Boca 0-0 Racing: What will Barros-Schelotto do?

   

   One training session since taking over Boca Juniors was all Guillermo Barros Schelotto had in order to face the Copa Libertadores group stage clash against Racing Club. On the field it clearly appeared so as his side used carbon-copy tactics from last year's Libertadores: a 4-3-3 with Lodeiro tucking in from the right channel and Andrés Chávez staying wide on the left. Carlos Tévez attempted interesting movements around the false nine spot, but Racing stayed compact with two standard banks of four, playing reactive, overall producing a really regrettable football match.

What lessons if any can we take from a goalless draw within an empty stadium? The absence of chanting crowds at least enabled viewers to hear actual tactical instructions (although it was the opposition boss, Facundo Sava, who yelled the most at Rodrigo de Paul to stay permanently ahead of Iván Pillud and keep things cohesive). Barros Schelotto's insistence was on a possession-based style with special attention paid on working out the ball from deep. The midfield trio of Gago-Meli-Pérez caused some problems for rival holding duo of Luciano Aued and Acuña by simply outnumbering them. But it seemed that Racing's simultaneous early double substitution (forced on injuries to Grimmi and Lollo) broke Boca's rythm for the rest of the contest.

In those first brief lapses of acceptable football, the Boca Juniors man who caught the eye was Fernando Gago. As César Meli (he goes by the nickname Cabezón, judging by Orión's yells) and Pablo Pérez shut down the passing lanes of Aued and Acuña (effectively pressing Racing's build-up), Gago had space and time to spray passes sideways judiciously. That's why Sava permanently instructed De Paul to stay ahead of Pillud: because Boca's left full-back Silva motored forward to receive high up the line, thus attempting to stretch the Racing four-man defensive line. De Paul always abided by the instructions, Racing never got that much overstretched and the Boca wide players showed little to none dribbling skills.

What went almost unnoticed, however, was how unsuccessful Racing's high pressing was at preventing Boca from working the ball out of deep positions. Early on Lisandro López and Óscar Romero focused on harrying the Boca centre-backs -Cata Díaz and Chaco Insaurralde- so by the time both Grimmi and Lollo left the field, the Paraguayan playmaker seemed to give up on pressing high and instead went on to cover Gago. In this way, La Academia reverted from a more or less pragmatic 4-4-2 to a very reactive but cohesive 4-4-1-1 that was an absolute success at nullifying the home side.

If Romero gave up his first intentions, much of it can be explained by the quality with the ball of Insaurralde. One of football's greatest truisms is the scarcity of natural, left-footed, centre-backs able to distribute play straight away from the left with speed and accuracy. Which is, that using an inverted right-footed centre-back (as many squads do) risks either losing the ball or losing precious time in the build-up. When regretting his departure, Insaurralde's former boss in Mexican club Jaguares Chiapas, Ricardo La Volpe, remarked that "for him, being left-footed gives a natural technical and tactical advantage. In my opinion he could well be considered material for national team ". In this way much of Boca's most promising passing came from Insaurralde who began to perform the Gago role when Gago himself got taken by Romero.

For such a terrible match, almost a training session itself, the lessons are scarce but clear. Barros Schelotto will implement a possession style based on deep build-up play, high pressure and midfield dominance through outnumbering the rival. His team, however, didn't seem eager to raise the stakes when Racing got compact and this may be a signal of a boss who knows how to play cup competitions. Boca, truth be told, seems an unbalanced squad since some spots are plenty of individual quality while others are simply filled with supporting roles.