Rest day for me thankfully. Just started working out again since my new ink healed to a point where I can go again.
This one didn't take as long as the one I did last month on my arm. That one had taken so much longer.
Ok so we came out blazin' 2nd half. I'll give it to our boys to have come back. But this is an issue that predates Lorenzo. So many matches during the last qualifiers where we fell asleep during the 1st half. And I feel this is happening again. Time for Lorenzo to fix that big time. Our CBs today were much better 2nd half but without a top-notch GK they better depend on just clearing the ball instead of toque-toque in our box. Lastly, I know Duran is only a 'kid' but he's gotta show more of his physicality, strength/speed. He needs to knock 1 goal in for a bit of a confidence booster. Not a fan of Castano-Uribe. Would feel much better with Lerma or Barrios bossing that DFM. Uribe got off lucky not getting red carded.
I thought all the defenders were pretty great except for mojica, Munoz looked great getting up the field on occassion and contributing passses
they put 2 past us....' almost a 3rd for PK.... I wouldn't say it was a 'pretty great' day for defense. We need a force at CB that is calling the shots and calling out needless errors or giveaways. Watch VanDyk play and you can see he holds everyone accountable. Romero does so for Argentina, Marquinoz for Brazil and on an on. Still looking for some leadership on the field and no one is up for the challenge.
uhm yes... a horrendous 1st half by all including defense. A great start to the 2nd half and an improvement overall from teh 1st half but this is not the Colombia that I want to see in WCQ. Still think defensively we looked shaky. this is not new information. It's a problem going back some itme now. Our back 4 is still a huge work in progress and yes, I stand by that lack of leadership. With a different ref, Uribe couldve been sent off. Someone has to cool his head. If I were Vargas I'd be screaming at my 'wall' allowing that FK goal. This team is still frustrating to watch. Those 2 goals don't make me feel settled.
sure, not the colombia I want to see in WCQ but the standards are real low right now in case you haven't noticed and I stand by Cuesta and Lucumi, the goals were a product of aggressive pressure which is something that would have happened with Mina and Davinson or anyone else because the problem was again same as what happened in that first half with Mexico, slow, passive, lethargic movements will not work against a team who's biggest strength is to run at you with everything for 90 minutes, it's just impending doom at that stage. this has happened to Guardiola's City this season and in past seasons, it's happened to Arsenal many times over the years, it happened to Guardiola's Barcelona multiple times and its happened to Xavi's current Barcelona multiple times.
Notes on the first half: -This match wasn't nearly as ugly as this thread had me expecting. Admittedly, it's easier to not get emotional if you already know the result. -Doogs noted the pressing Korea did as being the biggest factor in the first half and he's completely right. We weren't ready for it. Even still, while it stifled our offense, it didn't lead to much danger from Korea. -Castano is a decent player. However, I think his stature works against him. He became the target of Korea's pressing more than anyone else, probably because they thought they could body him. He managed to escape it all but one time, however this constant pressure prevents him from playing the type of game he's good at. -Along the line of that comment of viewing things less emotionally, James really wasn't bad. If you're expecting to see him run around like he did for us ten years ago, you're always going to be upset. Those days are long gone. After min 20, Colombia's 2 best attacks (Borre's poor header, Valoyes cross/shot to the keeper) are sprung by James once he started dropping deeper to get the ball. After minute 30 there were 2 opportunities where his through balls nearly put a teammate into a scoring position in the area, but the window was too small. In a game where we are getting pressed, his lack of pace hurts us bad. But he was fine individually.
5 mins in, BOTH our gols are a result of Uribe's intense pressing. It's why I've always disliked him. Dude can do everything, but spends most of his time doing NOTHING.
I pretty much see James as a 2nd striker at this point. Which can be a good thing - since we haven’t had one since Teo
Notes on 2nd half: -Lorenzo turned it around by giving Korea a taste of their own medicine: pressing. Both gols came off it. Even James was pressing. -This kinda highlights why the results of friendlies don't matter. In a real match, no way Korea gives up two gols that weakly in 5 mins. The two gols we gave up were unindicative of how we were playing. Vargas: meh. the goals aren't his fault, but he doesn't inspire confidence Munoz: 8 probably our most consistent player from start to finish. He ran up and down all game and got a solid assist. Lucumi: 7 fast and strong. Should have been starting for Colombia for a while now. Cuesta: 6 Solid too, but he had a couple poor clearances Castano: 7 managed to wiggle out of the press a lot, and then sprung some great counter attacks by pressing himself Uribe: 7 Poor first half. In the 2nd, he was somehow everywhere he needed to be causing turnovers and providing the last passes on the counter Valoyes: 5 I pushed for him a lot, but he just isn't impressing with Colombia. Too passive. He rarely gets the ball in threatening positions, and when he does he finishes abysmally James: 6 his lack of pace made him invisible when Korea was pressing hard. Once he started dropping back, Colombia found some possession. As always, he finds at least one moment to create a gol or, this time, score one Carrascal: 7 whenever he gets the ball, you can sense the danger. He got far more touches when he centralized, and I think we need to run him there more Borre: 5 not awful, but he needs to score one of those 2 headers Arias: 7 he combines with whoever gets the ball in the attacking 3rd effortlessly Duran: 5.5 when he's running at full speed it's a thing to watch. Don't love him on the wing. Borrero: 6 Only a couple touches, but he tries to make something out of every one Falcao: doesn't have the pace for this kind of game. The Koreans shrugged him Palacio: N/A
Just watched the highlights and Valoyes' play on James' goal was tremendous and exactly why they love him in Argentina - runs through tackles, has great stamina, but I take it from your comment that he was nowhere the rest of the game?
Vargas has to be able to read the pressure and was way off position on the 1st goal. Yes, the main error is really on Mojica (funny you didnt even rate him) but Vargas is not without fault. To your point though, he doesn't give me much confidence. And how would you rate James above Valoyes? The assist came from Valoyes after a tough battle in the box. The finish was smooth by James and James also had a bit more impact in 2nd half but surely not enough to see him rate above Valoyes. All else I'm kind of on board with.
Valoyes' assist was a buscapie. Dude didn't look up at all. Had James not adjusted his run into the box at the last second, the pass goes between Uribe and Borre with no chance of even taking a shot. Won't deny that he worked hard to keep possession on the play, but the assist was more brawn than brain or technique. EVERY website that rated the match has Valoyes below James. It's not just because of the gol. It's involvement. Valoyes played for 15 minutes longer and only had 24 touches in the match compared to James' 40. Carrascal, who played the same amount of time as Valoyes, had 57. Touches are not everything, mind you. But it reflects my whole complaint of him: Valoyes goes for LONG segments of the match without doing anything. Many of his touches are frequently lateral or backward passes. He's not attempting to take on defenders either (0 dribble attempts). And it even applies to the pressing, too. Just before the second gol, James presses the GK, forcing him to pass it out to his left. James immediately looks toward his right, expecting Valoyes to have pushed up as well, but he hadn't moved a muscle. Uribe ended up pressing his man and then the guy Valoyes should've pressed earlier which trigger the 2nd gol. If James is causing more turnovers than a winger with the speed Valoyes does, that's not good. Again, I've been calling for Valoyes for a long time. I'm the first person on these boards who started posting about him. He just frankly hasn't been good for Colombia so far. Arias NEEDS to start over him against Japan. (And, mind you, I hope Carrascal starts at 10 over James)
Lucumi at LB. Sanchez gets a start. Lucumi like Tesillo won’t attack much letting Munoz make more runs and technically being more of a 3 in the back situation Machado got called so hope he gets minutes but if we don’t have a LB I rather use a Cb that can actually defend than playing with 10 men