Colombian National Team General Thread

stuck with him for 4 years... let's hope he does some things well and next time around you can vote for someone in the middle not such crazy extremes

 

social problems are very complicated and multi layered.
quick easy solutions dont work unfortunately. this is what De la Espriella and Uribe offered

 

********en Colombians man, we go to the extremes and overreact so much. Oh things kind of bad and run like shit? Lets hire death squads and kill half the population after trying that for 50 years and it getting worse and worse.

 

legalize and tax coke. Take over the production. Other countries won't like it but if it was an English or US product they would have done it. Until they take over the cocaine production the real reason the armed revolutionaries are fighting the government. For me it's a US/Rich Euro country problem not a colombian problem. US sells Cigarettes/ Vapes/ Alcohol..... England use to sell opium. Not really people with the high ground to talk shit....

In 2024 Cocaine exports were 16.5 billion which is more than colombia oil exports.....

we can debate but taking that will take the ability of Farc to fight back.

 

We've tried that over and over and results were horrible.

 

I cannot wait until September friendlies.

 

yeah, i think that would not be a bad idea but we would have a lot of pressure from the US that wont allow that to happen.

I also think that we shouldnt really look at Colombia vs FARC.
I think its more of narco traffiking vs our country. Because narco trafficking has penetrated all aspects of colombian institutions and even armed actors. The narco has armed groups, politicians all across the board.
The narcos have power not only arms but politicians, business people a good part of the elite have ties to them. its sad but its the truth.

 

🎙️ “A Richard Ríos le pusieron una cruz en la selección el día que se enfrentó al poder de James Rodríguez. Necesitaban a alguien que corriera y que hiciera la marca de James. Afortunadamente encontraron un remplazo muy bueno y Gustavo triunfó”, @velezfutbol#PlanetaFútbol pic.twitter.com/tpXQMDLHDs

— Win Sports (@WinSportsTV) July 10, 2026

i'd love to find out one day what happened for this dude to hate James so much lol. all his news always has a slant to put the blame on james.

 

Ok with the squad as is I think it's interesting to think about how we should approach the day after and start to build and train for the next evolution. Midfield seems like the main issue in need of turnover and renewal, as well as maybe LB and goalie but that's kind of dependent on someone showing up.

As is I think for friendlies or the new cycle we should drop Lerma and James and start to figure out how we're going to build that midfield, we have a lot of young guys who could step up but for the guys who are already there I think assuming their club situation and form I'd like to see

Deossa/Rios/Puerta with Arias/Yaser as the right wing James heir. Also if we want a more traditional 6 we ca go Rios/Solis/Puerta, hopefully Lorenzo starts working on it now and we don't waste the experiment phase before real games start back up to start trying and getting younger guys in to start the new cycle.

 

best thing that can happen to the NT

Deossa + money for Puerta. Both go to teams that they can start at. Rios was fking terrible but hope he gets a good move and continues to improve he has been ass for us since Copa america

 

Under Lorenzo midfield worries me the most tbh, Lorenzo has shown he'll try new strikers and has a trigger finger generally so if someone is performing I think decent chance they'll get a shot, in midfield he has been completely unwilling to drop or even rotate Lerma and James. Hopefully that isn't a problem starting the new cycle, the players are there but I just don't know if Lorenzo will insist on these 2 or try to match like for like profile which I think is a mistake since the players aren't there, and hope he adjusts slightly away from the 2 specialists to a more blended midfield.

 

Lorenzo tried a second tier division player in Spain at midfield off the bench in most friendlies. Then started him in a friendly. Loved the way he played and started him in every match of the World Cup

That is evidence for me that Lorenzo is open to changing the midfield

At 9 he almost did not call up Suarez until injuries occurred before the Peru match . He did call up Cucho over Santos Borre but I would not be surprised if he goes back to Santos Borre again now that Cordoba is most likely injured for September.

Just have to hope someone like Neyser scores a bunch of goals in Brasil in August.

 

The 9's have been able to be changed constantly without changing the basic dynamics of the team, we tried Duran who was the one who created a different dynamic and it didn't work we moved on from him and haven't gone back outside the blue print at striker. At midfield Lerma and James have not been rotated at all, very distinct styles and regardless of form or fitness or opponent both have played. James wasn't fit for the World Cup or the COPA and still was played and started heavy minutes, Lerma was not playing many games for Palace and was the same. We have to move past these guys, but so far Lorenzo has shown no indication of that, James specifically even being completely out of shape was always starting.

 

The defensive cover that Lerma provides is difficult to discover or replicate. But as he gets older I think Lorenzo will be forced to try new experiments. Heck, he experimented Portilla and Rios as a duo as recently as last fall in a couple of games.

At 9 we are pretty much screwed unless Neyser plays well and/ or Duran grows up.
Or someone seemingly comes out of nowhere like the kid from Lanus.

 

This world cup is it... he hates the fact that a player with no merit of being in the team IS on the team and IS a starter...

Did James cost us the Switzerland game? Maybe, maybe not

 

I still think that our main issue is our lack of a good roster of decent strikers. I hope one of the following 4 is called up soon because I like their player profile.

Yoshan Valois (Lanus) 22 yo. 188 cm. Fast and tall. Already scored a couple of goals for Lanus.
Kevin Viveros (Paranaense) 26 yo. 181 cm. fast and strong. Is one of the top goalscorers of the Brasileirao.
Jorge Rivaldo (Paranaense) 23 yo. 190 cm. Probably the best playing as a target forward. Scores a lot of headers and has decent ball control as well.
Neiser Villarreal (Cruzeiro) 21 yo. 186 cm. In my opinion the one with most potential. He's not the best at taking his chances yet but he has a very unique striker profile. He reminds me of Teofilo in his play style.

 

I think Lerma is going to be a regular until copa America 28, unless he falls off the map completely at the club level but we now know club form / fitness do not matter to Nestor.

I guess the big question is how much longer will the reliance on James and/or JFQ continue for? I love James and I think most of us here can accurately say we watched 125+ of his 131 caps but it’s time to move on. We have enough b2b options and we shouldn’t have to have players overcompensate field coverage when we have several players who can produce on both ends of the field.

I just really want Nestor to have a team of 17-20 starters instead of 11+3. There’s gotta be a stat nerd on staff that can point out his lineup management style is antiquated

 

Lerma is on the decline and I think he will be one of the first to really drop in form.

 

James has to retire from the SNT, but will he?

Regarding the DMF to replace Lerma we'd require someone more defensive and physical than anything else, and if the player is also a technical improvement that would be great as well. The players I'd like to get a call up before the end of the year are the following:

Halam Loboa (DIM) 20 yo. 176 cm. Probably the most similar to Lerma, I consider his ceiling to be higher. Very good ball distribution, positioning and aggressive off the ball.
Josen Escobar (America) 22 yo, 176 cm. The technical option. Great at distribution. He's a deep lying playmaker who excels at anticipating play and counterattacking once the ball is recovered.
Johan Caicedo (Pasto) 22 yo. 185 cm. The physical option. Relentless but with a decent technique and physically imposing.

There's some guys from the u-17 and u-20 who'll become internationals eventually, but the 3 guys I've mentioned might become dark horses. All of them have played a lot of professional football already.

 

I agree with pretty much all you are saying.

Watching Spain and even Argentina - despite all the Infantino /corruption chistes - the charm in watching both teams is they have a corps of players that can be rotated around at any given time and they still play with the same identity. Despite their rosters, the managers are not reluctant to make early subs or start others.

what I am trying to say we don’t need a #10 - we just need 6-7 players than can go in at any time without the need to sacrifice / overcompensate as you accurately mentioned.

I feel like we are already more than half way there with a core unit of Rios - Puerta - Arias - Campaz to lead the way next cycle. Lerma: seems to get scapegoated a lot but I think he can also be valuable for at least the next 12 months but we should try and incorporate a new guy

I am just ready to move on from the James/JFQ scenario where they can only go 45-60 min before a switch and Nestor needs to have a guy like Carrascal to be the plan B option for them.

Long story long - The 11+3 mentality by Nestor needs to change but we can still do the high press + suffocation. There should not be an ideal 11 there should be an ideal group of 20 starters - but i’ll settle for 16 by the time we get to CA28

 

The problem isn't James or JFQ or any of the oldies. As long as new player emerges with sufficient qualities to replace them I don't think there's any hesitation at all to let them play.
Just because we desperately need a new generation doesn't mean it will automatically appear.
Just look at Chile/Perú and other south American teams they have to recycle their players into their 40s because the new ones aren't good enough.