“For anything worth having one must pay the price; and the price is always work, patience, love, self-sacrifice - no paper currency, no promises to pay, but the gold of real service.”
- John Burroughs
The Apertura 2022 Tournament puttered off to a sluggish start for Club Deportivo Guadalajara last Saturday.
The season opener versus Bravos ended up in insipid draw leaving the Rebaño Faithful wondering if the slew of victories at the end of last season had been just an illusion. An illusion we have seen before of a version of the Red and White which is all heart and has one objective always: victory.
Chivas had been displaying an effective, aggressive style under Cadena. A style which never made its appearance in the match. Our Red and White Clad Lads “nos dejaron como novia de Rancho”, waiting for that offensive explosion witnessed at the end of last season and in some instances in the preseason.
Judging from the reactions from many Chiva Followers, the fact that Profe Cadena has brought the word “identity” and “passion” back into the Chiva-Lingo is a feat in itself.
The team had seemed lost during the majority of the Clausura 2022, giving one decent game to two upside down matches. The spirit was absent, there was no direction and definitely no commitment.
Then Cadena appeared on the map and with him a sense of purpose and focus. Clear objectives and simple changes in the lineup. The team leaders stepped up and took control of the floundering Red and White ship. So much so, that the Cadeneta won five straight matches, “convenciendo y gustando”, playing convincingly and attractively.
Cadena has effectively recreated the team and injected a sense of purpose and belonging into the Red and White Lines. They have begun to believe in themselves once again. A belief that has been indirectly transferred to the millions of Chiva Hermanos worldwide.
What is to come in the near Chiva-Future? Who is to say?
This is a new beginning and with new beginnings almost anything can be expected. But with this new beginning is a new hope. Hope and confidence in a brighter future.
Hope and confidence. One step at a time.
Two seeds have been planted and now it just remains for us to keep believing as we have always. In the bad and the worse. During good days and bad. The true “Believers” remain. The true Chiva Grey. The difference is that now we have reason to have confidence in our team, not just blind love.
Identity, Passion and Commitment. This is the Chiva-Way.
