Martín Demichelis, with an open heart, after his second Olympic return with River: “Sincerity played against me”

The first year of Martin Demichelis as technical director of River It has two faces. It wasn’t enough for him to be champion of the Professional League with an eleven point advantage nor to finish leader of the annual ranking with a margin of 18 units. They finished undefeated in all classics and won both matches against Boca. He even closed 2023 with the Olympic return in the Champions Trophy.

However, the elimination in the round of 16 of the Argentine Cup at the hands of Talleres and the premature exit from the Copa Libertadores after being overcome by Porto Alegre’s Inter – in both heads-ups due to penalties -, together to some questions about his management, he ended up overshadowing what would have been a brilliant season for any coach elsewhere.

On Friday evening, after River beat Rosario Central 2-0, Demichelis did not escape the microphones. And after trying to cushion the shock that came with Claudio Diablito Echeverri’s “Non-renewal”, the coach took stock of his first 365 days on the Millionaire’s bench and attempted a self-criticism.

“I had to adapt to many things. I trained at Bayern Munich where we shared everything with all the coaches and I have no secrets. I try to explain and here the explanation ended up working against me“, opened the former defender.

And it followed: “Sincerity played against me. And I won’t explain anything else. Sometimes the fundamentals aren’t enough to satisfy. But it was a year of great experience, not only from a footballing point of view but also from a cultural point of view.”

Micho, who has a contract until December 2025, in line with the end of Jorge Brito’s management, had appeared beaten after the defeat, also on penalties, against Central in the semi-final of the League Cup. However, after the Olympic return to the Madre de Ciudades of Santiago, he appeared strengthened and fully equipped to face a new cycle, now without many references, with Enzo Pérez and Jonatan Maidana at the helm, in the team. He also smiled when Esequiel Barco and Enzo Díaz surprised him by pouring a bucket of ice water on him while he was giving an interview to the owners of the television rights.

“The player stops being a player when he loses competitiveness. I understand when the player gets angry because he doesn’t play. River is an institution that doesn’t have time to play five games in a row“he suggested regarding some of the next ends of the cycle.

And he closed: “We live in a country that has a great passion for football and there are many opinion makers. The immediacy in this technological world makes everything happen quickly. The public has freedom of opinion. I’m happy to be at River and I do my best to make the results happen. I made decisions thinking it was best for the team. This is my duty“.