P.S. interested whether people who watch Mexico a bit think that the new coach has made a bit of a difference since the qualifying rounds. They certainly didn't seem to be the rabble they were talked about as under previous coaches, and wondering whether that is due to the new coach, strength of opposition (i.e. us), or both?
I do think that Miguel Herrera has made a rather large impact on the team since taking over. As a traditional, and for most of CONCACAF's history the only, regional power Mexico has earned a (rather well deserved) reputation for being arrogant combined with things just falling into place and working out for them when they have seldom found themselves in a tough situation. They for the most part have never had to "grind it out" in CONCACAF nor build a program like the US, Costa Rica and Honduras have.
Until recently, most Mexican players stayed in Mexico. During the 2006 World Cup, only four players on their squad plied their trade outside of Mexico, one of which was playing for Chivas USA, MLS's Mexican team. Mexico always had great players, but they were never superstars in the way that Chicharito, Giovanni Dos Santos and Andrés Guardado are and they always had to fight for their position on the team. To be fair, the FMF wasn't a total corrupted clusterf*ck like it is now. What Miguel has done is basically sent a shot across the bow of all the Mexican players by showing that just because you ride the bench for ManU most of the year does not mean you automatically play or make that squad for that matter. In addition, this provided and excellent opportunity for the guys on the fringe of the national team, that they normally would not have, to book their ticket to Brazil. He showed everyone that regular Liga MX players are perfectly capable of doing what they have traditionally done, qualify with Mexican league players.
Most experts agree that this is not the team that will show up in Brazil. They are an all-star club team, but certainly not a national team. All these guys that Miguel selected were in form, most make their living by playing with each other day in and day out, and his comments about the travel and adjusting to the altitude of Mexico City were legitimate in my opinion. He made the best team from the best immediately available players, which unfortunately are head and shoulders above the current crop of All Whites in terms of technical ability, form and shape.
I know you guys are feeling in the dumps, and I hate to pile on, but in all sincerity, I am not sure if the All Whites would have made it into the final round of qualifying (the hex) if you were in Concacaf. If you had, I suspect you would have gone the route of Jamaica. While most of the US fans would have loved to have seen Mexico implode even further, most never seriously thought that they wouldn't make it through to Brazil.
