The curious stat behind Colón’s starting XI against San Telmo | OneFootball

Colón is gearing up for a new challenge outside of Santa Fe. This Sunday, starting at 4 PM, they will visit San Telmo at Doctor Osvaldo Baletto for the sixth round of Zone A in the Primera Nacional Tournament, at a time when the team is in the group of runners-up, just one point behind the leader Acassuso.

Looking ahead to this match, it seems that Ezequiel Medrán would opt for just one change compared to the team that recently defeated Acassuso at the Brigadier López. The change would be the inclusion of Julián Marcioni, who has recovered from his tear, replacing Conrado Ibarra, who suffered a muscle injury in the last match.

But beyond the specific change, the alteration would highlight a very strong and particular fact about Colón's current football situation.

An eleven without players from Colón's youth academy

The departure of Ibarra would not be just another change. His absence would mean that, in the starting team that will take the field at Isla Maciel, there will be no player who emerged from Colón's youth divisions.

This is undoubtedly a significant peculiarity in a club historically accustomed to nurturing its own players and that, moreover, comes from a very special season where several young homegrown players had prominence amid a context as complex as last year's in the Primera Nacional.

Thus, the probable lineup for Colón to face San Telmo would consist of Gabriel Budiño; Mauro Peinipil, Pier Barrios, Federico Rasmussen, and Facundo Castet; Julián Marcioni, Federico Lértora, Ignacio Antonio, and Ignacio Lago; Lucas Cano and Alan Bonansea. In other words, a team entirely made up of players brought in from outside.

A clear signal of Colón's market strategy

This fact also clearly exposes how the sabalero squad was conceived for this season. Colón went out to seek players with hierarchy, experience, and knowledge of the category, in a clear bid to form a competitive group immediately, with significant and experienced names to fight at the top.

The construction of the squad aimed to minimize the margin of error after a chaotic previous campaign, in which the team ended far from expectations and enveloped in a climate of strong uncertainty. In that context, the management and coaching staff chose to rely on seasoned names rather than a more sustained process with the club's youth players.

And that, precisely, is also starting to be reflected in the composition of the starting team.

Youth relegated and a message that also challenges

The absence of even a single starter from the club also opens up deeper interpretations. On one hand, it can be seen as a sign of the lack of confidence that the youth currently have in the fight for a place within a structure designed to compete now. On the other hand, it also reveals that several of those players who had significant participation last season have not managed to consolidate or maintain that space with the arrival of the new project.

The point is noteworthy because Medrán knows these players well. The coach worked with them from the end of last year, once Colón was out of the playoffs, so they are not players unfamiliar to his observation or analysis.

Therefore, the lack of presence of homegrown players in the probable starting lineup can be read as a conclusion by the coaching staff about the current state of those players, or as an indication that no youth players have yet emerged who meet the demands Colón currently faces in the category.

A Colón built to rise, but with little room for homegrown players

Medrán's decision, if confirmed on Sunday, will reinforce a trend that has been emerging since the start of the tournament: Colón is built to fight for promotion with a base of seasoned, experienced players with significant weight in the Primera Nacional.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.