Mexico won 2 to 1 over Jamaica at the beginning of the octagonal, however, there are still areas to strengthen in the team led by Gerardo Martino
The Mexican National Team began its journey through the Concacaf qualifying rounds with a victory, after beating Jamaica in the 2 to 1 hourHowever, the duel showed areas in which the team led by Gerardo Martino will have to work in the face of matches with complex regional rivals, which tend to make a stronghold of their home and complicate things for Tri.
ESPN presents the lessons of Mexico’s duel against Jamaica at the start of the road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
Forcefulness
The lack of certainty regarding the framework that Mexico showed during the final of the Nations League and Gold Cup during the summer was dragged down its debut in the Octagonal of the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean of Soccer that will define the selected ones who will attend the next World Cup.
During 90 minutes against the Caribbean team, El Tri finished 27 times, of which only seven were on target, and in which Rogelio Funes Mori’s blunder is included alone in front of the frame to finish with his head at 21 ‘and Roberto Alvarado’s unmarked shot at 63 ‘, which crashed into the base of the right post and invoked the soccer maxim “goal missed, goal against.”
Defense failures
Another imprefection that El Tri went through during the summer competition period was the defensive work, since the defenders disappeared in decisive moments and, against Jamaica, an echo of the aforementioned was seen.
With the scoreless score, Nestor Araujo relaxed the brand on striker Shamar Nicholson, caused a hasty intervention by Jesús Gallardo that culminated with the ball inside the small area and with Norman Campbell in the race, ready to open the scoring if it were not for goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Secondly, full-back Jorge Sánchez erred when cutting a long cross serveAs he lost the race to winger Kemar Lawrence, he hastily connected the ball with his head and put it in a clear goal position for Nicholson.
Loss of play and absences that decrease
In their debut in World Cup qualifiers, young players such as Jorge Sánchez, Roberto Alvarado, César Montes and Sebastián Córdova showed different versions which were seen during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as they did not weigh too much during their time on the court.
As for absences that reduce the call, and therefore the coach’s idea of the game, there are Raúl Jímenez and Hirving Lozano -who make up the usual offensive trident together with Jesús Corona and was not considered for this duel because he reported late-, in addition to Johan Vasquez, Diego Lainez and Héctor Herrera, who have injuries.
Variants
The various factors mentioned, among others, have resulted in Gerardo Martino opting in the summer for a 4-3-3 formation during most of the duels, despite the fact that players like Orbelín Pineda, Jonathan dos Santos or Erick Gutiérrez showed difficulty in playing outside their usual zone, in the search to cover gaps left by absences.
Facing Jamaica, Gerardo Martino started with a 4-2-3-1 that allowed full-back Jesús Gallardo to reach the baseline, a constant in his performance with the Mexican National Team, Sebastían Córdova behind the striker -although not very favorable for the midfielder- or Pineda himself, who gave better sencations against the Caribbean team compared to many lapses in the Gold Cup.
Alexis Vega performs out of Chivas
The Rebaño striker, Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo 2020 and is in the star eleven of coach Jaime Lozano, has shown that the Tri shirt does not weigh him down at 23 years old, because in the Olympic Games he uncovered with three goals and two assists, which made him a decisive player for the team’s aspirations.
Instead, After seven dates with Chivas in the Apertura 2021, Alexis Vega has 311 minutes and has not scored with the team, which goes through a debacle, is eleventh in the general table with seven points and has only scored seven times.
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