Beyond the players who played at right back during 2023, a position that was not generally well covered, to Martin Demichelis It is not necessary to look for a “4” in the transfer market. Quite the opposite. The River coach trusts in what he already has in his squad.
“Milton is not there, but I have four other players who can play in that position. Seba Boselli, who is also not there, Santi Simón, Herrera, and even Paulo Díaz. So we have different characteristics that make me happy to be able to work with those five players. It will depend on the performance of the boys and the rival on duty,” said Martín Demichelis after the friendly that his team played against an MLS team in the United States, where the River team is doing its preseason.
Demichelis’ statements were in line with those of the sports director Enzo Francescolithe technical secretary, Leonardo Pontiusand the first vice president, Matías Patanian, the men in charge of football in River. The coach, in turn, made it clear that to cover that position he did not ask the leaders for reinforcements.
In this way, at the start of the official competition, when River faces Argentinos at the end of the month, Simón, Herrera and Casco (he is in the final process of recovery after meniscus surgery in his right knee) will fight for the placed on the right side. Boselli, who finished as a starter in 2023 in that sector, will be absent at the start of the League Cup due to his participation in the Pre-Olympic with Uruguay.
In River’s first formal test in 2024, against the local MLS team, Demichelis placed Herrera as stopper in the 3-3-1-3 that he put together. Later, in the second team, he tried again with one of his main moves from last semester: Simón was the right back when the formation changed to a more traditional 4-2-2 formation. 2. Meanwhile, Paulo Díaz was a central defender and Demichelis considers the Chilean to play on the right side only in an eventuality or emergency.
Demichelis understands that in this group of five players he will be able to find the consistency that the team did not have in a sector of the field that was a headache in the second half of 2023.
Casco’s recovery
Milton Casco is working alongside the rest of the River squad in Bradenton, although some days he moves with lesser loads to balance wear and tear and avoid muscle injuries or inflammation in the knee after his operation for synovitis in that joint.
For now, Martín Demichelis’ premise is not to demand it so that he arrives fully at the start of the official competition and begins to add minutes as an alternative while he recovers his best version.
In any case, even though the 35-year-old from Entre Rios played as a right back in the excellent Professional League campaign, Micho prefers him on the left, as an option for Enzo Díaz. Of course everything will depend on the level of Herrara, Simón and Casco himself on the right side.