Tijuana Xolos: Musto May Leave & Xolos Fans Shouldn’t Miss Him
One of the biggest transfers in the Liga MX this past transfer window was Guido Rodriguez going from Club Tijuana to Club America.
Former Xolos’ manager Miguel Herrera moved to the Mexico City team and took youngster Carlos Vargas and Rodriguez along with him.
The Argentine midfielder had been one of the most vital players for the Xoloitzcuintles for two tournaments. Rodriguez especially demonstrated his presence in the midfield in the Clausura 2017 tournament. The 23-year-old would be tough to replace, but the Xolos seemed to find a capable replacement in Damian Musto.
Musto had much more experience, and was even touted to be an upgrade to Guido Rodriguez in that midfield.
The Argentine was decent, but failed to completely fill that void left by his much younger countryman. It was recently reported by Argentine journalist Sebastian Srur that there is interest for Damian Musto by River Plate, one of the biggest teams in Argentina.
The 30-year-old did have a decent season with a goal and an 83-percent pass accuracy, and he recovered the ball 329 times, good for sixth best in the league.
However, the stats do not tell the full story on Damian Musto. The Argentine had severe disciplinary issues that hadn’t ever been seen by a Xolos’ player, or at least not in the past few years. Musto had two separate altercations in front of the cameras with teammates, one with Ignacio Malcorra in Puebla and another with Matias Aguirregaray in Guadalajara in the game against Atlas.
If Musto resorted to this type of behavior in front of everyone, who knows what might have happened in the locker room throughout this Apertura tournament.
#ClossContinental | #River | Damián Musto, actualmente en @Xolos, es seguido de cerca para la próxima temporada, cuenta @Sebasrur pic.twitter.com/B19QDIIyFC
— Closs Continental (@ClossAM590) November 20, 2017
The veteran midfielder inclusively finished the competition with a red card and eight yellow cards. It wasn’t rare for Musto to provoke the refs, and this seems to be an ongoing problem, wherever Musto may play next year.
As mentioned before, Musto failed to fill the void left by Rodriguez for several different reasons. Musto was much more defensive and still didn’t have the same level of recovery skills as Rodriguez, Musto couldn’t start up plays offensively like Rodriguez, and more importantly, Musto wasn’t a leader for this team like Rodriguez had been. The Xolos and Xolos fans should not miss Musto if he is to go back to Argentina because his skill set did not make up for the severe disciplinary issues he had throughout this season.
Francisco, 26, Chula Vista/Tijuana. I have been a Padres fan all my life, did most of the series previews and recaps in the Padres’ 2016 season for EVT. Now I focus more on the local soccer scene. Tijuana Xolos, San Diego Loyal, San Diego Wave.