As expected, Sebastian “Loco” Abreu was officially appointed as the new Tijuana Xolos manager.

Abreu was managing Club Tijuana’s training sessions last season after Juan Carlos Osorio’s departure.

Cirilo Saucedo was the manager on the field, but “Loco” was doing more of the tactical work behind the scenes. Abreu was Dorados de Sinloa’s manager last season, but the team was playing their games in Tijuana due to the violence in Culiacan.

Dorados is Xolos’ sister club, and Cirilo Saucedo was recently appointed as the new manager. It will be interesting to see if Saucedo still has some influence, with Dorados expected to keep on playing in Tijuana.

¡Bienvenido a la jauría, Loco! ❤️🖤

Sebastián ‘Loco’ Abreu es el nuevo DT de Xolos para el Apertura 2025. ¡Tijuana es tu casa!

📝: https://t.co/6h7sv6HrnP | #FuerzaTijuas 🐕 pic.twitter.com/YYkRTdmv36

— Xolos 🐕 (@Xolos) April 30, 2025

Abreu had an extensive playing career from 1995-2021, playing with seven different Liga MX teams. “Loco” also represented the Uruguay national team and amassed quite a productive goalscoring record.

Club Tijuana did much better without Juan Carlos Osorio last season as the border city team closed out the season strongly with three consecutive wins. The Aztec Canines defeated Atletico San Luis, Mazatlan, and Santos Laguna, and only conceded one goal in these games. The Border City Dogs won four games and only lost two under the leadership of Ciirlo Saucedo and the training by Abreu.

Raul “Pantera” Zuniga even finished as the joint-top goalscorer in the Liga MX with 12 goals. He was the brightest spot on this Club Tijuana side, but there are other talented players like Efrain Alvarez and Gilberto Mora Jr.

The Xoloitzcuintles are used to being a selling team, and it will be interesting to see if Zuniga or any other players depart this side. Xolos missed out on the playoffs and had a very rough 2025 Clausura season.

A big negative factor was the horrendous home record with just three wins from eight games at the Estadio Caliente. That will need to improve massively to ensure success in the next 2025 Aperura season.

This is Abreu’s biggest managerial opportunity to date, but it is very clear that the front office trusts him to lead this team. It seems that Abreu will not put such a big emphasis on possession as much as Juan Carlos Osorio did. The Uruguayan manager does not seem to be bothered playing a more direct or even conservative approach if needed.

There is a full transfer window ahead of next season as Club Tijuana prepares for the next campaign.

Francisco Velasco

Francisco, 28, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego FC, San Diego Wave. I have covered Liga MX, MLS, Mexico National Team, USWNT, Copa América and European clubs like Manchester United and Borussia Dortmund.