Argentina v Mexico overview

We tried our best, but we must say the opponents were superior. There's nothing left but to recognize just how good this Argentina team really is.

- Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez

Argentina 3 - 0 Mexico

Goals: Gabriel Heinze 45', Lionel Messi 61', Juan Roman Riquelme 65' (pen)

Argentina (4-3-1-2):

------------Abbondanzieri
Zanetti----Ayala----Milito---Heinze
-------------Mascherano
-------Veron-----------Cambiasso
--------------Riquelme
----Messi-----------------Tevez

Subs: Palacio for Tevez (78'), Gago for Veron (78'), Aimar for Riquelme (86')

...and to think, the American fans had me believing that Sanchez was a sore loser. A gracious concession from the Mexican, who has done very well with the squad at his disposal. More on Mexico at the end of this post. Argentina on the other hand gave another patient, mature performance, although the disadvantages of the favoured diamond 4-3-1-2 formation were laid bare in the first half. Those disavantages being mainly a lack of width and the possibility of being overrun by a packed, physical midfield. Detailed analysis of Argentina's performance below.

Defence

• El Pato looked a bit more nervous than he did against Peru, but he did keep the clean sheet with the invaluable aid of the woodwork. My measure of how well a 'keeper has done aside from goal mouth incidents is whether or not he transmits a sense of security to his defence, and I'm sorry to say that Pato did not meet that criteria in this game. Still our no.1, though.
• Zanetti had a couple of lapses, but I'm willing to ignore them because of the rest of his performance. Tireless as ever, and he had a couple of very good attacking runs.
• Ayala made me nervous a few times, particular with a tough tackle early on that could have seen him ruled out of the final if the referee had seen fit to give a yellow card. A couple of lapses, but overall I was satisfied with the way he organised the defence.
• Milito had his best game yet in this tournament. Maybe the transfer speculation was unsettling him, and now it's done he can play without it weighing on his mind? Whatever the reason, he was solid in the back and did a good job dealing with Mexico's long balls out of defence.
• Heinze also had his best game yet in the tournament. Aside from scoring an excellent goal, he contributed well to the attack in general. The most improved aspect of his performance has to the balance he seems to have finally achieved between attacking and defending. Perhaps Basile had a word? Defensively he did a good job shutting down the left side.

Midfield

• What can I say about Javier Mascherano? What a player. Tireless as ever, and always in the right place at the right time, marking, tackling and passing to our creators. Plus, about 80% of his tackles are clean ones where he ends up with the ball. Almost the perfect holding midfielder performance.
• Juan Sebastian Veron has finally convinced me that he deserves to be in the starting line-up alongside Roman. It took some doing as he had a few wobbly performances, but his long-range passing has improved massively from the first few games, and his work rate has been impressive. Somehow, him and Roman are working together, although conventional wisdom says that there's no way they could. His only problem right now is that he doesn't seem to be able to last the full 90.
• Veron's replacement Gago has also improved from his prior showings, with better passing and better judgement with his tackling. I still wouldn't play him ahead of Mascherano, but a combination of the two does work very well in bossing the midfield when Veron needs to come off to rest.
• Cambiasso gave a satisfactory performance, continuing to improve upon his earlier showings. His movement and passing in attack is much better now, and defensively he's always done well to provide security for the main creators.
• I can't tell you how pleased I am reading all these reports about how happy and relaxed Riquelme is feeling right now. It's long been established that the key to getting great performances from Roman is to make sure that his head is in the right place. Easy to say, not easy to do, so much credit to 'Coco' Basile. Another impressive performance, not only in the passing, the impressive freekicks and corners, but also in the determination and effort displayed. Interesting thing about Roman - he's depressive, sure, but he's not unconfident. That chipped penalty took some nerve.
• Aimar didn't play long enough for an assessment, although I will note that he (still) combines really well with Messi.

Forwards

• Who said that a Messi and Tevez strike partnership would never work? Alright, I did, now I'm eating my words and loving every bite. Perhaps they could both pass to each other a bit more rather than make a difficult attempt on goal sometimes, but then we'd never have those spectacular, showy goals the two of them love scoring so much. A great performance from Tevez, not measured in goals scored but rather in his work rate, his wonderful assist for Messi and the powerful runs which eventually won that (slightly dodgy) penalty.
• His replacement Palacio did a decent job running the Mexican defence down with his pace, and had a good opportunity to score from Messi's throughball.
• I wouldn't say Messi was MOTM, but he put in another solid performance, never compromising his style of play no matter how many times he was fouled. That little incident early on in the second half where 3 Mexican defenders surrounded him and hacked him down, only for him to get back up and attempt to keep going twice (before Marquez effectively body slammed him to the ground) perfectly sums up his attitude. While Marquez did make contact on the penalty/dive incident, it wasn't a penalty. Neither was it a dive, but that was the easy call to make and I can see why the referee went for it. What else can I say? Oh, alright, that goal. Brilliant.
  

Mexico

They've been the most positive team Argentina have played in this tournament. Sure, they get by in midfield by fouling all over the place, but they're not as rough as the Columbians and the strategy was effective in containing Argentina's attack in the first half, in which Mexico were perhaps the better team for large stretches. They did try to keep possession, build up attacks from the back and take the game to Argentina, and they were unlucky to be denied by the woodwork on a couple of very good opportunities.

If I have any criticism of Hugo Sanchez, it's that his double substitution at half-time effectively game Argentina free rein through the midfield, but he was forced by circumstances to be chasing the game at that point. Substitutions or not, Mexico had to come out and attack even more for the equaliser, and Argentina have gotten very good at killing off opponents who are chasing the game by keeping the ball and hitting back on the counter attack.

We all know about Nery Castillo now, but that kid Guardado is some player. I can't wait to see him playing with the likes of Gio Dos Santos and Carlos Vela once the latter two have 'graduated' to the senior team in a couple of years time. I hope Mexicans are proud of El Tri's efforts and their remarkable achievements in this tournament, given the averse circumstances. They've got good reason to look to the future with hope.


Another news round-up to come, and then some words before the final.

(shorter) Argentina v Paraguay

Quick impressions only, I'm afraid, ahead of the quarterfinal against Peru.

Argentina 1 - 0 Paraguay

Goals: Mascherano (79)

Argentina (4-3-1-2):

---------Abbondanzieri
Ibarra--Burdisso--Diaz--Zanetti
--------------Gago
---Gonzalez-------Cambiasso
-------------Aimar
-----Palacio-------Tevez

The positives:

• Abbondanzieri looks much more confident, although he didn't exactly have a lot to do
• Zanetti is having a brilliant tournament. I can't praise him enough.
• Burdisso looks like a solid backup for Ayala and Gabi Milito.
• Cambiasso has improved massively.
• Palacio: he works hard, he's got pace, he can cross, and he can hit a ball. Not bad, although it's clear he needs a more traditional center forward to play off.
• Tevez looked very lively and created some danger.
• Messi's supersub performance. (And the fact that he's not injured, despite being hacked at every time he runs with the ball.)
• Mascherano. Not just a brilliant holding midfielder, but what a goal.

The not so good:

• Ibarra and Diaz were decent but one can see why they're not first choice.
• Gago looks out of sorts. Mascherano's a different class to him right now.
• Someone else who looks out of sorts: Lucho Gonzalez. Dear Lord. I really wish we had Maxi Rodriguez fully fit now.
• Aimar showed some spark, but also that he's better as an impact sub or a supporting midfielder than the starting playmaker right now. We definitely missed Riquelme.

Paraguay

I was very impressed with their defensive effort. They play a 4-4-2 with the two rows of four retreating very quickly and leaving little space everytime Argentina went forward, and it works very well. Offensively they were limited to counter-attacks or long balls up to their two forwards, but then they didn't have to win. If they can defend like this against Mexico, I think they have a chance.

Argentina squad for Copa America

As has been widely reported, Juan Roman Riquelme makes his return to the national team. Coach Alfio Basile has opted to bring along a formidable squad, mostly made up of Europe-based players. At this stage, questions have to be asked about how a seeming overabundance of creative players will be used. For example, there's absolutely no point in calling up Roman if he doesn't start. So does that mean that Aimar will be relegated to the bench? What about Veron? Can Messi and Tevez be played together? Which striking partnership will Basile choose? I suppose we'll have to wait for the first match against the United States for these questions to be answered. For now, it's certainly a very impressive squad on paper.

Goalkeepers

Roberto Abbondanzieri (Getafe, Spain)
Juan Pablo Carrizo (River Plate, Argentina)
Agustin Orion (San Lorenzo, Argentina)

Abbondanzieri should be the undisputed number one, despite his alarmingly poor performance against Algeria. He's had a great club season in Spain and his expertise with penalties should serve the team well. I have to confess I don't know as much about Carrizo and Orion as I should, beyond the fact that Carrizo has impressed observers at River and is rated by some above Independiente (and next season Villarreal)'s Oscar Ustari, who I'm very fond of. (He would have been in the squad but for a last minute injury.)

Defenders

Roberto Ayala (Valencia, Spain)
Javier Zanetti (Internazionale, Italy)
Hugo Ibarra (Boca Juniors, Argentina)
Gabriel Milito (Real Zaragoza, Spain)
Gabriel Heinze (Manchester United, England)
Daniel Diaz (Boca Juniors, Argentina)
Nicolas Burdisso (Internazionale, Italy)

An impressive roster of defenders, really. If they can play like they did against France rather than the shambles that was the Algeria game, we'd be set. Ayala and Milito are a solid defensive partnership, which Burdisso is a nice backup to. I get nervous everytime he's played as right-back, but he really is a fine centre-back who gets used out of position too often. Otherwise Heinze can also double as a centre-back, although I prefer him on the left. Zanetti can play right-back or midfield, but with the options we have in midfield, I'd much rather have him in the back. Ibarra's experience will be nice to have in the squad, especially since we have all these young players. Unfortunately, I don't know much about Diaz, but he's just won the Copa Libertadores with Boca, so hopefully he's coming in with some good form should he be needed.

By the way, Ayala is a fine captain of the team, and I really hope his last international tournament brings him some well-deserved glory.

Defensive Midfielders

Javier Mascherano (Liverpool, England)
Esteban Cambiasso (Internazionale, Italy)
Fernando Gago (Real Madrid, Spain)

Very pleased by the options we have here. Neither Gago nor Cambiasso are pure holding players, but I can see Cambiasso starting with one of Gago or Mascherano since the Inter player is more of a central midfielder, and he's been a consistent member of the starting line-up for Argentina. If it came down to a choice between Gago and Mascherano, my personal preference would be for Mascherano. Yes, he's not much older, but he has tons more international experience and a better understanding with many of the other players who are likely to start. Plus, his form coming into the tournament looks very impressive. Gago has had a decent season at Real and Basile rates him very highly, but his performances haven't impressed me as much as Masche's have.

Creative Midfielders

Luis 'Lucho' Gonzalez (Porto, Portugal)
Pablo Aimar (Real Zaragoza, Spain)
Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes, Argentina)
Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors, Argentina)

Oh boy. An embarrassment of riches, anyone? Especially since Basile seems to count Messi as somewhat amongst this category instead of a wing-forward. The problem with this group of players is that barring Lucho - who I think has a high probability of starting - arguably all three of the others need the team to be built around them, which means that only one of them can start at any one time. Arguably both Veron and Aimar could be deployed on, say, the left side of midfield instead of in the playmaker role, but there's no point in playing Roman if he's not in the no.10 role. So we'll have to wait for Basile to make a decision, and hope that the reported antipathy between Roman and Veron doesn't rear its ugly head.

Form-wise, Lucho has had a great season at Porto, where he is now frequently dubbed the best player in the league, or at least close enough to it. Aimar has been plagued by injury problems as always, but when not laid up in dry dock he's done very well for Zaragoza, playing on the left side of midfield. Veron had a great first half of the season, but I haven't heard enough to judge how he did in the second half. Roman of course had a great second half of the season with Boca, playing some of his best football.

Forwards

Lionel Messi (Barcelona, Spain)
Hernan Crespo (Internazionale, Italy)
Diego Milito (Real Zaragoza, Spain)
Carlos Tevez (West Ham United, England)
Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors, Argentina)

Continuing the 'embarrassment of riches' theme, Basile has taken along 5 strikers who barring one - Palacio, who's had a decent but not brilliant season - have all done very well for themselves in 06-07. Crespo is arguably still Argentina's best centre striker and this is probably his last international tournament, so he'll want to go out on a high. 14 goals in his 22 Serie A appearances this season is a pretty good return. Milito has had a brilliant season, scoring 23 goals and just being pipped to La Liga's golden boot by Ruud van Nistelrooy.

Leo Messi was out for 3 months with a serious injury but bounced back and played brilliantly for Barcelona during the latter half of the season. Last but not least, Carlos Tevez is widely credited with the survival of West Ham in the Premiership, carrying the team on his shoulders through his passion, hard work and sublime skill. Carlitos will also be keen to win the cup to erase the memory of the 2004 competition, in which he missed a penalty in the final shootout which Brazil ultimately won.

The mix is broadly similar to the '06 World Cup squad, actually, since Diego Milito is similar to Julio Cruz, except for the fact that Pekerman took 6 strikers. The one who has been left out this time around is Javier Saviola, whose lack of playing time this season probably counted against him in such a crowded field.

I would expect Basile to play one of the 'target men' - Crespo or Milito - and pair him with either Tevez or Messi. Palacio will probably only have an outside chance of starting, unfortunately.


So a good mix overall, but I'm still concerned about tactical arrangements. If supporting Barca for all these years has taught me anything, it's that just having a bunch of brilliant players won't help if there's no coherent tactical plan for how they're going to play together.

Argentine watch: transfers round-up

It's been a while since I posted about the Albicelestes (mostly because there hasn't been too much to write about). But with the opening of the January transfer window, Argentineans seem to have become hot property all over Europe. Below is my round-up of transfer activity involving Argentinean players, both rumoured and confirmed, organised by league of origin.

Spain

Espanyol's excellent young right-back/left-back/attacking midfielder Pablo Zabaleta, who captained the U20 World Championship winning Argentina side of 2005, has been linked to...wait for it...AC Milan! Of course, the Italian giants have been linked with every single able defender in the world under the age of 35 recently, so this is probably just a wild rumour, but contrary to my usual stance on young Argentineans moving to big clubs in Europe, I think this wouldn't be too bad if it were true. Zabaleta's always been a mature lad - he has handled his own contract negotiations since he was a teenager - and he's been playing in Europe for a while, so there's less of an adaption issue.

The owner of Milan's other team has long had his beady eyes on the young Argentinean plying his trade for Barcelona's other team. Moratti's monthly ponderings about how much he wants Lionel Messi to move to Inter have gotten just a bit creepy lately, as his declarations begin sounding ever more desperate - which is funny, since Inter aren't exactly a side in need of a saviour (or Messi-ah, even, ha ha) at the moment. Barca, for their part, haven't even bothered denying the rumours of an 100 million euro bid, or 40 million plus Adriano, or whatever it is this week. Bottom line: if the current management are stupid enough to even think about selling Messi, there will be probably be a riot. So there's that one dealt with.

On to the more troublesome of Barca's two Argentines, Javier Saviola, who seems to have a knack for picking the most horrible agents in the world - I was barely done being thankful that he fired the greedy bastard who screwed up his relationship with Barca and profited enormously from his transfer when his new one started talking like an asshole. Along with Mascherano, Tevez, and Fernando Cavenaghi, he's the finest example of what mismanagement can do to the promise of young talent. Of course, he's still a fine player, and his career could still pick up if he goes to a club that works for him.

To me, that club seems to be Villarreal. I might be a bit biased because the Yellow Submarines are my second team, but it seems like the perfect solution. Saviola himself has stated that he wants to stay in Spain, so that rules out the outlandish talk about Juventus, as well as Spartak Moscow's interest. The Russian club, who have seemingly not learnt from the Cavenaghi fiasco, are reportedly willing to pay 10 million euros for his services. Undoubtedly Barca would be pleased with such a sum, but I really don't see Saviola being attracted to the Russian league despite the good wages Spartak can pay. Besides, they want him in January, which I don't think is going to happen, given Saviola's own insistence on staying til the end of his contract and Barca's need for striking cover.

So that leaves the Spanish clubs. Espanyol seems a distant possibility to me - Barca will probably do all they can to stop it, for one, and I doubt they'd be able to pay a level of wages that would be satisfying to Saviola. Sevilla has been bought up time and time again, but they've already got quite a few strikers sitting on the bench and just bought a couple more. I don't think the demand is there.

Villarreal on the other hand apparently want Saviola on loan in January, which neither Barca nor Saviola will like, but they would seem to be a sensible destination for El Conejo in the summer. Of Villarreal's strikers, Jose Mari is inconsistent, Franco can't hit a cow's arse with a banjo, and in my opinion Nihat and Forlan don't seem compatible. They've got money in the shape of their club owner, and plenty of ambition too. Besides, it's a South American haven, has a good record for rehabilitating the careers of former Barca players, and they have a cordial relationship with Barca management.

Roberto Ayala has fallen out of favour yet again at Valencia, despite the coach Flores asking the board to renew his contract. Sporting director Carboni - who I have a healthy lack of respect for - hasn't made a habit of actually listening to the needs of his coach, though, and want to ship him out the door. Kind of the opposite of how he signed Tavano over Flores' head, when the coach hadn't asked for yet another striker, but even more annoying. Carboni makes Barca's sometimes-frustrating technical director seem like a model professional. But anyway, back to El Raton. Likely destinations are either Liverpool or Chelsea, although I'm hoping the Villarreal move mooted earlier this year is still on. They need a good center-back since young Argie Gonzalo Rodriguez is still injured, and their offence is less threatening than a kitten banishing a wilted daisy at the moment.

The Yellow Submarines are a club in a bit of trouble at the moment, though, with reports of unrest between the players, the coach and the club president. Occasional captain and Argentinean left-back Arruabarrena is going to be out of contract in the summer and he hasn't been offered a renewal, prompting the usual speculation. Espanyol have been mentioned, but I have no idea how reliable that is.

There's also been a lot of speculation about Argentines moving back to the Argentinean league, which makes me wonder where they're getting all that money from, since even clubs like Boca and River are supposed to have financial problem - hence the quick cashing-in on talented young players. Deportivo defender Aldo Duscher (infamous for breaking Beckham's metatarsal) and Zaragoza defender Leandro Ponzio have both been linked with moves to River Plate, while part-time comedy defender and occasional competent midfielder Lionel Scaloni, currently plying his trade at Racing Santander, has been linked with a move to Boca.

Argentina

AC Milan have already signed one young Argentinean this season, although I'm guessing most people won't have heard of him. Full-back Leandro Grimi, 21, turned up in Milan and promptly announced that he had the potential to become the new Maldini. Which...okay. Right.

24-year-old Rodrigo Palacio of Boca Juniors, who has just become the highest paid player in Argentina has been persistently linked with Barcelona. He's something of an anomaly, Palacio. Normally the best young players in the Argentinean league can't wait to move to Europe (and make no mistake, Palacio was/is the best striker in the Argentinean league, his team's general malaise in the Opening season notwithstanding) but he seems pretty patient. Maybe that's for the best. Personally, I can't see where he's going to fit in at Barca, if we do sign him, unless he can play as a wing-forward. Even then, he'd be holding up the progress of promising youth team players like Gio Dos Santos and Bojan Krkic. For all intents and purposes, though, the deal appears to be off for now.

Another transfer that the Barca press are very keen on is that of young Argentinean international (okay, third choice, but still) 'keeper Oscar Ustari. This is actually one I'm quite excited about. Ustari is very, very good, not to mention incredibly composed and mature for his age. Barca number one Valdes' current backup Jorquera is solid enough, but he's older than Valdes, not as quick and I wouldn't be very comfortable having him for more than the occasional match. If this transfer does eventually come off, which looks likely (maybe in the summer) Valdes could have some actual competition on his hands, which would be no bad thing.

(If Ustari does come to Barca, all of Argentina's international 'keepers would ply their trade in La Liga. There's El Pato, who's doing so well at Getafe; Leo Franco, great as ever at Atletico, and German Lux was said to be moving to Mallorca, although I'm not sure what has happened to that transfer.)

Real Madrid's new management has continued the club's time-honoured tradition of drawn-out transfers, but at least this time Calderon actually delivered the three South American youngsters he promised. The two Argentineans, 19 year old striker Gonzalo Higuain of River Plate and 21 year old defensive midfielder Fernando Gago of Boca, took a bit more wrangling than the Brazilian defender Marcelo.

I regarded these two moves with varying levels of disapproval, it must be said, and not just because they were going to Real. At first glance, Gago seems to be better placed for playing time since Capello's formation demands two defensive midfielders - and the current squad only has two, Diarra who is out of favour and Emerson, who the fans don't like. Poor Gago did indeed get a start against Deportivo alongside Emerson, but it all went horribly wrong for him. It's rather strange that he was given a start - Real haven't won in the Riazor for 14 years, and it's not the ideal type of match to throw a young man who has never played in La Liga into. Left to his own devices - meaning without Calderon's declaration during the transfer saga that Gago would be playing against Depor - I'm not sure Capello would have made the same decision.

But at least it looks like Gago will be getting plenty of games, if he can manage to improve on this performance, which is surely not beyond a player with his natural talent, and fight off the pressure of ridiculous expectations which comes with both the 'new Redondo' hype and his price tag.

On the other hand, I'm not sure what's going to happen to Higuain. He's undoubtedly very talented, but I can't help feeling that he's moved too soon. There was still room for him to grow in Argentina. But what can you do when Real Madrid come knocking? The problem now is that even with Cassano out of favour, and Ronaldo lacking match sharpness (although he can still score goals with superb positioning and touch alone) I can't see him starting. Van Nistelrooy is far too important to Capello's Madrid, and if Ronaldo and Van Nistelrooy aren't compatible, Higuain and Van Nistelrooy would be even worse. Maybe he'll play some Copa del Rey matches, but what a waste that would be. On the other hand, Van Nistelrooy isn't getting any younger...

Real's city rivals Atletico were cruelly described by one paper as having had the door slammed repeatedly in their faces during attempts at strengthening the injury-hit squad. The latest target seems to be Estudiantes midfielder Jose Sosa, who has built up a bit of a reputation for himself in Argentina this season. So that seems like a pretty smart move, Atletico offering 5 million euros for his services. The only problem is that Estudiantes (no doubt learning from the way in which Boca and River did their business with Real) want double that. So we'll see how deep Atletico's pockets are, having (somehow) managed to shell out year after year for a host of expensive signings. They're kind of like the Newcastle of La Liga, in a way, although to be fair to Atletico they're actually doing quite well at the moment.

Relegation battlers Real Sociedad need all the help they can get right now, especially on the cheap. They've signed central defender Victor Lopez from Argentinian club Arsenal (who incidentally have a co-operation agreement with Barca) and are reportedly looking to sign striker Federico Higuain (Gonzalo's older brother) from River Plate. The potential stumbling block for the latter being that Federico is currently on loan at Argentinean club Nueva Chicago, who will be less than pleased to see him go.

England

I had high hopes for young Argentinean defender Gabriel Paletta when he joined Liverpool. His take-no-prisoners style and physical presence seemed ideally suited to the Premiership, and while I harboured the same misgivings I always have when young Argentineans join big clubs - will they end up not acclimatizing quickly enough, rotting on the bench or in the reserves - I thought maybe he could follow in the footsteps of Heinze, who had such a promising debut season at Manchester United and earned the affection of the fans with his wholehearted approach to the game (as opposed to, say, Rio Ferdinard).

Anyway, Paletta fell victim to the fate I feared for him. But it's not all bad news - the team rooted to the bottom of the league table in La Liga want him on loan.

No, really. It's not as bad as it sounds. The new 'Nastic coach is apparently a pal of Rafa Benitez and wants a couple of players on loan to boost the Catalan minnows in their relegation battle. It would be good for Paletta to actually get some experience under his belt instead of tolling away in Liverpool's reserves, even if turns out to be experience fighting relegation. The biggest problem I can see with this is that Paletta's tough-tackling style might get him sent off quite a lot in La Liga.

Speaking of Gabriel Heinze, he's not been having the best time at Manchester United this season, what with being kept on the bench by Patrice Evra and all. He has taken it pretty well, which I assume will last right up until he drops out of contention for Argentina. The one thing I admire the most about Heinze has always been his commitment to the Albicelestes. He won't sit around and wait to be dropped by Argentinean coach Basile for not playing regularly enough.

Luckily, a host of clubs have been watching Heinze's situation, ready to spirit him away to fill holes in their own defences. These reportedly include his former club PSG, Valencia and the obligatory Juve and Milan links (Juve being the more concrete, since the coach has expressed interest). There are also reports that Bayern could be his destination in a part-swap deal that will finally end the Owen Hargreaves saga, which would probably happen in the summer. Can't see where he'd play at Bayern, personally, but certainly some of the other names mentioned look very possible.

And then there's the turkey of the season so far, poor Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Tevez actually looks like he will be staying with the Hammers til the end of the season, and has looked good when he's been let out to play. Masche though has been rotting in West Ham reserves and has had enough. Curiously enough, I've seen Hammers fans complaining about how bad he has been, but I've also seen Hammers fans complain about how little playing time he's had to demonstrate his actual ability. Anyway, he's desperate to move, and everyone involved in his dodgy ownership deal will be glad to get some money out of this whole disaster.

As has been widely reported, Juvenus were apparently interested, but the suits there were put off by the complexity of his ownership. (Juve suits daunted by dodgy dealings? Imagine!) But good old Rafa Benitez is ready to come to the rescue with a loan deal and an option to buy attached, if only FIFA are willing to bend their own rules a bit.

Others

Leandro Romagnoli - anybody remember him? Promising attacking midfielder, part of the 2001 World Youth Championship-winning U-20s along with Saviola and D'Alessandro? Anyway, he's owned by Mexican club Veracruz but has been on loan with Sporting Lisbon for a while. There's talk of him joining Getafe on loan now. Apparently some other clubs were keen on him, but he wanted to play in La Liga. Smart lad.

Fernando Cavenaghi looked to be joining Romagnoli as another entry in the formerly promising, now forgotten book. Fortunately, as I've mentioned before, he's now heading out of Spartak Moscow. In La Liga, Racing Santander are apparently interested, presumably as striking cover for their comical but successful strike pairing of Zigic and Munitis. With clubs in Italy, France and Portugal also reportedly interested, the Russian club have made it clear that how much a club can offer Spartak will be the key to this transfer.

making fun of transfer rumours

I have a stated policy of not mentioning ridiculous transfer rumours, but there's no harm in making fun of the most insane ones. So here's my attempt at dissecting two bits of transfer speculation surrounding Barcelona.

I'll start with the persistent reports linking Boca Juniors striker and occasional Argentinean international Rodrigo Palacio with Barcelona. The strongest basis for these claims seems to be the fact that a couple of Barca technical directors were invited to watch the derby between River Plate and Boca Juniors. What some reporters seem to have missed is the fact that those directors were invited by River. On top of that, reports of meetings between Barca president Laporta and Boca suits have yet to be proven.

This next bit is the part I really want to make fun of, though. One report I read - I won't say which website produced this gem of investigative reporting - claimed that Barca were looking to sign Palacio to eventually replace Deco. This would make slightly more sense if Palacio was anything like a playmaker, which as you'll have noticed in the last paragraph, he is definitely not.

So that's that. Now, the Ronaldinho to AC Milan rumours are slightly more tricky. Maybe he will go there someday - I can't see why, but people sometimes make decisions only they understand. The way the sporting media have gone about trying to play up this 'transfer' is comical, to say the least. Their latest ploy seems to be trying to claim Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi having lunch with Ronaldinho's brother and agent is proof that the transfer is on. This would seem damning at first glance, right up until the point one realises that Roberto de Assis also happens to represent Milan's new signing Ricardo Oliveira. Not too strange to see the club chairman having dinner with the agent who represents one of his players, is it?

(Spain-Argentina report to come, when I get my objectivity back.)

the future of Argentina part 3: forwards

This is the last part in my series on the look and shape of the new Argentinean National Team, this time on the forwards. Due to the number of players covered, they've been divided up into two categories - center and second forward. Players are listed by age. At the end I'll sum up their possibilities of being involved with Basile's Argentina and to which extent.

Abbreviations: WYC = World Youth Championship, the U-20 tournament run by FIFA. Held every 2 years and won by Argentina in '95, '97, '01, '05 since Maradona first led his team to win it.

(Note: please take my classification with a pinch of salt, as it's a pretty fine distinction for many of these players.)


center forwards

Julio Cruz (Internationale, Italy) is highly unfortunately to be remembered mostly for coming on for Crespo to little effect in the game against Germany at the World Cup. A veteran of the game at 32, he's only been hovering at the edge of the Argentine squad in the last few years after a great season for Inter, scoring many goals in mostly substitute appearances. It was a choice between him and Diego Milito for the World Cup squad as back-up for Crespo, and he just edged it because of great form leading up to the end of the season. An uncomplaining hard-worker, it's sad that his only World Cup involved only two substitute appearances. At his age surely chances in the NT will be rare at best, although he's a very useful guy to have on the bench.

Hernan Crespo (Internationale, Italy) is the most experienced forward Argentina have currently at international level and probably the best center forward. He has had bouts of erratic form in club football lately and never settled in at Chelsea, but his 29 goals in 54 appearances for Argentina cannot be argued with. The man who took on the heavy mantle of Batigol has done as well as he can be expected to and on current form is certainly Argentina's best option. Joining Inter seems to have sparked off his club career again, some great goals having seen him take the place of Brazillian Adriano in the starting line-up. Must surely be Basile's first choice unless he has other considerations in mind. At 31, though, the Copa America would probably be the extent of his NT career.

Diego Milito (Zaragoza, Spain) has only 3 caps for Argentina. Frankly, I can't understand why. Well, perhaps Crespo's dominance and the fact that he spent two seasons in Serie B with Genoa, but surely someone who has been so excellent for his clubs for the best part of last season deserves a shot? He started at Zaragoza on electric form, notable achievements include a hat-trick against Barcelona in a match Zaragoza won 4-2 and putting 4 (!!!) past Real Madrid in a 6-1 pasting. Sadly both were Cup ties instead of league ones, but with both Spanish giants fielding pretty much the first team those were impressive achievements. Injury troubled him and his form dipped during the latter parts of the season, but frankly the whole club had sunk into a low they couldn't seem to overcome by then. Started this season brightly before getting injured in last week's match. He's 27 years old, just reaching the peak of his powers and in my humble opinion should definitely be given more chances in the battle to succeed Crespo with an eye on 2010.

Luciano Figueroa (Genoa, Italy) cannot be discussed without mentioning Delgado, who I'm going to talk about below. The reason for this is fairly unfortunate - Figueroa doesn't seem to play well without having Delgado as his strike partner. The two did very well together at Rosario Central and in the 2 seasons they were both at Mexican club Cruz Azul. All the other clubs Figueroa has attempted to play for has yelded fairly disastrous results, with perhaps his (very) short spell for River Plate last season an honourable exception. A member of the '04 Olympics-winning team (although I'm not sure he actually played), he somehow has 15 caps and 9 goals for Argentina - not bad, all things considered. It's hard not to admire him moving back to the Argentinean league just to increase his chances of being selected for the World Cup, and it looked like he might have an outside shot until he got a long-term injury. The 25 year old has little chance to play for the NT in the near future, not only because of his Delgado-dependency, but also because he's currently playing in Serie B.

Cesar Delgado (Cruz Azul, Mexico) is the other half of the pairing mentioned above, Figueroa's strike partner at both Rosario Central and Cruz Azul. He's also 25 years old, but there are a couple of key differences between the two. First, Delgado has managed to stay at the Mexican club and is doing fairly well there in his fourth season according to reports. Secondly, he can play well without Figueroa. Partnered Tevez to good effect in the '04 Olympics and has 18 caps for the NT, although his goalscoring record is less than impressive. In terms of talent, though, I think he's a better bet than Figueroa. Basile certainly seems to like him - he was due to be called up for the Brazil friendly until he got injured. Based on that, I'd say he has a good shot of getting into the team in the future.

Fernando Cavenaghi (Spartak Moscow, Russia) was one of the bright young hopes of Argentinean football at River Plate. Top scorer of the '03 South American title winning U-20 side, he was tipped for great things in Europe after an impressive goalscoring record with River in the 03-04 season. Then he moved to Russia and was never heard from again. Actually, that's not true. The problem is that Cavenaghi still hasn't settled in to life at Spartak, two years after moving there. In his first season he scored a mere 6 goals from 25 appearances. Things don't look to be improving this season so far either. It is my fondest hope that he'll secure himself a move out of Russia somehow and regain his form. What a waste if one of the (former) brightest young stars of his generation continues to struggle away from the spotlight. In current form, it would be risky for Basile to call him up, but there's still hope for the 23 year old in the future.


second forwards

Javier Saviola (Barcelona, Spain) is yet another former golden boy of Argentinean football, a story that's becoming sadly common especially amongst playmakers (see: Aimar) and strikers. During two phenomenal years for River Plate as part of a formidable team that also included Aimar, Ortega and Juan Pablo Angel, Saviola confirmed his status as the biggest rising star of his time by finishing the '01 WYC as both Top Scorer and winner of the Golden Ball, a feat that had only previously been accomplished by one man - Diego Maradona, of course. He still holds the all-time top scoring record in the tournament, having bagged 11 goals. After that, it was no surprise when Barcelona came calling.

Sadly, the decision to buy Saviola was made by a President who did not know what he was doing and bought players without consulting his coach (see: Riquelme). That brand of insanity also explains all the contracts of players signed during that era, which contained huge wages and bonuses. To be fair to Saviola, he was pretty good in the 3 seasons he played for Barca. But the problem is that the expectations upon a hugely expensive center forward at a club in such a state of crisis at the time were enormous, and 'pretty good' doesn't suffice. Rijkaard, the new coach, wanted a different kind of player, and the new management wanted to cut costs, so Saviola's transfer saga began. It is necessary to relate all this because that transfer saga is still going on, 2 seasons later. Saviola failed to settle at both clubs he was loaned to, notching up unimpressive goalscoring records. Barca are still trying to sell him, although he has stated his intention to see out the last year of his contract - persumably spending most of his time either on the bench or playing Copa del Rey matches, since he's a fair distance down the striker pecking order.

Anyway, all this hasn't stopped Saviola from reaching 30 caps for Argentina with a good goalscoring record. He was a member of the '04 Olympics squad, had a great start to the World Cup but faded in the match against Mexico and was dumped from the starting line-up against Germany. On form, he's pretty brilliant, but does tend to get into bad patches sometimes and disappear out of games. I actually quite like Saviola, and reportedly his team mates at Barca do too, so if the above sounds frustrated at all, it's only because I think he's put his international career in danger by choosing to stay at Barca. With such fierce and quality competition for his spot, he can't afford to be sitting around. At 25, Saviola should be approaching the peak of his career, and it's sad to see his progress languishing.

Rodrigo Palacio (Boca Juniors, Argentina) is definitely having a much better time with his club by comparison. The 24 year old's career has really taken off in the last 2 seasons, making him one of the most lethal forwards in the Argentinean league. His excellent goalscoring record for Boca led to him being included in the World Cup squad, one of the few Argentina-based players to earn the honour. Unfortunately, he was limited to one substitute appearance against Ivory Coast, where he had to play as the lone striker as coach Pekerman reinforced the midfield by pulling off the other striker Saviola. Still, the big tournament experience can only help him in the future. Palacio only seems to be getting better for Boca, and surely it's only a matter of time before Europe comes calling. Here's hoping he doesn't do a Cavenaghi (see above), since in his current form he has a great shot at being selected for the NT, especially since the coach who has taken him to where he is now picks the Argentinean team.

Carlos Tevez (West Ham, England) or Carlitos, as he prefers to be called, was the main subject of the biggest story of this transfer window. Expectations are mounting on the 22 year old at West Ham, and they are legitimate ones given what he has achieved with his former clubs. After moving to Corinthians as Boca's best player, he scored an impressive 21 goals in 29 games and captained them to the Brazilian title. Carlitos was part of the '03 side that won the South American U-20 title and also an instrumental part of their '04 Olympics victory along with Mascherano, ending the Olympics as top scorer with 8 goals. He's one of the public's favourites, and accordingly has 20 caps, although not all that many goals. A great display at the World Cup earned him further European admirers, although Tevez did not agitate for a move until he fell out first with the fans, then the new coach. I know that Basile admires him, and he's enormously popular so I can't see him not being one of the first choices in the future. The problem is that if he doesn't settle into life in the EPL - and there are no signs yet that he has - a lack of form could see him excluded until he sorts the problem out.

Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid, Spain) is the new Romario, the new Maradona or the new Messi, depending on who you ask. He doesn't want to be known as any of those things, naturally, although he's flattered by the comparisons. What he is, is a very, very good prospect for the future. Only 18 this year, he made cameo appearances in the aftementioned '05 WYC, most noticably drawing the penalty which Messi converted (again) to win the match.

'El Kun' became the youngest player to debut in the Argentinean first division at the tender age of 15 years and 35 days old, breaking a record set by - go on, guess - Maradona himself. He really came into his own in the last season, lifting Independiente with his strong runs, passing vision and plenty of goals. The big money move duly came from an Atletico desperate to spend their way out of mid-table mediocrity. He just scored one and made one in their 4-1 win over Athletic Bilbao in his first start to repay their faith and stake his claim for a starting spot. Best newcomer of the season? A good bet, I'd say, especially if he can help his club avoid their typical curse of flattering to deceive.

Him and Messi are an interesting case to consider tactically, especially the similarities to Riquelme and Aimar, albeit this pair play slightly further forward. Aguero has a powerful, accurate shot that Messi can't match which means that he's better suited to play as a forward. Messi, to me, has a better sense of the entire situation, so he's more suitable to play behind the strikers (hence me including him in the midfielders post). Like Riquelme and Aimar, the two are similar, but not so similar that they can't play together. Messi claims that they could do very well together because of their mutual understanding (the two are great pals - another parallel to their predecessors), so that would be interesting to see if Basile ever decides to play them together again when he's got a proper team and some time to work with them (i.e. not like how the friendly with Brazil). I for one hope that they don't end up being each other's substitute, with the result that one is eternally stuck behind the other for a starting place - for an example one need only look to, yet again, Riquelme and Aimar. I am convinced that Aguero can have a bright future in the NT, as long as he's not rushed into it.


Unlikely to feature

Julio Cruz - age is a merciless thing. So is competition.
Luciano Figueroa - I don't think there's that bad a shortage

Javier Saviola - once he slips out of contention, it's going to be hard to get back in


Likely to feature in Qualifying/Copa America

Hernan Crespo - still number one
Diego Milito - deserves a chance
Cesar Delgado - consistent performer, rated by Basile

Rodrigo Palacio - great current form and a Basile favourite
Carlos Tevez - if he finds his feet in the EPL. Too good to waste.
Sergio Aguero - hopefully will be slowly integrated into the team


Likely to feature in 2010

Fernando Cavenaghi - hopefully will regain his form sometime soon


This concludes my series on the future shape of the Argentinean team. I hope Albiceleste fans feel at least a little better about our team's future and non fans derive at least some enjoyment from my ramblings. Any comments you want to make would be great. I'll follow this up later with a post of random observations I've made while compiling this series, mostly about the spread of leagues and past youth team successes.