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Mexico trounces lackluster USMNT

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The U.S. Men’s National Team played arguably the worst match of the Gregg Berhalter era on Friday, with Mexico reaffirming its place as the clear-cut king of Concacaf.

El Tri ran rampant on the USMNT at MetLife Stadium, scoring a trio of goals in a 3-0 victory.

Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez broke the deadlock in the first-half, while Erick Gutierrez and Uriel Antuna each scored after the halftime break.

After an even start, it was Mexico that broke the deadlock in the 22nd minute. Jesus Corona danced past Sergino Dest on the right flank and teed up Hernandez who headed in his 52nd career goal for El Tri.

Despite having five defenders in the box, the USMNT left Hernandez alone in the center of the box to head home one of his easiest goals.

The USMNT tried to play out of the back, but were unable to truly test El Tri. Christian Pulisic had the best opportunity after Jonathan Orozco raced off his line to win a loose ball, however Mexico got back to clear the ball before Pulisic could do anything with it.

Jesus Corona was set up nicely for a possible second for Mexico, but his curler went high and into the stands.

After the break, Miles Robinson came on for his senior USMNT debut as he replaces Walker Zimmerman. The Atlanta United defender handled his first moment well as he helped defend a four-on-two counter attack by Mexico, which saw Corona miss the target from inside of the box.

Hirving Lozano came on and almost made an immediate impact, breaking free on a Mexico attack. The Napoli winger’s shot however did not trouble Steffen as it missed wide right.

Mexico continued to pressure the hosts and it paid off in the form of another second-half substitution. Erick Gutierrez benefitted from a poor pass from Steffen to slot home an insurance goal in the 78th minute.

The substitutes were at it again for Mexico as the visitors once again shredded the USMNT on a counter attack. Lozano played a through ball to Uriel Antuna who made zero mistake to score his fifth-career senior goal.

Josh Sargent was given the chance to put the USMNT on the scoreboard late from the penalty spot, but Orozco saved the striker’s effort in the bottom corner.

Mexico claimed its largest victory over the USMNT since 2009 and its second in a row this calendar year.

The USMNT will look to rebound next week in St. Louis against Uruguay.

Comments

  1. Last nights game proved once again that USSF & the USMNT aren’t as good as people seem to think.
    Player Talent – 2nd or 3rd in the region. Won’t know for certain until we face CR.
    Coaching – 3rd or 4th in the region. We won’t know for sure until we face more competitive matches within the region.

    This wasn’t exactly our best squad of players, nor was it a “C” Team. There is obviously serious holes in our player options/selections and tactics. If GB cannot get better performances than last nights game out of the players he’s selected, than he needs to look at changing his tactics to better match the skills of the players available.

    The time has come (and gone) for some of the players that were called into this camp. In particular Lovitz & Trapp have proven once again that they are not to the international level. Their continued call-ups are a lost opportunity to try and find a solution to the problem at their positions. Zardes & Morris are skating on thin ice. It’s only lack of options that keep them in consideration at this point, but I don’t see it continuing much longer. The only time these 4 should realistically be called up for a camp is during the January Camp Cup Cake.

    Would the inclusion of healthy & inform like Adams, Brooks, Miazga, Yedlin, Weah, Holmes have helped…most likely they would have. Would their participation have allowed us to beat Mexico last night…Probably not.

    The youth movement needs to be kicked into overdrive at this point. There are players out here who, while not immediate improvements over GB’s selections (Lovitz, Trapp, Ream, Roldan, etc…; they will boost our teams abilities in the long run if they continue their current club form/progression.
    Players Like A. Robinson, Soto, Sabbi, Hyndman, Siebatcheu, Scott, Ledezma, Gloster, Parks, CCV, EPB, etc…
    The sooner we get these players into the mix, tested, and hopefully validated the sooner we’ll be to challenging for the Kings of CONCACAF again.

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  2. I don’t like to fault coaches too much when teams fail, but BG’s plan, and it clearly was a plan, to play out of the back with short passes was a disaster. It invited Mexico to press high and resulted in inevitable turnovers close to the USA’s goal. If Mexico had been better at finishing, the scoreline could easily have been 6 or 8 to 0. That tactic also resulted in all the backs being more active than they usually are so well-before 90 minutes, it became clear that the defenders were beginning to tire.

    Zimmerman started misplaying balls fairly early in the second half (helped bu some bad passes by McKennnie) and Long made two big positional blunders in the last 15 minutes when he was clearly gassed. As a result, uncharacteristically for him, he simply failed to be in good defensive positions.

    Trapp did not seem to be any real help to the backs when it came to helping get the ball out of the back. Bradley may be older and slower, but at least, he is always available for an easy pass to relieve pressure and does not pass the ball back to the same guy who was just being pressured. Trapp was largely missing in action for that role. While, unlike some here I like Bradley, but I never thought that the USA would be so lost without the 32 year old whose international playing days are clearly numbered.

    McKennie did some good things, but when he received passes that were less than ideal, he seemed to panic and return the ball weakly to a defender who was already under pressure, resulting in more than a few turnovers in bad positions.

    Trapp, Zardes and Boyd were largely zeros. Of the starters, only Morales, Pulisic, Long (before he tired) and Dest (barring that one bad bit of defending that led to the first goal) exhibited anything close to what was needed. Even Steffen had his share of bad plays when trying to clear the ball.

    I am not sure why Cannon escapes my criticism, maybe he was just a bit above average on a team that was, on the whole, pretty bad. That alone speaks volumes about how poorly the US played.

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    • Mexico was either trying to test Dest or just wanted run the offense through Corona so the ball just wasn’t on Cannon’s side as much.

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  3. Okay so you guys still don’t get it. How much money was made by USSF last night? Next match against Mexico will make even more, great expectations! It’s all about the money, playing unqualified MLS players and depending on the US soccer public to gobble down the shit USSF is dishing out. BTW there are no more talented players at their positions than Will Trapp and that guy with the funny hair, absolute truth. Still listening?

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    • he USSF is happy to take the $ from Mexican fans. The USSF could sell out the stadia entirely to Mexican fans, so it does not really matter which traffic cones with gringo names the USA puts out there when it comes to making money, Mexico will never tire of beating the US.

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  4. Tactics were horrible. It all boils down to coaching. Clearly the players were encouraged to play out of the back regardless of pressure or situation. Otherwise, any rationale footballer would put their foot through the ball and clear it to safety, worrying that if they didn’t and it resulted in a goal for the opposite side, the coach would be furious. It all comes down to the manager. And ours, GB, is tactically unaware that we can’t play his “brand” of ball against technically superior teams. But what about his serious lack of passion??? In every interview of him I hear or see, he looks like someone who should be in the “before” portion of a commercial for a Low T center.

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  5. For all the complaints about ticket prices and locations outside the city center, Mexican fans have no trouble getting to these matches in huge numbers. The team played poorly but the US fan base did as well.
    ——————————
    Side note were there any offensive chants I didn’t hear any but I keep the sound low?

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    • The USSF knows it is an easy cash-grab to schedule friendlies against Mexico. Thousands of Mexicans living here will pay for overpriced tickets to heckle against the country that provides them with more peace and prosperity than they ever could’ve dreamed of back home.

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  6. I think this is a coaching / player selection issue. To play the game GB wants, you have to have players who are capable of supporting and creating chances while also stopping opponents from doing the same (versatility!!!!). Such flexibility needs to be all over the pitch…….center backs who can dribble and occasionally create chances, midfielders who can tackle and go forward to score, and goalkeepers who can handle the ball with their feet under pressure (and Mexico seem to always be well equipped).

    To be too one-dimensional is often a detriment, and the USMNT is full of one-dimensional players which makes them PREDICTABLE. EVERYONE ON THE MEXICAN NATIONAL TEAM SEEMS TO HAVE THE SKILL AND BALL CONTROL TO GET OUT OF TROUBLE. As for the USMNT, block off the path of the cross or pass and they panic or are hurried off the ball. They lack the composure to play POSSESSION SOCCER. Players selected for this national team have to be adaptive in various roles (offense / defense), able to control the ball, able to close down players, able or willing to take on players 1-V-1……or it will not work. Unfortunately, the USMNT are trying to use “run-pass-shoot” players to play TIKI TAKA SOCCER

    MEXICO, especially with TATA at the helm, are just a superior team

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    • Sorry who’s out there and healthy that changes that game? Please don’t name some under 20 guy because our young guns made plenty of mistakes tonight too. Zardes didn’t do anything but when we can’t get the ball across midfield, Trapp is bad but wasn’t responsible on any of the goals, Lovitz at least stayed with Chucky instead of doing his best Bradley impersonation like Morales did. There aren’t saviors out there waiting to be brought in Berhalter has to do better with what he has to compete with Mexico but you aren’t going to like the other player selection options.

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      • Johnnyrazor,
        Maybe you do not realize how important player selection is….in other words bringing in players like Zardes, Trapp, Roldan etc. is a waste of space

        You do not realize how important coaching and team formation is as MANY NEW COACHES take on a team, without changing any players, change the outcome of the game. Tata Martino is a superior coach to GB, not because he had better players but because he is better at bring out the best in players and making the right selections. Example – look what he did in Atlanta, dominating MLS with old players like Jeff Larentowicz and Michael Parkhurst. He made them play like superstars!!!!

        This team needed a player that has excelled against Mexican opposition (actually man of the match against Club America recently), that has proved year after year that he has the ball control and skills to REDUCE PRESSURE in the midfield, to CREATE CHANCES and to MAINTAIN POSSESSION of the ball.

        I have said it over and over again (and will continue to stay it) THE USMNT IS GOING TO CONTINUE TO SUCK WITH BRADLEY / TRAPP IN THE MIDFIELD . It is as simple as that.

        An available answer that has been there the whole time:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZX5YZeeNIqY
        Yes, maybe this is a little excessive but he is ONE OF THE ANSWERS for the USMNT…..and like WE ALL SAW in this US v MEX game, taking the back seat to Trapp is an ABSOLUTE waste of time!!!!

    • Yes we are widely lacking in tzlent, especially to Mexico.. BUT,
      1- We look SO predictable in what “system” we’re trying to execute ..
      2- I have seen nothing of note to show me that GB is making ANY tactical adjustments.
      3- With the exception of Weston and Morales (and CP) we really don’t look like we’re playing with urgency and passion – and that’s becoming a trend- even in games we won, and GB doesn’t seem to get these guys pumped and mentally tough enough for Int’l competition.
      4- Could someone please get Brooks on a private jet.. JK brought up how tough it is on that 6’6″ frame and sure enough , happened again.. Remember he even got dizzy and almost passed out in that game a while back..

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    • Bizzy he said no, for this Summer and for this week.
      —————————————
      Tactics were bad, I get he’s trying to make them play through it because it’s a friendly but to make no apparent adjustment to allow better build up was bad. Playbout of the back fine but move a piece or two around.

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      • Yes Johnnyrazor,
        he said no…..because he doesn’t want to play BACK-UP to a talentless Bradley and Trapp…..ITS AN ABSOLUTE WASTE OF HIS TIME

      • Trying to base your team on a guy that thinks he’s so good he doesn’t have to work never works. He thinks he’s Messi when he’s not even an MLS All-Star.

      • Johnnyrazor,
        You can say whatever you want about Nagbe but it doesn’t change the fact that he is light years ahead of Bradley and Trapp in terms of skill, ability and talent. Why he is behind Tweedledum and Tweedledee in the pecking order is beyond me. What I really respect about him is knowing his worth and value; better yet turning down a SECONDARY offer after he got a call-up because there was an injury in camp. That’s like giving an employer the finger after leaving you and promoting employees with far lesser talent…..I LOVE IT?!!!!!!

        You know what would have made your point, was if the USMNT where succeeding without him or if the USMNT were controlling games with Bradley and Trapp in the middle of the pitch but our weakest link IS IN THE CENTER OF THE FIELD (Hmmm…I wonder why ?). EVERY COACH FIRED has had one constant player featuring in the middle for the stars and stripes……Mickey B!!!! They all got fired, we sucked then and still suck now. But that’s not even the worse part. As we all know the team sucks but as if it wasn’t bad enough with Bradley in the middle, now we have a watered down version of him with EVEN LESSER TALENT ?……and you somehow expect Nagbe to indulge that? To “know his place” behind Trapp and Bradley?? HAHAHA???

        BRACE FOR MISERY MY FRIEND….ITS GOING TO GET WORSE

  7. Remember all the posts some GB apologists here said about how GB ‘outcoached’ Tata in the MLS playoffs? We’ve just lost 2 straight on home soil to our arch rival who’s managed by Tata. That coaching search y’all? The system? Zardes? Trapp? Lovitz again? Yueill? There are several strikers better than Zardes in this pool. Man I actually had a little hope seeing the call ups for these games to, should’ve known better than get my hopes up that things might be changing.

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    • Who are these strikers? This match showed why we have Berhalter. None of these big names people talked about wanted this job. This team is far away and Sargent and Dest showed that tonight and they’re the two closest to being ready. McKennie was pretty bad tonight as well. What was the average age of the starting 11 tonight, I’d guess even with Morales and Zardes they were 2 to 3 years older. Their guys are experienced we’re potential. If you think the answer is Novakovich and Green you’re crazy. The truth is there’s not a game changer that was left off. Can we also cut out this home soil as well, Mexico plays all its friendlies in the US and has more fans every time it plays the US it’s not a home match for us.

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      • You say no other big names wanted the job. Are you kidding. Tata Martino said he was never asked. Was Bob Bradley asked? This was a fixed inside job from the first. At best, Berhalter was maybe the 4th or 5th best MLS coach. Not even the best American. I think it is safe to say that, while young, we now have more players getting consistent minutes in top 4 leagues than any other team in CONCACFAF history. And while some were unavailable, there is no excuse for losing 3-0. I would not trade our players for their players. The problem is that they are a better team. Our team is going backwards.

      • Spot on Gary, an inside job with no real search or interviews and total tunnel vision on a single candidate who never accomplished much at that level.

      • Joe Dirt: There are several strikers better than Zardes in this pool

        Johnnyrazor: Who are these strikers?

        Bizzy: Josh Sargent, Bobbie Wood, Julian Green, Aron Johannsson, Tyler Boyd (as a CF), Andrija Novakovich.

        Hmmmm…Mason Toye (BETTER FIRST TOUCH, BALL CONTROL),
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyRd0pPR5IY

        ???

    • 2 and a half years Tata worked for Boca, who was on the selection committee and you honestly think it didn’t come up? “Our players are young but in top 4 leagues”, Mexico has more players in Top 4 leagues and they’re 24-29 years of age. Dest got killed on the goal, Sargent didn’t score on the penalty, McKennie was a turnover machine. The youngsters aren’t there and the Shea generation never materialized we’re right we’re we were 2 years ago and none of that is Berhalter’s fault. Julian Green at 4 goals a year in the 2Bundesliga isn’t the answer to the talent gap between these nations. Berhalter needs to consider changing tactics given we don’t have a #10 to fill his Higuain role because I don’t see one coming. Reyna, Mendez both seem much more Pulisic second striker AM than the playmaker we lack. Take tonight Mexico would get the ball and we’d pressure and 9 out of 10 the dribble out of it or make an inch perfect pass, or draw a foul. US would get the ball come under pressure and 9 out of 10 they’d pass back to Steffen activating the press, hit a pass 5 yds ahead or behind, or just bang the pass off the defender. Nobody is fixing that lack of skill or enhancing it in 3 days of practice 5 times a year. Our players aren’t good enough and there’s nobody out there healthy whose would have changed that tonight.

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      • Johnny your posts sounds like one of those political pundits on tv after their candidate does or says something stupid, you have to come out and try to rationalize it. It’s a lost cause at this point and better to move on. For all the rationalization I’ve read on why BA was going to turn things around and we we unbeaten under BA in 2017 at the end of that GC and now two back to back home loses to Mexico, still no criticism for the manager. I don’t remember JK getting such apologetic treatment from you though if you were posting here back then I don’t remember.

    • Gary they couldn’t go with Bradley, he’d do a fine job but it would have been a nightmare publicly. We fired JK and replaced him with the successful veteran who also stunk it up so now we’re hiring the other less successful veteran who also happens to be the dad of the most hated player on the team.

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    • Sargent: if he had started would be gone like the other Euros who played
      Green: journeyman CM for a perpetual 2Bundesliga team who gets 4 g and 4 a per year
      Nova: Best Place he could find is Serie B after 9 goals in Holland (I’m interested but why was that the best he could get people who know football clearly see something).
      Wood: literally has been benched now by three or four different managers and there were no rumors of interest from anyone (again it’s not just GGG) that has questions
      ArJo: basically 3 years injured, 6 matches in Sweden no goals
      Tyler Boyd: according to transfermkt has played Cf 3 times in his entire career, one 5 1/2 years in Australia, once in Portugal 2 div. and once 15 mins as a sub when the team was playing with 9 men so he probably really wasn’t.
      ————————
      The number one argument for all of those is we’ve forgotten how flawed they were. The best thing you can do to improve your popularity with US fans is to not actually play.

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  8. Mexico is far better than us, this wasn’t even their best possible squad. It’s way I believe Mexico was always Tata’s choice the posturing in the press was just boost his contract with Mexico. That team can contend for the WC semis now, the US is at least 6 years away.
    ———————————
    We don’t have a creator to move the offense if Pulisic is on the wing. Lletget finally made some nice plays but the match was over when he entered and the field stretched.
    ————————————
    Sargent and Dest both showed why play the kids isn’t the answer. Dest really turned off after getting burnt on the goal and Sargent has to score that pk. However they both showed moments that others at their position can’t bring.

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  9. Mexico is looking really strong this year. Even with Adams, Brooks, Altidore, Yedlin, I don’t think the U.S. is capable of putting together a team right now that can beat Mexico.
    Did not like seeing Zack Steffen’s error.
    Pulisic needs to take the penalty. You’re the best player on the team. When the team is down 3-0 time to put the team on your back.
    The good news is a lot of the players are young and can get better individually and the team can get a lot better as a team, but it sucks not even being competitive with Mexico.

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  10. Whole lotta problems out there. And Was there anybody on planet earth who did not see that second goal coming? Twinkletoes Steffen is going to give up at least one howler a game if he think he can keep “playing out of the back” so recklessly.

    Knives out now.

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  11. The US players played with no heart. They were overmatched and afraid. This was a demoralizing cash grab by the federation. What a joke. I’m losing interest fast. Joke of a coach.

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    • Everybody is trying to make money your fooling yourself if you don’t think so. We could have beat Panama 2-0 in front of 15,000 fans in Detroit but what would that proven?

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  12. This was not the kind of game I thought the US would play. I thought Zardes, Boyd and Trapp were especially poor and failed to get involved in the game in any meaningful positive way.

    Berhalter tried to have the US play out of the back almost exclusively with short passes, that invited Mexico’s pressure and led directly to quick counters that would have resulted to even more goals if the Mexicans were better at finishing.

    Were there any bright spots? Well Pulisic made a couple good dribbles beating multiple Mexican defenders, Dest did pretty well except for that one terrible time he got beat to set up the first goal, McKennie and Morales battled hard and won a lot of battles, Long did well until he got tired towards the end and was uncharacteristically caught out of position; twice, I thought Sargent did OK, despite the saved PK (but, why did he take it?).

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  13. OUT COACHED AND OUT CLASSED

    Roberto Alvarado – Cruz Azul, Chicharito – West Ham / Sevilla, Jesus Corona – Porto, Hirving Lozano – Napoli, Andrés Guardado – Betis, Héctor Herrera – Atlético Madrid, Carlos Rodríguez – Monterrey, Uriel Antuna – LA Galaxy

    Christian Pulisic – Chelsea, Weston McKennie – Schalke, Alfredo Morales – Dusseldorf,
    Tyler Boyd – Beşiktaş, Josh Sergent – Werder Bremen, Sergiño Dest – Ajax

    Some CONCACAF teams don’t have half as much fire power but put up a better fight against Mexico. What gives??? Wow…

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    • Not against this version. Against the GC version we did as well as anyone. To be honest this wasn’t their best either. They’re 3 goals better than anybody right now in the region. It wouldn’t matter if Arsenal Wenger was the manager we’re young and do stupid stuff.

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      • @johnnyrazor

        “we’re young and do stupid stuff”. like trying to play out of the back when we’re obviously not suited for it? not sure i would put that one on the players.

  14. This wasn’t an effort issue, that mexico team is 3 goals better than our US team. We need to stop catering to the clubs, we get such limited times with our A group and we never see that group play together, it’s always these constant lackluster groups until big WCQ and tournament games, then we wonder “ohhh it looks like theyve never played together”. That being said:
    PROs:
    long and cannon impressed me again, also thought morales for the most part was good.

    CONs:
    -zimmerman was terrible, awful defending, distribution. We have other options to look at there, miazga, robinson, alvarado, maybe even opara
    -steffens distribution was terrible, again, that better improve in germany, and for the nats we need to stop playing him the ball as often cause best case scenario its an opposing throw
    -dest is super raw, as we expected, but definitely a solid prospect
    -not gonna hate on trapp and zardes as much as most but i would just rather see guys like sargent and yueill get time over him
    -boyd was pretty awful as well, dont know what that was about

    If I was a ticket buyer in St. Louis I’d demand my money back for sending back 4 euro based players, youre essentially getting a B team, thats not what you pay for. I kinda get morales and steffen going but schalke and chelsea can get over having pulisic and mckennie coming back in.

    Also I just don’t think this berhalter “system” works, in 2 main spots
    1. The game is moving away from these game control CDM, look at even the best to do it, Busquets, against quick attacking teams they get exposed, that’s why I’m not quite sure why were starting up this thing. Adams should be playing there when healthy
    2. The number 9 needs to stay higher, like yeah thats cool zardes is coming back and getting stuck in, but even if he wins the ball or it falls to another nat, theres no outlet, theres no top to send the ball to, thus continually building up the pressure.

    RANT OVER

    Reply

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