It's hard to maintain dominance for an extended period of time.
Pachuca's run as the best club in Mexico and one of the top clubs in the Western Hemisphere might be starting to crumble as America routed Pachuca 4-1 in the first leg of their Sudamericana series.
Pachuca needs to win by a large margin in Estadio Azteca to have a shot of defending their Sudamericana title.
This should serve as a wake-up call to DC United. Regardless of league form, if you're not careful against a well-prepared and motivated team, this can happen.
3 comments:
I wonder what was going through Calero's mind as he watched the match unfold last night?
You can put the blame on one player during this slide but it's hard to imagine anybody replacing Calero for his leadership, abilities, and presence as the last line of defense.
If he cannot recover from this medical problem, well, yes, Pachuca's era may be over. However, if he can return, we write them off at our peril.
Don't wake up DC United; let them sleep late. Chivas will need every edge they can get tonight.
There are 2 huge factors I think are easy to see:
1. While Calero's injury couldn't have been foreseen, it still remains a tragic decision to have sent Alfonso Blanco on loan to Ciudad Juarez. Hernandez isn't up to the task of being the starting keeper.
2. On top of that, Aquivaldo's absence is showing. Problem is, Manzur hasn't been bad, he has been tragic. Pachuca was doing well with Lopez and Salazar in back until Salazar got injured in his head-to-head with Beckham at the SuperLiga final. Since then, Manzur has been starting and he's been tragic. Most of the goals Pachuca has allowed can be traced to a Manzur error.
I think it may just be the end, or a small break from the era.
If Calero comes back and Chitiva returns to form ... really all the guys are a bit off (and most of it traces back to Calero, Manzur might not be sucking so much if he had Calero behind him) I still think the team is too good to write off.
Of course, I was tremendously impressed with América's new signings/team, so what do I know.
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