I had fun at the game. We got several players to get real minutes today…result wasn’t there but that’s ok. I really don’t care if we lose or tie any of these games if it helps fine tune the team. really wish we can try to get the ball to our strikers so they can take shots as opposed to relying on long ball and crosses to no one.
I know you are a big rios fan but he hasn't been the best lately. He seems to be a very streaky player thats not consistently in form. There was a spell during our winless streak where he was arguably our worst player. When he's on his game he's great but theres times where he doesn't really influence the game much.
This was exactly it. He was super careful after the collision in first half - it seemed like he was down forever and was worried about it and then was avoiding contact and off a bit thereafter. I thought Roman was super frustrating and let out a massive sigh when I saw Borre coming in instead of LJS. Paid small fortune and we get Borre and Roman. Brutal. But the vibe was ok in stadium and had good time.
Well thankfully Rios isn't injured and this was just a friendly. Disappointing draw but without any real consequences so let's look forward to next month's friendlies.
Rios, followed by Arias and Muñoz were our worst players during our dry spell post Copa But to my memory he was good since the Argentina game. He got head butted , slapped, and kicked all in the opening 10 minutes of the game. Canada also pressed the life out of us in that first half and we couldn’t keep the ball. I know that this function probably is his responsibility more than anyone else’s, but it was still tough second half was more open as we figured out the press and they naturally lowered intensity So I’d say tough game to judge Rios plus the subs were always going to look better as the intensity slowly decreased in that second half
He still has his moments throughout the game where he shines and hes probably the most talented central midfielder we have that can combine every facet of the game. I dont like James either but even though he has games where he kind of vanishes, he has his moments where a couple of touches open up the game. Campaz, Cucho were even less influential but I dont see any posts about them.
I mean I think we had a few posts about Cucho lol, you and I but those are fringe players that may not even make the wc Rios is one of the cornerstones for the team (James, Lucho, arias, Muñoz, and Rios) More is expected of him but like I said in another post, tough to judge Richard from this game and you not liking James is like Nuggets fans not liking Jokic or Bills fans not liking Josh Allen
Yeah and I dont think he was particularly bad either honestly Its like crzd and his bitching about Luis Suarez falling over. Yeah I can see that hes getting bullied by these guys but hes also getting hammered by at least 4/5 Canadians with the way they defend. We kept trying to play through the middle and that was a terrible idea here. We needed quality guys on the wings to stretch the play. If anything I'd say we missed Muñoz overlapping runs, Campaz tried but he got shut down easy. The players on the field were all wrong for this game. Needless to say Canada are no mexico
Yeah Richard is indeed streaky and we tend to play as he goes. When he is good, so are we, and when he’s not, we suffer but he has been good since the Argentina game and this game where he got hesdbutted, slapped, and kicked right off the gate and where Canada pressed us as if this was a final is not the best game to judge him I’m more worried about him playing for an anti futbol manager like Moutinho. Hope he doesn’t suck the magic and creativity out of Richard
Where Richard has to improve is his decision-making in the middle of the field (still gives the ball away in tough positions too often) and also his passing. There's times where he sees the pass to break the defensive line, but he almost never delivers a good ball. The others don’t get as much heat since they’re not locked-in starters. I like Cucho, but he’s had multiple chances and hasn’t made the most of them — even if he hasn’t always been set up to succeed. Campaz shouldn’t be called anymore— Yaser should be taking all his minutes. Roman has also never impressed me. It should be Muñoz and despite his age Santi Arias locked in as the Rbs come world cup time.
Reality is that Lorenzo did exactly what everyone has been asking for last night (experimenting with a bunch of guys who are at fringes of team, even giving us a few minutes of James' and Juanfer together) ... He just didn't do it with the exact players we would have wanted tested... And Canada pressing all game doesn't help when you are testing guys out at key spots. Also and important - the NY/NJ crowd and setting really had an impact (the stadium was 95% Colombian and sold out) - our team was very clearly trying to put on a show and embarrass the Canadians whenever they got the ball (which again, it's hard to Globetrotter a team that's pressing the whole game). Lucho, Juanfer and Rios especially were no looking and trying to nutmeg people the whole game and the Canadians didn't take kindly to that clearly... On the new guys: Roman - An abysmal drop off from Munoz and Arias at RB. Portillo - Played well. Solid. Can tap in anytime. Campaz - Adds nothing. Challenged to help in flow of game yesterday he doesn't have the vision for it. Yaser - Much better than Campaz but also isolated on the wing too much. Cucho - tries so hard. Just not effective. Borre - Couldn't have been more frustrated when Rafa came on instead of LJS. Brutal. Crónica de un empate cantado the moment he stood up from the bench...
Agree with Ryu’s post Serna - did nothing to stand out. Remember we also have Carrascal and Sini on the depth chart. I wonder if Carbonero will get a look in November. Yaser - had some electric moments. Will want to see more of him in November and 2026 friendlies Campaz - meh. Him and Hinestroza seem to be in the same circle of being at the bottom Portilla - if the CM’s are going to be Lerma, Rios, Castano, Portilla - I don’t think many have an issue with that. Borre - anytime I see him come on the field, I don’t see a commitment to win a game. He may just make the WC only bc Duran will likely do something stupid between now and June and a black cloud would emerge over Cordoba, Cucho or LJS cucho - hopefully he continues his club form and gets another chance. I think we all want him to rack up some goals in the upcoming games to Quintero - he’s always looking for that ESPN pass of the week. Roman - hes like Cristian Borja in the sense he doesn’t do much but he is not a liability which I guess is a good thing. But Santi/Munoz are light years ahead of him Montero - had a nice save in the first half. Is the direction that we will have Vargas-Montero-Ospina? I’ll play devil’s advocate and hope for Mier to get some opportunity in November. Younger GK’s need to get minutes. On field tactics - I want to see better passing and movements in the mid field instead of long pass and passing the ball to where players are standing. Pass the ball into open space!! Or come to support your teammates. So many times I saw Rios, Mojica, Roman have the ball and no one came to support them. Instead it was the backpass sequence which resulted in Lucumi/Davinson long ball to no one
Yeah I don’t know why we needed Rios/Portilla and Lerma/Castano against Canada. I would like to see, as an experiment, borre with another striker and drop one of the CM’s. Borre is a defensive minded player anyway…. there’s going to be a point where we are scrambling for a goal and the likely sub will be an attacker for one of the two CM’s….
Lorenzo has shown to make bad decisions in key moments. meaning making bad subs. not sure that's going to change at this point
My bad. Totally forgot Serna because he was so forgettable - he really struggled physically with Canada, incapable of beating his marker one on one or to place a pass.
we are going to struggle with teams that play defensively. this is very much like the Colombia that didnt win for a while. and Lorenzo does not have the solution. he makes the same irrational subs and i doubt that will change
I hope this was him just seeing his options and not really going out there to win. Suarez scored 4 vs Venezuela and carbonero scored vs Mexico. If he had wanted to win if would have sent those guys in….. but at the same time the subs that did well vs Uruguay did not play the final vs Argentina. feel seems, campaz and borre failed their test and will not be called again. the whole argument of Quintero starting should finally die. Fine coming in as a sub once we are up but if down a goal or 0-0 if James don’t do anything nothing that midget can do feel Angulo did ok vs Mexico and should have been given the minutes vs Canada. Not that Mojica did anything right or wrong that game