Nine confirmed casualties, of which at least five were regular starters (Callens is also absent through injury). On a visit to Paraguay, a team that, although it has lost the confidence of its fans, has a good group of players like Miguel Almirón. There was no more complicated scenario for the debut of the peruvian team -and the one of Juan Reynoso– in the Qualifying for the 2026 World Cup. But the cards are dealt and you have to play them.

La Bicolor visits Paraguay this Thursday (5:30 pm, Peruvian time) in Ciudad del Este without names like Zambrano, Lora, Flores, Cueva, Reyna, Lapadula, Santamaría and Aquino. The last two were injured last weekend, so Reynoso had to call an emergency Carlos Ascues. And Alexander Callens did not get to play for the first game against Paraguay.

However, the coach’s board has had to several in recent days due to forced absences. Therefore, below we will draw what could be the tactical schemes that the coach would use for the game against the Guarani.

The 4-2-3-1, the most feasible

The absences of Zambrano and Santamaria They weigh, but the Peruvian defense does not have so many problems in terms of names. without much replacement in the defensive zone with Pedro gallese in the arch Luis Advincula He would be the right back with a great present in his club: he is one of the figures of the Boca semifinalist of the Libertadores. I would go to the left Miguel Traucowho has 21 points and three goals this year.

The central duo would be made up of Miguel Araujo and Luis Abram, both with a bad present in their teams. Araujo arrived at the Portland Timbers at the end of June and since then he has barely played five of the 12 games, starting only two games. Callens’ situation doesn’t vary much either: six games since he arrived in Girona and with rumors about a possible departure with minutes to go.

In the midfield, the ‘Cabezón’ would opt for a double pivot with Renato Tapia and Wilder Cartagena. The option of both is to mitigate the Guarani attacks, in addition to leaving Yoshimar Yotun freer, with two partners at the sides.

Upstairs they would be Andre Carrillo to the right and Christopher Gonzales by left. Both with a good present in the second division of the Saudi league. With less speed to overflow, but more intelligence to make diagonals and associate with Yotún, ‘Canchita’ and ‘Culebra’ would seek to do damage in the middle, leaving the band for the rise of the sides.

The only tip would be jose paolo guerrero, The big captain. The ‘9 ′ comes from qualifying for the semifinals of the Copa Sudamericana with LDU Quito, so he will be more plugged in than ever. Without Lapadula, Paolo will take command of the national attack.

3-5-2 taking advantage of Advíncula de Boca?

“Juan Reynoso likes the 3-5-2 system. Everywhere they play like this, it has become fashionable ”Wilder Cartagena commented a few days ago in an interview with the L1 Radio program. The midfielder referred to the system that the coach tested in the friendlies against Germany and Morocco, two top-level teams.

The essay served as a possible approach to rivals who constantly attack us, for example: Brazil. Clearly the 3-5-2 could become a more defensive 5-3-2 and it could also serve in the debut taking into account that we started visiting and scoring at least one point is totally welcome.

Precisely that system with two full-backs working as lanes could benefit Luis advíncula, the best Peruvian player abroad right now. ‘Lucho’ is used in this way in Boca Juniors by coach Miguel Almirón and that is where he has obtained the most profit: he has three goals in the Libertadores and is always dangerous on that side.

on the other side would be Marcos Lopez, a full-back with a lot of travel that would have no problems going back and forth on the left wing. A job that would cost Miguel Trauco, a much more positional side.

The defensive trident could be composed of Aldo Corzo, Miguel Araujo and Luis Abram. Corzo has a slight advantage over Miguel Araujo if one takes into account that he plays as a right stopper in the 3-5-2 that Jorge Fossati uses in Universitario de Deportes.

The midfield would not suffer variants: Wall and Cartagena as restraints, and Yotun more advanced and free. Above, Andre Carrillo He could work as a midfielder with freedom to move and from ‘9′ he would go Paolo Guerrero.

4-4-2 with Carrillo as the big surprise

A last tactical variant could be the old and familiar 4-4-2, a system that would have andre Cheek as the great figure acting as second striker next to Paolo Guerrero. Without the speed of before, but with the intelligence that he always showed, the ‘Culebra’ could be the connection between the midfielder and Paolo, who in turn would free him from the iron brand of the central defenders.

The back four would remain the same as the first scheme: Advíncula, Araujo, Abram and Trauco. The medium would change a bit, with Tapia and Cartagena working as double pivot, while Yotun and gonzales they would go further forward, always looking to break lines.

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