I don't mind it tbh, Yairo will still get forward and although I'm not super pumped about 3 holding mids I'd imagine Barrios might be off soon and we can get someone more attacking in there and try to steal a win in the last 25 or so if we can keep it tight.
They are pressing us higher and higher and we have no one who wants the ball, 2 CB's who can't pass it and 3 CM's who can't dribble or break from midfield. Not sure I wouldn't be bringing on James and not sure that Roger and Borja are a better sub then Muriel, but Rueda gonna Rueda.
If you're trying to play defense, why would you pull out the only guy who can hold onto the ball in your opponent's half?
Now just hope the goal difference will be minimal.. this was expected. Horrible 2nd half, excellent subs thanks rueda
Cuellar killed the game and his love for Cuadrado if we don't win the next one fire Rueda. Peru about to be 1 point behind us we put ourselves in this shit position. Beating Brazil wasn't likely and we knew what the ref situation was going to be but OMG how was this not a yellow or red!! the goal was a foul by Neymar... but that didn't count either
Rueda's subs are just terrible every game, we started the game fine, we had no midfield at all and it worked for a while, then Brazil adjusted brought off a deep midfielder for another attacker and pressed us high with a midfield that can't play out and 2 CB's who can't either. A good manager would see that and adjust, the jig was up and we needed someone to bring some possession to the midfield, luckily James is great at that but no he just tried to stick with what we had and the goal came from them pressing and our CB just hopelessly clearing the ball. We were decent underdogs here but win or lose Rueda didn't adjust after Brazil did, which is a common occurrence with him we needed more midfield who can play out and he couldn't/wouldn't recognize the tactical shift needed and when he did it was too late.
That was demoralizing. Our CBs were a huge step down vs. the past few games (Davinson looked so nervous esp) and the absence of anyone who could play with the ball in midfield other than Barrios meant Brasil just had to wait for us to get tired. Eventually we would get overwhelmed and start clearing poorly and they would pounce... And that's exactly what happened. We had a series of really pathetic clearances and eventually Tesillo handed them the loaded gun. As out of shape as he might be, James immediately opened play and we able to protect possession better. For once I'll also agree with Crzd - Neymar should have been red carded early in the game for chest bumping and trying to head bump the referee. If any non Brasilian player does that it's straight to the locker room.
Funny enough the announcer commented that had Neymar been in any other country, he would have gotten carded.
Ospina was bound to give one up after being a wall for us for so long. 4th straight games with no goals scored. Can't keep relying on Ospina to bail us out. Still trying to figure out why Diaz was subbed out that early. Another must win coming up. Can't come out at home like we did against Ecuador.
We need to improve on the build up play. Plying counter attack exposed our fatigue in the 2nd half, which allows teams like Brazil press like they did.
Brazil showed an urgency to score all game. They were doing a good job of making runs and building up their ball movement from their defense to midfield to the forwards. Their goal was a function of passing into space and paqueta making a run and taking a shot on what was a great first touch. If we had a similar opportunity, Duvan would have had his back to the goal and taken 2 or 3 touches before having 2-3 defenders swarm around him. We still keep relying on individual plays but did show flashes of brilliance with some good ball movement. My wife who watches the games with me feels like we are purposefully playing anti futbol at the behest of some higher authority - as in we are not allowed to try and score… 0 points against Paraguay - changes need to made 1 point - time to play the scenarios, but changes better be in consideration. 3 points - expectation and hopefully breathing room.
Sad passing stats… Mostly in our own half and mostly long balls that can’t connect. Insanity - doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result
Looking back at the goal Borja really dialed it in, obviously there was a lot that had to happen for the goal but he didn't even make a token challenge on the ball and allowed Marquinos all the time to control the ball bring it down then find his pass. You just subbed in, even if you're not gonna win the ball you need to make it difficult for the center back to play out, he didn't even go up for the ball or even attempt to track Marquinho's run once he had the ball.