Half a season of tactical tinkering had seen Robaato Rasamu finetune his approach to life in México. Led by some seriously exciting prospects, including the NxGn 2032 winner Luis Fernández, it seemed like his Club Fútbol de Pachuca side were heading in the right direction, having won Liga MX Clausura last season.
However, Rasamu’s plans for the 2032/33 campaign were scuppered by, you guessed it, Saudi Arabia. Al-Tai paid £10.5m for winger Jewison Bennette, who’d been average at best last season. He struggled to find a replacement but did pick up a new striker in David Vallejo for £1.6m from Mazatlán.
Bennette’s departure also left Pachuca without a top left winger, so Rasamu decided to rip up his tactical approach and implement a narrow diamond. Vallejo comes in up top alongside Vladimir Montaño with newly monikered Wonderkid and NxGn winner Luis Fernández in behind them and Victor Hugo Tinajero and Teppei Hino will compete for the midfield slot alongside Jason Gattini.
The new tactic started very well as Esteban Martínez, who scored three goals in the previous two seasons, scored twice to down Toluca 3-1. However, that proved to be their only win in their first four before a poor run dropped them as low as 12th, so Rasamu reverted to his 4-2-4 with Vallejo training as an inside forward from the left. And that worked nicely as they hammered Mazatlán 6-2 away and finished in a solid 4th with eight wins, five draws and four defeats and scoring 39 in 17. They breezed past Atlas 7-2 in the quarter final but narrowly lost 3-2 to América in the semis.
Into México’s Cup Overload
Last season’s success saw Pachuca entered into the mass of North American cup competitions, starting by losing Campeón de Campeones 3-1 to América. They then entered the Leagues Cup in Group 10, in which they drew 1-1 with Toronto FC and won on penalties before a 2-0 win over Charlotte FC. That sent them into the East Quarter Final and Fernández’s second half strike sealed an edgy 1-0 victory, which teed up an East Semi Final with Cruz Azul, which they lost 2-0.
Pachuca then got a decent draw in the all-important CONCACAF Champions League against Vancouver Whitecaps. However, before Rasamu could lead Pachuca into continental football a massive opportunity came up north of the border. LAFC sacked their manager after finishing third in MLS, offered Rasamu an interview and swiftly made an approach that, considering their superior finances and having the world’s best youth academy, he couldn’t ignore. So Rasamu was on the move to the United States of America!
Rasamu departs Pachuca after two years and two months in charge. He had 97 games at the club, winning 55, drawing 17 and losing 25, in which his sides scored 193 and conceded 130 and he had a 56% win percentage. But moving to LAFC seemed like a no-brainer.
How would Rasamu fare at LAFC? And would it be a mistake to depart Pachuca? Join us on Friday to find out!
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