Early Season Discontent

I'm a bit miffed that Central are sitting on top after four games, but look at who they've played. Racing, Tigre, Crucero, and Olimpo are not exactly the toughest opponents.

Newell's on the other hand, have lost points to Independiente and Velez. Granted, Newell's have not looked all that impressive even in their wins. While some credit luck in Newell's win over Crucero I'd have to say that Crucero was lucky the score wasn't more lopsided. Scocco had 4-5 good chances he would have buried back in 2012/13.

Maybe it's Tolo's style that isn't working for the team, or maybe it's the team not working to his style. Maxi and Scocco publicly complaining about it? That's something that didn't even happen when Sensini was in charge. Maxi has been scoring, but still does not appear to be in top form. Scocco has not been anywhere near his best.

I may not agree with Gallego's system, but play your best before you start complaining boys.

Campeon Torneo Final 2013. To Whom Goes The Credit?

It has been far too long since I visited these pages and written a single word about my beloved Newell's Old Boys. It has been far too long since we last claimed a title. The later was fixed mid-week when Lanús handed Newell's the Torneo Final 2013 title by losing to Estudiantes 2-0, but we do not owe them any thanks. I wish they could have won that game, so that La Lepra could have won the title tomorrow by beating Argentinos Juniors at home. Now that final game will be one big party, but it would have been far wilder, far more enjoyable had we claimed the title on the field.

 

Newell's Old Boys - Official Wallpapers

So who is owed the thanks for this championship? Some will say the return of Ingnacio Scocco, Maxi Rodriguez, and Gabriel Heinze was the key to the victory. Each had there part to play, it's true, but was that truly the key to our success?

Nacho for all his goals he certainly is significant. But when Super Scocco, as I took to calling him on Twitter, was rested for the Copa Libertadores (a front we are still fighting on) it was Maxi Urruti that stepped up mostly coming on as a late substitute.

La Fiera Rodriguez was certainly a force to be dealt with. Minor injuries and being rested for the Copa gave room for the likes of Victor Figueroa and Martin Tonso to step in and have their moments of glory.

Same thing can be said about El Gringo Heinze. In the matches he missed it was up to the rest of the defense to make up for the hole his absence left, with Victor López and Guillermo Ortiz taking his place.

Some will say that it was Tata Martino as coach that made the difference, and certainly he had a huge influence on this team. Fielding a team that was often said to be a 4-5-1 formation, it more often looked like they were in an old school 4-3-3, the formation that was used by the first group of Leprosos to claim a title. While other teams that were playing in both the Torneo and the Libertadores concentrated on the Copa at the expense of the league, Tata rotated players so that, having claimed the domestic title, we could see the team claim a double. Or, it could be claimed a double should we beat the Torneo Initial champions Vélez Sarsfield on June 29 in Mendoza. (It is only a game played for pride, as AFA now have backed away from the original plan of this one game crowning one single champion for the 2012/2013 season.)

Pablo Perez was a huge factor on the right side of midfield. Early on Fabián Muñoz made his mark before sadly going down to injury. The Peruvian international Rinaldo Cruzado did not play often, but certainly had an impact.

All three of our defensive midfielders played their part. Lucas Bernardi has been as good as he as ever been. Hernán Villalba almost made us forget that Bernardi was serving a suspension early on, but sadly was not available due to injury for the rest of the season. Diego Mateo filled in when needed.

The play of goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán has gotten stronger with every game he has played. Certainly he has some credit for Newell's winning the title. His back up, Sebastián Peratta, he whom I still call San Peratta filled in and put in his usual solid performance in a number of games.

So who gets the credit for winning this title? No one, but every one. Every player, Martino and all of his coaching staff, the grounds keepers and the fans. No one deserves to not take some credit for this achievement. May this be the beginning of a new golden age for the team.

Dale Newell's! Dale La Lepra! Dale Campeon!

Now let's see about lifting that Libertadores trophy, shall we?

Newell's Old Boys Earn Place In 2013 Libertadores

I had the day off, having scheduled my final floating holiday for the year a few months ago. When I saw that Newell's Old Boys were playing today I was all set to sit down and watch the game. For the first half, it was not meant to be. The channels through which I normally watch had Newcastle United playing Wigan in the English Premier League, a rebroadcast Boca Jrs match, and an Argentine highlight show, but no Newell's against At. Rafaela. I asked for a few via a tweet (twitter post, for those who do not know) and soon had a link... but I did not have the proper plug-ins to run the video via the website. Nothing was going my way.

So, I watched the first half of Newcastle and Wigan... on TV, no internet needed, and kept track of the Newell's match via Twitter, and checked out the first goal by way of Ole. Fabián Muñoz scored his first goal of the season in the first minute of the match to give Newell's a 1-0 lead. And that is how the first half ended.

At half time I took a break to take a shower, I'd spent the day doing some cleaning up around the house and really needed one. When I got back to the computer I again checked my usual sources for futbol feeds and found that yes indeed someone was showing the match. I loaded it up and found they were fifteen minutes into the second half, and Muñoz had scored his second goal of the day. Meanwhile, I still had Newcastle and Wigan going on the television. When Newcastle took a 3-0 lead my gut told me that Newell's were going to get a third as well. I put it off as wishful thinking...

And then, in the 84th minute Muño, the man of the match, sent a ball toVíctor Figueroa who launched a looping ball that set Ignacio Scocco with only the goalkeeper to beat. Scocco scored and Newell's ended the day with a win that sends them into the 2013 Copa Libertadores in style.



With only one game left Newell's find themselves in a three way tie for second place along side Lanús and Belgrano with 33 points. There is no longer a chance at a title as Vélez Sarsfield claimed that with a 2-0 win yesterday against a hapless Unión de Santa Fe.

Final match for La Lepra will be next weekend away to Argentinos Jrs.

Two Points Tossed To The Wind

Sunday afternoon Newell's Old Boys went to Mendoza in first place tied with Vélez Sarsfield. At the end of the day their 1-1 draw with hosts Godoy Cruz gave them a one point lead in the standings, and for that I am happy. The way we tossed away what should have been a win, however, has me disappointed. I'm not the only feeling that way, either. Newell's coach Gerardo Martino expressed his feelings about the game known, and he was far from happy with the way we let this one slip away.

Newell's were up 1-0 at half time from a brilliant 10th minute goal from league leader Ignacio Scocco, with his 9th of the year. We also had a man advantage after Jorge Curbelo was red carded from a vicious foul on Maxi Rodriguez in the 41st minute. Had we kept playing the way we had in the first half victory would have been relatively easy. That was not to pass.

In the second half Newell's played poorly, letting more room than a team down a man should have had. In the 79th minute Nahuel Guzmán made a poor save on a shot taken by Alexis Castro just inside the penalty area. The ensuing rebound was pounced on by Mauro Obolo. There was little that Guzmán could have done at that point, but I am left wondering, as well as Guzmán has played, why Sebastián Peratta is still sitting on the bench.



Up next, Newell's will be hosting Quilmes on Friday. Due to the kick off time of the match, I will probably miss most of it, if not all.

Super Scocco Nets Two

Had a friend come over an hour before Newell's Old Boys and Arsenal de Sarandí and we spent a few hours watching cheap horror films in honor of Halloween. Needless to say, that meant I did not see La Lepra take a 2-1 victory from the visitors off a stunning brace from Ignacio Scocco to remain in first place. It also gives Newell's super scorer eight goals on the season putting him on top of the individual scorer race.

As I write Vélez Sarsfield have taken over second place from Racing Club as they are playing each other. Vélez are up 1-0 at home with about twenty minutes to go.

Here's to Racing coming up with the tie. That would pad Newell's lead.

Getting back to Newell's, we had a player take a red card. One source I have lists Gabriel Heinze facing a suspension, while another says it was Victor Figueroa. Checked a third source and looks like it was Heinze. May just have been a second yellow, anyone able to fill me in, please do.

Up next Newell's travel to Mendoza to face Godoy Cruz.

Maxi Scores His First Since Returning To Newell's

In my last post about Newell's Old Boys I wondered why Maxi Rodriguez had not scored since his return to the club. After nine games all the goals seemed to be coming from Ignacio Scocco, and I stated that we needed to spend less time trying to set up Nacho so that our opponents would give him more room. It did not take long for that to be resolved...

In Sunday's match Scocco turned provider, and from his near perfect cross Maxi scored his first goal of the season. This all came about with the match barely under way, and that lone goal was enough for Newell's to beat Vélez Sarsfield 1-0 and remain unbeaten for the season.


After ten matches Newell's are still in first place, two points ahead of Racing Club, who had briefly been in first after they had beaten Colón, also 1-0, on  Saturday.

Boca Jrs faded from the top as they lost 3-1 away to Belgrano. As much as that score might be surprising, the least likely of out comes was River Plate beating Godoy Cruz 5-0.

Next week is an off week due to World Cup Qualfiers. After that, Newell's will be facing Racing in a fight for first place...  Newell's has an edge in that as even a draw will see them stay on top.

Newell's Remain Unbeaten

What can I say, it is Wednesday morning and I have yet to say anything about Newell's Old Boys and their 0-0 draw against Tigre. With that single point La Lepra remain in first place, and are still unbeaten on the season. Still, there were things about this game that worry me.

First and foremost is the fact that Tigre are having a terrible season. We should have been able to beat them, easily. Sure, they had home field advantage, but that should not have been a problem. From what I saw the problem was that Newell's constantly looked to set up leading scorer Ignacio Scocco (now tied with former Lepra Iván Borghello) while Tigre focused on him defensively.

In my opinion to remain in first La Lepra need to find more scoring from the rest of the team. It is really a mystery to me that Maxi Rodriguez has yet to score a single goal since his return to the team. He is more than capably of doing so, his career has proved this. So why has he not been able to score now?

Mauricio Sperdutti only has one goal so far this season. He also is capable of more. The same thing can be said about Pablo Pérez. I can not blame Maximiliano Urruti for not scoring, as he has only been used off the bench this season.

Our next match is at home against Vélez Sarsfield. This will not be an easy match, and to win we will need everyone playing at their best... and hopefully we can draw the attention off Super Scocco and get a goal or two from another source.

A Win Nearly Ruined

I should be happy after Newell's Old Boys beat San Lorenzo 1-0, but I am not. Yes, the win keep La Lepra in second place, only a point behind leaders Boca Juniors. I am happy about that. Problem is, a late mistake by goalkeeper Nahuel Guzmán nearly cost us precious points.

Even the goal was not all that thrilling. After a game of near misses, the goal finally came after a shot by Leonel Vangioni was block by the hand of a San Lorenzo defender Abel Luis Masuero with about ten minutes to go. Legitimate penalty, which Nacho Scocco converted with ease, giving him five goals so far during the Inicial.



Half way through injury time, with San Lorenzo down to ten men after had received a second yellow card to earn a red (he somehow was not carded on the hand ball that gave Newell's their 1-0 lead), Newell's were passing the ball around when it was passed back to Guzmán, rather than kicking the ball up field as he should he stopped it... at which point a San Lorenzo forward rushed him. Guzmán then tried to chip the ball over his opponent's head, which is something better left for your forwards to do to the opposition goalkeepers. He did not get the lift necessary and the forward (anyone know who it was?) headed just barely wide of the goal.

Meanwhile, Sebastián Peratta remains on the bench. I wonder if this will bring him back between the posts next week?

Also of note, former Newell's and current San Lorenzo coach Ricardo Caruso Lombardi (former everyone in Argentina coach, is he not? 16 teams since he started coaching back in 1994) went after the referee after the match. You can argue about whether or not he is a good coach, but one thing is certain... he is always an entertaining one.

Two Days Later...

I did manage to keep half an eye on the 3-3 draw between Newell's Old Boys and River Plate on Sunday, but have not had time to sit down and write about it until now. Half an eye allowed me to see the first two goals from River to come from behind and take a 2-1 lead, and Ignacio Scocco scoring from a penalty to make it 3-2.

All I can really say is thank God for Youtube which let me to see all the goals... and this time around the reason for the penalty that lead to Newell's second goal. I have to admit that it was a rather weak penalty call, but it was, technically, a hand ball in the penalty area.



Even though Newell's only came away with a single point this weekend they are now in second place all alone, just one point behind leaders Boca Juniors. You could say that it was not a good weekend for the teams at the top of the table.

I am very happy that Newell's managed to go into Buenos Aries and take a point off of River. Especially since La Lepra were with out Maxi Rodriguez, who is on a call up with the Albicelestes.

One thing to remember, however, is that there is more than the league standings to worry about. Newell's also have to worry about the Relegation standings. At the moment we are safe, but any slip in form could change that.

Not that I see that happening, mind you. There are too many good players on this team, with a great coach in Gerardo Martino leading the way.

Last Minute Heroics

OK, I did not post last week when Newell's Old Boys were held to a 0-0 draw on the road by Belgrano in Cordoba. I saw most of the game, but did not come away with anything I felt I could really say about it, good or bad. Yesterday in Rosario it was looking like we were headed towards another 0-0 draw, this time against Estudiantes. After ninety minutes no one had scored. A full five minutes of added time was signaled for, and it took almost all of that when a poor clearance was taken by Maxi Urruti who fought for control of the ball before slotting a neat little pass just behind Ignacio Scocco, who spun around and took a one touch shot that beat Estudiantes keeper Justo Villar (yes, he once played for Newell's) and found the far side of the goal to give La Lepra their third win of the Torneo Inicial.


The win placed Newell's on top of the standings alone... though later in the day Arsenal de Sarandí beat Lanús by the same 1-0 score to draw level with Newell's at 11 points. Time at the top will likely be short, as Colón de Santa Fe (10 points) and Boca Juniors (9 points) will be playing later today.

Now, a few words about why I have not been posting as much as I used to. There are several factors. Certainly the year and a half of miserable play the team recently had an effect. It is sometimes hard to write about something you love when they are going through bad times. Then there is my health, which has not been the best over the past couple of years.

Also to blame is the fact that I do enjoy playing computer games. I have written about City of Heroes before. It is a game where you get to play Super Heroes or Villains of your own design in an online world where you can team up with other players. I have been playing it for around two years now and enjoyed every minute of it, and really just started to team up with others.

This weekend the company that runs the City of Heroes has announced their intent to close down the game by the end of the year. This news does not make me happy, but I will keep playing until they close it down. I have also started taking screen shots of my characters, and will be sharing them here.


With that in mind, here is the first two:

Meet Cherry Rebel, a Super Villain I had come up with some time ago, but just recently started to really enjoy playing. She is evil to the core, and does not make friends, merely uses people as she will just long enough to get what she wants.

Her origin is magical, she is a Scrapper with Electric Melee and Electric Armor... all of which will only make sense to those who played the game. I customized her powers to match her outfit, so while her powers in the game were electrical based, I imaged them being a dark mystical energy.

Posted previously, Leproso is a character who needs little explanation to those that know about Newell's Old Boys. He is another Scrapper, but his origin is Science... basically he was a leper who was cured by a new drug. The cure also gave him super powers. He is a Martial Artist with Invulnerability.

Yes, a lot of my characters wear a lot of red and black. if you ask why you are here because of my writing about City of Heroes and not Newell's Old Boys. I have no problems with that.

I will be trying to post City of Heroes picture a day, until I run out. I am hoping that my Lepra readers will not mind... I am hoping that this helps me get over the fact that once they close down the game, I will never be able to play it again. (Though there is the small hope that this is a hoax, or that some other company will come in and buy the game to keep it going.)

A lot of people are flooding City of Heroes Forums with protest, pleading with the company to change their minds. I have seen a lot of people in the game just standing around holding protest signs (yes, that option is available in the game) or just ranting on the chat channels. Every now and again some one signs in that has not heard the news.

I shall continue playing till the end.