Chaos is a ladder, said Lord Baelish. Especially when it comes to international soccer, where injuries, manager changes — both with country and club — a bad transfer or run of form can shift a player’s standing with his national team within a week or two. Getting together only every month or longer leads to a lot of variance.
So with the USMNT’s matches for 2023 in the books, we thought it was a good time to see who is most important to the team, who isn’t, and everything in between, in a fashion that we’ve totally lifted from Football365. But they do theirs about England, and we’ll do ours about a team that might actually win something one day!
To be clear, this isn’t about who is the best player in the USMNT player pool, or who is better than whom. This is ranked on terms of importance to the team, which not only takes in quality, but replaceability or uniqueness, as well. We’ll come back before the Copa America to see what’s changed and who’s shifted where. Let’s kick this pig!
Photo: (Getty Images)
Ok, it’s not the best start to show why this list is different when the best player is at the top. But this isn’t just a measure of how good Pulisic is, but the dropoff to whoever fills in for him when he’s not around, as we saw over the two legs against T&T. The US might only have one other player who can create something all by himself, and Gio Reyna has started one game for Dortmund this year. Hard to count on that. Pulisic is the face of the team for a reason.
Adams would usually be No. 1 on this list, because the US couldn’t identify anyone else who could do what he does. Yunus Musah has kind of, kind of, shown he can play as a No. 6 in a pinch. But one suspects if Gregg Berhalter had to throw Musah out as the deepest midfielder next summer against Uruguay or Colombia, most US fans would be filling their pants. Adams is still the only genuine destroyer the team has and the whole midfield structure is still depending on his now-fragile hamstrings.
Musah’s ability to shift through all three midfield spots makes him invaluable, and the fact that he’s the only one who can dribble his way out of a press. Could he be a better passer? Sure. Could he provide more of an end product? Yep. He’s also, somehow, still only 20. Let’s cherish what we have.
Is it a good sign that a central defender in his mid-30s ranks this highly? No, no it is not. But Ream is still holding down a regular place in the Premier League, while every other central defender is either in MLS, playing in lesser European leagues or can’t get a regular game in a Big 5 league (hi, Chris Richards!). Hopefully, some of this changes in the coming months before the team gets back together in March, but this is where we are.
Not necessarily a measure of his actual play, and being dropped by Nottingham Forest recently is a big worry, but the lack of options behind him. Ethan Horvath isn’t playing at all. Zack Steffen plays in Narnia. Gaga Slonina is still too green. Turner needs to get back into the Forest lineup between now and March or it will get very urpy in net indeed.
Again, a measure of what’s behind him, especially if Reyna is only played inside. Weah is just about the only option to stretch the defense and get in behind. After these two games, Brenden Aaronson needs to be locked in a box for a while, and Kevin Paredes didn’t look up to the level yet. Weah offers a lot of things the US just doesn’t have a lot of.
Should he start playing regularly in Germany, he’ll shoot up this list. It’s still hard to see where exactly he fits in a full-strength lineup. He didn’t come back into the frame until after Adams got hurt. Playing him with Adams and Musah would provide more creativity, but derive the US midfield of some steel. Playing him from wide in a 4-3-3 might dull in influence. Was Berhalter’s experiment with a 4-Triple 2 on Monday with the idea of playing Pulisic and Reyna behind two strikers one day? Reyna is an odd fit, but too talented to leave out. But he’s got to put games together.
Really tempted to slot him lower because he’s the most one-dimensional of the midfield party. Musah is a better dribbler. De la Torre is a better passer. Reyna is more creative. Adams the far superior defender. But McKennie does the one thing the rest don’t. Get goals. And when he can be bothered, his engine turns the midfield into something fearsome to play against. Fits into the Chris Carter, “He only catches touchdowns” category, but getting goals is still the name of the game here.
Not quite the intro into the team we’d all hoped, but still the only top-class striker the US has ever had. Berhalter is happy to tell anyone that the team is still figuring out how to play with him, which is hard to do when a team only gets three or four practices with each other once a month, at best. Hopefully the extended time together during Copa America solves all this. Still, the only bet the US has to bury a chance in a match where they’ll only get a couple, which is coming this summer.
Odd that only a spot-starter cracks the top-ten, but Richards is still the great hope in central defense and has looked the part when played. The US can’t count on Ream’s creaking legs for much longer, if any longer. Richards has the class all around to anchor the defense for years to come. He just has to convince Roy Hodgson that he should start at Palace.
Gets ahead of Dest because he didn’t blow kisses to the ref after being carded. Robinson’s importance is magnified with Pulisic’s tendency to tuck inside, thus making the Fulham fullback the only width on the left. Not terribly great with the ball, which makes it all the more striking that he can chip in with a goal or cross more often than you’d think. And dependable defensively, unlike the other side.
We’ll put his brief trip to Mars on Monday to the side. Dest is probably the biggest wild card in the US squad, in that he can do just about anything from either fullback position. Can he be a defensive liability? Sure. But there aren’t many teams who can sport a player at fullback who can become a No. 10, or winger, or attacking midfielder at any moment. The US looks a little toothless without him.
We may never know where Robinson would be had he not shredded his achilles months before the World Cup, because he was definitely the No. 1 central defender in the picture before that. He’s been passed by Ream and Richards, and maybe even Cameron Carter-Vickers in the meantime. He may never get back to his best, when he looked like a very Diet van Dijk. Perhaps a move to PSV, which was mooted a while ago, would help. Maybe another rock-solid season for Atlanta is enough. But we’ve seen it before, and want it again.
The biggest mover in the second half of 2023. Keeping Balogun on his toes,and earning the right to start alongside him on Monday. Isn’t playing much with PSV, but every time he came on for the US, he created something or scored. Striker depth? Can it be?
Appears to have seized the top choice for Ream’s partner at the moment, got a World Cup start in a game the US had to have, and yet there’s still a feeling he’s there by default. Richards would replace him in a heartbeat if given regular run in the Premier League, and Robinson still might, too. But as a third or fourth option? You could do way worse.
Starting to feel like Berhalter just doesn’t like him, despite starting him on Monday. Is the most cool with the ball in the pool ,though, and projects a calmness that the hare’em scare’em nature of the US midfield can devolve into. First call off the bench when someone is hurt.
He’ll always be picked for the team, but it’s probably worth asking at this point: What does he do? When he was with Philadelphia, he definitely could play with the ball. Now, he just runs around a lot. Can play all three attacking positions behind a striker, in that he can run around a lot from there. Given how much the US likes to press, that has some value. But the clock is definitely ticking for him to actually, y’know, do something.
Versatility is paramount for players who aren’t in the starting 11. As Scally can play both right and left fullback, he’s kind of an automatic for any squad.
Actually playing and scoring for PSV, can be a forward or midfielder, so there’s that versatility thing again.
Seems to have been frozen out of late, but given the volatility of every centerback ahead of him on the depth chart, hardly out of the picture.
Yet to make a real impact for the A-team, but suspicions is there’s more there.
See Zendejas.
Well this is frightening. But if Turner never regains his place at Forest, this is where we’re at.
The one time he came up for air he did a pretty reasonable Antonee Robinson impression.
He’s still the only one anywhere who can be a defensive midfielder solely behind Adams, and he also can play in defense. Versatility again, but needs a big start with NYCFC or a move.
Someone get this kid a sandwich.
The Copa will probably come a little quickly for him, but he’s playing regularly in the Eredivisie and is only 22. Might catch the bottom of the World Cup roster.
Again, recovering from a major injury and may never get back to his best. And even at his best, he was hardly prolific. But we know Berhalter loves him, and it’s not like there’s much else behind Balogun, Pepi and Tillman. If he gets back to playing for Norwich in the new year, and playing well, do not rule him out crashing this party.
Lot of work to do, but not impossible.
His performance with the youth teams has him on the periphery for the full team, and another big MLS season could see him get into the picture.
No explanation needed.
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