It’s getting down there. We have one friendly window left (Sep. 19-27) before the World Cup kicks off in November. Like all good USMNT obsessives I have a depth chart spreadsheet. I last updated it in November (you can look back at it here) and now felt like a good time to freshen it up.
A Word of Explanation
I put together these depth charts using the player “profiles” that I think Berhalter is using at the moment. The profiles have changed some over time as Berhalter has evolved the team. When Berhalter first took over, the “Controlling #6” was perhaps the most important position on the field. We saw players like Bradley, Trapp, and Yuiell there consistently. This profile has been adapted to suit Tyler Adams’ more destroyer-field covering style. Similarly, the “Distributing CB” profile has been exchanged in favor of two athletic defenders at the back. More on this later though…
In general, these are my preferences for the players slotted into the profiles Berhalter deploys. If you disagree, feel free to complain at me on Twitter.
*I also don’t know what to do with Brooks anymore. He’s a top 4 talent at CB that has no chance of going to the World Cup.*
Depth Chart
Trustworthy Players
A new (as of last edition) addition to the depth chart is the “Trustworthy” player highlight. If I feel a player has performed well enough with club/country that I wouldn’t be concerned to see him in a starting 11, I highlighted the player in green. Gives a little better feel for how deep/shallow the player pool actually is. Feel free to disagree, but this is my chart, so deal with it. 🤣
Developments at CB?
The more recent matches have seen two “athletic defender” types at center back as the team has pressed more/played a higher line. This has lent some credibility to John Brooks’ exclusion, but there is an interesting test coming up.
Tim Ream has been playing well for Fulham, who surprisingly sit in 10th place in the Premier League. If Ream gets called up in September it will show (A) the “Distributing CB” player profile isn’t completely phased out, and (B) the movement away from the profile has something to do with the Brooks-Berhalter relationship, not simply player profile/performance. I love Ream, but he’s not a player you want playing a high line.
Aside from that, Zimmerman has been playing well, but his presumed partner (Richards) has received very little playing time so far at Crystal Palace. If I were in charge of Wales, England, Iran I’d be targeting the player that slots in here.
Shouldn’t Aaron Long be on here somewhere?
Nope – hasn’t been right since the injury.
Winger Drama?
Probably not, but it is intriguing. Pulisic is the team’s attacking talisman, but is in a messy situation at Chelsea. Reyna is the highest ceiling attacker on the roster, but plays about 12 minutes every other week for Dortmund as they gently bring him back from injury. Weah is still dinged up, while Brenden Aaronson is in the best form of the four. If the World Cup started tomorrow Pulisic and Aaronson would be your starters, right? Quality depth is a good “problem” to have, but spreading the minutes around gets interesting if everyone is healthy.
What to do at Forward?
I have no idea. Everyone is scoring, so that’s good. The problem is I don’t know if any of them can do it at a high enough level to be dangerous at the World Cup. We’ve watched Sargent struggle in top leagues for years, Ferreira hasn’t played elite competition yet, and Pefok doesn’t really fit what Berhalter wants out of his forward (imo). Pefok is the one producing at the highest level, but Ferreira/Sargent fit Gregg’s preferred forward profile better. Really this is just all a way of repeating the first sentence from this section. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
The Midfield
Not much new here. MMA is still your starting midfield and will remain so barring injury. Musah looks to be growing in Valencia and that could increase the whole team’s potential substantially. The “flaw” with the MMA midfield has been that none of them are a true offensive force. McKennie has flashes and Adams is a non-entity in attack. If Musah can add some danger that adds an avenue for chances the team could really use.
Gregg Berhalter, June 5:
— Henry Bushnell (@HenryBushnell) September 4, 2022
“Yunus just blows me away, at his age, what he can do. Craaazy level of talent. We need to work with Yunus on the final product, the final pass, the finishing. Because he has a huge ceiling.”
Yunus Musah, 3 months later:pic.twitter.com/DBHLwEXgHQ
I tend to overrate players through my “Red, White and Blue” lenses, but if all three of these guys are playing well come November we may legitimately have the strongest midfield in our group (yes, I know England exists).
Should we still trust Turner?
I still trust him on the evidence of what I’ve seen from him with the USMNT. It’d be great if we could see him with Arsenal, but that’s not going to happen often. However, based on what I’ve witnessed Argentina do with Romero in net and Chile with Bravo at past World Cups (both backup keepers with their club teams) – I still feel okay with it. He needs minutes in these September friendlies though and hopefully some Cup games will be enough to keep him fresh. Not ideal, but livable.
Wrapping Up
The situation for the USMNT remains static. If our A-level players stay healthy and in form…we have a shot against most other teams in the world. The only position the team can survive an injury or two is on the wing (or striker I guess, but that’s just because there’s no solid starter). Keep your fingers crossed for some injury luck the next two months. Cheers.
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