Posted by Can Chivas Arrest Their Slide?
Expectations were sky high at Mexico’s most popular club heading into the Clausura 2020. New sporting director Ricardo Peláez spent $34 million dollars in the offseason, assembling Chivas’ best squad since the Clausura 2017 title winners. The new signings, coupled with a strong finish to last season that saw el Rebaño Sagrado win four of their last five games, made Chivas title contenders in the eyes of many pundits.
A 2-0 win in the opening match against Juárez was an auspicious start, but Chivas’ form has tailed off dramatically since then. They have not won any of their last four league games, and were eliminated in the Copa MX round of 16 by second division side Dorados. Chivas sit in 10th place in the table, and have fewer points at this stage of the season (6) than they did last year under the much-maligned Tomás Boy (7).
A full-blown crisis began after Chivas lost 3-0 at Tigres last weekend, and coach Luis Fernando Tena could be fired if Chivas do not beat Cruz Azul at home on Saturday. Tena needs better performances from his new signings if he is to keep his job, with $10.8 million winger Uriel Antuna particularly disappointing thus far.
Their opponents come into the match in fine form, and are the favorites to take all three points from the Estadio Akron. Inhibited by their umpteenth institutional crisis, which saw key attacking reinforcements brought in weeks after the season began, Cruz Azul lost their first two matches. Already unpopular with the fans, coach Robert Dante Siboldi was under immense pressure to turn things around.
The Uruguayan has done just that, with Cruz Azul taking 7 points from the last 9 available to jump into 7th place. They are firing on all cylinders up front, with three goals in each of their last three matches. Winger Elías Hernández, who is playing his best football since his debut season with La Máquina in the Apertura 2018, has been key to the offensive outburst. Furthermore, 18-year-old academy product Santiago Giménez, who has two goals in his last two games, has stepped-up in the absence of starting center-forward Milton Caraglio. With Chivas leaking goals at the moment (they have conceded seven in their last three matches) and lacking confidence, expect Tena to be out of a job come Monday.
Monterrey Need a Win
December 2019 was arguably the best month in Monterrey’s history. A 3rd-placed finish at the Club World Cup In Qatar, where Rayados gave Liverpool a scare in the semifinals, was followed by a long-awaited 5th league title. However, the second leg of that glorious final against América was played on December 29th. As a result, Rayados had less than three weeks of rest before their Clausura 2020 campaign started on January 18th against Morelia. In contrast, most Mexican teams enjoyed a six-week offseason.
This lack of rest helps explain Rayados’ terrible start to the season. Monterrey are dead last with only 2 points from their first 5 matches, with the pressure starting to mount before they host Juárez this Saturday. On paper, Monterrey should have no trouble with the Northern Mexican side, whose squad value ($28.3 million) is dwarfed by that of Rayados ($99.4 million). However, Juárez are enjoying a dream start to the season, and sit in 3rd place coming into Saturday’s match. Furthermore, they have the league’s 2nd-best attack with 12 goals scored. Monterrey, meanwhile, have the league’s worst defense with 10 goals conceded. Juárez forwards Darío Lezcano and Diego Rolán will be salivating at the chance to tear into a weak Rayados backline.
As if things couldn’t get worse for Monterrey, they lost one of their best players this week when attacking midfielder Rodolfo Pizarro was sold to MLS newcomers Inter Miami. Despite the departure of Pizarro, Rayados have a squad packed with quality, and should improve once the recent additions of Aké Loba and Matías Kranevitter settle in. Furthermore, Antonio “Turco” Mohamed is one of the league’s best coaches, and can take confidence from last season, when Rayados snuck into the Liguilla on the last day after being outside the playoff places for much of the campaign. With more than two-thirds of the Clausura 2020 still to play, it is just a matter of time before Mohamed’s troops start climbing the table.
What Went Wrong at Pachuca?
Founded in 1892, Pachuca are Mexico’s oldest club. Yet, it took los Tuzos more than 100 years to win their first league title, a curse they finally broke in the Invierno 1999 season. That title initiated a golden age for Pachuca, who won six league titles and five CONCACAF Champions Leagues between 1999 and 2016. They also became the only Mexican club to win a major South American tournament when they lifted the Copa Sudamericana in 2006.
However, the last few years have been disastrous for los Tuzos. They have made the Liguilla only twice since their last league title in the Apertura 2016, going out at the quarterfinal stage both times. Furthermore, their reputation as Mexico’s best-run club is beginning to ring hollow. Their famed academy system, which has produced Mexico internationals Héctor Herrera and Hirving Lozano, among others, is going through a dry spell. Erick Gutiérrez, who PSV bought for $6.5 million in August 2018, was the last Pachuca academy product sold for a major fee.
Besides the waning influence of their academy, Pachuca have become trigger-happy when it comes to hiring and firing coaches. After Diego Alonso’s three and a half year spell ended in June 2018, los Tuzos have gone through three different coaches. The most recent of these hires, Uruguayan Paulo Pezzolano, who at 36 is the youngest coach in the league by five years, was brought in for the Clausura 2020.
Inhibited by a lack of familiarity with Liga MX, Pezzolano is off to a terrible start in his debut season. Pachuca are in 17th place with 2 points, and need results quickly if they are to challenge for the Liguilla. Saturday’s home match against lowly Puebla is a perfect opportunity for Pezzolano to collect his first league win, but confidence will be at an all-time low in his squad after a horrible loss at Cruz Azul last weekend. Pachuca went 1-0 up in the second half before conceding the equalizer within three minutes, but were presented with a golden opportunity to win the game when Cruz Azul went down to 10 men in the 75th minute. Instead of spurring Pachuca on, however, the sending off galvanized Cruz Azul, who scored two goals in the final stages to win 3-1.
Just for Kicks 