Putting this Argentina NT commentary here because it's more relevant here than anywhere else.
Argentina put it on El Salvador in last week's friendly winning easily 3-0. I didn't see the game ironically, as I was traveling to...Argentina. But I did see a few minutes of the second half, and ES was just leaving way too much space and Argentina was doing training ground passing drills around them.
There were some interesting developments though, with established players picking up new roles. Tagliafico played CB and Nico Gonzalez played LB. Tagliafico has had a super interesting NT career, as he was the captain during the dark days pre-Scaloni, and although he wasn't the starter at LB at the beginning of the WC, he started 2-3 matches in the KOs when El Huevo Acuna was injured, suspended, or Scaloni just wanted more balance. The guy's a gamer and a late career transition to CB makes a lot of sense on a team that can dominate possession. He might struggle in a more even match since he doesn't have the physical profile of a CB, but he's super intelligent, has a defender's tenacity and positioning, and is certainly better on the ball and passing than a typical CB.
Nico Gonzalez has also had an interesting NT career, but kind of in the opposite way. Multiple coaches have given him multiple opportunities to start on the LW, but he's never stuck despite having quite a bit of success at the club level (perhaps more so at RW). But against ES he started at LB. This is another example I think of Scaloni tinkering with quality established players and seeing how they do in more defensive roles. LB is kind of bare for Argentina, as Tagliafico and El Huevo get up there in age, although Brighton teenager Valentin Barco did get some minutes.
Perhaps Udinese CB/RB Nehuen Perez dropped into the defense to form a back 2 or 3 in possession along with Romero and Taglia, he's another youngster that got a start. It will be hard to displace Molina and Montiel though, as those guys are established for club and country and are generally well-rounded FBs. Molina especially, even if he's had a down season at Atleti (
@rguilmar @bosox4283 to confirm).
Not much else to add, other than Garnacho played very well, Brighton's Buonanotte got some run, and Scaloni gave minutes to a teenager at AMF in Carboni (playing at Serie A Monza at the moment).
Some big time players missing these friendlies due to injury, namely Dybala, Palacios, and Messi. There are some other guys I hoped to see more of, but didn't make the squad in Medina, Foyth, Almada, Balerdi, Senesi, and Alcaraz, but there are good reasons for their omissions. Foyth is a known quantity, Medina and Senesi probably need to focus on their club development, and similarly Alcaraz is promising but also likely benefits more from moving up the pecking order at Juve. Almada was an odd miss.
