Pachuca is off to a disappointing start in this Apertura 2017, currently in 13th place with nine points after nine games. Los Tuzos are coming off one of their most devastating defeats of the season, a 3-1 loss against Leon away from home.
A huge factor in this shocking loss was the poor work put in by veteran goalkeeper Oscar Perez. The veteran goalkeeper could have saved all three of Leon’s goals but was unable to do anything against the strikes from Los Esmeraldas. The 44-year-old is way past his prime and seems to be unable to provide the consistent work that has kept him in the Liga MX for so long. The backup option for Diego Alonso is not much of an improvement in Alfonso Blanco who has been characterized in his career as a bench warmer.
This offseason, Pachuca sold a promising goalkeeper Sebastian Sosa to Monarcas Morelia after being on loan with La Monarquia in the Clausura 2017 tournament. Rodolfo Cota is another very talented keeper that has been on loan but belongs to “Chucho” Martinez’s team. The 30-year-old has been with Chivas of Guadalajara since 2015 on loan from Los Tuzos. Cota’s loan deal expired this December and it is very clear that Pachuca needs a goalkeeper like Rodolfo Cota in between the sticks.
Los Hidalguences have not had a consistent goalkeeper in net since the late Miguel Calero and need that component in their team for long-term success. Cota has not been against a move back to Pachuca in recent interviews and he may be the goalkeeper that the six-time champions need to reach the seventh title or at least get back to making the playoffs consistently.
