Argentina WC squad (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Espectro
- Start date
but Argentina, France, Netherland and even Spain could have choosen better squads IMO.
Good coach with a good rep. Tactically he's very sound. You can say he's a master of tournament prep. In that regards his record speaks for itself. He raised some eyes with his squad selection. The obvious being El Pupi Zanetti. I agree he's a great player without question. What Pekerman brought in regards to his defense are players that work well within his systems needs.
Zanetti pushed forward way too much for Pekermans tastes. It was great under Bielsa but this current squad does not have to rely on defenders making runs up the wing. I still would've found a way to include him. Samuel on the other hand is a better club player than for the albiceleste. Personally I like him but he's a red card waiting to happen. Coloccini like Scaloni were included into this squard more for their personalities than futbol attributes. Coloccini can also provide cover for Mascherano. Demechelis is a damn fine player in the Bundesliga but never really made much of an impact on the national team.
Cufre and Burdisso were picked because from Pekermans youth days, these two guys can play pretty much anywhere on the back four. I know they've been iffy in SerieA but within a certain system they can be solid.
What will hold the back together will be Ayala and Heinze. Both have returned from injury and neither has shown any signs of their injuries. A bit winded but not as bad as was expected. Ayala is no doubt the leader of this defense. He reads a game very well and directs his fellow defenders as good as any other center back in the world. No surprise that all of Argentinas "big losses" came late in games just after he'd been subbed. Heinze is just a machine, and I'll leave it at that.
In a nut shell, Samuel and Zanetti at this stage of their careers may not have the discipline to follow Ayalas lead the way some younger players would. No illusions, this isn't the strong suit of the Albiceleste and I wont even touch the keeper problem. What we do have is the best attacking depth in the entire tourney and a great up and coming Dmid in Mascherano. I hope this sheds some light.
Zanetti pushed forward way too much for Pekermans tastes. It was great under Bielsa but this current squad does not have to rely on defenders making runs up the wing. I still would've found a way to include him. Samuel on the other hand is a better club player than for the albiceleste. Personally I like him but he's a red card waiting to happen. Coloccini like Scaloni were included into this squard more for their personalities than futbol attributes. Coloccini can also provide cover for Mascherano. Demechelis is a damn fine player in the Bundesliga but never really made much of an impact on the national team.
Cufre and Burdisso were picked because from Pekermans youth days, these two guys can play pretty much anywhere on the back four. I know they've been iffy in SerieA but within a certain system they can be solid.
What will hold the back together will be Ayala and Heinze. Both have returned from injury and neither has shown any signs of their injuries. A bit winded but not as bad as was expected. Ayala is no doubt the leader of this defense. He reads a game very well and directs his fellow defenders as good as any other center back in the world. No surprise that all of Argentinas "big losses" came late in games just after he'd been subbed. Heinze is just a machine, and I'll leave it at that.
In a nut shell, Samuel and Zanetti at this stage of their careers may not have the discipline to follow Ayalas lead the way some younger players would. No illusions, this isn't the strong suit of the Albiceleste and I wont even touch the keeper problem. What we do have is the best attacking depth in the entire tourney and a great up and coming Dmid in Mascherano. I hope this sheds some light.
The history between Sorin and Pekerman goes back a long way. While both Sorin and Pupi are both very solid if not damn good wingbacks, Sorin is the more versatile of the two. Sorin has been used in the past to work as a man marker which has taken him into the center of the pitch with some good success. Also during qualifiers Pekerman tried the same thing with Zanetti a couple of times and defensively he was not good, but on attack still dangerous.
Sorin is also a much more physical player than Zanetti. Zanetti I've always felt used his speed over the tough physical style of play the Argentine league is known for. During the World Cup you have to be able to bump uglies so to say and Sorin is more suited to the style.
What it really came down to was which player was going to provide more versatility and coachability. This Argentina defense is built around players that Ayala can work with. Pekerman eluded to this a few months back in an article in Clarin' Maybe it came to whether or not he felt Zanetti could co-exsist with another veteran telling him how to play while on the pitch.
This is a very good Argentina side. Many including myself are very critical of Abondanzieri in goal. He really makes things interesting sometimes. As fvk up prone as he can be, he's never cost the Albiceleste a game. He's also great at penalties which in the Cup is a good skill set to have. I also believe this is an underrated defensive unit. We don't have the star power of some countries but what we do have is two gritty veterans (Ayala/Heinze) and a bunch of guys from Pekermans youth teams that know how to play well within a system and unit.
Sorin is also a much more physical player than Zanetti. Zanetti I've always felt used his speed over the tough physical style of play the Argentine league is known for. During the World Cup you have to be able to bump uglies so to say and Sorin is more suited to the style.
What it really came down to was which player was going to provide more versatility and coachability. This Argentina defense is built around players that Ayala can work with. Pekerman eluded to this a few months back in an article in Clarin' Maybe it came to whether or not he felt Zanetti could co-exsist with another veteran telling him how to play while on the pitch.
This is a very good Argentina side. Many including myself are very critical of Abondanzieri in goal. He really makes things interesting sometimes. As fvk up prone as he can be, he's never cost the Albiceleste a game. He's also great at penalties which in the Cup is a good skill set to have. I also believe this is an underrated defensive unit. We don't have the star power of some countries but what we do have is two gritty veterans (Ayala/Heinze) and a bunch of guys from Pekermans youth teams that know how to play well within a system and unit.
