2025-09-04, 07:31 AM - Word count:
Sandro knew what he was walking into when he arrived in Mexico. It was the biggest step up he’d taken and the biggest step he’d ever take in his career. After torching both the academy and minor league level in his first two seasons as a professional footballer, it was time for a reality check that Sandro knew was coming, but still hit him like a ton of bricks. The quality level of the players in the Majors.
After making the minors look easy and registering a league high 13 assists and a spectacular 7.5 average rating in his minors debut, Sandro was starting to get a big head. He knew it was the second tier, but also knew that there were plenty of players who could do a job at the majors level that he was going up against week after week. Nobody could have prepared him for just how good the players are at the majors level. Sandro now sees how hard he will have to work, for years to be at their level. Coming into a team like CD Tenochtitlan, which lacks the high level quality that teams like Hollywood, São Paulo, and Reykjavik have at their disposal, Sandro wasn’t expecting to win consistently immediately, but he thought that others on his team would struggle in similar ways. The first few weeks made Sandro feel like he was uniquely unprepared for the challenging season ahead.
After three match weeks, his team had just 3 points, a win against a brand new expansion team that wasn’t nearly as comfortable as anyone in the CDT setup would’ve liked. Three weeks of poor play from Sandro. Even while assisting his Krung Thep teammate Dom Patterson for a goal against Cosmico, he was still singled out by the media as one of the team’s poorest performers. At times he wanted to blame someone, like the boss for playing him more centrally when he just wants to be making runs outside down the wing, or his situation on a lower half team as the reasons for his struggles, but while watching his teammates in practice, he understood. He has a long way to go to be at their level, and a lot of work ahead to be a star in the majors. Time, patience, and good old-fashioned work is all that would bring him to the level he dreamt of being at.
Therefore, he shut down his partying, doubled-down at training, and focused on areas he knew he needed to improve immediately. Explosive movement and his reading of the game are first up on the list. He needs to be beating attackers to balls, both in the air and on the ground. His team needs him to help control the ball and therefore the game. This season is dedicated to helping do just that. Every time he jogs onto the pitch he will be working towards the end he knows awaits him some day.
After making the minors look easy and registering a league high 13 assists and a spectacular 7.5 average rating in his minors debut, Sandro was starting to get a big head. He knew it was the second tier, but also knew that there were plenty of players who could do a job at the majors level that he was going up against week after week. Nobody could have prepared him for just how good the players are at the majors level. Sandro now sees how hard he will have to work, for years to be at their level. Coming into a team like CD Tenochtitlan, which lacks the high level quality that teams like Hollywood, São Paulo, and Reykjavik have at their disposal, Sandro wasn’t expecting to win consistently immediately, but he thought that others on his team would struggle in similar ways. The first few weeks made Sandro feel like he was uniquely unprepared for the challenging season ahead.
After three match weeks, his team had just 3 points, a win against a brand new expansion team that wasn’t nearly as comfortable as anyone in the CDT setup would’ve liked. Three weeks of poor play from Sandro. Even while assisting his Krung Thep teammate Dom Patterson for a goal against Cosmico, he was still singled out by the media as one of the team’s poorest performers. At times he wanted to blame someone, like the boss for playing him more centrally when he just wants to be making runs outside down the wing, or his situation on a lower half team as the reasons for his struggles, but while watching his teammates in practice, he understood. He has a long way to go to be at their level, and a lot of work ahead to be a star in the majors. Time, patience, and good old-fashioned work is all that would bring him to the level he dreamt of being at.
Therefore, he shut down his partying, doubled-down at training, and focused on areas he knew he needed to improve immediately. Explosive movement and his reading of the game are first up on the list. He needs to be beating attackers to balls, both in the air and on the ground. His team needs him to help control the ball and therefore the game. This season is dedicated to helping do just that. Every time he jogs onto the pitch he will be working towards the end he knows awaits him some day.
![[Image: C75197-D1-9-E74-4-DC5-836-E-981-D75-A96413.png]](https://i.postimg.cc/nc8qJ0Nf/C75197-D1-9-E74-4-DC5-836-E-981-D75-A96413.png)
![[Image: gmSTbwI.png]](https://i.imgur.com/gmSTbwI.png)
