OT: Another interesting weekend for US soccer players in Europe...
Because there are not a lot of sports leagues that are active at the moment, I started a thread last week giving an update on some US soccer players playing in Europe and how their weekend went. People were interested, so here’s an update after this past weekend’s action. It was a pretty notable few days for a number of USMNT players:
- Christian Pulisic had two games last weekend, one on Thursday and one on Sunday. Thursday’s game was a huge EPL match-up between 4th place Chelsea and 2nd place Manchester City. Pulisic got the start after having scored a goal the previous weekend, and shined again in Thursday’s game. Chelsea won 2-1 and Pulisic scored the game’s opening goal. It was one of the better goals that has ever been scored by an American playing in Europe. In the second half, a goal line clearance prevented Pulisic from scoring his second goal of the day and he almost knocked in another goal in a sequence that led to Chelsea being awarded the penalty that provided the winning margin. In the biggest game anywhere on the planet last week, Pulisic was the best player on the field and took home Man of the Match honors.
After his heroic effort on Thursday, Pulisic got the start again on Sunday for Chelsea’s crucial FA Cup quarterfinal match against Leicester City, a tough opponent currently sitting in third place in the EPL. Pulisic had another wonderful game and were it not for a wonderful close-range save by Kasper Schmeichel, he would’ve been on the scoresheet in the first half. Chelsea won the game 1-0 and Pulisic was arguably Chelsea’s best player again. The Chelsea reddit page named Pulisic Man of the Match. The only bad news is that he left the game in 72nd minute with a tight calf. It doesn’t sound like something serious, and Pulisic was probably due for a rest tomorrow against West Ham either way. Hopefully, he’s fine. Here’s a video of most, or all, of Pulisic’s touches against Leicester:
- 17-year-old Gio Reyna got his second ever start (and also his second start in a row) for Borussia Dortmund. No one on Borussia Dortmund had a standout performance as they fell 4-0 to Hoffenheim, but it was still nice to see Reyna get some extended minutes. The Bundesliga finished on Saturday, and Gio Reyna led the league in secondary assists per 90 minutes.
- Josh Sargent scored his 4th goal of the season for Werder Bremen with a very composed finish to cap off a 6-1 win over Koln. The win was a huge result for Werder Bremen as it vaulted them up to 16th place (out of 18) in the Bundesliga meaning that they avoided automatic relegation. Instead, they play a playoff against the third place team from the second division and the winner will play in the Bundesliga next season. The first leg is this Thursday at 2:30 and the second leg is next Monday. Dusseldorf, where American Alfredo Morales plays, was the team that dropped to 17th place on Saturday meaning they were relegated to the 2 Bundesliga. Here is Sargent’s goal:
- Weston McKennie, John Brooks, Tyler Adams, and Gio Reyna all started for their respective teams on Saturday. Josh Sargent and Alfredo Morales saw action off of the bench. 19-year-old Ulysses Llanez, who only recently was promoted to Wolfsburg’s first team but has already scored a goal for the US, made the bench this weekend but didn’t see action. I think it was the first time he has made the bench for Wolfsburg’s first team.
- DeAndre Yedlin played the final 16 minutes of Newcastle’s 2-0 defeat to Manchester City in the quarterfinal of the FA cup on Sunday.
- In the EFL Championship, Tim Ream, Matt Miazga, Antonee Robinson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, Geoff Cameron, and Duane Holmes all saw action. The first 4 guys each got 90 minutes. Cameron started and played 71 minutes. Holmes got 21 minutes off the bench for Derby County.
- Miazga got a red card after his game ended for his role in a post-match altercation:
- Robinson was named to the Best XI of the week.
Some people on this board may not be familiar with Antonee Robinson, but he’s arguably the best LB in the US player pool, and AC Milan bought him back in February. Unfortunately, Robinson failed his physical due to an irregular heartbeat so the deal was cancelled. Here is every play he was involved in last weekend:
Robinson was actually back in action and went 90 minutes again today in a 3-0 win over Stoke. He had a good match, statistically speaking:
- In Turkey, Tyler Boyd played 20 minutes in Besikta’s 3-0 win.
- In Spain’s Segunda Liga, Shaq Moore played 90 minutes and registered an assist - his 3rd assist in the last 2 games. The US is pretty loaded at outside back at the moment, but I’ve liked the way Shaq Moore has looked when he’s gotten games for the US. I still don’t see him displacing Dest, Yedlin, or Robinson any time soon.
- In Austria, Jesse Marsch coached RB Salzburg to the Bundesliga title. Marsch became the first American born and raised coach to win a European league title. Salzburg actually managed a double this season as they also won the Austrian Cup.
- Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart wrapped up their 2 Bundesliga season in Germany, finishing in second place. Matarazzo will become the first American born and raised coach to coach in the German Bundesliga.
- 18-year-old Konrad de la Fuente, currently in Barcelona’s youth system, extended his contract this weekend through 2022. He has played 852 minutes and scored 4 goals this season for Barcelona’s youth team.
- Lille, who finished 4th in France’s Ligue 1, posted a picture of Tim Weah training today. That’s good news after he missed basically the entire last season with injuries. It would be a huge boost for the US if he could develop into a regular starter for them. Injury issues aside, he’s one of the US’s most promising youngsters.
Soccer, interesting?...hmm
Major props for the thorough summary. I'm a pretty big soccer nut, and it's nice to see the sport get some more recognition on this site.
Pulisic really needs to stay healthy for the rest of this season. The last two seasons has been really rough for him in that as soon as he gets his confidence and groove back, he goes down with at least another multi-week injury.
McKennie and Sargent both need a change of scenery IMO, unless there is managerial changes at both clubs.
McKennie has been on somewhat of a hotstreak himself, and is playing a ton of minutes for a pretty good side in Schalke, why do you think he needs a change of scenery?
Agree on Sargent, he's a promising striker but Bremen is a terrible club and he gets next to no service there, would be good if he could go to a club that he could get more consistent minutes and doesn't give the ball away every time they manage to actually get possession.
Adams is another who's a very exciting prospect but doesn't seem to get talked about as much. Assuming Berhalter pulls his head out of his ass and plays him in his natural CDM role, he was grading out extremely well in the Bundesliga before having a bunch of his own injury issues this year.
I don’t know how to break this to you, but Schalke has been garbage since 2020 started. That’s not an exaggeration. Now, they had some injuries, but their finances aren’t great and there’s some rumors they may try and sell McKennie as a cash infusion. I think he stays, but Schalke is an awful environment for a young player right now.
Yeah they had some pretty bad games this year. Losing 4-0 to Dortmund after the league restarted was embarrassing. McKennie has looked good at times, like when he's asked to be pro-active and go forward more. Unfortunately he's been asked to do things he isn't good at just as often and his performance has suffered. He would be better suited in a system that takes advantages of his strengths. A good coach knows the strengths and weakness of his players and adjusts tactics accordingly. His current coach does not do that.
If you want an in with Charles Minor, this is your chance
Miazga is a knucklehead.Thanks for the summary
He is a knucklehead. Needs to stop with the extracurriculars. He's like the Sergio Aguero of the USMNT
Miazga could be great but he gets in his own way more often than not. It says a lot that Chelsea still hold onto his rights after all this time but after this most recent incident they may look to sell him soon. Luckily CB is a deep position on the USMNT. They have John Brooks, Aaron Long, Walker Zimmerman, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Bayern Munich's Chris Richards is young and improving.
Thanks for this thorough summary. Pulisic has been amazing of late. His hesitation/change-of-pace dribble has got to be among the best in the world right now.
That skill directly lead to a penalty kick for his team yesterday, which Willian promptly put in the back of the net. Unfortunately Chelsea lost the game but Pulisic was not the reason. My money is on Antonio Rudiger for that (German Centerback). He was directly involved with all 3 goals West Ham scored.
I'm a die hard Man U fan who has been rooting for Chelsea simply because of Pulisic. I hope he scores every game and they lose 2-1
I've been saying in a few years, Chelsea will be America's favorite team (vomit), assuming he stays. As a Liverpool fan, I must say the prospect of Abraham, Werner, Pulisic, and Mount has me a bit worried for the more distant future. United is probably going to sign Sancho this summer and will have a nice core of Rashford, Fernandez, and potentially Greenwood improving.
Man I hope there is a season next season, because the Premier league is going to be insane!
Abraham does not impress me. His finishing leaves a lot to be desired and he makes a lot of other little mistakes (out of position, poor passing, etc). Giroud is probably the best striker on Chelsea right now. What have you seen from Abraham that worries you as a Man U fan?
I figured I'd adopt an EPL team and took the silly internet quiz that suggests at the end which team you should support. I got Chelsea, both times. It helps that they have the greatest American player ever (hasn't quite matched the accomplishments of Donovan, Dempsey, or Howard, but I think will smash all of them).
Chelsea til I die. Go Blues!
Appreciate the write ups. Keep 'em com'n.
I can't remember a time when the US had so much good young talent coming up. Might as well hand over the keys now, and let them all get a WC under their belt. Would be nice to go into 2026 still having a young squad, but also having all that experience.
Pulisic is a beast and Mckennie is going to be my favorite p layer for the next decade. Even better is that there's so many names. We're not counting on 1 or 2 "Saviors", there's a big core group that all should make us a problem for the world.
A pretty big group of very strong players is starting to come of age. Praying this can be translated into wins and stability for the US Men's soccer team.
Pulisic was outstanding the last two game. The performance against Man City was crazy. Dempsey was probably the last American non-keeper to play that well in the EPL and that was 10 years ago. I was already excited for his future, but was nervous about the move to the EPL. He has shown he can not only play against the best, but excel.
What's up with Deandre Yedlin? Seems to have fallen out of favor both with the USMNT and Newcastle right when he should be peaking in his prime. I know he's had some injuries but didn't think serious. Any other insights?
The injuries have played a big factor for sure but mostly I don't think he's that good. He's solid, don't get me wrong, and I still think he's the starter at one of the fullback positions but Dest and Robinson are getting better all the time. Those kids will supplant him at some point soon if he doesn't get better. He will still be a valued backup when that happens.
Also I've been looking at the formations and substitutions for Newcastle and sometimes he gets subbed in as a midfielder/winger like how Klinsmann used to do in the 2014 World Cup. It seems there is still some uncertainty about his best position this late in his career.