The defeat against Fluminense already claimed its first victim. Just one day after losing the final of the Copa Libertadores, Jorge Almiron He made the decision to resign from his position as technical director of Boca. This was made known to vice president Juan Román Riquelme, and this Monday, in morning practice, he will say goodbye to the team at the Ezeiza campus.
As LA NACIÓN learned, the now former coach of Boca spoke with the vice president at the Ezeiza property, where he expressed his irreversible decision, which was accepted. Mariano Herrón will take the reins of the team until the end of the year, in what will be his second interim term so far in 2023 (he directed the cup debut in the 0-0 draw against Monagas, in Venezuela).
In recent months, Almirón has lived balancing between the possibility of becoming champion of America and the very bad local campaign, which places the Xeneize team 10th among the 14 teams in zone B of the Professional League Cup, two points behind the last one. . Consequently, Boca runs a serious risk of not fulfilling an obligation of the semester: securing a place in next year’s Libertadores.
The technical director knew that the qualification for his cycle would be one or the other based on what happened in the legendary Maracaná stadium, with statistical numbers that expose one of the worst campaigns in Boca’s recent history. In fact, he is the first coach since 2010 (Borghi) to leave the club without winning at least one title.
One piece of information shows the collapse: of the last 20 games, Xeneize only won three, tied 10 and lost 7. Added to that is that they were unable to win any of the 7 Copa Libertadores round of 16 matches in terms of playing time. from then on (although he advanced in all the series on penalties), and his team did not achieve that in the last two games of the Argentine Cup, where he left Almagro and Talleres in the way thanks to the saves of Sergio Romero.
The summary of its numbers are lapidary. He led Boca 43 times: he had 17 wins, 13 draws and 13 losses. Under his leadership, the team scored 51 goals and conceded 39. He did not even find arguments to support them in other important matches: they lost the two superclásicos against River: 1 to 0 in the Monumental, in the Professional League, and 2 to 0 in La Bombonera, a few weeks ago, for the League Cup.
As LA NACIÓN was able to reconstruct during these hours, the relationship between the squad and the coaching staff was worn out, but even more so that of the coach with Riquelme. The Copa Libertadores supported absolutely everything. With the dream of eternal glory as a carrot, everyone took a deep breath, pretended to be distracted and moved on. They took care of the forms for the cupola illusion. When that disappeared, the miseries came to light.
Without the Cup in between, Jorge Almirón would have been dismissed (or he himself would have left) after the defeat against River. Aware that his idea never started and that his Mouth had just glimpses of what he intended. That victory over Racing (when they surprised with Advíncula as a winger on the right), the very good game against Platense (with three collective goals) and the revenge against Palmeiras in San Pablo, where the blue and gold club made its ticket to the final with a solid production. But everything was very ephemeral.
On the other hand, Riquelme had already given his thumbs down to his continuity. In fact, not even the fact of winning the Séptima guaranteed him continuing to lead Boca in 2024. There was great displeasure in the Football Council in relation to the assembly of the substitute bench at the Maracaná and the coach’s decisions during the match. In fact, as this newspaper was able to find out, in the hours after the defeat, Riquelme spoke with the team’s leaders to find out what the bond between them and the coach was like. When Almirón learned this, as soon as he stepped onto the Ezeiza property he announced his goodbye.
In his favor, it is worth remembering that due to a bad decision by the leadership (giving continuity to a completed cycle like that of Hugo Ibarra), the coach had to get on that moving truck that is Boca in April, with the transfer market ended, the preseason in charge of another coaching staff and with the tournaments started. But instead of clearing up, everything became more cloudy. The injuries, mainly muscular as a result of the change of jobs with this coaching staff that succeeded Ibarra and physical trainers who changed, were a thorn in the side for many weeks that threatened the firm objective that the coach himself had set out in his conference. presentation.
His cycle was striking. Only. The 52-year-old man never caught the spirit of Boca fans. His cycle would have been even shorter, had it not been for that miraculous left-footed shot to the corner of Advíncula, when a defeat against Deportivo Pereira in the Bombonera was almost a fact and Boca was one step away from bye-bye in the Cup. But he continued like this, going through the ledge, between pale performances and some somewhat firmer steps (but without triumphs) in the long-awaited Libertadores.
Almirón’s departure also impacts the leadership. This leadership will reach the elections without any of the chosen coaches being able to complete their contracts. Miguel Russo, Sebastián Battaglia, Hugo Ibarra and now Almirón. They were all fired early. And when Herrón sits down to direct the game against San Lorenzo it will become the fourth interim of this cycle, after the interventions of the aforementioned Battaglia and Ibarra, and Herrón himself in the first quarter.
Club Atlético Boca Juniors informs members and supporters that this Sunday, November 5, after 9 p.m., Jorge Almirón reported that he and his coaching staff, with a contract valid until the end of the season, had made the personal decision to do not continue… pic.twitter.com/E3zaQcf0Mw
— Boca Juniors (@BocaJrsOficial) November 6, 2023
Just one day after caressing the Séptima, Boca once again shows its face of constant self-destruction. The only thing that is known is that Almirón will say goodbye to the squad this Monday. Sooner rather than later, the names of possible replacements begin to emerge, although only Riquelme is in charge of making the final decision, which may come in the next few days or after the elections, in December. Boca has very important things at stake in the coming weeks, but for now the outlook is very uncertain.
PAUL LISOTTO
The Nation – Argentina
GDA
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