As Tuca Ferretti’s interim term comes to an end, several El Tri players said they are eager to know what direction the team will head in
Mexico players are in the same boat as Mexico fans, with several saying after a 2-0 loss to Argentina that the federation needs to announce the national team’s new manager as soon as possible.
The match on Tuesday was the final game of the year for El Tri and the last of interim manager Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti’s six-match stint. The manager himself said after the match that he had been brought in to buy time for the federation, which is expected to announce the long-term boss next month.
For Mexico players, it can’t come soon enough.
“It’s urgent that the manager be announced now so we can know how he’s going to play and we can adapt ourselves to get better and be kept in mind,” forward Alan Pulido said.
Ferretti initially indicated he would call in as many young players as possible but also brought in veterans like the 27-year-old Chivas forward who was on the 2014 World Cup roster. Even with more experienced players, Mexico fell short in five of six matches under Ferretti. While the team showed signs of life in Tuesday’s defeat, it ultimately couldn’t keep up with an Argentina team that included Serie A stars Mauro Icardi and Paulo Dybala, both of whom opened their international accounts.
“These type of games let you know where we are and the type of competition that is needed against teams like Argentina, where all their players are in Europe and they can have even two national teams and we can’t,” Pulido continued. “But these games help to gain experience.”
Even if the friendly defeats can be stomached, it’s been a tough period for El Tri players.
That could change should the federation announce outgoing Atlanta United manager Gerardo “Tata” Martino as the new coach once the MLS season concludes – though no deal has been signed yet between the former Argentina manager and the FMF. Even so, Tigres midfielder Javier Aquino said the time is now for his club coach Ferretti to return club duties and for a new project to begin.
“For the players with more experience it was a semester in which you didn’t know where things were going, where there’s no manager, but for the younger players it’s something different because an opportunity opened for them,” Aquino said. “But you miss a plan, a manager and to see where we’re going, who’s going to continue, who won’t, but we have to take everything as well as we can.
“After the World Cup it’s been really complicated not having a manager, and we haven’t had good results. We need to keep getting better and take the positives.”
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