Archive for March 23rd, 2012
Will The Real CD Tenerife Please Stand Up

Expect The Unexpected should be the club motto for CD Tenerife. Once again we were set up to expect a convincing home win, this time over lowly SS Reyes but poor team selection, poor tactics, and a poor attitude saw our surprised visitors take a 2-0 win home with them.

An early evening defeat for Real Oviedo should have fuelled the desire of the players but apart from a reasonable first 20 minutes CD Tenerife showed few ideas and even less determination. Cristobal was suspended so Chechu filled the right back role, the out of form Loro started again, and Aridane (below) was the lone striker, top scorer Perona was again left on the bench.

Tenerife only had one real chance at goal in the first half and that was spurned by Aridane after he beat the keeper and had a free shot but he hit it wide. Reyes took their only chance well on a quick break, Tarantino was out of position in the centre of defence and Sergio got himself in a tangle with Llorente to present Portilla with a gift. Llorente had to be replaced after 33 minutes due to a muscle pull,Medina came on and slotted into a centre back position with Tarantino moving over to left back.

In the midst of all this the midfield looked weak and Marcos had a quiet game while Ferran Tacon was a passenger. Half times mood was as black as the night sky but CDT came back out with their headlights set on dim. Perona finally saw some action after 56 minutes but coach Garcia Tebar took off Zazo, one of the few players showing any hunger. There was another strange call when replaced Tacon, two players that have faded as the season has progressed – it would have been nice to see Kiko added to the front line to add some hustle.

Maybe there was a way back but Reyes slammed the door on that with Portilla netting from another breakaway. The 9,064 crowd was stunned and some of the fair weather fans tempted in with cheap tickets were tempted back out of the stadium. Kike looked frustrated as his low cross went begging after the visiting goalie fumbled the ball. It was depressing stuff, Perona picked up a yellow card that keeps him out of theLeganesgame away on Sunday. The only thing to cheer was when Sergio dribbled the ball up the field to clear it.

Maybe complacency is creeping in with Castilla out of reach at the top and our play off spot almost secure. This is the time when coach Tebar should be earning his wage by motivating players, momentum is a great weapon to have going into the all important play offs.