When new Mexico coach Rafael Márquez took charge this summer, he made one thing clear: He was ready to hit the ground running.
“I’m not starting from zero. Having worked with [former coach] Javier [Aguirre] from start to finish gives me great confidence in continuing this process,” said Márquez, who was promoted from assistant to head coach, in September. “I already know the players and the environment well, and I’ve been supported by a group of experienced people who have operated at the highest levels. That is exactly what we want: to take this national team to another level.”
A first major lesson learned for Márquez? Reaching that next level might take some time.
In his introductory matches during the September-October window, and just months out from a largely positive showing for El Tri with a round-of-16 exit at this past summer’s FIFA World Cup, Márquez hasn’t hit the ground running. Instead, they kicked things off with a lackluster 0W-2D-2L record.
Adding additional salt to Márquez’s wounds is the fact that one of those matches was a painful 3-0 defeat by the United States, a loathed Concacaf rival.
“Total disaster,” read the front page of one Mexican sports paper the day after the loss. “What a horror,” read another.
Márquez looked somber after the result vs. the U.S, and although he highlighted a couple of positives, he was also blunt about the “terrible mistakes” committed by his players last weekend that featured noteworthy individual blunders.
“Yes, we do lack a bit more clarity,” said the coach who then became the first Mexico manager (permanent only, not interim) since 1997 to fail to win any of his first three games. “The other issues were terrible mistakes where, ultimately, you practically gifted those three goals to the opposing team.”
Against Chile on Tuesday, in their final match of the window, Mexico then slumped to another defeat, 2-0. In the game, the roster looked frustrated as they were vulnerable in transition and couldn’t create enough danger in the opponent’s half of the pitch. It marked the first time this decade that El Tri fell to back-to-back defeats in which they failed to score.
“Obviously, it took us a little longer to find our rhythm. Defensively, we perhaps started out shaky and they were getting in behind us too easily,” Márquez said on Tuesday. “We lacked decisiveness in both areas, both defensively and offensively.”
To be fair to the coach, a couple of starters were missing in the fall friendlies due to injuries. Without star attacking names such as Raúl Jiménez and Ballon d’Or nominee Julián Quiñones, El Tri‘s forward line was far, far less threatening. It should be noted that game-changing teen phenom Gilberto Mora only took part in one match from the four due to a muscle problem, as well.
Although once an assistant from the last cycle and no stranger to Mexico’s inner workings, Márquez is also someone who is embarking on his first stint as a manager at the senior level. And while his latest call-up wasn’t a significant roster overhaul and had plenty of World Cup veterans returning, he did give debuts to six players: Jeremy Márquez, Santiago Sandoval, Oscar Garcia, Hugo Camberos, Álex Padilla and Dagoberto Espinoza.
Spread out over four games, and with a few other alternates also getting minutes, it makes sense as to why Mexico would lack chemistry with just two goals scored over 360-plus minutes of soccer. Defensively, mistakes will be made when you have four different backline formations.
But experimenting shouldn’t necessarily mean that a team is guaranteed to struggle over a full international window.
For example, let’s take a look back at the U.S. under returning manager Mauricio Pochettino. While Mexico gave six debuts during the international window, the U.S. gave an eye-catching total of 13 while powering through a 4W-0D-0L record. Including their matchup against each other, both nations took on Chile and Peru, creating somewhat of a comparable scenario.
The U.S. passed with flying colors while Márquez has zero wins to his name.
And if there’s one thing that Mexico’s federation has traditionally and infamously had an extremely small amount of patience for, it’s a lack of on-field results.
Márquez, of course, deserves more than just a few games in charge. The problems seen by Mexico over the last couple weeks extend far beyond his control and encompass lingering issues such as a lack of roster depth and plenty of poor individual performances from those who stepped in their places.
Rapidly ending tenures after a short window of games is rarely a recipe for success for the Mexico, but if Márquez fails to get the job done in a November window in which El Tri will be taking part in the quarterfinals of the Concacaf Nations League, he’ll undoubtedly be on the hot seat already.
Reaching that next level for Mexico will take some time for Márquez, but just how much will he be given?
