Rodolfo D'Onofrio referred to River's present and was forceful: 'He lacks leadership'

If there is a truly authorized voice to express an opinion about the River world and its present, that is undoubtedly that of Rodolfo D'Onofrio. In an interview with La Página Millonaria, the former president analyzed the current situation of the Núñez club and left a strong eye on the team's performance, pointing out a key lack within the squad: the lack of leaders in the dressing room

.

“River is lacking leadership,” he said and compared the current moment to his time at the helm of the club: “In my time we had Maidana, Pinola, Enzo Pérez, Ponzio and a few others. Today name me someone similar to these... there isn't one.”

In this regard, he highlighted the negative interference that Martín Demichelis had with one of the decisions that affected the structure of the group: the off with the journalists after the elimination against Inter Porto Alegre in the round of 16 of the 2023 Copa Libertadores.

“I think he's an excellent human being and a person of values, but I was critical of the off because you fought with those who were the leaders and you broke the spirit of the team, that's where the problem began,”

he said.

The criticism of the players and the bench against Coudet

In the same interview, the manager also referred to the link between the team and the fans. Although he asked to avoid negative reactions in the stadium, such as whistles or insults, he assured that the players: “they have to show the coach that they have the capacity to be in

River”,.

In this context, in one of the strongest phrases, he graphed the contrast between the club's infrastructure and the current level of football: “We have El Colón, because today the River stadium is majestic, but we don't have artists. With that framework we have to have a different show.”

On the

other hand, the former president backed Eduardo Coudet and asked for support to turn around the team's current irregular situation: “We're going to solve it. I am confident that Coudet can reverse

this.”

In addition, he used a metaphor to describe his role: "He is the captain of the ship. The players are second lieutenants or sailors. The players need to realize that and pay attention to it. And whoever wants to stay ashore, let him stay while the ship continues.”

His opinion about Gallardo's departure

In another passage of the talk, D'Onofrio recalled the departure of Marcelo Gallardo and considered that his decision responded to an institutional perspective: “I'm sure he privileged what River was. He saw that it wasn't him that was important but River, and he saw that he had to take that step aside so that River could follow his course

.”

"Although things were going badly, Marcelo was a guy who didn't think he was defeated and wasn't defeated. Something happened, which I don't know, for me to make that decision: it must have been something very profound, one day I'll talk about it,”

he concluded.