Playing on the left side of the Dynamo’s midfield, Gitau was the focal point of their offense. He got on the ball a lot and tried to make things happen with his technical and intelligent game. The midfielder made some nice individual plays, but also combined well with his teammates. Gitau brought the ball inside on some occasions and tried to find the forwards with passes behind the backline, having some success.

Gitau is the top midfielder in the class according to our Rankings and is also ranked first overall in Texas. He’s part of the Houston Dynamo system and plays for their U19 team in the MLS Next league, but has been almost full-time with Houston Dynamo II in MLS Next Pro, where he has 17 appearances (ten starts), with a goal and an assist so far. Gitau has a very complete skill set, which allows him to play different roles in midfield, and he’s very smooth on the ball. When playing more centrally, Gitau typically takes charge of the team’s playmaking, using his ability to break lines with passes or runs to progress the ball upfield. When used on the wing, the position that led him to receiving a call-up to the U.S. U17 National Team earlier this year, he uses his excellent footwork to go at defenders and make plays.

The attacking midfielder had a very active match, getting on the ball a lot and getting involved in many of the team’s offensive plays. Gitau’s movement off the ball was excellent and consistent, and he got in good spots to make plays. He was very dangerous in combination and 1v1 plays, but also connected good passes and dropped a little bit deeper to help his team move the ball when Austin was in defensive shape.