Four Starters Out, Pumas' Defence on the Brink: How Will Solari Face Atlético de San Luis?

On Tuesday morning at Ciudad Universitaria, the grass at Estadio Olímpico Universitario still held its dew, and Esteban Solari stood near the touchline, tactics board in hand but eyes fixed on the group warming up. He counted. I sat in stand B, my notebook already carrying four names crossed out before the session had even begun: Santiago Morales, Kevin Vite, Adalberto Carrasquilla, Álvaro Angulo. Four men, spread across all three lines. A gutting, not a single injury.

Solari said nothing to his assistant for the first ten minutes. I have watched enough coaches who were once players to recognise that moment: they are rebuilding the entire shape in their heads, not merely picking replacements. There is a particular silence in sessions like this, when every option is a stopgap.

Context: a matchday bent out of shape

Liga MX runs on the Apertura–Clausura rhythm, each tournament only about 17 rounds long. Matchday 10 is already past the halfway mark. That means Pumas have little time to fix mistakes, and every point dropped at home carries double weight in the race for the Liguilla — the eight-team playoff.

The problem is that this matchday coincides with a FIFA international window. Liga MX does not pause. Clubs with many internationals suffer more than those with few, and Pumas are in the heavy-loss group. Morales, Vite and Carrasquilla are all absent on national-team duty. Angulo is out injured. Four men, four different reasons, all landing on a match the club needs to win to get back on track.

Pumas are one of Mexico's most storied clubs, tied to the National Autonomous University (UNAM) and famous for developing young players. But heritage cannot substitute for squad depth. The team is in a phase where its playing rhythm is not yet set, and the club itself admits it is still integrating the squad and searching for a rhythm. A team under construction that loses four pillars at once sees risk multiply, because the structure is not yet strong enough to absorb the shock.

Opponents Atlético de San Luis are not a name that inspires fear, but in a short table, a side that defends in an organised block and waits for the counter is exactly the kind of opponent that troubles a patched-up back line.

The shock isn't where people think

One thing must be said clearly: four absences do not mean four equal losses. Carrasquilla is out through suspension from the Atlas match, meaning Solari has had time to prepare that slot in advance. The real shock lies elsewhere.

Looking line by line makes the picture clearer.

Up front, losing Morales means Pumas shrink to a single centre-forward, Juninho. That is a structural change, not merely a substitution. From a two-striker shape, the team shifts to one, and the plausible compensation is to push a winger — Huerta or Herrera — higher to preserve width and mobility. The trade-off is stark: less presence in the box, more movement. Against a deep block, that can be a sensible choice, because the ball gets stretched wide and creates room for runners from the second line. Against a high-pressing opponent, Juninho is easily isolated in the box, and Pumas lose their long-ball escape too.

Juninho is not a target-man type. He thrives on moving into space and finishing with a single touch. Cut off from midfield supply, his value nearly vanishes. That is precisely why pushing a winger high matters: it creates a second supply line rather than depending on one link.

Midfield loses Vite, the least-discussed but operationally heaviest blow. Vite is the type who carries the ball forward and connects the lines. Santiago Trigos is named as the natural replacement, but his profile leans towards structural discipline rather than sudden creativity. In other words, Pumas' midfield shifts from proactive creation to cautious control. The ball will move more safely, but line-breaking passes will drop — and that directly affects Juninho ahead of him.

In theory, midfield still has Víctor Arteaga — who had already taken Carrasquilla's bench spot before the suspension hit. That small detail is worth noting: it suggests Carrasquilla had lost his starting role even while still eligible. It is a signal of an internal competition in progress, not the result of a momentary decision. For Solari, that is both good news — he has an option ready — and food for thought, because it raises questions about the true form of a man once considered a pillar.

But the most worrying area is the left flank. Angulo has just returned from injury, played only 45 minutes against Atlas, and is now out again. His natural replacement, Cristian Calderón, is also injured. Both left-back options are gone. Pushed into the role is Bennevendo — a defender who leans right-sided or utility, described as the clearest remaining option. This is the kind of risk any coach dreads: a player pushed out of his natural position at exactly the spot an opponent can exploit.

The modern left-back does more than defend. He joins the build-up, holds width in attack, and must read when to push up and when to drop. A right-sided player shifted to the left struggles on both counts: body angle in defence and passing direction in build-up. An opponent only needs to target that flank to create instability.

The blind spot outside reports overlook

In England, where I follow football daily, people call this the "FIFA virus" — clubs losing key men after every international window, not through injury but through a congested calendar and travel. For Pumas it is worse: their squad spans multiple nationalities. Carrasquilla is Panamanian. Vite is Ecuadorian. Angulo is Colombian. Morales wears Mexico's colours. Four nationalities, four different flight paths, all in one week. Recruiting across borders gives the club more options, but also pushes it into a passive position whenever the FIFA calendar arrives.

What outside reports tend to exaggerate is the "Pumas in crisis over four absences" story. It needs separating: this is a calendar event, not an internal crisis. The real risk lies elsewhere, and it is far more stubborn — the team still lacks a settled rhythm. A side with an established style can rotate without losing structure, like swapping a cog in a running machine. A side still searching for rhythm resets the question every time it changes personnel. So whether Pumas win or lose this match depends not only on the four missing names, but on whether Solari can turn patchwork into a temporarily stable structure.

Another often-overlooked reading: big clubs are criticised for rotating in small games, but for Pumas, losing men to national teams is a chance to test depth. If Trigos, Bennevendo or Arteaga play well, Solari gains options for the rest of the season and the club gains cover for congested weeks. If they struggle, it is evidence that depth is thin, and Pumas must look at the transfer market.

I keep the team's rhythm by writing down what no one wants to read: Carrasquilla benched before his suspension, Angulo with only 45 minutes after injury, Calderón injured precisely when the defence needed him most. Those details do not appear on the scoreboard, but they tell the true state of the team.

What will shape the match

When the match begins, a few signals deserve attention. Bennevendo's position says a lot: if he starts at left-back, every Atlético de San Luis attack will flow that way. How Solari sets up the front line matters too: Juninho alone, or a winger pushed level with him. And the midfield tempo will decide everything: if Trigos plays safe, the ball will go sideways more, and Pumas will need spark from the flanks to break down the opposition block.

No xG or pressing data was published in this team-news report, so any tactical judgement is qualitative. But one thing can be asserted from observation: the left flank is the most fragile area, and both teams know it.

Closing

The night before a match, I often walk a loop around the stadium district. In Ciudad Universitaria, the evening air smells of fresh-cut grass, and students cycle up the slopes. When the stadium echoes with the sound of absence, I understand that football is a conversation between people — those who come, those who are missing, and those called into the gap.

I used to write on a typewriter; now I keep rhythm with a hashtag, but my heart still beats with the ball. At Pumas right now, the question is no longer "who does Solari replace". The question is whether a patched-up defence can hold home turf, and whether the staff can turn a squad shock into a chance to shape a clearer style. If Pumas win without four pillars, it will be the strongest signal of this season's ambition, and a statement from a club that knows how to live through understrength weeks. If they collapse on the left flank, people will understand why squad depth is always the true measure of a season.