Sebastián Coates takes responsibility: Nacional fell short in Apertura and Intermedio

When a 35-year-old captain with the history that Sebastián Coates carries sits down to talk self-criticism, something is shifting at Nacional. And he didn't hold back. The Uruguayan stood up for a squad that fell well short of expectations in both the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Intermedio, and he did it without hiding behind easy excuses.

"We're aware of the moment we're going through, of what we haven't achieved so far, of the consistency we also haven't found in our play," he began. The underlying idea is simple: it's the players who take the field, and they're the ones who have to answer for it first.

As captain I'm responsible for my teammates, and the truth is we weren't at the level this club demands in the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Intermedio, and we have to own that.Sebastián Coates

There's a pattern that keeps repeating, and Coates identified it without dancing around it: the team starts matches well, has strong stretches, and then collapses after the first setback. That lack of consistency, according to the defender, is the first thing that needs fixing if Nacional wants to right the ship.

Carreño, Bava's exit and a lack of stability

The captain also addressed the coaching change. With the arrival of Daniel Carreño as manager, Coates pointed out that he's a "club man" who understands what Nacional demands better than anyone currently in the squad. At the same time, he had words of appreciation for Jorge Bava and his coaching staff, dismissed on Monday after a cycle that didn't deliver the expected results.

Coates went further, touching on an issue that runs through Uruguayan soccer as a whole: the difficulty of sustaining projects when there's so much turnover in players and coaches from one tournament to the next. Between the Apertura and the Clausura, he noted, close to ten players left and only four or five arrived, forcing an adjustment period that isn't always given enough time to work.

On his relationship with club leadership, the defender was clear: he said he has "the best relationship" with president Ricardo Vairo, and stressed that things leaking to the press don't help. His message was aimed squarely inside the club: problems get solved behind closed doors, not through leaks.

Asked about Nicolás Lodeiro's retirement, he admitted that the idea of stepping away from soccer has crossed his mind at some point too, but that his sense of responsibility toward his teammates pushes him to keep going and to recover as soon as possible so he can help on the field. For now, the immediate focus is the Torneo Clausura, starting against Progreso and continuing with the derby against Peñarol.