A combo of expectations and uncertainty gives the prelude to the most important tournament in Argentine soccer other seductive nuances.
In a tournament where, in addition to the sweet prizes, the three descents add a special seasoning, Estudiantes and Gimnasia arrive at the time of their debut with very different motivations.
The “high stick” that accompanies the white-and-red goals after the positive cycle that Ricardo Zielinski rounded off as coach, now presents Abel Balbo as a driver who is fully aware of the demands that await him.
On another level, and with an economic situation that is tightening its throat, Gimnasia, through its new directors, decided to give its situation a bath of harsh reality and trusts one of its idols to supervise this enormously difficult challenge. .
El Pincha chose Balbo (European profile, sobriety and some innovative ideas to apply on a daily basis) giving him a resounding vote of confidence with the aim of fighting for lofty goals.
For his part, El Lobo moved the matrix of his reserve (essentially coach Sebastián Romero and his assistants, Nicolás Cabrera and Pablo Romero, ensuring that many youngsters grow up quickly and manage to rise to the occasion.
Sebastián Romero will have a difficult task in charge of a very youthful team
AS FAR FROM FULL ACCEPTANCE AS FROM COMPLAINTING REJECTION
Public opinion met Balbo as a coach when he took office at Central Córdoba in Santiago del Estero. As the driver of a team that obtained interesting results and that knew how to make himself respected, his sobriety and a certain strategic daring made him a highly-observed coach in the Buenos Aires shop window.
Sebastián Verón, who continues to be the one who sets the pace in many aspects, and especially in professional football, had in the perception and experiences of his son Deian a report that he must have listened to with great attention. Verón Junior played little with Balbo, but he knows well how Ferroviario worked in the campaign where he finished sixteenth, with eight wins, two draws and eight losses.
Balbo, the one who has many options to finish shaping his tactical identity, knows perfectly the desires of all Estudiantes to be among those who will define glory.
The Russian Zielinski arrived to get the team out of a complex situation and he succeeded in spades; he, on the other hand, lands on a different stage, without urgency, but forced to overcome the somewhat scarce imprint of the leading team from the previous cycle.
Red-and-white fans have been cautious. Since it became known that he would be the new DT, there were no extremist trials. Balbus arrived accompanied by a respectful silence. As far from euphoric approval as from a furious rejection loaded with protests. He came into life without making a sound.
Abel Balbo, experience as a footballer but unknown as DT. It has a great squad
INHIBITED, CHIROLA IS THE VISIBLE FACE OF A BOLD PROPOSAL
Divided between those who identify one hundred percent with extreme austerity, and those who assert that the level of danger with which they are going to live is too much, Gymnastics will take the field with some kids that the bulk of their own fans do not know.
Could he have taken another path? While this debate continues, Sebastián Romero is already moving through a professional scenario that surely he had not dreamed of for his arrival in the first team.
With the few remaining players already formed and the overflowing energy of many youngsters sheltered by their own anxiety, the Wolf will not have it easy.
Grow and endure may be the verbs that best define the goals of Pinchas and Triperos
The tripero environment today is impregnated with sensations as strong as they are conflicting. The club was honest in managing its daily decisions and within this line of institutional behavior is included the bet that generates fear, illusion and even some pride for the new position to manage the funds of a non-profit civil association. The transit of a new paradigm excites those who can no longer bear living permanently with debts.
Once again, as everyone in football knows, the force of the results will be the most powerful. It happened in the last World Cup in Qatar and will continue to happen in any league where the activity is governed by professional condiments. Not accepting these conditions is looking at the complex world of football from a perspective as naive as it is utopian.
IT GOES UP AND DOWN, NO ONE CAN TAKE LOSING OFTEN
The petition ceremony is reiterated as a photocopy with no expiration date. It happens with the most powerful and also with the most humble, nobody likes to lose and it becomes an impossible exercise for them to accept often finding themselves with the bitterness of defeat.
In a national context where Boca, River and Racing (each one with their own style and none exempt from individual wealth) today seem to be the best placed to face the competition. Many surprises will appear. Impossible to hit the forecasts. There are only fleeting hunches that can vanish at the first shocking result.
The truth will be, for both, inside the field, in the game they produce and, above all, in the results they achieve. A strong story is about to begin.
