USMNT player ratings vs Mexico: With no Christian Pulisic, Mauricio Pochettino’s short-handed squad humbled by El Tri

GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Mauricio Pochettino is many things. He isn’t a wizard. There was no magic or spells he could wave over this U.S. men’s national team to make it perfect. If you didn’t think so before, you definitely realize now.

Ultimately, a short-handed USMNT didn’t have what was necessary to go toe-to-toe with their fierce rivals. Poch magic or no Poch magic, this was Mexico’s night from bell to bell.

El Tri ran away 2-0 winners on Tuesday night at the Estadio Akron and, in reality, it wasn’t even that close. Facing a USMNT group missing seven starters – including team leader Christian Pulisic – Mexico showed no mercy. This was their chance to end five years of frustration, beating their rivals for the first time since 2019 and and taking out their frustration on a USMNT group that felt like a proverbial deer in the headlights.

Raul Jimenez’s stunning free-kick midway through the first half opened the scoring but, in reality, that didn’t tell the story. A free-kick is an individual moment, but this match was team-wide dominance. Mexico outshot the USMNT 16-5. They nearly doubled their passing output in the opposing half. The USMNT had less than a dozen touches in the Mexico box. That paints a picture of how one-sided this was.

When Cesar Huerta’s goal hit the back of the net just four minutes after halftime, it felt like there would be no way back for the USMNT. Whatever halftime speech Pochettino game was instantly rendered meaningless the moment Mexico collectively celebrated their 2-0 lead. There was that infamous “Dos a Cero” again but, this time, it went the other way. The USMNT’s all-time record in games vs. El Tri in Mexico fell to 1-24-4.

The USMNT is 18th overall in the latest FIFA rankings, while Mexico is 17th, the highest current rank among CONCACAF teams.

“It wasn’t a great performance,” Pochettino said following the match. “It’s perfect for us to learn [from]…We started the game well, but after we conceded the goal after 22 minutes the impact was massive for us.”

A hard lesson, for sure, but one that comes at the right time for the USMNT. The shine wore off a little bit in Guadalajara on Tuesday night, coming off a 2-0 win over Panama in his USMNT debut. And it came in a match that will leave Pochettino with about as many questions as answers.

GOAL rates USMNT players from Estadio Akron.

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  Goalkeeper & Defense

  Matt Turner (6/10):

  Nothing he could have really done on either goal. Did make one big save in the second half, though.

  Antonee Robinson (7/10):

  Probably the only USMNT player that can say he played well in the first half. Even when most of the pieces around him struggle, Robinson’s level never seems to drop.

  Tim Ream (4/10):

  Did a good job to win an initial tackle before the second goal, but he’ll know as well as anyone that he needed to just hoof it right after. He didn’t, and the ball was in the back of the net almost immediately after.

  Miles Robinson (4/10):

  Ream will get a chunk of the blame for Mexico’s second, but Robinson also got dusted in a 1v1. That can’t happen either, particularly for a player who was handed an unlikely chance to step up.

  Joe Scally (6/10):

  Wasn’t fantastic, but also didn’t have any horrific moments, either, which puts him ahead of many of his teammates.

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    Midfield

    Yunus Musah (5/10):

    Started out wide again before Pochettino moved him back into the midfield. Was nowhere near effective as he was during the Panama game on Saturday night, even taking away the goal.

    Gianluca Busio (4/10):

    Never coped with the physicality of the game. Was put into the midfield to be the ball-mover and pace-setter, but he was overrun from the opening whistle.

    Aidan Morris (4/10):

    Brought some attitude, but didn’t quite have the street smarts for this game, as evidenced from his first-half yellow card. He was admittedly right to be angry about that, but it was a sequence that will have taught him the cleverness required to play in games like this.

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    Attack

    Malik Tillman (4/10):

    Just couldn’t get going. Tried to do too much the few times he did get the ball and it never really came off for him. The USMNT needed him to take over this game and he never got close to doing so.

    Brenden Aaronson (3/10):

    To his credit, he battled back in the second half, but Aaronson’s first-half was about as bad as it could have been. Unable to really handle the physicality, and the refereeing, Aaronson was pressed into some bad giveaways that could have been bad goals.

    Josh Sargent (4/10):

    Had a whopping 13 touches and zero shots on goal. Never got service, but also never really found a place where he could influence the game, either.

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    Subs & Manager

    Kristoffer Lund (5/10):

    Was caught just a bit too high on Mexico’s second goal, leaving Ream’s lack of pace exposed. Other than that, was fine.

    Alejandro Zendejas (7/10):

    Brought life to the game in more ways than one. Had one fantastic cross that amounted to one of the USMNT’s better looks and then was shown yellow for scrapping with Angulo. To be fair, this game needed that from someone.

    Tanner Tessmann (6/10):

    Replaced former club teammate Busio and definitely looked the better of the two. Did well when he did get the ball, showing off the composure that defined his Olympic run this summer.

    Brandon Vazquez (7/10):

    Made his presence felt almost immediately by winning a header on the edge of the box and then had the USMNT’s best shot on goal in the 79th minute.

    Haji Wright (6/10):

    Had just a few touches over his 30-minute run out.

    Auston Trusty (N/A):

    Was given a few minutes at the end. Would have been nice to see more.

    Mauricio Pochettino (5/10):

    Vibes convinced people that Pochettino and the USMNT could walk into Mexico with a weakened team and compete. This result said otherwise. The coach wanted this chance to see how his team would handle an occasion like this in a raucous environment like this. What did he learn? There are plenty of players on this team not yet ready for this spotlight.