Lol Larrondo injured again... has there been a single preseason he has completed healthy since his arrival?
At this point it's a matter of laughing to keep from crying. It is sad for Larrondo though, his injuries have ruined his career.
Just thought I'd mention we open the second part of this stupid 27 game tournament Sunday against Huracan. We need to start making up points in order to assure a spot in the 2019 Copa Libertadores. Pratto looks to be out, so Gallardo may repeat the team that played against *oca. In other news, our match against Flamengo in Rio will be played in the Maracana behind closed doors. It is a complete outrage IMO. Ever since River returned to the International fold in 2013, we have not gotten to play a true Grande in a historic stadium or city. I would have gone to the Marcana and spend a few days in Rio and I know thousands of River fans would have joined, its a flight of just under 3 hours and there are 10s of flights leaving every day from both of Buenos Aires' airports and now flights also leaving from Rosario and Cordoba for those supporters living in or near those cities. In recent years River has had to play in places far away without direct flights like Juan Aurich, Melgar, or Liga de Loja. I think it is a real shame that our fans have to suffer due to CONMEBOL's ideal of "discipline" just when we finally get a trip to play a great team, in a great city, and a historic stadium... Meanwhile Boca, never served any suspension for attacking our players with pepper spray
Hate to say this gentlemen, but I don't think the problems lie with the players, I think it lies with the coach, the manager, and president. Just my .02 cents. I wonder what those that reelected D'Onofrio thought was going to change. Apparently, nothing
I partially agree with you because River has been playing for absolutely nothing under Gallardo for a while now, but it also does lie on the players a bit. Borre is a very frustrating player and shouldn’t be playing —let alone starting— for River. Nacho Fernandez had his good moment in past campaigns, but has been horrible for months now. He shouldn’t be anywhere near undisputed and other options should be tried out, yet he plays week in and week out as if he were Iniesta. You could argue that Pinola possibly shouldn’t start either. Of course this all still comes down to Gallardo, because he is the one that picks the players, but it is also fair to say that many of the players have been heavily underperforming since the Lanus elimination, and many, like Borre and Auzqui, should be playing in Banfield instead of River. The main problem is the midfield... there is no creation, and it all comes down to Pity to create everything by himself. River could be a very different team if Pratto replaces Borre (which he obviously will) and a more creative player starts over Fernandez.
Borré needs to play without the pressure of being River's main striker, and riding the bench behind Pratto should help in that regard. Likewise, a straight Quintero x Fernandez swap should improve things in the midfield, because lord knows Nacho is just too hit or miss (and has been more miss than hit for a while now) to be reliable. Just those two changes should help, but I also can't shake the feeling that had Lux come out for the ball that bounced twice before entering the area (an inexcusable lapse by our defense), the penalty probably wouldn't have been called against us either. Gallardo's biggest mistake at the moment is sticking by players that haven't just disappointed, but failed. We can't continue being this poor in the league, and he has to take considerable responsibility for it.
Borre is shockingly bad. I thought the goal in the super would give him the confidence to start making strides of improvement, but his finishing is still awful and he seems so timid. If you watch the goal against the Bosteros, it was actually more of a keeper error than a good finish. The guy just isn't clinical. Mora coming back is huge for us though. I really was not expecting to see him. He had stated his goal was to be ready in March for the Supercopa against Bosta. He was a true super sub before his injury. This will hopefully mean we see ALOT less of both Auzqui and Borre. Agree about Lux too. He should have come for the ball, but the defense was completely shambolic. Quarta may be an improvement over this version of Maidana, but he makes a lot of blunders
I could not believe what I was seeing when I saw the ball bounce again on the edge of the area. As soon as it started falling slowly towards the Huracán player I knew that it could only end in a penalty, a goal or a miraculous clearance because between the two CBs and Lux not one thought to deal with it before it became a threat. Which ultimately is the greatest problem with our defending: it's one thing to try and play out of defense in an orderly fashion, it's another entirely to be passive.
The amount of individual technique/quality on the pitch when River fields Scocco, Pratto, Quintero, Pity Martinez, and Enzo all at the same time is absolutely insanse. It’s another thing if Gallardo manages to pull off a good collective display, but the intention is very interesting nonetheless. Even the defenders, such as Saracchi, M Quarta, and Montiel, all treat the ball well. This could be a very entertaining team. Anyway, Borre still sucks
Craaaack scocco, que golazoooo diooossss Right when I was talking about technique and individual skill... aplausos!
I don't know about you guys, but I'm very excited with what Quintero can bring to the team. He showed excellent ball control, vision, and creativity, Pity will be relieved that there's finally someone else there to help him out. Could turn out to be the most important reinforcement, even though we really needed Pratto and Armani as well.
Absolutely right loco! The Colombian is total crack, we don't have such a creative player after Lanzini, D'Alessandro in my opinion .
I know its a moot point, but I wonder if Scocco regrets at all squandering the best years of his career at a hopeless Newell's side. I know he helped them win a league title, but from 2013-2017 he was just wasting his talent when he could have been at River, which we have seen in just over 6 months is his place in the world.
Gallardo tried out Mayada in Nacho Fernandez's spot... FINALLY! Doesn't mean the change will happen for sure vs. Lanus, but it's good to see Mune finally trying out new things. Plus, Camilo has been long-deserving of a fair shot in his natural position.
Honestly, I thought he shouldn't have been given an extension and retained. Should've ended his coaching tenure with River at the end of last year.
Agreed. He shouldn't have been given an extension. To me, the Lanus match should have been the last straw. He basically threw the league to focus on the Libertadores and we blew a three goal lead and we're stuck with nothing to play for. Other than his first tournament, River has been absolutely terrible in the local league. We are the winningest club in the history of Argentine football and its completely embarrassing to see us where we are in the table. And its not just the results. The play has been terrible. The Libertadores is always the priority, but still its absurd to talk about rotating the squad when its only only a 3 hour flight to Rio for Wednesday's game and so far we've only been playing one game a week in 2018. To me, everything about Gallardo's handling of the league has been a shambles since 2014. Even though beating Boca and winning the Sudamericana in 2014 was an unbelievable joy, I still think throwing the match against Racing that gifted them the title was inexcusable. There's no reason why River couldn't have played the starters against both the bosteros and la academia. In short, I love Gallardo and wish him the best, but he needs to be out. River can't be in 20th place and sadly the team has not improved, but regressed in a massive manner and we the fans should not tolerate it anymore
Wow, all we agree............my argentinian friends are so pro gallardo, that i though that this opinion was impopular even here.
The thing is, who would you guys replace him with? Coudet would have been a good option, but he just joined Racing... There’s Ramon, who built the base of Gallardo’s unstoppable 2014 team, but I don’t know how well he gets along with the dirigencia after his abrupt departure. Other than that, is there anyone that is up to the standards? Of course this is all hypothetical, since for any of this to happen Gallardo would have to personally decide to step aside (it would be ridiculous for D’Onofrio to fire him right after signing him to a 4-year contract), but the point is... are there really better options to begin with? Ok, fire Gallardo... then what?
well other options that i think are in charge I like Cocca........he is a mercenary but think that is able to lead a team. good precedents. Holan too..... Almeyda is possible that he leaves chivas after the world cup. But im sure that if he finish the season it will be like a simeone.....
Cocca is interesting, but the last part of his second spell at Racing left many questions similar to those Gallardo is being questioned over -- underperformance, poor transfer market decisions, responsibility for eliminations... Holan I don't see leaving Independiente.... he's an absolute rojo fanatic and his team is stable and on the rise. As for Almeyda, I personally didn't like how his River played and really question if he would really be any sort of upgrade from Gallardo... Besides, he had a good start with Chivas last season, but this time around his team is ranked second-to-last in the league with only 1 win in 9 games. I still believe Gallardo is the best coach in the country... that doesn't mean I don't think he should step aside at this point. However, realistically speaking, I don't really see any better alternatives....