HalfSpaces USMNT Depth Chart

Does everyone have one of these tucked away in a spreadsheet somewhere, or is it just me? I thought that since this is an exercise I like to do anyway, I might as well turn it into an article and open myself up to ridicule and criticism.

Before I post the thing, I’d like to explain that I have more than 11 positions listed. There are different types of players that don’t all fit into the same positions so I differentiate the depth chart some. I could have split it up even more, but I’m happy with the current divisions.

You are also going to see the same players pop up all over the depth chart. For example, I have Tyler Adams as the best or second best option at four different positions here. It’s too bad there’s only one of him.

Here’s the depth chart for your perusal:

*Note* I also added this as a permanent page to the site. It just has the depth chart in it though. No article.

I don’t want to go through every position on the depth chart. That feels self-indulgent. Instead, I will go over the roster “irregularities” that seem interesting to me.

UPDATE – after 20 minutes against BVB today Richards may be #1 on the Sweeper CB depth chart and #2 on the Passing CB depth chart

Why is Everyone a Left Winger?

I probably could have come up with another way to divvy up the wingers, but have you ever noticed that all our wingers are better on the left? They are all right-footed players that like to cut in on their stronger foot. The only one that doesn’t spend pretty much all his club time on the left is Chris Mueller and I’m not completely certain he’s going to be an international caliber player.

Pulisic played on the right quite a bit when he was at Dortmund, but with the way he has performed on the left for Chelsea it would be crazy to put him on the left so Jordan Morris can play where he’s better. Maybe I’m missing someone (Indiana Vassilev was the only lefty winger-ish player I could find, but he doesn’t belong on this depth chart yet), but I don’t think there’s a left-footed winger close to national team level in the entire player pool. Weird.

Center Back is Still an Issue

I really wanted to make another position on the depth chart for “Do-It-All CB.” Unfortunately, we don’t have one of those yet. Richards and McKenzie may grow into that, but they aren’t there yet. Philippe Sandler could decide out of the blue that he wants to play for the USMNT. As things stand though, we don’t have a Upamecano, Lenglet, etc.

We have the oft injured John Brooks who is a good passer, but can be taken advantage of defensively and Tim Ream. The owner of Ream’s club (Fulham) also sent this tweet very recently:

I apologize to @FulhamFC supporters for our performance tonight. We’ve looked to add centre-backs since Wembley, I’m sorry we haven’t yet as 2 got COVID + we lost a Free we thought was close + had another issue with a 4th CB. I promise players in + better efforts from this squad.

— Tony Khan (@TonyKhan) September 28, 2020

That seems bad for Mr. Ream’s prospects of continued playing time. 😬

We have a couple high level athletic defenders, but those guys are both weak spots if you are trying to play a possession game. Richards looks right on the edge of getting a chance at Bayern and McKenzie has played great for the Union. Those two breaking into the USMNT first team could be a big development for 2021.

Forward in Flux

The forward position is teetering right on the edge of turnover. I think Jozy is still the best all-around forward the USA possesses, but I’m no longer unshakably confident of that. Sargent has looked pretty good for Bremen so far and Zardes has been playing well for the Crew. Throw in Tim Weah getting time at forward for Lille in Ligue 1, Glass Joe errrr…Aron Johannsson scoring for fun in Sweden, and you’ve got yourself a muddy looking situation.

I have no idea how this is going to shake out. I wouldn’t even be shocked if someone I didn’t even have listed makes a run at playing time (Gioacchini, Ebobisse, Ferreiera, etc.). This ain’t exactly a murderer’s row of strikers, but some competition is better than none, right?

How Should We Line Up?

Usually, I try to guess at how Berhalter will line the players up. This time I’m going to give my opinion. If I got to choose the next full strength starting eleven for the USMNT it would look like this:

I think that gets our best players on the field in positions to succeed. Since I know that people (*cough* @away_goals *cough*) will say that formations are pointless and there are different roles on offense/defense…here’s the way I see this morphing into Berhalter’s preferred attacking formation (3-2-2-3):

And then here’s how that changes into the 4-3-3 that we look like we are using now:

The argument against this, I suppose, would be Reyna as the left side of the middle band of three. I’m okay with him there, but if you want more defense from that spot you could slide Reyna into Weah’s position and put Lletget in there. Either way, I like it.

Snubs?

I’m sure the Jordan Morris people are losing their minds and frankly, ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. He’s a very good player and I’m fine if he plays right wing for the US. He simply wouldn’t be my pick to start.

Erik Palmer-Brown probably deserves some sort of mention in the center back category, but I have to plead ignorance on him. I haven’t seen him play since he was doing passable job at defensive midfield for the U20s(?) so I’m not sure where he would slot in on the center back depth chart.

Timmy Chandler could be included somewhere at both fullback spots, but until I see Berhalter actually call him up I don’t think he’s a part of the player pool.

Club Brugge is also continuing their screw job on Ethan Horvath’s career. Until he gets some playing time somewhere and proves he’s competent enough with his feet to be part of Berhalter’s system…he’s going to be on the outside looking in. (He sure balled out against Italy though, man)

Maybe I’m missing someone, but that’s it from me. Feel free to let me know how big an idiot I am. 😂

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