That was pretty enjoyable. January camp for the USMNT usually ends with a dull game against an equally dull opponent. Costa Rica was still a nondescript sparring partner, but at least the US lineup was intriguing. Uly Llanez, Jesus Ferreira, Brenden Aaronson, Sam Vines, and even Jackson Yueill made watching this game a chance to learn something. I’ve got no beef with Jordan Morris, but if he’d stayed on the roster and started in Uly’s spot what would’ve been gained?

Don’t buy that Llanez jersey, Ben….yet *takes deep breath*

Let’s try to maintain some composure and not go full fanboy, but I’d say we picked up a couple positive data points.

Nerdy Sidebar

Before I get into the grades I’d like to explain an additional column on the “scorecard.” I’ve added a piece called “Adjusted Total.” This is attempting to adjust the grades for competition factors. I was going to try to come up with my own multipliers, but was pointed to the Elo formula. The formula turns out to be:

(Elo Ranking of Opponent/USA Elo Ranking) x (competition factors)

In a single game I don’t think it will be all that revealing. Over the course of time though, it could be more informative. If I’m able to grade all the games this year, then the end of year “Adjusted Totals” may be a better way to compare players since competition level will be more or less accounted for.

Grading Drink: Dalwhinnie Scotch (4.5/5) my current favorite

Anyway, here are the grades:

If you haven’t read one of these before click here for an explanation of the grading system.

Completed Grades

Team Total +/- over time – I like how it gives an picture of when the team was playing well (h/t to helpful redditor u/osloisaparrot for all the graphics in this piece btw)

Guidelines for Interpreting the Numbers

15+ Excellent game 9-14 Played well to very well 5-8 Solid 0-4 Not great, Bob Below 0 My expectations for Bill and Ted 3 (I’m 100% watching it though)

*The Adjusted Total uses the Elo formula to take into account opponent and competition factors.*

MOTM – Reggie Cannon (+13)

In a game where nobody was spectacular Cannon was very good. Coaches have gotta love this guy. I don’t think I’ve graded a bad performance from him. He’s smart, super fit, defensively solid, and always making the right run. Reggie earned a positive grade in all four game phases, showing especially well in possession, which was important since the US had 61% of the ball. He showed off some nice passing in the first minute:

He was also very good on the defensive side of the ball:

If Cannon doesn’t make this play the Costa Rican attacker is 1 v 1 with Sean Johnson

I don’t want to get into the tired Cannon v. Yedlin argument, but for me the best team the US can put out right now has Dest at left back and Cannon at right back.

Away Days

Away Days is keeping me on for February. 👍 Give it a look.

Me in Away Days apparel rn

Away Days is a soccer clothing startup based in Boston, MA that offers unique/cool soccer stuff. It’s a one person operation, but Martin will make sure you are taken care of no matter what. The company is known for the Mystery Kit, which for $25, Martin will send you a brand new jersey from a “lesser known” team. Away Days also has their own branded clothing line (hoodies, t-shirts, hats, etc), partners with US clubs to sell their jerseys, and offers a host of other mystery products. If you are looking for awesome soccer gear and customer service, look no further than http://awaydaysfootball.com.

I’ve done the mystery kit thing twice. Once for me and once for my son. We got Nottingham Forest and FC Wacker. 😂 It’s legit. My apologies for the interruption…back to soccer.

Other Positive Performances

Uly started fast then leveled off a bit

Uly Llanez (+9)

There have been people clamoring for Uly on Twitter for a few months now. It’s the whole first team minutes, being a full professional thing vs. pure talent debate. It was nice to see Llanez immediately look like the most dangerous winger in the pool after Pulisic. He’s obviously not the finished product yet, but if you could watch him play and not see he’s better than nearly all the wingers the USMNT usually runs out there…¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Uly walking up to take the PK

His skill on the ball reminded me of Dest and while he wasn’t an Arriola-level defender, he wasn’t a weak spot either. Not to mention the cojones necessary to grab the ball and bury the penalty. Needless to say, I’m excited for Uly’s future with the USMNT.

Uly Llanez USMNT debut vs Costa Rica



pic.twitter.com/KkrUfuqk2r — Sanjiv (@USMNTvideos) February 1, 2020

Jesus Ferreira (+7)

The USMNT forward pool is not great atm, so I was pretty excited to see Ferreira get a shot. He didn’t disappoint. Jesus spent much of last season with Dallas playing in a #10 type role. As a result, he was very comfortable dropping back into the midfield to help connect play for the US. Early on, before Costa Rica changed their shape, Jesus was helping facilitate some pretty looking ball movement by the US.

Ferreira drops back, the CB is a beat late following and he plays a nice pass into the vacated space for Arriola making a heads up run. Love it.

Ferreira also ended up with the highest score of anyone in the Offensive Transition phase. This may just be a function of the position he played, but it was nice to see the forward pushing play forward instead of banging the ball backwards 15 yards to a defender.

Room to Improve

Sam Vines (0)

I saw some positive reviews of Vines and while I saw potential in a couple moments, I didn’t think it was that strong a performance overall. His passing was a little inaccurate (took 3 pts for bad passes) and on three occasions he started counters (or didn’t stop one) for Costa Rica with his mistakes (2′, 28′, and 70′). None of the counters turned into anything, but those mistakes can be fatal against teams bunkering like Costa Rica. Here’s one:

Nothing came of it because Costa Rica were playing like they were hungover, but it could have been something dangerous.

There’s certainly talent there and he’s played a ton of professional minutes for a 20 year old, but I think there’ll be better games than this one for Mr. Vines.

Sebastian Lletget (+2)

Technically, Johnson had a lower grade, but that was because he had almost nothing to do and wasn’t real involved in the buildup. Lletget on the other hand played the whole 93′ and didn’t do a whole lot. For the attacking midfielder to put up those numbers is a little disappointing to me. I dinged him three different times for “awareness.” Meaning, he lost track of something in a noticeable way that hurt the team. Take a look at how he hung Ferreira out dry by not pressing with the team:

You can see Arriola and Llanez go with Ferreira, but Lletget doesn’t press the CM

Maybe I’m just being harsh on Lletget, but I’m really looking forward to seeing Ledezma/Holmes/Pomykal getting a shot in that left 10/Free 8 position. A better player there could make Berhalter’s system look much more dangerous.

Jackson Yueill

I wanted to give Jackson his own little section because it’s starting to look like he’s going to be Berhalter’s chosen QB. I may be wrong on that, but that’s the impression I’ve gotten from recent comments. If you look at the chart above Yueill was doing very well for the first half of the first half. Costa Rica was in a 4-4-2 block and Yueill was doing a nice job finding space between the front two and playing passes. This was my favorite bit:

Vaguely Frenkie de Jong-ish

However, once Costa Rica moved into that 4-5-1 Yueill was much less influential. The forward, Urena, followed him around much of the rest of the match and if he did get some space, then a midfielder would pop out of that 5 to pressure him. It’s a good sign that he’s getting a little bit of the “Bradley Treatment,” but he or Berhalter are going to have to evolve so it’s not as easy to mark him out of the game.

Here you can see Costa Rica paying much closer attention to Yueill

Conclusions

I’m going to try to restrain myself and not make declarations like…

Llanez is now the USMNT’s best winger behind Pulisic. — HalfSpaces (@blharreld) February 1, 2020

Or put Ferreira #2 on the forward depth chart. But it sure is tempting to do so, isn’t it? For now, we’ll have to content ourselves with the fact that the kids look like they can play and would seem to have earned at least another shot in the future. Olympic qualifying will take a lot of these guys off the senior roster in March, but lets hope we get to see a crazy exciting group in Tokyo for the summer Olympics.

Once those Olympics end…it’s going be a cage match for spots on the USMNT and that’s a very good thing.

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P.S. Coach +/- Rating

I don’t know exactly what I’m doing yet, so I haven’t included it, but the last couple times I’ve graded I’ve included a Coaching section. Anytime something noticeably good or bad happens that isn’t really due to any one player I chalk it up to good “system play.” Berhalter came out +6 this match just FYI. I may scrap it. I may keep it. Don’t know yet.