the only problem I have with Lucho is that I have a feeling that it will take awhile for him to get in shape, he has not been playing and then by the time he gets a preseason under his belt, Palermo will be back and then he will end up like Marioni
On Area 18 they are interviewing Ischia right now, and he claims that there haven't been any updates on Figueroa. I know that the commentators claimed during the game that it was a done deal, but it seems like there still is a chance of the transfer not going through.
i think that all that is left is that he has to sign the contract. then again though, this came out during the game, and it could be that ischia doesn't/didnt know yet. anyways, hopefully he turns out a good signing and shuts me up, but i think it's gonna be a bad signing, then again we're getting him for free so i guess its worth the risk. hopefully he doesnt get injured (vive lesionado el tipo) and gets in top form quickly
I have to agree with myself. It was a difficult game thanx to Collado. Wtf was that pk for? And the yellows for protesting unexistent fouls? Wtf? The Figueroa effect certainly helped Viatri ... as well as Perotta and Gaitan in each of his goals. .
Last three games in the apertura: Tigre 3 goals, Newells 2 goals, Godoy Cruz 4 goals. Obviously something needs to be done about our defense.
I think the main problem comes in the middle. The rival passes thru too fast and face to face towards the defenders. Wtf was Ischia thinking with a midfielder of Roman, Gracian and Vargas? This added to not having Battaglia? Did he analize Godoy Cruz? They played a simple game ... speed and look for the holes of the entire midfield. Vargas had been playing decent on the right. Why switch him to the left, where unless he merges to the center, he can't provide anything in attack? If Datolo doesn't play, who provides width? Because playing with THIS Roman, you need, more than ever, fast players that can become targets. Now that I touch the Roman issue, he needs to take a break, urgent. At this point, Gaitan can provide much more to the team than Roman. Specially because Gaitan has demonstrated leadership and personality, vision and good outside the box shoot, SPEED and pause. It is starting to become evident that Roman is tired, is not fresh, is not taking outside the box shots, can't score from a free kick, can't score from inside the box (searching for that beautiful goal that means the same as an ugly one), and worst of all, has lost the "picardia" to force REAL fouls on him. This Roman is the equivalent of Dinho at Barza the last 2 years ... the difference is that the latter partied too much and didn't train, the other also missed training for personal objectives, burning out without a proper pre-season. In the meantime, their clubs pay for them to be 100% ... Is Roman's present his fault or Ischia for not sitting him and making him do a pre-season? Because I think that no Boca fan will put Roman over the club. Look at this: .
Vargas was not on the left, Gracian was on the left and Vargas one the right with Gonzalez in the middle trying to replace Battaglia. Sure it did not work, but it was a good idea. The only problem I had was that Datolo was not in the lineup. Gracian should not have been there, unless it was to give Riquelme a break. And now everybody complains, but Gonzalez as the '5' did work incredibly well against LDUQ, but sadly today it did not. Ischia can say whatever he wants, like that Datolo was left off the starting lineup (he wasnt even on the bench) because he is needed for Wednesday's game (lol what a joke) or because his play has detiorated and he finally decided to bench him (more bs, he's been on of the better players and by this logic paletta should be on the bench as well) But the reason he did not play yesterday was because of Datolo's reaction when he got subbed out against Newell's. And seeing how it came out working for the best (Gaitan ended up scoring and getting an assist), he decided he could be the tough guy and bench Datolo. So much for that. I agree that Riquelme needs a rest, but I still think he provides more to the team than Gaitan and Gracian, even if he's tired. He is that special player that needs to be on the pitch. Hopefully with a full week of rest we'll see him playing better this coming weekend. Mostof his 'bad' play is also the fact that he does not have a player like Palermo in there. those 2/3 through balls he puts in a game, those exquisite passes are not being capitalized on like before (like Chavez's against Independiente, a few by Viatri etc etc). That's the problem with Riquelme, the striker puts in two goals and he has a great game etc. but if those passes aren't but in the back of the net, people pounce and say that he's playing badly. As much as I hated that Riquelme went to the Olympics, there was nothing that Ischia could have done. Yes Riquelme is over 23, but as much as I love him, one of his flaws is his 'capricho' and he would have caused much more trouble if he had not been allowed to go. On a side note, Gracias Roman por dejar todo y jugar aunque todos sabemos que no estas al 100%. In the end, it's not his fault that he's playing, if he really is detrimental to the team, it is Ischia's fault for playing him.
How the hell did we get thrashed by a recently promoted mob I'd never even heard of - a humiliating defeat in Mendoza, a city better known for its fine wines than its modest football team!
Huh? Watch the game again ... Vargas was on the left and Gracian on the right all game. Even the commentator kept repeating it during the game. The reason why Boca's right midfield was a thruway was because Gracian had difficulty tracking back. Here I need to point out that the nonsense from Ischia is that Gracian played the entire game on Tuesday, played on Thursday 30'+ and played the entire 90' yesterday! No player can resist that many minutes in a week. Vargas played in Rosario the entire game, and was burned. He is not the same on the left that on the right ... plus he is notoriously slow (but has good positioning which covers up his handicap). Tata played a good game on Tuesday, but yesterday he didn't get much help defensively from the outside mids ... there you could see his lack of experience compared with Seba. Did you see how inocently he committed in the 4th goal? And this was 1 minute after Ischia plays a 3 man defense hoping to score fast with Noir on field. The same can be said of the 3rd, as soon as Gaitan replaces Vargas we concede the 3rd, a minute later ... no time to really place any pressure with the sub. Unfortunate. As unfortunate is that the ref needs a handbook and glasses for the pk on Caceres' header. Speaking of headers ... I bitched the hell out of the Paragua when he missed that open header in the 1st half. Unexcusable, moreso knowing that Boca needed to put the game away in the 1st half to halt the tired legs that were known to show up ... Boca couldn't afford to chase the game. After that, Datolo had a worst reaction inside the locker room with a team mate. (They haven't informed with whom) He hadn't been playing at a good level, but there is no way that he should had missed the game yesterday ... in a week when the team played 4 games. Ischia fuct up. Roman is my favorite player, but he is nowhere close to his real level. But he needs targets. He is not taking chances shooting on goal, and seems to always give one pass to many when what the team needs is to shoot on goal. If you have watched Gaitan play, you will see that his best characteristic is his vision and accuracy. The kid could hold the place for Roman while he gets fit/rested. And Gracian can give a hand too. Gaitan is a crack. Right on Roman's caprichos. But for the same reason, he should had been sent to rest and get SEASON FIT ... not match fit. It is not a punishment, it is common sense. I sincerely hope that Basile doesn't call-up Roman for the WCQs. He is not at the right level, plus the days of rest can be positive looking at the Superclasico at the gallinero right after the NT games. .
great job by los pibes. Datolo played very well, as did the entire defense (think some should be starting this week with morel/ibarra out and paletta playing awful). Noir is a beast. Even in the altitude he ran up and down the entire time he was on the pitch. Incredible. Garcia was again solid between the posts and Chavez had a good night defensevly though struggled on offense. Gaitan played ok, the atltitude really affected him a lot
Set-up for an enticing showdown with Porto Alegre's Internacional. Boca will take good memories from their last sojourn to the Southern regions of Brazil where they were convincing winners in their encounter with the blue half of Southern Brazil's other major side. Both halves fans put on a good show. The perfect opportunity for Boca to reassert their stranglehold over Brazilian opposition since the disappointing exit at the hands of the inferior Fluminense in the semis of the Copa. With the heightened passions that make up any Argentina-Brazil clash & the added ingredients of ex-River D'Alessandro plying his trade for the rival, it's hotting up for an intriguing affair. Hopefully Boca will rise to the occasion once again.
I think i could re-write my previous 2 posts to describe today's game. Some new mistakes in the formation ... Gracian goes from playing all the games last week to not starting today (after not playing against LDU). Chavez and Datolo do play in Quito, and end up burned in the 2nd half. Coincidentally, Boca loses the midfield in the 2nd half and gets the game turned around. The rest of the story is the same ... Roman that can only last 45 minutes at a "decent" level, who can't shoot a free kick on goal - forget about scoring, who gives too many last passes instead of shooting on goal (Gaitan can teach him some on this department). No leadership, at home, because his body can't give him more and his brain is drained at this point. But now we start to listen to problems in the locker room. Caranta "erased" himself from today's game. Why? Pressure? Tonite we learn that he has serious issues with Roman. How much of Roman's mistreatment of his team mates do we know? Was this the same problem that Datolo had in the locker room last week? Missing Martin's leadership in the locker room magnified this problem? Boca is now 8 points behind a very good San Lorenzo. One that plays a 4-4-2 that becomes 4-3-1-2. (Sounds like a scheme for a big team to me.) The most worrisome thing at this point is that the Libertadores '09 qualification still needs to be sealed, so concentrating in the Sudamericana and forgetting about the Apertura is not a luxury Boca can afford. Here is why: 5 argentine teams go to the Libertadores '09. Lanus, River and the Apertura '08 champs go. Atm, the latter is San Lorenzo. The other 2 teams are the 2 with the highest points/average in the past 3 tournaments (recently ascended teams divide by this tournament only). San Lorenzo >> 29 + 35 + 22 = 86 (1.83) Boca Jrs. >> 31 + 39 + 14 = 84 (1.79) Estudiantes >> 30 + 39 + 11 = 80 (1.70) Velez >> 27+ 32 + 15 = 74 (1.57) Tigre >> 34 + 22 + 17 = 73 (1.55) Newells >> 27 + 29 +17 = 73 (1.55) Independiente >> 28 + 31 + 10 = 69 (1.47) Argentinos >> 31 + 30 + 7 = 68 (1.45) San Martin Tucuman 13 (1.44) Had San Martin won aginst Banfield, they would have had an average of 1.77, since they only divide their total points by the # of games played in this tournament. So believe it or not, we will need to keep an eye on the Tucumanos, who by the way, face San Lorenzo next round. Boca needs to focus in both tournaments ... the Sudamericana because the chances for the title are intact and are more feasible to win a title at this point; the Apertura because the chances of the title are remote, but still alive, but moreso to secure a spot in next year's Libertadores. The BIG question is: what do we line-up Sunday against River and then Wednesday against Inter ... specially after the WCQs and Roman, Caceres, Morel, Vargas and Tata arriving on Thursday. I wouldn't play any of them against River. Nor Palacio, who has never really shown his best against the primos. Figueroa SHOULD play, he has some payback to do. . .