Who is this Taborda?

The question that is plaguing the minds of all Panathinaikos fans & who deserve the credit for his transformation. Taborda is an interesting case study as a player that was relatively unknown to now a crowd favorite who is proving his critics wrong. Taborda was signed in the summer of 2025 from Boca Juniors where he rarely featured & was loaned out to Platense for two seasons where he was one of their key players for creating & bringing the ball forward from the midfield. When news broke Panathinaikos was linked to Taborda, fans rushed to google & YouTube the player, as this came out of nowhere & wanted to take a glimpse of what could be a diamond in the rough of a player. After the lengthly negotiations, agreement with Boca Juniors was easy, however with Platense became a stumbling block, Taborda became a Green. The signing was interesting as this was not one of Papadimitriou's (ex Technical Director & still unemployed as this blog is posted) but unofficially recommended by scout Livathinos who recommended this to Alafouzos.

Fast forward to pre-season & we barely got a glimpse of Taborda under Rui Vitoria, in fact, he barely featured. At the time Rui Vitoria cautioned Panathinaikos he needs time to adapt to the European style football & get some fitness. After his dismissal, former interim coach Kontis was a bit more scathing in his assessment with him saying Taborda is not good tactically, runs wherever the ball goes & preferred to play Bokos instead. When Rafa Benitez took over, he took questions about Taborda & said he was a work in progress & will make it his job to work with him. We did not see much of Taborda again under Benitez & it was only until Panathinaikos faced the lowly 2nd division team Kavala in the Greek Cup Taborda got a rare start. In what was a rough game which saw Panathinaikos lose 2 key strikers players early & no real attacking reinforcements, Taborda had to play a false 9. He finished the match with what was the match winning shot in the 53rd minute from outside the box. From there we did not see much of him from this match which was December 17. Then came the Europa League all important match verse Roma.

29 January, Panathinaikos was forced to a heavy rotation due to injuries which saw Taborda earn a rare start. This match was seen as the turning point. Hustling all game & great work rate, he capitalised on two defensive Roma mistakes & saw him net his first European goal. What was telling about his celebration was who he ran to first to celebrate, none other than former captain Zeca. Since then he has played almost in every match & often starting. He has scored 5 goals & 3 assists. He has scored verse Olympiacos in the eternal derby which was the decisive goal & the winner from the penalty spot vs Betis in one of our biggest European nights in a while in the dying minutes of the game.

In this time, we have seen the South American flair we come to expect South American, whether it is his flicks for assists, his dribbling or determination. Taborda's transformation has proven two ex-coaches wrong & has gained the trust of Benitez to not only play, but be a starter. So who is credited with the signing & transformation of the league's most improved player?