Monday, October 8, 2007

Change in America

Luis Fernando Tena had long been on the hot seat. It's impossible to coach Club America, not win a title and NOT be on the hot seat. Such was the case for "El Flaco" Tena, who was finally sacked on Sunday following a 3-1 loss at Toluca.

Tena guided America to the semifinals if the Clausura 2006 season but lost to Chivas and took America to the Clausura 2007 final but America fell to Pachuca. Tena also led America to the quarterfinals of the 2007 Copa Libertadores but the club fell to Brazilian side Santos.

It's not that America's form hadn't fallen off badly - las Aguilas last won a league match on Sept. 2. In many ways, this firing is justified. However, patience is certainly not in Mexican clubs' vocabulary.

Tena was replaced by Daniel "El Ruso" Brailovsky, who is not in fact Russian but rather Argentinean. It's too bad he didn't get the job before the Toluca match. Like Toluca's manager Jose Pekerman, Brailovsky is Jewish, and how many times have Jewish managers gone head-to-head in a league as prestigious as Mexico's?

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Two Jewish managers have undoubtedly met in Argentina before, a league much more prestigous than Mexico's.

Anonymous said...

This is great news for Club America fans...kind of...

Unfortunately, they replace one question mark (Tena) with another (Brailovsky).

For those of you that don't know, Brailovsky is one of the most legendary players in Club America history.

What is whacky is that he makes a living as an ESPN blowhard and pseudo expert. As far as I know, he never has coached or never coached a team of this magnitude.

Can you say nepotism.

Anonymous said...

To the anonymous guy who said:

"Two Jewish managers have undoubtedly met in Argentina before, a league much more prestigous than Mexico's."

Please provide proof of your assertion. In addition, you totally missed the point since this posting has nothing to do with the Argentine league, even though both men in question are Argentinian. Get a clue.

E. Charles Blanco said...

Damn, If only he'd bring along Francisco Javier González to be his assistant.

JT Soccer said...

Hmmmmm. LB are you angling to be the next pundit to move from the press box to manager's office? Is that why you're wondering about Yallop's job review?

Anonymous, Brailovsky's managed a few teams in Israel and Veracruz in Mexico. Probably not of the magnitude of club america but some experience. Why nepotism? Does Televisa have a stake in ESPN as well?

Joel Aceves said...

Rumors from the Argentine press is that Brailovsky will only coach America until January, at which time he will make way for Carlitos Bianchi!!

I was hoping, with De la Torres departure, that el Virrey would join Chivas, *sobs.

Matt said...

Argentine Jews are called rusos because most of them are of Eastern European origin.