J 15 Recap: Two In, Six To Go

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Braulio Luna- San Luis (Mexsport)

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Bursting with joy | Braulio Luna and Co. are fortunate ones this season.

It’s not San Luis' fault this is happening though. Look at group one and the competition based in it. There is no competition in group one. It's Toluca and that’s it, the second spot is anyone’s for the taken and fortunately for San Luis no one wants it as bad as they do. San Luis has been perched on that second slot for weeks now but Chivas and Atlas still can’t get the right results to knock them off.  

Group one is so ridiculous that even a team who I had given for dead weeks ago now has a great chance of making it. With two wins and hoping their group opponents get horrible results, Queretaro could be making a Liguilla appearance.   

Four teams are battling for the second spot in group one. San Luis has the best view of things. There is one problem for San Luis though. They still have to play one more road game. The first reason why that's bad is because San Luis is yet to win on the road. The second reason is that they will be playing a team who will certainly be fighting alongside with them, Queretaro.  

Chivas is the second team but they have their own section into how things are going. (Look below)  

Atlas is also in for the chase but has not won in their last four games. They have to face group rival Chivas on the weekend and then travel to Chiapas to close out the season. These are manageable wins for Atlas but they still need to hope that San Luis doesn’t get any positive results.   

Queretaro could control their own destiny given the right results over the weekend. San Luis would have to lose to Santos (which is almost a certainty) and Atlas and Chivas need to tie. Then if Queretaro wins they would have 18 points tied with San Luis and like I mentioned earlier they would face off against each other for the Liguilla berth. Now that's some good football.  

Predicted to go through: I will take the under dog Queretaro because who doesn’t want them to go through?   

Patience Is A Virtue   

As a business person you are expected to be patient. You have to wait for the customers to start flowing in and for people to start recognizing your business. You don’t have your business become a success over night, it is great if it happened that way but it doesn’t. Jorge Vergara is a great business man and you would think that with all his business background he would be plenty patient but he's not.  

Jorge Vergara | Impatience is his trademark.

After just six games with Chivas, Raul Arias was sacked earlier this week. That makes six different coaches that have stepped foot in the Guadalajara club this year alone. That's virtually unseen in any other team in the World. Arias wasn’t the best coach that Vergara could have hired in the first place but to replace him after six games is an insult to Arias.   

Vergara is also banking on a system that takes time. He's relying on Chivas' youth system to come fourth and produce players. That's not going to work if you are as impatient with the players as you are with coaches.   

If Vergara wants fast results then he needs to dig into his pocket and start spending. Get a good quality coach who you can afford to pay. It will probably save him some money rather than just going through six coaches every year. Vergara also needs to stop trying to be the coach. Vergara is like the Mark Cuban of the NBA times 10. He gets way too involved with the team up to the point where he is the one actually saying what tactics the team should use.

Raul Arias | Did not last seven games with Chivas.

“…They told me that the team needed to be more attack oriented. I did not take their advice. I am the coach I am the one making the decision (on the field). I was not going to be their puppet I’m a coach that’s my job if they want they can go hire someone who will be..,” said Raul Arias in a radio interview with Jorge Ramos y Su Banda.

The problem this time was that Arias wasn’t doing his job which was to follow Jorge Vergara’s and Rafael Lebrijas strategies and implement them on the field. Well if they want to make up the team then why don’t they coach it themselves? If they have time to call Arias and tell him what they want or they want on the field then they should have a crack at it.

I’m not a huge fan of Arias but the fact of the matter is that Vergara is unjust. If he does this with Arias he will do it with everyone else it’s just madness.
 
Vergara takes care of the business side of the team well. He needs to implement simple business principles into the squad and he needs to remember that what made him successful in the beginning will make his club great; patience is a virtue Mr. Vergara.

Aguilas Losing Altitude

After starting the season strong America has slowly started tumbling down a jagged mountain. In America’s last 7 games they have only been able to find the net 6 times and have struggled against teams like Jaguares and Pumas.

The team that thrashed Toluca 7-2 and destroyed Estudiantes by five goals seems to have disappeared. No longer have they been able to put up those numbers not even against the weakest of the league.  

America has its starting lineup intact and has carried the same team throughout the tournament but for some reason they been struggling a lot lately.

America had a good thing going for them in the earlier part of the season. Las Aguilas had probably the best counter attack out of any team in the league. They implemented the attack seamlessly in every game. The 7 goals against Toluca were mostly all based on a counter.

But a team can’t live on one tactic alone. Teams will eventually catch on to it and will prepare for it.  
That was America’s best tactic and now without that they are very vulnerable. As we saw against Pumas the only way America scored was off two masterful free kicks from Salvador Cabañas.

America need to think of something to get their offense going and they need to do it fast. If they make it into the Liguilla a one or two goal performance might not be enough to get past the rest of the field.  

As It Stands   

Here is just a look at the Liguilla and the matchups as it would stand today.

Morelia vs. San Luis | First-round matchup brewing.

1. *Morelia
8.  San Luis

2. Monterrey
7. Puebla

3. *Toluca
6.  Santos

4. Cruz Azul
5. America   

 * Already qualified

Weekday Quote

“The penalty comes off a play that wasn’t even a foul. There have been referee mistakes that have really hurt us. The balance has shifted against us. I just ask for peace because the calls have really hurt us,” said Jesus Ramirez after the loss to Pumas.

-Stop crying “Chucho” every team gets bad calls against them. It seems this season more than any other the blame has been placed on the referees. In this case Pumas clearly outmatched America in everyway shape and form. They deserved the win. It wasn’t the ref this time it was your team that did not perform.  

Jornada MVP: Rafael Marquez

Rafael Marquez Lugo has turned it up for Atlante. Marquez netted twice against one of the best defenses in Mexico, Toluca. Marquez reached ten goals in the tournament and has made 6 goals in the past five games.

Best Game: Pumas vs. America

Martin Bravo. | Bravo, Martin.

Pumas had America's number all through out the first half. Two goals that were equal in everyway (literally) sent Pumas ahead 2-0 at the half. America picked up the intensity in the second half and got two great goals from Salvador Cabañas.

The game looked to be over but a late penalty was called in favor of Pumas. Martin Bravo did not miss and won the game for the home side.

Best Team: Pumas

The Felines promised a spectacle for their fans days before the encounter and they did not disappoint. Pumas played like the championship team of last season and brought back the joy and celebration to C.U. even if it was for only one night. 

Sylvestre Adame's Jornada Recap appears after every Mexican league Jornada.

For more coverage of Mexican football, visit Goal.com's Mexico page.