OT: What position should Masche play for Argentina?

Current CBs in Batista's list: Rojo, Pareja, Garay, Milito & Burdisso
Current Midfielders in Batista's list: Cambiasso, Biglia, Masche, Banega, Gago, Pastore, Valeri
Likely formation: 4-3-3

Should play at CB but will play at DM

Defensive midfielder, because they dont have another type of him to fill the DM spot, so he can move at CB.

as i said in the RM forums,it would be a spit in the face of the argentine cbs that got called up...

First of all alfred, you made a slight mistake, I think rojo is a LB(at least to the best of my knowledge)

He can play as CB, and play banega, Pastore, Gago(?) in midfield. If cambiasso is fit then he can play instead of Gago but I think it is imperative for Batista to allow banega and pastore to get chemistry(although with Lamela coming through, one of them will probably would have to give way for a game or two but this is for copa)

Banega CAN be a DM but he is more a CM and a deep lying playmaker

Marcos Rojo can play CB, which is why I included him in the options. But he will likely play LB for the NT.

Romero
Zanetti-Masch-Milito-Rojo
pastore-cambiasso-banega
maria/kun-messi-tevez

Milito shouldn't be even on the squad list, Batista is crazy to call him up

Otamendi can play

He wasn't called up

the 22man list isnt out yet right?

I don't think so, but the 26 is

..... Aguero Messi Tevez
Banega Pastore Cambiasso
XXXXX XXXXX Masche XXXXX

they need masch more as CB than as DM.cambiasso and banega can hold the midfield.it should be like this

-----------------------romero------------------------
--------zabaleta------masch----burdisso-----zanetti---
------------------cambiasso-------banega-------------
--------------------------------pastore---------------------
----------------messi------------higuain----------di maria

-Masch - Cambiasso-
----------Messi---------

Midfield would be ruthless.

alfred, that's a very good question.

Let's consider the midfield first. Banega is very important here but he is not a proper DM as such. Cambiasso by his side is a good idea but the Inter player's form and fitness levels have been questioned in the last few months. Some of you are suggesting Pastore but I don't think Batista trusts Pastore to be able to hold the midfield for 90 minutes. I have come to this conclusion because there doesn't seem to be any other explanation why he plays with such a static midfield and over-burdens Messi. So in that sense Batista is likely to play Mascherano as DM. However Argentina isn't exactly rich in CBs and Mascherano has done well in that position this season. As of this moment I will probably trust him more in that positiion than most others in the squad. A few may be talented but hardly have any top level experience. Hence this kind of role can't be ruled out either. Since the question of the poll is what you want I can't decide what to vote. If Cambiasso is fully fit and in form then I could go for the CB option. However who will be the third midfielder since I am not sure I trust Pastore enough.

well JD i dont know how argentina can keep winning with this kind of a static midfield.this is one more example of how they dont know to use messi.

as for pastore he is the best available attacking midfielder right now.

The third midfielder could be a DM in the mold of Biglia or Gago if Batista wishes to keep the same kind of format. I personally see Pastore as being a super-sub type in Batista's eyes and actually see him getting the most minutes amongst the subs, but not necessarily a starter.

I'm also wondering how important experience with the other CB is, and whether any of the possible 4 have it. As it stands right now, I don't think Argentina can boast of having a 'CB partnership'. Perhaps this would be easier to build with 2 players who have played the role all their lives? If Masche is not used as a CB, I think it should be Parejo + Burdisso, simply because they get regular football and have years worth of experience that Garay doesn't. Milito does not factor into my considerations, but I worry that he does for Batista.

Even so, right now I think we would be better off with Mascherano in the CB slot, simply because there is more quality to replace in the midfield than in the back.

Biglia impressed me against USA, but I hope he starts Pastore or Tino Costa in the midfield alongside Banega and Cambiasso.

I don't think Costa was even called up.

That's pretty harsh, I did see him play against Nigeria though he was the only player on the pitch with some actual life honestly.

i was really surprised on how batista used their last 2 friendlies before copa america to test argentina B/C.He should have used the full squad to test the midfield and defense

Machete?

Left back.......















in the changing room

sagnik92 wrote:well JD i dont know how argentina can keep winning with this kind of a static midfield.this is one more example of how they dont know to use messi.

as for pastore he is the best available attacking midfielder right now.

sagnik, I think Argentina has only won a couple of high profile friendlies so far and let's not read too much into it. Competitive matches will be a totally different matter. I really can't see this formation working out well but I do hope Batista proves me completely wrong. I agree with what you say about Pastore but apart from there being better players in other countries what's worse is that he does not seem to have Batista's trust. As of now I see this team modeled almost completely on Messi playing a Maradona-esque one man show type of role.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:The third midfielder could be a DM in the mold of Biglia or Gago if Batista wishes to keep the same kind of format. I personally see Pastore as being a super-sub type in Batista's eyes and actually see him getting the most minutes amongst the subs, but not necessarily a starter.

I'm also wondering how important experience with the other CB is, and whether any of the possible 4 have it. As it stands right now, I don't think Argentina can boast of having a 'CB partnership'. Perhaps this would be easier to build with 2 players who have played the role all their lives? If Masche is not used as a CB, I think it should be Parejo + Burdisso, simply because they get regular football and have years worth of experience that Garay doesn't. Milito does not factor into my considerations, but I worry that he does for Batista.

Even so, right now I think we would be better off with Mascherano in the CB slot, simply because there is more quality to replace in the midfield than in the back.

alfred, wonderful post.

I had forgotten about Gago but you are right. The problem with Gago and Garay is that while they are players that are considered suitable they just haven't played enough during the season. I too think that Batista takes G.Milito more seriously than we do.

I am not sure if I can agree with your conclusion. dani says repeatedly Mascherano will struggle against tall forwards with a physical presence and I think he is quite right. Maybe we need to do a proper comparison to see if the squad has enough CBs who can do any better. Since I don't know much about the local players, you, shini or someone else can help here.