On Saturday, after the defeat against Necaxa, Pedro Caixinha came out before the media to accept all the blame for the setback, and although he didn't want to use it as an excuse, he explained that the beginning of his process has been very difficult because he hasn't been able to repeat a lineup in the six matches that the team has played so far.
"It's a process that yes, is truly costing us; I don't want to have excuses because I'm the first one who comes here and says that I'm responsible, but look at how many times we've repeated an eleven in all the lineups; look at how many players we had out today; I'm not one to make excuses, I'm one to go with what I have, because I have a great squad and I have great expectations for the capability this squad has; so we must keep working and fighting, I'm one for fighting, I'm one for battling, shaking the dust off and moving forward," said the coach.
And he added: "I'm a person who always wants to win, but we do have to understand reality, because when you don't have a base and you maintain it in a regular way, it's very difficult to have connections, associations, for it to be a team that understands each other, and that takes time; we thought that in the game against Monterrey we were already going to have everyone, but we have one more injury; these are things you must know how to deal with and move forward," Caixinha concluded on Saturday.
At this point, the Portuguese is absolutely right, because for one reason or another, La Máquina hasn't been able to count on its entire squad in this first third of the season; even for tonight's match against Monterrey, they will continue to have absences, as Carlos Peña will be out for two weeks after a second degree sprain in his right ankle.
For this reason, Caixinha has had to give game time to almost his entire squad, accommodating some players in positions where they weren't initially considered, such as Julio César Domínguez at left back and Gullit Peña himself in the holding midfield position - a position he is familiar with since it's where his career began -; however, Pedro hasn't been able to find a starting eleven that gives his team guarantees and allows him to fully deploy his style of play.
But let's see which absences Cruz Azul under Caixinha has had during the season.
ROUND 1
ROUND 2
ROUND 3
ROUND 4
ROUND 5
ROUND 6
THE RETURN OF MÉNDEZ
After a six-round suspension, Édgar Méndez will finally return to play in the league. The Spanish attacker was sanctioned with that number of games after spitting on Alejandro Díaz, from América, in the second leg of the quarterfinals of the previous tournament, which is why he had to miss the first third of the championship.
So far, Méndez has only played in the Copa MX, accumulating 270 minutes in the three matches that La Máquina has played in the cup competition, with one goal in the competition.
"I've already served what I had to serve, the past is the past and now what matters is getting up, trying to do things right so that everyone forgets what I did. It's tough because they take away what you love most, but it was a heated moment. I'm not a 21-year-old kid to be doing those stupid things, I've already served, I've already learned from my mistakes, and I know it won't happen again," Édgar said.