River is unstable. The names, schemes, and roles change, but the team led by Martín Demichelis has not managed to find the tranquility of balance. The return to official activity with the agonizing 2-2 draw against Lanús left again football debts that have been dragging since the end of the previous semester. One of the keys to a collective performance that is not amplified over time seems to be in the midfield: who are currently the starting players of the millionaire axis? There are no certainties from the coach nor guarantees from the players.
Throughout the year, Demichelis has rotated constantly and has not defined a fixed playing system, instead testing with 4-1-3-2, 4-2-3-1, 4-4-2, 4-3-1-2, 4-3-2-1, and 4-3-3, all being versatile number formations according to the characteristics of the players. However, within this search that still does not find a fixed equation, the coach still cannot fill the gaps left by Enzo Pérez and Nicolás De La Cruz, two key players lost after his first year as head coach of the club. Currently, it is unclear at River who the central midfielder is or who the mixed midfielder is.
In the preseason in January, Matías Kranevitter started as a starter but suffered a tear before the competition started and ended up playing very little: he has only 248 minutes in 11 matches and only three starts, including the final of the Argentine Supercup against Estudiantes in Córdoba. Thus, the unexpected figure of Nicolás Fonseca emerged, who arrived as a replacement gamble and had to enter the starting lineup earlier than expected. The Uruguayan has already accumulated 1329 minutes in 22 matches (14 as a starter) with a goal in his debut in the Copa Libertadores.
Beside him, Rodrigo Aliendro has appeared regularly, with 1658 minutes in 25 matches (22 as a starter) out of the 30 River has played this semester, scoring a stunning goal in the Supercup to shout champion. The 33-year-old midfielder played five of the six group stage matches in the Copa Libertadores and is the piece that Demichelis has kept most fixed in the midfield. However, after playing eight of the first 15 matches of the semester with the Fonseca-Aliendro tandem, starting in April, the coach sought to establish Rodrigo Villagra as the starting central midfielder, and from there, the former Talleres player has played eight of the last 15 matches with Aliendro by his side (they had already played four together in the first part of the year).
Thus, Villagra, for whom River paid 10.7 million dollars gross to bring him in February from Talleres, has accumulated 1125 minutes in 18 matches (13 as a starter) this year, without being able to establish himself as the player that Demichelis described as the one “with the most experience in that position to provide balance.” The ranking of variations is composed as follows: Villagra-Aliendro (12), Fonseca-Aliendro (8), Fonseca (2), Fonseca-Simón (2), Kranevitter-Fonseca (2), Aliendro (1), Villagra (1), Kranevitter (1), and Peña-Aliendro (1), with the latter being the surprise in the duel on Sunday against Lanús.
After his loan spells at Arsenal and Lanús, Felipe Peña had two good performances in friendlies against Millonarios and Olimpia, and the coach used him as a starting central midfielder against the Granate, being one of the standout players with his deployment, cutting, and passing skills. “He knows well how to be a midfielder and defender, so he brings balance. Also, he knows what River is and wants to seize his opportunity. I see him energetic, training well, and playing well. Among all the options, I leaned toward him,” said Demichelis at the conference. “We have four in that position, plus Aliendro, who is a mixed midfielder,” he added.
In addition to this roulette that still does not have a full answer, there is also a constant back-and-forth in offensive options. Without Claudio Echeverri, called to the Olympic Games and with a 2024 in which he played 1383 minutes in 23 matches (18 as a starter, including five in the Libertadores) with three goals, against Lanús, Manuel Lanzini and Franco Mastantuono appeared as starters after having little involvement in the first semester. The experienced playmaker, aged 31, had only added 125 minutes in five matches due to physical problems (he had a tear in January and a fracture at the base of the first metatarsal of his right foot in May) and was starting for the first time this year; while the 16-year-old has accumulated 602 minutes in 19 matches with two goals, but has only been in the starting lineup four times this year.
Now without Agustín Palavecino and Esequiel Barco, who were transferred in this transfer market, and with Gonzalo Martínez recovering until October, Demichelis currently has only Ignacio Fernández as the available offensive piece in the squad: on Sunday he played the last 15 minutes in place of Mastantuono, while Lanzini was replaced for the entry of Paraguayan forward Adam Bareiro. Throughout 2024, Nacho has played 1641 minutes in 28 games (21 as a starter) with one goal, making him, along with Aliendro, the two players with the most action in the millionaire midfield. But today, with an inconsistent level, his presence also doesn’t seem secure.
“Without Barco we lost a player with a dribble that we can’t find in Argentine football. We need to recruit in that area, a player who has a lethal or different weapon from what we have,” explained Demichelis, opening a door in River’s transfer book. Because even though he currently has nine midfielders in the squad, plus Santiago Simón (currently playing as a right-back), River still lacks a more dynamic and incisive piece that can provide another type of deployment and imbalance in the critical area of the field. The coach continues to rotate and has yet to hit the nail on the head, with just 22 days left before the first leg of the Copa Libertadores Round of 16 against Talleres in Córdoba.