The Colombian National Team has its second start this Thursday in the Copa América in Brazil 2021 against a Venezuela that is still decimated by cases of covid 19, but little by little it has been recovering some elements.
Reinaldo Rueda’s team has just defeated Ecuador 1-0 in the debut in the continental tournament, which largely clears the classification to the quarterfinals. However, there are doubts about the team’s game, not the result, which ends up making up failures.
One of the topics that generated controversy was the role of Edwin Cardona as a creative flyer. The coach Rueda came from betting more on mixed flyers, with good touch and projection and a lot, a lot of association with Juan Guillermo Cuadrado, the new axis of the team. But the arrival of a 10 revived the weight of that figure in a national team.
Cardona did not look firm in the left zone, in the 4-4-2 that was arranged, especially because he is not a player with too much deployment to support the brand and prevent the rival from leaving for his sector. The claims of Yairo Moreno, Barrios and Cuadrado himself put this in evidence.
But does that invalidate the role of a creative midfielder born in Colombia? “Having a typical ten does not guarantee the proper functioning of the team, it was evidenced against Ecuador. Cardona was used but the team did not perform well, the performance was very pale, the second half was more than Ecuador, that Colombia was seen playing in a very low block, all running behind the ball, defending the result. The work of 10 was not seen highlighted because a style of play is used that does not suit that type of player. It is useful if the operation is purposeful, it is sought the arc, rival, conditions are imposed and he does not put himself in the defensive work, which is not characteristic of a ten, “explained Mauricio Molina, who knew how to be number 10 in his career in clubs and in the Colombian National Team.
In this sense, another creative team like David Montoya also talks about who stands in front of him when thinking about a number 10: “It depends a lot on the rival you are going to face. The teacher saw that he could have the ball, but Ecuador is very strong on the wings, very fast and the speed is not for Edwin. What he did was not bad either, we took advantage of the punch, the long throw, the goal, but the rival marks a lot what you are going to play “, he pointed.
But then, seeing that Cardona does not look, does that mean that it is better to do without that player profile? “I am convinced that having these players on the field makes it much easier because at any time they favor the team with their intelligence, their good management, they are different players who break the game, solve a game for the team, as happened with Ecuador,” he said. Molina.
“In Colombia I always like to have 10, James and Juan Fer are not there but Cardona and Campaz are there, who are not so 10 but can play behind the striker to be a link. I like those players because at any time that good football , the connection, they solve everything. These players have an intelligence that at any moment they come out with something different. I always play with quality players, “he concluded.
On the other hand, it seems to Montoya that a winning team does not require so many modifications, even if they do not have a fixed number 10: “The starting team does not change, the teacher moves the scheme a lot, from Peru to Argentina we changed a lot and it did not work for us. , I have to make changes on the fly and return to what had served, with players on the outside. Having one or two steering wheels, a more mixed one that goes on the attack, is ideal to accompany the attack and speed up the game “, commented.
Against Venezuela and the following rivals in the Copa América, the discussion should go, according to Montoya, more for the group than for a single piece: “It all depends on what type of scheme the coach wants, many say that the 10 is to have the ball but that is everyone’s responsibility, if the brand’s flyers don’t carry the ball, it won’t exist. It’s necessary at times but possession is a team job, “he concluded.
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