The realistic goals heading into the 2021 Gold Cup were to make the semifinals and identify 2-3 players that could be contributors to the full team. Winning the thing was quite a nice surprise and a feather in Gregg Berhalter’s cap. He asked to be judged on results before the two summer windows started and you can’t ask for much more than two trophies.
The World Cup qualifying roster probably looks something like this after the two windows this summer:
- Horvath, Steffen, Turner (that’s in alphabetical order😂)
- Dest, Cannon, A. Robinson, Vines
- Brooks, M. Robinson, Richards, McKenzie, Zimmerman
- Adams, Acosta
- McKennie, Musah, Lletget
- Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson, Weah
- Sargent, Zardes
That’s 23 names. I’m sure many people will be yelling about Player X. As things stand right now though, this list is pretty close. I know there will more likely be 25-28 names for those three game qualifying windows, but I wanted to stay in the spirit of the “23 Tickets to _________” tradition.
The players that “made the jump” into the conversation for the full team are pretty obvious after watching the Gold Cup, but what do the cumulative grades have to say about who played well and not so well?
Cumulative Grades
Man of the Tournament – Miles Robinson (+38)
Feeling pretty good about the players that ended up on top of this list. Miles Robinson had an excellent tournament and he really grew into it as it went along. He was decent against Haiti and then not great against Martinique before excelling against the tougher opponents as the tournament progressed.
His aerial ability and 1v1 defending were valuable in matches where the opponents were an actual threat to score. The athleticism he displayed on several occasions was another data point in his favor. John Brooks is a good defender, but he can be had by attackers that are more agile than he is. I’m sure Miles Robinson will get done by an attacker sometime (it happens to everyone), but his agility isn’t going to be something that teams can take advantage of. If he were a safety we’d say he has “loose hips” or something like it. He’s on the World Cup qualifying roster after this showing. The only question is if he’s starting or not.
Others that Showed Well
Kellyn Acosta (+30)
It’s nice to have an answer to the second six question, isn’t it? If Tyler Adams is unavailable for whatever reason I am totally comfortable with running Acosta out there. The Mexico performance was so good that most of us won’t recall the not so great performances against Martinique and Canada, but overall he was very good. There are even a couple things he can do that Adams can’t. He hits the ball better than Adams and is a little bit more goal dangerous.
One of the things I’ve tried to incorporate in my scores is an adjusted grade. This score attempts to factor in level of opponent and if the match is competitive or not. It’s not real useful over one game, but I think it’s fairly interesting over time. Take a look at the grades from the Gold Cup sorted by “Adjusted per 90.”
Acosta comes out near the top of that list (we’ll talk about Zimmerman in a little bit). It speaks very well of Acosta though that he played well against some good teams and in some important games. He still makes me a little nervous on the ball, but he’s going to be a nice player to have as an option as we go forward.
Matt Turner (+29)
Generally goalkeepers don’t score super highly in my grading system and if they do…it generally means things have gone poorly for the team. Keepers can and do receive points for good distribution, collecting crosses, etc, but a MOTM level grade for the keeper usually means he made multiple good saves. The USMNT loses the semifinal against Qatar without Turner and maybe the final. His distribution wasn’t bad either. I know he had a shaky touch against Haiti and another against Mexico in the final, but remember Zack Steffen playing keeper for the US?
I’m not saying Steffen is a bad player or anything, but if you are remembering him as an Ederson-level passer back there then you’ve glossed over some fairly large mistakes in your memory.
I don’t know who the starter is right now. I’d probably go Turner since I’m a prisoner of the moment, but the competition between the three should be intense and that’s a good thing.
Totally Random Aside – Barra 76
There has been some news lately about Mexican-American players leaning towards El Tri. That is perfectly fine. I’m not in that situation, but I understand feeling love for two countries. Maybe this is a bad analogy, but I have two children. Am I not committed enough to either of them because I love them equally?
Barra 76 is a Mexican-American supporters group (like an American Outlaws group) for the USMNT. I had no idea they existed until a few days ago. One would think a group like this would be a really cool addition to USMNT fandom and appealing to potential Mexican-American national team players as well. (They have cool t-shirts too)
To be clear – I don’t get anything for highlighting this and don’t know a single person in the organization. Seems like something worth supporting though.
Intrigued Enough to Want More
Matthew Hoppe (+26)
If you sort the table by +/- per 90 Hoppe comes out third. That isn’t adjusted for opponent or anything, but just based on his performance and minutes played in the Gold Cup that’s where he ranks. I don’t think he has a shot to make the full roster as a winger – there are probably 6(?) players ahead of him there, but where does he fall on the forward depth chart?
His attitude and willingness to try stuff over the course of the tournament was nearly the only offensive spark the team was able to generate from open play. He needs to play striker and produce somewhere, but I wouldn’t be shocked if any of about 10 different players were starting at forward for the US in six months. Hoppe is in the mix.
Walker Zimmerman (+10 per 90 and +11.0 Adj. per 90)
We got cheated out of some information on Walker Zimmerman in this tournament. He looked really good through two games, but the injury robbed him of the chance to prove himself against tougher competition. Zimmerman clearly has talent and he’s a specimen of an athlete. Carving up Haiti and Martinique don’t get you on the plane to Qatar though. Things worked out in the end, but a three man backline of Zimmerman, Sands, and Robinson would have been very interesting to watch had events transpired differently.
Gianluca Busio (+8.6 Adj. per 90)
Busio is an odd one for me. I’ve been confused about his game for years now though, so I don’t know why I’m surprised. His totals seem higher than they should be, but he did have some good moments during the tourney. He was consistently good at breaking up counters and he played pretty well after coming on as a sub against Mexico. I don’t think he did enough to be on the qualifying roster come September, but I’ll be very curious to see what Paulo Zanetti does with him at Venezia.
Nicholas Gioacchini (+9.6 Adj. per 90)
Nico comes in at #3 on the list if you sort the chart this way. He didn’t get a ton of minutes (only 141 in all 6 games), but he was a part of several good moments when he did get in. The match winner against Qatar certainly doesn’t happen without him:
I think he’s going to have to get out of the French second division to make a real push for the full NT, but I’d like to see more.
James Sands (+25)
After consecutive good games against Martinique and Canada I thought Sands was about to take off. He wasn’t bad against Jamaica-Qatar-Mexico, but he wasn’t nearly as good. I’m sure part of that is the increasing challenge presented by those teams, but I think a big part of it is the change from a back three to a back two as well. I think Sands could be a quality part of a back three, but could struggle as part of a two. We’ll have to see what setup Berhalter prefers going forward.
Would be Okay with Not Seeing More
*Quick note about all of these players*
Development is unpredictable and players should never be written off forever. It is entirely possible that some factor will cause a “jump” in performance that could vault any of these players right back into the team. Kellyn Acosta should be a good reminder of that.
Jackson Yueill (Total of 0)
He started one game and got a couple minutes in two others, but he didn’t show well in any of them. Berhalter also looks to have moved to a more athletic, defensive profile at the #6 position. None of that bodes well for Yueill’s future with the national team. I hope he keeps developing and comes roaring back a la Kellyn Acosta, but I think we’ve seen the last of him for a while.
Jonathan Lewis (Total of -0.5)
Lewis started game #1 against Haiti and played so poorly that he didn’t see the field again for the rest of the tournament. If the US had lost this would be a much bigger deal since it was essentially a wasted roster spot, but winning the cup swept it under the rug. I don’t think we see him again.
Donovan Pines (Total of -2)
This feels harsh. Pines is quite a ways down the depth chart at center back and outside of a possible January camp call up he probably won’t be in the team again. Pines had a couple nice moments, but didn’t look up to the level of international play.
World Cup Qualifying
September 2 is the first World Cup qualifying match and it’s away to El Salvador. The team appears to be in a good place, but every game (aside from the Switzerland friendly) was played on home soil. I’m very curious to see how this new generation looks in away CONCACAF matches. That’s the next step – winning away from home. Very excited to see these matches and see what the full player pool looks like in these three match windows. Good luck, gentlemen.
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Given Hoppe, out of position, created the most chances and led the team in xG while also smoking all the other attackers in your rating, it’s pretty silly not putting him in the 23, especially if you’re including a player like zardes. You say he needs to “consistently score goals” but he has more goals in a top five league than altidore managed in three seasons. He’s a much better player.
Also, no comment on lleget? By your stat he was average with the c team. Quite literally the only argument for him to be with the nt is that he played well for the nt. Now that he’s been out of his depth with the backups. How is he still in the 23? Julian Green was one of the best players on a team that won promotion to the bundesliga, konrad’s hit the ground running in ligue 1, musah played well in la liga and duane holmes was very good in the championship. How do you not give them a shot after lleget couldn’t even shine with the c team?