HalfSpaces usmnt USMNT/MLS Interest Rankings: Week #3

USMNT/MLS Interest Rankings: Week #3

March 17, 2019March 17, 2019 BenBen 0 Comments

Week #3 is over and now we get to the stuff people like me actually care about….the international break! First though, here’s your updated Interest Rankings.

Here’s the link to last week’s Interest Rankings.

Tier 1: Must Watch for a USMNT fan

Dallas – Interest Level – Frenkie de Jong: Paxton freakin’ Pomykal! The boy got compared to the aforementioned de Jong by Marca this week (a Spanish newspaper) and then went out and played great again. Granted, the only real similarity between him and de Jong is hair color, but still I think Paxton is the must watch American prospect in MLS at the moment. And if you believe whoever the guy is that runs the @MLSTransfers account, he may not be around for too long. *no room but imagine Jesse from Saved by the Bell excited gif here*

NYCFC – Interest Level – Trying to fill the Tyler Adams shaped MLS hole in my heart: James Sands is the next new, exciting d-mid prospect to play for a NY-based MLS team. He’s not as all-action, fun-to-watch as Tyler, but I’ll turn on about any NYCFC game just because of him. On the downside, watching him play on that “field” in New York is brutal. Yay for away games.

Philadelphia – Interest Level – Mark McKenzie is still stuck to the bench, but Brenden Aaronson got his first start and played really well. He scored a goal and should have had an assist on a nice thru ball. LFG. And btw, Derrick Jones got to play the second half due to injury. I remember him looking pretty good at the U20 World Cup a couple years ago. Let’s keep this up Philly.

Tier 2: There’s an intriguing reason/player to watch

NYRB – Interest Level – Ant Man: It’s a pretty good movie and worth watching, but it just doesn’t move the MCU plot along, you know? NYRB still played Long, Parker, and Duncan, but Omir didn’t even make the bench and they don’t have a high level prospect playing right now.

Kansas City – Interest Level – Yo-yo-ing: SKC didn’t start Busio or Lindsay so they drop down a level again. This team is a little weird that way. SKC can throw out a starting lineup that is “must watch” stuff for a a USMNT fan or it could put out a snoozer of a lineup. Sadly, this week was the snoozer lineup. Busio did get 20 minutes and SKC looks like they’re bringing him along intelligently, but this is America…

D.C. United – Interest Level – Can someone Kerrigan Junior Moreno? : So Arriola is playing really well and Canouse is starting every game. We even have Bill Hamid talking goalkeeper trash! If we can get Durkin in the lineup this team moves into the top tier for sure.

Seattle – Interest Level – 📈 : Jordan Morris was the most confusing call up to me on the March USMNT roster (non-Omar division). I thought I had Morris figured out as a one-footed 9 that had already plateaued. He has come out on fire though – playing as a winger to boot. I’m now real curious to see how he looks with the national team.

Atlanta – Interest Level – de Boer Twitter search: Miles Robinson is in the midst of a serious break out year and may just be turning into a legit prospect right in front of our eyes. Pretty exciting. Carleton got a few minutes at the end of the game and Bello has disappeared (injury?).

LA Galaxy – Interest Level – te Kloese is a wizard: Efra didn’t get in this week, but the Galaxy did blood another exciting youngster in the form of 17 year old defender Julian Araujo. After years of not giving their prospects playing time te Kloese and GBS look intent on doing it this year. Add in Lletget looking real good and this team is a solid watch for USMNT fans.

Chicago – Interest Level – Oh no! We suck again.: Chicago finalized the signing of Nicolas Gaitan this week. This is good from a Fire perspective, but not as great from a USMNT one. It looks like this pushes Mihailovic out of that 10 spot onto the bench or into an 8 role. Either way, between Mihailovic getting moved around and this team just generally sucking…they are sinking down the rankings.

Tier 3: I guess I could watch this

Toronto – Interest Level – I got robbed by a little old lady and I didn’t even see it comin’: I did not expect much from Toronto this season, but they started Ayo Akinola and he scored a pretty nice goal. I’ve watched a couple youth tournaments where Akinola was a starter and he never really looked that impressive, but hey what do I know? Bradley started and Jozy came off the bench to score a goal. This team still feels more like the past of the USMNT than the future, but they are more interesting to watch than I expected.

Columbus – Interest Level – Phone, wallet, keys: Try getting that song out of your head now. Trapp, Zardes, Steff. Weird that a team with three possible/likely USMNT starters can be so boring, but there you have it.

Sandler was still surprisingly funny in his Netflix special

Tier 4: I really like watching soccer and I guess I can justify this in my mind…

RSL – Interest Level – Morbidly waiting for someone to lose their job: It sucks that anyone has to lose their job, but Petke’s getting fired around midseason, right? In the meantime the same mediocre prospects (Baird, Lennon, Saucedo of the bench) will continue to play. Maybe Baird will look good with the full NT next week and this’ll change, but not yet.

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Orlando – Interest Level – Watching a spider you’ve thrown in the toilet struggle against the flush: You know it’s not going to make it, but you kind of root for it a little. Orlando is terrible, but Acosta did play 75′ at LCB in a back three. If he’s got his head on straight he could factor in for the NT at some point. But holy crap is his team bad.

San Jose – Interest Level – Befuddled: Tommy Thompson played 90 minutes! But it was at fullback…wut. Lima got the hook from his right back position after an hour and Jackson Yueill got on for 15 minutes as SJ took their beating from the Red Bulls. Weird team.

LAFC – Interest Level – C’mon. Give me something guys: Zimmerman starts at CB and Ramirez starts at forward. Neither is more than deep depth for the NT. I need a prospect at LAFC. They’re fun to watch stylistically, but there’s no one interesting for a US fan to pay attention to.

Colorado – Interest Level – Hanging by a thread: The next time I write this article I may be able to include Colorado in the level below this and not have to think about them anymore. For now, Cole Bassett sub minutes and mild interest in Kellyn Acosta have them in the just barely watchable category. Remember when Dillon Serna was an exciting young 10 under Oscar Pareja? SMH.

Tier 5: “These teams do nothing for the pool, they have betrayed us and deserve our scorn.” ~Greg Velasquez

Portland – Interest Level – Relegated: Ebobisse didn’t even start this week. He did get 20 some minutes off the bench, but he doesn’t seem like a legitimate USMNT prospect anyway.

Still no reason to watch any of these teams from a USMNT perspective.

Minnesota, New England, Houston (faint pulse from Houston – some 23 year old dude named Memo Rodriguez scored a couple goals), Montreal, Cincinnati and Vancouver

If you enjoyed this and would like to know about future articles give me a follow on Twitter @blharreld.

Still undecided on what to do with this column. I’ll write it a couple more weeks, but if the numbers don’t look a little better I think I’ll move it to a monthly schedule.

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