We said last week that this Chivas team was going to need to change without Alexis Vega. Paunovic virtually trotted out the starting 11 that we predicted in our article about Pocho Guzman now needing to be the leader of the squad. At least until Alexis Vega comes back. Chivas though, would go on to lose their game 2-1 against Toluca. There are a couple of things that became clear over the weekend in this game.
Toluca Is A Tough Team To Face
The first reason why Chivas fans should probably calm down is because Toluca is a tough team to face. They recently played Club America, and they should’ve won that game. They are of course a team that made it to the final last season. It’s perhaps a sad realization, but since the Matías Almeyda days Chivas have not been true contenders. Toluca at this point in time is a better team than Chivas. Especially if we’re talking about a Chivas squad without Alexis Vega.
Now, it wasn’t just the lack of Alexis Vega that’s the problem. We’ve said here for a while now that Chivas isn’t as solid in the midfield with the likes of Fernando Beltran, and now adding Pocho Guzman to the mix. Both men can work miracles moving up to the attacking third. As defensive midfielders though they’re a bit of a liability. That’s something that Paunovic is going to have to take into account moving forward. If he’s keen on playing a 4-3-3 he may have to drop some talent from that midfield to bring in a little more muscle. We’re certainly looking at Beltran at this point as the expendable piece in that midfield. That may not sit well with the fans!
Alvarado Has Fallen Off A Cliff At This Point
Last week when we talked about the changes that were coming at Chivas we mentioned that the team was going to need the likes of Roberto Alvarado and Isaac Brizuela to step up. We can’t blame Brizuela at all for the loss because he didn’t see the field. That leaves Alvarado, and quite honestly he’s the sad tale of the Mexican player with some talent that just never took that next step.
It’s strange to see a player develop into a worse player than he was in his youth. It’s not like Alvarado is in the twilight of his career. At least he shouldn’t be, still well on the right side of 30. At this point though he doesn’t seem to have any type of burst, he’s not a threat in 1v1 situations, and it just seems like he ends up costing on the field without making any type of positive contribution to the team. He’ll probably continue to get chances to prove his worth, but if he plays like he’s played so far pretty much throughout his entire tenure with Chivas the future doesn’t look good.
The Number 9 Spot At Chivas Is Still Up In The Air
Over the weekend it was Cisneros who started at center forward for Chivas. Even through the preseason with Paunovic at the helm not a lot of people could say that they had him on their radar as a potential starter. In fact that’s not even his primary position, so it was weird to see him up there. Daniel Rios took his spot in the 61st minute of the game.
This is the issue with Chivas. We don’t want to come down too hard on these guys, but the fact is that there’s just not a lot of talent on this team. Other than Vega, and Guzman the rest of the guys are usually not going to give you something special. That’s one of the reasons why Chivas is going to drop these types of games against decent opponents more often than not.
