If this is the first one of these you’ve read here’s a quick recap. I watched and graded every game the US played in the U20 World Cup giving “notable” plays a positive or negative value. At the end of each game every player comes out with a positive or negative value based on these plays during the game. It has evolved over the course of the tournament, but I have mostly settled on a system going forward (click here for a more complete explanation).
Here are the previous grades with analysis:
2. USA vs Qatar
I took the numbers from every game in the WC and compiled them into the table you see below. The players are ordered by total +/- for the tournament. I also added a column at the end that calculates each players +/- per minute.
Player of the Tournament: Chris Richards (+48)
Richards was the best player on the team by the eye test and by these numbers. That could very well be because the numbers are based on my eyes watching the game 😂, but I think by anyone’s measure Richards was awesome. One interesting stat to me is that during the France game he only had 11 events to Keita’s 18. To me that says France was avoiding Richards/targeting Keita. Richards is the best prospect on the team and ready for first team minutes in a first team league. One of my favorite moments of the tournament was Richards crushing Vladyslav Supriaha towards the beginning of the Ukraine game. Supriaha was supposed to be some sort of talismanic striker for Ukraine. Richards let him know early on who the alpha was going to be around here.
Paxton Pomykal (+40)
Pomykal was the heart of the midfield and played very well for the most part. He didn’t have a great day in the quarter finals against Ecuador, but to be fair not many did and he was basically the only guy playing defense in that midfield three. His most impressive performance for me was against France. More specifically, his last 30 minutes or so against France. Immediately after the game I posted a gif on Twitter joking about Pomykal “Hulking up” for the last 25 minutes (if you don’t get that reference – YouTube it, youngster). Pomykal won the ball back four different times in that period and the US scored two goals. His work rate allows a midfield to carry a luxury player like Mendez (as long as the 6 isn’t a passenger too). Pomykal is Weston McKennie’s direct competitor for playing time as soon as he’s promoted to the full team.
Sergino Dest, Chris Gloster, Sebastian Soto (all +28)
Gloster – Weirdly, I think Gloster might be the closest of these three to the full national team because of the gaping hole at left back. Even if you call that spot LB/CB like Berhalter has been playing it – would you really bet against Gloster being better than Daniel Lovitz (and even Ream) very soon? Let’s hope Gloster stays at Hannover and gets a ton of playing time in the 2. Bundesliga next season.
Dest – Everyone’s favorite Twitter soccer expert Susaeta has called Dest the best fullback prospect the US has ever had. This tournament pretty much confirmed that. Dest got beat in the air a time or two against the Ukraine, but other than that he had a strong tournament. No idea if he has a chance to play for Ajax’s first team next year, but I hope he does or goes out on loan where he can play a lot in someone’s first team.
Soto – Sebastian Soto was also solid during the tournament. He has a knack for finishing and showed up in the right spots consistently. I wish he was a little more physically gifted, but he’s another one that needs to go somewhere and play a ton if he’s going to be a legitimate first team option for the US in the next 2-3 years.
Timothy Weah (+26)
Weah grew into this tournament. To prove it…visuals!
Note – There’s a guy out there that goes by NatFan9 on Twitter that has been turning my made up stats into attractive looking charts and graphs. This one shows the performance of the forwards over the course of the tourney.
As you can see Weah’s performance increased sharply over the five games. I’m not sure if Weah was out of form from basically not playing with Celtic over the second half of the season or if he was getting used to playing with this team, but given another game I think Weah would have surpassed Soto as the US’ highest graded forward. The moments of magic were pretty much all provided by Weah. (Mendez had some awesome moments but none of them led to goals)
The Mendez/Ledezma Situation
In an earlier article I compared these two to Barry Sanders. I still think it’s a pretty good metaphor. Neither of them were fit enough to go 90 minutes in any game and neither of them played much defense, BUT of the eight goals the US scored they were notably involved in at least five. Assuming they keep improving, get fit, play a little defense…the US would be crazy not to find a way to play one of them in the midfield (I prefer Ledezma, but whichever one breaks though first).
Room to Improve
I don’t want to trash anyone, but the weaknesses of this team were pretty clear. Before the World Cup started it was general knowledge that the US was shallow at center back. McKenzie was hurt/hadn’t been playing for Philadelphia and there were concerns about Keita not being ready for this level. Throw in that the d-mid Ramos preferred isn’t known for his D and you have a soft center that Richards did his best to hold together.
Again – all these charts created by NatFan9
Conclusion
Taken all together I’d call the 2019 U20 World Cup a success. It feels like it could have been a little more of a success, but let’s not be too greedy. If 2-3 of these guys break through to the full national team it’s a good cycle and the “lost generation” is a little further in the rear-view mirror. Based on the weakness of the current senior team I think as many as 5-7 of these guys have a realistic shot at being on the 2022 World Cup roster. The caveat, as always, is that they all need to get somewhere they are going to play. Time to start hunting German language Twitter for rumors, I suppose. 🤓
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