Diego Martínez and the wingers’ game: he gambled a lot with the starting team, but made surprising decisions when he got his hands on the bench

I expected that Super classic since he reached the lower ranks of Mouth. His first appearance at La Candela was in 2011, with Coqui Raffo, and until 2015 he was in charge of the boys’ training. Among these, two of the guys who were important in this duel against River: Ezequiel Fernández and Cristian Medina. Yes, Diego Martínez dreamed of becoming the coach of the Primera bluoro and he made it come true.

The 45-year-old coach emerged victorious because the result, in the end, was a draw that his team sought and achieved, leaving a better image in the second half. However, you will have to review your decisions while reading the game and when you reach the bank. The changes he made attracted attention.

The first variant was the departure of Jabes Saralegui20 years old, who had been one of the best footballers and had the most balanced performance throughout the match.

The boy had shown himself to be bold and had established himself in one-on-one situations with great personality. In the 21st minute of the second half, Martínez decided to replace him with Lucas Blondel looking for more depth and went up to Luis Advincula. At that precise moment he left the field Edinson Cavaniof very poor and entered level Luca Langoni.

The goal arrives five minutes later, but it is not thanks to variations but to a good collective game created on the left with Lautaro Blanco and concluded with Medina who resolves, in fact, the next change that was difficult to understand because the young 21 year old was the best on the pitch. Nicolás Valentini came on in his place to put together a line of five with the idea of ​​closing out the game.

The additions of Franco Fabra AND Dario Benedetto two minutes from the epilogue they gave the sensation of being a tribute to the sacred cows that run behind. Kevin Zenón and Miguel Merentiel left, both in discolored games. Neither the Colombian nor Pipa had time to make any serious action.

Beyond River’s dominance in that furious start, the starting line-up that Martínez planted at Monumental was not badly thought out. And if he had tried two midfielders during the week, he opted for fresh players.

In the press conference, the coach analyzed the match: “River had a very clear attitude at the beginning with Facu Colidio and Solari, look for the backs of the central defenders with aerial deliveries, or stretch out and allow Echeverri to receive, closes Barco, but that search wasn’t so smooth, yes, the pressure made us play very low, they shot us a couple of hits on a stopped ball, in an instant, something they couldn’t do with Herrera. Until we started to impose ourselves or discuss ball possession, and there was a game of back and forth, a game of quick passes in the middle of the pitch, of combined and fast attacks.”

Martinez agrees. “In light of the balance of these ninety minutes, beyond the fact that what we did as a team is very precious, that is, coming here to win the match with our weapons and our ideas, it seems to me that in the end it was a equal game. game. We could have won it, and River too,” he underlined.

And one of the most praised was Saralegui: “I’m very happy about it. He’s very serious and professional. You talk to him, he looks at your face and always listens to you. I like him a lot because he participates, he has deselection, deployment. Today he had good participations.”