

In addition to this Spain-based quartet, there is one other notable Argentinian making his way over from Iberia: Riquelme.

The Villarreal playmaker is still frozen out at club level but national team coach Alfio Basile has called him up regardless.

Messi supported the decision, saying, "He is a great addition in terms of everything that he means for the squad."

Lionel has 22 caps and 6 goals for Argentina, while Riquelme, 9 years his senior, has 41, netting 13 times.

Getafe goalkeeps Pato Abbondanzieri and Oscar Ustari, and defender Cata Diaz further expand the Liga contingent, along with Gabriel Heinze, Fernando Gago, and Javier Saviola of Real Madrid, and Jonas Gutierrez of Real Mallorca.

Fabricio Coloccini of Deportivo La Coruna completes the set of 13 players, over half the current squad, to have come from Spain for the meeting with Chile.

how old is requilme... seriously.. shouldnt they get someone younger to start getting used to NT games

he's 29. younger than Ballack

problem is there is nobody as creative as him at the moment in argentina (similar to messi)

we have a defender and LW/ST at hand

have you checked out Sebastian Leto?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/squad/leto/


or Emiliano Insua?

http://www.liverpoolfc.tv/team/squad/insua/


leto played a couple of games for the first team... and is starting to impress

Leto came from Lanus, he's good but *and i hope im wrong, he may need some time to adapt. i watched his last game for liverpool and i wasnt entirely convinced. his tactical side may need some work but im all for him (as an argentina fan of course) because he can cross, and he's quicker than Kewl.

problem with rafa is that he buys potentially good young players, but unfortunately their chances of making the step up are not high nor encouraging for any future targets (remember paletta) and this will damage our reputation in south america, players wont wanna come to liverpool because of this)

its not his fault if the players dont live up to expectations...

not ALL the young players were let off..

remember sissoko? he was 20 when rafa bought him..

same with lucas leiva.. he doesnt look like hes going anywhere..

agger? same thing... he did well, and now he's #1 CB

i agree with u that rafa hasnt bought the best players from south america... palletta should not have gone back i think, but maybe he needs more playing time and experience..

leto SHOULD be our next kewell .. cuz babel is more of a striker than a winger

yes, but Sissoko didnt come from south america, neither did Agger. questions over our scouts? i dont know. Leiva, i cant wait for him to break in but in order for him to come in difficult decisions have to be made (who will he drop in midfield)- we already have a problem with our strikers, you push Babbel in, you push either Veronin or Kuyt out (coz crouch wont be with us for much longer), i think his pace on the wing is needed but you never know with rafa. Pennant.. i was unsure about him when he signed as i am today. we need a Quarisma, a Robben.. not Pennant.

man i dont know. thinking about it is giving me a headache but even Gerrard isnt playing near his best, and that's hard to take. The last 2 goals we conceded against Tottenham were because Hyypia lost both headers to Berbatov.. just going for the header was risky because he left a gap- winning the headers were a must, Berbatov flickd, Hyypia out of position, free space for opposition = goals.
problem is We have nobody in cover for Hyypia the pensioner and Carra.. arbeola can play there im told.. has he played there yet?

arbeola isnt the solution...

we need

1- a good CB... like agger, young, strong, can only improve
2- a replacement for kewell ( we have babel.. but im not convinced rafa should play him as a striker not as a winger)

3- i dont see anything wrong with pennant, the guy WANTS to play.. he IS improving...

i dont know about crouch... we have 2 VERY STRONG strikers this season...

torres is the BEST STRIKER... and realistically speaking, he should ALWAYS PLAY the BIG IMPORTANT MATCHES

crouch should learn to partner voronin or kuyt and help beat shitty teams.

from Goal.com

Aguero And Riquelme Guide Argentina Past Bolivia Argentina 3-0 Bolivia

A goal from Sergio Aguero and a brace from Juan Roman Riquelme saw Argentina run out comfortable 3-0 winners against Bolivia...

Argentina, who were unveiling their new kit (see image), almost went ahead in the 12th minute despite a disjointed start, but Carlos Tevez couldn't reach a dangerous Juan Roman Riquelme free-kick at the far post.
Bolivia, who lost 5-0 to Uruguay in the first round of the qualifiers, didn't sit back, and threatened the Argentina goal with a pair of good opportunities.
After the first twenty minutes, Argentina finally settled down and put together a number of fine passes, and began playing the football they have been of late.
Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi looked the most promising of their eleven players, with quite a few outstanding bursting runs through the centre of the field. However, the all important first goal was yet to come.
The Bolivians, who were backed by a massive following at the Monumental stadium, were happy to slow it down, and looked rather comfortable on the ball, while Argentina seemed to be trying too hard to score.
In the 38th minute Messi almost put Argentina ahead, but just shot wide after a brilliant collective move.
Two minutes later, Argentina finally took the lead when Sergio Aguero headed home at the far post after Martin Demichelis nodded the ball on to him following a smart cross from Tevez.
Argentina went into the break with a slender 1-0 advantage, and took the initiative immediately after the restart. They almost went further ahead inside the first few minutes, but Riquelme's outstanding free-kick was tipped over the crossbar.
Moments later Riquelme had another dead ball opportunity and this time made no mistake, curling the ball into the back of the net to put his team 2-0 up.
The albicelete took full control thereon, and capped it off with a superb third goal.
Messi - who had been lively throughout - burst forward from the halfway line and made his way to the right edge of the box before playing the ball to Riquelme, who calmly curled it into the far corner to grab his second.
That was that, as the saying goes. Argentina move to nine points from three games, yet to concede a goal.

Gregory Sica, Goal.com

Argentina now top the south american group so far with 9 points in 3 games.

Yet to concede a goal.

amazing stuff.... i wish aguerro would join us by the end of the season, the guy is simply amazin.. and would be an ideal replacement for yossi.

argentina have a team that could potentially win the WC..

they've always dominated in south america.. buy for some reason, when theyre in the wC.. things start to go wrong :s

they need to develop that winner mentality which clearly deserted them; 13 or 14 years without a trophy says it all. They had a good team in Germany but the manager screwed up. They had the best team in Copa America but they flopped against Brazil (in a rather annoying sequence which saw argentina lose their last 4 meetings v Brasil)- Although Brasil resorted to fouling (more than 30 fouls) to stop argentina's fluency and passing, it worked.

anyway i came to update;
argentina lost their last game against Colombia 2-1, another fantastic goal by messi to add to his collection in a game argentina pretty much dominated but 2 counter attacks resulted in goals.

Argentina played with 10 men, Teves was sent off for a silly challenge early on.

Argentina are still top of the group i believe, will get confirmation of the tables soon.

i still believe in argentina.. i believe their players are just as good as brazils or any other top national team.

but it seems nowadays that it isnt PLAYERS than win you trophies... but rather... MANAGERS

look at italy... head to head.. you'd have to say brazil/france/even argentina have better players than italy

but where do the italians stand out? management

lippi to be more specific.

they have good managers... they know what to do...

look at england... brilliant players.. lots of potential.. but they cant settle with a manager

maybe its becuz of the media and all over there.. but still.. it just goes to show how important a good manager is to a team.

ofcoarse you have exceptional players... that can take over the managers role and bring it to the field and run the show.. eg zidane

france were lead by zizu to the world cup final.... not by their dumb manager...

look at them now ... completely LOST

i knw.. you can tell just by watching them how much they miss Zidane.. i was watchin him play a couple of days ago in a charity match.. he's stil got it.. i should look him up begging him to come back to football