Juan Carlos Osorio and his biggest coaching test
Juan Carlos Osorio observed from the BayArena stands as Chicharito picked up a brace in the match against AS Roma. It was a sublime match. With a memorable score of 4-4, but not so memorable defensive displays.
Let’s not forget that last season, Roma got beaten by Bayern Munich in Rome by a final score of 7-1. This season, Roma drew against FC Barcelona, 1-1, and the crowd in the Italian capital celebrated as if they had seen AS Roma get an unforgettable win.
Osorio’s trip to Europe has been unexpected. Earlier last week, reports suggested that he was going to head to Sao Paulo to check on his family right after the Toluca-Queretaro match.
You know who impressed that Sunday early afternoon, Esquivel, not so much Cardozo’s tactics, who instead of ordering his team to continue attacking after achieving an early 2-0 lead, he ordered them to defend the lead and rely on the counter. Still, Toluca ended the game with a 4-2 win.
Back to Osorio. The need for El Tri’s best players to have a good impression of Osorio is equally as important as it is for them to have brilliant performances in Champions League or Europa League. This season, Chicharito and Miguel Layun, certainly know what a good game in Champions League feels like, while Jona has done the same in Europa League with Villarreal CF.
Unfortunately, Hector Herrrera is nowhere near to last season’s version, and it’s not getting any better as the new faces in FC Porto such as André André and Gianelli Imbula keep improving under Julen Lopetegui’s coaching.
Osorio’s lighting trip to Europe demonstrates extreme dedication. After winning the famous CONCACAF Cup, it’s easy to forget about the deplorable 2013 Hexagonal, in which in more than one occasion the participation of El Tri’s players who play Europe was put into question or like they say in Mexico, se pusó en tela de juicio.
They were the easy ones to blame. El Tri’s Euro players were unable to get wins at Azteca against teams like Jamaica and Honduras.
Coaching Mexico’s national team is Osorio’s biggest test, and how big of a test it is when you walk the streets in Mexico City, and when they hear his name most of them they say, Ese quién es?
More than twenty years ago when Cesar Luis Menotti came to Mexico to take over El Tri’s coaching job, Mexico knew who he was. He led Argentina to winning a World Cup in 1978. There was World Cup glory that legitimized his appointment, but with Osorio, the reality is that what gives legitimacy to his appointment is preparation, preparation, and more preparation.
Yes, he triumphed in Colombia, but that’s a whole different story compared to El Tri.
As Osorio is starting to get nonstop coverage in Mexico’s TV networks, just to give you an example, every night Televisa gives a report on Osorio’s Euro tour, not only that but journalist Mauricio Ymay has been able to chat with him every other day, and all of what Osorio does is talk football, nothing else.
When Osorio speaks about the game, it’s beautiful, if you are a true football aficionado, you will pay attention. It’s about tactics, it’s about where Jonathan dos Santos will be placed on the pitch (if he manages to break into his starting-eleven) because Osorio already has a Mexico starting-eleven in mind.
His elaborate note-taking and obsession to detail has allowed him to have a clear-cut drawout of what he wants from Mexico’s national team players. The base is there; it’s just a matter of convincing them of the way he wants them to play. If he manages to impose his football ideas, and the players execute them in CONCACAF play, Mexico will know who Juan Carlos Osorio is, and of course that Ese quién es? will die out.
