Valencia and Bolanos brought their A game today as well as everyone else. Achiliers penalty is gonna cost us by winning with 2 goals it would've made qualfying next round a little easy. instead of us relying for teams to win 2-0 it wouldve only been 1 goal difference.
that match against bolivia, pissed me off so much, its not even funny! im still pissed about that match.. i don't mind losing to chile.. but losing to BOLIVIA IS UNACCEPTABLE!!!! we could have easily beaten bolivia!
Finally. How long has it been since we won a Copa America game? First game to beat Mexico on an international game. Right? Played much better but dumb mistake almost cost us the game. Lastra improved his game the second half big time.
We've given away a penalty per game something we can't be doing come qualifiers. This ref also cost us a penalty as well.
Fun fact: Bolanos and Valencia become the first Ecuadorian players to score in consecutive games since Ivan Kaviedes in 1999
Very happy the boys won. After watching the match though, it's painfully obvious Mexico played horribly. Our midfield is still all over the place. One thing that really caught my attention is how careless our defenders were with the ball (looking at paredez here) and how unnecessarily risky it was for that last corner kick to be kicked into the box as opposed to going short and just holding on for the win and avoiding a last breathe counter.
chile are beating bolivia, 5 - 0 ... smh.. we could have done the same!!!! i still can't believe we lost to BOLIVIA!!!! GAAHHHH!!!!!! WE COULD HAVE GAVE THEM A GOLEADA!!!!!!!!! CHUCHA MADRE!!!!! HIJO DE LA GRAN PUTA!!!!
Lol! So true but why are we getting our hopes up? Bolivia was much better throughout the match and Mexico today was very bad team. Don't expect us to suddenly be much better. The NT needs a lot of work.
wow did we actually beat Mexico outside of a friendly? I honestly didn't even bother watching the match , I was at work and completely forgot that they were playing. All of a sudden I remembered at work that they played and before checking the result I assumed we got our ass kicked 5-0, well to my disbelief we won 2-1....its weird 2-1 is a very common result in games between Mexico and Ecuador, with Mexico usually winning by that scoreline. Like my dad says el Ecuador tiene una mala racha contra Mejico asi como Mejico tiene mala racha contra Argentina. Wise words, Mexico usually struggles versus Argentina, like Ecuador struggles versus Mexico traditionally in matches. Lets hope for the best, maybe we can make it to the next round but then we would have to face Argentina or Paraguay....that's kind of scary. But at least we can say that we didn't get the biggest ass whooping in the tournament.
nobody is getting their hopes up... even though we won, i still don't trust quinteros.. he is a mediocre coach and needs to leave, along with chiriboga
Am I right to say we need Paraguay to beat Uruguay by 2 goals OR both matches tomorrow to end in a winner by at least 2 goals difference? I have a feeling we will end up being eliminated due to Achilier's stupid penalty.
I am currently watching the game for a second time and one thing I can say: Enner and Miller are the two most important players in our squad. Proven fact with numbers. And it's because on their worst days or on their best days they are able to be effective when it is necessary. By effective I mean- assisting or scoring. In other words, what helps you increase your count on the score board which is the point in this game. As much as people criticize Miller, he was involved in many of the plays which we have scored in since he debuted on the NT whether it was scoring, assisting, stealing/intercepting a ball, etc. Those who criticize him have their reasons and all of you made solid points. Especially barcelonista. I understand the point of view many of you guys are coming from, but at this point you also have to admit that he is an effective player even when he's having "bad" games or games where he's not in touch with the ball. But today, Miller had his best game. The second half vs. Bolivia was also a huge improvement. You can tell that now he is more comfortable on the field. Sometimes it's not about the player, but when the entire team is playing horribly one guy isn't going to change the entire scenario unless your name is Messi or Ronaldo. Bolanos has had his faults, but also the way Quinteros has used him in certain games has not been ideal or him or for the team. Despite all this, the kid has scored, assisted, or been involved in moments associated with it. I don't know about you guys, but at this point I can say we found ourselves the fill-in to partner with Enner. Antonio/Ibarra-Miller-Montero and Enner are the four guys up front. I think that's final. Now regarding the team, I noticed vs. Mexico our 4-4-2 transitions into a 4-2-3-1 consistently . It has more of the look that a "Quinteros team" is supposed to have. And that is a plus. I think the high pressure and work rate that Quinteros demands is making more and more sense now to our guys. This is the first 90 minute game where we played high pressure in the games entirety. In other games we would see mini episodes of it, until we saw entire halves of it, and now we finally saw a FULL game of it. That shows progress IMO. I think Arturo Mina was a good option to use vs. Mexico. It was the type of game where I would assume he'd be eligible to play due to his characteristics, although I'm surprised Quinteros had the balls to bench Erazo. At least that will let Erazo know he's not "inamovible" as he believes he is. Despite his mistake, Achilier is still the best center back we have. With Mina as a compliment, you have speed from Achilier, and height, strength, strong aerial presence, and great pressure from Mina. The only problem is Mina has to come a bit cleaner. His issue is that he's very physical (and a big ass dude) and sometimes even when he's pressuring on a play, he gets fouls called on him even though they may not be intentional but his presence alone will make refs call fouls. It's like that with big players, but it's something he will need to work around to at least have a cleaner appearance when he's making a tackle or steal. Other than that I'd say I really liked Mina's game. Lastra is inconsistent. He will have one good half and then his other half will be the total opposite. Sometimes he call pull off an acceptable game for it's entirety, but it's unpredictable at this point. Same goes for Pedro Quinonez who IMO is riskier to have on the field due to his consistent fouling. The real deal is that we need Segundo Castillo back whether we accept it or not. La jerarquia de Segundo es otra cosa. No podemos confiar en Lastra (jugador de 30 anos) ni Pedro (jugador de 29 anos) por mucho tiempo mas. We gotta just go with what has worked and accept that we currently don't have a #5 de nivel seleccion. We can speculate and wait to see what happens with Cevallos Jr. and Jefferson Orejuela who are really the only two candidates who could possibly fill in. But the key word is "possibly". We don't know when or if they will be ready to be part of a NT. Personally I think they are getting closer, especially Cevallos, but he's just not there yet. Close, but he has to continue working and keep the consistency he's had. What I do admit is that he's grown a lot within the last year and right now he's been fundamental in Liga. And that speaks a lot for a 20 year old who is filling in for Vera who was having a great season before his injury. We'll see what happens with Cevallos, but I'd take his development with calmness. Like I said, I think he's almost there but not completely. And Carlitos Gruezo....my man, you gotta find yourself a team where you can play. I don't know where he screwed up, but a year ago he was taking a big step forward claiming his starting spot at Stuttgart and now he isn't even on the bench. Step your game up buddy! Anyway, for now it's Segundo Castillo's return which we need. IMMEDIATELY! Final Conclusions: I believe we struggled a lot this Copa America and it was obvious we were going to struggle. Maybe we did not expect to lose against Bolivia, but we also didn't expect to win against Mexico. In reality, looking back at the last few CA's from the last 12 years or more, we have not been able to win a single game, so what did we REALLY expect? I think the fact that we had a new coach with few games under his belt, 5-6 crucial "injured" players who didn't make the roster, and finally the quality (or lack of quality) of the players that actually made this squad created many difficulties for this NT to play how some may have imagined. Esta claro que nuestra banca no es de gran nivel. Lots of these players are temporary fill-ins in a game and there's a reason why many guys like Ibarra, Lastra, Fidel, Cazares, Gonzalez, etc won't ever be starters for the most part. It's because the quality of our "starters" is levels above these guys. Not to say that they are bad players, pero no estan a la par de los llamados "titulares". That being said, los Antonio Valencia, Jaime Ayovi, Michael Arroyo, Segundo Castillo, y hasta Felipe Caicedo son bien importantes para la seleccion. Y un jugador como Mena que no es ninguna estrella pero que pasaba por un gran momento era important en el esquema de Quinteros por que el futbol es de como se asocian los jugadores en la cancha, y la dupla Miller-Mena era importante en el esquema de Quinteros y sin Mena se perdio una pieza que podia haber sido util para el. At least it would have given Quinteros an option, which is what he lacked in this entire tournament: options. He had none or very few to say the least. He did what he could with what he had and for that he gets points in my book b/c it was complicated to turn this around the way we started the CA given the circumstances we came with into this cup. One thing is for certain and it's that we can qualify to the WC, but we will need to be aware of who is and isn't NT material. And guess what guys? This cup served for THAT exact purpose. It's crazy sometimes how a bad showing like this may actually have been a good thing for us to go through. Because at least I am clear with who NOT to include on the list for the Qualifiers (as I hope Quinteros is too), and I think that's the purpose this cup served for us (although that should ideally never be the case...the point is to go win it). In any case, this my list of players who I believe should stay (in BOLD). Keepers: Dominguez Dreer Azcona Defenders: Paredes Narvaez Mina Erazo Achilier Walter Midfielders: Noboa Cazares Attackers: Miller Enner Montero Renato Some may think Fidel Martinez should be on this list, but personally he can only be on this list if he plays as a mediapunta. He is not a winger. I've said it repeatedly and it's evident by now. You guys all saw it for yourselves.
From the list of 15 players I gave ^, the other 8 players to fill in the spots would be: Defense: Jose Madrid Midfield: Antonio Valencia Segundo Castillo Jose Cevallos Jr./ Jefferson Orejuela (where Quinteros needs to start looking into) Alex Bolanos (temporarily, although him and Miller don't like each other and always cause drama in the locker room like they did in Liga....so i don't know how that would turn out) Attackers: Michael Arroyo Jaime Ayovi Angel Mena Anyways, those are my 23 players. The other 8 players from Copa America who didn't make this list are not NT material and I think that's clear. These 8 guys ^ are the ones who obviously should replace them and I think the majority of you would agree with that.
http://copaamerica2015.ecuagol.com/ecuagol/index.php?n=53683 Don't know if anyone missed this, but what did you guys think about Dominguez confronting Montero? I didn't quite understand it. I would've though Dominguez would have said something to Achilier, but Montero? I'm confused. Not sure if they just don't get along, or if Montero is at fault here. I may have to go back and watch what caused the penalty besides Achilier's foul.
what about joao plata and junior sornoza? do you think quinteros will ever call them up? i think joao might be useful for our attack.. i really hope quinteros doesn't forget about him.. also sornoza scored a goal on his debut, if i remember correctly
Joao Plata definitely should and I hope will be one of the main options that Quinteros will think about assuming one of our attackers suffers an injury. But right as of now, I think Arroyo, Mena, and Jaime are in a better moment and would be more influential. Now if we were talking about Joao Plata of 2014 who was in great form, then I would have to say chao to Angel Mena. Let's hope Joao comes back strong, I heard he scored already like last week or something. That's good news. One thing I think we need to start thinking about is to start molding Narvaez into a center back. We all know he is no stranger to the position. And it will be great to have him on the roster all the time b/c we will have the option to use him as right back or center back. And you add Madrid to the option and he can be back up for the left or right back positions. When Walter takes a step down, Pedro Velasco fills in. I think the back line is as clear as water right now as far as future changes are concerned. The most troubled position is the center mid position. I am wondering if we can also mold Cazares into that position. Que juegue a lo Modric/Rakitic like they do for Croatia. Of course we have all mentioned Antonio and I'm positive he would be a great fit there. Bring back Castillo for a bit and start drawing conclusions between Cevallos Jr. and Orejuela. Alex Bolanos could also be that temporary fill-in we need there. Gruezo has work to do before he can return. I think it's time to go into the Qualifiers like this: Dominguez; Paredes, Achilier, Mina/Erazo, Walter/Madrid; Noboa, Castillo; Antonio, Miller, Montero; Enner And END the Qualifiers looking like this: Dominguez; Paredes, Achilier, Mina/Erazo, Madrid; Gruezo/Antonio, Cevallos Jr; Ibarra, Miller, Montero; Enner