Lucas Cavallini

[Kent]

11 hours ago, Ruffian said:

You definitely missed some. He has scored many goals from outside the box. This year, maybe due to tactics, he has scored most of his goals in the box.

I thought so too, then looked up a Larin highlight video and some of the goals I had remembered as being outside of the box, were inside. He may very well have some, but it appears to be less than I had thought. I'm curious to see some if anyone is willing/able to dig up a link.

Edit: OK, then I immediately dug up this one. This is my favourite goal of his.

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Kent

[Ruffian]

5 minutes ago, Kent said:

I thought so too, then looked up a Larin highlight video and some of the goals I had remembered as being outside of the box, were inside. He may very well have some, but it appears to be less than I had thought. I'm curious to see some if anyone is willing/able to dig up a link.

Here is one:

But you are correct some that I remember outside the box were not, but instead he was standing on the line or just inside. But it still shows that he can score in many different ways and is not only a target man standing in front of the goal.

 

[Kent]

1 hour ago, Ruffian said:

Here is one:

But you are correct some that I remember outside the box were not, but instead he was standing on the line or just inside. But it still shows that he can score in many different ways and is not only a target man standing in front of the goal.

 

Yeah, he can score off crosses, but can also shoot. He's not really one to beat a guy one on one and dribble his way to a good scoring opportunity. It's not MLS, but he scored against Dominica in Toronto from outside the box on a well placed shot, if I recall correctly.

[Cheeta]

Glad he's in but unless he tears it up on the training ground this week I'm going to stick with Cavallini for the start.  Developing familiarity, some very positive contributions so far, feels like he may have a goal in him so yeah, Larin on the bench and held in reserve.

Of course if those well rested pegs of his are swinging the ball into goal from every angle and distance during scrimmage this week?  Will have to give it another think then.

[jonovision]

I'm not enamored of Cavallini's work in the first 3 matches as some others are on these forums but I'd still have some serious reservations about letting Larin take his starting spot against Jamaica. I don't think a formation change is appropriate at this point, so it's one or the other.

The one big edge I'd give to Larin based on what I've seen of the two players is his movement in the box. He seems to finish a lot of tap-ins or close to goal chances, which one can chalk up to better service, but look closely and you'll see Larin has very good movement close to goal. Getting off the shoulder of his defender, getting into space, making late runs. This is the sort of thing that gets him into good positions to score, and that I haven't seen much of yet from Cavallini.

Cavallini may work better in our team concept and his defensive work rate is much higher. I don't believe Larin should have been called in but now that he is I'd hope both strikers feature at some point vs Jamaica with one going 60 minutes or so and the other 30.

Edited July 17, 2017 by jonovision

[Ruffian]

I think OZ will play Cavallini due to the team playing well together so far, the effort putting in to courting Cav and also the situation of Larin's absence from the team. Saying that, if this were like the more important games that happen on my playstation, I would switch Cav with Larin with a few clicks of the gamepad.

[The Beaver]

Like Cheetah, I think Larin should start ONLY if he looks great in training this week, especially in terms of building chemistry with Junior, Davies and Arfield. Otherwise, start Cavallini and bring Larin in at 60.

[kingvikingstad]

All of what we have seen of Larin has been under Floro where he was left on an island up top and did not have the support of attacking wingers very often. Now that we play a more fluid attacking style, I think we can expect Larin to be able to bring more players into the game. I think at times he was unfairly criticized (me included) with not being able to hold up the ball when in reality it was an impossible task under Floro as a result of tactics.

With all that said, Cav has done a really good job thus far and I think he deserves to start the next game. If it isn't working, we have Larin on the bench to bring in. I'm just happy to be debating which of our useful strikers to start!

[BearcatSA]

13 hours ago, kingvikingstad said:

I think at times he was unfairly criticized (me included) with not being able to hold up the ball when in reality it was an impossible task under Floro as a result of tactics.

I don't know about that.  When Haber replaced him, under the same tactics, he was better than Larin with hold up play.  But I think Larin has improved this area of his game.

Edited July 18, 2017 by BearcatSA

[BearcatSA]

44 minutes ago, jonovision said:

The one big edge I'd give to Larin based on what I've seen of the two players is his movement in the box. He seems to finish a lot of tap-ins or close to goal chances, which one can chalk up to better service, but look closely and you'll see Larin has very good movement close to goal. Getting off the shoulder of his defender, getting into space, making late runs. This is the sort of thing that gets him into good positions to score, and that I haven't seen much of yet from Cavallini.

He goes for goal well and gets himself into scoring positions in the ways you've described.  The biggest challenge for him is to show at the higher levels of the game that he can clinically finish the fewer chances he will be given.  And when he misses a good chance, he has to have a very short memory, not dwell on it, and soldier on looking for the next chance.

This is also that pressure stuff we were talking about in one of the pre tourney threads here:  with his arrival there is a ratcheting up of expectations the moment he hits the field.  Let's see how that goes.

[Ruffian]

Not sure if it was mentioned in this thread yet but Penarol made an offer to Colo Colo for Octavio Rivero, who is partially owned by the Whitecaps

http://www.latercera.com/noticia/la-irrisoria-oferta-octavio-rivero-indigno-colo-colo/

This potentially would take playing time away from Cavallini. Maybe they are looking for another striker because they know something of Cavallini's future?

Edited July 17, 2017 by Ruffian

[Ruffian]

It also looks like Penarol are looking into Emanuel Herrera ( wiki ) as a backup plan to Rivero. I hope Cavallini does not lose his spot.

 

Edited July 17, 2017 by Ruffian

[Shakmur]

I'm glad to see more people with their feet on the ground with regards to Cavallini's play and pretty much agreeing with what I was shot down a few days ago for.

Yes, he def knows how to hold the ball and win fouls, but like I was saying after the FG game, he's kinda static, his movement off the ball isnt great which makes it harder to get him the ball. Also, not once in all those times he held the ball with his back to a defender did he spin off one. This bothers me because we didnt put him against quality defenders, the better ones we faced so far are the CRC D.

I'd still start Cavallini against Jamaica and get Larin in at 60 mins, no matter the scenario, to start warming him up to start him in the semi's. Well need a more dynamic striker if we face the mexican B team D, to create more space for our wingers.

Edited July 17, 2017 by Shakmur

[kingvikingstad]

5 hours ago, BearcatSA said:

I don't know about that.  When Haber replaced him, under the same tactics, he was better than hold up play.  But I think Larin has improved this area of his game.

Haber's primary skill is to hold up the ball so I'd expect him to be much better. Larin despite his size is more of a poacher and while I agree he wasn't great at holding it up at times, he was also playing in a tactic not designed to help him out and I think that makes more of a difference than we care to recognize. Suffice to say, when he plays under Oz now it'll be hard to tell if he's improved or he's just playing in a more friendly system. I don't watch enough Orlando games to say definitively. 

[Blackjack15]

Alright you Cavallini doubters and haters | Critics (From his comments in past interviews and not accepting call-ups for years etc) 

 

has as he exceeded your expectations? Man I want to see him score so badly! 

[Macksam]

Lol, a part of me thinks that half time video of him talking about his daughter was partly directed at the posters on this board. 

[king1010]

49 minutes ago, Macksam said:

Lol, a part of me thinks that half time video of him talking about his daughter was partly directed at the posters on this board. 

So true

[yothat]

bum .. missing wide open headers

[dyslexic nam]

Overall a good tournament for Cav - and showed what he brings to the team.  If we could ever afford 2 up front, it would be interesting to see if he could help unlock Larin, but based on CMNT form he has to be our #1 forward right now.

[jordan]

Penarol have just announced the transfer of Junior Arias away from the club, which should mean more playing time. 

[Ruffian]

Cavallini getting a nice striking partner.

 

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Ruffian said:

Cavallini getting a nice striking partner.

 

Or he just lost his starting spot

Edited July 25, 2017 by Guest

[jordan]

3 minutes ago, canta15 said:

Or he just lost his starting spot

he lost it 4 games into the season

[Ruffian]

3 minutes ago, canta15 said:

Or he just lost his starting spot

He might be in the same position as Junior Arias was just transferred out. 

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, jordan said:

he lost it 4 games into the season

Maxi Rodriguéz is an attacking mid and always has been, he was never, ever, a striker. Different positions.

Lucas was more of a sub than a starter for them, in fact. At no point did he have the slot locked up. Then he had passport issues and could not travel for Libertadores games at first, which took him out of rotation. I think he is in the exact spot as before, with one less striker on the roster.