Hierro-Paunovic project, to revive the lineage of Chivas

The Clausura 2023 tournament league marks the first time in the history of the Liga MX with Clásico Nacional and Regio in the semifinals, and, in addition, these four teams are the best valued squad value currently in Mexico (according to Transfermarkt). América, Monterrey and Tigres have been constant in these instances in recent years, but for Chivas it represents the opportunity to return to the spotlight.

In this semester Guadalajara closed with 34 points, a figure that had not reached for almost two decades, in the Clausura 2004. In addition, for the first time since the playoffs returned in the Apertura 2020, the team managed to qualify directly to the quarterfinals. final, finishing third in the table behind only Rayados and América.

This was a sigh for the leading role of Chivas in the history of the Liga MXwhere it has 12 titles, the second most, and 19.4% of fan preferences, leading in popularity over America, which registered 19.0% in the most recent study of the Query Mitofsky (2022).

But if you only look at what we have in this century, it is hard for Chivas to shine: in 23 years they have only won two titles with more than a decade of margin between them (Opening 2006 and Closing 2017) and they have reached three finals, the The lowest amount among the ‘big four’ of Mexican soccer, since América has nine, Pumas seven and Cruz Azul six.

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That is why his return to the semifinals (since Opening 2020) and facing his staunch rival, America, raises so many expectations in his millions of fans around the country and in the United States. The pillars of this new illusion are two managers who joined just this semester from the Old Continent: Fernando Hierro and Veljko Paunovic.

The Spanish Hierro was announced last October as the new sports director after the departure of Ricardo Peláez. He held that position with his country’s team during the Euro 2008 and World Cup 2010 titles, as well as leading Málaga to the Champions League in 2012.

He was responsible for hiring the Serbian Paunovic as coach of the first team also in October, facing the Clausura 2023. They were not the only internationals on the staff, as former South African striker Quinton Fortune, former Portuguese defender Nuno Gomes also joined and the Spanish trainer Jaime Bartres, showing his immediate adaptation with results.

Chivas it was in the top 5 of the table for 10 of the 17 days of the tournament and achieved double digit victories (10) for the first time since the 2010 Bicentennial, with a squad with an average age of 26.2 years, the fourth lowest in the Clausura 2023 only behind Pachuca, Santos and Necaxa. The Hierro-Paunovic combination has already given proof of his work.

“The first team is always the face of an institution, so when it goes well, you have the perception that the whole club works very well (…) Fernando Hierro’s is a project that clearly changes the image of what that Chivas has been in recent years and puts it in a place where we would normally have to see it, fighting with America, in other classics and against the powerful teams from the north”, Jorge ‘Ruso’ Zamogilny, a League analyst, mentions to El Economista. MX for TUDN and former pro player.

But it is still early to celebrate, adds the specialist: “The most important thing is to maintain a certain regularity and consistency. Guadalajara has not had that since the time of Matías Almeyda (club coach from 2015 to 2018), it has had significant peaks in performance but then it has fallen and that seems to me to be something that has to be solved ”.

With Almeyda, Chivas He achieved his best winning season in this century, obtaining five titles in three years, including one Concachampions, which positioned the Argentine as the second most winning coach in the club’s history, only below the 12 stars that Javier De la Torre achieved from 1955 to 1973.

In the post-Almeyda era, seven coaches have spent time at Guadalajara and none has won a title: José Cardozo, Tomás Boy, Luis Fernando Tena, Víctor Manuel Vucetich, Marcelo Leaño, Ricardo Cadena and, currently, Veljko Paunovic, that tries to break that drought with a renewed tactical scheme.

“There is an important hand from the coach in this tournament. The way in which Guadalajara changed from being a team that tried to save itself individually to actually being a team is very noticeable. Today he has his strength in the team, not in a figure as such; what we found is a squad that works very well together, thus covering the deficiencies of a player in attack”, highlights the “Russian” Zamogilny.

From his point of view, there are three main changes in the way Chivas plays starting this semester: “one, in possession of the ball, a concept of attacking the next line, of doing damage; two is the set piece work; and three defensive work, where everyone is involved in defense, where pressure is applied from the first action of the rival and where the team always tries to manage as a block. On these three pillars Paunovic has formed a very competitive team”.

The great test of the Hierro-Paunovic project will be in the National Classic of the semifinals, since Chivas’ record against América in the leagues is not favourable. Of their 11 previous clashes from 1983, eight were won by the eagles, although the last precedent, the quarterfinals of the Apertura 2020, went to Guadalajara.

In this same tournament America defeated 4-2 Chivas in the Akron stadium during the regular phase and that put in doubt the work of Paunovic, who at that time came as fourth place overall. For Damián Zamogilny, it was a turning point in the Guadalajara team that “strengthened the group”, which is why he envisions a different series in the semifinals.

“Paunovic already knows what America can give on the field. He is an extremely intelligent coach because of how he has set up matches, how he interprets situations and the changes he makes, he gives a pretty good reading of what is happening. That is why this series is going to be very different, much more closed, in which perhaps they will win by the minimum”.

The analyst of STUDY He also refers that under Paunovic’s approach, the players who have stood out the most are the full-backs Alan Mozo and Carlos Cisneros, as well as the midfielders Víctor Guzmán and Fernando Beltrán. The latter, as well as Alexis Vega and defender Gilberto Sepúlveda, have even been called up to the Mexican team under Diego Cocca.

There is nothing safe for Chivas at the end of the tournament, but at least this semester it served to change the managerial and sports image of his project with a view to that stability that he has not had in the last five years.

“Fernando Hierro’s role has been very sober, he doesn’t appear much in the media. He made the decision for Paunovic to arrive, he was respected and he works on it behind the team, supporting the institutional and administrative part. It is a very good job for the moment, but we know that Guadalajara has great demands and they will end up being judged by how many championships they can get in their entire process. He has started it very well and it has been a surprise because they had no knowledge of Mexican soccer”, concludes the former soccer player from Atlas, Puebla and Tecos.