As an American of Colombian descent I am glad a team with a Colombian and a bunch of Americans is winning in Mexico. Riascos in particular is playing very well. It would be nice to see him get called up for the National team. That said, there are so many great forwards ahead of him like Falcao, Teo Gutierrez, Jackson Martinez, Darwin Quintero, Carlos Bacca, Dorlan Pabon etc. Heck even a guy like Fredy Montero deserves a chance ahead of Riascos and will probably not see any playing time due to the depth at the position. Tis a pity for them.
Also, I don't think Castillo has won a Mexican League title. I think Santos lost in the Final when he was there.
10:00 PM ET, noviembre 29, 2012 Estadio Caliente This is pretty exciting, an american starting for a club in the mexican league championship finals. Not to mention the other prestigious tourneys they've qualified for.
So, Toluca is in the finals despite having a 36 year old Zinha and an MLS reject Luiz Tejada in its staring lineup? Has Liga MX gone down in quality that much?
Nice Castillo Q & A ... http://www.ussoccer.com/News/Mens-National-Team/2012/11/Q-A-with-Edgar-Castillo.aspx
Tejada started off rather well with Toluca but opposing defenses have adjusted to him and he has been rather ineffective lately. By that same token, Victor Bernardez has been a success in MLS even though he was a complete failure in Mexico's first and second divisions. Same thing Ramon Nunez a few years back. What does that say about MLS? Also, the guy who said Castillo is top 5 in the world when it comes to acceleration needs to watch more footie. Castillo is not in the top 5 of anything in the world. Good player with tremendous potential but neve figured out how to finalize an offensive play after slaloming through opponents.
That guy was me. His stop/start, lateral acceleration and quickness is tremendous. It is not north/south speed, but quickness, lateral movement, squirrel like. He needs to find a coach who can settle him down. Make him more decisive in the final 3rd. That's about it. He has a decent shot. I also would never, ever make him my last line of defense but would employ him as a guy applying pressure all through his zone.
my bad I think the reason he's a defender is because he's quick enough to recover if he's beaten but he probably is best suited to play as a wide midfielder. Mexico fans were really high on him a couple years ago but then it became obvious he wasn't able to take his game to the next level. Don't expect too much out of him.[/quote]
You know whats sad? That 36 year old could probably give your best defenders and midfielders a run for their money. Not to long ago a 36 year old attacking midfielder sh*t all over your league and was regarded a favorite, Cuauhtemoc Blanco.
Really wasn't impressed with the quality last night either. Castillo is up and down. Good with bad. Basically what we've seen every time he's suited up for us. He should be getting time as a left winger for us as his weaknesses aren't quite so magnified in that end.
Wow, nothing more funny than seeing a couple Mexican fans trying to make fun of sidefootsitter and "his" league MLS.
Got to say, I've always enjoyed conversing with the Mex-American soccer fans I've met in real life but most of the ones on this forum give their fans a bad name....constantly resorting to insults and namecalling and looking for any excuse to bash footballers from the country they live in. Please take your insults of the MLS to the Mexican forum and keep this thread uncluttered with that garbage.
Ehhh, it doesn't quite have the same bite. In one case you have one of the most vocal critics of MLS on the board being attacked by a couple posters with barbs about how bad MLS is. In the other you just have a overestimation of a players ability, which is fairly common run of the mill stuff.
The funny thing is that I've been watching the Mexican soccer for the last 25 years. The most interesting thing to me is how superior the Mexican national team plays compared to the individual clubs. The last game I briefly tuned into was UNAM vs. Atlante. It was truly a yawn inducing product - both teams walked the ball up to the penalty box, then exchanged a few 1-2's, then walked back to their own half. And a few sporadic teams aside (Carillo's America, Lapuente's Necaxa, Mesa's and Lavolpe's Toluca, Galindo's Santos), that's been the style for the last 40 years.
I was thinking this exact thing today. Has mexico sacrificed its own league and pushed the national side to the forefront. You would think the two would work together...but it doesnt seem to be the case. Xolos are a very energetic team, but there is also a hint of gimmick to them. Their high tempo, high pressure game can be DiMatteo'd, or even Bradlied to good effect. On Edgar, just because you guys don't see it doesnt bother me. The guy has unique physical gifts, maybe even superior to Beasley. What he doesnt have is Beasley's courage and fearlessness.
[quote="...In my defense, post: 26849433 Skinniest left backs? Skinniest New Mexican pro soccer players? Just spit balling
How many Americans have won trophies in Mexico? Tab Ramos-1996 Mexico Cup w/Tigres Jose Francisco Torres-2007 Clausura w/Pachuca Edgar Castillo-2008 Clausura w/Santos Herculez Gomez-2012 Clausura w/Santos Who am I missing....................?