Senior Level Incumbents: Adams, McKennie, Reyna, Musah, Aaronson, LDLT, Acosta Additional Senior Candidates: Ledezma, Pomykal, Busio, Tessmann, Cardozo 2023 U20 Cohort: Wolff, McGlynn, Gutierrez 2025 U20 Cohort: Buck, Vargas, Tsakiris, Cremaschi, Medina, Soma, Loyola Younger: Cavan, Jude Terry, DeCarlo Guerra, Lionel Gitau, Carrizo The list could be bigger but those are the ones I think have the best chance of leaving a mark on the USMNT. It will be interesting to see how it plays out.
He's still only 21. Seems to be settling in far more at winger. Will be interesting to see where he goes. I believe Gitau is also a winger.
The million dollar question staring us in the face with these lists is this: can the younger crowd make up the athleticism gap with skill and mental/tactical/decision-making? Excluding the 10s for a moment, McKennie, Adams and Musah are all miles ahead of basically all of the below in size/speed athleticism. They all have pretty decent skillsets but all have weaknesses there as well. I have no doubt that several of the younger players will have better overall skillsets than McKennie and Adams, and maybe Musah (who has the more skill potential because his foundation is stronger). But will it be enough to offset the very real realities of speed and strength? The good news is that McKennie, Musah, Adams, and Reyna will all be in their primes in 2026 and very possibly still in 2030. But still, it's very exciting. If your expectations or requirements are France/England level of talent ... then it probably is disappointing. But for me... ... I'm super excited to have an argument about who starts between 9 different but competent options.
Busio played very well for half a season with Venezia. Then hit a wall. Some weight needs to be accorded to that half season. I think he gets it back.
That is the big question. Ideally we would have more in the younger group with the elite athleticism of a McKennie. But with maybe one or two exceptions that's not the case. I also think that guys like Buck, Wolff, Vargas, Tsarikis and Cremaschi are young enough that they could pick up pace and will surely pick up some strength as they move into their early 20s.
I would also include Tim Tillman in the center mid options. Malik Tillman too. Parks deserves at least a look at some point. Williamson will be in the picture if he can stay healthy. Others that will be in the picture: Sands, Morris, McGlynn, and Vargas. Booth was playing center mid earlier this season and doing well there, but does seem to have shifted to the wing for the time being. It will be interesting to see if he shifts back (as we need the depth at center mid more than we do on the wings at current). The good thing is we have lots of potential options to supplement MMA and Reyna. They won’t all develop the way we want them too but a good number will. There’s also a lot of guys who play very differently stylistically so it’ll also depend on the system the next coach uses.
I think his issue is that he needs to be VERY good in order to stake out a place in a first division 11. What I mean by this is that he’s simply not athletic enough to be an 8 or a 6 with significant defensive responsibilities. His only future in a top 8 league is as a holding playmaker, a la Jorginho. He has some quality but he has a ways to go tactically to sniff that level. I’m not optimistic. He faces a similar predicament as a small 10 who can’t break lines with the dribble in the modern game. He’s a very niche player.
M Tillman, Booth, T Tillman, A Morris, Parks, Williamson, are not even worthy of a mention but Pomykal who didn't impress in January and Busio who barely plays in Serie B are? I know it's only been a few games, but Inter Miami's David Ruiz is 19 and may deserve a mention in the U20 list. And as long as we're listing midfielders playing in MLS, might as well include Brooklyn Raines, Miguel Perez, Jack Panayotou, etc.
I would have included all of them. And I don't hold January camp against Pomykal given the circumstances under which it was played.
As I noted in the OP, more could be included on the list. It will be interesting to see who breaks through over the next few years.
Paxton wasn't super aggressive, but he was also covering for basically the entire team on defense. There was not a lot of structure there.
It is interesting to note that Weston will be 31 when Cavan is 20. Looking at my list in the OP I see about 25 midfielders with potential to play in a Top 5 league. Obviously not all will make it. If half make it that would be transformative in terms of telling us we are producing quality in quantities not far from a country like Argentina. Midfield is our deepest position imo when looking at this range of ages (roughly Cavan to Weston). With the caveat of course that much of this is projection.
Question: Any idea why the US seems to be developing midfielders? There seems to be a whole bunch churning out (specifically 8 and 10s)— Curtis Murry ⚽🇺🇸 (@Jadentheman1) May 17, 2023
It's a little early to say this. About a half dozen of our midfield prospects need to come good before we can say this. By come good I mean make it at the level of a Top 5 league.
Just a wild guess. Except for Tessman who is as atypical as one can be and Reyna who isn't a midfielder, everyone developed here else is 5'10" or shorter.
We sort of have been switching up every few years. Five+ years ago we started producing a *@#$load of wings and right backs. Never saw anything like it before. Now there is a large amount of possession mids. Again, never saw this before. The good thing is that we are still producing wings. Hopefully this continues and we keep adding more pieces without losing our mojo in other stuff. There has been some down turn in GK and CB production but it hasn't been horrible either so I'm not ready to worry about it.
It‘s all about perspective and understanding the actual game. By US standards we are heading into uncharted waters. Possible legit multiple option questions which aren‘t all fantasies or made up by desperate/delusional fans. It‘s great for us. If you expect to be a top ten level player regularly in the world game then go back to the main US boards and rant ignorantly. Our situation now is new and great TBH. Look forward to seeing what happens.
Feel like Taylor is even more of a midfielder than Gio, another guy who mostly plays wide. Booth is like an AM or 8/10, he’s not running the touch line, he’s not playing directly, he’s not breaking in behind. He’s doing more of the stuff a guy like KDB does when pulled wide.
I always liked him there, but I wonder if there's a reason his club team has basically made him a winger. That reason is usually size, strength and defense, but I haven't watched enough of him to figure that out.
its weird that the USMNT has played him at winger...I see him more as a CM...and his skillset is sorely needed there, too
I suspect Reyna, McKennie, Musah and Adams will have a stranglehold on midfield for some time to come. But that is not to say that some depth will not be useful.
To early to count him out. I don't see him as a top prospect for our USMNT but there are a lot of players that plateau before going on a second run of improvement.