Q&A: Ricardo La Volpe on todays El Tri, World Cup qualifying and Maxi Rodrguezs wondergoal -

Ricardo La Volpe remains one of Mexican football’s most influential coaches. The 69-year-old Argentine has always been a didactic manager whose decades-old philosophy has now become the norm in modern football. For instance, La Volpe is credited with the now-in-fashion tactic of beginning a team’s attacking phase from a three-man buildup.

La salida Lavolpiana or the “Lavolpiana build up” has inspired coaches from around the world, including Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola, who in 2006 played briefly in Mexico and was inspired by La Volpe’s progressive El Tri side.

His tactical approach was fast-paced and required a commitment to breaking lines from the back and advancing as a team in transition. Fullbacks who stretched the field in possession in order to create numerical advantages in key areas of the field were a classic La Volpe trademark.

A versatile holding midfielder who could settle in between two center backs and dictate play was an important element as well. Guardiola would later incorporate tendencies of “Lavolpiana build up” with his Barcelona teams beginning in 2009 and still to this day with Manchester City.

La Volpe coached nine Liga MX clubs, most recently Toluca in 2019, but has only won one domestic title, with Atlante in 1993. His most successful time in Mexico came at the international level as manager of El Tri from 2002-2006. Under La Volpe, Mexico won the 2003 Gold Cup final (defeating Brazil 1-0), then finished fourth at the 2005 Confederations Cup, defeating Brazil again in the group stage.

La Volpe’s 2006 Mexico squad reached the Round of 16 at the World Cup in Germany, narrowly losing to Argentina, a match that still seems to haunt La Volpe today.

Speaking to The Athletic from his home in Guadalajara, La Volpe was in typically candid form. He reminisced about his 2006 Mexico team, discussed what’s holding back Mexico under Tata Martino, why he compares Diego Lainez to Lionel Messi and what he’d like his next venture to be.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

So what have you been up to since leaving Toluca?

I’ve tried to watch football from around the world, mainly from Argentina, England and Germany. The latter two are the leagues that I enjoy the most. I like to analyze matches. I’m spending time with my family and living a normal life, but right now I’m not working. (The pandemic) has affected all of us. I do more Zoom calls with people in Argentina who are taking coaching courses. They want to learn about my ideas and my footballing philosophy in a classroom setting. I’ve been doing similar style courses on YouTube over the last two years.

How do you feel about the fact that a modern footballing tactic carries your name?

It’s flattering. But this was a while back when I believe (Pep) Guardiola who was one of the people around the world who referred to the now famous salida Lavolpiana. He mentioned it in a book and in some speaking engagements. Guardiola did it with two defenders and (Sergio) Busquets, the holding midfielder, would play in between them. I think that today it needs to change a bit.

The “Lavolpiana build up” was utilized when the majority of teams played with two parallel No. 9s. In other words, when the 4-4-2 was much more prevalent. I used it with the Mexican national team at the Confederations Cup in 2005 and again in 2006 because so many teams played with a 4-4-2. I believe that in 2010, the 4-3-3 made a comeback through Guardiola’s Barcelona teams. So from there, it was widely adopted and now the 4-3-3 is a system that allows you to maximize your talent. Playing from the back with purpose should lead to a numerical advantage in the middle of the field, (but) it’s not easy.

How do tactics change and how are tactics implemented at the national team level versus the club level?

In the end, a tactical system is dependent on the players that you have — on their characteristics, their qualities and their technique. Only then can you apply a tactical system. However, and I’ve always said this, with a national team there’s less justification for that because (the coach) decides what kind of central midfielder he wants, whether he wants wingers or two-way midfielders. With a club team, you have to evaluate carefully, see what type of talent you’re working with, adapt and then install a tactical system.

What’s your take on Mexico under Tata Martino so far?

Martino has managed national teams like Paraguay, which was a very good team, and of course Argentina. (With Mexico) there’s a small problem. The Mexican footballer doesn’t have an adequate foundation of youth football. That player could arrive in the first division and still not fully understand how his position functions. So (a coach) has to work diligently on that day after day, repeating training exercises. I can speak to how it works in Argentina because that’s where I played. That’s where I developed. From the age of 13, players go through the ninth, eighth, seventh, sixth and fifth divisions. When they’re 18 they debut in the first division. It’s a learning process. Regardless of a player’s skill or his technique or even his potential, that learning experience teaches them about the profession. Because of that foundation in youth football, the Argentine player is more versatile and multi-functional than a Mexican player.

That is precisely what (Martino) will have to work much harder on. I’ve been watching the national team. I coached Edson (Álvarez) at (Club) América which was where he became well known. He’s an intelligent player but he’s going to have to learn beyond what Martino is asking him to do. (Álvarez) still needs work. Within (Martino’s) back three, (Álvarez) has a pivotal role. When you play out of the back you have to do so with protagonism by taking risks. If you don’t take risks, playing from the back is useless.

Martino has come under serious pressure after losing to the United States twice this summer. Since you left the post in 2006, is there more or less pressure on the national team coach from the Mexican press?

No, it was always difficult. There are always criticisms. And it’s happening to (Martino) now. He loses a game that he didn’t deserve to lose and it costs him the Gold Cup, which is something that in Mexico you have to win. No matter what. In Mexico (the Gold Cup) is an objective that if you lose it, you’ll be strongly criticized for that loss. I didn’t experience that too much because I won (the Gold Cup) and I had to take on Brazil as an invitee. I didn’t go through what Martino is going through right now. As you know, there are journalists and ex players who are now analysts whose criticism is really, really vigorous. And on top of that, he lost to the United States. It’s a clásico.

What are your thoughts on this version of the USMNT?

I think they’ve progressed very well, meaning that there was the previous generation and now (the U.S.) has a new generation. Look what happened four years ago. That generation struggled to supplant (Landon) Donovan, (Claudio) Reyna and all those other players. Look, the U.S., with all of their starters, beat Mexico. Then won again without a lot of their European-based players. So clearly the U.S. has a strong national team.

What about Mexico? They’re talented, too.

Beginning with the last World Cup, I believe that Mexico has never had a team with so much individual quality and importance. Many of the players are in Europe and are experiencing another level of international football. That’s different from the (Mexico) team that I had, when the majority of the players were Mexico-based. When you play in Europe you face a different caliber of competition.

When I think about what a Mexican player is missing, I don’t base my arguments on footballing technique. In that sense, Mexican footballers are doing very well. They’re technical and they have quality. Mexico produces players that are sought after around the world, like (Jesús) Corona, (Uriel) Antuna, (Hirving) Lozano. Those are the types of players that allow a team to attack vertically. They’re highly sought after players.

For a coach who manages Mexican players, the issue isn’t a technical one, it’s an issue of mentality. Not every player knows how to play under pressure.

Diego Lainez is a young Mexican player who has moved on to Europe. He made his professional debut under you at Club América. What’s his ceiling?

(Lainez) is growing. Don’t forget that he struggled at first. People thought he had left (Mexico) too young. Well of course he was young. And he had to go and gain experience and he has grown as a player. Every time I watch him I play I see improvement.

You’ve even compared Lainez to Lionel Messi.

Physically they’re the same player. I always compared Lainez to Messi because of his physical attributes and his burst off the dribble, his dribbling and his intelligence as a creator. He’s going to continue to get better. He’s a very important player for Mexico’s future.

How do you define a footballer’s intelligence?

An intelligent player is one who you ask to read the game and he gets it. There are other players who tend to drift off. It’s not that they’re not intelligent, but their positional movement during a game takes much longer to develop.

I learned this from (César) Menotti who I played under for four years with the (Argentina) national team. If you tell a player ‘to read the game’ they’ll look at you, then up to the sky, then down to the ground because they haven’t been trained to do so. There are a lot (professional) players who are very technical, but they don’t know how to position themselves correctly (when receiving a pass). They don’t know how to play. They use their technique and quality but they’re not intelligent players.

In your opinion, how is coaching evolving?

People are talking about new tactical systems like the 4-3-3. How is that a new system if (Argentina) played that way under César Luis Menotti and won the World Cup in 1978? What are you talking about? I played under Menotti from ’75 to ’78 and it was always a 4-3-3. But today young coaches and their new methodologies, they make mistakes by focusing on rondos and playing in small spaces. However, it’s nice to know that there’s more work with the ball.

Listen, anyone can destroy a house. Just grab a pick and a shovel and we’ll destroy it. Now, can you put it back together? Football is the same. It’s difficult to build play. And today it’s much more difficult. The game is more physical. Today’s creative and technical players don’t have the time (on the ball) or distance (from their opponent) like they did before. It’s much faster today. Players recover possession much faster and so it’s more difficult to counter attack in 20 or 30 meters of space.

Your Mexico team in 2006 was progressive and very vertical.

That national team surprised many people. (Michel) Platini, Pelé, and (Franz) Beckenbauer recognized our quality during the 2005 Confederations Cup. We beat Japan and Brazil who had Ronaldinho, Kaká and Adriano. A Mexico team that played from the back caught everyone’s attention. We played with a back three and a back five, something that is common today. Before the eyes of the world, Mexico were a different team. We controlled matches, played in transition and possessed the ball.

What do you remember about the Maxi Rodríguez goal that knocked Mexico out of the 2006 World Cup?

I believe that if there weren’t errors in football there would be no goals. It’s logical unless the goal comes from a moment of pure brilliance. In hindsight, I go back to what I said previously, knowing how to read the game. The ball comes (to Rodríguez) from a switch in play of over 30 meters. More than 30 meters! During the flight of the ball, had Gonzalo Pineda committed fully to pressing and closing down Maxi, there’s no goal. It’s impossible if he’s standing right in front him. (Pineda) pulled back. That’s what he told me, and well ok, he has a point. He thought that (Rodríguez) was going to settle the ball and that’s when (Pineda) was going to apply pressure. In football, you can’t guess what your opponent will do. You’re not inside his head. Instead, you must execute what you’ve trained over time.

(Pineda) had to have eaten (Rodríguez) alive during the flight of the ball. If you think, ‘well Maxi is going to bring the ball down and then I’m going to defend him,’ well you thought wrong because that’s not what (Rodríguez) did. But it was considered one of the best goals of that World Cup for a reason. We were eliminated because of…it was a game that we would’ve won had we been more clinical in the final third. We had more possession and were the protagonists. But sometimes that’s football.

What’s next for you? Do you want to coach again? What about a front office role?

I like to teach. I like to see when a player who started at 15 or 16 years of age makes it to the first division and understands the purpose of each position. Whether he’s a fullback, central defender, a holding midfielder or the now famous No. 8 in a 4-3-3. When I talk about becoming a sporting director, it’s managing the U20s, the U17s and the U15s.

Each age group has a coach but the sporting director establishes the weekly training programs. This week we’ll work on defensive tactics. The next week on attacking tactics and how to receive the ball, technique, switching play, etcetera. You need to focus across all lines. If you ignore the attacking facet of the game…if everything is about small spaced training how can you improve play from a collective perspective? That’s why I believe that I can still make a difference. I’m not an executive. I have to be on the field. I still have a desire to coach. I believe that I can still coach.

(Photo: Azael Rodriguez / Getty Images)

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