USMNT plays well, but missed chances prove costly in 0-0 draw vs. Mexico

THE UNITED STATES national team played well but failed to convert multiple golden scoring chances and had to settle for a 0-0 draw against its archrival Mexico at the famed Estadio Azteca. The result was both disappointing and a step forward in terms of qualifying for the World Cup.

Head coach Gregg Berhalter used a pretty standard starting XI with few surprises given the multiple injuries to Sergino Dest, Weston McKennie, Chris Richards, and Matt Turner. Miles Robinson, Walker Zimmerman, Antonee Robinson, and DeAndre Yedlin started in the backline. Tyler Adams, Kellyn Acosta and Yunus Musah were in the midfield. Christian Pulisic and Tim Weah were on the wings while Ricardo Pepi was up top. The recently returned Zack Steffen started in goal for the U.S. team.

The U.S. team was strong in the first half and had the better of scoring chances. Yunus Musah had the first good chance of the game when he collected a ball inside the box and fired a low driving shot that was expertly saved by Guillermo Ochoa.

Shortly before the half, the U.S. team had a true golden chance when Tim Weah moved down the right side and found a streaking Pulisic from point-blank range. Pulisic didn’t get all of the shot and it went right into the body of Ochoa for a save.

WHAT. A. CHANCE.

Ochoa comes up with the huge save on Pulisic, still scoreless in Mexico.

????: @TUDNUSA pic.twitter.com/we9gNPY0OI

— SiriusXM FC 157 ?????? (@SiriusXMFC) March 25, 2022

In the second half, the U.S. stepped up its pressure and should again should have taken the lead in the 72^nd minute when substitute Jordan Pefok had a incomprehensible miss from inside the six yard box on a perfect setup from Gio Reyna.

Not sure how this is possible pic.twitter.com/QM9UkcozJ3

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 25, 2022

In the 80^th minute, the game was still scoreless and Berhalter elected to shift to a more defensive approach to see out a draw. Aaron Long came into the game to bring in three central defenders and Erik Palmer-Brown, normally a central defender, took over at right back.

The new backline would bend but not break to see out the result. Long was forced into a goal line clearance and the fatigued U.S. team resorted to clearing the ball up the field to keep Mexico off the board.

This is the only story right now, the table. A #USMNT win over Panama ensures at least a 3 point lead on 4th place Costa Rica heading into the final round – plus a likely healthy GD advantage pic.twitter.com/LTRDj8gKII

— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) March 25, 2022

Here are my thoughts on the game

Berhalter got it right

The U.S. lineup and approach to this game worked. The midfield and front six generated the best chances in the game. The defense limited Mexico’s opportunities and while the U.S. defense was under pressure the final 10 minutes, Berhalter had a plan to see out a result in shifting to three central defenders.

This is the third consecutive cycle the U.S. team has drawn at Azteca in a World Cup qualifier – but this was the most the team has ever been on the front foot in an Azteca qualifier. Considering the injuries and the lack or regular club minutes to players like Steffen, Reyna, Weah, and even Musah – it was an impressive feat.

Berhalter has clearly grown as a coach. The role within the team make sense. There isn’t an emphasis on playing the right back as a midfielder, or having the No. 6 midfielder serve as a team’s quarterback. The positions are a little more raw, but they make sense. It has allowed the team to succeed is a situation where there is a lot of turnover between players from game to game.

The U.S. team had the right defense and had an approach that generated the chances. It’s on the players to finish them.

Forwards needed

It’s stating the obvious, but the biggest concern for the U.S. team right now is a need for a dependable No. 9 and right now the lack of dangerous center is the biggest weakness on the team – by far.

Pepi, 19, played 60 minutes at Azteca and was completely invisible. He’s not getting chances and isn’t even really helping the other attackers when he’s scoring. Pefok’s miss was so baffling that it runs the risk of his teammates losing confidence in him.

The biggest surprise in Berhalter’s lineup was at forward it is easy to understand why he’s struggling with this position because no one is putting a stamp on the position.

To me, Jesus Ferreira seemed like the best bet to start against Azteca because as Berhalter noted in his pregame press conference, he creates for others even when he’s not scoring. Even if Ferreira tracks too far back into the midfield, at least he is doing something and with Pulisic and Weah (or later Morris) as scoring threats, Ferreira has people to work with in the attack.

I was wrong in my prediction that Pepi wouldn’t play a lot this window. I thought his call-up was about checking in on him more than anything.

Pefok is ideally a strong finisher close to goal but doesn’t really hold the ball up for others or pass well. He’s been a strong finisher in Switzerland, but, unlike Ferreira, if Pefok is not getting service, he is completely invisible. Service at Azteca is uncertain.

It always seemed like Pefok’s best environment for success was against Panama, who is going to be on the back foot in Orlando more than Mexico at home. The U.S. team at home against Panama was always going to replicate what Pefok sees with Young Boys in Switzerland – a strong team against an overmatched opponent. Young Boys can consistently whip in crosses and get the ball into the box throughout the game. The U.S. team should be able to do that on Sunday.

But Pefok was poor in addition to his miss. His body language didn’t reflect confidence and his touches were off. Now, are his teammates going to trust to end possessions with a final balls designed for Pefok?

If the U.S. team qualifies, Berhalter has to think hard about the forward position. Riding the “hot hand” isn’t optimal. After Charlie Davies was injured in 2009, Bob Bradley tried to ride the hot hand burning through options like Jeff Cunningham before settling on Herc Gomez and Edson Buddle for the 2010 roster simply because they were hot at the time. Players need time to grow into a team and the team needs to know how to play with forwards.

Berhalter is going to have to explore previously used players like Daryl Dike or Josh Sargent or others. Unfortunately, it’s not a good situation for the U.S. youth national teams either. It’s bad for the current U.S. U-20 team and previous youth teams have seen forwards fade as they have gotten older (Sebastian Soto, Jeremy Ebobisse, etc).

It’s also too late in the cycle to explore playing with a lone “false nine” position as the way to fil the voide.  

Berhalter has his work cut out for him trying to figure this out and the draw against Mexico just highlighted it.

Midfield played well

I think the U.S. team’s starting midfield trio of Tyler Adams, Kellyn Acosta, and Yunus Musah all performed quite well. There were concerns that Acosta and Adams would be too defensive in back of Musah but that wasn’t the case at all. Acosta was at the heart of a number of chances and in getting the ball into the box. His very nice pass set up Reyna on the play resulting in Pefok’s miss. In the second half, Acosta also was able to play Pulisic into the box for a good chance that was shot over the bar.

It wasn’t without its flaws, however, as Acosta’s set pieces were erratic, and Adams didn’t get enough touches to have his normal footprint on the game. Musah was smooth on the ball but had a few tough turnovers that gave Mexico space on a counterattack.

But overall, this was a good midfield to use in Mexico and it still generated sufficient offense.

Panama at home might require a different approach and Acosta/Adams might not be necessary to start together. Luca de la Torre might make more sense from an offensive approach on Sunday. But at Azteca, this midfield played well – perhaps better than other midfield combinations tried at that venue over previous decades.

Reyna’s skill on display

Gio Reyna’s showed a lot of skill and at one point, he dribbled through five Mexican players before eventually getting stopped. But he was tough to stop and if he can increase his minutes – he is going to demand a lot of attention from opposing defenders. This is going to open the door for other players as well (as it did with Pefok).

It is a tough window to use Reyna because he missed so much time. He is limited in the minutes he can play, but perhaps he can start one of the two remaining games.

We see you Gio Reyna ???? pic.twitter.com/F49wJUzd07

— CBS Sports Golazo ?? (@CBSSportsGolazo) March 25, 2022

He is just one of many reasons why it is clear that the younger generations of American players are promising – and American player development is on the right track. Right now, it’s just about building up experience.

Robinson/Zimmerman cement status

Miles Robinson didn’t have a great window in January and his start to the season with Atlanta hasn’t been great. But he’s really grown into the U.S. team nicely since last summer. Walker Zimmerman has just been consistently solid.

There continues to be issues with John Brooks and Chris Richards has shown a lot of promise. Other players like Mark McKenzie and Matt Miazga have fallen off. There are some other options like Erik Palmer-Brown (who rejoined the team this window) and Cameron Carter-Vickers that might get looks.

Right now, it just seems like Miles Robinson and Walker Zimmerman have earned the right to be considered the top pair. They’re in the driver’s seat and last night they got the job done again. Passing wasn’t quite as sharp as it was in earlier games, but defensively both were very solid.

Moore added

Following the game, it was formally announced that Shaq Moore was added to the roster. Reggie Cannon is out and is sick and DeAndre Yedlin is now suspended for the Panama game. With Sergino Dest out, Berhalter needed to go with his fourth string right back and that will be Shaq Moore. This is also noting that other potential previously capped options like Aaron Herrera and Kyle Duncan have been injured.

Moore’s call-up reflects a “next man up” mentality and Berhalter clearly values players who have played with him in big games before. Moore played against Mexico in the 2021 Gold Cup final and there is a trust factor there.

For whatever reason, Berhalter doesn’t seem to have the trust in Joe Scally yet – despite his impressive number of Bundesliga minutes this season as a teenager. Bryan Reynolds hasn’t really stood out yet positively on his loan to Kortrijk and his absence makes sense. But Moore has only played 674 minutes (with seven starts) this season with Tenerife as he is a backup option with the club pushing for promotion in Spain’s Segunda.

Moore is probably going to start against Panama as he is still probably viewed as a better fit than backup options like Kellyn Acosta – who players there occasionally out of position.

Look ahead to Panama

The U.S. team will now return home to face Panama in Orlando – a friendly venue where the team has had success over the years. Altitude won’t be an issue. It won’t be too hot and the current forecast say it will be 72 degrees and partly cloudy.

Berhalter should feel good about the midfield, even if he changes Acosta and/or Musah. He has the option to perhaps start Reyna.

If the U.S. team wins, the U.S. team will either qualify or come very close to it. The worst that could happen with a win would be a three-point lead on fourth place Costa Rica with a likely high goal differential. The U.S. team shouldn’t hold back in this one and should go for the win. This is its best chance to either clinch or make clinching a foregone conclusion.

The key decision for Berhalter will be the forward spot. The rest of the decisions should be the best possible starting XI with a look towards dominating Panama.

Player Ratings

The starting XI

Zack Steffen: The U.S. goalkeeper saved both of his shots and looked comfortable in distribution and in handling crosses: Rating: 6.0

DeAndre Yedlin: The new Inter Miami right back didn’t contribute much in the attack other than playing Weah effectively up the side early to earn a dangerous free kick. His yellow card put his team in a bad situation. Defensively, he was part of a strong backline: Rating: 5.5

Walker Zimmerman: His passing wasn’t terribly effective, but his defense was very strong. He won nearly all of his duels and forced Mexico to attack from wide positions: Rating: 7.0

Miles Robinson: Like Zimmerman, Robinson had a very good defensive performance in controlling the middle of the field defensively. He had an unfortunate yellow card early: Rating: 6.5

Antonee “Jedi” Robinson: Robinson was good at getting forward and in his 1v1 defending. He uses his speed to bail himself out. That might not have been an issue in this game, but that might not always work against faster and athletic teams: Rating: 6.5

Tyler Adams: Adams was first-rate defensively and helped stamp out Mexico’s offense. 40 touches over 80 minutes is not a lot for him, and his passing was terribly on point – nor did it lead to many offensive chances. But defensively, he was critical to the clean sheet: Rating: 6.5

Kellyn Acosta: His set piece deliveries were his biggest weakness on the day but Acosta had a good game overall – on both sides of the ball. He was part of the build-up to a bunch of key chances and was important defending the middle of the field: Rating: 6.5

Yunus Musah: The Valencia midfielder was impressive defensively – his best defensive outing for the U.S. team to date by a large margin. He was smooth on the ball but 29 touches over 90 minutes is not a lot. But he worked hard and connected well with the wingers: Rating: 7.0

Christian Pulisic: The Chelsea winger was frustrated when he scuffed his first half chance from point blank range – that was shot right at Ochoa. Overall, Pulisic wasn’t combining as well as he usually does but still helped the U.S. team have the better of the attack for the first 60-70 minutes: Rating: 6

Tim Weah: The Lille winger was the best starting attacker for the U.S. team. He was effective getting up the right side, drawing fouls and creating solid chances. He only played an hour but he was really good defensively as well: Rating: 7.0

Ricardo Pepi: Aside from his combination work with Weah to create Pulisic’s best chance, Pepi was mostly invisible and isolated: Rating: 5.0

The Substitutes

Gio Reyna: Terrific skill from Reyna to give the U.S. offense life as the fatigue of Azteca began to set in for the starters. He set up Pefok well and his dribbling (including the one through five Mexican players) demanded respect: Rating: 7.5

Jordan Pefok: The big story for Pefok was the big miss and that will linger. But he was awkward during his 30 minutes on the field. His touches were off, his hold-up play didn’t work, and he completed just 1 single pass over 30 minutes. He looked lost and then collapsed under pressure when he managed to get a touch. It was a tough outing: Rating: 3.5

Aaron Long: When he entered in the 80^th minute, the U.S. team was booting the ball up the field to kill time. Long had a nice goal-line clearance and did well to shore up the backline to see out the draw. He wasn’t brought into to do much else: Rating: 6.0

Erik Palmer-Brown: Playing right back to see out a win, Palmer-Brown was simply asked to engage in timewasting, which he did. It wasn’t pretty, but he did what was asked of him while playing out of position: Rating: 6

Jordan Morris: A late sub, he had just one touch and was asked to stretch the field and run after long balls: Rating: NR