Hello World
It was the last weekend in Europe before the start of the international window and for Americans abroad, the past few days continued what has been a running theme in the opening weekend of the season, namely that there were more negatives than positives.
Premier League: Tyler Adams is still out injured and Matt Turner recently completed a loan move to Crystal Palace after a dismal time at Nottingham Forest, but the move came too late for Turner to be in action for Palace against Chelea on Sunday in a London Derby away at Stamford Bridge.
• Chris Richards, 24, was in action for Palace and, after a rocky start to the season, turned in a very good performance in what finished a 1-1 draw. Playing on the left side of a three-man backline, Richards wasn’t involved in the game much with his passing, but he was useful physically on the defensive side and didn’t let much get beyond him.
• Antonee Robinson, 27, meanwhile continues to be one of the most consistently good American players at a high level (if not, the most) and the USMNT left back played all 90 minutes for Fulham on Saturday in a 1-1 draw away at newly promoted Ipswich. His best moment came in the 32nd minute when he delivered an assist to Adama Traoré to even the game at 1-1. Beyond the assist, Robinson was very good on both sides of the ball. The veteran left back was subsequently left off the USMNT roster for the September friendlies as interim head coach Mikey Varas has said Robinson has been played “banged up” and needed a rest to prepare for the rest of the season.
Championship: There is a big presence of American players in the 2024-25 season, although that number decreased by one this past week as Reggie Cannon and Queens Park Rangers parted ways by mutual consent. This came two weeks after Cannon lost in court against his former club, Boavista, with the court holding Cannon liable for unilaterally terminating his contract.
• On the field, the most anticipated matchup for Americans in the Championship turned out to be a dud as Norwich posted a 1-0 away win over Coventry. Josh Sargent and Haji Wright came into this game as two of the most in-form American players, but neither were able to get going. Sargent went 90 minutes and wasn’t able to muster a shot. Wright had two shots, but was not dangerous in his 78 minutes.
• Aidan Morris arguably had the best performance of any American player in Europe as he controlled the midfield for Middlesbrough in a 2-0 away win over Cardiff City. Morris was solid on both sides of the ball and was the last Boro player to touch the ball on the team’s second goal, which was later ruled an away goal. Minutes later he nearly registered an assist. The former Columbus homegrown has earned rave reviews from fans and media for his strong start at Middlesbrough. On another note, Ethan Horvath started for Cardiff and wasn’t at fault for the two goals he conceded but Cardiff remains at the bottom of the table amid a poor start.
League One: Barnsley defeated Crawley Town away 3-0 to move into seventh place. Gaga Slonina has played well since arriving and he earned the clean sheet. But Barnsley has received a huge offensive boost from former DC United central defender Donovan Pines who scored the opening goal in the 12th minute. Dating back to last season, Pines has four goals in his last eight games.
Bundesliga: There was very little positive to report while there were a few bright spots in the 2.Bundesliga.
• Joe Scally turned in the only decent outing for an American in Germany’s top flight as the U.S. national team right back was overall solid in his full 90 outing for Borussia Monchengladbach in a 2-0 away win over a Bochum team that is an early favorite for relegation. Scally was excellent with his passing and also in his defensive work. He played an important part of the build-up to the team’s second goal.
• The rest of the Bundesliga was a mess for Americans. Gio Reyna did not get off the bench for Borussia Dortmund it its 0-0 draw away at Werder. Dortmund was reduced to 10-men in the second half but three changes were made before that moment, and Reyna was not brought on to boost his team’s sluggish offense. Lennard Maloney started off well for Heidenheim in its impressive 4-0 win over Augsburg but was forced out of the game in the 42nd with an injury where he was helped off the field. Jordan Pefok was invisible for Union Berlin on Friday in a 1-0 win over St. Pauli. Kevin Paredes was still out injured for Wolfsburg in its 2-0 win over Holstein Kiel. Finally, head coach Pellegrino Matarazzo and Hoffenheim put up a stinker in a 3-1 away loss to Eintracht Frankfurt, where Timmy Chandler did not get off the bench in the win.
• Julian Green and Max Dietz helped Greuther Furth continue their strong start to the 2.Bundesliga season with a 4-0 pounding over a Jahn Regensburg team that is managed by American and Sacramento State graduate Joe Enochs. Both Green and Dietz played well and it was Green who put the exclamation point on the win with a 88th minute strike from distance.
• Also in the 2.Bundesliga, FC Cologne defeated Schalke 3-1 away. Damion Downs, 19, scored his first goal of the season with a very nice strike in the 25th minute to open the scoring. Downs was involved with the U.S. Olympic team in its final pre-Olympic camp this summer although he was not on the final roster.
Serie A: Three Americans took part in games over the weekend and two remained injured – and none of the Yanks saw their teams win.
• Christian Pulisic has struggled with his corner kicks with the USMNT, but he hit an excellent one on Saturday for AC Milan in the 8th minute that found Strahinja Pavlović for a header to open the scoring against Lazio. Pulisic played all 90 minutes and was arguably the best Milan player on the day (completing all 28 of his passes) but Milan was forced to rally for a 2-2 draw. Milan remains winless with two points from three games in what is a very disappointing start for new manger Paulo Fonseca. Yunus Musah came into the game in the 70th minute for Milan, trailing 2-1. It was a good shift for Musah who helped push the tempo and bring energy for Milan.
• Weston McKennie made his first appearance for Juventus this season (and his first game at any level since the Copa America) on Sunday when he played the final 22 minutes of a 0-0 home draw against Roma. Understandably, McKennie looked rusty in his performance. For Juventus, they now have seven points from three games. Tim Weah continued to be out with a hamstring injury for Juventus.
• Gianluca Busio has also not played since his injury at the Olympics and his Venezia team remains winless on the season after a 1-0 loss at home to Torino on Saturday.
Ligue 1: Five American players are playing in France’s top tier this season, and that is a very large number by historical standards.
• On Friday, Lyon defeated Strasbourg 4-3 after a stunning rally in the final 20 minutes saw them erase a 3-1 deficit. Recent U.S. Olympic team captain Tanner Tessmann played the final three minutes (plus 10 minutes of stoppage time) to make his club debut after moving from Venezia. Also in the game, former fellow Olympian and Atlanta United homegrown Caleb Wiley played the second half for Strasbourg and he assisted on the team’s third goal. He also attempted to chip the goalkeeper on a scoring attempt. Overall, Wiley has shown promise in his first steps since moving from Atlanta to Chelsea followed by the loan to Strasbourg.
• On Sunday, Folarin Balogun was ineffective for Monaco in his 63 minutes of a 1-1 draw with Lens. The USMNT forward is yet to find the back of the net this season and he is coming off a disappointing 2023024 run with Monaco when his scoring dropped significantly from the year before in France. Without a turnaround, he bound to face mounting pressure at Monaco and he could also lose his starting job for the U.S. team.
• Elsewhere in France, Mark McKenzie started in Toulouse’s 3-1 loss at home to Marseille, while Emmanuel Sabbi was not in action for Le Havre in its 3-1 win over Auxerre.
LaLiga: There is not a big presence of Americans this year but two players on the USMNT roster continue to play in the league.
• Johnny Cardoso came off the bench for Real Betis in the 57th minute on Sunday in a 2-0 away loss to Real Mardrid at the Bernabeu. It was a very tough assignment for Cardoso but the USMNT midfielder performed well and helped his team continue to battle against an elite opponent.
• Luca de la Torre was one of the more surprising stories of the transfer window in that he didn’t move. Reports in Spain have indicated he is not in Celta Vigo’s plans now, but the club seemingly did not get enough offers to sell him. He’s been battling an injury but was still able to be called up to the USMNT this month and he was not in the squad for the 3-2 loss to Osasuna. The question is what happens to him in the coming months in terms of minutes, and will he be sold in January? Also, will he keep his USMNT job if he struggles for minutes? Maybe not if players like Aidan Morris continue to play well.
Eredivisie: The Netherlands continues to be the home to several promising young American players, most of whom are on strong teams in the top flight in the Netherlands.
• PSV is the best team in the Eredivisie by a wide margin and they have taken advantage of a very easy schedule to start the season. Sunday’s 3-0 win over Go Ahead Eagles kept the team perfect with 12 points from four games. But there is a lot of news to talk about with the team’s American contingent. First, Malik Tillman has been a big part of PSV’s offense through four games, and he assisted on the team’s third goal in the 62nd minute. He ended up playing 82 minutes. Minutes have been hard to come by for Ricardo Pepi, but that might be changing if Luuk de Jong has to miss games with his injury that forced him out of the game in the 35th minute. Pepi replaced him and his best chance game in the 53rd when he hit the post with a shot. But if Pepi gets the chance to play, he needs to prove he can be the type of forward PSV needs to be at their best. Finally, Richard Ledezma has played well for PSV out of position at right back, but minutes will soon be harder to come by as PSV recently acquired Rick Karsdorp from Roma this past week.
• Elsewhere in the Eredivisie, Utrecht are pushing PSV and are tied on points for second place after Sunday’s 2-1 win over FC Twente. On loan from Eintracht Frankfurt, recent Olympian Paxten Aaronson continues to be a starter for the club and he went 89 minutes in the win (but only had 26 touches). More of a concern is the slow start for Taylor Booth, who returned from illness that kept him out last week but was unused in the win. He has yet to make an impact with the club this season.
Elsewhere across the globe there was news and games to mention.
• Cameron Carter-Vickers had a decent shift for Celtic as it posted a 3-0 win over Rangers in an Old Firm Derby at Celtic Park. Such a win goes a long way for Celtic to take a commanding lead in the Premiership, which typically comes down to these two teams. Celtic has won all four games to start the season and is yet to concede. Newcomer Auston Trusty was on the bench for Celtic but did not make his club debut after his transfer from Sheffield United.
• It was an uneventful weekend for the Yanks in Belgium, Bryan Reynolds and Griffin Yow both started for Westerlo in a 1-0 loss to Genk. After winning their first three games of the season, Westerlo have just one point from their last three.
• In Austria’s Bundesliga, former Sacramento Republic winger Quincy Butler had a big game as he had a goal and an assist for WSG Tirol to give his team an early 2-0 lead away on reigning champions Strum Graz. Unfortunately for Butler and his team, Strum Graz rallied for a 4-2 win.
• In Denmark, Lyngby got a much-needed win when it posted a 1-0 victory over Bejle Boldklub on Friday. South Carolina-born winger Jonathan Amon scored his second goal of the season to deliver the three points.
• In Argentina, it’s hard to believe Matko Miljevic has landed on his feet with the mistakes he has made in his career, the most recent being a debacle in Montreal when he was frustrated for a lack of playing time and registered under an assumed name in a Quebec amateur league. He was then caught after he punched an opponent in the face. But the Miami-born attacking midfielder has landed a starting job with Newell’s Old Boys, and he played 70 minutes on Saturday in a 0-0 draw with Belgrano.
• In Mexico, there wasn’t much happening among the American contingent in Liga MX except for Brandon Vazquez converting a penalty for Monterrey in a 2-1 loss to Toluca. It was the second straight game with a goal for Vazquez.
Finally in “off the beaten path” we’ll go to Ireland’s Premier Division …
• Galway United upset second place Derry City 1-0 to move one point out of third place, with eight games to go. Galway United is backed by an American trio. First, Illinois Wesleyan University graduate Patrick Hickey scored for the second straight game to deliver the win. Also, former Rutgers University standout Vincent Borden started and went 70 minutes in the win. The final piece of the American trifecta is the team’s Bronx-born head coach John Caulfield who led Cork City to two Premier Division titles (once as a player, once as a coach) but is now the boss of Galway United.