In his latest column for Tribalfootball.com, Valencia and Boca Juniors legend Dario Felman backs Claudio Echeverri's move to Manchester City, supports Argentina president Javier Milei's call for foreign investment in local football, warns Michel about Newcastle interest and pays tribute to friend and former Valencia teammate Ángel Castellanos...
CLAUDIO ECHEVERRI CHOSE RIGHT IN MAN CITY
Claudio Echeverri is just 18 years old! He's incredible! He has pure talent too. I believe that he has made the right decision too…to not stay at River Plate and to go to England and join Manchester City. I believe he is going to the team with the ideal manager for him too…meaning Guardiola! Indeed, Guardiola likes this class of young player. A footballer with ability, compact and good with the ball too. Guardiola had the virtue to create a great FC Barcelona side made up of similarly young little geniuses and with Messi leading the way.
However, Echeverri made his name playing for Argentina as an under-17 footballer not as a club player. Actually, he doesn't have that much experience as a club player in the top division. He has only played 5 matches for River Plate. Yes, he has talent but there is a risk involved in buying a player with little experience at club level in the top division.
For his age, he is out of this world and very talented but we cannot know how he will develop in the Premier League. At the end of the day, it's a lottery. That said, he is an ideal player for River Plate and for Manchester City regarding his skill, physique and potential. Let's hope it works out well for him in England.
PRESIDENT MILEI'S FOREIGN INVESTMENT PUSH AND CHELSEA BUYING INTO ARGENTINE FOOTBALL
Javier Milei has a lot of work to do. I really hope that everything goes very well for him. He has a lot of work to do regarding Argentina as a country, which is in a very bad way at the moment regarding its economy. With the exception of the time of the World Cups, it's rare that presidents of clubs in Argentina get involved in caring about improving football in their country.
I love that Javier Melei is helping to open the door to foreign involvement and privatising football in Argentina. I say 'bienvenido' (welcome) to football! I look forward to the professionalization and privatisation of football in Argentina and for it to be run by professionals who understand football in a country (Argentina) that is crazy about football.
All of this will improve football in Argentina, a sport that is loved with a passion over there. Argentina needs figures like Milei.
EQUI FERNANDEZ REMINDS ME OF CASEMIRO
Equi Fernández is a young player who plays for the team I played for, Boca Juniors. What does it mean to play for Boca Juniors? It means “effort" and “sacrifice" and Equi Fernández has both of these qualities. In the last few matches, he has always been in the first eleven on the pitch. He's like an old-fashioned number 5 who collects the ball and plays in front of the back four. Watch out!
He also likes to play on the right when the team plays with pivots in midfield. He's an interesting player and it's an interesting 'project' too, seeing his development as a player. Regarding English football, the comparison I would make would be with the Brazilian 'Casemiro' of Manchester United. They are very similar players except that Equi is younger and so has more time to learn and also to make mistakes and also to gain experience too.
Equi Fernández is an “interesantísimo" player because he has the “alma" (soul) of what it means to be a player for Boca Juniors…and that means sacrifice…he never stops running!
MICHEL MUST BE CAREFUL ABOUT NEWCASTLE AND MAN CITY INTEREST
I believe that Michel is a young manager who has been successful at the humble football clubs that he has managed. A good example would be at Rayo Vallecano who had a spectacular season when Michel was in charge. It is in Michel's DNA to work silently and humbly at the relatively modest clubs that he has managed so far. For his good work at Rayo Vallecano, he was rewarded to go up a notch as a manager when he joined Girona. That said, Girona has often been a football club used to fighting relegation every season.
He was given the chance to buy new players, players who nobody knew about… and that is actually a luxury for any manager! The secret is that Michel knows what he wants from his players and sacrifice is key to that and they are currently at the top of the league along with the elite team Real Madrid and Girona are actually above the elite teams of FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid! Michel has achieved the dream of any manager. Indeed, Girona already have 48 points halfway through this season…and that is probably more points than they got in total from the season before! That's impressive!
I believe he has united the dressing room at Girona with his quality as a manager and as a person too. He has credibility and he speaks from the heart when he is interviewed. He knows that it is going to be very difficult for Girona to remain at the top of LaLiga at the end of the season. However, as each match is being fought for regarding points in LaLiga… Girona remain very strong as a team. Why is that? Because of the 25 players he has disposable to play, all of them are capable of playing in the first eleven. The 14 players that don't play are content because the good results on the pitch speak for themselves. This team spirit makes it all the easier for Michel to manage the players, week in and week out. Even when Girona lose, Michel knows how to adapt the team. Actually, Girona remind me of the Brazil team in the 1970s, which is spectacular! Each day, Girona are getting stronger.
Regarding Michel becoming manager of a big team, I'm not sure he would be capable of managing 22 big egos and an elite team president who insists on Michel winning the league too. So far, Michel has worked really well with modest teams and created a fighting spirit with teams that are always fighting relegation. It's a very different scenario where you manage an established team that is obliged to win big titles, year in and year out.
VITOR ROQUE FACES A DIFFICULT START AT BARCELONA
Victor Roque has arrived at FC Barcelona in a difficult time for them. He is a young player but he was fundamental for Athletico Paranense and the team was created around him, like Riquelme at Villarreal. That's why Barcelona signed him…because of his effectiveness as a player in Brazil. Roque has arrived at a difficult time in Barcelona, he has barely trained for 3 days and he has already has some minutes playing for FC Barcelona.
He missed a couple of chances in that match so we are yet to see him at his best here in Spain. However, overall as a player, he is great in the box and has good ball control too and that is typical of Brazilian footballers. However, I feel it going to be difficult for Roque here because if Lewandowski plays he will not get a chance to play too. We are taking about one of the best footballers in the world regarding the Polish striker. If Roque does play then that means that Ferran will not play nor Raphinha.
So, you can see, it is going to be difficult for Roque get a game! God willing, Roque will get to play as FC Barcelona are lacking regular goal scorers at the moment. Indeed, fingers crossed, this could be Roque's time if he makes the most of his chances in terms of having limited playing time but scoring much needed goals. He could really make his mark. ¡Si señor!
ANCELOTTI DESERVES LIFETIME CONTRACT AT REAL MADRID
For me, Ancelotti would be 'Don Carlos' and I say that with all the respect in the world. He is 'El Mister.' He deserves to have had his contract renewed. If I were the President Florentino Pérez, I would invite Ancelotti to live in his home with his family. He's a manager that doesn't create conflicts, who has made Real Madrid champions on many occasions, he keeps his squad content, and he is the perfect manager for Real Madrid.
He has won everything too! He is reserved and humble too. To manage the dressing room at Real Madrid is not easy but he makes it easy with his natural way of doing things and his credibility as a manager too. Players know when a manager is being sincere with them and when they are telling the truth.
If Ancelotti had gone to Brazil, he would have enjoyed it. To have all those Brazilian players together, some of whom play in Real Madrid, it would have been fun! It wouldn't be like being in the “electric chair" everytime that Real Madrid play, week in and week out. Ancelotti has had his contract renewed at Real Madrid with all the merit in the world!
If, for some reason, he ends his contract as a manager of Real Madrid in the future… my hope would be that he would stays on at Real Madrid as a coordinator of sorts and teaches classes about how to play football so that we can continue enjoy his expertise in the field of football. He is a phenomenon.
THE PASSING OF MY FRIEND AND TEAMMATE ÁNGEL CASTELLANOS
I regard Ángel Castellanos as a brother and a friend that the world of football gifted to me. As a player he was spectacular. As a number 5 or 6, back in the day, when he won the ball he wasn't afraid to pass it back to the keeper if he saw fit… as goalkeepers could pick the ball up with their hands then from a pass back. He would do this if he saw the midfield or attack was not organized to pass the ball forward, which would allow them to rest and re-organize.
The crowd would get annoyed as they didn't understand what was going on and wanted to see attacking football but he had the personality to do the right thing for the team according to the state of play on the pitch. Angel was a manager's type of player who, when the manager gave orders, would always try to do his very best regarding the orders he's been given for each particular match. He played for 10 years like that at Valencia CF.
As a player and as a person, he is somebody who left a mark. The minute's silence for Ángel Castellanos at Mestalla was very special, the respectful silence and then the loud applause by 45,000 fans at the end for Castellanos was very impressive. It almost brought me to tears; he had won the fans over. If he was watching, he would have been moved by the emotions of it all too. It was impressive.
As a person, he was a wonderful. He was very popular and I hear that so many people went to his funeral wake that it actually left people impressed and emotional at the sheer turnout for Ángel. In fact, I got to know Granada thanks to Ángel Castellanos. He invited my wife and me to stay in Granada, a number of times. We stayed at his home with his wife, himself and his three 'hermosas' daughters. A humble and wonderful and kind family too. Indeed, his wife is from Granada and she was with him to his dying day. I'm still with my wife too so we have lots of shared memories of Ángel Castellanos and his family.
Ángel Castellanos was tough on the pitch and looked fierce because of his beard, which not many footballers had in those days! What many people don't know is that he grew his distinctive beard to cover an injury to his face he got as a young player at Granada and the beard stayed for good, to cover his stitches.
He was the 'malo' of the team which means he was the “tough nut" who did the dirty work of getting really stuck in with the tackling, robbing the ball from the opposition, and then distributing the ball to one of our team in the best position. You could say he was a bit like David Albelda, a “destructor" of the opposition's play. He would play in front of the defense like a number '6'.
You can't really compare him to today's modern footballers as they often play two players in that zone now, while he was doing everything as just one player. So, for example, what Ángel Castellanos was doing then at Valencia would be what Javi Guerra and Pepelu and Guillamón would be doing now in midfield but they would be doing it in pairs in this day and age.
Without being the captain, Ángel was a natural leader, you felt his presence and he would give orders on the pitch and in the dressing room and the players would listen. He was disciplined and strong and never seemed to get injured when he was at Valencia. An important player and a great person.
