The current crop of El Tri players is the worst generation in 20 years, said former Mexico head coach Manuel Lapuente.
"This [generation] hasn't done anything," said Lapuente in an interview with ESPN. "It didn't do anything in the World Cup, or in recent tournaments like the Copa America in Chile or the Gold Cup."
"We'll see what happens in the Confederations Cup and qualifying [for Russia 2018]," he added.
Lapuente managed Mexico at France '98 and led El Tri to the 1998 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 1999 Confederations Cup.
The former Puebla coach's comments come at a time when Juan Carlos Osorio is about to make his debut in Mexico's hot seat on Friday against El Salvador in Estadio Azteca.
Lapuente was adamant that the current Mexico players Osorio has at his disposal aren't individually as good as the ones he had in 1998, but hopes the Colombian coach can prove him wrong.
"I hope he does well, is successful and shows and proves that this generation is the best,"" said Lapuente, adding: "[I hope he] proves it in the individual and collective [sense]; as a collective they haven't done anything."
Lapuente hasn't been the only one firing shots of late. Mexico will travel to Honduras for the Nov. 17 qualifier and Los Catrachos coach Jorge Luis Pinto has fired back at former Mexico coach Miguel Herrera's suggestion that his Costa Rica team at the past World Cup had an easy draw.
"The Netherlands were tired, the weather in Fortaleza killed Holland," Pinto told ESPN's Jorge Ramos y su Banda about Mexico's World Cup 2014 Round of 16 opponents on E "I would've liked Miguel to have faced England with Mexico, needing to get points."
Meanwhile, in Mexico City, El Tri's squad is preparing for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and is focused on keeping their feet on the ground and starting the Russia 2018 campaign on the right foot.
"We have to remove the tag of 'giants' [of CONCACAF]," said goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera. "[Former interim coach] 'Tuca' [Ferretti] told us to put that to one side; it weighs heavy."