What's next for the Mexico national team after coach Jamie Lozano leaves, Copa America failure

We've been here before and yet again Mexico are looking for a new head coach following the departure of Jamie Lozano. Mexico were knocked out of the Copa America during the group stage after already failing to advance past the group stage of the 2022 World Cup under Tata Martino. The Mexican Football Federation (FMF) said that they offered Lozano a demotion but he turned it down to move on.

"Jaime Lozano was offered, along with his coaching staff, a contract until 2030, in which during 2024-2026 they will accompany a more experienced head coach towards our World Cup, and later it would be Jaime himself who would retake the reins of head coach in the 2026-2030 process," the FMF said in a statement. "After analyzing the proposal, Jaime Lozano informed us that he doesn't wish to continue. We respect his decision."

The goodwill of winning the Concacaf Gold Cup was wiped away by yet another Nations League loss to the United States as Mexico has struggled to keep up in an improving region. This isn't down solely to Lozano due to the FMF lacking a direction and struggling to recruit dual nationals even with a Major League Soccer to Liga MX pipeline forming for players.

The results were still poor for Lozano who ends with a 10-4-7 record but there is quite a task ahead for the next coach with a World Cup on home soil coming in 2026.

According to ESPN, the FMF seems set to turn to Javier Aguirre to coach the team. He previously oversaw El Tri from 2001-02 and 2009-10 during which he helped the national team qualify for the World Cup on both occasions. He was most recently manager at Mallorca in Spain where he guided the side to a Copa del Rey final appearance against Athletic Bilbao. Aguirre is adept at leading defensively-minded teams but Mexico also need someone who can jog their attack into form.

The next head coach would become the fourth to oversee Mexico since the 2018 World Cup but the previous two since Martino have been especially poor. Neither Diego Cocca or Lozano were able to amass a winning percentage above 50% as Mexico have slid to 15th in the FIFA men's rankings and will likely continue to slide as teams behind them are rapidly improving. 

An overhaul is needed but a balanced one at the moment. While the focus needs to be on improving Mexican soccer as a whole, the Aguirre appointment of a familiar face also makes sense in the middle of a World Cup cycle. Long term, youth development and dual national recruitment need to be looked at, but in the short term, Mexico need to be in the best position possible to win at the World Cup. 

The roster should be good enough to do that under the right management so bringing in someone with experience to accomplish that could work as long as long as long-term goals aren't forgotten on the road to do that. It's a similar position to the United States after moving on from Gregg Berhalter but the USMNT don't have an available manager who has coached the team in the past to turn to like they did during the unsuccessful 2018 cycle under Bruce Arena.