U.S. 2-2 Mexico: Losing a Tie

I’ll start with the usual caveats: I watched this with a 3-year-old distracting me throughout with puzzles, demands to play with balloons, gigantic playground balls, etc.

That said, that was one lucky tie. The U.S. squandered possession, our midfield got slaughtered, our flanks overrun, and the chances we deliberately created could be counted on one hand – and Josmer Altidore got on the end of most of them. Fortunately, Mexico continued their tradition of mentally seizing up every time they got within 30 yards of the U.S. goal…so not all was lost.

It has been sometime since the temptation struck to say we simply don’t know how to play the game. But that’s not fair. Over a few, brief spells the evolution of U.S. soccer showed, but these fleeting moments came and went too often near the center stripe and, more often still, they played out in a kind of ragged, random vibe. Worse, our composed moments featured too many long balls forward and those came to players who appeared ill-suited to cope – again, Altidore and Clint Dempsey.

Against that, the Mexicans displayed – to borrow a “John Harkesism” – good “characteristics”on the ball’: between better movement and sharper passing, they simply outplayed the U.S. in every meaningful aspect of outfield play (thank god for goalkeeping, right?) The most striking sequence came in the second half when four Mexican players set up an impromptu game of keep-away in the U.S. half against up to eight U.S. players. But the Mexicans’ better moments came with the simplest stuff – finding the open man in space, too often just in front of the U.S. defense. This approximates the time when my heart shrunk into my stomach and my balls lifted toward my stomach…a kind of “Oh Shit” pinch designed, perhaps, with the intention of holding the crucial pieces together until the bad stuff passed.

All in all, however, I can’t believe the Mexicans didn’t leave the field feeling something like jinxed. After all, when the whistle blew on one of the worst U.S. performances I have ever seen against a Mexican side, the tie remained knotted. And, let’s face it, moral victories are just that – qualified and, when the record books get written, still ties.

Now, in the past, I have done player grades…I don’t like those, though, never have. So, to try something new, I’m going with “winners” and “losers” – e.g. those who did well enough on the night and those who didn’t. Past credits will be duly noted. In the all too-likely event I miss a player – I did hold true to the one-shot-per-goal dictum – well, odds are that player did all right (I’m thinking here of Freddy Adu; brilliant trap late on, kid; nice dribble after…but…after that…). Here goes…starting with the winners on the U.S. side.

WINNERS

Tim Howard: Held down the fort like the Spartans at Thermopylae and fucked (by Drew Moor) on both goals. For those who don’t know, Howard is ready for prime-time.

Carlos Bocanegra: The one defender who regularly chucked in the timely intervention. No offense to the player who appears below, but I’d like to see a Bocanegra/Jimmy Conrad central pairing for the U.S. qualifiers.

Oguchi Onyewu: I’m pleased as punch to put him here. It’s not just the goal – though that was nice. “Gooch” provided some timely interventions of his own and didn’t get beat too badly – except that horror-show moment in the middle of the second half when the Mexicans split the U.S. defense and had the U.S. goal at their mercy….thank God they didn’t know what to do with it…

Clint Dempsey: Screw John Harkes. He was wrong. No, Dempsey did not provide the “ever-menace” for which we might have hoped, but he held up the ball well, broke out of pressure like a surfer on a wave and passed better than most. All around, Dempsey looked as sharp as anyone out there. And hella tough call-back on that phantom, third U.S. goal (but, yeah, he was offside…by that much).

Drew Moor, the offensive player: Nice crosses, kid.

Josmer Altidore: The most dangerous U.S. player on the field, the one who seemed best prepared to turn something into nothing…congrats, young stud.

Benny Feilhaber: He didn’t have much time, but, in the time he had, he looked smarter than most U.S. central midfielders. He showed for the ball well and, against tight pressure, tried to move it forward. It didn’t always work, but the ideas were there.

LOSERS

Michael Bradley: Just an awful outing, one brought on, I suspect, by the hype surrounding his Eredivisie exploits. This is not a slam on the father-son thing, but it’s vital that we all wait to crown our kings; what Bradley does in Holland is what he does in Holland; our concern is what he does for us – and the two don’t necessarily translate. Bradley booted some of the most errant passes – a big part of our squandered possession – and too many of those were sideways passes to boot.  But Bradley should not be thrown to the lions; everyone has off-nights.  He ought to come around.

Drew Moor, defender: Di-sas-trous. Marking, son. Marking. You got beat on both Mexican goals – I’ll bet Jonny Magallon makes cameos in your nightmares – and that’s probably enough to play you off the national team rotation. And he got beat on a “bite,” which almost led to a Mexican goal. And, to think, the crosses were so nice. All the same, I really doubt Steve Cherundolo is sweating even a little.

Ricardo Clark: Looked so, so lost out there.Another player who lives on courtesy of past performance.

Landon Donovan: Did he even play? No, wait. I remember. There was that foul. (And, OK, he had a great run down the Mexican right where he positively toasted one of their players (Castro, if I’m not mistaken). And he served the cross that Onyewu knocked in, but, after that, he was nowhere to be seen…just what everyone complains about.)

Bobby Convey: One of the few players I’m actually tempted to bump down the depth chart; then again, I’ve never been 100% sold on Convey. Look, I know he’s rusty. But, apart from getting bowled over by Torrado, he did nothing out there.

Now, I know some people might be looking for more names (see: Corrales, Ramiro), but, honestly, no one else really stood out for me.

All in all, this was kind of depressing performance. But I also know that, 1) it was somewhat inevitable given how the Mexicans a) outplay us generally, and b) in light of their “Golden Generation” and, 2) due to the fact that the U.S. Men’s team is definitely in transition. In other words, this might be the “new normal,” folks, and for some time.

Against that, though, the “new normal” doesn’t have to be the future. The fact is, we played like crap. We played scared and, to use a dubious word, uptight. We had a lot of newbies out there tonight and they don’t have that ready-for-primetime vibe the Mexican youth do. I expect we’ll recover, perhaps even improve, but Mexico is bringing some serious shit through their system. That’s not to say we’re not. It’s more to say, we better get our heads screwed on – and ASAP. There’s a storm coming, people, and we need to be ready.