Pável Pardo: “Tano Ortiz continuing shouldn’t depend on winning the title”

For every coach that takes on the América job, winning the league title is a requirement right from the word go. At the moment, it appears that whether Fernando Tano Ortiz continues in the job or not will depend on whether his team are crowned champions this month. That is a view which isn’t shared by former international Pável Pardo, who feels that the Argentine coach’s performance and results should be analysed thoroughly and fairly before any judgement on his future is made.

“It is true that at América there are too many demands and that winning the league title is an obligation from the first minute you step foot in this organization, but I believe that the board of directors should take into account many factors, not only the conquest of the title”, the former defender, who made 330 appearances in two spells for the Águilas, argued.

Pardo knows how América functions as a club, its main rivals, the demands and expectations in every championship... he understands that “obviously América must always be champions”. As for Ortiz, who side has suffered just one defeat in the Clausura 2023 (against Pachuca in Week 10), he hopes the club won’t rush into a decision, “Making a decision is a difficult process. The directors will make an analysis of the whole year - of course, the championship is always important, but they also need to take into account other factors. I am in favour of analyzing the processes, if we analyze in terms of points and work performance up until now, it has been very good,” he said.

A task where it is difficult to throw everything under a stroke of the pen?

“We all know that in América you always have to win, but you also have to analyze the hows and whys, they are decisions that we don’t know internally. Right now, Monterrey is one of the strongest sides - they have shown it in terms of numbers. Everything needs to be analyzed - the budget... etc. You also have to analyze the objectives and results - if you analyze whether there is a clear objective and based on that make decisions it can’t be a gut reaction - in other words, ‘In a year of work we did this and that... ‘. We have to analyze everything globally”.

Do you have a favourite to win the title? Or could we see a surprise?

“Ultimately, we know that the liguilla is a completely different tournament. It makes no difference if you finished as leaders in the regulars season. All of the teams know that and are aware of it. Obviously, the top four sides have an advantage, but in the end, it is how you finish the championship is what counts - and those who always finish stronger are usually the ones who have fought for it. But nothing’s guaranteed - to say today if there is a favourite is difficult. We know that the big teams will always be favourites”.