Jornada 1 Review

Data shown in the article and xG from fbref.com. Photo from record.com.mx.

Thought: Jornada 1 is a good time to give minutes to a younger player, it can be more difficult to debut players in the latter weeks of a season, especially if a team is in a tight battle to achieve their goals or if a coach is under pressure.

On Cambio de Juego, every week will begin with a recap of the jornada, in chronological order. In this review we will analyse the underlying numbers and any trends or take-aways from the round of fixtures.

Querétaro (0.3 xG) 0 - 1 (2.1 xG) América

The game was impacted by Franco Russo’s red card in the 44th minute, but América dominated the match, with 6 starters registered in the U23 squad. It’s only one game, but perhaps some of América’s academy players should be playing in a first team already? Perhaps some of Querétaro’s shouldn’t be in Liga MX?

Miguel Ramírez, who has made an impression in the U23s in the past, stood-out for América in this game, with an assist, 2 more key passes and just 3 unsuccessful passes. Ramírez is already 22-years-old, very late for someone to make their first senior start. América have to find a way to get senior minutes at and earlier age for their young talents in the future, if they come in Liga MX, the Expansión or abroad. At least, if the players aren’t good enough for the América first team, getting them senior minutes can help to increase their values and make América more money through sales.

Mazatlán (0.4 xG) 1 - 1 (1.5 xG) Juárez

One insight that data analysis has given us is that teams that are playing better and have an advantage should continue to attack and look to score more goals.

Looking at some data points from this game, we can see the differences between the 1st and 2nd halves. After dominating the 1st half, Juárez came out more passively in the 2nd half, Mazatlán turned up the pressure and eventually found an equalizing goal.

Tijuana (2.8 xG) 2 - 4 (3.5 xG) Toluca

As I wondered in article analysing the new head coaches, “Turco” Mohamed created a more intense and direct Toluca than what we’ve become accustomed to in recent seasons.

Toluca only had 29% of possession (their lowest share for 5 years) and made 44 tackles (almost double their highest amount in Apertura 24). Los Diablos Rojos weren’t effective at preventing Tijuana’s creation, but attacked very efficiently, generating 3.5 xG. Alexis Vega scored twice from high xG situations, and it will be a challenge for Mohamed to maintain these shots from dangerous positions from Vega, and limit his attempted long shots.

Atlético San Luis (0.8 xG) 1 - 3 (1.7 xG) Tigres UANL

Tigres won this game in the 2nd half following Yan Phillipe’s red card, however the most notable aspect from the match were Tigres’ pressing ideas and effectiveness. Veljko Paunovic left André-Pierre Gignac on the bench, and Nicolás Ibáñez gave more intensidad in the first line of the press.

With Tigres’ wingers moving up and inside to jump on San Luis’ “stoppers” in their back-3, Paunovic showed the aggressiveness in his game plan to have his full-backs step-up to press San Luis’ wing-backs. Tigres generated more interceptions than in any game during Apertura 24.

An example of Tigres’ press out wide

Guadalajara 1 (1.8 xG) - 0 (0.2 xG) Santos Laguna

A rather comfortable win for Óscar García in his first match, against a Santos team that has only generated a total of 1.3 xG in their previous 4 away games.

“Tano” Ortiz surprised in his decision to play Luis Vega, an attacking midfielder/winger during his academy days, at left-back, and Chivas focused many of their attacks down this flank. García gave 2 debuts on the Chivas right-wing; Miguel Gómez (full-back) and Hugo Cameros (winger), and both impressed, with Camberos winning the penalty (fouled by Vega).

“Piojo” Alvarado missed the penalty, but scored the only goal of the game, through another attack that exploited a 1vs1 situation against Luis Vega.

Cruz Azul (1.5 xG) 1 - 1 (0.9 xG) Atlas

Martín Anselmi may have to find a better way of facing and creating chances against teams that match his system and play with a back-5 in defense. Atlas also got a point against Cruz Azul in November, with 3 centre-backs, and André Jardine matched-up Cruz Azul in liguilla.

Cruz Azul had little success via crosses in this match, just 11% success rate (crosses that find a teammate). The graphic shows the amount of crosses from in front of the box and from the byline on the right-side that Cruz Azul attempted, without success.

Pumas UNAM (1.6 xG) 2 - 1 (1.7 xG) Necaxa

The adaptation process from Necaxa’s centre-backs to play in a much higher line won’t be easy. Pumas exploited the space behind Necaxa’s defense in the 1st half, and whilst they created 13 shots in the 2nd half, Nicolás Larcamón’s side couldn’t find an equalizer.

Analysing Jorge Ruvalcaba’s goal shows clearly how Pumas were set up to take advantage of Larcamón’s plan. Ruvalcaba drops between the lines to attract the pressure of a Necaxa centre-back, and created a gap in their last line.

Ruvalcaba turns, accelerates and attacks the space, getting in-behind the Necaxa centre-back, before scoring a 1vs1 chance.

Monterrey (0.9 xG) 1 - 1 (0.7 xG) Puebla

Puebla came away with a point in Pablo Guede’s first game, using a rather pragmatic play style, defending for spells in the 5-4-1 mid-to-low block.

Monterrey couldn’t generate many clear chances during the match, with just 2 notable opportunities, both created by Sergio Canales, apart from Jorge Rodríguez’s golazo. Overall, a draw seemed fair.

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