Mama Messi

It's been a crazy week, with Leo Messi's mother taking center stage by praising Barcelona while declaring Newell's Old Boys as not existing. Odd, then, that her child has so often spoken of himself as a Lepra. Honestly, I have to wonder why anyone even bothered to interview her in the first place.

There's also the old ugly head of the media pointing out that Leo's play with Argentina has not been on the same level as when he plays for his League side, this time with the added speculation that he's been in Spain so long that he no longer has passion for playing for the country of his birth.

Messi himself has blasted such talk, and, if anything, I'd have to agree with those who point out that at Barca he is a big part of the attack, but the performance of the entire team has not rested on his shoulders alone. At Barca Messi has two Spanish internationals, Xavi and Andrés Iniesta, feeding him and the other forwards on the team from midfield. He hasn't had that kind of support with Argentina, not even close.

At the moment, Argentina's Maradona has been going with Seba Verón, who no longer functions as an attacking midfielder even at his club, Estudiantes LP. That pretty much leaves the side with out any creativity in midfield. Some are calling for a return of Juan Román Riquelme, but, in my opinion Román has always been inconsistent. His form of late with Boca Jrs certainly doesn't merit a return to the Albicelestes, either. Add to that the fact that when both Messi and Riquelme have both been on the same field they've been more like oil and water than team mates playing with a common cause.

With mere months before the World Cup kicks off in South Africa, it's up to Maradona to come up with solutions to the team's problems. Somehow I don't see that reassuring anyone, except for Argentina's opponents.

In other news, Newell's have released Pablo Aguilar from his contract in exchange for the player forgiving the team money owed him. While it's rumored that the defender may be on his way to Chacarita Jrs, as a player available on a free transfer, I could see a bidding war over his future services.

Lastly, I've been wasting quite a bit of my time this week as I just acquired Worldwide Soccer Manager 2007, called Football Manager in markets outside of the US/Canada. Sure, I know it's 2010, but it's the latest in the World Soccer Manager games that would still run on my computer. It's only been a week, or so, and I'm still learning the ins and outs of the game, but I have to say that the hardest part is having to deal with the fact that when taking up the Head Coaching position at Newell's, Eduardo Lopez is still the "Chairman," as the game labels him.