Dr LBC Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 minute ago, LeeEvans said: I still find it hard to level blame at him when hes got the level of talent around him. They had crosses into the box and no one even trying to get onto the end of it, Messi included. Acuna was god awful, Caballero is a disaster. An aged Mascherano is their best midfield option. That team is a travesty and I think the blame deserves to be spread around to everyone from Sampaoli, Messi and everyone on down. I've been and remain a Sampaoli fan, but his team selections in this tournament so far have been suspect to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, viks4life said: Just seen Argentina's XI and oh god. Salvio, Acuna, Meza, Tagliafico, Enzo... Sampaoli has been a disaster so say the least. Acuna and Enzo were atrocious. I thought Tagliafico and Salvio were half decent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TedLavie Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Just now, LeeEvans said: I still find it hard to level blame at him when hes got the level of talent around him. They had crosses into the box and no one even trying to get onto the end of it, Messi included. Acuna was god awful, Caballero is a disaster. An aged Mascherano is their best midfield option. That team is a travesty and I think the blame deserves to be spread around to everyone from Sampaoli, Messi and everyone on down. You're absolutely right, but when you're the leader/best player of a team, you can't play the way he did today. Against Iceland he did his best to carry the team. Today, he did nothing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, The LBC said: At first I found myself asking why in God's name Meza was started in the first place. But after each goal (the last two of which were products of mistakes he made), I found myself asking why the hell was he being left on the pitch? Inside job? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAW Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, LeeEvans said: I still find it hard to level blame at him when hes got the level of talent around him. They had crosses into the box and no one even trying to get onto the end of it, Messi included. Acuna was god awful, Caballero is a disaster. An aged Mascherano is their best midfield option. That team is a travesty and I think the blame deserves to be spread around to everyone from Sampaoli, Messi and everyone on down. No one was blaming him for the loss. It was clear Perez having the miss of the tournament, Willy being Willy and giving away a goal, and other players were the cause as far as the actual result. In fact, Perez's miss and Willy's blunder may be the two worst mistakes of the tournament. But none of that excuses his negative body language (from the start), not trying to inspire teammates, etc. That's what he is being criticized for, not being at fault for the result. When your best player and captain looks defeated when 0-0, it sets a poor tone for the rest of the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, The LBC said: I've been and remain a Sampaoli fan, but his team selections in this tournament so far have been suspect to say the least. Its everything. Hes chopped and changed formations, players and just about everything else imaginable. I dont want to put too much blame on him because he really does have a pretty awful pool of players but it's pretty hard to defend anything associated with this team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 2 minutes ago, TedLavie said: You're absolutely right, but when you're the leader/best player of a team, you can't play the way he did today. Against Iceland he did his best to carry the team. Today, he did nothing I agree that he definitely was far poorer than he was against Iceland. Hes certainly far from blameless, I just dont like everyone acting like it's all his fault (not saying you were). On an unrelated note, I find it a little interesting that every media outlet seems to find Argentina being god awful surprising. This is more or less how their qualification went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Hitch Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 I feel so sorry for Messi. The rest of his team can at least go on holiday now. He has to wait until the final to pick up his player of the tournament award. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Smithers Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Feel sorry for Messi, Aguero. They’ve literally got nothing to work with. Calling the supporting cast average was being generous. Wanna criticise his leadership or whatever, sure. But I’m not criticising his play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 3 minutes ago, PAW said: No one was blaming him for the loss. It was clear Perez having the miss of the tournament, Willy being Willy and giving away a goal, and other players were the cause as far as the actual result. In fact, Perez's miss and Willy's blunder may be the two worst mistakes of the tournament. But none of that excuses his negative body language (from the start), not trying to inspire teammates, etc. That's what he is being criticized for, not being at fault for the result. When your best player and captain looks defeated when 0-0, it sets a poor tone for the rest of the team. Fair enough. I was watching the game while at work so I wasn't quite able to pay attention super closely so I didnt notice. He did seem quite subdued and certainly didn't grab the game by the neck like he tried to do against Iceland. Hes never going to be a super vocal guy but the hunger did seem lacking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAW Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Just now, LeeEvans said: I agree that he definitely was far poorer than he was against Iceland. Hes certainly far from blameless, I just dont like everyone acting like it's all his fault (not saying you were). On an unrelated note, I find it a little interesting that every media outlet seems to find Argentina being god awful surprising. This is more or less how their qualification went. Argentina would be best with Messi in midfield IMO. Get more of the world class players on the field, get creativity/passing in midfield, get him on the ball in deeper areas where he has been better for Argentina. It is crazy that with players like Aguero, Higuain, Dybala, Icardi that 1 is on vacation, 2 were on the bench, and 1 on the field. You name the top 5 Argentina players and it is probably those 4 and Messi. Have to get more of them on the field. It is crazy that they have never been able to figure out how to do so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 Just now, Kip Smithers said: Feel sorry for Messi, Aguero. They’ve literally got nothing to work with. Calling the supporting cast average was being generous. Wanna criticise his leadership or whatever, sure. But I’m not criticising his play. Yup, that's completely how I feel. It's hard to ignore the fact that after they went down he completely went missing and didnt really seem to bother getting involved. It's definitely not a one man problem though, that team is a mess from Sampaoli on down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viks4life Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 Sampaoli received an awful Argentina team and made it even worse. I just don't understand leaving guys like Lo Celso, Banega, Di Maria and Dybala on the bench. It's coaching criminality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PAW Posted June 21, 2018 Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 minute ago, viks4life said: Sampaoli received an awful Argentina team and made it even worse. I just don't understand leaving guys like Lo Celso, Banega, Di Maria and Dybala on the bench. It's coaching criminality. Di Maria sucks but 100% agree with the other 3. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeeEvans Posted June 21, 2018 Author Share Posted June 21, 2018 1 minute ago, PAW said: Argentina would be best with Messi in midfield IMO. Get more of the world class players on the field, get creativity/passing in midfield, get him on the ball in deeper areas where he has been better for Argentina. It is crazy that with players like Aguero, Higuain, Dybala, Icardi that 1 is on vacation, 2 were on the bench, and 1 on the field. You name the top 5 Argentina players and it is probably those 4 and Messi. Have to get more of them on the field. It is crazy that they have never been able to figure out how to do so. I agree. Especially since the forwards are all a bit different as well. I think theyve tried various combinations of Messi behind two forwards and it's just never clicked. The problem is their wingers and midfield options are so poor its hard to figure out where to go from there. Do you go 4-3-1-2? How on earth do you find midfielders worth a damn to put out there? That kind of question basically pops up everywhere unfortunately. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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