It is not new in world football that the creatives end up playing on the front line of flyers. One of the earliest examples was the legendary ’10’ German Lothar Matthaus who even ended his career as a central defender. This Friday at Medellín, which will receive La Equidad at Atanasio from 5:45 pm, Andrés Ricaurte will fulfill that function.
A remembered case was that of Mauricio “Chicho” Serna, who when he arrived at Nacional from Pereira was creative, but in the Argentine Boca Juniors he became an idol playing five.
Ricaurte, up to now, has fulfilled that position more than correctly.
The former DIM technician, Hernán Darío “Bolillo” Gómez, stated that the creative always had a tendency to lag behind to make contact with the ball. With coach Julio Comesaña he did not have much participation and, since David González arrived, he indicated that he would try to put the players in the places on the field that felt best.
Andrés is the axis of the DIM because, in addition to improving the mark, he is almost always the ideal link to get the ball clean between the defenses and the midfielders. From his position he has a better view to make deep passes to forwards.
“It is a function that is not unknown to him, what happens is that he had been playing in a different place for quite some time, but his great moments with Huila and with Medellín came from that place on the field,” said coach David González. .
In this task, he depends on his teammate in the zone, who in this case is the Argentine Adrián Arregui, who complements him with his relays, his claw in the brand and the surprise start. “We have to strengthen that tandem and that is done with the passing of the games,” added the red coach.
In world football there various referents who also decided to play late and they make a difference, like the Croatian Luka Modrić at Real Madrid.
Just as Ricaurte prepared himself in his personal life by studying for when he is no longer in football, he believes that on the field you have to reinvent yourself.
“I feel very comfortable, it is a function that I had already had the opportunity to do in Huila and for which I came to Medellin thanks to my performance in it,” he said.
“In 2018 with Ismael Rescalvo I played the whole semester starting from there and on other occasions I also had that position as I am doing now.”
He said he admires players of the stature of Pirlo, Busquets, Kroos. “Now I really like the performance of Leandro Paredes, Enzo Pérez, among others, who in addition to executing it in a very good way are soccer players who have also been creative midfielders at some point.”
He explained that the difference is based more than anything on the participation of different phases of the game. “In this case, more is involved in the construction than in the completion of the plays. And defensively implies better positions. In addition to giving a little more balance to correctly occupy the spaces that are left unprotected in the team’s attacks”.
So at 30 years old, Ricaurte looks renewed, with his quality intact and with the ability to shoulder the team. Before La Equidad, for the sixth date of the Betplay-2 League, it will once again be the nucleus on which Medellín’s good football revolves, now from another position.
