USMNT

The Perils of Ball-Watching: Musah vs Aaronson

Published

4 years ago

August 1, 2022

Scott Brevard

During the June 2022 international window, we got to see the US play against Morocco(3-0 win), Uruguay(0-0 draw), Grenada(5-0 win), and El Salvador(1-1 tie). This window gave us a chance to see both Brendan Aaronson(Leeds) and Yunus Musah(Valencia) operate from the center of the park.

Analysis and discussion on soccer players often are slanted toward offense and on-ball events. This seems to hold true for the recent discourse surrounding Musah and Aaronson. So we’re going to look at what they’re doing off-ball as well as the general effect these players are having on their teammates.

MUSAH

From Musah’s first half against El Salvador, here are the “on-ball” plays: For positives, there were 3 multi-man runs, and a good progressive pass, For negatives, there were two plays he was bullied into back passing, the errant pass he played in front of the backline, an instance of immediate dispossession when he got over-eager with the ball, and a bad clearance he attempted with space and time(for whatever reason the US backline needed 4 attempts to clear here). From the second half, the on-ball stuff improved significantly with a couple key passes, and two good scoring chances in addition to 4 great moments of ball progression.

My concern comes from what happened “off-ball”. Throughout the game, Musah was not rotating when his teammates ventured forward and he often didn’t track back properly when he made offensive forays. This was clearly an issue in the first half where we weren’t able to sustain pressure on his side of the field and with El Salvador often running right back into the US’s final third. When Aaronson was subbed off(more on that later) the US was not able to sustain pressure from either side of the field and El Salvador was able to overrun us centrally for 20 minutes with our only real response being long-balls to McKennie.

This is also not an isolated pattern. Against Morocco when Adams went high, Musah often didn’t cover his man. leading to multiple dangerous positions from line-breaking passes. When Uruguay subbed in their first-choice midfielders, Musah was caught out of position so much that Aaronson ended up playing like a 2nd 6. This shouldn’t be too surprising given that in La Liga Musah is dribbled past a bunch, loses tackles a lot, and has an abysmal pressure success rate of 9%. Keep in mind Musah is being compared to other wingers here who have to do that type of stuff(ball-winning, pressure etc) less often than mids do. With that in mind, we have a decent explanation for why Musah isn’t allowed to play in midfield for Valencia.

You simply cannot be so half-hazard defensively vs elite teams.

AARONSON

Aaronson was quieter on the ball “offensively”: He had a pass here or there, beat a man a couple times, and played it off to Pulisic to win a free kick. The brunt of his “on-ball” contribution was defensive:

Out-ball winning Adams is pretty incredible(not sure I agree with the conclusion), but where Aaronson really shined was off-the-ball. Aaronson stopped El Salvador’s attacks 6 times with good off-ball pressure. I count exactly one negative defensive play(getting dribbled past). He also stopped a massive opportunity for El Salvador in the US box with good 1 v1 defending.

Offensively his off-ball play was also big. Pulisic, like Weah on Musah’s side, was often drifting forward and charging up the wings. Aaronson rotated accurately nearly every time. The end result was that whenever attacks on Pulisic’s flank filtered out, we’d be able to sustain a second or third wave of pressure because Aaronson would immediately cover the space behind forcing El Salvador into multiple backpasses/giveaways. One play of note to me was when Aaronson pressured El Salvador into back passing, and then, when El Salvador went around Aaronson’s flank of the field to get into the final third, Aaronson applied defensive pressure from behind to help force a give away, and then, when they tried to bypass Aaronson directly, Aaronson again applied pressure forcing El Salvador into a back pass.

Aaronson is a very good defender for his club, was very good defensively against top-quality opposition in the Champions League, and scored in the 99th percentile of attempts and success rate in pressures. Half-spaces’ +/- tends to rate Aaronson as one of our best players because of this combination of defense and pressure. Simply put, he should be considered “undroppable” in situations where we’re playing against the ball(which will usually be the case vs elite teams).

Notably the midfield collapsed in the first 20 minutes when he was off vs El Salvador and Pulisic, who he was covering for quite well in the first half, became considerably less effective in the second.

Final Thoughts

There’s a bit of a misconception on where the strengths of our player pool lie in US soccer circles. Our players are not on cl teams because of passing or breathtaking technical play. They’re primarily on cl teams because of their ability to press and defend or to exploit space that their midfield teammates make for them by pressing and defending. Pulisic is able to dribble and do what he does on the ball because Chelsea play him alongside a bunch of players who are fantastic pressers and defenders. Aaronson covered the most ground in the champions league, made a high volume of defensive plays, and was in the 99th percentile for pressures attempted and press success rate. McKennie’s biggest plus with Juventus is that he can be everywhere and that he’s arguably the best presser on his team. In settings where we have a big talent advantage, it’s feasible for us to sacrifice some cohesion and let Musah go wild. But against teams and midfielders at or above our talent level, we need to prioritize what we’re good at, and that simply isn’t happening when we start an 8 who doesn’t press or defend.

People have brought up the conditions vs El Salvador to explain the performance and that’s fair to a degree. But that makes Gregg’s tactical approach more confusing for me. If the conditions were not there for us to play passes, why were we wasting so much time with side passes between center backs and cycling the ball between mids/wings in our middle and defensive third. The game called for directness and we decided not to play direct. I’m firmly in the camp that our “a plan” should be a variant of what we saw in the gold cup. Our players play in the Champions League not for their ability to pass and move, but for their ability to shut down attacks, win the ball high, and quickly exploit the spaces left behind by exposed opponents. We should be the Salzburg/Leipzig of international soccer and I’m starting to worry Gregg wants us to be a slower, more possession-based team we simply don’t have the personnel to be.

USMNT

The Next USMNT Star That Never Was: Revisiting America’s Biggest Teenage Prospects

Published

1 hour ago

September 25, 2026

Marcus O'Malley

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

With the next wave of highly rated teenagers likely to be brought into the #USMNT during the 2030 World Cup cycle, I decided to look back at some of the young players who were once hyped as the next stars of the U.S. Men’s National Team but never established themselves as regular internationals.

Freddy Adu would seem to be at the top of this list. While he never became a regular for the #USMNT or the world-class face of U.S. Soccer many expected, he still earned 17 caps, scoring 2 goals and adding 3 assists. In many ways, he accomplished more at the international level than most of the players who are listed below combined.

Which former USMNT prospects did I miss, players who are no longer playing or are past their prime, who deserve to be on this list?

Cody Cropper – GK – 0 caps

U.S. youth international and longtime goalkeeper prospect who reached the Southampton and MLS systems but never earned a senior cap.

Junior Flores – AM – 0 caps

Creative midfielder who joined Borussia Dortmund’s system as a teenager and was viewed as a major U.S. prospect, but never reached the senior USMNT.

Eddie Gaven – MF/W – 8 caps

Teenage MLS phenom who became a league standout, but despite eight USMNT appearances, his international career never developed further.

Luis Gil – AM – 2 caps

One of the most hyped American midfield prospects of his generation; debuted for RSL at 16 but never translated that promise into a sustained USMNT career.

Emerson Hyndman – MF – 2 caps

Highly rated central midfielder who broke through at Fulham and earned two USMNT appearances, but never established himself internationally.

Perry Kitchen – DM/CB – 5 caps

U.S. youth captain and defensive midfielder who became a regular MLS starter, but his senior international career stalled after five caps.

Will Packwood – CB/DM – 0 caps

Birmingham City prospect who became the youngest American to play in the English Championship, but injuries severely disrupted his development.

Marc Pelosi – LB/CB – 0 caps

Highly regarded defender who moved to Liverpool as a teenager, but injuries and limited senior opportunities derailed his path to the USMNT.

Gedion Zelalem – MF – 0 caps

Arsenal wonderkid and one of the most highly regarded U.S. prospects of his generation. Injuries and inconsistent senior opportunities slowed his development, and he never made a senior USMNT appearance.

The number of young USMNT players in this September/October window is something we haven’t seen in quite some time. Some will catch the eye of newly extended USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino, while others may not, but all of them have an opportunity during this cycle to make their case for World Cup qualifying and, ultimately, a spot on the 2026 World Cup roster.

It all starts now, and it should be fun to follow their development over the next four years.

USMNT

Building the Next Generation: Who Should Be on Pochettino’s USMNT Radar?

Published

1 month ago

August 25, 2026

Thomas Deschaine

Thomas Deschaine (@uskeeper on X and us_keeper on Instagram)

Header_NextGen

With the USMNT manager in place and the new cycle underway it’s time for recently extended Mauricio Pochettino to get some new young players on his radar and what better time to do this than the September/October double FIFA window.

There are several U-23 players like Josh Wynder, Jalen Neal, Rokas Pukstas, Diego Kochen, Jonathan Gomez, Caleb Wiley, Cole Campbell, Chris Brady, Gaga, Slonina, Niko Tsakiris, Damion Downs, and Benjamin Cremaschi who have no caps order less than a handful with the USMNT.

Will USMNT snubs or overlooked players opportunities be during the 2030 cycle look like? Players like Diego Luna, Tanner Tessmann, Aidan Morris and Camron Carter-Vickers to name a few, we have to wonder how or if they will be part of this cycle of players. I would suggest some will likely get the opportunity in the early part of the cycle but will need to be performing n with their club to remain getting called back into camps.

Integrating a few of these youth USMNT players during each window for the first half of the cycle will allow Pochettino to evaluate them up close and see if there might be a role for them during this next cycle.

It’s extremely important that the USMNT have a few on their current U-20 teenagers’ breakthrough and become a reliable part of the USMNT in the second half of the cycle.

The below players will have an opportunity to play in next years U-20 World Cup being hosted by Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan as well as hopefully if their clubs release them being part of the 2028 Olympics USA Football squad to hopefully medal for the first time since 1904 when the US had two teams win Silver and Bronze. I think it’s also important to look at these players alongside some of the core USMNT in the upcoming window to see how they can integrate with one another.

Mathis Albert-17-Winger

Noahkai Banks-19-Centerback

Cole Campbell-20-Midfielder/Winger

Zavier Gozo-19-Winger

Julian Hall-18-Winger

Malik Jakupovic-17-Striker

Adri Mehmeti-17-Central Midfielder

Peyton Miller-18-Left Midfielder/Winger

Neil Pierre-18-Centerback

Cavan Sullivan-16-Attacking Midfielder

Whether we see all of these players, or just a handful, through the first half of the cycle, hopefully leading into another Copa América appearance, it’s clear that the time has come for Pochettino to begin integrating the next generation of USMNT players into the senior pool. How quickly that transition happens will be one of the most interesting storylines to follow.

USMNT

Mauricio Cuevas Taking “Huge Step Forward” in Liga MX

Published

2 months ago

August 9, 2026

Alex Calabrese

CHICAGO — Four years on from captaining the United States to their last CONCACAF Under-20 title, Mauricio Cuevas is quietly stepping back into the spotlight. Still only 23 years old, the talented right back just moved abroad, leaving his boyhood Los Angeles Galaxy for Liga MX side Santos Laguna in a summer move that slipped under the radar.

“To be able to get sold to a big club like Santos is a huge step forward for me,” Cuevas said in an exclusive interview this Saturday. “From the first day, I knew the challenge coming into it because the club hasn’t been meeting expectations in the past few years. Coming in and trying to be a difference-maker is something that I wanted. It’s a new challenge for me, and overall I’m just super excited.”

New Challenge in Mexico

As a teenager, Cuevas showcased himself as one of the country’s most exciting young fullbacks. Known for his technical prowess and set piece ability, the L.A. area native spent time at Belgium’s Club Brugge before returning to the Galaxy in 2023. There, he won an MLS Cup in 2024, appearing 78 times in total before his departure this summer.

“It’s always tough leaving home,” Cuevas said. “Obviously, it’s my boyhood club. My family still lives there, and I was great with all the guys at the club as well. I knew everybody, from the staff and the front office to the coaches. It’s never easy when you’re leaving home.”

“Honestly, the people in Torreón and Santos have all welcomed me with open arms since the first day. They’re all amazing people. It’s an amazing club and an amazing city.”

The move to Liga MX made sense from a number of angles; Santos manager Renato Paiva wanted a new right back, Cuevas’s Galaxy contract was winding down, and his Mexican passport made a move south of the border quite easy. Since joining, Santos have faced an extremely difficult run of games against CF Monterrey, Atlas, Club América, and New York City FC — all of which Cuevas started.

“It’s been great, to be honest,” Cuevas said of his adjustment to life in Torreón. “There hasn’t been much of an adjustment tactics-wise or playing-wise because Renato, our head coach, has similar concepts to what we had at the Galaxy. The players are really good as well. There’s so much quality on the team.”

“The only thing I’ve probably had to get adjusted to is the weather. It’s a little too hot out there, the sun is beaming a lot. But I love it, man. It’s a super-calm city. It’s beautiful, with great food and great people.”

Back in the U.S.

The game against NYCFC came in Leagues Cup, a competition with a razor-thin margin for error. To advance past the first round, teams ideally need to earn at least seven points from their three matches; after losing to New York City, qualification for the knockout rounds is now nearly impossible for Santos. They’ll face Gregg Berhalter, Robert Lewandowski, and the Chicago Fire on Sunday (8 p.m. Eastern Time on Apple TV) in a game where anything but a win in 90 minutes would certainly eliminate them.

“I think we go into every game with the belief that every game is a must-win for us, so that doesn’t really change much. We know now that there’s more on top of that, we have even more reason to win. We’re just focused on ourselves tomorrow. We had a long travel day yesterday, so it’s all about recovery now and setting a game plan that puts us in the best position to win.”

Having started against the Fire at Soldier Field in 2024 and facing former youth national team teammates Chris Brady and Sergio Oregel, Cuevas will hope to give something extra in this game and help keep Santos alive in the tournament.

“Any tournament that this club steps into, we always have that goal in mind of wanting to bring that trophy back to Mexico, back to Torreón with us. We’re a competitive club. We’re one of the best clubs, history-wise, in Mexico, so we know what this badge carries.”

USYNT Hero

Coincidentally enough, the U.S. U-20s advanced to a fifth consecutive CONCACAF final on Friday, setting up a date with hosts Mexico at Estadio Azteca on Sunday. The semifinal win also qualified the U.S. for next year’s Pan American Games in Lima, ensuring qualification for back-to-back editions.

In addition to being a central figure in the last U.S. U-20 CONCACAF victory in 2022, Cuevas was part of the last Pan Am Games team in 2023; the U.S. finished fourth in an unusual competition that included several intriguing names like Sergio Oregel, Brooklyn Raines, Danny Leyva, and a then-relatively unknown Alex Freeman. For Cuevas, that tournament was a special memory, and one he remembers fondly.

“I remember the whole trip, to be honest. I made a lot of great friends and met a lot of great people on and off the field, from the staff to the players – people I’m still in contact with. There are some that are in Liga MX as well, Nico (Carrera), Antonio (Carrera), Danny (Leyva).”

“Every player from that age group and that camp has been doing great. It’s lovely to see, to be honest, seeing everybody shine.”

On the immediate horizon for the U.S. is Sunday’s U-20 final (6:00 p.m. Eastern Time on FS2). The Americans will be hoping that this year’s final is more reminiscent of Cuevas’ age group (a 6-0 final win over the Dominican Republic) than the 2024 edition (a heartbreaking 2-1 loss to Mexico). As is often the case, the U.S. and Mexico will be without many of their top youth players for the tournament due to its concurrence with club games, but that has opened the door for others.

“We have two players from (Santos) that are representing Mexico, so congrats to them,” Cuevas said. “Huge shout out to (LA Galaxy’s) Ruben Ramos as well and Dylan Vanney, who are with the U.S.; they’ve been killing it. I’m just happy for all those guys. Proud of those guys.”