Snak

Bernardi espera que designen pronto el DT de Newell´s

ROSARIO -- El mediocampista y referente de Newell`s Old Boys de Rosario, Lucas Bernardi, manifestó el martes que "estaría bueno" que el reemplazante del director técnico Alfredo Berti llegue antes de que culmine el torneo Final ya que así se podrá "planificar" la próxima "pretemporada con tiempo".
Bernardi, ex-Mónaco de Francia, no hizo referencia ni a Eduardo Berizzo ni a Ricardo Gareca, los dos candidatos de la dirigencia, pero opinó que la "búsqueda del entrenador debe estar apuntada a un estilo de juego".

"Está muy bien que se hable con varios entrenadores para tomar la mejor decisión y para sostener una idea de juego que si se mantiene va a ser mucho mejor para todos. En cuanto a los nombres no voy a opinar porque nunca los tuve", explicó Bernardi en la conferencia de prensa que brindó luego de la práctica matutina del martes.

Tras la salida de Alfredo Berti, después de perder el clásico ante Rosario Central (fecha 12) y quedar eliminado de la Copa Libertadores de América, el conjunto rosarino es dirigido interinamente por Ricardo Lunari, quien se desempeñaba como entrenador de la reserva.

Si bien no hubo avances en las negociaciones, la dirigencia tiene en carpeta a Berizzo, exjugador del club y actualmente en O`Higgins de Chile, y a Gareca, de último paso por Vélez Sarsfield.

Miguel Angel Russo: "Ahora hay que proponerse otro objetivo"

ROSARIO -- El director técnico de Rosario Central, Miguel Angel Russo, afirmó el martes que el objetivo de permanecer en la categoría "se cumplió" y con vistas a lo que viene hay que "proponerse otro", aunque su continuidad todavía no está asegurada.

"El proyecto deportivo tiene mucho que ver en mi continuidad, este es un club de obligaciones y cualquiera sea el formato del próximo torneo, Central las tiene. El primer objetivo en los primeros dos años está cumplido, ahora hay que proponerse otro", manifestó Russo, quien, a la vez, confió que "no hay novedades" en cuanto a la firma de un nuevo vínculo con el club.

Tras la goleada sufrida el pasado sábado ante Vélez Sarsfield (4-1) en Liniers, el entrenador del "Canalla" reconoció que llegaron a un punto "donde todo el mundo creí­a que estábamos para más" pero admitió que "evidentemente faltaron un montón de situaciones".

De cara al próximo compromiso, que será el sábado ante Olimpo de Bahía Blanca, Russo no dio detalles de las variantes pero podrá contar con el lateral izquierdo Rafael Delgado, quien reemplazaría a Lucas Lazo.

A su vez, aguardará por la recuperación del delantero uruguayo Sebastián Abreu, quien arrastra una tendinosis crónica en el cuádriceps izquierdo.

Por la 17ma fecha del torneo Final, Rosario Central, que suma 23 puntos, recibirá a Olimpo de Bahía Blanca el sábado desde las 17:10 en el estadio Gigante de Arroyito, con el arbitraje de Jorge Baliño.

Jonatan Maidana: "Tenemos que pensar en ganar los tres partidos"

BUENOS AIRES -- El defensor Jonatan Maidana buscó quitarle dramatismo al empate que River cedió ante Olimpo y deslizó que las chances de su equipo en el torneo Final están intactas al afirmar que "en tres partidos pueden pasar muchas cosas".

"Tenemos que pensar en ganar los tres partidos que quedan y esperar. Primero tenemos que pensar en nosotros y después ver los resultados de los demás", dijo Maidana, consciente de que River, que tiene dos puntos menos que el líder Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata, parece no tener margen de error si quiere dar la vuelta olímpica.

El marcador central rechazó la consideración generalizada de que a River le queda un fixture favorable (tiene que jugar contra Racing, el ya descendido Argentinos y Quilmes) al remarcar que "rivales accesibles no hay".

"Todos los equipos siempre juegan por algo. Quedan tres partidos muy difíciles", advirtió en conferencia de prensa luego del entrenamiento en el predio que el club tiene en Ezeiza.

Maidana consideró que "todo es muy cambiante y el que tenga la posibilidad de tener regularidad, se va a llevar el campeonato", a la vez que avisó que "Gimnasia tiene partidos complicados igual que nosotros".

"Veremos de acá al final cómo se dan las cosas", dijo, como quien le pone puntos suspensivos a una historia.

También trató de dejar en claro que Racing no será un rival fácil el domingo en el Monumental.

"Si bien Racing no viene del todo bien en el torneo, tiene buenos jugadores, así que no nos podemos descuidar ni mucho menos. Y tendremos que estar atentos a los jugadores de ataque de ellos", argumentó.

La Volpe is not the right manager for Chivas

Another season relegated to oblivion and another failure in Chivas´ recent history. Guadalajara have lost their magic and color. It seemed Jose Luis Real was to blame for the situation that prevailed, but we now realize that removing him was not the solution to the Rebano´s recent ills.

Ricardo Antonio La Volpe came to Chivas with the intention of guiding the red and white team to the Mexican league playoffs and failed to do so. In fact, the Rebano -- in my opinion -- played even worse than it had been doing with "Guero" Real, who was removed as first-team manager for the second time.

One is left wondering why certain decisions are made, when, in the long run, continuity is the best thing. Even if short-term adjustments are needed, a change in the hot seat is not always the best choice, as has been the case at Chivas.

Chivas is not defending well; they pose no threat to their opponents, and show no passion on the field. The team picked up only four points of 12 possible after the arrival of the Argentine coach and missed out on a chance to qualify to the Liguilla, being unable to narrowly defeat the underdog Monterrey team at home.

The Rebano loses; the Rebano disappoints, and with this new failure come the promises, the ideals, the dreams and the intentions. However, in reality, Chivas are in very hot water and are dealing with problems threatening their greatness, as relegation will be a concern next season for the team with the most tradition in Mexican soccer. Worse still, it seems no one can stop the Rebano Sagrado from free-falling.

And to say that the Liguilla becomes less attractive without Chivas is blatant nonsense. Chivas are boring and colorless. They won´t be missed. We miss the yesteryear Chivas, players that gave their all in the field. No, no one will miss this team.

But what should be changed next season? I believe a new manager is in order. In my opinion, La Volpe -- for whom I have enormous respect for what he has achieved in Mexican soccer -- is evidently not the ideal manager for Chivas.

Since his arrival he has excused himself by giving a variety of empty pretexts -- the team is in poor physical condition, unsatisfactory work done in youth ranks, reinforcements are not appropriate ... And pretexts will no doubt continue next tournament, as it is impossible to build a team like Barcelona, and they can´t bring in Cristiano Ronaldo or Lionel Messi.

I firmly believe that anyone who makes excuses in life will never cease to do so. La Volpe has recently offered more excuses than solutions and in his recent history, with Boca Juniors, with Velez, with Atlante, with Atlas and now Chivas, we recognize his recipe has lost its essence and magic.

Would Marco Fabian’s return be the ultimate solution to these problems? Certainly not. Fabian won´t be the leader and hero he is today in Cruz Azul ... he never was. One player or one coach does not make a team, and Chivas has yet to understand this.

Guadalajara wishes to make delicious paella, but changes the ingredients every 15 minutes. You can´t ask 10 different cooks to finish the paella. Chivas have hired in the past four years more than eight coaches, and this is the result. Next season they will fight relegation. Too many cooks spoil the broth.

I think that Chivas need to act intelligently -- with the appropriate choice of manager and players. Going back to its roots and respecting its decisions. Success does not solely rely on the work carried out by one player or one coach; it´s the sum of sound decisions and hard work. The correct ingredients achieve positive results.

Club America vs Santos: The Sleeping Giants Series

The 2014 Clausura tournament of LIGA Bancomer MX has left behind its regular phase and now enters into the Liguilla (playoffs). Only eight teams remain from the league´s 18 to fight out the league championship.

The quarterfinals of the Clausura 2014 will kick off with Club America hosting Santos Laguna on Wednesday night at the Estadio Azteca. These two teams met back in week nine in Mexico City. America had jumped to an early 2-0 lead but ended up losing the match 2-4 for a remarkable come from behind win for Santos.

Liga MX´s playoff structure states that the team that finishes in first place goes up against the eighth place finishers, second place faces seventh, third against sixth, and fourth against fifth. Every season it seems that the fourth against fifth series is the most even match up of all, and the hardest to predict.

This season is no different, with fourth place Santos going up against fifth place Club America. Both teams finished the regular season on 25 points and a goal difference of +4; the deciding factor in the standings was that Santos scored more goals throughout the tournament than the Mexico City club.

Another characteristic of the fourth vs fifth match-up is that usually both sides have the talent and power to be title contenders, and even top of the league, but due to inconsistency throughout the regular season, the teams finish in the middle.

Both Santos and Club America have the squads to be considered among championship candidates, but they´ll have to prove it on the field once the playoffs start because what was shown during the season is still not enough. Whichever team does come out victorious will have that confidence and momentum behind them to move onto the semifinals as a serious contender.

SANTOS TO SALVAGE SOME PRESTIGE

The northern Mexico side did a fantastic job this semester managing both the Copa Libertadores and Liga MX competitions. But the way in which they crashed out of the South American tournament left a bad impression and now they´ll want to save face in the domestic playoffs.

Santos got off to a slow start in the Clausura 2014 tournament but slowly started to pick up their form. Guys like Mexican National Team striker Oribe Peralta took some time to find good rhythm following the roller-coaster year that the national Team had faced.

The "Comarca" side were able to finish the group stage of the Copa Libertadores as the third best team in the whole competition, while at the same time maintaining themselves in the top part of the league table. They were even considered by some Copa Libertadores experts as a tournament favorite. Unfortunately it all came crashing down on them in the Round of 16, where Argentina´s Lanus eliminated them with an overwhelming 4-1 aggregate score.

The number one concern for Santos coming into the playoffs is their defense. They have had to rely on their powerful offense to get them out of trouble because the defense has allowed some rather easy goals.

"TURCO" MOHAMED HAS TO PROVE HIS WORTH AT CLUB AMERICA

Having to replace Miguel "Piojo" Herrera who left Club America to take over the Mexican National Team was never going to be easy for the club. Antonio "Turco" Mohamed came in to try and keep the rather successful ship steady. The positive momentum left over from Herrera´s term was enough to see that America got a good start to the season, but slowly the growing pains of having a new manager started to become evident.

Mohamed´s attempts at trying to play the way Herrera use to ended up being the stubbing block. "El Turco" has his own style of play which suites him, but when he tried to play a style that is not his own, the fact that something was not right started to show.

Up until now, Mohamed has stayed with Herrera´s 5-3-2 system despite the fact that Mohamed´s style is more of a four man defensive line. Herrera liked to have his three midfielders be box-to-box players, being able to attack as well as defend. Mohamed´s style on the other hand, is to have one holding midfielder in front of the defensive line, while the other midfielders have a little more freedom in the attacking portions of the field.

Throughout the season, Mohamed went back and fourth between Juan Carlos Medina and Jesus Molina in the central midfield position; Medina being the box-to-box guy and Molina being the holding midfielder. The manager also changed to a four man defensive line a few times midway through matches, but tried to always keep Herrera´s five man line in the starting lineups.

On of the biggest struggles for America recently has been their form at home in the Estadio Azteca. They are currently on a six game win-less streak on their own grounds. The Aguilas will want to concentrate on not allowing the powerful Santos offense score away goals in the first leg of the match.

Leon vs Cruz Azul: Champs vs League Leaders

The 2014 Clausura tournament of the LIGA Bancomer MX has reached its ´´business´´ portion of the competition. The real race to the title starts now in the quarterfinals stage. One of the best match-ups of the four has to be the pairing of the league leaders Cruz Azul against the reigning champions Leon.

The first place vs eighth place is suppose to be the most unbalanced series of the four, but in reality the pressure of being Mexico´s number one team has destructed many before. Cruz Azul will have to cope with that pressure as they face a Leon squad who had given up in the domestic league, turning all of their attention in their Copa Libertadores campaign. Leon will come into the playoffs with not much to lose and everything, like a back-to-back championship, to win.

The last time these two faced each other in a playoff series was back in 1997 when the Mexico City giants defeated Leon in a penalty shootout in the championship final. It was Cruz Azul´s eighth league title, and their last one to date.

The two met during the 12th match-day of the 2014 Clausura in Leon´s Camp Nou, where they ended in a scoreless draw.

CAN TENA KILL THE FINAL CRUZ AZUL GHOST?

The Mexico City club dominated the season from start to finish, but this is nothing new for a team like Cruz Azul. The Cementeros usually have strong squads that finish really high in the league table. Cruz Azul´s problems have been physiological ones at the moment of truth when all of the season´s work is on the line.

In the past few season Cruz Azul has been killing off some of their ghosts, but it is now up to Luis Fernando Tena to lead the club past the last and biggest ghost. Under former manager Guillermo Vazquez, Cruz Azul were able to win their first trophy in 16 years when they won the Clausura 2013 Copa MX. But that same team crashed out in the last two minutes of the league final against Club America.

This season the club decided to once again hire Luis Fernando "El Flaco" Tena. The manager was the person who led Cruz Azul to their last league title back in 1997 over Leon in the final. Tena is also the person responsible for leading the Mexican U-23 team to a historic Olympic Gold Medal.

This season Tena has led the team to dominate the league, as well as the CONCACAF Champions League. Under Tena they have won their record setting sixth CONCACAF title, and now they look to kill the last ghost, the league championship.

Big part of the team´s success has been the reassurance of Marco Fabian. The extremely talented attacking midfielder had lost his form at former club Chivas. Tena is also credited with bringing Fabian back to life. Tena had managed to get some real quality football out of Fabian during the Olympic Games in 2012 and once again has Fabian playing at a high level.

LEON FINDS AN UNEXPECTED LOTTERY TICKET

The reigning Mexican league champions managed to sneak into the eighth place of the league table and now have the opportunity to participate in the playoffs. Leon had a slow start to the season always staying between the mid to lower part of the league table.

A few weeks ago, the manager Gustavo Matosas came out and publicly said that the team would be setting aside the domestic league to focus all of their energy into the Copa Libertadores. The overall parity of the league table gave the champs the opportunity to head into the final weeks of the season with the slight possibilities of reaching the playoffs.

Winning their final two matches plus counting on a series of other favorable results like Atlas, Morelia, and Chivas all not taking advantage of the fact all they had to do was win and take Leon´s ticket. Leon was able to sneak into the final eight and now have a chance to defend their championship.

The key for Leon will be in the level of fatigue and concentration that their players will have. Guys like veteran defender Rafael Marquez, Carlos Peña, Luis Montes, and Luis Vazquez all have had an extremely long semester already with lots of games and lots of travel between Liga MX, Copa Libertadores, and Mexican National Team.

10 Chilean National Players Called up for Initial World Cup Trainings

FIFA´s number 14 best national team, Chile, is recruiting the first 10 elected players for its World Cup training starting on Friday.

Chile´s manager Jorge Sampaoli announced Sunday that almost an entire team of athletes who play in the national league will have to be present at the training camp Juan Pinto Duran by May 2.

Five national clubs -each with two footballers- received the notice that their players were called up to the first part of the World Cup works, being Universidad de Chile, O´Higgins, Universidad Católica, Colo Colo and Unión Española. And six footballers will come from the recent top three clubs in the Campeonato Clausura 2013-14.

The initial 10 national soccer players were as follow:

Johnny Herrera (Universidad de Chile)
José Rojas (Universidad de Chile)
Paulo Garcés (O´Higgins)
Pedro Pablo Hernández (O´Higgins)
Enzo Andía (Universidad Católica)
Cristopher Toselli (Universidad Católica)
José Pedro Fuenzalida (Colo Colo)
Esteban Paredes (Colo Colo)
Marcos González (Unión Española)
Gustavo Canales (Unión Española)

The 20th edition of the World Cup in Brazil will mark Chile´s eighth time in the tournament with their best placement in 1962, when they hosted the competition and finished in third place.

In 2014 the South American national team will face Australia, Spain and the Netherlands in the group stage kicking off on June 13.

DP

Rodrigo De Paul, fra Gois Racing Club?

"El Ratón" er pt tilbage på Akademiet for at hente den unge De Paul til Europa.

19-årig winger med hele 38 kampe for førsteholdet. Godt langskud, rappe fødder og argentinsk temperament, hører jeg flere steder?
https://www.youtube.com/…AVquZobqb2g

Har set ham sammenlignet med Iniesta og endda en ung M.Laudrup, med de her hurtige indryk fra venstresiden, så mon ikke De Paul har en "La Croqueta" eller to oppe i ærmet?

Racing-præsident Blanco skulle rejse med Ayala til Europa for at færdiggøre handlen torsdag.

Udinese har også haft budt de €4-6M, men afvist af spilleren selv, og derudover naturligvis også interesse fra argentinerlejren Catania.

Til Valencia ? - tja hvorfor ikke - er vel et ganske godt køb til den pris, de skal vel sælge ud igen Racing (sidste røg Fariña og Centurion), nu Zuculini og De Paul så er der kun Vietto tilbage.

Havde troet han røg til italiensk fodbold, Blanco har åbenbart været i støvleland ? de/han vil jo gerne have Milito hjem - og til den pris kan vel selv broke-ass Italians være med ? .... men det handler vel om Ayala, penge og det noget højere niveau i La Liga som trækker i den spanske retning trods alt ?