Every American Soccer Player, Ranked, Again
The second volume of the UNITED STATES MEN’S NATIONAL TEAM PLAYER PERFORMANCE INDEX is out. The point of this, as you all no doubt understand, was to come up with a simple way to assess the performance of every professional American soccer player by looking at how much they play and how good their teams are.
All models are wrong, but some are useful, and etc:
After a pair of strange seasons in the Premier League in 2022-23, McKennie and Pulisic have reestablished themselves as reliable contributors for Champions League-quality clubs. While you can quibble about individual talent, I don't really think there's an argument about who the best American soccer players are. There are other guys who play as often, and there are others who have played at a similarly high level. But there's no one else who does both of those things -- and both McKennie and Pulisic have been doing it all since they've been teenagers. In terms of American soccer, they're already all-time greats.
Happy Friday to all, but especially to my beloved Knicks fans.