National is a team that moves the passion of millions of people and the decisions they make in the club are part of the public scrutiny. The start of the tournament has not been the best neither from the leadership nor the sports, when you should be on a honeymoon after the League title after 5 years.
So the coach Hernán Darío el Arriero Herrera is in a stage of increased pressure and a defeat against Tolima would make the atmosphere more tense.
This game, which will take place on Saturday at 8:15 pm in Ibagué, should start playing from the election of the payroll and one of the neuralgic points is the goal in the absence of Kevin Mier, to whom Dimayor gave two Sanction dates after expulsion with Junior on date 2.
the juvenile Luis Marquínez, who made his debut on matchday one against Cortuluá, was the one chosen to tackle Millonarios and the reasons for him to be Mier’s replacement were logical. And it is that Aldair Quintana, who is the goalkeeper with the longest career, does not have a good relationship with the fans and putting him in the Atanasio Girardot was exposing him to constant whistling and chants against him.
However, Marquínez (19 years old) was seen as inexperienced, in a normal situation and even more so in the position of playmaker and, although his actions did not influence the 2-1 defeat, they did leave open the question of what could happen against the pijao cast.
To this is added that he could physically have problems, as confirmed by coach Herrera this Thursday while waiting for the medical report. “Aldair will possibly go with us to Ibagué and we also have Sebastián Guerra and Juan José Uribe”.
The coach added that if it is Aldair’s turn again, he hopes things will work out for him. “We have Milton Patiño and René Higuita who have worked on it, I have spoken with him. He was going to cover against Millonarios, but he had a limitation that got out of hand, but he has a contract with Nacional, we can call him and let him cover. He must lift the soul part of him and if he is given the opportunity, God willing, he will do very well”.
Aldair was relegated
One of the first decisions made by the “Arriero” when he took office to replace Alejandro Restrepo was to trust Kevin Mier, and Aldair was left in the background despite the support that, at the time, he had from the leadership and the group of players.
Now in the sports part, beyond the thoughts of the fans, Herrera has to weigh who can best take on the challenge of facing Tolima at the Manuel Murillo Toro.
While waiting for Marquínez’s medical report, which would make the coach’s choice easier, it must be said that it is not an easy decision. We wanted to consult different exporters about what should be the path to be taken by the green coach.
Gastón Pezzuti, League champion with the green in 2011 and today a panelist for Espn, indicated that this analysis should fall on the coach and his work group. “They must know who is better and who can provide greater security to the group”.
For Gastón, it is time for the fans to turn the page with Aldair’s theme. “What happened to him has already happened and he would have to be in the same conditions as the others for the election from the soccer point of view.”
Pezzuti added that if there is no business involved, Quintana should compete for that position. “By not lending it, he leaves it in the same conditions as the rest, unless there is something administrative that limits it,” said the Argentine.
For his part, Andrés Saldarriaga, champion with Nacional in 2005 and 2007, said that if the decision was made from the beginning of the tournament that Marquínez was going to be Mier’s second, that should be respected. “In this position you learn from your mistakes and I think you should continue to give them continuity in games”.
José “Chepe” Castañeda, on the other hand, believes that it is the ideal setting for Aldair to become important to the group. “The team is not doing well and that’s when those who lift him should appear and he can arrive and, at the point of saves, regain prominence and reconcile with all the fans”.
