Over the past year, three new or newish center midfielders have emerged for the United States Men’s National Team (USMNT), and Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Kellyn Acosta are their names.
The Emergence of Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Kellyn Acosta Doesn’t Make Michael Bradley Disposable
The United States of course also has Michael Bradley, and many USMNT fans have baselessly decided that Bradley is the problem with the national team. This of course makes no sense as Bradley recently demonstrated his quality for the U.S. with his solo goal against Mexico from some 40 meters out where he dispossessed an opponent and dribbled through a crowd to chip Memo Ochoa.
McKennie, Adams, and Acosta Are All Skilled, Fast, and Intelligence Players Who Use Both Feet, but none of them are really true defensive midfielders
Off the three younger center midfielders, McKennie plays in the better league, but both Adams and Acosta have excellent technical quality. Acosta is perhaps the least popular and hyped right now, but he has demonstrated special skill with his free kicks.
McKennie plays in the Bundesliga for Schalke and Adams will be playing for Leipzig in the Bundesliga, but Acosta is a European-level talent. The Schalke midfielder has shown his ability to score, and while he is fast and quick, Adams and Acosta are devasting with their speed and nonstop running combined with their skill.
Both Acosta and Adams play quick one-to-two touch soccer, and they both excel at threading balls through the defense. They hit first-time passes that catch the defense off guard and release attackers into dangerous areas in the final third.
Most people seem to consider McKennie the best of the three because he starts for Schalke, but all three are quite excellent and perhaps better than anyone else the U.S. has had in the center of the midfield in the past. Even Bradley lacks their special impact because all three are bolder and more aggressive going forward, even though Bradley did net that recent golazo from distance against Mexico.
Starting McKennie, Adams, and Acosta Limits the Amount of Attacking Players Who Can Start: Most Notably Sebastian Lletget
Starting all three midfielders might be the right choice for the U.S. going forward, but this somewhat limits the amount of attacking players the U.S. can field. These three midfielders are all box-to-box midfielders, but all three can play as a true defensive midfielder. The best option is to have these players cover for each other when one goes forward instead of designating one as a true defensive midfielder. As good as they are going forward, they aren’t as good as Christian Pulisic and Sebastian Lletget in the attack.
Playing all three means there are three attacking places open for the U.S., and those spots should probably go to Pulsic and Lletget with Bobby Wood playing as the center forward. Rubio Rubin and Timothy Weah are strong attacking options, and Weah is likely too good to not start. Perhaps the U.S. needs to try Weah out as a center forward and see how it goes. Right now Wood is likely the better finisher, but Weah is just a teenager and he’s looked too skilled, too fast, and too dangerous not to start. The question is is he really a center forward?