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Mexico coach Juan Carlos Osorio believes that Chivas' recent success highlights the quality of Mexican talent, as the tendency towards foreign players in Liga MX increases. Chivas only field Mexican nationals as a club policy and sit in first place in Liga MX, after nine rounds of matches of the 2017 Clausura, with the Guadalajara team chasing its first title in over 10 years. "For those of us that value and appreciate Mexican talent, it is clearly shown that there are very good football players in Mexico," said Osorio on Monday in an interview with ESPN's Futbol Picante. Osorio stressed that the fact Chivas field homegrown Mexican players generates a sense of belonging to the institution and compared the club to Athletic Bilbao, who only use Basque players. He is also keeping a close eye on the Chivas players ahead of a busy summer for El Tri, which includes World Cup qualifiers, the Confederations Cup and the Gold Cup, for which Mexico will use a "B" squad. "I think it is clear we are following all [the Chivas players]," he said. "Jair Pereira, Rodolfo Pizarro, Isaac Brizuela, Angel Zaldivar, Alan Pulido, Orbelin [Pineda] are very much being considered." The Colombian coach has been in Europe to evaluate and talk to Mexico's foreign-based internationals and also dropped into Sevilla to check on the progress of Jorge Sampaoli's headline-making side. Osorio said that Javier Hernandez may have been distracted by off-field issues over recent months, but added the striker is "very focused" and backed him to again become an important figure for El Tri. The former Atletico Nacional coach also repeated that Pachuca winger Hirving Lozano -- who is currently injured -- is primed for a move to Europe. "He should go to Europe, I think Hirving is ready to do it," said Osorio, adding that he was "alarmed" when he saw photos of Lozano's ankle injury in Pachuca's victory over Tijuana last Friday. Winger Lozano is set to miss World Cup qualifiers against Costa Rica and Trinidad and Tobago at the end of the month, but may be ready to return for Pachuca in early April. There was more negative news for Osorio with the confirmation on Monday that Chivas winger Brizuela will be out for the rest of the Clausura. Another player that won't be on Osorio's upcoming national team list is Eintracht Frankurt's Marco Fabian, who told the Bundesliga website that although he could return from his back injury in two weeks, he won't be ready for inclusion in El Tri's squad.
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