This is the fourth version of this piece. If you haven’t seen the first three, here’s the idea:
The “hype” a player gets or how good each USMNT player is generally considered is tough to determine. One way a value can be assigned is straight up $. How much would teams be willing to pay for Player X? There’s no way to know for sure, but one way to estimate is through the use of Transfermarkt.
This is a German website that provides player values. The values provided are “crowd sourced,” but generally considered fairly trustworthy. Here’s a brief description of how it works:
The USMNT Player Pool
The list of players you see below and in the accompanying charts are my opinion on who makes up the US player pool. There may be a player or two that you would include that I didn’t. That’s tough. I know Brad Guzan should probably be on there, but he’s a backup keeper and I took him off last time…and frankly, I don’t feel like putting him back on. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Previous Versions: Winter 19, Spring 19, Summer 19
Added to the pool since Summer 19′
Alfredo Morales – Morales started against Mexico in the most recent friendly and shows the type of fight the US was so sorely lacking against Canada in October. He’s not exactly an elegant, possession midfielder, but I think he could/should easily displace Cristian Roldan in the right 8/10 role.
Sergino Dest – Added might be the wrong word, but Dest graduated from the Baby Nat list to the full NT list. He’s going to be a starter somewhere for like 15 years. 👍
Dropped from pool since Summer 19′
Bobby Wood – Bobby has had a rough couple years. He’s not playing for Hamburg in the 2. Bundesliga and even before that he wasn’t playing well. It’s possible he could work his way back into contention since the US forward pool is so bad…but it doesn’t seem likely.
Alphabetical List
“High” Value
“Low” Value
Stock Up
There weren’t a ton of changes this time around. Maybe I’m doing this a week or two too early and Transfermarkt will do a round of updates or something. *shrug*
Sergino Dest (+817%)
Dest has turned into a regular starter on a team that was tantalizingly close to going to the Champions League final last season at 19 years old. That’s going to improve your value a tad. He’s thrown in his lot with the USMNT and is a mortal lock to start at left or right back for a real long time. There’s been a lot of negative stuff going on with US Soccer for a few years now. Sergino is a nice bright spot.
Antonee Robinson (+150%)
Robinson played over 2,300 minutes last year at left back for Wigan in the Championship and has played over 1,300 already this season. He is 22 years old and is also reportedly one of the best players on the team. It sure seems like Robinson deserves a call up from the USMNT in the very near future.
TBH – I have seen very little Wigan. I’d actually like to watch two or three games and do Robinson (or maybe Holmes) as my next player eval if I can find the games somewhere.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (+67%)
This one is a little odd to me. Not that he’s a bad player or anything, but I’m not sure what he’s done to increase his value. He played about 2,200 minutes in the Championship last season for Swansea and is on pace to do about the same for Stoke City this season. He ceiling looks like “pretty good Championship defender” to me.
Josh Sargent (+50%)
Sargent is playing fine, but isn’t exactly killing it for Bremen. He has progressed from barely playing to almost lock starter though. That’s some pretty solid development for a 19 year old. With Altidore’s constant string of injuries and the complete lack of forward depth…the US really needs Sargent to stay on this path. We’re all rooting for you, Josh.
Tyler Boyd (+50%)
This has to be based on last season’s performance and subsequent move to Besiktas. Since then he has played poorly for the USMNT and Besiktas. He hasn’t scored a goal in the Turkish league this season and has been passed by Jordan Morris for the starting wing spot opposite Pulisic. There’s ability there, but it hasn’t shown out in a while.
Stock Down
Tim Ream (-38%)
The loss of value is likely due to Fulham’s relegation and his advancing years. He’s 32 now and there isn’t much upside there anymore. Maybe the value goes up a little if Fulham yo-yos back into the Premier League, but it’s more likely there’s a steady decline until retirement. Unfortunately, he’s going to remain very important to the USMNT for a minute unless John Brooks miraculously stays healthy.
Baby Nats
This list is a little harder because there are so many players to keep track of and their fortunes can rise and fall so quickly. I also don’t want to keep track of a million players. These are the guys that I think are the closest to breaking into the full national team.
New to the list:
Christian Cappis: Cappis has been a starter for most of the season at Hobro in the Danish Superligaen. He’s 20 years old and there’s already rumors that Bundesliga teams are monitoring him. Good times.
Dropped off the list:
Nick Taitague: This feels a little like killing a unicorn. I’ve never seen him play, but based on the mythical hype surrounding him he’s an amazing potential talent. Sadly, he seems destined for the Charles Renken memorial early retirement. (May have to take Amon off next time too *gently weeps*)
Alphabetical List
Stock Up
Richie Ledezma (+600%)
Richie has almost broken through at PSV. He’s the most dangerous looking player on the Jong PSV team and he’s made the bench a couple times for the full team. The USMNT could have a viable #10 for the first time I can recall. (Claudio Reyna wasn’t a 10 no matter how many times you may have read it online.)
David Ochoa (+99%)
Ochoa was pretty clearly the best keeper on the U20 World Cup team despite being the youngest keeper there. I think he’s in line to take over at RSL from the retiring Nick Rimando. Ochoa is the only guy I can see having a realistic chance to push Zack Steffen in the next 3-5 years.
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