If Argentina wins today won't be so bad lol But we really need to fix our defensive scheme before Sunday.
The pitch was in horrible shape, but I'm surprised that our players or the directors didn't mention this any time before. Was it raining? If this is going to happen at the Casa Blanca, we might as well go to IDV's stadium. So weird. Regarding the lineup, it's pretty obvious that Alfaro got it wrong. When you make 3 subs at the 45th minute right before the second half starts, the coach silently makes the admission that he was wrong. Noboa needs to start from now on- there's no reason to keep relying on Moises Caicedo who hasn't played a competitive game since January last year. Until he gets minutes, lil boy needs to ride the bench. Noboa looked so much more solid in the middle. Carabali was trash. Mena was a ghost. Pervis was a total let down (again, he hasn't played productive minutes at Villarreal in a while. Jordy and Estrada actually worked against each other instead of together. Holistically the squad is just not ready. For now, Plata is the glue that's making our team look reasonably respectable. Kitu should also get considered to be more of a protagonist in the Copa America if Alfaro deems it useful...and I think he should. Our virtue was our wing play and solid central defense. In the last two games, we've lost that edge. Pervis and PPP are not cutting the mustard and we really NEED CDM presence.
As much as I find Gruezo limited, he plays his CDM role well. I think we might have to switch back to a 4-2-3-1 to cover our defense better and really exploit our wing strength. Also if Alfaro wants to play a high line, he needs to bench Arreaga and start Hincapie. The kid has the speed and physicality to handle it whereas Arreaga does not.
I agree. Besides Diaz, there is no one on the team that can play as conductor besides Noboa. Next match we should start Mendez and Noboa with Gruezo and Moises coming off the bench. We need to find a LW because Carabali has tunnel vision and Plata is wasted on the left side.
In these qualifiers and to our detriment, our defense has really been costing us points - between ceding penalties and literally losing games, but the result is the same. It's just the flagrancy of errors, and that's a concern. When games are tight, we can't play to hold a game by a thread with a +1 lead. And to really get the most out of this team, we need a beast mode midfield to really control the pace of game.
Damn. This isn’t looking too good for us anymore. With today’s performance we took major step back and now it be very hard to qualify I think.
We need to fix this line up ,too many F ups.no connection between lines,goalie and defense errors.we definitely looked better attacking when Plata,Kitu and Noboa came on ,but that left side was null in attack.I see why Pervis lost his place.
Ppp shouldn't be called up until he gets his life in order and plays better at club level. It was a mistake having him start against Peru. Plata should have started. Another mistake was having him on the bench to start the game. Diaz played well. He shut a lot of people up, me included. I don't think he should start but I'd like to see him come off the bench. Hopefully this loss serves as a wake up call. Salieron al campo confiados. The road to Qatar is long and there's a lot of futbol still left to be played. I'd like to see Pineida start at LB. Preciado should start at RB. Arboleda and Hincapie should be the central defenders. Midfield is a question mark right now. Gruezo for sure will miss the game against Colombia. I'd like to see a midfield combo of Mendez and Noboa or Mendez and Franco. On the wings - Plata on the right, Mena on the left. Estrada and Enner up top.
Is it me or Dominguez has been VERY suspected as well? It seems to me that couple of those goals could have been saved and he DID step out during the penalty kick. He isn’t playing next game so its a perfect opportunity for someone to step up.
A better GK blocks Brazil's first goal and Peru's second. Attackers will take note of this - hit it low and to the sides of Dominguez.
I agree with you on all fronts. My only doubt is still to Plata's match fitness....reports had him day-to-day and holding him as a sub would not have been a bad move if our team was structured differently.
It's not just his goalkeeping but his attitude. If he's supposed to be the captain and can't keep his cool, it rubs off on the rest of the players. Honestly Pineida at LB sounds like a safe bet. He might not go up as much as Pervis but he's very good defensively and we might need a flank to hold back because look what happened today when both flanks kept going up.
IDV just upgraded their stadium it much better than it was before. that would have been a good inauguration to that stadium. Alfaro took the wrong approach to this match as a coach. I would have liked a more strict approach in training. Him celebrating a birthday and cooking is nice and all and I know we need the good atmosphere but our players don't have the mindset for that. I want to see these guys treat every match as a Final or else we won't qualify. We can't start of wcq strong and then lose points along the way. He lined up wrong he should of started the match that way. We would of had a much better match and brought on Jordy caicedo and ppp from the bench if he really wanted to play them. When we secure points not start them Carabali he not ready for the nt alfaro can't bring up player like him by starting him in qualifiers. play him in friendlies but not here. Fidel or even Ayrton Preciado would have done a much better job. The good thing is Plata is a player who can get benched but still be fit and prepared to play for the nt. Moises Caicedo isn't there yet. I agree Noboa and Diaz should be considered more. That Brazil match I think they could of made a huge difference.
Ortiz is a good shot stopper. He's not reliable in coming off his line and he's lost confidence in playing with his feet. I haven't seen much of Galindez but it'll be a good idea to keep an eye on him.
This is why Gruezo is important to alfaro game and why I was a fan of him on this team. If you think about it no one else plays that role like he does. The only one similar is Dixon Arroyo.
Arroyo is the only other true defensive midfielder. That being said we're better off having Arroyo on the bench.
I agree on arreaga is you see his mls matches when ever they play high and get countered arreaga is nowhere and the goal comes from his side.
He's just too slow. Arboleda made it back to our box before Arreaga did and Arboleda was the one who went up to attack on the corner!