In dialogue with Caracol Radio’s ‘VBAR’, Alberto Gamero He referred to the long-suffering victory of millionaires against Junior de Barraquilla, the present of Daniel Ruiz and the possibilities of directing the Colombia selection in the future.
Follow his statements here:
Victory against Junior – Of the big teams, Junior is one of the ones that has stood the best. It is one thing to stand up well and another to play well. Last night I told my players after the game: “We didn’t play well, but we didn’t play bad either.” We wanted to play a good game and we wanted to win. Suddenly we didn’t play the game that we proposed at another time, but we won, which is the most important thing. I told my players that because we’re a better ball-handling team, but it wasn’t that progressive possession like we’ve done other times. We were not clear on the attacking front and we found ourselves with a rival who stood us up well playing against us. The team was standing in the middle of the field and there were 2-3 counterattacks in which Junior was able to beat us because we were looking for the match, it was the risk we were going to take. During the week we thought that Junior could play us with a midfielder 10, but we realized with the lineup that Junior put three men in the middle of the court to block us and when they did that they were not clear when attacking. I think we won and we won well, their only option was Borja’s post that came from a rebound. It was not a clear match for any of us, but we knew how to get around it.
What Daniel Ruíz lacks – He lacks maturity, matches, fighting for the first places, knowing what it means to be in first place, fighting for a title. All those things mature him. Over there they put together three counterattacks because they took the ball from him when he tries to dribble, he corrects all those little things. He is a boy who understands and listens to what one says to him, what his classmates tell him. That boy needs games with commitment, which is what we ask this Millionaire today. There were a lot of players who didn’t have that tension of first place, qualifying quickly and today they are having it.
Blows and luxuries of Ruíz in the matches – I am very aware because I know they are going to look for him. I tell him: “if you don’t want to be hit, play central so you can hit someone else”. Because of his genius and ability, they are going to hit him. Since Daniel got here, I think he has corrected it. Before he threw himself at all hours, now he throws himself when they hit him hard. Those are the things we have to teach him. He has a very experienced player like Mackalister next to him who talks to him, he tells him. I saw the play by Fuentes, he stops the ball and Fuentes is going to rebuke him, in that case he has to make the rival correct that as well. I always tell Ruíz that football is not to make fun of, it is to play well and he has understood it, what happens is that he is a happy player, motivated by the moment he lives and with his abilities sometimes he seems overbearing and not It’s because he’s confident. They are things that he is learning because he is young.
Ruiz mentality – He is a player who wants to learn, improve. He sometimes hangs out with Mackalister and Perlaza taking free throws. We are waiting for all that. I have had so many good players, but the head hurts them. I work with the psychologist and the talks we do are for them to mature more.
Process with young people – The player must be filled with confidence, to guide them. I am guiding Ruíz, I cannot tell him that he does not lead, that he does not make tunnels… Yes, I must tell him where that tunnel is made, where they look for that genius. In the case of Llinás, when he has to leave, how does he do it? One says little things to them, but one must also let them exploit their conditions, ideas. If I start telling him my ideas, he’ll never know his.
Early classification can affect the group – First we must classify putting the head. I don’t like to change a lot, we’ll do it as we qualify. We will give more minutes to one or the other, but we will not neglect adding. Everyone tells me that you have to be a champion, I know it and for that we have to win, play well and that’s what we want. We also want to add points for reclassification because we had a disappointment in this Copa Libertadores and that’s why we want to add to have another international tournament. We have some physical trainers and a medical department with expectation. We are on the right track and hopefully we will have that performance curve going up, as well as that our starters arrive more whole.
Evolution of Stiven Vega – When I arrived, they told him to remove and ready, that is his task. Today he is one of those players who arrives early to work, because at the moment it is not enough for the midfielder to take the ball away, now he must play too. In that Stiven has had an evolution. If I’m not wrong, the player who throws the most passes is him. For me he is one of the best midfielders in Colombian soccer. It lacks that malice, that wickedness. If we realize, I think he is the midfielder with the fewest yellow cards in the tournament, they don’t send him off, he doesn’t hit, but he is always well placed, he learned to jump lines, he learned to get between the center backs to start the game. One of the things that he needs to improve is that lack of communication, talking, guiding. Sometimes when Silva comes out, I give him the captain’s armband to take him there and at least tell the referee.
