How Eduardo Coudet straightened the path of Celta

Eduardo “Chacho” Coudet was an attacking midfielder whose professional career was mostly done in his native country, Argentina, hence his name was not well known on the European scene before his arrival as Celta de Vigo’s in November of this year. In fact, as a player he had a brief stage in the Vigo team, without doing much worthwhile…. Until now.

As a coach, it can be said that Eduardo Coudet is an attacking-minded manager and always seeks to score goals with a game of pressing, constant shooting and delivering at the opposition’s box.

From his beginnings as manager in Rosario Central, a brief stint at Club Tijuana de México and in his most successful stage as far as winning trophies go, with Racing Club de Avellaneda, Eduardo Coudet played a direct football style to feed his strikers. An example of his success at Racing Club involved the development of young players such as Lautaro Martínez, who is currently playing at Inter Milan.

At the end of his time in Avellaneda and later, at International Porto Alegre in Brazil, Coudet’s idea evolved into a game with the same intention but less direct, taking greater advantage of his midfield. After Celta de Vigo’s poor results during the start of the 2020-21 season, which placed them last in La Liga, Eduardo Coudet arrived in Spain to replace manager Oscar García.

The Argentinian has implemented a 4-1-3-2 formation, with two center backs that are good readers of the game like Murillo and Araujo and two good full backs that excel at crossing like Olaza and Hugo Mallo. As defensive midfielder we have the Peruvian Renato Tapia whose work is essential for the balance of a team with a strong offensive vocation.

Denis Suarez, Nolito and Brais Méndez play in attack behind Santi Mina and the star of the team, Iago Aspas, who is currently one of the leaders in assists and goals in La Liga. This tactical approach, along with a very important change in attitude, have led Celta de Vigo to go from 20th place to 8th place, in just 7 games where they have added 5 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss.

Definitely a great state of form and perhaps Eduardo Coudet’s desired introduction to European football.