Rafael Santos Borré - News & comments

Based on lack of minutes all three of those guys should not even be called let alone start against Spain.

 

james is our most valuable player

he will start

 

MVP for the most part in qualifying last year. This is a new year, new context.

This conversation has already been had.
We can make due with Yaser, Carrrascal and JuanFer in my opinion. We do not need James and his drama.

But I agree he will probably start. Especially if he gets minutes the next three weeks in Brasil.

 

It’s his spot until he loses it

if he plays and plays well, why should he be benched?

Until he performs worse than the others, he should not lose his place to them

 

There's plenty of reasons why he should lose it but those have already been discussed in the James thread.

 

How many times are we gonna rehash the same issue? We've been much better with James consistently and it isn't really close. Diaz is our best player, but we can replace Diaz easier then we can James, there simply hasn't been anyone who has shown the ability to connect our attack like he has. Yaser can probably get there eventually and obviously James time will come, but as of now if he's fit and in game shape we need to do everything we can to have him playing in qualifiers.

 

We have beaten teams without James. We beat Germany and Japan without him most notably.

Yes, James has played well and arguably we have played the best with him. But things change and this is a "what have you done for me lately" type of game. I do not feel comfortable with his lack of playing time in Brasil and the way he has egg on his face in Sao Paulo. He is very unprofessional.

JuanFer has not been healthy and in form during qualifying but now he is getting better again at Racing and I think he can step in for James. Yaser has been emerging and improving in England.
Carrascal has been developing in Russia. I feel at ease with those three and James gone from the roster personally. Others around here do not feel the same as I do about this situation. Difference of opinions make the world a great place to live in.

 

The product with and without him speak for itself, and winning a few friendlies doesn't really mean much at all. Juanfer is James light and he hasn't really done it for us for a while, as opposed to James who was arguably our most influential and best player for recent qualifiers.

 

I agree that friendlies do not mean much but we can see how a team can adapt without some stars. The Japan match was without Diaz and James and our experimental offense looked okay.
We can use these March friendlies to adapt too.

JuanFer has mostly been injured or just in bad form when Qualifying occurred and only played against Chile with James on the field not at his role. Now he seems to be getting into a rhythm again. Yaser was not even called up for a couple of games and did not get any minutes at all for Lorenzo. He is playing much better now in England. Carrascal was used in various ways along side James in many cases.
Just cause something happened three or four months ago does not mean it is the only way it should be. Dynamics change, variables change and players can get better/ And in James case could get worse/ more unreliable as time goes on.
I am not saying 100% with certainty that if we rely on James things will be horrible. He could lead us to the Copa America title for all I know. But I do not like the way things are trending with his club situation and I personally would rather move on now while we have a bunch of friendlies to experiment and give the younger players some experience.

 

It makes me kind of confused how people around here can say they want Morelos or Duvan over Santos Borre even though he has probably been our most influential 9 in qualifiers. (See what I did there?)

I guess I will just leave it at that cause this is a Santos Borre thread after all.

 

I don’t want Morelos nor Duvan lol

and @villus wants Duvan more due to style of play not because of Santos’ club career

 

Some people want Yaser cause of style of play so ....

 

You're reframing your initial posts. Yesterday you said you wouldn't be "comfortable" calling James over other players because he isn't getting minutes.

This is a VERY different idea than saying other players should get chances in upcoming friendly matches. I'm pretty sure most people WANT to see Yaser and even Carrascal get more minutes, especially since we all know James can get injured at any moment.

We all want alternatives, especially younger ones. Saying James shouldn't be called is a massive conflation.

No, I don't see what you did there. Borre is largely considered to be under performing in the qualifiers. It makes sense people would want other players over him. And NOBODY is asking for Morelos.

I've heard Duvan is doing well for Torino. I hope he continues to. But I don't want Colombia to call him back up.

 

Don't see it as a re-framing. They are not mutually exclusive. James is not in a good situation right now with minutes and with his club. This can be a good time to give the alternates a chance because I do not trust him.
We have played well in matches with him and without him. This is our chance to give Yaser a chance and just move on.

 

Underperforming by leading us in goals scored and being one of the undisputed starters at 9.

Villus was asking for Morelos months ago.

 

I haven't seriously asked about Morelos in years probably since he's been off the map. Borre and James are miles apart in terms of performance over these qualifiers and their ceilings as players.

 

I think we should be considering all the good players we have who can play as a 9/false9/play wide as well. We have Cucho and Duvan who are both perfect fits for what I think we need and I think Borre is good in lots of areas but he struggles in a few these players are better in.

 

So I was watching highlights of his match last night.

The Good: His strengths are his strengths. Decent hold up play, always hustling and running like a machine, had a beautiful assist for the match winner.

The Bad: He still is wasteful with his chances. Had a shots and headers that went wide that I still cannot believe he did not put on target.

The Ugly: His penalty miss. My goodness. Like to the moon, Roberto Baggio type of ugly.
I will give him the benefit of the doubt and say it might have been caused by the messed up field/ grass but people have to realize that if we go to penalties in the Copa America and he is one of the takers that kick will be in the back of my mind.
(I know, he usually is good at penalties and already scored one for us this cycle.)

 

The guy cannot even buy a goal right now.

O BORRÉ MUITO BAGRE pic.twitter.com/mmWe8J5Wti

— out of context brasileirão (@oocbrsao) April 21, 2024