soccer
Miguel Herrera: “I said the Tigres roster was old and I was wrong”
Former Mexico manager Miguel Herrera has explained that he is “sad and dismayed” after being dismissed from his post as Tigres boss
“Either I or someone else is going to have to rebuild a team that has won everything but has got old,” claimed Miguel ‘Piojo’ Herrera after Tigres’ elimination from the 2022 Apertura tournament at the hands of Pachua. Now, Herrera regrets those words. Three weeks later, the UNAL board opted to terminate Herrera’s contract, a decision which took him by surprise and has left him feeling “sad and dismayed”. However, the former Mexico national team boss accepts that he made a mistake when opining that the Tigres roster was “old”.
“I did use the word ‘old’ and I was wrong. It’s an experienced roster that needs to be freshened up. I said that it would ‘either be up to me or whoever replaces me’ to do that, because that’s how football works. We tried to gradually bring in younger players.”
“I’m annoyed, yes. The first thing I said was that ‘I breathed new life into it’ because it wasn’t an old roster; that’s not a word I should’ve used. It’s an experienced team that has won everything but really needs freshening up,” Herrera explained to ESPN.
El Piojo also revealed how the Tigres board informed him that he wouldn’t be continuing in his role and mentioned that he would give his version of the events at a press conference later on Friday. “I had such a surprised look on my face. They told me at (Tigres president) Mauricio Culebro’s house. They were quite ambiguous about why they took the decision because it wasn’t about results.”
“If you compare my year-and-a-half in charge with every other team, there are only two others who have kept the same coach and I’m the only one who’s had more than a 60%-win rate. I’m sad and dismayed.”
Former Atlas boss Diego Cocca has reportedly agreed to become Herrera’s replacement, with an announcement expected at the start of next week.