Defensive struggles and attacking frailty highlighted the US\u2019 day as a depleted U-23 side looked gassed in the Guadalajara heat and altitude. Ultimately, however, three points is three points and this win is huge to gain momentum moving forward into the group stages and, hopefully, the semis.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Here are the five takeaways from the US\u2019 performance against Costa Rica:<\/span><\/p>\n Remember when I tried to predict the lineup for this game and I said I will probably be very wrong\u2014 well, I was right in saying that. Kreis really did bamboozle fans with his odd categorical format in listing out his team selection. He was going with the 4-3-3 the whole time.<\/span><\/p>\n The team\u2019s tactics were very reminiscent of the performance against Trinidad earlier this year with some of the same personnel as well. Unfortunately, those tactics were not executed similarly. One of those reasons is because the Ticos did their homework.<\/span><\/p>\n The US\u2019 tactics relies on attacking through the middle and using the number 6, Jackson Yueill, as a general with his long ball ability to spray balls to the flanks. To combat that, Costa Rica came out in a 4-5-1 to clog the midfield options with a five-to-three advantage. Knowing that Yueill would drop back to receive the ball, they had their industrious number 9, Manfred Ugalde, shadow him during the build up.<\/span><\/p>\n That forced the two American center backs, Justen Glad and Mauricio Pineda, to have to find other options as Costa Rica inflicted a heavy press on the two. As the defensive pair passed between each other, the Costa Rican midfielders would take turns running kamikaze to step up onto either of the center halves, daring them to play long.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n With nerves and an MLS offseason to boot, mistakes were made\u2014 many mistakes. Take this instance in the 17th minute, which was one of many. Pineda especially was horrible under pressure and could hardly make a good pass in this match and Costa Rica were able to push him and Glad to make many forced errors. David Ochoa bailed the two out on many occasions, which I\u2019ll highlight later.<\/span><\/p>\n The Costa Rica press kept daring Pineda to make a line-breaking pass and, for the most part, it worked considering the amount of times he passed it to a Tico\u2019s feet or into the stands. But, as they say\u2014 if you give a monkey a typewriter, it will eventually write Shakespeare and that\u2019s how the US scored their goal.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Pineda was finally able to find a great pass to a streaking Sam Vines who had space in behind. After some great work from the left back, who had a pretty good game, Ferreira was able to slot away the first and only goal of the game. His false nine presence in the midfield also did wonders to relieve the American disadvantage in the midfield.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As nerves were coming down to a simmer going into the half and the US adjusted to the speed of the game, I really expected the US to dominate coming out the gate\u2014 dictating the speed of play. However, the opposite came true. The only true attacking option the US had going forward in the first half was Vines, who gave great service and combined well with his Colorado teammate in Jonathan Lewis. How do you combat that?<\/span><\/p>\n Just pile on the pressure on that left hand side to stop that attack from revving up. If you thought Costa Rica piled on the pressure in the first half, they hit the NOS in the second. MLSers Luis Diaz and Randall Leal kept constant pressure on Vines and Pineda and really pinched them back the entirety of the second half. (By the way, I wasn\u2019t able to get a full tape of the game, so I apologize if the game tape is a little lackluster).<\/span><\/p>\n It was only God and David Ochoa\u2019s hands that somehow allowed the US to come out with a clean sheet. You can\u2019t blame Jason Kreis for this one though, it falls almost solely on the players.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Kreis used the tactical archetype used in the senior team\u2014 as he should. Although the team floundered in vast stretches of the game, the head coach is hardly to blame. The team should be able to deal with pressure and adjust on the fly and they simply were not able to even though Kreis gave them all the tools to do so.<\/span><\/p>\n The manager did not fall into the danger of the tinker bug and held steadfast in his tactics. That\u2019s credit to him considering his squad\u2019s performance. His substitutions were also astute.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n He brought off Benji Michel and Djordje Mihailovic early in the second for Sebastian Saucedo and Andr\u00e9s Perea, which were two needed and impactful decisions. Both of the starters were very evidently fatigued and both Perea and Saucedo were decent in the final stretches of the match.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n As the US were basically playing win-and-clear type soccer for the final ten minutes, Kreis brought on Araujo and Cardoso for some necessary defensive reinforcements. So although I can\u2019t speak on his team talks, his concrete actions show he wasn\u2019t at fault for a lackluster performance\u2014 that goes on the players.<\/span><\/p>\n They showed apathy at times and made some incredibly irrational errors. I wish I could get the tape for this, but there was a play in stoppage time in the first half where Aaron Herrera whipped in a cross and it was fumbled by the goalkeeper and no runner was available to get the rebound. Mihailovic was just in view, but he just looked too tired to be an option.<\/span><\/p>\n The more I think about yesterday\u2019s game the more I\u2019m stoked on it. An out-of-season US U23 squad missing 9 of 11 starters and most top depth pieces beat a first choice Costa Rica side in a game that really mattered.<\/p>\n — Matthew Doyle (@MattDoyle76) March 19, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\nCosta Rica owned the US tactically\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/a><\/span><\/p>\nThe team was their own worst enemy<\/span><\/h3>\n
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