After a perfect fall on home soil, the U.S. men’s national team has once again dispersed across the world as players return to club action.
For many of the American stars, the excitement of the nation’s four-consecutive victories has supercharged them, seeing the success in red, white and blue bleed into their recent performances for their club teams.
For others—specifically those USMNT manager Mauricio Pochettino opted to leave out of his ranks this fall, they are currently in a rut that is proving hard to break out of.
Here is Sports Illustrated’s weekly stock up, stock down analysis for the USMNT players.
USMNT Stock Up
Julian Hall
Julian Hall can’t stop scoring. After the 18-year-old striker found the back of the net in each of his first three appearances for the USMNT—becoming the youngest player to do such a thing since Brazilian soccer legend Pelé nearly 70 years ago—he has continued his impeccable form.
It took just 15 minutes for the teenager to drive one home in his return to MLS action, opening Red Bull New York’s scoring in a 4–1 victory over San Diego FC on Saturday. Proving to be his bread and butter, Hall perfectly timed his run into the penalty box to be on the receiving end of a dangerous cross that required just his simple redirection.
The teenager has become well-regarded for not only his mature vision of the game, but also his ability to time to the millisecond how the play will progress. He kept pace with San Diego’s backline as it retreated during the Red Bulls’ advances from midfield. He then recognized that the opponent’s left fullback was a single step ahead of the others, providing a small window to get ahead of the center backs while maintaining an on-side position.
The fact that San Diego’s defenders immediately deemed Hall offside (and didn’t even attempt to track him to the goal mouth) shows the narrowest of margins in which Hall operates and excels. He put this skill on full display with the USMNT last week, and it’s one that could continually earn him another call up from Pochettino.
It signified Hall’s fifth goal in the last six games across all appearances, considering he also scored the game-winner of the Hudson River derby against New York City FC before reporting to international camp. Hall is up to 11 goals this season in MLS play.
Alex Freeman
On a pitch with many of the world’s most talented soccer stars, Alex Freeman shined the brightest.
Although the USMNT fullback couldn’t guide La Liga club side Villarreal to victory over Real Madrid on Saturday, losing 1–0, Freeman nonetheless stunned the crowd at the Bernabéu.
He handled record-signing winger Yan Diomande down the flank and ended the match with the most defensive contributions (18), most touches (93), a 75% ground-duel success rate and a 60% aerial-duel success rate.
The son of NFL legend Antonio Freeman, the 22-year-old put his elite athleticism on full display during a brilliant first-half recovery into Villarreal’s box. A perfectly timed sweeping slide tackle kept Diomande out of harm’s way. More than just a pure athlete, Freeman also earned praise for his tactical astuteness and efficiency in the build-up phase.
After struggling for minutes last season, Freeman is making a name for himself this season in Spain and has started four of the last five La Liga matches. The newfound respect for his craft is also in no small part due to the success he has found for the Stars and Stripes. He was a budding star at the World Cup this summer and has continued to be a stalwart on the backline.
USMNT Stock Down
Max Arfsten
There are now three Americans playing for Middlesbrough in the EFL Championship, yet only two are playing consistent minutes.
World Cup players Max Arfsten and Sebastian Berhalter both signed deals across the pond after the successful summer on home soil, joining midfielder Aidan Morris in North Yorkshire, who has been a consistent player for the USMNT in the past but wasn’t called up to the World Cup squad.
While Berhalter and Morris have consistently started for Middlesbrough this season, teaming up to form the midfield’s double pivot, Arfsten has largely been left on the sidelines.
After the English side reportedly paid $7.5 million for Arfsten’s talents—a sum that dwarfed Berhalter’s $2 million fee, the winger was anticipated to play a key role for the team, especially off the back of incredible success with Columbus Crew this spring that earned him MLS All-Star honors. He started three of Middlesbrough’s first four games this season at fullback; however, since then, his minutes have started to diminish.
He played just three minutes in Saturday’s regular season match against the Wolverhampton Wanderers and 12 minutes in Tuesday’s affair against Stoke City. His lack of playing time may have reinforced Pochettino’s decision not to call up Arfsten this fall, whereas Berhalter was included. In turn, not being called up internationally may have reinforced Middlesbrough manager Kim Helberg’s decision not to play Arfsten at the club level.
How the 25-year-old aims to break out of this cyclic rut remains to be seen.
Folarin Balogun
After a summer of scandal and a transfer saga that only threw Folarin Balogun’s career another massive hurdle, the USMNT star striker has been slow to return to the fold.
Despite shining at the World Cup this summer, the 25-year-old was left out of Pochettino’s fall roster due to a small knock in his leg and likely the dizzying Deadline Day affair that saw Balogun come back to club side Monaco, instead of making a highly-anticipated move back to the Premier League.
Pochettino spoke to Balogun after everything transpired. “I was in touch with him,” he said days before the international window. “After his situation ... Yes, we had some conversations about how he is, how he is now, how he feels, that he needs to move on, and it was a very nice conversation, and now he's focusing on trying to recover a little bit from a small issue in one of his legs.”
After starring for Monaco last season with a team-high 13 goals in Ligue 1, Balogun has yet to regain his starting position. He featured for just 14 minutes off the bench in a 2–1 victory over Lens on Sept. 18, his first outing since the World Cup round of 16 loss to Belgium in early July. He then featured for 32 minutes in the second half on Saturday in a 2–2 draw with Toulouse; however, Balogun could not muster a single shot and took just 14 touches.
Nevertheless, the American star is expected to regain momentum sooner rather than later and be included in the USMNT’s November window for Concacaf Nations League play.
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