Carlos Tevez debuts as technical director of Rosario Central. And how will the fans who will surely fill the Gigante de Arroyito with fervor and color receive it? Will he be given a festive welcome, will he be treated with aloofness and indifference, or will he be seen as a hope to begin to extricate himself from a very bad footballing moment? In addition to this Friday’s game with Gymnastics for the fifth date of the Professional Soccer League (which will begin at 7:00 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN Premium), The great attraction of the night will be the atmosphere that will prevail in the stadium and the reactions that the fans will give from the moment in which the idol enters the field and occupies a place that he had never occupied before.
At 38, the former player for Boca, Corinthians, West Ham, Manchester City, Manchester United, Juventus and the Argentine national team will begin his career as technical director in a complicated environment, far from ideal. Central’s campaign so far is very poor (one game won, one tied and two lost), the individual level of several players has dropped considerably and on top of that, the political crisis that the club is experiencing, with the ruling party divided into two irreconcilable sectors at the moment, helps very little.
Tevez also decided to take the hot iron in his hands. And take responsibility. But for behind his winning aura, his personality and everything that moves his figure beyond what is strictly football, there does not seem to be anything consistent. Without the accompaniment of Carlos Retegui, who could not leave the Department of Sports of the City of Buenos Aires, he is only supported in the adventure by three of his brothers and one of the physical trainers from the Boca reserve.
With all the players available – including right midfielder Walter Montoya, who left Monday’s game against Vélez with a hamstring injury – the formation that Tevez will stop is anyone’s guess. Gimnasia, which is in tune after having beaten Racing 3-1 in La Plata, will be an uncomfortable rival. And the debut will not be easy for “Carlitos” who will try to repeat, sitting on the bench, much of the glory that he was able to achieve in his extraordinary campaign as a player.
