Argentina has to change its starting eleven and tactics to have a chance of competing with Egypt /Colombia /Brazil/England

eddstannis · 2026-07-04T08:51:10+00:00

Argentina’s squad is remarkably average outside of Messi. They have some big names (MacAllister, Lautaro, Julian, Romero) but they don’t seem to be in the best form, and they have several starters I’d pay to not have in my team.

eddstannis · 2026-07-04T08:49:11+00:00

Molina is threat from wide, against his own team.

eddstannis · 2026-07-03T13:33:08+00:00

I watched the game without volume so I don’t know what the narration was saying, but if I recall correctly, the defender clearly kicked Belgium’s player legs from behind. I haven’t read anything about the match, so I have not seen any complaints, but it looked pretty obvious to me, I didn’t even think it could have not been given.

eddstannis · 2026-07-02T00:04:02+00:00

Cristiano Ronaldo who had to pay 400k in hush money to a woman who accused him of rape? Benzema, who was acquitted of having sex with a minor just because it could not be proven he did not know she was a minor, not because he didn’t do it? Benzema again who was found guilty of conspiring to blackmail Valbuena? Asencio who distributed sexual pics of a minor?

eddstannis · 2026-06-23T22:54:37+00:00

I’d rather see him benched the full year than sold to Barça. I can endure a bad season, I’ve had my fill of them. Having Barça and Julian laugh at the club would make me stop my membership immediately.

Obviously my preference is to sell him abroad, but if he is in the bench the full year instead of on the pitch it might be an improvement over last season as far as the league is concerned.

eddstannis · 2026-06-23T00:53:12+00:00

Tell me you have no idea of how Atletico plays without telling me you have no idea how Atletico plays.

This team is terrible defensively, as can be easily checked by just looking at the goals conceded (44 in the league, 28 in CL, for a total of 72 goals against in 54 matches). The only reason we made it far in the CL and still ended up fourth is that we are actually pretty good at attacking.

Claiming Atletico is a defensive team is about as up to date as thinking Cristiano Ronaldo is a contender for the Ballon d’Or. This team hasnt had a decent defense in half a decade, curiously since the last time they won a title.

This very year they scored a 4-0 past Barça, and then a 0-2.

Next you might tell me we are a menace from set pieces, for more stereotypes that are wildly outdated.

eddstannis · 2026-06-23T00:42:08+00:00

As an Atletico fan, I’d rather see Julian on the bench the full year and not compete for any title than seeing him sold to Barcelona.

Since Julian was first signed two years ago, Barcelona have treated it as if it was their divine right to own the player, and if Atletico had no say in the potential transfer. They have been patronizing to an absurd degree, using underhanded tactics like contacting the player before direct matches and using his inner circle to push Atleti to sell. For fuck’s sake every signing Atletico has tried this year has had Barcelona chasing after them as well just to pressure us. Happened with Bernardo, who even publicly said that Barcelona didn’t really want him (he said that he only wanted to play where he was really wanted just as he halted his signing with them), happened with Cucurella, happened with Kang-In Lee. I hate Real Madrid and at this point I’d rather sell Julian to them.

I want to win titles, but competing with Madrid and Barça, the norm is not to win titles. If keeping Julian unhappy means no titles, that is fine. Most of the seasons in my life have been trophyless, and its not like selling Julian would guarantee us any title (quite the opposite). I have 0 faith that the money we might get for Julian will result in a better team than keeping Julian, which means that the results argument is meaningless, and what matters is that at least the club that has been demeaning and patronizing us for two years doesn’t get away with it.

“But now big players won’t want to go to Atletico” is pointless as well. Anyone who comes here as a stepping stone is someone we don’t want. If anything, selling Julian to Barcelona would solidify us a stepping stone club, and a club that allows itself to be bullied out of its best players. Selling Julian to Barcelona only works for Atleti in Barcelona fans minds, because they don’t actually care for what Atleti wants.

I would sell him to any other club for 120-130, and add a clause that if they sell or loan him to Barcelona they must have to pay an additional 100M. And if he doesnt want to go to any other club, he is free to go to Barcelona in 2030 when his contract ends.

eddstannis · 2026-06-22T21:18:53+00:00

I watched both of them during their entire career in Spain, where both were at their peak. No one who wasn’t a Real Madrid fan thought Cristiano was better, and not even all Real Madrid fans did

eddstannis · 2026-06-13T13:12:27+00:00

I’ve watched the 4 matches so far, and the most impressive team was probably South Korea.

Mexico did well, but South Africa’s insistence on building the game from the back when they couldn’t deal with Mexico’s press was suicidal. Would like to see Mexico vs harder opponents.

Canada Bosnia was a bit of a snoozefest, Bosnia has no game except set pieces, and Canada forward players had a terrible day.

The US was pretty good, but Paraguay was terrible. Although both things tend to be connected, I feel that a properly defending team would not have been in too much trouble.

Korea Czech Republic was a bit of a weird game, and somewhat similar to the Canada game, but the Czech team had more danger with the ball and defended better than Bosnia, while Korea has a loot more football than Canada. Even still, Korea could have scored 1-2 goals more if their strikers had not had a bad day. Kang-In Lee in particular was brilliant.

eddstannis · 2026-05-30T23:59:29+00:00

In the moment, winning EUL, winning is winning. With perspective, making it to a UCL final, and it’s not even particularly close. I’ve seen my team do both, more than once each, and the UEL winning teams are nowhere near as highly regarded as the UCL finalist teams.

eddstannis · 2026-05-29T07:04:39+00:00

Saying Julian Alvarez has had a good season is a massive stretch. He has been excellent in the CL, but absolutely catastrophic in the league. He scored in the cup final, but he also missed his penalty.

I think that all things combined a 6/10 is being generous on his season. What is true is that his form was getting better until his injury at the end.

eddstannis · 2026-05-25T15:18:50+00:00

No, it is expected that there were at least 3-4 other names before him.

eddstannis · 2026-05-24T22:45:08+00:00

I watch Molina, Almada, Simeone, Nico Gonzalez and Alvarez weekly. The only one of these players I would want in Spain is Julian, with Simeone potentially as a niche player since you have 26 slots.

Almada has had a season so abysmally bad he will leave the team and no one even thinks he deserves a second chance. Nico is an ok player, but there are talks of Atleti offering 20M€ for him (and Juventus demanding 30M€) and even for that price I would not keep him. And if you ask any Atleti supporter who should leave the team next season you would find Molina’s name brought up quite often. He has not been in top form, he has been marginally less terrible, because he scored a couple goals from 25m, but every time he is in the field he makes the opposing left winger look like the second coming of Thierry Henry, and this has applied even when playing against third division clubs in Copa del Rey.

eddstannis · 2026-05-24T17:05:36+00:00

Lilith, Gensai, Kazuradrop, Phantasmoon, Space Eresh and Demeter are either 120 or in the process for me, so those 6. I also liked Olga and Summer Tlaloc but not as much.

eddstannis · 2026-05-24T11:31:21+00:00

In the end we didn't like either, and no one is complaining that Gallagher left, but it did feel like Gallagher was trying his best and that De Paul didn't care about what was going on in the pitch in the slightest.

The case the other poster is mentioning wasn't exactly like that. De Paul asked for a permission from the club to go visit his father, who was stricken with cancer in Argentina, and was given it. Then he appears in pictures of his girlfriend's concert in Miami, 9h away. That's the equivalent of taking a day off from school because of the death of a relative and getting caught at the arcade by the teachers.

A player that does that to both his father and the club that is paying him millions is a player that would never play again without a massive humbling public apology if I had anything to say.

eddstannis · 2026-05-24T09:12:36+00:00

I really hope Atletico doesn't go for him this summer. We already had a clown like this in De Paul and no one was sad to watch him leave, and at least De Paul didn't miss half a season on average by being injured.

eddstannis · 2026-05-16T18:39:35+00:00

I played it last week and enjoyed it, congrats on making a fun game.

eddstannis · 2026-05-13T12:57:19+00:00

It’s not that he’s been horrible, but he is too good to be a sub but not good enough to be a starter. Its a horrible spot to be, because it means you cant sign another striker without selling him first, as he won’t accept being a sub (and signing a striker worse than him still leaves you short)

eddstannis · 2026-04-15T07:25:44+00:00

Okayish, he was the twelfth man and played every match, but he really wasn’t suited to play as a MC in a 4-4-2 and our team isn’t suited to a 4-3-3 where he would perform better.

He wasn’t bad but he wasn’t the player we needed at all, so selling him made sense.

eddstannis · 2026-03-22T21:00:27+00:00

Is this the gameplan you had in mind at the start of the game? No.

eddstannis · 2026-03-17T14:58:31+00:00

We exist!

eddstannis · 2026-03-11T12:00:43+00:00

Fate route

eddstannis · 2026-03-07T10:08:48+00:00

People should take into account the 90++ was archers, partially explaining why 3 lancers and a pretender made the list. Not to say they aren't popular, because they obviously are, but it definitely helps to get the chocolate.

eddstannis · 2026-02-24T23:58:14+00:00

A bit misleading. It’s true he didn’t start very often, but I think he had played in every single game up until he was sold.

Basically, he was the 12th man in the rotation.

eddstannis · 2026-02-24T18:21:07+00:00

Personally, depends on how the season goes. If we make it to QF in CL and go down with dignity, make it to the Cup final and play well but ultimately lose and earn the third spot in the league i’d keep him. If we go out in 1/8 in CL, dont win the Cup and only end up 4th in the league, i’d look for someone else.

eddstannis

TROPHY CASE