The improvement suggested by Universidad Católica was stopped in the Classic against Colo Colo. The Crusaders returned to the previous dysfunctions, falling 1-0, and emerged around the recovery now hinted at with Tiago Nunes. In Santa Laura, also the poor performance of Alexander Aravena He left mixed feelings and appears as one of the ‘damnified’ in the football reformulation of the Brazilian coach.
The youth squad’s individual data was evident in the Classic. During the offensive phase, in which he should have had a greater impact due to his undeniable playing attributes, Aravena came into contact with the ball only five times. They registered a loss in possession of the ball and, of the two ground-level duels played, they won one. At 63 minutes he was replaced by Clemente Montes.
New feature
The first relevant decision adopted by Nunes was the change in the game system. The crusaders went from the unalterable 1-4-3-3 or 1-4-2-1-3 of Nicolas Nunez to the 1-4-4-2 scheme that, until now, the Brazilian coach has not abandoned. In their debut against Huachipato (0-0 draw), they made the positional reconfiguration clear and, against Colo Colo, UC maintained that organization on the field.
In this positional context, Nunes assigned Aravena the role of left outside midfielder in the midfield area. He has been seen disconnected, far from the zone of influence of the creation and attacking game, mainly led by César Pinares, the midfielder of the opposite sector in the Brazilian coach’s scheme.
Nunes’ proposal initially contemplates a limited game construction phase. Without great elaborative passages and in direct search of the two men located in the axis of the offensive line (Gonzalo Tapia and Fernando Zampedri). The movement of the ball through the middle zone is fast and with Aravena positioned on the left side, his interventions have been few. This only changed when he occasionally positioned himself in the attacking intermediate space, level with the outer edge of the opponent’s penalty area.
Start in another role
The striking thing about Aravena’s new functionality is that, when Nunes’ stage against Huachipato began, the coach originally placed him as one of the two forwards in the line of attack, when he replaced Montes. That day at the CAP in Talcahuano, the youth player played from the center to the left, alongside Zampedri. Cristian Cuevas was positioned as an outside midfielder.
However, since the 2-0 victory against Cobresal, the Brazilian strategist gave the title in the offensive line to Tapia and Aravena had to position himself, ‘closing’ the line of four midfielders in the midfield. The variant, in terms of attack, gave full results to Nunes, since Tapia has been the best in the four games that the coach has on the bench.
Along with the perception that this is not Aravena’s best moment, it is also evident that the new role does not fit with the youth squad’s essential playing attributes. He is a born forward, even with football traits to act as a center forward despite his atypical size for this position. His best performance was seen at maximum height in the offensive sector, unbalancing through dribbling actions, with deep associations and through vertical penetration demarcations.
