The U.S. men’s national team’s 1-1 draw with El Salvador on Tuesday won’t be remembered for its beauty or skill, but rather for the fight shown by the Americans under adverse conditions, and for how the match impacted the standing of several players fighting for a place on the U.S. World Cup squad.
Final verdicts may not have been reached on any USMNT players, but for some, Tuesday marked either an opportunity missed — by the likes of Ethan Horvath and Haji Wright — or an opportunity cashed in — by players such as Cameron Carter-Vickers and Luca De La Torre.
We did some some USMNT players strengthen their grip on starting roles, most notably Yunus Musah and Aaron Long, while Jordan Morris revived his World Cup chances with a vital goal.
Here is a look at how the USMNT performed individually on Tuesday against El Salvador, with SBI’s USMNT Player Ratings:
Ethan Horvath – 4
The goal was his fault and there’s really no way around that, but he was also nervy at other times during his performance.
Reggie Cannon – 4
Whether it was fatigue kicking in after playing 90 minutes against Grenada, or just a bad game, Cannon wasn’t at his best in El Salvador. He can shoulder some of the blame on El Salvador’s goal, won just five of his 15 duels and contributed nothing to the USMNT attack.
Cameron Carter-Vickers – 6.5
Started slowly but eventually settled in for a solid starting shift. He completed 90 percent of his passes and won seven of his nine duels. A 90-minute shift that cements his strong June and status as a clear top-four centerback in the USMNT pecking order.
Aaron Long – 7
The veteran centerback delivered his best outing of the month, putting in a 90-minute shift that locks him into the starting role next to Walker Zimmerman in the USMNT central defense. Long won all five of his duels, recorded 10 clearances and led the match in total touches and passes completed.
Antonee Robinson – 6.5
The weather conditions didn’t lend themselves to Robinson showing off his attacking qualities, but defensively he was a beast, recording a game-high 11 clearances and 11 duels won.
Tyler Adams – 6
Not his best day, but Adams was still active, though winning just six of his 16 duels is well below his norm.
Yunus Musah – 8
An absolute force in the middle, particularly in the second half, when his powerful dribbles ripped apart El Salvador’s defense. Only the heroics of El Salvador goalkeeper Miguel Gonzalez kept Musah from nothing a goal or two from his game-high four shots, but Musah did draw a red card on El Salvador that helped eliminate the home team’s man advantage.
Brenden Aaronson – 5
Maybe it’s something about San Salvador that Aaronson can’t get over because his second match there produced another performance below his usual level. Aaronson managed just nine passes and won just four of his 11 duels during his 45 minutes of action.
Christian Pulisic – 6
Active, but clearly had issues with El Salvador’s physicality and the field conditions. Won six of his 14 duels and finished with zero shots on goal.
Haji Wright – 4
The field conditions did him no favors, but Wright finishing with just nine touches from 45 minutes of action was still tough to ignore as disappointing.
Tim Weah – 5
A lackluster outing by Weah’s standards, though it is unlikely to change his current standing as the first-choice option at left forward in the USMNT 4-3-3.
Weston McKennie – 6.5
A very lively 45-minute shift for McKennie, who was part of the reason for the USMNT showing more energy and taking control in the second half. The Juventus midfielder completed 90 percent of his passes and finished with a very good chance on goal.
Jesus Ferreira – 5.5
Managed just one shot on goal during his 45-minute shift, but did put in the defensive work trying to apply as much pressure as he could, though he didn’t win a single duel on the night.
Luca De La Torre – 7
Played just nine minutes but delivered the game-tying assist.
Jordan Morris – 7
Played just 10 minutes but won four of five duels before scoring the stoppage-time equalizer.
Paul Arriola – NR
Played nine minutes off the bench before drawing a red card.
What did you think of the player performances in Tuesday’s draw? Who did you consider the best player on the night, and who was second to Yunus Musah?
Share your thoughts below.
How is anyone still happy with this? There is no passion in our play. Hasnt been other than vs maybe Mexico. We should not tie El Salvador. We should dominate them. I just dont see us changing our skipper before the world cup now and I dont even see us getting out of the group stages with this current bowl of nothing. Im not joking. These guys are waaaay too talented with waaaaay too much depth to keep turning in these mediocre performances. We always played above our expectations. That was the spirit of the US National Team. Never say die type attitude. That was the American Spirit in many ways. What we have now is embarrassing and I cant believe we don’t have more fans calling this shite out.
Assuming 5 is average, here is my 2 cents (probably worth even less):
Horvath 3-made no good play, gave up a goal
Cannon 3-several lapses in defense
Adams 3- caught too high several times jumped into tackles and missed, and should have been red carded
Pulisic 7.5-was a leader and roamed the field for a much improved offense
LDT 8- crossed on assist and on Morris header that would have been PK with VAR
Morris 8- was asked to come in and win crosses and he did exactly that scoring one and with VAR another PK
Oops, forgot Arriolla. I give him a 1. I think he deserved a red. If someone did that to US player and didnt get a red, I would probably be mad.
Arriola shouldn’t get a pass (NR) for his poor decision which lead to his Red Card. He should have been rated as a 2.
Morris is over-rated at 7. Yes he got the goal and won his duals….but I don’t think that rated a 7.
Weah ranking is a little low. Yes he wasn’t up to his usual standards but that had more to do with the conditions than his play. His game is predicated on quick movements and taking players on 1 Vs. 1. The waterlogged field limited that type of play and he didn’t adapt very well. That said he was at least as effective as Ferreira.
Otherwise I think the rankings are fair.
“Morris is over-rated at 7. Yes he got the goal and won his duals….but I don’t think that rated a 7.”
Morris was an offensive sub. One imagines that the manager said get in there and score or create a scoring opportunity.
He could not have done any more so your take is nonsense.