The U.S. men’s national team had plenty of stability in its midfield Tuesday night in St. Paul and Yunus Musah was a key reason for it.
Musah earned SBI Man of the Match honors at Allianz Field in the USMNT’s 4-0 friendly win over Oman. The AC Milan midfielder logged 90 minutes alongside Malik Tillman and Weston McKennie, delivering a strong shift in the shutout victory.
Musah did not end up on the scoresheet, but was strong against the Oman midfield for the entire match. He won nine of his 13 duels, made 10 recoveries, drew a match-high three fouls, and completed three dribbles.
His strong work rate and range in midfield allowed both McKennie and Tillman to get in on the attack. The 20-year-old made back-to-back positive performances this window, which could be crucial in Musah receiving added playing time in Italy this season.
Musah edged out Kristoffer Lund, Weston McKennie, and Sergino Dest for Man of the Match honors.
What did you think of Musah’s performance tonight and throughout the September window? Do you see him earning a larger role at club level this fall?
Share your thoughts below.
I like that fresh cut he has. He did good tonight was at the game and I wish he would have stayed at Valencia. AC Milan annoying not playing him.
He was training on his own most of preseason, missed the US Tour. I think his minutes will increase at ACM as the season goes on.
Can not understand all the glowing reviews of McKennie. Lost count of the number of too-fancy passes resulting in lost possession and missed scoring opportunities. 6.5 overall at best.
When he is off, he is awful but tonight Weston drove the team. No other player drives this team like he does. If he is not in the mood they can be pretty blah. Then Weston looks like a statue.
The lost passes don’t mean anything as long as they were aggressive ones.
When he is in this mood Weston is a pain in the ass for the other team and wears them down a lot.
Possession is pointless if you do not use it to help you score. Tiki-taka was mainly defense- by- playing- keep- away and, as such, was pretty boring. What made it fun to watch were the players like, Leo, Iniesta, Xavi, , etc.,etc. who were just fun to watch.
The good thing is lately, Weston has been on thin ice at Juve and has had to fight for his professional life. That’s why he has looked so good lately. Prospective unemployment is very motivating. Hopefully he does not win a starting role at Juve. He needs something to keep him going.
Vac, to further what you said, the places on the field and the situations where McKennie lost the ball were drastically different than Tillman. A better opponent would have made the US pay for those but of course Tillman is aware of the competition and wouldn’t necessarily play that way against better teams so ultimately it’s hard to draw any conclusions about anybody other than what they can do at a home game against a vastly inferior opponent.
McKennie for me. The way he was passing, we didn’t need Reyna or anyone else in the midfield to set up the attacks.