I think it will cause major problems for them if they have to go without replacements, any type of yellow card suspension could have players playing out of position. With replacement, I think it will soften the blow, but obviously they won't have their first choice lineup out there. Had Chachirito been involved in this it probably would completely swing the tournament. He's so far and above the rest of CONCACAF right now.
Now that they are down to 18 men (the game day roster) you would have to think that any additional absences from injury, fatigue or cards are going to have a big effect on the team. As people have been saying, they will have people playing out of position... there are just too many games in too short of a period to not give them a rest. The card issue may very well affect their defensive psychology and they may not be willing to risk the kind of challenges an otherwise full team would in the 2nd game of a tournament. It would be a tremendous help for them if they and El Salvador win tonight and could rest their stars for the third match against Costa Rica without too much worrying.
This hurts their depth off the bench but not really the starting 11's overall quality. I agree that if they get hit with an injury or card problem then it could certainly swing the tournament out of their favor.
we were favorites before. Why do you think they were drugging up. They know we were coming for em! It was going to be easy as pie now it is going to be easier than a 1 dollar hooker at a 40 dollar a drink event!
Aren't they down to 17 with 5 suspensions plus Osorio out with prostate issues? That would be 15 field players. Ouch.
it's not going to affect Mexico much. They can handle the fatigue by resting some players against Costa Rica. The only potential downside for them is that their remaining GKs don't have much international experience... that could hurt if they wind up in a penalty shootout during the knockout phase. Honestly, though, if they face the U.S. in a shootout, it won't matter who their goalkeeper is because ours is Tim Howard. It would be hilarious if one of their remaining GKs picks up a red card at some point... he would have to sit out the next game and Mexico would have to dress a field player as a backup.
Well they were 'co-favorites' with Mexico, but the win vs Canada was the first win of the year, not exactly on top of their game going into the tournament.
Well its not like we were exactly hot shit going in to the 2007 gold cup, either. Especially after the summer before...yikes
They are still favorites, but the margin for error is growing smaller. Their starting 11 is still solid minus the GK. If we are playing him in the final we better be peppering that goal with shots because odds are we're getting a gift at some point. But of course, we have to make it through for that and put those shots on frame. I'm interested to see how the back-up GK plays against Costa Rica as you can't look at tonight's performance against Cuba for anything since it was such a schellacking for Cuba. Costa Rica due to the draw with El Salvador will play to win. Should be a good game even if Mexico plays the B team (although there ain't much team left). The margin grows thinner because as everyone says, fewer players IS a problem. There are some players that are going to see much more game time now. And that leads to tired, and potentially injury. What a mess. Crazy.
Losing 5 players hurts Mexico, but nothing like our having Robert "El Gringo Sveno Ericsson" Bradley hurts us. Comparatively, they're doing just great.
After loosing six players, the only question in my mind is the following: When my beloved TRI wins this Gold Cup, will we be able to claim we did so fielding our "C" or "D" team?
Don't worry you won't have to deal with that question because you ain't winning it Sure you vote in the poll with numerous identities but winning the CUP?? Forget about it!!
Just because Mexico is dropping 5 players that pissed hot doesn't mean its anything less than their "A" team. They seem largely unaffected on the field, despite losing Ochoa in net hurts a bit. But like the other guy said, USA got this
And don't you think it would be better to support the US (if that is your team...) no matter what than believe we're going to lose?
What do you mean if that is my team? I have you know I have been supporting the Stars and Stripes since the late 80s, the reason I have been hard on this team is because they allow weaker teams to believe they have a shot at winning instead of destroying them from the start. Have you seen the Mexico game? They are taking everyone to school on how to whip the field with the weaker team, there big test will come against Los Ticos then we will see how they fair although the Ticos had a hard time against the very same team Mexico destroyed. I see another 5-0 coming here. And Like I said before I 200% support the Stars & Stripes but that doesn't mean I'm going to overrate this team like the majority of the fans seem to always do here on BS.