Get to know the gaffers: Part 1 - Pachuca boss Guillermo Almada
The first leg of the Liga MX Final is upon us, but what are the stories behind the managers? This is Part 1: Guillermo Almada.
“Whoever we play against, we will play in our usual style. We can’t change it depending on the opponent. If we play against Real Madrid tomorrow, we will play the same way as always.” Pachuca manager Jorge Guillermo Almada Alves was forthright in his beliefs when asked in a press conference back in April on his style of play. The manager likes his teams to be called “the protagonists” of the game, seeing most of the ball and forcing the opponent into play how he wants, not the other way around. That same assuredness was on show in his latest press conference before the Liga MX final.
For this reason, Almada was baptised as “the Uruguayan Pep Guardiola” by the press in his native country; his ability to get the players in the right frame of mind in a short space of time got the attention of many, even well before he arrived at Pachuca.
As a player, Almada’s career took him all across South America. His first club was Defensor, from his hometown of Montevideo, where he played as a midfielder. After three years of finding his feet as a professional, he signed for the delightfully named O’Higgins, in Chile, but would only stay for a season before moving back to Defensor.
Almada never found firm ground as a player and between 1985 and 2008 - yes, his career was that long - he had 15 stints at 12 different clubs across Uruguay, Chile, Colombia and Guatemala. Quite the number of air miles. His honours as a player were all celebrated in Uruguay, where he won the league twice, once in 1987 and again in 1991.
Almada the manager
Until fairly recently, Almada had always gravitated back to his native Uruguay, which is where he started coaching after retiring as a player in 2008. Tuacarembó were the first team he took control of and, after a short stint as boss in the youth setup, the then-39-year-old took charge of the first team squad in 2009. He impressed immediately and after just 48 games at the helm, a call came from River Plate (not that one) in Montevideo. Playing a 4-4-2 with a high intensity style, Almada presided over on an impressive 70 victories in 135 games between 2011 and 2015, winning the Torneo Preparación in 2012 as well as being crowned Coach of the Year in Uruguay for the 2012-13 season.
What was especially significant about this victory was the fact that the President of the club, Willie Tucci, admitted the difficulty of the job during his tenure: “when the team was looking good, we, the board, had to ‘disarm’ him by selling the best players. He was always prepared to use the younger players to substitute. We always look to move players on. We get them in the first division and then to look elsewhere for games. So that was the challenge he had. I know he hasn’t been a champion yet, but he will be.”
It was in 2015 when he moved to Barcelona (not that one) de Guayaquil in Ecuador, who wanted a proactive coach with a fluid, attacking style of play. Here, Almada switched tactics and played a 4-2-3-1: a clever move that meant he won a frankly incredible 98 matches from 193. Such high levels of performance were rewarded with his first league title, the 2015-16 Ecuadorian Championship.
It was a season to remember for the fans, who saw Brazilian legend Ronaldinho pull on their famous yellow shirt in the Noche Amarilla, the annual pre-season presentation match. Almada went on to win the Coach of the Year in Ecuador during the same season and was recognised on the world stage, coming 45th in FourFourTwo’s list of the world’s greatest coaches that year.
Barcelona SC was his home until it was announced on social media in 2019 that Guillermo Almada was to take over as head coach of Mexican side Santos Laguna. Here, he closed out the remainder of the 2018-19 Clausura before storming to the top of the Apertura table in the 2019-20 season, blowing teams away, scoring 40 goals in 18 matches.
Once football resumed after the break for the pandemic, his Santos side made it to the 2021 Clausura final, where they lost to league leaders Cruz Azul by a single goal.
After being sacked by Santos Laguna for failing to make the following final, he was snapped up by Pachuca who he immediately took to the 2022 Clausura final. Alas, the theme of falling at the final hurdle continued, and they too were beaten, this time by Atlas.
A long playing career in many countries has led to a long stint as manager, but Guillermo “Guardiola” Almada has made a name for himself beyond just South America and will no doubt be on the minds of many before and after his next appearance in a tournament final.
Almada will be looking to make it third time lucky for himself as his side take on Toluca away in the first leg tonight before returning to the Estadio Hidalgo three days later. What is certain is that whatever starting XI Pachuca line up with, it will be a tense affair and Almada will not allow his side to be overrun by their rivals.