“I learned there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, others come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready, you see. Now my troubles are going to have trouble with me”.
- Dr. Seuss.
Rough times, rough times. Chivas flew to Toluca last weekend and ran into a brick wall. Try as they might, the team commanded by Victor Manuel Vucetich was not able to penetrate ‘Chepo’ de la Torre’s defensive line and bring back a victory in celebration of Vuce’s 800th game as a DT in Liga MX.
One thing was made more than clear. These are another group of Chivas. It’s obvious that the result mars the effort made by the boys and cannot assuage the dissatisfaction of the millions of El Rebaño Sagrado fans following the match, still the statistics tell another story.
Even though it was a pretty even match, as I had imagined in my pregame analysis, Guadalajara held on to the ball 54% of the game, pushing hard on the goal defended by Luis Manuel Garcia, who did a great job of keeping his net clean. El Chiverío made 456 passes and managed to reach the opposite end of the field 21 times with 5 shots on target. Pressing was not only high, passing precision was 84%. Good numbers for any team. The game was going to go in favor of the the starting eleven which made the least number of mistakes and that turned out to be Toluca.
Guadalajara is a work in progress. Like any tradesman, ‘Profe’ Vucetich’s hand will surely become more and more apparent as time goes by and he gets to know his players better. It is already clear that Vucetich runs a tight ship and Uriel Antuna’s and Alexis Vega’s suspension for breaking club’s internal player protocol was a clear message to everyone belonging to the first string team that they needed to shape up or ship out. The suspended players were sorely missed, but the Boss let it be known, that no one is above the institution. No surprises there, Vucetich is not only known for being a great DT, he is also a team builder with a strict line on proper work ethics and life values.
Some dissenters on social media commented that the coaching staff should not get involved when the players personal lives are in question. I disagree. I am a firm believer that there is only one way to do things and that is the right way. I read on a wall somewhere “Speak even if your voice shakes!”. Our boys are young and they will learn fast. Hopefully, really fast!
We have a game against Pachuca next Saturday which is a must win in order for us to abandon the bottom league positions. Most importantly it’s an opportunity to find our flow. Guadalajara needs a turning point. The game against Pachuca seems to be the perfect moment for all the hard work on the training pitch to finally come to fruition.
It’s time for all that hard work to materialize on the pitch. Time to leave behind all the off pitch hoo haa. Time for patience and perseverance. “Patience is also a form of action”. - Anonymous.
