One of the hardest parts about Juan Carlos Osorio’s time as Mexico’s head coach is trying to make sense of his way of doing things. He’s a man who likes to rotate players, change formations, play players in different positions, and in general, keep everyone on their toes.
With all that said, there are some interesting things to notice with Osorio’s recent call up for Mexico’s friendlies against New Zealand and Panama next week.
The spine is left behind
Yes, Juan Carlos Osorio is notorious and openly likes the idea of rotating players and not having the same starting XI from game to game. With that said, there has been a base of players that he relies on game in and game out. Hector Moreno, Miguel Layun, Andres Guardado, Hector Herrera, Jesus Corona, and Javier Chicharito make up the spine of Mexico’s starting XI game into game out. Along with them, Raul Jimenez, Diego Reyes, Javier Aquino, and veteran Rafael Marquez are a constant presence on the Mexico roster. In goal Osorio has recently given Guillermo Ochoa his shots, while constantly backing Alfredo Talavera in big games in the year he’s been with Mexico.
In this FIFA international date, he decided to leave all 12 players behind. Digging deeper there are many reasons why he would do this;
- He knows what these players have to offer and knows what he’s getting out of them (*Ochoa has had a dreadful start to the season in La Liga, so he could have been left off because of poor form). Also, many of these players are coming from Europe and the travel might not be worth it if for two friendlies with World Cup Qualifying starting next month.
- In November, Mexico faces Panama in World Cup Qualifying in Panama. Osorio is a man who doesn’t tell his players his starting XI until hours before the match, so there’s little chance he’s willing to offer Panama a free look at his team in person a month before playing a game that actually counts for something.
- The pressure is high on Osorio to deliver. The 7-0 defeat to Chile over the summer still stings in Mexico. The fact the team followed that up with a dull 0-0 draw with Honduras at home didn’t help. Essentially, by leaving his most trusted players for these friendlies he buys himself some leeway in case these friendlies are not up to the standards people expect. He’s using these friendlies for what they are, to reward players who might not usually get a look, and give them a chance to earn a spot for more important games. Regardless, even if Mexico play lights out soccer, they won’t win over the constant “Glass half empty” Mexican media and pundits. Not even the Mexican Federation are crazy enough to dump a coach after two meaningless friendlies if things don’t go well when the coach had only lost ONE match in the year he’s been in charge… Most likely not that crazy, it is the FMF after all.
Backline gives hint at possible formation
It will be interesting to see what Osorio will do since no one really knows, but by just going off the list of defenders you can see there’s two groups, players he’s used before, players he hasn’t. Tigres trio, Jorge Torres Nilo, Hugo Ayala, and Jesus Duenas, along with Oswaldo Alanis have all been used by Osorio and those four could be used as a backline for one of the friendlies. Torres Nilo and Duenas are constant names on Osorio’s 23 man rosters, while Ayala and Alanis haven’t featured much for Osorio, you could argue they were part of Osorio’s most impressive win at Honduras last November. Their performances were even more impressive when you consider the fact that Mexico switched from a 5-3-2 to a more makeshift 4-4-2 with both center defenders playing the outside backs that match.
Each four defenders have a natural replacement on this roster for them as Andrian Aldrete can take Torres Nilo’s spot at left back, Jordan Silva and Hedgardo Marin are center backs, and Luis Robles can play right back. This all points to Osorio leaning more to a flat back four instead of a five-man defense with three center backs.
Midfielders look for window of opportunity
With the likes of Herrera and Guardado missing out on these matches, this leaves a group of players with a chance to impress Osorio. It’s an opportunity that does not come around often since the Guardado/Herrera midfield combo has been cemented centerpiece for Mexico since 2014. This means Marco Fabian and Erick Gutierrez will both need to make the most of their chances given. Fabian is a game changer who can spark an offense with his creativity to make something out of nothing. While Gutierrez isn’t as flashy, he has an ability to control the pace and speed of the game with his positioning, slick passing and ball movement. Another player who could benefit is Jonathan Dos Santos, who is a more polished and complete version of Gutierrez. Dos Santos has is also more versatile and can play behind the two more attack-minded midfielders and in front of the back four. This means Dos Santos has a chance to make his mark in the position that still belongs to legend Rafael Marquez. While Jesus Molina is a more physical presence which one looks for in the deep-lying/defensive midfield position, he doesn’t have the vision or passing ability to change the point of attack that Jonathan Dos Santos or Rafael Marquez has.
While other players like Isaac Brizuela and Elias Hernandez will also look to make the most of their opportunities, they’re more natural wingers or can at least play more out wide which gives them the versatility that Osorio likes in case he wants to go from a 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2, or a 4-2-4 (All formations he’s used).
Pulido and Giovani
The two biggest names who most people will have their eyes on will be Alan Pulido and Giovani Dos Santos, who make their returns to Mexico after two years and a year apart. For Pulido, it’s all about whether he can be seen as a legit scoring option for Mexico as a natural striker. He will have to battle with Oribe Peralta up top this call-up but recent form suggests that he looks to be in a good frame of mind. If Osorio plays with a “point” forward in a 4-3-3 formation, Pulido will have to show that his movement is good enough to pull defenders with him to create space behind him for possible wide forwards like Hirving Lozano to come streaking behind in the gap. Also, can he be clinical enough in front of goal to not waste any chances he has, something Mexico struggled with greatly their last time out?
For Giovani, there are more questions to where he best fits into Osorio’s formations and does he have the work ethic to do what’s asked of him if he’s asked to track back. A player who naturally loves to drift from the right side of the pitch into the middle on his left foot, his two best possible positions could be as a right forward in a 4-3-3 formation. This will require him to help with defending the opposing left back, something that isn’t always asked from him in his club team. Since Osorio doesn’t really use a natural “10” role, or someone who plays in front of the midfield, but behind the last forward, which has become where Giovani Dos Santos has been at his best, it will be up to him to show a willingness to adjust and sacrifice if he wants to make the most of his chance with Mexico.
It will be fascinating to see what Osorio has in mind with these players and which ones will be able to adjust to Osorio’s unique way of doing things. Those who can adjust and have a good showing put themselves in a great position to earn a call-up to Mexico’s Hex opener in November.