Bets emerged, how he befriended the players and ‘credibility’: Almirón’s recipe to redirect Boca

One sentence sums up the feeling of Jorge Almiron: “I’m happy, I’m in a great moment. I hope I can share what we experience at the Boca property. I arrive and there are the former players, I surround myself with football all day. The players want to improve and we show it every day.”

Almiron is “happy”, almost a catchphrase of the one who chose him for the job, Juan Román Riquelme, neither more nor less. And the Boca fan is beginning to believe in the 51-year-old coach who arrived just a month ago to change the blue-gold equation.

You have to surrender to the evidence that the team returns. Almirón managed in just eight games to overturn the spirit, to leave behind that permanent state of boiling that was the club at the time of Sebastián Battaglia and Hugo Ibarra. The latest results, regardless of the Superclásico, help. But above all the work of a technician who questions Riquelme and raises a question: Why did it take so long to choose a qualified strategist with extensive experience? The answer may lie in this upcoming election year. And it works, of course.

What is Almirón’s recipe for changing the face of Boca? “Credibility” is one of the words used by those who walk day by day in Ezeiza. “There is another style of driving,” they pointed out earlier clarion. “Ibarra did not reach the players. They had already lost respect for him. They didn’t see it up to par,” they trusted.

Almirón has tried to commit the players from the first minute of his management. With a more dynamic training and something fundamental in any work group, bring the players together. In this sense, lunch is sacred. Before their arrival, they ate according to affinity or took the food home. Now everyone shares SUM tables.

Then there are more dynamic workouts and lots of videos. Own and others, of course. The analysis of the rivals together with Maximiliano Velázquez and Pablo Manusovich, his assistants on the pitch, is inevitable. Players have received it very well. For example, the statements made by Marcelo Weigandt after the victory against Belgrano on Sunday at La Bombonera are enough.

“The coach gives us an idea, we respect it, he gives us great confidence and we reflect it on the pitch”, argued the right-back.

So far, the details of what goes on behind closed doors. And there is what is observed in every game. Almirón’s big decision is to bet on Luis Advíncula as a right winger. The Peruvian surprised against Racing and became one of the most unbalanced players. If it is true that he knew his position from his days at Sporting Cristal, it is also true that no other coach had given him the opportunity in his maturity. And when he had to close, as happened in the second half against Belgrano when Norberto Briasco came on, he did well. The same Weigandt and Frank Fabra.

The presence of Cristian Medina as central midfielder was another success. The 20-year-old footballer himself admitted that it was the first time he had played in that position. The absences of Alan Varela and Pol Fernández (both with five yellow cards), and despite Esteban Rolón, have given the boy a responsibility which he has taken on and more than satisfied with. With criteria for being the axis of the team, recovering and restarting, he was accurate in 96% of the passes.

The central players lead, especially Nicolás Figal. When Marcos Rojo returns, he will have that role. There is a greater offensive predisposition and today we cannot speak of Boca de las Individualidades. Collective functioning is above proper names.

In this context, the presence of Martín Payero is also a point in favor of Almirón. His presence in midfield is essential. He didn’t play against River because he was sent off against Racing and the team felt that. He has scored three goals in his last four games and Almirón is already looking beyond the horizon in June, when his loan expires. Middlesbrough are the owners of his pass which is worth 6 million dollars, a figure that Boca would not be willing to pay. The Football Council will be looking to negotiate another loan deal.

“Everything has improved. The guys are making progress, working hard. The pace of work is high, intense. A more competitive team is being put together, right from training. This creates competition. We’re on the right path. The idea is to put together a team and we are doing it little by little,” says Almirón.

For the coach it is an unfinished business to demonstrate that he can make a leap in quality for a great team: his steps with Independiente have not been good, with some nuances, Atlético Nacional and San Lorenzo.

So far, this cycle that has just begun is looking good. Three matches arriving in nine days: Argentinos, Deportivo Pereira and Tigre. You have to keep the level.