- Without Lapadula: why do we still depend on an almost 40-year-old Paolo Guerrero?
It is difficult to find a way to beat Brazil, whom we were never able to beat in the Qualifiers. Even for the most fervent of fans, assuming a perfect scenario in which we beat the five-time world champion is almost unthinkable and atypical. He has to happen something extraordinary to end the night with a victory. But extraordinary things happen in football and even the team with the least possibilities can achieve surprising results. From there, Peru has its resources. Although the duel against Paraguay left doubts, a much more Reynosista version than Garechista could be seen in Guaraní lands. And that is a point in Reynoso’s favor.
Without offering her best game, the bicolor was able to add on the visit with one less man. Achieving that goal would have been difficult years ago, when the team fell into disarray as a result of inferiority on the field; but this time he achieved it by playing defensively, with Reynoso’s tactical rethinking and the success in the changes that the coach made to reduce Paraguay’s numerical advantage. The ‘Cabezón’ read the development of the match, processed it and made decisions based on it. He turned his team’s weakness into a strength.
Reynoso is labeled conservative for being a coach who prioritizes tactical order and believes in the phrase that teams are assembled from back to front. But there are several preferences and one thing does not eliminate the other. The DT of the bicolor is not pigeonholed into a single idea; On the contrary, he is offensive and/or defensive according to the rival. Or is it not so? A team that concedes more goals than it scores will never be able to win games or, consequently, qualify for a World Cup. You have to be solid at the back to strengthen line by line. And ‘Cabezón’ understands it that way.
The second half against Paraguay was an example of Reynoso’s thinking in its purest state; However, what Peru needs against Brazil is that and more. Although it is necessary to take care of the zero in one’s own goal, it is also necessary to score the goals, to make the team work from the midfield upwards. And that challenge is the task of the coach, who has now found in Renato Tapia a stronghold in the central defense and in Pedro Gallese a divinity in goal. But it is still insufficient, because the two-color team needs alternatives to offer a better game. Yoshimar Yotún continues to be the lung of the team and Paolo Guerrero the hope for the goal that has not yet come. After them, André Carrillo is no longer the same as before and his new role flirts with creation.
What Reynoso could do is take a risk with Joao Grimaldo or Piero Quispe, whose game refreshes the team and would be an alternative against Brazil. The same with Marcos López and Wilder Cartagena, who also entered well against Paraguay and ask for greater prominence. For the rest, the bicolor needs everyone at their best level. From back to front, it is possible to obtain a good result. To beat Brazil, it is not only necessary to play better, but to be determined to touch the sky with your hands.
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