Mexico’s veteran squad faced El Salvador Friday, taking a 3-1 victory in the later parts of the match. The game came as a redemption opportunity for El Tri following the debacle of in the Copa America this past summer.

The loss against Chile is still clearly in everyone’s minds and all the events transpiring leading up to this game against El Salvador did not make anything easier.

Even with the victory against El Salvador, the aura surrounding the team has not gotten any better. And honestly, even if Mexico manages to get a win against Honduras, it will not really matter.

Because if Osorio is still the coach, it won’t get better. Even if they win this match against Honduras and end up with a perfect qualifying round, Osorio must go.

First, let’s start with the call-ups for these matches. With the issues that were going on, you would think that Osorio would maybe, just maybe would at least try to do something differently. Maybe he would call Gio. Gio had already made it public that he would play with the team again and he was ready to represent his team. Why not call him? Where was the harm? But, alas, he went and just kept being the same old Osorio.

Okay, at least he brought some of the players you’d expect: Hector Herrera, Javier Aquino, and thankfully, he agreed to bring Ochoa. Of course he had to bring Guardado but then it gets weird. If this series of games were merely friendlies, it would be understandable. But this is seriously his first set of games following the Chile domination, and he wants to bring in younger players? Then you see someone like Pena in the call-ups and one can only see Gio Dos Santos silently scoffing to himself from his loft or suite in Los Angeles as he continues scoring goals for the LA Galaxy.

What makes the set of players even more bizarre is the fact that it is Osorio so one just begins to imagine how exactly the rotational process will work for which players and frustration kicks in. Then add that to the fact that players were slowly getting injured or had to be sent back home prior to the match against El Salvador and now more players are getting injured before the Honduras match and frustration just gets worse.

I know that at times as journalists we need to be objective and that it is not about the emotional aspect of it all, but in this case, I think emotion is very much a part of the narrative. Mexico fans and their critics have always been overwhelming emotional—regardless of what end of the spectrum they are on. Since Osorio has been coach, there has been a lack of emotion from him personally. The team went from having this passionate (sometimes, a little too much) in the form of Miguel ‘Piojo’ Herrera but his approach proved effective.

Not just to the fans, but to the players themselves. There was this family-like aura that you got from the team. He loved them and they loved him. He was of Mexican-descent so this was his team. He wanted to nurture and adapt it to the best of its ability. No exclusivity. No drama in regards to the team. He gave transparency and protected his team and his players.

Osorio does not do this and the team has suffered as a result.

The team might not necessarily need ‘Piojo’ back. (Although, I think they desperately do). They just do not need Osorio. And no, my previous paragraph does not imply that only a coach of Mexican descent is qualified for the job. It only means that Osorio’s direction is not the right one.

Fans, critics and analysts cannot make the same mistake they made during the Copa America. They cannot breathe a sigh of relief simply because Osorio luckily managed to get a late win against El Salvador. They cannot do the same either if El Tri gets victory against Honduras, who is a somewhat tougher opponent than El Salvador. The team still struggled during the first half of match, was losing even. They started scoring, but was it because of the rotations? Did they actually work? Or was it simply luck?

Who is to say that the team just continues to keep getting strings of luck? Say, for another three games… until it is a legitimate game? Until it’s a game where the stakes are really high just like it was during the Chile match. Where everyone really honestly thought we were going to win only to be humiliated.

The rotations Osorio has will only go so far. Guillermo Ochoa already expressed concern over the rotations and despite managing a win against El Salvador; it has not really shown to be a perfect strategy. Couple that in with the fact that the match against Honduras on Tuesday has yet another batch of rotations, not only is it confusing, but it does not reassure things are going to get better. It has not yet guaranteed a win.

In a broader picture, Osorio himself has not really proven who he is a Mexico’s coach. Unlike his rotations, who he is remains the same. No matter what the outcome or how well or how bad the game is going, he still makes the same decisions and presents himself in the same elusive manner as always. And I think that demeanor is here to stay as long as he does with the team.

Osorio said during a press conference on Tuesday that it was not about beating Honduras personally, he just wanted to gain back the support from the fans and come out victorious. Unfortunately, I think it might already be too late for one of those.

When Mexico lost to Chile 7-0, it was the worst game I had ever seen them play in my life. And it wasn’t something we actually wanted to see happen. We had seen the devastation Brazil faced in 2014 losing 7 to 1 against Germany thinking, Whew, glad it isn’t us. Yet it happened last Saturday. It was us. And we didn’t even get a goal like Brazil.

7-0..

A majority of Mexico fans sat in their seats at home, in the stadium, or wherever they were and could probably not move for a while.

It was a car crash you couldn’t look away from.

The first goal came at the 15th minute. Marcelo Diaz took a shot against Ochoa (who was playing his second game of the tournament) and despite us fans getting high hopes because Ochoa blocked that first attempt, Puch came in for the remate and scored the first goal.

We knew it would come eventually and it started early.

But it didn’t stop and that, we were not prepared for.

It kept going and going and going and didn’t end.

Seriously, it did not stop until the 88th minute.

7-0.

Why had we not seen the signs? Why did this hurt so badly? And why did we not discuss the real problem with Juan Carlos Osorio?

Osorio is not a bad coach; He’s just not the coach Mexico needs if he continues the way he is going.

I’ll say the same thing I said in the weeks after it was first announced that Piojo would be taking over El Tri: the puzzle pieces were coming together with Piojo. There might have been the occasional criticism of Piojo for the emotional antics and even concern about his extracurricular activities involving politics and commercials, but he had passion. Coming off of victorious season with Club America back then, Piojo loved the team. When he was given the opportunity, he was honored.

I will not completely romanticize the situation because I know a lot of it had to do with monetary offers and it was also a streak of good luck for Piojo is the midst of lots of bad luck for the Mexican Fútbol Federation, but that does not take away from the fact that it was perfect timing.

And nearly perfectly executed by Piojo.

He came on knowing he had to bring the best players forward. There was no preference. No LaVolpe-style of coaching. If you had talent and he knew you had talent, you were going to play. He would do everything in his power to get you to come play for the team you (and he) loved and was going to make you proud to be part of the team.

When Carlos Vela was not anywhere near playing for the team, he went out of his way to go talk to him and although he failed the first time, he eventually led Vela back to the team, and with it, came good results, with Vela scoring in his first appearance back with the squad.

He turned a horribly dismal World Cup qualifying round into a great qualifying playoff round against New Zealand and showed a great coaching position in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Fast forward to summer of 2015 and despite the ups and downs of the Gold Cup tournament, Mexico still won that tournament and proved that they were capable of beating Jamaica. No one thought that they were going to win against Jamaica. The road to the final was a complicated one. Not one but TWO penalties that helped determine Mexico’s fate in the Gold Cup. And it was frustrating. (Ask Alejandro Berry… that guy was maaaaaad).

Frustrating because we believed in Mexico but we were not naïve. We had been angry and disappointed and felt almost as if we didn’t even deserve to win that Gold Cup tournament. We had a feeling that Jamaica was going to score all the goals on us. Until they didn’t. Mexico proved us wrong and we proudly admitted guilt at ever underestimating the team.

But that was not the case against Chile. We were not blind to the reality of the situation we were dealing with at the Copa America. I certainly was not. Since the beginning of the tournament, when I was lucky enough to cover the game against Uruguay in Phoenix, I saw the red flags.

The defense was the biggest weakness. Osorio had made his brand “rotational” play, changing up the line-up by analyzing who best would work in the different positions according to the team. It did not make sense. There would never be consistency. Talavera was starting against Uruguay. He was clumsy. And even against 10 men, they got scored on and were having trouble maintaining the momentum.

The game against Jamaica showed the discrepancies even more. The only problem with Jamaica was that they could not finish the chances they had. It was lucky for Mexico. In retrospect, Jamaica should’ve won that game given all the chances they had to score. Ochoa was doing great in goal but even I can admit there were plenty of goals that Jamaica should have scored. But they didn’t. And we brushed it off.

We brushed it off because we won.

We brushed it off because Chicharito’s goal was really nice.

Because Oribe came in and didn’t allow the game to turn into a boring 1-0 win that probably would’ve raised the concerns more and would’ve allowed us to have a real discussion about what was going on with the team.

We did not have a serious discussion about Mexico tying with Venezuela 1-1 and the ramifications it would probably have against Chile. The real danger of facing Chile should have come to us sooner.

But it didn’t. We were just happy Mexico wasn’t facing Argentina yet and we went about our way.

We would even laughed about it—journalists and fans alike.

”Well, we’re still winning. So what is there to complain about?”

But there were so many things to complain about. But we avoided talking about them. We turned our heads. If we closed our eyes, we couldn’t see it. If we were winning, we couldn’t see it. We chose to blindly follow.

But we did not prove our spot in this tournament. We did not prove we were the best. We were not the best.

Do we have some of the best? Yes.

But they don’t have consistency. They have rotations and favoritism. They have unclear guidelines that probably leave them confused. The strength they had at the beginning of Osorio’s reign largely existed because of what Piojo had done with the team. But that faded away. Piojo’s influence only went so far.

The FMF did not fire Osorio. I still don’t think he’s the coach for Mexico. In my opinion, they should’ve fired him. But he’s still there and now, he has to really reflect. Whatever he does, he can’t keep the same mentality. That would just be madness.

A majority of us have started to let it go. The little taunts from non-Mexico fans will still hurt for the next couple of months.

But it’s time to rise from the less severe ashes. We are not 2014-qualifying-status…. Yet.

But Osorio needs to change. We are no longer going to blindly follow him. He doesn’t have victories or ties to save him anymore. He’s uncovered our eyes to the reality of the situation. Now it’s time for him to wake up.

Time for him to realize that Gio Dos Santos and Carlos Vela might be needed. The rotational method just doesn’t work for Mexico, and if he really wants to keep his signature style, he needs to at least have some form of consistency. More than 3 players need to always play every single match. A set goalkeeper would also help.

Whatever he needs to do to ensure he never gets another 7-0 defeat on his record.

LIVE FROM THE ROSE BOWL! I discussed the game between Mexico and Jamaica with Jony Rico and Nate Abaurrea.

This analysis is brought to you by FutMexNation.

The 2-0 victory against Canada Tuesday night all but secured Mexico’s spot into the Hexagonal round of the World Cup Qualifiers. Guardado started with a goal by penalty kick at the 16th minute and Tecatito secured the victory with an amazing goal inside the box at the end of the first half.

The game lost its luster after that. The beginning of the second half showed some changes with Yasser Corona coming in for Hector Moreno but even that somewhat risky movie by Osorio went unnoticed in the bore the rest of the match provided for us.

Tecatito might have tried something out and succeed in scoring that goal in the 48th minute, but the rest of the match showed a Mexican side that wasn’t as strong as they were during the first leg in Vancouver. Considering they were at the Azteca, the expectations were even higher.

There were predictions of a “derrota” – an obliteration of the Canadian side. And while Mexico did in fact dominate the game, holding the possession as well as the ball mostly on the opposing end, the definition was not there at all. Much of the game saw El Tri centering the ball towards goal but a header going awry, the Canadian players clearing it out, or an easy save by Borjan. Guardado’s goal came from a penalty kick, leaving only Tecatito’s goal to come out of true playing time.

This victory was not as impressive as the one on March 25th and going into the hexagonal round, Mexico must tread lightly when it comes to their style of play. Like Osorio said during the press conference, this was the last chance for Mexico to play around with their line-up before the call ups to both Copa America and the Olympics. What results come out of the those two tournaments will determine how Mexico goes about the rest of their qualifying matches.

This story has played itself before. Mexico goes into the hexagonal round decently strong (with 10 goals under their belt and zero conceded) and then fails to play to their potential. The same mistake should not and will not be repeated twice. The line-up against Canada will most likely not be the same one that will play for the more important matches during the hexagonal but steps must be taken careful and each move Osorio from here on out must be beneficial to the future of the squad and their road to victory.

Mexico revealed the players it would be calling for the World Cup qualifiers taking place March 25th and March 29th against Canada last Thursday.

The first leg is quickly upon us and there were a few thoughts about those called that were brought to attention.

The call-ups show the usual contenders that should be on the field for the game: Guardado, the Porto Trio (Layun, Tecatito and Hector Herrera), Reyes, Aguilar, Raul Jimenez, Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez, and Javier Aquino. It’s no surprise to see plenty of the European-based Mexicans being called up. Guardado has been have a phenomenal season with PSV. Despite being eliminated from Champions League by Atlètico Madrid in a gripping penalty shootout, the loss from that game could not shadow the amazing form that Guardado is in right now. He has been unstoppable no matter what stage he is put to play on. He should have no problem lead El Tri against a team like Canada.

There are a decent amount of random faces in the list of players called up for the two matches but what stands out the most is who wasn’t called up for the qualifying matches. Carlos Vela, Gio Dos Santos, Oribe Peralta and Jonathan Dos Santos were all missing from the list. Jonathan Dos Santos has been injured for quite some time, and it was only recently that Bruce Arena made the same announcement for Gio but Carlos Vela was reportedly not allowed to go with the Mexican National Soccer Team by his club, Real Sociedad. He was recently punished for missing training after a night of partying and held a press conference on Wednesday talking about the incident and the regret he feels missing out on international play. While Jonathan has leverage because of his injury, both Gio and Vela are not living up to their potential.

Gio Dos Santos has always seemed to have more charisma with the Mexican National Team than any of the clubs he has played for and Vela comes and goes for El Tri despite his great talent but the snub does not go unnoticed. Both players need to prove to Osorio they deserve a spot on the squad.

Oribe Peralta was a big surprise to have been missing from the list. He has been fundamental to Amèrica’s success both in the Liga MX as well as the CONCACAF Champions League matches. He has 13 goals in his last 29 appearances with the club and is in great form. Gio and Vela might have doubtful performances but Osorio overlooking Peralta is a definite surprise.

Gio and Vela might have been snubbed, but some players might have been overestimated. Ochoa is still redeeming himself with Malaga. He is finally getting some starting time and has had a few clean sheets since then but to have Talavera be one of the alternate goalies to come replace him might be stretching it a bit. Eduardo “Lalo” Herrera also being called-up for the Mexican National Team is a shock, particularly because these are World Cup Qualifying matches and his chances of being a start in 2018 are very small.

Brizuela and Lozano both had great games the last friendly match against Senegal but they have not had enough experience at the senior level for them to really be seen as contenders for starting positions.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, Rafa Marquez being called up is a definite shocker. Having just turned 37 years old this year and having four World Cups under his belt, the time to step down from the team should come sooner rather than later. There is no question that Marquez has served a very strong and assertive leadership role for Mexico’s defensive end. And it is also true that in games where Marquez is not present, other defenders put in the central position have floundered when forced to live up to Marquez’s example but enough is enough. Rafa being called up might just be a preliminary move until Osorio is able to decide who best would fit to take his place but if it not, any mistake against Canada due to strength or youth could mean big trouble when Mexico actually faces teams that are talented attacking-wise.

This World Cup qualifier is a test not just for the players but for Osorio especially. There is some great potential with these players but there are also some strong missing pieces. With two big tournaments coming up (and with the chances of some senior players going off to play in the Olympics), Osorio must decide who he wants to have help him reach that final game in the Copa America this summer.

The sorting of the groups of the 2016 Copa America tournament took place this past Sunday and left a very positive note for the Mexican side.

Despite the tournament being held in the United States, past games have proven that much of the fan base in the US roots for Mexico, raising the expectations for El Tri to a higher level.

The toughest opponents for Mexico will clearly be Uruguay and Jamaica. Uruguay will come into the tournament with great players such as Luis Suarez (who is currently dominating La Liga at Barcelona with 25 goals) on its roster. Uruguay reached the quarterfinals in the Copa America last year and is the team with the most Copa America championship wins under its belt. The last big tournament for these two to face each other was back in 2010, when Luis Suarez gave the Uruguayans the 1-0 victory. Mexico will have to bring its powerhouse European players with great confidence into this match particularly. They will have to be quick on their feet to any sudden style changes or playing tactics Uruguay will have under their sleeve. It is the only way they will win on June 5th.

Jamaica has also proven to be a worthy adversary since their amazing performance in the Gold Cup this past summer. The team dominated the Gold Cup, with only one loss the whole tournament and eight goals in favor. Their strength against the US in that 2-1 victory proved they should be considered as one of the powerhouses in CONCACAF. But despite the impressive playing, Mexico still overcame that and ended up beating them in a surprise upset at the Gold Cup final 3-1. Mexico will need to find that strength to prove skeptics wrong again during their match against Jamaica on June 9th and show it wasn’t a fluke.

In terms of Venezuela, the only real challenge Mexico faces when it comes to matches like this is their own sense of confidence and style of playing. Mexico has always had a problem with playing at the level of their opponent; when it comes to weaker teams, the weaker, clumsier side of El Tri comes out. Mexico must find that balance of strength and dominance against Venezuela and the two matches before facing them will surely determine that.

All in all, the sorting came out in Mexico’s favor. With a home field advantage and all eyes on them, Mexico should more likely than not advance out of their group.

The game last Wednesday resulted in a 2-0 victory for El Tri that did not come easily. Mexico proved itself the victor at Marlins Park in Miami but not without a few bumps in the road.

The game itself was predicted to be clumsy from the get-go. With a not-so-well-known squad announced to play the game, the first couple minutes saw a very unfamiliar team attempt to take on the fast opponent that was Senegal. A majority of the first half was spent with Senegal trying to finish both breakaways inside the box and corners given to their side.

There were a few opportunities for Mexico in the first half. The unfamiliar players on the Mexican squad at times started a few plays, with forward Eduardo “Lalo” Herrera seeing some great through balls and chip passes being given to him by Zavala. However, Mexico also gave up too many balls on their side, including a mistake from Yasser Corona in the 17th minute of play that was ultimately saved by an impressive Jesus Corona in the goal.

Youngsters Jurgen Damm and Hirving Lozano showed incredible potential during the game. Damm proved to be a worth attacker early into the game, challenging the Senegal defense with strong runs towards the goal. Lozano also showed strong attacking capabilities by giving impressive passes (one that would later lead to a goal) and even taking some strikes at the goal himself.

Mexico played sloppy and did not even find the net until the latter part of the second half with a header from Duenas in the 72nd minute and another from Pachuca’s Rodolfo Pizzaro in the 86th minute.

The game proved to be one of finding rhythm and for Osorio, it was a chance for him to see the mistakes made from a majority of players would will not be making appearances this summer. There was hesitation but also confidence that he knew what he was doing and how to fix the problems of the second half. His subs proved to be effective both at the half as well as the later parts of the game.

As he took notes from the sidelines throughout the game, the likely result will be a coach who is more aware of what is to come. We still have yet to see the likes of the European power stars of Chicharito (though injured), Layun, Hector Herrera, Hector Moreno, Guardado and Tecatito be led by Osorio. A clumsy victory against Senegal showed that there is a winning Mexico for Osorio, even with the most unlikely of players.