2022 FIFA WC Qualifying - Mexico vs United States; March 24, 2022

Did you guys forget about the summer of 2015?

 

Para el próximo partido contra los catrachos, quiero ver al Factor Lainez como 10 y a *ver* si se atreve el Tata a jugar un poco más vertical

 

He will get hacked by Honduras

 

On the bright side they defended set pieces well. Montes is great.

Also Sanchez and Arteaga will get better as they play more often. This is the 2nd time Sanchez makes Pulisic his bitch

 

No what happened? are we in the WC?

 

Some decent big 4 Euro club sign Montes and Sanchez pleaseeeeee

 

Mexico’s gonna get hacked regardless, my brother in Christ

 

Negatives:
- late substitutions
-Vega should have gone in at min 60 or earlier
-lack of ideas, no paredes, no surprises
- Charly rodriguez did not link midfield and attack

But some positives:
+ sanchez and arteaga were very fast, they showed great athleticism to go up and down, and were confident to attack
+back four average age was ~24. Martino trusted the young guys for an important game and they delivered.

I still think Vega should be a starter. And play as a #10. He can connect and shoot from outside the box.

 

I don’t think the team lacked heart or effort at all. That was the hardest they’ve played in a long while. They lacked cohesion and didn’t seem to have much idea what Tata’s tactics were. It seemed like the plan was to send long balls to Lozano on the counter. Why start Charly and Tecate if that’s the case, though? Both require time and touches on the ball to be effective and slow the game down.

Also, why not have Herrera stay back more and help Edson out? He’s played that role well at Atletico. Edson was lucky not to get red carded.

I thought our CBs were really impressive and Sanchez was nearly flawless in that second half. Like a prime Efrain Juarez.

 

Dang crazy how quick Efrain Juarez came and went, he’s only 34, you would think he could still be playing. Didn’t even make it to the 2014 WC.

 

When's the last time we had a proper #10? Gio? He was more of a second striker I think.

 

Cuauhtémoc

 

Oh boy.

Whether he did or didn’t, there is no doubt that his popularity amongst certain fans exceeds his actual playing ability. We have 3 World Cup cycles of his career data to conclude or objectively argue si se hizo, o no, algo especial en su época. One could argue that Mexico was going to be left out of the 2014 WC due to his clear missed sitters and penalty fail.

I have mentioned it here before, to me he is an ok average player who could be called up due to the lack of ANY 9s in general and also at the tail end of his career. However, due to the poor management of Mexican fútbol which includes Mexican sports media, palancas, rival media companies, etcétera, they project this false narrative and/or image of what a player is or isn’t. A prime example is (or was) the media campaign with his name in the last year or so. The Mexican media instead of talking about the root issues plaguing Mexican fut, which includes corruption, certain player promotion, talking about getting young Mexican players to debut (in their country in Liga MX) or exported or something, the Mexican se la pasaron (or still a little bit) promoting el “regreso” de Javier Hernandez. That the issues plaguing the Mexican National fútbol team would be solved if “Tata”(even though he is just a figure head) would just call him up: that all of the Mexican National fútbol teams problems would be resolved if “petty differences” were just put aside and that the goals would just start pouring in. That is one many issues, one of the biggest, that just perpetuates the stank of Mexican fútbol especially in the last 10 years.

 

Chucky's shots give me Salcido flashbacks

 

Or maybe they had huge release early on clauses (I doubt it, but well...). Monterrey kept Vasco Aguirre for long just because of that.

 

Arteaga was not great but I thought he got better as the game went on. That being said, dude would get pissed and not get back after he lost a ball and it almost cost us. It seemed like his teammates avoided passing him the ball in the second half.

 

Cot dam you wrote an entire essay and said absolutely nothing,

 

Always a fun experience to be at Azteca. The Fan ID was a disaster as expected, and the team continued with the current lack of cohesion in the midfield and dearth of finishing quality.

As many of you have pointed out this team has no offensive midfield presence. The US just packed the midfield and was happy to give up the wings and disrupt play. Arteaga and Sanchez are an improvement offensively but they lost the ball several times which lead to dangerous plays. Tata coaching not to lose making only late, like for like subs. There was space for what Lainez can bring in this game.

On the experience, it was to be expected that the Fan ID was going to lead to entry delays. We treated it like an international flight trip and just got there really early. At kick-off there were still hundreds if not thousands of people trying to make their way in. Once inside they are treated to a frustrating game and end up angry. One thing is for sure: it is absolutely true that Azteca ya no pesa. They’ve made it into a Jerry World style experience where it’s more important that the beer keep flowing than the heat be put on the visiting team.

 

Athleticism is all México needs and it starts with proper weight, plyometric, and agility training at a young age. Can someone please invest into this within Mexico. The two most athletic players did perfectly fine last night.

 

I was gonna say a joke about choking against the Nads, but I'll be respectful...

Watch the team play lights out without him, though.