Coudet's challenge at River v Belgrano: more fluency up front | OneFootball

River will host Belgrano this Sunday at the Monumental looking to maintain its perfect start since Eduardo Coudet’s arrival, although the coach’s real challenge seems to go beyond the result. The team has won all three matches under his leadership and scored two goals in each one, an efficiency that has allowed it to take nine points out of nine. However, its overall play is still far from the idea the coach wants.

Even in victory, the Millonario showed stretches in which it gave up control, struggled to sustain its intensity, and failed to dominate matches from start to finish. At several points, the team became predictable in attack and relied more on efficiency than on consistently creating chances. That contrast is what the coach is trying to correct.

The coaching staff’s diagnosis is clear: River lacked greater fluidity in possession and well-established passing patterns to consistently supply the forwards. In several matches, chances came more from individual drive or isolated runs down the flanks than from sustained combinations. For a coach identified with intense, aggressive, front-foot teams, that situation represents a key area for improvement.

Coudet wants his River to be capable of taking control of matches, pressing high, winning the ball back quickly, and attacking with greater volume. He wants the team not only to strike when the opportunity arises, but also to be capable of imposing itself for long stretches.

The break for the FIFA international window came at the right time to work on those details. During the mini preseason in Cardales, the coach used training sessions to test attacking variations and fine-tune movements in attack, with the idea of finding more presence near the opponent’s box.

In that context, one of the most frequently tested options was the front three made up of Maximiliano Salas, Sebastián Driussi, and Facundo Colidio, three players Chacho is looking to bring back and get the best out of. Although they will not necessarily start together against Belgrano, the intention is to give them minutes so they can regain their best form.

Driussi, in fact, seems to be the only one with a virtually guaranteed place in the starting eleven. The forward has already scored two goals in this brief spell and is now the team’s main attacking reference, although he often has to operate between the center-backs without a clear partner in the box.

Coudet’s challenge, then, is to get River to combine results with a more defined identity. So far, the team has shown efficiency (six goals in three matches), but not yet the intensity or sustained superiority that defines its DNA. Against Belgrano, the coach hopes to start seeing a team that is more in control of the game, with better circulation and greater attacking threat.

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