Noel Buck is 18 years old. He was born in 2005. He was a year old when his current New England Revs teammate, Jozy Altidore, made his debut for the New York Red Bulls. He was 5 years old when Clint Dempsey scored that famous World Cup goal against England. You get the gist of it — Noel is a young buck.
But he isn’t just any young soccer player. Watch Buck play with seasoned professionals and you’d see a physically and technically sound player, but critically, a wise head on young shoulders. Buck is having a breakout season with the New England Revs under Bruce Arena, with the hype-train building with every successive performance he puts in a Revs starting shirt. Several midfield sensations have broken through the US youth soccer system and progressed over to Europe over the past few years. The expectation is that Buck will follow.
Buck came through the Revs’ ranks as a homegrown player, playing with the New England Revolution II side in the USL League One and then the NEXT Pro side before making his debut for the first team in August last season. His integration into the Revs’ second team saw him play in numerous positions based on necessity. While he played predominantly in central midfield as a box to box #8 or a #10, he was also given the chance to showcase his abilities as a lone striker and as a right winger cutting inside on his left foot. In many ways, his superior physical and technical capabilities presented these opportunities to utilize him in different positions, and it’s something that’s carried over into the senior team under Bruce Arena.
Buck’s style of play resembles an early Nemanja Matic at Benfica — someone who can carry the ball using his big frame, break lines with passes and break up play in midfield. This isn’t to say that Buck is a regen of the Serbian, but the mannerisms which they demonstrate to receive the ball with their preferred left foot or spray passes around look moderately alike. Buck’s physical attributes are head and shoulders above players his age, and it is one of the main reasons why he has established himself as a key MLS player for the New England Revs. He has primarily operated as a central midfielder, showing his impressive ball carrying abilities alongside the likes of Matt Polster and Carles Gil. He ranks 4th in the club for progressive carries and progressive passes, while comfortably being the best tackler in the team with 26 tackles won. That also means that he’s won the 3th most tackles of any midfielder in the league thus far.
The above chart reflects Buck’s inclination and capability to perform both sides of the job as a central midfielder. Buck has already shown well rounded abilities so far, being able to reclaim possession while also completing progressive carries. A progressive carry is a carry that occurs in the opposition half, which is greater than five metres and moves the ball at least five metres towards the opposition goal.
VERSATILITY
Buck proved an adeptness at occupying different positions in age group soccer, and that has carried over to the men’s game under the watchful eyes of Bruce Arena. His versatility extends to the various phases of build up he is capable of involving himself in as well — a key ingredient for an all-action midfielder. The 18 year-old has been utilized as a right winger on occasion this season, starting there in recent defeats against the Philadelphia Union and Inter Miami. On both occasions, Arena switched Buck over to a central midfield pivot after half time (while chasing the game) to generate more ball progression with his carrying ability as well as his impressive technical ability in build up. Let’s take a look at how his role changed specifically in the game against the Union –
As you can see here, Buck is stationed on the right wing in the final phase of build up, with Latif Blessing playing alongside Matt Polster in the midfield pivot instead. The usage of a left footed player as a right winger provides different dimensions for a team to penetrate the opposition defense. Buck has the opportunity to cut inside on his lethal left foot and look for runners across the 6 yard box or use the width of his overlapping full back to get to the byline and put in a cross for the strikers to feed off of. As it turned out, Buck only managed one touch in the penalty box in those 2 games, so he struggled to get involved in the game when he turned out over on the flank.
Cut to the beginning of the second half and Buck’s position has changed. Here he is involved in the first phase of build up, receiving from the goalkeeper. He collects the ball in between his central defenders with the aim to progress the ball upfield.
And here is Buck in the second phase of build up, trying to penetrate the opposition’s defensive third. He’s positioned alongside Matt Polster, with Latif Blessing taking over his responsibilities over on the far right.
The usage of a left footer in central areas presents different angles and orientations to progress the ball, and this is where Buck adds value as a deep lying or box to box midfielder. The experiment with him as a right winger didn’t go according to plan, and neither did those two games, but you can see where Arena prefers his young midfield sensation on the pitch.
SHOOTING ABILITY
The one attribute that’s left to talk about is Buck’s impressive shooting ability. This kid packs a mean sledgehammer. He’s bagged 3 goals in the MLS so far, all of which have come outside the box.
His latest rocket initiated an impressive comeback against the Chicago Fire. Buck is able to unleash his absolute weapon of a left foot on the ball to find the top corner.
You never forget your first. Here is Buck’s first goal against NYCFC in his debut season last year.
A good technical quality that Buck possesses before putting his laces through the ball is to take a solid first touch out of his feet and into the arc of his sledgehammer. Buck currently plays in behind one of the best #10’s in the league in Carles Gil, but it would be interesting to see if his goalscoring stats shoot up if he is able to find pockets on the edge of the box to get shots on goal.
USA vs England — The national team conundrum
Buck finds himself in the middle of yet another dual eligibility scenario in international soccer. While he’s born and raised in the US, Buck is eligible for England and Wales through his father’s heritage. He’s yet to be called up for either nation’s youth teams. Until he commits to one, there’s going to be chatter about it.
If there at all is a consideration to be made between England and the US, the questions would have to be — Is Buck’s ceiling high enough to be amongst the best English midfield talents for the years to come? Also, being a part of an England set up these days merits a discussion about the player being one of the best players in Europe, so could Buck really progress to that elite level in the years to come? It’s too early to determine.
What we do know is that US Soccer is building momentum on the back of a successful appearance at the World Cup in Qatar and in the lead up to the 2026 World Cup at home. Buck is unquestionably in the pool of America’s top talents, but that pool seems to only grow with every passing year. He presents a unique profile for the US to employ should he commit to the stripes, and in return would give a chance for Buck to be the torchbearer for a golden generation of soccer players at an inimitable home World Cup and in the years to come.