The European season is back in full flow, Major League Soccer is hitting its stretch run, and we have USMNT calendar news.
Yet it’s the transfer market that’s inspired us to revisit our periodic ranking of the top 25 players in the USMNT player pool.
Sergino Dest looks destined for either Barcelona or Bayern Munich, while Weston McKennie is off to Juventus and is currently learning midfield next to Adrien Rabiot, behind Aaron Ramsey, over Arthur, and under the watchful eye of Andrea Pirlo.
[ MORE: How 7 Americans fared in Bundesliga Wk 1 ]
If you’re the swooning type, here’s where you swoon.
It’s been 10 months and 10 days since our first rankings hit ProSoccerTalk and there’s been a pandemic pause, restart of one season, and beginning of another since our second.
Where is the player pool now? As a reminder, here are some ground rules:
- The ranking is meant to illustrate who would be most likely to positively affect a USMNT match, regardless of manager or teammates, right now.
- Health doesn’t matter to our rankings if a current injury isn’t one that could drastically alter the player’s skill set moving forward.
- Age/potential/experience doesn’t matter either, at least not much; It’s how likely you are to contribute to the team if put on the field right now. Obviously Konrad de la Fuente is a better long-term prospect than 30-year-old Jozy Altidore, but most would rather have the Toronto FC man in a big spot right now.
Obviously there’s been plenty of movement.
Top 25 USMNT players – September 2020
1. Christian Pulisic, Chelsea (1)
2. Tyler Adams, RB Leizpig (4) — Just out here scoring UCL tie-deciding goals
3. Weston McKennie, Juventus (2) — Oh, hi there. This is cool.
4. John Brooks, Wolfsburg (3)
5. Giovanni Reyna, Borussia Dortmund (13) — This is 17 years old? Come on.
6. Jordan Morris, Seattle Sounders (8)
7. Sergino Dest, Ajax (5) — Barcelona or Bayern Munich?
8. Josh Sargent, Werder Bremen (18) — Midfield?
9. Zack Steffen, Manchester City (9) — First Man City start probably comes Thursday.
10. Antonee Robinson, Fulham (10) — Come on, Scott Parker. Put him in there.
11. Timothy Weah, Lille (14) — Working back to fitness and form. Came off the bench in first three Ligue 1 games.
12. Tyler Boyd, Besiktas (21) — Looking good in second full season with the Turkish giants
13. Julian Green, Greuther Furth (12)
14. Sebastian Lletget, LA Galaxy (25)
15. Alfredo Morales, Fortuna Dusseldorf (7)
16. Gyasi Zardes, Columbus Crew (NR) — If you’re yelling at this, I get it, but you’re not watching MLS. He’s been wonderful.
Zardes puts the cherry on top for @ColumbusCrewSC!#Crew96 | #PorColumbus pic.twitter.com/2wqtCIiY0t
— FOX Sports Columbus (@FOXSportsCbus) September 20, 2020
17. Matt Miazga, Chelsea (17) — Rumors of a Trabzonspor loan are interesting.
18. Cameron Carter-Vickers, Spurs (20) — Crushed it at Luton Town. Is Bournemouth next?
19. Darlington Nagbe, Columbus Crew (NR)
20. Reggie Cannon, Boavista (NR)
21. Brenden Aaronson, Philadelphia Union (NR) — Credit to Gregg Berhalter, who saw it before any of us.
22. Matt Turner, New England (NR) — Incredible season alert.
23. Aaron Long, New York Red Bulls (NR)
24. Tim Ream, Fulham (13)
25. Henry Wingo, Molde (NR) — Unsure where the Norwegian league rates in relation to MLS, but Wingo’s moved from non-regular with Seattle to starting right back on a team knocking on the door of the UEFA Champions League group stage. Plus I had like nine names I liked for spots 23, 24, and 25.
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Notes
- Columbus’ resurgence this season has seen Zardes and Nagbe shine. It’s difficult not to place them higher than we initially planned.
- Judging the center back pool has become fraught. Chelsea’s Matt Miazga and Tottenham’s Cameron Carter-Vickers are on a loan recycling program and have done well but we haven’t really seen them outside of the Championship. MLS regulars Walker Zimmerman, Miles Robinson, and Aaron Long are good on inconsistent teams. After John Brooks, who knows?
- Dropping out are DeAndre Yedlin, Jozy Altidore, Cristian Roldan, Ike Opara, Michael Bradley, Fabian Johnson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Miles Robinson, Paul Arriola, and Jackson Yueill.
- Small sample size, but if you’re the top rated player on Besiktas then you’re Tyler Boyd and you’re getting a higher spot than we anticipated when we started the post.
Last five out: Chris Richards, Bayern Munich; Duane Holmes, Derby County; DeAndre Yedlin, Newcastle United; Timothy Chandler, Eintracht Frankfurt; Frankie Amaya, FC Cincinnati.
Keep an eye on: Ulysses Llanez, Heerenveen (loan from Wolfsburg); Cole Bassett, Colorado Rapids; Julian Araujo, LA Galaxy; Chris Mueller, Orlando City; Konrad de la Fuente, Barcelona; Indiana Vassilev, Burton Albion (loan from Aston Villa); Paxton Pomykal, FC Dallas; Jozy Altidore, Toronto FC; Cristian Roldan, Seattle Sounders; Walker Zimmerman, Nashville SC.
