Three thoughts: Individual mistakes lead to more head-scratchers than answers
Diego Cocca's last test run before the USMNT doesn't provide a positive outlook
El Tri rescued a last-minute 2-2- draw against Cameroon Saturday night, ending their short camp before starting a key summer as the national team prepares for the 2026 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América that will also take place stateside.
1. Individual errors proved costly
Luis Romo and Luis Malagón’s mistakes should not be ignored because in a setting where everything was in their favor, they looked weak. Chasing the result twice didn’t help El Tri as they try to figure out Cocca’s style.
Both mistakes were derived from a lack of concentration. Romo’s actions with the national team have always been passive, while Malagón is still processing his quick ascend from a Necaxa goalkeeping starter to Club América and national team starter. Malagón’s ascend has been super fast, but it’s not an excuse for his mistake on Saturday night.
These individual errors must be alarming for Cocca and his coaching staff because they can start becoming recurrent. Let’s not forget that the USMNTs goal against El Tri in Arizona happened because of miscommunication between Carlos Acevedo and Víctor Guzmán.
In the second half, Uriel Antuna had three straight opportunities to make something happen in the offensive end, and he failed miserably in all three. Those can also be categorized as individual mistakes and even though they weren’t directly reflected in the final score, as Romo and Malagón’s mistakes, they were equally as terrible. Cocca implemented a formation which asked Antuna and Ozziel Herrera to do damage through the wings, but they failed.
Looking over the last 180 minutes, both Cameroon and Guatemala created a lot of danger in México’s area, and that should be enough evidence to raise concern ahead of this busy summer.
2. Returning to the backline of three
As one of his mentors always did, Cocca is clearly trying to make the backline of three a constant in El Tri. Ricardo La Volpe carried his proceso by making the backline of three El Tri’s specialty.
There’s nothing wrong in this experiment, as Cocca used it throughout his Atlas days, but the problem right now is that he hasn’t had enough time to try it out with defenders like César Montes, Johan Vásquez and even Edson Álvarez, who will all likely start against the USMNT this Thursday.
He needs more repetitions. Will Julian Araujo start in the right, and Jesús Gallardo in the left? Or is there a chance for Gerardo Arteaga to claim a starting role in the defensive line, allowing Gallardo to have a more offensive role?
In the last three games, Gúzman looked comfortable in the backline of three against the USMNT and Guatemala, while Israel Reyes gave a good performance against Cameroon, and even had time to add a goal to his name.
The task in front of Cocca looks complicated because on the one hand he needs to win in the Nations League and the Gold Cup, but on the other hand he needs to find the right XI that fits his style.
It will be hard for him to achieve both things at the same time, but not impossible. If he manages to construct his XI with the backline of three, and El Tri wins the Nations League and Gold Cup, his position as México manager will be more than stabilized.
3. Giving extra days off to several of El Tri’s main players, will it work or backfire?
Going back to the idea of having time to work his formation, Cocca is playing with fire as he will hold his first full training with all the players available for the Nations League until Monday evening, Las Vegas time.
Will Santi Giménez enter the XI? Who will be the wingers joining him? Orbelin Pineda and Aléxis Vega? But what if Vega isn’t 100%?
If the midfield pairing is Luis Chávez and Edson, they will hold the key of El Tri’s defensive and offensive play. Chávez needs to be sharp with his distribution and look more on command with the ball.
These extra days off allowed many of El Tri’s main players to decompress. These next weeks will test a lot of mental aspects because if they lose against the USMNT this Thursday, they will need to forget it immediately and focus on winning the Gold Cup, which they will have an advantage as they will confront that tournament with the same squad as the Nations League, something the USMNT aren’t expected to do.
Cocca is enjoying his time as México manager. He couldn’t stop smiling after Kevin Álvarez scored the equalizer on Saturday night, but his tenure couldn’t have had a worse start because in the three tough games his proceso has faced so far, El Tri didn’t win a single one.