I'm just buzzing from that game still, but I will chime in to say if you want some really spicy schadenfreude mosey on over to the game thread in the Mexico forum
holy crap, I completely forgot to do that! Thanks for the reminder! Time to break out the McCallan 18, dim the lights, and put on some TLC: Red Light Special.
I agree with just about everything except for Yedlin, who I would give an 8, or so. He had a couple of fouls early but he really shut down Mexico's best player, Chucky Lozano. Yedlin even ran down Lozano from all the way across the field to get in front of him and take away the angle on his shot on that first half breakaway. And Lozano is not slow.
Great to see Yedlin has left his Galatasaray form at the door and has been bringing the goods the past few WCQ cycles with us.
I am back from the game, where I sat in the 200s section, and, after a couple of post game celebration drinks, here are my first pass assessments, which are subject to revision based on re-watching the game which I also recorded. This was a game of two halves. First half, we played OK, but Mexico was better technically. In the opening minutes we pressed hard and tried to get final third turnovers, and for the first 15 minutes or so it seemed to be working OK. Then the game settled into a more "standard" flow. Fortunately Mexico did not finish the chances they had. Their plan was clearly to counterattack on midfield turnovers, and it seemed to be working. The glaring problem for us was Antonee Robinson, who was continually too far forward and was caught out on switching balls to Corona. And when we made errant passes in midfield, or gave up the possession, the ball went right to take advantage of the space behind Robinson. All in all, it struck me we were pretty sloppy in midfield, gave the ball away way too often and could not hold the ball under pressure. The other disturbing thing in the first half was the poor quality of Aaronson's dead balls. In the second half, the USA looked like an entirely different team. Much more on the front foot, with lots of action in their half. Wes McKinney really began to control midfield play and Antonee took up better positions on defense even as he often pushed forward. You could see Mexico getting deflated and then when Pulisic came on, he was making darting runs that were getting El Tri to poop in their pants. Some additional observations, in no particular order. Weah clearly gave Mexico fits, though he sometime seems to have his head down on the dribble and can run right into pressure. His work rate though is off the charts. I like the way Pepi plays. He clearly understand the number 9 role and can hold up the ball and play back to open midfielders who can then play wide or send through balls. We do tend to do more wing/cross play when he is there. Steffen's card was truly stupid. He had no business getting up there at half way line jawing during the second half scuffle. Very dumb. Yedlin was solid. Zimmerman played flawlessly I thought. Absolutely rock solid back there, very intelligent play the entire game. Other players showed more flash -- McKinney, Weah, and Pulisic of course, but Zimmerman struck me as exceptional in his calm and thoughtful play. And the crowd was just fantastic. There were Mexican fans but very much the minority. Home field advantage was clearly a part of this win. A memorable occasion.
Tim Weah was not just the point of the attack on many occasions bombing up the right side and causing Mexico problems, but he also played very cleanly on the ball and hustled around. Can someone explain why Arriola was lined up to start all three matches last window?
I am a guy who does not mind Arriola on the squad, and yet even I was dumbfounded by that one (and said so at the time, BEFORE he had to pull out with a pre-game injury).
What a f'ing time to be alive. Wiping the floor with Mexico for the 3rd time in just a few months in a new stadium in what was until recently a soccer desert. Sorry, CONCACAF, we've well and truly arrived.
When we played them in the NL finals. I made the remark that if he would have played the correct players, we would have won the possession game for the first time, EVER. Well, guess what? tonite we did. P.S. The Mexican media are all up in arms. Their excuse is that Mexico did not play well, instead of saying USA played better
I also just think Zimmerman is legit good and tend to wonder what the hell happened when he went abroad to trial with various teams. Is he just high anxiety w/that and ---- the bed or what? He's been consistently average at worst, and above average to good on the regular. Kind of funny to think that he wasn't even originally gonna be called in if memory served last window (or the window before), then ends up starting, then ends up captaining. Yep, sometimes Gregg is Gregg. Not tonight though, he was 100% Triple G, and Zimmerman is a bad ---. Great idea to hit your peak for country in the run up to the cup. He's a top 4 CB for me, McKenzie can sit for sure.
wait, did steff actually get a card? i thought that was just the tv guys not realizing it was for mckennie. eta he did. i didnt even realize it- i just assumed twellman was being completely wrong. thats usually a pretty safe bet...
Except a massive failure by Disney. This game should have been on ABC. I mean, they have freaking Spain-Sweden on ABC on Sunday, which is great, but come on. Instead, they put USA-Mexico on ESPN2 with full knowledge that the college football game on before would preempt the first half. A 3-hour slot for live college football? Come on. Massive failure by Disney.
I didn't see Steffen do anything special as a passer or shot stopper. He hit multiple wayward passes under little pressure.
The first half was fine. Attacking-third touches in the first half:🇺🇸 90🇲🇽 48 pic.twitter.com/WtKubuvcCk— Paul Carr (@PaulCarr) November 13, 2021
Can also just ask, what the ******** was Taylor Twellman watching in the first half? He said Mexico dominated the play, and I can’t help but think he had a pre-written script he was reading from.