Nine goals in six games, and a championship coming up

[Redpossum]

Miami move 'opposite' of PSG switch, says happy Messi

Speaking to local media for the first time since arriving in Miami, a smiling and relaxed Lionel Messi talked positively of his life in South Florida and contrasted it with his time with Paris St Germain.

batimes.com.ar

Miami vs Nashville on Saturday

But, as a worrisome footnote to that, the following article is about rich clubs overseas snatching up talented argentine youngsters who are barely old enough to vote.

Clubs are snatching up Argentina’s youngsters at an accelerating rate

With the best players moving earlier and earlier, Argentina’s clubs must compromise, picking up those either too young, too old or not good enough to play elsewhere, or else gamble that yesterday's wonderkid who flamed out overseas can rediscover his best form back home.

batimes.com.ar

At this rate, most clubs here will soon have a starting line up consisting of half 15-year olds and half greybeards on the verge of retirement..

 

[Rich One]

Messi and family seen house hunting in Boca Raton, maybe he feels at home with the "Boca" , a 20 min. drive from the FL stadium...? Looking to buy a Mansion in Millionaires Row, with a budget in the high two dollar figure in MM.

https://www.miamiherald.com/miami-com/miami-com-news/article277895338.html

 

[Reversegate]

But, as a worrisome footnote to that, the following article is about rich clubs overseas snatching up talented argentine youngsters who are barely old enough to vote.

Clubs are snatching up Argentina’s youngsters at an accelerating rate

With the best players moving earlier and earlier, Argentina’s clubs must compromise, picking up those either too young, too old or not good enough to play elsewhere, or else gamble that yesterday's wonderkid who flamed out overseas can rediscover his best form back home.

batimes.com.ar

At this rate, most clubs here will soon have a starting line up consisting of half 15-year olds and half greybeards on the verge of retirement..

From the article:

"The result is inevitable: a league that can only trend downwards in terms of quality and competitiveness, and an inferior product across the board."

That's a hoot when you consider how good the recently concluded Liga was. It was competitive and the quality of football was higher than it's been for some time. For all of the article's moaning about 15 year olds and greybeards, I'm wondering what they have seen when you look at the overall quality that has come in, and the article also overlooks some good young overseas players who have come over in recent times. Losing a promising young player for 10M Euros is a loss but that transfer fee might fund three players from Latin America who improve the overall quality of a side far more than retaining that young player.

In terms of the national impact, then the recent spat of signings are more likely to make Argentina a better side. Compare the 1986 WC winning squad to the 1990 WC squad in terms of where they played their league football.

1986 FIFA World Cup squads - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1990 FIFA World Cup squads - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

By 2022, the only guy playing in Argentina in the WC squad was Franco Armani. It's a measure of the financial power of the European sides compared to the Argentinian league. The 1986 WC win put Argentinian players in the spotlight across the board and many were signed up by European sides. The same is happening now. Improved scouting and research methods are accelerating this compared to post-1986 win as well. Someone like Valentin Barco was being tipped two years ago to move to Europe and he now sits about waiting to hear what happens with Brighton and Man City in the wings to snap him up. Players like Barco going to the Premier League will ultimately make Argentina a better side than if he stayed at Boca*

*and thank the lucky stars that Almiron saw the light and started playing him as a left sided attacking midfielder. Kid is absolute class..

 

[GMan_27]

From the article:

"The result is inevitable: a league that can only trend downwards in terms of quality and competitiveness, and an inferior product across the board."

That's a hoot when you consider how good the recently concluded Liga was. It was competitive and the quality of football was higher than it's been for some time. For all of the article's moaning about 15 year olds and greybeards, I'm wondering what they have seen when you look at the overall quality that has come in, and the article also overlooks some good young overseas players who have come over in recent times. Losing a promising young player for 10M Euros is a loss but that transfer fee might fund three players from Latin America who improve the overall quality of a side far more than retaining that young player.

In terms of the national impact, then the recent spat of signings are more likely to make Argentina a better side. Compare the 1986 WC winning squad to the 1990 WC squad in terms of where they played their league football.

1986 FIFA World Cup squads - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

1990 FIFA World Cup squads - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

By 2022, the only guy playing in Argentina in the WC squad was Franco Armani. It's a measure of the financial power of the European sides compared to the Argentinian league. The 1986 WC win put Argentinian players in the spotlight across the board and many were signed up by European sides. The same is happening now. Improved scouting and research methods are accelerating this compared to post-1986 win as well. Someone like Valentin Barco was being tipped two years ago to move to Europe and he now sits about waiting to hear what happens with Brighton and Man City in the wings to snap him up. Players like Barco going to the Premier League will ultimately make Argentina a better side than if he stayed at Boca*

*and thank the lucky stars that Almiron saw the light and started playing him as a left sided attacking midfielder. Kid is absolute class..

Well... I mean you can look at this from two sides. One is that the talent is being picked clean from the local leagues and its harming the quality of the league or that foreign rich leagues are picking up young talented youngsters and training them (making them better for the national team) thus making space for other younger slightly less talented/late bloomer athletes to take their place in the league.

I think this can only be good for the sport as a whole as it makes far more space for other youngsters to come up but also for talented foreign players from surrounding weaker leagues to come through and give their experience.

I also see the wiley old foxes retiring in Arg as a pro for the most part as they are able to guide and mentor the younger players and the the younger players can at least play with quality older players who have seen it all.

Yes it sucks to lose the talent out of Arg but as long as youth development/training/identification remains strong then this can only be a good thing for the national team as a whole. If you are going to lose the best then at least make sure you have a consistent pipeline pumping out younger players.

 

[Reversegate]

Well... I mean you can look at this from two sides. One is that the talent is being picked clean from the local leagues and its harming the quality of the league or that foreign rich leagues are picking up young talented youngsters and training them (making them better for the national team) thus making space for other younger slightly less talented/late bloomer athletes to take their place in the league.

I think this can only be good for the sport as a whole as it makes far more space for other youngsters to come up but also for talented foreign players from surrounding weaker leagues to come through and give their experience.

I also see the wiley old foxes retiring in Arg as a pro for the most part as they are able to guide and mentor the younger players and the the younger players can at least play with quality older players who have seen it all.

Yes it sucks to lose the talent out of Arg but as long as youth development/training/identification remains strong then this can only be a good thing for the national team as a whole. If you are going to lose the best then at least make sure you have a consistent pipeline pumping out younger players.

When you consider the dififculties in Argentina economically, that the quality of football in Liga Profesional has improved is pretty darn remarkable. I'm of the mind that losing the best talent is a shame but the money helps improve a side. If you sell a Beltran for $25 million, that means you lose a striker but maybe improve in four different positions. The recent Moses Caicedo sale is a case in point. When he left Independiente del Valle, it brought in around £4.5 million, a fortune to a club whose record signing is around £0.5 million. IdV had a 20% future sale clause when they sold to Brighton and that clause nets them over £22 million courtesy of Caicedo moving to Chelsea. That's the sort of money which funds better youth development schemes, better training facilities, new club infrastructure. It's a sale that brings Caicedo even more into the public eye and might encourage more kids to play football.

Totally agree on the balance between the older and young players. It always helps to train with good older professionals.