Coudet seeks fresh legs in River attack, weighs changes vs Belgrano | OneFootball

Eduardo Coudet arrived at River with the clear intention of putting the house in order. Although he took few risks in his first three matches, Chacho collected all nine points at stake, and his team is averaging two goals per game. Even so, he knows there is still a lot to improve, especially in attack, and that is why he has not yet decided on the starting 11 to host Belgrano on Sunday.

There is no doubt that the consecutive wins over Huracán, Sarmiento, and Estudiantes de Río Cuarto brought enormous peace of mind to Núñez. With the team on a roll, in the qualification zone for the round of 16 and the international cups, the break for the FIFA date came at just the right time to fine-tune details and look for something it has shown only in flashes so far: attacking power.

During the mini preseason in Cardales, Coudet repeatedly tested the front three of Maximiliano Salas, Sebastián Driussi, and Facundo Colidio. Determined to bring back the best of the former Racing and former Tigre players (in fact, he has already managed to get the first one scoring again), he will ease them in so they can return to their top level. Looking ahead to the clash with the Pirata, he is unlikely to go with those three names together, but it is certain that he will look to give them minutes.

One of the biggest problems lay in chance creation. Without Juan Fernando Quintero in the starting 11, most of Chacho’s team’s attacks generally came from Gonzalo Montiel’s runs into open spaces. But that is not enough. That is why the coach’s dilemma is between loading up the attacking line or giving it more variety.

Juanfer himself could be a solution, but, as is well known, he would take away some physical presence. Another option is Joaquín Freitas, who brings great movement through the middle, something no other attacker in the squad is really known for. Otherwise, Coudet could once again rely on the individual flair of Kendry Páez and Ian Subiabre, who have alternated between good and bad moments.

The only player with a more or less assured starting spot seems to be Driussi, who has already scored two goals in this early spell. Ideally, El Gordo works best alongside a traditional center forward, but circumstances have him playing more among the rival center backs. However, the idea of pairing him with Freitas in Córdoba to give him more freedom did not work, as the team barely created any dangerous chances.

For now, it remains uncertain which players will start in River’s attack. With Fausto Vera and Aníbal Moreno in the middle of the park, it will also depend on who plays alongside them in order to build the combinations that, so far, have only been seen sporadically. Tomás Galván is a player who usually occupies the spaces between the lines well to create play and find depth, but his level has dropped in these last three matches.

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