If the United States are going to keep their Copa America ambitions alive, they will have to do it the hard way.
Following last week’s ill-tempered 2-1 defeat to Panama, Gregg Berhalter’s side now need three points against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay — 15-time champions and one of the pre-tournament favourites — to stand a chance of avoiding a disastrous early exit.
The bad news is that Monday’s opponents look every bit as ruthless and relentless as expected, even if their enigmatic manager will not be sitting on a coolbox in the technical area at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City on this occasion. Bielsa, 68, will be serving a one-match ban after Uruguay returned late to the pitch for the second half of last week’s 5-0 win against Bolivia.
In two dominant group-stage displays so far, they have scored eight goals, won the highest proportion of their defensive duels of any team in the tournament, and striker Darwin Nunez alone has had twice as many touches in the opposition penalty area (24) as Costa Rica and Bolivia combined.
Here is what the USMNT will have to overcome…
Across an eclectic managerial career spanning more than three decades, Bielsa has developed a reputation as one of the great innovators of the game. His style of play is intense and he is obsessive in his belief his teams should always be the “protagonists” in every game.
With the ball, his Uruguay team are not afraid to throw men forward, particularly when they can dominate possession, as they did against Bolivia. The two centre-backs, Ronald Araujo and Mathias Olivera, step forward and squeeze the pitch, the full-backs push high and wide and the remaining six outfield players flood the centre of the pitch.
Crucially, the receivers are constantly on the move, always rotating positions to pull the opposition’s defensive structure apart.
Try to keep track of the three midfield players in the GIF below. In barely 20 seconds, Manuel Ugarte and Federico Valverde swap positions three times, while Nicolas de la Cruz starts out on the right, makes two darting runs in behind the midfield, before eventually dropping into a full-back position on the left.
It’s a swirling system that requires incredible stamina, as well as technical ability to receive in tight spaces across the pitch, but it ensures Valverde has the freedom to storm forward with the ball at his feet and De la Cruz the license to drop into deeper areas and fire passes into his team-mates.
“You have to constantly be moving, they have a lot of athleticism in their midfield,” said USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams. “I play under a coach now in Andoni Iraola (at Bournemouth) who plays a similar style as he learned from Bielsa, so I’m kind of used to playing against that in training. Movement is going to be the biggest key in this game.”
But Uruguay have physicality, too; alongside a tournament-high true-tackle win rate, they have won 70.9 per cent of their aerial duels, 11 per cent more than any other side.
Packing the final third with players during the build-up means that should the attack break down, there are several dominant ball-winners in close proximity to win it straight back. No team in the Copa America have regained possession more often than their 18 times in the attacking third, with four of those resulting in shots, also the most in the competition so far.
“While the opponent has the ball, the whole team presses, always trying to cut off the play as close as possible to the opponent’s goal,” Bielsa once said of his off-the-ball approach, “and when we get it we look to play with dynamism and create the spaces for improvisation.”
Those hoping for a drop-off in that intensity, given Uruguay have already qualified for the next round, may be in for a surprise.
Bielsa is tireless in his quest for domination and was notably furious on the sidelines (see image below) after a misplaced pass against Bolivia, springing up from his bucket seat with his side 2-0 up having conceded just 0.04 expected goals (xG) to the opposition at the time. The manager will not be allowed any contact with his players from when they arrive at the stadium on Monday, but assistant Pablo Quiroga will be tasked with carrying out his instructions.
And even if Uruguay do rotate against the U.S., bringing in the likes of Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Luis Suarez will not diminish the quality of the starting XI.
Uruguay will be in American faces, whether they like it or not.
No team is invincible and Uruguay do have their weaknesses, but the USMNT will have to be sharp to make the most of them.
Bielsa’s sides can start to wilt as fatigue sets in from his demanding training sessions and style of play, and while the Argentine hasn’t had his hands on this group of players for long enough to see the long-term effects of his methods, there have been one or two lulls in their games so far, especially in the opening 15 minutes of the second half against Panama. Temperatures in Kansas City are not expected to reach the 91F/33C in which an assistant referee collapsed during Canada’s 1-0 win over Peru last week, but the heat may well play a role, too.
Exploiting those moments will be key for Berhalter’s side, as will their own midfield movement, something Adams rightly pointed out.
Bielsa’s teams mark man-to-man, usually doubling up on the opposition striker, as below. That always leaves a spare player, usually a centre-back (in yellow), who can cause havoc if they are confident enough to stride into midfield.
Note also that left-back Matias Vina has ended up chasing Argentina’s Rodrigo de Paul into the attacking third. Patience and personality on the ball, paired with movement up ahead, can see the man-orientated press pulled into awkward shapes.
Knowing what to expect is one thing, but managing the inevitable onslaught from a Bielsa team is quite another.
But this is a crucial game and with adrenaline pumping, the USMNT may have to take the Uruguayans on at their own game.
(Top photo: Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/Getty Images)
