Matches and critical month for the future: what will happen to Costas if he does not qualify for the League Cup

The messages that come from within have an inescapable meaning. Racing is facing an extreme situation. And the four matches that await us will be decisive for Gustavo Costas. It’s true that he is an emblem of the club, a man who lived through the glory of the ’88 Super Cup and the hell of relegation. Furthermore, he risked bankruptcy. But the coach himself says it clearly and that’s what he asked for when he took over: he wants them to demand it for his work and not have any regard for his feeling of belonging.

Fundamental in this sense will be the duels against Defensa y Justicia, on Saturday in Avellaneda; Central Cordoba to Santiago del Estero; Lanús in Cilindro and Belgrano in Córdoba. The classification of Academy to the quarterfinals of the League Cup, regardless of the duel they will have to play on March 21st against San Martín de Burzaco on the Gimnasia pitch, for the Argentine Cup.

And Costas is very clear that much of his future will be defined in the next three weeks. For this reason he is already analyzing the errors and weighing the merits in view of the clash with Florencio Varela’s team in which he will have to put an end to an incredible series of consecutive victories: until Sunday, when he lost against Boca as a guest, he had lost three games. in his house: Unión, Godoy Cruz and Sarmiento, no less.

“They didn’t reach us for almost 25 or 30 minutes. It was all ours, but hey, it’s football. You have to score goals. When we went 2-1 we had to define the game. We gave life to Boca. When the rival is half dead, you have to kill him. If not, you can bring it to life. And we brought it to life. And he cost us dearly. “It’s a tough defeat,” the coach said in the press conference.

And we will need to review the statistics: out of a total of 14 goal attempts by Javier García, he only succeeded three times and two ended in goals. The problem does not only concern the four received by Gabriel Arias; furthermore, with a situation that leads to dragging.

Racing is the second team with the most ball possession (59.7% behind River), but they are also ineffective. With Sarmiento he generated 27 situations, only 9 between the three sticks and failed to convert. Overall, taking into account the ten dates, he finished 142 times and only 50 (35%) were – according to the Spaniards – shots on goal. The percentage decreases based on the goals scored. He screamed 14 times, just 20%.

Of course, not everything has to do with an Excel spreadsheet, but that amount of wasted chances signals a major lack of aim in the final meters of the pitch. There is a good circuit of passes with Juan Fernando Quintero like a banner and its fronts up high, Maxi Salas and Maravilla Martínez, they are spicy. But on a defensive level there are advantages. “We were very passive in goals and marking,” Costas analyzed.

Is it time to shelve the three-way line? Will Facundo Mura return to the pitch? Will Leonardo Sigali, the captain fought in the first meeting, return and will Santiago Sosa be added in midfield? Answers that the technician must give urgently.