Toluca was arguably the preseason Champion in Liga MX. The team was forced to pay one of the fines that Liga MX imposes on each of the last 3 teams in the relegation table at the end of the year. The humiliation sparked owner Valentin Diez to finally spend money on improving the team. Something that he seemingly hadn’t done for the better part of 10 years. His logic was having a bad team costs you basically the same amount that you would have to spend at least on a few medium level signings.
That’s exactly what Toluca went out and did. They brought along quite a few medium tier signings. They upgraded their situation in goal significantly by signing Brazilian Thiago Volpi back to Liga MX side. Manager Nacho Ambriz brought a couple of guys from his title winning Leon squad in Andrés Mosquera, Fernando Navarro and Jean Meneses. They let go of Alexis Canelo to bring along Carlos Gonzalez from Tigres. The Paraguayan striker has struggled, though, this season. At this point it seems the whole team is struggling.
The Promising Start For Toluca
The team won 4 of their first five games of the season. Just suffering a loss to Club America which actually sparked the rebirth of Club America in the season. From there they went through a bit of a slump with a couple of draws, but bounced back to win two straight games including the controversial Cruz Azul game with a VAR assist. At that point in the season though the team was in the top spots in the standings, and it seemed like the preseason investments were paying off. Then came a draw against Monterrey, which in itself is not the worst result in the world. However, it seems that the wheels fell off from there, and the team has been sent spiraling out of control.
A Loss To San Luis & Getting Embarrassed By Pachuca
A two game skid is not necessarily enough to sound the alarms for any team, however the way that Toluca lost to Pachuca is certainly concerning. A 4-1 loss in Liga MX isn’t something that we see every day. Particularly between two teams that we would have expected to be more evenly matched. They should’ve lost 3 in a row, but got some help from VAR again in their game against Chivas. Someone from the TV crew forgot to provide the right shot to check the Chicote Calderon offside play. Also, the penalty kick they got called back was a direct gift from referee Cesar Ramos.
Even though the team brought in signings like the aforementioned Mosqueda it seems like they are still struggling with the back line. Nacho Ambriz decided to bring back old reliable Jorge Torres Nilo. At this point in his career Torres Nilo who’s always been more of a fighter than a technically gifted baller doesn’t seem like the best solution to a shaky defense. The only positive that Ambriz can hang his hat on is that Thiago Volpi has proven to be one of the best keepers in the league.
What The Rest Of The Way Looks Like For Toluca
Wednesday’s game against Tigres may very well be a make or break matchup for both teams. Both squads have racked up enough points to where they are going to get a chance at playoffs even if they don’t get a direct ticket for being in the top four. However, another loss for any squad could put them in a downward path that may be hard to rectify with the end of the season coming fast. The positive news for Toluca is that they end the season with games versus Pumas, Mazatlan and Queretaro which are arguably the 3 worst teams in the league this year.
