LIGA MX
How Fernando Ortiz will announce his teams at Rayados
New Monterray boss Ortiz says that no player is guaranteed a starting place in his team.
The new Rayados era under Fernando Ortiz is about to begin with the start of the Apertura 2023. Ahead of Saturday’s match against Atlético San Luis, “El Tano” spoke to the press and had no qualms about revealing how he will work ahead of each game. One thing is for sure, his players will have to fight all week to earn a place in the starting eleven.
Competition for places at Rayados
“I have a way of working in which the players are going to compete up until the day before the game, and they know there is competition for places, where they have to earn their place in the team on Saturday,” he says.
“They have to know that the daily competition has to be there. If they think that, by name, or by having had game time in past tournaments (they will be starters), they are wrong. With me, at least, if there is a young player, or a name that maybe nobody knows, and during the week he has shown me what I want, he is going to play. They know that. I don’t have the 11 (starters for the match against San Luis) yet.”
What level will Monterrey be at on matchday 1? That’s the question the Albiazul fans are asking, a question that Ortiz also answers without any problems; he promises aggressive football and that’s what they’ll be looking for next Saturday at the Estadio Alfonso Lastras.
“In the friendly matches, we have seen a different Monterrey. Perhaps we’ve made some naive defensive mistakes because we’ve moved forward. From the moment we go to play the first match against San Luis on Saturday, we’re going to look for the win. Yes, I have no doubt about that, because I’ve told them that from the first time I had a chat with them,” Ortiz continues.
Waiting on signings
José Antonio Noriega, Rayados’ sporting director, promised three new signings, but none have arrived at the club yet.
“El Tano” adds: “We will try with the players we have today to be an aggressive and attacking team. Afterwards, this is football, I can’t determine what will happen when the referee blows his whistle, because that’s what we’re working for. This is a sport where you don’t know what will happen.”