A ver si salimos de la malaria.... VS Sunday April 21 18:10 (Hora Argentina) Stadium: Boca Ref: Pompei VAMOS BOCA, CARAJO!!!
As injuries and bad performances pile up, Bianchi continues experimenting with the defense. Lots of kids. And the two former Belgrano players are both unavailable. We can only hope for the best. Up front Riquelme starts, as well as Martinez and Silva. Let see if they can conjure some of the old magic. Likely lineup: VAMOS BOCA!!!
Halftime 0-0. The ref is a joke, he incorrectly invalidated a legitimate goal by Blandi. Riquelme left the game with an injury -hopefully minor- and Sanchez Miño took his place.
100% a goal by Blandi, poor officiating. It getting very frustrating watching Boca, as I am not sure what it is Bianchi wants Boca to be, in terms of style. Its not so bad today as lots of the younger players are playing but on the whole I don't get what how Boca are meant to be playing. On an unrelated note, what has happened to Paredes? Injury?
He had a knee sprain about a month ago. They said he'd be out for a month, so I'd imagine he should be getting back soon, unless something changed.
Crap, Boca should have won that game. I saw some good things from some of the kids individually today, but still not enough. Oh well as they say: en las buenas y en las malas...
In a word dull. Very sloppy in front of goal. Worryingly though we only really look a threat from set pieces.
Offensively it looks like there's some good pieces, they just can't quite put it together yet. Defense is still a disaster, it's a good thing Belgrano didn't really try to win it.
Supposedly Riquelmes out around 3 weeks. He has a 3 mm tear in his hamstring.Hamstrings are lingering injuries too. Say Corinthians eliminates Boca without Riquelme,and he misses the Super, does he even come back at all? Would you guys even want him too if he isn't part if their future plans?
Hell yeah! I hope he comes back from the injury and the sooner the better. I savor every moment of Riquelme's play, even if he's not 100 percent. At this time of crisis in football at Boca -and in Argentina overall- it's a luxury to be able to watch him, a breath of fresh air every time he touches the ball. And we have young players -like Paredes, Pol Fernandez, Juan Sanchez Miño among others- who have great talent and potential but need a bit more seasoning, and having Riquelme around will do wonders for helping their game develop. Having said that, I do trust Bianchi to develop the kids, with or without Riquelme. Fans need to be patient, because he inherited a bad situation and there is good young talent but it's not quite there yet. Doesn't look good this season, but let Bianchi work!
Do you really think Bianchi inherited a bad situation? The last 3 tournaments Boca finished 1st, 4th, and 6th. You also won- albeit a rather useless trophy- the Copa Argentina. So I'm not quite sure what you mean. Sure, the squad could use some tweaking and an injection of youth, but you had a base, and Bianchi was also able to get 3 reinforcements- all asked for by Bianchi- including Martinez, who you paid nearly 4 million USD for. Bianchi has failed to figure out where to play him. If Bianchi truly thought this team was hopeless, he would have never taken the job. He would be in LA right now coaching Chivas USA. The guy clearly thought he had a team that would fight on both fronts. He even said this when he took over.
Not to mention finalist of last year's Copa Libertadores. But yeah, Bianchi inherited a bad situation. You have to consider that Boca lost the two central defenders, Schiavi and Insaurralde. Schiavi was old, but still the unquestionable leader of the defense, lots of intangibles. Insaurralde a stud. You can't replace them just like that. The above is compounded by the problems in defensive midfield. Somoza getting old, Battaglia having to retire due to injuries. Boca tried to address the above by bringing the two kids from Belgrano, Chiqui and Ribair. Obviously they've both been injured, so it's premature to judge the results. In addition Erbes got injured as well. Offensively, Mouche for all his issues is a great talent and helped a lot, so he's missed. I think Martinez can be a better option than Mouche but he's been going through a bit of a slump. I think Boca will be alright offensively because they have plenty of good young talent. I'm sure Bianchi saw that, and he's looking at the long term. But we -the fans- just need to be a bit patient. I think you need to understand that a project doesn't happen overnight. There was a lot of turnover, not just in numbers but in terms of key players. There were also lots of injuries. I think it would be asinine not to give Bianchi time right now, but that's the immature reaction of the typical Argentine fan nowadays, they just look at today, they don't build for the future, and that's the problem with our football. There is a good foundation and Bianchi is a proven quantity. I just hope Boca can see the long term picture, rather than look at it shortsightedly as you are doing.