Marcelo Márquez: Is the return of the psychologist with whom we qualified for Russia 2018 the best decision Reynoso has made? | POLL

Márquez was essential for that change of mentality that that team exhibited. Peru stopped contenting itself with little and banished from its vocabulary the word impossible, which had accompanied us so much. Márquez did not complete the qualifying process for Qatar 2022. But his work left a great trail. Surprisingly yesterday, it was announced that Márquez will be part of Juan Reynoso’s technical team. A wise decision, in times where we still have not recovered from the elimination against Australia.

Why do you think Juan Reynoso has incorporated the Argentine psychologist Marcelo Márquez into his technical command?

1. Ornella Palumbo – Journalist and panelist on TV Peru

I think Juan Reynoso has incorporated it, appealing to that first successful cycle that Márquez had with Ricardo Gareca, when they qualified for the World Cup in Russia. Márquez works the way in which public opinion impacts the team. I think that after an elimination like the one in Qatar, it is vital to get rid of the disappointment and regain confidence.

2. Daniella Fernández – Journalist at Movistar Sports

Juan Reynoso understands that the figure of a sports psychologist who is close to the group, knows him, understands the idiosyncrasy of the Peruvian soccer player adds to the team. And Márquez when he was in the national team generated a positive change in the group. There was another mentality and a physically, mentally and psychologically strong group was seen.

3. Ángelo Torres – Journalist at Sudor magazine

Reynoso is an intelligent coach and knows that the factors that helped make him successful in the national team must be repeated. Having Márquez back, who knows very well the players who are the base of this team, can lay the foundations of this new group led by Reynoso. Márquez knows the idiosyncrasy of the Peruvian soccer player and had a good connection with the referents.

4. Fernanda Huapaya – Journalist at RPP

Because Marcelo Márquez has the backing of having done an efficient and helpful job in a process that had as its hallmark the self-confidence of the Peruvian player individually and collectively. Juan Reynoso believes that the physical comes hand in hand with the mental and seeks to continue the good work achieved.

5. Ricardo Montoya – Journalist in Conversations from the stands

I believe that it is about the principle of transfer, which is what Reynoso wants. Something that did something in a certain way, in this case well in the past, can repeat it in the future. And that’s the idea. Márquez had a successful experience and it is believed that he can repeat the same. Márquez worked on coping style and now I think he will have to work on frustration and hopelessness. The Peruvian team had a huge psychological impact after the penalty shootout defeat against Australia and the group must be lifted, self-efficacy must be recovered and that is essential.

6. Víctor Zaferson – Sports Scout

The work of a sports psychologist is essential. There are thousands of testimonials that prove this. Juan Reynoso knows that he has to maintain the hierarchy level of his technical command and also of a psychologist like Márquez who worked very well alongside Gareca during the time he was in the FPF. When Márquez left, the Peruvian Giacomo Scerpella took over, and Juan Cominges was the ontological coach. I believe that Márquez, with the previous and successful experience with Gareca, will resume the work that he left pending when he left. Today high-level sport cannot be managed without specialists in psychology.

7. Pedro Canelo – Journalist at the newspaper El Comercio

Juan Reynoso is working closely with the team director, Juan Carlos Oblitas, and I understand that Oblitas left with a very good impression of the work that Marcelo Márquez did in the first stage of Ricardo Gareca’s process. In fact, I know that he did not agree with his departure and I calculate that this has been an initiative of the director of selections and that Reynoso accepted it as advice and a contribution. They decided that Márquez should return and take charge not only of the senior team but of the entire team area, including minors, which is what he was beginning to work on before his departure.

8. Jampool Cuadros – Reporter on América Televisión

There was a need to have a psychologist in the technical command. Márquez qualifies for his knowledge of the group. Therein lies his advantage.

Will the figure of Márquez be as decisive for the following Qualifiers as it was for Russia 2018? Why?

1. Ornella Palumbo – Journalist and panelist

It will depend on the chemistry that can be achieved with the technical command of Juan Reynoso and with the players. Although he knows most of them, new footballers will be incorporated with whom he will start working from scratch. It seems positive to me that he is incorporated from the beginning of the new cycle.

2. Daniella Fernández – Journalist at Movistar Sports

Personally, I consider that Marcelo Márquez’s work on the road to Russia 2018 was vital. Very important. I consider that it was one of the most sensitive losses in the selection for the Qatar 2022 Qualifiers. I consider and I say it in a personal capacity that the group was not psychologically strong for the playoffs. Psychology in sport, as in life, is very important. Footballers are constantly exposed to a lot of pressure and sometimes we forget that they are human beings and mental health is not a minor issue. For this reason, I believe that the sports psychologist should not be an external agent in a team, he should be part of it. I believe that the return of Marcelo Márquez will add him to the national team in this process.

3. Ángelo Torres – Journalist at Sudor magazine

The mental factor is decisive in football today. Márquez, together with Gareca, helped to change the mentality in the qualifying rounds for Russia 2018, where Peru played equally to teams like Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. His work before and after the games will help to balance the mind and self-esteem of the players. Competing at a high level was the first step, now it’s time to consolidate and evolve a team that is going to begin a natural generational change.

4. Fernanda Huapaya – Journalist at RPP

Each squad is different and no success is guaranteed, but Márquez has the added value of knowing most of the players that make up the team and has worked a lot on the profile of the Peruvian soccer player. It can be of great help for this new process.

5. Ricardo Montoya – Journalist in Conversations from the stands

I hope so, that your work is as successful as the one you did before. But you have to remember that football is a combination of various factors and it has to do with the technical quality of the players, with the group of players there is, with the technical director. Definitely the psychological helps, it is a percentage, but you have to wait until this time the goal is met.

6. Víctor Zaferson – Sports Scout

Much of the group already knows Márquez. I don’t remember that Reynoso has worked with him, but he surely received references from Gareca himself and from Juan Carlos Oblitas. Reynoso is adding new players, so they need a professional like Márquez to execute the plans they have in a very long Qualifier that will surely be decided in the last two dates. Mentally there is wear and Márquez will be very useful. Psychologists are necessary and irreplaceable.

7. Pedro Canelo – Journalist at the newspaper El Comercio

I consider that the return of Marcelo Márquez is probably the best decision that Reynoso has made in these first months as coach of the Peruvian team. It seems to me that he did a remarkable job and that he addressed the issue of mysticism quite a bit, the group conception within the selection in that first process of Gareca that culminated in qualifying for Russia 2018. Marcelo Márquez was not just an emotional retaining wall for the footballers but also for the technical command. His role was transversal, he was always highly respected and always had very individual contact with the footballers; with some more than others. Cueva’s case is emblematic of how he was worked with. Márquez’s contribution is that he was already working on a psychology area within the national team that was also going to cover minors, so hopefully he can take it up again so that this important work on the Peruvian soccer player, as a particular case, is sustained from the base. It seems to me the best decision and I hope that it has the same level of influence that it had five years ago.

8. Jampool Cuadros – Reporter on América Televisión

Let’s hope so. Whoever strikes first strikes twice. And in fact he arrived at a time when the team mentally declined very quickly. That first stone added so that Peru today is a competitive team.