Mauricio Pochettino’s first global fracture as coach of the United States men’s national team has reached a level with mixed effects. The USMNT was prepared to defeat a Panama team that did not punish them for their mistakes, but if the problem grew against Mexico, that is where the Red, White and Blue surprised by falling 2-0 in Guadalajara.
It’s a shame to see a seven-match unbeaten run against Mexico fall across those events with such optimism, but that’s also the sport that provides the opportunity to explore the lake in its entirety. Some issues that had been problems under Gregg Berhalter continued despite the managerial change, others now began to give a boost to Pochettino’s first window in charge of the USMNT.
Effects
Hiding is denied, this may be a window that is supposed to have long since become sensitive to higher effects. Panama Sport was a decisive result in getting back to basics for the USMNT with a shutout victory, but moving to Mexico without Christian Pulisic before Mark McKenzie had to be removed from the lineup during pre-match warmups created a condition in which the group lacked punch. The USMNT only hit one shot, achieving a very disappointing overall result of 0.27 expected goals against Mexico. All that xG was also created by substitutes Kris Lund, Haji Wright and Brandon Vázquez.
In a way, it shows how far the intensity players want to go, but it is fragile on the stomach not to look at Mexico even though it was a different life for Andrés Guardado’s expulsion from the national team. Like Berhalter, Pochettino cannot advance the tone and create a plan for the players, but that does not mean that in some cases the plan could not be better.
Grade: C
Ways
Looking ahead to facing Mexico, Pochettino considered having a team worthy of the one that was once ready to defeat Panama. The problem with this is that Pulisic created the most chances in the Panama game and Mexico is a much better team than Panama, even with their recent struggles. It resulted in the separation of Yunus Musah and Malik Tillman, as no one could pass the ball to Josh Sargent, so he had to keep losing deep instead of having the ball in fields where he could simply let it pass to the other people in the attack.
Musah also looked splendid in the first game, but had to retire on the side against Mexico with just 10 touches of his name. This shows how far the USMNT is without Pulisic, but that may cause concern for Pochettino.
Grade: C
squad control
There was quite a bit of debate about Pochettino’s decision to send Zack Steffen, Marlon Fossey, Ricardo Pepi, Weston McKennie and Pulisic back to their clubs to deal with load control and trauma issues, but this may be one of his best moves. through the window. Of course, you want to beat Mexico, but if you have problems with your team members, it’s important not to push them past their limits. England already had to offer the loss of Buykao Saka and if someone like Pulisic was injured for the USMNT, that will affect the USMNT’s chances in the Concacaf International League and beyond.
That’s important and also gave Pochettino a look at his intensity options. His lack of provocation could make him more bankrupt than anticipated to hire twin citizens. The strategy with the USMNT over the years has been that those are the teammates. The hurling XI is splendid and competes with most teams in the world, but progress is caused by them and there are quite a few questions. It’s fine that Pochettino enjoys that with his own eyepiece, but the focus now should be on sorting it out. He will attract support from the team to reach the last stage, but if they cannot do it with Pochettino, they will most likely not give support to any coach.
Grade: A
