West Ham United’s Edson Álvarez expressed surprise at Gerardo Martino’s decision to leave him on the bench for Mexico’s World Cup match against Argentina.
El Tri were eliminated from the tournament’s group stage, and the midfielder appeared in two World Cup matches.
The West Ham star spoke with Caliente TV, as recounted by AS, and one of the subjects he discussed was Mexico’s terrible World Cup performance.
Mexico drew 0-0 against Poland before losing to Argentina and winning against Saudi Arabia. Martino was then in charge of El Tri, and the 26-year-old was an unused substitute against the eventual champions.
Álvarez has opened up about the ‘bad treatment received’ from the Argentine. Although he wasn’t expecting to be a starter for his country, the player has now explained why the former Barcelona manager’s choices surprised him.
“At the World Cup, I didn’t feel like an undisputed starter, but I felt like I had a good chance of playing,” said the Uruguayan.
“In the encounter against Poland, the relationship was the same as usual. The game against Argentina occurs, and it’s as if I’ve never seen myself play before; I didn’t start or play.”
Despite this, the Mexico international has remarked that he is grateful to have played for Martino.
“I am grateful; I once had a terrific relationship with ‘Tata’. A partnership in which he would accompany me, chat, and share ideas. He’s a person who really likes to talk about football and was extremely interested in the Ajax system, so we shared things,” Álvarez explained.
The player joined West Ham from Ajax last summer and has managed two goals and two assists from 35 games this season.
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