Battle of the River Plate

The start of a new season is upon us. The time when we're allowed to dream, from the newly promoted to football's aristocracy - everyone is equal. Things aren't quite so simple in Argentina the 'table within a table' the Promedio/relegation standings tell a different story, decimalised points totals catch the eye and we all reach for our calculators.

At River Plate the equilibrium in the pristine Primera A table tells only half the story, they are languishing a lowly 17th in the relegation standings with only the three newly promoted teams below. An abysmal 84 points from from 76 games have dragged the Millionaires down the table, season 2010/11 will be one of the most important in their illustrious history. Club president Daniel Passarella is gearing up for his first full season at the helm and understandably holds the previous regime of Aguilar responsible for River's current predicament, thanks to the Promedio system they at least have a fighting chance of retaining their top-flight status. World Cup winner Passarella secured a narrow victory last December and has vowed to reverse the club's monthly $1.2m loss by the end of next year. El gran capitán was much more than a defender; he scored almost a goal every 3 games for River (99 in total) and as President he's much more than a figurehead. A sponsorship deal with Petrobras has been secured until 2012, new sources of investment are being sought including the development of a trust scheme in which anyone and everyone will be welcome, existing debts are also being settled. All of this bodes well for the medium term - fans will be more concerned with the next 10 months.

Ex-Huracán coach and lover of football Angel Cappa has been brought in, during the close season eight new players have joined on various contracts and agreements. River scored 16 goals in 19 games during Clasura 2010, to rectify this pressing problem they brought in Mariano Pavone on loan from Real Betis who'll be under immense pressure to re-create his title winning form with Estudiantes . Other arrivals include returning goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo from Lazio, midfielder Walter Acevedo from Independiente and Carlos Arano who played under Cappa at Huracán. Circumstances permitting Ariel Ortega may have one more good season, Diego Buonanotte may fulfill his immense potential even allowing for the events of last December. As with all great clubs results are expected, at River they are now essential. Given the cost of failure will Cappa be bold enough to stick to his footballing ideals? We'll get our first glimpse of the new River against Tigre.

Resigned To It - Angel Cappa

Adressing the fans directly via his blog (http://www.cappadt.blogspot.com/) Angel Cappa of Hurcán is now the ex-coach of Huracán. In the early hours of Tuesday morning he announced his resignation in a post titled 'Hasta Pronto'. His frustration has been building throughout the Apertura; the team, a mere shadow of the one which passed and thrilled it's way to runners-up spot in the last campaign has struggled to find any form and have managed just 2 victories.

Cappa offered his resignation a few weeks ago but was persuaded to stay on until December. Last Saturday's clasico defeat at home to San Lorenzo (0-2) and the die was cast. 'I can't say goodbye to Huracán' he begins 'It's been a privilege to be involved in and with the development of a team that will surely take it's place in the club's history and possibly occupy an important place in Argentine football'. Proud of his reputation as a coach who demands football to be played the right way he believes his crusade also has implications for the game as a whole - 'Argentine football found hope' {in Huracán}. It's easy to accuse him of having an over-inflated sense of his own self-worth, pretentious too; but those who witnessed them destroy River Plate and Racing with their tiki tiki quick passing game can understand why such claims are made.

What now? He'll be cheering on Huracán from the stands and hopefully the blog will continue. As for the team's star midfielder and Maradona saviour Mario Bolatti has already intimated that he'll be moving on, he told La Nacion 'It'll be very difficult for me to continue after December..........many things have happened since July but now is not the time to talk about them'.

Jesús Martínez - reserve team coach will take over in the interim, as for long term solutions president Carlos Babbington has alluded to Miguel Brindisi who's now out of work after coaching in Mexico - his salary demands may well exceed what el Globo can offer a fact already acknowledged by Babbington. Also in the frame is Diego Cocca ex of Godoy Cruz.

Huracán 4 - 0 River Plate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZYAsCt_xzA&feature=related

Racing 1 - 4 Huracán
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZezMUZnFbQk&feature=related

In His Own Words

Tired of hearing how 'we was robbed'? Bored of being told by managers that 'the lads worked hard'? Fed-up with formulaic, media friendly, insipid responses to questions? Ever wondered what they're really thinking, ever wanted a more in-depth analysis of how the boss sees things?

Lover of beautiful football, Menotista and all round good egg Angel Cappa - coach of Huracan has recently entered the world known as the 'blogosphere' and started posting his own thoughts for public consumption. Unlike many of us who do this Cappa has actually got something to say and he says it. His postings to date (four in September) give us an insight into the motivations and thoughts of a man committed to his very own footballing philosophy. He likens the decimation of his Clasura squad (Javier Pastore, Carlos Araujo, Matias Defederico) to 'an elephant marauding through a newly planted garden, everything is destroyed' on losing the Championship in the last game to Velez 'I will never forget the performance of Brazenas [referee]...............how it denied the whole neighbourhood the outpouring of joy we deserved by playing better than the others'. Huracan are not having the best of campaigns thus far (something to do with the elephant......?) and are propping-up the table. In his latest post following yet another defeat to Velez, Cappa thanks the fans for their continuing support 'after the defeat I saw people clapping the players, this only happens at Huracan, despite whatever occurs the fans support the team' As for his future at the club despite being offered a contract extension he's holding off for the moment although not for financial reasons he asserts, currently all his energies are being put into changing the team's fortunes 'these losses overwhelm us' he laments.

The cynics would argue that given Huracan's current predicament he shouldn't be wasting time writing for the likes of you and I, given the number of followers to his blog (857 and rising) many fans take a different view. Cappa now can talk directly to the supporters, without having to rely on the media to distribute and on occasion distort his message - very useful in times of crisis.

View Angel Cappa's Blog: http://www.cappadt.blogspot.com/

Hasta Luego!