Diego Cocca named new Xolos manager

Club Tijuana announced the signing of 45 year old Diego Cocca as the club’s thirteenth manager. Cocca fills the void left when Eduardo Coudet left 37 days ago, reportedly due to players not being paid wages.

Cocca comes to Tijuana with ten years’ managerial experience under his belt. He won promotion to the Argentine Primera División with Defensa y Justicia in 2013-14 and won the league the following year with Racing Club. He’s managed teams in the Copa Libertadores and has also coached in Mexico, with a stint at Santos Laguna in 2011.

Prior to managing, Cocca played primarily in his native Argentina with a year in Spain with Unió Esportiva Lleida and two separate stints in Mexico with Atlas from 1999 to 2001 and Querétaro toward the end of his career in 2005.

Cocca also brings assistant Mauro Gerk with him. Gerk was part of the 2011 Xolos side that won promotion into Liga MX (then called the Primera División). Along with Cocca and Gerk are Leonardo Bustos and Renso Valinoti who will be fitness coaches for the club.

Cocca will have his work cut out for him. Xolos 2017 Apertura was among one of the most disappointing in recent memory, marred with long winless streaks and fractures within the locker room that sometimes became visible. The good news is that Xolos are already in camp and are hopefully working past some of these issues.