Mauro's Journey

vs. Boca 0-0p Win

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The last match of a fantastic season. Here we had the chance to take the double, but we faced a very difficult opponent in Boca.

We played an amazing match, this was without doubt the best performance I've seen from the team. We dominated Boca from the start, and only the efficiency was lagging, we should have won the match in regulation time. Even if we were to lose the penalty shootout, I would have been very pleased with the performance. I had not at all expected that we could play this kind of football against Boca. When we earlier in the season got 1 point home for La Bombonera it was via solid defensive work. This time we had dominated them!

The penalty shootout started well with two missed from Boca, but then Galmarini missed and afterwards Goni. So we had to wait until our 6th kick before the decisive moment. Boca's central defender Alexis Rolín had just missed, so it was left to our profile Arzura to decide the shootout. He kept his head cool and smashed home the winning penalty. So once again we could celebrate – what a season!

A bit surprising, we did not get any players on the Team of the Year

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On the other hand, I was very delighted to receive the Argentinian Premier División Manager of the Year award.

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I got a nasty surprise when I returned home from vacation.

We had an agreed future fee on 850k for Cevallos and though he had not fully lived up to expectations, I would without doubt take advantage of the option. So I expected that it was just the formalities that had to be solved. Cevallos, however, had no interest in negotiate contract, he wanted to continue his career at higher levels.

I really hope that he changes his mind during the transfer window, and in the meantime I will try to look for a potential replacement. San Lorenzo sold Franco Mussis to Málaga in the past season, but once again Mussis has not been able to get his break through in Europe and has now been put on the transfer and loan list. So I see an opportunity for a good deal here, if we fail to reach an agreement with Cevallos.


We have appointed a new chief scout Gustavo Sánchez from Nacional. We reached a compesation settlement of 8.250€ in order to complete the move, a very satisfying deal as he was our top priority.

Transfer window

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A very hectic transfer window is now closed.

I realized that it was unfortunately not possible to sign Cevallos, so I got in touch with Malaga regarding Franco Mussis who I had selected as the optimal replacement. I quickly realized that we were not able to agree on a transfer fee, so we had to settle for a loan agreement which made Mussis the best-paid player in the squad.

He got one start in the a friendly match against Danubio, and then this happened:

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We needed the replacement for Cevallos, so this injury left me in a situation where we were forced to terminate the loan agreement with Mussis, since his salary put major constraints to find a replacement.

The market was unfortunately very limited for a central midfielder within our budget, specially since I preferred a player with some experience. Hernanes at Juventus was put on the loan list and was my first target, although I admit it was a unrealistic dream. With Juventus requiring 50% of his salary covered, the dream broke quickly. So instead I listed my requirements for a new central midfielder and left the task to our scout.

In the meantime we made 2 sales. We sold our left winger Jorge Rodrigúez to Club Brugge and Sebastián Rincón to Santa Cruz for a total price of €1.725M. They were both reserve players, albeit Rincon was approaching the starting 11, but none of them were interested in extending their expiring contracts, so I was satisfied with both sales.

I had to accept that we unfortunately were not able to get the requested experience to our central midfield. So instead we had to go for the most talented, and here the choice fell on Vladmir Hernández from Colombian Junior. In playing style he reminds a bit of Cevallos, and in addition to the central position he can also cover the left wing where we are a little sparse.


Hernández was bought for just €250k and that gave us the possibility of signing the equally talented, albeit younger Jesús Marimón, also from Columbia. He will however not join before the next season and was bought for €500k. He is intended the defensive midfield position, where he eventually should be Arzura's successor, which we probably must accept that we can not hold on forever. There have also in this transfer window been bid for Arzura, this time from Sassuolo, but all bids were rejected.

I found furthermore a backup to our left-back at the Brazilian champions Cruzeiro, here was Diego Renan loaned with a built-in option to acquire him for a fee of €475k.

Finally, I wanted to strengthen the right wing position. I found the right player at Gimnasia (LP), their profile Maximiliano Meza who had a fine last season in the best Argentine league. With his contract expiring this season I thought that we could reach an agreement with Gimnasia on an acceptable fee, but we failed on that. So instead we get him for free from next season.


I decied to strengthen the squad depth now by signing the right winger Walter Busse from a free transfer. He played last season at Defensa y Jusicia, but he did not get much playing time, so I do not expect that he will get into our starting line-up.

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A busy preseason is over. I had an expectation to implement a new tactic with more offensive wings than before through the preseason. I must, however, acknowledge that the offensive qualities still are too limited, so we will continue with a more conservative approach which also worked fine in the last season. For now the starting line up, and 2. team will look like this:



I must admit that I am not completely satisfied with the depth of our squad and we can not run into many injuries before we are be badly weakened. So with the compressed match schedule this season I will give the reserve squad full playing time in the Copa Argentina.

This update is slightly more compact than before.

January and February

Once again we got a amazing start to the season, although the opponents like last season was teams that are expected to struggle in the bottom of the league. We are really looking strong when we are able to field our strongest 11. It was also pleasing to be able to start out with a solid victory in the Copa Libertadores, although it was expected.


March

March was an incredibly frustrating month. Injuries began to hit us and we were forced to play with much weakened team in several matches. The result was that we were not able to pick up a single victory in the league, the results in Copa Libertadores was still positive though. I was particularly proud of our win against San Martín in Copa Argentina since we fielded a very young team - with several players just 16 and 17 years old.

April

April was slightly better, especially considering our opponents. Tthere was a minor rebellion in the squad after our defeat against Boca though, and several players expressed their disappointment over the last weeks results. So I began to feel a little pressure, but fortunately the negative mood disappeared after two victories in the league and the further advancement in Copa Libertadores.




It was without doubt one of the most interesting periods as manager of Tigre. We started out by meeting Gremio in Copa Libertadores. I expected that this will be the last stop since we were hit hard by injuries. We were without our two best players, goalkeeper Javier García and our anchor Joaquín Arzura. But we played a stunning home game that gave us the platform required to deliver the surprise and qualify for the quarterfinals. The quarterfinals was unfortunately our final destination, it was not without a fight though. we played a very even match at home against Botafogo and I should have asked me satisfied with 0-0. Instead I took a foolhardy decision and gambled offensively in the final minutes in order to go after the winning goal. It ended up costing us dearly, as Botafogo scored on a counter attack 5 minutes before FT. We got the optimal start in the return clash though when Zelaya brought us in front after just 2 minutes! Botafogo dominated us completely hereafter and got very deservedly equalized. Slightly out of nowhere we turned, however, the match around with just 5 minutes again - when Galmarini brought us in front 2-1. We just had to keep that lead for a few minutes, then we had been in the semifinals. The problem was that we mainly had offensive players on the field now, and they were by no means able to defend our lead. Instead Botafogo scored once again and shattered our dreams of a Copa Libertadores semifinal.


We conclude however the half season very satisfactory, as number 2 in the league, just two points after leading team Arsenal de Sarandi.


But the fact that Tiger is not highlighted in the table also means new challenges for me - which soon will be announced. It has been an incredible time with the Matadores but I also feel that the time is right to try something new. Tigre is in a great condition and I feel that I give my successors all the opportunities to continue the journey which we started on last season.

City winning the Champions League, that is what I like to see!!