River Legend Daniel Passarella Puts Reputation on the Line

When Daniel Passarella took charge of Club Atletico River Plate in December 2009, as the club’s new President, he knew he was in for a challenge. The club was coming off a 14th place finish in the Aperatura and was, for all intents and purposes, bankrupt after the troubled reign of Jose Maria Aguilar, a hated figure for River fans.

The newly elected President, who won seven titles with River as a player and three more as a coach, promised reinforcements to help the club fight for championships in the immediate future.

Handcuffed by the poor financial situation at El Monumental, “El Kaiser” was unable to bring in the type of names to stir any excitement, emotion, or hope amongst the River supporters.

Former Estudiantes man Juan Manuel Diaz was a player requested by coach Leonardo Astrada and fit in rather nicely, before eventually being frozen out by the manager.

Paraguayan midfielder Rodrigo Rojas also began the campaign nicely, but has fallen completely off the pace of late.

Then River suffered a tragedy when the club’s best player, Diego Bounnatte, suffered a horrendous car accident in which he lost three of his closest friends.

Buonanotte, a key figure of River’s 2008 Clausura Title and a member of Argentina’s triumphant Olympic Games campaign later that year, was expected to miss the entire Claursura leaving a massive whole in River’s attack.

Gustavo Canales was signed to strengthen the attack, but thus far “El Magico,” a career journeymen who came onto a bit of a game at Union Espanola in Chile, has not managed to adapt to Argentine football, scoring just two goals.

Finding anyone to play up front has been an impossible task for Passarella and manager Leonardo Astrada, who have probed with youngsters Daniel Vallalva and Rogelio Funes Mori, both of whom played well during the Aperatura and during the summer tournaments.

During the current campaign, however, neither have managed to find the back of the net, with Funes Mori in particular missing chance after chance.

The feeble efforts of River’s front line saw the reemergence of Ariel Ortega, frozen out for ten matches due to alcohol problems, but the club idol lacked match fitness and was unable to conjure the magic fans in El Monumental are accustomed to with “El Burrito.”

With nothing working on the pitch and increasingly unhappy fans and socios, Passarella acted Sunday night, firing Astrada and bringing in Angel Cappa, formerly of Hurucan.

The 1978 World Cup winning Captain had supported Astrada, stating that the club would respect his current contract, but after an anemic effort in Tucuman, Passarella pulled the trigger.

The manner in which Astrada was let go has caused plenty of controversy, with Passarella claiming that he called Astrada to request his presence at El Monumental Monday. Sensing something was wrong, Astrada allegedly called back Passarella asking if everything was OK, at which time Passarella informed him that he would be relieved of his duties.

Whether or not the situation took place as Passarella claims is not completely known, but it is certain that in the business world, conducting such decisions over the phone would never be accepted.

The former Argentina Manager then made the decision, which he says was voted for unanimously by the board members, to appoint Angel Cappa as River’s new coach, and not fan favorite Ramon Diaz.

Diaz, who won seven titles as River ‘s coach including the Copa Libertadores in 1996,  had been called for by River’s socios, with Cappa seen as an experimental choice.

In a perfect world, Cappa is the ideal coach. He believes in playing beautiful football at all costs, much like Cesar Luis Menotti, who coached Passarella to the 1978 World Cup title.

Cappa has served as Menotti’s assistant with Argentina and later for Barcelona. He was also an assistant for Jorge Valdano at Tenerife and Real Madrid, but gained most of his notoriety as the manger of Huracan, leading them to a second place finish in the 2009 Clausura.

The team played sensational one touch football dubbed “Tiki Tiki.” Cappa essentially discovered Javier Pastore, Mario Bolatti, and Matias De Federico and captivated the nation with Huracan.

The question now is does Passarella think Cappa can find more diamonds in the rough at River? In the five matches remaing, there is no choice for Cappa, who will be without Buonanotte and most likely without Ortega, who failed to turn up for training yet again Tuesday.

The time to judge Cappa will be during the 2010 Aperatura, when River will hopefully have new players poised to fight not only the relegation battle, but to lift the club to its 34th domestic championship.

Should River and Cappa fail, it will be Passarella who receives the blame. One has to admire the courage of “El Kaiser,” but with a manager like Diaz—who knows the inner workings of River—poised to take over, it doesn’t seem wise.

As I said earlier, Cappa is the perfect coach for a River playing well with big players. This River lacks both style and substance, and Passarella and Cappa look to be facing the biggest challenge yet.