Two Liga MX managers given walking papers already
UNAM will play out the season with interim coach
The Pumas announced that Andrés Lillini will be staying on as coach for the remainder of the Guardianes 2020 season. Lillini took over after Miguel González “Michel” quit just days before the Liga MX season opener.
The Pumas looked at several candidates, including the aforementioned Víctor Manuel Vucetich, but could not come to terms with the in-demand coach who was also entertaining offers from the Ecuadorian national team at the time.
Among those considered were UNAM legend Jorge Campos (star of the rollicking TV Azteca game-day booth), as well as former Pumas stars Jaime Lozano (currently the coach of Mexico’s Under-23 team), Bruno Marioni (a former star striker who held the UNAM job for 19 games in 2019 before being replaced by “Michel”) and Gonzalo Pineda (a member of the 2004 back-to-back Liga MX champs and now a bench coach with MLS club Seattle Sounders).
Lillini had to be convinced to accept the offer to finish out the season as he declared his preference for returning to his job as manager of the UNAM academy system.
The Pumas front office figure Lillini is ideal for the young team they have assembled (UNAM boasted the third-youngest roster heading into the season – average age of 25.5 – and just got younger by acquiring 23-year-old Uruguayan midfielder Facundo Waller over the weekend).
The callow line-up was unavoidable as the pandemic hit the team in the pocketbook and the cash-strapped institution was forced to field a team on the cheap, relying greatly on players from their academy. And since Lillini knows these players best, the hope is he will help them develop at the senior level.
The problem with that strategy is that the Argentine coach might be out of his element in Liga MX. The team’s sorry performance on Sunday against FC Juárez (settling for a 1-1 tie at home despite having a 2-man advantage) might be Exhibit A.
The situation puts management under the gun and they might have to pay the piper if the Guardianes 2020 season turns sour.
Guadalajara teams on edge. dark. Next
Streaks: After a 2-0 win Saturday, Cruz Azul has now gone 4 straight at home against León without conceding a goal. … After a 2-2 draw against the Rayados, Santos is now winless in its past 23 visits to Monterrey. … Following its 1-0 win over the Chivas, Puebla has won 3 consecutive times at Estadio Akron. … Atlético San Luis has gone winless in its last 6 games: 0-3-3 (6 goals for, 11 goals against).