Whoever the opponents, 2-0 is a nice little record after a couple of friendlies for the USMNT. The team has played well against two rebuilding sides in CONMEBOL with a tally of 8-3 and it feels pretty good hanging a crooked number on the board over 180 minutes. Overall, the USMNT is playing fun, attacking soccer that is overcoming its defensive liabilities, against Chile the team fell behind and had the determination to come back and win in fighting fashion, and the fans are singing chants riffing
on Wu-Tang songs. Not bad.
All that said, everything goes out the window when the USMNT plays Mexico. It will be a pretty interesting matchup, not just because its one of the greatest rivalries in the sport, but because Mauricio Pochettino is still looking for his first W against El Tri. The manager has a loss in a friendly and Gold Cup final to his credit and surely an Argentine cannot let this stand.
As for what to expect, presumably Poch will go all out and field his best XI at his disposal. The way that might look is:
Goalkeeper: Whoever has played the best in Poch’s mind this window, he’s seen all four of them for 45 minutes; Right back: Someone… maybe Dest, maybe Freeman; Center back: Chris Richards and someone… maybe Trusty, maybe Freeman; Left back: Jedi; Midfield: Adams, Berhalter, Tillman… maybe Musah; Wingers: Reyna and… someone… maybe Sullivan; Striker: Someone… maybe Julian Hall.
Poch could also pull a surprise and go to a three center back formation and that would all look slightly different. At least, it seems clear that he won’t want to drift too far from the team’s attacking ethos of late, if for no other reason than trying to score more goals that El Tri will make up for any defensive foibles that pop up.
For Mexico, the team is coming off of a pair of 1-1 draws to Colombia and Peru and, like the USA, many of their best players are not available this window. BUT WAIT, IS THAT RAFA MARQUEZ’S MUSIC? For those who don’t remember, El Kaiser – a nickname that is well deserved – was an absolute terror in games against the USMNT for his career. He famously scored the second goal in the 89th minute in a 2016 qualifier in Columbus to put the USA away 2-1 in a game that was deeply foreshadowing for the Americans. Marquez played in five World Cups, he was very good and earned two red cards against the USMNT along with a designation of being sanctioned under the Kingpin Act.
As noted in the scouting article, Rafa wants to possess and attack. The team is without some big names but did bring along Gilberto Mora who is the next Cavan Sullivan according to some. As was seen against Peru and Colombia, the team hasn’t quite put together the tactics that will bring his vision to life, but he’s been at the helm for two games. At its best, USA vs. Mexico is passionate, fun, soccer and at its worst it is passionate… there are a lot of fights. The game is dripping with narrative and new generations of players on both teams will be eager to make their mark on the next chapter of the story.
