Crespo explains why he chose Atlas over Liga MX's biggest clubs

Turning down "big clubs" in Liga MX isn't something every coach can afford to do. But Hernán Crespo did it, more than once. The Argentine recently explained why he chose the Atlas project over offers from clubs with more history and more pressure to win right away.

In an interview with ESPN's Fútbol Picante, Crespo didn't mince words: big institutions came calling, but they always wanted the same thing, immediate results. And to that, he says, he always said no.

Big clubs in Mexican soccer have come after me, they wanted me for something immediate. So I always said no.Hernán Crespo

The coach preferred not to name those interested clubs, but he was clear about what ultimately won him over on the red and black side: it wasn't just about running the first team. Atlas offered him a role that goes well beyond the bench, that of an English-style manager, with influence over the club's entire structure.

When Atlas came along and offered me something much bigger than just being a coach, but a manager in the English sense, meaning taking charge of everything, trying to bring in what I learned from my past as a player, as a coach and as an executive, because I was also vice president of Parma at one point. So I've done a lot of things that let me add value to the club at a moment when everything is being built.Hernán Crespo

That blend of roles, player, coach, executive, is exactly what Crespo wants to bring to Atlas at this stage. And he's not just talking about the first team: the idea is to keep close watch on absolutely everything happening inside the club, youth categories included.

"The idea is to monitor absolutely everything that happens at Atlas. Where we're at, again, it's been a hundred days. The ideas are there, the will is there, but it takes time to build," the Argentine said, well aware that a project like this doesn't come together overnight.

Pulling Atlas out of its comfort zone

There's a line from Crespo that sums up pretty well where this project is headed: no more settling for sneaking into the top eight and calling it a day. For the Argentine, that ceiling had turned into a kind of comfort zone for the club.

"We're coming out of a place that got us used to, let's say, a comfort zone, where if you didn't finish in the top eight, nothing happened. Well, it's time for things to start happening," he said.

The ambition, according to Crespo himself, is to stop relying on rivals slipping up in order to reach meaningful positions. The idea is to build their own identity, an attacking one, that lets Atlas fight for its goals without glancing sideways at everyone else's standings.

The idea is to be masters of our own destiny. Along the way, sure, we're going to make mistakes, own up to them, but that's part of the process. And start not waiting for someone else to fall so we can step in. That's something you have to go out and earn.Hernán Crespo

A hundred days into this project, which by the coach's own account is still laying its first foundations. It remains to be seen how much time he's given to see it through.