USMNT stock watch: Antonee Robinson becoming a star while Sergino Dest's immaturity costs him

Here's who is improving and who isn't under Gregg Berhalter

Despite the United States qualifying for 2024 Copa America and staying alive in their Concacaf Nations League campaign, this international break was a disappointing one. Defeating Trinidad and Tobago across two legs, 4-2 on aggregate. would make it seem like the USMNT won easily but both matches had their issues. In the first leg, the USMNT didn't score until the 82nd minute of play and while they followed it up by scoring two more goals, the first 80 minutes made it feel like that goal would never come despite playing against 10 men for most of the match. The second leg went from bad to worse as Sergino Dest was red carded and the USMNT ended up losing 2-1 and narrowly avoiding another disaster in the Caribbean.

Manager Gregg Berhalter has a lot to think about following this camp and there was quite a bit of movement among the player pool as well. With Tyler Adams, Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah all unavailable, by the second leg of play, there was a major opportunity for fringe members of the squad so let's take a look at who improved their stock during the camp.

Stock down: Sergino Dest

Picking up his second red card for the USMNT, Dest had a night to forget despite grabbing an assist on Antonee Robinson's goal. Feeling hard done by decisions that the linesman made, Dest kicked the ball out of play earning a yellow card and quickly got another one for dissent after. It's something that shouldn't be part of Dest's game with how much experience he has, especially playing in a critical role for the USMNT. Now suspended for the Concacaf Nations League semifinals, Dest has put his teammates in a bad spot where they now need to rally without him available.

It could open the door for Joe Scally or another right back in the pool to make their mark but given the response from both Berhalter and his teammates, just apologizing may not be enough for Dest to prove that this won't happen again.

Stock up: Tim Ream

This one is frankly a bit of an issue. Ream is 36 years old and likely won't be involved in the next World Cup cycle but on the pitch during these games, Ream shined as a leader and a defender. Without Adams and Pulisic in the squad, Ream had to be the leader among the outfielders doing his best to calm down Dest in an attempt to avoid his red card and also speaking on the incident following the match. Ream called what Dest did "a complete lack of respect for the guys on the bench and on the field" and he couldn't have been more correct in his assessment. Dest's antics were selfish and someone on the USMNT needed to make sure that was known.

While it's great that Ream is doing that, it's also clear that the USMNT haven't done enough yet to prepare for life after the Fulham man. Copa America could be a chance for that but a starting center back pairing must be found in time for the duo to get ample minutes to prepare for the World Cup in 2026.

Stock up: Antonee Robinson

I swear this isn't just running through the USMNT defense but that's where the standout performances were during this camp. Scoring in back-to-back games for the first time in his national team career, Robinson's header ended up being critical as without that goal, Trinidad and Tobago pushing forward could have meant trouble. Looking at the last two windows, the left side of the pitch is clearly better when Robinson is there than anyone else and hopefully the USMNT don't have to play many matches without him in the future. 

Stock down: USMNT depth

Considering the Gold Cup and Concacaf Nations League combined, if the first XI isn't available, the USMNT could be in trouble. The U-20's have a major opportunity with the 2024 Olympics but even Kevin Paredes got his first start for the USMNT and struggled against Trinidad and Tobago to start the match. Also with Berhalter not starting Lennard Maloney against without Weston McKennie available, when will the 24-year-old get worked in more? The USMNT have an excellent top end with Pulisic, McKennie, Folarin Balogun, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson, Adams Tim Ream, a center back, Sergino Dest, and Matt Turner, but after that, things are in flux. Brenden Aaronson is someone from the next level who has shown that they can contribute as well as Luca De La Torre but spots 12 through 26 on a roster are just as important as that first XI and we're no closer to figuring out who should fill those roles.