They are the reigning champions of America, coming off a victory over Brazil in Santiago and their players are in an unbeatable moment. Chile is one of the best selections in South America. For some, it is the best. Their presence in Russia 2018 is expected as a certainty and that is why they are considered favorites in the betting for the match against Peru in Lima. But we can compete. In football, nothing is guaranteed.
In the last Copa America, Peru's best moments in the tournament were the first 20 minutes they played against Chile. That is, before Zambrano's expulsion. Taking that into account, I analyze how Gareca's team attacked and defended against 'La Roja'. Perhaps the 'Peru plan' for this Tuesday will resemble that of that night.
IN DEFENSE
Away from Gallese. It's not easy to do it against a suffocating team like Sampaoli's, but it's necessary. If Chile plays close to our area, not only will they stay there for a long time, but sooner or later they will score. In tight spaces, the 'Roja' is the most dangerous team with the most variations in South America and perhaps in the world.
Peru positioned themselves far from Gallese's goal to make it more difficult for Chile to organize their attacks (Photo: TV Capture)
Cover the key man. I'm not talking about Alexis or Eduardo Vargas. Not even Valdivia. When Chile starts their plays, everything goes through the feet of the central midfielder. The attacks are organized from him. It can be Marcelo Diaz or Aranguiz (currently injured). Covering both, not letting them turn and leading them to make mistakes was something we did very well in the Copa America. Thus, we made it difficult for them to play in combination, a team that rarely launches long balls.
In the Copa America duel, Ballon always pressured Aranguiz (red circle) or Marcelo Diaz when they received the ball in that position. Farfan was also aware of both (Photo: TV capture)
Avoid the 2v1. Chile does a lot of damage through the flanks. Whether on the right or left, there will be no shortage of triangulations, wall passes, and overlaps. They open the field and generate spaces. And in that aspect, the work of Cueva and Carrillo will be very important. Both showed their commitment to marking in Chile 2015. Their help for the full-backs is felt and strengthens Ricardo Gareca's defensive system.
In this play, André Carrillo (red circle) ends up as a right-back. In Chile (yellow circle) Eugenio Mena and Alexis Sánchez had moved forward.
IN ATTACK
Exploit spaces. Sampaoli and his players said it themselves: "We play the same way on all pitches." What does that mean? Chile will attack in Lima. In the Copa America match, when Peru recovered the ball in midfield, the passes were quick and accurate towards the sides. The Chilean full-backs become attackers when their team has the ball, but many times they forget to return in time. The national team has to take advantage of those spaces.
André Carrillo (red circle) takes advantage of the space left by Mena and a good long pass from Carlos Lobatón (Photo: TV capture).
Quick transitions. Guerrero was a headache in that match. Every long ball launched by Gallese was won by the number 9. Paolo even shrugged off defenders based on power and when he lifted his head, he found open teammates. That was thanks to the quick transition from the midfielders. Chile doesn't always have a good defensive position. If they leave three or four men in the back, and we attack them with the same number of players, the chances will come.
In this capture, we see that Paolo Guerrero is in the center forward position after a Peruvian clearance and has Farfan, Carrillo, and Cueva as possible receivers (Photo: TV capture).
Patience. If before we complained when Peru couldn't make three consecutive passes, today the team surprises us with its good ball handling. There will be moments when, against Chile, the team will be in an offensive position but without the spaces of the two situations mentioned above. Why? We are the hosts and we have to go out and search for the match. "We are obligated to win," said Gareca. That's when we will need patience to move the ball until we find the necessary space. Against Colombia, we showed that we have attacking options.