For El Tri, every month of 2022 will have pressure
Gerardo "Tata" Martino begins the most important year of his El Tri reign
Ricardo Antonio La Volpe’s era will be remembered as one in which a significant number of El Tri’s starters made the jump to Europe. Javier Aguirre’s eras were mostly important because he was able to prevent two catastrophes, missing the 2002 and 2010 World Cups. Miguel “Piojo” Herrera’s short stint, especially in 2014, was a point were everyone seemed to be on the same page — players and coaches — it really felt like they were going to reach the promised land in 2014, with a squad with a considerable number of players playing in Europe. Juan Carlos Osorio’s era had a lot of us against them clashes — the players and staff against the media — this division prevented the national team to really take off under a manager with intriguing ideas and concepts, but the last two losses in that era against Sweden and Brazil felt like a big letdown after that inspiring victory over Germany to kick off the 2018 World Cup.
Fast forward all of that, and we’re here in 2022 with a manager that led Paraguay to the quarterfinals in the 2010 World Cup and lost two Copa America finals with Argentina in 2015 and 2016.
Gerardo “Tata” Martino’s experience is unmatchable, but after a slow and poor 2021 in terms of results, his tenure with El Tri is no longer strong enough to stay afloat if they’re unable to pick up a string of positive results in their upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Jamaica, Costa Rica and Panamá.
With six matchdays to go, the room for error is very small, and El Tri is starting the new year after two away defeats against the top-two direct competitors it has in the region, the U.S. and Canada.
Those defeats showcased a lack of conviction, and with the ideas all over the place. There was a tactical confrontation on whether to sit back or go out and attack. The initial propositions led to negative outcomes.
That’s why it’s so important to start the year strong. Martino needs everyone on the same page, and the only way that it will be possible is to minimally win seven of nine possible points in the upcoming days. There will be lots of people asking for a perfect nine, but the current conditions suggest that Martino’s México needs to recuperate good sensations in order to take that needed step to secure a place in Qatar.
The numbers say that they’re not so far off from checking the box and claiming a spot in this year’s World Cup, but is this the main reason El Tri brought Martino on board?
Perhaps the main issue El Tri had to deal with in November and won’t in the upcoming weeks is that Héctor Moreno and César Montes will be available. The presence of Montes and Moreno give Martino a better pool of defenders.
Montes, who holds the captain’s armband of one of Liga MXs most opulent sides, has shown signs that he’s ready to become an absolute starter for El Tri. His connection and understanding with Edson Álvarez in the middle of the field will be vital in the following months.
That leaves the other starting role in the center of the defense open to Johan Vásquez, Moreno or Néstor Araujo.
It will be surprising to see Martino go with a backline of three in the next three games, but it could be an option to open up the field and perhaps give Tecatito the role of a right wing-back. Tecatito on the right, and Gerardo Arteaga on the left? That will likely leave Chucky Lozano and Raúl Jiménez as the two most advanced attackers.
Will Martino see himself in a position where he will have to switch up the initial 4-3-3 formation for another one? Will he ride out these games with the formation that has given him most of his positive results with El Tri?
What will the inclusion of Erick Gutiérrez, who has evidently revitalized his career in the last months, give to El Tri?
Álvarez is immovable in Martino’s best XI, but Héctor Herrera has hardly played for Atleti this season, and Luis Romo had an underwhelming performance in Cincinnati. Andrés Guardado is 35 but just recently gave a stellar performance with Betis. Building that trio of reliable midfielders is a big task for Martino in the next weeks. Who will join Álvarez? Will it be midfielders with World Cup experience like Herrera and Guardado, or will Martino need to move on and risk it with midfielders like Charly Rodríguez and Guti.
The collective displays will determine how often players like Chucky, Raúl, Tecatito, Orbelin, Rogelio Funes Mori, and even Diego Lainez take shots on goal.
El Tri’s faithful won’t be asking for Tata’s México to get huge margin wins in the upcoming weeks. What they will be asking for is for a considerable improvement from the 2021 performances. Tata’s Martino reign will be judged by how this year turns out to be, and that will likely become his legacy as México manager.