Golden Generation versus Replacement: the crossroads of Ricardo Gareca’s board of directors to form his first team at La Roja

This week, the path of the new Red, that of Ricardo Gareca, officially begins. Although the strategist has been working at Juan Pinto Durán for more than a month, watching the matches in different stadiums of the country and preparing the commitments of the year, with the Copa América and the Qualifiers ahead of him, he now meets the selected teams and this Friday he will try his first try, against Albania. He does this with a list that he made with the thought of forming a core group and which brought back several names that had not appeared for a long time. Some, more than a year ago.

However, the scenario is completely opposite to that of previous seasons. At the head of the standards of the Golden Generation, the coach has players who are gradually fighting for the position. The old rockers as Martín Lasarte called them at one point, They no longer have the regularity or the level of yesteryear . And this theory is even more affirmed when the Argentinian announced that those who had the most consistency in their teams would play.

Faced with this premise, Brayan Cortés is able to fight Claudio Brav’s goal little by little either. Especially since the goalkeeper has not played for Betis since November. The Iquiqueño is one of the most important values ​​​​of the current Colo Colo team.

Meanwhile, on the right wing, Mauricio Isla, who leaves behind a hint of resignation from the national team, There seems to be no competition. Although it is possible to use Matías Catalán on this wing, Huaso showed great performances at Independiente de Avellaneda. In the front, Eduardo Vargas , one of the main novelties of Gareca, does not record performances that support its property. Neither continuity nor objectives. In this position, Tigre had to forcibly call Ben Brereton, whom he had initially excluded due to his poor command of Spanish.

This Wednesday, the new coach of the national team stopped his first team thinking of the friendly match against Albania. And he did it by drawing on the references of the Golden Generation, whatever their present. The fact is that even though the DT will make the decision on match day, The truth is that the training used Claudio Bravo, Mauricio Isla, Alexis Sánchez and Eduardo Vargas among the starters, in a 4-2-3-1 formation. .

From his first weeks in Santiago, Tigre has already shed light by affirming that under his mandate all footballers can be taken into account, regardless of their age. For the Argentinian, no one is excluded. “I see them with great possibilities, provided they are focused and want to continue participating in the national team. Being taken into account is a source of pride, it distinguishes, it makes you worthy, to the extent that each player has this ambition, this desire, it will depend on them, on the validity they will have. If there is a message, it is that everyone has the door open, there are no exceptions,” said the strategist in his presentation, regarding the names of the still active golden generation.

On his first paycheck, Gareca made a big difference compared to his predecessor by summoning Eduardo Vargas, Mauricio Isla and Claudio Bravo three histories which were not taken into account by the previous technical staff. The goalkeeper disappeared in the middle of the Berizzo procedure, after having excluded the friendly matches against Cuba, the Dominican Republic and Bolivia to favor his vacation. Turboman and Huaso, on the other hand, were never considered by Toto. His age and his performances at club were the most determining factors. In fact, for the former O’Higgins strategist, Bravo was not an option as he saw him retiring at the next World Cup. For the moment, the goalkeeper trained in Colo Colo has not yet made a decision regarding his professional future.

Now back at La Roja, the three are likely to stay in the team. The case is different, for example for Gary Medel and Arturo Vidal, which was not on the list. According to information collected by Sporty it is likely that they will be examined later, because Gareca thinks he knows them quite well.

The coach wants to see what his players are doing. Eduardo Vargas, for example, seeks to recover it. The striker has not been consistent in the past, but the strategist bets on this old slogan which existed during the Sampaoli era and then in the first months of Pizzi, where it was indicated that even if he was not well, he was playing in the national team. He made this clear when announcing his appeal. “It often happens that a player who does not play for his club, I can perhaps summon him to see him, evaluate him and even show him, that perhaps if he is in good condition, he could be taken into account by a club. They must also take into account the tastes of the coach. “I love him and I want to see him in these two games and I’m also interested in people seeing him.” he explained on this occasion.

Something similar happens with Claudio Bravo. The one who was the captain of the best moment of the Chilean team in its history has not been constant this season. Injuries made him lose importance. But Gareca believes he can still contribute. On and off the field.

Mauricio Isla arrives more regularly. The winger had voluntarily withdrawn from everyone’s squad, but later retracted his statement and assured that if there was a call, he would accept it. During his time at Independiente, he rediscovered football (after his misstep at UC) and Carlos Tevez, with whom he played at Juventus, was able to exploit his qualities by giving him roles that always suited him: being close to the wing and being more important on the offensive field than defensively.

The three will compete for a place against younger players. Bravo knows that Cortés responded to the request. At right-back, a bet is Nicolás Fernández (28 years old) ; while in the attack the other who wants a place in the center is Víctor Dávila (26) who plays for CSKA Moscow.

The context of Alexis Sánchez is different. The Inter Milan striker always has the advantage of playing in Europe and in a big team. Especially now that it has regained prominence over the past month. Despite this, Tigre has made it clear that if he does not add minutes, he will have to look for other horizons. : “It would be good if, logically, over time, He leaves as quickly as possible to join a team like Marseille, which gave him the opportunity to play. So it will capture that continuity that so many players are looking for. It would be good for him to have this possibility,” the former Vélez Sarsfield man told this media.

Faced with such a scenario, the Betis goalkeeper adds bonuses to defend the three goals of the national goal again; Mauricio Isla, Igor Lichnovsky, Paulo Díaz and Gabriel Suazo will guard the last line, then midfielders Rodrigo Echeverría and Marcelino Núñez will be on the cut line; Alexis Sánchez will be responsible for the distribution of the game and will be accompanied by Víctor Dávila on the right wing and Darío Osorio on the left; leaving Eduardo Vargas alone in front.

In dialogue with Sporty the history Jorge Aravena He approved the return of the old guard that Gareca summoned. “I think it’s good that Ricardo comes with the idea of ​​open doors. I was always surprised that Berizzo didn’t have Claudio Bravo who is the best goalkeeper we have,” underlines Mortero.

It also ensures that a future call for Vidal This shouldn’t be surprising: “If he has the performance to respond at international level, I don’t think Gareca won’t call him up. But this must be proven,” says the former Universidad Católica.

Of course, the crossover idol also points out that none of the Golden Generation members have a guaranteed spot in the starting lineup. “Names don’t play a role here, performance plays a role. If a 37 year old player, with a huge CV, He is competing for a position with a 17 year old boy and for the coach, the young man is in better shape “He has to play.” close the mortar.