In the middle of a frustrating start without a win, six draws and a defeat so far in the 2021 Clausura Tournament, the president Life, Luis Cruz, He finally put the house in order by bringing together two foreign footballers: Argentine striker Mauro Bustamante and Colombian midfielder Julian Mendoza.
As revealed by Cruz himself in an interview with DIEZ, The two footballers were separated for poor performance and indiscipline, acts that are not tolerated in the Ceiba directive.
In addition, he referred to the case of the coach Nerlin Member who made it clear that “we will support him to make things better” in the face of the alleged arrival of the Portuguese coach Fernando Mira who would end up as a support and manager of the backup project.
What is reflected in the table does not look promising: how does this start of the tournament translate?
The situation we are in is not the best, we are consolidating to fight in the tournament, but the results were not as we expected. We played well, but the games were difficult for us. It’s not that we’re doing a bad job, but the results aren’t with us.
However, why did they decide to terminate the contract of Mauro Busdamente and Julián Mendoza?
It was a mutual agreement, we expected more players, we thought they would contribute more from a football point of view, but we reached an agreement with them and they had to leave the institution.
But do we hear of indiscipline, is it so or is it just sports?
Yes, it was partly because of their behavior. At the beginning (Bustamante) he arrived with injuries, I waited for more than a month and at the end I made the decision because it is not healthy for the group when the others start every day in training and live suffering things.
Clock: New cases of coronavirus in Real Sociedad before day 8 of the 2021 Closing Tournament
Did these foreign footballers spend time?
I talked about it with the team, I had reports that there were a few players who went out to discos at night, who didn’t take care of themselves; it has finally been confirmed and I am no longer part of the institution.
Are there national players involved or just foreign players?
There is no national, but in the end I told everyone because of the situation that was happening. I told them that anyone we meet in this situation will be removed from the group.
Is it a sanction, for example, for what happens in the team?
We played well, then it gets complicated for us and we didn’t reach the goal of being in the top, but nothing is defined in the group. The whole team is in the same situation between last and first place, nothing is clear.
You say that – nothing is clear – but do you see that life rises before the marathon?
That’s what we work for every day, we have a good team and high quality players. The same game we lost to Marathon, we lost scoring opportunities, we hope the results will improve and we can define why this year killed us for it.
How much patience will you have for DT Nerlin Membreño with so many rumors about his departure?
My approval of Nerlin Membreño’s work was one hundred percent. I talk to him every day, I know that the results are not what we expected, but the responsibility is not borne only by the coach, I know that the players did not show the performance we expect. We want to see life start to win after eight days without a win.
Excuse me for asking honestly, but do you have an ultimatum for Nerlin if you lose to the Marathon?
No, he has no ultimatum, but continuity and position give him results and he is clear about that; We talked about it, we made an investment to fight in the tournament, not to be in this situation, but it’s a process, he’s only been on the team for about four or five months, we’re going to support him because things to improve.
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Have you communicated with Martín “Tato ‘García?
At one point I talked to him, Nerlin knows that … -I never offered him or told him how much I want to come to Life, we want to save him, we are desperate-. In fact, I talked to him, asked him how much his coaching staff cost, but until then.
And Manuel Keosseian?
There were just rumors, I don’t know who he is and I never talked to him.
How impact on José Escalante’s departure back to the cavalry?
His departure is nothing new, I already knew he was leaving in early March, everything was clear, the team that had given us the loan were their requests and we had to comply.
What decision did the team make regarding the punishment of Nerlin Membreño?
We have already discussed with the Disciplinary Committee in this regard, we hope to help you a little in this regard.