Gustavo ‘Sapito’ Coleoni: ‘Colón have done well… there’s depth to compete’ | OneFootball

On the eve of the match against Colón, San Miguel’s charismatic coach, Gustavo “Sapito” Coleoni, spoke in a relaxed manner with Darío Pignata on Radio Gol. The manager analyzed the current state of Primera Nacional, recalled his connection to the elections at El Sabalero, and made some pointed remarks about squad building in the toughest division in Argentine football.

Colón’s mistake and the “recipe” for promotion

Coleoni was asked about the difficulties big clubs face after being relegated and did not hesitate to point out what, in his view, was a shortcoming of the Santa Fe side: “the biggest mistake was letting Iván (Delfino) go; I think that was a huge mistake by Colón because they let themselves be carried away by the situation”. For the coach, the key is not star names, but physical sharpness: “if you bring in 3 players from the top division at the final stretch, they’re not going to push the team forward because you’re up against a team with a bunch of kids who aren’t that well known… they run, they tackle, and the Primera player feels uncomfortable”.

Along the same lines, he was blunt about quality vs. intensity: “this isn’t a country club, brother; you can’t field 3 37-year-old players just because they’ve played in Primera. I don’t coach ID cards, I coach athletes”.

His connection to Colón’s presidency

“Sapo” acknowledged that his name was on the club’s radar in Barrio Centenario during the last election process: “there were some 4 or 3 people running for the presidency… one of them made serious contact with me”. Although there was contact, he clarified that at the time he had already advanced talks with his current club: “I also had my deal not fully closed, but well advanced in talks with San Miguel”.

His analysis of the “Colón world”

Regarding the pressure exerted by the Sabalero fans, Coleoni recalled the impatience he sensed in the first year after relegation: “people went to the stadium expecting to see the second goal before the first, and they ran into a division that is difficult, that is tough”.

He revealed that he maintains a fluid dialogue with Colón’s current coach: “today I have a back-and-forth with Medrán—not something that goes way back, but we do talk quite a bit about certain players, recommending one, asking what this one or that one is like”.

Finally, he stressed that the club now seems to have understood the dynamics of the division:

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