After the agonizing and very celebrated victory in the Superclásico against Boca, in his visit to Córdoba, River returned to show another face, that of the glass jaw. And while he continues to be the leader of the League, with a good advantage over his immediate pursuers, the fall to Talleres represented a wake-up call to the future.
The focus of the analysis of the defeat against Talleres was placed on one of the two initial changes (the other was logical, the entry of Paulo Díaz by Emanuel Mammana, injured) that Demichelis had. Not only in terms of name, but because the departure of Rodrigo Aliendro and the entry of Salomón Rondón caused a modification of the scheme.
The River coach dispensed with a midfielder who is one of the most regular in the squad. And he disarmed one of his team's main strengths: the midfield. With the intention of pressing higher and trying to recover the ball much more in the opposite field. But the plan didn't work out. And, in addition, some low individual yields also conspired against the idea raised in the Kempes.
"Talleres uses a tactical system similar to Huracán: to defend, a 4-4-2; When they have the ball, 4-2-3-1. We saw that they broke a lot at the time of starting, they split and we ended up being 5 against 5. We defended ourselves with six and tried to steal and do damage with De la Cruz, Nacho, Barco and the two ends playing hand to hand. In Huracán it went well and here, no," Demichelis explained at the press conference after the match. He added: "We were convinced, they didn't have many people in the middle, they split a lot. That's why we trained him from the beginning of the week."
With his explanation, Demichelis revealed that he changed the system depending on the opponent, something he had already done in other games and that modern coaches usually do, even if they win or play well the previous game. Now, was it logical to change against an opponent who was known to attack River? Was the modification right when the team feels better playing with five midfielders?
Garro ate the back of River's midfielders the entire match and celebrated for two. Photo: Juan José García.
In the match that Micho referred to at the Palacio Ducó, in which River played with four midfielders and two strikers and had an outstanding performance, the one who played next to Enzo Pérez was not De La Cruz but Aliendro. And although the Uruguayan recovers balls, he is an attacking midfielder who is always more launched and the Mendoza was the same very alone in the middle of the court, unlike what happens when the former Colón is.
On the other hand, is it natural to compare Huracán with Talleres? Although they can stand in the same way, when defending and attacking, are the characteristics of the players the same? Are Valoyes, Garro and Sosa identical to Gudiño, Pata Castro and Gauto, the three attacking midfielders of the Globo in the match against River? In his football answers, Demichelis talks a lot about numbers of tactical systems. It also does so on the conditions of the players, but the provision of the scheme prevails.
And the context does not take it into account? After the win with Fluminense he had also made a great theoretical reference that with the 3-3-1-3 you could break the rival 4-4-2, but you were at a disadvantage on the scoreboard at the Maracanã against the best team in Brazil today and two of the three defenders who remained were laterals and the only central marking was admonished.
Against Talleres, River seemed to make the same mistake of not fitting into the context of the match. And although he had moments of good football from quick associations between the midfielders and had arrivals to convert, he paid dearly that Enzo Pérez was quite alone in the center and could not cover the width of the field well. If the plan devised was thought more in terms of the rival, would not the entry of Pablo Solari and not Salomón Rondón have been more reasonable to mirror the scheme with a more dynamic 4-2-3-1?
"It was lost against a good team, which at times made it very difficult for us, which had not been happening to us. We must congratulate Talleres who, before the slightest mistake, made us get out of the way, "said Demichelis. Not only that. The Cordovan team, which was one of the few that attacked River, exposed the shortcomings of the championship leader and gave him a wake-up call.
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