International Break (8/10-16/10)

Zososoxfan

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Trying on the international dating system--like the metric, it makes more intuitive sense but certainly takes some getting used to.

Anyhoo, we have the second post-WC international break and there are some noteworthy matches. Use this thread for all discussion of squad selection, tactics, railing against the FA of the team you follow, and gamethreading.

10/10
Italy vs. Ukraine

11/10
Poland vs. Portugal
Wales vs. Spain
France vs. Iceland
USA vs. Colombia (I can't make it to this match and I'm lowkey devastated)
Mexico vs. Costa Rica

12/10
South Korea vs. Uruguay
Peru vs. Chile
Belgium vs. Switzerland
Croatia vs. England

13/10
Netherlands vs. Germany

14/10
Scotland vs. Portugal

15/10
Spain vs. England

16/10
France vs. Germany
Japan vs. Uruguay
Brazil vs. Argentina
Belgium vs. Netherlands (the Battle for Benelux!)
Denmark vs. Austria
Sweden vs. Slovakia
USA vs. Peru
Mexico vs. Chile
Poland vs. Italy
 
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OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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I don't see the point of such heavy international activity so soon after the WC. IMO there are still players not yet in form for their clubs because of their deep runs into the WC.

I love the WC and Euro, but I hate the stoppage of the PL season and I hate the injuries and risk of injuries.

It's too much with the next WC four years off.
 

Kliq

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The distance from Montevideo to Seoul is 19,500 km, and according to Google flights, it's a 28 hour trip one way. That's brutal.
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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The distance from Montevideo to Seoul is 19,500 km, and according to Google flights, it's a 28 hour trip one way. That's brutal.
This plays into my theory of why national sides from Asia and CONCACAF underperform, which I've posted here before.

Countries in these federations have their handfuls of best players in top tier leagues in Europe, and the rest in their domestic leagues. To fly the European players back home over international breaks, to try to integrate them with the players they never play with/against from home, and then to have long travel within the federation - it's got to take more of a toll then assembling the national team of, say, France.

In theory CONMEBOL would be subject to the same forces, but their player stock is a cut above CAF/CONCACAF. Still, there's an argument that the South American sides have underperformed relative to talent.

Having said all that, whoever was the numb-nuts who thought the Korea-Uruguay round trip was a good idea should be fired.
 

bosox4283

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I don't see the point of such heavy international activity so soon after the WC. IMO there are still players not yet in form for their clubs because of their deep runs into the WC.

I love the WC and Euro, but I hate the stoppage of the PL season and I hate the injuries and risk of injuries.

It's too much with the next WC four years off.
Agreed. One could argue that we're seeing a dip in form from Spain's top-three teams -- Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico -- as a result of the World Cup. Some players, such as the French and Croatian ones, barely had a break and are either struggling to get back to top form (Griezmann) or are showing signs of fatigue (Modric).
 

OCST

Sunny von Bulow
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Agreed. One could argue that we're seeing a dip in form from Spain's top-three teams -- Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico -- as a result of the World Cup. Some players, such as the French and Croatian ones, barely had a break and are either struggling to get back to top form (Griezmann) or are showing signs of fatigue (Modric).
Spurs also IMO.
 

Zososoxfan

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Agreed. One could argue that we're seeing a dip in form from Spain's top-three teams -- Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico -- as a result of the World Cup. Some players, such as the French and Croatian ones, barely had a break and are either struggling to get back to top form (Griezmann) or are showing signs of fatigue (Modric).
Rakitic has been excellent and the amount of minutes he's played in the last calendar year is astronomical, but EV needs to get him some rest. Fortunately, Vidal is licking his chops for more PT.

Spurs also IMO.
Loo at injuries as a sign too--Dembele, Vertonghen, Umtiti, etc.
 

bosox4283

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Rakitic has been excellent and the amount of minutes he's played in the last calendar year is astronomical, but EV needs to get him some rest. Fortunately, Vidal is licking his chops for more PT.
By licking his chops, do you mean "posting nonsense on social media to get EV's attention?".
 

Zososoxfan

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Argentina's squad is out and of course I have to squabble with it. Romero is back in the fold and will likely start the Brazil match.

Rulli will likely get the start in the Iraq match since Armani is being held out by River (Gonzalo Martinez and Palacios are also being held out by River, and Pavon is being held out by Boca who is in the other half of the Copa Libertadores semifinal draw).

At the back, Otamendi has been brought back in to pair with Funes Mori, Pezzella, and Foyth (first callup). I'm surprised by that since he's already 30 and Scaloni has said that he's not even thinking about Copa America yet. Moreover, he's a known entity. Tagliafico, Bustos, Saravia, and Salvio will be the FBs again.

The MF is mostly the same and I expect to see a fair amount of Battaglia, Paredes, Ascacibar, and Lo Celso. Roberto Pereyra has been brought back into the fold after his hot start at Watford. Meza is also back and should see some time.

Up front, Dybala and Icardi once again headline. Angel Correa and Lautaro Martinez will hopefully be healthy enough to play this go round. Simeone is there and should see some time. I'm sad Lamela, Joaquin Correa, Alario, Mammana, Ocampos, and Driussi didn't get the call, but Scaloni has my trust at this point.

Argentina will likely trot out an aggressive 4-3-3 against Iraq and either a more conservative version of the 4-3-3 or a 4-2-3-1 for Brazil.
 

Zososoxfan

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By licking his chops, do you mean "posting nonsense on social media to get EV's attention?".
Well TBF he deserves to be in the rotation. Busi and Rak both need the rest and Roberto is injured. His biggest problem though is the emergence of Arthur. The Rak, Busi, Arthur trio has looked pretty good so far.
 

Zososoxfan

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Major mea culpa in the OP, as the list of matches I originally saw did not include Nations League matches. Doh! Anyways, I've added a handful of highlight matches.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Christ Scotland sucks. What a bummer.

Kosovo with another big win- looking the class of their group for sure.
 

Zososoxfan

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Quick thoughts on Argentina's performance vs. Iraq:
  • I have been a hater, but Acuna had a great match at LB. He and newcomer De Paul had good spacing and Acuna's cross on the opening goal for Lautaro was inch perfect. Bustos also had a solid match at RB. This is mostly noteworthy because Argentina has options at every other position, but this was one where I thought they were lacking. There is still no world class FB on the squad, but you could do a lot worse than Tagliafico and Bustos, with Acuna and Saravia mixing in.
  • The next generation of Argentina's MF has arrived and they are led by versatile pivots. Paredes, Ascacibar, and Battaglia (n.b. he's older than the other two) give Scaloni lots of flexibility to setup the team. Each one has a slightly different skillset, but against an overmatched opponent any one of them is capable as a commanding DMF and when they are paired in any combination the team can really get forward (i.e. the FBs) and still count on winning the MF. Combine these guys with Lo Celso and it makes Argentina's WC squad selection and XI look even worse, but the future looks bright.
  • Scaloni started the team in a 4-1-2-3 with Meza playing more centrally than Dybala. This was...less than ideal. Dybala shifted inside in the second half and immediately the attack improved with Dybala assisting Pereyra on the second goal.
  • Cervi is a 24 year old playing at Benfica, but TBH I didn't know much about him. He came in as a sub and scored a goal late where he picked up the ball at MF and absolutely torched everyone before slotting home. Impressive.
  • I can't say enough good things about Scaloni. He is managing the squad very well and has clear ideas. He has an expert knowledge of the domestic players and is combining them with some of the euros to great effect. He has also shown tactical astuteness by addressing width issues this match and trying out some interesting formations for short periods (e.g. went 3 at the back towards the end of this match).
Argentina will have a very different experience on Tuesday vs. Brazil. There are talks that Scaloni's future will be affected by this match. That is asinine IMO. Brazil is a world class team and Scaloni has done nothing but demonstrate how perfect of a fit he is for this squad at this time. He should get the keys regardless of what happens on Tuesday. The expected lineup has also been reported:

Romero
Saravia-Pezzella-Otamendi-Tagliafico
Paredes-Battaglia-Lo Celso
Dybala-Icardi-Correa

I have no qualms with that, but it is interesting to me that it eschews the MF-Winger types that have become so popular in European clubs (i.e. the "3" in a 4-1-3-2). Specifically because Argentina has a lot of good ones - e.g. Lamela, Lanzini, J. Correa, G. Martinez, Palacios, Pavon, Meza, etc. Nevertheless, Dybala will likely be playing a very Messi-like role, starting as a RW but expected to drift centrally to combine with Lo Celso to connect to Icardi-Correa. Saravia will have a big task of overlapping to keep width when that happens without getting hit on the counter. That gets even more interesting when you consider that Tagliafico also likes to get forward and Correa may clog that area.

Brazil play Saudi Arabia today and just looking at their lineup makes me poop my pants a little. Neymar, Gabi Jesus, Moura, Firmino, Coutinho, Arthur, Casemiro...wow.

Edit: Almost forgot. The best part of the match was when the broadcast panned over to the Argentina "bench" (sorry for the glare). I wonder if this was part of the deal for the match to be held in Iraq.

Royal Bench Small.jpg
 
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swiftaw

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I love ESPNs Apple TV app, had a 4 way split screen of matches this afternoon.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Germany doesn't look too hot, but I've been way more impressed with the Dutch than I thought I would. They could pretty easily be up 2-0 at the break.
 

Dummy Hoy

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3-0. Holland running the Germans out of the building.

Looks like Martin O'Neill managed to bore the Danes into a 0-0 draw. He sucks.
 

Zososoxfan

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Scaloni confirms lineup (-1) for Brazi:

ROMERO
SARAVIA-OTAMENDI-PEZZELLA-TAGLIAFICO
PAREDES-BATTAGLIA-LO CELSO
DYBALA-ICARDI-CORREA

Edit: Correa confirmed.
 
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SocrManiac

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I saw Dier take Ramos out and loved it. I didn't realize the shithead put out a stomp. Can I assume the Ramos shenanigans was first?
 

Titans Bastard

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Madagascar qualified for the Africa Cup of Nations today, which is a huge upset, even considering the AFCON has expanded from 16 to 24 countries for the 2019 edition. Cool thread here:


If Madagascar beat Equatorial Guinea today at home they will qualify for the first time in their history for AFCON. Having lived their for over a year, I can't tell you how amazing that is, given the appalling state of infrastructure there.

The Malagasy league consists of a round robin tournament played in Antananarivo, over the course of 3 months, made up of one team from each of the regions. The limited pitches and roads so incredibly terrible, this is realistically the only way that this can be done.

Bizarrely, the national sport is rugby, not football - the reasons for which are not clear. Not once did I ever see anyone playing rugby. If you brought a football down the to beach however, you had a 20-a-side game that would begin immediately.

Madagascar are known as Les Zebus - a type of humped cattle that holds incredible cultural significance to Malagasy people. They are essentially used as a bank for those that can afford them, often slaughtered during times of celebration and exchanged during marriage.

If they qualify, I'm mainly looking forward to commentators trying to pronounce their surnames, which are normally very long and complex. For example, Pascal Razakanantenaina. Indeed, the Madagascar president has the longest name of any head of state on the planet.

Gloriously, they seem to have played a friendly against Kosovo in March 2018, which I cannot believe that i missed.

Further, their national championship is sponsored by the Three Horses Beer (THB), which is delicious. I also never once saw a horse in Madagascar.
 

Zososoxfan

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[LARGE GULP!]

The best thing I can say for Argentina is that Coutinho is not a great MF and is best as an out and out winger. Barca learned this the hard way, but they learned which is why (along with the emergence of Arthur and the presence of Vidal) Dembele is now on the bench. Also, IMO Firmino is at his best in the middle, although I think he's played wide with some success at Liverpool. So I guess what I'm saying is Brazil has TOO MUCH firepower. If Argentina can somehow win the MF (they are basically playing a double pivot with Paredes and Battaglia), then maybe they can limit Brazil a bit? I hope Saravia is up for this and you know Otamendi is going to crack Ney throughout this match.
 

Zososoxfan

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Argentina defending in a 4-5-1 with Dybala and Correa in charge of defending the Brazilian FBs. Lo Celso will help Icardi press the CBs occasionally.

Looks like a 3-4-3 in attack with the FBs pushing into MF and one of Battaglia/Paredes dropping into the back line.