Chivas de Guadalajara Bans All Supporter Groups After Derby Violence

Multiple injuries were reported after Chivas fans fought police this last weekend.

In case you missed it, Mexican soccer suffered a HUGE black eye this weekend.  During the Tapatio Derby between Chivas and Atlas, this time being played at the home of Atlas, Chivas supporters engaged in a running battle with Guadalajara police in the upper terraces of the stadium.  According to Reuters, the Chivas folks managed to outnumber the police and several police officers were seriously injured, including two suffering serious but non life threatening injuries.  Approximately 30 civilians were injured and were being treated at local hospitals after the match.

Reaction from the club, the Mexican Federation, and the local government has been swift, and hard line.  First off, Chivas has announced that they will ban ALL supporter groups from their matches indefinitely and with immediate effect.  This includes this weekend's coming Superclasico with Club America to be played at Chivas's Omnilife Stadium.  The statement on this issue also says that ALL MEMBERS of credentialed supporter groups are banned as well.  According to Soccerly, The FMF is seriously considering banning all supporter groups from all clubs in the wake of this incident.

Guadalajara officials are none too pleased with events either.  They have closed Estadio Jalisco, home of Atlas, and prohibited it from hosting soccer matches until further notice.  17 arrests have already been made in connection with the violence, and both Chivas and the local police are working on rounding up anyone else involved as well.

This derby has long had a reputation for violent incidents, especially involving Chivas "ultras" who puff out their chests and announce that they take pride in such things, again, giving real supporters a bad name.  Chivas and Atlas shared Estadio Jalisco until recent times when Omnilife stadium was built to host Chivas.

  

This kind of thing has no place in soccer and just gives people who are against the sport more ammunition to use against it.  Anyone who thinks that this is "cool" or that it's the right way to "support your club" should never be allowed through the gates of a stadium.   Check out the video below for footage of the incident, but be cautioned that it's rather graphic.

Congratulations to Club Leon, 2013 LigaMx Apertura Champions!

Club Leon beat America to grab the 2013 Apertura Title.

The Puddle would like to pass on congratulations to the 2013 Champions of the LigaMx Apertura: Club Leon.  They took down Club America 3-1 at the Azteca and 5-1 on aggregate to claim the title.  It's the sixth Primera Division title for Leon, but their first since 1992.  All in all this is pretty huge for their club and their fans.  MLS readers will no doubt note the presence of Rafa Marquez in the above photo, as he has kicked his career back into gear as captain of Leon.

It was a pretty exciting two legged series to watch, well at least if you're a Leon fan.  They dropped two goals on America in the opener, but figured they might have a tougher time at the Azteca.  They didn't though as America never really looked to get into the tie.  Kyle McCarthy offers an extremely well written match review over at FoxSoccer.com

LigaMX will now take a break until after the first year, when they'll kick of the 2014 Clausura.  If you're not checking out the product that they're putting out on the field, you're missing some entertaining soccer.   Look up LigaMx on your local Spanish language stations and prepare for some fun, unpredictable footy.

Chivas de Guadalajara Sack Former Heart Boss

John van' Schip has been sacked by CD Guadalajara

So as it turns out, it's not just Chivas USA that seems to be in total disarray.  The franchise's Mexican "parent club" tossed yet another coach today, former Melbourne Heart boss John van' Schip.  The Dutchman's firing comes after his adviser Johan Cruyff was sacked last Decemeber.

Initially it appeared that van' Schip and his staff would dodge the axe.  Chivas scraped enough together toward the end of the 2012 Apertura campaign to finish 8th and qualify for the Liguilla.  However, the Goats fell to eventual finalists Toluca by an aggregate of 5-2.  The final straw seemed to be losing to lower division side Estudiantes Tecos 3-2 in a friendly on Sunday.

Schip seemed to be fairly confident that he'd be staying on earlier this week, mentioning that he might have to juggle his lineup for Chivas' Clausura kickoff against Toluca.  He observed that his players didn't look ready to face the challenges ahead.  Well, now they'll face them with a different manager at the helm.

That the Chivas organization would whack a coach a couple of days before their opener shouldn't shock anyone familiar with Liga MX or the Goats' little American stepchildren, Chivas USA, who have been the doormat of MLS for a couple of years now.  The brand seems to have lost a little bit of it's luster, and it sometimes it seems like the Vergaras make changes for changes sake.  If they were going to sack van' Schip, why wait until now, because you lost a friendly?  The new manager is going to have quite a bit of work to do.

Reports suggest that former Chivas and Santos Laguna boss Benjamin Gallindo will take the helm for the time being.

Puddle's Goal of the Weekend: Juan Carlos Cacho vs, Guadalajara

For my goal of the weekend I take you to the first week of action in the newly rebranded Liga Mx. Check out this outside of the box strike from Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho. It would prove to be the game winner.

Mexico Match Thoughts: Toluca vs, Chivas de Guadalajara

Toluca's Juan Carlos Cacho celebrates his first goal of the season (AP Photo)

To say that Chivas disappointed in last year's Clausura is a bit of an understatement.  Going winless in their last 5 in domestic league play, they made some high profile changes in the off-season.  They brought in former Melbourne Heart manager John Van't Schip to take the helm of the club, and they added two high profile players, Luis Perez and Rafael Marquez Lugo.

 

Toluca didn't seem to care a lick about this though, and showed it very early in the match.  In the very first minute midfielder Zinha smacked a shot on target that had to be saved by Luis Michel for Chivas.  His respite didn't last long though.  In the second minute, Chivas turned the ball over in the midfield and Toluca forward Carlos Esquivel came charging toward the goal.  He unleashed a drive toward the inside of the near post, and Michel dove over it, totally missing the ball as it went into the net and Toluca took a 1-0 lead.

 

Conceding seemed to wake Chivas up a bit, and they started to control the ball.  Their first chance came on 16 minutes as Ernesto Perez set up for a direct free kick outside of the penalty arc.  Unfortunately for the Goats, his shot sailed high and failed to trouble the 'keeper.

 

Toluca would manage to tack on another goal before the half as well.  In the 32nd minute, Lucas Silva played Juan Carlos Cacho in behind the rather high Chivas back line.  The Toluca attacker then slammed a shot toward the near post from outside of the area.  Michel dove to his right, and managed to get a hand to it, but it wasn't enough to turn the shot away as Toluca took a 2-0 lead into halftime.

 

Chivas largely took control of the match in the second half, and slowly started to zero in on the Toluca goal.  In the 62nd minute the aforementioned Rafa Marquez Lugo got a decent look from close range, but his shot was from a rather tough angle, and he missed the target.  Lugo wasn't done though.  In the 67th minute he unleashed another shot that just missed the far post.  Finally in the 68th he took a ball from Erick Torres and slotted home his first goal in a Chivas kit to make it 2-1.

 

That was about all the Goats could manage though.  In the 79th minute, Jesus Sanchez tried his luck at an equalizer, but Toluca 'keeper Alfredo Talavera was up to the task, saving the shot and preserving the 2-1 win for Toluca at home.