Its a toss up between Cruz Azul and America and we can also pencil in Jaguares. However America takes my vote because of their "Restructuring" process which resulted in bad planification.. With Cruz Azul the squad had a shaky start due to a bad pre season and the injuries that plagued the club. And although much wasnt expected from Jaguares they are no longer the equipo sensacion or even close to that and to think they might get a chance to represent in Copa Libertadores !!!
America - I knew they would end up doing nothing once again. Told ya Djalminha and Lopez were too old. Ameli? He's been better than Davino atleast. Cruz Azul - What a crap team. What happened? I thought Tena would improve this team when he took over but he coached just as bad as dare i say Meza. M. Delgado just cant cut it in Mexico, at least consistently. C. Delgado started the season injured but is still their best player by far. Figueroa is a farce scoring only on tap-ins except in his last game where he actually scored a good goal. They should sell him to Villareal so he can choke just like he did with Birmingham. Jaguares- They been hit with injuries this season. Necaxa- Fuera Arias. UNAM- Decepcion? Como? Santos- They just dont have anyone to score the goals consistently. Chivas- They are below Toluca in their group. 3rd place. Whats wrong? If they keep it up they wont make it to the liguilla.
The difference being that UNAM are in 1st place while the lowly cabras are 3rd in their respective group. Lets see if you comprehend. Grupo 1 1. Pumas 2. Atlante 3. Morelia etc.. Grupo 2 1. Atlas 2. Toluca 3. Chivas Get it now?
That maybe true but the difference in what place they are in is only based on the group that they are in, it has no reflection on the team itself. Overrall standings, Tabla general - Apertura 2004 # Equipo JJ JG JE JP GF GC DIF PTS 1 Veracruz 14 10 1 3 24 21 3 31 2 Pachuca 14 7 5 2 22 14 8 26 3 Monterrey 14 7 3 4 31 22 9 24 4 Atlas 14 7 3 4 29 21 8 24 5 Toluca 14 7 2 5 19 14 5 23 6 Chivas 14 6 4 4 25 18 7 22 7 Pumas 14 7 1 6 23 23 0 22 8 Tigres 14 5 5 4 32 24 8 20 9 Puebla 14 5 5 4 17 18 -1 20 10 Atlante 14 6 2 6 18 25 -7 20 11 Morelia 14 5 3 6 22 27 -5 18 12 Necaxa 14 5 2 7 22 20 2 17 13 Santos 14 4 3 7 18 17 1 15 14 Jaguares 14 3 6 5 17 23 -6 15 15 Tecos 14 4 3 7 12 22 -10 15 16 América 14 3 4 7 13 21 -8 13 17 Cruz Azul 14 3 3 8 25 32 -7 12
Everyone knows that Pumas started slow and yet are still 1st place in their group. Chivas has no excuses since they didn't go to Estadio Bernabeu and beat Real Madrid like UNAM did. Las Cabras started the season off fresh and they have been just a bit above mediocre. Toluca, who also plays pathetic football (althought they win) is above them. And second place Atlas only has a couple good vets along with many youngsters Chivas has the same team from last season. Weren't they better off at this stage of the season last torneo? I'm pretty sure they were. Wow, Various Lifestyles. You keep stooping to new lows nearly every time you post. Now your trying to be a smart ass like Garcia and start posting pics. Figured that you'd try to be like a foreigner. Vende Pat....
How many times to you have to get owned before you learn??? Atlas has 24 points, Toluca has 23 points...more than Pumas, not only that but the second best team in Pumas' group has only 20 points...that probably has JUST a little to do with why Pumas is in first of their group and chivas only in 3rd. If toluca can get 23 points in 14 games while playing "pathetic football", and atlas can get 24 points in 14 games with only "a couple good vets" then what the hell is wrong with Pumas that they can only get 22 points in 14 games? Nobody in their team is using the trip to spain as an excuse, only some derranged fan uses that as a weak excuse...and I don't think they regret going to spain either... Oh and chivas might have been better off at this point last season...but I can gaurantee you that Pumas was wayyy better off at this point last season...damn its almost unfair
Cruz Azul because everybody made a big deal about Lussenhoff and that guy's been Lussenforwards all season long. Tecos, that's a great Geleano quote. Where did you get that?"
Claro que se puede. Todos estamos permitidos a tener opinion propia. Para mi, Cruz Azul, porque es mi equipo y por supuesto esperaba mas. Se que el America tuvo una temporada muy mala tambien, pero en realidad como ande el America no es algo que me interesa.
Why Is almost Everything Capitalized? As I first read the subject, I thought "Ooh, I'll pick Piojo Lopez" only to find out it was a poll about clubs, not everything Apertura 2004. For me, the biggest disappointment is the signing of Piojo Lopez. 2nd is the club which signed him. 3rd Cruz Azul. 4th Pumas and Chivas because of their finish last season, although neither is a disappointment yet. How they do in la liguilla will be critical. 5th - Jagures for the same purpose, only they're eliminated.
Owned? Like how Tecos have been getting owned this whole season? Atlas does have alot of youngsters and didn't start the season too well. But they have improved and are rightly atop of their group now. Shame their inexperience will hurt them in the liguilla. Toluca is a team that is made up of mostly veterans and is getting the W even with the sh!t football they are playing. Sorta like Necaxa the last couple seasons. They won't do anything special in the liguilla. I'm sure that you as a Tecos fan wouldn't know but the Champion usually underachieves following the season after they win it. That combined with what happened to Marioni (their top goal scorer) and Pumas hectic schedule early in the season attributed to their slow start. But all that won't matter when the liguilla starts and Pumas is crowned Champion once again. PS- What's with the pics? Are you another one of the Garcia wannabe's now? Sad. Pumas 0 - 0 Morelia + ref Chivas 2 - 2 Tecos Tomar Bravo finally scores another decent goal but they tied the lowly Tecos. Not good. Nos chigare... I mean nos vemos en la liguilla. As for your team, till next season, son.
This was never about my team, but I guess since your arguement is weak, you have to resort to that... All I have to say is this to prove my point: If Pumas loses on Sunday they finish with 23 points. If Necaxa and Puebla win they both finish with 24 points. It can be that both teams finish with 24 points and Pumas with 23 and Pumas still advances...how is this you ask? Pumas got lucky because they were in a weak group where 23 points gets you 2nd place while Necaxa and Puebla were in tough groups where 24 points gets you 4th place. Chivas would have advanced from any group...so of Chivas and Pumas I think Pumas so far has been a bit more dissapointing.
To start the season of course it was America. They simply fell on their a$$ and never got it together. During the season I thought Puebla started off hot and then fell on their face. They were a big imposter midway.
All the other teams lost important players before starting (Necaxa lost Mario Perez, Santos lost Borgetti, etc), or were a big question (America, who sucked, and Veracruz, who were good) but Tigres had most of the same players that reached the last final (and the one before too) and they brought bad reinforcements: a left-side defender (Morales, when you had Rergis, Chima, Briseño) a defensive mid (Husain, when you had Sancho, Montano and Palacios) and a creative mid (Peralta, when you had Gaitan, Irenio) You sold Kleber, got stuck with an upset Olalde, and the now-predictable Silvera... my best hopes were on DeNigris and he got injured right before starting :/ and they didn't even use Mendoza anymore... they had a chance to sign good strikers (like Omar Gomez... the only good mexican Monterrey player for several seasons... some time ago, his goals gave them precious points in a couple of seasons and they evaded going to 1a A) They didn't bring in any new defenders when they new Claudio is slow and is only useful against Silvera/Borgetti kind of players... well now everyone is using fast, skillful foreigners to score... just look at the top scorers list! They knew Sanchez and Briseño would leave for National Team, and that Mario Ruiz cannot defend sh!t... they still didn't bring any new center backs... I don't know, this is all bad... the last games there was no team... Gaitan played by himself and wouldnt pass to anyone; Silvera practically begged for his red card and made sure the ban would extend a lot Husain apparently let Pony Ruiz go for the goal that killed Tigres' hopes, and the defense never acted together... good luck for the new coach, he will need much tanates to deal with these divas... although most likely he will let all these starlets go and bring his own men, hehe...