Cruz Azul's smart switch, young Mexican stars and more from Liga MX Round 14

A bit of a nip in the air, the leaves changing, pumpkin spice everything and Liga MX teams "parting ways" with their managers. Yes, the diplomatic and euphemistic term for "something happened here, and we're not telling you quite what, but you can work it out," is here once again. This time the term applies Cruz Azul manager Tomas Boy and his Morelia counterpart Enrique Meza. Both are now looking for work after suffering defeats during the week.

One seems like a move that has been far too long in the making, and while the other could be expected, it's not as clear a case that something needed to change with the club clearly keeping the long term in mind rather than just this tournament.

Let's take a look at what we learned, both from the tactical area and outside of it, in Liga MX Round 14:

Boy never seemed like the right man for the job at Cruz Azul and goes having won less than a third of his matches since taking over the team in October 2015. The manager leaving after a 2-1 home loss to Puebla sets up Cruz Azul for a better future than the club would've had were the relationship to continue. Boy was quick to criticize other coaches while appearing to ignore the fact that neither he nor his squad had won anything at the level of the men he was criticizing.

La Maquina's back line did get better with offseason acquisitions, but remembering a game in which both the attack and defense seemed at all fluid is a mental exercise more taxing than the "hard" Sudoku puzzle in an in-flight magazine. Making the playoffs would be a shock, so it's time to cut bait now and bring in a manager who can lift this club over the long term.

Perhaps of more concern than just the embarrassing losses is the fact that the team didn't even draw 10,000 fans to the Estadio Azul to see the matchup. There's plenty to do in Mexico City, and the stadium is in need of some love, but it's clear that Boy lost the fans weeks ago — perhaps as late as in April, when the team crashed out of the playoff race for the third consecutive season. It's the longest postseason drought, along with Tijuana — and the Xolos already are qualified for the postseason this time around.

It's clear that change is needed at Cruz Azul. Rumored candidates Gustavo Matosas or Pedro Caixinha will need change in the front office as well to get the team back to the consistently positive results posted in relatively recent history. It wasn't happening under Boy. Cruz Azul needs someone dynamic enough to win back the players and the fans in Mexico City.

Sunday's nightcap between Chivas and Pachuca was a showdown between two teams that have relied on young Mexican stars. Both the Guadalajara outfit and the Tuzos have been fertile riverbeds of talent for the pond that is the Mexico senior national team. The game gave us some of the clashes between rising stars that we craved and denied us of others. Orbelin Pineda and Erick Gutierrez matched up in the midfield, but Gutierrez's Pachuca teammate Hirving Lozano was sent off just after the hour mark.

While that changed the complexion of the match, Jonathan Urretaviscaya reminded us that there's something to be said for experience. The 26-year-old Uruguayan, formerly of Benfica and a brief spell with Deportivo La Coruna, dug deep in the 87th minute to find the stamina to go on this run from deep in his own half, hold off a defender and finish with a calm, lifted shot that would give Pachuca a 2-1 win to extend its unbeaten streak to six and snap Chivas' three-match losing streak. It wouldn't be bad at all to see this match between likely Liguilla teams reprised in the postseason.

It was a homecoming of sorts for Ismael Sosa, the winger who joined Tigres this summer. The former Pumas player got the starting nod in his former home stadium, the place where he tried to stay in the offseason when transferred north to Monterrey. The multitalented Argentine is a good fit for Tuca Ferretti, whose love for quick wing players was on display in Sunday's 3-1 Tigres victory.

Sosa got on the scoreboard late and applauded the home crowd after his goal, a gesture that the Pumas faithful returned to him with clapping and cheering for the man who had helped them to a top seed last Apertura and a run to the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. Sosa scored eight goals in the Libertadores for the Mexico City club.

There were a lot of positive things in the match for Tigres, including strong substitute appearances from winger Jurgen Damm and forward Julian Quinones (though the Colombian missed an easy chance that would've made Tigres' day even more dominant). Sosa's gesture is something that is seen far too infrequently in the region, and speaks to a classy man both on and off the field. He's the kind of player teams all around the league covet, and it's good to see Tigres making the most of his abilities.

Monterrey continues to miss out on its chances, with a 1-1 home draw with Toluca the latest example of a team that has lost its mojo. Antonio Mohamed has won a title in all of his recent stops in Mexico, but the manager may have met his match in Monterrey. 

Mohamed left Colombian playmaker Edwin Cardona out of his squad for the game, with Cardona left to train with the handful of injured veterans Mohamed wishes he could call upon to get the team lifted into the postseason. This team still has the talent to get through, and should be producing more, especially up front. Saturday's scorer Dorlan Pabon formed a fearsome trident with Rogelio Funes Mori and Cardona, as Carlos Sanchez provided service from wide en route to a record-breaking Clausura just months ago.

Those times now feel very far away, and they could feel even further soon. This weekend brings a showdown with rival Tigres, a Clasico Regio that could send Monterrey further down the table.

Morelia was in the playoff race just a few weeks ago, but any hope of the Liguilla looks to have vanished. The team dropped a 3-1 match to Leon, a result many could've seen coming as it extended Leon to seven matches in a row without a defeat while Morelia fell to a fifth defeat. It's the last match Monarcas will play with Meza at the helm, with the two parting ways Sunday. 

It's not just crashing out of the Liguilla that will have the club worried about the negative results. Morelia now sits at the bottom of the table that decides relegation, and if Necaxa continues to pick up points, the spring Clausura might be Morelia's final tournament in the top division.

Monarcas will hope there's a man similar to Javier Torrente, the Leon manager who oversaw Saturday's win at the Camp Nou. The Leon boss has turned around his club's fortune with an exciting style of play. Monarcas showed at the opening of the tournament that there's some talent in the ranks, but the displays didn't delight the fans at Estadio Morelos. Staying in the top division might be enough to delight the fans for now.

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