River Plate 2012-13 Season: El Regreso del Mas Grande [R]

Great win... I was really impressed by Keko, Lanzini, Sanchez, Ponzio, and FM9 (though he made a few questionable decisions late)

Its a shame Keko is almost certainly going to go back to the bench, i hope almeyda remembers him and uses him down the stretch

The defense is a disaster, I would bench all three of Pirez, Maidana, and FM6 in favor of Pezzella, Bottinelli, and Martinez. We cannot keep this defense out there, its the same group that was so pathetic in the nacional b.

Overall, a week of tranquility before we play san lorenzo, who has been pretty poor since their opening win over san martin

A hugely important win.I.agree defensively we were poor but dont agree on too many changes.RM3 was poor inthe first half but was left exposed by Lanzini.With Rojas on the field he was much better.Gonzalez Pires was the worst of the defence but if we are going to play the pibes we have to give them time to learn.Hes not going to be Passarella after three games.I like Almeydas efforts at having a fast dynamic team.If he can tighthen it up somewhat at the back we will be up near the top.I.dont think at this stage we can ask much more.

This. I think we've been seeing Almeydas vision in action these last three halves of play. I have to give him credit where its due because his team of guys is starting to play well together offensively. Gotta tighten up the defense but this has really been an issue all of last year too.

Agree but goalkeeping didnt help nor did it yesterday.I am happy with Mercado and Maidana.FM6 is not a 3 so its dificult for him.The only failing IMO in the transfer window was the failre to buy Tagliafico.Gonzalez Pires I believe is worth persevering with he will get better.Its great though to see a dynamic attacking River

Barovero made on mistake but was otherwise secure. He made a few good saves, and even on his mistake, he was clearly fouled by galmarini. You also need to take into account that this was his 2nd game at the club and our centrales were losing EVERY ball in the air. Literally, every single one, so he probably felt obligated to go for that ball when he shouldn't have.

All goalies make mistakes, even casillas who was at fault for valencia's goal, the difference between barovero and someone like vega is that the mistakes are few and far between and he transmits security to the team. When Vega was in goal, it felt like every shot would end in a goal (and considering he saved less than 40% of the shots he faced, i was right to feel this way)

Some of the issues with Barovero were directly related to his lack of understanding with the team. He didn't really trust the defense in front of him (some of it was because they were bad, but some of it was chemistry) and tried to do too much. You definitely see a difference between him and Vega.

Yeah even with the two goals you can absolutely see and feel a difference with Barovero in goal. I dont get nervous when he asserts himself in the game like with Vega out there.

That second goal could defenitely have come down to lack of chemistry. It means he probably has studied alot of River tape unfortunately and knew if he didnt come out that balls going to be in the back of the net.

I think you guys are correct but although Barovero is an excellent shotstopper he also showed an aversion to high balls v Estudiantes as well.

We were superior almost from start to finish but hardly created a decent chance.I thought Ponzio superb for an hour and Cirigliano improved a little.Lanzini started well but faded.Defensively was ok good to see Gonzalez Pirez do ok.Trezeguet was simply awful slow ponderous.Almeyda should have replaced him with Luna for at least twenty minutes.Decent debut for Cazares he has a lot of quality.Huge game next week in Santa Fe against an excellent team.

Well here are my thoughts on everything I saw.

Barovero all in all played well. He had a suspenseful moment or two, but I never feel nervous when he comes out to make a play. Gonzalez Pirez continues to be an issue that concerns me, he gave us more of the same. Mercado is a great addition and really adds a lot offensively. Lanzini had moments but became a ghost by the end of his time in the game. Ponzio was a prince out there, thats really become common. Cirigliano was also a lot better. I liked Almeyda riding the hot hand and not subbing him out, he contributed offensively and defensively. Trezeguet like you said was just not ready to play and always looked a step behind. I loved to see Cazares, he showed a little something Id like to see him get a chance to see consistent time. WIth Almeyda we just never know.

Overall this game was just bleh. they came out strong and really had their way with the ball throughout. They couldnt create too much of anything threatening and because of that here we are with a point. Its a game I'd like to have seen 3 but getting one I'll live with early in the tournament. Lets hope they fix where they went wrong for next week.

The play of San Lorenzo was absurd. Equipo Chico. Migliore should have been sent off for his constant time wasting and each player that was subbed off should have been give a yellow for time wasting. They were wasting time like it was the final of the libertadores and they were clinging to a one goal lead (though not even then would it be excusable, but this was the ********ing 4th round of the championship)

That doesn't mean River shouldn't be criticized. I thought David looked well off the pace, but his touch and vision remain by far the best on the team. The frustrating thing is the inability to play in a good cross. If you have Trezeguet, you have a huge advantage over every team in Arg. Mercado, Sanchez, and whoever else should just sit at practice and repeat crossing the ball time and again.

On Almeyda: I've said it before, he needs to stop inventing positions. Lanzini is an enganche, Cazares tambien. You won't get the best out of them making them hug the left touch line. Both were good, but were hampered by having to track back, which is not part of their natural game...

FM6 is not a 3 and is playing really badly... The other team just allowed him to pass into attack because there was no fear he was going contribute anything. The left side of our attack is useless if we have an enganche and a central playing over there

Gonzalez Pirez was again poor. I'd put in Pezzella for next match, Pezzella was always better IMO anyway and G. Pirez is slow, rustico, and doesn't seem to be very smart player either. I'm not giving up on the pibe, he has a bright future, but we can't keep throwing him out there if he's going to perform like this.

I think its time to scrap the 4-4-2 and go with a 4-3-1-2 or maybe 3 at the back since we don't have a 3...

Have to agree the left side attack looked useless-especially in the second half.
I'm grateful that GolTV is showing Argentine matches now in my area (Washington, DC area). River seems obviously to be the biggest draw, so I can get more familiar with the players and the scheme again.
Now it's time to improve the passing and combination play. They are not the quality we should expect from River-I'm looking for progress this season.

Vamos River!

I'm actually living in DC for now, you wouldn't happen to know a bar in DC that shows the Superclasico, would you?

I'll ask around, let you know what I find.

Cheers.

So, Tolo Gallego, idolo de RIVER (no del rojo) has gone to independiente... This really bothers me. A great coach, campeon con river, campeon del mundo con RIVER, is going to independiente because of DAPs ego and capriciousness.

"No fui a River porque mi amigo no me vino a buscar"

When, oh when will River ever have a DT como la gente! I know Almeyda is learning, but its just not working! I'd love to see el Tolo come in and put players in their natural positions and format a style a play!

More or less agree with that.
Looks like if it turns sour with Almeyda, Passarella will go with Gallardo...

Last time I saw an interview with Gallardo he said he hadn't spoken to passarella since he left the club as a player... It seemed their relationship was over.

If Almeyda does leave, I have no idea who the hell we can bring in.

Its not that I'm not going to support Almeyda or the team, but I want a coach to come in who can lead us to titles i'm tired of mediocrity, and a good coach can turn that around. Look at Martino at Newell's, went from serious candidates to going down to almost winning the league last year, and now his presence alone brought back Heinze, Maxi, and Scocco... Imagine what a Ramon or Gallego or Pellegrini could do at River...

Realmente sos como chori incapaz de no hablar boludeces

Of the things I said, please tell me what you consider a "boludez"

lol are you joking? The team is playing terrible since last year and good games under Almeyda must be count with the fingers on one hand. On the top of that, his recent declarations on Burrito sealed the deal in terms of his personality for me.

Ok Gaucho the first boludez is the quote from Gallego.Wr cant have two DTs at the one tine.The second is you support the team when you criticize River more than any Bostero on the forum..River fans have always been critical but you want Passarella out Cristina out doesnt matter how coup whatever.We have to be Barcelona now buying superstars when we are trying to get out of the biggest debt in our history.
Msi We all know we arent playing well but its a hell of lot better than the last season of Simeone or Astrada or Cappa or Lopez with mostly a team of pibes under a new tecnico from our school.What did he say wrong about Ortega.Burrito our last real idolo a true great the best in the World on his day.But hes also as a man an alcoholic who has caused huge grief in the club and never achieved all he could have done.
I find these attacks on Almeyda stupid the very week we are away to the leader of the campeonato strange to say the least.

Loco I was young when Tolo was the coach of River, but I do remember, and you can also say he was responsible for the rise of Bianchi's Bosta... There is no way that team should have beaten River that had Aimar, Saviola, and Angel and the fact that the 4 fantasicos couldn't win the league was also disappointing.

And yes, his team that won the league with independiente was very crooked

My point about Gallego is that he is a coach with an idea of play. It may not have worked for him at Colo-Colo or in Mexico, but he did have success at River, even if he should have had more

As for Almeyda, well it looks like he is finally throwing away the 4-4-2 and playing Lanzini as an enganche and using rojas on the left

This is a good move because as I said before, we need to stop inventing positions and use people where they are best

So it looks like Barovero is going to be called up by Sabella:

http://www.riverplate.com/Noticias/...291-barovero-seria-convocado-por-sabella.html

This is bad news as it means he will miss the Newell's game most likely. It always made me feel prideful when river players put on the albiceleste, but this is absurd. Barovero has no chance of playing and he will most likely miss a very big game against a good team for it. I hope Sabella does his friend Passarella a favor and calls up someone else.

It would be devastating to have Vega back in goal, not to mention that his confidence is probably 30 times worse than it was before after he was benched