Liga MX coaching carousel continues to spin
The return of “El Vasco” overshadows new hires
Two-time Team Mexico manager Javier Aguirre stunned the national soccer media by taking the Monterrey job. “El Vasco” left for Spain nearly 20 years ago after leading Pachuca to its first-ever championship and few pundits thought it likely that he would return to Liga MX.
In addition to positive reviews with El Tri at two World Cups, Aguirre has an impressive résumé, with stops in La Liga (Osasuna, Atlético de Madrid, Zaragoza) and terms in charge of Team Japan and Egypt’s national team.
“El Vasco” has already conducted several training sessions in Monterrey and the pampered Rayados players (the club boasts the biggest payroll in Liga MX) have discovered that their new coach is a no-nonsense guy. He is preaching professionalism (he doesn’t tolerate flopping, a tactic favored by leading scorer Rogelio Funes Mori) and attention to detail.
For now, Monterrey is not looking to overhaul its roster, but “El Vasco” will surely weed out players that don’t get with his program although any wholesale changes will likely not occur until the summer transfer window.
Elsewhere across Liga MX, four other new faces have joined the coaching ranks. Well, two are actually “new” while the other two are rather familiar.
Toluca (after Matchday 12) and Atlético de San Luis (after Matchday 16) fired their managers during the Guardianes but finished out the calendar with interim coaches. The new men in charge were announced this month.
Toluca is giving Hernán Cristante a second chance after the club’s legendary former goalie was in charge of the Red Devils for six seasons from 2016 through 2019. The Diablos were 62-34-41 under Cristante, and snared the No. 1 seed in the Clausura 2018, a season that saw Toluca lose to Santos in the Final. The team qualified for the playoffs four of Cristante’s six seasons.
Carlos Morales will return to Toluca’s academy as top coach of the club’s youth teams.
The Tuneros, on the other hand, brought in a first-timer to replace interim coach Luis Francisco García who managed the final game of the season after “Memo” Vázquez was canned after Matchday 16.
Leonel Rocco will make his Liga MX debut as a relative unknown. The 54-year-old has had some success in his native Uruguay with two modest clubs. He takes over in San Luis Potosí where the Tuneros finished in last place.
Argentine Nicolás Lacarmón joins Rocco as a Liga MX rookie. The 36-year-old Argentine started his coaching career in Venezuela in 2016 and has coached in Chile since 2017.
He takes over in Puebla job where he’ll take over a mid-table team that suffered an erratic Guardianes 2020. Coach Juan Reynoso almost avoided a pink slip after guiding the Camoteros to a stunning upset of Monterrey in the playoffs and following that up with a 2-1 first-leg win over León in the quarterfinals. But after a 2-0 loss eliminated Puebla, the front office sent Reynoso packing.
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The fifth offseason managerial change was at FC Juárez where the Bravos axed Gabriel Caballero – the only coach the franchise has ever known – and quickly hired Liga MX greybeard Luis Fernando Tena, 62. The Bravos will be the 15th team on Tena’s CV. “El Flaco” was actually the first coach fired in the Guardianes, let go by Guadalajara only three games into the season.