Image credit: Liga BBVA MX

Overwhelming evidence demonstrates that in recent times, the success of a football club comes with economic ambition and sports intelligence.

The previous argument was mostly seen in European leagues like Germany, France, Spain, Italy and England. It’s also seen in the UEFA Champions League, in which teams with substantial economic power dominate the local and international competitions.

Nevertheless, in lower-class leagues like the Liga MX, the model of investing considerable capital is gaining popularity.

The factors are straightforward; investing a significant amount of money can get you a championship team. However, does this work on a league with two tournaments per year and a playoff system like the Liga MX?

2013 MONEY BOOM

In the late 2000s, the market of the Liga MX was very low priced. The most significant acquisitions were below $5 million, meaning the negotiations for a talented player were around $2 million, or even less.

The transaction that broke the market happened in the 2011-12 season. In the blink of an eye, Santos and America negotiated for Ecuadorian striker Christian Benitez. America paid $9 million for his services, doubling the previous most expensive transactions.

Benitez was living proof that the Mexican market could afford talent at a higher price. From 2013 to 2019, transactions of $5 million or more per player became an annual activity in the Liga MX. And at the same time, it was limited to certain clubs.

Eleven out of 18 clubs could afford at least one player in the $5 million to $7 million range: Queretaro, Toluca, Pumas, Tigres, Monterrey, Santos, Cruz Azul, America, Chivas, Pachuca and Leon.

Seven teams obtained at least one footballer from $8 to $9 million: Chivas, Tigres, Monterrey, Pachuca, Xolos, Cruz Azul and America.

And just six clubs invested $10 million or more in a player or multiple players: America, Chivas, Tigres, Monterrey, Cruz Azul and Pachuca.

SPENDING CHART

In Mexico, five teams surpass the rest in economic power. Those entities have made a significant financial effort since the 2012-2013 campaign:

Monterrey – The CONCACAF champions spent $123 million.America – The most laureated team in Mexico invested $117 million.Cruz Azul – The third most popular team of the league reached $104 million in reinforcements.Tigres – The team of the decade spent $100 million; however, Tigres made an upper-level effort in the free agency.

Chivas – The country’s most traditional team invested $100 million in Mexican talent.

Even when the numbers of the most relevant teams double or triple the budget of their pursuers, the total playoff appearances of Cruz Azul and Chivas are still less than Santos, Toluca, Morelia, Pumas, Pachuca, Xolos and Leon. 

COMPETITION FOR EVERY BUDGET

Operating with a lower budget is not a synonym of failure. In Mexico, eight out of 18 teams classify to the liguilla. And it doesn’t matter the position in which they enter.

The playoffs were made to generate surprises. They are exciting because the majority of the time, the best team of the competition doesn’t win.

In the last decade, only two out of 40 clubs that finished first won the league, while the eighth-place team lifted the trophy three times.

In the Clausura 2019, Club Leon had the best season ever in the Liga MX. They broke the points record and streak of consecutive victories. Leon ended in first but lost the championship game against Tigres.

🦁🔥UNA FIERA DE RÉCORD 🦁🔥

El León es el primer equipo que en 76 años de historia profesional consigue 11 victorias consecutivas, luego del 3-0 sobre Puebla. pic.twitter.com/N523qqkV4m

— TUDN USA (@TUDNUSA) April 13, 2019

Every semester there’s one or a couple of clubs that over-perform their football capacity. It’s normal to have surprises in short tournaments, because in 17 weeks the margin of error decreases. There’s not enough time to recover a deficit of points.

Indeed, any team can qualify for the playoffs and beat the No. 1 seed. But not every club can be a champion.

OTHER CONTENDERS

Over the past several years, the relevance of clubs like Santos, Pachuca and Leon has risen above Chivas and Cruz Azul. Combined, they’ve spent $111 million since the 2012-13 campaign. Nevertheless, they combined for six championships in the last decade, five more than Cruz Azul and Chivas together.

A football team represents a luxury, especially in Mexico. It is not always a reliable business. However, Grupo Pachuca (owner of Pachuca and Leon) and Grupo Orlegi (owner of Santos) are two enterprises that profit directly from their football clubs. Or to put it into simple words, they survive from football.

While Tigres own a fleet of players in South American leagues, Grupo Pachuca and Orlegi base their sports model on thorough scouting for the first team and solidifying their professional academies.

Sometimes they buy cheap, but they sell expensive. Pachuca profited $20 million from the transactions of their graduates, Irving Lozano and Erick Gutierrez, to PSV. Santos got the same quantity for Darwin Quintero and Christian Benitez when they left for America, three times more than their initial cost.

The transfer records of Grupo Pachuca and Grupo Orlegi demonstrate that both can disburse $20 million in one year and not invest a dime in the next tournament. However, their market value rarely decreases out of the top eight.

WHAT’S THE REAL FORMULA, THEN?

In a study by Soc Takes in collaboration with mathematician Luis Felipe Jacobo, the results established that the annual investment doesn’t have a significant connection with the yearly position, finals played and titles achieved. However, the study reveals that the relation between the market value and league finals disputed is relevant. And at the same time, it’s increasing.

It makes sense.

Since 2013, America, Tigres and Monterrey adapted to a more demanding market. They began to build their vision way before the rest of the league realized that football was changing — not only in the economic aspect, but their sports intelligence also improved exponentially.

For example, America and Monterrey have the best academies in the country. And Tigres began their expansion to South America; they own more than 30 players outside of Mexico and loan them to South American and Mexican squads.

Year after year they acquired talent, and — most importantly — retained their base of players by offering them substantial salaries. With time and exponential relevance, the squad value increased.

Currently, America, Monterrey and Tigres don’t need to buy a whole squad every summer. Their only mission is to fill a couple of spots because they already boast an excellent and competitive base of players. And if someone important leaves, they bring in another asset as valuable as the last one.

Thirteen out of 18 teams can find one or a couple of talented footballers for a fair transfer or loan price. But they can’t retain them. Half of Mexican football lives out on loans. And part of the business model of Pachuca, Santos and Leon is to buy and sell the talent for profit.

The study shows that the tendencies regarding the value of a squad and finals played are increasing. While there’s no certainty of predicting the future, this correlation grows annually in Mexico.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.

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Image credit: Indiana University Athletic Department

Eight overtimes. Can you even imagine? After playing a regulation soccer game — 90 minutes — in Ft. Lauderdale heat and humidity, can you imagine playing in one overtime, let alone eight?  Well, that’s what used to happen in college soccer. And in 1982, the Indiana Hoosiers prevailed after 159 minutes to win their first NCAA championship.

It wasn’t a surprise to those who knew the program. The Hoosiers were loaded with talent. But why on Earth was a team from the middle of Indiana so good?

So many questions, and yet one answer — Jerry Yeagley. He came to Indiana. He had a vision. He looked for the pieces. He put the puzzle together. In his 10th season at the helm, the Hoosiers finally won the title. They were the unquestioned No. 1 team in the nation.

“Certainly the first championship got the monkey off our back,” Yeagley said. “Winning in ’82 was the special feeling that I’ll never forget. Once you win a championship, you want more. You get driven. It’s not an end in itself.”

When Yeagley joined Indiana in 1963, he was hired to teach and coach the club soccer team. But in his mind this team would be so much more. The club players soon decided they too wanted more. They had a taste of success.

They were offered a trip to the postseason. But as a club team, they were on their own. Some university support could only help this program. So after years of stating its case, IU was granted NCAA status effective in 1973.

It didn’t take long before they were noticed. Indiana made its first postseason appearance one year later. And in 1976, they played in the final. The 18-0-1 team dropped a 1-0 decision to San Francisco. In 1978 and 1980, they returned to the final, again falling short to San Francisco each time.

But in 1982, all the pieces came together and the rest was history.

IU began the season on a sour note, losing three of their first four games in overtime. To top it all off, the last loss was a 3-2 overtime decision to rival San Francisco. At that point, the Hoosiers pulled themselves together. They vowed to not lose again. So — in true champion fashion — they didn’t.

“After we lost the game against San Francisco, I said we weren’t going to lose any more,” Paul DiBernardo said. “I felt the team was capable of winning it all.”

It started with a 4-2 win over Stanford. That match marked the last time a team would score more than one goal against the Hoosiers. From that point on, IU allowed four goals in the regular season while posting 12 shutouts. Heading into NCAA Tournament action, the Hoosiers (17-3-1) were confident and focused. IU shut out Evansville (1-0), Philadelphia Textile (2-0) and SIU-Edwardsville (1-0) en route to the championship match.

IU and Duke took the pitch at Ft. Lauderdale’s Lockhart Stadium ready for what would soon become a classic standoff. With the match tied 1-1, the Hoosiers took advantage of a set piece. John Stollmeyer made a run on a free kick. Gregg Thompson blasted the ball on target, which bounced once and went into the net, giving IU the 2-1 win at the 159:16 mark.

The 1982 championship started it all. IU won again in 1983, 1988, 1998, 1999 and 2003. The 2003 season was Yeagley’s last. He ended his career with a 544-1-45 record in 31 seasons and six NCAA championships. IU has since won two more titles for a total of eight. Indiana is the winningest program in the NCAA. In 47 seasons, the Hoosiers boast a 767-181-102 record.

And now you can watch a film about a little club team from Indiana blossoming into a perennial contender. On Tuesday, May 5 at 5 p.m. ET, the Big Ten Network is premiering “Worth the Wait.” It documents the Hoosiers’ climb to national prominence.

It wasn’t easy. But it was definitely worth the wait for so many.

Editor’s note: The quotes in this story come from Kathryn’s book, “The Kickin’ Hoosiers,” published in 2004.

Follow Kathryn on Twitter: @Katknapp99.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.

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Photo credit: Sybil Liberty

The Portland Timbers recently welcomed new Designated Player Brian Fernandez, a young Argentinian footballer who came from the Liga MX and scored in his first game with the Timbers, into MLS after being the second-best striker of the Mexican tournament.

During the Clausura 2019, Fernandez reached 12 goals in 14 games played with Necaxa. His age (24) and offensive instinct seduced the Timbers so much that they paid handsomely for his services. Transfermarkt.com lists Fernandez’s transfer fee at $10.26 million, a club record. Other reports suggested that the transfer fee the Timbers paid Necaxa came in just a shade below that.

The Timbers paid a club record transfer fee to acquire Fernandez. Several reports out of Mexico indicated that the fee was in the $10-12 million range. It’s my impression that the fee was less than the range being reported, but still definitely a club record #RCTID #MLS

— Jamie Goldberg (@Jamiebgoldberg) May 6, 2019

However, Fernandez struggled at the very beginning of his professional path. He was a nomad without an apparent course until he arrived at Chilean club Union La Calera. Six months in Chile were enough to get a ticket to Mexico. Although, during his first semester, Fernandez barely responded to Necaxa’s expectations, and that’s when the club directed him into therapy.

According to a source with direct knowledge of the situation, Fernandez started attending graphology sessions to improve his psychological state. Graphology is a science that analyzes the handwriting of a person to illustrate personality traits.

Fernandez’s 2018 graphology therapy results, which were written in Spanish and translated to English by Soc Takes after being obtained from a source, defined Fernandez as “someone humble; polite with his coworkers and friends and family, an honest man who knows how to shine in his job.” But at the same time, “conflicted, stubborn if he doesn’t get what he desires, and easily frightened at the moment to decide due to his impulsiveness.”

As a worker, Fernandez “executes in the best way possible, he is a good leader but shy in a new crowd. He adapts with time, but he can discourage himself and come to a halt.”

Psychologically, Fernandez’s description showed him as “affective, guided by moral values, loyal, and willing to sacrifice him before any other.”

It was clear that Fernandez worked with the flaws of his diagnosis. He was already competent to play in the Liga MX when he arrived. Fernandez defeated his fears and his frustration. And as the report’s conclusion demonstrated, he grew up by “solving problems from his past and healing his feelings.”

Fernandez followed the five concepts that graphology showed him: acting, deciding, organizing, security and bravery. The possible positive effects of the sessions seemed to reflect on the pitch. In his first tournament in Mexico, Fernandez scored just four goals. But in the second tournament, he got 12 and sent Necaxa to the playoffs.

Portland signed a player who’s dealt with his past ghosts. His mind and soul are in the right place now, and his career is in the right direction. Fernandez is someone who enjoys love gestures and the people of Portland will show him plenty. That means that he won’t betray the fan base; he’ll pay them with goals. How much his success has to do with the five graphology concepts he fulfilled is impossible to say, but his post-therapy performance has certainly trumped his form prior to the sessions.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.

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Image credit: Pumas

During International Women’s Day weekend, Record.com columnist Ignacio “Fantasma” Suarez published a story about a first-division player involved in a sexual scandal.

Despite the damaging and compelling testimony from the victim, the institution that represents the player, Pumas, denied every single part of the column in a press release.

However, the next day Suarez validated the testimony of the victim, whom he called Valentina, and exposed point by point the evidence of the alleged crime that has been swept under the rug by a first division Mexican team.

The story is about Marco Garcia, a talented midfielder who became a pillar of the 2020 Pumas side in just four weeks.

Known as “La Joya” (“The Jewel”), Garcia scored in the first minute of his debut in the Liga MX.

Garcia was part of Pumas’ academy when Valentina worked in the Coordination of Organizational Development, a branch that stimulated the high school efficiency for youth players.

During class, Valentina noticed that Garcia was taking, sharing and saving pictures of her without any consent, action punishable by the Penalty Code of up to one to three years in jail.

The evidence was so overwhelming that even Garcia’s face was present in the pictures. In his column, Suarez posted one of the many images taken by the footballer.

Valentina went to see her superiors; she talked to first-division coach David Patiño, but found no resolution. Human resources kept Garcia’s phone, promising her to take care of the offense.

But nothing happened. The event was treated as a “boys will be boys” situation — an innocent mistake made by a 17-year-old.

Even when high-ranking members knew about the problem, HR deleted the evidence and gave the phone back to Garcia.

Valentina never received the written record that demonstrated the offense made by the player, but they assured her that Garcia would face a two-week suspension.

Two male professors relieved Valentina, and the actions of Garcia were minimized. And when Garcia reached the first team, Pumas fired her.  

After Ignacio “Fantasma” Suarez denounced the actions taken by Club Universidad, Pumas issued a statement (translated):

“In September 2017, Marco Garcia, 17, was denounced for taking inappropriate pictures of the tutor of the online education program launched by the Club Universidad.”

In the first paragraph, Pumas is admitting that the player indeed committed a crime. They are minimizing his actions by showing Garcia’s age at the time.

“As demonstrated in the newspaper’s articles, the Management Department, through HR, supported the victim and investigated the case. After a dialogue between both parties, they established that the institution wouldn’t fire the player. At the victim’s petition, there would be a two-month suspension without salary and any professional activity, granting the pardon.”

Here is the messy part. According to the testimony, there was no support for Valentina. They deleted the evidence, and her only card left was the written record that she never signed, nor received. But the evidence resurfaced recently, and Suarez, with the consent of Valentina, used a picture in his column.

The press release affirmed that there was a pardon in exchange for a sanction. Pardoning a crime can just be done in front of the authority. In some sketchy deals, it comes with formal documents. There’s always evidence. In this case, if Pumas can’t show something formal, they could be accused of covering up a crime.

As Valentina told Suarez, she had a meeting with Garcia and his dad. In the column, she stated that both Garcias challenged her with words and despot looks. However, the institution could argue the word-against-word principle. Not with the pardon.

Club Universidad assured that they have a resignation letter from Valentina, which has a date of November 2018.

According to the story, Articles 47 and 50 of the Mexican Federal Work Law and the amount of money she received, Pumas fired Valentina. She received three months liquidation, plus another 20 days of every year worked at the club.

Specifically, the law dictates that those measures take place when the employer finishes the relation with the employee. In case both parts agree not to continue with the commitment, there’s an acquaintance. And the mathematical operation to obtain the acquaintance is different than the liquidation.

In both terms, the employer needs to address every detail to the employee, and notify him or her by granting evidence of the situation.

Public opinion of the handling of the incident was so poor that the new president of Pumas, Leopoldo Silva, reopened the investigation and separated Marco Garcia from the first team for an undefined time.

If the respecting authorities took charge of the investigation, Pumas would be in a vulnerable spot. They openly said that there was a crime committed and assured to have all the evidence with them, even alleged documents signed by the victim.

If Valentina provides different materials, Pumas could face negative legal consequences for their handling of the Marco Garcia situation.

Follow Luis on Twitter: @LFulloa.

Support Soc Takes on Patreon for access to exclusive content and supporter benefits. Click here to become a patron today.

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• INDIANAPOLIS — Goals by Cristian Novoa, Karl Ouimette and Tyler Pasher, along with a clean sheet from goalkeeper Jordan Farr and the defense, propelled the Indy Eleven to a convincing 3-nil win Saturday evening against Memphis 901 FC at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Eleven haven’t suffered a defeat at…
• Currently, Memphis 901 FC personnel are on a 10-hour bus ride back from Charleston. Soc Takes understands that club personnel shared concerns over the likelihood of Hurricane Dorian making landfall on the East Coast of the United States this week. Sources with direct knowledge of the situation informed Soc…
• Welcome back to the finale of our four-part 2019 USL Championship mega preview! It’s been a long, long journey and we appreciate you sticking around for the ride. This time, we’ll be wrapping things up with the last nine teams to cover in the Eastern Conference. If you haven’t…