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Liga MX Odds and Ends: Coach chatter and Big 4 talk

By Thomas Buckley

Chivas coach Víctor Manuel Vucetich has one foot out the door at Guadalajara and Chivas fans would be delighted to give him a little push. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Jam Media/Getty Images)
Chivas coach Víctor Manuel Vucetich has one foot out the door at Guadalajara and Chivas fans would be delighted to give him a little push. (Photo by Jaime Lopez/Jam Media/Getty Images) /
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Liga MX, coaches, Big 4
Héctor Altamirano is out at Querétaro after the Gallos Blancos opened the season with an 0-3-4 mark. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images) /

When the Gallos Blancos pink-slipped Héctor “Pity” Altamirano on Aug. 23 and replaced him with Uruguayan manager Leo Ramos, the 18-team Liga MX found itself with just four Mexican coaches. That’s right … four.

One of the four remaining Mexican head coaches in Liga MX is Víctor Manuel Vucetich who is on a very hot seat with the Chivas. So if “El Rey Midas” is asked to pack up and leave soon (due to a combination of poor results and recent derogatory comments he made to the media about Guadalajara’s proudly held tradition of exclusively using Mexican players), we could find the Mexican coaching fraternity in Liga MX reduced to just three members.

Those three managers are Miguel Herrera (Tigres), Javier Aguirre (Monterrey) and Guillermo Vázquez (Necaxa). The first two are secure in their positions, while “Memo” is patching together a low-budget team just as new owners begin to establish control of the franchise. So his job security is questionable until the front office restructuring is complete.

Of course, there is always the chance that Vucetich rights the Chivas ship after the lousy 2-3-3 start for “El Rebaño Sagrado” and manages to hold onto his job through the rest of the Apertura 2021. I’m not betting on that happening; I’m just saying there’s a chance.

Will Liga MX coaching carousel resume spinning?

If Ricardo Peláez and Amaury Vergara pull the trigger and sack Vucetich, it is not a given that a non-Mexican will be hired. The 100%-Mexican policy does not extend to the coaching box. Among the prominent foreign managers – there have been 20 in all – who’ve patrolled the Chivas sidelines are Leo Beenhakker, Osvaldo Ardiles, Xabier Azkargota, Ricardo LaVolpe, Carlos Miloc, Ricardo “Tuca” Ferretti and Matías Almeyda. “Tuca” and Almeyda won Liga MX titles for Guadalajara and Almeyda’s controversial departure in 2019 remains a sore spot for Chivas fans.

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The early odds on who will replace Vucetich – this subject has been in the sports pages for over a month now – favor Argentine Antonio Mohamed. “El Turco” was a favorite of Peláez when the latter was GM at Cruz Azul but he was outmaneuvered by other members of the Cementeros front office and Robert Dante Siboldi was installed as head man for “La Máquina” (the internal power play led to Peláez’s resignation and re-emergence with Guadalajara a few months later).

Mohamed has three Liga MX titles on his résumé (Xolos of Tijuana – Apertura 2012, América – Apertura 2014, Monterrey – Apertura 2019) as well as two Copa MX trophies, both of those while managing the Rayados (Apertura 2107 and 2020).

One other candidate gaining support is Jaime Lozano, coach of the bronze medal-winning El Tri Olímpico. “Jimmy” announced his availability last week upon resigning as Mexico’s U-23 manager. His goal is to coach “a prominent club” and gain experience so as to be in the running to take the El Tri job after the 2022 World Cup.

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