Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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by Tim Vickery | 11 November, 2017
Despite qualification struggles, there are signs of encouragement for Argentina

Qualification for the World Cup is one thing. The tournament is another.

Brazil in 2002 give the best example. Their qualification campaign was a protracted nightmare, and without a little bit of luck along the way they may not even have made it to Japan and South Korea. But once they got there, just seven months later they won all of their matches on the way to a fifth World Cup title.

Might Argentina be capable of something similar this time around? Their road to Russia was arduous and painful – and only a magnificent last day hat-trick from Lionel Messi away to Ecuador got them over the line. Now, though, they have time and tranquillity to aspire to something better. And they can look back on their reconnaissance mission with some pleasure. Saturday’s 1-0 win against Russia in Moscow was encouraging. There are signs of a team in progress, a unit consolidating an idea of play under Jorge Sampaoli, their third coach of the campaign.

Sampaoli took charge for the final four rounds looking to make big changes, but lacking any time on the training ground to bed them in. The consequences were shambolic. His track record, however, shows that he is a fascinatingly bold coach: a huge success with the Chilean national team and a relative success with Sevilla, who he abandoned after a single season to take charge of his the land of his birth.

His World Cup side will inevitably be dependent on the individual genius of Lionel Messi. But there were signs in the Russia game of a side capable of doing more than passing the ball to the No.10 and praying. There were little circuits of passing, opening up the pitch and creating space for Argentina’s possession game.

Javier Mascherano, who against Ecuador operated in the middle of the back three, now moved to the right. He orchestrated everything from deep – indeed, after half-time Russia took steps to close him down and stop Argentina’s attacks at source. Has a player’s range of passing ever been more underestimated? Mascherano’s more combative virtues are often highlighted – though as he moves into his mid-30s and loses pace they are perhaps not as outstanding as they once were. But it is his capacity to pass long and short that continues to make him so useful for club and country.

The slight positional switch helped Mascherano find more space to pick his pass. But the most important change made by Sampaoli was one of personnel – the return of Sergio Aguero at centre-forward.


A debate has raged in Argentina about who should fill this position. Should it be Gonzalo Higuain? Sampaoli thinks not, and has already gone with Mauro Icardi and Dario Benedetto. The answer, though is simple; one of the hidden statistics of Argentina’s troubled qualification campaign is that Messi and Aguero only started together on two occasions. Both were victories.

And Aguero effectively put the debate to bed with a man of the match performance in Moscow. He carried a persistent threat, forcing two fine first half saves from Igor Akinfeev. He linked the play well, holding the ball up and creating good chances for Messi and Angel Di Maria. And he was rewarded with the late winner, nodding in from the rebound after his shot from Cristian Pavon’s low cross had been blocked. There was a suspicion of offside – Pavon looked to be behind the defensive line when Messi slipped him a pass. The win, though, was fair reward for Argentina’s domination.

That does not mean everything is suddenly perfect, though. Far from it. There are still serious structural problems for the coach to wrestle with over the coming months.

The major one is this: does he have the defensive pace to play the Sampaoli way? His teams like to press furiously, imposing themselves on the game and keeping the opponent pinned back in their half. But without much speed in their back three, the Argentina defensive line stay deep. The team are unable to press collectively, Messi often picks up possession far from goal and the wing-backs are forced to cover massive distances. In the absence of good attacking full-backs, Argentina use wingers in these positions. Against Russia Eduardo Salvio played on the right and Angel Di Maria on the left.

Their lack of defensive nous can be exposed – one of Argentina’s worst moments came from a free-kick needlessly conceded on the edge of the area from Salvio. It also seems a waste of Di Maria, who was much better used in a floating role in the previous match against Ecuador, when he combined to wonderful effect with Messi.

Argentina stay in Russia for a few days, facing Nigeria on Tuesday – another opportunity for Jorge Sampaoli to look at options, further consolidate his idea of play and hope that they will have made more progress by the time they come back for the World Cup.


Tim Vickery covers South American football for the BBC and ESPN. He has lived in Brazil for over 20 years.
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“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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Which one consign agbero with overload? Mods, please move this nonsense to problems and solutions section. Thanks.
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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green4life wrote:Which one consign agbero with overload? Mods, please move this nonsense to problems and solutions section. Thanks.
You can tell Kaabelacha has a big thing for Argentina.
Even when we beat them he was more concerned about what they did wrong than what we did right.
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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Damunk wrote:
green4life wrote:Which one consign agbero with overload? Mods, please move this nonsense to problems and solutions section. Thanks.
You can tell Kaabelacha has a big thing for Argentina.
Even when we beat them he was more concerned about what they did wrong than what we did right.
A lot of Naija are under the illusion that they beat a very good Argentina team.
I'm just trying to keep them grounded in reality. :D
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
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Post by Odas »

Kabalega wrote:
Damunk wrote:
green4life wrote:Which one consign agbero with overload? Mods, please move this nonsense to problems and solutions section. Thanks.
You can tell Kaabelacha has a big thing for Argentina.
Even when we beat them he was more concerned about what they did wrong than what we did right.
A lot of Naija are under the illusion that they beat a very good Argentina team.
I'm just trying to keep them grounded in reality. :D
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Why are you concerned about that, Chief?
And the BIBLE says: The race is NOT for the swift, neither is the battle for the strong nor ... but time and chance makes them all.
Ecclesiastes 1:18: For in much wisdom is much grief and he that increases knowledge increases sorrow.
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

Post by Kako »

Odas wrote:
Kabalega wrote:
Damunk wrote:
green4life wrote:Which one consign agbero with overload? Mods, please move this nonsense to problems and solutions section. Thanks.
You can tell Kaabelacha has a big thing for Argentina.
Even when we beat them he was more concerned about what they did wrong than what we did right.
A lot of Naija are under the illusion that they beat a very good Argentina team.
I'm just trying to keep them grounded in reality. :D
:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: Why are you concerned about that, Chief?
Na bad belle.
A lot of indigestion. :mrgreen:
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

Post by Polly »

Actually, whatever is Kabalega's motive, he does a good job by Nigeria. Vickery's article was crafted after Argentina beat Russia in Krasnodar, and before Nigeria came to town. He wrote about England in the week after that. Perhaps this week, he will write about Nigeria (whatever he chooses to say), or about the promise of Argentina on the way to 2018.

This, for sure, is indisputable: in Russia, Nigeria will be aiming to play seven matches, and will play with great self-belief.
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

Post by Ayo Akinfe »

Polly wrote:Actually, whatever is Kabalega's motive, he does a good job by Nigeria. Vickery's article was crafted after Argentina beat Russia in Krasnodar, and before Nigeria came to town. He wrote about England in the week after that. Perhaps this week, he will write about Nigeria (whatever he chooses to say), or about the promise of Argentina on the way to 2018.

This, for sure, is indisputable: in Russia, Nigeria will be aiming to play seven matches, and will play with great self-belief.
Gbam! It helps immensely to have a critic giving you a differing opinion, especially because our people are very excitable and get carried away easily. When everyone is drifting with the tide and sheepishly marching in the same direction in line with the beat of the brass band, it helps to have a voice urging caution, even if it was precipitated by bad belle, envy, jealousy or mischief.
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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Ayo Akinfe wrote:
Polly wrote:Actually, whatever is Kabalega's motive, he does a good job by Nigeria. Vickery's article was crafted after Argentina beat Russia in Krasnodar, and before Nigeria came to town. He wrote about England in the week after that. Perhaps this week, he will write about Nigeria (whatever he chooses to say), or about the promise of Argentina on the way to 2018.

This, for sure, is indisputable: in Russia, Nigeria will be aiming to play seven matches, and will play with great self-belief.
Gbam! It helps immensely to have a critic giving you a differing opinion, especially because our people are very excitable and get carried away easily. When everyone is drifting with the tide and sheepishly marching in the same direction in line with the beat of the brass band, it helps to have a voice urging caution, even if it was precipitated by bad belle, envy, jealousy or mischief.
:rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
Did the real Ayo post this? I had to check multiple times.

Anyway, my motivations were pure.
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

Post by Senator WIRES »

i listen to Tim Vickery every friday night on BBC Radio 5 Live with Dotun Adebayor... world football show. Tim is full of himself when it comes to south American soccer, but i think he is doing a PR thing for this Argentine coach!! :lol: :lol:
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Re: Argentina: There are signs of encouragement Despite...

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Senator WIRES wrote:i listen to Tim Vickery every friday night on BBC Radio 5 Live with Dotun Adebayor... world football show. Tim is full of himself when it comes to south American soccer, but i think he is doing a PR thing for this Argentine coach!! :lol: :lol:
Is Tim Vickery wrong in his analyses?
You know he gets most of his info from knowledgable people on the ground.
He's been at it for a while now that he has a reliable rolodex of "experts" to call up on.
“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him. Pretend to be weak, that he may grow arrogant.”- Sun Tzu

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