La Jornada – The Mexican league’s training sessions are closed, Mexican coaches say

In the Mexican League, Mexican coaches know that they can lose their jobs at any time. In addition to the fact that they bum, yell and put on show to act, clubs tend to get along better with foreign-led sporting projects, even without a solid track record. The number of national coaches in the first division was reduced to seven after the departure of Rafael Puente del Rio, whose six-month contract at Pumas failed and he was replaced by Argentine Antonio Mohamed.

Of this small universe that dominates domestic football, only Ricardo Ferretti (Cruz Azul) and Guillermo Almada (Pachuca), as well as Mohamed, have achieved successes in previous tournaments. The rest is a mixture of experienced and young helmsmen who were not born in the country, who remain in their positions regardless of whether they occupy the last places, such as Brazilian Andre Jardin (Atlético de San Luis), Mauro Gerke (Queretaro) and Rubén Omar Romano ( Mazatlan FC).

He asserts that “many of these biographies are fake.” today Javier Martínez, a 51-year-old Mexican, has managed soccer in Central America and Africa due to a lack of opportunities in the league. “There are foreigners who have championships they’ve never won and sell more when they get here. For the tricolor it’s more difficult, even to finish a contract. It’s not appropriate for clubs to do that with a foreigner, because they can go to FIFA and then start a dispute.” Legal, due to their high salaries.

Assistant to Cruz Azul’s U-17 team between 2014 and 2016, as well as coach of the Mexican Army team, Martinez worked his way up the Uganda Premier League at the helm of Vipers SC thanks to one of his 200 job applications. That he sent a week to the odd leagues. Like him, other national representatives knocked on the doors of lesser-known clubs, convinced they had been relegated to the top of the local circuit.

“In Mexico, the places where he should be a coach are closed,” says Antonio Torres Cervin, who, after leading the Pumas in 2013, found an oasis in Guatemalan football with Antigua and Club Municipal.

“Guatemalans turn to us, because we have produced results with patience. For example, there are cases of Luis Fernando Tena, Marvin Cabrera or Raul Arias, people who have come here to cooperate with the growth of football in the region.”

Recently, Tijuana’s Benjamín Mora was able to open up a new safe path for his teammates through his nine tournaments in Malaysia by signing with Atlas. “His great advantage was leading the winning team,” Martinez explains. “However, the situation becomes more difficult for us who do not have a representative. The managers know that they can do good business with a foreigner, because the sports director or even the president can get a good cut in their employment.”

In addition to Moura, the Mexicans who are still active in the Mx League are Eduardo Arce (Puebla), Victor Manuel Vucic (Monterrey), Ignacio Ambrez (Toluca), Eduardo Ventanes (Santos), Miguel Herrera (Tijuana) and Marco Antonio. something Ruiz, who moved from temporarily to coaching Tigres after Diego Coca’s departure to the Mexican national team.