I am a fan of Piojo. I have liked his enthusiasm, flair, and ability to boost a teams confidence.
However, with sub-par results and bizarre player call-ups, Piojo is starting to feel a little heat on his back.
The Copa América squad finished their warm-ups with a win over Guatemala (3-0), draw with Peru (1-1), and a loss to Brazil (0-2). What makes matters worse for Mexico fans and Piojo is that the roster doesn’t show anything outside a few players with major potential.
When the U.S. embarrassed a weak Mexican side 0-2 in April, many thought we would for sure never see the likes of several players from that roster. However, names that played sub-par found their way back to the Copa América and Gold Cup rosters.
And the results of other Mexican teams are not helping the pressure for Piojo and the upcoming Copa América squad. The U-22 Toulon team looked to have booked their trip to the final, only to be beaten by a 10-man Moroccan side, eliminating them from the tournament.
Moreover, the U-20 World Cup squad opened up group play with a 0-2 loss to Mali after going down to 9 players. Almaguer would go on to make endless tactical errors, which lead to Serbia shutting them out 0-2 (see a trend here?).
Piojo said he had major expectations for the Copa América and Gold Cup, but we aren’t seeing the chemistry after those statements.
After defeating Holland and Germany on the road, the USA looks to have gained hold of the “favorite” for the Gold Cup. And if the Copa América plays and looks as bad as they have, Piojo will have only one last shot to impress in the summer…
If he gets it wrong, and we are looking back at some of his decisions…Piojo may be in a spot several coaches before him were in.
Tri Report 