Argentina Apertura Season Preview

ALL BOYS

Coach: Jose Romero, in charge since 2007.
Star Men: Sebastian Grazzini, Nicolas Cambiasso, Cristian Fabbiani.
Ins: Ten players, including Eduardo Dominguez (Huracan), Sebastian Grazzini (Racing), Cristian Fabbiani and Lucas Rimoldi (Iraklis).
Outs: 12 players.
Last Season: 3rd, Nacional B (promoted via play-off).
Season Objective: Survival, survival, survival!!
If They Were A Car They Would Be: a second hand Jag with a great look but questions over how long it will last, and driven by an overweight playboy.

Even before the season has started the ‘Albo’ have well over-performed, and are the heroes of Floresta after bringing top-flight football back to the barrio after 30 years in the wilderness. Players such as Grazzini and Rimoldi will give All Boys a fighting chance of beating the drop, and the inclusion of tabloid favourite Fabbiani will mean the club will rarely be out of the gossip pages.

ARGENTINOS JUNIORS

Coach: Pedro Troglio, since June 2010.
Star Men: Juan Mercier, Gustavo Oberman, Sergio Escudero.
Ins: Nicolas Navarro (River), Miguel Torren (Cerro Porteno), Eial Strahman (Instituto), Gonzalo Vargas (Atlas), Sergio Escudero (Corinthians) y Darío Ocampo (Velez).
Outs: Ismael Sosa (Independiente), Santiago Raymonda (Quilmes), Nicolas Peric (Olimpia), Facundo Coria (Villarreal), Jose Luis Calderón, Nicolas Pavlovich (Necaxa), Matias Caruzzo (Boca) & Ignacio Canuto (Maccabi Haifa).
Last season: Champions
Season Objective: Comfortable midtable & decent cup run.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: a gleaming hot hatch left parked on the street, only to return in the morning to find the radio nicked and the wheels gone.

The pre-season hasn’t been friendly to Argentinos. The joy of being crowned champions meant that La Paternal took on the appearance of a supermarket as the coach and seven first team players were carried off. Still, with a passable team and with a couple of decent new faces, they will nevertheless struggle to come close to last year’s exploits.

ARSENAL DE SARANDI

Coach: Gustavo Alfaro, since May 2010.
Star Men: Cristian Alvarez, Franco Peppino, Lisando Lopez
Ins: Mariano Tripodi (Metropolitano de Blumenau), Alustiza (Xerez), Lisando Lopez (Chacarita), Jorge Ortiz (AIK), Ignacio Boggino (Central), Cristian Leiva (San Lorenzo), Andres Franzoia (Central), Juan Kropuviesa (Boca), Gaston Esmerado (Huracan), P. Aguilar (Potosi) & Adrian Gonzalez (San Pablo).
Outs: Dario Espinola (Defensa y Justicia), Franco Jara (Benfica), Nico Domingo, Anibal Matellan (San Luis), Javier Yacuzzi (Tijuana) & Luciano Leguizamón.
Last Season: 18th
Season Objective: A bit of breathing space from the bottom.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: The MD’s kit car that he lovingly built from scratch, and as a result gives it the best parking space to the annoyance of everyone else.

Arsenal start the season nervously looking over their shoulders at their relegation rivals, but as previous years have shown there are few teams better at getting the most out of very little. They have some useful looking new arrivals, and should be good enough to pull themselves away from the relegation places come the end of the season.

BANFIELD

Coach: Julio Falcioni, since the 2009 Apertura
Star Men: Walter Erviti, Marcelo Carrusca, Victor Lopez
Ins: Ariel Rosada (Boca), Sebastian Romero (GELP), Jeronimo Barrales (Recreativo de Huelva), Pablo Santillo (Racing), M. Carrusca (Estudiantes), Mendez (Cuenca) & Emilio Zelaya.
Outs: Sebastian Fernandez (Malaga), Roberto Battión (Independiente), Jose Shaffer (Benfica), Julio Marchant (America de Cali), Luis Salmeron, James Rodriguez (Porto), Christian Lucchetti (Boca), Cardaccio (Atlas), Maximiliano Laso (Limassol), Guido Di Vanni (Gimnasia de Jujuy), Nilo Carretero, Pablo Vergara, Jonathan Maidana (River) & Ariel Broggi (Quilmes).
Last Season: 5th
Season Objective: A Libertadores place is difficult but not impossible
If They Were A Car They Would Be: second hand BMW- no-nonsense, not too flashy, but surprisingly nimble if given half a chance.

Along with Argentinos previous Apertura champions Banfield suffered greatly at the hands of the vultures in pre-season- and the loss of starlets James Rodriguez and Sebastian Fernandez is a blow. Enough remains behind however to give the Taladro a decent chance of cementing their place in the top half.

BOCA JUNIORS

Coach: Claudio Borghi, since June 2010
Star Men: Juan Roman Riquelme, Martin Palermo, Gary Medel.
Ins: Insaurralde (Newell’s), Cellay (Estudiantes), Lucchetti (Banfield), Damian Escudero (Villarreal), Matias Caruzzo (Argentinos) & Clemente Rodríguez (Estudiantes).
Outs: Ezequiel Munoz (Palermo), Nicolás Gaitán (Benfica), Gabriel Paletta (Parma), Luiz Alberto, Breyner Bonilla, Adrian Gunino (Defensor Sporting), Hugo Ibarra, Federico Insua (Bursaspor), Juan Krupoviesa (Arsenal), Guillermo Marino, Morel Rodríguez, Sebastian Prediger (Porto), Ariel Rosada (Banfield), Josue Ayala (Independiente Mendoza).
Last Season: 16th
Season Objective: Anything less than Libertadores is a failure.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: A clapped out supercar that’s been taken in, gutted and refitted by a loving new owner. It looks the business- but can it actually go?

Along with rivals River Plate a real wildcard going into the Apertura. Shiny new players and a shiny new manager means there is plenty of optimism in La Boca, but until games are played their chances will remain more or less a mystery.

COLON

Coach: Antonio Mohamed, since 2008.
Star Men: Federico Higuain, Cristian Ledesma, Esteban Fuertes
Ins: Joaquin Larrivey (Cagliari), Ronald Raldes (Maccabi Tel Aviv), Juan Leonardo Quiroga (Newell's), Damian Diaz (U. Catolica), Federico Higuain (Godoy Cruz) & Cristian Ledesma (Olympiacos).
Outs: Pablo De Miranda (Tigre), Omar Merlo, Mauricio Mansilla, Jossimar Mosquera (Atletico Nacional), Nicolas Torres (Atlante), Alejandro Capurro (GELP), Facundo Bertoglio (Dinamo de Kiev), Cristian Pellerano (Independiente), Federico Nieto, Andres Rios.
Last Season: 14th
Season Objective: They smell a title round Santa Fe
If They Were A Car They Would Be: A very respectable ford focus - with a new, bigger engine and a couple of racing stripes on the side.

A team that could well surprise this year. Already equipped with a very solid base, new arrivals such as Higuain, Diaz and Ledesma are real quality, and the Santa Fe outfit could well be there or thereabouts when things get serious in December.

ESTUDIANTES

Coach: Alex Sabella, since Clausura 2009.
Star Men: Juan Sebastian Veron, Leandro Desabato, German Re,
Ins: Hernan Rodrigo Lopez (Velez), Facundo Roncaglia (Espanyol), Gabriel Mercado (Racing) & Juan Pablo Pereyra (Atletico Tucuman).
Outs: Marcos Angeleri (Sunderland), Mauro Boselli (Wigan), Clemente Rodriguez (Boca), Cristian Cellay (Boca), Jose Sosa (Bayer Munich), Marcelo Carrusca (Banfield), Jeronimo Morales Neumann, Diego Galvan (Olimpo) & Damian Albil (San Lorenzo).
Last Season: 2nd
Season Objective: Libertadores would do nicely, thank you
If They Were A car They Would Be: What every aging bald man wants to be behind the wheel of- a nice flashy convertible.

They will dearly miss Messrs. Boselli, Sosa and Rodriguez who have all moved on to pastures new- but the Pincha still have quality in the squad, and a second place finish last year means they cannot be taken lightly.

GODOY CRUZ

Coach: Omar Asad, since January 2010.
Star Men: Jairo Castillo, Nelson Ibanez, Gonzalo Diaz.
Ins: Lucas Ceballos (Desamparados), Emanuel Aguilera (Deportivo Guaymallen), Pablo Miranda (Villa San Carlos), Jorge Pinero Da Silva (CAI), A. Torres (Velez), Roberto Emilio Russo (Chicago), Diego Villar (Gimnasia y Esgrima La Plata), Fabricio Ninez (River de Montevideo) & Jairo Castillo.
Outs: Federico Higuain (Colon), S. Martinez (Quilmes), C. Chavez (San Lorenzo), D. Vega, L. Torres & L. Formica (Huracan).
Last Season: 3rd
Season Objective: Nice and easy in mid-table.
If They Were A car They Would Be: The dinky VW beetle, which keeps chugging away even when those around it are breaking down and stopping.

The surprise package of last season have lost goal machine Fede Higuain, but have kept enough of their squad intact to suggest a comfortable season more without the spectre of relegation looming.

GIMNASIA LP

Coach: Diego Cocca, since January 2010
Star Men: Alvaro Navarro, Jorge Cordoba, Walter Jimenez
Ins: P. Fontanello (Tigre), Walter Jimenez (Santos Laguna), Fernando Pellegrino (Ferro), Alejandro Capurro (Colon), Franco Flores (Gimnasia de Concepcion del Uruguay), Abel Masuero (Ferro), Jonatan Chaves (Defensa y Justicia), A. Frezzotti (Chacarita), Lucas Landa (Barcelona de Ecuador), Ricardo Moreira (Atletico Tucuman) & Jorge Cordoba (River de Uruguay).
Outs: R. Sosa, Gabriel Martinena (Dinamo Tirana), Marco Perez, A. Ormeno, M. Messera, D. Villar (Godoy Cruz), R. Maldonado (Olimpia), P. Graff, S. Romero (Banfield), P. Bangardino, F. Imboden, J. Cuevas (Toluca) & D. Stracqualursi (Tigre).
Last season: 12th
Season Objective: Please God, let us stay up.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: Your favourite old banger which keeps starting no matter how much you smash it up- but you know it has to end sometime.

Having barely survived relegation last time round Gimnasia then proceeded to lose almost every player who stood out in a mediocre side; players such as Marco Perez who have not been replaced. Get ready for a relegation scrap in La Plata.

HURACAN

Coach: Hector Rivoira, since November 2009
Star Men: Rolando Zarate, Angel Morales, Lautoro Formica.
Ins: L. Formica (Godoy Cruz), Agustin Pena (Wanderes, Montevideo), Mariano Martinez (Arsenal), Marcos Britez Ojeda (Racing), Yonathan del Valle (Tachira), Cesar Montiglio (Atl. Tucuman), Rolando Zarate (Velez), Carlos Quintana (Lanus), Jose Arce (Cucuta) & Angel Morales (Nacional).
Outs: 27 players, including Paolo Goltz (Lanus), Gaston Esmerado (Arsenal), Gustavo Balvorin (Gimnasia J), Juan Carrizo, Alan Sanchez, Adrian Peralta (Lanus), Patricio Toranzo (Racing), Federico Laurito, Leandro Benegas, Pablo Jerez (Colon), Gonzalo García (Racing).
Last Season: 10th
Season Objective: 10th would do them just fine again.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: an old Volvo; nothing exciting about it, but it never lets you down.

The days of fighting titles and the ‘Tiki Tiki’ are well and truly over in Parque Patricios. Angel Cappa sits in the River dugout now, and after losing some decent players in pre season Huracan will be hoping to do enough to avoid slipping down the dreaded relegation table.

INDEPENDIENTE

Coach: Daniel Garnero, since June 2010
Star Men: Adrian Gabbarini, Leandro Gracian, Lucas Mareque
Ins: Roberto Battion (Banfield), Cristian Pellerano (Colon), German Pacheco (Atl. Madrid), Nicolas Cabrera (Velez), Maximiliano Velazquez (Lanus), Fabián Assmann (Las Palmas) & Facundo Parra (Chacarita).
Outs: Leonel Nunez (Bursaspor de Turquia), Luciano Vella (Newell’s), Walter Acevedo (River Plate), Lucas Pusineri, Ismael Sosa (Gaziantepspor), Dario Gandin (Necaxa), Ignacio Piatti, Federico Gonzalez (A. Rafaela), Sergio Vittor (Milada Boleslav) & Mariano Herron.
Last Season: 4th
Season Objective: A title challenge wouldnt be out of the question
If They Were A Car They Would Be: A sleek, shiny sports car - complete with serious reliability issues.

It looked like Independiente had the championship sewn up at one point last year, but the Rojos fell away alarmingly to finish a disappointing 4th. The bulk of the team remains, and so does the desire to stay the distance this time round.

LANUS

Coach: Luis Zubeldia, since June 2008
Star Men: Sebastian Blanco, Gonzalo Castillejos, Cristian Ledesma
Ins: Paolo Goltz (Huracan), Mario Regueiro (Nacional), Carlos Izquierdo (Atlanta) & N. Ramirez (Chacarita).
Outs: Carlos Quintana (Huracan), Raúl Quiroga, (San Martin SJ), C. Menendez (Emelec), M. Fritzler (Hercules), D. Gonzalez (Central), E. Faccioli, Dovetta, Bielkiewicz, Macalik, Arias & Maximiliano Velaquez (Independiente).
Last season: 7th
Season Objective: A Libertadores berth
If They Were A Car They Would Be: less of a car, more a group of obnoxious youths kicking dust in your face on dirtbikes

The most consistent team in Argentina has a great young coach and team, and most importantly held on to superstar Sebastian Blanco for at least another term. A title tilt may be out of the Grana grasp; continental qualification is a definite possibility.

NEWELL'S

Coach: Roberto Sensini, since Clausura 2009
Star Men: Rolando Schiavi, Mauro Formica, Luciano Vella
Ins: Borghello (Dep. Quito), Luciano Vella (Independiente), Gabriel Cichero (Caracas), Leandro Velazquez (Velez), Luis Rodriguez (Atl. Tucuman), S. Taborda (Sporting) & Gustavo Canales (River).
Outs: Juan Manuel Insaurralde (Boca), Jorge Achucarro, Joaquin Boghossian, Cristian Nunez (Quilmes), Diego Torres (Quilmes), Hugo Barrientos (All Boys), Sanchez Prette, Nahuel Roselli (Aldosivi) & Juan Quiroga (Colon).
Last season: 6th
Season Objective: Libertadores
If They Were A Car They Would Be: a battered Land Rover Defender which will run over anything in its path.

Not the best looking football side in the league but certainly one of the most effective. Newell’s were unlucky to miss out on the 2009 Apertura gong, and despite losing a couple of important players the squad is still there for a top half finish at least.

OLIMPO

Coach: Omar de Felippe, since Clausura 2009
Star Men: Bianchi Arce, Eduardo Casais, Martin Aguirre
Ins: Martin Aguirre (Godoy Cruz), Pablo Jerez (Huracan), Facundo Castillon (Tiro Federal), Diego Galvan (Arsenal), Nicolas Bianchi Arce (San Lorenzo), J. A. Tejera (Centro Espanol de Uruguay), Nestor Bareiro (Sportivo Luqueno de Paraguay) & Sebastian Longo (Atl. Tucuman).
Outs: Rogelio Martinez, Damian Santin, Federico Barrionuevo (Cucuta), Lucas Consistre, Lucas Rodriguez Pagano, Omar Zalazar, V.Gomez & Martin Cabrera.
Last Season: Champions, Nacional B
Season Objective: Avoid going down again.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: For all their ups and downs, a rollercoaster car is a fair analogy.

Olimpo will be up against it in this year’s tournament, but they have retained a decent number of the squad who did so well to take the second division championship in May. They could spring a surprise, but it’s hard to see anything but a scrap on the horizon.

QUILMES

Coach: Hugo Tocalli, since May 2010.
Star Men: Bernardo Romeo, Cristian Nuñez, Gustavo Varela
Ins: Nineteen including Bernardo Romeo (San Lorenzo), Santiago Hirsig (Kansas), Leandro Gioda (Xerez), Nahuel Roselli (Newell's), Charles Aranguiz (Colo Colo), Hernan Galindez (Central), Sebastian Martinez (Godoy Cruz), Leandro Coronel (Velez), O. J. Morales (Nacional), Gustavo Varela (Nacional), Cristian Nunez (Newell´s), Juan Iturbe (Cerro Porteno).
Outs: Sebastian Battaglia (Boca), D. Cardozo, M. Caneo (Chicago Fire), Diego Cardozo, Mauricio Carrasco, Juan Herbella, Ramon Lentini, Emmanuel Martinez, Meza Sanchez, Cristian Piarrou, Marcelo Pontiroli, Walter Ribonetto, Sergio Rodriguez y Facundo Sava.
Last Season: 2nd Nacional B
Season Objective: Would be nice not to worry about the drop too much.
If They Were A Car They Would Be: Surely only a bus picks up and drops off that many different people?

Quilmes broke a national record earlier this week by signing up their 19th new face of the season; which means that any attempt to judge the team by past form or history are in fact useless. Behind everything though this is a big club who want Premier status, don’t be surprised if they clear the drop zone by some way.

RACING CLUB

Coach: Miguel Angel Russo, since February 2010
Star Men: Gio Moreno, Patricio Toranzo, Lucas Licht.
Ins: Patricio Toranzo (Huracan), Ivan Pillud (Espanyol), Giovanni Moreno (Atletico Nacional de Medellin) & Roberto Fernandez (Cerro Porteno)
Outs: Cristian Tavio (Atl. Tucuman), Sebastián Rosano (Wanderers), Britez Ojeda (Huracan), Damian Steinert, Sebastian Grazzini (All Boys), Juan Falcon, Pablo Santillo (Banfield), Martinez Gullotta (Gimnasia J), Gabriel Mercado (Estudiantes LP) & Pablo Caballero (Tigre).
Last Season: 8th
Season Objective: Top five finish.
If They Were A car They Would Be: An Alfa Romeo - cult classic with a host of fanatics, but very little substance under the bonnet.

The building up of hope is a regular ritual for any La Academia fan - but after the calmest pre-season for many years and a comfortable cushion from the relegation zone, there is a real sense that this year could be the start of a renaissance at the club. A title may be too much too soon though.

RIVER PLATE

Coach: Angel Cappa, since May 2010.
Star Men: Diego Buonanotte, Juan Pablo Carrizo, Matias Almeyda
Ins: Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio), Cristian Nasuti (Aris Salonica), Jonathan Maidana (Banfield), Carlos Arano (Aris), Josepmir Ballon (San Martin de Porres), Walter Acevedo (Independiente), Mariano Pavone (Betis), Leandro Caruso (Velez) & Adalberto Roman (Libertad)
Outs: Nicolas Sanchez, C. Villagra (Metallist), Nicolas Navarro (Napoli), Gustavo Cabral (Tecos), Ahumada (Veracruz), Marcelo Gallardo, Diego Barrado, Mauro Rosales, Gonzalo Luduena (O’Higgins), Juan Antonio, Martin Galmarini, Facundo Quiroga, Nico Domingo, Rodrigo Archubi, Canales (Newell's) & Andres Rios.
Last Season: 13th
Season Objectives: Campeon!
If They Were A Car They Would Be: An old Rolls Royce that had been left to fall into disrepair for years, and only now is it getting the love and expert care it deserves.

On paper they have put together the best team in the Primera, and if Cappa can get his players to click it could be a magical season in the Monumental. Much depends on the attack, as River were criminally short of goals in the past two years - if that fires, a championship is a definite possibility.

SAN LORENZO

Coach: Ramon Diaz, since June 2010
Star Men: Jose San Roman, Jonathan Bottinelli, Leonardo Lopez
Ins: Leo Lopez (Boyaca Chico), Gabriel Pereyra (Murcia), Jose San Roman (Tigre), Diego Placente (Burdeos), Balsas (Racing de Uruguay) & Damian Albil (Estudiantes).
Outs: Nereo Champagne (Ferro), Nicolas Bianchi Arce (Olimpo), Pablo Pintos (Lazio), Gustavo Campagnuolo, Bernardo Romeo (Quilmes), Cristian Gonzalez (Central) y Cristian Leiva (Arsenal).
Last Season: 15th
Season Objective: Top five or six
If They Were A Car They Would Be: An old-hot rod, needing a bit of spit and polish to get back to the glory days.

After an awful Clausura the San Lorenzo board went nuclear in bringing back managing legend Ramon Diaz. With the Pelado in charge the Boedo club could do anything, although the pre-season transfer window was not kind to them.

TIGRE

Coach: Ricardo Caruso Lombardi, since January 2010
Star Men: Denis Stracqualursi, Daniel Mustafa, Daniel Islas
Ins: Galmarini (River), Roman Martínez (Espanyol), Denis Stracqualursi (GELP), Lucas Simon (Piacenza), Horacio Anzorena (Gimnasia M), Daniel Mustafa (Belenenses), Pablo De Miranda (Colon), Gaston Diaz (Colegiales), Trombetta (Leixoes), Angulo Villegas (America de Cali), J. Blengio (Atromitos), D. Morales, R. Vera y Pablo Caballero (Racing).
Outs: Rodolfo Arruabarrena (Catolica de Chile), Carlos Luna (Liga de Quito), D. Leyes, M. Oliva, P. Fontanello (GELP), L. Lazzaro, M. Morel (Dep. Cali) y N. Ayala.
Last Season: 11th
Season Objective: Top half and keep away from relegation worries.
If They Were A car They Would Be: Vauxhall Tigre perhaps?

Tigre have gambled on big changes in preseason, and only time will tell if they pay off. Stracqualursi is a coup and will offset the loss of prolific Carlos Luna, and with Caruso at the helm Tigre can feel confident about the upcoming campaign.

VELEZ SARSFIELD

Coach: Ricardo Gareca, since January 2009
Star Men: Maxi Moralez, Nicolas Otamendi, Santiago Silva
Ins: Augusto Fernandez (Saint Etienne) & Fernando Ortiz (America de Mexico).
Outs: Rolando Zarate (Huracan), Pablo Lima, Leandro Caruso (River), Rodrigo Lopez (Estudiantes), Marco Torsiglieri (Sporting de Lisboa), Leandro Velazquez (Newell's), Nicolas Cabrera (Independiente), Ariel Cabral (Legia Varsovia), Leandro Coronel (Quilmes) y Facundo Coria (Villarreal).
Last Season: 9th
Season Objective: Champions, Libertadores at least.
If They Were A car They Would Be: A high-tech Japanese hot-hatch.

For my money the best team in Argentina, without the distraction of a Libertadores campaign Velez are real candidates. Lost a bit of attacking firepower over preseason, but Maxi Moralez and Uruguayan hitman Silva remain to provide real quality up front.

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