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USMNT Analysis

The December ASN 100 is Ready for Your Review

Who is the best American soccer player right this minute? Who is No. 2? No. 3? No. 100? We asked 12 analysts to provide their lists, and they did. Here it is—the third installment of the ASN 100.
BY John Godfrey Posted
December 02, 2012
5:00 AM
The big news on the ASN 100 front is this: Michael Bradley is the new No. 1 player, replacing Clint Dempsey at the top of the list.

On our first ASN ranking—just two short months ago—Dempsey received nine of 10 first place votes and ran away with the top slot. In November, the voting was very close, but Dempsey held on to the top spot. This time around, Bradley received 10 of 12 No. 1 selections and established himself as the voters' clear favorite.

Who are these voters, you ask? It's a mix. We have three former U.S. national team players—Jimmy Conrad, Alexi Lalas, and Kyle Martino—on our panel. We also have the leading soccer journalist in America, Sports Illustrated's Grant Wahl, contributing on a regular basis. Jason Davis and Jared DuBois from the Best Soccer Show chime in every month, and so do Brian Sciaretta, Ryan O'Hanlon, Jon Arnold, Noah Davis, and yours truly. (A 12th voter has chosen to remain anonymous.)

Each of us rank the U.S. player pool from 1-100, and then I tabulate the results and update them on the first of every month. This isn't one person's ranking. It's a collective viewpoint from a dozen people who obsess over this sort of stuff. Is it science? No. But it's fun, and we believe in it, and we like that it sparks conversation.

So: Bradley up, Dempsey down. That's life in the ASN 100, folks. A few lackluster performances for Tottenham can move you down in the rankings, and that's exactly what happened to Deuce. And players are rising and falling all over the list. Carlos Bocanegra moved down a few places due to some ragged performances for the U.S. national team. Danny Williams' awful showing against Russia dropped him two places. And Robbie Rogers fell off the list entirely.

On the flip side, players like MLS Cup Final MVP Omar Gonzalez, Joshua Gatt, and Juan Agudelo all moved up on the strength of their recent performances.

Please check it out. And while you are doing so, be sure to check out the interactive components of the list. Click on the tabs above the ranking to sort and reassemble the lists in a dynamic, interactive way. It's pretty cool.

We want to know what you think about these rankings. We don't expect you to agree with everything here. (Your Tweets suggest that this will not be a problem.) So please share your Top 10 with us. Or your Top 20. Or, if you are so inclined, your entire Top 100. The comments section below is ready for you, and we will take some of the best/most thoughtful observations and use them for a future article.

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