He was solid against a very dangerous set of left side players. Could have had a half-field assist as he broke the line from his own box and connected with his forward but said player hit it into the keeper’s body. Impressive, especially considering he picked up a yellow card early on.
I'm watching it on deman. Early on banks tangle with Tillman, receiving a yellow. Banks is a big kid. He has to be at least 6'4 with size. Half time now.
I watched the whole game. Banks was good, he will probably get a 2 or 2.5. He is tall but lanky. Decent speed but his quickness will have to be compensated by positioning and brains. Like most big defenders.
Banks did the routine plays that he should. FCA was unlucky. They hit the post 4 times and didn't score once.
I would say a bit better than that. He made a great pass that almost sprang the striker 1-1 with keeper
No goal. Damn. Sooooooooo tight. Regardless…. Banks has been outstanding today. Best defender on the pitch for both sides, IMO.
He has legit passing skills… especially given his age and level. I like his situational awareness too. If he had elite pace he would project at a near elite level at the cb position imo. He will have to rely on his strength and positioning to overcome that lack of pace but there are a lot of great cbs that have average speed. Looked pretty darn good today.
He actually has decent speed but I think his quickness isnt great. BUT he is just 19 and not even fully mature physically. All he has to do (IMHO) is play decently , play every minute in the BL and stay healthy and I think he'll be in the USA team.
What he lacks in speed he makes up with other domineering physical attributes. He is every bit of 6'4". When this kid finally fills out that frame, holy hell is he going to be a physical specimen.
I asked Banks about playing for Germany in a 1v1 interview in New Jersey in September. He pretty much said once he started playing for U.S. youth NTs he stopped thinking about playing for Germany. He has an interesting family history with sports. His mom played for Germany's women's national basketball team a few times but tore her ACL several times and saw her career cut short. His step dad played for Germany's national handball team, I believe. But he's still in touch with his American dad in DC.
fair enough. Consistency isn’t his strong suit (yet). But, he has put together a number of pretty strong games this season
Banks vs Bremen Noahkai Banks vs Werder Bremen pic.twitter.com/IQrM9AXYUO— USYNT Comps 🇺🇸 (@USYNTComps) December 20, 2025
He's silky on his passes and you can see he tries to look for the more progressive pass instead of the easy one. This clip didn't have much defending stuff in it though and that is the part that may hinder him. Might be better to see clips of him against the top teams where he's defending for his life.