I thought we saw some good things last night. Weah and Musah were really dynamic. Weah especially. He was everywhere in the first half and really made a lot happen.
Dike was a bit of a disappointment. He should have had 2 goals, but the first golden opportunity literally passed right in front of him and he made no effort to take the ball. I assume there had to be some miscommunication of some kind to cause him to back off, but your #9 should know he's got a95% chance at a goal there and ignore anybody calling him off the ball and he didn't do that. I've definitely seen him play much better in other aspects of the game too. He wasn't bad, but I'd put Sargent and Weah ahead of him right now based on what I've see in the last week.
Aaronson is the little engine that could. Really great work rate and he does a lot of things off the ball that aren't often noticed. He's a really good passer and he is very creative. He's not a guy that is going to dominate you 1v1, but he's a guy you love to have on the pitch. Bad news for him is that I don't see how he ever breaks into the first 11 b/c Pulisic and Reyna do everything he does, but they also have the 1v1 ability that makes them more dangerous. I told my wife last night that Aaronson was born 10 years too late. Until this generation he'd have been a star on every USMNT side we've ever fielded. Now, he might never be heard from if everyone stays healthy.
I really like McKenzie. Without Brooks next to him last night he stood out again as a solid center back. He's just very solid and made several really great passes to get forwards in behind the Ticos defense. Miazga, Ream, and Long (when he's healthy again) should all be 2nd team options at best, but with Chris Richards and Justin Che developing quickly they may even be 3rd teamers for the Nats in a couple years.
The more I see Robinson play the more I think Dest needs to be our right back and Reggie Cannon should be a back-up. I've made no secrets about my affinity for Reggie Cannon, but I just don't think he's got the dynamic technical ability that Robinson and Dest have. Dest is obviously at another level, but Robinson does some really great things with the ball at his feet too that create space for him and open up distribution lanes. Cannon is just a technically sound and positionally sound wing back who can make good crosses, has really good athleticism to defend 1v1, and has the stamina to play corner flag to corner flag for 90 minutes. I basically just described Steve Cherundolo, but Dest and Robinson bring an extra something to the table while maybe sacrificing a bit on defensive positioning. I really like watching Robinson play.
It's amazing to me to think about how our defense always had a weakness at left back and one of the center back spots, but now we're awash in center back options better than we've typically had and we have two very solid options at left back with Robinson and Dest. Add in Yedlin and Reynolds to the right back pool and our young depth and talent at every defensive position is stunning.
Musah really needs to be starting in front of McKennie in a 4-5-1 formation that allows Gio and Pulisic to play as hybrid midfielders/forwards on the wings. When you have guys like Dest, Robinson, Cannon, Yedlin, etc. who can defend high and join the attack from the wings it encourages those outside midfielders to pinch into the penalty area to find dangerous spaces to receive the ball. With Musah and McKennie running in behind them it further challenges the center backs b/c there are two center mids who can run directly at them and force them to decide who to cover and who to leave open. I just don't understand why Lletget would ever start in that role ahead of Musah. Lletget has been productive in that role, but he can't do the things Musah can do and Lletget has demonstrated he's not nearly as productive against top end competition. He was absolute rubbish against Switzerland and in the Nations League.
