Entering the league continues to be the main objective in the Pumas squad, which, with the 3-1 victory against Xolos on Sunday, maintains the mathematical possibility of at least reclassification, tied with 17 points with Necaxa, in search of the last places. However, in three seasons as technical director, Andrés Lillini has had different emergencies that have to do with scoring goals and winning, while he has fully complied with the positioning of the youth players.
One of the objectives in addition for one of the considered ‘big four’ is to reach the league, but this was modified as the university students got involved in a goal drought. Since the beginning of the tournament and until matchday 13 they had only scored six goals, since then, the technical director’s speech turned to the need to define and score to win.
It is a problem that had dragged on all year, as it closed the Clausura 2021 with the offense with the lowest production with only 10 goals. Little by little this situation has been reversed, as they have spun three victories in which they have scored six goals.
What modifications were made in training to achieve the goal?
“Talk a lot with them about the tranquility they must have, that predisposition within the area to win a game, that if I can’t do it, I’ll do it someone else and not be so focused on wanting to do it anyway. If one falls, the others begin to fall, this is an inertia that we know exists in football and that we must work on it in training in a specific way. (To say that we did) something very different would lie to you, just focus on the tranquility within the area in the definition and take advantage of any error, “the coach replied to this newspaper.
The attack of the felines has found solidity in recent times, because in the match against Xolos, at least 16 offensives ended in the opponent’s small area and hit three shots in the direction of the goal, converting 100%. During this season, 66.7% of Pumas’ goals have fallen in the second half, while nine of the 16 that have conceded have also appeared in the last 45 minutes.
Return to Pumas to the bases
In August 2020, when the Argentine’s position as technical director of the first team was ratified, since he served as interim coach since July of that year, the statement read that the decision had been taken “in order to prioritize the project of the University Club, which consists of working with young homegrown players, backed by quality reinforcements, with the aim of returning to the foundations that have distinguished this institution ”.
His knowledge of the homegrown players, since from 2017 until the moment of his appointment as interim coach he was director of basic forces, have allowed him to debut in the first team at least 10 home-trained players, including Erik Lira, who the The same Sunday of the victory against Xolos he received his first call to the Mexican National Team for a preparation match against Ecuador in the middle of the week.
“I feel very satisfied to be on the field and for the youth players to play, that is why I came to this club, to give shape to a youth sports project and today I have to consolidate them and the satisfaction is double. I have put them in very difficult moments, not only when we win, but also when we lost ”, said Lillini after the match against Xolos.
They remain outside the classification zone
The Pumas are far from the top 10 in the leaderboard with an ERA of 40.5%, their best since matchday two. Although they have the same units as Necaxa (17), the latter have a greater number of goals scored, which keeps the Rays closer to the playoffs. This is a contrast to two tournaments ago, since in the 2020 Guardians tournament the university students entered the Liguilla as sub-leaders.
How much do you attribute responsibility for these results to Andrés Lillini?
Of 12 fans surveyed by this newspaper, three consider that the greatest responsibility for sports results is the responsibility of the technical director, the rest mention the same players as the main responsible parties and their complaint towards the footballers is a lack of commitment, as well as the sense of belonging to the institution, in addition, they point out that the reinforcements have not yielded as expected. Others consider that economic resources prevent him from competing with the campus.
Despite the results, five respondents mentioned that they would like to see Lillini on the bench next season: “I like that he knows from the quarry, the philosophy of Pumas, that is what the reinforcements need, to know the philosophy” , said a 22-year-old fan.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx