Scoring a goal of this caliber alone is enough to warrant a lot of eyes being turned to watch you play, but when you consider the lack of depth at CM for the USA at the World Cup was a factor in their loss to the Netherlands Taylor Booth becomes even more intriguing.
If I told you there is a box-to-box midfielder who is showing dribbling traits that rival Luca de la Torre, passing like Djorde Mihailovic, and a defensive workrate that matches Weston McKennie would you want to give them a look?
I thought so.
That very same player - Taylor Booth just won the Dutch Eredivisie Player of the Month for his contributions to his club Utrecht. And he will be this month’s It’s Called Soccer USMNT player breakdown!
Let’s start with the history of Taylor Booth because I don’t know about you but players seem to just be popping up everywhere. I was aware of Taylor because of his time at Bayern youth teams right after Chris Richards was promoted to the senior squad. But let’s go back a bit further.
Booth was born in Eden, Utah and is a 21 year old currently playing for Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie. His parents both played soccer at a collegiate level and through his father’s lineage he holds an Italian passport. Fun fact… Taylor Booth is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In other words he’s an ascribed Mormon.
Booth developed in the RSL academy but left for Bayern Munich when he was 17. Interestingly enough, Booth’s debut for Bayern Munich II in the 3. Bundesliga came when he subbed on for none other than Malik Tillman. After making only four total appearances for Bayern Munich II, Booth was loaned to St. Pölten in the Austrian 2nd division.
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After his time in Austria, Booth was promoted to the senior Bayern squad in the 2021 season and made his debut in their famous 12-0 destruction against Bremen SV. After discussions with Bayern could not guarantee Booth with the development path he was looking for, he signed a pre-contract with FC Utrecht and formally joined the squad in the summer of 2022.
Booth has finally been exposed to regular minutes of first team football in a competitive European league.
Taylor also had a storied career with US Youth National Teams representing the US at a number of youth levels. Most notably, Booth was part of the U-17 squad that went to the 2017 Youth World Cup in India. The USA reached the quarter-finals but lost to eventual champions England.
In December of last year, Taylor Booth was called up to the senior national team for the first time for their friendly against Bosnia and Herzegovina. He did not make an appearance in that match and has yet to debut for the USMNT.
So I think now comes an important question - what is Taylor Booth doing well to receive Player of the Month awards and call-ups from the national team? Does he have the potential to become a future talent and depth piece at the #8 for the USMNT?
Let’s take a look at some of the things Taylor Booth does really well:
Booth ranks highly in offensive categories and contributions while effectively managing the defensive responsibilities of his role.
His vision for a young player is excellent. You’ll regularly find him making good decisions on the ball, switching fields effectively, and playing risky through-balls that do come off. It’s in this category I would deem Booth an elite prospect.
He has quick feet and a good first touch. He can beat a player on the dribble and he’s comfortable being on the ball. He is deceptively fast with the ball at his feet.
He finds spaces in between the lines and adds a lot of value to the team when in possession.
Here are some things Booth needs to improve to reach the next level:
While he does well to win the ball back and makes good tackles, he allows possession to be received from his opponents a little too easily. As a center-midfielder, he needs to add more tools to his defensive skill set.
He’s 5’9 and doesn’t win many headers in the midfield. This can be important to provide your team an outlet on goal kicks and direct balls. There are players that are the same height and build that use their body more effectively, and Booth would do well to improve this part of his game.
It’s difficult to gauge the speed of play for attack-minded players in the Dutch Eredivisie as teams spend way less resources on defensive players. Booth needs to make sure his growth doesn’t stagnate because of the competition.
I think it’s fair to say that Taylor Booth is a player on the rise with the potential to grow into an important player for the US going forward. What is more difficult to predict is the extent of his usefulness in the role he plays, and how much he can harness this momentum to continue raising his level.
For the USMNT we have a need for gritty, box-to-box midfielders but we have a whole host of attack-minded 8s. Taylor Booth switches between the two with ease. If Booth can add a physical ability to match his unique technical level, he can be of huge value for this USMNT squad going forward.
I used portions of a full scouting report on Taylor Booth that collects information on his play. If you want to see and read the full scouting report you can download it after becoming a Patreon of It’s Called Soccer. This is a special feature reserved for Patrons only.
If you want to see more of Taylor Booth I would highly recommend following USMNTVideos on YouTube for highlights: