FC Atlas

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The Offside — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 20:10:40 +0000

One of the greatest clubs in Mexico has gone long enough without proper coverage on The Offside. If you’re an Atlas fan and want to see them get the attention they deserve, sign up to become our new Atlas Offside blogger. Within a few days of applying, you could be here, sharing your thoughts on the most recent signing or result with the entire world. Go to http://www.theoffside.com/bloggers to fill out an application.

This coach will take us to the playoffs… and this time we mean it

Alan — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 15:00:24 +0000

So in case you haven’t heard, LaVolpe has left the team, and Atlas will again have a new coach to start the next tournament. Some things will stay the same, new coach Carlos Ischia is Argentinian so that stays the same, coach Ischia promises playoffs, so that’s the same, let’s just hope the results change this time.

Coach Carlos Ischia is a former player and played for Chacarita Juniors and Vélez Sársfield in Argentina as well as representing the Argentina national football team. He finished his career in Colombia where he played for América de Cali and Junior. He retired in 1989 due to injury.

Ischia started his coaching career as field assistant at Vélez Sársfield and Boca Juniors and then became the first team coach at Vélez. In 2004 Ischia was appointed as manager of Gimnasia de La Plata. In 2005 he took over at Junior in Colombia, but left later that year due to differences with the directors and constant media pressure. In 2007 he was appointed the new manager of struggling Rosario Central, but after 14 games of the Apertura 2007 Ischia resigned with the club bottom of the table and perilously close to the automatic relegation places. In December 2007 Ischia was appointed as the new manager of Boca Juniors after the resignation of Miguel Ángel Russo. On December 23 2008 his team managed to avoid a two goal defeat against Club Atlético Tigre to win the Apertura 2008 championship. Ischia quit as manager at the end of the Clausura 2009 tournament and will now lead Atlas.

When asked about the reasons behind his decision to take over the team he answered, “One accepts challenges of all kinds, today I get to manage over Atlas that isn’t in it’s best form [thanks for putting it softly coach], but our minimum expectation is to qualify for the playoffs and then to think about greater things like fighting with the teams on top.”

The coach stressed that for his first practices it is as important to learn about his players’ lives as it is about how they play on the field. He said that only after knowing his players thoroughly will he be in a position to make a better judgment about what the team should look like and who should be on the starting squad.

In closing he added, “I’ve had other opportunities to coach in the Mexican league but they never solidified, since I got the boot at Boca I have received a great deal of invitations for work but things with Atlas were so sudden. I liked the project and I liked the players that are coming up from the local farm system.”

Official Atlas Site Update

Alan — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:00:35 +0000

Atlas

So we didn’t make the playoffs, LaVolpe was fired, and morale is at an all time low. However, Atlas has a spiffy new site, which true doesn’t count for much but hey at this point I’ll take anything I can possibly spin as a victory.

The new site shows off their youtube channel, their facebook page, and their twitter account.

Some pretty cool additions also include the new and improved “Zona Rojinegra” a place for fans that includes interviews, mailing lists, and awesome pictures, including this one of ex-zorro Rafael Marquez.

New fans can also check the multimedia section to find all the club fight songs and trick out their computers with Atlas wallpapers.

For the rest make sure to visit the official Atlas site.

Atlas 0 – 1 Puebla: Start Lighting the Veladoras

Alan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:10:45 +0000

Atlas lost last night to Puebla by the minimum difference of 0-1 in a game that was very exciting and could have gone either way. The loss comes especially hard since both Chivas and San Luis tied their games giving each of them a point over Atlas.

Group 1 Standings:
Toluca 28 pts
San Luis 18 pts
Chivas 16 pts
Atlas 15 pts
Querétaro 16 pts
Indios Juarez 5 pts

With two games left in the tournament it’s time to light those veladoras and dust off the calculators. There is still a chance that Atlas can enter the liguilla but they no longer control their own destiny. This Saturday they will play Chivas in a do-or-die game for both squads. They also need San Luis to tie or lose in order for a chance to play for a spot in the liguilla come week 17.

Highlights:

Atlas 1 – 1 Pachuca: Slowly But Surely

Alan — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 18:21:41 +0000

Over the weekend Atlas tied at 1 with Pachuca, which isn’t particularly exciting except for the fact that both San Luis and Chivas lost their games which gave Atlas a chance to makeup ground.

The game was uneventful at most, except for the unsurprising sending off of Dario Botinelli for a double yellow card. It seems the only thing he has in common with “el pollo” is the color red. Given the fact that Atlas had 10 men from the 63rd minute a 1-1 final score isn’t that bad, however, with only 3 games left to go in the tournament both the coach and the players are not content with the points that got away.

Things in group 1 are getting interesting as we head towards the close of the tournament. Toluca who are first place in the group and first place overall have already qualified given the fact that San Luis, who are in second, are 12 points away. More interesting is the race for 2nd place and automatic qualification to the liguilla. Currently San Luis, Chivas, and Atlas are all within 2 point of each other. The only game between these three teams will be on week 16 when Atlas will play Chivas in the Clasico Tapatio.

Here’s hoping that come week 16 Atlas is still in position to make the liguilla.

Highlights:

Atlas 0 – 2 Atlante: Playoffs? Playoffs!?

Alan — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 22:06:13 +0000

Another loss over the weekend puts the chance of Atlas making the playoffs that much more of a pipe dream.

Atlas’ 0-2 loss away to Atlante keeps the team in fourth place of group 1 with 14 points. However, it’s not all bleak since both San Luis and Chivas lost keeping the difference between them all the same. However, the loss is huge for an Atlas team that is not only trying to make it to the liguilla but also trying to stay away from relegation.

As Group 1 stands now San Luis, Chivas, and Atlas are all within 3 points of each other which means that either of the three has a chance of taking the second place spot and automatically qualifying for the liguilla. Since Atlas is 15th in the overall table with a -8 goal differential this seems like the only real way to make the liguilla.

Highlights:

Atlas 0 – 1 Querétaro

Alan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 21:11:07 +0000

Atlas lost 1-0 over the weekend to Querétaro, a result which dropped Atlas to fourth place in group 1, one point behind Chivas.

The only goal of the game came by way of Margarito Gonzalez’s head in the 30th minute.

Atlas again suffered from having a fair share of scoring opportunities and having no one to finish them. After the goal was scored Queretaro was content with playing the counter attack while Atlas looked for the equalizer that never came.

The tough is hard because not only is Queretaro in the same group as Atlas, but both teams are fighting off relegation.

Atlas’ next game will be away to Atlante.

Highlights:

Atlas Drops 2 Spots Without Doing Anything

Alan — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 17:49:29 +0000

Atlas dropped two positions in group 2 over the weekend after Chivas and San Luis both won their makeup games.

The updated group 1 is as follows:

Toluca – 25 pts
Chivas – 15 pts
San Luis – 14 pts
Atlas – 14 pts
Querétaro – 6 pts
Indios – 4 pts

Atlas is trailing San Luis because of the goal differential. Atlas has a -5 goal differential while San Luis has a +2 differential.

Both the goal differential and the lower quality of group 1 means that Atlas’ only good chance of qualifying for the liguilla is by taking second place in the group.

Players are already talking about the importance of Atlas’ next game to their chances of making the liguilla. “We need to get a good results, we are the home team and it is a good fixture to come away with three points”

Four Atlas Players to Join U-17 National Team

Alan — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 20:49:19 +0000

Atlas

The Mexican U-17 National Team, led by José Luis González China traveled to Spain for a tour of exhibition matches against the United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Honduras. These games are in preparation for the U-17 World Cup taking place in Nigeria later this month. Mexico will be in Group B alongside: Brazil, Japan, and Switzerland.

Four Atlas players will be traveling with the team and will play in the U-17 World Cup:

Goalie – José Alujas Arreaga
Defender – Cesar Alberto Ibáñez Jiménez
Midfielder – Luis Fernando González Telles
Forward – Efrén Mendoza Cuatle

And We’re Back

Alan — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 20:24:12 +0000

I apologize for the long hiatus and seeing as I’ve never really like to write about much other than the team, I will skip the details of the hiatus and hit the ground running.

With 11 weeks gone in the Apertura 2009 Atlas finds themselves in a pretty good spot. The team currently has 9th in the overall table with 11 points coming from: 4 wins, 5, losses, and 2 ties. This partial result is enough to put atlas in the Luigilla [as of now] as second place of group 1. Atlas is 11 points behind first place Toluca and 2 points ahead of Chivas.

So, not bad. Sure, at the beginning of the season I’d think there’d be more wins and more goals [only 9 so far] but at least they are still in a position to play in the liguilla. However, among the teams that would qualify for the liguilla Atlas has the fewest points, which means that the only real way they can make sure to enter the big dance is by staying second place of group 1.

However, being only two points ahead isn’t a huge safety net especially if Chivas starts winning. The week 16 game against Chivas could end up being very big for Atlas if they haven’t gained more ground by then.