Sebastian Lletget is the third best American soccer player in the world after Christian Pulisic and Clint Dempsey, and the second best American player in MLS after Dempsey.
What makes Lletget special is that he combines playmaking ability with individual 1v1 skill. He also runs all game and has good speed. Unlike most American players, Lletget is a flair player whose flair is effective, and he always looks to score. Many American players don’t aggressively attack the goal, but Lletget does. He’ll hit accurate shots with either foot as soon as he has a yard of space to shoot.
The LA Galaxy midfielder knows how to have the team play through him to facilitate possession, and he plays incisive and creative passes to unlock defenses and set up goals. Anyone that watches Lletget play can see that his skill on the ball is much higher than your average American player. He stands out in MLS and for the U.S. Men’s National Team.
Lletget should be one of the center pieces of the U.S. Men’s National Team going forward along with Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Kellyn Acosta, and Tyler Adams. Adams, McKennie, and Acosta have all been on the rise over the last year, and even compared to the latter three excellent players, Lletget has more creativity and individual skill. What’s good for the U.S. is that all four players are a little different and bring different qualities, but Lletget is definitely the playmaker of the group along with Pulisic who he has shown that he can play with for the U.S.
A close look at Lletget’s playing style shows that he is a player who not only uses both feet interchangeably but who also excels at dribbling, shooting, and passing. It’s rare to find an American player whose ability with all three skills is good enough to be effective even against top international opponents. Additionally, Lletget appears to be something of a big game player, who isn’t intimidated or psyched out by big games and top opponents. He also covers a lot of ground recovering the ball and making tackles.
After falling out of favor with West Ham United, Lletget’s play in MLS looks impressive enough to get him into a top European league again. Since Lletget has the skill, mentality, and athleticism to play in a better league, he or his agent should be quietly trying to get him into a better league.
Although Lletget is a good goalscorer and assist provider, he could use a season with impressive goal and assist numbers to get him more recognition and interest from better clubs in a better league. The season before Lletget was injured he was playing a box-to-box midfielder role which greatly reduced his goal and assist numbers. The Galaxy should be deploying him as a playmaker this season behind Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and it would appear that is exactly what coach Sigi Schmid is doing.
Lletget deserves more recognition than he is currently receiving, and it’s hard to name an American player other than Pulisic and Dempsey with more individual skill. Like Pulisic and Dempsey, Lletget is a scoring threat against top opponents, and he should be a starter for the United States, as he was before getting injured.