Re-building Pumas

Data from Wyscout, FBRef, Golstats and Fotmob, photo from TV Azteca.

Whilst most of the focus is on liguilla, the majority of Liga MX sides are already thinking about next season. In this series of articles, I’ll analyze the current situation of a few teams, their squads, and profiles that they should be looking at to improve in the future. The first team up is Pumas.

This article/series is inspired by articles from https://www.thetransferflow.com/

The situation

After finishing Apertura 2024 with the second-best xG difference in the league, Clausura 2025 was a bit of a disaster for Pumas. Los Universitarios ended with a negative xG difference, lost in the CONCACAF Champions League quarters, and couldn’t improve after changing head coach, with Efraín Juárez arriving.

The Mexican head coach has preferred a 4-2-3-1 so far with Pumas, often using wide attackers that play inside more than out wide, and attacking full-backs (Robert Ergas and Pablo Monroy). However, Juárez has been rather pragmatic in some specific matches, and hasn’t been able to re-discover the out of possession intensity and counter-attacking strength that was key to Pumas’ success in previous seasons.

Red bar = Worse ranking in the league. Green bar = Better ranking in the league. The numbers in the bars refer to the percentile ranks. For some defensive metrics, like xG or PPDA, a higher percentile rank shows a worse performance.

Goalkeepers

The most problematic position for Pumas last season. Gustavo Lema had confidence in Pablo Lara, a 19-year-old, but after a few mistakes, Álex Padilla took-over as starter. However, his performance was statistically even worse than Lara.

Helped by an analysis of Juárez’s penalty trends (there were clearly notes on Padilla’s water bottle), Padilla made an extraordinary three penalty saves to help Pumas get through the first round of play-in. However, it’s important that Pumas bring-in another option, if Padilla can’t improve his overall level.

Fernando Tapia is probably the most interesting young keeper that isn’t playing regularly, but Pumas can’t guarantee a starting role, and someone with more experience in the position is preferred as a back-up. Carlos Felipe Rodríguez is Tigres’ third choice, and is a solid option, whilst Guillermo Allison ended the season on the bench for Querétaro, despite making a positive shot-stopping contribution across his minutes in Liga MX.

Center-backs

Pumas have a pair of strong center-backs to play in their back-four; Rubén Duarte and Nathan Silva. But with Lisandro Magallán leaving, another center-back is needed in the squad, and they have to be able to play on the left-side. A Mexican would be ideal, to leave another foreign player spot free.

Taking into account the abilities of Duarte and Nathan on the ball, Pumas may be able to accept a more defensive profile. Haret Ortega hasn’t played many minutes with FC Juárez, probably due to his limitations on the ball, but is solid when defending 1vs1 and has the height to dominate in the air.

This article will analyze players by looking at their percentile ranks in different positional concepts, that take into account a variety of metrics. A machine learning technique was used to reduce multiple metrics into easier to understand concepts.

Diego Hernández could be an economic option from abroad. The Águilas Dorados center-back is 25, can play on the left or right, and has played a good number of minutes in the majority of recent seasons. Hernández is 190cm tall, and is an aggressive center-back who dominates his duels.

Just don’t sign Héctor Moreno…seriously guys. I know he’s experienced and good on the ball, but he physically can’t defend anymore.

Full-backs

On the left, Ergas is a more attacking full-back, but his attacking output hasn’t been that impressive, and he also has defensive weaknesses. Pumas can find a better option.

There’s a dilemma on the right. Pablo Bennevendo is a leader and effective out of possession, but isn’t an attacking full-back. His lack of attacking output on the right was a major weakness of Lema’s side, with Bennevendo normally playing in the wing-back role.

The graphic of Pumas’ crosses in 2024-25 shows a lack of balance across the wings. This is necessarily a weakness, if one side is highly effective, but Pumas’ left-wing hasn’t been as strong following César Huerta’s departure. If it isn’t possible to find the “new Chino”, it’s better to replace his impact in the aggregate, by developing the right-wing.

Monroy can offer a bit more than Bennevendo going forwards, but is much weaker defensively, especially in his marking and 1vs1 defending. Right now, his attacking impact isn’t sufficient to compensate for his lack of defensive abilities.

If Pumas are going to commit to Efraín Juárez’s play style over the mid-to-long-term, it makes sense to sell/swap Bennevendo, and look for two new attacking full-backs.

In a perfect world, Pumas would sign Juan Manuel Sanabria from San Luis…

…and Brian García from Toluca. But there are economic factors to take into consideration, and both players wouldn’t come cheap.

Pumas have to resist the temptation to bring back Alan Mozo, as his level has dropped in recent seasons. There are a couple of attacking full-backs that aren’t playing much that could cost less, like Fernando Ordoñez at Tigres and Jesús Vega at Tijuana. However, looking for talent in the U23 league may be Pumas’ best option.

There are more potential upsides to these players, Pumas can afford to take a couple of risks given that they have decent options right now, and historically the adaptation of attacking full-backs to Liga MX hasn’t been so difficult.

Here are my three top options right now, according to my model from Golstats data. The left-backs…

…and the right-backs.

Midfielders

Juárez used a more defensive double-pivot, which is necessary to provide cover for the attacking full-backs. Therefore, Santiago Trigos received more minutes, and his intensity out of possession is crucial. Trigos needs to improve his passing game, but considering the ball progression provided by Pumas’ center-backs and José Luis Caicedo, it isn’t a huge problem.

However, another midfielder with defensive abilities will be useful in the squad. Ulises Rivas doesn’t have sufficient quality or physicality to continue in the first division, and the other Pumas midfielders have more attacking profiles.

Brandon Téllez is a very interesting Chivas prospect, who’s massively stood-out with Tapatío for his intensity and ball recoveries. Chivas have a host of midfield options, and therefore there may not be plans to incorporate Téllez into the first team squad.

Within Liga MX, Iván Tona is the Mexican that should be top of their scouting list. It may be difficult to find an agreement with Tijuana, but Tona is the best “number eight” from the teams that didn’t qualify for play-in or liguilla.

If Pumas want to invest in a player from abroad, Paraguayan Javier Domínguez, from Olimpia, is an interesting option. He’s 24, so is entering his peak years, and can still improve his passing abilities with more experience and game intelligence. Domínguez is also excellent at beating midfield pressure with dribbles and carrying the ball forwards.

Lautaro Ríos, from Banfield, is another 24-year-old with excellent ball recovery abilities. He doesn’t stand-out for his impact in possession, but has the benefit of playing in Argentina, where adaptation to Mexico hasn’t been too difficult historically. Therefore, there’s a greater confidence level that Ríos can repeat this output in Liga MX.

Further forwards, Pumas will hope for more impact from Adalberto Carrasquilla, who has the passing ability to break-down opponents. He’ll be a starter, considering the investment in the Panamanian, although Carrasquilla can end-up playing in similar zones to Leo Suárez.

Attacking-midfielders

It’s rumored that Jorge Ruvalcaba will leave Pumas this summer, which could be the most stupid decision we’ll see in the market. With Ruvalcaba, Pumas already have someone who can replace much of Huerta’s impact on the left-wing, and he’s their only attacker with the pace and off-ball movement to get in-behind defensive lines. The combination of his movement plus the passing ability of Carrasquilla or Súarez from the right side is something Juárez should be building around and developing in training.

Despite playing a lot of minutes as a wing-back in 2024-25, Ruvalcaba was still one of the best wingers at getting into the box and shooting from dangerous positions.

Ignacio Pussetto has played more minutes from the left under Efraín Juárez, but is more effective from central zones. Piero Quispe can also play in this role, but hasn’t shown enough productivity in the final third to be a key performer.

Therefore, a left attacking-midfielder is a profile that Pumas will need to look for if Ruvalcaba is to leave.

On the right, Leo Suárez is still one of the most creative players in Liga MX, but has had a lot of injury problems. Rodrigo López is a considerable downgrade in his place, with much lower pass quality.

Therefore, someone who can occupy both half-spaces, where Juárez’ wide attackers often play, would be a great benefit for the squad. Also, it’s important to add another goal-scorer to the squad, considering the profiles within the squad and the potential Ruvalcaba exit.

José Herrera, a 22-year-old, is a player that should interest Pumas. Herrera is left-footed, plays for Argentinos Juniors and has the flexibility to play on both sides of the pitch. Herrera excels in 1vs1 situations, which was an important strength of Huerta, and often gets into dangerous positions to score from. Also, Herrera can find spaces and create passing lanes in order to receive more touches and help ball progression.

25-year-old Fabinho is another goal-scoring option, currently playing in the Brazilian Serie B with América Mineiro. He’s much more limited in other aspects of his game, but could be a less expensive signing.

My advice though would be to keep faith in Ruvalcaba, as his underlying numbers have always been strong, and save a huge chunk of money.

Strikers

Ali Ávila’s loan ends this summer, and the Rayados youngster hasn’t played much. Rogelio Funes Mori unfortunately still has six more months on his contract, whilst Pumas have two other options of strikers that have reached the end of their peak age.

Guillermo Martínez is one of the best Liga MX strikers in aerial duels, but he’s only ranked around league average for xG in the previous two years, and doesn’t offer much else. Pussetto is more mobile than Memo, and offers the same xG generation, so is probably their best choice up-front, although he can shoot too often from distance.

Pumas should be looking for a new striker in the upcoming markets, but someone will likely have to move on first, and Funes Mori’s contact may force them to wait until the winter. It’s a good example of the danger of giving out longer contracts to post-peak players, a team may be stuck with a player who’s long past their best, which limits their manoeuvrability in the market.

Pumas’ only option may be to look at the possibility of selling Memo this summer, which is worth exploring, especially if they aren’t going to make the most of his aerial strength.

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También, se puede leer este artículo en Español- https://cambiodejuego.beehiiv.com/