Yeah, taking the peddle off the gas in the 2nd was the right move. Even still, I'm worried about depth against Chile. We literally have to play the exact same team. Only guy I might replace is Lerma, but the Chile match is perfect for his style. He shouldn't have played 90 today. Morelos out wide was, as expected, no good. Fabra is not in his best physical shape either. If we're not winning by minute 65, when Muriel and James are likely to need a sub, we're kinda f'd...
We'll be okay dude. Even tho we had our attacking players play into the second half, they realistically didn't really push themselves as much as they did in the first half; physically Muriel and James aren't going to need a sub even if they play strongly by minute 65.
about the only thing I can complain about (minor nit picking) is sometimes our defenders do some weak passes among themselves. Its like they are nervous, they don't want to make mistakes. A pressing team, like Chile, expect them to attack in these situations.
Thinking on this further, with Medina and Mojica on the field and their inclinations we effectively play a 3-4-3 when we are in possession as often requested here and then drop back into 4-4-2 when defending. That can work for us when you have Barrios, Lerma and Mojica with the athleticism to play both ways. --------------- Vargas------------ ----Medina---Mina----Sanchez C4-------Barrios---Lerma---Mojica ----James----Zapata---Muriel This would explain why CQ didn't call more wide midfielders and is theoretically a very efficient use of where we have talent.
Could be partially the reason. But I think the main reason is still that he just does not trust most of the offensive guys in Colombia. And a guy like Roger is not playing much in Mexico, Villa has major legal issues, etc. Diaz would be on this team 100% if it were not for pandemic protocol issues.
If you go to YouTube and search "Colombia 3-0 Venezuela Partido Completo en HD - Eliminatorias Qatar 2022" you will find something pretty good. It is not the whole entire game but it is close.
This actually makes sense and could be why he initially didn't call Arias, if he had planned to do something like this. This formation in possession really looked like a 3-4-1-2 with James sitting behind the strikers. It's actually the formation that Atalanta play and one that obviously fits Zapata and Muriel and Mojica/Cuadrado perfectly. Not sure why he then started Arias though, might have not liked how it was going in training. James basically looked to play there and link the midfield, I think if we can train on it this is a good idea, still think we'd want more wide forwards as an option to switch if needed but it makes sense.
Exactly. Arguably then Lucumi might be a better fit for a three man backfield, but it's clear CQ has a soft spot for Medina. I like the idea of fitting the team to play to their strengths and building the game plan off of match ups. Rewatched the match last night and found that James looked more dangerous and found more space on the right where he plays for Everton (but as you say he has freedom to find the open spots in the opponent's zone). The other thing I noticed is that Mojica and Lerma's lungs can be a huge asset. Lerma was able to press so high on Friday and then get back at into position with shocking ease. He was also smart with the tactical foul in the opponent's end preventing build up and not allowing them to get a rhythm. This could be useful against the chaotic Chilean approach. Mojica won constantly on his flank and also defended well. If he can refine his cross this is a player grouping that can work for us. We need width for James and C4 to have to room to operate.
I think the back 4 is solid for this type of formation, especially considering that Medina has played CB at times and can still operate well wide.