It was a strange match at the Azteca. The US really should have won. Mexico was atypically sloppy on the ball in front of an only vaguely threatening atmosphere. The only olés of the night ended with El Tri passing the ball out of bounds after five or so completed balls.
And even given all of that, it didn’t seem like anyone on the USMNT had played particularly well. They had the two best chances of the game, but there were no “dominant” performances. The midfield wasn’t overrunning their Mexican counterparts like in the game in Cincinnati four months ago, and our defensive line prevented Mexican chances almost more through the hosts incompetence than being locked in.
BUT, you just got a point in Mexico City and deserved to win for the first time in my recollection. This was not hanging on for a point the way it was in 2017 or the smash and grab 0-1 friendly win under Klinsmann. That unsatisfied feeling is strange, but an improvement from the historical mean.
So how did this look in the grades? Let’s take a look.
Grading Beverage: Larceny Bourbon and coffee – not at the same time though. I’m not a savage. Larceny is fine btw. 6 or 7 out of 10 imo.
If you haven’t read one of these USMNT (+/-) Player Grades articles before click here for an explanation of the system.
Grades
MOTM – Gio Reyna (+6.5 Total and +19.5 per/90)
It’s fairly rare for a sub to get MOTM, but the circumstances of the game made it possible. Reyna played great and none of the starters were amazing. In only 30 minutes, he amassed seven events for a total of +6.5, by my grades. Sure, 2.5 of those points came from his amazing one man counter attack, but it wasn’t the only thing he did. I don’t have the heart to gif the “shoulda been” assist, but how about this dirty work?
People tend to assume that Reyna is all about the offense, but he’s willing to get “stuck in” too. Bringing him off the bench on Thursday was such a far cry from the days of Brek Shea and Brad Davis (no offense, guys).
Reyna is so dang hard to get the ball from. His ability to hold guys off and keep the ball was valuable in the team seeing out this draw. Over the course of 2021 he was my highest rated player on a +/- per/90 basis (+10.4). Him playing well against Panama would be a huge deal and it seems likely that he will. *crosses fingers*
Other Positive Performances
Jedi Robinson (+7.5)
I was a little surprised by this to be honest. It’s not that I thought he played poorly, it’s just that I thought other players would come out ahead of him. Robsinson doesn’t stop though. He plays three matches a week in the Championship and seemingly can run all day. I think I write this every time I talk about him – but he’s the best left back in USMNT history, right?
He’s not Marcelo and he isn’t perfect, but he’s a good, solid player that gives it 100% when he’s on the field. (Also, can everyone please stop saying 110%, 1,000%, and 1,000,000%? It’s not possible. Just stop.) In this match, he led the team in events (that’s usually McKennie’s stat) and was our best player in the “In Possession” phase. Throw in some solid defensive play (+3.5 Out of Possession) and you have a nice performance on the road at Mexico.
Christian Pulisic (+6)
A +6 isn’t something I write about too often, but I wanted to put my hand up on this one. I thought Pulisic was pretty poor when I watched the first time. (Even made a couple comments about it on the post-match pod) While it wasn’t the best match he’s ever played, he wasn’t bad. You’d love to see him finish the one big chance he got, but he did get into good position for that chance and was productive in other moments as well. Remember that one big Pefok chance that didn’t go so well? Probably. But this happened right before that chance:
It’s not some sublime dribble, but he draws a couple defenders over and manages to get it to Acosta at the last second. From there it goes to Reyna, then to Pefok, and then out for a throw (I know it was a goal kick – it’s called hyperbole).
Pulisic can play better, but I was wrong about him being lousy. My bad, CP. (He definitely knows this blog exists. 🤣)
Room to Improve
Tyler Adams (+1.5)
Maybe Adams is rusty from not playing much with Leipzig lately. He was subpar with the ball in this one. He still rated out as our best defensive player (+4.5), but his “In Possession” score was not great (-3). He had two very dangerous turnovers that we were very fortunate didn’t turn into goals. He’s never Busquets manning the #6, but he’s not typically a problem in possession. A turnover like one of these against Panama on Sunday could be a North Macedonian-level problem.
Walker Zimmerman (+1.5)
I don’t feel great about this grade. I thought he played pretty well when I watched live, but when I went back and graded the performance it didn’t come out that way. It’s not so much that he was bad, as much as it was he just didn’t do much of note. He only had one “bad” moment (the bad pass/clearance that led to the chance Tecatito biffed), but there weren’t many positives to balance it out. Just a lot of average-type stuff you’d expect a professional center back to do. Maybe this is harsh or I missed some stuff, but that’s how the cookie crumbled in this case.
He’s still the center back in the best form on the roster right now though. Didn’t think I’d be typing that six months ago.
Time to Beat Panama
Weirdly, I think the 2017 fiasco helps us in Orlando. If that didn’t happen, it might be pretty easy to overlook Panama and put things on cruise control. And if the memory of Couva wasn’t enough, then surely seeing Italy(!) miss a second consecutive World Cup will be enough of a reminder that we need to bury these guys. I don’t think it’ll be a problem, but in one match weird stuff can happen. Let’s just hope and pray that it doesn’t.
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About the +2 you gave Arob in the 14th minute.
He had all this space down the left but he made a poor first touch, right at the defender. Outside Backs getting stripped and countered is high on my list of things I don’t ever want to happen, so my butthole was clenched for a moment. Fortunately the ball squirted forward. I’m happy it went in the right direction but to me that was not a positive event.
Then he makes either a poor pass to Weah (behind him) or a poor pass to Musah (not enough pace on the ball). It’s hard to tell which he intended, but either one was unsuccessful.
In a big picture sense I’m looking at this as an example of a time when ARob was the weak link. When we work the ball out to an outside back high up the pitch I’m expecting clean touches into open space and strong delivery into the box. We didn’t get any of that.
If we can chalk this all up to differences in opinion I’d have to respect that, but you gave him almost the same score as you gave Gio on his big run. Your credibility comes from consistency and I don’t think you’re being consistent this time.
One issue is that I think that Reyna’s run was not as great as it could have been. Yes it was a great deal of skill and work, however it missed multiple potential opportunities to move off the ball and on to on running teammates. Additionally, it never led to much of anything other than getting the crowd going.
While I am not as technical and analytic as you and tend to go based off of raw emotion, I do agree over all with your assessment of this game. Jedi was by far the starter of the match and Reyna added an insane spark to the game. As you’ve mentioned before, this system is often ball centric and I think that is probably why Acosta looks so good. He did fine this game, going forward but his work rate towards defense is terrible and that is why Jedi looked exposed occasionally. Acosta would not drop off like Musah would and would leave his full back exposed.
On another not I had the same reaction as you to Pulisic with him not having an overall fantastic game but not poor, other than the missed chance. Coming in to the roster I was someone who was claiming for Pefok to be called in and I was rather impressed with him in his earlier callups. After his cameo today, I am willing to admit I was wrong and am fine if he is never called in again.
Overall, as always a great article and ratings.