It will be interesting writing this piece while still digesting the US’ 0-0 draw with global soccer powerhouse, England. On one hand, you’d likely have signed in blood on the dotted line if someone told you beforehand the Americans would play England to a draw. On the other, despite England having a possession edge, the US had the better of the scoring opportunities, and generally bossed the midfield. So let’s take a look at how our individual performers did on the pitch, using our standard 1-10 scale with a half-point system to be used arbitrarily at my whim. What???

GK Matt Turner – 7.5

Possibly Turner’s best game in the shirt. Had to be alert to palm Mason Mount’s goalbound effort late in the first half around the post. Was strong and aggressive coming off his line on crosses. And his distribution, still clearly the weakest part of his game, was notably better than it was against Wales. As has seemingly become expected for him, he still had one WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING moment late in the game when he inexplicably began to dribble the ball up the field with English strikers ready to pounce like sharks with blood in the water, but overall he’s become a quite a good goalie.

LB Antonee Robinson – 8.0

England’s dynamic duo of Buyako Saka and Jude Bellingham did virtually nothing on the right side for England. This is largely because Jedi shut them down, no small feat. And he did this while also marauding relentlessly forward on the left wing. Impressively, his pace never slowed, even after 90 minutes. His final ball remains shit, but at least we already knew this, and also know it won’t improve. It doesn’t matter. He went toe to toe with some of the best attackers in the world and came out on top every time. He played like a world-class left back in this one.

CB Tim Ream – 7.0

It still flummoxes me that Ream wasn’t a lock to make the roster. The steady veteran has provided solid defense and on-field leadership for a young US side, and held his own against Harry Kane – much like he holds his own against the Premier League’s best forwards for Fulham every weekend. Allowed Kane to get inside his front shoulder on a late England free kick, but still managed to put off the prolific scorer enough to make him steer his header wide. Another solid performance from the team’s elder statesman.

CB Walker Zimmerman – 4.0

It’s fair to ask at this point if the stage is too big for Zimmerman. After conceding a brutal penalty to cost the team a win against Wales, he turned the ball over in bad spots at least half a dozen times against an English team you probably shouldn’t turn the ball over against in ANY spot. Did well marking on set pieces and was his usual dependable self in the air, but Berhalter has to be considering a change to Cam Carter-Vickers for the Iran match on Tuesday. There’s too much at stake to let Zimmerman just figure it out.

RB Sergino Dest – 7.0

Overall, a good performance from Dest. You can see glimpses of what could make him one of the world’s elite right backs – blinding runs forward into space, 100 yard mad dashes to track back on defense, razor’s edge cuts to turn into the opposition 18 yard box… and then the final product, not unlike his partner on the left Robinson, is lacking. Either he inexplicably doesn’t run at his off-balance defender or sends his cross wayward and harmlessly into oblivion. On defense, he needs to close down more closely. But what he really needs is not to ride the pine for his club team. He’s too good, and needs the experience.

CDM Tyler Adams – 9.0

Man of the match, and it wasn’t particularly close. Didn’t put a single foot wrong, ran endlessly, and looks 100% the part of team captain on the pitch. He’s the very definition of irreplacable. I’m not sure the announcers called Declan Rice’s name a single time today. You could wish he was more of an impact guy on offense, but now you’re just getting greedy.

CM Yunus Musah – 5.5

Musah works about as hard and covers as much ground as anyone on the field – mostly because his first touch is so bad that he’s constantly having to chase the ball down. Am I being harsh on him? He put in a tough-tackling, responsible shift after all. The ceiling for Musah is immense, but in the short term, he has to make quicker decisions. He doesn’t look at all out of place on the field in terms of skill, but he too often hesitates when a window to shoot presents itself, and waits too long to release his outside runners. Should correct itself with experience, but he should see the bench against Iran in favor of Gio Reyna.

LM Christian Pulisic – 7.5

One of his better performances in recent memory. I’m usually hard on him, mainly because he generally leaves me severely wanting with his shifts, but he was good today. Rattled the crossbar on a superb shot that beat Cal Pickford cleanly, uncharacteristically delivered at least half a dozen well struck corner kicks into the England box, and most impressively of all, defended expertly. When you think Pulisic, you never think “where would we be without his defense,” but he constantly blew up English passing lanes today and was a big reason they rarely threatened the US goal. Now if he could just stop waiting so damn long to release his runners. Pass the damn ball already, son…

RM Weston McKennie – 7.5

Rare is the player who blends physicality, athleticism, and skill like McKennie. One of the few players on the US side who can single-handly take over a game. And he had moments of doing just that. He gets dinged today for larruping a golden chance from 12 yards well over the goal in the first half, and failing to get on the end of any crosses/set pieces – an area in which he usually excels.

FW Haji Wright – 5.5

Can’t fault the work rate and the willingness to defend from the front, but apart from a couple of nice hold up plays, he was too often a non-factor, something that can be said about the USMNT center forwards as a whole fairly consistently. Could have done better than ten feet off frame with a first half headed borderline opportunity. Should probably start the Iran game on the pine in favor of the more creative Diego Ferreira.

FW Tim Weah – 6.0

Look, he wasn’t bad by any stretch. Had the one good cross that McKennie wasted, and spent a lot of time in possession on the right side, but rarely did that turn into anything. Some of this wouldn’t be his fault necessarily, but still. He also, like most attacking players on the USMNT, needs to run at defenders more. He has plenty of skill to beat guys one on one, and potentially win penalties, but he tends to wait too long for things to develop.

SUBS

Brenden Aaronson – 5.0

Ran hard, as usual, to destinations unknown. Made a nice interception to thwart an English attack late on. It’s fun to think about what he could do if he refined his offensive skillset a little bit but at this stage of his career, he’s probably a defensive sub. Since he won’t use his speed to run at defenders, you can take advantage of the fact that he treats his defense as required rather than optional.

Shaq Moore – 2.0

Came on for Dest and was appalling. Turnovers, reckless fouls, hesitation in a moment of opportunity. He’s just not an international quality player on any level. If he sees the field again this tournament when better options like Joe Scally are available, it will be dereliction of duty by Berhalter.

Josh Sargent – N/A

Came on late for Wright and I’m not sure he touched the ball. It won’t have been for lack of trying but there’s just nothing to base a rating on.

Gio Reyna – 5.0

Only got maybe 7 minutes, but looked tidy in possession. Combined with Pulisic to inexplicably let the clock run out at the end of the game instead of launching a hail mary cross into the box to try and find a last gasp winner.

COACH Gregg Berhalter – 5.0

Deserves credit for tweaking his formation after the Wales game, and giving Wright a start in a matchup that suited his strengths, even if it didn’t pan out in a goal. There remain two huge areas of concern with Beharlter. He hasn’t demonstrated the tactical awareness to counter any adjustments his opposing number makes, and he remains just brutally inept with his subs bench. Apart from Moore, who shouldn’t be in the 26 to begin with, you can’t quibble too much with the guys he sent on. But he simply waits way too long. And giving Reyna only 7 minutes at the very end of a winnable game after giving 0 minutes at the end of anothery very winnable game is borderline felonious. He must be better.

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