So Mexico did it. They went out and got a high profile coach. You can’t get much higher than Sven-Goran Eriksson, the controversial Swede who has faced both success on the field but also constant criticism while the manager of England and Manchester City of the EPL. I think for several reasons he may be a great manager for Mexico at the same time might not be the right fit for El Tri.

Reason he will be successful as Mexico’s manager

This is simple. Because he has been largely successful given his win-loss record through the years managing clubs in Portugal and Italy. He also guided the England National Team to two successive quarterfinal appearances at the 2002 and 2006 World Cups, losing to Brazil and Portugal, respectively. Overall, he had a 40-17-10 record as England manager. He had a great start in 2007 as the Manchester City manager, where the owner was willing to spend to bring in new players. However, the team ended the year in 9th place in the EPL, sealing Eriksson’s fate. He is the type of manager that can utilize his players well and finds a way to win.

Reasons he won’t be successful as Mexico’s manager

For one, he is a foreigner who doesn’t know Mexico’s system. Mexico’s system is different from those in Europe, from the youth system, to the Mexican league, to how it’s national team operates. Eriksson will have to get up to speed with how the Mexico system works both structurally and the politics of it. Choosing the best players vs. the favorites, putting the best players together and getting them to work cohesively. This team is loaded, but can he get them to fight for one another and be a “team”? That will be a challenge.

He also doesn’t speak Spanish and some players like Jared Borgetti are saying 1) he’s a foreigner that doesn’t understand Mexican soccer and 2) he doesn’t know the language and therefore, he’s not a good fit.

Also, I have to question the fit of his style of play (sort of a “catenaccio” defensive system employed by Italy to prevent goals) with Mexico’s personnel. Mexico is an attacking team and has players who demonstrate technical ability and flair on the ball. What if he turns this team into a counterattacking team that relies on the set piece solely? This may be an issue, but with Man City last year, he showed he can allow a team to play some nice attacking ball, so I’m not so sure this is an issue. But definitely, there are some question marks to be raised here.

As for how this affects the USA and our recent dominance over Mexico, I think this assures Mexico will be representing CONCACAF come World Cup 2010. And that elusive win by Mexico against “El Gringos” on American soil is probably forthcoming. Eriksson’s presence should bolster the US-Mexico rivalry and give fans one more thing to watch when these teams meet. It will be interesting to see whether we’ll see the best or worst of Eriksson in the months ahead in this new role.