That was a game of soccer. For a six – nil win it wasn’t especially enjoyable to watch back. It’s funny. When you play these cupcakes you are supposed to put up a crooked number and make it uncompetitive. But then when the team actually does it there’s a sense of meaninglessness to it that takes some of the fun out of it. Panama is barely better than El Salvador according to the Elo ratings (73 vs 88) but they seemed a lot worse. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I guess what I’m saying is that I’d really like to see the boys play a competitive game against Mexico and get a better sense of how much the team has improved in the last year.
With all that being said…you can only beat the team in front of you and the USMNT ham blasted the team in front of them.
Let’s take a look at how the individual players graded out.
Grading Beverage: Noah’s Mill bourbon (buckle up – it’s strong)
If you haven’t read one of these USMNT (+/-) Player Grades articles before click here for an explanation of the system.
Grades
MOTM – Chris Mueller (+15)
This was based almost entirely on his first half performance. He was +13 at the break and well on his way to putting together a great performance. However, much like the rest of the team, he didn’t do a whole lot in the second half. He had two goals and two assists in a ten minute stretch though and looks to be yet another option for the US as a right footed, left winger. (Seriously – can we get one person with a left foot in here? I don’t want to hear about Kenny Saief, Greg.😂)
Mueller also had the two most picturesque moments of the night (diving header and getting himself + the ball over a sliding defender for an assist), but he did other things as well. I’m not sure he’s going to make a full strength USMNT, but if you told me three years from now he was starting at left wing for Hoffenheim, I’d believe you. Iron sharpens iron. GG, Chris.
Other Positive Performances
Paul Arriola (+14)
I’m not a big Paul Arriola fan. I think he’s lacking just that little bit of quality that is needed to make a difference at the international level. How do you not love the guy though? He is only recently back from a serious knee injury and he never stops running. He’s a “dawg.”
I didn’t have him down for a single negative in his 58 minutes. There were a couple times where I felt like he could have done a little more with the space he had, but he put in some dangerous crosses, scored a goal, and was constantly threatening El Salvador’s depth in a way that wasn’t happening against Wales a couple weeks ago (competition caveats abound, I know).
If Paul Arriola is starting at a wing spot in 2022…something has gone wrong for the US. But if he’s coming off the bench to annoy the ever loving crap out of some team in the 75th minute? That’s a nice player to have.
Sebastian Lletget (+11)
Sebastian is determined to make me look bad. I’ve never been a big fan of his, but all he does is play hard make coaches fall in love with him. His goal was sort of a fluke – I was much more impressed with his work in midfield. He won the ball back four times, connected passes well, and played in several nice crosses.
He’s another one that I don’t think will be a starter in a full strength 11, but when you try to choose 5-6 midfielders for a 23 man roster…he’s in there. Lletget is exactly the type of “floor player” the team needs. To start for the national team you need to be better than Sebastian Lletget and that’s not a bad place to be.
Mark McKenzie (+9)
+9 isn’t amazing, but I want to write about Mark McKenzie. The right center back job is wide open and the backup left center back job looks rather open too, with Ream riding the pine at Fulham. McKenzie didn’t have much to do, but he flashed a couple times with his distribution. He needs to get to Europe pronto.
Brooks is the starter at left center back and Richards is days away (?) from making a start or two at center back for Bayern Munich. At that point you sort of assume that he’s got the job for the US too. If McKenzie is going to unseat one of those guys he’s going to have to play higher level soccer.
Room to Improve
Jackson Yueill (+2)
Theoretically, Yueill is in the lineup for his long passing ability. The problem was that for passes that I found “worth scoring” he had four passes that came out to +5, and three other passes that totaled -4. If a player is in there for his passing ability and the US is playing a weak team…those numbers should look much different. He’s only 24, but with the way the USMNT seems to be changing it might be tough for Yueill to hang onto a roster spot.
Final Thoughts
Whatever the level of competition, it was nice to see the USMNT put up a big number. There are a ton of roster spots to be had this summer and these guys look like they could do the job. If this were the Gold Cup roster, would anyone be upset? I know I’d be okay with it.
The best teams in the world can put together multiple quality starting elevens. The US isn’t at the point where they can do that, but it does look like we are starting to have non-embarrassing depth options. And as long as these depth pieces are young guys…it’ll be fun to watch. Predicting which guys are going to be the best in 5 years is impossible so let’s just root for all of them.
January roster drops when?
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I was just talking with my friend about the state of depth for the USMNT, and I found myself vigurously shaking my head in agreement to these two sentence in the article: “The best teams in the world can put together multiple quality starting elevens. The US isn’t at the point where they can do that, but it does look like we are starting to have non-embarrassing depth options.”