Making Boca Juniors favourite again?

Boca Juniors won this season’s opening championship by a margin of 12 points, has not sold any of their leading players abroad (as champions here tend to do) and instead has brought back two players from Europe — Pablo Ledesma and Santiago Silva — although it can only use the latter in the Libertadores Cup due to some strange twisting of rules. This should make them favourites to win the closing championship due to start in two weeks, but ...

Coach Julio Falcioni has said that his first priority is the Libertadores Cup, the closing championship comes second and the Copa Argentina third. Of course, there is no reason why his supposedly well-trained professionals should not be able to go all out for cups and league, but local teams have never been able to do that. Also, in spite of winning the opening championship so easily on points, they did not win games so easily, many only by a one-goal margin, and things could easily go the other way and they continue to be beset by a lot of injuries.

River Plate coach Matías Almeyda joined Boca’s Juan Román Riquelme and other prominent players protesting against the summer tournaments as they only interrupt training and cause injuries, but not only ... There’s money involved and when club directors are blinded by money they cannot even see as far as the tip of their noses.

Vélez Sársfield, the last closing tournament champions, is not involved in summer tournaments and almost took the better deal, with two good signings in Federico Insúa, back from Turkey, and Mauro Obolo to increase their scoring power and it are trying out a 3-men attack. Arsenal’s Obolo was eyed by Boca as a second choice while waiting for Silva, but Vélez snatched him in the meantime, while now Silva cannot play in the league. Vélez coach Ricardo Gareca says he will go all out for league and cup titles. They were close last season and again this season last year. Can they do it this time or will they again fall between two stools and win neither?

Racing Club were runners-up in the opening championship, but sacked their coach (Diego Simeone) at the end of it because he played too defensively — not on purpose, he said — and with an unpopular European style. They may yet regret it and they may be the only team relying on foreigners for success — two Colombians, Giovanni Moreno and Teófilo Gutiérrez.

FEW GOALS. This season’s opening championship produced few goals — less than two per game on average — and this summer’s production did not look good. In the two tournaments with big clubs in Mar del Plata, one produced only one goal in three games — Independiente’s 1-0 win against Boca Juniors which won them the tournament — and the other five goals, two of them by B Division River Plate. This was a total of six goals in six games — only one per game.

River Plate is also thinking of fielding a 3-man Domínguez-Cavenaghi-Trezeguet attack and have some other good strikers in reserve which should bring more goals.

OLD PLAYERS. The coming tournament will be prominent for old players. Colón’s Esteban Fuertes will be 40 at the end of the year and is still their leading scorer. Boca Juniors’ Rolando Schiavi was the mainstay of the opening championship’s best defence. Independiente defender Eduardo Tuzzio will be 38 in July, while Estudiantes’ Juan Sebastián Verón will be 37 in March and was convinced to postpone his retirement for six months.

NEW BALL. A new ball will be used in the coming tournament which is said to be again lighter than the previous one. As was mentioned in this column before, soon they will be playing with ping-pong balls. Two opposing opinions: “It’s surface is rougher which makes it easier to retain” (goalkeeper Nereo Champagne). “I don’t like it because it’s very light and wind changes its direction more easily” (field player Gonzalo Bazán).

COACHES. Will coaches continue to be the linchpins this year under the impression that only they are responsible if their teams do badly? It is the general belief of most club officials who thus discharge their own guilt for buying the wrong players instead of the right ones and for not keeping them happy by not paying them on time. Apart from that, in a championship it is impossible for all teams to do well. Statistics show that the 24 clubs which played in the top division during last year had 50 coaches at different times. Estudiantes de La Plata and Newell’s Old Boys beat the record with five each, while only nine clubs retained the same coaches during the year. The clubs which changed more coaches did badly, while those who retained the same coach did well for the most part.

Yet it is interesting to note that there has been a slight decrease in coach changes. In 2010, the 23 clubs which played in the top division had 60 coaches.

PROVINCIAL CLUBS. At the end of last season, four Buenos Aires area clubs were relegated (Huracán, Quilmes, Gimnasia y Esgrima de La Plata, River Plate) and four provincial clubs were promoted (Córdoba’s Belgrano, Mendoza’s Atlético Rafaela, Sante Fe’s Unión, San Juan’s San Martín). None of these promoted is currently in the relegation zone as so often happens to promoted clubs in their first season. The trend could continue. Of the four clubs starting the closing championship in the relegation zone, three are from the Buenos Aires zone while the leading eight clubs in the National B Division include four from the provinces.

SIGNING PLAYERS. Although Argentine Football Association (AFA) chief Julio Grondona said yet once again that clubs owing money would not be allowed to sign new players, it does not seem to be true. Bankrupt San Lorenzo, for one, has signed a player (Carlos Bueno) and is looking for another but while the AFA is not doing anything, a club has to be sued privately to stop it acquiring players. Former coach César Menotti has sued Independiente for money owed and they have just signed Ernesto Farías, but will not be allowed to play him until they pay Menotti, although they have a lot of other debts.