Postgame Observations: America lacks play as a unit against Puebla

For the second consecutive match in Liga MX, Club America began with a lead but settled instead for a draw. A penalty by Osvaldo Martinez and a goal by Paul Aguilar matched the two other goals scored by Edgar Dueñas and Christian Bermudez as Las Aguilas settled for a 2-2 draw with Puebla at the Estadio Cuauhtemoc. With America’s game against Puebla now over, here’s my three thoughts on Club America’s 2-2 stalemate with La Franja.

1)The amount of absences have reached comical numbers

For a brief moment during the game, I thought America could make it out without a player sent off. Then Rubens Sambueza earned a second yellow near minute 63. In the last three games, America has collected three red cards. Luckily for America, Puebla registered a red as well immediately after Sambueza received his. Damian Schmidt just couldn’t hold back some words meant for the referee and tempted his own expulsion to even the field. Even with both teams playing with 10 in the final 27 minutes of regulation, America showed clear struggle to create anything. Sambueza had his suspension in the Clasico overturned, but at this point, America and its fans should expect to have at least one player unavailable. Discipline troubled America last season and for this season, the problem has yet to diminish.

2)America hasn’t allowed itself to play

Red cards inherently bring troubles on the field. Sambueza’s red happened at a moment where America looked ready to bring the attack to Puebla with its coach, Nacho Ambriz, bringing men deeper down the field. Paul Aguilar’s play showed how this scheme could have gone, but Sambueza’s absence shifted the dynamic of the game. America changed its outlook to preserve the draw instead of running up goals on the board. With the exception of its game versus Veracruz, America has not functioned as a unit. Its front-line tries to make the individual play and this allowed Puebla to smother out opportunities.

Going back to Aguilar’s goal, Paul scored on an individual play which opened up from another individual play. Martinez scored on a penalty. The talent runs deep for America, but the offense has not been clicking. Against Veracruz, Darwin Quintero and Silvio Romero showed how they can work as a unit. Against Chivas, better team play could prevent wasted points.

3)The uniforms get worse

On a less serious note, America needs an overhaul of uniforms. I’ve complained about their uniforms before, but Moises Muñoz’s pink getup took the awfulness of the kits one step further. At times bad uniforms can look good, no one better to look for as an example than Jorge Campos. Muñoz has worn pink before, but with most of the team wearing wine stained jerseys, Muñoz’s uniform tried hard to stand out without standing out. By not showing a great contrast in color, Muñoz’s kit did look good being bad, it just looked bad.