Hype/Value Tracker: Summer 2019

This is the third iteration of this endeavor. If you missed the first two 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 just 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 graphs and list below this are my take on the makeup of the US player pool. If there’s someone I included and you wouldn’t or vice versa…¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Previous Versions: Winter 19, Spring 19

Added to the list since Spring 19′:

Jackson Yueill – he looks like he might become a legitimate midfield option going forward.

Tyler Boyd – showed well for a game during the Gold Cup and then regressed. He still appears a good player and an option at wing.

Dropped off the list since Spring 19′: Cory Baird, Greg Garza, Brad Guzan, and Fabian Johnson. I don’t think we see any of these guys back with the team any time soon. January camp is a possibility for the MLS guys, but none of them seem like realistic options going forward.

Alphabetical List

“High” Value

“Low” Value

Stock Up

Tyler Adams (+289%)

The most obvious jump was Tyler Adams. He nearly tripled his value and let’s be honest…ain’t no way 15 million would pry him away from Red Bull Leipzig. Assuming he gets healthy and plays the way he did last year he’s going to jump Brooks and McKennie real soon.

Duane Holmes (+100%)

I included Holmes on my spring list before he’d even appeared for the USMNT because I liked what I’d seen from him and thought he deserved it. It appears that Transfermarkt agrees. His value doubled in the last few months and I would bet on it continuing to climb. *Health caveat* Sigh.

Cristian Roldan…? (+40%)

Roldan had a sizable increase in his value. I’m at a loss to explain this one. The one thing I will say is that he looks like a completely different player for the Sounders than he does for the NT. Maybe the regular appearances for the USMNT has increased his value? No idea.

Reggie Cannon (+40%)

This one makes sense. Reggie started every game for Dallas last year and has played a ton again this year. He broke through with the USMNT to start the semis and the final against Mexico in the Gold Cup. He’s 21 years old and the arrow is clearly pointing up. Depending on how Berhalter views DeAndre Yedlin and how fast Dest, Araujo, etc. push on – Cannon could be the right back for the national team for a while.

Stock Down

Bobby Wood (-25%)

He’s still only 26, but Wood has had a tough couple years. Relegated with Hamburg and then again with Hannover the last two seasons. He scored six goals across all competitions in those seasons and is reportedly making quite a bit of money. At last check, he is back with Hamburg in the 2. Bundesliga and the third forward on the depth chart.

Michael Bradley (-20%)

Bradley has reached the point in his career where his value is going to steadily decrease until retirement. I suppose he could have a renaissance at some point and level off or increase slightly, but as usual, Father Time is still undefeated. He’s quality depth for the USMNT, but should no longer be an unquestioned starter in the midfield.

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. (I’ll leave that to degenerates like Joey Anthone, Matt Hartman, and Chuck. BTW if you haven’t listened to the latest Scuffed pod on the YNT depth chart, you should)

Added to the list since Spring 19′:

Brenden Aaronson – playing well and nearly every game for the Union in a couple different midfield postions.

David Ochoa – starting in the USL for the Real Monarchs and looks to be the heir apparent to Nick Rimando. Also, looked like the best keeper on the team at the U20 World Cup despite being the youngest one there.

Matthew Hoppe – No value in Transfermarkt yet, but just moved to Schalke and is already lighting it up at forward for their U19 team.

Danny Leyva – starting fairly regularly at d-mid for the Sounders AT 16 YEARS OLD. He’s going to be a centerpiece for the U17 team at the World Cup in a couple months.

Ricardo Pepi – another FC Dallas prospect that has already played for the full team at 16 years old. Very talented young striker.

Miles Robinson – a lock starter for Atlanta and an excellent one v. one defender. He could be Aaron Long’s backup in the not too distant future.

Dropped off the list since Spring 19′: Andrew Carleton and Edwin Lara. Carleton appears to be on a less high profile version of Freddy Adu’s career path. Meanwhile, I haven’t heard anything about Lara (he’s in the Leon youth system) since he switched back to the US from Mexico.

These are the players that I think are the closest to breaking into the national team and/or have the highest ceiling. I’m sure I’m missing some, but I’d like the graph to be at least semi-readable.

Alphabetical List

Stock Up

Chris Richards (+2900%)

So increasing your value 30X in the space of four months is a pretty solid job. Richards was a monster at the U20 World Cup and it looks like a couple people may have noticed. And this is another one where there’s no way 2 mil would get Richards away from Bayern. My frustration is that I think he’s too good for the 3. Bundesliga, but not good enough for Bayern’s first team. I’ve heard zippo about a loan though, so it looks like I’m rooting for a massive injury crisis for their center backs. Sorry not sorry.

Jesus Ferreira (+400%)

I don’t think Ferreira is even a citizen yet, but he’s been close for 134 years now. He’s a solid starter for Dallas and is playing at couple different positions.

Sergino Dest (+300%)

Dest started the Super Cup game for Ajax and has made the bench for the full team in their first few league games. He’s a lock (I hope) to be called up for the full team in the very near future.

Chris Gloster (+100%)

Gloster is closer than you might think to the USMNT. Tim Ream didn’t exactly “padlock” (Anyone else have to padlock their seat so your siblings didn’t steal it growing up? Just me?) that job during the Gold Cup. Gloster is left footed, good with the ball, and good defensively. If he gets a couple games with PSV he’s going straight to the top of that depth chart.

Paxton Pomykal (+78%)

I have no idea how long Pomykal is going to stay in MLS. With the way MLS overprices their players there’s no telling how much they are going to ask for him. I am however, confident that Pomykal is the surest bet off this list to be on the next national team roster. He could start or be the back up at the front two midfield positions and maybe even on the wing to interchange with Pulisic (he played there against Ukraine in the U20 WC).

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