Divergence Point

By: Scott | March 29th, 2008

Tonight Argentinos (and I) will travel south to face off with Banfield. Anything can happen, really. Banfield will be debuting a new coach, Miguel Jerez, after a disappointing start to the campaign led to the firing of their old coach, the awkwardly pronounced Juan Manuel Llop (what?).So, Banfield can “rally the troops” around the new coach, find a new direction or they can fall back even farther while failing to incorporate a new scheme (intrigue!). Thus far, they have taken 7 points from 7 matches, scoring and conceding 14 goals (compared to 10 points, 5 GS and 9 GC for Argentinos), most famously in a 5-0 thrashing of the most recent champions and their biggest rival, Lanús only three weeks ago. Their most recent matches saw them draw 3-3 against the increasingly formidable Tigre and lose 2-1 to the increasingly pathetic Rosario Central.

I’ll be honest with you–I know nothing about this “Jerez” character. The players on Banfield who scare me are Jairo Patiño, a wily veteran who has learned how to appear at just the right moment to do just the right thing to mess up your life, and Dario Cvitanich, an effective striker who has the chance to represent Croatia some day.

The last time these teams met, Gonzalo Abán saved the day and salvaged a 2-0 victory at home, but the last time they faced off in Banfield, the home team took the three points. Gorosito still can’t be satisfied with playing the same lineup two matches in a row. Now that the talented Alvaro Pereira has returned for his two-match suspension, Pipo will stick with his 3 defender, 5 midfielder, 2 striker formation that leaves no room for him, though he will be on the bench and WILL BE substituted in. Tactics supercede talent, evidently. The new formation, as mentioned in the last post, has resulted in two victories that are always welcome. But, Banfield is far from as bad as Colón or Olimpo, so it will be put to the test…

Delorte will have to watch this match from the comfort of his customized bed because Pipo has finally seen the light, answered my prayers, etc. He’s not even on the bench!!! We don’t even have to anguish in the dying minutes, wondering if he will be substituted in just to fulfill some sort of “quotient of bad” that isn’t quite fulfilled by any of the other players on the field. It looks like Ortigoza fulfills that quotient on his own, though, so that’s one positive for him.

The formation looks like this, then: Carrera; Fleitas, Caruzzo, Scotti; Barzola, Mercier, Ortigoza, Escudero, Peñalba; Abán, Hauche.

Barzola and Hauche have been playing better than they have at any other point; Mercier has done a solid job filling in, and the three defenders have worked hard to snuff out attacks quickly and effectively. Abán just runs around aimlessly a lot and Ortigoza kicks opposing players in the shin and will draw at least one yellow card today.

I don’t like making guarantees, but I know it will not end 0-0…the teams play way too open.