Puebla confirms the open secret of the signing of Chepo de la Torre as the new coach

José Manuel de la Torre is back in Liga MX and he does so with a very risky bet by signing with Puebla, a squad whose numbers in the most recent Clausura 2024 tournament demand a total reengineering in all its lines to regain the prominence that its noble fans expect and thus to be able to return to the forefront of Mexican soccerin news that was already an open secret in the Aztec football environment.

With a career of almost 18 years as a strategist for Chivas del Guadalajara, Toluca and Santos, where he was able to obtain three titles, one with Chivas in the Apertura 2006 tournament, as well as with Toluca in the Apertura 2008 and Bicentenario 2010 tournaments, Chepo seeks to renew his laurels in this new project with the La Franja painting.

The new strategist of the Puebla team is an old acquaintance of those colors from his time as a player in two processes. The first from 1989 to 1991 and the second in 1997, the most successful being the one from the beginning of the 90s, where he was able to be crowned beating the Black Lions in the final with a global score of 6-4.

In that squad were elements such as the late Pablo Larios, Arturo Álvarez, the Chilean Edgardo Fuentes, Captain Roberto Ruiz Esparza, Javier “Chícharo” Hernández (Chicharito’s father), Marcelino Bernal, the Chilean Jorge Aravena, as well as compatriot Carlos Poblete and Edivaldo’s Brazilian that under the leadership of Manuel Lapuente they imposed themselves on the university students which had in its ranks players such as Octavio Mora, Humberto Romero, José María Higareda and Alfonso Sosa, among the most notable.

Chepo de la Torre as a player also played in Spanish football with Real Oviedo, as well as in teams in the Liga MX such as Cruz Azul, Tigres de la Universidad de Nuevo León and Necaxa, and later became a coach. and achieve his first title with Chivas in the 2006 Apertura tournament.

In that championship they first beat Cruz Azul in the quarterfinals by an aggregate of 4-2, to after beating América 2-0, on aggregate score and facing Toluca in the grand final who they defeated 3-2 with an aggregate score with a team that included players like Oswaldo Sánchez!!!, Diego Martínez, Francisco Maza Rodríguez, Héctor Reynoso, Patricio Araujo Gonzalo Pineda, Omar, Bravo, Alberto Medina, Ramón, Morales, Joohny, Magallón and Adolfo Bautista.

He later replicated his title in the 2008 Apertura Tournament and in the 2010 Bicentenario Tournament, with Toluca, raising his bonuses to become the replacement for Javier Aguirre in the National Team and lasting there until 2013, where he was relieved by Luis Fernando Tena who served as his assistant and who then gave a series of movements which allowed the arrival of Miguel Herrera to lead the Mexican team in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Chepo also coached Santos in 2016-2017, but there he could not have an exposure similar to that of Toluca and Chivasfor which he had to wait for a new opportunity with Toluca in 2020, where in the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, he did not perform as well as in his first time in Chivas.

Now, four years later, he is back in Liga MX with this complicated commitment with Puebla, whose most recent precedent was the five points added in the Clausura 2024 tournament product of a single victory and two draws, as well as 14 defeats.

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