The keys to Boca’s take-off and why Martínez’s team made its bid on Sunday

The term is financial, but it can very well be applied to football. “The bounce of the dead cat”, a figure used by economists to define a small and brief recovery in the price of a fallen security, can adapt perfectly to this moment of Mouth. Because he can hardly play worse than against Union, even if 96 hours later, The victory against Racing made him valuable again. And today Diego Martínez’s team is listed on the Candidates Stock Exchange. With interesting numbers, of course, and a performance that is starting to bear fruit in the Professional League Cup.

From the defeat in Santa Fe to the victory in the classic, four days later, there was work that had to do with the emotional aspect and the tactical adjustments that In the end they left the team feeling like they were taking off.

“We talked about it in the technical discussion: what the match against Unión left us with was learning as a group. In Argentine football the matches become more or less simple depending on how you play them. And if the team had had the intensity it had shown in certain passages, and we had gone back to having that attitude of playing through gritted teeth, we would have been closer to being able to achieve a classic like the one we had to face. ” Martínez said yesterday, early in the morning, during the press conference.

In short, the “group” is one of the pillars of this team which has been able to have courageous changing rooms, from the days of the Falcons and the Pigeons in the nineties to the dichotomy Martín Palermo-Juan Román Riquelme in the golden age. Today everyone knows their place. Dario Benedetto It’s a witness case. Reference and former top scorer, he has lost ownership and is a replacement. However, accompanies, makes no noise outsideas happened in the past.

Maybe in the embrace with Marcos Rosso You can summarize that palpable sensation from the outside. “It was also a matter of gratitude, what happened to us with Nico (Figal) gave us the chance to add someone and the call was quite balanced, and we talked to the medical staff to see what they thought about our addition” . , but not so that he may enter, but so that he may be with us. What Marcos Rojo conveys is very important… We liked having him concentrated, on the bench, close by. He is a leader, he is our leader, our captain, like Sergio, Pol and Edi. And they are the ones who set the course for where we want to go,” the coach said.

This situation allows Martínez to move freely when it comes to getting his hands on the team. Indeed, despite Riquelme’s statements, he would prefer Frank Fabra with a more important role. For coach Lautaro Blanco is above the Colombian; Also, Marcelo Saracchi. And that’s why he thinks he can find a place for him as a midfielder.

Martínez also gave space to the boys, and not always as alternatives in the second half. Jabes Saralegui (20 years old) has earned his place, although he is usually the first substitution. On Sunday, in a tough match, he gave a push to Mauricio Benítez, born in 2004, in the middle of the pitch. Luca Langoni (22) still hasn’t managed to recover his level after many injuries, but he was Edinson Cavani’s attacking partner, relegating goalscorer Miguel Merentiel. And he ended up playing with two other valuable young players, Leandro Brey (21; trained in Los Andes), Aaron Anselmino (18) and Cristian Medina (21), an indisputable player by now.

“Since we have been here I feel that they are going, accompanied by the older boys, with a very clear direction. If you don’t confuse that path with forms, you have a very important thing, which is training in this club, which gives you an extra bonus. It’s great that the institution trains these types of players. “We have to proceed little by little, it’s not so that they can all play together, but everything we can add to them, which are safe, small, positive steps and with consistency, so that they continue to grow,” explained the coach.

What do the xeneize numbers say? Boca is one of the teams that has generated the most scoring chances (28), but also one of the teams that has committed the most errors (18). However, in the last match he had an improvement in terms of effectiveness, as he finished 7 times in Gabriel Arias’ goal and scored 4 goals. Furthermore, he has given up possession (38%), despite being in fourth place in the possession table (behind River, Racing and Vélez).

With 4 wins, 4 draws and 2 defeats, they want to enter the big battle as their history dictates.