2023-12-28 22:08:00
Carlos Tevez’s Independiente will begin 2024 with a renewed look. After managing to get out of the dangerous relegation zone, the Avellaneda team faces the new season with the idea of being the protagonist in the League Cup, the first tournament of the year in Argentine soccer.
In the run-up to the team’s trip to the United States, the one who spoke to the media was the Rojo coach. Carlitos left definitions about the reinforcements: the arrival of Gabriel Ávalos (“yes, it was a priority”) and the need to add a central marker to improve the defense. Is there a chance that Alan Franco will return? “If you open the game, your opponent goes looking for it. He would give you the names, but for that reason I am not going to give them to you,” he said. And he added a phrase that generated laughter from the journalists present. “We don’t have money, so we’re in the oven.”
In addition, he referred to the incorporation of the youth players into the first team and gave his verdict on the situation of Santiago López, a figure of the Argentine Under 17 team who has not yet renewed his bond with the club. The former Rosario Central coach also revealed what his priority is to reinforce the midfielder’s area and under what conditions he wants that player.
The best phrases from Carlos Tevez about the present of Independiente
On using the youth players in the first team: “There is a controversy with the youth players. Atencio is 21 years old, he is not a youth. Quiroga is not a youth player, he is 21 years old and played in the Reserve. Santi Lopez is 17, he is a youth. Parmo is youthful. There are boys from the champion Reserve who were not juniors. So, there is a controversy with that. And we must understand that we are Independent and that we cannot play with that. We have to play it safe. If we can help them in the process so that they arrive in the best way. But if we put them in, be it a defender, a midfielder and they score a goal, or in a classic, and they fall… Whose fault is it? I think about Independiente, I don’t care if they screw me on a field. I try to do what is best for Independiente, not for me. If we say we are the King of Cups, we have to prove it, we can’t play with that. The youth players, whom I coach, I have a lot of confidence in because I know that the club needs to get players to have that heritage that we need because we don’t have that budget of 4 million or more to put together a great squad to be able to fight. Who gives it to you? The youth players, but we cannot throw the youth players onto the field to save us either. We have to do a fine job.”
On the arrival of Ávalos: “Happy with his arrival. We are all going to ask him to score goals. I’m not going to ask you for anything else. Obviously I’m going to want to improve it and always ask for more. I am happy with Gaby and all the boys who arrived. “I am happy with the arrival of the four players (Sporle, Luna and Maestro Puch).”
His view on the rest of the reinforcements: “We have guys like Sporle and Puch who have more experience in the First Division, with several games. We needed someone to fight Damián (Pérez) on the left wing. Luna is a bet that I think we can make him grow a lot and he can fight for the position of any of the greats. We are missing a midfielder and a defender, that’s what we will do.”
Is there a chance that Alan Franco will return?: “Alan is a big fan of Independiente. I told him on the phone: ‘I need you here to fight for the championship.’ Then there are negotiations between him and the club, it is not easy.”
Quiñónez, the midfielder targeted by Tevez: “I like the area-to-area midfielder, not so much the positional one. It was what cost us the most last year, but there aren’t many like it. We try to search. Johnny Quiñónez is a priority because I like him, if not we will look for an alternative that works for us and doesn’t cost us so much.”
The decision not to take Nicolas Domingo: “I have great respect for Nico, he is very loved at the club. Unfortunately I have guys like Iván, like Rodrgigo (Rey) who are the references of this group. Bringing Nico and having him not play, not being part of the game, seems to me to be lying to him from the start. I don’t think it was fair. “I decided not to bring him in because of this, so as not to disrespect him.”
Is Santi López traveling to the preseason?: “I have on the list that Santi is going to the preseason. If the leadership makes another decision, it will be up to them to inform me, because we are almost on the plane. But it surprises me, because I’m not aware. I know about the problem with Santi, I’m not being stupid, but if there is a decision from the club, they will have to inform me. For now, I have him with me in the preseason. If the club makes another decision, it will be the club’s decision, not mine. It is a very personal issue, an issue that he has to resolve with his family, and I cannot want to influence his decision, because I am going to want him to play for Independiente. Any side I take would make him a bad guy, so it is a decision that the leadership has to make. I can advise you for better or worse, it’s up to me, but it wouldn’t be fair at this moment. In training he is just another player, I take that into account, but if the leadership makes the decision not to take him, it is not my issue.”
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