Madelón's challenge at Unión: building a side in constant rebuild | OneFootball

Leonardo Madelón faces a constant challenge at the helm of Unión: rebuilding the team in virtually every transfer window. The club’s financial needs force it to part ways with key players, and now that has been compounded by Lautaro Vargas’ injury, as he will undergo knee surgery.

The team that closed out the Torneo Apertura with an important win over Independiente Rivadavia underwent numerous changes in just a few months. In that match, played on May 9, Unión won 2-1 in Mendoza and advanced to the quarterfinals. However, they were eliminated by Belgrano shortly afterward.

From that starting lineup, Mateo Del Blanco, Rafael Profini, and Mauro Pittón left the club during the transfer window. Vargas’ injury was added to those departures, while the possible transfer of Maizon Rodríguez to Russia’s Krasnodar is also still being finalized. If it goes through, Madelón would lose five players who were starters at the end of the previous semester.

The situation forces the coach to constantly reshape his structure and turn to alternatives that largely come from the youth academy. Emilio Giaccone, for example, gained prominence after Joaquín Mosqueira’s injury, while Lucas Ayala appears as one of the options to fill the left-back spot vacated by Del Blanco.

The problem is not only with the starters. Unión also lost players who were important backup options, so the squad has fewer alternatives than it did last semester. In that context, Madelón must find quick answers while trying to give an identity and stability to a team whose names change frequently.

The situation also creates tension between the board’s financial needs and the team’s sporting ambitions. Unión needs to sell players to keep its finances afloat, but those moves end up weakening a squad that aims to compete and meet its fans’ expectations.

Madelón, for his part, has to work with what he has. The young players have emerged as a necessary solution and have delivered when called upon, although the idea is not to rush their development or place excessive responsibility on them.

That is why the challenge for the red-and-white coach is twofold: to compete with a squad that has lost quality and, at the same time, to rebuild it almost on the fly. In a context of constant departures, injuries, and changes, stability becomes one of Madelón’s main goals in this new spell at Unión.

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