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EspañolUnited States men's national team supporters trying to find optimism amongst their players' club seasons ahead of this summer's World Cup on home soil don't have to look very far for positive vibes.
In fact, you'd say there are more answers than questions were it not for the fact that so many Americans are thriving and begging for closer inspection from Mauricio Pochettino in March's international window and the warm-up matches for the World Cup.
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Throw in very early returns from Major League Soccer's nascent season and the names are many.
The Premier League alone is microcosm of players finding their footing with a bit more than three months before the tournament, as three of the four Americans in the Premier League are buzzing at the moment now that Tyler Adams is finally back to full fitness and has resumed his role as Bournemouth's top defensive midfielder.
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In fact, it's a guar-an-tee that Pochettino's incoming roster announcement for March friendlies against Belgium and Portugal are going to exclude in-form players with excellent claims to a place.
Premier Leaguers (mostly) in the form of their club lives
It's saying something that Adams might be having the third-best season of any USMNT player in the Premier League, because Chris Richards has been a fixture when healthy for Crystal Palace and only three players — Dean Henderson, Tyrick Mitchell, and Maxence Lacroix — have played more minutes for the Eagles across all competitions.
Then there's Brenden Aaronson, who has been a menace for Daniel Farke at Leeds. Aaronson has always had electric quickness and a relentless motor but Farke has found a way to make Aaronson as impactful in the PL as he was in MLS with Philadelphia.
There's one bummer, though, as Antonee Robinson has fought fitness at Fulham. Once thought to be one of very few of the Yanks' nailed-on and world-class starters, Robinson played just 71 minutes of the Cottagers' first 15 games due to knee injuries. He returned and made nine starts but has only been in the 18 thrice in the last four PL matches and made zero appearances.
Weston McKennie, Sergino Dest reshine their stars
Juventus announced a new contract for Weston McKennie on Monday, while Sergino Dest is chewing up minutes for PSV Eindhoven in brilliant examples of how club careers can turn on a dime.
McKennie's had to fight for his place at Juve under multiple bosses while Dest had to recover from an ACL injury. Both players have previously had problems in the USMNT set-up, with McKennie going through an off-field controversy and Dest taking about as selfish a red card as you'll see for a player.
But McKennie has been sensational for the Old Lady, especially in the Champions League where his 899 minutes in the Champions League have him tied for 16th in the world, and his four goals are tied for 17th.
And Dest is one of several familiar faces on Eredivisie-leading PSV Eindhoven, where he's chewing up minutes at right back and has a goal and six assists in domestic play. Club and country teammate Ricardo Pepi has nine goals in the league including one earlier this month in his return from a broken arm — and injury that didn't stop Fulham from pursuing him in the January window.
Malik Tillman has been very good for Bayer Leverkusen, Timothy Weah can say the same at Marseille, while Tanner Tessmann is a mainstay for Lyon. Folarin Balogun hasn't hurt his stock as 1A striker for Monaco, while Christian Pulisic has cooled off a bit but remains a star at AC Milan
Different types of USMNT questions around the world
There are so many strong performances but also a number of questions for Pochettino.
1) How does he rate the second tier? England's found Haji Wright helping Coventry City to the brink of Premier League promotion, as the big striker has 15 league goals, second best in the Championship. Aidan Morris is also a key cog in Middlesbrough's push for automatic promotion and George Campbell continues to impress for West Brom. And Josh Sargent was red-hot for Norwich City before a prolonged transfer saga that now sees him at Toronto FC.
2) MLS kicking into gear And how is Pochettino feeling about MLS through preseason and a couple of games? New York Red Bulls have given him some good viewing with goalkeeper Ethan Horvath coming home and posting two wins in two games under new boss Michael Bradley (Teenagers Julian Hall and Adri Mehmeti are also off to wildly-good start and Cade Cowell has eight shots through 180 minutes).
3) Is Noahkai Banks ready to commit? Nineteen-year-old center backs getting regular minutes and playing well in the Bundesliga aren't the norm. Noahkai Banks has represented the U.S. at three youth levels but Germany’s certainly noticed him. He says a World Cup can't be what makes up his mind but surely a World Cup spot is sweetener.
4) How much do minutes matter? While players like Morris, Joe Scally, and James Sands chew up minutes for their clubs, there are others who have higher profiles but aren't featuring as much for their crews. Yunus Musah has been on Pochettino's periphery and is regularly in the 18 but not often playing in the games. Giovanni Reyna had begun to get more minutes for Gladbach but missed a month and is just back into the 18. Kevin Paredes was back with Wolfsburg after a long absence but is injured again.