Tuca Ferretti up against the wall at Cruz Azul
Of the last 11 official games, the team has won just one within the full 90 minutes.
Things are not looking good for Ricardo Ferretti at Cruz Azul. On top of the team’s serious lack of goals, there is a negative win of results with just one single victory within the regulation 90 minutes of his last 11 games in charge of the Máquina Celeste.
The numbers are so cold and compelling that as evidenced by the fact that his last victory as Cruz Azul coach was on date 17 of the Clausura 2023 tournament - the 3-2 win over Santos Laguna back in April.
Barring that game, the team led by the Brazilian strategist has recorded eight defeats and two draws. Ferretti’s team did beat Atlanta United in the Leagues Cup - but in a penalty shootout as it finished 1-1 on full-time. On paper, it’s a second win but doesn’t do much to mask what are otherwise alarming figures.
And if we include the team’s last game against Charlotte, which ended 0-0 on 90 minutes with the MLS team winning 3-4 on penalties, Cruz Azul’s overall tally in the last 11 outings is nine defeats and two wins.
But looking strictly at games played in normal time, in his last eleven matches Ferretti has only won one match, plus the two draws were against North American teams in the Leagues Cup and the defeats against Mazatlán 3-1 on date 14 of the previous championship, as well as against América 1-3 in Week 15 and against Chivas 2-1 in Week 16.
Later in the playoffs they fell 0-1 to Atlas, as well as in the first three dates of the 2023 Liga MX Apertura against Atlas 0-2, Toluca 2-0, Tijuana 2-1 and finally, the most recent defeat - to Inter Miami (2-1) in their opening game of the 2023 Leagues Cup.
The truth is that, if we take into account his stay at Juárez and in the sky blues he has coached in 48 games, where he barely added ten victories for a minimum 20 percent winning percentage.
But in the specific case of Cruz Azul, the real worry is that the team gives the impression that they do not have the necessary weapons to get ahead. Recent reinforcements such as Kevin Castaño and Diber Cambindo have not made a difference; while it could be argued that Carlos Salcedo, Willer Ditta and Jesús Dueñas have not fully adapted to the rest of their team mates.
So the outlook for the Brazilian coach, for the time being, is looking bleak.