Jackson Yueill celebrates after scoring against D.C. United early in the 2021 season. Photo Credit: ISI Photos / San Jose Earthquakes
Jackson Yueill came into 2021 as the captain of the US Men’s U-23 team, a staple of the full national team, and one of the brightest spots of a San Jose Earthquakes team on the make.
By July, the Quakes were on a six-game losing skid and Yueill lost his spot on the National Team to Kellyn Acosta. He became the fall guy for what was a moribund Yankee summer – until the Pepi Train left the station – and came back unsettled in San Jose.
His star has dimmed but is that the 24-year-old’s fault? La Joya goes into the offseason preparing for what looks like a make-or-break 2022: either he levels up, challenges the World Cup roster, and becomes one of the better American midfielders in the game on his way to Europe…or he sits at that Wil Trapp level of solid MLS contributors who happen across the national team roster from time to time.
It’s an interesting question, but projections come from understanding past results. Just how bad was Yueill’s 2021?
A Roving General
Inside Yueill are two wolves. Compare and contrast this take-the-game-by-the-neck way of capping Wondo’s record-breaking day in 2019:
…with getting Gio Reyna big mad earlier this year:
The first is the full Yueill experience: a progressive pass in stride to an attacking winger, a late-arriving run to shift the ball in the box, and a refusal to switch off in order to find a space in the box. The second is just not checking blind spots and missing one of the most dangerous Americans with a foot of space, alone in an acre of space.
It’s not fair to generalize from two anecdotes, but how about this. Compare Yueill’s field coverage in 2019 to 2020 and 2021 (including USMNT appearances). Stats from Wyscout.
Yueill: 2019 
Yueill: 2020 
Yueill: 2021
In 2019, Yueill had a few clearly-defined spots on the pitch in dark red: little happy zones where he operated comfortably. In 2020, you see the same zones (it’s not in red purely because of the fewer minutes logged in a Covid-wracked season). 2021 is a bit more blobby.
For the Earthquakes, Yueill was the team’s best #6, and one of the best at that deep-lying role in the league. The problem was, he was also the Quakes’ best #8, #10, and one of the better center backs, too.
Contrast this with, say, Kellyn Acosta under Robin Fraser’s tutelage in Colorado. One of the great strengths of Distressed Assets FC is that they stripped away Acosta’s Dallas-era roles as a left back, or inverted winger, or goodness knows what. They found good cogs and fit them together.
Jackson in 2021 reminded me of another American central midfielder: Michael Bradley at the 2014 World Cup. Then 26, he ran the most miles of anyone in the Group Stage playing as a…deep-lying, #10, I think? The deeply-analytic and never-reactionary American fanbase criticized Bradley for a poor showing, less so for sharing a midfield with Jermaine Jones, Kyle Beckerman, and Alejandro Bedoya.
A great midfielder has to know where he is on the pitch, related to his teammates and his opponents. That’s tough to do when you’re in a different part of the pitch every game! There are certain player types that can take advantage of a discombobulated squad like the 2021 Earthquakes: someone who can dribble, hit goals from distance, or transition defend is going to look really good. A player who links play, manages tempo and game state? A whole lot less so.
Making Something From Nothing
So with no settled midfield partner, no stable team shape, and a poor injury to the big midseason acquisition, Yueill had the unenviable role of conductor to a middle-school orchestra. It isn’t a shock that his passing range was way down from previous seasons. What is impressive, though, is how he found new ways to be outstanding.
La Joya stood out as one of the best pressing midfielders of 2021. He took incredible blind runs into the opposing half to pressure opponents, and he created seven shots from defensive actions – second in the league behind NYCFC forward Taty Castellanos’ eight, and at least two more than anyone else. Case in point, the game-winning goal against Real Salt Lake (at 4:18 of this video):
On one hand, what is the regista doing so far up the pitch? But on the other hand – look how much damage he can do so high up the pitch!
And while sure, he had two notable errors getting isolated against fast guys in space: turned on the sideline by Bryan Rodriguez of LAFC, and burned off a corner kick transition in the last match of the season. He has big issues getting isolated in space defensively, and needs a defensive caddy. It’s not clear if, after all those 2,500-minute seasons in Brazil, Judson has the legs and lungs to do that anymore.
Which is all to say, maybe Jackson Yueill isn’t really a regista. If he’s a brilliant front-foot defender and can switch the attack from 15 yards outside the box, he is more of a modern #8: keying transition moments through the press and recognizing numerical mismatches.
That’s truly fine, if that’s the case. The deep-lying regista doesn’t really exist anymore – go ahead and watch Pirlo highlights and laugh at center backs scrambling like Sims at the sort of deep ball that goalkeepers are expected to hit nowadays. In the organizational play of the 2020s, teams need individuals who can identify moments to disorganize the opponents. Through his pressing and passing, Yueill is extremely good at that – if he is put in a position to do so.
The Best of the Quakes through the Best of Yueill
Throughout 2021, the whole of midfield distribution fell on Yueill’s bony shoulders. Judson and Eric Remedi lack progressive vision, and Andy Rios severely cratered from 2020. Chofis was not effective further than 25 yards out from goal. Jack Skahan was promising in spurts, but not quite ready. Eric Calvillo was in Orange County. What that meant for Yueill is that, well, being visible doing everything is easier to critique than his teammates, being invisible or doing nothing.
Jackson Yueill looks his best when he’s surrounded by teammates in roles well-suited for them. In 2019 and 2020, coach Matias Almeyda’s genius was finding players that fit roles in an unorthodox way. He turned 2017 Swedish Goal King Magnus Eriksson into 2021 Swedish Assist King Magnus Eriksson, after all. None of that was apparent in PayPal Park this past season.
If 2022 is make-or-break for Jackson Yueill, it’s also a matter of the Earthquakes being in a position to make the most out of their investment in him. Yueill seems to hit his highest peaks of form when there is a defender dedicated to sweeping up behind him and a midfield partner who can allow him to take risks in the press to win transition moments, as well as connect with him in the run of play to move the ball from touchline to touchline.
Neither of these are particularly rare skillsets, or require a certain formation. You could see a rested Judson as that sweeper, either in a three-man midfield or as a free centerback in a 3-4-3 formation. 2021 draftee George Asomani fits the profile there, as do many high-engine college midfielders and about 70 guys in LigaMX
That midfield partner is a bit trickier. Yueill was his best with Anibal Godoy or Magnus Eriksson sharing the load, both left-footed central midfielders with bite. It’s not really a pure #10 (as I’ve wrote about before) but more of an eight-and-a-half who can put wingers and fullbacks in a position to hit the key passes. How we see new general manager Chris Leitch fit this roster spot, either with a high-up-the-pitch disruptor a la Latif Blessing, a link-and-shuttle facilitator like Alejandro Bedoya or a true(er) attacking midfielder in the Albert Rusnak mode will tell us a lot about how the Earthquakes will try and play in 2022 as well as how the rest of the roster will fall together.
Jackson Yueill is almost certainly the captain of the 2022 Earthquakes. He is at this point a veteran presence in the locker room and, I think, the most visible gringo in Bay Area soccer. The question now is how the Quakes will be formed around him, and whether he’ll be in a position to shine or simply asked to do everything, all over again.
