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Join the Cantina MX crew as we discuss the super clasico, Piojo’s rising stock, what’s in store for Almeyda and Los Doyers too!
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Episode 82 and we were podcasting while Chivas was working to get a tie vs Morelia, but won on PKs. We discussed mostly the Higuera visit that he paid to Spicy Soccer. The ChivasTV failure, Gentlemans pact, his Hugo diss, and more.
We also discussed some MLS v LigaMX talk towards the end of the show.
Hope you enjoy.
Also congrats to all you Chivas fans out there. LOL. CopaMX Champs!
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Why is the Mexican League is full of South American players from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and other countries? Recently Matias Almeyda made some comments about this, so lets analyze and expound.
Matias Almeyda, Chivas head coach, stated what we have all heard before and what we have specifically talked about on the CantinaMX podcast. That foreign players are brought in and take the starting spots of up and coming or even established Mexican players. This in turn hurts the National team and Mexican players in general. There may be Mexican players that don’t get a chance and get passed up from making it big in Mexico and even ending up abroad.
Almeyda faults the Foreign coaches in Mexico that are hired instead of Mexican coaches, who in turn look to bring in foreign talent.
A great example is just recently Club America brought in a 19 year old Costa Rican player, Gerson Torres. Is he a big name? An impact player that will change America for the positive? Many may not even have heard of him. Could a Mexican player have been given a chance? Possibly.
When I think of America, I think of big signings. They could be South American or Central American, but big names, who would start and be expected to score goals and even win titles. The supporting players can be Mexican, with a few star Mexican players as well. No need to flood Mexico with subpar foreigners, when there are plenty of Mexican players already that need the chance to play so they can break out and hopefully do good things.
Why does Mexico go for foreign coaches and then players?
So this is the question. I believe that the mindset in Mexico, is that of looking at history and World Football. Argentina, Brazil and CONMEBOL as a whole is a powerhouse. They have won World Cup titles, there are coaches out of these countries who are highly praised. If one is to learn soccer and how to improve, we must emulate and follow these countries. Mexico has done this. Fans emulate and copy Argentina fan chants and songs. Mexico execs, see this as well and try to bring in the biggest names from South America as they can. If it were easier to get European coaches or players, that would be the same case. A flood of Europeans would be welcomed to help improve our Mexican soccer.
Take Andre-Pierre Gignac for example. He is beloved and brought titles to Tigres. Mexican’s name their kids after him. Tigres went further and brought in fellow frenchman, Andy Delort, into Tigres.
The point is clubs are out to win and confidence is held in foreigners and not the Mexican. Foreigners from Argentina and Brazil know how to win in soccer and have loads of good players. Mexico has won nothing. Mexicans are just barely breaking into Europe on a larger scale.
Take even the press for example. We have the wanna-be Spaniard heading up shows like Futbol Picante and cracking jokes on the other panelists. One of the biggest targets and butt of jokes is Hector Huerta, if you have ever watched the show.
In summary, there is a mindset in Mexico that has to be overcome. The Mexican player has to overcome and play through these obstacles. Chivas is a huge part of it. Chicharito broke through via Chivas and may not have in another club where foreigners were in place.
Hopefully some rule changes can help push this change along. The National team may depend on it after this “golden generation” passes.
We go into some deep Chivas talk in this episode. They tied Rayados over the weekend even going down by 2 men. We also discuss the state and level of quality in CONCACAF, arguing that Mexico is on a up-peak and the rest are low and rising. We then finalized with some CopaMX talk and proposed rule changes to the sport.
Have a listen!
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In a game where based Almeyda, chose to put in a B team for Chivas, to include Gullit and others. We talk the newly crowned CopaMX champs, Gallos Blancos from Queretaro.
We also talk US vs Mexico coming up. Good fun was had by all.
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A late night podcast after the CopaMX match up between Chivas and Club America. We talked about the great game that took place and argued some excuses the Americanista panelist brought up. We also talked cambiarayas and the weekend game with Pachuca beating Chivas.
We even chatted a bit about the NT and who Osorio should call up, the “same as always” players or the ones who are actually playing well right now!!
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Chivas fan panelists were going at it in this episode. Arguing the effectiveness of Almeyda to wether ChivasTV is actually making money and a good idea.
We also talk a bit of America and who is going to be the new head coach.
We had one caller, Serg, and a lot more discussion.
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What a fun game for an indifferent Pumas fan. So let’s begin.
The game starts out very well for Chivas. The showed heart and hustle as an obvious underdog, battling relegation. It is a sign of a good attitude in the locker room to motivate a team that has been struggling, to step it up against their greatest rival. Who knows if it was Almeyda or Captian Omar Bravo who motivated them, but they came out with energy and on the attack. Even amidst negativity in the media, gossip about Gullit drinking, and relegation. In times like this, a team can come out half hearted or beaten before the game begins, or battle back as an underdog. Chivas came out as the latter.
Chivas attacking paid off and Conejo Brizuela got a goal in the 23rd minute, however it was called off. There was no dispute that he was offsides and that the goal should not have counted. The problem is with the side line ref, in that he hesitated to make the call and had to meet with the head ref to talk and call back the goal after the fact. This can play an issue in the mind of the Chivas players. The goal was scored, a whistle was not blown and Brizuela celebrated with his teammates as he pointed to the heavens. It is a glorious moment to have scored against your arch enemy. Then imagine how Brizuela and Chivas feel after it is ripped away from them. It has to be saddening and depressing. Again Chivas would have to dig deep and self motivate their mind and body to continue playing. This seemed to be the case, but you could tell there was a drop in play. America gained their composure and was able to get more possession and opportunities for attack.
We now know America scored 2 great goals, to take a commanding lead. This again can put a psychological burden on a down and out Chivas team. They still, however, battled and did not give up. They were running on pure passion.
So let’s talk passion. Passion is what brings fans to the stadium. Passion and love for their teams is what makes people yell, cheer and be loyal even through hard times. The deep desire to win is what motivates Chivas or America players to run hard after a ball. And Yes, sadly it can motivate fans to throw obscenities and even objects at the opposing team. It is no surprise to see this happen. Yes it is ugly, but these fans have passion. It may not be properly focused but it is passion. It is this same passion that would make Santos fans insult the Mexican NT hero Giovanni Dos Santos. Even a Chivas fan who threw a cup of beer at CONCACAF Cup hero Paul Aguilar and hit him in the back.
This passion even exists for players to do whatever it takes to win or get an advantage. Paul Aguilar has passion in the instances where he gets stomped on in the corner and proceeds to flop around like Pikolin did in last year’s Liguilla. His goal was fulfilled as the Chivas player got red carded and America took the advantage. He did the same later, when the cup of beer hit his back and he rolled around some more. He want’s to win and this is the type of things that sometimes needs to be done. Is it hated, yes, but it will continue to happen. Just like beers will continue to fly, so lets get over it.
Finally, to touch on a word that is commonly used in spanish, Ardido. This means rustled, upset, salty or many other adjectives that could be used to describe Omar Bravo near the end of the game. You could tell he was frustrated and in one instance he got hacked, fell to the ground and the America player got sent off. He then proceeds to run away and heads straight to Sambueza and hits him chest to chest. This was of course purposefully done as he was heated in the moment. Luckily he did not get carded himself, because he was carrying a yellow previously. This “rustle” on the part of Omar Bravo could have cost him the concentration and cool head he needed in later opportunities he had to score, but failed.
So the mind, emotions can play a huge part in Futbol. This type of passion, energy and competitiveness is what makes this Clasico the best in Mexico. Yes even greater than the Clasico Regio, which may have better teams that are higher on the table, the Clasico Nacional has more on the line, for fans and players.