The Leagues Cup has become a competition that has surprised the world of football due to the early elimination of almost all the teams from Liga MX; a fact that was reflected in the dominance of the clubs belonging to Major League Soccer (MLS) during the group stage and later in the knockout rounds.
One of those who decided to speak about these results was the coach of the Pumas de la UNAM in Liga MX, Antonio ‘Turco’ Mohamed, who assured that it is necessary to make various modifications that can promote this binational competition which has the important perspective of promoting soccer in the United States and Mexico.
Mohamed explained that it is important that this tournament serve as a preseason for the Aztec clubs, although something that must be improved is the difference in locations; He maintained that many teams were victims of fatigue due to the long distances they had to travel to face each of the matches.
“We only had a long trip that was to Canada and it was exhausting but then we stayed in Washington and we didn’t have much travel. There are teams that have suffered a lot and I think this is a different experience and it seems to me that it could be much better in preseason to get ready because if you stay out like that it’s preseason time and it’s not a triple load, it’s a suggestion because playing three days cutting off the tournament going to play and then coming back is exhausting and it is better to use it as a preseason and not cut the tournament so that it is not double the load and there are many things to improve but there are also good ones, ”he said.
These statements were made during the press conference prior to the game this Friday against Club Toluca, where he also emphasized that one of the main changes he would make is the penalty shootout in the group stage.
“There are many factors that can influence, first that it is the first experience of this tournament, then you always play as a visitor on their court, in their climate and that is something important because you are always traveling and the opponent is resting waiting for you and they have too many advantages. What happens is that this is the first experience, we hope that for the second you are already more prepared and knowing how it is and it also seems relevant to me that a team that does not lose a game is eliminated by penalties because you can win and tie but with penalties You can pass despite having scored fewer points, but it’s a nice competition and it can be used in the pre-season to better get to the tournament and not cut it off”, he added.
“They all stayed out. It is something that could happen, that happened to those from the United States, so surely the one who does things best will be champion. We on this side have many things to learn and the next edition will be different because this one served a lot of learning for everyone and hopefully the things that need to be improved will be corrected and things that have been done well will be maintained”, concluded Mohamed.
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