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From draw to draw, conceding few goals but also without finding the ways to shake the rival nets, Independiente once again earned the whistles of its fans after a poor 0-0 against Argentinos Juniors which was more accurate in its control, but equally incapable of producing plays with the scent of a goal.
The team that wants to manufacture Julio Vaccari The Reds have had a basic problem up until now: the ball. Of course, it is not exclusive to their team but widespread in our football, even in clubs with much greater economic potential than the one that the Reds have at the moment. It is not only about the individual handling of the main tool of the game – any footballer in the First Division “knows” how to handle the ball – but about the collective, about the basic premises that indicate to circulate it between men wearing the same shirt and to touch and move to look for a free space to receive it again. That is what is known today as offensive operation.
Santiago López tries a dribble against Francisco Alvarez; Independiente could not win at homePrensa Independiente
This time, the coach from Santa Fe tried to overcome the deficit by adding midfielders with supposedly good feet: Ivan Marcone for the first touch, with Lucas Gonzalez and Felipe Loyola on his sides. It was not the expected solution, a little because after 10 minutes, and as so many other times in the tournament, he had to modify the original idea due to Federico Vera’s injury; and a little more, because Argentinos Juniors surprised from the start with a drive and ambition that bore fruit – three interesting arrivals, although with defective shots – but it lasted a short while.
Still, Vaccari insisted on his idea, choosing Johnny Quinonez above the always reliable David Tata Martinez to replace Vera (which moved Loyola to right back). The polished technique is, in theory, the best virtue of the Ecuadorian, almost unseen since the start of the Professional League, who was received with unexpected support by the fans when he stepped onto the field. Later, his errors in passing and his slow movements quickly tired the fans, who a quarter of an hour later They were already whistling at him who have accompanied him since his arrival, led by Carlos Tevez. And a little while later the coach, who took him off at 13 minutes of the second half. Quiñónez left crying.
Ivan Marcone, captain of Independiente, in full control of the ball against Argentinos Juniors playersPrensa Independiente
Nothing would work for the home coach. Neither before nor after that change, nor after those that followed until the end. The Reds continued without having a collective game, without anyone who contributed a bit of inventiveness to upset the opponent’s nerves, without creating a single chance to excite their fans, who took 85 minutes to begin to show their dissatisfaction with what they saw. Suffice it to say that the first and only “Uh!” occurred in injury time: Marcone sent a long cross from the right, Santiago Hidalgo returned it to the middle before the complacent gaze of the Russian Rodriguez. and Federico Mancuello’s header hit the crossbar.
El Bicho has fewer problems with the ball. There are many who follow the tradition of the club and the principle of giving it to their teammate. Alan Lescano, Kevin Oroz, Alan Rodriguez, the full-back Roman Vega, the forwards Jose Herrera and Gaston Veron They put the ball on the ground, they look for each other and find each other easily, and they manage to progress on the field with a certain level of judgment. Their deficit appears in the final quarter of the field, where the games are decided, either due to not having accuracy in the last pass or in the shot.
Highlights and Mancuello’s missed goal
At the start of the second half, Argentinos repeated the sequence from the beginning. At 4, Verón turned at the edge of the area, unleashed a right-footed shot and Rodrigo Rey stretched for the first, and also only, time in the afternoon to deflect it to the corner; at 6, Alan Rodríguez discovered a gap in the middle, gave it a high-dive and the shot grazed the crossbar. But again he lacked conviction and persistence (he has not scored a single goal as a visitor since the start of the championship) and allowed the home team to rely on the security of Kevin Lomónaco and Iván Marcone and the wisdom of the Chilean Loyola on the right to even the score and overcome more difficulties.
The match, of course, was an invitation to a Sunday nap. Especially when, from the 40th minute of the first half, the storm that was predicted made its appearance with a wind that cooled the atmosphere even more than the spectacle had expected.
Independiente missed a new opportunity to add points to achieve the goal of getting into the 2025 South American Cup, and the paleness of their image does not invite optimism thinking about the challenge for the Argentine Cup against Vélez, the team of the moment. Argentinos did not know how to translate their neatness into efficiency. The afternoon went by with cold, wind, without goals, without applause, without a drop of rain or football.
Conocé The Trust Project
