“You have to seek help” and “the group is not stupid”: Cueva and the challenges to play again in Alianza in less than two months in League 1 Betsson

And if. Today, Alianza Lima needs Christian Cueva. But not the one who came from Saudi Arabia after contractual problems with Al Fateh and never got ready. Not to him. Alianza needs Cueva from the Gareca era who, based on innate talent and mischievous dribbling, was influential in qualifying for a World Cup, reaching the final of a Copa América and playing a World Cup playoff. To that he scored fifteen goals in the era of Tigre, one of the best in the history of the Peruvian team.

without the multifunctional Paul Lavandeira and with Andres Andrade recovering -he received a medical discharge but a knee injury is very complicated-, the intimate picture only has Jairo Concha and Christian Cueva like leading fliers down the middle. Jairo was relegated at the beginning of the year, but now that he has returned to the starting eleven, he has been showing a good game and taking over the position. Cueva, for his part, has only accumulated bad times and indiscipline.

Its renewal, which was on track before, now seems to be further and further away. In that sense, the midfielder has less than two months to show what he couldn’t in four. Will he make it? Probably yes, because he has plenty of talent, but he has to do some homework to get it. The clock is against you right now.

“Need to seek help”

“I will seek help to endure more and choose better”was the phrase he used christian cave in the interview as an apology after his indiscipline was made public. This means -we intuit- that he will try to get away from extra-soccer scandals and will focus fully on getting in shape. And it is not the first time that he would do it.

At the end of 2020, after leaving through the back door of Turkey’s Yeni Malatyaspor, Cueva came into the arms of Jose Neyra, a sports coach from Chimbotano the same size as the steering wheel, with a slim build and the appearance of a Buddha who puts God before everything. Christian sought help and began to improve: in fact he became an important man in the Peruvian team in the final stretch of the Qualifiers for Qatar 2022 (his five goals and two assists gave 21 of the 24 that Bicolor scored).

“The first thing you have to do is seek help so you can get better. Then, obviously, he has to work. The only thing left for him is that: to show that he can be a professional and train a lot. In his situation, he has to work twice as hard to win a position again. I don’t feel that Chicho Salas gives it to him just like that, he will have to do a lot of merit “analyze analucia rodriguezjournalist from GolPeru that follows the day to day of the intimate picture.

tells us Javier Arce, a Peruvian coach, knowledgeable like few others about League 1 locker rooms. He was the architect of the Apertura Tournament title won by Binacional in that historic 2019 in which they ended up taking the national championship with Roberto Mosquera on the bench.

It will be up to Christian to seek the necessary help to resume his level, and above all to earn Guillermo Salas’ trust again. The first big step will be that: get physically fit to go for the other step, which is to try to earn a place in the starting eleven. “I can’t leave without getting what I want”said ‘Aladdin’, referring, perhaps, to coming out as a national champion.

Who could you replace in this Alianza Lima?

As champion of the Opening Tournament, Lima Alliance He has all the tickets purchased to play a hypothetical national final. And to continue dreaming of the three-time championship, he needs all his reinforcements, something that is not happening today, be it due to injuries or poor performance, as is the case with christian cave.

‘Aladdin’ has less than two months ahead of him to get into the starting eleven. The next game of the intimate squad is against Sport Boys (Sunday 16 at Nacional at 3 pm) and then comes the classic against Universitario in Matute.

At the moment, Alianza seems to have a complete midfield with Josepmir Ballón, Jesus Castillo and Jairo Concha. In which position would Cueva fit? For Ernest Arakakichampion with the intimates in 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2006, “Christian can replace anyone. He is a player who can play in any line of attack: midfielder, winger, midfielder”.

Javier Arce has another look. For the coach, football is of moments and it is impossible to think about the future. “He is not in a position to fight for the position of anyone. He has to work hard and put in 100 percent. If he does it, he could take anywhere in attack.”.

The conclusion is almost unanimous that christian cavephysically well, he can be a starter without any problem in Lima Alliance. Quality has plenty. The problem goes through his head and that is where he has to improve.