Now I am as big an optimist as you are likely to meet and will always try to look at the glass as half full however their is, very clearly, something amiss at La Bombonera. Now I am hoping to get some discussion as to what we think the main problems are, I'll start with what I think but, as a non spanish speaker living in England, I am not as privy to all thats happening as some of you maybe. Management - Now since Ischias first tournie the succesful Apertura from a couple of years ago the team seems to be bereft of a decent coach. Basille is good, proven track record and a history with Boca but he couldn't get his own stamp on this team, whatever the reason maybe. Alves to be fair has been put in a tricky position, asked to take a divided team into the new season he is clearly struggling to get any notion of style, formation, and personnel fixed firmly in his mind. Add to that, that I don't think he commands the respect a coach needs to from his players, especially when you have a dressing room full of experience like Roman, Palermo, Ibarra, Morel, Battaglia et al. I think perhaps a young hungry ambitious coach is needed, who isn't afraid of the players and has a clear view on how he wants Boca to play. Team togetherness - I know that their is some bad blood perhaps between Roman and Martin, and that the dressing room may be a little divided but I firmly believe it isn't as big as it is made out to be. Not everyone has to get on in a dressing room and they are old enough and professional enough to get on with playing football. Confidence - This is the hardest thing in football. It makes and breaks teams. Many times I see sides that after a few bad results lose faith not only in themselves but in their team mates. It is hard to find confidence sometimes you just get through bad run and it comes back. Sometimes you just find you have a good game and it builds from that. But in bad times its your coach and senior players that need to motivate and give belief to the team, this isn't happening in my eyes and needs to be addressed quickly. Poor Players - Mouche, Pato, Ibarra?, just cant cut it at the moment (obviously Pato has gone), Prediger, Luiz Alberto are hardly acqusitions that get the pulse racing. Munoz is improving and may end up being quality, but isn't their yet. Paletta prone to a mistake or two. It seems that Gaitan, Palermo, Roman and Medel are our stand outs thus far, and 2 of them are the wrong side of 30. School boy errors - No matter how much you work with your team as a coach, you can not possibly expect so many pros to make the basic errors we have been making. Not being able to defend a set piece is criminal at any level of professional football, making basic errors in passing in your defensive third is also unforgivable. And over commiting forward whilst leaving error prone players culpable to a counter attack is all basic, basic stuff this side should be getting right. A leader is desperatley needed at the back to organise and keep the players in front of him performing to an acceptable level. These are just a few things that I think is going wrong, feel free to agree or disagree. But I would love to hear what you lot think i happening at the minute.
Of everything you said, I think this portion is most important. And fortunately, it's the one you can most easily put a finger on, and therefore work to resolve. I think it's just a problem with discipline. A lot of it is due to lack of experience. Battaglia not playing for one, and also the revolving door that's been at centre back. You get too many changes all at once, and it creates this drop in chemistry and confidence. It's not something that is insurmountable. And I believe that if and once the back line is sorted, Boca can go on a good run, especially if Roman keeps his current form.