Resolution: More posts!!

First, happy 2008 to all. On the personal side, I have spent the past three months with no internet access at home and that is the reason for the lack of posts. One would think that this would lead to a flood of information on our beloved bicho, but…there’s just not that much to say.

Summing up the end of last season’s tournament:

Argentinos hung in with the big boys until the end. Lanús won the title for the first time in their history. They were the most consistent team and deserved the title. Argentinos finished in 5th, with 31 points out of 19 matches, 7 points behind Lanús and tied with Boca Juniors. The important things to take away from this are: it was the first “short tournament” where Argentinos managed to accumulate 30 points, which is really good; it left them in good position to qualify for the Copa Libertadores or the Sudamericana, or possibly both, which is great; and a better finish was definitely possible, which always leaves a terrible taste in your mouth for the two-month offseason.

Summer changes:

Nothing. There is a 5′4″ hole in the strikerforce now that our beloved attacking elf Franco Niell has wandered north and set himself up in the shire of Washington, D.C. to play for D.C. United. Ladies of the Capitol City, this is what is coming your way:

A happy spring for you, indeed. This means that more chances will go to Nico Gianni, Gonzalo Abán, and the young Gabriel Pérez to fill in as back-up striker during the little one’s absence. Other than that, there are no players coming in or going out because Nestor Gorosito (the coach for those of you with short memories) LOVES the players on the team. How I wish I could agree as heartily. I mentioned above that last season could have been better; let’s go deeper into what went not-so-perfect and what needs to be improved in the next 19 games.

1. Play well on the road.

The reasons for the team’s struggles on the road is a mystery to myself and, I imagine, to the team. Breaking down their last 8 road games (of 9 total!):

at Huracán: 3-2

at Olimpo de Bahía Blanca (finished 16th out of 20 teams): 1-1

at Gimnasia de Jujuy (finished 17th): 1-1

at San Lorenzo: 2-1

at Estudiantes de La Plata: 3-0

at Vélez Sarsfield: 3-0

at Lanús: 0-0

at Rosario Central (finished 20th): 1-1

In summary, they gathered 7 points over 9 matches (I did not include the 2-0 victory against Gimnasia de La Plata, because it reduces the effectiveness of my argument) and their 4 draws were against the eventual champions and the 16th, 17th, and 20th place teams in the country. Late goals conceded were a problem as well as inconsistent finishing, but this Argentinos team was the 2nd best at home (8 victories, 2 losses) and could have been much closer to achieving the dream of the tournament title (which also means an automatic berth in both the Libertadores and Sudamericana tournaments), but the could not solve the mystery of playing away from home.

I have no idea what could have caused the problem. Honestly. One issue that is unique to this club is the fact that their stadium is the smallest in professional Argentine soccer. It is MUCH smaller than the other fields and that is obviously going to affect how well the attackers get to their positions and how much space the defenders have to cover. Yet, they are professional players and this reason is not good enough. It is worth noting that only 10 teams finished with more points on the road than Argentinos, so the home teams obviously dominated the entire tournament. Should they figure out an effective way to keep their heads and play effectively away from home, they can spend a lot of time at or near the top of the table. Otherwise, they are dooming themselves to mediocrity. Especially because, as many of my more astute readers will have noted by now, a 19-match tournament implies that you play more road or home matches, but they will not be even. Surely enough, this tournament they will only play 9 times in La Paternal and 10 in scary stadiums throughout the country. Prepare for the worst…

2. Set pieces

I noticed this early on, but the loss of Leonel Núñez to Olympiakos and Leandro Desábato to Estudiantes de la Plata in June of last year affected this team more than I had anticipated. They were never able to generate a goal from a corner kick or penalty kick in 19 matches. Read that again. Ok. That simple fact can separate a “pretender” from a true contender. Effective corner kick strategies, especially for teams with players as tall as Delorte, Escudero, Battión, and Barzola, can create a goal every once in a while when perhaps the passing compbinations aren’t firing on all cylinders or shots just aren’t hitting their mark in open play. But to not score even one goal for the entire season, regardless of the height of any of the players is embarrassing.

Add to that the fact that they gave up important goals from set pieces in the matches against: San Martin to San Juan (the only goal of the match), Huracán (3rd goal in a 3-2 match in the last minute), Gimnasia de Jujuy (tying goal in injury time), San Lorenzo (opening goal), and Rosario Central (tying goal). I have just listed the difference between a fifth place finish and a second or even first place finish. Gorosito needs to find SOMEONE who can teach these professional soccer players how to connect on set pieces and stop the team from doing the same.

3. The Delorte conundrum

As has been documented here in the past, I hate the way Alejandro Delorte plays soccer. It’s that simple. I am sure that when he climbs into his gigantic bed at night, he sees himself playing and it looks just like Luca Toni, Mark Viduka or Eric Cantona–a tall and bulky guy who knows how to use his body to create effective chances. Unfortunately, the reality is more like Goofy or possibly Cameron Diaz’s brother in There’s Something About Mary. HOWEVER, he was a vital piece in a team that did very well…so there is a dilemma. Importantly, his best matches were against Boca Juniors and River Plate, which is very important. On the other hand, he managed to stumble around and flat-out blow multiple scoring chances in each of the other 17 matches. (Seriously, there is no dilemma in my mind. His style of play is simply lazy and ineffective and I cannot fathom how any professional soccer team would look to hire his services, unless they are shooting for relegation, à la the Cleveland Indians in Major League.) Many teams have called with interest in the lumbering oaf (including River Plate, Newell’s Old Boys and Toluca), but management is not selling. It appears that I must learn to accept his presence in my life.

Alas, I have come to the edge of my rope for news today. I shall be back next week to offer another barrage of info, where I will also touch on some things that have been happening to other teams in the country. Thanks for tuning in and remember…first match of the new season arrives on February 9th.

Category: Summary, Team News

Tags: Summary, Summer news, Team News, transfers

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