HalfSpaces Player (+/-) Grades: USMNT vs Mexico

I could get used to grading matches like this. Might even watch it a third time purely for pleasure. I was lucky enough to get a ticket to this game and went to Cincinnati with my brother and a good friend. We ate/drank in downtown Cincy, hit the Scuffed tailgate (cheers to Max, Watke, Belz, and others I met there), and eventually made our way into TQL Stadium for the match.

Turns out that I’m really bad at evaluating players/matches in real time. I was yelling at Yedlin pretty good from my seat and it turns out he wasn’t bad at all. In fairness to myself though, (I do always want to make sure I give myself the benefit of the doubt🤣) I turned off any sort of analytical/tactical mind I’ve got and tried to simply soak in the experience.

And what an experience it was. To see the team play that well against Mexico was amazing. It was a little tough to enjoy it in the moment though. I think this is because I was still so nervous that a mistake at any second could lead to a goal and a lead from Mexico (plus they did have the better chances through the first half).

Anyhow, the walk back to the car and the ride to the Airbnb afterwards was a pleasure. We even attempted to stop for a celebratory meal at The Waffle House at like 12:30am only to find it closed. I thought those things never closed?! I apologize for the ramble-y intro here, but it was fun and I’m sorta remembering/reliving it as I type this. Good times.

Grading Beverage: Willett Pot Still Bourbon – It gets a bad rap because people buy it for the cool bottle, but it’s not half bad. Probably not worth $50, but the bottle is really cool.

If you haven’t read one of these USMNT (+/-) Player Grades articles before click here for an explanation of the system.

Grades

MOTM – Tim Weah (+15.5)

Maybe I shouldn’t admit this, but when I watched in person I thought Weah was struggling with his touch, especially in the first half. Watching it back again – Weah was killing Mexico up the right side. He’s so fast and his movement is so good it’s gonna be hard to move him back to the bench. Having to decide between Pulisic, Reyna, Weah, and Aaronson for those two inside wing spots is some real top level “footballing nation” problems.

I can’t remember where I heard/read this, but Weah apparently sat down to watch film with Berhalter after the Panama(?) match and it looks like he knows exactly what to do in Berhalter’s system now. He’s got the type of pace and skill on the ball that makes defending him a problem. Gallardo couldn’t handle him. Less than 10 minutes into the game Weah’s speed and cleverness created this opportunity:

You can argue that he should have played Aaronson in early or tried the ball to Jedi on the left, but the clever dummy and speed to get into shooting position had to put a scare into the Mexican defense early on.

This is some Manchester City looking stuff here. Yedlin plays a nice ball to Weah in the channel and Weah hits a great cutback to find McKennie at the top of the box. Beautiful.

Other Positive Performances

Yunus Musah (+11.5)

Musah just doesn’t give up the dang ball. Give it to him in pretty much any situation and he’s going to figure a way out of trouble and into some space. Look at this:

Edson Alvarez and Hector Herrera both are on him and he pokes it away from one and megs the other to keep possession before Tyler Adams comes over to help out. Those two guys are pretty good btw. Yunus is 18…he’s gonna be something to behold when he’s all grown up. Honestly, my only “complaint” with him is that he could be a little better playing the ball earlier and finding a killer pass or two. It’ll be interesting to see how he, Adams, and I assume Busio work together against Jamaica on Tuesday.

Walker Zimmerman (+9)

Both center backs were good, but I thought Zimmerman was the steadier of the two (plus he didn’t get a red). I think Zimmerman gets some undeserved hate because he’s so highly rated by people like Lalas and Doyle. I was disappointed over the summer because he looked so strong early in the Gold Cup, but got injured before he was tested by any decent level of competition. He got the stiffest level of competition he could face in CONCACAF here and came out smelling like a rose. The CBs weren’t asked to break lines a lot, but he was all over the place winning headers and stepping to smother attacks before they could start.

Plays like the one in the gif above are probably why Zimmerman was preferred over Brooks. Zim was on that loose ball so quickly that Mexico didn’t have a chance to start a possibly dangerous counter. He’s also fast enough that he’s able to get back in position quickly after knocking the ball away.

Weston McKennie (+9)

McKennie and Busio have turned into mezzalas in Italy and the role suits them both. From what I understand the term “mezzala” means half-winger and in practice McKennie plays as a sort of wide #8 in Serie A. He does a really nice job of reading space with Juventus and with the USMNT. He gets forward well and is finding space in and around the box with regularity. Check this out:

McKennie works his way all the way across the field, gets into the right half-space, and then displays some impressive foot skills before getting off a cross to the back post. When was the last time the USMNT had a midfielder that could pull this off?

Room to Improve

Nobody really. Adams had a couple bad TOs, but did enough other good stuff that his grade was fine. Pepi had a rough touch or two, but also had some nice combination/hold up play. It’s the opposite of my Panama criticism. When nobody looks good – the coach is to blame. When everyone looks good – the coach should get some credit.

I took this pic at the beginning of the game and I was chuckling about it a little bit. By the end of the match…I was like this guy has got to be feeling pretty good about his sign. 😂

Fair Enough

Berhalter has taken heat from fans for a while and deserved some of it. He deserves zero heat after this match. And he’s probably done enough to get us off his backs until the World Cup. He’s not perfect and there are still going to be games/roster decisions that are going to drive us all crazy. Berhalter did an amazing job getting the team ready for this match though. Give the man his due this time.

PS – You know I’m going to be ticked and complaining bitterly about his CV when they lose to Jamaica on Tuesday though.🤣 (j/k…mostly)

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