Mexico won 2-1 over Jamaica at the start of the octagon, however, there are areas left to strengthen in the team led by Gerardo Martino
The Mexican National Team started their walk through the CONCACAF qualifiers with a victory, after winning 2-1 over JamaicaHowever, the duel showed areas where the team led by Gerardo Martino will have to work in the face of matches with complex regional rivals, who often make their home a bastion and complicate things in the Tri.
ESPN presents the lessons left by Mexico’s duel against Jamaica at the start of the road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
forcefulness
Lack of certainty in the face of the frame that Mexico showed during the Nations League and Gold Cup final during the summer dragged its debut in the Octagonal of the Confederation of North America, Central America and the Caribbean Football which will define the selected ones who will attend the next World Cup.
For 90 minutes against the Caribbean team, the Tri shot on 27 occasions, of which only seven were on goal, and which includes Rogelio Funes Mori’s solo shot in front of the frame to head in the 21st minute and Roberto Alvarado’s unmarked shot in the 63rd minute, which crashed into the base of the right post and invoked the football maxim “goal missed, goal against”.
Failures in defense
Another imperfection by which the Tri crossed during the summer period of competitions was the defensive task, As the defenses disappeared at crucial moments and, in front of Jamaica, there was an echo of the aforementioned.
With the goalless draw, Nestor Araujo relaxed the mark on striker Shamar Nicholson, Caused a hasty intervention by Jesus Gallardo that culminated with the ball in the small area and Norman Campbell in the race, ready to open the scoring if not for goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
In the other hand, winger Jorge Sánchez erred in cutting a long cross service, As he lost the race against Kemar Lawrence, lane, he hastily connected the ball with his head and left it in a clear goal position for Nicholson.
Decreases and decreasing absences
In their debut in the World Cup qualifiers, young players such as Jorge Sánchez, Roberto Alvarado, César Montes and Sebastià Córdova showed different versions. which were seen during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, as they did not weigh too much during their time on the track.
As for absences that diminish the call, and therefore the idea of the coach’s game, are Raúl Jímenez and Hirving Lozano – who make up the usual offensive trident along with Jesus Corona and was not considered for this duel in due to which he reported late-, in addition to Johan Vasquez, Diego Lainez and Héctor Herrera, who accuse injuries.
variants
The various factors mentioned, among others, have led to Gerardo Martino opting in the summer for a 4-3-3 formation during most duels, Although players like Orbelín Pineda, Jonathan dos Santos or Erick Gutiérrez showed difficulty in playing outside their usual zone, in the search to fill gaps left by absences.
In front of Jamaica, Gerardo Martino started with a 4-2-3-1 that allowed the winger Jesús Gallardo to reach the bottom line, A constant in its exercise with Mexican Selection, to Sebastián Córdova behind the forward – although little favorable for the mediocentro- or the same Pineda, that gave better sencaciones before the Caribbean combined one in comparison to many lapses in Gold Glass .
Alexis Vega renders out of Chivas
Ramat striker, Olympic bronze medalist in Tokyo 2020 and is in the eleven stars of coach Jaume Lozano, Has shown that the shirt of the Tri does not weigh on his 23 years, as in the Olympics he was uncovered with three goals and two assists, which made him a key player for the aspirations of the team .
However, after seven dates with Chivas in the 2021 Opening, Alexis Vega has 311 minutes and has not scored with the team, Which goes through a disaster, ranks eleventh in the overall table with seven points and has only scored seven times.