2023-11-06 04:13:05
11/05/2023 11:13 p.m. Updated on 11/05/2023 11:43 p.m.
He waited to get to Ezeiza, to the Boca Estate. Perhaps, so as not to make noise ahead of time, on the way back. But I already had the decision made. As soon as the final ended, already at the conference, even with the pain of defeat, Jorge Almiron left signs. “About the future I cannot answer now. There is pain, a lot of pain. We will see how everything goes, this is a very big club and it always has to get up. The team and the club have a lot of future,” she said. He was not included. It is true that, at that time, it was difficult to put his words into action. But he was already outside. And he just waited for the opportunity to tell Riquelme.
“Romanian, I’m going to take a step to the side, it’s not enough anymore”, were the first words of the DT. Roman did not expect it. A while before, the vice president had gathered the entire team in Boca Predio and I had thanked him for his effort in this Cup, for having taken Boca to a new Libertadores final, for having been competitive and having excited the fans. Of course, he left them a clear message: “Now there are five finals left.” It included, there, the three dates of the League Cup and the definition of the Argentine Cup, motivating the team to pass Estudiantes in the semifinals.
Club Atlético Boca Juniors informs members and supporters that this Sunday, November 5, after 9 p.m., Jorge Almirón reported that he and his coaching staff, with a contract valid until the end of the season, had made the personal decision to do not continue… pic.twitter.com/E3zaQcf0Mw
— Boca Juniors (@BocaJrsOficial) November 6, 2023
Almirón waited until that moment. He didn’t even say goodbye to the players. He wanted to have a talk alone with JR. That’s why the vice president was surprised when he confronted him to tell him what his decision was. Riquelme even told him that same thing. That he didn’t expect it. Of course, he had always made the decision to cut ties. And in this case, he had nothing cooked, as happened with Russo, with Battaglia and with Ibarra. They all left because the vice decided it was time to end their cycles. But this time he didn’t put the final point. Therefore, he could not reverse the decision. He didn’t try it either. He understood that it was a decision made.
“I could have said it in front of the players, right?” they trusted Ezeiza, about the surprising posture of the coach. He could say goodbye this Tuesday afternoon, when the team returns to training, now without a coach to face what is coming, which is no small thing. A semi-final of the Argentine Cupthe final stretch of the championship and the objective that is already necessary and urgent: qualify for the next Libertadores.
Almirón knew that the Cup was the measure of all things in Boca. And also, for his cycle. “This is kill or be killed,” he had said around him, before the semifinals. The Libertadores was his support. The team’s poor performance in the tournament, something that Román also criticized, because he understands that Boca has a squad to be competitive on all fronts, they were filing their credit. And so, in that kill or die that he himself had in his head, he ended up consummating the end of his cycle. Believe it or burst, he debuted with San Lorenzo. And he leaves just before the Cyclone.
It is true, in the middle, the defeat in the final increased internal questions. Almirón knew that after this defeat, he would not have an easy time reversing the situation. His authority was also limited behind closed doors.. Nicolás Figal, when he came out in the final, let him know in that public reproach. He did not have full consensus among those who decide or among his own players. That was also another sign that his cycle was over, It was the “nothing more” that he mentioned to JR.
Hand in hand with Figal’s complaint, there were some shouts and reproaches exchanged in the post-match locker room, with the footballers themselves taking center stage and with the coach targeted. For the context that Boca de Almirón was in, that situation no longer left much room to think about the continuity of the cycle. The only thing left to know was when the end would be.
The coach too had been very weakened by the defeat in the final with the Flu, above all, by the initial approach (he himself acknowledged it before the press when he said that Flu’s dominance in the first half was not in his plans) and because he was once again at the center of criticism due to questionable changes and striking decisions, such as Taborda entering the extended as a savior when he had almost no minutes in the Cup and Pulpo González occupied a place on the bench, removing an attacking option like Briasco from the 23, just when he needed an offensive variant.
The numbers were also a very negative sign of how things were going in general., outside the Cup. Their cycle added their 13th defeat in 43 games played, an average of almost one every three, with the aggravating factor that of the last 20 games they only won three. He also did not satisfy the fans, who no longer wanted him. And they weren’t even surprised when they found out that the coach had slammed the door.
Almirón will be the first coach of the Riquelme cycle without winning a title. He leaves when Boca plays the chance to have revenge for this lost final, which they will only have if they qualify for the Libertadores. He was just kill or be killed. The obsession with La Séptima has just brought another coach…
See also
Almirón resigned in Boca!
See also
Who will be Boca’s coach until the end of the year?
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