Casierra . If you guys struggled watching Cabezas in U20s then you'll poop your pants watching Casierra. He's definitely our poor man's version of Peter Crouch. Horrible pick imo. We just don't have anyone who crushed it this year. Is John Cordoba injured?
I agree with you. I am just speculating as to how Lorenzo may line up in Germany. I personally rather Arias start both matches at RW.
Yeah John cordoba is in the same league with Mateo cassiera and he’s doing much better than him and has been scoring scores lately . He is not injured
my issue isn't who is on the roster I am all for giving guys shots. It's just how small the roster is? Are flights to Spain and Germany that expensive half these guys are in Europe..... Why is the fed cheap. Last games before qualifiers bring 35 guys. Play 2 teams. 1 vs Iraq where the stakes are low. Then who you think your best 11 are against Germany. If he brings Mier/Montero when their teams are in our league finals( Colombia needs to cut the shit with the play offs why are the finals not done). To not give either minutes vs Iraq is huge fk up by the coach if that happens. No strikers. 4 goals between 2 guys in 1 season being our best options? Fk why not just Bring Angel at that point. You want a striker that creates and frees up Arias/Diaz to score. Cucho seems to do that in the MLS GK, MF, RBs and CBs I am fine with. We should call 11 Lbs tho, 10 strikers Did he call up for a backup for Carascal? or Would that be Arias once they have Cuadrado start vs Germany?
I get your thinking but it's not reality. And there's lots of risk too with your strategy. This is not a 4 week High School camp where you just make cuts. We're not so deep as to have 3 NT players for every position. With your line up, let's say that team 1 plays Iraq 'low stakes" as you say, and loses 4-0. What does that really tell the coach from that game. And now how does he compensate for that loss with game 2 against a 'higher stakes' Germany. ultimately, NT coaches have to be the best at selection given the short amount of time given. Even on our own forum, we can kind of already say we have 5-6 guys that we would start today. He then builds off of that structure and then builds a deeper bench. Having 30+ guys for seven days isnt going to really give you the data you need.
At first blush, the call up seems encouraging in a lot of spots. I am confused with the inclusion of Casierra over Duran, considering JJD just scored for him in Japan and played similar minutes down the stretch to Borré (who did get called despite eating a lot bench). If it's a message to Duran to push for a minutes guarantee or a loan at Villa, then I guess better he knows now than Sept, but still seems a shame as I don't think anyone expects Casierra to be there over time? Is Cuesta hurt? Maybe I missed that at the end of Genk's season? I guess Lorenzo is REALLY holding that awful friendly over Alzate too! Steven was fantastic in Belgium on loan and I don't see a lot of guys here that play that role... Alas, Castaño must have made quite the impression!
I'm not the biggest Campuzano fan but he played pretty well for Lorenzo when he was called up but hasnt been used since. Cuellar I would like to see as well so he's got plenty of options. I didnt think Castano was that great. He was ok but nothing more than a more experienced Campuzano. Or set Yasser as the box to box next to Barrios/Lerma so he can to feed in the wingers and also be a threat offensively with his thru balls and 1 v 1s.
Update!!! Pipe Sierra says Duran WAS in the call up but he is nursing a muscle strain and that same injury is the reason JJD didn't play the final Villa game. Still confused how Casierra got in but makes more sense now.
3 sub 20 players on the roster when we are 3 months away from qualifiers? I hope you guys are starting to recognize how progressive Lorenzo is. Many of you got your wish: no James and no Falcao. I'm glad, too. Of course, Cuadrado is back, and I am his #1 hater. But this is part of the process, as I've been saying for months now. He's hanging on to a few veterans while slowly integrating a ton of new blood. We'll see all three at points during the qualifiers, but right now we're looking at a team where maybe 1 of them starts. With Duran's injury coming to light, the only definite criticism of this list is Cuesta's absence. He was injured, but he started Genk's last couple matches. I especially don't like his absence while Dao is on the roster...but, Yerson (GREAT callup) was added and 5 CBs is just unnecessary. And, of course, there's always going to be a few vets... Many of you are complaining about 9s. Fair. But the team is scoring quite a bit without one, no? Casierra has not panned out the way he once promised to, but he is a solid call up for the style of play Lorenzo is building up. A big guy who can pull the ball down and drift out of the area for our attacking mids to get into scoring positions. Don't mind the call up at all. MY personal nitpick is not bringing in any other CMs. I'm guessing Palacio didn't make the cut. Castano is a solid dude, but we've gotta start thinking of more long term solutions. If not Puerta, bring in Richard Rios. If Salazar is in the call up (I called that one), then you can bring in a few other kids just to get them acclimated. Overall, solid call up.
I would rather have tried Borja or Quiñones at 9 but Cassiera is an interesting pick. Rios or Puerta would have been nice but Lorenzo seems happy with Uribe and Castano with Lerma and Barrios. I guess Munoz and Cuadrado can also be slotted there as well if need be. Yaser is way too thin and falls down way too easily to be at that level. I see him strictly as the creative backup to Carrascal.
Borja is part of the old guard that needed to go. He has no status to supersede his so-so career with the NT, plays about half the time for his club, and, at 30, is only going downhill from here. I guarantee we never see him again. I've followed Quinones for a while and I like him quite a bit. I guess his past qualifies him as someone who Lorenzo doesn't want to bring in to the locker room. And managing that locker has been a MASSIVE point of focus for Lorenzo. It's why we've seen captains Falcao, James, and Cuadrado always in the mix of call ups. It's why Luis Muriel--who I suspect was the real culprit of whatever feud may have happened--is GONE.
Borja is kind of old guard I suppose but was very effective for us last cycle especially in Barranquilla. Scored very nice goals, had a nice chemistry with JuanFer (Who I think will still be called up) for us in key times and was probably our most clutch player at striker until his injury. Saying he will never be called up again and guaranteeing it seems way too overboard in my eyes. However, he has not been called up at all this cycle so I cannot say he will be called up anytime soon unless he really balls out for River (and even then he may not be called up).
Going back to Cuadrado, I think something he brings to the table is he can score penalties. I trust him more than any other player on this roster. After him maybe Uribe? Santos Borre? *Edit he also can take FKs and corners. Although Carrascal is not bad at those.
Lorenzo has had Puerta train with the team in other callups so at least he knows what he is working with. And obviously he prefers Castano for one reason or another. The good news for Puerta is he can just go earlier to Germany and get adjusted to his new surroundings at Leverkusen.
I'm OK with the callup. Lorenzo can pretty much do whatever he feels like now, and I will reserve my judgement for the first couple of WCQ games.
I have 0 genuine complaints, never really had any tbf. more than anything im happy he took over so soon, had he taken over closer to WCQ then he would not have had as many chances to implement a different approach. I think the ability to have more tactical flexibility is going to be important, having a forward who can create (sort of like a false 9) and wingers or other midfielders that are capable of scoring but also capable of performing tasks would be great.
As for television I do not expect the Iraq match to be televised in the USA. Could be on a streaming app or pay-per-view. The Germany match will be on FS2 in English. Not sure about a Spanish network yet.
I wondered about that, too, but I think there's a lot of strategy behind the call ups. Yaser is already part of the squad AND we want him to get a move to a first division side. Being with the NT helps that. Salazar is not ready, but he's here to be an understudy for a position we desperately need bodies for. Cortes has about 6 guys ahead of him in his position. However, getting an NT nod should improve whatever transfer he gets this summer, ideally to a place that sees him as an immediate starter. Puerta is the only one who belongs to a 1st division European side even though he's never actually trained with them. In a way, he's ahead of the three others clubwise and now has to concern himself with earning minutes at that club. The priorities are slightly different for each.
Looking at Cassiera's highlights last season with Sochi he looked fantastic. Much better than I remember of him. He is faster and more dynamic than Santos Borre so he can bring a good change of pace if anything.
Cassiera played with Zenit last season, right? Maybe the year before it was Sochi? Russian highlights are hard to come by lately.
From what I have heard Cuesta is not 100% after his injury so as a precautionary measure he was left off the squad. Better for him to just rest up and be ready come September.