River Plate's legendary player turned head coach Marcelo Gallardo to leave the club after December following 8 trophy-laden years..

2022-10-14 18:50

River Plate



Club Atlético River Plate announced on their official website that current meritorious head coach Marcelo Gallardo will leave the club after his contract expire this upcoming December, bringing an end to an incredibly successful 8-year stint with the club as a manager.


According to reports from local Argentine media, River Plate has not confirmed the candidate for their next head coach yet, however Gallardo has determined that he will no longer be the head coach of the defending Argentine Primera División champions after his contract has expired this December 31.


After confirming that he was about to step down, Gallardo wrote through River Plate's official website, saying that he was more proud than feeling sad and sorrow about his upcoming departure.


He also expressed his gratiude for the trust the chairman and management of the club has given him, and he also appreciated the outstanding works his assistant coaching team and players had done while they worked alongside him over the past years.


As someone who came through the club's youth academy since his playing career, although it is a very difficult decision to leave, and that the love and feelings between himself and River Plate can never separatable, but he is pleased and relieved of the togetherness and close cooperation that he, the players and the management had built upon, as well as being able to train together and win so many trophies and achievements, something which will always be his unforgettable experience.


In the end, he did not forget to thank the fans for his enthusiastic support for himself for so many years, and promised that he would always be supporting the club like the fans as the club strive for more future successes.



The undisputed legend


The 46 year-old Gallardo played as attacking midfielder during his playing career. He played 45 times for the Argentine national team in all competitions, scoring 16 goals, and won the silver medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic men's football tournament. Gallardo has joined River Plate's youth academy system since he was young, and completed his first-team debut in 1993. During this period, he won 5 Argentine Primera División championships, and Copa Libertadores and Supercopa Sudamericana once each.


In the summer of 1999, Gallardo transferred to Monaco for 9 million USD and began his playing career in Europe. During the 4 years which he had played for club, he helped the club won one Ligue 1 title and 1 Coupe de la Ligue.


After his contract expired in 2003, Gallarado rejoined River Plate again on a free transfer, and led the club to yet another Argentine Primera División title.


After briefly returned to France to play for Paris Saint-Germain in 2007, Gallardo moved to Major League Soccer (MLS) side D.C. United in the following year.


In February 2009, Gallardo returned to River Plate for the third time as a free agent again. In August 2010, Gallardo joined Nacional and won one Uruguayan Primera División for the club. In the summer of 2011, after being appointed as the latter's head coach, Gallardo officially retired as a player.


After retiring, Gallardo immediately led the team to a successful Uruguayan Primera División title defence as a head coach. He then resigned and left the team.


In the summer of 2014, Gallardo returned to River Plate again as head coach. During the 8 years during his managerial stint, he led the club to win a total of 14 titles across all competitions, as well as helped developing Lucas Arario, Ramiro Funes-Mori, Manuel Lanzini and many more famous current Argentina international players.


At the same time, Gallardo, who won 22 titles with River Plate as a player and coach, also equalled the same record of the club legend Ángel Labruna, and was also being regarded as the 5th best manager in the world of all-time by the International Federation of Football History & Statistics (IFFHS) in 2015.