Best excuse for the poor showing by Mexico has to be this one by Various Styles https://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=2435947
wow, you must have never seen any excuses before... the VS quote says the coach was stupid basically, doesnt sound like an excuse to me. and the 2nd quote about the ref, did the ref no suck? he blew 2 big calls for mexico and missed fouls both ways the whole match. gosh you guys are lame.
There's a difference between a ref sucking excuse, and that quote making it sound like the ref was entirely against the Mexicans.
VS's quote wasn't an excuse it was more of a WTF and trying to figure out a justification for something that he did not particularly understand or agree with.
Look, it's always fun to give VS the business (lord knows he gives it back), but that's not an excuse. That's a disagreement in tactics. And make no mistake, there is certainly something to the idea that LaVolpe is telling his team to wait for the US to cough up the ball and then counter... That's what they did to us in the Olympic qualifier, and it kicked our ass. The problem for El Tri last night is that Donovan, Convey, Casey and (to a slightly lesser extent) Beasley and Hejduk were beating them on nice one touch passing and overlapping runs. In other words, sitting back and countering only works when the opposition gives the ball up repeatedly and doesn't cover the counter -- the US held possession and when they lost it, Armas, Zavagnin, Pablo and Eddie gobbled up most of the counters.
The excuses are made by all. The way it is. The best is really the SORE LOSER MENTALITY the Mexican players display. Not most fans, and not the media yeasterday. All were honest. Hey, when we get outplayed...we do. The Mex players are an embarrassment. Not shaking hands again, and the funny excuses. If you want to laugh get a hold of the Mexican transcript. According to them the US only had one lucky chance. Again, this is the players, not the media or fans. While growing up on Telemundo there has always been one thing that has disturbed me about Mexican soccer. When they are losing they become violent. Please tell me the last time a Mexican team was down by 2 goals with the game lost where they didn't get at least one red on a vicious dekiberate foul, and there weren't a slew of vicious yellows. I was at the Peru game at Giants Stadium last year when they were down 3-0 and they embarrassed themselves again, just like WC 2002. Vicious and malicious. Granted, they are rarely down like this, but from my earliest recollections (about 30 years ago) when Mexico is down...people are going to get hurt. Problem is the media and fans do not seem to have a problem with this from what I've seen. Very sad. I think that's why the US has been able to compete with the Mexicans so well over the last 10-12 years with less talent. Mentally, just a lot stronger. Read the Mexican treanscript...weakness, bitterness and denial everywhere. Very sad.
Top 10 Mexico Excuses (from the TopOfTheCircle.com home office in Intercourse, Pa.) 10. Ditched bunker defense in favor of the Saddam Hussein Spiderhole defense on his birthday; 9. Might have done better if USA goalie was Jose Cuervo instead of Jonny Walker; 8. Hyp-mo-tized by spinning Nike soccer ball; 7. Fearful of Americans' weapons of math instruction; 6. "Nationally Ranked" Conor used the Star Kick; 5. Bobby Convey was bound to get a corner kick right sometime; 4. Kerry Zavagnin? No, that was Abby Wambach in disguise; 3. Mexican game plan written by Dick Cheney; 2. The Sam's Army chant of "Migra! Migra" in the 93rd minute And the No. 1 reason ... 1. Landon used a Port-O-San this time!
It's a lame rationalization of the loss by VS. It's an excuse. For it to be a disagreement in tactics you'd have to establish that that was how LaVolpe planned on playing. Considering that for the first 15-20 minutes Mexico had most of the possession and then the tide changed completely, I don't think that's the case. In the end it's just another excuse.
i blame it all on lavolpe's smoking habit. the one time he didn't have a but in his hand, i swear i saw smoke seeping from his neck.
as someone mentioned, the biggest excuses and whining has come (seemingly) from the mexican players and coaches themselves. check out some of the quotes from over at bergin's site: http://www.ussocceruk.com/news/?CatTypeId=2&ContentId=1581 to cite just one pathetic example: yes, that's Jorge Campos, ex-Galaxy, ex-Fire, ex-clown in the nets of el Tri, who's now an assistant coach for the Mexican Nats.
The reason to believe this might have been partially Lavlopes stratagy is 1) His team has already done something like this before, and 2) He seemed very comfortable throught the whole game... Lavlope is the kind of coach that gets up and yells at his team if they aren't following the plan... From what I saw he wasn't doing this... Now its ovious that the US also had a lot to do with this, there is no debating that.
TAKK I have noticed this, but you know a lot of this is also frustration with the refs. I mean this is an El Tri fan talking (so take it for what its worth) but it seems to me that the way to beat Mexico is to foul them hard early and piss them off and get them out of their game... Early in the game we saw early hard fouls on Borgetti, on Sanchez both of which might have been deserving a caution... I know Casey got one but considering it was a foul on the keeper it might have warrented a red (that is arguable though). But hey they have no one to blame but themselves... The rules of the game arn't established by FIFA they are established by the ref and Mexico just didn't adjust.
Fun with translators. I ran this through a free one, check it out That only it was seen in the court, therefore the Mexican majority abandoned the tribunals in silence, while the two small American sticks rewarded to Donovan and theirs with bounces and flags al air; a winning minority.
I think this is an excellent point. The US clearly made some "statement fouls" and it took the Mexicans off their game. Once they got beaten up, they lost their heart. Kinda surprising, as El Tri have done this to loads of opponents through the years, including the US, but clearly this Mexican team didn't react well to getting bitch-slapped. And, the ref did let a lot go and they didn't adjust to that either. To the ref's credit, he let a lot go both ways.
I read that quote this morning and could hardly believe it. Is this guy living on Fantasy Island? Yeah, maybe scoring on that one play at the end was unlikely, but if you consider all the great chances the U.S. had throughout the match, a shutout would have been a more unlikely result. We sent in wave after wave of attacks, outshot Mexico 15-5, and had a 12-2 advantage in corners. Simply put, the U.S. dominated the game, and the Mexicans can't deal with it. Campos is living in denial. Ah, I see. Show in the first 20 minutes that you can hang, then take your foot off the gas and defend the rest of the match. It's a strategy to make the U.S. overconfident come World Cup qualifying! Brilliant long-term thinking by LaVolpe. Now it all makes sense...
Appreciate the response. Remember I am a Mexican fan also (actually big Cruz Azul fan) who speaks and reads a little Spanish. I repeat, the media and fans seem to echo your sentiment, it is the players who bother me. Every team has played games where they are fouled, and these are not called. It's happened to the US, and it's happened against Mexico. It will continue to happen. Like I said, the players do the country and fans no service by acting the way they do. I reapeat again, if you can find a history I would be willing to bet blind. When the Mexican players are in a lost cause they become violent. There were no problems against Peru until that third goal went in. Equally tough game at the cup until the 2nd goal went in. I just think they do a disservice to the fans, and they are hurting themselves. Read these boards. US fans are ecstatic that we were able to control play against El Tri. Just does not happen, especially with an MLS team. We admit and understand this, so do our players. The Mexican team and coaches embarrass themselves with their reponses. Who are they kidding? Only themselves. There was an old movie called "Erik the Viking". B movie comedys. In one part Atlantis is sinking and as the whole royal family is drowning the king keeps uttering, even while his head is going underwater, "This is not happening, no not happening." That's what I think of when I listen to the Mexican players. You must admit this has been going on for a while now. This is past poor sportsmanship or gamesmanship or politics or pressure...whatever. These guys are living in a world all of their own. The more they keep fooling themselves, the better for us. "This is not happening."
All excuses ring hollow If you want to take a broader perspective, all excuses ring hollow when in the last 8 meetings between the two nations the USA has a record of 6-1-1. The includes all kinds of games: friendlies, WC qualifiers, the WC itself, Gold Cup I think. That may even be 7-1-1 after last night, I'm not sure. The point is that any moaning from Mexican players/coaches about the USA getting lucky results TOTALLY MISSES THE POINT, which is that they need to get better. The results prove it. Nobody likes to admit that they are not good enough.
No I think it is a theory that (he thinks) will ultimatley result in Mexico not losing important games to the United States. Soccer is a weird and twisted game... just think all that effort by the US was one ref call (that could have gone eithere way, PS if Ref thought it was a foul and didnt call on account of advantage he should have called it, there is no grater advantage than a PK, Borgetti had an open net but he had no angel) from going to waste... That is the whole point of playing counter attacking soccer, to withstand the attacks and finish your few chances. Now I know the #'s but to me it looked like Mexican defense did a decent job at limmiting the amount of quality shots the US got... Yes they got shots but how many where right at Osvaldo, this were not all bad finishing, but that they got shots at bad angles and Osvaldo was in the right position. If anything Mexico needs to work on their set play deffense if they are going to play a counter attacking tactic, as that is what hurt them the most.
If Mexico can't score from that angle then they don't deserve to win. And a wide open net with time to score seems easier than a pk.
My friend, you are starting to push it just a bit. Actually there was some really poor finishing. Clear open shots with no pressure from decent angles struck very poorly by the US. I watched the game again this morning and the finishing was WORSE than I thought. I think you better watch that game again. Do you really think the Mexican public will stand for counter attacking football against the US. I play in a Mexican league and speak some Spanish, and if you believe that, you are only fooling one person...go to a mirror. The ridiculous statement about only one or two ref calls and it is completely different describes 90% of the int'l games played between ALL countries. Man, you are trying real hard here. Hey, if that's what Mexico wants, fine with me. In another 5 to 6 years we will have skilled players at EVERY position who will be able to take the game to almost anyone. I can't wait for that to happen, even if it does mean getting beat here and there on the counter. The best teams take it to their opponents. I want the US to be like them. If Lavolpe wants to revert Mexico into a counter attacking team. God bless. The tide really is turning. Big time. I love it!
Forward EMILIO MORA On the U.S. victory: "They stood their ground well, and they pressured too, and it got complicated for us. They took advantage of the one play we gave them - a dead ball." "One play we gave them." LOL! More denial. Let Mexico keep thinking they are still better than the US, fine with me.