The term is financial, but it can well be applied to football.
“
The dead cat bounce
”, a figure that economists use to define a small and brief recovery in the price of a fallen stock, can fit perfectly into this moment for
Boca
.
Because he can hardly play worse than against Unión, although 96 hours later,
the win against Racing made him valuable again
.
And today, Diego Martínez's team is listed on the candidates' stock market.
With interesting numbers, of course, and a performance that is beginning to pay dividends in the Professional League Cup.
From the defeat in Santa Fe to the victory in the classic, four days later, there was work that had to do with the emotional aspect and tactical tweaks that
ended up leaving the team with a feeling of takeoff
.
“We talked about it in the technical talk: what the match with Unión had to leave us with was learning as a group.
In Argentine soccer, the games become more or less simple depending on how you play them.
And if the team had the intensity that it had shown in certain passages, and we returned to having that attitude of playing with gritted teeth, we were going to be closer to being able to carry out a classic like the one we had to face," Martínez said yesterday to early morning, during the press conference.
The “group”, in short, is one of the pillars of this team that knew how to have brave locker rooms, from the times of the Halcones and the Palomas in the nineties to the
Martín Palermo-Juan Román Riquelme
dichotomy in the golden era.
Today, everyone knows their place.
Darío Benedetto
is a witness case.
A reference and former top scorer, he lost ownership and is a replacement piece.
However,
he accompanies, he does not make noise outside
, as happened in the past.
Perhaps in the hug with
Marcos Rojo
we can synthesize that feeling that is palpable from the outside.
"It was even a matter of gratitude, with what happened to us with Nico (Figal) it gave us the opportunity to add someone and the call was quite balanced, and we spoke with the medical staff to see what they thought about us adding him, but not so that come in, but for him to be with us. What Marcos Rojo transmits is so important... We liked to have him in the concentration, on the bench, nearby.
He is a leader, he is our leader, our captain
, like Sergio, Pol and Edi And they are the ones who set the course for where we want to go,” said the coach.
Good vibes: Marcos Rojo, training in the rain. Photo: Prensa Boca
This situation allows Martínez to move freely when it comes to getting his hands on the team.
Even, despite Riquelme's statements, that he would prefer Frank Fabra with a greater role.
For the coach, Lautaro Blanco is above the Colombian;
Also, Marcelo Saracchi.
And that's why he plans to find a place for him as a midfielder.
Martínez also gave space to the kids, and not always as alternatives for the second half.
Jabes Saralegui (20 years old) earned the position, even though he is usually the first change.
On Sunday, in a heavy match, he gave a boost to Mauricio Benítez, class 2004, in the middle of the field.
Luca Langoni (22) still could not recover his level after so many injuries, but he was Edinson Cavani's attacking partner, relegating the scorer Miguel Merentiel.
And he ended up playing with two other valuable young players, Leandro Brey (21; trained in Los Andes), Aaron Anselmino (18) and Cristian Medina (21), an indisputable player at this point.
“Since we have been here I feel that they are going, accompanied by the older boys, with a very clear direction.
If you don't confuse that path and the forms, you have something that is very important, which is the training in this club, which gives you an extra bonus.
It is great for the institution to train this type of footballers.
"We have to go little by little, this is not so that they can all play together, but everything that we can add to them, that are safe, small, positive steps and with consistency is so that they continue to grow," explained the coach.
What do the xeneize numbers say?
Boca is one of the teams that generated the most clear chances (28), but also one of the teams that made the most mistakes (18).
However, in the last game he had an improvement in effectiveness, since he finished 7 times at Gabriel Arias' goal and scored 4 goals.
Also, he gave up possession (38%), although he is in fourth place in the possession table (behind River, Racing and Vélez).
With 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 losses, they want to get into the big fight as their history dictates.