This coach will take us to the playoffs… and this time we mean it

So in case you haven’t heard, LaVolpe has left the team, and Atlas will again have a new coach to start the next tournament. Some things will stay the same, new coach Carlos Ischia is Argentinian so that stays the same, coach Ischia promises playoffs, so that’s the same, let’s just hope the results change this time.

Coach Carlos Ischia is a former player and played for Chacarita Juniors and Vélez Sársfield in Argentina as well as representing the Argentina national football team. He finished his career in Colombia where he played for América de Cali and Junior. He retired in 1989 due to injury.

Ischia started his coaching career as field assistant at Vélez Sársfield and Boca Juniors and then became the first team coach at Vélez. In 2004 Ischia was appointed as manager of Gimnasia de La Plata. In 2005 he took over at Junior in Colombia, but left later that year due to differences with the directors and constant media pressure. In 2007 he was appointed the new manager of struggling Rosario Central, but after 14 games of the Apertura 2007 Ischia resigned with the club bottom of the table and perilously close to the automatic relegation places. In December 2007 Ischia was appointed as the new manager of Boca Juniors after the resignation of Miguel Ángel Russo. On December 23 2008 his team managed to avoid a two goal defeat against Club Atlético Tigre to win the Apertura 2008 championship. Ischia quit as manager at the end of the Clausura 2009 tournament and will now lead Atlas.

When asked about the reasons behind his decision to take over the team he answered, “One accepts challenges of all kinds, today I get to manage over Atlas that isn’t in it’s best form [thanks for putting it softly coach], but our minimum expectation is to qualify for the playoffs and then to think about greater things like fighting with the teams on top.”

The coach stressed that for his first practices it is as important to learn about his players’ lives as it is about how they play on the field. He said that only after knowing his players thoroughly will he be in a position to make a better judgment about what the team should look like and who should be on the starting squad.

In closing he added, “I’ve had other opportunities to coach in the Mexican league but they never solidified, since I got the boot at Boca I have received a great deal of invitations for work but things with Atlas were so sudden. I liked the project and I liked the players that are coming up from the local farm system.”

Category: Atlas Team News