So I came from work last night and I started channel surfing. Some spanish channel was giving the Mexico-CR rerun so I watched some of it. Ive had my theory about Mexicos attack that was yet again proven in that CR game. 1) CMidfielders pass pass and pass until they 2) Lob it to a flanker 3) Cross it and hope Borgetti gets to it Offcourse alot of teams play one certain style and never change but this was something they played like a Broken Record in the Confederation Cup. Funny part was it actually worked in some games but overall it won them nothing. When we played them in the Aztec they dominated possesion but really had nothing to show for it. Both of their goals were started off defensive errors. BUT just like the WC, we had them stuffed in the middle just passing ,passing and waiting for their flankers to make their move. When you think about it why wouldnt they concentrate their attacks on only flankers??? Their CM are basically either Pardo,Zinha or Blanco. None of them are burners or guys that will attack in from the mid any given moment. They are setup guys who wait and wait and wait. They run the same schemes over and over and over. Something which seems Bruce has caught up on cause if you look at the results Mexico has only scored on us 3 times in 9 games since 2000. Only one of them was a decent cross to Borgetti when they beat us 1-0 back 2001. Other two were bad errors. Yet when Mexico plays other international teams it seems like they are a whole new team. Iono maybe im just crazy LOL.... Watch some Highlights from Mexico and you will notice the same pattern. Attacks are concentrated on the flank and their objective is to get 1) cross 2) FK from either side or 3) corner.
Do they have better crossing from Right or Left? I saw their first goal against CR was from the right
I suspect the usa can press more aggressively this time around changing the tempo of the match..... azteca is azteca and pressing is fool hardy as it's a sure remedy to end in a huge scoreline for mexico
i think this upcoming game will go a long way to answering that question. to be fair to them, in that 9 game stretch, some of those were friendlies, others the team was kind of in disarray. but there is no excuse for the mexies this time, they are playing some of their best footie in a long while. if bruce can get a win with a team that's playing inferior football at the moment, he may well prove to have mexico's number.
You got it. Mexico carved Italy like a turkey doing this. I can't wait to see if Bruce Arena can see what has been happening and react. Mexico has only about two world-class players. We lost last time because we were out-coached.
In CC alot came from the right. Their CR goal was a lob that started from the right side. I think the crossed went through the legs off a CR defender and Borgetti cleaned it up.
We were not outcoached.. we bunkered cause Bruce didint want to tire out the players in the midfield for the 1st half with the elevation/smog issues. Maybe he overcoached but still. I don't think Bruce imagined we be down 2-0 in the first half by 2 bad errors. If you noticed when we did decide to push up the lines we controlled the game for the first 20minutes of the 2nd half and scored and could of scored again. That lead to alot of chasing when Mexico had the ball and eventually our guys were gased out.
i watched the whole game on the spanish channel (despite not knowing a word of spanish) and i agree that mexico loves passing in midfield and crossing to get to borgetti, and it gets frustrating to see that constantly they miss other chances but not attacking head on.but lavople loves to dominate possession and mexico has some passing game(due to constant practice.. so it seems.
We were out-coached. 1.) there should have been no surprise at how they played, 2.) the correct players, prepared for Mexico, would not have made that many errors. 3.) Sub management was an obvious: Drill your midfield stoppers and two backups and tell the starters to run until replaced; keep one spare sub. The first line of defense against Mexico is midfield pressure. The second line of defense is to front that striker, rather than chasing him from behind.
Well Bruce knew how they were gonna play and we stuffed their little hold the ball @ the mid and cross to wingers gameplan. As I pointed out before im pretty sure Bruce didint expect a 2-0 deficit in the 1st half. As for the subs well that is a different matter. Overall ONE fresh player wasent gonna make up for 9 tired guys.
Outcoached only because he played several out of form players who had no chance of succeeding at altitude. At the same time he neglected the players who'd actually been training at altitude. Fortunately we played some of those guys in Birmingham and they pummeled the Guats. I still wonder if we could have put a far fitter lineup on the field in Mexico and earned a different result.
Bruce more than likely has the kind of comprehensive scouting system, complete with human and technology systems, that would blow us away. I have a sneaky suspicion Bruce knows as much about Mexico's tendencies as most of us geniuses.