CONCACAF Player Power Rankings: Tyler Adams, Jonathan David or Raul Jimenez to replace Christian Pulisic at No. 1?

Even with half a working knee, Davies is still one of the best left backs out there. Sure, he was caught up in a significant amount of controversy after sustaining an ACL tear in a Canada national team game when he was arguably not fit to play. But "Phonzie" remains an immense talent, and there is no indication that he won't be back to his scintillating best when he returns. 

There is good news on that front, too. Davies is back in training for Bayern, and the word is that he could play for Canada by the November break - a timely boost for les Rouges.

Give it a couple months, and Richards might be higher up this list. It would not be an overstatement to suggest that the center back's rise has been meteoric. A year ago, he was still a bit of a misfit at Crystal Palace, the weak link in manager Oliver Glasner's back three. But after impressing, he's now a key player for the manager.

A series of stellar individual performances has only reinforced that notion. Most notably, he clamped Erling Haaland in the FA Cup final in May - despite Man City's obvious attempts at targeting the Birmingham, Alabama native. He was a standout for the U.S. at the Gold Cup, too, and a stalwart at the back as Pochettino's side went on a run to the final. And at 25, he will only get better. 

Jimenez looked like he might have been out of soccer 18 months ago. The goals had dried up at a club level, while he was still recovering from a serious head injury suffered in a Premier League fixture. But every time he put the Mexican national team shirt on, he came alive. That trend has continued in style, with Jimenez consistently bagging for El Tri. 

He has endured something of a quiet start to the Premier League campaign - he is scoreless in his side's first three - but Jimenez remains an icon for Mexico. He's 10 goals away from being El-Tri's all-time top goalscorer, a consistent threat, and still the No.1 choice to lead the line for a national team that just might have turned a corner.

It's a bit dramatic to dub Antonee Robinson a "tragic hero", but he does have the misfortune of getting very good at football at the wrong time in his career. Robinson, remember, really could be playing for Milan now, but after a failed transfer nearly five years ago, finds himself running up and down the left at Fulham. That is no disrespect to the Premier League club, of course, who have offered the perfect forum for Robinson, 28, to be his versatile best. 

Adept going forward and remarkably scrappy defensively, Robinson relies on an excellent engine as well as a lethal killer ball to serve as the archetypal modern touchline full-back. Injuries have rather hampered him of late, and he has missed out on the most recent U.S. squad as he recovers from a series of knocks. But when he's fit, he's among the best in the world at his position. 

David was everyone's favorite forward in the shadows, until he finally broke out at Lille last year. In fairness, it had been coming for a while. David is an excellent all round striker, who does a bit of everything. But in the last 12 months, he has brought more goals into his game - and on a more consistent basis, too. He has now hit 25 in all competitions for the past three years straight, and, after running his contract down at Lille, has a real chance at a step up with a Juventus side looking to push back to the top of Serie A.

He seems to like playing under Jesse Marsch, too, who lauded him as "one of the smartest forwards on the planet." He has scored five in eight games for Les Rouges in 2025, and is well-positioned to bag a few more, with Marsch setting the side on the right track ahead of the 2026 World Cup. 

Not No. 1? The Lebron James of soccer? It helps, first, to evaluate what Pulisic really is good at. The answer there is simple: a little bit of everything. The attacking midfielder is an immensely versatile presence, who keeps getting better every year. He has done it under a number of different managers at various clubs.

His performances for the national team simply cannot be called into question either. Is he world-class? Tough to say, but he's by no means far off it.

The reason he isn't at the top is quite simple: availability. Pulisic picked up various knocks towards the end of last season, and, in case you forgot, didn't show up to the Gold Cup this summer.

Regardless of how much value you place on the tournament, it's tricky to vouch for a guy who doesn't want to play for his national team at crucial moments. He is on the road to redemption after being named in Pochettino's most recent squad, but until then, remains a step off the top spot.

The logic here is simple. Pulisic is a truly excellent footballer, and by some distance the biggest talent in the confederation. You could make a compelling argument that he is among the best 10 attacking midfielders in the world. But Pulisic, for his club and given his injury record, isn't reliable enough. 

Adams is. Bournemouth are the football hipster's dream, and Adams pretty much embodies the whole thing. Manager Andoni Iraola was the misfit Spaniard who made a poor Rayo Vallecano team look excellent, and he's done largely the same with the Cherries. And among all of his tactical shifts, outgoing players, and rotations, Adams is the constant.

A hardworking midfielder who rarely loses a tackle, Adams is the beating heart of a team that vastly outperforms the other names on the sheet. He deserves a shout, too, for his willingness to lace up his boots for the U.S.

Say what you will about the relative competitiveness of the Gold Cup, or how much value you place on friendlies, Adams is always, part of the picture. In short, he's absolutely essential, wherever he plays.