Jaime Lozano Resigns; Aguirre & Rafa Are Back - My Take on Mexico’s Coaching Change

Andres from doble as Sports uh here with more me uh Mexican national team news I know this video is very very late as of today and uh the filming of this video uh the seletion will have their two games against New Zealand and Canada um in a couple of days but I nevertheless wanted to give my take and reactions uh to the Mexican uh to the Mexico national team's uh coaching change following the Copa am group stage exit and the team's very struggling very much struggling very much poor form so as we all know by now Hae loano is no longer the head coach of the MEO national team uh this comes following underwhelming results uh such as barely qualifying for the Copa America against Honduras failing to win uh the conaf nation league in 2024 and uh even a draw against usbekistan uh finally after Mexico's group stage frasso in the Copa America Lozano uh has resigned from the head coaching job in lie of being uh ousted and fired from the national team and Federation fans and sports media could kind of see this one coming given that jair did not uh stay in La Liga and joined the National Team once again as some sort of I think like advisor uh role within the team and the Federation uh the Federation also forced their hand on Jimmy Lozano making him call up new players and branding it as a generational shift when in re in reality it was the Federation imposing players on him and the team and not giving him full control and the Federation then having the audacity to tell him that if he fails to succeed with the players that the Federation imposed on him that he's out and that scenario just makes it even worse for Jimmy loano and look I do agree with the general idea that Jimmy loano was not the right coach to lead us into the World Cup in 2020 I do think that he lacked experience and that ability to adapt on the spot compared to other coaches such as Matias almea Marcelo Vela uh scalon for Argentina and Guardiola for Man City or what Jurgen klopp was for Liverpool I I I do think uh Jimmy lacked that Jimmy Lozano's lack of adjustments and ability to adapt always sticking to a script almost a script really of making the first substitutions by the 55th or 60th minute uh he's at fault for that struggle to adapt uh making mistakes like putting Jordi ciso uh in as a Winger when he's a midfielder or being reluctant to play with two number nines up front that's on loano that's on him that's that is nothing good to have in a head coach how however I really don't like how the Federation handled handled the coaching change and Jimmy Lozano's tenure I think the Mexican Federation got caught up in the hype of winning the Gold Cup again in 2023 and they immediately want went into hyping up and marketing Jimmy Lozano for marketing purposes and this was not a wise decision we have been down this road once already with Tata Martino who won the Gold Cup they hped him up to fans but in the long run we quickly realized he was reluctant to adapt as well yet still kept him through the World Cup despite the clear need for a new coach again the Federation fell to shortterm Band-Aids that provide wins that for fans are the minimum of expectations winning the Gold Cup is expected for Mahiko rather than long-term stitches that will lead to better results in the long run to recover from the poor form the national team is in and then there's what happened entering the CP America a a becomes an adviser and the Federation tells uh Jimmy to bring new players uh that in truth were never new just imposed they also tried to bring in a new assistant coach for loano essentially they were trying to strip uh Jimmy loano of most control of the team building up to the summer tournament I mean if you're going to do all that crap you might as well have just fired him then and brought air in this all ended in loano resigning again likely in lie of termination uh a coaching change that was coming that I think was correct to make but not managed or handled well and while fans are at a frustrating Crossroad with the Mexican Federation blaming them for this crisis in Mexican football the FMF out of either delusion or out of ego are not taking any responsibility and are once again blaming the head coach so with that Javier is back as the head coach of the national team this will be his third tenure with the national team and he will have uh former player and team captain Raphael Marquez as the head coach oh no not as the head coach as the assistant coach a will be the head coach um this is a very interesting move in terms of the head coach and assistant coach uh positions and there are some pros and cons to this specifically with Javier a starting off with the negatives first is that his past 10 years have had low points or mistakes uh his first tenure as a head as coach uh saw him lead the team in the 2002 World Cup where they beat Croatia and tied Italy in the group stage but then flop against the United States in the infamous uh doset uh result um one of Mexico's lowest points uh the El doto happened under his watch then uh in 2010 during his second tenure with the Mexican national team they went out in the round of 16 once again well this time it was kind of expected given uh they were facing a rising uh Lionel Messi and a strong Argentina they there were some questionable decisions he made uh his insistence on playing then uh teamless Striker guo Franco while keeping um man united strike then man united Striker uh Chicharito on the bench did bewilder many fans and commentators the second negative is his other failures as a head coach during the 2019 um Africa Cup of Nations tournament where he was a head coach for Egypt in a tournament where Egypt was the host nation and as of today currently holds the most titles the Egyptians were eliminated in the round of 16 after dominating their group only to lose to South Africa who barely survived the group stage air and the entire coaching staff was fired immediately following that loss no but what about no XY gone fired and in the 2015 Asian cup while coaching a stacked Japan roster they lost to the UAE uh the United Arab Emirates that record is nothing positive and then there's the third negative aspect of this and that is Mexico going with what they know again rather than take risk with the unknown by once again uh hiring Javier the national team is seeking help from people that did it beforehand which gives off the feelings of they don't know what else to do fans will question when the creativity and Innovation on the field will come in because during the first games agid will probably go with who he knows and is more comfortable with before making changes that sadly means we will likely see Jesus Gayo called up again we will probably see Romo in the Midfield and probably the worst part Charlie Rodriguez once again on the squad and maybe even starting we might see that because he has coached them before so he will go with what he knows first and then adap him make changes but with only a year and a half left in this cycle uh before the 2026 World Cup in the sum uh that Mexico's hosting does Mexico really have that kind of time so those are the negatives however I would be lying if I didn't say there are positives to this coaching change so the positive the first positive thing is that with having a much greater coaching resume along with the leadership that Rafa Marquez can bring that and that he once brought when he was the player and captain of the national team the players will respect this coaching Duo I think much more than they did uh loano and then the coach before loano in Diego Koka um loano was kind of if I had to think of it like a sof a soft grandfather while air can be the tougher Uncle figure as a head coach he's um he's like the honest and tough uncle in comparison to loano and I think that's what the team needs is that tough coach that gives tough but constructive criticism a criticism that helps Elevate the team and build them up with air back and Rafa as uh assistant coach that head coach is the problem excuse is gone now uh from here on out it's the hands of either the FMF or the players if they don't put effort and heart into the national team for these coaches they won't do it for frankly any coach if they don't respect uh Marquez and play with passion like he did and if they don't respect Javier air who has coached this team before and has played with Mexico in the 1986 World Cup then they don't deserve to wear the national team jersey at all I also would be lying if I only listed air losses and called him a failure as he has shown success as a coach his most notable success was with osasuna leading them to uh deep runs in the Copa re and to qualify for Champions League football before the third positive thing coming with Air's appointment is that he uh as of recently especially he has shown tactical flexibility uh that ability to adapt and adjust especially during uh his more recent ten years uh like I said many fear his style of play with Mexico will be defense-based and pragmatic uh football based on his tenure last year in La Liga with mayorca but frankly he was kind of forced to play a boring defense-based pragmatic style of football at mayorca the club's management and BR the club's management Branch uh sold their best creative offensive player to another team and he was left with a weak offense to try and save them from relegation and give him credit uh agir still managed to lead this team to keep mayorca up despite many expecting them to go down and this leads to my final positive point with Javier Air's return air unlike Koka or loano is able to adjust and make the most out of a flawed and limited team we saw that with mayorca saving them not only saving them from relegation but also in that same season last year he coached them to the Copa del re final a final that nobody expected them to be in Mexico is a flawed and limited team right now especially in the Midfield at a time where the Mexican team is in poor form and the state of Mexican football at an international level is in a poor State and it's just about uh crisis management 101 having a coach that can make the most out of a flawed and limited team is actually good to have in terms of style of play I would hope for and look to see if air uh try to make the team a high press counterattacking side I don't think the team should try to play possession ball uh like uh Mexico was during the 2014 or 2018 Cycles as frankly Mexico we don't have the Midfield to do that right now I think the defense will remain strong and the offensive front with Santi Chino and Julian gones uh can be lethal but the big thing is to see what he will work on in the Midfield and how the style of play will will evolve and of course the biggest question will Javier Aires third tenure be successful I think if Mexico makes it out of the group stage and they win a round of 32 match in the World Cup I think that's a success I think if he helps bring in a new era of players and builds them up for a 2026 where they show better form and then to are have the ability to potentially go all in for 2030 we won't know until later down the line obviously but I think that would be good I think that would be success uh from Javier a if he restores the trust that that confian that has been completely lost since 2021 I think that's a success I think that if the Mexican Football Federation lets him call the shots and trust him going forward this will work because at this point the coach they have hired which in this case is air is the coach that has to lead them throughout the rest of the cycle so if they let him call the shots and trust him going forward this will work but that's the key thing the Federation must give Javier and Rafa Marquez full control that this is their team because if they do what they did with Jimmy Lozano where they impose players Force the change on the team while putting his coaching position on the hot seat then it doesn't matter who is the coach because that will just set the team up for failure I think there is a little more hope uh a little more hope now now we will just have to see what uh the new coaches plan starting with their International Friendly games uh in September that are upcoming very soon leave a like And subscribe to the channel if you like the content that is all for me in this Sports video of course viewers feel free to uh put your opinions in the comment section uh regarding this uh coaching change what is your reaction to it I would love to uh hear that kind of feedback stay tuned for more content of course uh thanks for watching and I'll see you all in the next one