Experiments, returns and pending accounts color the landscape of the Liga MX technical directors heading to the Clausura 2026 tournament, which begins this January 9 with the Diablos Rojos del Toluca as the biggest rival to beat.
The Clausura tournaments, since the establishment of short seasons in Mexico in 1996 – and previously called Summer – usually register few changes in both technical direction and players because the winter transfer window is much shorter than between July and August, when the football year restarts worldwide.
But several clubs are committed to rebuilding their projects despite being in the middle of that cycle. A clear example was precisely Toluca, which debuted Antonio Mohamed as coach in January 2025, the year of its two-time championship.
By January 2026, five teams of the 18 that make up Liga MX have a new technical director: Bravos with Pedro Caixinha, Necaxa with Martín Varini, Mazatlán with Christian Ramírez, Querétaro with Esteban González and Puebla with Albert Espigares.
Special mention for Esteban Solari, who led Pachuca in the two Play-In games of the previous tournament (Apertura 2025). The Clausura 2026 represents its first season with full decision in the formation of the squad.
“The short tournaments in Mexico, also with Liguilla and Play-In, become even more volatile. If you didn’t even achieve Play-In, you are in trouble. If you are an important team and you went to the Play-In, you are also in trouble. There is less patience and more urgency in many ways,” says Antonio Rosique, sports journalist, commentator and narrator for TV Azteca for El Economista.
Of the 18 current coaches, none have been in office for at least three years. The oldest is André Jardine, with América since Apertura 2023.
Then comes Mohamed with Toluca. The rest have less than two complete tournaments with their respective teams; This is 89% of Liga MX clubs.
“Coaches already have a very short lifespan in Mexico. If one of the greats hires you, in three years you have to deliver at least one final. If not, you probably won’t make it past that period.
“If you are a medium-sized team and you did well, the big ones take your coach, as happened with Domenec Torrent (from Atlético de San Luis to Monterrey). And with those at the bottom, where they have little budget, the fuse is shorter. It is more difficult because there is more pressure, little budget and they have to look for players practically under the rocks. That becomes a super volatile environment.”
Expectations of the new
Of the teams that will have a new coach, only Esteban González and Albert Espigares will debut in Liga MX. Esteban Solari will also experience his first full tournament, but he is no longer a debutant due to his aforementioned Play-In background.
Pedro Caixinha, Martín Varini and Christian Ramírez, on the other hand, have experience in Liga MX. The Portuguese even won titles with Santos and Cruz Azul, while the Uruguayan has just gotten Bravos into their first Liguilla. The Mexican had already been interim in Mazatlán itself.
“Varini comes from having very successful seasons with Bravos. The challenge is for his system to adapt to Necaxa. It doesn’t seem to me that they are such contrasting clubs, but sometimes it is not so easy to transfer what a group of footballers already understood and for a new one to understand it quickly. It already happened to (Nicolás) Larcamón with Cruz Azul, that although the team was quite good in general terms, it did not reach the final.
“I think Varini, with Necaxa, can solve it because he knows the league, he is in rhythm and he was not stopped for a long time. In the case of Caixinha, he was away from Mexico for a while and that always implies a period of adaptation, but Juárez has that calmness,” says Antonio Rosique.
“Caixinha can have the natural space in Juárez to establish himself, work and concentrate. He and Varini are two good options for this season, who can deliver interesting accounts, as long as they do not disarm the teams, because those clubs live by selling outstanding footballers and then they have to go to other markets to get reinforcements that do not always work the same.”
The debutants Esteban González and Albert Espigares have different realities. The first comes from being champion in his country, Chile, with a modest team like Coquimbo Unidos. That is his letter of introduction for a renewed Querétaro in terms of leadership, after the purchase by foreign capital, led by Marc Spiegel.
Puebla, which also has a low budget and has even rumored the sale of its franchise, decided to try the Spanish Espigares. He has experience in basic forces of Atlas and in the Strip itself. He was promoted in rank and that is also seen as a cost solution.
“Puebla is experiencing a very particular challenge: surviving. There is not a large budget available, so Albert is the most economical option and he is going to fight against the current. He will see what he finds in the club, try to motivate the players and organize them so that they do not get beaten in the first days. Aspire to be between 10th and 15th place, which are those who do not pay the fine.
“Esteban González seems like a big experiment to me. Espigares is an experiment because Puebla has very little budget. Querétaro’s coach is also on a limited budget, but with a different management and leadership style.”
Christian Ramírez is cooking separately because this tournament will be Mazatlán’s last in Liga MX, after the confirmation of the sale of the franchise to Atlante starting with Apertura 2026.
High pressure cases
Regarding the coaches with higher obligations, among the new ones, Esteban Solari stands out. Pachuca was champion of Liga MX in 2022 and of Concachampions in 2024, in addition to being characterized by an outstanding eye on basic forces, signings and even technical directors.
But among those who already have more time at work, the specialist points out four names with high pressure: André Jardine with América, Nicolás Larcamón with Cruz Azul, Efraín Juárez with Pumas and Domenec Torrent with Monterrey.
“I think there won’t be much patience for Efraín with everything and that he doesn’t have the same squad and strength as other clubs, but he was wearing down last season and this one he will have to respond at least in the first five or six games. Torrent also has to have a good season with Rayados. The first half has to be good, otherwise, doubts will accumulate about him.
“Then we have to see how Gabriel Milito does with Chivas, if he maintains the line or goes down; how Martín Varini does with Necaxa; Caixinha with Juárez; and Francisco Rodríguez with Santos, who is already in his second season and also has to prove more.”
The Clausura 2026 tournament begins this January 9 with unusual demands, since the Liguilla will be played with Mexicans who are on the national team. These will be part of a special concentration prior to the World Cup.
