So I haven't been able to watch the league much due to the time and lack of enthusiasm ever since we were banned :'(, anyways brief summary *Mictlan & Carcha got relegated *Antigua is a mess yet Tapia still has job security for the next 2 years. Idk if their directivos should be praised for still having faith in their project or call stupid for not firing the guy. He did brought them their 2 titles tbh. *Cremas just got eliminated :'( , but on the brightside *2 guatemalan coaches beat 2 costa rican, Amarini & Claveri beat la Bala and ronald Gonzales. Let's hope Guastatoya & Suchitepéquez make it to the final Semifinals GUASTATOYA - PETAPA SUCHITEPÉQUEZ - MUNICIPAL
Agree. Amarini Villatoro's best trait is his eye for talent and recruitment in the lower leagues. Their honduran goal scorer who just gave them their ticket to the final lo encontro en la Primera Division. Pero el cerote de Polanco se acordo que es rojo, and he red carded their goalkeeper ( and Petapa s forward ) para que lleguen diezmados against municipal. Final Municipal vs Guastatoya I think the 30 might finally come
Well, even though Municipal was really lucky in the away game, where the referee decided not to give a penalty and a red card to Denis Lopez, you can't argue against them. Los Rojos have been the most consistent team for the past year. They just let Motta & Danilo Guerra go though. And Cremas keeps getting paquetazos, so it's hard to get excited by the next season. Alfonso Berganza just got reelected as president of the league, so vamos a seguir en la mierda sadly
Once again our league returns today, yes on a Friday, and I might be in the minority but I feel this would the most competitive yet. A lot of interesting reinforcements from abroad have come and there are at least 8 teams capable of making the liguillla (6 places). So since I believe in the importance of documentation, here's a little preview. But first a little summary of what went down during the summer. *The Asamblea approved the estatutos so if the CDAG approve it as well, our suspension will be lifted in the near future. However, there's a dichotomy among the press. Some people claim that the law forbids the changes so we'll most definitely get a 2 year suspension. Others are sure that part of the law was changed not long ago. So maybe, just maybe there's light at the end of the tunnel and Les was right all along. We'll have elections this October. *Players banned for doping return in difference circumstances. Antigua players have won their case and they will be able to play this tournamet. Mad props to their directivos who backed them til the end. Robinson, Ayala, and Gambetita are expected to join them soon. Sadly, this is very rare. Municipal players banned for 2 years are coming back as well. The only one returning to Rojos is Trujillo. Santamaria & Avila joined Suchi while Ciani is the 2nd division with Aurora. * Tigo has the TV rights to 8 teams. The monopoly of Albavision is over, however this will make it harder to catch a game here in the states *There are only 4 guatemalan coaches (Claveri, Sosa, Villatoro, Balcarcel) * A lot of clubs are getting away with having more foreigners by using nacionalizados. 1. Antigua: They have the best midfield on paper. Robinson (best dm), Galindo (Best Box-to-box) & Contreras (Best CAM). Looking forward to see if they can play as expansive as they used to now that banned players are back. 2. Coban: Let's hope that they don't dissapoint this season now that they have a reliable striker (Danny Guerra). 3. Comunicaciones: Can they finally be competitive without Contreras? I'm looking forward to seeing Estrada & Ojeda. There's also a chance Enoc returns, so this would improve their flimsy back line. 4. Guastatoya: They have the most promising guatemalan coach and now that they have, at least on paper 2 capable forwards. One of them comes from playing libertadores last season. I also want to see how the crema canteranos do there (Vargas, Bordon, De leon, Alvarez). 5. Malacateco Mauricio Wright is back. He was the one that gave Estrada & Betancourt their chance. Let's see if he can continue to develop youth 6.Marquense: The money problems continue unfortunately. But in times like this they're force to put their trust in youth. Let's see how Carlos Alvarado continue to develop now that he's one of their mainstays. 7. Municipal: Favorites for the title. Ojala que Machain deje de ser ratonero now that he has the Panas. I wanna see the continued evolution of both Hagen & Mendez now that they're indisputable starters. Can Martinez & Altan do the same ? I Sadly Doubt It. 8. Petapa: They have very interesting players including el Cuilapa & Bolivar. Can they repeat last season's semifinal? 9. Sanarate: They got experienced players like Motta and Machaca Morales. Still, I don't see them in the top 6. 10. Siquinala: A complete unknown. Their coach is guatemalan though and that something I always like seeing. 11. Suchitepéquez: They lost el Abuelo, Paredes & Ruiz. However, they got Santamaria, Kike Miranda, Titiman & Ordoñez. At least on paper they have the players to compete against any team. 12. Xelaju: I rate la Bala Gomez as coach, so I'm looking forward to what he can do now that he has better players in Brandon de Leon & Chema Rosales. Conclusions: Favorites for the liguillla: Municipal, Antigua, Comunicaciones, Guastatoya, Xelaju, Suchitepéquez, Coban, Petapa. Favorites for relegation: Marquense, Malacateco, Sanarate, Siquinala. Top scorer favorites: Blas Pérez, Kamiani (MUN); Herrera, Diaz (ANT); Rodriguez, Rios (GUA); Scott, Emiliano (COM); Zapata (XEL); Janderson, Elias(PET)**; Guerra(COB)** Top GK favorites: Hagen (MUN)**, Motta(SAN)**, Irazun(COM), Tatuaca(GUA)**, García (COB), Bolivar(PET), De Lemos(ANT) **Guatemalan
Results Jornada 2: Suchi 1-0 Ant Cob 1-1 Siqui Com 1-0 Gua San 2-1 Mun Mar 0-4 Pet Xel 0-0 Mal Table: Brief Observations: * All games were televised for the first time ever (and only one of them wasn't live) *First head to roll is Coban's Ariel Sena. It seems unreasonable to fire someone after only 2 games. Granted, I think he should've been fired after last season. I'm starting to believe this dude is a fraud. The only success he's had was with Guastatoya, and maybe it was all up to his assistant (now it's coach Amarini Villatoro) porque en Honduras tambien le fue mal. Aparte que se la pasa peleando con su aficion. *Hernan Medford favorite to take over Coban. Hopefully, porque en seleccion no lo quiero, no offense Les *El Cuilapa is back. He scored twice for Petapa. *Goalkeepers (guatemalan) have been performing at very high levels. Motta is still the best we've got but Hagen is getting there. *Most stadiums are crap. We want to see game play at a higher tempo but most fields don't allow it. Aunque que vi los resumenes y el de Suchi y Marquense se ve que los han arreglado y se juega bien. The l problem is once winter comes :'( *Just found out Martinez Norales todavia juega for Sanarate. Best Rb I saw play for the NT, too bad his prime was rather ephemeral. * Next weekend is the Clasico y Municipal no levanta. There are midweek games though. #3 Carlos Mejia #2 Manfred Russell #1 Kevin Santamaria
After Jornada 3 & 4 Table: Brief Observations (Mostly about the clasico) : *We're still not suspended ? It seems Fifa forgot about us hahha *The Clasico was very poor. Comunicaciones try to attack, even pushing both full backs at the same time but couldn't break down Municipal's bus enough times to win it. I still don't know why Machain is so "ratonero" when he has players like Kamiani & Blas up top. *Hagen (21) & Mendez (19) would be starters if we had a NT. Méndez is the heart of municipal while Hagen has shown maturity beyond his years. Estrada on the other hand made another error in a clasico, however he did well overall. I rather have him Iron out his mistakes now that he's still young (20) than get to be like Denis Lopez ya de viejo. I still think he's the future of the NT defence. *However, Enoc will be signing soon and imho, Enoc & one of Mo or Lalin (best crema defender this season) should be Starting. It's incredible the depth they have at center back: Lalin, Mo, Estrada, Enoc, Gordillo and even Castrillo. *Hablando de defenders Baloy no me convence. Let's hope it's just the lack of rhythm after his injury. Porque este municipal mostraba mas garantias con Payeras. * There's way too many foreigners. Both teams started with 5 each. In the 2nd half Cremas had 7. Wtf???? It's not like they make a difference (with some exceptions like Russell, Alas, Kamiani, & Irazun for example). *Now away from the Clasico. There's something very rotten going on In Xela. On Wednesday when they lost to Suchi their players almost came to blows. Their coach has also been deflecting the blame and even getting into arguments with some journalist and the fans. *Idk which is the bigger surprise, Petapa being the leader or Sanarate fighting at the top of the table (3rd place currently). * Last but not least, I'm saddened by the lack of tactical "analysis" in our futbol. Granted our tactics tend to be rather rudimentary. For example, I watched the Petapa - Guastatoya game and none of the commentators made any emphasis on Petapa's system which I found fascinating. They had 3 man defence Morphing into a back 4 depending on Icute's positioning. Also the freedom they give Pereira and to a lesser extent Cuilapa to move from the left, top and center during transitions. Their midfield 3 are very capable with their feet. However, their defenders aren't very good with the ball. Which make their philosophy of playing on the ground more difficult. Why Guasta didn't press them is beyond me. They made it too easy imo. Top 3 goals #3 Alejandro Galindo #2 Wilber Pérez #1 Orlando Morereira
Nope, Falla mucho el cerote haha. But he still in third place with Manfred Russell with 3 goals each Los goleadores los tiene el Lider Petapa. Pereira with 5 & Cuilapa with 4.
To be completely honest I think Blas is just limiting Kamiani's influence. But at least he's scoring. Baloy on the other hand anda cagandola igual que denis lopez. With the difference that lopez is at least humble. Los Panas andan de agrandados or that's the impression I get.
Updated table... recently promoted Sanarate FC surprisingly on top. CSD Municipal has the best offense in the league, with 11 goals in 2 games and the best goal difference.
So whats the deal with Los Rojos y Cremas?? Are they just doing really bad these past couple of years or have all the Guatemalan teams caught up to them financially wise?? Got some heavy narco owners?? I know in Honduras when a particular team outside the traditional big teams do really good, it's cuz a narco owner is behind the rise cuz of the $$, but idk if its the same in Guate.. -shrugs-
It's a combination of both. There's a lot of things Rojos & Cremas (Even Xelaju) stopped doing right, while other clubs have gotten more ambitious after seeing Antigua's rise. Basically, Cremas left most of their best players leave after getting their Hexacampeonato. Mainly cause the owner's wife is under investigation for corruption charges. He also refuses to invest in good players and the ones that come are really shitty. Municipal still probably has the best squad in the last two years but their coaching is usually terrible. Medford es muy ratonero y solo al pelotazo juega. Antigua has won 3 tournaments in the last 3 years, cause a group of investors got together 4-5 years ago and started pumping money into it. They saw the potential for having a club from a touristic city in la liga nacional. They also found a way to be sponsored by a beer brand even though its illegal in guate for sporting events to be sponsored by alcohol. As for the rest, Coban has the most loyal fanbase. They even have their own coffee brand so they are able to afford good players. Petapa has the advantage of being close to the city, so a lot of the players that leave cremas & rojos rather go there. Guastatoya is mainly due to scouting and coaching. Sanarate im not sure about the Narco status. They have been able to afford players that were part of previous champions. Even though a lot of them are lowkey old so idk how sustainable their success will be.
How many young players (sub-20) are playing weekly? Isn't there a rule in the Guatemalan league that states you have to play players under a certain age this amount of minutes or you'll be fined?
Not many unfortunately. Which isn't something new tbh. The best u-20 prospect that's being key for Municipal since he was 17 (19 now) is about to be banned for doping. Others like Hagen and De Leon (22 each) have been doing well. While others like Altan, Martinez and Estrada dont play enough. Most of our 'prospects' hover around the age of 23 though. Hard to know who the young and upcoming players are when we have no international youth competitions to see them. There's a dude in Girona FC but I havent heard much from him. And yeah there's like a 500 u-20 rule but teams just play random young players just to meet the quotas, usually in the last games.
The Narco clubs have always been the border clubs of Malacatán and La Mesilla. They lost popularity because of death threats to referees and visiting clubs... basically because of their narco BS. Every club was scared of playing in La Mesilla, Rojos/Cremas never won there... That place is a fkcn VILLAGE (ALDEA) just meters from the Mexican border.