LOS CABALLEROS DE LA ANGUSTIA
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Argentine football is made up of extraordinary episodes, throughout the eras that have been played on the Platense soil. Among these episodes, some teams, more precisely due to their forward lines, have left their mark on the glorious skies of the Association. It was no different with the vanguards presented throughout the vast history of River Plate, especially the one that showed splendid football in the first half of the 1940s, when a line that included Muñoz, Moreno, Pedernera, Labruna and Loustau was assembled there. It is true that these formidable footballers played together very few times, but when they were together, they performed in line with the best vanguards ever seen on the Association field.


ÁNGEL LABRUNA: In the second half of 1941, the most famous attack of that time was formed, that of La Máquina, with Adolfo Pedernera as centre-forward and orchestra director. Muñoz, Moreno, Pedernera, myself and Pollo Deambrossi played. Later, Félix Loustau appeared.


La Máquina, according to many, was when Adolfo Pedernera was in the center of the attack, thus leading the offensive actions. After all, this was also the name given when Deambrossi played before Loustau. The vanguard was very technical, with a tactical intelligence that reflected the genius of its members, moreover, of course, to presenting homogeneous characteristics, of united and very fast actions.

Loustau arrived as a full-back, but Renato Cesarini later converted him into an outside left.

One of the main features of such a formidable forward line was the rotation system, which constantly freed its members from opposing footballers. During the ninety minutes, in their offensive actions the footballers constantly changed positions. Consequently, disorganizing and confusing the opposing players.


ENRIQUE GARCÍA: Sometimes it is Loustau who is in the centre and Pedernera as a winger; Moreno has moved to the left and Labruna to the right. There I would like to see the defences that follow the man.


Of course, this style of football was not unique to La Máquina. After all, much about constant rotation of forwards had been mentioned decades before.

At that time, the rotation system was used as an antidote to man-to-man marking, which was widely propagated by foreign coaches on South American soil. On this subject, Moreno commented:


This constant mobility brought confusion in man-to-man marking, with the result that fans are already familiar with. From then on, most of the forwards implemented this game of moving away from the mark by constantly rotating the players. This benefited the player, due to the quick conception of the game, and the public, due to the brilliance of the spectacle. And in a few words, the mechanism of La Máquina is explained, which gave so much to do and talk about wherever football was played. River's forward line, when we put it into operation, was formed like this: Muñoz, me, Pedernera, Labruna and Deambrossi. The latter was later replaced by Loustau.


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The outside right, Juan Carlos Muñoz, was the least talked about of the five players, but he was still very important to the team. According to Peucelle, just like Loustau, Muñoz served to facilitate the team's advances. He played on the right wing with Moreno, but they were less connected than Labruna and Loustou. His main characteristic, dribbling, was his incisiveness in his plays. His crosses, moreover, had mathematical precision — and often found Labruna. Consequently, a contemporary song was created for this moment:


Sale el sol, sale la luna, centro de Muñoz y gol de Labruna.


José Manuel Moreno, the inside right, was the footballer who played deeper to destroy the opponent's offensive actions, organize for his team and finish on certain occasions. Moreno had a privileged physique, apparently tireless on the field, being able to come back and go up several times. Alongside Pedernera, they were the creative exponents of the forward line, constantly joining Rodolfi, the centre-half, to organize the actions directly from the middle of the cancha. Moreno was the complete footballer, with refined technique, an outstanding dribbler, and a supernatural reading of the game. His aerial game was outstanding, too, thus being considered one of the great headers of the ball in Argentine football.


José Manuel Moreno.

El Charro Moreno, moreover, was truly a footballer of a unique class. Not only was he widely regarded as the greatest Argentine of all-time, but, according to many, he was the greatest of all-time.

Like Moreno, another great crack has been mentioned as one of the best of all time — and that was the magnificent centre-forward Adolfo Pedernera.

The centre-forward had a more creative style, very close to a style similar to Gabino Sosa, Pedernera, the attack leader, was blessed with the serenity of a true stoic, exceptional technique and Napoleonic tactics. Along with Moreno, Pedernera was constantly creating for his comrades, especially Labruna, through his through passes. Later, he began to play much deeper and hardly ever got forward to finish. He was a maestro, a player with an above-average vision for creating chances.

After Moreno moved to the inside right position, Ángel Labruna became the team's main goalscorer. Always pushing forward, looking for space to shoot, Labruna was an impressively opportunistic and accurate player. Playing on the left wing with Loustau, constantly combining with precision and high speed, he was reflected in one of the best in the history of Argentine football, and was therefore often compared to another formidable left wing, which was composed of Manuel Seoane and Raimundo Orsi.

Finally, the brilliant Félix Loustau, a left winger with refined technique, great speed and a great multi-functionality. A player who had disconcerting dribbling skills, he could change direction with extreme ease; a real nightmare for his markers. In addition to centralizing the ball with mathematical precision, he would come back to disarm the opponent's offensive moves, finish off his own moves, and help with the build-up. Loustau was, in fact, a winger with many virtues, a footballer, as many said in his time, complete.