Liguilla hits low point with just one Mexican goal

Another Liguilla ended and Tigres is once again is the new champion. The Universitarios won the league title by defeating Monterrey, who had been the top team during the regular season.

The win also stopped Monterrey from crowning themselves champion in a season without having a single Mexican player score a goal. At one point Monterrey had up to 10 foreign players starting. While the rule is that only nine foreign registered players are allowed, Jonathan Gonzalez counts as a Mexican developed player, even when he's part of the US soccer program.

While the aforementioned stat didn't happen, another one definitely did. Out of the 32 goals scored in this Liguilla, only one was scored by a Mexican player. Angel Sepulveda's goal against Toluca in the second leg of the Quarterfinals was the only goal scored by a Mexican player in all 13 games of the Liguilla.

The Liguilla playoffs are supposed to showcase the best Mexican teams have to offer. Now more than ever it's shown that they no longer have space for Mexican scoring talent. Not having Chivas (all-Mexican team) in the Liguilla definitely had an impact in this category, but being minutes away from having a title winner that didn't have a single Mexican scorer shows that it's a big problem, a problem that has already had an impact on the National team.

During the summer, because of the Confederations Cup, Mexico had to go to the Gold Cup with an All Liga MX team. Having such a team meant that Mexico's crop of target forwards in that squad was composed by the likes Sepulveda, Martin Barragan and Major League Soccer’s Erick Torres, after their best forward, Alan Pulido, got injured. The result was one goal by Sepulveda, and Mexico's lack of offensive fire power was the determining factor in what was a disappointing tournament that ended with a semifinal loss to Jamaica.

It's clear that Liga MX has to do something if it looks to do something about this "problem" But it's not even clear if they consider it a problem, even when the national team is a key component of Mexican football. Rumors are strong that the 20/11 rule might come back. The rule consisted that all teams had to meet a quota of minutes of participation for Mexican players younger than 20 years and 11 months of age. Although, if implemented, it might take some time for it to have an effect, something definitely needs to be done because stats like these prove that there is a shortage of goals by Mexican players. At the end, a lack of Mexican goalscorers spells bad news for Mexico’s coach Juan Carlos Osorio, as well as his future successors.