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The full-back position has generally been a solid skill set for the United States Men’s National Team. In the right-back, you witnessed Steve Cherundolos and Timmy Chandler of the world; the picks have at times been a bit thinner on the left, but players like DaMarcus Beasley and Fabian Johnson have always brought professionalism and sometimes exciting play to this position. There is a strong professional advantage, and there is Jordi Alba- or Dani Alves-level advantage: At Sergino Dest, USMNT now have a full-back starting from Barcelona in their pool of players.
Dest’s rise from Ajax’s youth perspective to Barcelona starter took place in milliseconds. Let’s take a look at what kind of player he is becoming and what he might have to offer the United States and manager Gregg Berhalter.
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First, the timeline:
Born in the Netherlands to an American father and a Dutch mother, Dest made his debut for the Ajax B team (Jong Ajax) at the age of 17 in October 2018, less than two months old. before Berhalter was hired to lead the USMNT. The following July, Dest had been promoted to the top platoon; He would play in 20 of the 25 Eredivisie matches for the Dutch powerhouse in 2019-20, plus 10 of the 12 Champions League and Europa League matches.
Having represented the United States at both the FIFA Under-17 World Cup in 2017 and the Under-20 World Cup in 2019, Dest has formally committed to playing for the United States. United at the start of the 2019-20 season and has since made five appearances for his country. He played most of last fall’s friendlies against Wales and Panama, completing 86% of his passes with eight ball recoveries.
At this point, it could be said that its status within the United States’ premium lineup had been accelerated. Having already played in the Champions League before he was 19, he moved to Barcelona before he was 20. Despite endemic budget problems, the Blaugrana Acquired it on October 1 for over € 20m and quickly incorporated it into the roster. He has made 15 of 20 La Liga appearances and played the full 90 minutes in five of the six Champions League group stage matches.
Despite having split his minutes between right-back and left-back for the national team, Dest has been deployed mostly to the right at Barca, either because that’s where manager Ronald Koeman thinks he is. is the most capable or because Alba remains a pillar of the left-back. . Dest registered a goal and an assist, but his main job was to move the ball from the second level of defense to the third. It turns out he’s pretty good at it.
(The above shows where he tends to make the most plays and progressions and, unsurprisingly for a Barcelona player, he spends most of his time on the pitch.)
Full-back position is a tricky question to assess statistically, as it depends so heavily on the system in place. But comparing him to other full-backs and full-backs in the big five European leagues, we find out pretty quickly his specific strengths and functions.
Among the 150 great full-backs and full-backs with at least 750 championship minutes this season, Dest’s success rate (90.4%) ranks first, as does his success rate in the third attacker (90, 0%). No these are not long distance passes, and yes a lot of those passes went to Lionel Messi meaning they are high percentage opportunities. But his precision and speed on the ball gets the ball where it needs to be almost every time. It is also in the 99th percentile of the completion rate from the middle third (92.8%) and in the 93rd percentile from the third defensive (82.6%).
Dest has been excellent at retaining possession – his 12.1 possessions lost every 90 minutes are in the 95th percentile – and he’s more than willing to go one-on-one (3.1 strikes for 90, 55% success rate ). Stylistically, it fits perfectly with the full-back Kyle Walker or Ferland Mendy type. Or yes, Alba himself.
A major reason for his high success rate in offensive positions: he does not attempt crosses. It ranks in the 24th percentile for cross attempts (1.9 percent) and the 14th for cross completion rate (10.5 percent). It’s part of Koeman’s general approach: Barcelona are attempting just 14.6 crosses per 90 minutes, the third lowest in La Liga. It promotes ball retention and through short passes, catches and, yes, Messi, Barcelona are still leading the league in terms of chances created.
For a heavy team like Barcelona, the most direct effort in defense is not to allow the opponent to have the ball. Dest is brilliant in this regard, and that’s good because he has room to grow in the real department of defense. He ranks in the top percentile – all the way down, in other words – with 9.1 defensive interventions (defined as ball recoveries, tackles, interceptions, clearances, blocked shots and jumps won in the field. defensive third) every 90 minutes. He averages 5.1 ball recoveries per 90 (38th percentile), but only 0.4 interceptions of passes (first percentile). He’s good for the occasional tactical foul, but he wasn’t acquired for his tackling ability, which is still a work in progress.
This all fits with Barcelona’s defensive profile at the moment. Like many possession teams, the Blaugrana getting caught a decent amount on counterattacks; they’re seventh in La Liga in shots allowed per possession (0.10), but they’re sixth worst in xG allowed per shot (0.13). Dest’s stats appear to be largely a product of the system, for better or for worse. When asked to apply more pressure, it looks like he can – he averaged 11.2 90 defensive interventions last season with Ajax and 13.4 with Jong Ajax the previous season.
Still, Koeman wants to build from the back and monopolize the ball, and Dest is a nice play in that regard.
Berhalter wants to do these things too. Since the start of 2020, the United States have played five friendlies, three against vastly outclassed opponents from CONCACAF (Trinidad and Tobago, Panama, El Salvador) and two against stronger opponents (Wales, Costa Rica). Against the first, they beat by a combined 19-2; they fought offensively against the latter, beating Costa Rica 1-0 and drawing 0-0 with Wales.
– The United States overwhelmed the three outclassed enemies with pressure and possession. They owned the ball 64 percent of the time, made almost 88 percent of their passes (mostly short), collected over 50 balls in each game and allowed just 9.3 passes per defensive action. (For context, only three big-five teams have allowed less than 9.3 PPDAs so far this season: Leeds United, Paris Saint-Germain and Bayern Munich.)
– Against Wales and Costa Rica, the attack disappeared, but the principles remained: 61% possession, 88% completion rate, 49 ball recoveries per game and a PPDA of 8.6 to the way of Ajax.
Berhalter is doing a solid job of establishing his intended principles – okay, against mostly sketchy competition – and he’s doing it although he hasn’t really reduced the number of players yet. In those five matches, for example, he played 11 different full-backs for at least a handful of minutes – everyone from potential regulars like Dest, Boavista’s Reggie Cannon and Colorado Rapids’ Sam Vines, to less-tested youngsters like Atlanta United. George Bello and Julian Araujo from LA Galaxy.
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Barcelona’s American duo Sergino Dest and Konrad de la Fuente face off in the “most likely to” challenge.
So it’s exciting to think about what might be possible with a stable and truly premium lineup. It’s also exciting to realize that aside from Dest, the theme of possession and pressure is pretty consistent with the teams that a lot of this potential top roster play for.
– Winger / attacking midfielder Christian Pulisic – Chelsea: The Blues’ possession rate has been over 60% throughout Pulisic’s tenure, and new coach Thomas Tuchel, who worked with Pulisic at Borussia Dortmund, is a true supporter of the PPDA.
– Winger Giovanni Reyna – Borussia Dortmund: BVB has the highest possession rate (62%) in the Bundesliga and is second in PPDA (10.3), and despite having just turned 18, Reyna has already recorded over 1,500 Bundesliga minutes with the club.
– Midfielder Weston McKennie – Juventus: McKennie arrived with new manager Andrea Pirlo, who quickly turned Juve into a modern possession club: They are second in Serie A in possession rate (58.6%) and first in PPDA (9.9).
– Defensive midfielder Tyler Adams – RB Leipzig: The Red Bull machine quickly became an avatar of modern football, and the Leipzig flagship is currently both excellent (Adams scored the game-winning goal to send them to the Champions League semi-finals last season) and dominating possession. .
– Goalkeeper Zack Steffen – Manchester City: Steffen played for Berhalter’s Columbus Crew SC and has now made eight appearances for Pep Guardiola’s Man City. Safe to say, he knows what is required of the modern sweeping goalie and upside down playing intentions.
Many others in the player pool are employed by heavy possession or high pressure teams: defenders like John Brooks (VfL Wolfsburg), Cannon (Boavista), Chris Richards (TSG Hoffenheim on loan from Bayern) and Aaron Long (New York). Red Bulls), midfielders like Julian Green (Greuther Furth) and Brenden Aaronson (FC Salzburg), attackers / wingers like Jordan Morris (Swansea on loan from Seattle Sounders FC), Timothy Weah (Lille), Konrad de la Fuente (Barca), etc.
The U.S. rosters at the start of real matches – the Olympic qualifiers in March, the CONCACAF Nations League finals in June, the Gold Cup (and possibly the Olympics) in July, qualifying for the World Cup in the fall – will boast amount of not only young talent, but also tactical familiarity.
Dest will almost certainly be a big part of Berhalter’s plans. When he signed with Barca he told ESPN: “You want to play every game against the best opponents and see where you are right now with your development. I think there is enough room for me to improving, but I’m on the right track. [path] and i love these games. “
With every level he has advanced – from the Dutch Second Division to the Dutch First Division to La Liga – his success rates have improved and his expected assist totals have remained stable. He might not be Alba or Alves yet, but he’s up to the challenge. This should be very good news for his future and that of the USMNT.
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