Reynoso’s contradictions: successes and errors and why we are penultimate in the Qualifiers

La Bicolor barely has one point in four games and there are no statistics that defend what Juan Reynoso’s team has done. From the results to the game, from the calls to the final list.

A single point from the tie against Paraguay in the debut. Zero shots on goal, zero goals – the only country that has not yet scored – and in goal expectations, the statistic with which Juan Reynoso tried to defend himself, we had 0.40 against Argentina, one of the lowest of the ten South American teams.

THE MISTAKES

The list can be long if we capture it in every detail that has taken the Peruvian team to the penultimate place in the 2026 Qualifiers. But we try to gather together ideas and criteria that have made Juan Reynoso the center of criticism and that all the fans ask for his departure.

Level

These are the statements that have hit the most from Juan Reynoso’s press conference. The coach explained that the absence of Grimaldo and Reyna in the starting eleven is due to physical issues. “They are not there to last even 60 minutes,” he said.

But he did opt for Nilson Loyola – a substitute in Cristal – to be the left back, the area where Lionel Messi attacks, and Andy Polo to attack on the right wing. And both were changed at halftime.

Polo’s case illustrates all the bad decisions that Reynoso may have. The Universitario attacker has started all four matches in the Qualifiers and only finished the duel against Paraguay. Then against Brazil, Chile and Argentina he was substituted at half-time. Yes, he takes out the player who didn’t perform in a game after 45 minutes, but for the next he starts him again, repeating history. If Grimaldo and Reyna are not there to play 60, it seems that Polo is not there to play more than 45, and not for a physical reason.

“These are the shortcomings of League 1,” he assures, but he also does not bet on players from outside as in the case of Oliver Sonne. It sounds contradictory that, if the level of Peruvian football is not enough, neither is the Danish one?

At the call conference, Reynoso himself assured that there were players from the local league “who have earned the right to be there,” and that before calling Cueva and Flores, he chose “to trust the guys from the local league.” .

But it seems his confidence is only in Polo, Yotún and Zambrano – eventually in Corzo – but not in the new bets.

The changes

The idea that matches are defined by the end seems to be a canon in Reynoso’s thinking, but he forgets that for that to happen you have to reach the end of each match alive. “You have to think about reconsiderations,” he said in one of his last conferences, and apparently he prefers to save the best for last, when everything is already uphill.

Against Argentina, the arrivals of Grimaldo and Reyna gave a new air to the Peruvian attack and if, as Reynoso himself says, they are there to play about 60 minutes, why not bet on them from the start and maintain what can be achieved in the last half hour.

Last night there was another misconception. For the second half he took out Paolo Guerrero – it would be due to injury – and left André Carrillo as striker, which further complicated the actions of the ‘Culebra’. Physically, André does not seem to be at 100% after being injured for almost a month. Even so, he sent him to fight against the Argentine center backs. And on the bench he had the 9 that Santiago Ormeño brought from Mexican soccer.

The idea of ​​the game

“I don’t want to come in and change everything because we have an important base, a style that we must continue to strengthen,” said Reynoso himself when he took over as coach. Today, the Peruvian team is far from what was experienced in the previous process.

Although the players are no longer at the same level and time also plays a role – in the case of Guerrero, Carrillo -, others seem to be disappearing from the map, such as Cueva and Flores, what Reynoso has not been able to do is maintain that style and has appealed to Be more defensive and from there look for your scoring options, when the players you have are more willing to have the ball, to play it, to look closer at the opposing goal.

According to DSports, Reynoso has used 26 players on these four dates. Too many variants and Peru still does not have a defined eleven, or worse, a recognizable game identity.

The backbone has been over 30 years old and are key positions. In addition to Paolo Guerrero’s 39 years, André Carrillo is 32 and Luis Advíncula and Yoshimar Yotún are 33 and Carlos Zambrano is 34. There is no doubt that a new generation is being sought with players like Grimaldo (20), Bryan Reyna ( 25), Franco Zanelatto (23), Jesús Castillo (22), but they are the only ones who have been able to play in the Qualifiers. Meanwhile, players with Piero Quispe (22), Jairo Concha (24), Jhilmar Lora (22) and Oliver Sonne himself (22) are still waiting for a possibility.

The Sonne case

Everyone was waiting to see Oliver Sonne, a player who processed his naturalization since last April to be able to join the Bicolor. Although he is a defensive player – he is a winger and can play as an inside midfielder – and the variants that Reynoso needed were offensively, he is a footballer who comes from one of the leaders of the Danish league and could contribute something .

Reynoso contradicts himself, because if he sees and knows that local players do not have the level to withstand the demanding level of the Qualifiers, neither does a player who comes from Europe have it?

“With his level it is enough for him and that is why he is there. He is in a good position in his club and that is what we ask of the players,” Reynoso himself said when the call was announced. “We saw that others were better for this game,” he said last night when he explained why the Dane-Peruvian did not even enter the final squad list.

Speech

And so, there are many contradictions in the speech and actions of Juan Reynoso in charge of the Peruvian team. “If you are going to kill me, kill me, but not the boys,” he said just two days ago when the team’s actions against Chile were criticized. Hours after the loss to Argentina, Reynoso himself left his same players exposed, those from League 1, saying that they are not able to last a whole game.

Perhaps that is why he was later seen at the concentration hotel talking with Jairo Concha and Bryan Reyna, two Alianza Lima players. It is not known what they talked about, but it coincides with what they said about the local players.

He makes fun of those who take the statistics of zero shots on goal to criticize the team’s play, and he defends himself by ensuring that what he sees is the expectation of a goal, but he does not say that in this case we are also much lower than the others. Or generating one scoring chance per game is what he is looking for.

Or he assures that he seeks to cite players who are having a good moment in their clubs, but Nilson Loyola, a substitute in Cristal, starts against Argentina. Or leave out Sonne, a starter and in the ideal team of the month in the Danish league, and Piero Quispe himself, perhaps the best player in League 1, from the call.

Now Juan Reynoso’s press conferences are shorter than usual. The coach’s desire or FPF policy is not clear. But every time he looks to the coach for answers, they seem to end up dragging him down more than the game itself.

—

THE SUCCESSFUL

In the midst of the bad moment, there are a couple of things that are worth highlighting about what is done at Videna, beyond the fact that the results are not yet noticeable and without knowing if it ends in a good way.

Naturalization of talents

In the midst of the gloom of the Qualifiers, we must rescue an idea that Juan Reynoso and the Peruvian Football Federation have as part of a project, which is to integrate more players of Peruvian descent.

Although this time Oliver Sonne could not be seen in action, that decision to look for names around the world remains. It is already the trend in South American countries, with cases such as Gianluca Lapadula in Bicolor, Ben Brereton in Chile and lately, John Zamora in Ecuador and Alejandro Garnacho himself in Argentina.

“The intention with the naturalized players is that they can not only play these Qualifiers, but also have two or three more,” Reynoso himself assures about this project. Chemo del Solar had already announced before that they were going to work with scouts.

Sub 23 Projection

Juan Reynoso has decided to expand the universe of those called up with players from the Under 23 category who will participate in the next pre-Olympics in January in the Chemo del Solar team.

Except for Joao Grimaldo, Jesús Castillo and now Franco Zanelatto, the other youth players have not been able to make their debut in the senior team. But players like Piero Quispe (22), Jostin Alarcón (21) and goalkeeper Diego Romero (21) already know the world of the senior team and should be the leaders in the Under 23 team.

—