In the midst of a frustrating start with no wins, six draws and one defeat so far in the 2021 Clausura tournament, the chairman of the Life, Luis Cruz, He finally put things in order by bringing together two foreign footballers: the Argentinian forward Mauro Bustamante and the Colombian midfielder. Julian Mendoza.
As revealed by the Cruz himself in an interview with DIEZ, The two footballers were separated due to poor performance and lack of discipline, actions that are not tolerated within the Ceiba Directive.
In addition, he referred to the coach’s case Nerlin Memberño who made it clear that “we are going to support him so that things improve” in light of the likely arrival of the Portuguese coach Fernando Mira who would arrive as support and manager of the backup project.
What is shown in the table does not look very promising: how does this start to the tournament translate?
The situation we are facing is not the best, we are strengthening ourselves to fight the tournament, but the results are not as we expected. We played well, but the games were difficult for us. It’s not that we’re doing badly, but the results aren’t with us.
In spite of all that, why did they decide to end Mauro Busdamente and Julián Mendoza’s contract?
It was a mutual agreement, we expected more from the players, we thought they would contribute more football, but we reached an agreement with them and they had to leave the institution.
But we hear of indiscipline, is it true or is it just sporty?
Yes, in part it was because of their behavior. First (Bustamante) arrived with injuries, we waited over a month and finally we made the decision because it’s not healthy for the group when the others start exercising day in and day out and they suffer from things.
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Did these foreign footballers party?
I spoke to the team about it, I had reports that there were a few players who went to nightclubs in the evening who did not take care of themselves; eventually it was confirmed and at this point they are no longer part of the institution.
Are national players involved or only foreign players?
There is no citizen, but in the end I told them all because of the situation that arose. We told them that everyone we encountered in this situation would be removed from the group.
For example, is this a sanction for what happens in the team?
We’ve played well, then things get complicated for us and we haven’t reached the goal of being at the top, but nothing has been defined in the group. The whole team is in the same situation between last and first place, nothing is clear.
You say it – nothing is clear – but do you see life rising before Marathon?
We work for that 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 improve and we can define why he killed us for that this year.
How much patience do you have for DT Nerlin Membreño with so many rumors about his departure?
My support for Nerlin Membreño’s work is one hundred percent. I speak to him every day, I know the results are not what we expected, but the responsibility does not lie with the coach alone, I know the players have not shown the performance we expect. We want life to start winning after eight days of no victory.
Excuse me for asking you frankly, but do you have an ultimatum for Nerlin in case you lose to Marathon?
No, he doesn’t have an ultimatum, but continuity and position give him the results and he’s 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 give him support so things improve.
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Have you communicated with Martín “Tato ‘García?
At one point I spoke to him, Nerlin knows … -I never offered or told him how much I wanted to come to life, we want to save him, we are desperate. We actually talked to him, we asked him how much his technical staff cost, but until then.
And Manuel Keosseian?
It was just rumors, I don’t know who he is and I never spoke to him.
How influence the departure of José Escalante back to the cavalry?
His departure is nothing new, we already knew he would leave at the beginning of March, everything was clear, the team that had given us the loan, those were their requirements and we had to comply.
What decision did the team make regarding the punishment of Nerlin Membreño?
We have already discussed this with the Disciplinary Commission, we hope to help you a little with this.