One of the biggest surprises of the Liga MX Clausura 2017 tournament was Pumas UNAM’s abysmal performance. The Mexico City side finished seventeenth in penultimate place, with 18 points, just two more points than Puebla in dead last.
Paco Palencia and his squad can only improve in the upcoming tournament as it is hard to believe that such a talented squad can repeat that dreadful performance. Palencia has already made some peculiar signings to try and improve the squad for the upcoming season. One of the more interesting moves was the straight swap with Santos Laguna, bringing in Nestor Calderon from Los Guerreros and sending over Javier Cortez.
The 27-year-old Cortez had not had a bad Clausura 2017 tournament and had been with Pumas UNAM since 2008. The move for Calderon can be one that improves the squad despite losing some chemistry and getting a similar player in return for Cortez.
Other intriguing moves Palencia has made in this offseason include the acquisitions of Mauro Formica and Joffre Guerron. The former Cruz Azul players had been successful in the Liga MX before but had begun to tail off in recent seasons in Mexico. Formica is coming off a spectacular season with Newell’s Old Boys in Argentina and will be looking to continue that success, being the main playmaker in the midfield.
Joffre Guerron is looking for a resurgence in his career, now at 32 years old and Pumas UNAM is looking for a resurgence in its offense with a fiery spark like Guerron, that was missing in the Clausura 2017. The recent departure of Matias Britos makes this signing especially interesting and perhaps more valuable.
The Ecuadorian winger can be one of the most talented players in the league when he is in form and can take on any defender on the continent. But the veteran has been off form in recent campaigns and the signing is questionable as it is unclear if Guerron can return to that form he once had.
Palencia is still believed to be searching for a replacement for centre-back Dario Veron but could be using young youth players like Pablo Jaquez or Luis Quintana in the first few weeks of the new season. Pumas can certainly only improve from last tournament’s nightmarish campaign but it will be interesting to see if these new signings and the already talented core at Pumas UNAM can propel the Mexico City Team to the playoffs and beyond.
