Neil W. Blackmon
The United States lost 3-0 to Mexico Friday night, much to the delight of a very pro-Mexico crowd at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey. The win was El Tri’s fourth in their last six against the United States, with the only US win coming in a battle of B teams played under interim managers shortly after the 2018 World Cup. The scoreline absolutely reflected the gap in class between the two old rivals- which at this point is a chasm.
For the Americans, the loss was the second in three months to Mexico under new manager Gregg Berhalter and at least in the short term, did nothing to alleviate questions about the new manager’s tactical flexibility.
On the one hand, friendlies are international soccer’s laboratories, the place where ideas are tried and systems installed and tested. There are no extensive training camps, save every other summer. You get a pop-up camp here and a three-four day camp there, and you use the friendly to try things, tinker and make the most of limited time.
On the other hand, when a team has a glaring deficiency, there’s a school of thought that says you play in a way that minimizes that weakness, even if you have stylistic or system-based objections.
With this framing, here are thoughts on the latest Mexico victory in this increasingly one-sided rivalry.
The US had no answer for Mexico’s press (AGAIN)- especially in the first half
Once again, the US struggled with Mexico’s high pressure.
With Wil Trapp sitting deep, the United States needed Alfredo Morales or Weston McKennie to come and show for the ball more as a relief outlet to Trapp. Neither did so consistently. That problem was compounded by the inability or unwillingness of both Gyasi Zardes and Tyler Boyd to come deeper and show for the ball and find the game. No players touched the ball less in the first hour of the game than Zardes and Boyd, which means not only were they not coming back to help a midfield in distress- they weren’t winning anything when the US played over the midfield and direct, either.
The other issue is both a player selection and tactical issue– and for that, you have to blame Berhalter.
Wil Trapp just isn’t a press-breaker, and certainly is not one at the international level. The tempo of the international game is something Trapp has long struggled with and sitting deep against pressure, this weakness was easily diagnosed and exploited by Tata Martino and Mexico. Frequently, Trapp’s answer was to play back passes to his CB’s, but with the distributor John Brooks a late injury scratch, the US was left with Aaron Long and Walker Zimmerman, neither of whom are especially comfortable on the ball. That left a lot of heavy lifting for Zack Steffen, who is improved in that area but was a bit indecisive and often settled for sideways distributions in his own area when longer balls may have done better to relieve pressure.
Michael Bradley’s continued value to the US was evident last night in his absence, as the US simply have no way to build out of the back against Mexico if they are playing with Wil Trapp deep. In fact, even with Bradley, the US are probably better off playing direct over the top or playing smart diagonals and letting their playmakers (Pulisic, Sargent, Boyd) win one on ones on the break.
Given the US struggles against Mexico’s pressure in the Gold Cup (and Guyana’s, for that matter), it was a bit surprising that a manager with a fine tactical reputation like Berhalter had no adjustment Friday night.
How much of that is system based and how much is personnel based is a debate that will inevitably rage on, but consider this: there is an argument that it is both– and that Berhalter could benefit from some of Bob Bradley’s pragmatism– the “school B” of managerial thought that has an idea of how they would like to play but also an idea that sometimes you have to privilege the way you can play. That’s important to consider, especially when you are rolling out Wil Trapp as your brain on the pitch, somewhat willfully ignorant of his tactical limitations.
In that light, there’s perhaps an argument that Weston McKennie is best-suited to the US number six role, given his pace and range, skill moving with the ball and ability to occupy space– but you’d have to rein in his attacking instincts a bit and it would be a path a bit different than the box to box role he’s currently playing at Schalke.
Mexico’s opening and final goals were signs of what they can become under Tata Martino
For El Tri, the goal came on a lengthy, beautiful sequence of possession that showcased much of what excites about Mexico’s potential ceiling under Martino.
The goal sequence starts when pressure forces Zimmerman to boot the ball upfield, allowing Mexico to win possession. A lengthy passing sequence starts and eventually, El Tri find the playmaking Tecatito on the flank, who absolutely obliterates Sergino Dest and Christian Pulisic and centers for a remarkably open Chicharito.
https://twitter.com/Jasoninho10/status/1170147847683104771?s=20
Always a master of off-ball movement, Chicharito started the final sequence before the goal on the flank behind Tecatito. He drifts calmly towards the center, but doesn’t do it so fast that he draws help from Will Trapp or the attention of Aaron Long or any other nearby US defender. It’s a mistake by the United States, to be sure, but it’s also a wonderful forward doing what he’s best at– moving off the ball and finding little pockets of space to attack and exploit.
As beautiful a build-up as Mexico had on the opening goal, they scored a nearly equally devastating goal on the counter late.
Josh Sargent had a half-chance which was cleared quickly to the left flank, where Napoli’s Chucky Lozano was waiting to turn on the burners.
IT'S THREE FOR MEXICO! 🇲🇽🇲🇽🇲🇽
— FOX Soccer (@FOXSoccer) September 7, 2019
Lozano sets up Antuna, and it's good night for the USMNT. #USAvMEX pic.twitter.com/vDggCr1zIY
Lozano destroys Alfredo Morales (who otherwise wasn’t dreadful in a long-awaited return to the USMNT) and dumps off for another youngster, Carlos Antuna. The Manchester City product slotted cooly past Steffen and the US were left to wonder where it all went wrong.
On the Mexico side of things, Friday night was a beautiful performance by a team with the quality to break a side down in possession or create magic on the break. Couple that with Tata Martino’s pressure and a steely spine thanks to Hector Herrera, and you get an idea of how good this Mexico side can be this cycle.
Dest, Cannon and Pulisic the lone bright spots
Let’s start with Dest, who shared some of the blame on the opening Mexico goal. But let’s look at it through this lens for the young Ajax fullback, shall we?
Sergino Dest clearly has a bright future but the road to becoming a competent international fullback is long and filled with many roasts along the way. This is a helluva learning experience for the kid.
— Aaron West (@oeste) September 7, 2019
Dest was terrific early in attack and possession, getting forward and relieving some of Mexico’s early pressure, both because of his skill on the ball and more generally, because he demanded that Mexico respect the entirety of the American left flank. Giving Pulisic’s Batman a Robin on the overlap gives the US a genuine threat from width, which will serve the program well in the long-term.
As far as the defense goes, the goal with Dest is just to get him where he is competent. He struggled with positional defending at the U20 World Cup as well, and isn’t challenged enough defensively at Ajax (though Champions League games will help). The reality, though, is Tecatito makes plenty of fullbacks look silly and there’s no colorable argument Tim Ream, or whomever else you could play in front of Dest, would do any better. Play the kid.
As for Cannon, the Mexican danger down the American right was far less constant than it was on the Dest flank. That’s two consecutive solid performances for Cannon on the trot against El Tri– and while right now his influence in attack is mostly just about pace– he’s just dynamic enough to give the US two fullbacks that can get forward properly and provide Berhalter consistent, length-of-the-field width.
Finally, Pulisic came to play.
He was the lone American capable of breaking Mexican pressure, which was no more evident than on this electric run in the opening half.
https://twitter.com/TheLionsShed/status/1170154399034937346?s=20
I actually saw some criticism of Pulisic tonight on social media, which I suppose comes with the territory when your team loses 3-0. But aside from his role in the Tecatito goal, there’s little more he could have done to have influence, as he was the lone American attacker who consistently menaced Mexico, and had Joel Aguilar blown his whistle a bit more freely, Pulisic would have drawn more fouls than the four he did manage to draw. Mainly, I liked the fire he brought to a rivalry game, and I didn’t mind the idea of letting young Josh Sargent take a penalty late, even if Jonathan Orozco ultimately came up with the save to preserve the clean sheet for El Tri.
Neil W. Blackmon co-founded The Yanks Are Coming. Follow him on Twitter @nwblackmon.