Gerardo Martino during his time directing the Mexican National Team.
Photo: ALFREDO ESTRELLA/AFP/Getty Images
Much has been said about coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino in recent months, but not for good. In his position at the head of the Mexican National Team, the Argentine failed to get the team into the round of 16 of the Qatar 2022 World Cup, which was considered a resounding “failure”, not only because of the history of El Tri but also due to objectives and investment before the tournament.
The coach kept a long silence, especially after finishing his contract with the National Team, but now he has come out to reveal some information regarding the process he led for four years and the causes that led to his failure, which he himself admits with serene self-criticism.
In conversation with the radio program Sport Total 780 from Paraguay, Tata Martino attacked the organization of the Liga MX and in general how things are done in Mexican soccerwhich in his opinion has the main characteristic that they see everything as a business and this does not allow the National Team to start and grow even more the soccer player born in the Aztec country.
“In Mexico the business is very noticeable (…) I am not against the business, because we earn money from the business and we live, those of us who participate in soccer could not survive (…) But with a balance so as not to leave aside the soccer part”
Tata Martino
The 60-year-old coach and former soccer player continued his criticism and rejected the fact that in the MX League “the growth of the boys, the work of minor divisions” is left aside, all within a long-term plan, because the only thing that is thought about is “earning money and that the business flourishes”.
“Don’t let the football part die because one day the business is going to die”
Sales of players in Liga MX, an evil of Mexican soccer for Tata Martino
Another aspect highly criticized by Martino is the high price that Liga MX teams put on their playerswhich prevents them from migrating to Europe to continue their football growth, something that the Argentine considers “quite particular” compared to other competitions in the region: “In Mexico there are internal sales, from club to club, by footballers that are worth $8 or $10 million.”
“Very large and solid institutions, which pay a lot of money. There are very important sales but they are footballers who should go out for this amount and they do not have a European market. That hurts a bit because everything stays at home and the footballer doesn’t stop growing or training”, added Tata Martino.
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