What should be the straight forward job of keeping a winning team on the right path could perhaps be considered one of the most difficult and high pressure positions in world football right now, as Ricardo Ferretti embarks on his four game stint as Mexico national team manager.
Ferretti takes charge of Mexico for the first time as interim manager against Trinidad and Tobago on Friday as he looks to add to the success that El Tri earned by winning the Gold Cup in July and readying the team for October's Confederations Cup playoff against the United States in October.
Following on from Miguel Herrera would be a tough task for any manager given Herrera's personality and success, but having lead Mexico to continental success last month the pressure on Ferretti to continue the success will be immense.
Starting with Friday's friendly against Trinidad and Tobago, Ferretti has a chance to stamp his mark on El Tri and looks set to be equally as bold as Herrera having dropped several big names for this match.
In form LA Galaxy playmaker Giovani Dos Santos along with his brother Jonathon and regular number one goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa have been omitted from the squad without explanation and many are wondering if Ferretti intends to reshape the Mexico squad and give new players a chance to shine during his reign.
The squad does, however, include veteran defender Rafael Marquez, along with Carlos Vela and Tigres players Jorge Torres Nilo, Jesus Duenas and Javier Aquino and so still contains plenty of experience and flair.
One player who is surely untouchable during Ferretti's reign is Andres Guardado who as well as being captain of the Mexicans also scored several important goals during El Tri's run to Gold Cup success and even added an important late goal in the thrilling 4-4 draw that the two teams played out in the group stages.
For the Trinidadians the Gold Cup proved an important building block on their road to challenging for continental honors and having won many fans during the tournament will feel confident going into the match.
Impressive striker Kenwyne Jones will be missing for Trinidad, but expect them to still pose a threat on the counter attack. Particularly as Ferretti's side looks to settle into a playing style that could well be more cautious than under Herrera.
For Ferretti and Mexico the match is the first of two warm up matches for the all important Confederation Cup Qualifier in October and, along with a strong lineup, expect Mexico to be treating the game as if it were the playoff matches themselves and try to impose themselves from the start.
When: Friday, September 4th
Kick-Off: 20:00 ET
Where: Rio Tinto Stadium, Salt Lake City,
TV Schedule: ESPN 3, Univision Deportes, UniMas
Live Stream: livesoccertv.com, Watch ESPN
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