The intimates lost the definition against Universitario at home, showing a game full of doubts and an unusual alignment. Larriera decided to take a risk with a different approach, but nothing worked out. He made big mistakes not only at home, but also in Ate. And although in the first leg the 1-1 score covered certain shortcomings, with the 2-0 in Matute the Uruguayan was exposed to the harsh criticism of the fans, who are already awaiting his departure after losing the final against the classic and in the worst way.
Larriera’s mistakes in the final
1. Experiment with line of three
Larriera’s main mistake was on the way back, with his people, He did not know how to have a good read and surprised everyone with an unusual alignment: 3-5-2. The Uruguayan had never started a game with a line of three, but in the most important match he decided to take a risk and made a mistake. He couldn’t even test that scheme well against Flores’ early goal.
Larriera put Zambrano, Míguez and Vílchez in that line of three, with Peruzzi and Lagos as wingers, but nothing worked for him. Not only that, when he tried to change to a 4-4-2, he decided to keep Yordi Vílchez as a left back, being right-footed, and put Lagos inside. For many, the first 37′ in Matute were an experiment.
2. Dispense with your extremes
Larriera’s second error goes hand in hand with the last game in Matute, by placing the line of three behind and putting two wingers. The coach chose to leave Bryan Reyna and Franco Zanelatto out of the ’11’, and play without wingers. Unwise decision, since one of the virtues of the intimates is precisely that imbalance per band.
Reyna himself, when he entered the Monumental on Saturday, was part of Gabi Costa’s goal by confronting and unbalancing Riveros. For many, the winger should have started the actions in Matute, but he only entered after the break. Without a winger to go up, it was not Lagos, but Vílchez, who could do little or nothing to unbalance.
3. Not counting on Jesús Castillo
Continuing with the main error of the 3-5-2, another ‘sin’ by Larriera emerges in the middle of the field, where Piero Quispe, Martín Pérez Guedes and Rodrigo Ureña had no complications controlling the ball. This based on the pieces that the Uruguayan put together, along with Ballón, he surprisingly placed Oswaldo Valenzuela, who had only started twice in the Clausura, instead of Jesús Castillo, one of the most consistent of the year.
The Ballón-Valenzuela binomial never came together and no one stood up to the Quispe-Pérez Guedes-Ureña trident. Concha didn’t have an outstanding game either. And before the break, Larriera accepted his mistake and took out Valenzuela, with a discreet performance and stopped a 4-4-2, but Castillo did not enter anyway, despite not being injured or feeling sense.
4. Very defensive in Ate
Although Matute’s mistakes are specifically talked about, since it was the last game and where everything was defined, Larriera was also to blame for Saturday’s approach at the Monumental. The intimates came out very far back, giving the ball to the ‘U’ and defending near their area.
Many thought it was more because of the cream proposal, but Larriera confessed that the plan was that, to hold on in his field and go against it. He put Aldair Rodríguez and Franco Zanelatto to make a more tactical deployment and not think about the rival goal. And although Alianza scored in the only shot that Alianza had, the way of playing did not convince the fan.
5. Put double ‘9′
Within Larriera’s experiment, of putting a line of three in Matute, another aspect that caught attention was the stand with two forwards. Hernán Barcos and Pablo Sabbag had never started a game together, but the Uruguayan decided to put them in the most important game of the season. However, neither had a clear decision and they ended up paying dearly for having put both and not just one, and the other to the bank.
Barcos was the forward who collected himself and asked for the ball, performing some ’10’ tasks, but the pace he possessed was not for those characteristics. Without the ‘Pirate’ in or near the area, his influence was very little. While Sabbag, not being fed with balls into the area or passes into space, was gradually diluted. The ‘Sheikh’ ended up being changed after the break, where Larriera returned to the 4-2-3-1, but it was too late.
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