Soccer-Bassedas takes the helm at struggling Velez Sarsfield

BUENOS AIRES, Nov 15 (Reuters) - Former Newcastle United and Argentina midfielder Christian Bassedas has made his first step as a coach by taking charge of struggling Argentine club Velez Sarsfield after seven years as their sporting director. "We're ready to fight every object that blocks our way. We must pick ourselves up and become Velez again," Bassedas, who was a part of Velez's most successful team in the 1990s winning the Libertadores Cup and the Intercontinental Cup, said at his unveiling this weekend. "I dream of seeing the stadium full again and the fans identified with the team... It's been a very tough year but Velez is always Velez," added Bassedas after taking the reins from Miguel Angel Russo, who resigned last week. As sporting director he made a brilliant appointment in 2008 putting Ricardo Gareca, now Peru's coach in the World Cup qualifiers, in charge of the team which then won the Argentine league title three times between 2009 and 2012. But Velez, who prided themselves on being the best run club in the country and one of the very few not in the red, have suffered during a difficult economic period. The 10-times league champions dispensed with the higher salaried players, transferring some or making them redundancy offers so they could look for other clubs, and finished the 30-team 2015 first division championship in 27th place with 29 points from 30 matches. (Writing by Rex Gowar, editing by Pritha Sarkar)