Written in THE EXPERTS the 31/7/2022 · 10:14 hs
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An important match is coming León. beat the America It would represent the Leon breaking a streak of seven League games without winning at home and also four without being victorious in this tournament.
Whether due to expulsions, injuries and technical decisions, the Greens line-up has not had the necessary consistency to consolidate Renato Paiva’s seal.
Within the solutions that Paiva has used to find the quadrature of the Leonese circle, there are a couple discussed: Angel Mena y Louis Montes.
Both the ‘Angel of Goal’ and ‘Chapo’ are among the most veteran players that the emerald squad has and who are required by the specific weight they represent.
The hope of a comeback for Mena is reborn game by game. Against Toluca he looked better, but that in the Ecuadorian is not enough. We all think that this tournament should be Ángel’s, so he can represent him to go to what in theory would be his only World Cup.
Mena accustomed us, rather than being the unbalancing man, to being the team’s goal man. And the fact that the games go by and his scoring quota is not activated and his dangerous interventions do not appear, worries him.
With the arrival of Byron Castillo, we thought that there would be a partnership between compatriots and that the right wing would be a free path of attack for La Fiera with two guys who would combine speed and skill with the ball. We are waiting for that to happen.
Luis Montes passes through the same nebulous area as Mena. Since the arrival of Ariel Holan, he has not been the Chapo of constant genius and the solver of all the problems of the Fiera.
Against the Devils, we saw Montes get into the collective high-pressure effort the Esmeraldas put out for a good number of minutes. Here the question is: What is better for the Lion, that Montes run or that Montes think?
On the first day, Montes participated punctiliously and intelligently in the goal that gave the Fiera its only victory so far in the tournament. He fought the ball short, drove it, gave in and then came the goal.
Cota, Byron and Di Yorio are the only ones who have completed the 450 minutes played in the tournament, while Bellón is down with 15 minutes less. Montes adds 241 and Mena 167, the first has been a starter three times and the second two, far from the once indisputable.
Paiva gave Montes a public accolade and I have no doubt that he will do the same with Mena. I agree with the Lusitanian because I continue to see both players with an exceptional footballing clairvoyance with which they can resolve a match in a brilliant way.
Perhaps they are not today the physical claim for the Paiva style, but discarding them completely sounds like a serious mistake.
Mena and Montes cannot be required to run the mile and do it in 90 minutes, make no mistake. What can be pressured is that they bring out their virtues, because in that you can find the fine and final touch that the Fiera needs to win.
Twitter @geraslugo
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