Pumas poised to climb atop leaderboard
UNAM is making an early bid to erase the bad memories of two consecutive seasons without a playoff berth.
After a winter of discontent, the Pumas can move atop the Liga MX table when they visit Toluca on Saturday night. First-place León went down to defeat at Atlético San Luis Friday night opening the door for “Michel” and his UNAM team to slip past the Esmeraldas.
Critics savaged the Pumas, claiming they failed to make any decisive moves during the winter transfer window yet they are the league’s lone undefeated team through five matches and boast one of the league’s best offenses. And five of their 12 goals thus far have come from new acquisitions.
UNAM crashed and burned last season, finishing in 13th place. The locker room was rife with dissension while the front office was in turmoil. In his first season in charge, former Real Madrid star “Michel” was slammed for conservative tactics and accused of misusing his roster. But those complaints came from loyalists who failed to appreciate the insubordination and factionalism that was splitting the clubhouse.
The team made modest moves, but clearly carried out a strategy of addition by subtraction. Out the door went malcontents Juan Iturbe (Pachuca), Martín Rodríguez (Morelia) and Felipe Mora (Portland Timbers), as well as nine other players. In came Sebastián Saucedo (1 goal), Fabio Álvarez (2 goals), defender Johan Vásquez (1 goal) and Juan Ignacio Dinenno (1 goal).
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Alejandro Mayorga seems to have solved the long-unsettled left back position and skipper Pablo Barrera appears to have rediscovered his form. Mayorga ran rampant down the left flank against San Luis last weekend and had an assist in UNAM’s 4-0 win. Barrera had two assists himself.
The rejuvenated roster has adapted well to Michel’s tactical concepts, but most importantly they are playing loose and having fun. The most telling aspect of the new group was the social media reaction of many of the players after the season-opening 2-1 home win over Pachuca. Tweets and Instagram posts provided evidence that the toxic tension in the locker room was a thing of the past.
The new faces were providing competition and yet seemed to be instilling a sense of camaraderie. Striker Carlos González – a vocal critic of “Michel” last season – initially voiced dissatisfaction at the acquisition of forwards Álvarez and Dinenno, but he responded with two goals against San Luis.
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The Pumas are off to their best start in 16 years – 11 points through five matches (3-2-0 record) with a +6 goal differential. That season – the Clausura 2004 – UNAM won its first league title in 13 years. They followed it up by going back-to-back and claiming the Apertura 2004 crown too.