Mexico manager Javier Aguirre has been urged to explain why West Ham United’s Edson Álvarez has not been called up for this international break.
Journalist Alberto Bernard covers Mexico today for Record and believes the West Ham star’s absence from the squad is one of four major questions that Aguirre needs to answer.
Aguirre has returned for a third spell as Mexico manager in the last few months and is set to kick off his third World Cup cycle, although games against New Zealand and Canada this month are friendlies.
He’ll be doing so without one of his key players, though, with West Ham star Edson Álvarez sitting out this international break.
His absence has raised eyebrows back in his homeland, with many wondering why a player who has been playing for his club at the beginning of the season and is a key component of the international team, would be left out by a new manager starting his reign in charge.
That’s certainly the questions being asked by Bernard, who believes Aguirre needs to make it clear why the West Ham star is absent and quickly.
“Javier Aguirre, his third World Cup cycle without entanglements, in the most transparent way, stop raising doubts and prevent the team from having new urban legends,” he writes in Record.
The Basque must maintain that “Hard and raw” sincerity that has distinguished him in his life as a technical director.
That is why there are four questions that need answers to prevent them from becoming “unsolved mysteries” tomorrow.
“Why wasn’t Edson Álvarez called up? Because he was injured? So, because the week before the FIFA date he played three games, he came on as a substitute against Crystal Palace, started in the Cup against Bournemouth and also on the weekend he gave a great game against Manchester City, starting with Guido Rodríguez in containment and then as a centre back.
“Did El Machín ask not to be summoned? After he was injured in the last Copa América and took a long time to recover, or does the National Team Commission still not have the capacity to manage the relationship with the clubs?”