Mexico

Goal.commentary: What's Wrong With Mexico?

Halfway through the Hexagonal round of World Cup qualifying, Mexico sits in fourth place and out of an automatic World Cup spot. Goal.com's Mexico staff analyzes the situation and tries to figure out what ails Mexico.

Jun 11, 2009 10:36:38 AM

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The Hexagonal round is halfway over and Mexico have hit new lows. El Tri lost three of its first four qualifying games and needed a win over Trinidad & Tobago in the fifth game to help save face and stay in the fight for a World Cup spot.

The once-mighty Mexico has fallen on hard times and could end up shut out of the World Cup altogether.

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What is the problem with the Mexican national team?

Goal.com Mexico writers Joel Aceves, Sylvestre Adame and Andrea Martinez along with Mexico editor Luis Bueno take a look at the state of El Tricolor.

Joel Aceves: Mexico’s current World Cup qualifying dilemma is the result of an incompetent FMF which have been nothing but disruptive to a squad that is in transition as a new generation of players begin to make their way into the starting eleven. The fact that there have been four different coaches in one World Cup qualifying cycle points at a house divided, even if after every FMF meeting the decisions are unanimous.

The dispute between FMF directors to impose their coaches, players and ideas only gave way to negativity that affected the squad no matter who was in charge. The Tricolor’s imminent failure seemed the better option, in many directors' minds, if only to bring in the needed changes and after four attempts none have seemed to work. FMF president Justino Compean brought Hugo Sanchez, another group rallied for Jesus “Chucho” Ramirez, Chivas owner Jorge Vergara surprised everyone with Sven-Goran Eriksson, and rival Jesus Martinez returned Javier Aguirre. There were many other candidates mentioned making the FMF selection process resemble a carnival (crane) claw machine.

Hugo’s process went from lackluster (Gold Cup 07) to exciting as a renovated squad steamrolled through some of South America’s top teams (Copa America 07) but was cut short because of the U-23 squad’s failure to reach the Olympics. Such was the hurry to get rid of Sanchez that it did not matter that World Cup qualifying was around the corner and no suitable back-up coach was in the waiting list. The team was placed under “interim” coach Ramirez care only to be taken away once Eriksson became available. And the Swede was sent packing after Aguirre was sacked from Atletico de Madrid.

Blame can be placed on players or coaches but the only guilty party are FMF directives, who own and manipulate the media, and the gullible Tricolor fans that are easily persuaded and buy into the hype. The hype created by the glory of the 2005 U-17 Championship, with the perceived “Golden Generation”, and the exodus of Mexican players abroad blindsided the true nature of the Tricolor. That Mexico is going through a transitional phase was ignored giving away to unrealistic expectations and visions of grandeur.

Sylvestre Adame: The problem with Mexico starts with its revolving coach/door trend. It is not only the Mexican National team that does it but the clubs do it as well. Chivas changed coach three times in the season that just passed, and that was only 17 games long. There is no continuity with the national team coaches. El Tri needs to take a look at the teams in their league. The most successful ones are built around continuity. The Mexican managers are not given enough time to develop a true team, thus producing bad results.

Sven-Goran Eriksson came in, in a tough position. He did not know much about the team and he had to do a lot with the little time that he had. His results were not good enough for FMF. They appointed Aguirre in the most hectic of times. Their expectations are way over the roof. Maybe FMF should consider restructuring their way of thinking and their methods of operation. The players are there; the coaches are there; but is the FMF there? Restructure it, put in a president who cares more about results and less about revenues.

Luis Bueno: Mexico's problems are deep-rooted, and while it's difficult to narrow down exactly all that ails El Tri, the most glaring issue is the lack of consistency in the managerial position. Mexico may not have reached past the Round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup but it's no coincidence that Mexico put out strong performances in the 2005 Confederations Cup, the 2003 Gold Cup, during qualifying for the 2006 World Cup and in the Round of 16 loss against Argentina in Liepzig.

That team had someone in Ricardo Lavolpe who enjoyed full support from the federation and was able to manage freely, without concern over losing his post. Lavolpe was unpopular of course but the federation did well to stand behind their man. Lavolpe had nearly two full years on the job before beginning the long qualifying campaign for Germany 2006, and during that time he won the Gold Cup and capped several players who played important roles on the team during that cycle, including Carlos Salcido, Omar Bravo, Francisco Fonseca and Ricardo Osorio. Lavolpe also capped players such as Andres Guardado and Guillermo Franco, who still form a key part of El Tri.

No such stability exists nowadays. Even Javier Aguirre, for as revered as he is, has had to reach for players past their prime upon his return, most notably Oscar Perez. With coaches coming and going - four in the last 20 months - Aguirre and his predecessors have only been able to think about survival and not a long-term plan with short- and long-term goals. Lack of stability leads to inconsistent play and inconsistent results, and Mexico is displaying those with each passing game.

Andrea Martinez: During the latest World Cup qualifying, Mexico has been utterly inconvincible. There might have been some flashes of brilliance here and there, some players that have made the team look better than it really is, but the truth is that the expectations for the team have been set too high. Everyone has set the expectations for the Mexican team above realistic standards and that mainly has been the problem.

At times it may seem like Mexico can compete with the best in the world. Sure, Mexico can hold its own against an Argentinean team, and yes, sometimes it can even beat the Brazilians. But what about all the other teams? The ones that make up the majority of the world and the CONCACAF region? Why can’t Mexico beat those? Expectations have been set too high, and the players’ heads have been inflated. It seems like they believe that they have the right to win, and that replaces the desire to win. Do many of the players who sit on the bench at their European teams, or the players who play with the mediocre Mexican teams think that they are better than players from smaller countries? The ones who prepare for Mexico instead of bypassing the need to study the opponent? Has the belief that Mexico has a ‘golden generation’ influenced the players to try perhaps a little less because they think that they have the talent? They may have the talent, but it hasn’t completely been utilized yet.

There are several factors that contribute to Mexico’s recent decline, but the fact that Mexico has unrealistic expectations is perhaps the greatest problem of them all. Several times the team has lost, yet the national team remains the same. Perhaps the solution to the problem would be for Mexico to lose out on the World Cup in South Africa to the “little” teams so they could see where they truly measured up for an extended period of time instead of just for a period after the game. Although it would be devastating for Mexico, perhaps its needed to give the team the wake up call it deserves.

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