🦊 A lo Atlas: Gonzalo Pineda hopes to stay true to club, himself in new challenge
The former Mexico midfielder didn't think he'd manage in Liga MX any time soon. Then, Atlas called.
Gonzalo Pineda has big plans as Atlas manager. He just hopes he can stay long enough to pull them off.
After being fired by Atlanta United in June 2024, Pineda didn’t figure his next job would be in Liga MX. After all, the league is notorious for firing coaches at the first sign of trouble. Yet, here he is, working as a coach outside MLS for the first time and balancing his long-term vision with the need for instant results.
“There are many differences,” between managing in MLS and in Liga MX he told Getting CONCACAFed. “Probably one of the main differences is the time you have as a coach. The expectations as a coach can not be longer than one year because statistically no one lasts that long. In MLS, it’s way longer. It’s kind of a shock when a coach is fired after one year.”
Despite feeling that pressure already, since Atlas is still looking for its first win three weeks into the campaign, Pineda is allowing himself to dream of returning the historic Guadalajara side to its roots.
Atlas is known as “La Academia”, having produced Mexico greats including Andres Guardado, Rafa Marquez, Jared Borgetti and Pavel Pardo.
The club is working to re-establish the academy-to-first-team pipeline and, they hope, produce more players who can go on to great things abroad after contributing to Atlas for a few years. In 2023, Atlas opened new, modern facilities northeast of Guadalajara that were nominated for a global architecture award. It includes four full-sized grass fields, two turf fields and space for more than 50 academy players in its ‘Casa Club’.
While Pineda wasn’t able to reach the goals he set with Atlanta United, he’s proud of developing players like Caleb Wiley. Now 20, Wiley went through the club’s academy and made 80 MLS appearances before being sold to Chelsea on a multimillion-dollar transfer.
So, how will he balance the need to get results with the idea of reviving the team’s historic player production?
“My philosophy is always trying to put the best players to win every match, but at times, especially in Mexico, you have to produce results as soon as possible,” Pineda said. “Coaches sometimes are hesitant to put in young players, even though they think they're good.
“They say, ‘Yeah, but maybe in the biggest stage, they won't produce the same’ or, ‘This guy has more experience in that,’ and that's where I am, a little bit different as a coach.
“I believe in what I see in trainings. I believe that you play as you train, and if I see a young player that is training very good, I'm going to put him in. I think in that way, we're going to produce results. But it's also caring about everyone, not just the young players, not just the foreign players. Everyone is important to us. We don't train the starters and reserves. We train the team.”
Even so, this is still Liga MX. Atlas fans have learned to be more patient than most, waiting 70 years between their first league title in 1951 and the bicampeonato of 2021-22. Winning was a nice feeling, though. One they’d like to sustain if possible.
The average age of Pineda’s first three starting XIs with Atlas is 27.5, though starting four current academy players in the club’s home debut against León signaled he’s more than just talk when it comes to developing players.
During a start with two away draws and a loss in that home match against León, the 42-year-old has had a number of “Welcome to Liga MX” moments. He was sent off after a back-and-forth with Pumas manager Gustavo Lema in the dying moments of a scoreless draw Sunday between the two clubs.
After spending much of his playing career in Liga MX, though, Pineda knew what he was getting into. Not that he expected to be back in Mexico so soon.
“Honestly, yes, I wanted to coach in Mexico, but not now. It wasn’t in my plans,” Pineda said. After a couple of marathon Zoom calls with directors at Grupo Orlegi, the owners of Atlas, he realized, “It was a match. That’s what was very interesting to me.”
It wasn’t the only area where Pineda felt like he was aligned with Orlegi. The group’s motto of “Ganar Serviendo” and its international goals (it also owns Sporting Gijón in Spain’s second division) also matches Pineda’s values and visions for himself.
First, though, the former Chivas player wants to prove himself with Atlas, showing he can be a successful manager and ideally opening the path for other Mexican coaches as well.
Unlike some Liga MX rivals, Pineda doesn’t arrive with a wave of new signings and must decide whether he wants to put his ideas onto the club’s roster or play to the strengths of the team he already has.
“It’s a little bit of an easy exit you have as a coach, “Oh, I don’t have the type of players to produce my football, so I’m going to stick to 4-4-2, mid-block, though to break down and from there counter because I don’t have the pieces,” Pineda said. “For me, you always have the pieces. If you have belief in your football, you have the pieces to play the way you want.”
That’s perhaps even more true at Atlas. Beyond the cultural differences and the pressure put on coaches, Pineda cited better depth in Liga MX squads as another key contrast to MLS.
That will allow Pineda to move more pieces around and find what he hopes is a winning mix - one that can entertain fans with players who come up through the academy and end up earning results.
“The philosophy that I have matches the history of Atlas,” Pineda said. “We have been saying here, playing ‘A lo Atlas,’ playing like Atlas, and that means always attacking. Doesn't matter if you are winning 1-0, 2-0, 3-0, you are losing 3-0. You are always looking forward. You're always looking to attack the opponent.
“That matches completely, also, my philosophy. So, I couldn't find a better club to do this with: A very good group that matches my values, and a club that matches the philosophy that I have as a coach.”