After a spectacular start to the 2011 Apertura, the Mexican Primera’s defending champions, UNAM Pumas, are up against the ropes. They’ve now lost their last three in a row and haven’t taken three points since August 3. It appeared as if the team’s policy of ditching their older players and promoting youth was going to work perfectly in the opening weeks of the season, but Pumas now sit in ninth place, outside of Liguilla positions.
Mexican Primera, Apertura 2011, Week 9: Jaguares, Cruz Azul Get Big Wins
Monterrey-Cruz Azul is the highlight of Jornada 9 of the 2011 Apertura in the Mexican Primera. Elsewhere, both Pumas UNAM and Club America are in desperate need of wins.
Sitting in eighth place are Toluca, who face Pumas in Mexico City this weekend in a massive game. Elsewhere, Monterrey and Cruz Azul play each other and attempt to prove their title credentials, while Club America might need a win against Jaguares Chiapas to keep Carlos Reinoso employed.
Monterrey vs. Cruz Azul
Saturday, 6:00 pm ET
TV: Telemundo
It’s been an up and down tournament for both Monterrey and Cruz Azul, with downs coming last week for both teams. Monterrey drew Puebla in a wild match, while Cruz Azul were exceptionally disappointing in a loss to Monarcas Morelia.
Cruz Azul dealt with suspensions early in the season while Monterrey dealt with injuries, but both teams currently have full rosters at their disposal. With the likes of ‘Chupete’ Humberto Suazo and ‘Chaco’ Christian Gimenez back for their respective teams, this should be an exciting matchup. Both teams look like near locks for Liguilla, but this match could tell us a lot about whether either team has serious title credentials.
Pick: 2-1 Monterrey
Jaguares Chiapas vs. Club America
Saturday, 6:00 pm ET
TV: Azteca
Professor Cruz has his men in fantastic form and all the way up to fourth place in the table after back to back wins over Santos Laguna and Estudiantes Tecos. Even though Club America is struggling right now, they represent a step up in competition over those two for Jaguares, who will be under little pressure to get a big result this weekend.
America, however, are in a different boat. While getting a win away to the fourth placed team in the league sounds like a tough task, it’s exactly what they have to do this weekend. America currently sit 13th in the table and with any result but a win, it seems incredibly likely that manager Carlos Reinoso will be fired.
Cruz has abandoned his previous conservative 5-man back line tactics for an extremely attacking 4-4-2 this season. America has a poor defense and runs a similar system. Expect goals. Goals, everywhere.
Pick: 2-2 Draw
Chivas Guadalajara vs. Puebla
Saturday, 8:00 pm ET
TV: Telemundo
Chivas stumbled last week against Santos Laguna, and it wasn’t because of simple bad luck or an odd poor performance. Manager Jose Luis Real is back to attempting to fit Omar Arellano and Erick Torres into the same team, then playing wide and putting in crosses.
While Mexican wonderkid Torres was out, Chivas was far and away the best team in the league, playing a 4-2-3-1 system with Arellano as a lone striker. Since Real has re-introduced Torres, the team is 1-1-1, with that one win being a very unconvincing one over the Tijuana Xolos.
Should Chivas win at home against Puebla, regardless of the formation and personnel selected? Probably. But Real should probably un-fix the not broke thing he tried to fix.
Pick: 1-0 Chivas
Pumas UNAM vs. Toluca
Sunday, 1:00 pm ET
TV: Telemundo
Last week’s 4-0 thrashing of Pumas UNAM at the hands of Queretaro was...bizarre, to say the least. For the opening 30 minutes of the match, Pumas was the much better side. It looked like they were back on track as a team and that they were going to coast to a comfortable 1-0 or 2-0 win. In the 37th minute, Carlos Bueno nicked a nice goal on the counter.
At that point, Pumas fell apart. It was like going down a goal completely shattered all of their self belief. They looked like a completely disorganized and timid team from that point on and Queretaro went on to score three more times.
Toluca are not Queretaro. They’re a better side, but they’re also a much less exciting side with a much better defense. As usual, the Red Devils have been both dull and effective, with five draws from eight games, good enough to get them into eighth place.
However, dull as they may be, their 4-2-3-1 setup creates matchup problems for Pumas’ three man defense and center forward Ivan Alonso is in good form.
Pick: 1-1 draw
Other Games
Pachuca vs. Club Atlas - Saturday, 8:00 pm ET
San Luis vs. Santos Laguna - Saturday, 9:30 pm ET
Atlante vs. UANL Tigres - Saturday, 10:00 pm ET
Club Tijuana vs. Estudiantes Tecos - Sunday, 3:00 pm ET
Monarcas Morelia vs. Queretaro - Sunday, 7:00 pm ET
For more on Mexican football and Jornada 9 of the 2011 Apertura, head on over to SB Nation’s Mexican futbol blog FMF State Of Mind.
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