Lion found in technology the perfect catapult to reach the final of the Apertura 2021 tournament and they owe it to a character: Ariel Holan, His trainer. It is not a secret tool, because it is enough to listen to a minute of Holan’s lectures in universities or analysis programs to understand that he is a faithful believer in the softwares and data, a path that he has traveled for 18 years and that is giving him success in his first semester as technical director in Mexico.
Since his origins as a coach, he has been related to computer science and other sciences. “I was always interested in the use of technology,” says Holan, now 61 years old, but began directing at the age of 16 in the girls’ hockey team at his school, in his native Lomas de Zamora, in Buenos Aires. He came to soccer in 2003 when his hockey video analyzes were recommended to Jorge Burruchaga, who invited him to be part of his coaching staff.
His passion for technology and technical direction is such that in 2000 he created software in the company of a friend of his who knew preparation languages. They used it for women’s hockey and their first big result was a bronze medal with Uruguay in the Panamerican Games 2003, but Holan notes that long before he was doing his own tech experiments using VCRs to record and edit games.
In León he works with three video analysts and other areas that are equally fundamental to him in his coaching staff: physical development, sports medicine and technical-conceptual development. It is a work guide that has accompanied him since his debut in 2015 as coach of a first team in Argentina and that has rewarded him with success with two championships, such as the South American Cup of 2017 with Independiente and the Chilean league of 2020 with Universidad Católica.
But Holan is aware that data does not win games or titles by itself, the human factor is fundamental in the entire universe of information: “Being a coach is like cooking, it is an art, there is no mathematical formula to succeed despite that we use technology, because there must be a look that is in control “.
With these well-defined concepts, Holan convinced the board of Jesús Martínez to arrive in León in the summer of 2020, replacing neither more nor less than Ignacio Ambriz, who led the team to two finals and the title of the Guardians 2020. Previously, the courier had gone through another heavy character like Gustavo Matosas, so being León’s coach was not an easy position and even less so for someone who was making his debut in Mexican soccer. But Holan answered and today is in the final of the MX League.
“León is an organization that has been achieving very important sporting and institutional achievements. It is a spectacular challenge for me because I wanted to have a chance in Mexico, because I like the soccer idiosyncrasies, the level of the league, the coaches and the footballers. Being in León is a source of pride because it is a team that plays the style that I like, I would not be its technical director if the players did not enjoy that style, I could not lead a team that does not feel football that way, “said Holan at one of his initial lectures.
The team closed the semifinal back against Tigres with 21 shots (for only eight received) and an infinite number of variants on behalf of Ángel Mena, Jean Meneses, Luis Montes, Fernando Navarro, Víctor Dávila, José Ramírez and company. Variations are something that coach emerald falls in love with but they are well supported through his technological preparation and the style he perfected in hockey.
“There are many things that I transferred from hockey to soccer: first, that the ball (ball) rarely goes through the air, it always goes level with the ground. Two, the dynamics of passing and receiving. And three, the numerical superiority to take advantage. As for football, I really enjoyed seeing (César) Menotti with the Argentine and Independiente team, as well as Rinus Mitchels with Ajax (in the 70s) and since then I said that I wanted my teams to play like theirs ” .
Ariel Holan directs his teams based on a scheme of steps that are always accompanied by technology, where he first takes care of the scouting of the squad he has to see if they meet the characteristics he requires in his dynamics, followed by a series of physical examinations of part of a specialized area, made up of four kinesiologists, two masseurs and two traumatologists. Finally, it is also accompanied by the medical area with nutrition and psychology, as well as modern software such as Tableau, for tactics, and a device such as Reflotron, which is used to measure the biochemistry of the diet of its players.
“When I was little, my grandfather told me that in soccer the first law is 1,259, that is, the goalkeeper (number 1), defense (2), containment (5) and the forward (9), so I fixed on that structure starting at the spine. I also like to be very human with my players, to be not only for aspects within the field, but also open to a lot of communication and dialogue, we are human beings and for me having a good bond is fundamental. Clubs achieve things when all this is in harmony and fostering harmony between the different areas is very important to me ”.
León managed to tie up the eighth league final in its history and it is the fifth since his promotion in 2012: Apertura 2013, Clausura 2014, Clausura 2019, Guardianes 2020 and Apertura 2021, only América and Tigres have six finals played since 2013, all three teams with higher hierarchy in final rounds. In the case of the Bajío team, captain Luis Montes is the only one who has been in all these finals, although others with experience in the national team such as Rodolfo Cota and Fernando Navarro have been present in the last two.
La Fiera seeks to tie Blue Cross as the fourth team with the most stars in the history of Liga MX with nine, although the difference is that the Guanajuato team would manage to tie that figure in just seven years, something that took La Maquina 23. For his part, for the coach Holan this would be his fourth weight championship in his years of career, after having won the Chilean league, the South American Cup and the Leagues Cup, his first title with León when he had only been in office for three months.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx