With no time or smiles to give away in the midst of the pressures that
Independiente
is suffering ,
Ricardo Zielinski
lived a Friday of super action on his first day as coach of the Avellaneda club.
It is that the DT, which on Thursday had been made official after the negotiations with the provisional president
Néstor Grindetti
came to fruition in record time, signed a contract until June 2024, met his new players, began to think about tomorrow's classic against
Racing
in the Libertadores de América
-he even stopped a tentative team- and attended the press in a presentation round in which he had to explain, once again, that
the defensive label that usually accompanies him throughout his career is simply a label.
This is how the Russian lived day 1 in the Red.
Everything happened in seven hours that were almost as hectic as the last days - or rather, months - of Independiente , which included
Fabián Doman
's resignation
from the presidency just over 180 days after taking office and the decision of Uruguayan coach
Pablo Repetto
of getting off a ship that he had not yet boarded while the historic
Pedro Damián Monzón
was unable to get a team that started the year off on track with the inexperienced Leandro Stillitano, Ariel Holan's former assistant, as surprising helmsman.
“I am going to clarify for the last time about a subject that they always ask me. I like Bilardo, I like Menotti, I like Guardiola, I like Bielsa. 30 years have passed and we are still arguing about whether one is defensive or not. It's a ridiculous discussion
," Zielinski emphasized at the start of a question in which he was compared to the style of play of Julio César Falcioni, the DT who was fired a few months ago, as soon as the new leadership took office, with Doman at the helm. for not fitting, supposedly, with the historical line of play of the club.
Ricardo Zielinski's day 1 at Independiente.
In this sense, the coach with a recent past at Nacional de Montevideo and Estudiantes de La Plata continued:
“I don't think Falcioni is defensive.
I think this discussion is stupid.
It is a debate that encourages mediocrity.
Look at the establishments that I had and the proposals that I formed.
It's ridiculous to debate." And he finished:
"I don't consider myself defensive and if I were, it wouldn't be a crime.
It's easy to want to play like Manchester City, but you have to have 100 million euros for each player."
Zielinski, 63, knows he is in for a huge challenge
.
And he didn't shrink.
“
Whenever you take the reins of a team that doesn't have the best results, the emotional factor is vital.
It is essential to accommodate the head to quickly get out of the bad.
I liked the challenge, there is a lot to improve.
In other teams that I was in, we tried to set the goals high.
My goal with Independiente is to qualify for international cups”
, he became emboldened.
Immediately, he stopped at the game on Sunday against Racing and the importance of the support that falls from the stands of the Libertadores de América.
“The classics are the games that I like the most.
If I didn't like them, I would have avoided this game.
They are meetings to enjoy.
The people are going to be essential.
I don't know of a single team that if they screw it up, they'll improve it.
So the support of the fans is key.
I am not one to give messages to the fans.
Just ask them to support, because together we are going to get ahead
, "he was honest.
The shirt that Independiente prepared to present Zielinski.
He also downloaded a message to the players, with whom he had just had his first contact on the pitch of the stadium.
“In Independiente you have to know that you have to live working under pressure.
The footballers have to know it and the coaches who come here have to know it.
What is important is also reached by working under pressure”
, he remarked.
The DT, it is clear, chooses not to rush beyond the logical haste of a team that barely added 9 points out of 33 possible so far in the Professional League and that is 25th in the standings among 28 teams.
The only peace of mind is that the averages are not a matter of concern in this part of Avellaneda - march 17th with a good margin - and that there is plenty of time to add between now and the end of the year.
For the picture.
Russian smile.
Photo: Fernando de la Orden
What will the Russian Zielinski's Independiente be like?
“
It doesn't make sense to go with an idea if we don't have the interpreters for it.
In the world that discussion is over, but in Argentina it still happens.
Soccer teams work together.
You have to be solid and it all depends on the performers.
I will watch and talk to the players to come up with the best possible system
. "
The equipment that you stopped on your first day of work can serve as a clue.
It is that
the coach leaned towards a 4-2-3-1 in his initial essay.
The names?
Rodrigo Rey was the goalkeeper and the defense featured Luciano Gómez, Sergio Barreto, Joaquín Laso and Ayrton Costa.
In the midfield he stopped two blocks: Agustín Mulet and Iván Marcone complemented each other behind Matías Giménez, Juan Cazares and Nicolás Vallejo, who in turn functioned as a link for Martín Cauteruccio, the only striker.
Today, surely, he will continue testing.
The era of the Russian is already underway.
look too
Ariel Holan defended himself against the accusation of Gabriel Milito in the midst of the Independiente crisis
Brian Sarmiento did not hold anything back and recounted the intimacy of the day Teo Gutiérrez pulled out a weapon in the Racing locker room
