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Aguirre has a new job

May 24th, 2006 | By: John | 5 Comments »

Javier “el vasco” Aguirre was presented to day as the new Manager for Atletico de Madrid. Aguirre ended a 4 year run at Osasuna that culminated this year with a 4th place La Liga finish and a berth in the Champions League. Not bad for a guy who was tasked to get a team out of the relegation zone.

Aguirre has a history of turning teams around. He took over for Ojitos Meza as the Mexico National team coach in 2001 after qualification for the cup took a disastrous turn with losses against the US, Costa Rica, and Honduras. Mexico also looked awful at the Confederations cup, finishing last in their group. Aguirre, who had won the league with Pachuca, came in with a rematch against the US looming on the horizon. He got the win, and then got Mexico playing the beautiful game again as they took 2nd place in the Copa America. With the return of Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Mexico won 10 of the remaining 12 points (and needed every one of them) to book their place in the 2002 cup.

After the 2002, world cup, Aguirre was signed by Osasuna, a team where he played briefly after the 1986 world cup before an injury left him inactive for the rest of the year. He obviously made an impression on the club, as they hired him on 16 years later. 4 years later, he leaves Osasuna with a very lucrative birth in the Champions League.

He will bring his assistant, Nacho Ambriz, with him to Atletico. Ambriz is a 1994 world cup veteran, and had one of the most powerful legs in Mexican soccer. Aguirre will also have a bigger transfer budget. Will he bring in any Mexican players into the fold? Atletico last won la Liga in 1996 and are hoping Aguirre can lead them there again.

¡Felicidades, Vasco. Te lo mereces todo!!

Tags: Atletico de Madrid, Javier Aguirre, Mexico, Nacho Ambriz

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Comments

By Big-Baller-Shot-Caller` | May 24th, 2006 at 1:56 pm

Good luck to “el vasco”.

This is a strange club. Legendary accomplishments. Always plays 2nd fiddle in Madrid, and is not even top 5 in terms of popularity in Spain.

They chew coaches up and spit them out. Bianchi.

Aguirre can get it done but it won’t be easy. Atletico have decent resources and a better youth system than most clubs.

Kikin and Salcido are looking for European clubs?

Posted from United States

By El Aclantista | May 26th, 2006 at 10:42 am

I’m happy for el Vasco now I just hope he brings a couple of Mexican players to the team.I’m very excited of our next generation of players as it seems Europe is starting to realize we exist.Hope Vasco does well in Atletico

Posted from United States

By John | May 26th, 2006 at 10:48 am

The problem isn’t limited to Europe. Mexican clubs set ridiculously high transfer fees for European clubs, but scale it down for other domestic teams. Europe is leery because of stikcer shock, not because of lack of talent.

Posted from United States

By El Aclantista | May 26th, 2006 at 1:20 pm

Well lets hope they change that because there are several players in our domestic league that should be playing in Europe and showing the rest of the world that we’re steps away from becoming a powerhouse…and this time I ain’t kidding I see a very bright future for our team.

Posted from United States

By Big-Baller-Shot-Caller | May 26th, 2006 at 6:44 pm

All great points, but one other point to add:

Mexican players are afraid to take pay cuts and are afraid to ride the pine and not play much. Either because they are afraid they are not getting a fair shake or because they fear starting at the bottom and earning each minute.

Also, the 24-25 yr. old and up players are usually married and have a couple of kids so moving overseas is a big pain. Can’t blame them for that.

Pretty ironic given the fact thousands of people risk their lives everyday crossing a border.

Posted from United States

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