Argentine Sputtering

So that's what £150 million's worth of striking talent gets you. Not one measly goal out of the lot. Simply amazing that I can only think of one moment where Argentina should have scored.

The same can not be said about Colombia who were dangerous for much more of the match and squandered opportunities in a Bendtner-esque fashion. The best striker on the pitch was Falcao. On the night, Radamel was more dangerous and threatening than any of his Argentinean counterparts, as every run or shot seemed to put someone to the test. It will be very interesting to watch if he actually makes a move to the Premier League,I believe he could be quite the asset to any top club. That said, could I have been more wrong? That result cost me one bland tasting hat and made nearly everything I wrote prior to the match irrelevant.

The funny thing is that I was still entertained. It's been a long time since I could say that about a match, and yes I am including the Gold Cup. Other than the final between USA and Mexico the tournament lacked nearly any excitement. One could not say that the ARG-COL match was horrible to watch, it was no Chelsea v Liverpool. The profligacy in front of goal demonstrated by several of the Colombians leads me to believe they probably wont win the tournament but damn do they have a decent squad. It has been quite a while since I've been able to say that about the Colombians, good to see them rebounding. It was good to see a match of this magnitude, things being about football for once instead of transfer rumors.

Argentina was a team of individuals on the pitch, no one seeming to have any ideas. They did not cover themselves with glory in that performance and if I were Batista I'd be thinking really hard about how to turn the ship around because I'm sure the axe will be dropped immediately if they don't qualify as the host nation.

The Copa America looks a wide open competition at the moment, with no team asserting themselves as legitimate favorites. Friday should be a good evening of matches, Chile - Uruguay being the highlight, and no I will not stake any claim as to how it will go as I have learned my lesson. We can only hope for entertaining football and i believe we will get a hotly contested affair.

La Copaaaaaaa...ehhh

Tonight I will take in my first match from this Copa America.

I've spent the last week busy with work, then vacation, away from television and all you crazy bastards on Twitter.

Ok I couldn't completely leave it alone but i was only voyeuristically checking twitter hoping for signings and alas, jack shit happened. Unless you count Liverpool signing some mediocre players to ensure they, as one of their fans stated, secure a 13th place finish.

Apparently I haven't missed much. All but one match ending in draws? If I wanted to see that shit I'd watch any match between Chelsea and Liverpool. Nil nil's don't fill seats. Goals do. Let alone in America where many people can't be bothered by a great match.

I am looking forward to watching Argentina tonight and I am sure this tournament will come to life soon. I predict at least 3 goals in this match and if I'm wrong I'll eat my hat. Or maybe drink it, let me find my beer helmet just in case. But seriously they should thrash Columbia and the pressure is there following an opening round draw. With the talent at their disposal Argentina have no excuses. I expect Messi to deliver.

How absolutely batshit crazy is it that Argentina sit three world class strikers every match?!?!? I believe they will be playing with Lavezzi, Messi, and Tevez. That leaves Kun, Higuain, and Milito on the bench. Mind boggling. I bet they wish the wealth of riches could be spread to other areas of the squad, but the rest aren't exactly chumps. The embarrassment of talent in the striker position is enviable to say the least. Can't one jump ship and come to the USA? Figure out some kind of deal so we can take their talent like how Portugal poach Brazilians that want to play international football.

I expect this to heat up starting tonight! I have more to say but the match starts soon and I would like to eat first. Enjoy some real football tonight.

Mes que un Cule

A guest post from Jaymin @allinthepass

And the miasma Barcelona and its faithful media acolytes have huffed around our humble club returns, right on schedule, flying in the face of the false expectation we may have entertained that this summer would be different. All in order, then. I would have preferred my first ever football blog to be about something else, anything, but I will march to the beat of the zeitgeist, because I fear the noxious smoke will be choking us for the next several weeks, at least.

That is of course provided Barcelona don’t meet our (ahem, and...pretty much the whole football world’s http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/default/marktwerte/basics.html) valuation. And I think we all feel the same way about how likely that is to happen. They pass so well and play so prettily, but their conduct in this affair has been and continues to be disreputable. One has to conclude given the constant tapping up, public exhortations, and I’m pretty sure the stated desire of their head coach, that Barcelona do indeed really, really want Cesc to play for them.

But then why the frankly insulting bid, and more to the point, why the even more preposterous bid in 2010, when he had just had a 20 goal 20 assist season, and was a favorite to land a World Cup winners’ medal? Surely then, if any midfield player in the world merited a 50 million GBP transfer fee, it was the young Fabregas. So 35 GBP felt like they were making a point with us, which they are driving home further with a reduced 27 million GBP after a disappointing campaign for us and from our captain.

They want to embarrass us. They desire to stand above us, like an older executive who has just outmaneuvered a young upstart in a boardroom dispute. To put us, ahem, “in our place.” Only we’re the ones who seem to routinely outmaneuver them. Just from the top of my head mind: : ripping them off with Petit and Overmars, uh, taking Cesc for peanuts in the first place, and then, after they had decried this “theft” and presumably established safeguards against its repeat, snatching Merida/Miquel/Torral/Bellerin etc. The fact that we took Torral and Bellerin in the midst of this current public courting of Fabregas suggests that as an institution we’re as annoyed with them as our fanbase is. And that maybe we want to show them if they can be cheeky, we likewise can cheek it with the best of them.

It’s a fascinating relationship between the two clubs, hardly able to be classified as normal. We aspire to play with the style they reinvented from Cruyff’s Ajax and they now call their own. Outwardly we admire them. We both have a somewhat pariah type perception within our leagues, them for their perceived separatist attitude, us for not being Liverpool or Manchester United. Our fanbases seemed, until recently, very simpatico.

Plainly not replicated at the business level. These are just my random musings after a very busy and productive day, mind. I will explore this subject more deeply in a subsequent post.

Comments, thoughts? Below,or @morningpint & @allinthepass