MEXICO-USA THE AFTERMATH: EL TRI CAME APART AT THE SEAMS

Another Mexico-USA game has passed and again we are left picking up the pieces after a humiliating loss. Now, after a match like this, I find a silver lining and point out both negatives and positives of the match. Today even at my most optimistic, I can’t find any positives to this performance. Murphy’s Law hit El Tri, everything that could go wrong did, and it was not pretty.

TACTICAL DEFICIENCY

How can I put this nicely? Diego Cocca was out-maneuvered by a man coaching his first-ever match. Not the first national team match, the first match ever! In The Office terms, El Tri lost to a team led by Dwight, the assistant to the assistant. How? He made the same mistakes as his predecessor, he over-thought the game. Instead of sticking to the formula that he knows, and that got him the bi-campeonato with Atlas, he tried to play with a false 9 in Orbelin when his scheme works better with a speedy striker like Santi playing alongside his ball retentive forward. The US paired Richards with Miles who is more athletic than good in the air, so Martin should’ve had a field day bullying them, he didn’t even get the chance.

PLAYER PERFORMANCE

This is self-explanatory, some players are good league players but have no business in La Seleccion. No one involved in yesterday’s game had a good performance, but certain players went above and beyond to disappoint. Antuna couldn’t give a pass to save his life, Jorge Sanchez provided nothing defensively or offensively, Cesar Montes made two mistakes that lead directly to the Americans’ first two goals, and to top it off earned a red card for a flagrant kick. Ochoa looked his age in his one on one against Pepi, I could go on and on. What is desperately needed now, and has been for years now, is a generational shift. They need to move on from the “sacred cows” and overinflated players that have not produced.

THE FANS

Fans are an integral part of soccer, the energy they produce is supposed to push the team to give a little extra and produce. Now, let’s be honest, Mexico plays about 90% of its games in the USA as the home team, so fan support is never an issue, until now. The frustration and inability to stop the baile Mexico was receiving on the field, was spread to the crowd, who reverted to deplorable actions that have no place in our game. The amount of cups and questionable liquids that the fans were throwing onto the field along with the return of the homophobic chant were beyond shameful and inexcusable.

So…where do we go from here? To the third-place game vs Panama. A game that takes on a lot more importance now. Cocca needs to go back to basics, play his best squad, and win, convincingly. No tricks, no tactical maneuvering, no excuses, just win!

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