It has been three months since Roger Martinez played for America. America’s owner closed all the doors for Martinez. Now, America faces a big problem, injuries. The club had no other choice than to talk about Martinez returning to the squad. As America fans disapprove of this decision, Martinez has the opportunity to win the fans’ love again.

That story was over when the night of March 4, Coach Miguel Herrera confirmed that Martinez is back in the squad and will be considered for the rest of the season.

“Roger is an America player and as a player of America, we can play him,” Herrera says.

As expected, the fans did not approve of this, but said that Martinez is only mocking the club.

On the other side, Martinez has been seeking for an opportunity to play again. Now, what does Martinez need to do, to get the fans’ love back? It won’t be easy considering the history, and even though Martinez apologized publicly it is still not enough. He must gain the respect of the fans. He has to show on the field he is worth playing for this club.

If he was able to make fans love him, why can’t he do it again? While I agree that it was disrespectful for the club and the fans, we must not forget his goals and what Martinez did for America.

In the 2018 to 2020 season, Martinez scored 17 goals and had 11 assists while this number may seem low, the goals and assists he scored were during clasicos and those goals added wins for America.

This season, Martinez must avoid getting red carded, and score in important games such as Pumas, Cruz Azul and Chivas.

In addition, he must be disciplined and obey the club. If he shows he is worth playing for America and demonstrate he’s willing to give it all for the club, fans will consider forgiving him.

Martinez has the chance to make things right against Pumas on March 6 in el Universitario, if he starts this game right, this would facilitate the next games.

In an interview with creator and contributor of Nido Azulcrema, who is referred to as Slash, discusses the logistics of the page. When it was created, and how being an independent blogger is an advantage. 

Editor’s note: The contributor uses the nickname Slash because his intentions are to post about Club America, than to be recognized.

How did you create this page? 

NidoAzulcrema.com was created in 2007 and it hasn’t stopped since then.  This site was created for the sole purpose of having a site that talks abour soccer as a sport, and not as gossip. In this page, we talk about tactics, players and news that are confirmed by reliable sources. People are very passionate about soccer, and there are fans who immediately get aggravated or transmit hate when they don’t agree with your opinions. At NidoAzulcrema we are distinct, we believe that in soccer there are diverse opinions and we strive to promote this to fans who are active participants. 

What is your experience like being an independent blogger? 

Being an independent blogger is spectacular. No tienes que quedar bien con nadie. You have the freedom to express yourself, always with facts to back up your arguments and say things without the fear of upsetting others. 

A con is that it is hard to get sponsors. Sponsors like to be around positive articles, and  we like to be ojective, and that includes pointing out a player who hasn’t been doing their job. Even then, we will not change, and we have maintained this page by the simple fact that the fans say we are authentic. 

Are you reporters of fans?

We like to consider ourselves as profesional fans, if there’s such thing as that. We aren’t reporters, and we aren’t afiliated to Club America. We just have the desire to make a website that we and others would like to visit. We are in the loop of everything that happens to Club America, but we don’t stop being fans. 

How do you distribute the work and what is your goal? 

We have diverse sections in the webpage and every one of us have an assigned section. For example, Basster creates news, Carlos does game previews and Slash creates a post that rates every game played. Take in account that we can rotate, and we’re not tied up to a section. It also depends on who’s available because at the end of the day this is professional hobby, but not our real job. 

Our goal is to help the audience create their own opinion. Most of the times in soccer, audiences tend to repeat what analysts/reporters say in television. Unfortunately, most reporters say things to get ratings rather than being objective. Actually, a couple of days ago, we made a survey and some commented that in our page we are objective. 

How have you maintained your blog? 

We have maintained the page with hardwork. In May it will be 13 years. My job is not only create content, but also maintain the server, to program and design, all for the love of the club. 

It is midseason and Club America is participating in the ConcaChampions and the Liga Mx. While dealing with injuries, America has shown significant growth from the first game of the Liga Mx till now. In addition, America’s players have been criticized or praised by fans and reporters. Here are the latest updates on the club:  

• America and Comunicaciones tie 1-1 in Guatemala on Feb. 19, and on Feb. 26, they will play the second game to advance in the bracket. Now that players are back, Herrera has options for this upcoming game. 
• America beats Monterrey 1-0 on Feb. 22 avenging their loss against them in the final round of Apertura 2019. America is in first place with 16 points.

• Federico Viñas is back from the pre-Olympic games, and his performance on the field made fans love him, including America. Viñas is on a loan at the club from Juventud. America wants to buy the player, and this is how the club can seal the deal.
• Viñas on Feb. 18 was criticized because of a video that circulated on social media mistreating America fans. The video became controversial because others posted videos showing what happened from a different angle. According to most, Viñas is the good guy. America fans defended Viñas by posting on social media that he has treated them well.
• Criticism for goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa has raise ever since he has been making mistakes on the field. In the game against Comunicaciones, coach Miguel Herrera benched Ochoa and started Oscar Jimenez. This caused rumors that Ochoa will be benched for the rest of the season if he kept making mistakes. After the Comunicaciones game, Herrera cleared the speculations. 
• Ochoa demonstrated against Monterrey why he is the starting keeper. From hate to love, fans are starting to praise Ochoa. Herrera defends Ochoa and says he is a great keeper.
• On Feb. 16, America announced striker Nicolas Benedetti was injured and travelled to Mexico for further` assistance. On Feb. 21, the club announced that Benedetti had torn his ACL and will be out six to nine months.  

After the Feb. 15 game against Atlas, it is clear that coach Miguel Herrera wants to win the regular season league and the CONCACAF Champions League. America struggled to find replacements on the field because of injuries and the absence of players who played for their national teams. Now that they are back, who will coach Miguel Herrera use for the league and the ConcaChampions?

A couple of hours before the game, Herrera confirmed the lineups for the match against Atlas in el Azteca. While Herrera had several strikers, he decided to rest Giovani Dos Santos and Henry so they are ready for the Feb.19 game against Comunicaciones FC in the ConcaChampions.

Instead, he started with Federico Viñas, who recently came back from playing with his national team. 

Before the game, America showed their support to strikers Nicolas Castillo and Nicolas Benedetti who are recovering from their injuries. 

While America dedicated the game to Castillo and Benedetti, they did not disappoint. Viñas scores two goals at minute 30th and 80th minute. 

But Viñas wasn’t the only player who excelled on the field. Sebastian Cordova played a phenomenal game, and contributed with an assist to Viñas’ second goal. Cordova helped America’s offense and while the first couple of minutes Atlas dominated the game, America dominated the rest of the game.

During the game, Viñas and Cordova became the sensation of the fans, and reporters. Fans and reporters stated that Viñas and Cordova can potentially make America champions this season.

While fans praised Cordova and Viñas, they also posted on social media that they hoped that Real Betis from Spain did not see their posts. Previously, Diego Lainez and Guido Rodriguez were drafted from Betis, and now fans think it’s better to hide them from Betis, to keep in the squad.

After the game, Herrera said he knows he has high-quality players and is not astonished by Cordova and Viñas.

Now that Viñas proved he can part of the first 11, Herrera has the option of starting with Viñas and choosing between starting Dos Santos or Martin, or starting with Dos Santos and Martin like planned. 

In addition, since Jorge Sanchez will also be available for the ConcaChampions, Herrera must choose between Cordova or Sanchez for this game. Based on previous games, it is undisputed that Cordova should be a starter.

The problem is that Herrera cannot use all of his star players in both leagues. He must alternate in order to protect his players from injuries or physical exhaustion.

This is the fourth win for America in the season and they are in second place with 13 points. America will fight to be in the top eights teams to qualify for the play-offs, and at the same time fight to win the ConcaChampions.

Welcome to the weekly podcast of The Powerful Eagles. Should Roger Martinez be considered for this season? Stay tuned!

This is the first time FC Juarez gains a victory in the Estadio Azteca versus Club America. Unlike America, their poor performance, and with the help of Virtual Assistant Referee (VAR) caused America to lose three points.  

At the start of the match, coach Miguel Herrera initiated with a 1-4-4-1-1 formation. Unfortunately,  in minute two America is down one player due to a red card given to Jorge Sanchez. This immediately changed the formation, and America played with three defenders.

While there is no doubt that Sanchez deserved the red card, at first the referee gave him a yellow card, before VAR signaled to the ref that it was in fact a red card. 

At minute 11, VAR plays once again a huge role. As Juarez takes advantage of the game and scores, VAR ignores that Diego Rolan is in fact offsides. If VAR made the referee review the play of the red card, why didn’t they fight for the clear offside?

Despite the offside, goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa makes a huge mistake while attempting to tackle the ball. He misses and instead with his left arm passes the ball to Juarez’s forward, Rolan. If Ochoa would have stayed in his area he could have prevented this mistake. 

While Juarez was leading 1-0, they did not hesitate to score another goal. This time, Emanuel Aguilera lost his mark, Dario Lezcano. Lezcano surprised Aguilera from behind and scored the second goal for Juarez. 

As America attempted to tie the game, they were able to score at minute 75, but it wasn’t enough.

In a direct kick, America’s player, Henry Martin attempted to kick the ball out, he missed and allowed Bruno Romo to header the ball in the goal. If Martin would have stayed with his mark, he could have prevented Romo from scoring. FC Juarez seals the game, and takes three points home.

Though most of these calls were unpredictable such as the red card, and the offsides, America should be prepared to play in any situation. Even if they are down one man. 

It is clear that Miguel Herrera needs to work with his team, and prevent these rookie mistakes. In the past three games, the referees showed that Club America is simply not the favorite team in the league. 

Club America must fight their way in the league with the mentality that everything they do and don’t do will be used against them. 

Though America still has another game to catch up, as of now they are in 11th place. They must win their next games in order to be in the top eight teams that qualify for the playoffs. 

If America defeats Puebla on Feb. 4 they will be in sixth place with seven points. 

On Jan 30, Club America announces the arrival of 22 year old Sebastian Cáseres.

Cáseres is a defensive midfielder who debuted in Argentina at the age of 20 . He played for Vélez Sarsfield and later was transferred to the Spanish soccer team, Villareal FC.

Ever since Guido Rodriguez left to play for the Spanish soccer team, Real Betis, America has been looking for a defensive midfielder. Now, Cáseres will replace the spot that Rodriguez has left on the field.

A video of Cáseres’ best plays was posted on Twitter via Club America’s official account.

📽 | Así juega Santiago Cáseres nuestro nuevo refuerzo ⚽#CáseresEsDelAme 🔸🔹🔸 pic.twitter.com/NYk8YaJ3yz

— Club América (@ClubAmerica) January 29, 2020

Currently, Cáseres is playing in the CONMEBOL Pre-olympic tournament representing Uruguay’s U-23 bracket attempting to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics.

Cáseres is now registered in the Liga Mx, and may be ready to debut in February.

It is no surprise that Club America’s player, Nicolas Castillo is once again injured. This morning, Castillo underwent surgery, and as of now, his recovery time is indefinite. 

This is the third time Castillo is injured and will miss important games during the league. Despite his contract running through 2023, Club America should release him or simply not count on him at all. 

On Jan. 31, 2019 Club America’s official website announced Castillo’s arrival to the club. He signed for $4.8 million, becoming the highest-paid player in the Liga Mx more than Tigres’ player André Pierre Gignac who was in the top four players with most goals in 2019. 

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Castillo hasn’t completed a year with America and he’s had four injuries that prohibited him from playing. 

The first injury was on March 20, 2019, against Tigres. Castillo was out for 25 days due to a hamstring injury. On August 3, 2019, he fractured his fibula and was out for 74 days and missed 12 games. Once again, on Nov. 8, 2019 against Veracruz Castillo sustained a tear in his right quad. This prompt him to miss some matches from the Liguilla 2019. 

Yesterday, Jan. 28 America’s official Twitter account announced that Castillo had a rupture in his femoral tendon.

Unfortunately, Castillo hasn’t been able to play at his full potential due to his constant injuries, but America shouldn’t wait for Castillo to recover and should find alternatives.

Out of 35 games in the 2019 season, Castillo scored five goals in 17 games, and played 90 minutes in only 6 games 

These numbers are too low for the most expensive player in the Liga Mx. It is unfortunate that America can’t demand more from Castillo since he hasn’t been able to recover from his injuries. 

America has struggled in their offense and have only scored one goal during this season, compared to last season where they had three goals, and had the strongest offense of the league. 

Since Castillo will not play for a while, he should be replaced with a forward who can meet the standards of the club. Even though it is not the best option for America to release Castillo due to their contract, they should find a replacement to reinforce the offense.