Guadalajara splits pair against LaLiga teams; Tigres get Gorriarán

With the World Cup on a break ahead of the semifinals, we’ve got time to catch up on some Liga MX news.

Guadalajara returns from a week-long training session in Spain where the Chivas split a pair of exhibition matches against LaLiga sides.

New manager Veljko Paunovic won his first game as head man as the Chivas defeated Getafe 1-0 when midfielder Fernando Beltrán snuck in between two defenders and swept a pass from Carlos Cisneros into the net.

Coach Paunovic substituted freely as he tries to familiarize himself with the rather bloated roster (the Chivas have eight strikers on the payroll and he’ll likely have to weed out half of them).

Chivas come up short in Basque Country

On Sunday, Guadalajara took the field at the historic Estadio de San Mamés in Bilbao where Athletic bested the Chivas 2-0.

With nearly four weeks to go before the Clausura 2023 kicks off, Paunovic and new GM Fernando Hierro have time to figure out how they might tweak the roster, whether they might need to bring in new faces and who they might want to farm out.

One player who appears to have won a spot in the Chivas locker room is enigmatic wingback Christián Calderón.

The speedy “Chicote” has struggled to win a starting spot since joining “El Rebaño Sagrado” almost exactly three years ago. His tendency to freelance and lose tactical discipline caused him to fall out of favor under Víctor Manuel Vucetich (2020-2021) and Ricardo Cadena benched him the past two seasons, only using him sparingly as a substitute.

Still only 25, Calderón was once considered a future star for El Tri but the Chivas dangled him as trade bait last month as they sought to acquire young striker Eduardo Aguirre from Santos Laguna.

But Paunovic has come away impressed with the raw skills and talent in Calderón’s boots and he singled him out for praise ahead of the Chivas’ return trip.

Tigres strengthen midfield

Miguel Herrera likely cost himself his job by complaining that his team was getting too old but a look at the club’s bios reveals that he isn’t entirely wrong (although throwing your players under the bus will lose you the locker room very quickly).

In the middle of the pitch, regulars Guido Pizarro, 32, and Rafael Carioca, 33, are getting long in the tooth. Another midfielder, Juan Pablo Vigón, is 31.

Now new coach Diego Cocca will have Fernando Gorriarán on his line-up card. The 28-year-old Uruguay international has been the master of midfield with Santos Laguna and he’ll wreak havoc on Tigers opponents now.

Carioca appears to be the odd man out. He’ll likely follow veteran defender Hugo Ayala, 35, out the door. Ayala has signed with Atlético de San Luis while Carioca is expected to look for his next destination abroad.