Before Yunus Musah ever set foot on the muddy pitch at Estadio Cuscatlan, the teenager had already shown U.S. men’s national team fans in past performances that he can be a difference-making midfielder. What he proceeded to do against El Salvador on Tuesday was something altogether different.
The USMNT looked poised for a shock loss to their Central American foes, with the messy field conditions and combative nature of the match turning it into a sloppy fight more than a soccer match. Musah was the glaring exception. Where so many other players struggled to navigate the elements, Musah thrived, and while others slipped and slid it was Musah who was able to carve through El Salvador my gliding all over the field like the pitch was perfect rather than a mud pit.
What stood out most was that you could sense a determination from Musah, an edge in his game we hadn’t really seen before in a USMNT uniform. He has had other good games for Gregg Berhalter’s side, most notably in wins against Costa Rica and Mexico last fall, but he had a way of making those games look easy, like he was content to sit in first gear and still be able to shine.
On Tuesday, we saw Musah in top gear. There would be no deferring to teammates or being content to knock the ball around. Over and over, Musah went right at the El Salvador goal with a single-mindedness and killer instinct and it was that drive that helped inspire the Americans to a better second half.
It took some top-shelf saves from El Salvador goalkeeper Miguel Gonzalez — three to be exact — to deny Musah the goal his performance deserved, but his relentlessness helped draw a red card to level the playing field and cancel out Paul Arriola’s earlier red card before Jordan Morris’ stoppage-time equalizer.
The most exciting aspect of Musah’s dominant showing is remembering that he is still just 19, and he is just scratching the surface of his potential. Consider that he has yet to have a full season playing in his natural central midfield role. He spent most of his first full season with Valencia’s first team playing as a winger, though he did earn more starts in a central midfield role in the most recent campaign. Valencia’s active pursuit of winger options for the upcoming season suggests Musah will be able to focus on a steady run so he can become even sharper in the middle of the field.
That bodes well for Musah keeping the starting role he has solidified with the USMNT, even as competition for places grows stronger. With Brenden Aaronson and potentially Gio Reyna among the players who could come gunning for a starting spot in the midfield next to Weston McKennie when the World Cup roles around, Musah still has work to do if he is going to be in the starting lineup when the Americans face Wales in the World Cup opener (and when the USMNT takes on the same England team Musah once represented on the youth national team level).
Perhaps it was that sense of urgency to impress that drove Musah to new levels on Tuesday, or maybe it was Musah tapping into a competitive streak we hadn’t seen in him before. Whatever it was, Musah’s muddy masterpiece in El Salvador could wind up becoming a performance we look back on as being the night we saw Musah take the first major step from being the talented youngster to becoming a dominant star.
While I like the MMA midfield it does have its issues, and we’ve recently seen the possibly seen that there may be a better combination of players, especially against an opponent that bunkers. Inserting Reyna or Aaronson as an attacking CM gives us someone to pick a lock and a central attacking threat that the MMA midfield does not.
There may not be time for our players to fully develop and embrace this change before the 2022 WC…but as these players mature I’d fully expect to see it become the favored formation before 2026. When that happens one of the MMA players will become a super sub. Exactly which one moves to the bench will depend on the opponent and the players form….but if everyone is healthy & in form I’d expect it to be either McKennie or Musah.
Why I believe it to be McKennie or Musah is that these 2 are actually very similar players. They are both high energy box to box guys who cover massive amounts of ground while transitioning from the back to the front. Their both good in tight spaces, (Musah’s a little better) and arriving late in the box (McKennie’s a little better). Both are good defensively but go about it in different ways….McKennie is more physical while Musah tends to pick peoples pocket.
The other option would be to transition to a 4-4-2 diamond but then either Pulisic or Weah move to the bench.
Anyway you look at it we are quickly approaching a point in time where we won’t be able to get all our talent on the field at the same time. And therefore are going to be some significant players who are coming off the bench. This is a good problem to have, and something the USMNT has never had to deal with.
Adams trying to run the offense out of the Diamond would be a disaster. Other teams would just double him and force turnovers in our half.
I think LDLT has pushed Reyna out of the midfield conversation. The RW position will be Reyna and Weah battling for minutes. The competiton with Musah for minutes – for me – is Aaronson and LDLT. They are all such different players that the match ups may be what dictates the coach’s decision as to who gets the nod. Musah has shown in stretches to be the complete package but consistency has been the issue – which makes sense considering his age. He’s shown Aaronson’s hustle, tenacity and willingness to take on defenders – but in fits and starts. He’s shown LDLT’s calm and deft accuracy with distribution but can also be prone to some pretty bad turn overs. But what he does bring that the others don’t is physicality. He’s stronger on the ball which doesn’t allow him to get bodied off like the other two. Aaronson became invisible in El Salvador because the game was so physical. Musah was picked up by the physical nature of the game and thrived. By 2026 he should have his spot locked but I can see Aaronson and LDLT sharing his minutes in this go round.
really? whatever you think LDLT is, reyna is like 10x better at the same thing.
Reyna is also very good as a forward.
I love Luca.
But there’s no way he’s better at anything in soccer than Gio.
He could be a very ,very good player for the USMNT
Gio can be an all time great one.
So you put Gio where he plays best.
Assuming both are healthy, game fit and in form, you put Gio in at attacking midfield, central.
Then you put Luca wherever he can fit in.
But we don’t use an AM. If your changing our formation then yes play Gio as a 10, that of course removes someone from MMA midfield (or Luca). Now if you want to slide Gio into our current formation he’ll be 40 yards from goal on the touch line covering for Dest when we’re in possession. If that’s the case then yes stick Yunuas or Luca there and leave Gio up combining with Serge and bring Weah off the bench to run at people the last 20 minutes. I think Morocco was a test for how to play with a 10 in that case using Aaronson so I wouldn’t be surprised to see it if Gio returns in time.
I didn’t mean LDLT has beat out Reyna for a midfield position. I meant his emergence can free Reyna to concentrate on playing in the front three which is, correct me if I’m wrong, where he plays for Dortmund and has always played for the US.