Tijuana Xolos: Club Tijuana Was Most Ill-Disciplined Team In Liga MX Apertura 2017
The Apertura 2017 wrapped up for the Tijuana Xolos nearly a week ago and many are still wondering what went wrong with this team.
Club Tijuana finished in 11th place, but there was clearly enough talent to exceed that mark and get into the playoffs.
The border city side was in a rebuilding process and chemistry was a clear problem on the team.
The Xolos obviously struggled to work together to generate scoring opportunities, but the problems lay even deeper than the soccer itself.
Damian Musto got into two separate altercations with teammates in front of the cameras throughout the tournament. One with Ignacio Malcorra at the Estadio Cuauhtémoc in the week 4 game against Puebla and another with Matias Aguirregaray at the Estadio Jalisco in the week 14 fixture against Atlas.
Apart from these disciplinary problems amongst themselves, the Aztec Canines also had problems with the other teams in the league.
Club Tijuana finished the Apertura 2017 with the most cards accumulated throughout the regular season. Los Xoloitzcuintles had 54 total cards throughout the Apertura– 51 yellow cards and three red cards. No surprises, as Damian Musto picked up the most yellow cards in the league with eight, and a red card as well. Damian Perez was not far behind with six yellow cards, then came Emanuel Aguilera and Gustavo Bou with five each.
This problem directly reflected on Eduardo Coudet, his leadership, and the players he chose to bring in.
The altercations between teammates especially made the Argentine manager look bad and may have been a reason why the club eventually parted ways with him. There were several factors that contributed to the Xolos’ downfall in this Apertura 2017. These disciplinary issues were just a piece to the puzzle.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.