The first 24 hours have passed since the heavy elimination against Tigre in the monumental quarter-finals of the League Cup and The blow still echoes in the river world. It is an unforgettable Wednesday night call that left him out of the competition and revealed individual and collective inconsistencies to correct and improve to be a more reliable and safer team. Because in addition to the painful and sudden internal fall, the focus is on the continental level. The Copa Libertadores continues to be the main goal of the semester.

And beyond the fact that the present, as the leader of Group F, is advantageous in one point of the 16-final stage of the classification, the team and the coaching staff know internally and recognize that they have to score different points to fight in the decisive instances. When famous assassins come against the mighty, you must be ready. And that will be the task from now on.

What happened? What was missing? Why can’t he be compared to River Tiger? As LA NACION has been able to reconstruct, there are various reasons that are recognized in a broken intimate relationship, but the focus is mainly on individual performances that reduce collective equipment, concentration on play, and forced mistakes that are costly. It is very expensive throughout the semester: Eight of the 16 goals scored in the semester were very specific and avoided defeats. The idea of ​​the game remains indelible, the shapes will not change with the result and the search will remain the same. But there are at least five crucial points that a millionaire will have to reconsider in order to compete at the highest level.

Weak down

The first is precisely the lack of protective solidity. In eight of their last 10 games of the semester, they have not only scored 10 goals, but also Franco Armani has become one of the most decisive figures on the team. Rivals perfectly understood how to hurt him more easily That in the past both the back of the pages and the central. Today River is a weaker team, without so much security and with attention problems that they can go back and position themselves when scoring a goal. His opponents, with more or less bold proposals, know this. And they enjoy it.

Individuality

Second, individual levels are low and, although saved several times, they are no longer as consistent. Armani himself had noticeable flaws; Paulo Diaz – perhaps the most regular – and David Martinez – without recovering well from a knee injury – repeated the mistakes.; Herrera could not make up for Rojas’s absence; Enzo Perez fails to reach his best version; Simon had a logical decline due to his young age; Barco and Pochettino still do not fit the way DT wants in the team; And even Alvarez himself showed yesterday that he can also have bad nights. Added to this, neither of the substitutes ’feedback was the most positive.

Without revolt

Third is the apparent lack of reaction that the team has shown to Tiger and that has been repeated over the semester. The plan of the game is clear: River tries to be dominant by possession of the ball, enhances build speed, dynamics to break the defensive blocks, restores high pressure, advanced lines for drowning, and constant mobility, allowing him to reach the area in presence. Rival. But when he failed to win at gunpoint and the opponents were neutralized, the team lacked an alternative plan. Decisions in the face of adversity. He did not even have the characteristic of a rebellious team with an extremely competitive mentality. And against Matador it cost him elimination.

Goals that are scarce

The fourth point is known: he has no substitute in attack. Alvarez, with his ups and downs, was a top-tier card with 9 goals and four assists in 17 games; Matthias Suarez scored four goals in 119 games in 439 minutes, but he was not physically reliable due to an injury to his right knee and right leg muscle, which ruled out a crossover with Tiger; And Brian Romero, who is very far from the level he showed last semester, has only one goal in 53 games in 534 ‘. Without the young Flabio Londonio Bedoia, due to a fracture, River missed a goal in the area. And noticed. Given Alvarez’s imminent departure to Manchester City in July, this will be a major position. And promote the transfer market.

Physical wearing

No less important is the last point: the physical value. River failed to maintain his usual rhythm in the last part of the semester. Against Tiger, however, this was noticeable: the team had another march, he fell asleep and never found the absolute dizziness that normally allows him to unlock games. Added to this, with so many demands in practice and a schedule without a break, Accumulated injuries throughout the week And lost Suarez and Juanfer Quintero, two essential figures to strengthen structure from a chair, most notably due to muscle problems.

“We were continuous and irregular. The first stage of the year was not bad, we had very good games, some not so good, some bad. But the search is always the same: an operation that offers us more opportunities to win than to lose. With the second half of the year left, we will try to be more regular. There are always things to improve and we need to see them in order to have the expectation of reaching the defining stage. For this we will have to rectify certain situations that have caused us great harm. You have to grab the good and strengthen it and improve the bad and try not to give these opportunities to your opponents to give it life in the matches. “These are aspects that we need to improve and not hide,” Tojina said.

Thus, in addition to the commitments against Colo-Colo and the Alliance Lima in the coming weeks, which will determine their fate in the Copa Libertadores, River has a lot of work ahead of it. The advantage is that it has a solid foundation of work and a football line that does not change and that allows it, with an accurate and punctual touch, to be a safer team. And it will have a crucial game: the next transfer market, which opens on May 23rd and closes on July 7th for Argentine football and August 8th for overseas. In addition to investing $ 10 million in the recent market to add seven players, Reinforcement needed: Focusing on the possible departure of Enzo Fernandez or Nicolas de la Cruz, adding a midfielder and at least two forwards is a priority.. And Gallardo knows that.