Role by Role USMNT Grades: Where are we?

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It’s been four games now. We’ve seen the team beat up on lesser opposition (Panama, Costa Rica, Ecuador?) and get somewhat dominated, but hold their own against superior competition (Chile). I still don’t think we’ve seen the team at full strength, but I believe we are now in a position to draw some conclusions.

Roles in Berhalter’s USMNT System

• Center forward
• Two wide forwards/wingers
• Left sided creative 8/10
• Right sided slightly more defensive 8/10
• Controlling midfielder/defensive midfielder
• Hybrid LB/CB
• 2 ball-playing center backs
• Hybrid RB/CM (this may not be a thing against superior opponents – see Chile)
• Goalkeeper that’s good with his feet

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Whether you agree with the way GGG has set the team up or not, I don’t think there can be too much argument about the above roles. We’ve seen all of them except for RB/CM in all four games. The task now is to find the best player for each role. Let’s go one by one and grade the options.

Center Forward

Assuming health…this role is Jozy Altidore’s. At one point it looked like Sargent might kick on and be a semi-regular starter for Werder Bremen, but that hasn’t happened and he seems to even have regressed a little. Altidore is still the best American striker and will fit nicely into this role. You never know, but I’d expect the forward pool to be something like 1) Altidore 2) Zardes 3) Sargent/Wood for this summer’s Gold Cup.

Postion Grade: C

Winger/Wide Forward

I’ve mentioned a time or two that Berhalter is something of a “winger whisperer.” Meaning he’s gotten career years out of guys like Justin Meram and Ethan Finlay. That hasn’t exactly happened so far for the national team.

As of right now this looks like the shallowest (Is that a word?) position in the pool. Arriola looks like a locked in starter, but I’m not even sure he’s good. He works hard, knows the system, and constantly gets run down from behind. If he’s a sub that comes in for 20 minutes at the end of a game…great. If he’s a solid starter…you’re not a very good team.

The USMNT needs some youngsters to break through here. Amon, Holmes, Weah, Llanez, de la Fuente, Taitigue, Lewis, somebody, anybody? I’m thoroughly sick of try hard wingers that don’t scare anyone. Baird, Arriola, Zusi, Bedoya, Davis, etc. I actually wouldn’t mind bringing FabJo back into the setup and giving him a look. He was always more of an offensive fullback than good defender for the US anyways.

Position Grade: F

Creative 8/10

It looks like Pulisic has the keys to this position and I’m mostly okay with that. I say mostly, because it looks like the US has more players close to breaking through at this position (Mendez, Ledezma, Holmes, Pomykal, Aaronson, etc.) than at winger. If a couple of those guys break through and we could shift CP to winger…the lineup looks a whole lot more dangerous. Let’s just hope Christian stays healthy (he’s supposed to be out 3-4 weeks) and gets off to a fast start at Chelsea next year.

Position Grade: B

More Defensive 8/10

The US is just not very deep. The “missing generation” becomes pretty stark when you sit down to look at the depth chart like this. McKennie is good. There is no one else close to his level. And the players that look like they might have a chance to be as good as McKennie are 20 and under (Pomykal, Ledesma, etc.) Roldan is fine, but again, if your national team is starting and counting on Cristian Roldan…your national team is not making any noise at an international tournament.

Position Grade: B

Controlling Midfielder

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That helpful lineup graphic from Susaeta called this role QB. This player needs to set the tempo, be an outlet, break lines, and play long passes (on the ground or through the air) to get the wingers involved…oh and hopefully play some defense. The two guys we’ve seen play the role are Wil Trapp and Michael Bradley. Trapp appears to be ahead, but I wouldn’t say either guy has locked it down (click here for a more thorough breakdown).

This is also a position where there aren’t a lot of prospects coming up (Durkin, maybe Sands?). My hope is that Tyler Adams develops to the point where Berhalter has to play him here, but I’m not confident of that happening. Especially since GGG designed a position specifically for Adams.

I’m a little worried about this one. This spot is critical to what Berhalter is trying to do and I’m not confident Trapp or Bradley can pull it off.

Position Grade: C

Left back/Center back

This is more of a hole than I thought it was going to be. I’ve always had a soft spot for Tim Ream and thought he’d be perfect for this role. Then I saw and remembered the Tim Ream Boner^TM. He did play a couple nice passes in the two games, but he didn’t look great on the defensive side of the ball, which isn’t ideal for a player who is essentially a third center back in this system.

What are the other options though? Lovitz isn’t a legit option. I’ve seen Aaron Long suggested, but his speed allows him to help cover the space left by the vacated RB when Adams joins the midfield. The other candidates are actual left backs and that won’t work. Maybe bring Besler back? He is one of the few guys that played well during WC qualifying and he’s only 8 months older than Ream. This position bears watching going forward.

Position Grade: F

Ball-playing Center backs

The starters here are pretty solid. I’d love to see Aaron Long move to a better league and get tested regularly by better players, but he looks the part so far. Brooks was outstanding and has been really good for Wolfsburg this year. I don’t think the Klinsmann/Arena tactical wasteland did anyone any favors, but Brooks may have been effected more than most. If he can be consistent he’s a world class center back.

The backups don’t look bad either. Miazga was the assumed starter up until January and still may fight his way back into that role. Would you bet against a guy willing to do this?

After that you are looking at a collection of Zimmerman, CCV, Omar, McKenzie, etc.

Position Grade: A-

Right back/Center mid

Tyler Adams is a stud. In my estimation, he has passed Pulisic as the best player on the team. (I know…easy killer. He’s only played in the Bundesliga for 3 months. Blah blah blah. Shut up. He’s good) If this position really does free him up and allow him to influence the game the most…keep him here. I’m not sure it does though. If his passing range/ability is even close to Trapp/Bradley, you’ve got to play him there. Put him in the middle of the field and let him eat.

The other problem is that no one else can play this role. We saw Lima do it pretty well against crap teams and then when we played a good team Berhalter scrapped the position. I’ve seen heard Sergino Dest mentioned as an up and comer that could play this role, but Dest is a right back or a winger. To the best of my knowledge he’s never played in central midfield. So to project him here seems overly optimistic.

Position Grade: A or Inc.

Goalkeeper

Steffen looks like #1 with a bullet. It was sort of assumed that Horvath was close to Steffen, but y’all watched that last game, right? Horvath wanted no part of that ball. At this point, I’d say Sean Johnson is the clear #2 and Horvath and co. are fighting for the Nick Rimando memorial #3 position.

Let’s hope Steffen’s move to Man City doesn’t end up with him buried on the bench.

Position Grade: B

Overall Team Grade: C+

I’m generally pretty optimistic about the USMNT, but sitting down and looking at the depth chart is a bit eye opening. The real talent in the team is so young. The older players are placeholders. If the US is really going to be an upper echelon national team, the young players coming up are going to have to hit. The only players in their prime that are non-placeholders are Brooks and Long.

Just for fun here’s the lineup I would run out there if someone made me king for an international break. As much as I’d love to put Mendez, Pomykal, etc. in there I tried to keep it somewhat realistic.