Why Barco became Marcelo Gallardo's new favorite player

Enzo Francescoli made a comparison that seemed reckless, for many a daring. The Uruguayan was encouraged to compare Esequiel Barco, one of the seven reinforcements that arrived in River in 2022, with Ariel Ortega, one of the club's modern glories. “Barco reminds me of Ariel (Ortega) in the electricity in the movements, in braking and starting at the same time. He is a type of player that we needed a lot. In the hand to hand it unbalances a lot. It generates a lot of movement in the defense when they are closed, with a good dribbling, very short,” River's manager described it on February 15, when the former Independiente and Atlanta United had not yet become what it is today: the new favorite player of Marcelo Gallardo.

What does Barco think of the igniting praise that Francescoli dedicated to him? “It's very nice to receive those accolades from the idols of the club. I take them very calmly. We know what kind of player Ariel was. You always try to do your best on the court to help the team,” he says, somewhat blushed by the paragon with the “Burrito”.

Barco became an immovable player in the starting team that Gallardo has in his head. In fact, not counting Franco Armani, he is the River player who has accumulated the most minutes so far this year, with 504. Since the “Muñeco” put him first in the win 4 to 1 against Patronato, he played as a move in all the following matches: the 2-0 win against Newell's, in Rosario; the 2-2 draw against Racing, at Monumental; the 1-0 victory against San Lorenzo, in the Nuevo Gasómetro; the 5-0 win against Laferrere, in the debut in the Cup Argentina, in Salta; and in the 4-0 in front of Gymnastics and Fencing La Plata, in Núñez. And, of course, he will be part of the starting eleven in the Superclassic this Sunday at 19, at the Monumental.

If it weren't for Gallardo to put on the court the players he sees in the best condition for each match, you might think that he is using it so much to amortize the important investment that River made for him: he was the top addition of the last pass market and the Núñez club committed to paying the equivalent in pesos of 4. $400,000 at the official exchange rate for the two-year loan and the player's contract. By the end of this year or 2023, River will be able to make use of a purchase option for half of the attacker's pass at $7,000,000.

Why did Gallardo ask Francescoli to try to hire the attacker who will turn 23 on the 29th of this month? For a fundamental reason: its capacity for imbalance, that gambeta difficult to decipher that - to tell the truth - it has not yet managed to impose in its full dimension. However, on Sunday he played his best game since arriving in River and generated the first two penalties of the three that his team had against Gimnasia: the first, by throwing a hat that Tomás Muro interrupted with his hand inside the area; and the second, when he was knocked down by goalkeeper Rodrigo Rey.

Gallardo highly values footballers capable of winning one-on-one, especially since most rivals wait for River with a lot of people around their area and their team usually needs the deception of a good gambeta to open those tight defenses. In that sense, Barco has been playing from youngest to greatest, a simmering growth like those roasts that are made in the heat of the embers and without hurry.

Somehow, the coach also knew how to have some patience for him: when he arrived in River, Barco himself acknowledged that he might need some time to adapt to Argentine football in general and to his new team in particular. And that is what it is, growing week by week and hoping that the Superclassic will show its peak performance with the red band jersey.

“We are going to work during the week to get 110% to the match with Boca, which is what we need. The Superclassics are separate games. We have to win it anyway, we are going to be home, with our people, and that is an extra motivation”, he says, already throbbing the big duel on Sunday at 19.

Far from suffering the abrupt footballing change that goes from a growing but less stressful league like the US MLS to a much more competitive and demanding one like Argentina, Barco quickly adapted to playing with River's jersey, even though Gallardo knows he can still improve.

On Sunday, in the 4-0 win against Gimnasia, he occupied an unprecedented position since arriving at River: he had been playing wide on the left and appeared as a second striker, more centralized and close to Julián Alvarez, with whom he exchanged positions several times. That location seems to suit his style better: the closer it is to the rival area, the more damage it does to the opponent's defenders.

In front of Gimnasia, he not only generated the first two of the three penalties that River had in favor: they committed five fouls and that can also be synonymous with dangerousness because it represents free throws in favor. In reality, he is by far the River footballer who was arrested the most times with infractions since the start of the League Cup: they made him 30, no less than twenty more than the second in number of infractions received: Enzo Fernández.

Barco heard in the last hours from a friend of River fan a phrase that motivated him even more: good performances in the Superclassics usually mark footballers forever. And that is what he is, eager to break it before Boca so that in River everyone is clear that it was worth making such an investment for his services.

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