El Tri faces desperate times during unconventional times
With two draws at Estadio Azteca, Martino will begin to feel the heat
It’s true ever since the 2021 summer, El Tri’s play hasn’t been fantastic. You probably already heard many people say TE LO DIJE as El Tri picked up its second draw at Estadio Azteca in these World Cup qualifiers.
It’s just strange to see what Azteca has turned into, how this historical place that was once seen as a shield for El Tri is now brittle, so brittle that the away teams can walk out of the tunnel knowing really well that getting points is highly possible. The Azteca no longer represents that aura that gave El Tri that extra push before the kickoff whistle.
El Tri’s display against Costa Rica was equally as grim as the attendance in the stadium. Without the aura that once pushed El Tri to victory, Gerardo “Tata” Martino continued to make questionable decisions with his XI and substitutions.
Yes, El Tri continues to be in third place, tied with second-placed USA, and five ahead fifth-placed Costa Rica. The numbers still play in favor of Tata’s México, but for how long?
1. In the last 180 minutes played, Rogelio Funes Mori participated in 133, Chaka 174 and Jesús Gallardo 133. The trio produced zero goals and assists. Gallardo attempted seven crosses, only one of them was accurate. He was involved in 11 ground duels and only won three. His numbers scream lack of intensity. Funes Mori had zero shots on target. Chaka, who will miss the Panama game due to yellow card accumulation, created three key passes against Costa Rica, but only won four of his 16 ground duels throughout his time on the pitch. Gallardo and Chaka have been nonexistent at both ends of the field. Ultimately, it’s Martino who makes the call on having them on the field for so many minutes, and the numbers suggest that perhaps they shouldn’t be on the field in the first place.
2. After the first half against Costa Rica, it was obvious El Tri needed some sort of shake up. Martino opted to send Orbelín Pineda and Luis Romo to the field for Edson Álvarez and Charly who was coming off a great performance against Jamaica. Perhaps it would have been best to take off Funes Mori and Edson (who might have come off due to the minor injury that prevented him to play against Jamaica). Considering their superb performances against Jamaica, Martino should have plugged in Diego Lainez and Alexis Vega. By not using Lainez and sending Vega late in the game, Martino missed a massive chance to build something important offensively.
3. Because offensively, the situation has become desperate. That desperation is best embodied in Chucky, whose shots on goal are just not coming off right. Chucky’s not enjoying his game with the national team, and that has a lot to do with Martino’s poor game-planning. Sending crosses into the box looking for a Chucky header…it just doesn’t make sense. The best version of Chucky comes when there are opportunities for one-two passing, when there’s association around the box, when there’s legitimate fullbacks that confuse opposing defenders, but most importantly when there are midfielders that can read the game and find those tight passages that could lead him on finding a decent look on goal. All that demands creativity, something El Tri has barely shown in the last 180 minutes. Una concreta generación de juego has only occurred with Lainez on the field, and Tata left him on the bench on a very winnable game on Sunday.
4. In CONCACAF, losing points at home is costly, and El Tri already did it twice in these qualifiers! It’s getting to a point where I don’t know if El Tri really has a so called “advantage” when it plays “home”. That’s where we are right now.