The synchronicity with which the events occurred seemed to indicate that they were directly related: Chivas announced the dismissal of its coach, Matias Almeyda recalled the ease with which he could leave the San Jose Earthquakes, and later the Argentinean’s separation from the MLS club was made official. However, Almeyda’s return to Chivas may not be far off, if not practically impossible.
The bond between the Rojiblancos and Matías Almeyda seemed close despite their paths parting in 2018. The five titles won by the Guadalajara club during the Argentine coach’s tenure is the closest they have come to their era of greatest glory, the late 1950s and 1960s of the last century.
Even for Almeyda it was clear that the pairing he made with Chivas is not something he can find at every club he manages. With San Jose Earthquakes in MLS, he simply did not come remotely close to the winning ways he did in Liga MX. In four years with the Quakes, Matias only qualified his team to the MLS Cup Playoffs once and leaves with a negative record of 31 wins, 42 losses and 25 draws.
The possible unsurpassable gap between Chivas and Matias Almeyda
Guadalajara’sfans are unhappy with their team and its management, and saw the return of Almeyda as the ideal remedy to cure their ills. However, despite the apparent possibility of the Argentine coach’s return, there could be bad memories of him within the club.
According to Récord’s insider El Francotirador, the Chivas board is not even remotely contemplating the idea of Matías Almeyda returning as the team’s coach due to some unethical, and even harmful, practices allegedly carried out by the Argentinean during his three years at the helm of the Rebaño Sagrado.
Almeyda’s alleged unethical behavior at Chivas
The first harmful behavior of Almeyda , pointed out by the aforementioned insider, is his tendency to request that key positions in the club’s structure be filled by his friends and acquaintances. This would be due to Matías’ intention to be a general manager and not just a coach, so the only one he is accountable to is the owner. There would be no sports director, a position currently held by ex-footballer Ricardo Pelaez.
An example of this, leaked by Record, is the case of the soccer player Carlos Cisneros, who suffered an injury in 2016 and was suggested by Chivas‘ trusted medical expert to undergo surgery. However, Almeyda’s assistant in the club’s sports medicine area recommended not to do it and to approach it with conservative alternative therapies, which was about to cause the player’s retirement and extended his absence for up to 4 years.
Another of the former San Jose Earthquakes coach’s mismanagement is the excessive and constant demand for tickets, which amounted to more than 100 for each Chivas game that were requested by Almeyda to distribute among family and friends. However, and according to what Record published, most of those tickets were given to the famous Barras Bravas, to keep them on his side, prevent them from criticizing him and put pressure on the board of directors for any requests he might have.