The Craziness of El Tri

If there are two national teams that I truly enjoy covering in the CONCACAF region, it would have to be Costa Rica and Mexico. Full stop. With Costa Rica, there is a sensible joy for their success in the past few years amidst the controversies that have engulfed them in the process.

Mexico have only lost three matches since Juan Carlos Osorio arrived. He has had one of the best winning percentages of any coach ever. He has El Tri on the verge of qualifiyng for the World Cup and has relatively cruised through CONCACAF’s hexagonal round. Yet the Mexican press is in total rage mode.

One can make the argument that there are probably two other people that get criticized as much as Juan Carlos Osorio in Mexico- Enrique Peña Nieto and Donald Trump.

Although many might say that being President of the United States ages a person quickly, you can also make the argument that being Mexican national team coach has the same effect in a shorter span of time.

The excuses abound but the logic behind those comments do not seem to have any coherence and are aimed at a coach that has implemented a line of work that is rather unorthodox.

“He can’t beat Germany.”

“How can he not beat Germany?”

“…But 7–0…"

“He won in Colombus… but 7–0"

“He’s won in CONCACAF… but 7–0"

“Mexico are in first place in qualifiers… but 7–0… and now 4–1"

“The messages on his t-shirts”

“They drew with Portugal… but Portugal aren’t that good.”

I was hearing ESPN pundit Rafa Ramos talking about Mexico’s “disappointing” run in the Confederations Cup while he was amongst the peloton on reporters talking to El Salvador coach Eduardo Lara. Do people like him REALLY think they were going to beat Germany?

It is very difficult to reach an objective if it constantly being changed.

At the beginning of the Confederations Cup, many in the Mexican press didn’t even expect their team to get out of the group stage against the reigning European champs and the host nation. To me, that was not realistic. Portugal was going to be a challenge, but instead of praising their character the press decided to go after the team’s overall performance.

Russia, well I’ve said it for years. Russia are the choking dogs of European football. Yes, it sounds harsh to say, but the player pool in that country has diminished in the last decade. The same names of the past few underperforming years have remained the nucleus. During that time, Mexico have become a more dynamic team. In fact, Mexico is a squad now that is much better than many of the second and third tier teams from Europe. That needs to be attributed more to the better development of players in Mexico and the falling off in that department in countries like Russia.

With Mexico there is a something totally different compared to the rest of the world. There is a certain craziness in terms as to how the team is covered. From a media standpoint, there delusional sense as to how they see their national team. Mexico is NOT at the level of Germany, Spain or Brazil. They are not at the level of Chile. While saying this the advantage that they do have compared to their 7–0 vanquishers is that Chile do not have a solid generation coming up in their youth ranks.

Who Wants It?

If there is a job in world football that few with a sense of sanity and a desire for mental health would not even want to have, being coach of El Tri is probably at the top of the list. The nonsense and interests that drive the team erodes any coach’s patience. Osorio’s reactions are an example of that change in behavior. Time, gravity and the pressure of the Mexican press are all unbeaten. In the case of the Mexican press, they have won as many World Cups and Olympic medal as Kim Jong Il did during his epoch of glorious feats in athletic competition.

Right now who would do a better job than Osorio? A better question… who would want to deal with what Osorio is dealing with right now, especially if they don’t maintain the results that Mexico are obtaining presently?

Tuca Ferretti has already said no. Matías Almeyda, the hottest commodity in Mexican football, wants to stay at Chivas. As far as qualified coaches for the job, stop counting there. Those are the only two that would be able to continue El Tri’s current success.

Osorio’s biggest critics have been the same individuals that have not been able to overcome the eternal hurdles that the World Cup has placed in front of El Tri. Furthermore, they have constantly used television as their platform per excellence to say how they would have done better, from the comfort and unaccountable position of a television studio.

Miguel Herrera wants a second chance. The biggest obstacle with the newly resigned Club América coach is just one- himself. Had he not lost his top with match commentator Cristián Martinoli, he would most likely still be the national team coach. This time around, who knows if the América brass would let him leave so easily. The club is mired in limbo and they are desperate to win a title, especially after seeing their archrivals get to the top of the mountain once again. They (Televisa) let Herrera go once before, but he was the king of Mexico City. América were the best team in Mexico and his magnetic personality and generosity with time towards the press won him lots of supporters. Eventually that would erode as we now know.

Hugo Sánchez has also been a vociferous critic of the Colombian. Remember, Sánchez also used the media to promote himself during the Ricardo Lavolpe era. Yet if he looked at his tenure as national team coach, he made mistakes that were much worse. His results were nowhere near the one’s that the Argentine coach obtained during his tenure that ended in 2006. He failed in several objectives and his time as coach lasted almost two years. How quickly he forgot that he could not get a result against Haiti to help Mexico get to the Olympics. Is that what Mexico wants? Is that what the press wants, to be more precise? Is going back to the past where no other coach was ever able to. Is 2013 that much of a forgotten memory?

If there is one thing that this type of team management does offer is that his team will be prepared for every match. One thing that it does offer is a chance for players to know that they will be called up and used. No longer is it enough to get called up. This is not a defense of Osorio’s management of the team, it is simply looking to switch the focus on the emphasis.

Due to the nature of modern football, Osorio deems it proper to rotate players and have a team that is constantly tweaked depending on the rival? One of the main topics of conversation in football circles is the amount of games players play. So how do you keep players as fresh as possible? But when is ‘overtweaking’ a detriment? In a short tournament. We saw that in Confederations Cup to an extent, but by rotating you can also see potential solutions to problems. The problem there also is that your margin of error is reduced significantly. One loss and you could be out of a tournament. That will have to be the answer that Osorio answers. That is if he will be given the chance to.

The honest truth… Mexico is a second-tier power in world football. It is not the best, unlike the thought of many in the Mexican press that believe it is. It is not the worse, unlike the thought of many in the Mexican press that believe it is. They are who we all thought they were. Can it grow and become better in the future? With the resources that Mexican football has at their disposal, my Magic 8 ball would tell me that all signs point to yes.

Keeping it real… Mexico is the undisputed power in their region. They still have a lot of work to do. Do they have better talent? Absolutely. Have their minds been fully focused and committed on the national team the way that players like Cuauhtémoc Blanco, Luis García Aspe, Carlos Hermosillo, Zague, Alfredo Tena to mention a few? I will let you debate that amongst yourselves. So the pitfalls that Mexican football have had under Juan Carlos Osorio have always been there, they do tend to get accentuated more when there is a foreign coach.

Mind you, if Osorio is capable of handling one of the most pressurized jobs in world football and hang on until the end up next summer, I can assure you he will be a top candidate for the cushiest job around just north of the border. The magic word in that statement is IF.