Russo scolds Palacios after Úbeda spat, could drop from Boca XI | OneFootball

The rise of Boca, with a visible improvement in football and positive results after months adrift, came with a negative asterisk: the repeated complaints from players about changes, with Claudio Úbeda as the main target of their anger.

But that has ended, because Miguel Ángel Russo stood firm after the latest episode involving Carlos Palacios as the protagonist of another public scene that left the coaching staff in a bad light at the Gigante de Arroyito, and he had a one-on-one talk with the Chilean as a corrective measure.

"This cannot happen again," was, more or less, what the 69-year-old coach, back in the daily routine after overcoming a urinary infection, told the player—whose history of controversies works against him—upon returning to training on Tuesday.

It was a brief, concise, and forceful conversation. Russo got tired of players (previously figures like Miguel Merentiel and Edinson Cavani) making gestures or verbally expressing complaints about a technical decision and gave a disciplinary lesson—in good terms—to Palacios.

The coach does not want to see these off-field issues in the media spotlight—especially when Boca is on the rise—and that's why he set the guidelines face-to-face with Palacios, beyond the fact that there was also a message for the entire team at the time.

Does this affect the consideration of the Chilean? No, since in similar situations that occurred previously, there was no punishment. However, there is a possibility that the former Colo Colo player might be left out of the team to face Central Córdoba on Sunday, but the reason is purely football-related.

Russo has not been impressed with Palacios in recent matches (he took him out in all of them midway through the second half) and both Williams Alarcón and Alan Velasco, in that order of priority, are gaining ground to replace him. It is an option the coaching staff has been considering due to his low performance and has no relation to the gesture towards Úbeda, as revealed in Boca Predio.

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