Gustavo Álvarez calls out Liga de Quito's inconsistency after draw with Cuenca

It was a draw that left a bitter taste, with eyes already fixed, unapologetically, on what's coming next. Liga de Quito tied with Deportivo Cuenca in the Liga Ecuabet, and Gustavo Álvarez held nothing back when breaking down the match, right on the eve of a far more important clash: the second leg of the CONMEBOL Libertadores quarterfinals against Palmeiras.

The Argentine coach was blunt about what he saw on the field. In his reading, the team controlled play for the first 45 minutes but lacked something as simple as it was decisive: turning that dominance into goals. "We dominated the match clearly in the first half, and we lacked the cutting edge to show it on the scoreboard. In the second half we fell back into the inconsistency I've been talking about," Álvarez explained at a press conference.

That word, inconsistency, is nothing new in his vocabulary. The coach himself admitted it's something he's been pointing out for a while now, and that the match against Cuenca was just another example of that issue: a team that can look far superior at times and then lose its shape at others, within the very same game.

Rotation and the search for answers

With the return leg against Palmeiras fast approaching, Álvarez opted to shuffle his starting lineup. It was a logical call given the wear and tear and the packed schedule, but it also came with a dose of self-criticism. "Today we rotated the squad, and I'm sorry the team wasn't able to top it off with a win. I would have liked the team's performance to stay consistent for all 90 minutes, and that wasn't the case. If we'd had the consistency and the sharpness, the scoreboard would have ended up in our favor," the coach admitted.

Did the lineup changes throw the team off balance? Álvarez flatly rejected that idea. For him, the problem isn't about who comes in or who goes out, but about maintaining the level for the full match. "I don't think the team got disorganized because of the substitutions. What it lacked was consistency, and I saw the performance drop. We'll need to review it player by player so everyone can find their best form," he concluded.

On the goals conceded, the coach was just as direct. He believes there's almost always a mistake behind them, though he also gives credit to the opponent when it's due. "Goals are almost always mistakes, and there can be credit due to the opponent too. We work as usual to prevent them so we don't have to fix them afterward," he said, making clear that this week's work is about tightening up those details before they become a habit.

There was, however, one bright spot in an otherwise even result: Deyverson's goal, which opened the scoring. Álvarez praised it even though the outcome wasn't what he wanted. "It's good for forwards to build confidence through goals. I'm sorry that today's goal wasn't enough to win the match," the coach said.

With its sights now set on the continental clash, Liga de Quito will host Palmeiras this Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. for the second leg of the Libertadores quarterfinals, facing the challenge of finally showing the consistency its coach keeps demanding.