The firefighters’ selection!

“It’s official, Jaime Lozano has ceased to be the coach of the Mexican National Team. It’s news that surprises no one, as over the past week all signs pointed toward this outcome.

Following the failure in the Copa América, the executives of the Mexican Football Federation decided to set aside ‘Jimmy’ and start a new project. Yes, another one. Barely a year and a half has passed since Tata Martino’s departure in Qatar, and the ‘TRI’ bench will already have its third owner.

Javier Aguirre is currently leading the race and seems practically tied up, but there will be time to talk about that later. For now, it seems prudent to delve into Jaime Lozano’s dismissal.”

And it was just a few weeks ago that Mexican executives told us this project was solidly heading towards 2026. These same executives mentioned that the intention of this Copa América was to ensure the team would arrive in the best possible shape for the next World Cup, and that, together with the coaching staff, they had decided to let go of the experienced players to strengthen the young ones.

Well, just a few days later, these words have been overshadowed by events, and the credibility of the Mexican executives has been abruptly lost.

What made them change their minds? Did they always have it clear and deceive us? Why offer the assistant coach position to the coach you were looking to assist? There are many questions and few answers.

The issues in Mexican football go far beyond just a coach. They’ve tried every possible style on the sidelines and the result has always been the same. Today, Mexican football is in crisis at all levels, and the coach is the last step.

There’s a lack of quality in the players. There’s a lack of mentality. There’s a lack of high-level competition. There’s a lack of everything. And it seems that the easy way out is to bring in another strategist.

We’re facing a unique opportunity where there are no World Cup qualifiers and the business is already guaranteed. Sales will be at their peak in 2026 and there won’t be any risk taken in this process. Why not seek something different? Why not trust the project that brought you success at the Olympic level (Bronze in Tokyo 2020) and success at the senior level (Gold Cup 2023)?

And I don’t write these lines to justify or defend Jaime Lozano. In fact, the results did not help him at all. After winning the CONCACAF title, which he achieved as an interim coach, the team’s performance really declined.

There was a lot of suffering, and miraculously they managed to beat Honduras in the qualifiers for the Copa América. In the Nations League, the team was outplayed from start to finish by the United States. And in one of the few friendlies against quality opponents, like Uruguay, he decided to field new faces and suffered a scandalous defeat.

For better or for worse, the squad was with him and believed in his work. The playing idea, the style, the approach, and everything that had been progressing over the past year has once again collapsed. A new coach will arrive to implement a different approach, and once again, this will take time to have an effect.

To make matters worse, it turns out that the Copa América – now, indeed – served no purpose. Jaime’s idea was to strengthen certain players with an eye on the future, and now it could be that those players are not to the liking of the future coach.

Worst of all, by this time next year, we could be writing the same lines again. The Gold Cup 2025 will be played, and there is a significant risk of stumbling once more. Canada reached the Copa América semifinals. Panama and Costa Rica showed they are on the rise, and despite their elimination, the United States frequently poses problems for our national team. In other words, if we don’t win that tournament, could another shake-up be on the horizon?

Jimmy Lozano arrived to put out the fire, now it could be Javier Aguirre, and perhaps by 2026 another ‘miraculous’ move will come.

Let’s start a new cycle and hope that this time it won’t need to restart so soon.

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ALEJANDRO ORVAÑANOS