The ASN 100
Josh Deaver Discusses His First-Ever ASN 100 Picks
What's it like ranking the best American soccer players from 1-100? We asked first-time panelist Josh Deaver to give us a sense of the process, and he did just that.
JOHN GODFREY: So? Easier than you thought it would be? Harder? What was it like creating your first-ever ASN 100 ranking, Josh?
JOSH DEAVER: Much, much harder. When you think about it, it seems easy, but when it comes to hammering out the bottom of your depth chart and then combining those across positions to form a compulsory top 100 ranking, it becomes very diffciult. Plus, a lot of the time the difference between, say, player 50 and player 85 isn't that vast. You try to make it a science, but for a lot of my calls, at least for this first one, it was a gut feeling.
GODFREY: That never changes. The first 30 or 40 tend to be pretty easy, but then it gets very difficult very quickly. You have Terrence Boyd ranked 19th—above Chris Wondolowski, Juan Agudelo, and Eddie Johnson. Does that mean you would like to see the German-American in Brazil? Think that is likely?
DEAVER: Right now, I don't think he makes it to Brazil, but I do feel his output has been a little underrated. While this is almost certainly due to him playing in Austria, he has been the most consistent American striker in terms of goals per minutes played this season—posting an even better average than Aron Johannsson. Having played only 43 competitive minutes with the national team, however, he is still a bit of a unknown quantity to be taken over Johnson or Wondolowski, but he should have one more chance to prove he can hang.
GODFREY: You ranked Brek Shea 94th out of 100. That's far lower than anybody else on the panel—what's your thinking on the tall Texan?
DEAVER: What have we seen from Brek Shea in the past three months that would warrant anything higher? A couple of ineffectual appearances for the national team? In a vacuum, I am forced to think that Shea is not good enough to feature for one of the worst English Championship clubs—one that will be playing in League One next season. Coming from a Premier League side, he should've been dominant, but instead he dithered and had his loan agreement ended early due to poor play and off-the-field-issues. Not good. Taking the macro-view, it seems unfairly low, but right now, he's not high on my depth chart...at all.
GODFREY: Give me one player who made the final list who should be taken off, never to appear again. And then tell me why.
DEAVER: There is nothing egregious on this most recent version. However, just based on production alone, I would remove No. 79 Seb Hines, at least for the time being. He has been hobbled with injuries all season for Middlesbrough, where he has totaled only three appearances.
GODFREY: Who is the one player who didn't make the cut who absolutely, positively, should be in the top 100?
DEAVER: Why, oh, why is Kellyn Acosta not on this list? The 18-year-old is one of the top young American players in MLS, where he is an every-match starter for FC Dallas, and should play a key role for both the U.S. under-20 World Cup (for the second consecutive cycle) and the 2016 Olympic Team. I think he is at a comparable level to other young players like Paul Arriola and Wil Trapp, and should have a presence in the bottom half of the list.
GODFREY: Fair enough. We'll keep an eye on that one. Thanks Josh. We'll be talking.
DEAVER: Sounds good!
Go visit the ASN 100 and tell us what we got right, what we got wrong, and how we can do better next time.
DEAVER: What have we seen from Brek Shea in the past three months that would warrant anything higher? A couple of ineffectual appearances for the national team? In a vacuum, I am forced to think that Shea is not good enough to feature for one of the worst English Championship clubs—one that will be playing in League One next season. Coming from a Premier League side, he should've been dominant, but instead he dithered and had his loan agreement ended early due to poor play and off-the-field-issues. Not good. Taking the macro-view, it seems unfairly low, but right now, he's not high on my depth chart...at all.
GODFREY: Give me one player who made the final list who should be taken off, never to appear again. And then tell me why.
DEAVER: There is nothing egregious on this most recent version. However, just based on production alone, I would remove No. 79 Seb Hines, at least for the time being. He has been hobbled with injuries all season for Middlesbrough, where he has totaled only three appearances.
GODFREY: Who is the one player who didn't make the cut who absolutely, positively, should be in the top 100?
DEAVER: Why, oh, why is Kellyn Acosta not on this list? The 18-year-old is one of the top young American players in MLS, where he is an every-match starter for FC Dallas, and should play a key role for both the U.S. under-20 World Cup (for the second consecutive cycle) and the 2016 Olympic Team. I think he is at a comparable level to other young players like Paul Arriola and Wil Trapp, and should have a presence in the bottom half of the list.
GODFREY: Fair enough. We'll keep an eye on that one. Thanks Josh. We'll be talking.
DEAVER: Sounds good!
Go visit the ASN 100 and tell us what we got right, what we got wrong, and how we can do better next time.
