Am absolutely thrilled at the news. Part of me sort of knew it wouldn't happen: it was just too crazy and there would be too much of an uproar. I think they were trying to get attention and then make it look like they were in touch with the public by turning down their own proposal (that they may have had no intention of carrying out) supposedly because of the public's will. Now I wonder how River will fare in the B next year.
The AFA is an entity as corrupt as they get. However the Falklands thing is down to chauvinism rather than corruption - either way it's something I don't condone, but rather dislike. They think that they're going to gain public support due to stupid statements like that - just like my god ole friend Galtieri did back in his day -, and the worst part of it all is that they actually did at some point - even though Grondona probably used that as an excuse to vote for whoever paid him the most money. However, most people are now adamant about turning things round and kicking Grondona out of the AFA, but that's public opinion and not the opinion of the board, which means we're still in square one.
As bad as Grondona is, at the same time it's not the AFA that is playing the games or managing the team. I think sometimes people overplay the importance of the administration. They affect manager choices and perhaps how the manager is viewed by the players (whether or not they think he is there to stay), which are very important, but once a good manager has been chosen the former isn't a factor (and sometimes the latter isn't either). Argentina's problem is more than Grondona, along with a poor back five, it's the same issue that Brazil has: all of their players play in different leagues on different continents. Especially with creative, technical sides like these, it makes it very hard for the players to play well together as a unit. In the modern tactical European game, where most of the best play, the players are more specialized than ever before. Now the problem is that when you put 11 together they might not complement each other well, and they definitely won't play well as a team if they all play different styles for their club teams. Argentina may have all of the attacking talent in the world but it's going to take a very good coach to figure out how to get the most of them.
I thought Batista should have been given more of a chance. He's the only one who wanted to do exactly what Argentina needs: give them a 4-3-3. Messi has to play in that formation to be effective. Argentina tried to use him as #10 in a 4-4-2 diamond but that doesn't work. He's not a midfielder, and having him sit far back and receive balls from deep does not allow him to use his strengths. Let him be the forward that he is, running at defenders and using his speed to create havoc, rather than be a deeper-lying playmaker. Because of Messi (again, the problem with having a team of such specialized players) Argentina has to play a 4-3-3 and it must be understood that the coach will use that formation (and try to imitate Barca, for that matter). That's what I liked about Batista, and Argentina was playing very well under him. So they had a slow start in the Copa, big deal, all the good teams did. They played better in their last two games and were very, very unlucky to not go to the semi-finals. Even though he's not a proven manager I think it's a shame they didn't give Batista more of a chance.
TBH, I'm not sure how good Sabella is, Estudiantes is a very talented team that has been well-run, not to mention they have Veron. I think that explains their success more than Sabella. Anyway, if he doesn't use a 4-3-3 than Argentina is screwed. I guess maybe they should try playing Messi simply as a media punta (shadow striker) in a 4-4-2, just to see if there is an alternative to the 4-3-3. But considering that Argentina doesn't really have a good natural winger other than Di Maria (and the fact that they have so many great center mids), the 4-3-3 suits them much better. Here's what they should do IMO
Aguero Messi Di Maria
Cambiasso Mascherano Banega
Pick your back five, but you need attacking fullbacks to provide width, so probably Zanetti and Zabaletta for now.
If that doesn't work, have Di Maria and Aguero switch sides or try bringing in Lavezzi or Tevez or Zarate. Or have the front three be Di Maria, Higuain, and Messi (from left to right). That way you have Di Maria crossing from the left, a pure number 9 in the middle, and Messi cutting in from the right. That's where Messi became a great player, so if the 4-3-3 with him in the middle isn't working out, I say try putting him on the right.
Now, if you want a 4-4-2:
Messi Higuain
Pastore
Cambiasso Mascherano Banega
Pick your back 5, but offensive fullbacks will be needed to provide width, so probably the two Z's for now.
Argentina has to use one of the above if they hope to be good at this point.
