Postgame: US vs Mexico

What exactly is Gio doing to poor Guillermo? [Pic: NYT]

[Updated July 27]

Obviously US fans will be disappointed with the team's spectacular second half collapse, but it's not like it was completely unexpected. It was predicted that Gio Dos Santos would cause problems, and he duly complied-- although it was the clinical Carlos Vela who changed the complexion of the game. What was surprising was the way the US broke down after a harsh first goal.

After the first goal, the signs were there that the US needed to be careful not to overexpose itself. Mexico had at least three chances as the US pushed forward. In fact, the second goal was a replica of a play which had just occurred moments before. Both times Holden (yes, the wonderchild) gave away the ball when defenders had pushed up. The second time, Heaps was making a smart run down the wing; however, Holden's delicate chip failed to reach its destination, and Vela was off to the races with no marker and Goodson desperately struggling to shift over and cover.

The third goal was basically just Vela outpacing Heaps after a beautiful piece of work by Gio. Heaps was caught too far up the field to recover, and Pause wasn't able to help him out. That would be Pause's last contribution, as he was replaced by Quaranta, with Holden shifting into the center. Up top, Arnaud was replaced by Cooper. The fourth goal occured when the tired Beckerman failed to track back, leaving the devense scrambling to pull the offsides trap as Vela split three clumped defenders with a beautiful through ball for Castro. Finally, the fifth was a well-hit shot from Franco from outside the 18; there wasn't any obvious culpability.

There are two tactical points to take away from this game. First, that the US needs to develop a plan for chasing a game. I would like to see Bradley experiment with making more major formational changes midgame.

Second, Vela's impact demonstrates just how valuable a dynamic sub can be-- and just how much the US could do with that sort of player. Conversely, Beckerman's failure to track back on the fourth goal shows how defensive subs, though less glamorous, could nonetheless be useful. Hopefully Bradley does a beep test prior to the World Cup so he has a good idea of who is likely to tire when.

Additional notes: in my most recent post I may have overestimated Arnaud and Perkens. I'm not actually sure that Arnaud is quicker than Cooper, and he hasn't seemed to grow over the course of the Gold Cup in the way I expected he might. Perkens, for his part, made a few good saves, but it would have been nice to see a few more. Finally, Pearce had a (non-)showing which undercuts his push for continued national team playing time.