Ariel Holan: from “I would return to Independiente” to why the remembered Pinola prison did not protest

Ariel Holan has broken his silence in recent days and is happy to have been invited to the celebration ofThe night of the king‘ on the Independiente pitch, which will take place this Saturday.

The former coach of the Red, champion of the Copa Sudamericana 2017 and in a controversial departure from the institution, he left behind important definitions. “I would go back to Independiente. I’ll be back at some point“, he has declared.

“I needed a break because I was exhausted, but I didn’t see the unanimity of the criteria in Independiente to return. It will be when I have to return,” he continued.

And as to why he didn’t specify his return in 2023 when they went looking for him, he commented: “Last year there was no unanimity to return to Independiente. “I needed to rest and feel good, but even that uniformity of criteria wasn’t there.”

And I add: “In Independiente the coach must be at 100%and I understood that at that moment it wasn’t the best for the club.”

In turn he praised Carlos Tevez: “I really respect the work of the current manager and May God grant us to qualify for the final stage of the championship. “He’s doing a great job, it was a good choice by the club.”

Meanwhile, in an interview with ESPN, Holan spoke about that controversial play by Javier Pinola in the 2018 Copa Libertadores. And he revealed: “They said I wasn’t complaining because I wanted to coach River“.

Faced with these accusations, the former Independiente coach defended himself: “The reality is that we were winning 1-0 and they scored two goals against us. What would I have gained if I had complained?”

And he added: “I remember that I apologized to Alejandro Domínguez (president of Conmebol) for having said that the Libertadores was a neighborhood tournament. Then what happened happened. But I felt the responsibility, as a coach, of not having been able to avoid the two goals that River scored for us.”

And he expanded that Libertadores. “In 2017 we sold Tagliafico, Rigoni and Barco. The team that wanted to win the Libertadores already had three less fundamental players. Tagliafico was the captain”, clarified Holan.

And he continues: “If a boy plays well, how long does he last in the team? It’s not easy when a coach has two or three players disqualified, it’s almost like starting from scratch. Ditto in 2018 we had a great experience.” and the team played very well “But we had to face River, the best Argentine team of the last ten years.”

After being eliminated from Libertadores, Maximiliano Meza and Emmanuel Gigliotti left the club. Independiente have lost some of their most competitive players: “It seems like the only one who did it all was me” Holan said.

And, regarding his departure, he declared: “It hurt a lot when I left and I think there was a lot to do. When the club is united you get results, the South American was no coincidence. “When I left the club it was against my will, I had a lot to give.”