Times are changing fast for El Tri
Mexican football will enter the new era without a solid plan
Mexican football is entering a new era, where there are a lot of realities to consider. We can agree that the CONCACAF region is growing, but not at the same pace as the rest of the world.
When things are equal for both sides — a decent pitch, a neutral ground, and games that aren’t played below freezing temperatures or muddy fields after torrential rainfall — CONCACAF national teams have only won one game in their last 13 World Cup matches.
In that streak, El Tri hasn’t scored a single goal and hasn’t celebrated a win.
There’s still a slim chance that El Tri can finish among the top-16 teams in this tournament, which would be considered a huge achievement based on how bad the national team has been playing in the last year and a half.
Gerardo “Tata” Martino does have a lot of responsibility in the current state of the national team because contrary to what Juan Carlos Osorio implemented, his tenure has felt antiquated, filled with decisions that are still difficult to understand like leaving Santi Giménez off the final roster or taking a midfielder like Luis Romo instead of in-form midfielders like Érick Sánchez or even Víctor Guzmán. Taking Roberto Alvarado for Diego Lainez is another obvious one. He selected multiple footballers who aren’t going through their best moments, yet he opted to take them because they fit his team.
With all that being said, the drop in talent that the national team has shown since 2014 is evident and alarming. This downward spiral is a result of the poor planning from people in charge of the Mexican national teams. That El Tri hasn’t been able to totally find suitable back-ups/replacements for players like Héctor Moreno, Andrés Guardado or Héctor Herrera is a bad symptom for the years ahead.
That El Tri doesn’t have a capable goalscorer since the sudden dismissal of Chicharito is also notable.
But also you have these cases where things suddenly get lost in the process with Mexican football. For example, the dos Santos brothers. Both have lived special moments with the national team. We forget that Jonathan scored one of the big goals in the Tata era in a Gold Cup final against the U.S., and that not so long ago Giovani was a difference maker in both the youth and senior national teams. Jonathan is now a bench player at América, while Giovani is likely already retired at 33, but it feels like he retired when he was 26!
Look at Carlos Salcedo, who in 2018 played in his first World Cup after winning the German Cup against Bayern Munich, and now is currently playing for FC Juárez and is totally erased from the national team picture. Let’s not forget that he was present at the start of this Tata proceso, but after that 2021 summer, he got kicked out by the coaching staff.
To El Tri we ask for consistency and for a certain degree of steadiness in the regional and world stage, but it’s also important that the players remain consistent with their careers. The best example right now is Herrera, who started the year in great shape with Atleti, but after he agreed to move to MLS right in the middle as Atleti was in Champions League play, his level dramatically dropped. As much as he wants to believe that he is in the best shape of his life, he isn’t.
The following days will be interesting to observe from afar. Decisions will have to be made, and the fact that El Tri could be living its worst World Cup performance since 1978 is a hard-pill to swallow for everyone involved.
In this proceso, there have been many signs that things were not going in the right direction: this year’s friendly defeats to Uruguay, Colombia and Sweden are three concrete examples.
And I think the worst one, and the one that hasn’t been reminded as much considering that the next World Cup will be in our territory: the clear separation and distancing that El Tri and Estadio Azteca have experienced.
This proceso got draws against Costa Rica, the U.S. and Canada at Azteca during World Cup qualifiers. El Tri only scored once in 270 minutes played. It’s a failure by the system to say that El Tri felt more relaxed playing away than at its bastion, Estadio Azteca.
The problems and systematic deficiencies have been there for everyone to see.
Here’s the most recent Resortera Wave episode, where I expand a little more on El Tri’s current state, alongside Oscar Nanco-Gonzalez. Thanks for reading and watching ⬇️