my biggest beef with Montero is that he just doesn't pass when he should. Plain and simple, the kid still hogs the ball ALL THE TIME.
I know Valencia in the right back position is a stretch, since he doesn't play that on club level. But he has the ability and talent to do the job there both attacking and defending. Most of all, it allows Guerron to play on the right wing in an attacking role, and also makes up for the fact that we do not have any good options for right back, except an aging Neicer Reasco.
im with you on that. it's the one bad quality he has which i think will fade away as time goes by and he matures. But he pulls back to defend much more than Arroyo. And we desperately need that in our wingers since Rueda is playing with right and left backs like Nazareno and JC Paredes who aren't dependable in defense at all. I'm glad Aguinaga uses Nazareno as a left wing in Barcelona now. PERFECT position for Nazareno. He DOES NOT belong in any left or right back position. His defensive qualities aren't good enough for it. Same goes for Paredes. The only natural right and left backs (that could be considered for the NT) i see in Ecuador are Neicer Reasco, Jose Madrid, Miguel Ibarra, and Mario Pineida. I like that kid Cristian Cruz from Barcelona too. Besides those guys, no one should be forced into those positions if they can't play them.
we are 3 weeks away from our next FIFA match. I think i've seen enough from each one of our players performances both in the NT and at club level and think these are the best 23 that I can come up with for Copa America. I don't think the next few friendlies will change my mind. Maximo Banguera Alexander Dominguez Marcelo Elizaga Eduardo Morante (player at trial on the NT) Norberto Araujo Jorge Guagua Jairo Campos Isaac Mina Walter Ayovi Neicer Reasco ***** (right back position- candidates: Miguel Ibarra & Jose Madrid) Antonio Valencia Jefferson Montero Edison Mendez Michael Arroyo Luis Saritama Cristian Noboa Segundo Castillo Fernando Gaibor/Dennis Quinonez Felipe Caicedo Cristian Benitez Joffre Guerron Edson Montano/Jaime Ayovi Starting 11: Banguera; Reasco, Morante, Araujo, W.Ayovi; Valencia, Noboa, Mendez, Arroyo/Montero; Benitez, Caicedo
Mendez is only 32 years old, he can still play at the top level, especially since he seems to be a smart guy and a good professional. Barring injury, there's no reason why he can't play a big role on the NT for the Copa America and the qualifiers, which will finish when he's still 34. At the very least, he can provide leadership and experience, or come off the bench to make an impact, like Aguinaga did in his last few years. As far as I know, he hasn't retired from the NT, and Copa America would be one of the last opportunities for him to represent Ecuador in a major tournament. Plus we don't have anybody who's really stepped up to replace him, as neither Quiroz nor Saritama have established themselves as the engine of the team.
My biggest concern right now is that none of our forwards are in form. Caicedo's goalscoring has slowed down, Benitez had a bad season in Mexico and missed a lot of games with injuries, Ayovi scored a few goals for Toluca but nothing special, same with Felix Borja. Nobody is really tearing it up right now. On the other hand, Colombia has Falcao who is on a tear with Porto, Venezuela's Rondon seems to be scoring regularly at Malaga, and Chile has Sanchez and Suazo, both of these guys give me nightmares. And forget about Uruguay, with Cavani and Suarez, they have one of the most lethal forward pairings in the world. I'm worried about this...we won't win without one or two guys stepping up and supplying the goals.
Mendez has picked up his play somehwat in the last couple of weeks. Obviouslyy he hasnt shown the form that made him one of Ecuador's greatest players but that's to be expected at his age. If the decision is between him and Saritama, I'll go with Mendez. I've made my thoughts on Saritama known:He sucks!!
I don't think the forwards are to worry about right now actually. Benitez didn't step it up because he simply didn't want to. If Benitez felt like scoring another sh*t ton of goals in this Clausura in Mexico, he would have done it with his eyes closed. The main concern before was that they didn't demonstrate that maturity when it came to finishing. The pressure ate them up. But they've developed that calmness in front of the net. They don't go retarded with their final shot and send it flying to stands or shoot straight at the keeper anymore. To keep it simple, they know what they're doing now and they finally figured out what the hell they were doing wrong. Took a while, but it was on time. As far as Caicedo, he's not scoring b/c Levante went on chill mode. They're basically saved from relegation and don't feel the pressure they did earlier in the season. Caicedo is in a position where he feels relieved and accomplished. I don't think there's much motivation in him to score a few more goals. His MAIN goal at the beginning of the season was to score "entre 10 y 15 goals" - said by Felipe Caicedo himself. And he's reached that goal before the season ended. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uM0m0_u0Uc"]YouTube - Felipe Caicedo responde a las preguntas de los seguidores del Levante UD en Facebook[/ame] Now all he's probably thinking about is taking a short vacation and THEN hopping back into reality and getting ready for the Copa America. I feel the same way about Benitez.
I've seen Mendez play recently in the campeonato and he's doing much better than the Mendez i saw at the beginning of the season. Emelec in general finally seems like it's come together (ironically AFTER they get eliminated from the Libertadores). Anyway, I still remain firm when I say that he should be a part of the starting 11 of the NT. The only other young and still considered "upcoming player" that i vouch for to be on the NT based on the similar play making abilities that Mendez has is Miller Bolanos. [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tolI0WeR6-4"]YouTube - Macara 0 vs Liga Deportiva Universitaria 2 - Copa Credife 2009[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdHIqE7AU8s"]YouTube - Liga de Quito 3 - Independiente 0 - Copa Libertadores 2011 - Grupo 8 - Fecha 2[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5vAi0k0ZJmA"]YouTube - El Nacional 2 - Liga de Quito 3. Campeonato Ecuatoriano 2010[/ame] [ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRGwozdjVXU"]YouTube - Liga de Quito 2 - Emelec 0. Canmpeonato Ecuatoriano 2010.[/ame] Whether it's the COPA Credife or whatever league, I only saw Edison Mendez score goals like Miller does now a days. I remember not long ago when Mendez was in Liga I heard him say in an interview that Millers style of playing reminded him a lot about his own. And the person interviewing asked Miller if he had been practicing his long shot and free kicks with Mendez, and Miller said something cocky (but as a joke) like "No, creo que Edison se los esta aprendiendo de mi" or some sh*t like that. Anyway, i consider Miller as raw material but one of the most valuable players in that position that we have. If Rueda doesn't want Mendez on the NT, Miller should be someone in mind.
Mendez get's called up for friendlies , that's awesome !!! SOLID and EXPERIENCED ! Now thats what we needed in the middle, him and NOBOA ... maybe rueda is catching on !? he called up chucho and felipao ... okay
Arqueros Marcelo Elizaga Máximo Banguera Alexander Domínguez Defensas Walter Ayoví Geovanny Caicedo Diego Calderón Fricson Erazo Jorge Guagua Néicer Reasco Luis Checa Volantes Flavio Caicedo Segundo Castillo Édison Méndez Oswaldo Minda Cristian Noboa Luis Fernando Saritama Luis Antonio Valencia Juan Carlos Paredes Joao Plata Delanteros Michael Arroyo Jaime Ayoví Christian Benítez Felipe Caicedo [LINEUP-4-4-2]Caicedo, Benitez, Mendez, Noboa, Castillo, Valencia, Ayovi, ?, ?, Reasco, Elizaga[/LINEUP-4-4-2]
THANK YOU RUEDA for calling up Fricson Erazo, Neicer Reasco, Diego Calderon, Felipe Caicedo, and Edison Mendez, The only problem with the defense is that there's too many center backs and no right or left backs besides Reasco and Ayovi. Rueda should have excluded Luis Checa and Giovanni Caicedo (two guys who he remains in love with). I'd like to see what Joao Plata and Flavio Caicedo can do. I like them both although it surprises me to see them on the NT. Wasn't expecting it. And Rueda's other two boyfriends JC Paredes and Oswaldo Minda somehow remain on the NT. They should definitely be excluded. Last but not least, it's obvious Rueda does not like Joffre Guerron at this point. It's the final games where he could get a chance to try him out, but i guess it's a firm decision of his to not include Guerron. What an IDIOT. Guerron's one of our top 3 right now along with Valencia and Caicedo and Rueda decides to leave him out of the picture. NO MONTERO??!?? The two biggest disappointments of this call up is not seeing Montero and Guerron on the list.
I think this call-up is better than the previous one, but there are definitely 5 or 6 changes to the Copa America squad. Guerron, Jairo Campos, and Jefferson Montero better be there. Also, what's the point of calling Valencia, who will be playing the biggest game of his life on the 28th, and surely won't be ready to play again on the 1st, especially if Man United wins and celebrations are on. He would only be available for the last match against Greece on the 7th. That seems like a waste of a call-up for a guaranteed starter, when you have guys still fighting for a place on the squad.
It pisses me off to see Checa and Minda on the list!! Rueda calls up Paredes over Guerron, this guy certainly knows what he's doing. His good decisions keep on coming! Saritama shouldn't be on the list as well. Why isn't Montero on the list? Its interesting to see Plata and Caicedo on the list. we'll see what they can bring. Edison Mendez is a welcome addition. Even tho he's on his last wheels, if he is healthy I think he can still play, key word being healthy. He's past his prime but even then I rather have him on the field then Saritama. Why weren't some youngsters called up? If I remember correctly, dont they have a tournament in Holland? Hopefully its because of that because I would have like seeing Quinonez, Lopez, and Govea.
Line up is better but I'm still disappointed at the people he didn't call up. He should've of called up Guerron!, Montero, Araujo (best defender in Ecuador by far), Rojas (This Joao is much better than the one being called up), and Renato Ibarra (best u20 player). What is Guagua and Checa doing there again? They were terrible last time. Saritama again? Worse player to be called up! He sucks! Also don't like Elizaga either. Rueda sucks and we aren't going to progress forward with our NT. Feels like NT went back 10-20 years instead of progressing forward.
oh but thats what juan carlos Paredes is there for. Rueda's boyfriend will for sure start over Reasco or if Valencia isn't there. You can have that assured.
Sucks we can't count on some of the U-20 players for this Copa America b/c I for sure would have Fernando Gaibor and/or Dennis Quinonez included in here. And if Guerron wouldn't be taken into consideration then I'd go for Renato Ibarra over Joao Rojas. Edson Montano could definitely be taken into consideration as well. I hope Rueda actually gives players like Fricson Erazo, Joao Plata, Diego Calderon, and Felipe Caicedo a lot of playing time in these games.
Im happy he called up some new players that he has excluded in the past. I hope they get good playing time. Yea no Montero but that was expected, he hasnt been playing a lot for levante, and Rueda said in order to be called up you must be a regular on your team or something along those lines. Rueda calling up mendez makes up for him not calling up Dinamita, yes hes playing well but i rather Mendez on the list over Dinamita.
Why do I have a feeling that Rueda got confused and called up Joao Plata instead of Joao Rojas as a mistake?