Mexico

Counterattack: Should Mexico Keep Eriksson As Coach?

Sven Goran Eriksson's tenure as Mexico's head coach has been less than impressive and the latest defeat to Honduras only makes it worse. Goal.com's Andrea Canales and Luis Bueno debate the merits of keeping the Swede at the helm of El Tri.

Apr 2, 2009 4:52:32 AM

More On : Mexico

The road to qualifying for the World Cup tournament used to be much easier for Mexico. Other countries were too small and the United States too indifferent to soccer. Now, though, Mexico finds winning games tough to do, especially on the road. Yet the matter of how much blame the coach deserves for each loss is debatable.

Don't Miss

Goal.com MLS Rankings: Crew On Top

Andrea Canales of the Canales Daily and Luis Bueno of Bueno's Views face off on the issue.

Question: Should Mexico keep Sven Goran Eriksson on as their head coach?

Luis Bueno: Despite the terrible performance in Honduras, it's far too early to pull the plug on Sven's job as Mexico manager. The blame for this situation isn't solely on his shoulders, nor would firing him solve anything.

Andrea Canales: Perhaps firing Sven wouldn't solve everything, but it would be an important first step to finding a coach who understands and appreciates Mexico's style. Sven seems to work against what El Tri naturally does well, not with it. It's not a good fit, and the results are simply proving that out. He needs to go.

Bueno: Since Ricardo Lavolpe left, Mexico have had Hugo Sanchez, Chucho Ramirez and now Sven-Goran Eriksson. How can anyone manage under such conditions? If Eriksson goes, it's going to be someone else who has to start from less than zero, whereas we know with Sven Mexico are unbeatable at home. Remember, all these teams that are beating Mexico have done so on their own turf.

Canales: The merry-go-round can't get stuck now on the wrong color just because no one wants to spin it again. There's a perfectly good option available to Mexico now who can manage well under the difficult conditions of the country, and that's Javier Aguirre. Of course, he's not going to say he wants the job while Sven is there, but someone from the FMF should be on the phone to Aguirre pleading with him right now. And as far as road results, this is Mexico - king of CONCACAF for so long, and they can't even manage a draw when they need one away? That's poor.

Bueno: Nobody is saying that Mexico should not have done better. The problems are plenty, and even Sven would admit that. This terrible play away from home has been an issue and both Sven and the players are fully aware of that. To bring in Aguirre once again would bring tremendous pressure to a man who is all but idolized for what he did in 2001, and this would be under much different circumstances. There is no magician that will come in and wave a wand and fix everything; not Aguirre, not anyone. The only thing that will work is time - time to allow Sven the chance to see his work through.

Canales: Aguirre isn't a magician, but he is what the team really needs, someone with proven results with Mexico's players. They trust him and his approach, which is far more than anyone can say about Sven. Aguirre's accomplishments in 2001 give him the track record to make the team comfortable in a short while. Time is what Mexico doesn't have to give Sven. Qualifying is going into crunch time, and he hasn't come up with a viable strategy for players, hasn't settled on a goalkeeper, hasn't figured out how to stand up to FMF pressure, hasn't been able to finesse the naturalized player issue, hasn't even been able to find Edgar Castillo's passport.

Bueno: Saturday's win in Azteca was something that Sven's detractors should look at. Mexico won convincingly, didn't give anything up to Costa Rica and were the superior team on the field. It will be like that for every game Mexico plays in Azteca. That's 15 points Mexico has all but guaranteed, and no other team can say that. Now, Mexico has played in arguably their two toughest road venues already as they've lost now in thee straight qualifiers in Honduras, and their struggles in the US against the US are well-documented. Mexico have one difficult road game left. With Sven in charge, they'll turn it around and not only better their chances for the World Cup but start to build something they can carry over into South Africa.

Canales: That's the absolute best-case scenario, and I just don't see it turning out that way at all. Sven doesn't understand Mexican players - he doesn't seem to have much influence over them at times and other times he simply steps on their feelings. Cuauhtemoc Blanco's national team exit was bungled badly, given his long service to the squad. Sven seems to switch out his goalkeepers after every loss, which doesn't build confidence. And his field players are racking up red cards at a record rate - I've rarely seen the squad so unstable emotionally. That's simply not a winning scenario.

Bottom line, Sven was a big name the federation wanted for the prestige, but that doesn't win points. Sven's years of experience in the physical, direct style of play in Europe hasn't translated well to Mexico. El Tri's approach used to be more technical, with tricky passes and skillful set plays. Any team can have a bad day - witness Argentina versus Bolivia. But with Sven, it's the good days that seem rare. There's no consistency of progress. Now it's almost a random flip of a coin as to whether Mexico will play well. That doesn't cut it. Sven needs to be cut loose - he's holding them back.

Counterattack runs every Thursday on Goal.com

Follow Goal.com on Twitter

Follow Goal.com on Facebook

Thank you for your comment!

Please enter your name

Please enter your location

Please share your comment!