USMNT second half vs. Ecuador gives positives for Pochettino

AUSTIN, Texas — At first glance, the term “a tale of two halves” doesn’t seem appropriate to describe Friday’s 1-1 draw between the U.S. men’s national team and the United States. EcuadorThe US had the advantage of mass possession throughout, creating good chances and maintaining dominance La Tri For long extension. But if seen from a different perspective, this applies.

In the first half, even though the United States controlled the pace (64.4% possession vs. 35.6%), it was Ecuador who controlled a dominant area. He made more important smaller plays. That ability is consistent with his recent history. They are a team that has relied on defensive solidity, excellent goalkeeping when needed and an opportunistic attack to finish second behind the defending champions in World Cup qualifying. argentinaalong the way, La Tri Conceded a modest five goals in 18 matches. Although scoring 14 goals isn’t exactly spectacular, it proved enough to qualify for their sixth consecutive World Cup.

In this match, for the half at any rate, Ecuador checked all those boxes. The defense was adept at limiting space, deflecting the pass and forcing the United States into blind alleys. On the rare occasions when America passed the goalkeeper hernan galindez He was there to make some excellent saves, including a deflection off the post chris richards Shot in the 26th minute.

In attack, Ecuador punished America with a transition goal in the 24th minute. American midfielder aidan morris when he tried to pounce on a transition pass to Jordi Alsivar, and the Ecuadorian midfielder’s subsequent feed went blank Ener Valencia The Pachuca striker was allowed to get into a one-vs-one situation against Richards, which he made the most of to fire a shot just inside Matt Freese’s far post.

A game full of small victories that turned into a crucial sequence defined the first half.

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In the second half, the US reversed the trend. It defended with more composure, increased the tempo of the attack and scored a goal from the press in a play that involved Tim Weah, Tanner Tesman And malik tillmanand ended with Folarin Balogun Scoring off Tillman’s centering feed. America tried everything possible to find a winner, but again could not succeed.

That said, it was a performance that reflected well on the USMNT, even if the scoreline was not entirely satisfactory. It showed great dynamism in attack with Tillman and Weston McKenney Using lots of clever touches to find Balogun behind the defense in the kind of spots he thrives in. Defensively, it looked solid in a structure that echoed the approach golden bowlwhere it was played with a fluid back line that often defended with four players, but allowed left backs max arfston To be inclined upwards from the ground.

But one of the more encouraging aspects of the match was the US’s ability to win more small battles in the second half and turn them into important games. Establishing that habit is a vital part of achieving success at the 2026 World Cup next summer. In that kind of competition, the teams are so evenly matched, especially in the knockout rounds, that there are often very few details between advancing deeper into the tournament and getting an early ticket.

For most of this calendar year, at least in the matches that involved most of the first-choice teams, the US was not playing those short games. Friday’s match, as well as last month’s match Japan Those sequences showed the more capable side coming out on top.

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USMNT hosts Ecuador in friendly, draw 1-1

In case you missed it, the USMNT struggled to a 1-1 draw with Ecuador on Friday.

How the US did this is open to interpretation, but suffice it to say that it is multidimensional. The US is finally playing with the kind of energy and desire that manager Mauricio Pochettino needs, as the USMNT has won 53.4% ​​of its duels, 73.3% of tackles and 65.0% of aerial challenges. This sets the stage for a more effective attacking play. For Pochettino, that development is almost a relief.

The American manager later said, “I’m very happy that we don’t talk about other things like commitment, attitude or things like that, which we usually did in the past.” “I think it’s a huge step forward… If we are better and we show that we are better than our opponent, we can win. If we don’t show that, that’s why it’s a football problem.”

“We showed a great mentality and we want to build on that for the World Cup,” he said.

But this is also a team that appears to be gaining some comfort with Pochettino’s system. It has certainly taken some time – much longer than expected when Pochettino took over the program 12 months ago – but the long-overdue reconciliation is now progressing, and the team’s confidence is growing. America is playing on instinct instead of thinking too much about the situations.

“If you’re thinking, ‘Oh, I have to go here or I have to go here,’ then suddenly you start thinking more [rather] By doing just that, “American Defenders tim ream Said. “And now suddenly you see it; the ideas are catching on and so now everyone is just doing it and being able to really give everything all the time.”

Combined with the high level of fitness of the American team – a strong side for a long time – and you have a team that can take the lead and even maintain that advantage. For Ream, this began to show in the second half, not in physically dominating their opponents, but in slowly wearing them down. This creates a snowball effect where each challenge won provides more energy to the team.

“We started playing more games. As the game progressed, we started looking like a new team,” he said. “And listen, as someone who’s been on the other side of this, you know and you feel it. You say, ‘Okay, these guys are starting to flag, they’re starting to get a little gassed,’ and you actually feel more energetic and it allows you to get on top of them more and start making more little plays, being better connected. I think we connected pretty well in the first part, but I think The second part has even closer connections. I’ll tell you what, it takes a toll on teams, and it happened today.”

That improvement, from tactics to mentality and fitness to execution, is even more impressive when you consider who was missing. Alejandro ZendejasSo inspiring against Japan, he was ruled out of the match due to a knee injury, which led to him already returning to club side Club America; antony robinsonWhose return to the USMNT provided a huge boost to the team, did not make the gameday roster; Christian Pulisic Was reduced to a 17-minute cameo from the bench; tyler adams (His partner is going to have a baby) and sergino destination (Injured) didn’t even make the roster.

With these players, America is undoubtedly a better team. Pochettino faces the challenge of deciding who will make his World Cup roster and once that is decided, who will take the field. But, given where this team is, and the progress it’s making, it’s a puzzle he’ll be more than happy to try to solve.