Santos Laguna arrives in Houston for Saturday’s BBVA Compass Dynamo Charities Cup as a club in transition. The Torreon, Mexico club won its fifth Liga MX title in dominant fashion in May but currently sits 17th in the 18-team Liga MX after 12 games in the 2015 Apertura. Santos Laguna and the Dynamo meet on Saturday for the first time after the 2013 CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, a 3-1 aggregate series win for the Torreon club.
After one of its most successful spells, winning three trophies – the Liga MX Clausura, the Copa MX and the “Champion of Champions” – between last December and May, manager Pedro Caixinha unexpectedly left Santos in August only five games into the new season.
“I think one year ago the club decided it was time for a renovation of the playing staff, to lower the average age of the squad and create a more dynamic side,” explains Tom Marshall, a veteran Liga MX reporter for ESPN FC. “Key players like Darwin Quintero, Oswaldo Sanchez, Felipe Baloy, Juan Pablo Rodriguez and Oribe Peralta all left, to make way for younger players.”
Indeed, among the players named to the Santos Laguna game day roster for either leg of the 2013 Champions League series against the Dynamo, only four players remain in Torreon: Nestor Calderon, Julio Gonzalez, Cesar Ibanez and Andres Renteria.
As a club, Santos Laguna is confident it can restock a roster after the sale of impact players. It won the Liga MX title this spring after selling longtime striker Oribe Perlata and Quintero to Club America in May and December, respectively. The club believes in its youth system and places faith in its scouts to find new players to replace the big names it sells.
Santos signed Jared Borgetti from Atlas in 1996, a year before his Mexico national team debut and before his Mexican-record 46 international goals. Los Guerreros also discovered Ecuador national team forward Christian Benitez and Vicente Matias Vuoso, who scored twice against eventual champion Chile in this summer’s Copa America.
“Santos scouts find players (from other clubs) at a young age,” explains Enrique Gonzalez, a reporter for Univision in Houston and also a Torreon native and longtime Santos Laguna supporter. “They found Peralta, who is from Torreon, Christian Benitez, Quintero, who was very young (22) when they found him, Matias Vuoso, and others. They have sold a lot of players and Club America spent almost $45 million total for Benitez, Quintero, Vuoso and Osmar Mares.”
Caixinha, viewed by Gonzalez as the best manager in Santos history, abruptly resigned on Aug. 15 after a 1-4-0 start to the new season. He was replaced by Spaniard Pako Ayestaran, previously an assistant coach at Benfica and understudy of Rafael Benitez during coaching stops at Liverpool and Valencia. Ayestaran’s current challenge is finding a winning formula with a younger squad.
“Naturally, there is less consistency with younger players,” says Marshall. “The championship, in the club's own admission, came much sooner in the renovation of the squad than expected. The team simply got on a positive winning run, confidence was sky high and it was enough to carry them over the line. However, expectations were raised and when the current Apertura started poorly, Caixinha thought it best to step aside. President Alejandro Irarragorri said the problems are his fault because the club didn't manage success as it should. I don't think Ayesteran has had time to implement his style as yet.”
“We don’t know exactly what Ayesteran wants,” Gonzalez says. “The Santos president [Irarragorri] likes to innovate and bring different styles of soccer to Mexico. He likes to play an offensive style and have control in the midfield. Ayesteran won a title in Israel (with Maccabi Tel Aviv) before coming to Santos.”
One reason for Santos’ three-trophy haul over the last year under Caixinha was their fighting spirit, mirroring the club’s nickname, Los Guerreros (Warriors).
“Santos players are warriors,” Gonzalez says. “The fans like players who fight on the field. Some of their best signings are players who didn’t play for other clubs in Mexico but come to Santos motivated and have their breakthrough.”
In Caixinha’s departure press conference, he didn’t say much, but referenced Los Guerreros when describing his players.
“The reasons (for leaving) are secondary,” he said. "I will be marked for life by the experience here in Torreon, at Santos Laguna, where I managed a team of great warriors and in which we reaped important triumphs in recent months."
The current squad features midfielder Nestor Calderon, 26, who led the club with six goals last season. The attacking midfielder has been limited to only four appearances through 12 games this year, partially due to a muscle injury, but he will be with the team in Houston on Saturday and is expected to play.
Gonzalez on Calderon: “He played very well last year, and was previously a great player in Toluca. Early on with Santos, he was lost in the team. But after a year, he performed, and was the base of the team for the championships. He is a very smart player.”
Striker Javier Orozco scored four goals in the first leg of the 2015 Clausura final, a dominant 5-0 home victory over Queretaro, and was part of Mexico’s victorious 2015 Gold Cup squad. The 27-year-old is also the all-time CONCACAF Champions League goal-scorer with 24 goals, including four in one game against Real Salt Lake in 2010.
Marshall on Orozco: “He's a confidence player. It just hasn't gone well for him this season, as it hasn't for many of Santos' players.”
Gonzalez on Orozco: “When he arrived at Santos, he was disappointing, backing up Oribe Perlata. But when he had the opportunity, he started to score. He made the Mexico national team, and scored four goals in last year’s Liga MX final.”
Among the intriguing players is Djaniny Tavares, a Cape Verde national team forward, who leads Santos with three goals this season.
Marshall on Djaniny: “He is the type of forward who can conjure up something from nothing. Djaniny is fast, physical and direct.”
Among other players to watch on Saturday, Marshall names Diego “Pulpo” Gonzalez and captain Carlos Izquierdoz. “Gonzalez is an Argentine box-to-box midfielder who drives the team. Izquierdoz is another Argentine who leads the defense.”
For Gonzalez, the lifelong Santos supporter, his advice for fellow fans is simple: patience. “I know we have the right players. Now we have to find the right system. Yes, we have to wait.”
