The world champion questioned River's present, was surprised by the heavy defeat suffered at the Monumental, and asked to move in the transfer market
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The heavy defeat against Tigre by 4-1 at the Monumental is still resonating in the River world. Before the visit to Argentinos Juniors for the fifth round of the Apertura Tournament, Óscar Ruggeri was blunt when he analyzed the team's present and surprised with a strong statement about Marcelo Gallardo.
On F90, the world champion with the Argentina National Team in 1986 confessed that, when he saw the coach's reaction after the match, he imagined a possible departure in the face of such a blow. "The "movete, River, movete" was timid for what happened", he began.
"They score four goals against you at home, a club like River that is the biggest of all. With the players, with the coach who is standing there... When the match ended, they focused on him for quite a while and he had bulging eyes, I thought he was going to resign. I swear I thought so", the Cabezón stated.
River had started the tournament with encouraging signs, with victories against Barracas Central and Gimnasia (LP), plus a draw against Rosario Central. However, the thrashing suffered last Saturday intensified the fans' discomfort and set off alarms behind closed doors.
Even so, the former center-back considered that Gallardo himself is the one who must turn the situation around. "He is the only one who can get this back on track because he chose the players. The squad is his. He is the only one capable of putting this in its place", he maintained.
Despite this consideration, for Ruggeri the magnitude of the blow doesn't allow for nuances. "For them to score four goals against you at River's stadium, four well-taken goals, not by chance. It was not that they happened to put one in. They were four clear goals", he stressed.
Ruggeri le pidió un 9 a Gallardo
Meanwhile, Cabezón pointed to the squad's construction and questioned the absence of a defined center forward. "It is difficult to find one, but you have to get moving and start looking at a No. 9 for the next transfer window. This should have been discussed a year ago. I would ask Gallardo why he did not bring one", he suggested.
River will seek to turn the page this Thursday against Argentinos Juniors, in a context where attention is once again focused on Gallardo and on the football response of a team that fell short after the blow at home. The match will be played at Estadio Diego Armando Maradona starting at 21:15.
