Top 50 USMNT players, ranked by club form: A new No. 1 leads the American pool

"The Nations League and Gold Cup eliminations for the U.S. have faded into the past. There's no more feuding between the team's best players and the manager. The Americans are undefeated in five matches, all against World Cup-qualified opposition. They've outscored those opponents 12-4, and there finally seems to be a plan: either a clear back three or a back four that morphs into a back three because one of the fullbacks is more of a center back."

"But what about the broader player pool? Pochettino has done a fantastic job of expanding it -- there's a much bigger collection of players who seem capable of contributing than there was a year ago. But a national team manager can only have a minor impact on the true quality of the players at his disposal. We learn a lot more about them when they're at their day jobs: playing for club teams."

"For the unfamiliar or forgetful, this is our way of trying to rank the performance of every American professional soccer player in the world. I use the word "trying" because it's not perfect -- ranking soccer players, especially across multiple competitive contexts, is impossible -- but it's useful. To come up with the rankings, we use a combination of talent, playing time, team quality and ... that's it. Simple, but effective."

The U.S. men's national team has returned to form after Nations League and Gold Cup eliminations faded. There is no more feuding between top players and the manager, and the team is undefeated in five matches against World Cup-qualified opponents, outscoring them 12-4. The team employs a clear back three or a back four that morphs into a back three when a fullback plays as a center back, mirroring Mauricio Pochettino's Chelsea approach, which has coincided with improved performances and results. The player pool has expanded, but true player quality is revealed mainly through club performances. The USMNT Player Performance Index ranks American professionals using talent, playing time, and team quality.

Read at ESPN.com