New era for Reds as Spanish coach Garrido enters unknown territory
By Amirhadi
Arsalanpour
Staff writer
At first glance, the Persepolis job seems to be an ideal one for Spanish head coach Juan Carlos Garrido, who was officially unveiled as the Reds’ new boss on Sunday.
Having spent the best of his managerial career in the Middle East and North Africa region, the Spaniard takes over at a club that lifted a seventh Persian Gulf Pro League trophy in eight years last month – finishing runner-up to Esteghlal on the other occasion – while winning double Iranian cup titles and reaching the final showpiece of AFC Champions League twice in that period.
Still, the Reds’ supporters are far from finding out if the former Villarreal coach’s appointment will be a success story or it will turn out to be the beginning of the end for the club’s domestic dominance.
When interim coach Osmar Loss Vieira refused to extend his contract in June, Persepolis faithful longed for a prominent figure on their team’s bench for the upcoming season.
Several high-profile names in Italian Walter Mazzarri, Ajax coach John van ‘t Schip, and ex-Iran manager Dragan Skocic were brought up in the media for the role but the club ended up introducing a rather unfamiliar face in Garrido, whose trophy cabinet has been limited to a couple of titles with Egypt’s Al Ahly and Moroccan club Raja Casablanca in the CAF Confederation Cup – the second-tier club competition in Africa – and now club hierarchy hope the fans will show patience with the Spaniard in the early stages of his reign.
Garrido, meanwhile, will have to be up to the challenges facing him in the new job.
the supporters and pundits will be quick to make compressions between the team’s performances under Garrido, who promised an attacking brand of football in his first press conference, and some free-flowing, offensive displays delivered on the Reds’ best days under his predecessors Brank Ivankovic, Yahya Golmohammadi, and Osmar in recent years.
The Spanish coach inherits an aging squad, which had to ride the winning mentality among the players in coming out on top in the past two closely-contested title races, not to mention several instrumental players are on their way out of the club.
Goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand and his fellow-Iranian international Mahdi Torabi, the two linchpins of the team’s success in recent years, are on the verge of signing for Tractor, with first-choice right-back Danial Esmaeilifar set to join them in northwest Iran.
Qatari fullback Abdelkarim Hassan, who made undeniable contribution to the title run since joining Persepolis in January, is also believed to be keen on returning to his home country, and Uzbek wizard winger Oston Urunov will miss the best part of the preseason due to international commitment in the Paris Olympics.
Having already set about their summer transfer business, Esteghlal, Sepahan, and Tractor are expected to form another four-horse race for the title alongside Persepolis when the new campaign kicks off in late August, whilst Garrido will have less than two months to get to know the players at his disposal and instill his gameplans.
In the meantime, club CEO Reza Darvish and technical director Hossein Badamaki will have to make sure the new signings will arrive in time to fit in the Spanish’s tactics and formation ahead of what will be a hectic domestic and continental fixtures list for the club.