Rafael Márquez Opens His Mexico Tenure Without a Win

Four games, zero wins and a lopsided loss that still stings. That's how Rafael Márquez began his tenure as Mexico's head coach, a debut that promised continuity but has, for now, run into the hard reality of results.

When he took over this summer after serving as Javier Aguirre's assistant, Márquez didn't hide his confidence. "I'm not starting from zero. Having worked with Javier from start to finish gives me a lot of peace of mind to continue this process," he said in September upon taking the job. "I know the players and the environment well, and I've been surrounded by a group of experienced people who have worked at the highest levels. That's exactly what we're looking for: to take this national team to another level."

The first lesson was clear: reaching that "next level" is going to take time. Just months removed from a World Cup in which El Tri's performance was viewed favorably despite a round-of-16 exit, Márquez's September and October window closed with an unimpressive 0 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. One of those defeats was especially painful: a 3-0 loss to the United States, Mexico's longtime Concacaf rival.

The Mexican press didn't hold back the next day. "Total disaster," read one sports daily's headline. "What an embarrassment," wrote another. Márquez appeared serious after the match and, while he pointed to some positives, he was blunt when discussing his players' "inexcusable mistakes."

We do need a bit more clarity. The other issues were inexcusable mistakes where, in the end, you're practically handing the opponent those three goals.Rafael Márquez

With that stumble, Márquez became the first permanent Mexico coach (not counting interim spells) since 1997 to fail to win any of his first three games in charge. And the blow didn't stop there: against Chile, in the final match of the FIFA window, came another defeat, this time 2-0. The team looked frustrated, exposed in transition and unable to create danger in the opponent's half. It was also the first time this decade that El Tri has dropped two straight games without scoring a single goal.

"Obviously it took us a bit longer to find our rhythm. Defensively we started out maybe a little unstable, and they were slicing through with passes behind our back line too easily," Márquez admitted after the match against Chile. "We lacked sharpness on both ends, defensively and offensively."

Costly absences and a wave of debutants

Credit where it's due: several key players missed these friendlies due to injury. Without Raúl Jiménez or Ballon d'Or nominee Julián Quiñones, Mexico's attack lost much of its bite. On top of that, rising star Gilberto Mora was only able to play in one of the four matches because of a muscle injury.

Despite this being his first experience coaching at the senior level, Márquez didn't overhaul his roster, most of the squad were World Cup veterans. Still, he handed debuts to six players: Jeremy Márquez, Santiago Sandoval, Oscar García, Hugo Camberos, Álex Padilla and Dagoberto Espinoza. Spread across four matches with constant rotation, it's no surprise the team lacked chemistry: just two goals in more than 360 minutes of play, with four different defensive lineups tested.

Experimenting shouldn't automatically mean struggling through an entire international window. Just look at the contrast with the United States under Mauricio Pochettino: they handed out 13 debuts, also faced Chile and Peru, and came away with a flawless 4 wins, 0 draws, 0 losses. Where El Tri stumbled, the Americans aced the test.

And if there's one thing the Mexican federation has never had much patience for, it's a lack of results. Márquez deserves more than a handful of games to prove his project; the deeper issues, a lack of squad depth and several underwhelming individual performances, are beyond his control. But if he can't right the ship in the upcoming November window, when El Tri plays the Concacaf Nations League quarterfinals, the seat beneath him could start to heat up.