With Paolo or only in pointe? How Peru de Reynoso would play with Lapadula in La Paz

The symptoms of the football crisis in Videna are beginning to wreak havoc. Peru will now face two games with the urgency of winning no matter what. First (this Thursday, November 16) doing it for the first time at the height of La Paz for the Qualifiers. We have never done it, but it is time for the Reynoso era to begin writing its own history. And at an indicated moment: Bolivia is suffering a crisis worse than ours, since they are tenth in the table without any points and with Antonio Carlos Zago as the new coach replacing Gustavo Costas.

The second challenge will be Venezuela. La Vinotinto is one of the pleasant surprises of the tournament. It is in fourth place with seven points out of a possible 12: it beat Chile and Paraguay, and tied Brazil itself as a visitor. In Lima, despite the fact that Bicolor never lost to its Venezuelan counterpart in the Qualifiers (seven wins and two draws in nine games), it will be a very complicated match due to the visiting team’s present, although that match will surely be talked about starting on Friday . The main thing, right now, is the La Paz challenge.

And to go in search of the feat, coach Juan Reynoso will be able to count on Gianluca Lapadula. The ‘Bambino’ missed the first four dates due to an ankle injury that forced him to have surgery. But now he is back and is one more alternative in the national attack, a sector in which we have suffered a lot in the Reynoso era: zero shots on goal in seven of the twelve games, between friendlies and officials, with the Peruvian on the bench .

This is how Peru would play with Lapadula

A brief survey carried out by this newspaper to various sports journalists left the following conclusion for the upcoming double date: “Paolo Guerrero is the best in the history (of the Peruvian team)but “Gianluca Lapadula must be against Bolivia”. The specialists agreed on dimensioning the figure of the historic scorer, but also that the Italian-Peruvian has the best chances of starting at the height of La Paz.

“I felt very comfortable at the height and I no longer have any problems with my ankle”, said the Cagliari forward in a recent interview with the newspaper Depor. Gianluca already played in La Paz in the last Qualifiers with Ricardo Gareca on the bench. He was a starter, played 67 minutes and was, according to the specialized page SofaScore, one of the best in attack along with Christofer Gonzales, both with 6.7 points. That day, Lapadula finished once on goal, his passes were 80% effective, although he only won two of eight duels.

He also played in Quito against Ecuador in the memorable 2-1 victory. He gave two assists and was one of the great figures on the field along with Christian Cueva, who is not in the national team today due to a complicated knee injury.

With the precedent behind him, Lapadula could start this Thursday. And coach Juan Reynoso would also have more weapons to put together his eleven according to what the rival analyzed. Unlike the previous dates in which there were many injuries -Tapia and Callens did not travel to Chile and only ‘Cabezón’ played the second half against Argentina as an emergency measure-, today the strategist has more options per position. Therefore, a 4-2-3-1taking advantage the good moment of Piero Quispe and Edison Florescould be an alternative.

The idea of ​​using a 4-4-2 or its variant 4-4-1-1 It’s not a crazy idea either. In fact, Reynoso already tested the Guerrero-Lapadula duo in the friendly against Japan that Peru lost 4-1 in the Asian mini-tour. At that moment the ‘Predator’ was noticed playing as a static ‘9’, receiving balls with his back turned, while the ‘Bambino’ looked to win that second ball or made diagonals. Although the last two rivals who went to La Paz and emerged victorious did not use this system: Argentina lined up with its trident Nico Gonzalez, Julián Álvarez and Ángel Di Maríawhile Ecuador used a 4-5-1 with Jordy Caicedo as the only tip.

Another option is for Paolo Guerrero to start the actions and Lapadula to wait for his opportunity on the bench. The ‘Predator’ has been playing since August at LDU in Quito, a city that is 2,850 meters above sea level. He also arrives with four goals in his last three games and with the motivation to win the Copa Sudamericana.

Whatever the coach’s decision, the truth is that at this moment Peru has the cards to get excited about a historic victory in La Paz that gives us the peace of mind to continue dreaming of going to the World Cup.