Diego Osella: “When I left, you could see this Colón situation coming” | OneFootball

The former Colón coach spoke with ADN Gol about Colón’s current situation and why the club has reached this point.

First, with great sadness, because the greatness of the institution is immense. It was crowned with that famous star, with that great work by Eduardo, hand in hand with its directors.

Then came a collapse similar to the one we experienced in 2014, but with a big difference. In 2014, when it was our turn to take over, we were very clear that something had to change, but Lalo was the one who understood that, and he set that direction for everyone, and we executed it. Sometimes very well, sometimes well, other times not so much, but it was executed.

And that team gave the fans hope again. They were contenders, fought in their own way, supported by many young players on the field. When the process ended in Rosario, and the team was relegated, the first thing I discussed with Lalo—after my obligation to offer my resignation because we had just missed out—was to understand that the only way for the club to rise again was by being smart.

Because it’s a lie that you need a huge budget to build a team. You need the ability and knowledge of the division to do it. We knew we were going to lose a lot of players: Meli, Graciani, Luque, Gerardo Alcoba who was leaving, Montoya who was leaving, Videla who was leaving, but we held on.

We kept Chinito Landa, we went looking, all with ingenuity, without money, we went to get Fatura Brown, who was in Antofagasta, Chile, with little playing time. I insisted on Cristian Pavón, which was a whole saga to bring him in, and we formed a Pavón-Alario attacking duo. And we brought in hardworking players to fit Colón’s real situation.

That doesn’t mean Colón can’t achieve it now, but there was something important: we understood that people would be impatient because they would want to get promoted the next day, as happened now. We managed the anxiety and I was very clear that when things got tough, we had to support the squad and that everything had to fall on the coach. It did fall on the coach when things got heavy, we relieved the pressure, many didn’t agree, Mostaza came in with experience, another good choice by Lalo Vega, and he gave the tranquility that was needed, the squad was physically and football-wise trained, and ended up achieving promotion in five months, as it should have.

But there was planning, there was study, and we went out to find players suited to the situation. I repeat, don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about this squad now. And Garnier came, players arrived who carried the division on their shoulders and we were able to achieve a goal at a time when money was abundant because everyone thought they had a chance to get promoted in a tournament where five teams went up. Colón didn’t have that, and Colón built it.

Lalo Vega had a lot to do with it, a lot, for the calm he transmitted, the calm we gave him, and then Colón—what can I say—full stadium every match, the support is always huge, and the objective was achieved. Now everything was done the other way around. Godano came looking for me, whom I like, respect, and consider an honest person, he came looking for me for seven matches knowing that the situation had been going on since Iván left, who had done a very good job. Nothing that happened in that 2015 process happened, they became impatient, started changing coaches, and we arrived with seven rounds left. I told him, the first thing to improve here is that there’s overtraining because it’s all trial and error, and the team is dragging itself.

We changed that, managed to reduce the number of injuries, the team lost very little, also won very little, but we made a team with an idea and solidity. We reached the last match against All Boys and there was a chance the process would end. I watched that match seven or eight times, Colón was better than All Boys without doing anything extraordinary, deserved to win, drew, was left out, and the restructuring everyone had talked about had to begin, including Moreno in those almost two months of work.

The day after, we started working on who should stay, the player profiles to bring in, but we didn’t agree on many things with the manager until he told us. Actually, he didn’t tell us, he came, was there, didn’t say a word, was in front of Godano, Godano’s explanation was very basic, very cold, and we ended the relationship. From then on, I knew I was going to have problems, not because I was smart, but because they weren’t grounded in the real reality of what a B Nacional tournament is, what it means to play in places like Salta, Chaco, in Buenos Aires with big structures, and if you think you can do it just with money, five teams compete, but in B Nacional there are 37.

It’s impossible for something like that to work, impossible. Why would it work? Darío, explain to me why it would work. No, no, because… A player is brought in, brought in by the guy with his idea, then he has to adapt to the coach’s idea, then after Iliana, Minela is confirmed, then after Minela comes Medrán. Medrán has seven matches and is doing the great Diego Osella.

Yes, yes, it’s the same number. Well, but of course. What do they think? That someone comes in and changes everything in two days? And in this, you have to take the player out of the equation, you have to understand the player.

He comes in with one idea, then another, 10 meters further forward, 10 meters further back, one leaves and another comes in, an interim comes in, then he’s confirmed, then he’s out and Medrán comes in who was supposed to have a great tournament and after five matches it seems he knows nothing. And it’s the opposite, he’s a great coach, as is Yllana, as is Pereyra, but faced with such nonsense, with such a need to believe that the one outside is better than the one inside, these things happen.

It’s always something I ask, at least for myself, that I ask the directors or whoever is in charge, to attend the training sessions, to watch, to ask questions, because if they trusted you, they shouldn’t be afraid to come, to be there, to meet, to have weekly meetings.

Iván was at every training session. He was at every training, was in the locker room with us, had direct communication with us, and always had the chance, because he was always consulted, because I understand that beyond how vertical this may seem, you have to open things up for the good of the institution, to see what he saw, what he didn’t see, what he thought was missing, what he thought was too much.

Anyway, at least we reported everything week by week, we were working on a program where if he didn’t need to be there, he could find out, log into the program and see what the team did, not just in writing but in images, all the medical staff information was uploaded, all the logistics information, and we always had a very strong communication line directly with the directors. Then there was the presence of Negrete, of several who always had the locker room door open to ask, to talk, or to clear up any doubts. The problem doesn’t come from there, the problem doesn’t come from there. Godano understood that with the manager’s figure, they could distance themselves a bit, and Iván, after we were eliminated by All Boys, in a small meeting with the coach, him, and me, we set the preseason date, started talking about reinforcements, I saw that the reinforcements we suggested didn’t match much with what Iván wanted, we didn’t need to dismantle the whole squad because if not, the same thing always happens, 20 leave and 20 come in, in any other team you can hide it, but not in Colón, because the pressure is huge, you had to keep players who had performed in the previous process and then bring in players for very specific positions to make a difference.

They saw it differently, time passed and two weeks after that last match, they called me one day at two in the afternoon, just me, to the Technical Secretariat, and Moreno didn’t speak, Bicho spoke, a conversation that lasted no more than three or four minutes, I just thanked them and left.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here.