Argentinos v. Independiente

By: Scott | February 29th, 2008

Another road match beckons the boys tomorrow, which more than likely means that I will not be able to stomach writing up a report about a painful 3-0 loss next week. Independiente will play host on what is supposed to be a rainy Saturday evening match.Injuries and suspensions have hit the team hard this week: Alvaro Pereira will be out after collecting his fifth yellow card last week for “diving” on a play where his ankle was kicked hard enough to hear it in the stands; Andrés Scotti and Gabriel Peñalba are suffering from leg injuries and they may or may not take the field. The possible lineup would then be: Carrera; Barzola, Scotti (possible replacement: Quiroga), Caruzzo, Escudero; Cabrera, Ortigoza, Peñalba (Battión), Mirosevic; Hauché and Pérez (Delorte, please “Stay down” © Kids in the Hall).

With the inclusions of Mirosevic and, more importantly, Pérez, the team has the skill and dynamic to create a lot of chances. Pereira will be missed, since the only replacement the team has for left midfielder is a right mightfielder. Otherwise, Hauché should combine well with the aforementioned players to create chances and take advantage of the gaps left in the Independiente defense.

Speaking of Independiente, thus far in the campaign they have, stop me if this sounds familiar, lost two road matches and won their lone homematch. This is quite the critical moment for them, since more is expected and their coach, Pedro Troglio, has his position being questioned by fans and directors alike. They ended last season with seven consecutive matches without winning–and that was after they had a legitimate chance to win the title. If things don’t turn around soon (and hosting a team like Argentinos is the PERFECT time for a team to “turn it around”), changes will have to be made. They will throw out Fabián Assmann (seriously…his name is “Assmann”…get your jerseys ordered NOW!); Ricardo Moreira, Leandro Gioda, Guillermo Rodríguez, Lucas Mareque; Gastón Machín, Mariano Herrón, Freddy Grisales, Matías Oyola; Daniel Montenegro and Germán Denis. Ismael Sosa is another player in attack who will make an appearance, should the team be in search of a goal. He is really, really good and is a name you should learn now so that when he is a bigger time player in Europe, you can impress your friends by saying “I remember him from Independiente way back in 2008.” Good times.

IF Argentinos can maintain possession in the midfield, which is this Independiente’s weak spot, and use it to take the game to Independiente (highly unlikely since Battión and Ortigoza seem to revel in their abilities to lose the ball), IF they can mark every opponent on set pieces (100% result of bad coaching) and IF they can keep their composure on the road (their biggest obstacle, also a result of bad coaching), things could turn out ok for them. This is the perfect time for them to play Independiente…their team has little confidence and is searching for answers to their problems. A win tomorrow could be HUGE; a loss would just be more of the same and one step closer to the relegation zone (we’re not there yet, but wasted points will not help the cause in any way). But a win on the road is essential, and the odds are in our favor, since a winless streak can’t last forever, can it???