MEXICO CITY -- In Mexico, Victor Manuel Vucetich is known as "King Midas." During his managerial career which started with Neza in 1988 the Segunda Division, he has led four different Liga MX clubs to a league title: Leon, Tecos UAG, Pachuca and Monterrey.
At Monterrey, he also led the club to three consecutive CONCACAF Champions League titles. The nickname of King Midas is appropriate for a head coach who has gone to different Liga MX clubs and has led them to titles.
Nowadays, Vucetich is at Queretaro, working on taking the club to places it has never gone before. The task at hand hasn't been an easy one, and even though his Queretaro will not qualify for the Liguilla, he remains calm. His future at the club will be decided after Queretaro plays its last 2016 Clausura game against Puebla next Sunday.
Vucetich, who had a brief stint as Mexico manager in 2013, recently spoke to ESPN FC at Queretaro's Estadio Corregidora. Among other topics, he shared his thoughts about the current state of Mexican football, the 2016 Clausura, and the careers of El Tri stars Jesus "Tecatito" Corona and Javier "Chicharito" Hernandez.
ESPN FC: After being a footballer, and now one of Mexico's most successful managers, what moments do you cherish?
Vucetich: Fortunately, I have lived many fantastic moments since the first day they gave me managerial responsibilities in a First Division club [Leon in 1990]; it's something one searches and fights for. The time you are able to lead a club to a Liguilla and go on to win it is another great moment. And well, the more prizes you keep accumulating in your career means that you're going in the right direction, and that what you're doing is positive and productive.
ESPN FC: How much has Mexican football advanced since the early 1990s?
Vucetich: Without a doubt, there's been a lot of evolutions in various aspects of the game. The Mexican footballer has advanced from the psychological standpoint, from the tactical standpoint the game has seen a significant growth, from the technical standpoint, and you can't ignore, the physical standpoint, too. Nowadays, new technology we're implementing into the game allows us to detect aspects of the game that before we couldn't. Today, we have these gadgets that allow us to increment our level of play or help us eliminate aspects of our game that could be affecting us. I believe that football's evolution is constant like life's evolution.
ESPN FC: Did you experience your best moments as a manager in Monterrey?
Vucetich: Undoubtedly, it was a period of almost five years, where we won six titles. When you think about this, I see it as something fantastic that I lived through.
ESPN FC: In Monterrey, you saw Jesus "Tecatito" Corona take his first steps as a professional footballer, are you surprised by how much he has grown in the last years?
Vucetich: I gave him his debut. His evolution has been great, actually, when he left for Twente, he came to my house with his family to say goodbye, and I made a comment to him. I told him that hopefully his new team would give him the pertinent and permanent time for him to mature. At the time, I was thinking about a year-and-a-half to two years for him to reach a top level. I believe Twente did a phenomenal job in knowing how to take him during his first months over there, so now we have a player in great form, with a strong mentality, and as one of the best Mexican footballers we have.
ESPN FC: If the season in Mexico was a long one, not a short one, would Liga MX managers be more prone on debuting more young Mexican footballers?
Vucetich: It's going to depend on a lot of factors. First, the players have to show they are in excellent condition, but then managers are told to get results right away. With this in mind, coaches don't have time to help out on the formation of the player. The period of formation is a long one, so here in Mexico, where the season is short, the risks are high because you need to get the result. However, it's possible to execute this process in Mexico, especially if the directors of the club understand that this process of maturity in young Mexican footballers takes time.
For example, here in Queretaro, we've given debuts to several players because they have shown that they're capable of playing in the top-flight like Victor Milke, Paolo Yrizar or Jordi Cortizo. They are three players who are pushing hard for first-team opportunities, but we must still keep them in this process. We know that this process is not easy because the demand is high. So in order for a young Mexican footballer to play in First Division, he needs to be at or close to the level of the experienced footballers, that way he can take on the responsibilities. The coach will also have to take on the risks of putting an inexperienced player on the pitch.
ESPN FC: In a league like Liga MX, where everything seems to be done in a fast pace, what have been your keys to success?
Vucetich: I think the human factor has been the most important part. We live in such a complex situation, with tons of demands that we need a lot of human interaction. Of course the type of work that you put in is important; there has to be a lot of conviction on what we have to do, of who we are, and on what we could do. So that's why I think that the human factor helps us have that communication with the players and ensures the results and the dynamics that we experience in our football.
ESPN FC: In Mexico, the important decisions in football are made by club owners without directly receiving advice from former footballers. Has this affected Mexican football in recent times?
Vucetich: Absolutely, it's a big problem we have, and that we should fix. I think there are various areas inside a sport like football. In football, there should be an administrative part, a financial one, a social, and a sporting one. I totally believe that only people who have vast knowledge about the game of football are the ones who should be making these important decisions. Of course the people who are knowledgeable about finances should supervise the budgets of each club, and in the social aspect, there should be a sociologist. There should be experienced professionals in each of these areas. It's necessary for the club owners to get advised by a multidisciplinary group, so every aspect of the game can be on the same page. Today, that's how all the business studies are executed.
ESPN FC: Which coaches do you closely observe to get new ideas?
Vucetich: Nowadays, we must adapt to everything, and we must obtain ideas from different coaches. All of the ideas can complement yours. Without a doubt several coaches have led the pack and have been the leaders, but there's always been movements in the coaching sector. At one time it was [Jose] Mourinho, at another it was Vicente Del Bosque, at another it was Marcello Lippi, and at another time it was Pep Guardiola. They're stages that you live and you have to match those styles of play to your country's idiosyncrasy. You can't say, "We want to play like the Germans because, wait, German footballers are 1.80 m or 1.90 m, who run up and down and possess an extraordinary mentality." It's another idiosyncrasy that you must be able to interpret and know how to integrate into yours. We have to get our players to understand the style in a certain way, get the best out of our players, and hopefully we can get the best out of the ideas we observe and how we get those ideas to work with our players.
ESPN FC: What does a footballer like Chicharito, who has had so much success in Europe, give to Mexican football?
Vucetich: Look, without fear of getting it wrong, I think he makes the world look at Mexican football. His football allows for European clubs to realize that in Mexico there are valuable players, of high level. However, I think that many players require a certain time to reach the level that he has already reached. I think we must recognize Chicharito's mentality, and how strong it is. With Chicharito, he presents himself with a lot of security, showcases a conviction of what he wants to accomplish, and behind him he has his father and grandfather [both former footballers] who have made him gain experience quickly. He has an integrated family who has supported him and knows about the game, and all of these factors have allowed him to have a firm attitude and determination to accomplish different objectives.
Nowadays, he's an extraordinary Mexican football ambassador, and wherever he has played, he has scored. I think he hasn't been valued as he deserves because sometimes he gets asked to play like other players, and Chicharito should always play like Chicharito, who's a striker with phenomenal mobility, killer finishing, and who's always alert. If you take him out from his habitat, and believe that he can conduct the ball like [Karim] Benzema or [Lionel] Messi, then you're wrong because he's a finisher. Today, he's triumphing in Germany because his coach understands his characteristics, and Chicharito finds himself in a team where his tasks are ones that he fully understands.
ESPN FC: Have you been able to implement your style?
Vucetich: We're still working on it. The changes that have been made to the squad have affected us, and maybe we weren't ready to make big changes. Also the players that have arrived haven't come in at their best shape. For example, Nery [Dominguez] got here in week three and without having completed a full preseason. We had to get him in shape, while he adapted to our football, that's a process. Luis Gil's case is one in which he's working well, but he also has to adapt to Mexican football. These two players need to complete a time of adaptation in order to give results, and these cases have affected the team's progress.
ESPN FC: Currently, which Liga MX club plays the best football?
Vucetich: Without a doubt, the team that best plays is Monterrey, and the stats support it. But there's a situation that not all people have been able to capture, and it's that Monterrey has only been playing one tournament, while the teams behind it have been playing two tournaments like Tigres, Club America, Pumas and Santos. These teams have been participating in the CONCACAF Champions League like us, or in the Copa Libertadores. Monterrey exited early from the Copa MX, and it has been playing only one tournament since then. I think it has a team that could compete in two tournaments, but logically the competition in Copa MX is at an inferior level than Liga MX. Monterrey is playing great football, and it has interesting parts to it, that's why it's the best team. In my opinion, the teams that follow it are America and Pachuca. By the way, I'm really like what Pachuca is doing.
ESPN FC: What's your opinion about Pachuca's youth academy? Could it be imitated by other Liga MX clubs?
Vucetich: Sure because it's a project developed by the institution. At Pachuca, it's the institution who does the projects, and the coach that arrives with his ideas must relate to the club's mission. The institution allows you to work, while it follows you closely. It's a situation that has been well executed; it has allowed Pachuca to be a strong First Division club, and they're not planning on changing. Nowadays they're doing it better, but beforehand they had failures, and it took them time to get back among the elite in the league. This has been a medium to long-term process, and people have to understand that these processes require time because they're not short. As I said before, the formation of players doesn't happen one day after another, it's a process of two or three years.
ESPN FC: Which players, of whom you coached, have left a mark in you?
Vucetich: One of the best players I have had because of his amazing work rate was [former Tecos UAG striker] Osmar Donizete; he was a footballer who would destroy every defense in front of him. I also coached Humberto Suazo, Tita, Alberto Coyote, who I debuted, and Adolfo "Bofo" Bautista, who is another one of my debutants. Today I feel immense happiness for "Tecatito," who was another player I had a chance to debut. There have been many Mexican and foreign players who I've coached, and it gives me a lot of pride to say that I worked with them and helped them in their careers.