Darren — Ultimate European Challenge, Argentina alone all season 16/17

Hello again friends. Welcome back to my Ultimate European Challenge and a rather different post today. As you may remember, I left At. Madrid after completing the treble. Although I loved my time at the club, it was time to move on and get this UEC completed. At the start of the 2016/17 season I noticed the Liverpool job was available, but didn’t apply because a few people have already done stories about them. This turned out to be a big mistake, the whole year went by and not one good job became available. Since when did managers stop screwing up? Anyway, I’m till out of a job and have been for more than a year now. However, this doesn’t mean I’ve been chilling with a beer or a cup of tea as Harry Redknapp does. No, I am still manager of Argentina and had two competitions to think about. Today we’ll see how the World Cup qualifiers are going, and move swiftly onto the Confederations Cup.

South American World Cup Qualifying results

Argentina have found the qualifying stage a breeze so far, but so have Uruguay. They seemed to be matching me result for result. So these fixtures were very important as I needed to bridge a gap at the top. We started badly with a game that didn’t go to plan. After going 3-0 up against Chile, my players threw it away in the second half and struggled to get the draw. Maybe this was the wakeup call they needed, as the next three games were won convincingly. Then the tie against arch rivals Uruguay, maybe even a group decider. We won of course 3-1 and the rest was all straight forward. My highlight came with the 3-0 thrashing away from home against Brazil, then the 8-0 scoreline against Bolivia was also a great moment.

Only four games left and we have established a four point gap from second. I still have Uruguay away from home, but we have definitely qualified for the World Cup 2018. With Messi, Pastore, Aguero and Higuain reaching their best years of between 28-30, my squad will be at its peak. I have also unearthed some more amazing young talent that matches my current regens, so the future is bright for Argentina.

Confederations Cup

The official warm up tournament to the World Cup, and another chance for me to win silverware. A while ago I mentioned this Argentina squad are best set of players ever to grace a football pitch. Well I still believe that and with more passion than before. We have already won the Copa America, now I want the Confederations Cup and then we’ll go for the clean sweep next year. Here are the teams I need to compete against for this trophy.

Group A — Argentina, Mexico, Nigeria, U.A.E.

Group B — England, Ghana, New Zealand, Russia.

I certainly believe Argentina got handed the easiest possible draw. We shouldn’t face any problems until the semi-finals. England our arch rivals and the last World Cup winners, Ghana, are probably my main threat. But after playing Russia in a friendly, I know how solid they are. That match was fortunate to finish 0-0. Onto the group stages though and below are my results.

Confederations Cup group A results and table.

The word easy comes to mind :) both Messi and Aguero were perfection here scoring 8 goals between them within the three games. After warming up against U.A.E. we demolished Mexico 7-0. I then noticed the semi-final would be just three days after my last group game, so rested all the key players against Nigeria. We still won 3-0, dominated possession and this left me with a headache as to which players belong in my starting XI.

I won the group with ease and Mexico followed us into the semi’s despite their humiliating defeat. In group B, England struggled to get past Russia but just managed second place on goal difference. Ghana won that group after victory in all three matches. I think you can guess who my semi-final opponent is, but just in case the draw is below.

I was hoping for a grand finale against England, but we drew them for the semi’s instead. I can’t see Mexico having the power to beat Ghana, so maybe the final will be between the last World Cup winners and the favourites for the next competition. That is if England don’t surprise me, it would be ironic if they did as I rejected them for Argentina almost two years ago. :)

Confederations Cup semi-final — Argentina vs England

Big, big game and the first real test I’ve had all year. England tend to use the 4-5-1 with one central midfielder dropped back to the DMC position and both wingers pushed forward. In Wayne Rooney, they have a dangerous forward and the back four is extremely strong including Phil Jones and Shawcross who have developed into amazing defenders. I decided to keep my normal 4-5-1 and switch from the usual standard strategy to counter. I did this to try and draw England’s DMC out of position before breaking on the counter. Lets see the starting line ups and then the highlights.

Argentina line up: GK — Romero, DR — Simon, DL — Insua, DC — Galeano, DC — Otamendi, MC — Mascherano, MC — Millemaggi, MC — Pastore, RW — Messi, LW — Becerra, ST — Aguero

England line up: GK — Hart, DR — Richards, DL — Bertrand, DC — Shawcross, DC — P.Jones, DMC — Spence, MC — Cattermole, MC — Shelvey, RW — Lennon, LW — Milner, ST — Rooney

Well my boys prevailed, and I got the feeling that this competition was already won. A very dangerous thought, but England were the biggest threat in my opinion. Millemaggi’s opening goal was a stunner, I don’t think the keeper even expected him to try for the shot. Then, just after I’ve bigged him up, Shawcross goes and makes a huge mistake to hand over the game. A very good performance and its time to prepare for the final. :)

The other semi-final coughed up a big shock. Ghana failed to make their chances pay and Hernandez sent Mexico through to the final and Ghana to the third placed play-off. I would’ve preferred beating the last World Cup winners, but another huge scoreline against Mexico in the final would be nice.

Confederations Cup final — Argentina vs Mexico

After scoring 5 goals plus on two occasions against Mexico, I think the tactics can stay the same. A simple 4-5-1 with standard strategy. The Mexicans have Carlos Vela and Hernandez who are deadly finishers, but I think they’ll be too preoccupied in defence to stir up any threat. Below are the starting line ups and then we’ll move onto the match highlights.

Argentina line up: GK — Romero, DR — Musacchio, DL — Ortiz, DC — Galeano, DC — Otamendi, MC — Mascherano, MC — Millemaggi, MC — Pastore, RW — Vella, LW — Messi, ST — Aguero

Mexico line up: GK — Gonzalez, DR — Juarez, DL — Layun, DC — Moreno, DC — Leyva, MC — Palma, MC — Pacheco, MR — Flores, ML — Guardado, ST — Vela, ST — Hernandez

This match just summed up my team, full of attacking flair and we have goals all across the starting XI. When Vella is played, his set pieces make a huge difference. The winger managed three assists and a goal during this tie which earned him man of the match. Galeano also scored two impossible headers and set up Otamendi for the first goal. My favourite goal was a strike from outside the area by Becerra though. The Man Utd winger has become as big as Messi during this season…if that is even possible.

The fans were extremely happy with this achievement. I know its only a minor competition, but it is silverware all the same. Besides, winning the Confederations Cup is a statement of intent for the big event in 2018. My first World Cup is a must win, I can’t see there ever been a better bunch of players on the same side.

To show our dominance the player awards were all handed out to my players. Aguero won top goalscorer, Romero won best goalkeeper and then the best player award went to the little magician that is Messi. In fact, second place for this award went to Aguero and third to Vella. The cherry on top of my cake however, was becoming the best English manager of all time. The Confederations Cup moved me above Bob Paisley and someone else you may know…Darren Smith of Newcastle. :)

Well that concludes my post for 2016/17. While there is still no action on the club front, I am really enjoying the Argentina experience. Hopefully I can find a job soon, but if not my next post will be when the World Cup begins. Until then, thanks for reading and please feel free to comment below. :)