Dixon Arroyo played 240 seconds on the United States national team tour. Is this enough time for Gustavo Alfaro to draw conclusions about the Emelec midfielder’s performance? | football | Sports

“I need the players to continue (in their clubs),” Gustavo Alfaro said on June 6, 2021, explaining that this situation would allow those who were called up by him to the national team to arrive in the best possible conditions. He performed well on an individual and team level in the qualifying matches for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and the Copa América that were held in Brazil the previous year.

The Tricolor coach’s statement also indicated that for each player, being a key player in his national or foreign teams, he has increased his options to be among the eleven players he will choose to start matches.

However, what Alvaro revealed twelve months ago has several times collided with reality and his personal footballing tastes (which is obviously the most decisive, since the Argentine professional is responsible for choosing who goes and who does not go to choose), specifically in the case of the Dixon steering wheel Arroyo, from Emelec.

Arroyo has been called up to be part of the 26-item roster that the trio took to the United States for preparatory matches in the FIFA date that ended last Saturday. The team led by Alvaro beat Nigeria 1-0 (June 2), tied with Mexico 0-0 (June 5), and beat Cape Verde 1-0 (June 11). He finished Ecuador undefeated, with no goals in his net. Showed little game generation, had trouble hitting the opposite goal, and used 22 players throughout the round.

Four minutes of 270

Goalkeepers Hernan Galendez, Moises Ramirez, defender Diego Palacios and striker Djorkayev Risko were not in a row. But, of those who participated in the three friendlies, it was Arroyo who spent the least time on the field, with a probability of 4 minutes out of 270.

The electric quarterback entered the swap with Jose Cifuentes in the 86th minute of a duel against the Nigerians, in New Jersey. In the next two friendlies in Ecuador, Arroyo was no longer experiencing any activity.

Was 240 seconds enough for Alvaro to draw any conclusion from the work done by the 30-year-old from Guayaquil? From the continuity that DT expects select players to have in their clubs, Arroyo’s continuity is well known at Emelec. Of the fifteen matches in the first round of LigaPro 2022, Arroyo played twelve (80%), all as a start (he missed the rest due to suspensions and injuries), and was substituted twice.

He was on the field for 1029 minutes out of 1080, scoring a goal and a goal pass. In the Libertadores, the tournament in which Emelec will play in the Round of 16, Arroyo has been in all six group stage matches: 540 minutes on the field. The press has highlighted the midfielder as one of the best millionaire footballers so far this season.

Doesn’t it have a future?

However, with Alvaro his future appears to be limited in the national team. He loses to a World Cup player like Carlos Grosso, who is preferred by the coach. But this does not meet one of the Argentine’s requirements: to have continuity in his club. Gruezo is part of Augsburg, of the Bundesliga.

With the German national team, Gruezo played 17 of the 34 matches in the season that ended last May, not all of which were full matches for the Ecuadorean. From 1530 minutes played 967.

Given what happened in the recent Tricolor Tour, Arroyo has few options to be on the final list that Alvaro will submit for Qatar 2022. This possibility was boosted by a striking event that took place at the 2021 Copa América in Brazil.

For the CONMEBOL competition, Dixon Arroyo was part of the delegation. In the four duels of the qualifying stage, the two midfielders of the brand used by Alvaro were Jhegson Méndez and Moisés Caicedo. But the latter was injured in the match against the host country, Brazil, and was substituted in the 16th minute. It is estimated that the natural alternative to Arroyo will be against Argentina, the opponent in the second stage.

What Noboa revealed

However, Alvaro gave a surprise: Gruezo was recalled as an emergency, which was not originally taken into account because prior to the trip to Copa America he had tested positive for COVID-19. The Augsburg midfielder had about three weeks off, did not train and was on vacation.

Gruezo started in the match against Argentina, but due to his rhythm, the first half was poor and he was kept in the locker room at the start of the second half. Arroyo did not play a single minute in the tournament. A month after the Copa America ended, Christian Noboa revealed what happened as a result of Alvaro’s decision. “It was a tough moment for Dixon Arroyo and for me to see how they called Carlos Gruezo, who had recently recovered from COVID-19. He came from fifteen days without doing anything and was put into the starting line-up, when Dixon was our first midfielder. The . said Caesar.

Alan Franco was on his way to being the least played player in FIFA history. He entered in the 90th minute, against Mexico, instead of Moises Caicedo, but Romario Ibarra’s injury in front of Cape Verde made it possible for him to get 23 minutes.

Although Alexandre Alvarado was only able to play against Cape Verde since the 86th minute, when he replaced the injured Gonzalo Plata, his conditions differed from those of Arroyo. The Liga de Quito winger is enjoying his first contact with the first team, has ten starts in the 2022 National Championship (and three as a substitute), and so far this season has 914 minutes out of a possible 1,170. (Dr)