Carabobo FC won their first Venezuelan trophy in the first semester of 2024.
They won the Apertura under Diego Merino’s coaching, and now they are playing the Clausura.
Founded in 1997, “El Granate” are one of the teams that will play in the Grand Final for the title of Venezuelan Champion this year.
Merino, former Rayo Vallecano youth categories coach, took the brave step of leaving Spain and accepted the challenge of coaching in Venezuelan football.
In his first experience as head coach in the first division, he became the first Spanish coach to win the Liga FUTVE.
At Total Football Analysis, we had the privilege of interviewing Diego Merino during his second tournament in Venezuelan football.
In this exclusive interview, we will provide an in-depth analysis of Merino’s Carabobo after speaking with him to understand his philosophy, methodology, and tactics.
Who Is Diego Merino?
The 36-year-old coach started his career when he was 20.
After a knee injury as a player, he became a coach in youth football.
When he was 23, Diego Merino arrived in the Rayo Vallecano youth categories.
By 25, he had won two youth tournaments.
After this remarkable experience, he started his journey in senior football.
He passed through Extremadura, Astorga, Moralo CP, Mérida AD, CD Toledo, and CD Coria, senior teams in different divisions of Spain.
Years ago, after a personal meeting with Salvatore Simeone, the present Sporting Director at Carabobo, Diego Merino never forgot the idea of being a coach in Venezuelan football.
Finally, he signed with the team in January 2024.
Since then, the team has built a solid identity.
How Does Carabobo Play Under Diego Merinos Tactics?
In football, like a director in cinema, a game model is the coach’s vision, personality, and intention.
After various months of work, we can analyse Merino’s game model with Carabobo.
However, there is nothing better than hearing his vision.
“I like the organisation; sometimes, people think that ‘organisation’ is a defensive topic, but I say this generally.
In each phase of the game, I want a team with clear intentions and structure.”
Carabobo occupies the pitch in a 4-3-3 with some modern elements unusual to see in Liga FUTVE.
Merino’s side is a physical team.
They are vertical when they get the ball, deploy deep wingers on both sides and have technical players who execute a clean passing circuit from different angles. They also value winning duels.
Full-backs are occasionally inverted in the build-up — Miguel Pernía usually performs this role.
The image below shows the configuration of the defensive line in the initial phases.
Somebody is always positioned at maximum width to stretch the pitch.
In general, this could be called a positional proposal.
