Trending Up

• Tyler Adams. Easily the first name on the team sheet from here on in. Certainly the most important American player, and maybe the best overall, too.
• Yunus Musah. There are few (if any) other American midfielders who can turn upfield and attack like young Moose can. A perfect compliment to Adams and McKennie.
  
• Christian Pulisic and Gio Reyna. Is anybody convinced that the team was better without these two? I think not.
  
• Department of Robinsons. Miles might be our best defender on current form, and Antonee has been the truth at LB. Who doesn't love a mononymic defense? Buy one jersey, rep two guys.
  
• The SerJedi backs. Absolute locks as first-choice in a back 4.
  
• Chilling on the couch, looking better by comparison: Joe Scally, Jonathan Gomez.
  

Holding Steady

• Weston McKennie. Solid performances in two starts, zero distractions. Crisis averted.
  
• Matt Turner. Everyone's favorite Civil War veteran looks solid still. Dispatches from the front indicate Lieutenant Steffen has been waylaid at Hanging Rock.
• Tim Weah. Blew hot and cold in this window. Looked dynamic against Jamaica, disappeared against Panama, and then came through in a big way in a game he wasn't intended to start. Brings a different attacking look compared to Pulisic, Aaronson, or Gio on the wing.
  
• Defender Zim. Did what was expected: provided the sure veteran hand.
  
• Chilling on the couch, pretty much the same as before: Josh Sargent, Jordan Pefok, Bryan Reynolds, Reggie Cannon. Can't really say Gyasi grabbed the backup striker role with both hands, and the other backs did poorly.
  

Trending down

• George Bello, Shaq Moore. One's not ready, and one's not playing at his club. Neither did well in their start. Probably the most glaring errors in the squad this window.
  
• Kellyn Acosta. We've seen him get up for big games, but he was downright poor in this window. He'll be called up again next time, but if it's another window like this? Yikes.
  
• Gregg Berhalter. His players bailed him out of a very hot seat, and he continues to make head-scratching roster decisions. If Paul Arriola doesn't come up injured in the warmup, there's no Tim Weah to slam him goal off the post, and we're talking about a 4-point window instead of 6, in 4th or 5th place, with Mexico to come. He's lucky to be coaching the most talented American player pool in history, and failing to make it add up to more than the sum of its parts.
• Chilling on the couch, looking worse by comparison: Ethan Horvath, Julian Green, Konrad, Tim Ream. Turner and Steffen are a fine 1-2; Luca De La Torre was solid in limited time; the team is flush with wing options if CP and Gio are healthy; Zim is basically Ream but slightly younger.