Do you think Musah is a good passer? He's technically fine in terms of accuracy, but his decision making is not good. He's consistently far too late to release the ball. He's a fantastic dribbler, and he overrelies on it and it makes him a worse player. There's probably fifty examples of it in his time with the US. Wednesday, our first good opportunity he had the ball, overdribbled, failed to see the run by Ferreira, waited, then tried to force it to Pulisic for a turnover. He squanders a lot of opportunities this way. I also really don't remember any really unlocking passes at all from. I mean, I'm sure he's capable, but he's actually the king of the weak backpass or the pass to the dude five feet from him. He's super fast, strong, an amazing dribbler and a really great recovery defender, but passing ... learning when and where to pass has got to be his #1 improvement area. And I mean, he's not a good final third player, period. The guy has one assist in 3,356 club minutes despite playing winger and central mid. He's got two assists for the US in 1,200 minutes, which is much better ... but don't get too excited, his assist in WCQ was on Dest's wonderstrike against Navas. And hilariously, his other assist was Dest's first goal for the US, the amazing wonderstrike against Jamaica in March of '21. I said maybe on Tillman being better because we've seen so little. But what I saw was a) a willingness to immediately move the ball and b) good decision-making on where to go and c) pretty good vision -- a through ball, and two very nice cross field switches that weren't obvious and created space and d) very nice accuracy on said switches even if they were both a bit soft and perhaps not aggressive enough in leading. Is he better? I dunno. But if you wrap the vision and choices into Yunus and he's got the skill to be a good passer but he's not a good passer. Tillman looks to me like he may be a pretty good passer. (I'd also add that Musah is pretty dire with shooting, so I actually expect Malik to be better at that as well. I don't think Tillman is a better player than Musah at all, but that doesn't mean Musah is better at everything.)
He turned 20 on Saturday. He's in the same birth year as these guys, though, yes, older. I don't think anyone is hyping him up to some unbearable degree. I just saw a good amount of potential, like I see in all those other players yet.
Pretty good summary. Too bad we can't combine Musah and Tillman. We would have another Reyna. Btw I saw an interesting quote from Musah a while back saying how much he admired Reyna and wanted to play like him.
And also the guy who recruited Musah and projected him as a fit at the midfield despite him not playing there for his club. As for Yueill and Lletget they both play positions where we don't have a ton of depth and there weren't alot of other options. And Lletget wasn't bad for the national team in 2019 through the start of qualifying. But he wasn't great in qualifying and has been out of the picture since. Tillman is a talented prospect who its good to have in the fold. Whether or not he becomes more than that I don't know, but in general I want as many talented young players in the fold as possible because we know not all of them are going to hit.
I personally think Berhalter has made up his mind on the other guys in the pool. Pomykal, Ledezma, Mendez, and those guys mentioned earlier in the thread. They're OUT in terms of WC22. So he's looking at somebody else. I suspect Berhalter could name his WC midfield today. Put Reyna and Busio back in, and there you have it. He's just kicking the tires on others to see if they wow him. Personally I think Mihailovic had a better shot than Tillman. And of course, he could become a factor post WC22. Depth never hurts. Even if you convince Owen Otasowie to commit to the USMNT and then he subsequently falls off the face of the planet. You put the work in on building depth.
The thing about all of those weaknesses mentioned by @gogorath, is that they will all improve with experience....and Musah is only 20. He's already shown his current level to be pretty high How much he improes is the only question. We have a definite winner in Musah. Tilman still needs to show he deserves to be in the team, let alone start. Like Musah, we know that Tilman will improve with experience but again....how much? Give him time. Perhaps he will show that he is actually further along than his initial performance indicates, perhaps it will just take him a year or 4 to develop into a really strong player, or something else.
I think Busio's on the outside looking in at this point. I agree that he's basically got the team, pending health, he wants, beyond only a handful of players, probably some portion of 21-26 of field players, and he's crossing t's and dotting i's at this point and filling in the depth roles if injuries happen. For instance, is Scally a good enough LB replacement if Jedi goes down, how to handle RB and LB if Jedi's out etc. It's about 90% done, and finding the last roster spots and immediate replacements is whats happening now, plus the competitions for weak 11 spots (RCB, GK, Forward etc).
I think Berhalter has his midfield as of today, but I don't think everyone is "out." We are likely to have a 26 man roster, and if you actually build it out, there's simply a number of slots there that aren't clearly filled, even with a player like Roldan -- who really doesn't seem to have a playing role -- filled. What's clear to me is that Berhalter starts with his core based on pure quality/talent/class, whatever you want to call it. Then the more marginal players are called in based on fit/role. It's clear he wasn't happy with the lack of offense from the midfield in WCQ. He stuck with it because of the defense and he didn't want to experiment when it could cost us Qatar. He wanted to try Mihailovic there not just because he's doing well in MLS but because he's a player with certain skills that fits what he wants. At the margins, he's not looking for best, he's looking for fit (see Yueill, Lovitz and a number of these other supposedly bewildering selections). If he's still looking for that in November -- providing Brenden and Gio don't basically fill it -- then Djordje or even someone like Richie Ledezma could absolutely get a slot, I think. A 26 man roster especially is a different beast. But if that's what he's looking for, Paxton Pomykal won't be in the consideration set. There's six months and 6 roster spots left. Even if a few of those MUST go to strikers, there's open spots for someone to play their way in. We literally can't be excluding all these guys because we don't even have 23 locks. I mean, here's your midfield: McKennie Musah de la Torre Adams Acosta (Roldan) That's six, which feels locked though I'd suspect Roldan could be overtaken given he never actually plays. Until you think about a 26 man roster, and before you consider injuries. None of this is to say I think Malik Tillman is in. I think he has a long way to prove a slot from Wednesday.
There's no reason to freak out about any of it to be honest, Tillman is more than good enough to deserve minutes this window, and in September if he earns them via performance this window and in a loan, if he's still stuck with Bayern reserves on some 4th division team or whatever in the fall, he misses the cup, simple as that, if he isn't, gets a good loan, and shows well this month, he gets another bite at the back of the roster apple. It's not complicated, I'm sure part of his 1 time switch, hell he referenced it in the interview, was about the possibilities of a hail mary ticket to Qatar plus a cleaner opportunity for WC '26 than w/Germany, period, but its not locked in, he has to "TAKE IT", which hasn't happened, yet. As for Musah, I think it's quite reasonable to argue that he's basically earned a near lock as a starter, and a position as a top 4 CM whose top 3 depending upon matchup and game plan. The problem with Musah is what the problem was with Tyler Adams a few years ago, he basically had an enormous ceiling if he could add a more attacking piece to his game (better precise line breaking passes, more skill in build up, finishing attacks etc), but that part of his game kind of stalled out, and he became a more limited 6, a damn good player, but not a truly elite player, which is part of the reason RBL started looking elsewhere to improve on his limitations. Musah may or may not have a similar ceiling if he can't improve his shooting, and his play in the final 3rd, he's got a huge ceiling like Adams, but a lower floor if he can't finish off the build of his talent in the same way Adams appears to have stalled out. We'll see. He's already damn good, but there are clear limitations, time will tell, I'm glad he's in Spain where they work more on that piece than elsewhere. Time will tell. Musah's in, obviously, Tillman is purely theoretical and for now, a long shot, but the raw talent of him as a prospect means he could break through anyway late, it's happened before, it could happen again, his best avenue is still probably through showing well+injuries, but even w/o injuries he can probably steal a ticket if he plays well in June, with his club and steals that September ticket.
Agree that it seems many are overreacting to Tillman's debut. It doesn't mean as much as some people seem to think (in terms of his place in the team). The other thing that is being ignored is that apparently (according to @Clint Eastwood 's post) he is recovering from an acl tear. How did that affect his performance? I don't know, but I know it can sometimes take a long time to get fully back. His debut seemed to show he is one to watch. Not much more and not much less. Berhalter was probably able to tell more from his practice than from the game.
I have that tear as having happened in early October 2020, 20 months ago, a player should be more than fully recovered by now from something like that, AP like recoveries are the exception, but generally players are ready to play pro ball 9-12 months later, and if the surgery is successful, players typically are 100% within about 18 months of the surgery, if it impacted anything, it would have been his club season in '21-'22, and the early chunk of it, rather than anything this spring or summer. Just a tad under 1300 minutes in the regionalia with 4 goals and 4 assists and some time up with the big club in the Bundesliga during his injury recovery first year back is pretty good in my view, a goal every 300, an assist every 300. Not bad at all.
True, but it isn't just about the physical recovery. After the physical recovery, there is the readjustment to playing...which varies widely by player. Assuming he was fully recovered after 15 months, he would have been fully recovered for 5 months. Many, maybe most would probably be back to the level they were but a significant number might take longer. Not making claims that he is or isn't at full recovery....just stating that there is a level of uncertainty for anyone that hasn't closely followed him for the past few years (I would be in that group that hasn't followed him)
I don't think anyone should have any certainty at all. He's a prospect, it's just there's a big difference between being a prospect that's breaking through in your age 19-20 season, versus say, an U17 prospect. Tillman has retained the enthusiasm of his coaches and people in German National Team programs for half a decade w/o it abating, that's a good sign, but not a lock. I lean towards it's going to break through for him, but I always lean that way, to my detriment lol. I'm a cynic w/everything save prospects.
He has a solid foundation. To me, he needs to work on his field awareness. He needs to play with the same intensity level as his teammates.
If we are only taking 23, then I don't think he will make the cut. If we are taking 26, he has a chance.
I don't know how he will turn out, but people acting like 20 is old or a finished project are flat out wrong. Lots of top class players aren't first team regulars until their early 20s and a few late bloomers not until their mid 20s. We go way overboard thinking that breaking out young means everything when some guys will prove very little after a quick start and others will grow tremendously over time. We need to be aware of this and open to having good players emerge on their own schedule. Heck, guys already getting time as teens may be passed up by guys who develop later and we shouldn't hold those timelines against players. This idea if a guy hasn't shown his peak quality before he can buy a beer in the US seems less than helpful to me. We don't know where Tillman will fall over time. He may improve a lot this season and look like a real option, he may take longer or he may never get there. But, being 20 and not getting more time at Bayern has nothing to do with it. For the record, I would be very surprised if he were included in the 23 or 26 if the World Cup started tomorrow. Personally, I don't think he is ready if he will be. But, I think things could easily change in a few months and we shouldn't make our final decisions about him yet.
Agree on intensity. But he's young and it was game one. I thought his awareness in terms of passing and offense wasn't bad at all.
I think Aaronson may end up in midfield. Maybe even Reyna. That will open up spots for wingers at the cost of filler midfielders.
Nobody knows how these high value prospects will turn out. Remember it was Pep who promoted Green to the Bayern first team, signed him to his first pro contract, gave him UCL minutes and said that Green would be a special talent. Pep knows a thing or two about the game. Malik has very similar superb technical skills as Green. What Malik has that Green does not is above average athletic attributes including pace and quickness, along with size and strength. Making Bayern BuLi rosters and a full Germany U21, we know he is good the question is how good what is his ceiling? I would take Fab Johnson as a ceiling in a heartbeat.
It's funny you mention Fabian. I was talking to a friend during the game Wednesday, and we agreed that we could totally see Malik turning in to someone like Fabian, where he's incredibly good but unspectacular at like four positions. He wouldn't necessarily be the best player we have at four positions, like Fabian might have been at one point, because the pool has gotten better, but I could completely see his career going that way. He'll probably play a bit more forward so it might be harder for him to be an all-around guy at striker ... but he's got that sort of perfect puzzle piece type of game if he keeps developing.
Let's hope. He certainly doesn't feel like a striker, but apparently he's been doing pretty well there with Bayern 2.
There are very pissed off folks in the German Fed because Malik chose the US. There may also be issues with how supportive Bayern will be moving forward. It will be interesting how his club career plays out.