I saw Liga's game yesterday. There's no way Guerra gets called up to the NT. He was awful. PP Perlaza isn't in good. If he doesn't pick up his play his NT roster spot is in jeopardy. Right now Castillo and Romario Caicedo are playing better than him. I'm glad to see Muñoz back. He has a couple of weeks to get back in rhythm and make the national team roster for the upcoming games.
We really struggled after the first goal. We got really lucky to not have conceded more goals. Velez missed a ton of opportunities. Thank god Martinez is in great form he really saving us and gave a great result in the end.
Liga lucked out. Gabbarini made some good saves. In my opinion Velez came in with the wrong game plan. Was that the coach's first time playing a team in high altitude? In the first half I thought to myself that they're gonna run out of gas and Liga will win the game in the second half.
Last night's game against Flamengo was tough to watch and a true tale of two halves. That penalty was just such a rookie mistake, and regrettably, ceding two goals in the first half is what really cost us the game. Yesterday's first half looked like we were missing an entire line of midfielders and none of the lines were organized. The backline of 3 was literally busted open. Second half changes looked good, and the game was SIGNIFICANTLY tighter. We countered really well to keep Flamengo back until the end. The big question is...what are we missing (besides J. Julio to injury) in terms of positions that need immediate filling? That first half was basically living out a 45 minute nightmare.
Liga's defense has been a problem. Inconsistent wing play too. Getting Julio back will help. Muñoz's form will improve as well. PPP has to get his mind right.
Maybe it's too early to call Liga's situation a crisis, but the slump feels real. So many ties and some recent losses are certainly cause for concern. I'm less worried about the losses and more concerned about the ties- while we earn a point, we're dropping two on what appears to be a list of winnable games. Besides coaching, which is understandably a scapegoat, what else needs to happen? Where are we weakest?
I feel the exact same way I doubt Repetto will continue. I think his cycle is done. He def doesn't have anything more to offer Liga. I just pray we get a good coach. It worries what new coach will be coming to Liga. Next season we should def look into releasing some players Ordonez, Caicedo, Quinteros. If Rodriguez gets Nationalized we can bring him back and sign another Cb. We should look into trying to get that Aaron Rodríguez kid from Macara. And gets some quality signing. We have so many players loaned out we still have Aguirre, Chicaiza, Rodriguez, Marcos Caicedo. And a ton of youth players. We need to get rid of these guys too. Esteban Paz needs to stop handing out contracts. I don't get why we do this.
The game vs. Velez was atrocious. Much of our missteps are minor and tactical. I'm not sure where the disorganization is stemming from, but at this point, a solid case is to be made that Repetto is just not cutting it at the moment to keep the team focused, organized, and disciplined. The game could have easily been 4-1 if the first PK wasn't blown early on (we dodged a bullet). Worst off, goal #3 was just simply an amateurish mistake on a set piece gone wrong . The first goal was in the waning minutes of the first half at a time when the ball should have been held in the midfield to let the clock die out. It's been several games of just consistent errors- many uncharacteristic of the level of play that these players demonstrated last season. It's safe to say that our first-half of the season has nose dived and winning the first half of the Liga Pro is no longer possible...chances to advance to the knockout round of the Libertadores would require an incredible fall from grace for both Velez and Flamengo to drop major points and Liga start winning games convincingly by wide margins. Repetto will be scapegoated, and while I gave him the benefit of the doubt earlier, it's becoming apparent that our players are just not falling in-line with his tactics or vision...whatever it may be, the coach is solely responsible from an accountability perspective. Question is: who potentially steps in to try and right the ship?
It may be time for Repetto to be let go. That's just the way things go. It's not all on him though. PPP is not playing well. Guerra's form has dropped considerably. Muñoz, Julio, Amarilla, and Kaprof have missed a lot of games because of injury. Maybe he's lost the locker room. Perhaps he's not getting through to the players. There's been a lot of factors that have been out of his control though.
A tie that tastes like defeat in the Maracana. Somehow we're letting these games slip...2 GK errors combined with some shaky defending leads us to this point. I really don't have much to say about the midfield and forwards- they did their part. WTF is up with Gabbarini
Both IDV and LDU bottled those matches so hard. BSC is our last hope and their group can easily end up in a 4 way draw of 9 points. The Strongest is putting up a fight. I knew this group was gonna be a hard one I hope BSC goes threw top of their group. These next 2 games for them are must wins. And yea at this point we need a new coach and new defenders time we release Ordonez and Caicedo. Guerra will probably no longer be a starting CB if he continues like this.
Well, the rumor mill is churning again. Looks like Liga leadership was talking with Repetto about maybe settling the contract to have him bow out. While I think this move is definitely merited, the signing of a new coach is obviously of priority but who do we get? Is this the return of Fosatti? He knows how to right the ship...or do we go in a different direction?
I really doubt he comes back to Liga. Ecuagol Rumored Eduardo Domínguez & Alexander Medina for us and FutbolEcuador rumored Pedro Troglio. The media was also trying to throw Guillermo Almada in our radar. TBH Eduardo would be my favorite option but I doubt it happens.
https://www.futbolecuador.com/site/...ria-cesado-con-millonaria-compensacion/134757 What are the odds we can make an offer and pick him up? With Repetto almost assuredly out, do we/can we throw our hat in the ring?
That would be the best option I think we can do it. Esteban wont do a good job to scout a new coach. Screw it we went with ex IDV coach before lets do it again. Emelec did it too these coaches are proven in our league. If Ramirez has nay interest in returning to Ecuador I think he would go for it. But if his goal is Europe or other leagues than probably not. I hope Esteban jumps on that opportunity tho as I havent seen the media linking us to him at all. Economically I dont think it should be an issue if Ramirez has interest in returning to Ecuador which I hope he does. It would be a good career more for him. He could redeem himself from his bad run in Inter and show case him self in a big team that has pressure from fans and high expectations. If Esteban and Ramirez are smart both would go for it. It a win win situation if you ask me.
It really is an attractive prospect on the coaching side. He does such a good job at nurturing young talent, and admittedly, is probably the most capable coach to holistically support player development. Liga has the infrastructure and market reach to make him stand out.
Actually alot of teams in our league have the infrastructure and market to make these coaches stand out. I said it in a previous post a coach like him could really make some great use of Emelec, BSC and LDU infrastructure and I would dare say teams like Aucas, Catolica, and Cuenca have it too if they could ever get their hands on a coach like him. Even more today that we have Copa Ecuador and Super Copa going on. Esteban these days has been really trusting the process of the coaches so despite backlash from fans I know he would give his process enough chances and time. We have a team that need to renew it self and alot of potential in our youth squads.
It's highly unlikely that Aucas, Catolica and Cuenca have the budget or the training grounds to really nurture a system that he can instill. I've been to many of the Quito clubs in particular, and besides LDU, nobody has those installations...IDV is just outside of Quito so I don't include them specifically in this list. In GYE, I'm not sure about their physical infrastructure, but I'd assume they have something. Many of the pundits and analysts always highlight IDV and LDU as being the gold standard - a school, fields, gyms, salas de concentracion, press rooms, and a few other amenities. Do the other clubs develop talent? Yes, but overall, I think there's a few who exceptionalize.
They dont have the budget or training grounds but outside of the top teams they produce alot of youth and maintain their team in Seria A with alot of youth players. If we look at them closely alot of youth player from Catholica jumped to Brazil, Portugal, and other foreign leagues. Aucas launched it self from segunda categoria back to seria a with youth players and has continued to maintain them self in seria a still with alot of youth in their team. Cuenca partnership with Gualaceo, Torreros FC, BSC and other teams of Azuay have allowed them to pick up alot of youth talent for cheap allowing them to maintain themselves in seria a. From a fan base and sponsorship aspect they do pretty well there too. I think if they ever get a really good youth oriented coach the results would be amazing. These teams have alot of potential they just need to solve their economic issues and keep themselves well managed. Some of their managers over the years have done some great work with what they have had. Guillermo Duró, Dario Tempesta, Luis Soler, not to mention Jorge Celico and Santiago Escobar if they ever managed to get some one of Ramirez or Paiva caliber that would be something else.
It looks like we are going with Pablo Marini. I would have loved Ramirez TBH our canteras are waiting for some one to elevate them to the next level. Im not sure how to feel about Marini I hope Esteban didnt get this one wrong again and that he really impresses. He said to bring 2 young players from his old team lets see what happens. But dam Esteban really slept on Ramirez tbh.
Or Maybe Ramirez was never in the cards for a return to Ecuador? I'd ASSUME that maybe after Inter, he's looking for a team that fits ideologically to his vision/mission and that can also pay. My guess is he was too expensive or perhaps his demands don't fit the current management model? Who knows. Let's hope Marini is a good pick up, and possibly that his young guys can step up. Any move away from Repetto at the moment will help the team- the change in mgmt + new vision usually brings a breath of fresh air to a team usually brings short term success. Long term? No clue.
Yea but not even the media linked us to him and that was the first thing I was expecting to see. His contract with Inter had a huge release clause so I was hoping we could swop in and that we could work out the economic part nicely. So far only Catholica de Chile has rumored him and if it were between us and them our team is much more appealing. These are all things that lead me to believe that Esteban never looked into him as an option. We moved quick on Marini so he was clearly his first choice. I really hope moving away from Repetto improves the team the way we want it to and I know it is necessary but I still have flash back to 2016 were we had a long spree of bad coaches all those guys ended their careers with us... YIKES ! Esteban picked up coach after coach with no future. All those coaches were pretty much gambles along with Munua. Aguinaga, Borghi, Avlaro Guitierrez all pretty much ended their careers with us. Man Ramriez could have been a Zuebeldia v2 for us. I miss that guy. A proven coach like him would have been a safer bet given that we really cant afford to gamble with random small team coaches/player. The only thing that seem interesting about Marini is that he been with his club for a while now so lets hope he brings long term success for us.