What Went Wrong in the 2-1 USA Loss to Mexico?
In the 2-1 loss to Mexico in the hexagonal of World Cup qualifying, the United States Men’s National Team had a few players out of position, and this hurt Jürgen Klinsmann’s team’s ability to keep and recover possession. With three center backs and really only Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones in the midfield, the United States struggled to link up the midfield with the attack.
Geoff Cameron was unavailable due to injury for this game, and that forced the United States to use a slower and less talented defender in Omar Gonzalez. With or without Cameron, starting Sacha Kljestan in the midfield with Bradley and Jones instead of using three center backs might have better defined Bradley’s and Jones’ role while also adding another midfielder to keep possession and serve as a playmaker for the two strikers.
Christian Pulisic was dangerous and active in the attack as a Number 10, but he needed another creative midfielder to combine with to help playmake for Bobby Wood and Jozy Altidore. Pulisic did his best, but the lineup was light on midfielders.
You could argue that dropping one of the center backs and starting DeAndre Yedlin over Timothy Chandler were the only things wrong with Klinsmann’s lineup and formation, but those two things had a devastating effect on the USA’s performance. Unfortunately, tactical mistakes like these have been the norm for Klinsmann as head coach of the United States. Referring to Klinsmann’s lack of accountability to Sunil Gulati and U.S. Soccer, the journalist, Kurtis Larson, tweeted that Klinsmann’s ‘leash is the circumference of the globe.’
Against a talented team like Mexico with players playing for better club teams, Klinsmann was wrong to use a new lineup that lacked balance or link up play between the midfield and the attack. This seems to be the mistake that Klinsmann makes over and over; he refuses to field a playmaker to help the United States to keep possession and play final balls to the forward or forwards. It’s unclear why Klinsmann continues to keep making the same mistake because he has several playmaker options at his disposal.
Klinsmann has coached the United States for five years now, and there’s nothing more to say about his tactics and personnel choices. They’re normally pretty poor. The coach has made a few excellent choices like consistently starting Bobby Wood because he is a talented striker full of skill, direct play, and creative play, and even more importantly, he consistently scores against good teams.
When the United States plays Costa Rica next, Klinsmann will need to field a formation that allows the players to keep possession better.