quote: | Originally posted by SYSTEM-J
As I said earlier in the thread, anyone who thought Argentina were a favourite is going purely on their name, because they've been playing terribly for some time now, and barely even made it to the tournament.
I was reading this morning that Croatia actually had more players on the pitch from Europe's top four leagues. Argentina had several players I'd never even heard of, so maybe this result shouldn't be a surprise at all.
I also read that Messi told Sampaoli months ago that 3-4-3 doesn't work for him tactically as it encourages defenders to clog his zones. Sampaoli duly came up with a new formation ahead of the tournament, but after the draw with Iceland he went straight back to 3-4-3 against Croatia. By the end of the match it was difficult to tell what system Argentina were supposed to be playing.
I'm interested to see how Brazil get on today. I thought they looked good against Switzerland for 45 minutes, but something obviously went wrong in the second half. |
Argentina was a favorite because of the players, most of them anyway. It was harder to qualify because every other team was hungrier and more motivated from the start. Brazil had that embarrassing 7-1 defeat and they had the pressure to qualify first.
Unfortunately, Argentina was playing better with the non-Europeans players because they're the ones that have something to prove. I don't think they are the ones to be blamed here for the loss. The 'Europeans' seem apathetic, specially Messi in the last game. It was terrible to watch.
Anyway, Armani, the goalie who should have been the starter from the beginning, must start the game against Nigeria. Many experts said that as soon as Romero got injured. Why Sampaoli put a "European" goalie who rarely plays over a better goalie who is more constant is beyond me.
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