Argentine defender Gonzalo Rodríguez to go to Juve? (1 Viewer)

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Aug 1, 2003
17,696
so do I.
this is a last call, something is ought to be better than nothing. I say just go for him. we're desperate for someone anyway.

Besides, I don't know if he's a good defender but at least he scores goals to add to our tally ;)
 
OP
Dec 17, 2003
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  • Thread Starter #265
    Hey guys!!! How do! I can see you've been missing me! :cool: :D I'm sorry for this relatively long absence without notice. Thing is I took a couple of weeks off to spend my holidays on this "hellhole" called Punta del Este, in Paolo Montero's homeland. Now, don't get me wrong, the place is beautiful with great beaches and all BUT they overcharge you for everything! :mad: Cyber cafeterias were two dollars per hour!!! I could only connect a couple of times for only half an hour to check my mail. I did visit the forums but wouldn't bother answering at the risk of getting carried away and exceeding my half an hour :D Yeah, yeah, call me a cheap bastard if you want. Yet, that wasn't the worst of all. On top of that, I couldn't get to see the Pre-Olympic games here!!! :( :frown: The TV on my apartment had only four or five shitty channels. One of them was a Brazilian channel which only broadcast their National Team games... And of course I tried going to a bar or restaurant but Uruguay didn't have the rights to the Pre-Olympics... It was exclusively on DirectTV and I couldn't find a single place with that cable service... So I had to "follow" the games and Gonzalo's performances through the newspapers the day after every match.

    Still I could watch the first match against Peru the day before I left and LUCKILY I arrived here last Wednesday afternoon just in time to catch the classic against Brazil! Yay! Well, I would have caught it on that Brazilian channel after all, but oh well...

    So what can I say? You're right. Gonzalo didn't have much work against Peru... I could read that you were amazed at Burdisso, Argentina's captain. Yeah, he's a good player, too. But not as good as Gonzalo in my opinion. You guys have to realize that when you play with a three-player defense it's obvious that the stoppers (in this case, #6 Burdisso and #16 Fernández) will always have more work than the sweeper, in our case, #2 Gonzalo. But just to give you an idea of how the coach considers Gonzalo a vital player on his team (and probably even more than Burdisso), both Burdisso and Gonzalo play in the same position in their 4-player defenses in their respective local teams, and here Bielsa decided that it would be Gonzalo who would keep the same position, making Burdisso pass more to the left side...

    Stripper was commenting on a couple of our players... Here's some info.

    #3 is Clemente Rodríguez, from Boca Juniors. There's a big debate these days here because in Boca Clemente actually plays on the left, the same position as Roberto Carlos, even though he's right footed. He has stated that he prefers the left side but the coach will keep him on the right, as a sort of Zanetti. The guy is super fast, maybe too fast from my mind. Sometimes he needs to make a pause. And I wouldn't say he has as many ball skills. For instance, did you see that play against Brazil in the first half where he dribbled the goalkeeper and finished it poorly trying to lob the ball?

    #18 is Mariano González, from Racing Club. He's a very good midfielder, with good dribbling skills. Besides, he can attack and in the next second be defending again. He's always giving his best. He was one of the revelations at the beginning of last year. Then his level kind of went down and now he's improving again. The only problem with him is that his coaches seem to have problems finding him his true position. Racing's last coach would play him on the right. Then he also tried him as a playmaker. And now Bielsa plays him as a left wing on this team...

    I don't remember who is wearing the #7 jersey. If I remember correctly, it's Luis ("Lucho") González. I'll check it out on today's game against Paraguay. Sorry hehe

    #19 is César Delgado, who is also a starter on the first National Team. He's not giving the best performances he could but I love this player. He's like an Ariel Ortega (remember him? Valencia, Sampdoria, Parma, now retired, yes, retired), with equal fantasy and infinite dribbling skills. I still can't believe he's not playing in Spain or Italy already. He's currently in Cruz Azul from Mexico. I'm sure it's because he was playing in a small club (Rosario Central) here in Argentina. Had he been in Boca o River, he would have already caught the attention of the big clubs in Europe.

    As for Tévez, yeah of course he's a ball hog, didn't you know? He's used to doing that in Boca because he's surrounded by rusty teammates but he's got to realize that it's different in a National Team where there are always good players. He must play with his teammates and pass the ball. Besides, there's all the media attention here. Oh how I hate them! It seems that it's not enough if Argentina wins. For the media we must win but with a good performance from Tevez. If not, it is as though it didn't count. As I said before, they are awfully thirsty, they want to find the new Maradona at all costs... But this guy is no way near Maradona and it is about time they learned it once and for all! Duh!

    NOW, getting back to what matters, my and "almost" your Gonzalo :D . Yes, he scored againt Colombia with a greatly accurate header almost from the line of the big box! I could see it on the preview of the game against Brazil. It was the 3-1 so that was the relief Argentina needed. I think the only so-so game he had was against Bolivia. I think he was marked with a 5.5 by the newspapers. But after that he has had solid performances having marks of 6, 6.5, 7... And of course he topped it all with his performance against Brazil. Not only did he score the only goal, again with a delicious header after a free kick by Ferreyra; but he was also the best defender of the team. He was IMPASSABLE! For those who watched the game, did you see those three consecutive anticipations he made on his mark? And always without commiting a single foul! He hasn't received a single yellow card (I knock on wood, of course). Remember that I had told you that something he had to improve was his frequent bookings? (he had been suspended twice in the last U-20 World Cup because of accumulating yellow cards). He also had to deal with several one-on-one situations on a lot of Brazil counter-attacks and he was never overwhelmed. He sorted them out with class. Also, he won the defenders matchup against Alex, who is like 5 centimetres higher, but Gonzalo still managed to mark him well and never let him head. So... In a few words to answer your doubts... Yes, first of all he can defend, and he can score as well. A good header both deffensively and offensively. It goes without saying that he was chosen MAN OF THE MATCH (with a mark of 9 points!!!) here by the most important sports journal, Olé while Clarín rated him with a 7, choosing our keeper Caballero man of the match with an 8. He deservedly got the media attention as you can see here...

    He was featured on the front cover of yesterday's edition of Olé.



    No, there's not a spelling mistake ;) The title is a pun. They took out the "n" in his name and they formed the imperative word "Gozalo" (from the verb "gozar") which means Enjoy.

    Another pic...




    This is the front cover of yesterday's edition of Clarín. He's standing right in the middle of Burdisso and Tévez.




    And today he's featured together with our goalkeeper on the front cover of the sports section of Clarín.






    He also received good coverage on today's edition of Olé.



    Among other things, he commented that he doesn't believe his header will hurry negotiations with Juve up. Now that I think of all this, we really have to give even more props to Gonzalo. It must not be easy to play your best and stay focused when there's all this rumour and talk about him going to one of the biggest clubs in Europe.

    BUT HEY, HEY, I ALMOST FORGET ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE ALL HERE FOR! :D Sorry, sorry...

    So USA Juventini had rightly remarked that it was strange no other European team was reported to be interested in Gonzalo. I guess there was one (or two) after all. Maybe it was a big secret or they got interested as the Pre-Olympics progressed... Anyway, rumour has it now that there is a club from England which is not only willing to offer 2.400.000 dollars for the 50% of his transfer but it would be also willing to let him play another six months in San Lorenzo before he leaves, which is something very appealing to our management. And they say that there would be another offer from a Spanish team in the next days. Nevertheless, San lorenzo's vice-president has clearly stated that Juventus has still the priority, although our management has already authorized another agent in Europe to negotiate with other teams. One could argue that all these rumours come from our same board so as to force Juve to take a decision once and for all, but we don't know for sure. Yet, I can assure one thing: Juve was damn lucky of starting negotations before the Pre-Olympics because with Gonzalo's latest performances his price has increased for sure!!! I curse our board for their greed! :mad: Had they waited a little more as I thought, we could be selling him for twice or three times as much!!!


    P.S.: By the way guys, did you see "my" goal against Bologna last weekend? :cool: :D Ahhh, I wish Mario had been allowed by Chievo to come and play the Pre-Olympics!
     

    Mark

    The Informer
    Administrator
    Dec 19, 2003
    95,899
    Good to see you back Mago. Yes Santana scored finally. hehe
    Now I'm scared that a team like freakin Chelsea make an offer that San Lorenzo can't refuse. Why didn't we buy him before the preolimpico dammit? Moggi never wins bidding wars especially if Chelsea or ManU are in it.
     
    OP
    Dec 17, 2003
    34
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread Starter #272
    ++ [ originally posted by mark77 ] ++
    Argentina 2 - Paraguay 1

    ...........
    YEEEESSSSSSS! We are in the Olympic Games!!! :party: :party: :party:

    Gonzalo had another SOLID performance! :extatic: He was marked 7 by Clarín and 7.5 by Olé. And when we were 0-1 he really showed all his CLASS as he not only anticipated all the Paraguayan strikers on their counter-attacks almost in the middle half but he also sent impossibly accurate long balls to Delgado or Figueroa in order to speed things up as Argentina found it difficult to penetrate Paraguay's box with short passes.

    In other news, I forgot to mention that San Lorenzo's vice president, Rafael Savino, had commented as well that he expected all this soap opera to come to an end tomorrow Sunday as the Pre-Olympic finishes. Moreover, they say that Gonzalo wouldn't return to Buenos Aires because he would be travelling directly to Italy. Gonzalo said in a recent interview that the Italians had his papers and were "analyzing" them... :D There's probably a lot of paranoia for what has happened with the passports of some Argentineans like Veron or Bartelt (when he went to Roma). But let us remember that Gonzalo has been working out his passport since three years ago so everything should be more than legit. ;)

    [LAC], what Diego rumours??? Brazilian Diego or another Diego???

    P.S.: -Z-, did you know that Benicio del Toro bought the rights to a story of Che Guevara a long while ago and will play the role of him in a future movie? Yes, I also have insiders in Hollywood :D Well, not really in Hollywood in the case of a Benicio del Toro, but you understand ;)
     

    Zlatan

    Senior Member
    Jun 9, 2003
    23,049
    Cool :cool:

    Anyways, what LAC ment was that one of his friends heard on a TV Show on the Brazilian national TV that Diego's (Diego from Santos) father/manager or whatever said that he has a signed pre-contract with Juventus.
     

    Mark

    The Informer
    Administrator
    Dec 19, 2003
    95,899
    Great news. So it will be probably over tomorrow and confirmed Monday by Juve and San Lorenzo. I HOPE SO. hehe
    I hope we don't LOAN him. He's too good from what you say.
     
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