Costa Rica have been searching for a replacement for Jorge Luis Pinto, and it looks like they’ve found their man. FA president Eduardo Li says they’re close to finalizing an agreement with Ricardo Gareca to be Los Ticos’ new manager. Gareca says he still has personal concerns to iron out, but is confident a deal can be reached.
Costa Rica could get even better under new manager Ricardo Gareca
It’ll be tough for the Ticos to repeat their last World Cup performance, but their new hire certainly gives them a chance.
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Gareca was most recently the manager of Palmeiras in Brazil, where his team struggled and he was relieved of his duties after just under half a season in charge. But prior to that, he had an immensely successful spell at the helm of Velez Sarsfield, leading the Argentinian club to four league titles and numerous Copa Libertadores appearances, including a semifinal in 2011.
As Velez manager, Gareca’s biggest defining trait was that he wasn’t married to any particular formation or types of players. He regularly changed his tactics based on the best players that he had at his disposal, often accommodating his biggest stars. He switched to a previously rarely used 4-3-2-1 formation to fit central playmakers Maxi Moralez and Ricky Alvarez into the same team in 2011. Then he utilized a narrow 4-4-2/4-2-2-2 hybrid formation a year later to get the most out of Augusto Fernandez, a very specific right-sided midfielder who went on to play in La Liga and represent Argentina at the World Cup.
While Pinto achieved incredible results during the last cycle, Gareca should end up being an improvement over the previous Ticos boss. Pinto was a bit of a last-minute desperation hire, and his previous runs as Costa Rica and Colombia manager had been disastrous. Gareca has achieved considerably more in his managerial career than Pinto, and has proven to be more tactically astute at the club level.
However, even though Costa Rica might make a run at the Gold Cup and look a bit more cohesive and comfortable moving through CONCACAF qualifying, it’ll be extremely difficult for them to improve on their most recent World Cup result. They stunned the world by getting out of a group that included England, Uruguay and Italy before giving the Netherlands all they could handle in the quarterfinals.
The Ticos won’t be an underestimated underdog anymore. Their fans will expect them to make a run at Gold Cup, finish top three in the hex and compete to get out of their World Cup group again. Even if Gareca makes no major mistakes, that’s a tall order.
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