Buenos Aires, Argentina – April 14th 2010

After Sunday’s scoreless tie against Atletico Tucuman, team which stands in the last place of the Argentine league with 6 points and will most likely end relegated, Leonardo Astrada was removed from the position of head coach of the first team.

Before the announcement was, Daniel Passarella already had a name in mind to precede Leonardo Astrada, his name Angel Cappa. The official decision was taken that afternoon in what Passarella called a unanimous vote from the board. However, sources state that some members suggested the name of Ramon Diaz (7 titles with the club in 4 years). Diaz came out on radio shows and TV stations saying “I would even coach for free; I want to return to River”. This statement not only created problems for Passarella, but sparked certain hopes in the Millonarios.

Passarella held a press conference Tuesday morning in which he said “Don’t be afraid, we are going to challenge for the championship next season”. He explained the reasons behind the removal of Astrada and the selection of Angel Cappa. He also said “This is not the moment for Ramon Diaz, the club is not ready for that”. In this excerpt, he refers to the expensive taste of the coach when it comes to choosing his players and his elevated salary (U$ 1,8 Million a year).

Angel Cappa will have a very hard job, the fans are already hopeful to see the results, like he did in Huracan. His team played well, created opportunities, scored goals and won. Something that River needs to do TODAY; I cannot remember the last time River strung 6 passes together, the teams has a very hard time creating chances, and when they do they cannot finish them. It has been 450 minutes since the team last scored a goal, it is also the amount of time that River has without winning, which is 5 games.

River suffers from a cancer, the whole philosophy is broken down. The youngsters (17, 18 and 19) are expected to perform like veterans, and the veterans are expected to run like youngsters. Matias Almeyda (36) and Daniel Alberto Villalba (17) and Rogelio Funes Mori (18) are probably the best examples. A few years back, I can remember seeing Hernan Crespo and Ariel Ortega on the bench, they had to wait for their turn, and when they were brought it was for a few minutes, when the game was aleady decided. Today River depends on these youngsters, and that is a lot of pressure for them.



Let’s forget about this tournament, the quicker it ends the better. Cappa is already working for next year, and he has asked for some very familiar faces: Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina), Matias De Federico (Corinthians), Paolo Goltz (Huracan) and Patricio Toranzo (River Plate- Loaned to Huracan), the board is also looking at JP Carrizo, Diego Lugano, Walter Ervitti, Nestor Ortigoza, Juan Mercier, Santiago Silva, Mariano Pavone, Osmar Ferreira, Fernando Cavenaghi, Walter Samuel, Marcos Perez and Hernan Crespo.

Added to this, is expected that Diego Buonnannote will make his return to the first team after the car accident he suffered early this year in which three of his friends were killed. The club needs to resolve 17 contracts which are expiring, many which will be left unsettled (Andres San Martin, Talamonti, Gerlo…) the 3 that call the attention are Ariel Ortega, Marcelo Gallardo and Matias Almeyda. From the the three, only Gallardo and Almeyda have chances to continue.
It is time to rebuild the quad, and dream with the TIKI TIKI in River Plate.

On a side note, yesterday Daniel Passarella was named the vicepresident of AFA, charge previously held by JM Aguilar.