The headline says it all. I wrote this same column last February, and I think I largely hit the nail on the head, though I’ll let you be the final judge.
**pats self on back vigorously**
Anyway, it’s not 2020 anymore, but good #content ideas live on. In case the headline wasn’t clear enough, this list is 10 MLSers for whom 2021 is a huge year. Huge is defined by the stakes at play, both individually and collectively. I split the list evenly between Eastern and Western Conferences. No bias here!
Inevitably, I missed someone. That’s the thing about lists. They’re finite. As always, let’s discuss my choices and who I overlooked on Twitter (@andrew_wiebe), where I’m always available to talk soccer, children’s books that make me cry, why grackles are the bullies of the bird world or anything else that makes life a little more entertaining.
Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy)
I tried to tell the USMNT haters chorus (AKA folks who don’t watch or rate MLS). Maybe now, after two well-taken goals against Jamaica, they’ll listen.
There is a reason Lletget is one of Gregg Berhalter’s standbys. He does everything asked of a central midfielder better than most. He is consistently reliable and often spectacular. If not for injuries and managers who didn’t rate him at West Ham, he might be a five-year Premier League veteran who doesn’t need to convince anyone of his quality. Alas, that wasn’t to be.
I can tell you one thing, though: his peers in MLS don’t have any questions about whether he’s a baller or not. Superb balance. Crafty ball retention. The burst and footwork to eliminate defenders on his own. The vision to do the same with a pass. Clean in and around the 18-yard box. He runs. He harries. He tackles. He’s one of the best two-way midfielders in our league.
Lletget is squarely in his prime, and this is his time. His time to lead the Galaxy out of the doldrums and back to glory (or close to it). Greg Vanney will lean hard on the 28-year-old. His time to help the United States reclaim their place in Concacaf, but also show the world what Americans can do. His time to continue building the case he ought to be at a World Cup in a little less than two years.
Jurgen Locadia (FC Cincinnati)
The story this preseason isn’t whether the Dutch attacker likes fast-food spaghetti with chili ladled on top of it. It’s whether Locadia will have access to said gut bomb for long, and if so, under what circumstances.
When asked on his future, Jurgen Locadia struck a different tune than last year. Last year he was quick to say how badly he wanted to stay with Cincy in MLS. Today he responded:
“Whatever happens, happens. … It depends on whatever Cincy wants and what I want.”
— Tom Bogert (@tombogert) March 26, 2021
I used “attacker” to describe the 27-year-old because it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be the point of the attack for Jaap Stam, nor should he be after last year’s struggles (1 G in 17 games) and the big-money signing of Brenner.
Locadia said he didn’t play the first preseason scrimmage but was playing left winger with Brenner up top vs. Indy. “It’s fun to play on the wing.”
— Laurel Pfahler (@LaurelPfahler) March 26, 2021
Fun is good. Maybe now that the pressure is off a little bit — and, in theory, FC Cincinnati is more stable as an organization and therefore/hopefully better — Locadia will play up to his reputation. Then again, maybe that reputation, mostly developed coming up on a decade ago at PSV, isn’t representative of reality. Maybe he is just inconsistent and, mostly, unproductive.
Maybe not, though! That’s on Locadia to prove the narrative right or wrong in 2021. His play will decide his future, inside or outside MLS.
SIDE NOTE: Why doesn’t Locadia play for Curacao? He can make the switch from the Netherlands, for which he never made a senior national team appearance. C’mon Guus, make the call. That’d add some extra spice to Concacaf World Cup qualifying and the Gold Cup.
Gianluca Busio (Sporting Kansas City)
I love that Busio wanted the 10 shirt. I love that Peter Vermes gave it to him. I love this quote, from early March, that came out of the mouth of an 18-year-old American attacking midfielder.
“I think the first two years I’ve been playing, it was just more of me being a young guy and getting on the field and scoring a goal every once in a while. [With] those years of experience for me already, I want to step up this year and really put the team on my back…
“I want to score a lot of goals and get assists and I guess that’s what No. 10s usually do. I’ve been working on my attacking a lot more. Like I said earlier, the No. 10 has to be scoring goals and getting assists so it feels big for me, this offseason, just to focus a lot on that final pass or that last goal.”
Again, this is an 18-year-old American now-No. 10. Hell. Yes.
But also, the number and the words put pressure on Busio to deliver. That’s how it should be, of course, but it’s not always how it works out. He’s got six goals and six assists in 50 appearances over three seasons. That’s a good foundation, but it’s certainly not elite (or even average) No. 10 production.
There’s also a real question about starter minutes. Felipe Gutierrez isn’t returning to Sporting KC, but there’s still going to be a battle for minutes. Gadi Kinda can play the 10, and Roger Espinoza, Remi Walter, and Ilie Sanchez are all more veteran options in Vermes’ three-man midfield. Busio has to not only win a job, but produce once on the field. A big year indeed.