Marcelo Gallardo: The Prince Of The River Plate
If you follow South American football, you know that River Plate are one of the biggest clubs on that vast continent.
This owes everything to the work of one man; Marcelo Gallardo.
The club was relegated in 2011, and two coaches – Matias Almeyda and Ramon Diaz – brought them back from the brink and to becoming one of the best clubs in Argentina again … but it was Gallardo, who took over in 2014, who really transformed their fortunes, and they reached the pinnacle by winning the Copa Libertadores – the South American Champions League – last year.
Four years from relegation.
What an achievement that is, and it isn’t his only one.
In fact, Gallardo has secured no less than four continental titles with River Plate, with a playing system that we’d recognise, and accept, here at Celtic Park.
He plays a 4-3-1-2 which often turns into a straight 4-3-3.
He would never dream of playing one up front.
In addition to his success at River Plate, he was a title winning coach in Uruguay first, securing the national league with Nacional in the same year River Plate tumbled down a division.
The respect in which he’s held in world football is vast for a guy who’s still only 40.
His player career was just as impressive as his managerial one; he has league titles in three countries, domestic cups medals in three, an Olympic silver medal and two Pan American Games winner gongs.
He’s an impressive guy, and a sharp, astute, tactician who some say has based his system on that of Guardiola, but is actually more like Mourinho in how he handles team building, media relations and his attention to detail.
He’s a certainty to end up in Spain, but a sojourn in Scotland would not hurt his career prospects one little bit in advance of that.