Game 16: San Luis home

Pumas v San Luis
CU
22nd April 2007

Video Highlights - in the crowd

“The same story all year”. The words of Paco Palencia a perfect summing up of this match. We started strongly, were clearly the better team, and yet came away with a draw.

Ailton starting his first game of the season, he showed some flashes, but still looks rusty and overall had an indifferent game. Tuca’s changes were inaccurate, and further underlined how he has seemingly lost his instinct. I thought we had two clear cut penalties turned down, and Archundia had a poor afternoon, although it’s always refreshing to see how he tries to let the game flow.

So we started brightly, and it briefly looked like it would be an enjoyable afternoon, but it turned out to be a frustrating one. Discussion as to when we started to fade, some said after twenty, but I spotted it after about 10, but I have become a connoisseur of how we lose our way. After the first ten minutes we looked like a team that can only draw, even though San Luis did not really offer very much.

Their goal came from nowhere, a nice pass from German well finished by Braulio Luna. This was received by resounding boos, as you would expect for someone who started in the Pumas cantera, and moved directly to America, even if it was nearly ten years ago. We don’t forgive that easily.

This was just 5 minutes from half time, and it revitalised us for the last 5 minutes, and Ailton received a pass in space in the box from Palencia, he tried to mess it up, but managed to slip it through the outrushing goalies legs.

We just did not seem to want to control this game, Leandro looks more positive with Ailton on the pitch, but once he went off, Leandro started to drop deeper again. Ailton had looked OK, but did lose his way, I counted seven consecutive passes from him going badly astray. Tuca timed his replacement correctly, but brought on the wrong man. I think he should have put on Gonzalez instead of Iñiguez here, or even have taken Paco Palencia off. Taking Scocco off for Chupa was wrong all round, that should definitely have been Gonzalez for Paco. Eventually Pareja came off for Gonzalez, allowing Iñiguez to go on the right. But basically, all changes made us look worse. That’s bad management.

All in all a very depressing and frustrating last home game, there was some half-hearted booing at full time, and only a few players came over for a salute, again that was a bit half-hearted.

Unbelievably a series of results have left us with a good chance of direct qualification to the liguilla. All we need to do is beat Tigres next week, and that should do it. However Tuca seems to have completely forgotten how to win, and if we don’t next week, we may see calls for fresh blood at the helm.

Ratings:-
Bernal- 6 – don’t really remember him having anything to do anything

Velarde – 8 – thought he had a good game
Pikolin – 7 – much improved on last week. Fine diving header nearly got the winner, and a remarkable mazy run
Veron – 8 – solid as you like, and good header in the box
Castro – 6 – not quite up to his normal assuredness

Ailton – 6 – well, he did score, and went past a couple of people, but crossing and passing very poor. Had a great chance to score, looked like he was brought down right in front of goal (subbed 57)
Sancho – 7 – tried to impose himself on it more, looked more the enforcer he could be, but ultimately failed to control it as it should have been
Leandro – 7 – good in parts, but also to blame along with Sancho for us not being 100% in charge in the middle – we could and should have been
Pareja – 8 – mom – toss up between him and Veron, good game, full of determination as usual (subbed 83 mins)

Scocco – 6 – flattered to deceive, was in it, and did look menacing, was hacked down in box (subbed 71 mins)
Palencia – 6 – was in it more than Scocco, but too many mis-controls, still not positive enough

Subs:-
Íñiguez – 4 – 57 mins – wholly ineffective
Chupa – 5 – 71 mins – coming back from injury, but just rubbish
Gonzalez – 6 – 83 mins – determined, but not much time. Clearly should have been given more time than the other two subs.

DT:-
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 5 – couldn’t keep his team going and his substitutions completely wrong. He must take the largest share of the blame for our 7 points in last 8 games.

Cards:-
Pumas:-
30 mins – Sancho – foul from behind
44 mins – Pareja – seemed harsh
54 mins – Leandro – he just ran straight into the player, inexplicably

San Luis:-
62 mins – Guerrero
76 mins – Soares
83 mins – Martinez – time wasting
Although carding was pretty good, there were many nasty fouls on Pareja before he finally gave a card to a San Luis player.

Goals:-
0 – 1 – 40 mins – Braulio Luna from a pass by Eduardo German
1 – 1 – 43 mins – a quick break, a nice pass from Palencia, Jose Ailton Da Silva slipped, but had plenty of space and managed to push it home, nutmegging the keeper

Crowd:-
30,000. That’s my guess.

Elsewhere in Mexico:-
Despite 8 minutes being added on Queretaro beat Tigres 2-1, leaving the descenso in their own hands. Remarkably all the results we needed came in, Tigres losing, Santos losing (1-0 v Pachuca, super-lideres), and Morelia losing badly 4-0 away at Tecos. That game had 11 minutes added on. The only other draw of the jornada was the eye-catching Cruz Azul v Toluca fixture, which disappointed and finished nil all. Monterrey beat Jaguares. Chivas, and Omar Bravo, demolished struggling Veracruz 4-0. Atlas and Atlante lost, to Necaxa and America respectively.

Pumas Morelos
Sorry, no information for a while. This week they drew nil all with Leon. This was a home game in which we could have guaranteed a place in the play-offs. Now we go to Santos for the last game of the season, needing a good result, or combination of results. We are in a good position, however, being third in Group B. This game was actually on the telly, so those of you in Mexico keep your eyes peeled next Saturday, we might be able to see it.

Qualification and Descenso:-
Well, with all results coming in for us (except our own), a win at Tigres next week should see us direct into the Liguilla. This seems to me most unjust, but I doubt we will win, so it doesn’t matter. If we win, Morelia will need to win by 4 more goals than we do, and Santos by 2 more than we do, to leap-frog us. Of course, if Santos win but still go down, they cannot enter the Liguilla.

Group 3
1st America 30pts +12GD (25/13)
2nd Tigres 22pts –3GD (16/19)
3rd Pumas 19pts +1GD (18/17)
4th Santos 19pts -1GD (19/20)
5th Morelia 19pts -3GD (21/24)
6th Toluca 16pts -3GD (14/17)

If we do not win it is highly unlikely we will sneak into the repechaje. Already in are Chivas, Cruz Azul, Pachuca and America. San Luis are guaranteed at least the repechaje.

Following their win relegation is in the hands of Queretaro. If they beat Atlas away, they will survive, at Santos’ expense. If they lose they will descend. If the game is a draw, Santos will go down only if they lose at home to Cruz Azul. Next season we are not in trouble of going down.

Next Up:-
Saturday 28th April at 7pm away against Tigres. Very important, literally a must win. I honestly cannot see us doing it now, psychologically we do not know how to win.

Game 15: Monarcas away

Monarcas v Pumas
Estadio Morelos
14th April 2007

Video Highlights

Finally we break our six game run of draws. Six games from which we should have won, but draw, in this game we should have got a draw – but lost. Bernal back (from injury), and Parejita back (from suspension), and Jehu Chiapas still starting on the left, as Ailton is slowly coming back from his long lay off.

Things went bad from the off, Pikolin failing to judge or deal with a simple dinked in ball at all, to give a half chance, which was intelligently and well finished leaving Bernal little chance. 1-0 down after three minutes, very very annoying.

We certainly played well, but Pikolin’s nightmare start continued as he found himself in the box on his own from a corner. Very clearly having no idea what to do he nervously chested the ball away to lose it.

Morelia were losing the ball far to often, but we were failing to do much with it, and as the half wore on they came more into it, and Leandro became less visible.

Veron was looking mostly good, and saving us the Pikolin errors, but even he was well and truly done in the box, but Bernal saved well. Once again, even when on top, we were not decisive enough in the last third – Scocco particularly was not present. Chiapas missed a wonderful opportunity, following great work down the right from Parejita who managed to track down an impossible ball, kept it in and turn his man at full speed, and in one move, then put inn a lovely cross, which Jehu attacked well, but failed to get real contact.

No changes at half time, but we started a bit better, but still seemed to lack urgency, but when Ailton came on for Jehu we seemed to go up a gear. Ailton still looks a bit rusty, but he’s clearly still a tremendously exciting player. We soon had a best move of the game, which, frustratingly, ended with the ball in the back of our net. From a corner, a mis-clearance wnet high towards our corner flag, some wonderful work between Parejita and Castro saw the ball come away, and we broke very quickly, the quickest break away I have seen from Pumas in ages. It finished with a breath-taking long shot from Leandro, which left the keeper for dead – watch the reply, he does not react at all to the shot. It hit the underside of the bar, bounced off the line, and away. Clearly did not cross, but it so easily could have, and the game would have been ours.

Instead within seconds they had a corner, and scored following another Pikolin lack of concentration. Annoying in the extreme, especially to give away another goal to a set piece. I am not sure where our lack of concentration at the back has come from, but today it seemed to affect almost everybody at some point, and above all the organisation at the back was the worst I have seen for some time.

Straight away Tuca made another change, Íñiguez on for Parejita. I thought the lad had had an excellent game, but Íñiguez moved us up yet another gear, and now we were at full speed, and looking dangerous and urgent at last. Even Scocco woke up with a lovely rasping long shot well saved, and charging down the keeper to earn a clear penalty, not given. The ref was awful today, missed lots, was inconsistent and inaccurate with his cards throughout, but it affected both teams. He was very nervous, and didn’t seem able to control the game at all. Bottled out on clear second yellows on a number of occasions, and both teams should have had penalties. Early on a weak back pass was charged down by Chiapas, and the keeper collected it, for what was an obvious indirect free kick in the box, but he somehow missed it. To be fait to both sets of players, they showed good discipline; given the glaring errors and random nature of the ref, there were hardly any complaints, or surrounding of him.

From a corner the ball bounced loose where Íñiguez reacted quickest and hit it goalwise, it took a big deflection off Scocco, and some outlets have awarded him the goal, but I feel it was right to credit it to Íñiguez. At full flow and 2-1 down and 15 minutes left, I really felt we could get back into this – even win it. But t was not to be, a vicious clash on young Velarde led to him being stretched off (replaced by Gonzalez), this was a clear second bookable offence, again ignored. Most of the 4 minutes added on were used up by Morelia played lying on the floor following non contact, and the ref’s reputation was further tarnished by the way he handled the death of this intense and enjoyable encounter.

Ratings:-
Bernal – 8 – maybe should have been quicker to react on first goal, but was unsighted. A wonderful save kept us in it, and he looked assured throughout.

Castro – 7 – thought he looked really good today
Veron – 8 – excellent overall, but even he made a couple of mis-judgements
Pikolin – 5 – sorry, but big faults for both goals, positioning all over the place, and not much help in set pieces up front. Had a couple of runs going forward which only served to remind us what a donkey he is at heart
Velarde – 7 – more assured, and good going forward. I like him a lot, did a great job on Arce (subbed 89 minutes)

Jehu – 6 – I felt he is stronger and better than at the beginning of this season, but not quite there – missed a great chance to get us back in the game, if he had headed home in the first half we would have gone on to win. Probably. (subbed 54 mins)
Sancho – 8 – thought he was making himself felt today
Leandro – 7 – like the curates egg, good in parts. Overall he looked good first 20, including fine run, and looked much better in second half, but went AWOL in last 20 of first half, we need him to play the full 90
Parejita – 8 – MOM – not sure why he came off, I thought he was excellent, covered every blade of grass on the right, and always in the right place at right time (subbed 67 mins)

Scocco – 6 – maybe a five, just not there at all until about the 80th minute, when he suddenly came to life and caused them big headached. Also needs to be there the full 90
Palencia – 8 – good game overall, but I still wonder if his presence in the front line has added to our lack of ruthlessness. Also was more or less kept in a box by Tiago

Subs:-
Ailton – 7 – 54 mins – still not there 100%, but is a fine player, and caused problems
Íñiguez – 8 – 67 mins – showed fine first control, put in three nasty crosses in about 5 minutes, and scored.
Gonzalez – 6 – 89 mins – not on long enough.

DT:-
Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti – 8 – good changes, but not getting his vision on the pitch any more

Cards:-
30 mins – Castro
35 mins – Velarde
Not bookable, either of them, but Castro was lucky to get away later with a slap to the head, not like the usual ice-cool Castro

Goals:-
1 - 0 – 3 mins – A dinked in ball fought between Pikloin and Luis Gabriel Rey, who poked it cleverly into the far post
2 – 0 - 67 mins – a Arce corner met by Wilson Tiago Mathias, who easily beat Pikolin to it.
2 – 1 – 73 mins – ball bobbled out to Ismael Íñiguez, following Leandro corner, who fired home, the ball taking a couple of deflections on way through.

Crowd:-
40,000. The TV was at pains to point out how much of a friendly family atmosphere it was.

Qualification:-
Group 3
1st America 27pts +11
2nd Tigres 22pts -2
3rd Morelia 19pts +1
4th Santos 19pts 0
5th Pumas 18pts +1
6th Toluca 15pts -3

Our only hope now is to win our last two games and sneak into the Repechaje, which is frustrating, because in many ways we are playing better than last season. We could easily be run away leaders of the league this season, but every defence error has cost us dear, and Paco’s negative influence at the front (despite the fine work he does supporting the midfield) has cost us dear. In the last 7 games we have dropped 11, maybe even 13 points, maybe even 15. With 33 points we would be joint super-lideres. But they don’t play it in my head.

Next up:-
At home against San Luis Sunday 22nd April at midday. A must win, obviously. And no reason we shouldn’t win. Except we have clearly forgotten how to.

Game 14: America home

Pumas v America
CU
8th April 2007

Video Highlights

Another two points dropped in a game we dominated. This is the sixth game in a row which we really ought to have won, but got a draw.

From the very off we were clearly the better team on the day, but continuing defensive lapses and lack of ruthlessness in front of goal has cost us dear.

Our goal came following a well saved rasping shot from Leandro. He took the corner, and Veron scored a top class header hard and low bouncing in off the post. Overall for most of the match we controlled the middle of the park, Blanco was quiet, but clearly had the best of Pikolin, who seems to be losing his hard won abilities week on week.

America have got to be pleased to get away with a win on this poor performance, but once again we have completely lost the killer instinct which Tuca had managed to instil so successfully last time.

Roro – 7 - not much to do,
Castro – 8 – thought he did well overall
Veron – 9 – MOM
Pikolin – 6 – a bit out of sorts
Velarde – 8 – impressed overall
Sancho – 8 – good presence
Leandro – 7 – want more (I always do)
Íñiguez – 6 – ultimately not good enough, but his speed caused them problems
Jehu – 7 – a fine game
Paco – 9 –thought he was outstanding today
Scocco – 7 – not in it enough, but he causes worries

Ailton – 7 – a little rusty, but signs are there
Barrera – 6 – OK
Gonzalez – 7 - lively

Game 13: Tecos away

Tecos v Pumas
Tres De Marzo
1st April 2007

Video Highlights

Another two points dropped. Unfortunately I was stuck in an Avianca office in Bogota airport during this game, so missed it. As did all my colleagues here, so little to say, except it seems we could have won ..... again.

Goals:-
0-1 - 2 mins - After scoring one after 1 minute for Mexico mid-week, Juan Francisco Palencia waited two minutes in this game to head home a Parejita cross
0-2 - 29 mins - some sources gave this to Ignacio Scocco, but it looked like a Juan Carlos Leaño own goal to me, under intense pressure from the young Argentinian heart-throb
1-2 - 48 mins - Emanuel Villa from a Pinto pass
2-2 - 86 mins - Pony Ruiz passed, for Diego Colotto to head home.

Not much else to say, really, except Parejita got a very harsh red card, so misses America, and we have now 5 draws on the spin ... and should have won them all.

Descenso:-
With Santos losing, both us and Tecos can now NOT BE RELEGATED THIS SEASON. This ia incredibly important milepost, of course.

Next Up:-
Home, v America.