USMNT may have to face Uruguay at their own game and that’s a scary prospect

If the United States wants to keep their Copa America ambitions alive, they will have to do it the hard way.

After last week’s disappointing 2-1 defeat to Panama, Gregg Berhalter’s team now needs three points against Marcelo Bielsa’s Uruguay (15-time champions and one of the favorites ahead of the tournament) to have a chance to a disastrous early elimination.

The bad news is that Monday’s opponents look every bit as ruthless and unforgiving as expected, although their enigmatic manager won’t be sitting on a cooler in the technical area of ​​Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City on this occasion. The 68-year-old Bielsa is serving a one-match ban after Uruguay returned to the field late for the second half of last week’s 5-0 win over Bolivia.

In two dominant group stage games so far, they have scored eight goals, won the highest percentage of their defensive matches of any team in the tournament, and striker Darwin Nunez alone has had twice as many possessions in the opponent’s penalty area (24) as Costa Rica and Bolivia together.

Here’s what the USMNT will have to overcome…

During an eclectic managerial career spanning more than three decades, Bielsa has built a reputation as one of the game’s great innovators. His style of play is intense and he is obsessive in his belief that his teams must always be the ‘stars’ of every game.

With the ball, his Uruguayan team are not afraid to send men forward, especially if they can dominate possession, as they did against Bolivia. The two center backs, Ronald Araujo and Mathias Olivera, step forward and press the field, the fullbacks push high and wide and the remaining six outfielders flood the center of the field.

Crucially, the receivers are constantly on the move and always changing positions to pull apart the opposition’s defensive structure.

Try to keep up with the three midfielders in the GIF below. In just 20 seconds, Manuel Ugarte and Federico Valverde swap positions three times, while Nicolas de la Cruz starts on the right, makes two quick runs behind the midfield and finally ends up on the left flank as full-back.

It’s a whirlwind system that requires incredible stamina as well as technical skills to receive the ball in the tight spots on the pitch. But it does ensure that Valverde has the freedom to charge forward with the ball at his feet and De la Cruz has the freedom to dive deeper and make passes to his teammates.

“You have to be constantly moving, they have a lot of athleticism in their midfield,” said USMNT midfielder Tyler Adams. “I’m playing under a coach now in Andoni Iraola (at Bournemouth) who plays a similar style to what he learned from Bielsa, so I’m used to playing against that in training. Movement is going to be the biggest key in this game.”

But Uruguay also have physicality; as well as a tournament-high winning percentage with outright tackles, they have won 70.9 percent of their aerial duels, 11 percent more than any other team.

Packing the final third with players during the build-up means that if the attack breaks down, there are several dominant ball winners around to win it back straight away. No team in the Copa America has regained possession more times than their 18 times in the attacking third, four of which resulted in shots, also the most in the competition so far.

“While the opponent has the ball, the whole team presses and always tries to break the game as close to the opponent’s goal as possible,” 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 who had hoped the intensity would drop, as Uruguay has already qualified for the next round, may be in for a surprise.

Bielsa is relentless in his pursuit of dominance and was noticeably furious on the touchline (see image below) after a misplaced pass against Bolivia, leaping from his humpback seat with his team 2-0 up and having conceded just 0.04 expected goals (xG) to the opposition at the time. The manager will be banned from any contact with his players from the moment they arrive at the stadium on Monday, but assistant Pablo Quiroga will be tasked with carrying out his instructions.

And even if Uruguay rotates against the US, bringing in players like Rodrigo Bentancur, Giorgian de Arrascaeta and Luis Suarez won’t reduce the quality of the starting XI.

Uruguay will come face to face with the Americans whether they like it or not.

No team is invincible and Uruguay has its weaknesses, but the US national team will have to be sharp to get the most out of them.

Bielsa’s teams can begin to wither as fatigue sets in from his demanding training sessions and playing style, and while the Argentine hasn’t had his hands on this group of players long enough to see the long-term effects of his methods, there have been one or two lulls in their games so far, most notably in the first 15 minutes of the second half against Panama. Temperatures in Kansas City aren’t expected to reach the 91F/33C that saw an assistant referee collapse during Canada’s 1-0 win over Peru last week, but the heat could also be a factor.

Seizing those moments will be crucial for Berhalter’s team, as will their own midfield movements, something Adams rightly pointed out.

Bielsa’s teams play man-to-man, usually doubled up on the opposition striker, as below. That always leaves a reserve player, usually a centre-back (in yellow), who can wreak havoc if he’s confident enough to step into midfield.

Also note that left back Matias Vina eventually chased Argentinian Rodrigo de Paul into the attacking third. Patience and personality on the ball, coupled with movement forward, can pull the man-oriented press into awkward shapes.

Knowing what to expect is one thing, but managing the inevitable onslaught of a Bielsa team is another.

But this is a crucial match and with the adrenaline pumping, the US national team may have to face the Uruguayans at their own level.

(Top photo: Stephen Nadler/ISI Photos/Getty Images)