Marcelo Bielsa ‘had agreed to coach Mexico but was rejected by newly formed national team committee’

Marcelo Bielsa was set to become the next manager of the Mexican national soccer team, only to have a newly formed committee of club team owners decide against it.

According to ESPN’s David Faitelson, Bielsa has agreed to step in as head of Mexico’s first team as part of their preparation for the 2026 World Cup.

However, the heads of the Mexican soccer clubs – with a committee made up of the owners of Club América, Club Tijuana, Chivas Guadalajara and Santos Laguna – rejected Bielsa in favor of Pachuca coach Guillermo Almada or the former director of Mexico. , Miguel Herrera.

Marcelo Bielsa would have agreed to lead Mexico, but was rejected by a club committee

There was a tumultuous change in the Mexican Football Federation (FMF) when Grupo Pachuca – the owners of CF Pachuca and Club León – resigned from the Mexican National Team Commission for the appointment of Rodrigo Ares de Parga as Director of the National Team.

Grupo Pachuca was in favor of Bielsa, according to Faitelson, but the commission is in favor of Almada and Herrera.

Despite this, Faitelson says Pachuca will let Uruguay-born Almada, 56, go coach the national team if he wants to.

With Bielsa out of the picture, the two favorites are Guillermo Almada and Miguel Herrera

Herrera was previously the coach of Mexico during their run at the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil, where El Tri lost in the round of 16 to the Netherlands.

He was fired as head of Mexico after an alleged altercation with a television announcer at Philadelphia International Airport after the 2015 Gold Cup.

Since then, Herrera has bounced around Mexican clubs, stopping in Tijuana, América and Tigres.

Faitelson’s reports say Ares de Parga and current FMF men’s team director Jaime Ordiales will start interviewing candidates for the national team coaching job on Monday.

On Monday there will be interviews with candidates with Rodrigo Ares de Parga and Jaime Ordiales

Marcelo Bielsa spent time managing teams in Mexico early in his career, taking charge of Atlas and América from 1993 to 1996.

After that, he returned to Argentina to manage Vélez Sarsfield, before moving to RCD Espanyol in 1998, taking over the Argentine national team role that same year.

Bielsa has been out of coaching since he was sacked from Leeds United in February 2022.

He was recently linked to the managerial job at Everton, who recently sacked boss Frank Lampard.

Bielsa is reportedly Everton’s main target for the job, but reports indicate he may cost £11m per year to fill the position at Goodison Park.

Reports also say that Bielsa initially turned down the offer to manage the Merseyside side, but Everton are “not giving up” in their search for the manager.

Bielsa has been linked to Everton since the Toffees sacked manager Frank Lampard