Atlético Nacional “spends difficult days”, as recognized by its president Emilio Gutiérrez, who spoke with EL COLOMBIANO. The leader spoke about the present of the club, the departure of Alejandro Restrepo, the hiring and the election of the new coach.
Why are these days so hot at the club?
“In part, that is the nature of football, that is how we live it, with greater intensity. This sport requires maximum attention from all of us who are involved in the front line of battle. We do it with the desire to move the team forward and to put ahead, above all, the institution that we want to take as high as possible”.
Why was the process of Alejandro Restrepo cut off?
“… We identified that we were not in the right position to maximize our chances of achieving what we wanted internationally. That led to some conversations that are not worth going into in detail. It was not an easy or premeditated decision, but it was the conclusion we reached, betting on a change. It’s not what we normally want to happen in Nacional, but it’s what we had to face and that’s what we’re doing, trying to do our best to face what’s coming, which is to compete for the League that we want so much, go for that 16, That has been everyone’s desire for a few years.”
What is the profile of the technician they want?
“The first thing is to start from the basis that a football project is largely based on a successful coaching staff. It is a decision of great responsibility, in which we want and need to get it right and for that we must carry out an adequate process, with a cool head. That we feel calm with the decision above the times and precipitation. Fortunately we have in the club a group of people with a very high level of professionalism. Professor Hernán Darío Herrera, at this time, is accompanied on a day-to-day basis by high-level people and professionals such as Carlos Piscis Restrepo and Francisco Maturana. From there we are carrying out an orderly process and in due course we will communicate the determination. We want to build a solid stage and for that we need a solid coaching staff”.
Just as Alejandro was given the opportunity, does Herrera also have that possibility or is he definitely not going to hold this position?
“There are two real facts and that is that we are in a process of identifying which is the best coaching staff for Atlético Nacional. In the club, under my leadership, there is a fundamental premise: that the conversations be clear and transparent. Professor Hernán Darío knows what the starting point is, which is what I have just openly explained here and he knows. From there, football is capricious and has its own forms and speaks for itself. How many players have had a minimal chance and made a successful career out of it? In this process that we are in, the teacher is leading the team on the right track, he has just won a classic in a convincing way, with the team competing well, transmitting very good feelings and surely he will have more opportunities ahead. Hernán Darío has an advantage, he is directing the professional team at the moment”.
What is the mea culpa that you do as managers, that you played it with an inexperienced coach and did not reinforce positions like that of the goalkeeper that was needed?
“The difference between the diagnosis that you can make or that we, who have to make the decision, can make is the number of variables that we must weigh. Hitting or matching the diagnosis, even, can be very possible. In other words, when we bet on a home coaching staff, on a coach who has no experience in professional football, there are some things we look for, there are some things we risk. From what has happened with Alejandro there was nothing that I knew he could give us. We knew that he was a coach who had a clear methodology and idea of the game, that he knew how to train and transmit. From the years that I have been in football, I am aware that this is very difficult to achieve in coaches, even among those who today have great validity. We knew that we were taking risks in the experience that he had to manage in professional football and in a very demanding environment to face day to day. We try to minimize these risks by building work teams that will accompany us. That decision-making without ever compromising, which has to be a healthy and clear premise of football and that is that the decisions have to be 100% focused on the coach. At the moment in which this begins to be negotiated, the project is questioned and weakened”.
Did they get the hiring right?
“In choosing both the goalkeeper and the forwards and other areas, we have a series of variables on which we must weigh. We identified that the team had a significant shortcoming when it came to recovering balls. In the midfield we find Álex Mejía and John Duque, two players who, we knew, were going to give us a lot. We brought them for the international challenge and they both got injured while competing. They are events beyond our control. We knew that there was also an opportunity at full-back level, we bet on possibly the best left-back in Colombia (Álvaro Angulo). He has proven it too and he arrived injured at the important moment of the season. We needed speed and balance up front with Daniel Mantilla and a benchmark (Gio Moreno). We understood that Mier is a goalkeeper with a very high projection and I think we will see a successful goalkeeper in Atlético Nacional.
We knew that Aldair had a high performance before, but it was conditioned by the situation that we all know (confrontation with the fans), because we considered that we could continue. That is the risk, because in the end it materialized at a key moment of the season and obviously it hurts us, but we are united to carry out the next great challenge we have, which is to seek the League “
