‘Enner Valencia is an elite striker’, but Cruz Azul ‘depends on the erratic Michael Estrada’

Cruz Azul is a large Mexican soccer team but in recent times, it has regularly been immersed in serious problems -some of them were caused by an administration whose former main director is on the run and accused of alleged money laundering and operations with illicit money-. In this 2023 it has had a terrible start in the Clausura tournament.

The popular squad from the capital has only achieved one point out of twelve possible. The leadership, according to the newspaper Record, “he gave coach Raúl Gutiérrez an ultimatum: if he loses to Toluca (on Sunday), he leaves.” Among the possible replacements for the Mexican DT, the Aztec press has mentioned Francisco Palencia and the Argentine Ricardo Garceca, who is also wanted by the Ecuadorian team.

Last weekend Cruz Azul lost 1-0, at home, with the Tigres de Monterrey. The alarms have not stopped ringing since that fall. In the analyzes of the Mexican press, it is pointed out among “the keys to the crisis in the LigaMX”, as the newspaper refers Millenniumthat “this pothole that the sky-blue team is going through not only passes through the hands of Raúl Gutiérrez, but also through different factors.”

And although the trainer’s terrible productivity statistics are pointed out (67% in his first campaign, against 8% at the beginning of the current season), “the next factor that has had a direct impact is the configuration of the team.”

Enner ValenciaThe journalist Tonatiuh Guerra mentions the names of two Ecuadorian attackers in the Milenio note, regarding the reasons for the terrible sporting moment of Cruz Azul, which is penultimate in the table.

“Since the beginning of the preseason, and at the request of the coach himself, it was seen as essential to bring in a center forward; However, despite the offers that were made to players of the caliber of Luis Suárez and Enner Valencia, as well as the frustrated attempt to bring in Radamel Falcao at the last minute, none of these options materialized and La Máquina now depends on the erratic Iván Morales and Michael Estrada”, says Guerra in Millennium.

The newspaper THIS He also focuses on the poor Cruz Azul offensive: “La Máquina has a trio of South American attackers who have barely accumulated 20 goals in Mexico.” It is added in that means of communication that “the cement team lacks an elite striker in its ranks. The constant efforts to sign world-class men like Luis Suárez, Enner Valencia or Radamel Falcao fell far short of becoming a reality and they will have to settle for what they have. And it is that they do not have a reference offensive in Mexican soccer either ”.

michael estradaThe scrawny numbers condemn the Cruz Azul attackers. THIS He adds: “Their strikers are relatively new to our football and barely have two dozen celebrations, led by Michael Estrada. The Ecuadorian has scored 16 goals, but only three of them as light blue. Gonzalo Carneiro contributes three more in 15 games, and Ivan Morales, the Chilean jewel who came as a figure from Colo Colo, has only scored once in almost 900 minutes”.

Record complements: “The light blue strikers do not have fine aim. Michael Estrada, Augusto Lotti and Gonzalo Carneiro had a bad night at the Azteca stadium and they couldn’t do anything to prevent the loss of the “cementeros” against the Tigres. (D)