There were rumors that Ricardo Cadena was going to be out as the head coach of Chivas regardless of what happened with the team in the playoffs. After finishing 9th in the regular season Chivas were still in a position to surprise some people if they had been able to get past Puebla they would have faced off against Club America. That would have given them a chance to ruin their bitter rivals’ great season. Doing that definitely would’ve provided Cadena with enough credit to stay on, but it just wasn’t meant to be.
In their game against Puebla the criticism against Cadena was that he kept players like Alan Mozo on the bench that could’ve provided a spark for the squad, for too long. He only started changing things when he found himself down on the scoreboard. Also, the disciplinary issues from within the squad continue to be an issue. It seems like both owner Amaury Vergara, and team president Ricardo Peláez want more experience in the managerial seat.
Is Cadena Really To Blame For Most Of Chivas’ Issues?
Cadena is not the first manager that has had to deal with the lack of an offensive presence at Chivas. We’d have to go back to Alan Pulido’s playoff performance in Chivas’ last title run to find a time when Chivas was able to find consistency at the number 9 spot. Defensively the team hasn’t been great, but if you compare Cadena’s team to Marcelo Michel Leaño’s team you can find improvements in virtually every area on the pitch. If there is one thing that Cadena could be blamed for it’s not knowing how to fit some of Chivas’ signings into his starting 11.
There’s an argument to be made though again that Cadena is not the only Chivas manager that hasn’t used the signings that Ricardo Peláez brings on board. At this point that seems to be more of an indictment on Peláez than any Chivas manager. Another issue that Cadena was not immune from, were the off the field issues by Chivas players. As we said last week the incident with Mozo, Briseño and Ormeño was certainly not as severe as the one that Antuna, and Alexis Vega were a part of a few years back. The incident, though, did come to tarnish what is potentially the end of Ricardo Cadena’s tenure at Chivas.
Who Could Be Brought On As The New Head Coach At Chivas?
There are two main candidates that remain unsigned which could be brought on to take Cadena’s place at Chivas. As we mentioned last week one of the men that is rumored to potentially replace Cadena is actually the man who just defeated him Nicolas Larcamon. Larcamon published an article in which he talked about his gratitude for his time at Puebla. In the piece he essentially put in many hints that this is in fact his last run with Puebla. Maybe Larcamon has come to the realization that just making the playoffs is pretty much as far as he can realistically go with Puebla. That’s why he’s looking for a new challenge.
The other man that has been rumored to be close to signing with Chivas is Andres Lillini. The former Pumas boss would likely be brought on to help Chivas develop players to feed the first team. His first task would certainly be to find a reliable number nine in the fields across Guadalajara and the entire state of Jalisco. You have to think that there’s a diamond in the rough potentially at the amateur ranks somewhere that’s better than Zaldivar or Ormeño. Lillini may just be the man to find him. Tonight it does seem like Cadena is living out his final days as Chivas head coach.
