The Big Interview: Pedro Losa
The Spaniard reflects on his 10-year journey from FA Cup triumph with Arsenal to taking Tigres to the Liga MX title, what happened in between and his thoughts on Mexican football's future...
When Pedro Losa sunk to his knees as Tigres celebrated a dramatic Liga MX Apertura title back in November, it ended an almost 10-year wait for a major trophy for the Spaniard, stretching back to his FA Cup success with Arsenal in the spring of 2016.
It was a rare show of raw emotion pouring out, mainly because it ended a gruelling schedule unique to Mexico compared to even some of the top European leagues, but also because Tigres had come from 3-0 down in the first leg of the final to win 4-3 on aggregate against Club América.
But for the man who turns 50 in May, it was about what he’d experienced since coming to Mexico fresh from leaving his role as Scotland head coach 12 months earlier.
“I’m a passionate coach, you know that, but in a different context, because you always live and experience the success connected with the club, and Tigres is a very passionate club,” says Losa.
“The fans are amazing; they show up for open training with 30,000 people and we sold out our stadium for our final. That comes from the ambition of the club, and also my passion for the club, and it’s of course what you build inside with the group of players and staff. It’s been an incredible journey, very quickly, implementing our ideas and game model and everyone’s been amazing. To put that into a Championship is a moment to celebrate, it’s been fantastic. The league is so strong, the level of the teams, it’s become very challenging.
“I have experiences of many countries and I think this is one of the best five, 100%, the players we have here now, some big names, it’s growing very fast and it’s such a developing market. Tigres is ahead of the curve, a reference internationally, and always one to give back the winning feeling to the fans. I could speak for hours about it, but I’m happy you’ve seen all those videos because it was a good feeling. You can win the league, but you have to go through more games, a two-legged final, it’s very tough, as you can see.”
Has it reignited the fire? On the surface, it’s been a tough period since he was dismissed from his Arsenal role in 2017.
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