Prior to this morning’s practice, River’s players held a half-hour conversation in River’s training grounds. Coach Leonardo Astrada and his coaching staff were not part of this meeting, as it was a player-only meeting. The meeting, which was part of a strong self-criticism of previous matches, was led by Marcelo Gallardo, Oscar Ahumada, Paulo Ferrari, Daniel Vega and… Nicolas Navarro?
The former Napoli goalkeeper, which is not even taken into account by Coach Leonardo Astrada, was one of the members of the team that took the floor during the meeting along with captain, Marcelo Gallardo. What was discussed is not known, but what was alarming was that no member of the coaching staff attended the meeting. Assistant Coach Hernan Diaz and Coach Astrada came out afterwards to commence the scheduled practice focused on Sunday’s match with Atletico Tucuman.
Meanwhile, rumors began to circulate suggesting that River’s management officials had three considerations as a possible successor to Coach Astrada: Ramon Diaz (ex-coach of River), Alejandro Sabella (current coach in Estudiantes de la Plata), and Angel Cappa (ex-coach of Huracan). Of course these are just rumors, but despite Coach Astrada’s statement in “being strong” to remain coach in River until the end of the season, J.J. Lopez would be responsible for coaching the team in case Coach Astrada resigns.
