Mascherano plays in Olympics

[paulc]

http://www.rte.ie/sport/soccer/2008/0703/argentina.html

big loss..

[tsb]

No Tevez?

[Dhav]

****ing bollocks. Amateur tournament that professional players shouldn't be taking part in. FIFA need to sort out the rules for this, and perhaps downgrade the standing of this tournament so clubs can be allowed to refuse to let the player go if they see fit. Otherwise we should be compensated for losing a key player for vital matches so he can go play in a football tournament most professionals don't care about.

[Guest]

****ing bollocks. Amateur tournament that professional players shouldn't be taking part in. FIFA need to sort out the rules for this, and perhaps downgrade the standing of this tournament so clubs can be allowed to refuse to let the player go if they see fit. Otherwise we should be compensated for losing a key player for vital matches so he can go play in a football tournament most professionals don't care about.

Problem is FIFA is run by a cunt ...

[Scratch]

****ing bollocks. Amateur tournament that professional players shouldn't be taking part in. FIFA need to sort out the rules for this, and perhaps downgrade the standing of this tournament so clubs can be allowed to refuse to let the player go if they see fit. Otherwise we should be compensated for losing a key player for vital matches so he can go play in a football tournament most professionals don't care about.

Or we could not buy players that might be affected...it's like clubs that buy players from the African nations, then whinge when they disappear for a month mid season to play in the African Cup. We knew when we hired him there was a chance he might have to play, so we can't ask him not to now. That's why we have a big squad, to cover all eventualities.

[Tee]

Without Mascher and Lucas we could find ourselves needing Gaz Baz and Alonso for the first part of the season. Unless Gerrard drops back into CM and we sign a world class striker/playmaker.

[MindGuerrillas]

Is it really as bad as some are suggesting though? He'll only miss the first two games against Sunderland and Middlesbrough. I'm sure that we can cope for those games with what we have, particularly if we get Barry. I think that a midfield of Barry and Plessis would do for these.

[friedk]

This is the Argentinian side for the Olympics

Oscar Ustari (Getafe), Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Pablo Zabaleta (Espanyol), Ezequiel Garay (Racing Santander), Federico Fazio (Sevilla), Nicolas Burdisso (Internazionale), Luciano Monzon (Boca Juniors), Fernando Gago (Real Madrid), Ever Banega (Valencia), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Jose Sosa (Bayern Munich), Diego Buonanotte (River Plate), Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli), Lautaro Acosta (Sevilla) and Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid).

Incredible squad that.

[Morph]

Or we could not buy players that might be affected...it's like clubs that buy players from the African nations, then whinge when they disappear for a month mid season to play in the African Cup. We knew when we hired him there was a chance he might have to play, so we can't ask him not to now. That's why we have a big squad, to cover all eventualities.

So going by that we should never buy an Argie just because they might play in the olympics, that sounds a little silly. When you buy an African player you know they will play in the African nations (assuming they are international standard, which you would assume they are if playing for a top team), that's just a fact of football at the moment and no there's nothing you can do about it so that's just tough. The Olympics is a different matter all together, it's not a standard fifa/uefa competition and as far as i'm aware doesn't impact on world rankings etc. Sure it means a lot the south american teams, but it doesn't even register on the radar of any European teams.

As such the olympics should have some sort of policy in place where the football is only open to amateurs or uncapped players or something like that. Imagine if Spain were there and wanted to take Torres, i'm sure you wouldn't be so understanding then.

[Scratch]

If Spain wanted to take Torres, as one of their over-age players, then so be it. It's the price of having good players, and not worth getting in a hissy fit over.

Agree though that it should be amatuers only, but that disappeared long ago (in certain sports anyway...tennis and football spring to mind...but for some reason, not boxing??) so we have to live with it.

[Dhav]

Or we could not buy players that might be affected...it's like clubs that buy players from the African nations, then whinge when they disappear for a month mid season to play in the African Cup. We knew when we hired him there was a chance he might have to play, so we can't ask him not to now. That's why we have a big squad, to cover all eventualities.

I see what you're saying, but I disagree. The African nations is a continental competition akin to the European Championships or Copa America, and has similar standing for those countries and players involved as the aforementioned tournaments have to Europeans and South Americans. The only difference is the timing of the tournament is during the season while the other continental competitions are played off season.

To an extent you're right, it is an issue of cognisance, but in this case I don't think you can say we knew when we bought him that he was going to go to the Olympics. After all the Olympics is an Under23's tournament and Mascher is over the age limit. To me, the Olympics has similar standing to a junior competition, it's not a full blown international tournament open to all players of any age, so it should be treated accordingly. I'd be pretty pissed off if we lost a key player during an important part of the season so he could go play in the Toulon tournament or World Under 20s Championship or something. It's not right.

[Shaggy]

I see what you're saying, but I disagree. The African nations is a continental competition akin to the European Championships or Copa America, and has similar standing for those countries and players involved as the aforementioned tournaments have to Europeans and South Americans. The only difference is the timing of the tournament is during the season while the other continental competitions are played off season.

To an extent you're right, it is an issue of cognisance, but in this case I don't think you can say we knew when we bought him that he was going to go to the Olympics. After all the Olympics is an Under23's tournament and Mascher is over the age limit. To me, the Olympics has similar standing to a junior competition, it's not a full blown international tournament open to all players of any age, so it should be treated accordingly. I'd be pretty pissed off if we lost a key player during an important part of the season so he could go play in the Toulon tournament or World Under 20s Championship or something. It's not right.

Absolutely.

As you said earlier, the Olympics is supposed to be for amateur sportsmen and women. It’s a ****ing farce. The tennis has all the top pros, boxing has amateurs – what’s the ****ing deal?

What a wank event.

[Dhav]

Absolutely.

As you said earlier, the Olympics is supposed to be for amateur sportsmen and women. It’s a ****ing farce. The tennis has all the top pros, boxing has amateurs – what’s the ****ing deal?

What a wank event.

Obviously the deal is money, sponsorship, tv revenue etc. Like you say, it's a wank event so they try to glamourise it by bringing in the top pros. And I mean that is fine for individual sports but for team sports where a team suffers as a result, then some serious questions need to be asked.

[Shaggy]

Yep.

But how come boxing remains amateur yet other sports such as tennis features the top pros?

[Marky]

Is it really as bad as some are suggesting though? He'll only miss the first two games against Sunderland and Middlesbrough. I'm sure that we can cope for those games with what we have, particularly if we get Barry. I think that a midfield of Barry and Plessis would do for these.

Surely Lucas is ahead of Plessis in the pecking order though?