Post Mortem: US v Mexico at Azteca

The US Men's National team has a dream start to their World Cup Qualifier against Mexico at Azteca (2300m above sea level), taking an early lead at 9 minutes on a cracking goal from Davies. They soon brought crashing back down to high-altitude ground when Mexico to equalized about 10 minutes later through from Castro's shot from distance . The winning goal for Mexico came at 82 minutes when Sabah found himself with time and space after Donovan couldn't match Juárez for pace on his drive to the end line and DeMerit's tackle couldn't clear the danger. The winning goal was not a thing of beauty, rather the result of defenders with tired legs and tired minds.

Let's look at how Bob Bradley's tactics contributed to the goals we conceded. Bradley started with two "destroyers" in central midfield, as he likes to do. It may work to spark counterattacks against inferior opposition, but against any good team with midfielders who are able to play out of pressure, it doesn't work to pressure so aggressively. The first goal clearly illustrated the problem with having two players that share similar instincts playing together in this area. Bradley pressured Blanco, lunged in to tackle and was beaten. Clark saw danger and rushed towards it, before being beaten by Blanco's pass into the space he'd left. Bocanegra stepped toward Castro and made a rather feeble attempt to block the shot. Howard was beaten by a great strike that resulted from the time and space that was given to shoot.

We've conceded a shocking number of goals from this area over the summer. Like Bradley, Clark's instinct is always to pressure the ball, but his instinct was absolutely wrong. His decision would probably not have been punished in MLS, but international midfielders will score when given time and space to shoot at 30 yards. I hope he will learn this lesson in time for the World Cup when he completes his move to Italy. Instead of pressuring the ball when Bradley was beaten, Clark needed to defend positionally - protecting the space in front of the center backs by dropping deeper and more central. It's one of the central defenders that should step out once Bradley is beaten, with Cherundolo tucking into the vacated space.

This either forces Blanco into the central defenders who can deal with the danger, forces him to play a more difficult reverse pass into the space on the wing left by Cherundolo, or leaves Clark in position to deny time and space for a shot when Blanco plays his pass. Instead, Clarke completely overcommited and took himself out of the play, something he and Bradley both do this with a frustrating frequency. Even if Bocanegra had stepped to pressure the shot in time, there's still an easy ball is into the space he's left to the player on the wing. Once Clark over commits, our defensive shape breaks down completely, with all the support coming from the wrong side. The fact is we have very good individual defenders in the center, but they aren't yet working effectively as a team - this is an indictment of their manager.

The second goal looked the result of tired defenders - both mentally and physically. Bocanegra stood still as Juárez drove to the endline, then failed to tuck in and defend the cut-back. DeMerit could have defended the cross, rather than trying to tackle. However, this is the type of goal that sometimes comes from conceding the lion's share of possession at any altitude, let alone 2300 metres. Lack of possessoin is another consequence of Bob Bradley's "two destroyers" tactic. It means there's no player in the centre of midfield to link possession from wing to wing through midfield. This allows Mexico to cheat and press the wing with the ball than they could if we had a player capable of quickly switching the play to the weak side. The way to prevent this is to switch the point of attack frequently so opposing teams worry about open space on their opposite flank. To do this through midfield, you need a good passer, comfortable on the ball under pressure in the center, or the ball can be played across the back four which allows more time for the defense to recover or long from fullback-to-fullback. Bradley is more comfortable on the ball than Clark, but neither of them are capable of effectively playing this role. Instead, we get Dempsey coming inside, which means the fullback must overlap on the wing, or one of our strikers needs to drop back and wide. (This is what Thierry Henri was so found of doing at Arsenal).

I think in terms of timing and tactics, Bob Bradley's substitutions were much better this match, unfortunately the players just didn't have the same impact that Mexico's substitutions did. Our ability to keep possession improved somewhat with the addition of Feilhaber, but his positive impact was negated by the fact that Holden never really settled into the match, despite putting in a dangerous cross that nearly resulted in Davies second. I never thought I'd say this, but I might've gone with Bornstein for Bocanegra to shore up our defense against the speed of the Mexican attack instead of Holden, but I'm not sure he was among Bradley's substitutes. Given his constant threat, I might have left Davies on the pitch (provided he wasn't really injured) and substituted Altidore for Dempsey, given his less than influential performance.

It was really frustrating to lose after starting so well, but we simply bunkered down too early. We've still never won at Azteca, but that's the only place left Mexico can beat us these days, and I think at minimum the comfort level is gone. Mexico are a good team who played well and had some very good young attacking players to bring off the bench. If Aguirre has any sense, most will mostly be starters by World Cup time. Bradley made better use of his substitutes but must soon recognize the shortcomings of "two destroyers" tactic and experiment with putting a creative player in central midfield in the form of Feilhaber or Torres. Jermaine Jones should be called in when he's fit and could threaten his son's spot on this performance. We must call in Castillo and see what he offers at left back over the next few matches. Bradley must improve our team defensive tactics. My general feeling is that Bradley has taken this program as far as he is able, which isn't going to be enough to reach the next level, despite now having the players to do so. The coming World Cup could be an enormously frustrating experience after the Confederations Cup raised the expectation level.

US Player Ratings (1 = Not Worthy of the Jersey, 10 = World Class * = Man of the Match)

Howard - 6: Solid performance from a top goalkeeper. Made a couple of good saves and was not at fault for either goal conceded.
Cherundolo - 5: Was concerned about his inclusion after a middling Gold Cup performance, but defended well, keeping the left side of the Mexican attack fairly quiet.
DeMerit - 5: Not up to the high standards of his Confederations cup performance, but not the source of defensive problems. Might have done better on the 2nd goal.
Onyewu - 6: Solid, more confident defending, perhaps the only player to play better than during the Confederations Cup. His time at AC Milan seems to have had a positive effect on his sense of positioning, and his ability to deal with danger with calm confidence but his play out of the back still needs work.
Bocanegra - 3: Might have done more to prevent the first goal, but the defensive breakdown wasn't his fault. Was left standing on the winning goal, then failed to track behind Donovan to intercept the cut back. Wasn't up to dealing with Mexico's speed in attack. Time to bring Castillo into the side.
Clark - 3: Culpable for the Mexican equalizer and demonstrated the problem with deploying two players with the same instinct in the center of midfield as detailed in my previous post. Otherwise defended passably but did nothing to help retain possession and relieve the pressure.
Bradley - 4: Not his best performance. Seemed uncomfortable with the ball under pressure and gave it away frequently with overly ambitious, rushed passing.
Donovan - 6: Provider of an excellent through ball on Davies goal. Fell quiet afterwards. Beaten for speed to the end line on Mexico's winner. Much more comfortable and effective on the right than on the left.
Dempsey - 5: Started fairly well but his influence wained as the match progressed. Defended well. Not influential once he moved up top.
Davies - 8*: A beautiful curling finish after getting behind the Mexican defense - one of the best goals the US has ever scored. Nearly had a second from a diving header which he must want back. Always dangerous. The best performance by a long stretch.
Ching - 1: Justified my displeasure at his starting. Did not have an effective touch of the ball until he won a foul in the 39th minute. Did not win balls in the air, did not hold up play with first touch deserting him when the ball was played to his feet, did not do much of anything. Under any other manager, would have played himself off the team with this performance. Thought he had done so with the Gold Cup.

Holden - 4: Played a dangerous cross to Davies. Still didn't seem to settle and looked like the occasion got to him at times.
Feilhaber - 5: Would've like to see his impact had he started. At minimum, should have come on for Clarke at the half.
Altidore - 4: Promising but didn't make enough of an impact with little possession.