Ex UC Davis Aggie soccer player Max Arfsten scores his first international goal, also had an assist, and named player of the match during the US Gold Cup Quarter final win. Also the announcer stated that he was an ex UC Davis players on national TV.
Arsten played very well; worked hard, had a super shot from outside that was a meter off-line. He played well for himself, his country and a UCD alumnus.
Pulled this from a respected pundit about Max's chance to make the world cup squad:Work to do: Max Arfsten The pundit listed him as work to do, but has a chance.
Max Arfsten is an enigma. Watching the fullback in person shows his tendencies to push aggressively high up the wing and how it generates great offense.
You also clearly see how far he needs to track back to play defense. Arfsten's pushes up the field can often lead to exposure on the flanks that have hurt the USMNT.
That Costa Rica match was the essence of what makes Arfsten great - and what he needs to improve. After giving up a penalty on a clumsy tackle to go down 1-0, he assisted Luna's equalizer and then scored one of his own to take a 2-1 lead.
But beyond his performances, left back could be a position of luxury - with PSV's Sergino Dest and Borussia Monchengladbach's Joe Scally serving as top options when healthy. He'd need to truly shine for Columbus Crew the rest of the season to bump either of them.
I noticed this yesterday. With 4 defenders, I didn't know if it was by design for him to push up the field. But he got burned several times when he overcommitted. That being said, he also had good contributions on the offensive side of the field.
I saw the same thing, looks like he plays with the mindset "risk it for the biscuit" . I think it will be up to the coaching staff, style of play whether Max makes the squad. Nevertheless it was way cool to say an Aggie on such a big stage!
Often if you play with 4 in the back, depending on the opponent a coach will give the green light for one to play aggressively and move up the field. The key to this though is the remaining 3 backs need to rotate to cover for the aggressive back. You can also drop a midfielder back.