Cruz Azul is perhaps one of the most difficult teams to decipher. We’re not talking about just this season. For years and years they’ve made decisions particularly when it comes to transfers that just don’t make sense for a lot of the fans. Usually the bad decisions have come in the form of allowing certain players to leave the club while keeping others on the roster for years that don’t seem to contribute to the club at all. An example of the first situation can be found in the cases of two strikers from years ago.
Emmanuel Tito Villa, now an analyst on Televisa was the first Cruz Azul player to be Liga MX top goal scorer since Loco Abreu with an almost 8-year gap if not more. He was allowed to walk for nothing. His replacement Mariano Pavone, who just recently retired, came in and had a tough time filling in for Villa. When he’d gotten his feet under him though and established himself at the club he was allowed to walk. From there it took until the duo of Jonathan Rodríguez and Santi Gimenez to show up for the team to find consistency upfront. Those two are no longer at the club.
On the other end of the spectrum there are players like Cata Dominguez, Rafa Baca, Jaiber Jimenez, who’s even worse than the first two. All of these guys seem to have a perpetual home at the club for some reason.
How Does All Of This Tie Into Enner Valencia?
Sorry for the long intro, but we do promise that this ties into Enner Valencia. For some reason Cruz Azul is looking for a third or 4th striker. Apparently the two newest signings are more wing players or a middle of the field presence. Let’s just say that Cruz Azul only has Estrada and Carneiro playing up front. Out of those two it’s clear that Carneiro is way more productive than Estrada when he’s on the field. However, Potro Gutierrez seems to prefer Estrada who can go literally the whole game without touching the ball, and come off the field with a smile. It’s odd to say the least that he starts over Carneiro.
If you only play with one guy upfront then it doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense that you would want 3 high profile players fighting for the position. Going after Luis Suarez made sense because he was Luis Suarez. The move was set to be a way to shine a light on the team, and the company that runs it. The current president of the company wants to legitimize his position, and maybe that’s why he wants to make a big splash. If he couldn’t reel in Suarez, Valencia could be the next best thing!
Valencia Could Be More Effective On The Field Than Suarez
Bear with us on this one. If we’re comparing careers, Enner Valencia is not in the same galaxy as Luis Suarez. There’s no argument there. They are actually only 2 years apart in age with Suarez being 35 and Valencia 33. Luis is just very beat up at this point in his career. He’s completely lost the burst of speed that he once had. That’s the main reason why he played little in his last season at Atletico, and he was now looking for work in the Americas.
Valencia on the other hand is coming off a very good World Cup, and in the last couple of months before the tournament he was taking the Turkish league by storm. He’s scored 13 goals in 14 games at Fenerbahçe. If Cruz Azul is able to get that player he should start over Carneiro, Estrada or virtually any other striker in Liga MX! Still, the question is, is this a position of need for Cruz Azul?
