Stock Up, Stock Down: USMNT Players in Europe for February 2023

Stability around the U.S. men's national team since the World Cup hasn't been ideal. Since the elimination against the Netherlands, the program currently has no sporting director, no general manager and no head coach.

What's not in flux is the growing strength of the player pool on the road to the 2026 World Cup.

The international calendar waits for no one, and the first official FIFA window of 2023 will soon be upon us. Interim head coach Anthony Hudson will have no restrictions on picking a roster after the largely domestic-based January camp for the first time.

How are the regulars with the USMNT getting on in Europe?

We'll go longer on the core guys, because as much as I'd love to crush about 700 words on how Josh Cohen is doing with Maccabi Haifa or check in on what's up with Jonathan Tomlinson on loan in League Two, I know why you're here. And this is my first piece for B/R and, you know, I'd prefer it wasn't my last.

Stock Up: Tim Ream

The Tim Ream story is awesome. This is why you don't write off players arbitrarily.

Ream was exceptional for Fulham in their Championship-winning season last year and somehow he's been even better this year, starting every match as Fulham are inconceivably sixth in the Premier League. Ream is integral to that and, if they did a League Best XI today, he'd have a case to be on it.

This story has become well told. That doesn't make it any less sweet. He was the USMNT's most reliable defender at the World Cup after hardly playing a part in qualifying. He continued to peak in his age-35 season. Soccer is a funny game.

Stock Down: Major Leeds Soccer

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LEEDS, ENGLAND - FEBRUARY 12: (L-R) Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams of Leeds United battles for possession with Fred of Manchester United during the Premier League match between Leeds United and Manchester United at Elland Road on February 12, 2023 in Leeds, England. (Photo by Stu Forster/Getty Images)

I'm not worried individually about any of Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie or Brenden Aaronson. But this era of Leeds United States of America? Ehh.

Leeds fell to fellow relegation battlers Everton this weekend and are now in 19th place. Last weekend in the loss to Manchester United, the stadium fell quiet quickly. Uneasy. The vibes at the club are low with Jesse Marsch fired, no new coach hired three games later and now 10 matches without a win.

If they do get relegated—and to be clear, there is plenty of time for this to change—then McKennie's loan won't be made permanent and Adams will almost certainly transfer elsewhere. It's fun to watch these two play together for club and country. Even if they stay up, Adams will probably be a subject of interest with his stellar season in England and World Cup performance.

As for Aaronson? Maybe he'd stay if they're relegated. He's hit a dip lately, but that happens. It's easy to forget he's only 22. Watching him excel with the Philadelphia Union, Red Bull Salzburg, the USMNT and then Leeds, winning more playing time quicker than expected at every stop... I'm not worried.

Stock Up: Zach Steffen

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GLENDALE, AZ - JANUARY 27: United States goalkeeper Zach Steffen (1) reacts in game action during an international friendly match between the United States Men's National Team and Panama on January 27, 2019 at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, AZ. (Photo by Robin Alam/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Zack Steffen hit a low point in the fall with Middlesbrough after some errors that led to goals conceded and then hit his nadir in being left off the World Cup squad. That scenario was unthinkable 12 months ago. Steffen was one of the brightest talents integrated into the team to lead this cycle after the USMNT missed the 2018 World Cup.

Since Boxing Day? Steffen has conceded more than one goal just once over 10 league matches, which was a game Boro got a red card just after halftime when it was 0-0. He has three clean sheets over this period as Boro shot up from 12th to 3rd in the Championship. That resilience is impressive and should have him back in national team camps before long, if not already in March.

Stock Down: Yunas Musah

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MADRID, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 02: Yunus Musah of Valencia CF reacts during the LaLiga Santander match between Real Madrid CF and Valencia CF at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on February 02, 2023 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Denis Doyle/Getty Images)

Valencia have fallen into the relegation zone in La Liga, now second to last place after losing their last five matches. They have just one win in their last 14 matches in the league.

Musah's performances have gone down as the group around him has struggled. The good news? At least he's still playing, starting 11 of the last 12 games in all competitions.

This season compared to other midfielders around the big five leagues in Europe, Musah is in the 60th percentile or below in most stats (outside of progressive carries and progressive passes received), per FBRef. He's 20 years old, and this isn't stopping some big clubs from eyeing to sign him in the summer—which would be even more of a no-brainer if they do get relegated—but this hasn't been the greatest few weeks of Musah's career.

Stock Up: Luca de la Torre

AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King, file

Luca de la Torre en un partido de la selección de EEUU contra Honduras en St. Paul (Minnesota) el 2 de febrero del 2022. El estadounidense fue adquirido por el Celta de Vigo de la liga española. (AP Photo/Andy Clayton-King, file)

Luca de la Torre had to wait months for his first Celta Vigo start.

The context was understandable. A new player adapting to a new league, club and system. Sometimes it takes time to earn trust. Then he got hurt just before the World Cup

Now, LDLT has started the last five Celta games, in which he's added two assists. His ball-progression, pressure-release and creativity has shone. It's a small(er) sample size, but in his 500 La Liga minutes, he's in the 73rd percentile or better among midfielders in the following stats per 90 minutes (per FBRef):

• Assists
• Expected assists
• Progressive carries
• Completed take-ons 
• Progressive passes received

This is the player Celta knew they were getting. It's taken a little bit of time, but it looks like the mutual fit between player and club is as snug as we thought. For the USMNT, he's the only midfielder who is in a similar mold to Yunus Musah, so, this is a key development.

Stock Down: Djordje Mihailovic

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ALKMAAR - Djordje Mihailovic of AZ during the Dutch premier league match between AZ Alkmaar and FC Utrecht at AFAS stadium on January 28, 2023 in Alkmaar, Netherlands. ANP ED VAN DE POL (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)

Djordje Mihailovic has had some brutal injury timing.

Last summer, he was called into the national team camp with a real chance to play his way onto the Qatar roster. Then, the final game before the window with CF Montréal, he got injured and missed the camp. It took away his best chance to make the roster.

This winter, he transferred to AZ Alkmaar and made an instant impact with a goal and assist in his first four appearances, and then got injured again and missed two games.

The good news is he came back on Saturday to play six minutes off the bench against Feyenoord, but that would have been a great game for him to be fit and in form for as it was a matchup between first (Feyenoord) and second (AZ) in the Eredivisie.

Stock Up: Gio Reyna

This is a bit of a weird one, and it's a microcosm of Gio Reyna's career: When Gio plays, he's generally very good. But he doesn't always play.

Since the World Cup—which I'm not re-litigating because it is just about my least favorite discourse, just ahead of listening to a monologue about someone else's fantasy football team—Reyna has appeared in four of Borussia Dortmund's six league games, starting once. He's scored from the bench in three of those appearances. Three goals in 133 minutes for a player who has so much more to his game than goals is awesome, but playing 133 minutes out of a possible 540 is not awesome.

Not a lot of consistent playing time, but quality playing time. So... stock up?

Quick USMNT Hits Around Europe

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Westerlo's Bryan Reynolds and Eupen's Davo fight for the ball during a soccer match between KAS Eupen and KVC Westerlo, Saturday 04 February 2023 in Eupen, on day 24 of the 2022-2023 'Jupiler Pro League' first division of the Belgian championship. BELGA PHOTO JOHN THYS (Photo by JOHN THYS / BELGA MAG / Belga via AFP) (Photo by JOHN THYS/BELGA MAG/AFP via Getty Images)

- Bryan Reynolds has been awesome on loan for Westerlo. This is the player that AS Roma paid $8.5 million plus add-ons to sign from FC Dallas. This is why Championship clubs Watford and Swansea, as well as Ligue 1's Troyes, want to sign him this summer, per sources.

-Taylor Booth has been in form lately with FC Utrecht in the Netherlands. The former Bayern Munich midfielder has played himself into contention for the USMNT's March camp.

- It's been a strong run of form for Malik Tillman at Rangers, with four goals in his last seven appearances. He's on loan with a purchase option, and it's looking more and more likely that option is triggered.

- It's gone the other way for Jordan Pefok at Union Berlin lately after a fast start to life in Germany, starting in only one of the club's last seven matches in all competitions. Pefok did score his first goal since September earlier this month, though.

- In an attempt to get Tim Weah more playing time, Lille has pushed him to left or right back pretty regularly lately. I don't love this development. Versatility is cool and he shouldn't be punished for it, but it'd be much better if he was getting a consistent run on the wing, where he's so dangerous for the USMNT.

- Daryl Dike has now gone six appearances without scoring for West Brom after a nice run of form over December/January.