A Mexicans-Only Tradition That Haunts Chivas
It is no secret that one of the biggest reasons why Chivas is considered one of the most popular teams in Liga MX and Mexican soccer amongst fans is because of their tradition of fielding only Mexican players. Though the game has become globalized, Chivas has remained firm in its practice and has only expanded to foreign players born to Mexican parents.
The Tradition Was Adopted, Not Born
It may or may not be familiar to fans. A Belgian man named Edgar Evaraert founded Chivas in 1908. Before 1943, in addition to playing with Mexican players, Guadalajara also fielded Spanish and Belgian players. After joining a Mexican professional league, they adopted the tradition of fielding Mexican-only players in the 1943-44 season. It would be until the late 1950s that Chivas gained massive success. From 1957 to 1970, the Goats went on to win 8 league titles, 2 Mexican Cups, 6 Champion of Champions, and 1 Concacacaf Championship, among others titles. Those two decades set unprecedented pride as despite fielding only Mexican players; they found lots of success.
Holding On To The Tradition
Things were rough for the team from Guadalajara in the 1970s as success was much more challenging, as Cruz Azul dominated that era. During the 1980s, Las Chivas won a title in the 1986-87 season after 17 years without lifting the cup. In the next decade, the team would become the backbone of the Mexican National Team, and it became evident that if Chivas were performing well, so would the National Team.
Chivas went on to win another title in the 1997 Verano season, but it was getting more complicated and expensive to lure and keep players to help them keep winning. The demand for players and transactions fees continued to grow, making it difficult for Chivas to spend the cash for top-tier Mexican players.
Globalization Effects
Chivas can be considered a victim of globalization. As players’ regional and global popularity exploded, many were out of reach for the club. It’s not to say that Guadalajara did not reap the benefits of international expansion. After Jorge Vergara purchased the team in 2002, things changed dramatically. The club understood that it was in the business of making money, and one of the best ways to do that was to sell players.
In the early 2000s, Chivas sold several highly-rated young players who would perform well in amateur tournaments. The most notable was Carlos Vela, sold to Arsenal following El Tri’s U-17 World Cup win in Peru in 2005, and the other was Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez. Unlike Vela, Hernandez did play for Los rojiblancos professionally. His performance in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa caught the eye of Sir Alex Ferguson, and the coaching legend bought the Little Pea for Manchester United after the tournament.
Another player sold to Europe after a good tournament performance was Carlos Salcido, sent to PSV in the Netherlands. Still, Vergara was dealing with the cost of replacing those players on the opposite front. The Liga MX teams understood that Chivas needed specifically Mexican players. As soon as wind hit their respective management, players who would have sold for 1 to 2 million dollars were marked up because Guadalajara was interested in their services. The teams knew that Vergara and Chivas had the money, but most importantly, their player was Mexican.
Should Chivas End the Mexicans-only Tradition?
Things have not changed much recently. As competition to sign players has expanded to Europe and Major League Soccer, Guadalajara finds it tougher to find quality players at a reasonable price. It is ridiculous to see the eye-gouging prices that teams put on mediocre players when they find out Chivas is interested. The latest example was the 11 million dollars Chivas paid to get Uriel Antuna from the LA Galaxy. Before that, Guadalajara coughed up 8 million dollars for Cristian ‘Chicote’ Calderon, and both players were bad ROI’s for Las Chivas.
Despite having several players as their target this past off-season, one of them being Sebastian Cordova, Guadalajara only signed Roberto ‘El Piojo’ Alvarado. Yes, Chivas scored a great opening week result vs. Mazatlan, and without Alvarado on the pitch. The question remains: is one quality transfer enough to push the team from Verde Valle over the hump? It’s to be determined, but highly unlikely.
Things will not get any better for Chivas, and it does not help that their Cantera has been unable to deliver top-tier players. As the cost of players rises, players will be more difficult to purchase. The lingering question that most rojiblanco fans hate to hear is: Should Chivas end their tradition and sign non-Mexican players?
Pros – Chivas could benefit by scouting for talent in South America and buying cheap young players that they could potentially sell for profit.
Cons – Ending the tradition would put a sour taste in the mouth of loyal fans. I can see many purists burning their jerseys and ending their marriage with the club.
Loading ...No Easy Answer
The truth is that there is no easy answer to this dilemma. Guadalajara’s fans seem to be loyal enough that as long as they compete, they will remain fans. Changing the tradition almost seems unforgivable as most fans of Chivas are Mexican or of Mexican descent, and they are very proud that their team only fields Mexican players.
In an age where discrimination is a hot topic, some could even argue that was Chivas is doing is discriminatory, but that is an entirely separate and probably legal issue that we will not be touching.
In the end, we will not be recommending Guadalajara to do anything. They have a team of data analysts and survey takers who can guide them on making the best decision for their team. What we want to know is: what do you think? Be sure to vote in the polls, watch or listen to our Podcast, and leave us a message in the comments section below.
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