photo by ISIphotos.com
Javier Aguirre resigned as Mexico national team head coach on Wednesday following El Tri's elimination from the World Cup.
Aguirre took responsibility for the 3-1 loss to Argentina, a loss that marked the fifth consecutive World Cup that Mexico was unable to win a game in the second round of the World Cup.
Aguirre replaced Sven-Goran Eriksson for his second stint as Mexico coach in April 2009 after the Mexicans struggled in the opening rounds of World Cup qualifying. Aguirre led Mexico to a second-place finish in CONCACAF and in Group A at the World Cup.
What do you think of Aguirre resigning? How would you rate his latest stint with El Tri? Who do you think will be the next Mexico head coach?
Share your thoughts below.
Mexico didn’t qualify because Aguirre choked. He never had the same 11 players on the field. Anyone that know anything about futbol or soccer knows that with so many inconsistencies in your starting line up including changing your captain every game, putting star players on the bench (guardado), playing center forwards that are not scoring (franco) etc puts more pressure on whoever ends up playing and creates an environment where you don’t trust your coach. Too much strategy and not enough common sense is what brought Mexico to a poor performance in the World Cup. He choked despite having players like hernandez, dos santos, guardado, barrera, jaurez, etc. The expectations were high because the quality of the players that finally came together had a lot of potential. If this team is managed correctly next time around CONCACAF teams are fighting for only 2 spots as Mexico will qualify without breaking a sweat. The depth is there. Will it be managed correctly? I think so because Aguirre is gone.
Trust me they would have beaten Mexico… everybody underestimates Ghana. They are the most discipline african team from this cup. Most african teams look good at the beggining of the game, until their back line gets dismantled, but these guys have both the organization mixed with a natural technical flair. In addition, they are physical, they have speed, and have high endurance (as shown against a highly fit US team). Mexico has had decades to have gotten to a final at the Worl Cup stage, whereas the US, just started taking this sport serious for the last 20 yrs. The problem with Mexico is, that there bureaucratical federation has always been plagued with favortisms, nepotisms, and corruption….wow…kind of how that country is ran. The problem has never been the coach, but your primadona players (who are warming benches in Europe) that are treated like gods in Mexico. There has to be consistency for a team to develope, so far, Mexico has had 4 coaches in the last 4 yrs. IMO…Aguirre was the answer to take Mexico to the next level.
bob will step down once his affairs are in order and he’s secured another coaching job abroad. Hes not dumb, he’s been around long enough to know that this gig, 99% of the time, is a 4 year deal. As soon as he finds a team in europe (think scandinavia) that will hand over the reins, he’ll step down.
I don’t think Mexico ever believes they have much of a chance to win the World Cup, which is pretty unlike England.
I thought they dominated the Argentina game until the offside goal, at which point they melted down. There were clearly some psychological issues at play here, but thinking they’re better than they are wasn’t one of them.
How bout the US mentality allowing a goal in the first 10 minutes on a regular basis? Mental issues? Of course not! Lets not be so naive as Landon suggested. The mental game is a Mexican issue.
Rag on Mexico’s players or Aguirre but if they had gotten the opportunity to play Ghana they would most likely be in the quarterfinals now. Maybe it is the US that has the English syndrome. Your analysis doubly applies to our side this cup.
Just because a guy is a good coach, it doesn;t mean he’s right for every situation. By any measure it is hard to call his time there a success. He was pretty clealy out of step with the team, had won only once in seven matches when he was fired, and had put Mexico’s qualifying in jeapordy (even accounting to the Federations overreactions). By contrast, Mexcio was playing very well going into the Cup and could have made the semis with a better draw.
Mexico doesn’t have a coaching problem – Javier Aguirre is a good coach and shouldn’t take the blame for Mexico’s loss. They ran up against a better team – that’s all. Mexico has good players, but not great players, and you need great players to reach the level of success that Mexican fans want their national team to achieve.
Totally agree. Fully epect him to land squarely on his feet in Spain.
Agree with the sentiment that Mexican fans have a completely dillusional sense of self (aka the brits). El tri isn’t a top 20 team in the world and they made it to the knockout. Enjoy. What were you expecting…. the Cup?
What the hell are you talking about? Sven-Goran Eriksson is 100 times better than Aguirre. Aguirre sucks and the Mexican side sucks
By most Mexican Supporters accounts: Ochoa was out of form. And from my perspective he’s incredibly overrated.
The term World Class and Ochoa was thrown around quite often. I think that’s both premature as it is extremely presumptuous.
the very fact that Dos Santos’ FATHER speaks for him, and says things like he may never play for Mexico again because of the ‘snub’ of a player who rides the pine (albiet at perhaps the deepest club in the world) is a very good reason NOT to pick him.
If only Bob could do the same
There’s no shame in losing to Argentina – especially given that one of the goals should have been disallowed.
The problem for Mexico was the loss to Uruguay (and, somewhat relatedly, the tie against SA). A win against Uruguay and they would have won the group — and avoided Argentina in the Round of 16.
I think Aguirre is a good coach, but the entirety of Mexico’s World Cup experience was mediocre.
Bob step down? ha. think he doesnt want to coach his kid in 2014?
There’s another Dos Santos — I had no idea. But I can’t see why you would take a player with you that has no chance to see the field.
Almost as good as Arena to Mexico.
I think that’s a little strong, I mean one goal was clearly offside, another a gift from the Mexican defense. Taking those into account, I hardly think they’re in the “nobody but Brazil can beat them” category.
I don’t think Aguirre did a good job. The first curious decision he made was excluding Jonathon Dos Santos. Yes, he’s young, doesn’t play regularly (if at all) for Barcelona, and was very unlikely to see action in the World Cup, but sometimes you bite the bullet – particularly when he seems to have the skills to lead the team at the next few cups. According to his father, he may never play for Mexico again. Second, he picked Oscar Perez to start over Guillermo Ochoa. Granted, Perez did a rather serviceable job, but Ochoa played most of qualifying, and could have gained the World Cup experience that may play dividends down the road (as he, Vela, Gio Dos Santos, Berrera, Guardado, etc. carry the team into 2014). Finally, he made some very odd lineup choices during the tournament – not starting Andres Guardado during the group stage, and worst of all, starting BOFO against Argentina. He certainly did a great job salvaging the mess Erikson created, but I don’t think his choices took advantage of Mexico’s strength – when you don’t have a great defense, play your best offensive stars (and certainly don’t start your worst). Like Randy pointed out, it’s a bit like the US – probably reached a pre-tournament goal, but fans were left disappointed because the team seemed to be poised to make the next step. The new coach can now start cultivating the next Mexico team into a juggernaut for 2014. Is anyone else excited for qualifying to start?
Bob Bradley to Mexico!
Not sure … when does anyone Bradley?
When does Bob Bradley?
He did a good job of turning Mexico around. The Mexican team is very talented, but they have mental problems. You could see it after Argentina scored on them via the missed offsides call. They unraveled and gave Argentina a sitter after that to go down 2-0.
Cuauhtemoc Blanco will be the next player/coach! (joke)
Whoever “the next guy” is, I’m sure he’ll only have about 6 months on the job before he is fired.
That’s all there is to it.
SGE was fine. The fans and media overreacted after Mexico had played more games on the road than the other teams.
Aguirre got this squad playing at a very high level, I am skeptical that the next guy will do better.
They were very good on the ball early on against Argentina but they have the same problem the US do and that is finishing. That could change with the development of Hernandez but they need more finishers.
Agreed. He’s at least a viable candidate for the job. I’d prefer, Jurgen, but I definitely have respect for Aguirre.
I will certainly miss him kicking opposing players and his classic ” THIS IS SPARTA ” screaming face.
Oh well, I hear Sven is available again.
I like Aguirre, he did a heck of a good job in a short time with what he ad. Of course it’s about the money but if he exceeded expectations he would have probably have stayed. Mexican fans felt a quarterfinal appearance was the standard he should have achieved. Real US fans are no different as such Bob should recognize winning another match was achievable and the team under his leadership failed. Time for him to move on.
He saved them from failing to qualify.
Look. It’s. Not. That. Complicated. Me. I should coach Mexico.
Aguirre to Chivas USA?
Aguirre to the US?
Ok, but seriously Mexico has bigger issues than us. Their revolving door policy of coaches spins again.
That said, the USA has to win in the Azteca
Aguirre is leaving because he believes he can get a big contract from an European team now that we are in the offseason and many teams are still looking for a coach.
This is about money/opportunity for Aguirre. He is a good manager of his career, believe me. It is about money.
What a scandal. Losing to Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez, and Gonzalo Higuain when you never had the defensive personnel. I have to give Mexico credit for trying to play them instead of bunkering, but not sure they can. Is there any coach on earth that can make the players not turn into blood-thirsty berserkers when the chips are down? (Before you disagree, bear in mind Mexico’s former exploits in world cups).
Bring back Hugo Sanchez! We [The United States] need all the help we can get.
This surprises me. I don’t know who they expect to find that would be better. Obviously the players feel more comfortable with a Mexican coach after running out Sven.
He did a great job picking up the wreakage left my Erriccsson…which is why I’m glad he’s leaving!
Actually, I think the chip on his shoulder approach leads to Mexico’s tendecy to unravel under pressure.
Totally agree.
But to be serious, I like this approach.
He turned the team around, did all he could do, got the team as far as they ever were going to get, and he graciously stepped down.
RoboBob should take a page from Aquirre’s book. He got us out of our group, took the team as far as they were ever going to go, and now should step down so the USSF can use every day of the next 4 years taking this team to the next level.
Why do we have to wait 6 months until Sunil shows him the door anyways? Just make this process alot easier…
Mexico has the type English syndrome, they think there allot better then they really are. Aguirre should take some of the blame but the deeper issue lies with the players.
I agree with you. In fact, I thought they were really taking it to Argentina early in that match and were unlucky not to have scored. That could have been a totally different match if that happened.
Messi and Tevez get credit for Mexico’s loss, not this guy. He’ll cone riding back in a few years to prep them for 2014.
I hear Sven is looking for a job. Seems like a match made in heaven if you ask me…
I thought he really turned them around from the debacle of Erikson. And not sure anyone will beat Argentina this year…save for Brazil.
Mexico needs more than new coach.