Juan Reynoso decided to bench José de Jesús Corona in Cruz Azul’s defeat against Puebla for this reason

Cruz Azul is slowly falling behind in Clausura 2022 as they lost again, this time in Estadio Azteca against Club Puebla, who were superiors to La Máquina as they started winning early in the game, and even if Los Cementeros scored the equalizer quickly, La Franja was able to control the game and eventually win it.

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Cruz Azul started Clausura 2022 strong, winning three games and drawing another on the first four rounds of the season, but since then, they’ve lost three games in the last five matches, with just one victory and one draw.

Things are not looking good for La Máquina, as they still have to face four games in the next 14 days -subject to what Liga MX says after the brawl in Querétaro and the potential suspension of Clausura 2022-, which could leave them out of Liguilla places and CONCACAF Champions League if they don’t improve their performances.

It’s true that with that many games in such a short span of time -they will play a total of 7 games in 21 days-, Reynoso needs to manage the playing time he gives each of their players, so they won’t get injured, but there’s another thing he’s looking for with the current changes he’s done, which is why he decided to bench José de Jesús Corona on Saturday night.

Why did he sit Corona?

“Chuy” Corona is not happy with the current situation in Cruz Azul, as he knows things are tense inside LA Máquina structure, but also because his son had to leave Cruz Azul looking for more playing time elsewhere, as he was never going to have a real opportunity.

Cruz Azul has both “Chuy” Corona and Sebastián Jurado as their top goalkeepers, and even if Jurado could have done more in the defeat against Club Puebla, he’s a talented goalkeeper, as he showed when he was with Veracruz, although he needs to gain regularity to prove it.

Reynoso knows it, and given the unhappiness of Corona, added up to his age, could be what he needs to start a generational change in the roster, which could give more playing time to players like Sebastián Jurado.

Is there a reason for this generational change?

The reason for it is that Reynoso, even with the problems he has with Jaime Ordiales, sees himself in Cruz Azul long-term, and if he proves that he can build a younger squad that still is a contender -something he already started doing with the additions in the offseason-, he will be able to extend his contract. Reynoso currently earns $2 million per season, a sum that he doesn’t want to let go that easily.

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