Reimond Manco Criticizes Alianza Lima’s Decision to Replace Diego Ortiz with Mariano Soso as Head Coach

Reimond Manco lashed out at Alianza Lima’s management for not continuing with Diego Ortiz as coach and choosing Mariano Soso instead.

Alianza Lima is entering a new phase under the guidance of Mariano Soso. This happened after Alejandro Restrepo was dismissed from his position due to the irregularity shown in the Apertura Tournament, with the defeat against Universitario de Deportes being the key factor in his departure. The U-17 coach, Diego Ortiz, took over on an interim basis and delivered good results, although the management ultimately opted for the Argentine coach. In this sense, Reimond Manco criticized the high-ranking officials of the ‘blanquiazules’ for not continuing with the young strategist.

“I don’t understand why they dismiss a young homegrown coach, having won two games and demonstrating the ability to adapt, and bring in a foreigner who, by the way, started his career as a head coach here in Peru (surprisingly) and now they bring him in as a top-tier coach!” were his first words through a story on his Instagram account.

Similarly, he dismissed that he was against the appointment of the former Sporting Cristal coach, but pointed out that the other is a homegrown man with a promising future. “I have no doubts about the new coach’s abilities, but the question is why not give a chance to a coach who is identified with the club, with a future, capability, and projection?,” he questioned.

Mariano Soso debuted with Alianza Lima in a draw against ADT in Matute. – credits: Katherine Magallanes

Furthermore, Reimond Manco listed four coaches (two Germans, one Portuguese, and one Argentine), whose ages do not even reach 40, and yet are already working in the elite of South American and European football. “Here are a few examples: Matthias Jaissle, Rúben Amorim, Julian Nagelsmann, and Martín Anselmi,” he shared.

That was when the former ’jotita’ raised an objection related to whether Diego Ortiz is not qualified to coach the team simply due to his age, which contradicts what Guillermo Salas achieved with the ‘íntimo’ squad.

“Now they will say that he doesn’t have experience, that he’s too young, etc. So, is there a specific age at which they can start coaching professionally? Or will they wait until the team is in dire straits to trust someone from the club, just like they did with ‘Chicho’? Who, by the way, then made the club champions,” he clarified.

Reimond Manco and his message on Instagram about Alianza Lima and the decision to bet on Mariano Soso over Diego Ortiz.

As mentioned above, Diego Ortiz temporarily took on the role of coach for Alianza Lima due to Alejandro Restrepo’s dismissal.

The 35-year-old coach, who also holds a master’s degree in Football Management from the European University of Madrid, was previously in charge of the U-17 team, which he led to the semifinals in the Austral Cup (Club World Cup) in 2023.

And as soon as he took charge of the first team, he proved to be a coach who adapts to the opponent. Against Unión Comercio he used a 4-3-3 formation, which led him to victory by a narrow margin.

However, against Comerciantes Unidos in Cajambamba, he varied the approach and employed a 3-5-2 setup. Here, he also secured a 3-1 victory, demonstrating a better performance with the players feeling more liberated on the field.

Alianza Lima defeated Comerciantes Unidos 3-1 in the 5th round of the 2024 Liga 1 Clausura Tournament

Now Mariano Soso has taken the reins of the team and is looking to win the Clausura Tournament to reach the final of the Liga 1 against Universitario. A tough challenge for the Argentine strategist, who was crowned national champion with Sporting Cristal in 2016 and claimed the Pernambucano Championship with Brazil’s Sport Recife in 2024.

At Alianza Lima, the decision was made to no longer have Edgar Teixeira as the reserve team coach; his last game was a 4-0 thumping of Cienciano. The choice to replace him will be Diego Ortiz, who had been working with the U-17 team and took on the responsibility of leading the first team during the two matches between Alejandro Restrepo’s departure and Mariano Soso’s arrival.