+1
Not to kick a dead horse, but wtf Argies? How are you not up by 3 on Bolivia and worse yet down 1-0?
+1
I am just frustrated by our play. We SHOULD have lost to Columbia 3-0 and were LUCKY AS HELL to escape with a point.
What it REALLY comes down to is coaching and playing style.
This team has played like $h!t since Peckerman resigned after the '06 WC.
We have too many players who don't play the classic Argentinean style of the Triangle offense and I do think that b/c of the heavy European influence. We should start just playing more of our national league players than these spoiled top $$$ players who just don't play with passion for the national team.
At this point, and I'm sure I'm alone on this, Messi has DONE NOTHING to prove he belongs on the national team. let alone starting. He might as well become a Spanish citizen and dawn the Red&Yellow since he ONLY shows up for Barce![]()
I understand your frustration in seeing play the way he does with Barcelona, then be the shell of himself on the national team. I haven't seen any games since Maradona left. Where are they playing him?
I'd like to see how many touches he gets per game with the national team vs. when he plays with Barcelona. I'm guessing he gets half as many touches. I think he needs to be a real n°10 right behind 2 strikers. You can't have a guy that decisive be just a striker and wait for the right pass to come. It works in Barcelona because he has Iniesta and Xavi.
In that game what stood out to me was midfield play. I didn't see many good balls thru/forward. Messi and Tevez were counted on dribble past way too many defenders.
Oh, and damn the auto-correct! Thread title should read "Copa Thread"
JOEL CAMPBELL *****ES!!!!
of course, i expect a much different result against Argentina on Monday. they're gonna come out with everything they've got to try and redeem themselves in front of their home crowd.
methinks it could get ugly for CR![]()
Yeah, can't say I didn't see that coming. after playing like crap the first two games Argentina completely changed their scheme, going with 3 forwards and getting the ball to Messi much earlier in the play.
we did a solid job of holding them in the first half, and if we could've kept it scoreless going into the break the crowd would've turned on them and we might have been able to exploit that pressure to steal a goal. but they got a lucky bounce right to Kun and he scored just before the half. teh pressure was lifted, teh stadium was rocking, our U-22 side didn't stand a chance (and our 'A' side wouldn't have fared much better).
in the end, 3-0 was more than fair and it could've been much worse if Higuain had converted some easy chances. we can still go through if venezuela beats paraguay, but chances are slim.
Uraguay getting cornholed. Between the red card and a "cleared" goal they should be burning down the stadium shortly. Messi has looked amazing in ball distribution though.
Argentina OUT
Brazil OUT
Wow, Messi now officially has a huge problem with the national team.
I watched the penalty shoot out between Brasil and Paraguay, LMAO. Brasil missed all 4 shots (1 save and 3 complete misses).
Messi's problem with the national team is that he doesn't have Xavi and Iniesta doing the heavy lifting and setting him up to score. with Argentina, he's the one who has to take on that role, as a result he plays further back from goal and doesn't get nearly as many open looks.
he did a great job of handling the ball and setting people up against Costa Rica and Uruguay, he had 3 gorgeous assists and could've had 2-3 more if Higuain and Pastore had converted some very easy looks. but even then, there's something missing. it's like he hasn't found a way to raise the team's level of play, but rather his own level is lowered to that of the rest of the team.
people want to see that 'Barcelona Messi' when he plays for Argentina, but he doesn't have that Barcelona structure with the national team, and he hasn't found a way to compensate for that yet. still, he was far and away Argentina's best player in the tournament, but he'll get saddled with most of the blame for their failure.
speaking of failure, wtf happened to Brazil on the PK's???
they played a great match overall, and had like 5 clear chances in the second half that Paraguay always managed to block/save/deflect at the last possible moment.
and then they had a complete meltdown in the shootout. i've never seen anything like that happen to Brazil.
Well this will certainly please the anti-soccer crowd: Paraguay gets into the Final without winning a single game.
So what? They're a great defensive team; defense is supposedly one of the fundamental cornerstones of the American sports culture -- "defense wins championships" and what not.
If they're gonna hate on soccer because a great defensive team got to the final, they're gonna hate on soccer regardless.
I say good for Paraguay for knowing their strengths and being true to their game. It's not the "beautiful game" the fans may want to see, but it's gotten them great results the past few years. They've become south america's version of Italy.
Props to Bit' who saw the coming of age of Uruguay. :thumbsup:
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