Of Prolonged Absence

Yes, yes... I know. I have been away from here for far too long. Considering how Newell's Old Boys preformed over the Apertura is that really surprising?

That is not to say I am a fair weather fan. I still watched ever game that I could, have been following the team news, but just could not bring my self to write anything because the state of the team was doing nothing short of pissing me off... and I would rather not write about something I am passionate about while angry with them. With the Apertura over, I had fallen out of the habit of posting. Shame on me for that.

Well, guess I should say something about the Apertura. Nineteen games played, one win, thirteen draws. What a disaster. Before the Apertura I had stated that we needed as many points as possible to avoid a relegation battle come next season. Instead we got so few that we may just be facing a relegation battle during the Clausura.

Enough about that... or I will get angry, and start ranting.

Gerardo "Tata" Martino has come in (old news now, really) as the new coach during the summer break. Tata is a legend at Newell's from his playing days with the club. The former midfielder played a total of 505 matches for the team, and in a 2010 poll of Lepra fans was voted the best player in the history of the club. He has had some success as a coach as well, though so far it has all come at the helm of teams in Paraguay, winning the league championship there four times, winning the South American Coach of the Year award in 2007 while directing their national team... Whether all this will translate to his being able to turn Newell's around is yet to be seen, but I have already seen many a Lepra posting on Facebook and Twitter proclaiming him a savior.

I pray that it will be so.

Violence After Draw With Olimpo

Newell's Old Boys took a 2-0 lead and then sat back and allowed Olimpo to come back to end the game tied at two... and so the suffering continues for La Lepra. Thirteen games played, nine have ended in draws.



I have said it before, I will say it again. Newell's Old Boys need to start earning points, as in three at a time, or come next season we will be staring down relegation.

Adding to the problems was the on going issues between the team and the Rosario Police. After the match there were some fan problems, with 108 arrests made. The team released security camera footage that would seem to indicate that at least some of the problems were actually created by the police themselves (see below.)



While it may be true that some of the violence was due to over zealous police, the police are pointing their fingers back at Newell's administration. And there is no alternative but using them as security during matches in Argentina. This could create a bit of a problem for the team, as the police could end up refusing to work Newell's home matches.

Forget The Veterans... Bring In More 19 Year Olds

I missed Monday's match up between hosts All Boys and Newell's Old Boys due to a bit of a cold that is still dogging me.

The match ended in a 1 - 1 draw (big surprise.) Bright spot of the night for Newell's was Fabián Muñoz scoring in his debut. And it was a beauty.

So was the goal scored by Juan Pablo Rodríguez that gave All Boys the early lead... a curving shot that tied Sebastián Peratta into knots. I do not think I have ever seen San Peratta get fooled this badly before, but can not fault him.



Still, have to wonder how La Lepra did not manage to take the full three points. Considering that All Boys spent the vast majority of the match down a man after Hugo Barrientos (who played with Newell's during the 2009/2010 season) was sent off during the 18th minute.

El Rey De Los Empates?

Seven games played, five draws. That is the way I see Newell's Old Boys in this Apertura so far.

Let me start by mentioning the 0-0 draw against Atlético Rafaela, since I never got around to writing anything about it. I only saw the second half due to the match being played on a Friday. What I did see was not a boring 0-0 draw, but one in which both defenses were up to most of the challenges, and when they were not the goal keepers were there to handle things.

Today the match against Vélez Sarsfield ended 1-1, which is not a bad result for La Lepra, but I for one am still frustrated at the inability that Newell's continue to display.

Sure, Newell's scored a goal in this game, off a beautiful diving header from Carmelo Valencia, but it was the only truly dangerous play that the offense managed to create... well, that and the foul on Sperduti that should have resulted in a penalty that the referee apparently did not see.

Again, I only got to see the second half, but this time it was due to my forgetting the early kick off time, and getting involved in a bit of a musical project.

Ah, well. Another weekend, another draw for Newell's. This is almost getting predictable.

So far I'm not finding any video highlights... I will try again later.

Up next, Newell's travel to Avellaneda to face Racing Club.

What A Lousy Weekend

First off, Newell's Old Boys hosted Colón de Santa Fe on Friday afternoon, which means I say not a second of this match as I was stuck at work. Because of that I have nothing I can say about the 0-0 draw.

I can say that it was not pleasant discovering that one of the tires on my car had a slow leak. Woke up Saturday morning to find it completely flat. I filled it up as best I could with my hand pump, and got it in and plug. No big deal, but not the way I imagined spending my Saturday morning.

The rest of the day went alright, until 9 PM, which is when a rather nasty storm came through, knocking down branches, and leaving us with out power... which won't be restored, by all estimates, until some time Monday evening. Even better was the fact that one of the branches that was down was blocking our garage door.

My crazy roommate / landlord took it upon himself to cut down the branch that was blocking the garage door (did I mention it was resting on a POWER LINE?) and once that was done I helped him clear it away from the door.

So, now I'm at a friend's house, who didn't lose power. I was already scheduled to be here to watch their dogs overnight as they are headed out of town to visit relatives.

With luck I've seen the last of the excitement for this weekend.

Newell's Pull One Out Of The Hat

When Belgrano Cordoba defender Gastón Turus scored the first goal of the game in the eigth minute my thoughts were "here we go again." When midfielder Juan Maldonado put the home side up 2-0 some five minutes later I was sure that La Lepra were done, that this game was just going to be another painful reminder that the team just was not capable of scoring goals, and that the defensive lapses from last season were returning. On Twitter I called for Newell's to wake up...

Enter Pablo Perez in the thirty first minute, replacing defender Alexis Machuca. Perez positioned himself in midfield, with Cristian Díaz moving back to defense. It was as if the entire Newell's squad had pasted through the magical hat of Hijitus and become Super Lepra. Belgrano stopped getting as many chances. Ten minutes later and Sperduti placed a cross in to the area, Víctor Aquino heading a bouncing ball past Belgrano keeper Juan Carlos Olave.

Newell's were back in the game.

The second half belonged to Newell's and Newell's alone. In the sixty third minute Lucas Bernardi launched the ball forward to the feet of Ricardo Noir, who calmly took the ball and blasted it into the back of the net and the score was level.

Three minutes later and it was Noir again, this time with a header (after another cross from Sperduti.) Now after the game against Boca last week I stated that Noir had barely proved himself better than a player I have been known to call the Great Tree Stump. All I can say is I love it when any Newell's player proves me wrong.



Up next, the closest thing that La Lepra have to a clasico, as Colón de Santa Fe come to Rosario. There will actually be two mini-clasicos for Newell's this season, as Unión de Santa Fe have come up from the B. Just prior to the start of the Newell's Belgrano match these two teams played their true clasico, Unión taking a surprize 2-0 victory.

Newell's Still In Search Of A 9?

Newell's Old Boys loss 1-0 at home to Boca Jrs on Sunday was a clear indication of one thing: you can not win matches simply by creating chances. You have to put them on net, and, eventually, you have to slip one or two past the goalkeeper and into the back of the net.

Both teams had the same number of shots taken with nine apiece. Problem is Newell's only managed to put 2 of their shots on target to compare with the 8 from Boca. Simply put, if not for the heroics of one San Peratta, this game could well have been a rout.

But that is not the only story here. One of the things Newell's do not have is a striker of any size... so why are we lobbing crosses into the box when the only player who have that has shown he can be dangerous with his head is defender Nacho Fideleff? The only time he gets up front is on corners and free kicks.

There were two players who did have chances with headers for La Lepra that I took note of. But neither Sperduti nor Vangioni have ever impressed me with their skill with balls in the air, though both are apt at delivering the kind of crosses to which someone who is able to use their heads to score might latch on to.

So, just like last year we are in search of a player to step up and score goals. Just like last years we are playing pretty much the same style. (The only real difference I have noticed is Peratta using a throw to a defender to get the ball up field rather than blasting it all the time.) It is funny... I thought we had changed coaches?

The only things I have seen from Javier Torrente since he took charge that are much different is Peratta throwing the ball, and that he is far more vocal from the bench. These are both good things. Problem is that offensively Torrente is short on quality in key spots on the field, and has failed to find a system to play to the strength of the team.

Ah well. Could be another long season.

Way Late - But No Games This Weekend...

Newell's Old Boys opened the 2011 Apertura with a 0-0 home draw against Estudiantes. I'll take that as an encouraging sign for the new season. Was is not encouraging is that it has taken me a week to write anything about it, and as the news is a week old, I am not going to dwell on it.

I also never got around to writing much of anything about the happenings during the off season. Below is a list of in coming and leaving players, with a bit of notation on key figures.

New - returning players:

Víctor Aquino - Nacional
Victor Figueroa - Al Nassr - midfielder playmaker. Much is expected... but same could be said about Camacho before him.
Augusto Mainguyague - Independiente Rivadavia (Mza)
Ricardo Noir - Boca Juniors - striker
Hernán Pellerano - Almería
Pablo Pérez - Unión de Santa Fe - midfielder returning from loan. Should be a helpful sub, if nothing else.
Marcos Riveros - Nacional
Leandro Torres - Emelec - midfield playmaker returning from loan. I would have liked to have seen him given the chance as a starter. Perhaps if Figueroa does not work out he will still get his chance.
Carmelo Valencia - Ulsan Hyundai Motors
Santiago Vergini - Verona

Gone:

Claudio Bieler - Liga Dep.Univ.Quito - bye bye, Bieler. After all of praise you were given you really did not perform up to what was expected.
Alejandro Cascio - Olympiakos Volou
Rodrigo Chávez - Tiro Federal (Rosario)
Gabriel Cichero - Lens - played well in the Copa America, earning a trip to Europe to play in France. Hope Lens can deal with your defensive short comings...
Juan Manuel Cobelli - Chacarita Jrs. - after all the talk of interest from teams in Europe you end up with Chacarita? Excuse me while I roll on the floor laughing. You should have signed that contract, son.
Carlos Del Giorno - Guillermo Brown (Madryn)
Emanuel Dening - Guillermo Brown (Madryn)
Pablo Dolci - Chacarita Jrs. - Sorry to see him go. He was a solid midfielder who could fill various roles. Perhaps with Chaca he will be a starter?
Fabricio Fuentes - Defensa y Justicia - I did not thing he did all that badly in his return to Newell's. But the team had slow start to the Clausura, and he was soon no were near the starting eleven.
Cristian Lema - Tigre
Daniel Salvatierra - Atlético Tucumán - I am hoping this is a loan move to get Daniel some time playing as a starter. He has a lot of promise, and I hope he can return to Newell's a better player.
Mauricio Scaglia - Tiro Federal (Rosario)
Rolando Schiavi - Boca Juniors - too old, washed up? I do not think so... but Boca (or certain factions of their management) have been wanting El Flaco back ever since he left them to join Newell's.
Leandro Velázquez - Vélez Sarsfield - returns to Vélez after what they must consider a failed loan spell with Newell's. He barely got enough time to prove himself one way or the other with La Lepra.
Luciano Vella - River Plate

Meanwhile, Mauro Formica made his debut for Blackburn earlier today, and scored his first goal for his new club. Unfortunately they still managed to lose 2-1.