What stopped Atlético Nacional? The question is inevitable in the light of the results in Liga Betplay I and in Copa Libertadores.
And it is that the data is overwhelming and worrying: in its last 5 games in both competitions, one could only win one, against the weak Boyacá Chicó 4-1 (date 14).
In Liga it matched 0-0 against Millionaires and fell 1-0 against Deportivo Cali. The good news is that, with 28 points and 15 in dispute, the local tournament is not a concern. But in the Cup, where he has suffered most, he was thrashed 3-0 by international and fell 1-0 in his visit to Bahia, blows that force him to win almost everything in the auction of the group stage to dream of the round of 16.
Performance downturn is evident
Despite the arbitration controversies, there were, what remains in evidence is a remarkable low performance downturn in which all are guilty. Innocent there is no.
In this bump there is a quota of responsibility of the coach, of the regular players and also of the substitutes and there is even an account attributable to the sports management, which trusted more in some cases and now comes to notice that it was missing to reinforce some positions.
Bahía vs Atlético Nacional
Photo:
ARISSON MARINHO / AFP
1. Gandolfi's faults
Gandolfi's most painful lunar was very exposed in the recent defeat against Bahia: although his idea was always proactive and frontal attack in a rival field, he betrayed himself when betting on a plan in which he preferred not to lose – at least not as ugly as against inter- and the result of that suicidal commitment is almost always the defeat. Evidence? Those long passages of Ospina against bay retaining the ball without danger and the complacency of the bench were eloquent.
Against the Brazilians decided to step back, fill the midfield to counteract the speed and long pass of the opponent, and although at the beginning it worked, then it disarmed just for the entry of Edwin Cardona, the other red point in the balance: in a key game he sent the man to the bench with more minutes in the semester (2,224 in 18 games) and the most influential in the attack, with 5 goals and 6 assists League In the Libertadores he did not yield the same. It is not that Cardona cannot be substitute, it is that marginalizing it is, again, a betrayal of the idea of green in the semester in which the coaching staff has not found plan B, it has no substitute at the height in the template or in the idea.
In what there are few reproaches is in the decision to rotate the payroll: if the team cannot do with the most robust payroll in Colombia, what does others remain? The problem is that he has failed to compensate in these movements and the points have escaped in spite of the good intentions of giving minutes and prominence to all.
The case of Matheus Uribe in Brazil is revealing: he came from injury, he did not play since March 15 against Envigado and was absent more than a month, to return slowly against Cali and be very exposed against Bay. Why not Elkin Rivero or even Cardona to generate something? It is not the midfielder but of the DT that rushes and minimizes inactivity.
Javier Gandolfi, National Atlético coach.
Photo:
Jaiver Nieto Álvarez | Time
2. Players erred and lowered their level
However, not all failures are attributable to the DT because at the time of several players there are obvious moles.
That one day tesillo fails after evacuating balls in different commitments or that a bad run from a scorer comes is part of the game, no doubt. But what is not normal is the erratic that Andrés Román looks, the imprecise of Alfredo Morelos, how slow Edwin Cardona (not in the physical but in the reading of the game), or the anxious of Marino Hnestroza (in definition, because the expulsion in Brazil was unfair).
At the beginning of the season they were never judged by that, but now, in the midst of the bump, they are inevitably in the sight. And it is because, every time there was a brand failure, the goals almost fell from the green pocket, and now that does not happen.
Bay, for example, scored one of the 13 options it generated, while Nacional, which only in the end reacted and had 5 promising arrivals, never scored.
That downturn is undeniable. As is also that the injuries have not respected good alternatives such as Andrés Sarmiento, Kevin Viveros, Juan Manuel Zapata or Dairon Asprilla and that, when others such as Joan Castro, Billy Arce and Andrés Salazar have had, they have not been as effective as expected at the time of rotation.
It does not mean that anyone has to condemn, clearly. But in this period without victories you have to point out failures to allow growth.
The good news is that a month comes without unpacking trips outside the country. The bad one, that in Copa Libertadores there is no longer margin of local error against Inter and Bay of Brazil and that we must add in Uruguay against Nacional so as not to compromise the round of 16 and that in the local calendar, although there is a saving of 28 points, they are on the agenda complex crosses such as the classic against Independiente Medellín and the duel against Junior in the capital of Antioquia. Recovering memory is urgent and important to the same extent.
