He reminds me of Kante but better going forward and worse defending. Adams, in the Kante mould, has become a very, very good ball winner and makes a ton of interceptions. But he's still over eager as we saw with Mueller playing him like a fiddle, and he wants to be a release valve and move the ball along quickly rather than make driving runs with the ball or get his head up and survey his options. So often his teammates don't want to just dump off the ball though so he could be used a lot more offensively, he's just not. They give it to him when they need to and expect it back quickly.
Perhaps read the post again? Purely as a defender, meaning when the other team has the ball. I made no mention about the overall positional ranking...
I was making a point about the overhyping of American players. Anyway, I think I'm done here. If you all want to go on thinking that Adams is a top 5 player in the world at anything, go for it. I will continue enjoying him as a person and a player without being under any delusions. And maybe in a few years we can all agree that he is among the best defensive midfielders in the world.
I wouldn’t say Adams got turned. Looking at the goal the RB left back fell down right as the play started, so Adams who was 8 yards behind Mueller had to bust it to cover. You can argue he overcommitted, but he had to sprint so hard and the last thing you want to do is let Mueller get off an uncontested cross in that area.
This post could have been put on the Pulisic, Sargent, Dest, Reyna or any of several other threads, but I am putting it here. I have always been flummoxed by the consistent desire of some BS posters to want to tamp down enthusiasm about the improving prospects of the USMNT talent pool, and the new inroads YAs are making in big European clubs. Maybe for some it is part of how they control your own expectations to minimize disappointment if all this new talent doesn’t produce big national team success. Maybe some are not US fans and just want to rain on the parade, as opposing fans do. Maybe some honestly don’t think these young players are better than previous YAs at similar stages of their careers. Or maybe some just like to position themselves here as wiser heads for message board social status reasons. I do t see any harm in enjoying what’s happening OR in dreaming out loud about what it might portend for the USMNT future. After all this is the YA board and these are young players who are still developing. If you want to imagine all the ways in which their progress might be derailed, or suggest that others’ USMNT hopes are silly or misguided, no one can stop you. But I confess that I don’t see why exactly you would want to at this place and time.
Maybe it's because the exact same post HAS been written by dreamers like yourself for the last thirty years. You keep that enthusiasm turned to high. As for myself, I'll settle for incremental victories.
My theory....the success rate of any prospect is low. It’s easier to be correct predicting failure than predicting success. Being correct a lot makes a whole bunch of people feel like experts in the internet....and they can always run away and hide when they’re wrong....or move the goalposts. But the real experts don’t get paid to identify the guys that won’t make it.