Victor Zapata: Argentina and River Plate's Most Glourious Midfielder!!

[locoxriver]

Zapata’s year from my point of view:

Zapata sucked.. Hopefully Sambueza or Toja play, and Zapata disappears.. Horrible player.. Never played good, isn't playing good, never will play good.. Can't wait till he leaves!

I am very happy to see the Colombian Toja join River. I did not know him before today, but after his debut I ended very happy with him. Sambueza and Toja are both great left-midfielders, meanwhile Zapata sucks. Hopefully Passarella isn't a dumbass and doesn't choose Zapata over either one of these two.

I still can't wait till Zapata's contract finishes.. I just cannot understand how a player like him can be a starter in a world-class team like River.

I was finally happy that Zapata was having a good game, but right after El Nacional and Paulista tied (meaning that we would qualify, even if we lost 1-0 to Libertad), he had to score a goal and make us face Corinthians :mad:.. Oh well

Zapata: Sigo sin entender como este hijo de ******** sigue en River. En el primer tiempo, jugo como mediocampista y no hizo nada.. En el segundo tiempo, jugo como defensor y no hizo nada.. Bah, hizo algo.. HIZO CAGADAS. Defendio re-mal en el tercer gol de Ra-sin club.. No se que hacia.. Hablaba con Tuzzio o algo, mientras que Bastia entraba al area solo para definir...


- Sambueza would return to the first team.. I support this.. Zapata sucks ass.. :D

Based on today's game..

Good:
- Rubens Sambueza: Did some interesting things.. He would disappear at times, but I still prefer him over Zapata, without a doubt..

[locoxriver]

Zapata: F-U-C-K YOU!!! I hate him more week after week.. The guy is a complete ******** up whose been ********in up since he arrived at River seven years ago. I cannot understand what he's doin in River (yes, I've said that in 95% of my reviews :D ).. I would prefer to see Sambueza instead, or Belluschi in that position meanwhile Augusto Fernandez takes the right side.. We even have more options.. Abelarias didn't do bad vs. Boca, and is very young.. Meanwhile Oyola may not be the best option ever, but he's still a thousand times better than this ******.. No more Zapata.. please!!!!! :(

As much as I hate Zapata, I have to admit he had a really good game today.. But just because we are talking about Zapata, I will not say anything else.. :D

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[locoxriver]

Zapata is a worthless piece of shit! I knew his game vs. San Lorenzo was a once in a lifetime thing for him.. Please leave as soon as possible!! :mad:

Zapata, despite not playing too bad, was the worst player on the field..

Patino, San Martin, Alvarez, Oberman, Gallardo. 5 down, 1 more to go (Zapata :D).

Zapata was useless. He didn't do shit (like always) and it seemed as if we were playing with one man less than Velez from the start. Now Passarella asked him to please stay with River, so instead of waiting till we sell him, I guess I'll have to count the days till he retires.. :mad:

Overall, amazing player.. I am so glad Passarella is begging the dirigentes that they renew his contract..

[efernandez9]

loco: hoy no es el dia de los Inocentes!:eek:

[megamac20817]

If only, if only, we'd brought back Ramon Diaz instead :(

[ilovefotball]

:D is the guy really this bad? :D

[ElMuneco]

Looks like this has turned out to be the "Victor Zapata is a piece of crap" forum. :D

[locoxriver]

:D is the guy really this bad? :D

No, I actually make him seem better than he really is :eek:

[Illrod3]

I guess I am the only River fan who supports and likes Victor "Chapa" Zapata and I will try here to make a defense. To begin Zapata is obviously no Beto Alonso or a great player and that is fine, he is a role player, his job is to run with the opposing team's "8", cover ground, help in the middle, provide a safe outlet from the back and surprise with runs from the left and send a cross or two. He's role is to mainly balance the team and I think he does it well although he could be a bit more physical. But you need players like Zapata, he is a workhorse. A team made of only Maradonas would simply suck.
This past year IMO he is the best "3" River has even though he doesn't play at that position. (Mareque and Dominguez were a joke this past year) Every season it looks as if he'll lose his spot to Sambueza, Toja, Patinio, Oyola or Dominguez yet he manages to earn his spot through at least the last 3 coaches Astrada, Merlo and now Passarella. By the way, there is no way that Sambueza is better than Zapata, sure he'll play great for 5 minutes but Canito can not play defense and tends to contiously dissappear for the majority of the game. IMO River has no better option today on the left side than Zapata.
I tried to find just how many assits he has to no avail, but it if I recall correctly there was a time when every goal scored by Farias came from a cross from Chapa. He doesn't cause any controversies, plays his quiet role and although goals are not his forte he occasionally manages to gives a jewel like the goal agaisnt Instituto (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaAi1UfxCF4), his game agaisnt San Lorenzo or his goal, which is the main reason why I will always support Zapata, against Olimpo in 2002 which gave us the title in under Astrada.
Here's Chapa's numbers from what I could find:

Temporada Equipo Partidos Goles Expulsiones
1998/99 Argentinos Jrs. 15 0 0
1999/2000 River Plate 19 4 0
2000/01 River Plate 27 2 0
2001/02 River Plate 26 1 0
2002/03 River Plate 33 1 0
2003 River Plate 4 0 0
2003/04 Valladolid (España) 25 2 0
2004/05 River Plate 23 2 0
2005/06 River Plate 32 2 0



Internacionales Equipo Partidos Goles Expulsiones
Libertadores River Plate 42 4 0
Mercosur River Plate 10 0 0
Sudamericana River Plate 4 0 0


4 titles: (Apertura 1999; Clausura 2000, 2002 y 2003 –River-)

Villagra is now with River so maybe Passarella will try him at Zapata's role with a line of 3 at the back, otherwise I don't see Sambu or anyone else taking Chapa's place if he comes back.

[locoxriver]

he is a role player, his job is to run with the opposing team's "8", cover ground, help in the middle, provide a safe outlet from the back and surprise with runs from the left and send a cross or two. He's role is to mainly balance the team and I think he does it well although he could be a bit more physical. But you need players like Zapata, he is a workhorse. A team made of only Maradonas would simply suck.

Yes, I agree.. A team can't be made of only Maradonas.. But what you said is Zapata's job doesn't mean anything.. Sure, it is his job, but he doesn't do it correctly.. He is supposed to be on the field to do that, but he doesn't do shit.. Doesn't defend, doesn't attack.. He's just there to make us look like a 10 Player team.

And yes, he does have his "once in 40 games" occassional assist or goal, but he commits atleast 10 mistakes EACH game.. Pretty balanced? Not if you ask me.

[megamac20817]

There are certainly other players who do the work horse role in the team with more of an end product, for example Oyola, who seems to never stop running either. And even if it's moot now after his sale, Mareque was clearly more suited for the midfield than defense, or did no one notice when he used to dribble out from defence all the way to the midfield and lay it off to Gallardo or Belluschi?

[locoxriver]

Well Zapata has signed a new contract with River.. He's been at the club since 1999, and has played 237 games. :eek: I don't even see how he could play 2..

[Illrod3]

Yes, I agree.. A team can't be made of only Maradonas.. But what you said is Zapata's job doesn't mean anything.. Sure, it is his job, but he doesn't do it correctly.. He is supposed to be on the field to do that, but he doesn't do shit.. Doesn't defend, doesn't attack.. He's just there to make us look like a 10 Player team.

And yes, he does have his "once in 40 games" occassional assist or goal, but he commits atleast 10 mistakes EACH game.. Pretty balanced? Not if you ask me.

Maybe I am watching the wrong games but I don't see him messing up as much as you say he does. As a matter of fact, IMO he was has been one of the most consistant players River has and that's why he's the starter. I think that with Chapa you always know what kind of performance you'll get, not too great not too bad, but with Sambueza, Mareque, and company they will either have the most amazing game ever (one every year) or the worst thing I have ever seen.

There are certainly other players who do the work horse role in the team with more of an end product, for example Oyola, who seems to never stop running either. And even if it's moot now after his sale, Mareque was clearly more suited for the midfield than defense, or did no one notice when he used to dribble out from defence all the way to the midfield and lay it off to Gallardo or Belluschi?

Oyola, I must admit that I have only seen him play once and that's not enough to make a judgement on the kid, he was hurt for most of the season and will have another shot this year. Mareque might be more suited for the middle but in the games that I watch, he seemed to be out there doing his own personnal thing, playing for the fans, making what seemed to be nice plays that ended in complete disasters because he was not in sink with the rest of the team. With Sambueza it was the same thing, he gets lost in his own world playing his own game trying to overdo things with flashy moves which lead to nothing. In my opinion, one problem that River had in the last couple of years is that they became too Gallardo depended, it was as if players would feel like they had to give Gallardo the ball no matter what once they cross half field. With Belluschi this year that changed somewhat and we'll see how we'll do this year without El Muneco.

Well Zapata has signed a new contract with River.. He's been at the club since 1999, and has played 237 games. I don't even see how he could play 2..

Well, he must be doing something right as I stated before, to continue to win the starting role over younger players through several coaches. I don't think that the River coaching staff has been managed by morons since 1999.

[locoxriver]

Well, he must be doing something right as I stated before, to continue to win the starting role over younger players through several coaches. I don't think that the River coaching staff has been managed by morons since 1999.

No, they have.. Either that or he has a really good looking sister.. :D

But seriously, I once heard that during the training sessions he actually plays good, does neat little tricks at times, and scores goals.. Maybe that's why they pick him? I know for sure that he doesn't do even 1/10 of that during the games..

[vipnerd]

Locoxriver .. you might be getting some of your NYE wishes already. Ramon Diaz just declared he would want in te negotiations for Lavezzi that Falcao and ZAPATA move to San Lorenzo. :eek: You get rid of the moron and get what you wanted.


Check around. ;)


.

[vipnerd]

Locoxriver .. you might be getting some of your NYE wishes already. Ramon Diaz just declared he would want in the negotiations for Lavezzi that Falcao and ZAPATA move to San Lorenzo. :eek: You get rid of the moron and get what you wanted. Plus that would open the door for Letto to be bought by yet another grupo de empresarios.


Check around. ;)


.

[locoxriver]

Locoxriver .. you might be getting some of your NYE wishes already. Ramon Diaz just declared he would want in the negotiations for Lavezzi that Falcao and ZAPATA move to San Lorenzo. :eek: You get rid of the moron and get what you wanted. Plus that would open the door for Letto to be bought by yet another grupo de empresarios.

Of course I would love Zapata to leave and Lavezzi to come, but I would most definitely not want Falcao to leave.. Either way, I'm 99.99% sure that River wouldn't let him leave, so I'm more relaxed.. As for Zapata, I want him to leave, but Passarella had requested that they renew his contract as soon as possible (which they did), so I am not sure if they will let him go..

[Illrod3]

Well, here's another of Zapata's quality that migh go over looked:

Speaking about Belluschi, in an Ole article:

simple vista, el volante de rastas no encaja en el perfil general del capitán—caudillo: no es un histórico del club ni se formó en él, tampoco es un experimentado (en septiembre cumplió 23 años), no tiene el carisma típico de los líderes porque prefiere el bajo perfil, no suele hacerse escuchar en el vestuario y tampoco mantiene relación fluida con los principales dirigentes. Claro, todas estas cuestiones son extrafutbolísticas. En la cancha, Fernando sí se muestra con características para sumir ese rol: habla, ordena, sabe leer el partido hasta en los mínimos detalles y empuja con su mentalidad ganadora. Incluso, en el Apertura ha jugado un par de fechas con molestias físicas que no todos los jugadores se bancan. Por eso le gusta a Passarella, simplemente porque se pone el equipo al hombro. Al resto de las funciones habituales de un capitán se las reparten Lussenhoff, Tuzzio, Zapata y Farías.

I know I am reaching but it does look like he is a good influence in the vestuario. :) Aguante Chapa!!

[Illrod3]

It seems that despite what was previously reported Zapata still hasn't resigned with River. Ole:

Víctor Zapata todavía no firmó su nuevo contrato con River. Está jugando por la segunda prórroga y, si no formaliza la situación antes de julio, quedará con el pase en su poder. Por el Monumental aseguran que hubo un acuerdo de palabra y que la próxima semana se sellará la renovación. Desde el entorno del volante sostienen que la demora tuvo que ver con dificultades de River. Pero hasta que no esté puesta la firma definitiva, no habrá promesa que valga. ¿Será por eso que Ramón Díaz aprovecha cada oportunidad que tiene para expresar su debilidad por el zurdo que llevó a River en 1999 y al que luego le tuvo que regalar una Mercedes? "Es un jugador que me encanta, me gustaría tenerlo en San Lorenzo. Por ahí escuché que no arregló su contrato, pero creo que lo hará pronto", comentó el Pelado, ilusionado hasta que la firma le demuestre lo contrario.

[Paul_NL]

The title gave me a good laugh

Thanks