Matías Bustos Milla
08/16/2021 2:26 PM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/16/2021 2:26 PM
Of that Boca champion who snatched the Superliga title from River on the last date and to whom the pandemic put an absolute brake,
only scraps remain
.
Of the champion team that lifted the Maradona Cup and reached the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, despite the fact that their game had dropped in level at the beginning of 2021, there are no signs either.
There are other surnames (more than an eleven holder emigrated) but the level of Miguel Ángel Russo's team seems to continue in its decline.
Even after the two
electroshocks
he had in favor with the two hand-to-hand eliminations against River to cut a streak of recent years.
But
even so this Boca does not start
.
Boca did not win in the tournament.
(Photo: Marcelo Carroll).
Individual numbers and individual statistics go viral on social media.
The point is also made in the privacy of Boca Predio, where the DT and his coaching staff are aware that
this new semester had them with too many problems
in a series against Atlético Mineiro in which the VAR took them out of the Cup Libertadores, the week of isolation, a new team that is just getting to know each other and an exhausting match against River.
All that is in the folder.
But also that
Boca has not been able to win for ten games
, that he barely scored two goals and that he cannot put together an idea or style that is recognized for at least 45 minutes.
So what happens?
In this year and a half of an eternal pandemic that has not yet returned the public to the stadiums, there was only a small portion in which the coach seemed to find something new: the youth.
The idea of hinting at faces that came rushing in from the Juniors injected another spirit into the squad's daily competition.
They came
Cristian Medina and Alan Varela
to revitalize the midfield when Campuzano and Jara were no longer standing.
They fought, they prevailed and it became a flag of a new team: much more intense, sacrificed and to which talent would appear in installments.
Almendra and Varela, two that Russo took from the eleven (Photo: EFE).
The return of Agustín Almendra was another good sign, even scoring a goal in the last game that Boca won: 3 to 0 against the weak The Strongest, far away before the Copa América.
There was a huge, giant replacement.
Necessary too.
Last names of all kinds migrated, with very different contexts and realities: good sales by Andrada and Capaldo, personal decisions in Tevez and Zárate, termination of the contract in Jara, Buffarini and More.
And the arrivals were given in quantity
(Advíncula, Juan Ramírez, Rolón, Briasco, Weigandt and Orsini
) that are still making footing.
It happens that while they get to know and become familiar with the Boca World, the table returns to Russo and company a third to last place.
And except for the former Lanús, with an inopportune injury that it is difficult for him to resolve, almost all of them already add minutes of filming.
The Sub 23 of Boca.
Added to this situation were the conflicting realities of
Edwin Cardona
(he returned late from the Copa América and between isolation, set-up and his expulsion, he could only play two games) and Sebastián Villa (he decided not to play anymore in the face of a family situation and a possibility of sale abroad). Two surnames of those of hierarchy and unevenness that were not in this scenario either. And a large gap that was not covered: the center-forward. Perhaps the position in which it was most needed, Boca did not add anyone.
Even with all that panorama on the table, criticism is directed at DT.
Because he has already managed two almost complete schools and Boca has not yet come out of his own labyrinth.
But something different happened against Estudiantes de La Plata: Russo dispensed with all the youth, those who had given him oxygen, pressure and something different to his team in
slow motion
at the beginning of the year.
There were none from the start.
He bet on the greats, those of experience and veneer ... until his rival scored him.
There, just at that moment, he moved the bench of substitutes and threw a handful of players onto the field as a lifeline.
It did not work, but in the networks (that space of collective catharsis in times of empty stadiums) they stopped at that.
Cristian Medina, in action against Mineiro.
(Photo: AFP).
Questions
Why did the Boca coach break the only thing he had found as certainty?
Weren't Alan Varela, Cristian Medina and Agustín Almendra a better option than Pulpo González and Rolón?
Why the 5 line against non-attacking opponents?
How to solve the lack of goal without a scorer? The number of questions abound, with long weeks of work, but with a time that is shortened in dates that accumulate without winning, with the ticket to the Copa Libertadores of 2022 complicated and with only the Argentine Cup as a great goal until the end of year.
The weekend will arrive Patronato
, just the same team that will have to be measured in the next instance of the domestic Cup.
Miguel Russo spent 30 days working during the preseason with a
much more agile and intense
Boca team
, with constant pressure and youthful energy. After four dates (two were directed by Sebastián Battaglia with the youth) there is nothing of this that he thought. And except for the good emergence of Juan Ramírez or the fine tuning of Marcos Rojo, high levels are not observed individually either. That Boca has less squad than before is true. Also, that he doesn't have such a bad squad to play that way.
The backing behind Riquelme and company exists.
They made it public in recent weeks Jorge Bermúdez (
“Why is it that every time we go to play against River they question the continuity of our coach?”
, Questioned the
Employer
) and Raúl Cascini (
“We trust Miguel Russo and his work ”
, He clarified).
His contract ends at the end of the year, but a renewal has not yet been discussed.
Russo seeks solutions.
(Photo: Marcelo Carroll).
Of course there is (and was) self-criticism that was lacking in the press conference.
Also, as usual, there were meetings to seek explanations for the poor performance.
Although the Riquelme-Russo link goes beyond sports results.
For this reason,
just as a 5-minute talk between them was enough to return the Boca DT diver to the technician
after twelve years when his last name was no longer among possible successors of Gustavo Alfaro,
the same minutes are enough to understand each other if the road does not improve
.
Look also
A negative record that is about to fall: Boca de Russo's losing streak was among the worst in history
Estudiantes beat Boca 1-0 without a goal or game and left it at the bottom of the table
