 |
|
Ever since I set my eyes on a Mexican National team’s soccer game all I would hear from my grandpa is how boring Mexico's play was on the field and why they couldn’t mimic Europe’s top clubs’ style of play.
Every time I saw a game on TV it would always be the same thing, my grandpa would point out how Mexico’s style of play was uninspiring. Total domination of the ball is the pillar the Mexican National team has strived to commit to ever since I could remember.
Possession is a tactical approach to the game, however Mexico has always lacked the enthusiasm to adapt to each game. Instead of changing its style of play as the game unfolds they continue to install an old style of play.
Mexico tries to dominate the ball and tire out the opponents, however as we've seen before, domination with possession often leaves holes in the defense.
Teams recognize the holes and have learned how to adapt and respond to teams who aspire to control the tempo of play through this format.
Take a look at FC Barcelona and the Spanish National teams from 2006-2014. Total domination with possession and a mix of zonal play was the key to Spain’s first World Cup title and key to European domination for FC Barcelona. Sure Barcelona and Spain dominated for a few years. However teams quickly found a way to make the style of play less effective, through high pressure and counter attacks.
Going back to today's game, we see that Mexico started off right from the first whistle trying to control the game. With much preparation Germany’s manager Joachim Low knew Mexico would try to dominate with possession and he was fine giving that up to Mexico.
But with enough knowledge of the game and instead of laying back and letting Mexico have their way, the German team adapted to the style of play. In return we saw German team attack Mexico upfront that unsettled them with high pressure.
It seemed to be working right at kickoff, forcing Mexican players to make mistakes with their passes while taking advantage of those mistakes.
High pressure allowed Germany to catch the Mexican team off-guard with constant counter attacks beginning through the middle and continuing through the outside flanks.
Mexico had no answer through the first 15 minutes of the game. Germany kept exposing Mexico’s defense and as a result two goals came out of that pressure.
Germany scored two goals back to back within two minutes of each other. Just like that Mexico's total possession style of play showed its age and how ineffective it can be in today's style of soccer.
The game ended with Germany coming out on top 4-1 and advancing to the Final of the 2017 Confederations Cup.
A lot can come out of this result for the Mexican National team. Mexican fans saw its " Golden era" of players lose to another big rival in another major tournament.
Juan Carlos Osorio's surprising stint with the Mexican National team might be considered as a fluke now to many with the recent results and continuous changes to the line-up, which often leaves us scratching our heads.
And the loss to a German "B team " shows how far Mexico is to acquiring the ultimate goal of winning a World Cup.
With all that said, Mexico's Soccer Federation will need to take a hard look at its current situation and decide whether they want to continue with Osorio at the helm or try to find a replacement in time for the 2018 World Cup in Russia next summer.
Firing a coach before a World Cup is nothing new for Mexico. The team entered the 2014 World Cup in Brazil under coach Miguel Herrera, who had taken over for Victor Manuel Vucetich.
Vucetich only had the job for a month after Jose Manuel del la Torre had been fired for Mexico’s terrible start to World Cup qualifying in 2013 the year before the tournament.
Where is Herrera now? Back coaching in the Mexican league with his old team, Club America.
It's not out of the ordinary to predict that Mexico will let go of Osorio and go in a different direction, where most often than not always leads to the same result, a below average team heading to the World Cup.
Osorio might surprise us and could possibly be the first coach to figure out why the Mexican Federation has a difficult time transitioning the youth squads, who have won two Under-17 World Cups since 2005, to the senior squad.
However, as we sit today, Osorio may as well be on his way out despite his 20-5-3 record with the team.
I guess for now I’ll have to give my grandpa a call to hear the same thing he has been preaching for over 15 years. Here we go again.
Comments
Post a Comment