USMNT update
Ed-Seth: Bumped from the message board. Original thread here.
I don’t think one of these has been posted in a while and the last few days have been pretty good for the USMNT, so I thought now was as good of a time as any. Usually there are at least a handful of people interested.
One cool stat, as of 5 days ago, is that in the top 5 leagues of Europe, the United States is:
- 5th in minutes played u20 players (ahead of Italy, one of the countries that has a top 5 league)
- 6th in minutes played by u21 players
-8th in minutes played by u23 players
The future is incredibly bright for US soccer. Our u20 and u21 players have played more minutes this year in top 5 leagues than the u20 players from countries like Brazil, Argentina, the Netherlands, and Italy (only for u20 players). To me this stat is absolutely amazing and bodes really, really well for the future of the USMNT.
Highlights form last weekend / this week:
Christian Pulisic got a well-deserved rest during the FA Cup semifinal last weekend, but he did come on as a sub and score this golazo (against Zack Steffen), that was unfortunately just barely offside:
Yesterday, he started and played 90 minutes in Chelsea’s 0-0 draw against Brighton. Pulisic came into this weekend on a great run of form, having scored 3 goals in his previous 2 EPL games. He also started for Chelsea in the Champions League last week and was named MOTM by UEFA. He drew 11 fouls in Chelsea’s 1-0 defeat to Porto (which was enough for Chelsea to advance to the semifinals), the most by anyone in any Champions League game since Messi in 2011 (against Real Madrid).
If he stays healthy, Pulisic will probably start for Chelsea in the Champions League final against Real Madrid. Pulisic’s good form has been nice to see but long term, I’m much more concerned about his health than his form in April of 2021. For that reason, I kind of wish Chelsea would manage his minutes a little bit more.
Daryl Dike scored a bicycle kick to beat Huddersfield 1-0 in the EFL (the 2nd division of England).
It’s “only” the EFL, but Dike’s first semester playing for Barnsley (on loan from Orlando City) has been an enormous success. As of a week or two ago, he was first or second in the league in goals per 90 minutes. Also, the EFL is a pretty good league and the top teams are closer to bottom half EPL quality than MLS quality. There is a lot of speculation that Dike will be bought by Barnsley if they win promotion to the EPL or bought by someone else in the EPL if Barnsley don’t go up. Most people probably have him #1 or #2 on the US’ forward depth chart.
He scored this rocket back in March:
Sergiño Dest became the first US international to win the Copa del Rey (the Spanish Cup). He started the match and took this photo with Messi and the trophy:
https://i.redd.it/ta7ydljl8tt61.jpg
Dest’s first season with Barcelona has been a huge success and he has scored 3 goals. He has appeared in 38 games (35 starts).
He scored this golazo for the US back in March against Jamaica.
Gio Reyna started for Dortmund and scored this golazo:
He also got the start for Dortmund in today’s 2-0 win over Union Berlin. Reyna has had a kind of quiet semester (which is fine for an 18-year-old). Earlier this semester, he was named the 5th best u20 player in the world by French publication L’Equipe.
Bryan Reynolds got his second career Serie A start for Roma (also his second in a row). Apparently Roma is going all-in on the Europa League and focusing less on Serie A at this point in the season, but either way it’s pretty awesome for the US’ 4th (at best) right back to be starting any games for Roma in Serie A.
Yunus Musah got his first start in a while for Valencia and had this beautiful run that was thwarted by a good save by the keeper.
Musah, Valencia Denied Go-Ahead Goal After Incredible Solo Run
Yunus Musah dribbles through the Real Betis midfield and backline only to be denied one-on-one by a Claudio Bravo save.
Musah started again for Valencia today in their 3-1 loss to Osasuna.
Earlier this year, Musah was named the 19th best player in the world (under age 20) according to French publication L’Equipe. One amazing statistic about Musah is that since 2008, Musah is one of the 50 players in the world with the most minutes played in top-4 league before the age of 19. Reyna and Pulisic are also on the list.
The biggest news about Musah this semester is that he committed his international future to the US over England, Italy, and Ghana. This is kind of like getting a 5-star recruit except way better since his eligibility doesn’t expire in a few years and he won’t be leaving early for the NFL or NBA.
Weston McKennie started for Juventus in Sunday’s 1-0 loss to Atalanta and in today’s 3-1 win over Parma. I recently read that McKennie has covered more ground per 90 minutes than anyone in the Champions League this season. He also became the first US international to win the Italian Super Cup earlier this semester and Juventus is one of two finalists in the Coppa Italia which will be played in May. He has scored 6 goals this year and has been Juventus’ best midfielder according to many.
Here’s his best goal from back in December in case anyone missed it (a must see if you somehow missed it):
Brenden Aaronson scored a goal today for Red Bull Salzberg in their 3-2 loss in the Austrian Bundesliga.
Jordan Siebatcheu and his team Young Boys won the Swiss league title this weekend.
Antonee Robinson (Fulham), John Brooks (Wolfsberg), Tyler Adams (Red Bull Leipzig), Chris Richards (Hoffenheim) and Tim Weah (Lille – currently the first-place team in France) all started for their respective teams over the weekend. Josh Sargent and Matthew Hoppe came off the bench for Werder Bremen and Schalke. Zack Steffen started the FA Cup semifinal for Manchester City but was caught badly out of position on the goal that he conceded in a 1-0 loss. Guardiola has already said that Steffen will start the final of the Carabao Cup this weekend. Julian Green scored a goal in the 2 Bundesliga. Michael Bradley had his best 90 minutes in ages in Toronto’s shocking win over León last week in the CONCACAF Champions League and could be part of the Gold Cup roster this summer.
Also, one piece of bad news, after Schalke was relegated by losing this weekend, their players were attacked by fans upon their return to the city. Presumably this includes Hoppe, although no players were mentioned by name in the article I read.
https://www.kicker.de/schalke-verurteilt-die-uebergriffe-polizei-nennt-details-802812/artikel
Caden Clark, I usually don’t mention a lot of MLS guys in these updates, but I’m very excited about the 17-year-old NYRB midfielder’s future. Last year, he looked great in his USL highlights before moving up to MLS towards the end up the season. He ended up playing 7 games in MLS in 2020 and scored 3 goals (including 2 absolute golazos). This weekend, he scored this golazo in NYRB’s 2021 opener:
Here are his goals from last year (all are worth a watch but especially the second video):
Unless he turns out to be Steven Gerrard, no one could keep this up (he’s scoring a goal every 92 minutes and the sheer quality of his finishing has been astounding), but I’m very excited about this guy as a prospect. He already has a deal to play for Red Bull Salzburg (with Jesse Marsch and Brenden Aaronson) after this season.
Justin Che made his second straight start (as a defender) for Bayern’s second team. This is pretty promising considering that he’s 17 and it’s his first semester with the club, whereas Chris Richards didn’t break through with Bayern 2 until he was 19.
I thought people might enjoy taking a rough look at the US’ depth chart (I’m mostly guessing this on how I’m guessing Berhalter sees things, unless otherwise noted) just to get a feel for how these guys fit into the big picture.
I might include a note or two about some of these guys if it’s not something I already mentioned above.
First XI
F – Josh Sargent (Werder Bremen) his second semester has been better than his first semester this season.
LW – Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
RW – Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund)
CM – Weston McKennie (Juventus)
CM – Yunus Musah (Valencia)
DM – Tyler Adams (Red Bull Leipzig) – Having the best season of his career according to observers.
LB – Antonee Robinson – Doesn’t get the credit he deserves. Based on club performance, he’s probably the best LB the US has ever had and he played great in his last game for the US. People should focus a little more on what he brings to the table and a little less on his perceived shortcomings, IMO.
CB – John Brooks (Wolfsburg)
CB – Aaron Long (NYRB) – It would’ve been awesome if the loan to Liverpool would’ve happened. Richards might be gaining on him but I think Long will start the Nation’s League games in June.
RB – Sergiño Dest (Barcelona)
K – Zack Steffen (Manchester City) – Has only played cup games this season… I wish he’d get loaned somewhere where he’d get starter minutes. The mistake last weekend raises question about his form given that he’s barely played.
Second XI
F – Daryl Dike (Barnsley) – Talked about above. I thought he looked really good for the US against Northern Ireland in March.
LW – Brenden Aaronson (Red Bull Salzberg) – His first semester in Austria has been a huge success. Plenty of starts and goals. He looked great for the US in our March friendlies.
RW – Tim Weah (Lille) – This has been a great semester for Weah. Turns out that Lille was just taking it slow with him last semester given his injury history. This semester he’s seen a lot of playing time and opportunities to start in the Europa League and in Ligue 1 (where Lille currently sits 1 point ahead of PSG with 5 games left). Awesome to have a guy like this coming off the bench.
CM – Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy) – Can’t stop scoring goals when he plays for the US. He had an assist in the Galaxy’s opener last weekend.
CM – Luca de la Torre – The 22-year-old has had a great semester for Heracles in Holland. I had only read about him and seen highlights of him before he played for the US in the last two friendlies but I thought he looked great.
DM – Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids) – Got another chance for the US in March and looked great against Jamaica (not so much against N. Ireland). All in all, that was better than anyone could’ve expected in his offseason and he improved his stock, IMO. Recently said he’s dying to move to Europe because that’s his best chance at gaining the sharpness necessary to have a notable national team career given this generation’s talent.
LB – Sam Vines (Colorado Rapids) – If it were the World Cup, I would actually take 3 right backs and only Antonee Robinson at LB since Dest can play either side. So Vines is probably really 3rd on the LB depth chart behind those two guys. Honestly, I wonder if Ream would still get picked at LB for us if we had an important game and Robinson and Dest were both out.
CB – Matt Miazga (Anderlecht)
CB – Chris Richards (Hoffenheim) – His first semester as a starter in the Bundesliga has been a huge success. But, Hoffenheim play a back 3 so playing for the US will be a bit of an adjustment.
RB – DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray) – Yedlin finally got back in the squad and had some good performances for Newcastle a couple of month ago. He has had a great semester for Galatasaray since that transfer, even scoring a goal a couple of weeks ago. He’s out injured now but only for 3 weeks, supposedly. Berhalter probably has Reggie Cannon #2 on his RB depth chart but Yedlin is better in every way, IMO.
K – Matt Turner (New England Revolution)
The rest of the depth chart (it sounds like the US will leave it’s best squad home for the Gold Cup so a lot of these guys could be involved):
Forward:
3. Gyasi Zardes (Columbus Crew) – His form is as good as ever but there’s more competition at forward now. Definitely still in the mix to start, IMO.
4. Jordan Siebatcheu (Young Boys) – Good season winning the Swiss League and scoring goals in the Europa Legue.
5. Mattew Hoppe (Schalke)
Other guys to keep an eye on: Jozy Altidore (Toronto), Jesus Ferreira (Dallas), Ricardo Pepi (Dallas), Sebastian Soto (Norwich), Nico Gioacchini (Caen)
LW/RW:
5. Tyler Boyd (Sivasspor) – Finally getting playing time in Turkey and has had a resurgence. 6 goals in 18 games this semester. Still a really good option for the US even though some guys have passed him.
6/7. Paul Arriola (DC United), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders) – Both guys were part of the US’ best 23 and possible starters. Both guys made an exciting loan move to Swansea City this semester to finally test themselves in Europe. Both guys suffered serious injuries. Two really quality players. I’m really rooting for both guys but both will have a lot of work to do to work their way back up the depth chart once healthy.
Other guys to keep an eye on: Konrad de la Fuente (Barcelona), Uly Llanez (Herenveen), Chris Mueller (Orlando City), Jonathan Lewis (Colorado Rapids), Sebastian Saucedo (Pumas), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders). Tough luck for Llanez missing the CONCACAF u23 due to injury. I’d be shocked if Konrad breaks through at Barcelona, so a move elsewhere is probably in the cards at some point. I’m not as high on his potential as some are. I though Saucedo looked pretty good in the CONCACAF u23 and he scored recently for Pumas. Mueller looked good for the US in December.
CM:
5. Michael Bradley (Toronto) – Looks like Chris Armas is going to use Bradley more as an 8 than a 6 this season and he looked good in that role against León. Wouldn’t mind seeing him in the Gold Cup or even providing depth during some qualifiers. Most US fans probably hate this idea but if you don’t ask more of him defensively than he’s capable of giving, his leadership, passing, tactical intelligence, and composure could still be useful in certain situations (maybe coming off the bench against a team that is sitting back).
6. Julian Green (Greuther Furth) – Sounds like he’s had a great season in Germany’s second division. Had to look up how to spell his team’s name.
Other guys to keep an eye on: Richie Ledezma (PSV), Duane Holmes (Huddersfield), Paxton Pomykal (FC Dallas), Caden Clark (NYRB). Ledezma was breaking through at PSV when he got hurt. He seemed on track for the US second XI.
DM:
3. Jackson Yueill (San Jose) – Scored a very nice goal in the CONCACAF u23 but other than that, I didn’t think he looked better than the rest of the guys on the team (from what I’ve read, most US fans disagree with this take). Used correctly, I still think he’s a useful 6 for the US when he’s surrounded by better players and not asked to receive the ball under pressure and orchestrate the whole attack. Pretty sure Berhalter rates him either 3rd or 2nd on the DM depth chart.
Other guys to keep an eye on: Johnny Cardoso (Internacional), Owen Otasowie (Wolverhampton), Gianluca Busio (Kansas City), Andres Perea (Orlando City). Cardoso and Perea underwhelmed in the CONCACAF u23 tournament (especially Cardoso) but I still like both guys’ potential. Otasowie’s PT for Wolves has completely dried up this semester, unfortunately.
LB:
3. Tim Ream (Fulham) – Not a ton of depth at LB for the US. But I think Berhalter likes his experience and leadership. I met his parents and they were nice. I don’t remember him playing for Fulham in the EPL this season and I don’t think you want him playing LB for the US in an important game.
Other guys to keep an eye on: Tim Chandler (Eintracht Frankfurt), George Bello (Atlanta). Chandler has played 13 games for Eintracht Frankfurt this semester and even scored a goal… doesn’t seem like he’s in the picture but maybe if it were an emergency.
CB – Not going to bother putting these guys in any order. Lots of decent players that could probably do fine if needed and none are very old.
Erik Palmer-Brown (Austria Wien), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Bournemouth), Miles Robinson (Atlanta), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville), Mark McKenzie (Genk).
RB:
3. Reggie Cannon (Boavista) – Yedlin brings a lot more to the table, IMO, but Cannon is a very solid (and young) RB and I think Berhalter probably sees him as our 2nd or 3rd outside back. He’s been a pretty much automatic starter for Boavista, who is currently 1 point above the relegation zone in Portugal.
4. Bryan Reynolds (Roma) – He hasn’t exactly gotten rave reviews for his first two starts in Serie A but he looked pretty good for the US against Northern Ireland. It’s crazy that the US has a 19-year-old that just started Roma’s last two Serie A games and he’s pretty overshadowed by the rest of our young talent.
Other guys to keep an eye on: Aaron Herrera (RSL), Julian Araujo (Galaxy). Both guys face a pretty tough RB depth chart but Herrera looked great against Trinidad in January and both had some decent moments for the u23s in March.
K:
Ethan Horvath (Club Brugge), guys from MLS… haven’t thought a lot about this position but Horvath needs some PT if he’s going to work his way back up the depth chart.
In it's rightful place. Like I said in the other thread, for me this is just a recap of information I already obsessively follow and I still enjoyed reading it immensely. So well done. I hope this becomes a regular feature. I can only imagine how excited I would be for an update like this back when I used to follow this stuff more casually. Thanks again for putting this together. We are in exciting times for the USMNT.
Yup, great write-up.
Since he wrote this up, Pulisic scored a real nice goal in the semis of the Champions League against Real Madrid. He also setup Timo Werner for Werner's 200th missed tap-in of the year. Reyna had a brace (2 goals) in the semi-finals of the German domestic cup (albeit against a 2nd division team), and Clark had another real nice goal. Supposedly Clark is all set up to move to RB Leipzig next year, nothing official though.
^^^^^^
very true.
We may be developing talent on the field but it is not showing up real well as a unit and the coaching has been a big question mark. Granted the main Mens team has been playing better but the U23 squad of which most of the players you listed could have been a part of failed to make the Olympics for the 3rd time in the last 4 tournaments. That is one of the biggest U23 tournaments for the men in the World Cup cycle. The US Soccer has to look at what they are doing when it comes to developing talent and make some changes. If you look at most of the home grown talent (players that did not go to Europe before they turned 23) the majority come from only one or 2 MLS soccer acadamies. Most of the top teams in Europe and South America have their own development programs that start as young as 8. That needs to be the next step help build either regional soccer acadamies or help the MLS and NWSL teams build them to better develop talent for the national teams.
I agree with your point on coaching. Berhalter was an average MLS coach when he was hired. Even without the Euro players, the u23 olympic squad was odd - no Clark and others. The US Soccer leadership is pretty awful, and the men's programs have been suffering because of it. Hopefully the talent can overcome crap leadership.
Elite US talent should head to Europe as early as possible, so I don't really understand why we should only look at guys who stayed in the mls through 23. I do think the youth programs in the US are improving. There's a lot more mls and euro club academies (Clark & Hoppe are both Barca academy alums, for example) in the us than 10 years ago, and that trend is likely to continue.
I don't have anything concrete but I remember hearing during one of the games that the US was not able to use many of their best U23 players for Olympic qualifying for some reason. I could easily be wrong but that is something I remember hearing at the time.
Obviously very unfortunate because the US would have wiped the floor with everyone but Mexico and likely would have beaten Mexico in the final if they were afforded the use of their best players.
Also Pulisic said he would have played in the Olympics if they had qualified and Chelsea had allowed him to do it.
I think it's because the Olympics is not a FIFA competition and therefore, FIFA doesn't require clubs to release players for international duty like they do for the World Cup, WC qualifiers and other FIFA-sponsored competitions like the Euros or Gold Cup.
Our best U23 team could matchup with anyone's in the world, and would likely smoke Mexico. We have U23s contributing regularly at the following clubs:
Barcelona, Chelsea, Juventus, Dortmund, RB Leipzig, Werder Bremen, Valencia, Fulham, Hoffenheim, Roma, Lille.
Also some other notables like Dike leading Barnsley to the Championship playoffs. That would be solid for a Brazil or Argentina, let alone a US team that lost out on a WC spot to flippin' Panama 4 years ago.
Anyway, I doubt any of the above guys would play in the Olympics. All of their clubs would tell them no. They've had almost a non-stop season and a half since the leagues restarted. So, olympic soccer is even more of a sideshow this year.
Calling Berhalter "an average MLS coach" was simply not true. He took Columbus, a franchise with almost no backing from ownership or resources (Precourt was not spending any money and was planning on moving the team to Austin) and with limited talent (Kai Kamara, Justin Meram, Will Trapp, etc) and nearly won an MLS Cup. Berhalter laid the foundation for Caleb Porter to come in and win an MLS Cup for the Crew, and build (in my opinion) the most talented team in MLS this season.
If you look at what Berhalter has done in his time with the USMNT, you can see he's doing the same thing. He's building that foundation and system of play for a different type of American player, not historic archetypes who compensate a lack of skill by effort and athleticism, but next-generation, wicked-skilled players who need the ball to have success.
Berhalter might not be the coach that puts the USMNT over the top, but he's doing a helluva job laying that groundwork for the next coach.
Love this!
L'Equipe, L'Equipe, L'Equipe
Obviously, it's not what you want, but it's better for our players, and not very damaging at all for the USMNT, to have missed the Olympics.
Most of the young players that are going to be important parts of the full national team in 2026 (and even 2022) are fighting to establish their places on their European club teams. It's much better for them to take part in preseason training where they can cement their roles/impress their managers than to play in a tournament that many/most teams see as minor and unimportant. Add in the the way that "injury away on international duty" gets treated by many clubs as betrayal/lost investment and there's minimal upside for the individual players.
Add in the fact that the huge backlog of full international matches (for the USMNT Nation's League, Gold Cup and World Cup Qualifying still left this year) means that there's going to be opportunity for a lot of the U23s to see time with the full team (particularly now that FIFA's allowing confederations to squeeze 3 matches into international breaks). So the benefit of the Olympics of building team chemistry among that cohort of players won't be entirely lost.
Again, you want to qualify, but combine the benefits of not qualifying with the stupid/fluky Olympic qualification system, and I don't think it's as damaging as one might think. Now, I probably agree that it reveals the tactical deficiencies of the people who end up coaching at least lower levels of the USMNT. But if Berhalter reveals himself to be over his head, there's at least a good chance it will be clear after the two summer tournaments, in time to figure out a solution before qualifying.
Agree it is going to be a really busy summer for them, so missing the Olympics might be a blessing, though I would have liked to see it. As it is I think Twellman was stating they would need up to 35 players to meet the demands of all the other commitments this summer and into fall qualifying.
In re: busy summer, it'll be interesting to see how they handle...
May 30: friendly @ Switzerland
June 3: v. Honduras (Concacaf Nation's league semi-final) @ Denver
June 6: v. Mexico or Costa Rica (Concacaf Nation's league final or 3rd place game) @ Denver
June 9: v. Costa Rica @ Salt Lake
I assume they'll use the same squad for the 3 games in Denver and SLC to simulate the new 3 game FIFA windows for qualifying, and that they're probably sending a European-based B-team squad (nice to have that kind of squad) to the gave vs. Switzerland.
I think I read somewhere that they're prioritizing the Nation's League over the Gold Cup, but I don't imagine they'll have Pulisic and maybe not Steffen for the June 3 game, since they'll both be playing in the Champions League final on May 29. Dike may also not be available depending on how far Barnsley proceed in the Championship playoff (the playoff final is also May 29).
The thing is that outside of the World Cup the Olympics for men is the second biggest world wide tournament. And that includes all of the qualifying as well as the games as well. Playing in Europe is important because the level of skill and talent there is by far above MLS at this point, however only a few select teams play in the Champions League which in #3 when it comes to total games in a tournament environment and Europa League is #4.
It is not the olympic experience that suffers it is the fact that the US has now gone 8 years since playing in ANY Global tournament on the mens side. It is the experience of playing 3 games in 7 days in pool play and then transitioning to the knockout rounds. It is understanding how to manage your body, and how to rest properly during this time as well as how to stay focused.
Why do you think the US Women play in events like the She Believes Cup and other mini events? it is because that allows the team to have a taste of Major tournament pool play every year.
And I do not want to hear that the CONCACAF Gold cup is a good test, it is not it is a chance for US, Mexico, to show off and allow some of the smaller countries outside of those 2 to get some broader international experience outside of WC qualifiying. If we participated in the Copa America on a regular basis and it was expanded to be the all of North, South and Central America then maybe the olympics would not be as critical on the mens side.
You are putting in an impressive amount of work putting these together. Well done.
Thanks so much for doing this - definitely love reading about the USMNT. Hard not to be excited about the future!
The USMNT is a sleeping giant. We have stellar athletes stateside, now we have to find a coach that can bring them together as a team, and not a Bruce Arena type. Let's hope we land a european coach with sense.
I think you missed the MLS starlet of the month ... Caleb Cowell (17y.o. San Jose Earthquake). Very skilled, very strong for a 17 year old, excellent head of hair.
the pass here is even better than the fancy-footwork goal, and he added another goal the next week against my woebegone United:
https://ghanasoccernet.com/17-year-old-phenom-cade-cowell-with-a-must-see-goal-and-assist-for-san-jose-earthquakes
I think you missed the MLS starlet of the month ... Caleb Cowell (17y.o. San Jose Earthquake). Very skilled, very strong for a 17 year old, excellent head of hair.
the pass here is even better than the fancy-footwork goal, and he added another goal the next week against my woebegone United:
https://ghanasoccernet.com/17-year-old-phenom-cade-cowell-with-a-must-see-goal-and-assist-for-san-jose-earthquakes
Yep, he's had an awesome start to the season and I've been paying attention. But the OP was written before any of his goals or assists. Love his potential!
this is awesome. thanks for posting.
May 9 Update
We are less than three weeks away from the Champions League Final, where Christian Pulisic will become the first USMNT player to see the field in a Champions League Final. He'll face off against Manchester City who will have Zack Steffen as its back up goalkeeper. Pulisic and Chelsea also face Leicester City next Saturday in the FA Cup final.
The US has games coming up against Switzerland (friendly - May 30), Honduras (Nations League Semifinal - June 3), Mexico or Costa Rica (Nations League Final or 3rd place game - June 6), and Costa Rica (friendly - June 9). Pulisic and Steffen will surely miss at least the Switzerland game because of the previous day's Champions League Final. Daryl Dike could miss that game as well if Barnsley makes it to the EFL promotion final (to ascend to the EPL). Sargent could also miss that game if Werder Bremen ends up in the Bundesliga playoff to avoid relegation - currently they're in 15th place - ahead on goal differential of 16th which is the spot that goes to a playoff (17th and 18th are automatically relegated).
Recent USMNT news:
- Pulisic with a goal and an assist over two games as Chelsea advances to the Champion's League final.
Chelsea [2] - 0 Real Madrid [3-1 on agg.] - Mason Mount 85'
streamgg.com
- Brenden Aaronson has pretty much been killing it in Austria. Two nice goals today. He also had a really nice goal the other day in the Austrian Cup Final.
- Tim Weah and Lille moved a game closer to winning Ligue 1 in France. If they win their last two games, they take the title and end PSG's run of 3 titles in a row (and 7 of the last 8). Weah came on as a sub in the 67th minute.
- Matt Miazga scored a last minute equalizer for Anderlecht.
- Kellyn Acosta scored a golazo for the Rapids.
- Caden Clark (17) and Cade Cowell (17) have been on fire in MLS. Clark has scored 3 goals in 4 games this season including a goal this weekend. Cade Cowell has 2 goals and 3 assists in two games. 4 of the 5 goals scored by these guys have been pretty outstanding individual efforts. Gianluca Busio (18) and Moses Nyeman (17) are two other teenagers that have been starting and apparently playing well in MLS. Busio already has one goal in three games this year. Any other notable MLS teenagers I'm missing?
- Bryan Reynolds started for Roma in Serie A. It sounds like Reynolds played left back today and had his best game so far for Roma. The US has a lot less depth at LB than RB, so it would be a nice development if Reynolds were a guy that could play at either spot. It will be interesting to see how Reynolds does next season with Jose Mourinho taking over as Roma's coach. He has a reputation for freezing out some players, even young players, if they test his ego but also showing a ton of belief in young players and giving them lots of chances if they'll execute his game plan and follow his directions. A good relationship with Mourinho could be great for Reynolds' career. Next season will be interesting.
- Weston McKennie starting today for Juventus against AC Milan in a huge game (currently down 1-0). Pulisic started yesterday for Chelsea. Gio Reyna started yesterday for Dortmund against Leipzig (Tyler Adams was out with a minor injury for Leipzig). Sergiño Dest started Barcelona's massive game yesterday against Atlético. John Brooks and Josh Sargent started in the Bundesliga (for Wolfsburg and Bremen). Matt Hoppe came off the bench for Schalke in the Bundesliga. Antonee Robinson and Fulham play tomorrow in the EPL. Yunus Musah was on the bench for Valencia. I think that covers most of the notable USMNT players in top 5 leagues that see regular playing time and are currently in the USMNT picture.
- Pulisic had a nice pass in the buildup to one of Chelsea's goals.
Manchester City 1 - [1] Chelsea - Hakim Ziyech 63'
streamgg.com
- Justin Che played 90 minutes for Bayern 2. He's still 17. I'd love for the US to try to bring him in for the Gold Cup although I realize there are a lot of guys in the picture at CB but he's a dual nationality guy who it would suck to lose.
- DeAndre Yedlin returned to the pitch for Galatasaray after being out injured for a few weeks and played 90 minutes.
- I read the other day that Luca de la Torre is one of only 2 players in the Dutch Eredivisie completing over 80% of his passes in the attacking third.
- Daryl Dike was named a finalist for player of the month in the EFL and Barnsley are in the promotion playoffs along with Bournemouth (Cameron Carter-Vickers).
https://www.thepfa.com/thepfa/pfa-fans-player-of-the-month
- It was announced that Jesse Marsch has been promoted from being head coach of Red Bull Salzburg in Austria to head coach of Red Bull Leipzig in Germany (where he'll coach Tyler Adams and Caden Clark). That makes two Americans who will be coaching in the Bundesliga next season, along with Pellegrino Matarazzo.
Not great for McKennie that Juve got drilled at home by Milan, 3-0, and are now outside of the Champions League spots. Reports say his form has fallen off after he had a mid-season hip injury and I've seen some rumors that he'll skip any NT duty this summer to have surgery on it. He doesn't seem to come in for much of the blame for Juve's poor form, but you also have to wonder if he'll be seen as a Pirlo signing and will have a hard time holding his place next year. At the same time, if Juve doesn't make the CL, they'll likely try to reduce their wage expenses and probably won't spend a ton to bring someone in at his spot.
Congratulations to Manchester City's Zach Steffen who's the first United States player to play for the team that won the Premier League title.
Hopefully he can add a champions league trophy as I am a huge City fan!! Unfortunately, if he wants minutes he will have to go somewhere else, as he is never going to replace Ederson, but he is solid and has improved his skills on the ball under Pep.
Aaron Long tore his achilles, so that presumably moves Richards into a first-team slot at CB alongside Brooks through at least the fall qualifiers and likely beyond. Sucks for him (obviously) as he was looking to be a likely transfer target to a mid-level European club this summer and, at 28, this was probably his last shot to go to Europe. Hopefully he'll be fully fit by next fall, even if only for a reserve role.
https://www.espn.com/soccer/new-york-red-bulls/story/4388439/new-york-red-bullsunited-states-defender-aaron-long-sustains-achilles-injury
Today, an American will be a member of the club that wins the UEFA Champions League final match that will be televised on CBS at 3:00 PM Eastern Time. Either Christian Pulisic of Chelsea or Zach Steffen of Manchester City will become the only American winner of the Champions League final other than Jovan Kirovski who played for Borussia Dortmund (Pulisic’s former club) that won the title in 1997, although Kirovski did not make the squad for that match.
LINK
Horvath was the only bright spot (stock went up) versus Switzerland.
It's only one game but the US looks like they have poor foot skills ( initial ball control) and lost most 50/50 balls because they are very small. Pulisic will help but the backline ( left side was shockingly overmatched and easily could have given up 6 goals.
Excited about 2026 but not expecting much next year.
Tyler Adams is. low key, the most important player in the US pool. He's the only guy who can play the #6 effectively if they want to line up in that 4-3-3, because he can break up attacks, hold the ball against pressure, and make accurate forward passes. The game against Honduras was a struggle because Yueill just can't pull all that off (and it's a lot) right now in his development. And without it, the defense and attack become disconnected and the defense gets horribly exposed against counters.
At least one source thinks that Gregg Berhalter might switch the formation tonight against Mexico to a 3-5-2 with Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams starting in the midfield, using Sergino Dest as the left wing back and either DeAndre Yedlin or Reggie Cannon at right wing back, having Tim Ream join John Brooks and Mark McKenzie as center backs and keeping Gio Reyna and Josh Sargent up top. LINK
August 28th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
The International Break is almost upon us and the USMNT soon will start World Cup qualifying after recently been elevated to tenth in the FIFA World Rankings. The qualifier matches will be on September 2 (in El Salvador), September 5 (Canada in Nashville) and September 8 (in Honduras).
Here’s the list of players called up for the training camp (with clubs, caps and goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Nottingham Forest/ENG; 7/0), Zack Steffen (Manchester City/ENG; 23/0), Matt Turner (New England Revolution; 7/0)
DEFENDERS (10): George Bello (Atlanta United; 3/0), John Brooks (Wolfsburg/GER; 43/3), Sergiño Dest (Barcelona/ESP; 11/1), Mark McKenzie (Genk/BEL; 6/0), Tim Ream (Fulham/ENG; 45/1), Antonee Robinson (Fulham/ENG; 12/0), Miles Robinson (Atlanta United; 9/3), James Sands (New York City FC; 6/0), DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/TUR; 64/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 17/2)
MIDFIELDERS (5): Kellyn Acosta (Colorado Rapids; 37/2), Tyler Adams (RB Leipzig/GER; 14/1), Sebastian Lletget (LA Galaxy; 29/7), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 24/7), Cristian Roldan (Seattle Sounders; 25/0)
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (RB Salzburg/AUT; 7/3), Konrad de la Fuente (Olympique Marseille/FRA; 1/0), Jordan Pefok (BSC Young Boys/SUI; 6/1), Ricardo Pepi (FC Dallas; 0/0), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 38/16), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 8/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 16/5), Tim Weah (Lille/FRA; 13/1)
Unfortunately, Roy Kent will NOT be part of the broadcasting team.
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