With the regular season having come to a close in Liga MX the teams that didn’t make the playoffs are already making moves to ready themselves for the next season. Pumas was certainly the biggest disappointment of the Liga MX season. They had brought in Dani Alves as the biggest signing of the season to the Mexican league. Ultimately though, they also let go of key pieces like goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera, and right back Alan Mozo. Andres Lillini who was up until today the longest tenured Liga MX manager wasn’t able to help this team find a groove, and this led to him getting sacked just a few days after the season ended.
Plenty of rumors have been floating around since the sacking of Lillini was made official. There’s one name in particular that folks are penciling in as a lock to come in and take Lillini’s place. That man is none other than the winningest coach in Liga MX history Ricardo Tuca Ferretti. There are certainly a lot of reasons why it makes sense for Ferretti to be the chosen replacement. We’re going to go over those reasons as well as, who may be the other options on the table for Pumas.
Why Ferretti Just Makes Sense
Just under a year ago Pumas brought along famed former manager Miguel Mejia Baron to be the sporting director for the entire institution. Mejia Baron got his Pumas homecoming in large part due to the fact that he was let go of his advisory role at Tigres that he held for a long time when his pal, and coaching prodigy, Tuca Ferretti, was let go from his position as head coach of Tigres.
That relationship that Mejia Baron, and Tuca Ferretti share is essentially the main reason why the former Tigres coach is being linked to the Pumas job. At the same time Tuca is another name that is historically linked to Pumas both as a player, and a coach. All around this just seems to make sense, but there are a couple of reasons why Tuca may not be the man for the job.
It May Be Someone Else From His Coaching Tree
Tuca Ferretti is 68, and he’s grown accustomed to living in the north of Mexico. Staying in the north may have been the main reason that he took the Juarez FC job after being relieved from his duties at Tigres. His time as Juarez FC head coach was certainly not a pleasant one posting his worst season ever as a manager at the helm of the border town team.
At his age, and at this point in his career, coming off a major disappointment, Tuca maybe isn’t interested in tarnishing his legacy, or moving back to Mexico City for that matter. So, what could happen is that Mejia Baron finds someone else from his coaching tree like another former Pumas head coach Memo Vazquez. Vazquez is also coming off of disastrous performances as manager of Necaxa, and San Luis, but he’s got family ties to Pumas, and the Mejia Baron coaching line.
What Does The Future Hold For Andres Lillini? – Is He Going To Atlas?
Just as Tuca Ferreti seems to be a lock to become the next coach of Pumas, Andres Lillini has been linked to the Atlas job. Although his final season at Pumas was not a successful one Lillini’s time at Pumas is touted as a success by many. Others argue that while he may be great at forming young talent he hasn’t necessarily proven that he’s a great tactical mind. Still, Lillini could be Diego Cocca’s replacement at Atlas. Particularly as that team moves more towards the development of players and out of their recent, rather uncharacteristic, winning ways.
