Bet on Peseiro! ‘La Vinotinto’ should erase uncertainty

The so-called most competitive pre-World Cup qualifiers of all, those of Conmebol, are about to start, this time with a view to Qatar 2022. South America again has four direct quotas and a fifth to be won through a repechage. Most teams must face competition with newly initiated processes and in some cases, under the command of European coaches.

A good example is Venezuela. Once again, 'La Vinotinto'  will try to reach its first ticket to a FIFA World Cup. To do this, however, they must maintain the level shown with Rafael Dudamel but now under the command of the Portuguese Jose Peseiro, a stranger in the South American field who must adapt quickly to the harsh sports conditions of the format and the elements outside the court that come with directing in another continent.

Feeling of uncertainty

Those who know how difficult and changing the South American qualifiers are will not get carried away by the respectable curriculum of Peseiro, who had experience as an assistant at Real Madrid; as the main coach of Porto, Sporting Braga, Panathinaikos of Greece , and as a coach with Saudi Arabia between 2009 and 2011. This resume does not guarantee anything in this competition, but it is also not a catastrophe that Peseiro does not know the South American arena.

The truth is that with Dudamel, Venezuela was a selection with identity. Practical football, defensive order and fast transition to execute kickbacks. Several times the now coach of Atlético Mineiro was criticized for using only one reference when attacking, in this case, Salomón Rondón. The closing of the previous qualifiers to Russia 2018, a very positive Copa América Brasil 2019 and solid victories in friendly matches over Argentina and Japan, positioned a sensation in which 'La Vinotinto' would be a difficult bone to crack during the process that begins in March.

That feeling seems to dissipate today three months later, after the resignation of the former Vinotinto goalkeeper , the surprise arrival of Peseiro, and after the names of José Pekerman and mainly Jorge Sampaoli, were mentioned insistently to take office, according to reports of the most respected media in this country.

The former mandamás of Porto, defined himself as a proactive technician, who values the offense and the good treatment of the ball, but not only must he demonstrate it on the court, but he will have to achieve results to calm a disillusioned fanbase after not reaching the Sampaoli. At the moment, his idea is intelligent: do not change much the style of the team so few days before the beginning of the event.

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A positive position

In this regard, two Venezuelan communicators, Carlos Domingues, football rapporteur for La Teletuya and Patrick Torres, a journalist for Univisión Deportes, offered their vision of what this unexpected designation represents for the Vinotinto team and what can be expected from their national team in the long journey to Qatar 2022.

Domingues showed tranquility in the midst of what many define as chaos. “He (Peseiro) made it clear, he is offensive and understands that in Venezuela there is material to generate this football and take advantage of the rapid transitions that were made with Dudamel, which interests him to implement his idea but for now he does not want to make many changes anymore during the beginning of the process, and even if this goes well, the idea is not to modify much, although it will always depend on the results ”.

In relation to the debut match against Colombia, the communicator played down the fact that Peseiro knows Carlos Queiroz, which he considered is not an advantage for either of them. What he does believe is that "it will be a beautiful match because it is a classic, and I think it will be an attractive match for the two football proposals."

Dudamel's resignation as soon as he started the qualifiers was considered by Domingues as a handicap for the short process, but he was emphatic that it should not be seen as a catastrophe. “It is true that at the end of Dudamel's journey it was when he played the best but I believe that Venezuela will compete in the same way, under the same conditions. It will always be a surprise to qualify for the World Cup because we have never achieved it, but if there is material to think that you can compete, that will not vary because you are a new coach in command. ”

He was cautious in relation to the trend of European technicians leading teams in our continent. “I am not very confident with European technicians in South American teams because of the geographical conditions and behavior of different players. I rather believe that these technicians are tropicalized. You have to see how far Queiroz and Jordi Cruyff can go, but I think what will happen is that these trainers will base their proposals more on what they have available than on the ideas they bring. ”

Martínez case

Peseiro has already taken a positive first step by letting Atlanta United striker Josef Martinez know that he wants to count on him for his cycle, months after he resigned due to his disagreement with the way Dudamel used him.

Torres stressed in turn, that the main job for Peseiro will be to regain harmony in the selection taking into account the return of Josef Martínez, with whom other important players had differences. "The designation of this strategist is good, or at least it seems to be up to par with the Federation we have, but of course you cannot aspire to anything other than classifying Qatar."

Torres complemented saying that "the rear is where we have had more failures in the last two or three years" and will be in his opinion, the other aspect in which the Portuguese coach should prioritize in the first of change.