Alajuelense Home camisa de futebol 2019 - 2020

2019 - 2020 Alajuelense home camisa de futebol. Home shirt to be used by Alajuelense during 2019 and the first half of 2020. During the kit launch it was confirmed that this was the last kit launch to occur at the beginning of the year (as it has been the habit since 2010), as future launches starting with the 2020 one will be moved back to the boreal summer (i.e. to match kit launches everywhere else).

Contrary to widespread misinformation, this is the regular kit launch for the 2019-20 period as Alajuelense is expected to launch the commemorative shirt for its Centenarian year on June to (attempt to) match their hundredth anniversary--even though Alajuelense was founded on 1919, the date in which the club was established was 18 June, meaning that the corresponding celebrations should start on that date.

Alajuelense has underwent a rocky Clausura tournament in which (as of writing) has not secured qualification to the semifinals with only the last matchday to play and a holdover match originally set for 30 January that was postponed due to international call-ups, requiring to win both matches and a combination of other results. Alajuelense struggled to match the form that they had during the Apertura--in which the group stage was an oddity by itself as the team finished second due to goal difference and out of twenty-two matches played, they either won (sixteen) or lost (the other six), a feat only obtained by Limón FC in 2015 (with the difference that Limón did not qualify back then as they lost more matches than what they won).

Alajuelense\'s Clausura has been marred by irregular performance on most of their players as well as injuries, forcing the gaffer to employ several youngsters to backfill the empty spot; and by controversies mostly off the pitch: the team ended 2018 by signing Costa Rican international goalkeeper Esteban Alvarado, only for him not to play a single match and being dismissed due to indiscipline--Alvarado was unable to start the tournament due to former club Trabzonspor refusing to send over his playing papers (Alvarado quit the Turkish side due to unpaid wages, however it is suspected that he was becoming a liability for the club due to indiscipline as well), causing him to miss nine matches while FIFA provided him with provisional papers and when he became available for team selection, he was sidelined with diarrhea and regular substitute Mauricio Vargas was picked to be on the bench for the first round\'s Clásico. After said match, coach Hernán Torres praised veteran Patrick Pemberton\'s form during the previous matches (and on the Clásico as well) and stated that if he was playing well there was no reason to have him benched--something that Alvarado did not like. He subsequently talked to Club President Fernando Ocampo and Sports Manager Javier Delgado demanding a starting XI spot, and when both did not budge as they backed the coach\'s decisions, he missed two straight days of practice and the club decided to send him home due to what practically could be considered job abandonment--the fallout between Alvarado and the club being as publicized as his arrival.

The coaching job was not without its share of issues--club legend Luis Diego Arnáez was approached on a caretaker role towards the end of the 2018 Clausura after Uruguayan gaffer Nicolás Dos Santos was sacked due to poor coaching decisions on the first two matches of the playoff (even though the team\'s performance was consistent on the group stage), with \"el Flaco\" being confirmed full-time after successfully attempting to salvage the playoff by winning 10 of the 12 contested points and missing out on the finals on goal difference. Arnáez coached the entire Apertura (in which Alajuelense did not tie at all during the group stage as aforementioned and was unceremoniously booted out by Herediano on penalty kicks before a packed house) and despite the setback, was confirmed for the Clausura in an attempt to instill consistency in the coach\'s role. Alajuelense started the Clausura by winning 1-3 at Guápiles but the following matches were nothing short of a nightmare for Arnáez--whilst Alajuelense managed to salvage a point on injury time against relegation contender UCR (Alajuelense was down 1-3 by halftime), Alajuelense could not find their finer form as Honduran star midfielder Alexander López was sidelined with injury for the next month; and subsequently lost 0-1 against San Carlos and drew at Limón 1 all (not a bad result under regular circumstances as the Limonenses are tough on their home turf and scalped both Heredia and Saprissa on their respective visits later on). Even though the Limón one was not a bad result, Arnáez was dismissed due to diminishing form and questionable coaching decisions, with Colombian Hernán Torres being approached for the job once more (as he sat on the bench for the 2015 Invierno), however he has been unable to find his previous form (even though he\'s managed to keep Alajuelense at a stone\'s throw from qualification to the semifinals).