Argentina 1-0 Nigeria: Maradona’s men dominate but fail to convince
Eight years ago, Argentina started with a 1-0 win against Nigeria and then crashed out before the knockout stages. You wouldn’t bet on the same thing happening again, but this performance didn’t suggest that Argentina have the ruthlessness needed to win the trophy.
They made one change from the widely expected line-up, with Carlos Tevez playing instead of Nicolas Otamendi, meaning Jonas Gutierrez moved to right-back, not a position he was comfortable in.
Nigeria fielded a fairly basic 4-4-2 rather than the 4-3-3 we expected. When attacking it often appeared they were playing three forwards, because of the nature of the wide players. Forward Chinedu Obasi was pushed onto the left-hand side, whilst Sani Kaita was on the right of midfield, despite being a left-footed defensive midfielder. This made Nigeria’s shape rather lopsided.
Argentina dominate possession
Nigeria looked boxey and static in a 4-4-2 shape that didn’t suit their players. Defending in two lines of four wasn’t effective as Lionel Messi was looking to play between the lines, and he continually picked up the ball in dangerous positions in front of the Nigeria defence. Nigeria surely needed a slightly more intelligent shape to their midfield, preferably with three men in the centre and one playing deep with the intention of picking up Messi’s runs.
A 4-3-3 may have helped further up the pitch too. Gutierrez looked nervous at right-back and although Obasi tested him early on, a more advanced player would have done so more often and more effectively, especially once Gutierrez picked up a booking before half-time.
Argentina’s shape was far more fluid and dynamic, with only Angel di Maria of the attacking four sticking to his starting position. Carlos Tevez drifted in from the right, Messi floated around the pitch and Gonzalo Higuain dropped off to the right wing. With Gutierrez getting forward far more than Gabriel Heinze, Argentina’s play was concentrated down the right, and di Maria rarely got into the game on the opposite flank.
Poor marking
Africa’s first representatives suffered because of poor marking from a corner yesterday, and Nigeria suffered the same fate. Nigeria were defending zonally, close to their own goal, allowing Gabriel Heinze to run into an unoccupied area near the penalty spot, and he powered a superb header into the far post.
Argentina should have furthered their lead – Higuain and Messi had the clearest chances, but Vincent Enyeama was having an excellent game and made five excellent saves. Argentina were dominating possession and dictating the play. Messi came deep to get the ball and acted like a spare man in midfield, whilst Higuain’s move to the right and Tevez’s willingness to take up central positions was confusing Nigeria and making their centre-backs redundant, with no-one to pick up.
A more detailed representation of Argentina's movement
For most of the game, Argentina were content to play in front of the Nigeria defence, but occasionally penetrated when Messi got on on the ball and looked to play quick one-twos. The Argentina threat down the right was even greater because of Obasi’s defensive reluctance, and Taye Taiwo came too high up the pitch to concentrate – meaning Higuain received the ball in the right-hand channel very easily.
Nigeria fail to expose Gutierrez’s weakness
There were two clear ways to get at Argentina. Firstly, Gutierrez took up poor positions when not in possession, generally being too central and too high up the pitch, but Obasi is not a true winger and didn’t take advantage often enough. Secondly, Argentina’s defenders are clearly lacking in pace, but the lightning quick Obafemi Martins wasn’t on the pitch until after half-time to cause them problems.
Peter Odemwingie was clearly needed, and was summoned shortly after half-time. He is a classic winger, generally playing on the right, but here he was deployed on the left and immediately caused Gutierrez problems. His final ball was lacking but the natural width stretched Argentina’s defence and provided an outlet when possession was won in the centre of the pitch. The introduction of Martins also helped – he worked the right-hand channel well and his pace gave Argentina problems, although in wide areas rather than over the top.
Argentina were creating chances but not finishing them, and as the game went on the lead looked less secure. They were losing the ball and failing to get back into position, and Nigeria were getting their midfield and full-backs forward on the break, missing two decent opportunities from inside the penalty box.
Maradona then took Veron off (few expected him to complete 90 minutes) but surprisingly put on Maxi Rodriguez who wandered forward and left the tiring defence exposed. A more defensive player like Mario Bolatti seemed more appropriate, as Javier Mascherano was getting through an awful lot of work as Nigeria pushed on.
The Africans didn’t use the ball intelligently enough in the final third, however, and they lacked a creative central midfielder to distribute the ball towards Odemwingie and Martins – this is the role Jon Obi Mikel plays, and his absence was obvious, with none of Nigeria’s midfielders taking command of the game.
Conclusion
1-0 was a fair result in an engaging but unspectacular game. Argentina will need to be more ruthless in the latter stages, and Higuain’s missed chances look even worse considering on-form Diego Milito was sitting on the bench for 80 minutes.
Argentina also looked incapable of shutting the game down. They kept possession well, but this was partly because Nigeria so instinctively dropped towards their own box in two banks of four, making it easy for Argentina to retain the ball in deep, non-threatening areas.
With Maxi’s introduction, Argentina had five attacking players on the pitch at 1-0 up, which seemed overly ambitious. Then again, there’s a fair argument that their strength is in attack and therefore for them, attack is the best form of defence.
Nigeria were not particularly exciting. Their shape didn’t make much sense; 4-3-3 seemed the better option, to try and retain possession in the centre of midfield and put pressure on Argentina’s full-backs. In fact, Nigeria actually had three central midfielders and three forwards on in their starting XI, but Lars Lagerback is a committed 4-4-2 man and it seemed unable to cope with the movement of Argentina’s attacking players.
Argentina 1-0 Nigeria: Maradona’s men dominate but fail to convince
Great game! Messi should have put some of his chances away but I have to give credit to Nigeria’s keeper he did a really good job.
I see Argentina suffering against any of the “top” teams.. Their defence looked very shaky.
Do you think that the decision to drop Otamendi for Jonas was a smart one? Seeing how poor Jonas is defensevely, it’s hard to understand.
Not sure what to make of Messi today. Creating all these chances through runs and one-two is one thing, but he displayed a shocking lack of variation in his attempts to score as well. Coming in from the right wing, it was always left foot to far post. Every goalie works that out at some point and there was one moment during the second half when he preferred taking on two players in the centre to finish with his left foot, instead of just going for the right foot but being in front of the goalie straight away.
Good point, Messi got predictable rather quickly. A little variety would at least keep the keeper honest.
He’s no Tshabalala
Since this one came up, am I correct to presume you are not going to review the Greece vs. South Korea match?
Ya. Sorry, three in one day would be too much for one person! Two a day’s the plan.
Oh if you give him time and space to write a post he’s very good, but when the pressure’s on, you’ll find ZM doesn’t like it up him.
Indeed, I’ve been a flop since moving to the Premiership, can’t cope on a wet Tuesday night in Wigan.
Hey ZM, how about simply posting a placemarker post for the games you aren’t going to review (i.e. South Korea vs Greece)? That way, the community here can still have a discussion of those games tactics.
Other than the 4-4-2 the Nigerians are not accustomed to they also desperately missed Odemwingie’s creative sparks. Why Lagerbaek would drop the player who has been the most reliable and outright best in his side for years is completely beyond me. I have to admit he didn’t play too well after being brought on though, but then again he is an attacker and not a wide midfielder. Hopefully the coach will see the light and switch back to the 4-3-3 or another formation suiting the squad better. Nigeria’s strength are the quick attackers, not the midfield.
As for Argentina, with a performance in defense like today the pacy and tireless South Koreans will give them hell already. Diego will need to change some things around if he wants to get anything out of matches against the big boys.
During his 11 years as the Swedish coach Lagerbäck did not use 4-4-2 for TWO matches only, the first one was a clear 3-0 loss against Germany and the other a fatal 0-0 draw against Albania in the World Cup qualifiers (had Sweden won that match, they would probably play in the World Cup instead of Portugal). The 4-4-2 have given Sweden enourmous success (five straight play-offs) so it’s not surprising that Lagerbäck don’t want to play anything else.
But I agree the Nigerian side would have been better off with a 4-5-1 och 4-3-3, because then they would have had better control over the midfield and also with Odemwingue starting Nigeria could have exposed the empty midfield and less-than-impressive defence.
Argentina should play Bolatti instead of Tevez next game. They need more numbers in centre midfield. Otamendi would be a good replacement for Jonas too. Higuain must not start because he has demonstrated a tendency to ruin chances. Moreover, Milito just won’t. Overall, Diego did a good job. It looks like he’s actually figured out how to integrate Messi into the Argentinean attack.
Trouble is, Laddie, that Bolatti, Verón and Mascherano are just about the only central midfielders (admittedly of varying styles) in Maradaona’s squad, so he is probably loathe to risk exposing one of them to injury.
You’ve forgotten Javier Pastore.
Not a central midfielder; he plays between the lines, one band ahead.
That’s because their idiot manager left Cambiasso at home.
Well, Maradona has figured out how to integrate Messi into the Argentinean attack inasmuch as he’s left Messi to sort it out for himself, yes.
The stats are quite astonishing. Messi not only had the most shots and most shots on target, he also made the most passes and had the highest pass-completion rate.
In other words, Messi was his own Xavi.
Unfortunately it is a case of reading too much into statistics.
Yes, Messi had a lot of shots on target but they were far too predictable and while Enyeama made a handful of good stops his flamboyant style made them appear better than they actually were. If Messi is going to constantly snub his team mates in order to shoot he will need to vary his shot selection and increase his chance conversion.
Yes, Messi had good passing figures for the game but they were inflated by him dropping deep to play simple one-twos and keep the ball moving in midfield with side passes. In the final third and when it mattered Messi resorted to his usual head down approach and hero runs. In other words, Messi was nothing like Xavi.
On another day Nigeria could have got something from the match and instead of putting Messi on a pedestal due to aesthetics people would have been forced to be more objective and discuss the points I made above, blaming Messi for squandering chances and costing Argentina valuable points. Fortunately for him Heinze scored a great header and Nigeria were inept when chances came their way.
This is not a slight on Messi before anyone has a go. While I do consider him to have an inflated standing based primarily on aesthetics he is still clearly a superb player and one of the best around. His problem is that he needs to learn to be a complementary player and integrate fully with the rest of the attack instead of playing for himself. He is the opposite to Tevez in that regard.
Really have to disagree with you about Enyeama. There were two fingertip saves on shots that were bound for the top corner where the guy couldn’t have been any more at full stretch than he was: if those aren’t good saves, I don’t know what is.
And as for Messi, have you seen his assists rate for Barca – the automatic assumption that he’s selfish because he dribbles a lot is kind of misguided? Free kicks in the danger zone, especially with Nigeria’s woeful marking, are always useful, and Messi dribbling is probably the best guarantor of a free kick, or a chance on goal, that one could hope for.
Messi doesn’t need to have a standing “inflated by aesthetics” – his goals + assists is superior to anybody in football today. How many assists did Ronaldo (not C.Ron, but Ronaldo) get in the season when he scored the goals record that Messi reached this season past? Messi is a phenomenon.
That said, he is a little deified at times (he cheats when he thinks he can get away with it, just like every other footballer, but gets the media blind eye normally reserved for members of the England team) – but hell, he’s earned it. Today he was two fantastic saves away from a brace of goals. Playing against any other African team in the history of football, he wouldn’t have been facing a keeper good enough to keep those out.
He could have created more, but he was playing with the luxury of a one goal lead that never looked like being lost (until the final 20 minutes). And the way that Argentina are set up assumes that Messi is going to produce individual wonders. It’s not like he was ignoring team mates free in the box in order to pursue personal glory: a lot of the time, he was in acres of space between the Nigerian lines, whilst Higuain was marked and Tevez was badly placed – why shouldn’t he run/shoot? It’s actually a fairly high-percentage option, when you have the skill of Messi.
I think today was a great example of how little tactical knowledge Maradona has. The offensive players, Argentina’s strongest point, made hardly any off-the-ball movements. Milito would have been a much better choice than the rather timid (and absent in big matches Higuain). Jonas Gutierrez is clearly a midfielder, and, if used at all, cannot play as a right-back. It’s even worse knowing that Maradona urges his left and right back to stay at the back, while Jonas’ strongest asset is his running up and down the flank (while Champions League winner Javier Zanetti sits at home after the best season of his career). Demichelis looked shakey as always. The only one who looked good in defence was Samuel.
Di Maria to me was very timid and did not bring any threat whatsoever at the wing.
Due to Veron’s slow play, and the lack of midfielders, Mascherano was left alone to cope with all the defensive work and passing in midfield. I think a player such as Lucho Gonzalez would have been very useful here.
Most of the analysts will say that Messi had a great game. I would have to disagree, sure he created a lot of chances with cutting vertical dribbles, but he needs to learn to pick the moment to pass the ball better. Often he holds on to long to the ball and closes down open spaces with his runs.
The chaotic, and unorganized attacking movements where best exemplified by the 4 against 2 counter attack in the second half.
Main problems: no midfield, left and right back need to participate more, lack of movement up front.
This said, I’ll keep on supporting Argentina!
“I think today was a great example of how little tactical knowledge Maradona has. The offensive players, Argentina’s strongest point, made hardly any off-the-ball movements. Milito would have been a much better choice than the rather timid (and absent in big matches Higuain). Jonas Gutierrez is clearly a midfielder, and, if used at all, cannot play as a right-back. It’s even worse knowing that Maradona urges his left and right back to stay at the back, while Jonas’ strongest asset is his running up and down the flank (while Champions League winner Javier Zanetti sits at home after the best season of his career). Demichelis looked shakey as always. The only one who looked good in defence was Samuel.”
Thas must have been written before the game! Higuaín, Tévez and Messi made excellent off-the-ball movements, creating acres of space between the lines and even inside the box. Higuaín wasn’t absent minded at all, although he did waste some good chances. He played for the team and did a good job of it. Jonás DID run up and down the flank, and Demichelis rarely looks/looked shakey!
Thank you for your comment.
Higuain moved quite a lot. That’s true, but he lacks personality to demand balls and participate in play. Or maybe he was just neglected.
Tévez worked very hard, but lost himself quite often in failed dribbles.
Demichelis to me just does not inspire confidence. Maybe it’s just personal
I have seen Jonas playing in the past, and in my opinion he was did not participate that much in offence as he normally does. I know he was standing quite a lot high up the pitch. But there is a difference between standing there when in possession or running forward from a back position along the byline.
Hahaha, maybe it’s personal, yeah. I like your nickname just as well. By the by, did you see Samuel actually acting as a Great Wall in Heinze’s goal? Love the guy. Spanish commentator said something like “Yep, it’s official: you have to look like a Goodfella to play as Argentina’s CB” when they showed Samuel’s fiery expression.
I too was calling for Lucho’s inclusion before the Cup since he is Argentina’s only top-level box-to-box midfielder amidst a plethora of destroyers, registas and enganches, and they could really do with someone who arrives from midfield: ‘llegada’
I wasn’t impressed by Argentina. I was expecting a lot more. The attack was lacking. I felt Messi played too deep. Argentina only looked dangerous when he was around the box, but he was constantly dropping deep to help play the ball with Veron and Mascherano. Was Di Maria even on the pitch ???
ZM, i don’t think Tevez played as right as you put him. The width for Argentina’s attacks on the right all came from Jonas. Tevez rarely occupied that position. If anything Higuain spent more time there. Argentina played a 4-4-2 diamond with Messi on top of it and Di Maria probably on the stands watching the game. Maradona was naive starting this game with such a shape and Jonas as the right back. He struggled and against better teams he’ll be exposed and will cost Argentina goals. Today they were lucky they kept a clean sheet. Heinze didn’t convince me as a left-back as well. He’ll be a liability against better teams. If Argentina stick to this same formation in the knock-out stage they’ll be exposed on the wings and Messi will be marked out of the game by a DM. Today they were lucky, when they face a top team – they’ll lose.
Messi took it upon himself to drop deeper since Veron was overworked in playmaking duties; there was nothing wrong about his starting position per se.
It’s interesting, your interpretation of Argentina playing a diamond; watching on Brazilian TV, I’m not sure we were presented with the same graphical illustration as elsewhere, but the players were shown as aligned in a 4-4-2/4-1-2-1-2/4-3-1-2 diamond, which made me think “hang on, that can’t make sense!”.
It seemed to me, judging from the players selected, that Argentina would play something between 4-2-1-3 and 4-2-3-1, depending on the degree of defensive burden placed upon Tevez and Di Maria (as wingers).
But as the match took shape, the formation seemed to end up as a hybrid somewhere between the two (4-3-1-2 and 4-2-3-1); almost a more offensive version of Brazil’s structure.
The thing that most stood out to me was that Di Maria, who is surely an outside-forward by vocation, was playing in anything between a tornante (wide-midfielder) and his Benfica position on the left of a diamond; either way, his natural game was clearly compromised, surpressed even; remember, with Benfica he is playing in a much more open league, but at this level does it make sense to play a winger in an obstensively box-to-box role? He even had to tuck in to assist Mascherano and Veron in the centre.
With the fact that they really didnt had any major practise games before, I think Argentina had a decent game. They can only improve from here. Messi is really going to find his Barcelona form, it seems. With little bit of luck he should have scored a brace today. I really felt Tevez was very poor. Di Maria was invisible too for most of the game. Demichelles often is out of place, as if he is a spectator. Demichelles and Heinze will be a problem for Argentina against big teams. But overall, it is going to be good. We must remember that there were many who predicted a draw or loss for Argentina in this match because of Maradona. That man deserves some credit whatsoever.
Was it only me who thought that Higuaín did practically everything right? His movement was perfect in my opinion, he created a lot of openings and chances for his teammates through sheer movement. He was also very energetic in defense and he won a lot of ball. Messi’s tendency to not pass the ball when he has a shooting opportunity really hurt the team. I also don’t think that Milito would’ve scored on either of the chances that Higuaín got, perhaps on the first one but you have to remember that it’s his first World Cup game and he’s only 22 years old so he was probably incredibly tense.
I thought that too. He was brave, tackling all nigerian players and winning balls. Of course, he missed relatively easy chances, but that’s because he got himself away to score, opening up the defence. Debut games are tough.
Both of oyu are absolutely right! I don’t like Higuaín much, but he did very good today.
His movement was excellent. Has to put the chances away though…
Yeah, but the same could in turn be said of Messi who also refused to pass when he could’ve which would’ve put Higuaín or Tévez clean on goal. When Messi gets a chance to shoot, he shoots, even if a pass is a smarter move. Also, is it only me or did Messi seem really nervous? Like, even after his first shot he was making faces which he doesn’t when he plays for Barcelona.
Higuaín missed chances and was guilty of taking too much time on the ball which slowed the entire attack down.
I agree with Sam. Higuain worked hard and caused problems for Nigeria. However given Milito’s form I think Milito should have come on MUCH sooner. Perhaps after 60 minutes. Milito’s clinical finishing and intelligent runs off the ball would have caused problems for Migeria. Milito need more playing time.
Di Maria was not confident on the ball. He may need to be subbed if he plays lke this. I’m not sure who will be a natural replacement? Any suggestions? Definitely Arentina needs a better winger on the left.
Argentina also suffered from not having a creative midfielder on . Perhaps Pastore should have come on for Veron on 60 minuttes.
But DiMaria wasn’t asked to play as a winger on the left; he was performing something between a box-to-box role (as per Benfica) and a British style wide-midfielder.
I must say, I found his role the most confusing, partially because he was involved in play so little. Not quite sure exactly what was expected of him.
He’s a good player, di Maria, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t live up to the hype at this tournament. He was good but not great for Benfica this season…if he’s the world beater some think, he should have been dominating every Liga Sagres game…
True, and the purported transfer fee being bandied about in the Spanish press is 30 million euros may have to be factored in as part of the cost of hiring Mourinho; Jose and Di Maria share the same agent – Jorge Mendes, who also negotiated Mourinho’s exit from Porto and ensured that Ricardo Carvalho was included in the deal (Mendes’ way of boosting his fee).
Even so, I liked the look of Di Maria in the Beijing olympics when he was being played much wider and more advanced than at Benfica or in the Nigeria game.
Maradona got his tactics right. Argentina played a good match, not overwhelming, but enough to beat this weak Nigerian side. I expected more from Nigeria, they always promise a lot but fail to to perform well on the World Cup.
I don’t think Maradona would be crazy to make those substituitions against stronger sides, like Brazil or Holland. Even for the next match, playing against a pacey side like South Korea, he would be more cautious, deploying Bolatti or Pastore instead of Maxi. And, afterall, this was only the first match, a lot of players still nervous – Gutierrez, Higuain and Di Maria, for example. In the next rounds, Argentina will improve.
Hi ZonalMarking
can’t argue with your tactical analysis, but surely you could have mentioned that Heinze was only able to get to that corner unchallenged thanks to Samuel’s criminal blocking / holding? It’s a tactic used a lot recently, especially by Samuel, great player though he is, and I’m surprised that the match officials missed it and that you chose not to call him on it.
Thanks for a great website by the way.
Interesting.
I actually wrote an article on my blog defending Gutierrez. He was asked to defend the whole right flank on his own so that Argentina could play 3 forwards. I thought he did ok considering how isolated he was and he is going to be a key player for Argentina during the tournament because of his versatility.
http://defensiveminded.wordpress.com/2010/06/12/gutierrez-is-a-key-player-for-argentina/
For a player known for his attacking prowess rather than solid defense i dont understand why Maradona played him at right back when it was obvious because of Argentina’s formation that the right flank would be attacked heavily. Otamendi would have been a better option but who knows what goes on in that head of Maradonas.
I don’t think Otamendi has the pace, energy and technical ability to play this role. He would lose possession further upfield and get punished on the break. Gutierrez was expected to get forward when Argentina have possession, something Otamendi would struggle with.
If Maradonna persists with this lopsided formation then Gutierrez is his best bet.
Wow talk about a tough crowd. This was Messi’s best game for Argentina in a long time. Maybe the best under Maradona and he still can’t do anything right according to many of these comments.
I thought he was excellent. Chances like he created today has consistently been goals throughout this season (throughout his career!), so absolutely no, I don’t think he should start to do things different when it comes to trying to score goals. No one is better than him.
About Di Maria, there was always a danger with the extra forward inserted into the lineup that he would have to have quite a bit of defensive responsibility and almost like a wing-back spend substantial time further back. But at least, unlike Gutierrez on the other side he didn’t really struggle defensively but did his job. That’s also of great value.
What was really encouraging for me with this lineup/formation was how much Messi was getting the ball fronting the goal. Far too much in qualification and in the recent lineup where the attack was Higuain more or less alongside him, and then with Di Maria in full gear on the left, he’s been getting the ball like a striker way too much with his back to the goal. Today though not least I think thanks to movement of two other forwards (and himself! Finally similar to Barca!) he was consistently getting the ball fronting the goal, with space to exploit even (he doesn’t need much as long as it’s fronting and not with his back to the goal) and just about every time something dangerous ended up as the result.
No they didn’t convert their chances (so much of that is luck) but this is a huge improvement from the previous Argentina lineups where he has really struggled.
It is a shame if that’s something now restricting Di Maria, but while he is also an incredible talent, it is better Messi has a scene to shine than Di Maria having one, and that basically was the case today.
Everything is also related of course on a football team, so who is not to say that an improved performance from someone in central midfield, better tempo and ball movement for starters, or some different movement up front OR some different players, that Di Maria can’t get a better working conditions as well.
Overall I have little doubt that the formation/lineup that secured qualification and beat Germany in that friendly, is the safer more solid choice but this one today has not just more upside but in my mind also clear evidence of better working conditions for the best player in the world, and that’s a huge positive I think.
Agreed.
Rarely in a tournament do you see the winner playing the final the exact same way as you see them play their opening game. Success requires momentum, and there is nothing better than getting the 3 points. This game is not a test of Maradona’s acumen; he was asked to build a coherent system that allowed Messi to reproduce his club form – and he has done so in a way that won the first game.
The test of his acumen will be the adjustments he makes for Game 2 to fix the leakiness of the back 5 in such a way that still allows the front 5 to create (and hopefully finish – though that’s up to the players) as many clear opportunities to score as today.
But isn’t there a case of freeing up DiMaria offensively by pushing him further forward?
Ok, as a result you would probably have to drop Tevez and only play with one other forward (Higuain/Milito) and with Messi between the lines or else starting from outside-right.
Interesting game. In attack Argentina looked good with good interchanging movement between the front three, at times almost playing a strikerless formation with everyone dropped off the defence although Higuan offered a more orthodox forward option as well at other times. However most of their stuff came through the excellent Messi but he won’t get the same time and space against more compact teams who play with three man central midfields. With little width due to the full backs staying at home and Di Maria anonymous they may run into a problem common to x-x-1-x systems, i.e. stifle the 1 creator in attacking midfield and where do you go next? Personally I think a 4-3-3 with Messi in his Barcelona role would suit the players better and give more cover to the defence. In defence Argentina just need more defensive players. With Jonas at right back they only really had four defensively minded players on the pitch and it showed as they kept getting hit on the break. Can’t afford that if you only play with one real destroyer in Mascherano with Veron and Di Maria with him.
Nigeria need a 4-3-3 and to be generally more compact.
One statistic, which unless I’m mistaken, is alarming; Veron was the Argentina player who covered the most kilometres!
If so, it was an insane workload for him to be burdened with, and credit to him for lasting over the hour.
But it also indicates, as does ZM’s diagram of player movement above, just how much Veron had to cover Jonas along the right flank.
In terms of personel, Argentina were basically playing a 1970s style assymetric 4-2-4; insane!
Thanks for posting that statistic–I had a vague sense that Veron was doing a lot of running, but I didn’t realize it was that much. I wonder how well he’ll hold up against the hard-working South Korean midfield, especially given that the Nigerians didn’t bother to press (even down 0-1 late in the match!).
Yes, Verón ran and ran, but to very little effect. His pass completion was shocking. Shouldn’t it be the other way round: his stamina and mobility reduced because of his age, but not his eye-foot coordination?
The player who surprised me was Tévez. Although the scrappiness and naivety I associate with him was indeed visible on occasions, particularly the closer he got to the box, he was generally much sharper and savvier than I’d been expecting.
You’re correct; Veron’s natural game suffers when he has to run all over the place.
Argentina’s starting setup was shown as 4-3-1-2; i remember it clearly since i started smiling thinking of Inter’s monumental achievement in the last 6 months playing this way…yet, IMHO they achieved very little yesterday; i think Maradonna’s stubbornness is directly to blame…i saw a very insecure Argentinian team; that’s total lack of confidence…they brag they have the best line-up and the best bench in the world…yet, they considered this match with very low-self-confidence…this behavior is a result of a weak team spirit…one of the sides wasn’t functioning at all, Messi was unclear on his positioning as a advanced play-maker or striker, and only “shined” because of an unskilled Nigerian defense plan…i don’t understand, a coach that arrogantly affords to leave-out Zanetti and Cambiasso, barely called-in Militto!!!!
if they’re gonna fail it’s not because of the players, they did show motivation, it’s because of Maradonna’s attitude…he is still the best player ever existed, grew up with him as an idol, but that doesn’t necessary translate well into coaching…
I feel sorry for Angel di Maria. He did a lot of defensive work and he was always moving into space looking for the ball but for whatever reason Argentina did not involve him. Too often Heinze looked inside or Messi/Tevez would go on a hero run instead. There was one good piece of combination player involving Messi linking with di Maria and being played clean through but that was it. Argentina need to get him more involved and be more dynamic overall in attack.
Tevez and Higuain are free-floating and thus interfered by each other
Argentina starts as 3-4-3 however Jonas dropped to right back after 20 minutes
Maradona finally did great job incorporating Messi in his tactics, but frequently I saw Higuain moved wide to accommodate Messi thrust.
Nigeria applied neither zonal marking nor man marking, they used ball marking, heh.
Was that the formation Argentina actually played in? To me it looked like 3 centre backs (Heinze tucking in) Di Maria and Jonas as essentially wing backs, Maschereno holding in between them, Veron ahead of him linking attack and defense and then the front three switching around.
Do the actual (what positions they really occupied) stats show that Heinze in a left back role rather than the left side of three centre backs? I know what I’m suggesting is very similar to what is posted here but if iI was lining up a side against them I’d want to know what role Heinze was given. With reference to the superb analysis fo Spain on this site, I think if Argentina are playing three with wing backs (both fairly advanced ones at that) then Spain playing just 1 with two wide players to attack the space behind Jonas and Di Maria would make for a massacre.
Gutierrez is supposed to be a midfielder, and then it becomes three centre backs. However, he didn’t really do that.
Lots of criticisms for Argentina but 3 points in an opener is all that counts. Is Maradona crazy? Yes but no more than other coaches, and certainly not as inept as some of the coaches this tournament.
Maradona clearly worked on set plays. Impressive set pieces. As we’ve seen with Mexico, and some other countries, it doesn’t matter how many forwards you play with if your forwards keep missing sitters. The good news is Messi, Tevez will surely pick up steam. Higuain looks unsure of himself but with Milito in the wings, not a concern.
People are very harsh on Veron, who did some serious work in there and frankly Cambiasso, couldn’t have done better.
I could be wrong but 6 defensive players and 4 attackers is not as insane as people are making it out to be. The 4 attackers just need to score when you push numbers up.
Messi played a great game. Which is something great for the Argentina team. That’s something to comment on.
I think that Argentina is a very strange team,their coach is a real legend of football but as a coach i don’t think he is so good.Despite this he has the winning spirit and this is something that can lead a team to the cup,just remember Brazil’s performance at 2002.Tactically i think he is making mistakes but he tries to find a way to let Messi free to play his game.Finally my opinion is that he should have called Esteban Cambiasso because he had a good season and at this time he is better than Veron,i also think that Zanetti despite his age would give the team his experience and talent and he could have been the right back instead of Guttierez
Tevez dropped to CM , I think after Veron or Higuain went off, and is capable of playing there with his tenacious tackling and pressing.
didn’t Argentina Play a Roma’s 4-6-0? i think maradona wanted to play all of his favorites in the front and take a spaletti’s 4-6-0 with Veron-Mascherano as De Rossi-Pizzaro in the midfield, wich means less creativity and balance for them ’cause Veron-Mascherano are no De Rossi-Pizzaro. roma’s kids are good in playmaking, being anchor man, lay down in the tackles, playing intelligent etc etc etc, but in these manners, none of veron and mascherano has the quality. mascherano is a great DM but playmaker…? and Veron is just pfff!
Maradona Needs something in the midfield!