Enner needs a good partner to succeed. Just like Chucho did. Can't give him scrubs to work with. Wait till Jose Angulo starts (forget Caicedo, he never plays, he is made out of glass). Then in the mid we need to start replacing Naboa. When it matters most he doesn't show up. In all honesty we need a major upgrade there if we want to succeed. I like Naboa and what he has done but he is a Russian player and that's all he is going to be. If we are going to compete with the big boys we need a better mid fielder. I don't know who, and if Miller can drop there or something but we need an upgrade. Gruezo kicked butt today and he is the future. I can see it now. Finally a good recover mid. Ayovi needs to retire soon as well and Ramirez or someone else needs to take this spot pronto. They attacked us mercilessly through the left all day long today. We had no answer with Ayovi. Erazo tried to protect his side because Ayovi left it wide open. Paredes needs to go as well. It's sad because I really like him but he just isn't good enough. Maybe even the weakest link of the whole team. This is a spot I really don't know who can step in. A. Valencia has to be the RW for us, even if he is a better defender than Paredes. He is just so high above anyone else in that area that we lose a lot when he defends. So in conclusion I think we need Jose Angulo in, Paredes out, Ayovi out, and finally the last position Naboa out.
I honestly believe that Ecuador played its best futbol when Ayovi was our #9 and Enner was allowed to roam free. Enner is not a finisher, not even in West Ham, between Haiti and US he's missed over 8 clear chances, How many do you think Brasil will give us with Tiago Silva, David Luis and Marcelo back in the line up? Peru in Lima? In my opinion Miller and Enner have to fight that spot behind Caicedo. Mina has earned the starting spot. Gaibor has surprised me, He did a great job replacing Noboa.
Gaibor for Noboa (he was hurt but didn't play well in the first half neither) was good, Ayovi for Paredes wasn't good, should have been Fidel... Ramirez for Gruezo was bullshit too (to put Walter in the middle) should have been Cazares for Gruezo and kept Walter to the left! Disappointing to play in the quarters and see such poor coaching! Well, back to qualifiers!! Hopefully Quinteros can make the adjustments
Well that wraps up our Copa America my take aways from it -FINALLY FINALLY we found one solution to our defence in Mina -Paredes is in a slump and i'll be honest Achilier was better than Erazo this copa -Noboa is crucial to this team a bad game from him is a bad game for us -Enner was meh didnt score some crucial opportunities he cant do it all by himself, he need someone up top alongside him also he needs to be more clinical could have ended the game at any point im giving him a gym membership -Dominguez really need to be more vocal, come out for the ball more it pains me to see a goalkeeper stand on the line a good defense is nothing if your goalkeeper cannot cominicate. My dad used to make me push my defenders into their positions when they werent marking their man the least Dominguez could do is yell "Erazo Dempsey is open go mark him" -Project Gruezo looks to be a success what a game from him done well this Copa now to continue developing him -Quinteros what can say subs not good as always, glad he went out like that stood up for once thats what i like to see -Can we really say our best strength is from the wing, i think im correct in saying that most of our goals did not come from crosses but through balls in the middle. Montero and Valencia cannot find a target if their lives depended on it how many crosses have been thrown over the box and near to opposite touchline. But lets be real for a second as much as it pains us to go out like this what did you expect, we've never gone past the group stage in 19 years and we went up against a team with experience in this. As shown in all our games we cannot hold a good 90 minutes of futbol. Games break down like this, 30 minutes of disconcentration, 15 minutes of getting back on track and a good second half. We cannot just be a counterattacking team we need to be able to generate other forms of offense.
Yep, achilier was better than Erazo but it was funny to see how that Peruvian went past him like he wasn't there.
I forgot about Gaibor. He did much better than Naboa did this game and he was just as good last game vs Haiti when he came in. If Naboa isn't careful he will lose his spot soon. I agree maybe Miller with Caicedo is the starting duo. Just that Caicedo is made out of glass!!! He is out more times than he has played! We cannot depend on him at all. We need to start working with Jose Angulo. I don't care if he is young. He is the future. I bet he scores today if he played.
Juan Carlos Paredez, Walter Ayovi, Chtistian Noboa and Felipe Caicedo out? Walter Ayovi is in numbers our most accurate passer followed by Christian Noboa so there goes our possession, Felipe Caicedo is the leading scorer in Qualifiers and let me remind you that we have lost 3 games tied 3 (one in Quito) and won just one against Haiti without Caicedo in which E.Valencia, Jeff Montero, Fidel Martinez, missed over 10 chances. Juan Carlos Paredez is very shaky but there isnt anyone anywere near with National Team level.
Replace Noboa!?!? Not because of a bad first half today (he didn't play that great against Peru neither) he's very important to our center
Oh man, Univision announcers are having a field day with Enner Valencia. Guys I dont think age was our problem today, if anything it was the lack of experience in these games. So think twice before we start asking for Gruezo, Ramirez, Gaibor, Angulo to start in WCQ
I don't mean Caicedo out but we cannot depend on him. He is the best forward we have right now but does it matter when he is constantly hurt? If he is healthy then yes for sure he is the starter at this time. That's if he is ever healthy. Paredes is bad. Period. He is our worst defender. If it wasn't for Valencia helping him out we would get owned. Guess who helped him out as well? Mina. He had to cover his spot and Paredes all game long. That second goal came from a cross that he left wide ********ing open. Mina had to cover two players by himself because that dude left him all alone. Naboa is a great player at times but when it has matter the most he goes missing. He is probably the most essential piece for our team but this is why we need an upgrade. Someone that is more consistent in the mid and doesn't disappear in such crucial games. Great players show up in big games. He just doesn't. Ayovi is getting old dude. Did you not see how USA attacked us the first half? All the attacks went through the left side. It's clear that we are weak there because Montero isn't a "Valencia" drops and covers for Ayovi. Ayovi got schooled throughout this cup. If I was a coach coaching against Ecuador I would do the same this. Just constantly attack from the left. It's just the weakest spot. Ayovi is a legendary player for us but his time is running out.
Yeah but don't you think Cazares should have been in the middle instead (attack minded, we were losing)
Erazo for me will remain important to us especially come Eliminatorias, but he lost mark of Dempsey on that header! And I like Achilier as well but he looses his cool way too often
Assist on the second goal against Peru a play which he started and today he dominated the wing against a tough defense, spoon fed Enner a goal which he missed
C'mon bro, he didn't get playing time at Swansea because of his coach and when he did he got player of the month at Swansea (MAY)
One thing though. Anyone pissed at the offside calls? Two major calls that weren't offsides. Two. Specially the first one where Enner would have scored. Huge mistake by the refs. Oh well. Can't depend on refs. You gotta go and win it. We couldn't do it.