Leonardo Madelón: ‘Sudamericana is a long way off, but it's no failure’ | OneFootball

After Unión’s painful 2-1 defeat to Independiente at the 15 de Abril Stadium, LeonardoMadelón gave a press conference full of realism and conviction. The head coach lamented his team’s lack of consistency and acknowledged that the Tatengue did not have the composure needed to protect a lead they had opened in a fully deserved manner.

Defensive mistakes and support for the youngsters

The coach gave a detailed analysis of how the match unfolded and how the home side ended up letting the win slip away. While he praised the strong performance shown in the first forty-five minutes, he deeply regretted the lapses in the back line that made the visitors’ quick comeback possible. On that, the head coach admitted that “we didn’t have the maturity to protect the result.” Far from blaming individuals in defense, the manager took responsibility for his team’s shortcomings and argued that “we made mistakes at the back. They’re kids, it can happen. I have to back them.” He also felt that the Red side from SantaFe got too much reward, saying that the opponent “came forward twice and scored two goals off mistakes, more ours than down to their merit.”

The challenge of rebuilding the structure

One of the points Madelón emphasized most was rebuilding the squad and the difficulty of finding solidity at this stage of the ClausuraTournament. Explaining the constant changes to the team’s core during the last transfer window, the tactician said that “something was dismantled and I have to put it back together again.” To reassure the fans and ask for patience as the pieces begin to click, the Santa Fe-born coach explained that “we brought in good players, but now we have to start building a team. It’s not easy to build a team.” In that same vein, he identified the team’s main tactical issue, stressing that “we score a lot of goals, we always score, but we’re also conceding a lot. So that’s a problem we need to solve.”

Despite the difficult situation of suffering a second straight defeat, the coach did not shy away from the pressure of the international race, though he tried to downplay the drama as the season winds down: “We’re a long way off from the Sudamericana, but if it doesn’t happen, it’s not a failure.”

Firm decisions and an optimistic взгляд toward the future

When it came to justifying his starting eleven and the rotation of important names within the setup, such as Ignacio Malcorra or Brahian Cuello, Madelón stood firm and declared that “I’m the coach, I know how the week went, I don’t have to explain anything to anyone,” while also making it clear that “nobody has their place guaranteed.” Looking ahead, especially with the demanding clash against Boca Juniors on the schedule, the coach avoided dramatizing the situation after a second consecutive defeat. Focused on recovery, Unión’s manager ended on an optimistic note by assuring that “it’s not all black, nothing is all black,” and closed emphatically by saying that “it hurts, of course it hurts, it hurts me a lot, but tomorrow I get going again and on Monday I’ll be back training with the best energy.”

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