By Anonymous (not verified), February 27, 2024
By Michael Saunders, Soccer Orlando Magazine
At about the 10th minute of this match an old Yogi Berra comment (yes I know I am dating myself) came to mind.... "It’s déjà vu all over again" ....... That or I was in a time warp re-living the nightmare of the performances of the recent WWC ...... not only by individual players, but the lack of team cohesion that displayed itself, commencing with the midfield.
The formation drifted into an untenable 4-3-3 in the first half with a single pivot .... sound familiar....
Once again, we witnessed a lack of cohesion between the defense, midfielders & the forward line. Lack of verve, creativity and a reversion to 1v1 individual play that failed in the WC, reared its ugly head vs Mexico .... Only this time the defensive line were not good enough to keep us in the match, especially our center backs who were reticent at best to participate in helping the attack thereby leaving gaps, as well as their plodding movement throughout the game .....
Add Ali Krieger's pointed observation post-game as the failure by the inverted wing back approach, which left the team so vulnerable to Mexican counters, and the result speaks volumes despite a meaningless possession advantage, indicated by a dreadful xG & Post-shot xG stat.
But let's not fool ourselves as this being just an "off-day". The MEXWNT displayed what can be done with increased investment to WoSo.... led by the 2022 hiring of Andrea Rodebaugh as Sporting Director, engaging a qualified coach in Pedro López, who in turn instilled confidence in the players. And while the talking head commentators pointed to the high press effectiveness; yet, the Mexican coach's game plan emulated what the Swedes employed in the Tokyo Olympics, and so many other teams utilized through the WC successfully against the US .....a mid-block....
The silver lining in the proverbial cloud of this match is we know that US Soccer is going down the same path. Crocker as Sporting Director hired a great coach in Emma Hayes..... We have the talent; transformation of a NT takes time.
Contributed by Michael Saunders.