Week From Hell

Newell's lost to San Martin (Tucumán) yesterday by a score of 1-0. I didn't see much of the game, by the time I'd gotten home there was only 10 minutes left. What little I did see was not pretty. San Martin were a man down, yet still Newell's were playing long ball futbol... during the first two games of the Clausura we were playing short pass, keep the ball on the ground, and it paid off with wins over Gimnasia LP 3-0, and Boca Jrs 2-0.

In the third game we saw the return of Salcedo to the line up, and ever sense the team has been going more and more to long balls and counter attacks. And what is the reward for the change of tactics? Well, 2 wins and 9 ties out of 16 games.

Now I'm not saying that Newell's would be on top of the standings if Salcedo had stayed out of the line up, but I do think that they'd be further up the standings than they are now. I also think they would have been better off taking Mauro Rosales from River in the exchange for Fabbiani rather than Salcedo. Rosales may not be in top form, but at least he is a player who came from Newell's youth ranks, and a return to La Lepra might just be the cure for what's been ailing him.

For those who did not see it, or those who can stomach watching it again, I present you the goal from Friday's game:


Meanwhile, over in South Africa, the USA are participating in the Confederations Cup. Really, they may as well have stayed at home. They lost to Italy 3-1, and Brazil 3-0, and had a player shown a red card in both games.

Now the fact that they lost isn't so bad, I mean both of the opponents they faced are traditional world powers, honestly I expected them to lose. What made this the week from hell is that I tried to tape both these games, and both times failed.

The surprise is that going into the game tomorrow the USA still has a chance to make it to the second round. They will need to beat Egypt, and Brazil will need to beat Italy. After that, it would be a matter of goal difference... they may as well go try storming a castle.