by Hernán Darío Gómez, at 67 years old, decided to remove a few more gray hairs than he has in his hair, these new ones could arise on behalf of the technical direction of Junior de Barranquilla, where he decided to go to take on the challenge of removing him from the bottom of the table of positions. The experienced coach had an extensive conversation with WEEK and gave the impressions of his first hours in front of the ‘shark’.
Citing part of the experience he has had in teams like Ecuador, Panama and Honduras, he said that the Barranquillero team was like “a dream, because this is a very large institution. When I arrived at Junior, it seemed that he would reach a world team because of the treatment of the people, managers and players. I am happy and it is a great joy in my career to be in Junior”.
Although he felt that he was coming to a large-scale team, he talked about the players and there he backed down a bit: “It has very good names and very good footballers, but in the choice you have to get a lot right. If you get to a team and choose well, you have 90 percent guaranteed. We hope to associate them and that they understand each other”.
Later, when questioning what is the difficulty of being Junior’s coach, he said: “It should be very easy, because there are all the weapons to work. It is a team that has everything, they provide everything, with a good venue, good fans, a good stadium. I don’t know, by God I don’t know.”
“Profess Arturo also had a hard time with that and I just arrived. Hopefully I have the wand so that over time these guys get together and form a good team, ”he added.
Knowing the dynamics of the institution and that it has been characterized by not waiting for the processes, but by removing the technicians who are not working, he said: “I was very well received by the managers and I felt like family. The team is great and I’m happy, but from what I think, I need some changes to improve. It is that in football Bolillo is not just arrived and that’s it ”.
In turn, he was accurate in saying that everyone will depend on working together to reverse the situation: “Surely if I don’t get results it will be more difficult, but I don’t have the weapons at this time in my job either. If the boys win the first dates, it will be spectacular because it will help me in my work. But neither is it to say: they won or lost because I arrived”.
Among other of his important responses, he referred to the surrounding environment to turn the situation around: “You have to work very hard, there is a good group of guys, look for the best partnerships, the best complements within the game. It is clear to me that you see footballers in training, but when you really get to know them it is on game day”.
To conclude, ‘Bolillo’ was aware of the weight that the Barranquilla team’s shirt has, not only for the city but also for all Colombian football: “The first games are going to give me a lot of things to be clear. Junior’s jersey weighs a lot of kilos in first class, what will the weight be like at this bad time? Well, it weighs a lot more. The managers do a lot for the team.”
Finally, the first big test of the Medellín-born strategist will be this Saturday against Independiente Santa Fe, a historic rival that can mean a good start or increase concern after knowing that the next day will be the 10th, half of the ‘all against all’ in the 2023 Opening Tournament and the possibility of qualifying is still far away.
