Only one week ago, there was a toxic atmosphere at Boca Juniors, stemming from the club’s inability to score. A nil-nil draw at Club Atletico Temperley in its Primera Division season opener was followed by a 4-0 defeat at San Lorenzo in the Supercopa Argentina. Then came a 1-0 loss versus Atletico Tucuman at La Bombonera.
Related – Down South: Something is very wrong at Boca Juniors
Seven days makes all the difference.
In a turnaround that illustrates just how quickly perceptions can change in football, Boca is looking like Boca again, winning 1-0 away to San Martin de San Juan on Thursday and subsequently producing a 4-1 thrashing against Newell’s Old Boys on home soil on Sunday. The scoring drought is over, manager Rodolfo Arruabarrena is still employed, and talk of a crisis is a thing of the past.
The timing couldn’t be better, either. On Wednesday, Boca will kick off its Copa Libertadores adventure away to Deportivo Cali, a Colombian club filled with youth. The fixture is among the most hyped matches of the competition’s group stage.
Such a drastic reversal in Boca’s fortunes begs the question: What changed over the course of one week?
To find an answer, it makes sense to glance at what Boca was doing wrong over the course of its first three games of the calendar year, during which time the club failed to score once and conceded five goals.
Two factors stood out above the rest. First of all, Boca was struggling to fill the void left by Jonathan Calleri, who was a source of goals for the club and who joined Sao Paulo on loan from Deportivo Maldonado after bringing his time at La Bombonera to an end. Second of all, Arruabarrena’s tactics were sketchy at best, as he reverted to a back three that exposed Boca’s inability to carry the ball out of defence and lack of pace to play in wide-open spaces.
Both issues have been addressed.
A toe injury to Pablo Daniel Osvaldo may have been a blessing in disguise, as Carlos Tevez – the footballer whose love for Boca is only surpassed by Diego Maradona – is thriving in Osvaldo’s absence and scoring the goals that the club couldn’t previously find.
Tim Vickery of World Soccer elaborates:
Previously lethargic, Carlos Tevez sparked to life. It may be significant that he was partnered by the speedy Sebastian Palacios, whose pace forced back the opposing defensive line and helped create space for Tevez. There is food for thought there for Arruabarrena, as he ponders whether Dani Osvaldo should be reinstated once he has recovered from injury. Either way, the return to form sets up Boca nicely for midweek when, like all the Argentine sides, they begin their Copa Libertadores campaign.
Boca’s solution to its defensive woes, meanwhile, was far simpler. Knowing that a three-man defence wasn’t efficient, Arruabarrena abandoned the system for the club’s last two matches, reverting to a four-man defence that caters far better to the talent at his disposal.
Of course, the impatient nature of football means that Boca could once again be a club in crisis in one week’s time. At the moment, though, all is well at La Bombonera, and a victory in Colombia on Wednesday will keep the festive mood going.
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