I agree, as long as we score 6. I also agree, this game should never been given the green light, especially in Saudi Arabia.
Its hard to get behind the national team at a time like this. I know some posters in the national team forum are delusional and will still tell you argentina had a chance to beat france, but the bottom line is, it was the most disgraceful world cup campaign for argentina in 60 years. Then there was the farcical move before the world cup to play in la bombonera... Then theres the mafia of Angelici and Tapia... two bosteros... I know some people like the jargon that "la seleccion es de todos los argentinos" well thats just bullshit. No one had a say to put Tapia or Angelici in charge. No one in their right mind wanted absolutely MUERTOS like Caballero playing over Armani, or to think that had he not gotten hurt, Benedetto, yes that Benedetto, would have been Argentina's #9 is just sickening. Club football has sooooo many flaws, but D'Onofrio was at least elected to his post. Francescoli, for his flaws, is a River legend who cares deeply about the club and his presence helped D'Onofrio win. Amedeo Carrizo, a guy who has arguably done more for River than anyone, is our ceremonial president. Gallardo, born and bread in River, is our coach. We have players like Enzo Perez who turned down millions of dollars in Europe to play for the club they are fans of. Meanwhile, in the seleccion you have the likes of Messi and Aguero complaining about flights being delayed... So while yes, I like this new version of the national team with Pezzella, Tagliafico, Simeone, Lo Celso, Cervi etc. yet we all know and have that ominous feeling that as soon as he wants to return, Messi will be back and he'll most likely bring his buddies Aguero and Di Maria with him. They shouldn't be allowed back ever, but Angelici and Tapia will want to cash in on the big money contracts having these guys who play at big, rich european clubs brings... So end of rant. I've had a long period of falling out of love with the national team, and while I'd like to believe in the young kids getting a chance, we know its not permanent and that the OWNERS of the national team only care about their own pockets. So today I won't even watch the game, and I do indeed hope Argentina lets in a bunch of goals so that Armani retains his place. I think its beyond disgusting that Romero has been recalled to the national team.
Potential team to face Colon on Friday night: Germán Lux; Gonzalo Montiel, Luciano Lollo, Lucas Martínez Quarta, Milton Casco; Ignacio Fernández, Santiago Sosa, Bruno Zuculini, Nicolás De La Cruz; Rodrigo Mora y Lucas Pratto. A couple of thoughts: Mayada was playing for Uruguay yesterday in Japan so he will most likely not be ready. Quintero played both matches for Colombia in the US and TORE IT UP. Moreira played for Paraguay as a #5. Because of this activity and the fact we are playing in Santa Fe away on Friday night after a FIFA break, which is absurd, we are also unable to use Armani, Palacios, or Pity- just to ensure they are 100% (or as close as possible) for Tuesday's game against Gremio. Its never good to see Lux in the line up, but here's hoping we can actually protect him a little bit this time. It is however great news to see Pratto in the starting line up. This hopefully means he'll be on the bench where he belongs in Tuesday's massive semifinal.
We've seen this movie before. River has a big Libertadores match, plays subs, drops points... Oh, and if you ever needed more proof pratto is a useless sack of shit...
Today is the day. We can forget about laying egg after egg in the superliga if we get a good advantage tonight. This is as close to an ideal line up as I think we can have: 1-Franco Armani; 29-Gonzalo Montiel, 2-Jonatan Maidana, 22-Javier Pinola, 20-Milton Casco; 8-Juan Quintero, 15-Exequiel Palacios, 23-Leonardo Ponzio, 10-Gonzalo Martínez; 19-Rafael Borré y 30-Ignacio Scocco. No Pratto. No Nacho Fernandez. Quintero in the line up. Armani, Palacios, and Pity healthy and ready to go. Lets do this!!! Vamos River carajooooooo
Palacios just keeps getting better every game... Another very solid showing from Borre as well. Quintero may have been on and off today, but the way he somehow always creates magic out of nothing is crazy. On the other hand, it has been a very quiet half so far for Pity Martinez.. practically nonexistent really. Maybe we could use Enzo in his spot today..
Gallardo got all the subs wrong. Pratto should never play again and Palacios should never have come out. Such strange changes to make...
Pity woke up 75 minutes too late.. His attempts might have failed, but at least he was active in the last 15 of the match. Before that he was a complete ghost. Don't know why we tried so many crosses when we couldn't win a single one vs. Gremio's defense. Neither Borre nor Scocco were ever going to win in the air vs. Gremio's towers, and Pratto who is supposed to be the specialist at that was even worse. Borre was great in the first half, but appeared to have used up all his gas early on. Can't knock his efforts though, and he definitely didn't put in a bad display either. I would like to see more offensive contributions coming from our RB. I don't know how Moreira's doing after recovering from his long injury, but Montiel couldn't put in a cross for the life of him today. I like Montiel's contributions, but as @RiverGaucho has said in the past, we have lost an offensive outlet since he began starting. May be time to consider the Paraguayan for Porto Alegre. The series is definitely still open and you could argue that a tie today would have been a more fair result than a 1-0 loss, but it still concerning to have to go to Brazil searching for a 2-goal lead now. Even moreso, Gremio could have even taken home a bigger win had they taken advantage of a chance or two, and Luan and Everton didn't even play today. 90 minutes to go.. Vamos muneco, te tenemos fe genio
I was reading and listening to people saying that if our strategy and that the way the game developed with high balls and crosses, Pratto should have played, but playing with Pratto is like playing with 10 men. Scocco was having an off night, but he is a guy who can change the game with a long range shot or a free kick goal, Pratto is not going to score a goal if his life depends on it right now. Everything he did was bad. He couldn't return a pass, he couldn't control a long ball, as @locoxriver says, this is supposed to be his strength, and he was awful at it. I also was quite shocked to see Ole, Clarin, and La Pagina Millonaria give Palacios bad marks basically for losing Michel on the goal. I'm not gonna blame the pibe for that. He was the only one who created anything in the second half, and he recovered plenty of balls. Its no surprise to me that when he came out Ponzio was left so exposed. To me Palacios needs to be on the field. If he wasn't 100%, then he shouldn't have played 30 minutes in Santa Fe Friday night. Overall, its a very tough position, theres no denying that, but people were saying the same thing three years ago when we lost a similar type of match to Cruzeiro in El Monumental and then beat them 3-0 in the Mineirao, which is still the best performance from a Gallardo team IMO. The question is, do we completely scrap the local tournament? We need to think about qualification for future Libertadores editions, we can't rely on winning the Copa Argentina every year to qualify, not to mention River's pedigree in the Argentine league, regardless of how absurd the format Angelici and Tapia came up with, demands that we are in the top places in the league fighting to win it, and sadly since Gallardo has come in, we have not won it and we have only seriously fought for the title down to the wire once, and in that instance we gift wrapped the tournament to Racing. So I am a little down this morning about the overall outlook, but I won't forget anytime soon the match in Belo Horizonte which we must now repeat in Porto Alegre
wtf? Lux set to start over the weekend vs. Aldosivi I understand resting the other 10 with Gremio in mind, but it makes no sense to exclude Armani as well
I think after conceding a goal at home last time, it would be best for Armani to focus getting revenge on Gremio for the second leg. He was a step or two far ahead that he missed that header from Michel in the last game. Dude has to be flawless in Porto Alegre.
So even moreso he should be afforded some gametime after returning from his injury and looking a bit off, no? Racing did us a huge favor by losing to San Martin last week, but we can't afford to lose any more ground in league play. Another loss this weekend could leave us 10 points behind Racing. Albeit with one pending game, but that would be a horrible position to be in... especially if we get knocked out by Gremio on Tuesday. I understand resting the other starters, especially since many of their replacements are quite capable (Mora, Enzo Perez, Quarta, Moreira, Mayada, etc.), but is it really necessary to rest Armani? I mean, he's still concentrated for the game, meaning he'll be present in el monumental during the game, so why not just play him? What benefits will he gain from being on the bench? On the other hand, Lux could singlehandedly cost us decisive points.
Well.... looks like Gallardo changed his mind last minute: Armani to start. The XI for tomorrow vs. Aldosivi: Armani; Moreira-Lollo-M. Quarta-Mayada; Zuculini; E. Perez-I. Fernández-De La Cruz; Mora-Pratto .. which also means the same eleven from the first leg vs. Gremio should repeat on Tuesday.
WOW... CONMEBOL just decided to suspend Gallardo for tomorrow's game vs. Gremio out of nowhere, meaning he won't be able to coach his guys from the sideline. What an absolute joke..
No surprise given Tapia was recently given the post of vice president at CONMEBOL. That being said, we have won with Biscay on the bench before, but the shady manner in which this went down is what is concerning. 6 days and we don't hear a peep from anyone, then all of the sudden he is suspended less than 24 hours before the match. Its very dubious and it reeks of Tapia/Angelici. River still has a chance to win the match though. The similarities between this match and the one in Bello Horizonte are many. I honestly didn't think we had a shot back then, I was counting us out of the copa, but this time I believe and I think the team does too.
Pratto is so damn slow... all he's doing is losing ball after ball. Bring in Scocco por fa Overall the team is looking really good and deserves to be up, no doubt. Shame about Ponzio's injury as he was playing great, but at least it hasn't affected us defensively so far Vamos millo, pongan huevo
Mas culo de los brazucas imposible.... esta jodido el tema, pero todavia no esta cerrado nada. Si repetimos esos 45 con un poco mas de precision, se lo damos vuelta A poner todo en el segundo tiempo, no hay lugar para errores
There is no justice in football... Oh and I've never seen a goalie stall and waste more time than Gremio's..
Frustrating, no doubt, but can't blame them.. Still trying to figure out how the hell they're up by two goals... Can't believe we gifted them the advantage of playing with 10 men from the start (Pratto)
NOOOOO lcdtm!! necesitamos gol y lo sacas a quintero?! el cambio era scocco x PRATTO.. mas obvio imposible