Pre-match: Colombia vs. Costa Rica (Monday June 1, 2026 - 7:00 PM EST)

I think thats Puerta and RR just watching the ball

 

Didn't find out much as Costa Rica are pretty weak, but it was a send off so it served its purpose. I think Cucho now staring and playing as a 9 is a good window into Lorenzo's poor planning. He never used him in his obvious best position and then calls him up and he's now the backup 9 if Cordoba isn't fit enough. He had ample time to try him and get him some reps with all of these guys in that position and see how it goes but he never did stubbornly and then to his credit seems to have reversed course but its such an obvious mistake due to stubbornness and foresight that it happens.

Carrascal was bad as usual, but I like Puerta and Rios midfield, would like to see those 2 with Arias or James, that's how we should be playing vs the weaker sides where we expect most of possession.

 

Cucho kinda played 9 in the Canada friendly in October but yes, he should have been given more chances.

The Rios- Puerta partnership was nice to see and could get better as the years go by.
But in the “now” I think we missed Lerma in this kind of game to help out the CBs and clog things up defensively.

 

We had 70% ball possession and Costa Rica has nothing going forward, if we need to put on a net negative Lerma in possession to deal with Costa Rica we are in big trouble. We've seen it over and over again in games against weaker sides Lerma just looks lost with lots of possession and having to build up play.

 

He would have provided defensive cover. Especially in the air. Also offensively he could have provided something . We saw it in the Mexico match and secondly half of Australia.

 

a 6 in high possession games is like a quarterback, lots of attacks go through you just because he has a nice shot or header here and there doesn't override his inability to pass and start attacks and when given time he's a net negative vs peers, when pressured he can't handle and dribble through, other players are also defensive coverage that should be able to handle teams like Costa Rica and give much more on the ball.

When I looked last year Lerma is like bottom 5% on the ball for top leagues in passing, and he's down there too in dribbling, he's a huge net negative compared to the average player at the top level, he's not in the top 10% defensively either. There's a reason why he's mostly moved back to a back up CB at CP, and the demand for Colombia as a lone 6 is even more than Crystal Palace's double pivot formation and isn't a possession based side.

 

You are making it seem like he is a bumbling idiot and a liability defensively against inferior teams. That narrative is just not true.
He was one of or best midfielders in the Copa America. He was also one of our best players period. Scored a clutch goal against a team that really defends well in the air to put us in the Final.
I am all for giving Puerta and Portilla some chances and they have some strengths that Lerma does not have. But he is not bad and knows his role and has helped us win. Which is importantly the highest priority.

 

He is kind of a bumbling idiot essentially on the ball in possession. didn't say anything about him being a liability defensively, he's just not good enough defensively to make up for his downsides, James constantly having to come really deep to get on the ball throughout the years is a problem because of our lack of players in possession at the base of midfield being able to build play and accept pressure while on the ball, luckily Rios came along and helped in that area alot.

 

He helps us win. He helps us defensively and offensively. Not only in the Copa America but in qualifying as well.
I do not think it is a coincidence that during the long marathon of qualifiers we lost four matches. Three of those matches Lerma did not start.


I do not care about his weaknesses as long as we win.

 

I agree with the first point made in the original post, but the next point seems like an exaggeration. I wouldn’t label him a bumbling idiot, and I don’t believe James dropping deep is related to his passing issues. James drops back because he plays as a free-floating midfielder and has always done this, even when Lerma is not on the field. Additionally, James is not always quick enough or fit enough to make forward runs consistently. As a result, it's common for him to be walking around during offensive situations, and when a turnover occurs, we become even more exposed. This isn’t a Lerma issue; it's a formation problem when playing with three midfielders — one who floats, one who pivots, and one who primarily holds the midfield for interceptions.

I do agree that Lerma isn’t a great passer. However, his defensive skills are better than you suggest, and he keeps that center five role well organized. While it’s not a double pivot, we rely on Rios for that role.

Also purely based on the Costa Rica game, it seems Lucho is also floating around more often, and even some double floaters with Lucho and another attacking mid.

 

I mean he's basically bottom 5% in possession for top 5 leagues, I wouldn't use the term bumbling idiot but we can call it whatever we want he's very very bad in possession. When you have that big a weakness and you want to play a possession game you are a net liability in the current game to even consider him he needs to be elite defensively which I don't think he is, he's not even a natural 6 and never has been as we've used him at times. You can't have a midfielder at the base of your midfield be that poor and want to dominate possession effectively, and we've seen that play out over and over again where he doesn't want possession or simply misses easy passes/doesn't have any good passing in his locker or dribbling. He's fine out of possession and he's fine defensively, it doesn't make up for his weakness on the ball.

We can play a formation to hide him, but why we are currently playing a formation to hide James defensively that isn't working well and is exploitable and then trying to do the same going forward with Lerma we become exploitable again to hide him as teams can just leave him open and force the ball to him and mark heavily the other players which we've seen teams do. James offensively there is an argument and has been to carry him defensively, Lerma carrying him offensively I don't see it because he effects everything where attacks should start and he should get lots of the ball in games we dominate.

Lerma barely plays for club, I'm tired of us hamstringing in guys who are off form, Lerma just isn't a workable midfielder if we want to hit new levels we need to search out other solutions, the modern game you can't easily hide players with bid deficiencies unless they are Messi/Mbappe levels if you want to hit the top tier, and even in that case its pretty clear that Mbappe's teams have fared better without having to carry him defensively. Teams press and pressure all over the field, if you can't do that defensively and you can't handle that offensively you are going to be exploited unless you provide elite production to justify the weakness.

 

Time to pick on Quintero.

Did you guys notice how slow he looked out there? The whole first half he kept massaging his upper leg. He probably wasn't fit to play. When Quintero got the ball, he seemed to always have to stop, look at where the players were then make the pass. It's like he couldn't make a pass unless he was standing still. No power on the passes and he kept falling.

 

Bogota takes a toll on players not used to it.

 

He has a thing that i never see him do in River making really awful mistakes. He also did it with DIM. Losing the ball in really critical spots on the field.

 

I am not concerned about JuanFer. Once the bright lights turn on for the World Cup he will be ready to shine. He is that type of personality.

 

I agree that vs bunkering teams, the duo of Puerta and Rios makes infinitely more sense.


Hell even against stronger sides like France, Spain, and Portugal who love to press, you need the guy that can help maintain possession and control of the ball

just wish Puerta was stronger defensively as Lerma does offer much more on that aspect when the other team has the ball

 

Yup you can't have guys in midfield who aren't comfortable being pressured and on the ball anymore, the days of having players with big weaknesses is largely gone if you want to compete. Pressing being widely deployed largely seeks out and exploits the weak link in the chain both with the ball and without, if you can't have a press with everyone the wink link is exploited and if you have guys who can't offer much with the ball its the same. I like Puerta, I think eventually he will be a stalwart for us if he can keep developing. Puerta, Deossa, Solis offer very different skill sets and I think we probably have good options there for the future, its just a shame the later 2 were unlucky with club situation or injuries this last year, but I think we have a great mix now and if you have Puerta with Rios and one of these guys you can easily shield him in a midfield 3, or even Arias in the 10.

 

To me

Lerma is more of a guy that comes in if we are leading

to start the game, we need someone who is better at absorbing pressure

 

The wins-losses-draws this cycle do not correlate with this idea of yours. We do our best with Lerma.
Not to say it will always be this way.
With a bit of experimentation of tactics and lineups and the stepping up of the players themselves maybe this idea of yours and villus can be the way forward. I just think he is going to be the main starter in the WC.

 

This is why I think Lerma needs to be an undisputed starter. We saw the same garbage vs croatia in their first goal

I disagree with benching lerma vs stronger teams. I agree with Homie that we need more defensive cover (defense needs all the help it can get tbh) and Rios and Puerta dont offer enough defensively to help out.

Im not as high on Rios as others here, hes very hit or miss and tactically is a bit all over the place. You need someone like Lerma that at least provides some stability back there.

 

There is no way to prove that but we will never know.
Conversely, could he have helped us get positive results against the likes of Uruguay, Ecuador, Bolivia? I think he could have but we will never know that either. Two of those losses were more on Cordoba’s blunders and inaccuracies. The Uruguay match though was more defensive lapses he surely could have helped us out with.