Seventh pair of Last 16. Argentina will walk this IMO.

Kick-off time: 1 July 2014 18:00 CET
Stadium: Arena de São Paulo, São Paulo

Has Argentina been that convincing? Even in the group they were in?

It'll be tough but I expect a Messi clutch to bail them out if they get in any trouble

Allowing 5 goals to be scored on them int he way they did will make me very suspect of Switzerland for the rest of the tournament, no matter what they do.

Switzerland have no chance, no need to make a poll.I expect something like 4-0.

Switzerland have problems with physical play...  does Argentina attack with physicality?   Because that's how France blew them up.  Threw Giroud, Sissoko and Matuidi at them and then had Benzema and Valbuena do the creative work.

Also, France literally destroyed the Swiss midfield.

So the France game isn't really a good comparison since Argentina don't play that way at all imo.

FalcaoPunch wrote:Has Argentina been that convincing? Even in the group they were in?

It'll be tough but I expect a Messi clutch to bail them out if they get in any trouble

Doesn't matter, what ever happened in the group stage is gone now and that goes for any team.

Argentina will have too much for them and expecting a comfortable win.... Switzerland are just not good enough to compete with the elite teams.

Inb4 i'm overrating Argentina because i expect them to beat Switzerland

Giroud goal was a corner. Usually I would say that the same Argentines dont pose a threat there, but Rojo scored from one today.

Matuidi scored when their midfield under almost no pressure passed it straight to Benzema who countered into space.

Valbuena goal, a routine pass from Varane at at the back into OCEANS of space for Giroud who centered for Valbuena.

Benzema scored when Valbuena had the ball out wide, passed into Pogba who played a fantastic chipped ball over the top to Benzema.

Sissoko goal France are counting 4 vs 3 when Swiss are completely all over the place defensively.

Sorry but none of these goals had anything to do with physicality.

To be fair to Argentina they are quite dangerous from corners.

They go close the majority of the time even if it doesn't end up forcing a save or scoring a goal.

Messi usually more often than not puts it right on the penalty spot and more often than not its about the delivery than it is the height.

To be fair the only dangerous moments for Argentina came from corners.. not counting the messi affect of course because that itself is completely random.
Bosnia were lucky not to get scored on once or twice from corners.

I'm not convinced by Argentina at all. France is a better team than they are. Don't sleep on the Swiss, they can win this.

Switzerand know how to pck he bus though, I mean if they strictly do so which they probably will, Argenina might nto find it so easy. Just like the Iran game. But I think the players led by Messi are growing in confidence and feel so hard to imagine they wont break through. But Shaqiri too and Swiss about to counter a bit so need to be careful also! Since Argentina's defense is never convincing. Although I have liked the 4 defenders so far individually at least, with Mascerhano mopping up, but its the structure and mistakes that still tend to concern.

Argentina to walk this one. comfortably
now begin to pay attention to teams that didn't start well, watch them walk the competition and as for the early bloomers, well don't wanna be a prophet of doom #brasil #argentina #uruguay #belgium

If Ottmar Hitzfeld decides to put Yann Sommer in goal, then Switzerland could nicely try to play for a draw and win on penalties.

I'm not just talking about the goals... the play was dominated by France because we just put the hurting on the Swiss physically. They couldn't win a single duel. Once we went up 2-0, we just sat back and countered them.... they didn't have the athletic ability to recover fast enough.

I don't see any tactical sophistication by Argentina. Frankly, they're probably the least tactical team left in the competition. The plan is to give it to the forwards and let them figure it out... the way the Swiss got pushed around against France was that the pitch was spread and we forced the Swiss to cover the entire field. They didn't have the athletes to do it.

If you narrow the pitch against Switzerland, which is what Argentina do tbh, they can overcome their lack of athleticism better.

We'll see. I don't think this is going to be an easy game at all unless Argentina suddenly find balance on their team and get better tactically.

Well, the first two goals that broke Switzerland's morals early were due to individual mistakes. If they manage to cut that out it is much more difficult to break them down.

Shaqiri improved tenfold when he was moved from the wing into the center. I can see him raping Fernandez.

Think your over doing my original point.

Which was simply, they (Swiss) look like crap at the back and because of it, its very hard to trust them to hold strong vs Argentina.

I wasn't just responding to you Dani... just took your point and then added some other comments. In the end, Argentina should win. But Argentina is very, very Messi dependent and will concede 1-2 goals... so imo, it could be a very close game unless Argentina is efficient.

Personally i think Argentina's defense will be better when they face bigger teams.

Their problems are concentration issues, a bit like with Barca in bigger games their individuals will concentrate more when they see a threat.

It won't ever be great but it will be better, Switzerland don't have the firepower to score more than once anyway IMO.

They looked better at the back bringing in Schar for the game against Honduras. Not that Honduras is a great team by any stretch, but Schar is a big upgrade over SENDEROS. Losing Von Bergen in the France game (which really should have seen Giroud with a card) was pretty hurtful for their defence.

Switzerland don't have the firepower to score more than 1? Eh? Against Argentina they could put up 3 or more.

You're overreacting to meaningless group stage games lol.

But oh well, rooks will learn eventually i suppose.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:You're overreacting to meaningless group stage games lol.

But oh well, rooks will learn eventually i suppose.

Oooooooh...I'm just overreacting. Got it. Thanks for setting me straight boss. Now I know there's no chance of Switzerland even putting up a fight against Argentina.

I dont think Argentina can easily walk all over the pitch vs Swiss...In knockout round you need to defend well...Argentina's defense is super shaky, Nigeria already have shown it...

The Franchise wrote:Think your over doing my original point.

Which was simply, they (Swiss) look like crap at the back and because of it, its very hard to trust them to hold strong vs Argentina.

Absolutely. Actually they were better in this aspect in the last two world cups. Maybe their key players are also over the hill now.

Switzerland look one of the weakest teams left in spite of Shaqiri's latest heroics. One could argue that they wouldn't reach the last 16 from any other group except the one they were in and maybe H or not even that.

Let me be honest here. If we somehow lose this it will spell doomsday in Argentina. I can't see that happening but then no one has seen the future.