When the regular phase of the Clausura 2023 tournament ends (on Sunday, April 30), Rayados de Monterrey will have reached 80 days occupying the general leadership of the MX League. In other words, the team led by Víctor Manuel Vucetich will close with 70% of the total time of the season in the highest position, since since they beat Atlas (0-2) on matchday 6 they have never been ousted from the top.
Rayados’ performance in 2023 is at the level of its best times: after beating Mazatlán on matchday 16, it tied its highest number of points in short tournaments with 37, the same ones that it achieved in the Clausura 2016 under the technical direction of Antonio Mohamed, and also equaled the most wins in a football year in its history with 22, which he obtained in the 1973-74 season.
These credentials allow you to position yourself as the number 1 candidate for the title, even within the algorithms of the specialized portal of FiveThirtyEight, which gives it 31% odds above América (26%) and Chivas (10%). But to reach this point of quality, the players, the board and the coach had to go through a process of internal transformation that made them change their mentality.
“I see a stronger team than in previous years. What Rayados has achieved shows that the mentality of his group is different, that the reinforcements came to increase internal competition and that they have changed the mentality for everyone. I agree that the base of some players who previously did not achieve what was expected (the title) is still there, but the reinforcements are playing a very important role in also raising self-esteem and self-confidence in what this team is capable of achieving ”, analyzes for El Economista, Antonio Nelli, journalist and sportscaster from TUDN with 34 years of experience.
Rayados inhabits one of the heaviest ecosystems in Mexican soccer with the euphoric fans of Nuevo León, who, at least in the last five years, have demanded the title every tournament. After achieving it in December 2019, there are five consecutive contests in which the maximum reach has been the semifinals, for this reason the objective of the Clausura 2023, although it is made up with the leadership and the points records, continues to be the crown.
“We are aware that we have not achieved anything and that we have to improve and correct. We will try to reach the Liguilla in this way to aspire to the championship, that is our objective. We have not lost focus and that has allowed us to continue advancing. We don’t have to change, but we do have to fine-tune things that can be important”, mentioned the coach, Vucetich, in the last weeks of the Clausura 2023.
Vucetich is seen as a key factor in Rayados’ transformation. He returned to the club a year ago, in the Clausura 2022, and excited the fans because of his record: he gave the institution two of the four league titles between 2009 and 2010, as well as a three-time championship in concacaf. Added to this is the fact that he has the third highest number of league trophies in the first division with 5, only behind the 6 achieved by Raúl Cárdenas and the 7 by Ricardo Ferretti and Ignacio Trelles.
In it Closing 2023despite the consistency of his team in the lead, Vucetich does not overflow with self-praise, but rather maintains restraint and attributes the good results to four points: combativeness, dedication, player rotation and desire to win, as stated in the one before the Clásico Regio that they beat Tigres in March.
“Víctor infects a lot of peace, he is a very sensible, paternalistic person, he is the ideal coach to help a team take pressure off. When the player sees Víctor’s background and the affection that people have for him, he must feel supported because he is with a leader, with a man who is already part of the club’s history, that is also very beneficial for the group because he transmits to them, in addition to his personal qualities, the professional wisdom of someone who has earned a lot”, defines Antonio Nelli.
Vucetich’s role bore its first fruits since the choice of his signings. In the winter market, Monterrey spent 5.23 million euros (according to Transfermarkt) in the hiring of Víctor Guzmán, a central defender from Tijuana; Jordi Cortizo, offensive midfielder from Puebla; and Omar Govea, a containment medium who was based at FC Voluntari in Romania. In contrast, Tigres spent 22.3 million euros and will finish the Clausura 2023 in playoff position.
Guzmán was the most solid reinforcement for Rayados by adding the fifth most minutes in the squad (1,245) until matchday 16, which caught the attention of Diego Cocca to make him debut in the Senior Team. Last semester, also under the management of Vucetich, Monterrey opted for the signings of strikers Rodrigo Aguirre and Germán Berterame, who, like Víctor Guzmán, already had proven quality in the MX League.
“Sometimes the big argument for not resorting to players within the league itself is the cost. If Rayados has found a way to bring players from the league itself and make them perform at the level they have had or even above it, it seems to me that it is an excellent solution, because sometimes due to the issue of (lower) costs they bring a footballer from outside but the traditional adaptation process comes and they don’t know if it will work or not. Rayados have skipped that stage, they have managed to beat time and gain performance in players”.
During the leadership tournament, Vucetich has used 23 players, including the under 23 youngsters Iván Tona, Axel Grijalva and Luis Gustavo Sánchez, in addition to three of his most frequent starters having more than 5 goals (Rogelio Funes Mori is the leader of the team with 9). Despite the fact that he has had injuries and suspensions, he has found an ideal combination that has only dropped points in 3 of 16 games.
“The reinforcements have been a good complement to a squad that is already powerful, but we know that a strong team in terms of its lineup always needs players with different characteristics and profiles. Monterrey has known how to complement itself very well with the super stars and with those who may not be so stellar but who are an important complement when the team needs them”, highlights the journalist from TUDN.
At 67 years old, Víctor Manuel Vucetich will seek to revive a final of MX League (his last was in the Clausura 2015, when he lost with Querétaro against Santos) and raise his record to six stars. In his second spell in charge of Rayados, he does not have individuals such as Humberto Suazo and Aldo De Nigris, who were decisive in the 2009 and 2010 titles, but his style continues to be offensive and, now, somewhat more collaborative, from the specialist perspective. by Antonio Nelli.
“Víctor maintains the same base in essence. Now Rayados is a team that is ordered defensively and when it seems that nothing is happening it begins to unfold quickly and place its attacking men in an advantageous position. Today perhaps he does not have a player of the level of Suazo but he has at least 3 players in very good conditions on the offensive side who have begun to understand each other very well. His formula has a simple strategy: I group up, recover the ball and split with quick transitions. He has a very well-organized disorder, he asks the players to change places, to move, he gives them a lot of freedom because talent is the last stage of his strategy ”.
Rayados will play their last game of the regular phase of the Clausura 2023 against Pumas on Saturday at the BBVA stadium, already with the merit that they will also close in this venue, their home, all the league stages they play. Then his true challenge will begin to reach the sixth star in its history and tie Santos Laguna, in addition to closing the gap with his staunch rival, Tigres, who has 7.
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