The USMNT suffered Gold Cup heartache in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Mexico. But here are five youngsters who can avenge the Gold Cup as the World Cup cycle looms.
Despite going agonisingly close to winning it, defeat in the 2019 Gold Cup final will constitute a massive failure for the United States Men’s National Team and Gregg Berhalter. The U.S. had looked genuinely good in the group stages, brushing aside Guyana and Trinidad & Tobago with ease, while doing a professional job against Panama once qualification was already secured.
However, that was the absolute bare minimum expected from one of the two strong favourites for this tournament. Their struggles against Curacao in the quarter-finals were not what fans expected.
Nevertheless, they made it through, saw off Jamaica in the semi-finals and actually had a very bright opening quarter against Mexico on Sunday. But El Tri soon got to grips with Berhalter’s side and, as the game wore on, it felt more and more like the USA were being suffocated. Defeat seemed inevitable during the second half.
The post mortem now begins as attention turns to qualification for the 2022 World Cup, and so, we’ve taken a look at five young players who could come into the USMNT and turn this Gold Cup heartache into success on the biggest stage.
5. Tyler Adams
OK, a bit of an open goal with this one, but Tyler Adams was a huge miss for the Gold Cup and would undoubtedly have played had he been fit. Berhalter would likely have played him in his right-back/central midfield hybrid berth but in reality, he should be sitting in front of the back four, exactly where he’s been tearing it up for RB Leipzig.
Reggie Cannon showed more than enough at right-back during the Gold Cup, while DeAndre Yedlin will return at some point. Meanwhile, asking Michael Bradley to sit in front of the defence and cover that entire horizontal space is simply unfair. Bradley has been a wonderful servant to the USMNT, but at 31, he just doesn’t have the legs anymore.
Adams rocked up at Leipzig midway through the European season and ended it with the second-highest number of tackles per 90 minutes (5.5), the fourth-highest number of interceptions per 90 minutes (2) and the highest number of accurate short passes per 90 minutes (50.2) at the club.
In short, he was a raging success, going beyond all expectations. To not play him in his natural role would be criminal, especially when we’ve seen Weston McKennie’s box-to-box capabilities this summer. This could be the makings of a young, dynamic and super-talented midfield.