- Aug 31, 2012
- 18,638
- 64,518
Excellent post and I agree completely. I honestly can’t understand why we aren’t seriously considering him especially when looking at the names we are.I know I'm a bit biased, but doesn't matter how I see it, Gallardo always comes on top.
The jump between the league in Argentina and the PL is shorter that most think. Games there are very intense. And it's not like we are talking about a manager from the Malaysian league. It's the league from the current WC champions. 2 of WC winners were raised by Gallardo in River and played for River only 4 months before the WC. And they are both now in the PL and had no problem adapting. I'm talking about Julian Alvarez and Enzo Fernandez.
- Gallardo has what we liked about Poch (the football style, the sense of belonging with the team) and what we wanted from Mourinho & Conte but never got (titles). I don't see any of the other candidates with both this things. Maybe Luis Enrique, but it's hard to judge a manager when you have Messi, Suarez and Neymar in your team.
- Gallardo is also a manager that had to rebuild his team every single year. That meant that maybe half of the team that played the previous season, was part of the team in the next one. And that sometimes meant changing all of his tactics. All of this with a very tight budget. In his first season in charge of River, he bought only 1 player and gave every player at the club the chance to prove themselves. That resulted in 3 players that had been frozen by the previous manager, turning into key players. I have no doubt he could work wonders with the players we have.
- He's a great professional. I can't remember a manager that handles so well the media and is so well regarded by every player. He's a bit like Bielsa in this sense.
- He knows how to win big games, and he knows how to motivate his team. Even if his team is full of players that never won a thing. Whenever there was a make or brake game, you always knew the team was going to be show up. All of this elimination games agains River's fierce rival Boca, Gallardo's team was extremely focused and motivated from the first minute. If you watch both games of the Libertadores finals you can understand what I mean. That cup win is as if we won against Arsenal in the Champions League final.
I honestly don't know how he's not even in contention and someone like Kompany is.