Saturday's 1-1 road draw against Inter Miami CF required a team-wide effort from the New England Revolution. Central to that was Alhassan Yusuf.
The midfielder was 44/46 on accurate passes, 7/9 on ground duels, and 2/2 on long balls. He protected the backline with 11 defensive contributions and jump-started the attack with progressive carries worth 64.1 meters.
"It was impressive, what he does for our team, how he covers ground, and how he initiates the attack once we win the ball," assistant coach Blair Gavin said. "He has a unique engine that we've seen over his time here with us, and it was fully on display on the game Saturday. It was enjoyable to watch."
A member of the Nigerian National Team who made six appearances in the UEFA Champions League with Royal Antwerp, Yusuf's quality is evident whenever he takes the field.
This weekend, he stood strong against Lionel Messi and company.
"The way he works on and off the ball, he does all the little things right, and all the big things right as well," Ethan Kohler explained. "I think he was so important in winning first balls, second balls, and he carried us up the pitch [last Saturday]. Individually, he would take the ball and bring us 30 to 40 meters up the pitch, and then that let us kind of settle."
Typically a holding midfielder, Yusuf has also played on the left this year. He's already collected two goals, with one more being ruled offside.
Yusuf is useful in possession, maintaining a passing accuracy of 87%. Defensively, he averages 1.9 tackles per game, second-highest on the team.
"He's been doing so well this entire season," Kohler said. "I'm really high on Yusuf, not just as a player, but as a guy.”
