11 Thoughts on Edson Álvarez's first days in AMS, Giovani's reawakening, and other observations
The 'it's good to write again' edition
11 Thoughts
1. For Diego Lainez, the last few weeks have been filled with ups and downs. His preseason hasn’t been as expected mainly because he has missed several friendlies due to injury. The injuries haven’t allowed him to seriously make a claim for a starting role, and the season is about to start. However in the last two friendlies, Lainez has seen minutes coming off the bench, and he’s offered several key plays that have allowed Betis to grab wins. The most notable of the plays was a game-winning assist to Raúl in Casablanca against Raja Casablanca. His participation in Wednesday night’s friendly against Las Palmas wasn’t as good as his performance in Morocco. What’s positive, though, is that new manager Rubi believes that Lainez will provide necessary support to the team’s offense. This season, Betis will only take part in league and cup play, which means that playing time opportunities will be reduced.
2. The expectation is for Lainez to win a starting role in the 2019-20 season, and as he proved with América, he will need to be patient to receive those opportunities. Last season, he received several La Liga starts, but he struggled in most of them. Because he was new, the opponents’ defenders targeted him, but this time around, Lainez has experience and will be able to interpret the opponents’ defenders better. The learning experience continues, and it might take several weeks for Lainez to win an opportunity in Rubi’s starting XI.
3. With Rubi, Betis will change how it attacks, which will likely be more direct. All signs point that he will play with four defenders in the back, and two central defensive midfielders, which will be William Carvalho and Andrés Guardado. With that shape in mind, it leaves four spots for attackers, and these will vary depending on who will be available, but two of those spots will likely belong to Sergio Canales and Nabil Fekir. The remaining spots are still up for grabs, but that will change in the next hours because once Betis signs a new striker, that new player will get looks in the starting role. As of right now, Lainez will directly be competing for playing time with Joaquín and Cristian Tello. Without a doubt the competition for playing time will be tough, but Lainez was born and brought up at América to live moments like the one he’s living right now at Betis.
A starting XI that includes Lainez might look something like this:
4. Let’s take a little break from La Liga and turn our thoughts to what’s going on at Coapa. I’m really happy that Club América has managed to represent so many things at once. Right now the club is a title contender, owner of a strong academy capable of producing players like Raúl Jiménez, Edson Álvarez and Lainez, and smart in spotting South American talent, who could potentially use their time in Liga MX as a springboard to Europe. Not only that, all signs point that Miguel “Piojo” Herrera wasn’t lying when he said that he wanted to build at América what “Tuca” Ferretti has been able to build at Tigres. Something I’ve liked about Herrera’s tenure so far is that he’s always looking in giving opportunities to Mexican footballers, and a great example/case is Sebastián Córdova.
5. The other Saturday when Giovani dos Santos got an assist and a goal in his Estadio Azteca debut with las águilas, many memories came to mind. Mostly good ones because his football has always been one that provoked joy and excitement. When Giovani left the Galaxy through the back door, a lot of analysts agreed that his career was almost done, but another way of looking at his situation was by comparing it to Rafa Márquez’s. Of course Rafa’s time in Europe was different to Giovani’s. Rafa succeeded at Barça, Giovani didn’t. But their cases in MLS were almost similar because both ended up having more bad moments than good ones. Giovani’s MLS time was like a Rafa 2.0 case. So to see Gio recuperate his smile and most importantly, recuperate the passion to play is a step in the right direction for América’s title intentions. With an inspired Giovani, Liga MX adds more magnificence.
6. You can say many things about Guillermo Ochoa’s time in Europe, but from my standpoint, all I can say is that he’s one of the most valiant Mexican footballers to ever play the game. I understand those that say that his time in Europe wasn’t completely fulfilled because he wasn’t able to play for a club battling top places in a league table, but his efforts to remain in Europe for so many years should be applauded. I feel that his time at Ajaccio was his best on a personal and professional basis. I still hold proudly and dearly the France Football edition, which includes one of the several interviews he gave to French sports media. In that interview, he confirmed how close he was on signing with PSG, and what that could have meant for his career. After leaving Ajaccio, I think Ochoa should have stayed in Ligue 1 and worked his way up, but he saw the Málaga opportunity as a chance to grow and take that next step in one of the best leagues in the world. Ochoa played his cards; he left a good impression of what the Mexican goalkeeper can offer. In México, he’s expected to close out what has been an impeccable career and continue with his studies. Ochoa wants to get his hands on a business administration degree.
7. When it comes to exporting Mexican talent to Europe, two Liga MX clubs are in the forefront right now in August 2019: América and Pachuca. This is not to say that only these two clubs have been successful. Chivas, Atlas and Pumas have lived certain periods of time when they were on the forefront. Santos have quietly made moves, but not as impactful as América or Pachuca. For these clubs mentioned — América and Pachuca — the process of identifying new talent and help them in becoming professionals has already started. But the sights should now be set on Monterrey and what they will do in the following year. No one can deny that Diego Alonso’s team has some of the most talented young Mexican footballers in Liga MX. The names that come to mind are Rodolfo Pizarro (25), César Montes (22), Jesús Gallardo (24), Jonathan González (20) and Charly Rodríguez (22). I do think that winning a league title in the 2019 Apertura or 2020 Clausura will ease the process and help these players make the jump. Time will tell if Rayados will be able to make good business as Pachuca and América have been able to do in recent times. The recent sales of Edson and Lainez should make Liga MX owners understand that if the league was more visible in other parts of the world, these sales of $17 million wouldn’t be a novelty but a constant.
8. Another Premier League season is about to start, and just like last year, Chicharito and Raúl will be the only Mexican representatives in one of the most competitive leagues in Europe. For Raúl, this will be the season to build on what he started last year. Everything is in his favor; he has the trust from the coaching staff and his teammates, and the best one of all, he has the respect and appreciation from the club supporters. The league has yet to start, and he already has four goals in three Europa League matches. For Chicharito, there’s still doubts on whether he will be able to fulfill a good season from start to finish. It will be nice for him to be consistent and convince Manuel Pellegrini that he must be part of the starting XI, but I’m unsure what type of Chicharito we will see this season. West Ham United have brought in forwards Albian Ajeti and Sébastien Haller to compete for playing time, so let’s see if Chicharito will be able to be an undisputed starter.
9. I saw more than 60 minutes of the Ajax 2-2 PAOK several days ago. I’m intrigued to see how Erik ten Hag will work with the new arrivals, one of them being Edson. It became clear from that match that it will take time to determine who will be part of the defense and midfield. Defender Lisandro Magallán has had several months to adapt to Ajax’s style, yet you don’t see him taking part in these important matches. Magallán is probably not turning into the signing the club expected. Luckily with Lisandro Martínez, there seems to be a good process going on even if he barely arrived this summer. My conclusion is that Edson will get looks as both a central defender and defensive midfielder, and it will all come down to what the team needs most.
10. The significance of Edson arriving to Ajax is unexplainable. It’s one of those steps that can significantly impact the interpretation of how a Mexican footballer should act when landing an opportunity of this magnitude. Hopefully, a lot of youngsters noticed how quickly he jumped onto the opportunity and was speaking in English with the club’s staff. It was one of those scenes that transported us to the early Chicharito Manchester United days. Edson is a quick learner, and this opportunity with Ajax landed on the right hands.
11. These early weeks won’t be easy. Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong meant so much to the club, that it will be difficult to replace them. One time I chatted with Edson for about 12 minutes. He talked to me about that time he trained alongside Rafa. It happened during the Confederation Cup when he joined El Tri to participate in the training sessions. He told me that he couldn’t believe that he was receiving advice from Rafa, who had played for Barça, and I will never forget that he described Barça as the best club in the world. Well, now Edson is at the club that made Johan Cruyff, who went on to give Barça the style it so much reveres.