It's an old joke… an employee walks in to get trained on something new for his job. The trainer asks "what kind of experience do you have?"
"Well, I do have a Master's degree."
"Then let me clear my calendar."
In some circles, a certain pedigree seems to always be better. Always. And in Mexican futbol, that seems to be the case when it comes to anything European. I'll admit it. I was just as guilty. After Germany 2006 when the Mexican exodus to Europe was in its nascent stage, I was convinced that the team would instantly be better. We got a lot of guys playing in Europe after all. Not so fast, it turned out. Mexico's struggles were then punctuated with the hiring of, what else, a European: SGE. A large faction of the Mexican media swooned over the guy. He has such a great pedigree, they said. Look where he coached, he has to better.
Very few of them asked, look at his results. But it didn't matter. He was from Europe. He had to better than anything from the MFL. The ensuing results were disastrous, and Mexico came uncomfortably close to crashing out of the World Cup before the hex.
The pedigreed European savior who had arrived with such fanfare had to take a pesero to the airport to get outta town.
Just last week, there were reports that Mexico was looking into bringing a player who had spent his entire career in the Spanish lower divisions, Anibal Zurdo, né in Mexico to Spanish parents. Once again, the europhiliacs came out of the ektorp. "He plays in Spain, so he has to be better than what we have over here." No. No, he doesn't. And he isn't. And surprise, surprise; he was not included on Chepo's latest list.
The Mexican League, like many league's around the world, is not without its share of problems. But a lack of competitiveness in not one of them. The league's teams have been feeding national teams for years. Chile and Paraguay, in particular, have historically called up players who played for Mexican clubs. And with Klinsi at the helm, it looks like the USA will be doing the same as four of his 22 call ups earn paychecks in the MFL. They have to be doing something right, much to the chagrin of the Europhiliacs.
It goes with saying that a large swath in the Mexican press are doting on Klinsi too. Look where he's from.