Fernando Gago became in the last hours the main candidate to be the new Boca coach. After the dance of names that were said since Diego Martínez resigned on Saturday after the defeat against Belgrano in Córdoba, the options are reduced by the hour. Your situation is complicated, because He has a current contract with Chivas de Guadalajara. that link ends in May next year and the intention of the owners of that club is to extend it. In fact, There is some discomfort among Mexican managers, because the man born in Ciudadela 38 years ago stretches the times and does not specify that talk.
As LA NACION learned from people around him, Gago is very cautious when referring to the possibility of becoming Boca’s manager. Although it excites him, of course. In fact, from the first day he began his career as a coach, he was clear that At some point he would be the coach of the club that trained him as a footballer.. But, always sensible, he was clear that this responsibility required at least four years of experience in other teamsand is aware that directing Boca is at the level of a national team.
Until now Gago has avoided speaking publicly about it. First, because there was a colleague working (Martínez) and considered it inappropriate to talk about hypotheses and, fundamentally, because he He has a current contract with Chivas. According to what was confided to this newspaper from Mexico, the termination clause to now break the coach’s contract with the Mexican team oscillates between US$1,500,000 and US$2,000,000. With an addition: this type of situation does not go down well with the owners/presidents of the clubs; and Ending a work relationship in a bad way could close the doors from a market that always looked for young Argentine coaches.
In Boca they already know this and are cautious in the movements to be made. Therefore, the next few days will be key on both sides. For example, a good result against Argentinos on Sunday would give the Xeneize leadership more time to follow those talks closely and see how to achieve the departure of the chosen coach on good terms.
Instead, a defeat against Bicho at the beginning of Mariano Herrón’s third interim term would cause a climate that was too hot in La Bombonera to prolong the appointment of a new coach of the professional team.
What would be the risk to assume in this context? A hypothetical scenario of Boca eliminated in the Argentine Cup and out of the Copa Libertadores would add more drops to the fans’ glass of patience that seems to be full every week. On the contrary, The big carrot that Gago can see is being in charge of Boca in the next Club World Cupmeasuring themselves against the best teams and coaches on the planet.
Of very good relationship with Juan Román Riquelmethe last time they saw each other was at the tribute match to Román, in June 2023. That afternoon, at La Bombonera, Gago avoided wearing the xeneize shirt out of professional respect for Racing, the team he then managed. They gave each other a loving hug in the middle of the playing field.
Gago and Riquelme were teammates on several teams: on the team led by Alfio Basile that was runner-up in the 2007 Copa América; in the Olympic team that won gold at the 2008 Beijing Games, under the leadership of Checho Batista; and a brief period in Boca between 2013 and 2014. In the current Xeneize squad, there are two men who were also his teammates in the national team: Sergio Romero and Marcos Rojo.
What can Gago contribute to Boca as coach? There is something tangible: he gave each team he coached in these four years a clear style. And, most importantly for Boca’s emergencies, That characteristic seal of the coach was quickly identifiable in his squads.
His path in technical direction began in January 2021 at Aldosivi. He accepted the proposal just two months after hanging up his boots as a Vélez footballer.
In Mar del Plata it caused a revolution: intense two training shiftspurchase of elements to enhance and improve players, a clinical eye to look for reinforcements based on a low budget and something non-negotiable: strict control of the weight of footballers. José Moscuzza, the economic strongman behind the Tiburon, enthusiastically supported that proposal.
The bottom exit, now much more frequent in almost all teams, is also something that Gago activated from day 1 in both Aldosivi and Racing. No secrets to avoid risks: training, training and more training, with the sole objective of automating movements and enhancing triangulations in different sectors of the playing field. A constant search to be offensive or protagonist was also evident.
It’s true: at times it was difficult because He sought a very high standard of play with performers who perhaps did not reach that level of perfection.. But he kept trying, even in a team with technical limitations and sporting emergencies. The final numbers (7 wins, 3 draws and 16 losses) did not overshadow the good level of play intended and evidenced by that Aldosivi.
racing It was, until now, the club where Gago stood out the most as a coach. It was also the place where he showed the most rigor with the physical condition of his team: the Colombian Edwin Cardona had to lose eight kilos to be considered again and Leonel Miranda, four.
Beyond the favorable statistical summary (53 wins, 28 draws and 28 losses), He left two trophies in the club’s showcases (the Champions Trophy and the International Super League, both won precisely against Boca in very hot finals, with controversies and expulsions).
The bitter taste was not being able to win in the 2022 Professional Leaguewhere the Academy fought head to head with Xeneize until the last moment. While Boca did not get out of the tie with Independiente in the Bombonera, Racing had the great chance to consecrate itself in the Cilindro, but the penalty on the hour taken by Jonathan Galván (which would have meant the 2 to 1 and the Olympic return) was saved by Franco Armani. Shortly after, Miguel Borja gave the victory to Millonario and everything was uneasy in Avellaneda.
In December 2023, its arrival in Chivas, from Guadalajara, in what is so far his first experience in international football. So far he has 17 wins, 8 draws and 11 losses in a team that in the Clausura Tournament reached the semifinals, where they lost a tight 1 to 0 on aggregate against América (later champion) and currently appears in eighth place in the Liga MX with 15 points out of a possible 30, in the qualifying zone for the subsequent Liguilla.