By Tom Marshall

Club America not only lost Mexico’s superclasico 3-1 to a superior Guadalajara Chivas on Sunday, but it was outplayed on all fronts and the fallout from the game has highlighted a club in need of a sharp reassessment.

“We have a captain made of water and a defense made of plastic,” America’s Angel Reyna, the top scorer in the Mexican league last season, told the press after the game.

They were hardly words that the broken team needed to hear straight after a loss against its biggest rivals.

The 27-year-old forward was “separated indefinitely” from the first team on Monday for his statement and could be forced out the club.

With a split dressing room and after being outclassed by a young, homegrown, all-Mexican Chivas team, America is stuck in a rut.

Sixteenth place in the league for Mexico´s second most successful club is clearly not good enough, especially after smashing the Mexican transfer record in the summer to bring Ecuadorian Christian Benitez in the summer.

Las Águilas now need to readjust the grand plan defined way back in 1959 when businessman and media owner Emilio Azcarraga bought the club.

Said Azcarraga back then: “With their Mexican players, Chivas are the good guys, but we are going to buy the best foreigners and become the bad guys.”

Buying the best foreign imports may not be enough.

America should cling to the fact its Under-20 team has won the last two national tournaments - no easy feat with many clubs now investing heavily in youth systems – and use it to restructure.

A homegrown nucleus on which foreign stars like Benitez can thrive is what gave America its titles during its golden period in the 1980s and is what is again required.

On paper, America should always have an advantage over Chivas. America too is capable of producing the nucleus of a team from the academy, but the Mexico City club can also sprinkle some foreign magic on top.

The last few games of the season could be a timely opportunity to bring a few more kids into the team, with the club having little chance of reaching the playoffs.