jenni_blog | ARGENTINA NATIONAL TEAM SHAKEUP (Reply)

Things aren't working the way they should be for Argentina's national team. With so many supremely talented players, you'd think they'd be world champions every time they play in a World Cup. But fact is, they're not, as everyone knows. The team has been through so many managers and coaches recently that I can't remember them all. So I decided (again) to take it upon myself to revamp the team. You'll notice that Lionel Messi is not on it. This is because I don't think the team works well as a whole with him there. I doubt that any manager would have the balls to leave him off, but I do (even though I don't actually possess any of those.) ;)

Okay, this all totally tongue-in-cheek and there is room for Messi simply because as the winner 3 times of World's Best Player, how could he not be included?

But this is my idea for the new Argentina National Team, and it is based on what I see is the current best performance in the particular positions I am filling. I also like the idea of having more than one player from each club (if possible) because of their familiarity working together, and I have tried to accomodate that as well. You may not agree with my choices, however, so I encourage you to make your own. Mine are heavier in defenders and midfielders, the reason for that being that I don't think Argentina has too many world class goalkeepers and forwards, compared to other countries. I also believe in not calling up the same old OLD guys, so the only one of those here is Pablo Aimar, and that is because his current form is so good.

Right...so for me, the current best Argentine goalkeepers are:

Adrian Gabbarini (Independiente/Argentina)

Second-best goalkeeper:

Gaston Pezzuti (Atletico Nacional/Colombia)

Right Back(s)

Fabian Cubero (Velez Sarsfield/Argentina)

Central Defenders

Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle United/England)

Fazio (Sevilla FC/Spain)

Nic Otamendi (FC Porto/Portugal)

Sebastian Dominguez (Velez Sarsfield/Argentina)

Left Back

Emiliano Insua (Sporting Lisbon/Portugal)

Right-sided midfielders

Nic Cabrera (GELP/Argentina)

Angel di Maria (Real Madrid/Spain)

Central midfielders

Augusto Fernandez (Velez Sarsfield/Argentina)

Erik Lamela (AS Roma/Italy)

Fernando Gago (AS Roma/Italy)

Ever Banega (Valencia CF/Spain)

Javier Pastore (PSG/France

Pablo Aimar (Benfica/Portugal)

Nic Gaitan (Benfica/Portugal)

Left-sided midfielders

Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle United/England)

Maxi Velazquez (Independiente/Argentina)

Forwards

Kun Aguero (Manchester City/England)

Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid/Spain)

Pablo Piatti (Valencia CF/Spain)