OFFTOPIC: Copa America 2011

In this Thread, we will discuss all Copa America matches, expectations etc..
Also, I would like to know which teams do u support & why

Friendly:

Argentina 4 - 0 Albania

`Goals:
Lavezzi (assist by Messi)
Messi ( assist by Lavezzi)
Aguero (assist by Messi)
Tevez (assist by Aguero)


`Line-up:
Romero
Zanetti, Burdisso, Milito, Rojo
Mascherano, Biglia, Banega
Lavezzi, Messi, Di Maria


`Substitution

46′ Rojo OUT Zabaleta
46′ Di María Tevez
46′ Biglia OUT Gago IN
61′Lavezzi OUT Agüero IN

So how much days are left till the tournament begins??

Btw, Argentina killed my national team :/

My thoughts on Argentina's friendly vs Albania

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Disappointed Pastore didn't get a show. If
Cambiasso doesn't make it in time, then Gago proved he deserves to start
over Biglia. He made a huge difference. The Messi-Aguero chemistry is
great, I also liked Lavezzi in the first half. I did not like Di Maria
and was not impressed by Tevez. Also, Zabaleta made a case for starting
over Rojo, who is really a CB.

I thought tevez wasn't so bad alfred.......He added some life to what was a very bland argentina side with messi being the only creative option(Understandable considering our midfield).

BarrileteCosmico wrote:My thoughts on Argentina's friendly vs Albania

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Disappointed Pastore didn't get a show. If
Cambiasso doesn't make it in time, then Gago proved he deserves to start
over Biglia. He made a huge difference. The Messi-Aguero chemistry is
great, I also liked Lavezzi in the first half. I did not like Di Maria
and was not impressed by Tevez. Also, Zabaleta made a case for starting
over Rojo, who is really a CB.

So.......


?

shinigami99 wrote:I thought tevez wasn't so bad alfred.......He added some life to what was a very bland argentina side with messi being the only creative option(Understandable considering our midfield).

Idk, I thought he was in a different wavelength than the rest of the team, but perhaps I am being overcritical.

@Mole yeah I would approve of that.

I think Batista made some great changes, I'm a bit disappointed Pastore didn't start though. It may be an early sign that he won't feature too much during the Copa.

Immaculate_Mole wrote:

Zanetti Burdisso Rojo Zabaleta
Mascherano Banega
Pastore
Lavezzi Messi Aguero

?

This

alfred and others, firstly I of course support Argentina.

Now about this match. I didn't watch it but will make a few comments based on what I know. Yes I want Zabaleta as right back. He is an unspectacular player but I have almost always found him to be a reliable one. We need someone other than G.Milito in central defense. I can't understand how Gago can play so well after barely kicking a ball all season. Still will he able to handle the intensity of competitive matches against much tougher opponents? As quite a few people here Pastore is probably an over-hyped player and Batista doesn't see him as very key. The forward line is open to debate as all are very good players. Messi is an incomparable genius. It's not impossible for him to win us WC 2014 in a Maradona-esque way.

Gago impressed everytime he's played for Argentina this year, its a shame his talent is wasted at Madrid, he's not a bad player, I remember watching him in his breakthrough year for the u20 world cup in which he played alongside Messi and Aguero and they won, he always distributed the ball superbly.

Immaculate_Mole wrote:

BarrileteCosmico wrote:My thoughts on Argentina's friendly vs Albania

BarrileteCosmico wrote:Disappointed Pastore didn't get a show. If
Cambiasso doesn't make it in time, then Gago proved he deserves to start
over Biglia. He made a huge difference. The Messi-Aguero chemistry is
great, I also liked Lavezzi in the first half. I did not like Di Maria
and was not impressed by Tevez. Also, Zabaleta made a case for starting
over Rojo, who is really a CB.

So.......

Zanetti Burdisso Rojo Zabaleta
Mascherano Banega
Pastore
Lavezzi Messi Aguero

?

it won't happen
Batista will definitely start with a 4-1-2-3 and when Argentina is on the ball the will switch to a three man defensive line with Mascherano playing between Burdisso and Milito just the way Barca play. Banega have a similar role to the one that Xavi plays for Barca, the only way to play Pastore is as a sub for Banega or if Argentina is chasing a Game. Pastore is not as good defensively as banega!
btw I agree with Alfred Gago should really start,if Cambiasso is not available, I was really impressed with his performance!!

Argentina's official final squad is given below. Do you think this is the best possible selection?


Goalkeepers

Juan Pable Carrizo (River Plate)
Mariano Andujar (Catania)
Sergio Romero (AZ)


Defenders

Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid)
Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City)
Nicolas Burdisso (Roma)
Gabriel Milito (Barcelona)
Javier Zanetti (Internazionale)
Nicolas Pareja (Spartak Moscow)
Marcos Rojo (Spartak Moscow)


Midfielders

Esteban Cambiasso (Internazionale)
Javier Mascherano (Barcelona)
Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht)
Javier Pastore (Palermo)
Ever Banega (Valencia)
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid)


Attackers

Angel di Maria (Real Madrid)
Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Carlos Tevez (Manchester City)
Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid)
Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)
Diego Milito (Internazionale)

Defence is shit, even Milito looks good there :O
Masche for CB, Zaneti for RB/LB. God help Argentina with rest of the defence. There is no Jonas Gutieres :S

Mid with Cambiasso, Banega and Pastore.

Front line: Messi, Tevez and Aguero is the best on paper, but Di Maria works more than Aguero, even he (di Maria) was shit on World Cup.
I think that front line will be chosen in last momen, depending on their form on Copa America, just like Spain's front line on World Cup (Torres out).

ChollaVille wrote:Defence is shit, even Milito looks good there :O
Masche for CB, Zaneti for RB/LB. God help Argentina with rest of the defence. There is no Jonas Gutieres :S

Mid with Cambiasso, Banega and Pastore.

Front line: Messi, Tevez and Aguero is the best on paper, but Di Maria works more than Aguero, even he (di Maria) was shit on World Cup.
I think that front line will be chosen in last momen, depending on their form on Copa America, just like Spain's front line on World Cup (Torres out).

The Defense is not that bad, Burdisso have been doing a decent job with Roma and Milito is not as bad as most of you think. Milito just need a Manager, who can give him his self-confidence back.
He was one of the best defender 2 years ago ffs. You don't go from being one of the best Defender to crap in two years!!
Btw :
I am very happy for Diego

Burdisso will be playing in the starting lineup

Batigoal wrote:

ChollaVille wrote:Defence is shit, even Milito looks good there :O
Masche for CB, Zaneti for RB/LB. God help Argentina with rest of the defence. There is no Jonas Gutieres :S

Mid with Cambiasso, Banega and Pastore.

Front line: Messi, Tevez and Aguero is the best on paper, but Di Maria works more than Aguero, even he (di Maria) was shit on World Cup.
I think that front line will be chosen in last momen, depending on their form on Copa America, just like Spain's front line on World Cup (Torres out).

The Defense is not that bad, Burdisso have been doing a decent job with Roma and Milito is not as bad as most of you think. Milito just need a Manager, who can give him his self-confidence back.
He was one of the best defender 2 years ago ffs. You don't go from being one of the best Defender to crap in two years!!
Btw :
I am very happy for Diego

He was never one of the best :S

He was never one of the best but he was a very good defender at Zaragoza.

All, thanks for your replies but hardly any of you have mentioned any players not in the squad that you would have selected in place of some that are in the squad.

BarrileteCosmico wrote:He was never one of the best but he was a very good defender at Zaragoza.

I agree.

Though I dont agree with the notion that confidence is his problem, he is physically on the decline which is the reason he is not longer good.

Otamendi & Musacchio* for Milito & Garay, Ansaldi/Pillud for a FB. Forward line is fine. So are the midfielders. Maybe I would've given some of the Velez midfielders a chance, given that they just won the league and reached CL semi-finals.

*Note: I'm just basing this on reputation, I don't watch these 2 play nearly as much as I should.

certainly being injured for two years straight makes your skills deteriorate. Garay is also a good defender, he needs to play for a club that will use him though.

Pillud is impressive whenever he played, maybe he can replace Zanetti long term, as well as Ansaldi.

Jonas Guttieres, he was good on World Cup... what is with him?

anyone knows whether Copa will be broadcasting in any of the ESPN or TEN Sports channels.... If not i will miss the matches...