River Plate 2017-18 Season: News & Match Discussion [r]

River vs. Guarani, rematch of the 2015 semis. Its never easy to play against Paraguayan teams, but Guarani is one of the teams with the least amount of quality and we should defeat them easily.

If we get past the paraguayos, we'd then have the overall #1 seed Atletico Mineiro. It won't be easy, but the last time River went to Bello Horizonte we put in our best performance under Gallardo, 3-0 against Cruzeiro. From there, we could potentially face Lanus or San Lorenzo... San Lorenzo got an absurdly easy draw with Emelec.

Its not a bad draw, and while Mineiro is definitely a good team, we'll be able to play them head to head no problems.

Alright D'Onofrio, now its up to you to not only hold onto Driussi and Alario, but to make some signings so we can win the Copa again

 

Copamos belo horizonte y asunción, bostero vos lo miras por television

The years go by but somethings never change jeje

 

With a win today, River will guarantee a spot in the 2018 Copa Libertadores. Its essential we do so as we won't have to rely on winning this year's addition or the Copa Argentina to qualify. It will be a massive relief to have the all important spot sewed up.

Gallardo will return with the "once de gala," yet I really do wonder how Velazco hasn't taken Battalla's spot yet. I am sure Gallardo doesn't want to crush Battalla's confidence, but could it seriously get any lower? Lets not forget Velazco is also a pibe and deserves his chance. The bottom line is, with even an average goalkeeper we would have won the league already, and by a comfortable margin. I backed Battalla as long as I could, I really like the pipe's personality and you can tell he's a massive River supporter, but we need to start getting ready for the Copa and realize that with Battalla in goal, its going to be impossible to win it. We can't expect crazy results like the 4-3 in the Copa Argentina Final to win. The likes of Atletico Mineiro are far to good, and if Battalla throws in 3 goals we won't be able to come back.

If we do win today, hopefully Gallardo will take the last two rounds to try out some younger players with eye for the future. As much as this semester has been brilliant, its clear there is a lot of dead weight in the squad that Gallardo has no confidence in.

 

It was a horrible performance by the whole team, truly disgraceful to lose to Racing and Independiente in the same tournament, I'm not sure when the last time that happened, if ever.

So while no one deserves more than a 3 out of 10, we have to admit yet again that if Battalla hadn't come running off his line like a headless chicken, we would have drawn the match 2-2. We need to start Velazco on Wednesday and next season Battalla needs to be loaned out to a small club, but I doubt anyone fighting relegation would want him either.

I've been following football for a long time, I've followed Argentine football, Libertadores, and various european leagues, keep my eye on brazilian and uruguayan football as well, and I have never seen a goalkeeper cost his team so many points and let in so many easily savable goals as Battalla this season. Not even Indio Vega was this bad- and that was on a River team that was horrible with Gorosito, Astrada, and Cappa. Battalla has a good if not great team in front of him and he literally scores the opposition's goals for them. I feel bad for him, but enough is enough.

 

I am so angry with Batalla: his problem isn't his lack of experience, he's just a really bad goalie. I can't for the life of me understand how any keeper -- much less the starting keeper for River Plate -- could come off his line so poorly so consistently. He should never have been in a position to see Acuña's heels like that, and he had the same thing happen against Boca only to be saved by Martinez Quarta. He will not get better with time, and honestly, I get the impression that his performances have only gotten worse.

River has had mediocre goalies in the past, and even seasons where they've cost us important points (like Carrizo's nadir and final season before our relegation, where he flubbed some easy saves), but none of Ojeda, Vega or even Chichizola were so consistent in their failure: they wouldn't usually repeat mistakes, whereas Batalla seems to make the same mistake over and over again.

 

Batalla has been terrible. I understand that GK's mature at an older age but it seems that he might be a player that will never pan out. Unfortunately, another River youngster, Petroli, who was the GK for 2017 Sub 20 is perhaps even worse. I don't think I recall seeing a Sub 20 GK ever play that bad for us. He cost us the first two matches with his positioning and poor decision making. He was so bad in the first two matches, he was replaced in the third match and we managed a shutout and got a victory but the damage was already done and within a day we were eliminated.

Lux should be a vast improvement... But Lux... a name I haven't heard in ages... When was the last time he played for us, the 05 Confederations Cup?

 

He was the goalie for the Olympic squad that managed a gold medal in 2004 without receiving a single goal, so there's that.

 

Martinez Quarta apparently tested positive in an anti-doping procedure. This makes bringing in a new defender slightly more urgent -- hopefully Barboza sticks around this time.

 

I think we should just wait and see what Gallardo and Hansing say today in the press conference and what CONMEBOL has to say. Yesterday, rumors were saying up to 7 players tested positive, which of course is complete BS. The only thing we know for sure is that M Quarta and Mayada tested positive, and so far only Quarta has been suspended.

Its obviously a mess, but we need to wait before passing judgment.

 

I said the other day I had a bad feeling that Gallardo would stick with Battalla, and it looks I was right, for now at least. Obviously, Lux has had only a week to train with his defense, but I am still more nervous with Battalla after a year of training than I would be with Lux with just a week. The fact that Battalla played well the last two games means its all the more likely he is due for a nightmare Tuesday night. Lets hope I'm wrong. Vamos Pibe!

 

The teams for Cavegol's despedida today. How about that front 3 in the white team: Francescoli, Salas, Ortega Good to see el Pelado Aguirre there as well. Also nice to see the tennis guys, Orsanic, Nalbandian, and Guille Coria... All River fanatics. And actor Nico Vazquez, whose brother, another River fan, died tragically just a few months ago. He was only 28.

 

Also nice to see Mora on the bench. Of course he won't be playing, but I'm glad Cavegol included him

 

To be fair, Maidana has seemed on the decline before, only to come roaring back and reminding everyone why he's consistently considered one of (if not the) best central defenders playing in the country. Maidana-Pinola is going to be a great CB-pairing.

Also, I'm going to be honest: while Batalla's second save was pretty great (sending the ball out for a corner with his foot on a very good play), his first save was still the result of one of his most frequent errors -- his inability to come off his line well -- and the rebound he gave went straight to the Guaraní player, and was saved by Pinola's clearance. I'm still hoping for Lux for the return leg.

 

Nothing better than shutting up all the haters. The attitude of Guarani's directors was quite frankly disgusting. And their fans... Who are are they to try and make fun of us? Especially considering we eliminated them just two years ago... And now we're going to eliminate them again. Honestly, Guarani doesn't exist. They are nobodies. Never had a problem with the club until the last few days when they have just made themselves so hatable.

As for the game, I agree that Pinola was very good, and Ponzio was immense. Battalla's save in the second half was also spectacular, and Nacho's header off the line deserves plenty of praise.

Good for Scocco's confidence to get the goal, even if it was deflected. The players need some rest, but it is so frustrating to have to wait over a month for the second leg. Honestly, i do not get CONMEBOL and their scheduling for this Libertadores.

 

Jorge Wilsterman beat Atletico Mineiro 1-0 in the altitude of Bolivia last night. Assuming we hold on to our 2-0 lead of Guaraní, we would face the winner of this tie.

So who would you guys rather face? The Bolivians, who have the altitude on their side, or the Brazilians who have by far the better team with ex River Juan Cazares as their main playmaker. Obviously its a long way to go and its going to be hard for Wilstermann to hold on to their slim lead in Belo Horizonte, but it is an interesting proposition.

I am not sure which way I'd lean. Mineiro clearly is a good team, but I think we can beat them and take the confidence that we can win in that Stadium, destroying Cruzeiro 3-0 in 2015. Wilsterman is obviously not talented, but I'd be worried about having a tie similar to the IDV series in 2016 where we where lose in the altitude then the Bolivians would have the chance to defend for 90 minutes. That night, everything went against us and we deserved to win, but its clearly the same strategy Wilsterman would employ in Nuñez, while Mineiro would play us man to man both home and away

 

I rather play a team like Mineiro. At least if we lose to Mineiro it will feel better than losing trying to score 1 goal against a team that will only park the bus like the Bolivians. Even winning against a bunkering team always feels stressful and frustrating. Fvck that.

Besides, this is the libertadores, we will have to face real competition sooner or later.

 

Lollo and Larrondo were two of the worst transfers in club history. This is what happens when you buy injured players.

That being said, despite how disastrous his stint has been, his goal in Asuncion is why we can feel fairly comfortable going into tonight's match.

In case anyone missed it, Lux will be in goal tonight. As happy as I am to see Battalla out of the line up, I can't help but feel a bit sorry for him. The guy is a River fan and he clearly loves the club and it matters so much to him, it just so happens he's a shit goalie.

Also it appears that we are going to play only 1 forward tonight, but Enzo Perez makes his debut. I would personally have started Scocco instead of Rojas, but Muñeco knows best.

Ramos River carajo!!!