Yanks Abroad 2016-17: Pulisic GIF Repository

Infield Infidel

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We'll see whether he sustains his performances and keeps his place. But the set of players who have got meaningful minutes over a season (not just in a few cup games and blowouts, but in big league and CL matches) for a club on the level of BVB at age 18 is actually very small. This usually only happens with real phenoms, players like Gotze, Fabregas, Pato, Messi etc. The only other 18-year-old I can think of right now in that category is Marcus Rashford at Manchester United. I'm not claiming he'll be a superstar but we shouldn't underestimate how rare it is.
Well, Oxlade-Chamberlain had 26 and 33 appearances for Arsenal in his year 18 and 19 seasons, respectively (edited- 33 apps not 23 his 19 year season)

My main worry is him playing too much. He's wiry strong but also still a bit slight
 
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Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Oh my god...guys, don´t shit your pants...

He´s playing at a young age. Okay.
He can dribble past a defender. Nice, he has offensive skill.
He is from the US. Everybody shit your pants.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, players at that young age can go from top to bottom within a few weeks. It´s nice that he´s at a great developping club and gets regular playing time for now, but that won´t help him in February. If he gets an injured hamstring after the Transfer Deadline and gets out of the rotation because it spirals from there, it will affect his development. Dortmund yes, Dortmund no, if he´ll be out of form (someone remembering players like Neven Subotic/27, Adnan Januzaj/21, WC-winning Erik Durm/24, WC-winning Matthias Ginter/22? they´re at various stages of trouble with Borussia Dortmund due to declining form), he will be out of the Team and play at Dortmund II and then he´s gone.

Maybe you remember the saga about Martin Odegaard joining Real Madrid, instead of Bayern. Where is he now? He would maybe make it at Real II or Bayern II. Maybe...

And you guys are comparing him to Götze (who also has had huge troubles after a transfer), Fabregas, Messi. I´m not even laughing. Sad...Just let him develop, let him play from week-to-week and don´t get carried away after a great performance. And be honest, that wasn´t even a great performance yesterday! He was playing, he dribbled past a defender, he brought in a cross, someone (Auba?) should have been called for a foul on the overhead kick and then Schürrle stopped the ball. From there on, there was no part in the goal for Pulisic. Period. That was a superb finisher from Schürrle. He shot that thing through the roof. And Pulisic stood 25m away, he watched it, he learned how to hammer that thing home with your weak foot. That was his part in the goal. I know some of you may get carried away due to the hockey-style assist (last one who touched it before the goal), but he had no part in that goal. That´s 100% Schürrle. Some guy saying "he created the goal". Um, yes, fool yourself.

Build the team for WC 2018 around him? As a central midfielder, a No.10? The guy will be 19 years old, could finish his youth team season that summer (lol) and you want him to lead Team USA to Russia, playing in a group vs. probably two superior teams (that´s the probable scenario which looms). Klinsmann could give him the keys to the team, if he has two superb seasons. Then he (Pulisic) could fail like most guys that age would do. What would/could you expect from such a player? Nothing. He cannot lead his national team (he doesn´t lead Dortmund, he´s playing a half here, a half there and sometimes a complete match and sometimes not at all - he is a rotation option like 8!! other offensive guys and not indispensable) and would probably fail. He would learn much more in a supporting role on the wings, where he could help the team like he´s playing right now. The USMNT isn´t a team which is dominating possession and would dominate a match (other than the 3rd group match with a team like South Korea possibly), so they don´t need a superstrong No.10. Having great dribblers on the wings would help much more in a defensive, grinding system and he can play that role very good like we´re seeing. Let him there until after the WC and then change things (possibly - I would even doubt that,) after.

I mean Dortmund has Schürrle, Götze, Guerreiro, Dembele, Emre Mor, Reus (6 guys!) who are playing on the 2 wing positions in the 4-2-3-1 system. Then there´s Kagawa, Götze, Gonzalo Castro, who are regularly playing in the middle spot. There some kind of mixing with a 4-1-4-1 system, too, but they are having so many options, he could be gone without a match for 4 weeks and they have no problems it seems. Nobody remembers Spanish youth national player Mikel Merino, who had all his performances on the stadium seats - he wasn´t even on the regular 18man roster, yet.

Sorry for the rant (i´m getting a little bit carried away, so i´m writing more or less from what´s running through my head and not with much structure), but just because a guy can play a straight pass, he´s no Maradona. This is getting ridiculous.
You're constructing strawmen. I didn't actually compare his quality or his game to Messi or Gotze or Fabregas - In fact I explicitly that I wasn't claiming he was at that level at all. And others in this thread have been pretty even-handed about his game and his development ("Even if he's as good as we hope, Germany and Spain (and others) have multiple guys at that level.")

It helps to actually read what others write, rather than read into their comments what you want to see in order to further your own smug narrative.
 

Infield Infidel

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True enough. Players can take all sorts of trajectories from there and I never meant to imply otherwise, just to note the rarity of getting lots of playing time at that age in a big club.
Yeah, just trying to increase the sample size, Walcott's another that played a lot as a teen. It's hard to look at other clubs because most top clubs either buy players from elsewhere or have so much older quality that young players get loaned out or otherwise blocked. Dortmund generally develops from within and also has had a bit of an exodus of players and managers the past couple years, so he's getting opportunities he might not get elsewhere but he's also taking advantage of them and playing well
 

Infield Infidel

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Oh my god...guys, don´t shit your pants...
Build the team for WC 2018 around him? As a central midfielder, a No.10? The guy will be 19 years old, could finish his youth team season that summer (lol) and you want him to lead Team USA to Russia, playing in a group vs. probably two superior teams (that´s the probable scenario which looms). Klinsmann could give him the keys to the team, if he has two superb seasons. Then he (Pulisic) could fail like most guys that age would do. What would/could you expect from such a player? Nothing. He cannot lead his national team (he doesn´t lead Dortmund, he´s playing a half here, a half there and sometimes a complete match and sometimes not at all - he is a rotation option like 8!! other offensive guys and not indispensable) and would probably fail. He would learn much more in a supporting role on the wings, where he could help the team like he´s playing right now. The USMNT isn´t a team which is dominating possession and would dominate a match (other than the 3rd group match with a team like South Korea possibly), so they don´t need a superstrong No.10. Having great dribblers on the wings would help much more in a defensive, grinding system and he can play that role very good like we´re seeing. Let him there until after the WC and then change things (possibly - I would even doubt that,) after.
Only responding to this snippet. But USMNT built teams around Donovan on the wing for a decade. Teams don't have to be built around a no. 10. Pulisic is almost certain to be starter in 2018, and if he's good enough to be the best player, JK should organize the team to get the most out of his play. Pulisic has two seasons to make that leap; if he makes the leap, great; if he stays at his current level, he's probably still a starter.
 
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Titans Bastard

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I am able to:

- be excited about the tremendous potential of a player
- understand that all players' careers can be derailed at any time for a whole host of reasons

at the same time.
 

bosox4283

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Those are all valid and important points.

I just contend that there is an important difference between Pulisic and Martin Odegaard: Pulisic is playing with the first team, getting minutes in important matches, while Odegaard hardly ever gets called to play in an match. Instead, he's down at Real Madrid's second team. They could end up at the same place when they are 25, but for now Pulisic is developing by playing against top-flight competition.
 

cromulence

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I don't think I could possibly roll my eyes harder. Please, tell us more about how dumb and shitty American soccer fans are. You're saying Pulisic isn't better than Messi? Why not? I don't get it. :(

In all seriousness, we're fucking allowed to get excited about Pulisic. Period. If you don't like it, go make fun of us somewhere else. I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a place.
 

Quintanariffic

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Fuck you he isn't a #10. Don't yuck my yum.

My first soccer jersey BTW.

And while past results are not indicative of future performance, the last Red Sox jersey I bought was an Ortiz road uni in June or July 2003.

Jus' sayin'
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Oh my god...guys, don´t shit your pants...

He´s playing at a young age. Okay.
He can dribble past a defender. Nice, he has offensive skill.
He is from the US. Everybody shit your pants.
------------------------------------------------------------------

Honestly, players at that young age can go from top to bottom within a few weeks. It´s nice that he´s at a great developping club and gets regular playing time for now, but that won´t help him in February. If he gets an injured hamstring after the Transfer Deadline and gets out of the rotation because it spirals from there, it will affect his development. Dortmund yes, Dortmund no, if he´ll be out of form (someone remembering players like Neven Subotic/27, Adnan Januzaj/21, WC-winning Erik Durm/24, WC-winning Matthias Ginter/22? they´re at various stages of trouble with Borussia Dortmund due to declining form), he will be out of the Team and play at Dortmund II and then he´s gone.

Maybe you remember the saga about Martin Odegaard joining Real Madrid, instead of Bayern. Where is he now? He would maybe make it at Real II or Bayern II. Maybe...

And you guys are comparing him to Götze (who also has had huge troubles after a transfer), Fabregas, Messi. I´m not even laughing. Sad...Just let him develop, let him play from week-to-week and don´t get carried away after a great performance. And be honest, that wasn´t even a great performance yesterday! He was playing, he dribbled past a defender, he brought in a cross, someone (Auba?) should have been called for a foul on the overhead kick and then Schürrle stopped the ball. From there on, there was no part in the goal for Pulisic. Period. That was a superb finisher from Schürrle. He shot that thing through the roof. And Pulisic stood 25m away, he watched it, he learned how to hammer that thing home with your weak foot. That was his part in the goal. I know some of you may get carried away due to the hockey-style assist (last one who touched it before the goal), but he had no part in that goal. That´s 100% Schürrle. Some guy saying "he created the goal". Um, yes, fool yourself.

Build the team for WC 2018 around him? As a central midfielder, a No.10? The guy will be 19 years old, could finish his youth team season that summer (lol) and you want him to lead Team USA to Russia, playing in a group vs. probably two superior teams (that´s the probable scenario which looms). Klinsmann could give him the keys to the team, if he has two superb seasons. Then he (Pulisic) could fail like most guys that age would do. What would/could you expect from such a player? Nothing. He cannot lead his national team (he doesn´t lead Dortmund, he´s playing a half here, a half there and sometimes a complete match and sometimes not at all - he is a rotation option like 8!! other offensive guys and not indispensable) and would probably fail. He would learn much more in a supporting role on the wings, where he could help the team like he´s playing right now. The USMNT isn´t a team which is dominating possession and would dominate a match (other than the 3rd group match with a team like South Korea possibly), so they don´t need a superstrong No.10. Having great dribblers on the wings would help much more in a defensive, grinding system and he can play that role very good like we´re seeing. Let him there until after the WC and then change things (possibly - I would even doubt that,) after.

I mean Dortmund has Schürrle, Götze, Guerreiro, Dembele, Emre Mor, Reus (6 guys!) who are playing on the 2 wing positions in the 4-2-3-1 system. Then there´s Kagawa, Götze, Gonzalo Castro, who are regularly playing in the middle spot. There some kind of mixing with a 4-1-4-1 system, too, but they are having so many options, he could be gone without a match for 4 weeks and they have no problems it seems. Nobody remembers Spanish youth national player Mikel Merino, who had all his performances on the stadium seats - he wasn´t even on the regular 18man roster, yet.

Sorry for the rant (i´m getting a little bit carried away, so i´m writing more or less from what´s running through my head and not with much structure), but just because a guy can play a straight pass, he´s no Maradona. This is getting ridiculous.
Thanks! Would love to see, specifically, which posts you're responding to. And if you think he can't be the focal point of the USA attack then it is you who are overstating the quality of the USMNT as a whole rather than we who are overstating the quality of, yes, the best prospect we've had. It's a low low bar.

Have you watched the US play? The goal is "have a fast guy with no touch run in a straight line and hope his bad cross bounces fortuitously to the feet of someone in a dangerous area who still only has a 10% chance of finishing it because he's an American striker or .000001% because he is Chris Wondolowski." Now we have someone who can do something else. This is exciting for us.

We're excited, not dumb. Just saying it'll be a few years before he actually surpasses Messi.

KIDDING. Let's just watch him play, yes? Don't know why you insist on constantly throwing cold water on us after every game. It's as bad as us getting excited about him after every game. We know we aren't Germany.
 

InstaFace

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Hey now, Claudio Reyna could play a good through ball in his day!

More seriously, Pulisic got 25 minutes going head-to-head against Ramos, Carvajal, Modric and the gang in the bleepin' Champions League. Whatever us chuckleheads might think, Thomas Tuchel thinks he's adding value against that kind of competition. His cross was very well-played - it still left Schurrle with a lot to do, but it was a fine ball. He also had a lot of other quality possessions during his time out there, including a near-miss a few minutes prior. Point being: he's 18 years old and doesn't look out of place against Real Madrid in a Real Serious Match(tm), and he's from Hershey Pennsylvania. That should be super exciting to any American who has suffered through the USMNT having occasional talent in spite of its national development system, and is now wondering whether we've turned a corner in being able to produce stars.
 

DJnVa

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Don't know why you insist on constantly throwing cold water on us after every game. It's as bad as us getting excited about him after every game. We know we aren't Germany.
Wasn't the point of the latest article that the GERMAN media was starting to hype him?

That's what most of the posts were talking about, how in additional the US press, the German press was starting to join in.

Now, because the German dude pissed me off I'm gonna go watch Saving Private Ryan, while wrapped in an American flag.
 

Titans Bastard

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Apparently Swansea didn't read the script where they're supposed to mention Bob's name once or twice than hire Giggs.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/oct/03/swansea-sack-francesco-guidolin-and-replace-him-with-bob-bradley
Wow.

Congrats and good luck to Bob. Since Guidolin was fired somewhat harshly and Bradley was hired by American owners, he will be under an especially large amount of scrutiny.

I always thought that the first American manager (non-dual-national division) in a top flight league would be an ex-player with a long career in Europe - someone with a Cherundolo-type career. Bradley never played after college and, actually, went immediately into coaching - his first job was Ohio University in 1981 when he was 22 years old. 35 years and 11 gigs later, he's in the EPL.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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Incredibly harsh on Guidolin given Swansea's schedule to start the season (last five league games were Liverpool, City, @Soton, Chelsea, @Leicester). The only really bad result they've had was losing at home to Hull. And they were fairly unlucky not to get a point against both Liverpool and City.

I'm interested to see how Bradley does there.
 

teddykgb

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Yeah, I think it's a great move for Bradley in that sense. They've been in almost all of their matches and have had a brutal schedule to open. They had the lead versus Chelsea as well.

I don't think it's a great team but there's enough there that a more friendly schedule should see them rise up the table. Which I think would have happened under Guidolin as well. Can't say I know if there's dressing room unrest or anything.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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How does Opta measure that? That list seems very perplexing to me for at least 50% of the names. Could just be an "eyes and pundits say one thing, while reality says another", but as an example just as a Spurs fan I am baffled to see both strikers on that list and then not Kyle Walker.
 

Tangled Up In Red

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How does Opta measure that? That list seems very perplexing to me for at least 50% of the names. Could just be an "eyes and pundits say one thing, while reality says another", but as an example just as a Spurs fan I am baffled to see both strikers on that list and then not Kyle Walker.
I'm with you. I've seen these things a few times in the past and they never quite match perception. According to at least one I recall, Dier was faster than Kyle Walker.
 

Titans Bastard

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Another factor to consider is that acceleration and top-line speed aren't the same thing - and acceleration is more important.
 

Titans Bastard

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Apparently Bradley's opening presser at Swansea was entertaining. Based on this snippet, I'm going to have to watch the whole thing when I get home from work:

 

Statman

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Bradley needs to move the fuck on.

It's 2016 and he should be talking about the upcoming match against Arsenal instead of discussing a Gold Cup match where his team blew a 2-0 lead and JK's commentary from the 2010 World Cup.
 

Titans Bastard

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One of Vitesse's CBs is out for six weeks, so Miazga started today. Since he joined the club at the last possible second, this is his chance to embed himself in the starting lineup.

Lichaj and Williams scored in the Championship.
 

Titans Bastard

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Pulisic came off the bench at HT with BVB down 2-0 to Ingolstadt, helped set up BVB's second goal, then scored the equalizer.


 

Titans Bastard

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  • Bob Bradley got his first point in the EPL today in a 0-0 home draw against Watford. Lots of work still to do at Swansea...


A few lower-league types doing well lately:

  • Duane Holmes has been starting on the right wing for Scunthorpe United, who are now five points clear at the top of League One. Holmes looked like a sparkplug at times with Huddersfield Town, but he never broke through and left the club this summer. At 21, you'd think he could work his way back to the Championship if he does well.
  • Jann George is my pick for most intriguing lower-league player in Germany right now. As a teenager he developed a reputation for having a shitty attitude and was dumped by Nürnberg, then 1860, then Greuther Fürth. He wound up at Jahn Regensburg last season, who were promoted to 3.Liga. Now he's scored seven goals in 11 games from the wing, leading the league in non-PK goals. He's 24 now, but if he's been held back by maturity/professionalism issues he might be able to play at a higher level.
  • Justin Kinjo made his pro debut last week for Fortuna Düsseldorf. He's a 19 year old CM who is also eligible for Japan.
  • Erik Palmer-Brown made the 18 for Porto II for the first time since his injury in May. He's still playing to have his loan made permanent.
  • Club legend Joe Enochs has Osnabrück in the 3.Liga promotion zone and is one point back from leaders Duisburg. And he has two American forwards on his team - Marc Heider and Robbie Kristo - though neither have been particularly productive. Enochs played 359 league games for the club from 1996-2008.
 

rguilmar

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Pulisic came off the bench at HT with BVB down 2-0 to Ingolstadt, helped set up BVB's second goal, then scored the equalizer.


Obviously you can't credit Pulisic with turning the tide because Ingolstadt definitely came out of the half with a different mentality. His assist was more or less bungled into the path of a teammate. His goal was a point blank rebound. All of that being said, however, he was a beast once again. He took players on one on one with confidence and effectiveness. He hustled balls down. He won headers in a crowded box (at 5'8").

At what point do we consider him the best 18 year old Yank ever?
 

InstaFace

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The competition for best 18-year-old Yank isn't all that fierce. Most successful yanks abroad were in their 20s before getting established.

Claudio Reyna was 24 years old before he broke through at Wolfsburg and won the European Cup. True, he was held back a bit by playing 3 years at UVA, but basically his high-level professional career got started very late by today's standards. Same for John Harkes who didn't make it to Sheffield Wednesday until 23. Likewise Eric Wynalda, who was 23 before USSF loaned him to the Bundesliga. DMBeasley had 5 years in MLS before PSV Eindhoven bought him, at 22, as the successor to Arjen Robben. Dempsey, 2.5 years in MLS, going to Fulham at 23. Yedlin, 1.5 years, going to Spurs shortly after turning 21. Steve Cherundolo got into Hannover 96's first team in the 2.Bundesliga shortly after turning 20, and he was their starter the next year, but they didn't make the first division until he was 23. John Brooks's first season at Hertha was at age 19, but they were in the 2.Bundesliga as well, winning promotion to play in the first division the next year at 20. Oguchi Onyewu went to Ligue 2 at 20 and had success in Belgium starting at 21.

As for teenagers, a month after his 18th birthday, Freddy Adu signed with Benfica. He never made the first team and had successively poorer loan stints. Donovan got a few starts at Leverkusen at age 18, but famously had trouble adjusting and never really cracked the first team. Jozy Altidore went to Villarreal at age 18, got a start or two, struggled to adjust and get playing time, and didn't really find himself professionally until his Netherlands years, ages 22-24.

So probably the only real teenage competition for Pulisic is Michael Bradley, who went to Dutch side Heerenveen at age 18.5 and helped their 2nd-half drive to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his 4 starts. The next year he got 6 starts in the Eredivisie and 19 sub appearances, before winning the starter's role for 2007-08. Aside from Bradley, if you're looking for teenage American soccer success, you're talking about MLS'ers, I think. @Titans Bastard - any glaring omissions?
 

Titans Bastard

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As for teenagers, a month after his 18th birthday, Freddy Adu signed with Benfica. He never made the first team and had successively poorer loan stints. Donovan got a few starts at Leverkusen at age 18, but famously had trouble adjusting and never really cracked the first team. Jozy Altidore went to Villarreal at age 18, got a start or two, struggled to adjust and get playing time, and didn't really find himself professionally until his Netherlands years, ages 22-24.

So probably the only real teenage competition for Pulisic is Michael Bradley, who went to Dutch side Heerenveen at age 18.5 and helped their 2nd-half drive to qualify for the UEFA Cup in his 4 starts. The next year he got 6 starts in the Eredivisie and 19 sub appearances, before winning the starter's role for 2007-08. Aside from Bradley, if you're looking for teenage American soccer success, you're talking about MLS'ers, I think. @Titans Bastard - any glaring omissions?
I don't think there's a question that Pulisic is better than any 18 year old player we've had in the past.

I'd say that the strongest competition for best 18 year old would be Donovan and Adu.

Donovan was stuck in Leverkusen's reserves, but had been named Best Player at the 1999 U17 WC a year before. Adu is had racked up a considerable number of appearances for DC United and RSL, though he was underwhelming at times. However, he was incredible at the 2007 U20 WC and was purchased by Benfica.

Donovan certainly didn't have the most impressive club track record as an 18 year old (since he hadn't played for the Leverkusen's first team), but he was definitely hyped more and viewed as a better prospect than Altidore or especially Bradley.

He's definitely a forgotten man, but I'd add Eddie Gaven to the tier of 18 year old prospects below Donovan/Adu. He was an electric attacker as a teenager, but sadly plateaued and wound up as a workmanlike outside midfielder. I'm seeing some parallels between his career arc and that of Diego Fagundez, actually.
 

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Schalke U19 won 6-0 over the weekend, thanks in part to two goals from Haji Wright and one from Weston McKennie. Wright now has four goals and six assists in seven games. McKennie is five games deep into his Schalke U19 career, but has already been called upon to captain the team in the last two.

Winger Brian Span won an unlikely title in the Finnish league with IFK Mariehamn, a club that represents the Swedish-speaking Åland Islands. Span left college early in 2012 to sign in Sweden and then had an unsuccessful stint with FC Dallas before moving to Finland.

Shortly after re-appearing in the 18, Erik Palmer-Brown started for Porto B in a second-division match against Vizela.

I've seen speculation that Gedion Zelalem may make the bench for Arsenal's League Cup game against Reading this week. We'll see.
 

Titans Bastard

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A mystery man at the current US U17 camp has been identified as Sergino Dest, a 15 y.o. right back with Ajax U17. Presumably he's Dutch-American.

17 y.o. Spurs GK Brandon Austin who normally starts with the U18s made his debut for the U21s today. I'm not quite 100% sure that he has US citizenship, though.

Benjamin Machini made his pro debut last week. He's a GK on loan from Mallorca to Barakaldo in Segunda B.
 

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17 y.o. Spurs GK Brandon Austin who normally starts with the U18s made his debut for the U21s today. I'm not quite 100% sure that he has US citizenship, though.
Sounds American, though. And that's 9/10ths of the law, I thought.
 

Titans Bastard

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I've seen speculation that Gedion Zelalem may make the bench for Arsenal's League Cup game against Reading this week. We'll see.
He ended up playing 10 minutes in a 2-0 win over Reading, which was his second sub appearance in the League Cup this season.

Cameron Carter-Vickers got the start in Spurs 2-1 loss to Liverpool. Apparently he didn't have a great day.

There are some reports that Julian Green may make his first appearance of the season for Bayern in the DFB Pokal tomorrow.

Over in Germany, Bobby Wood scored a brace for Hamburg in a 4-0 win over Hallescher FC. (Royal-Dominique Fennell started in the midfielder for the opposition. Across the league and the cup, Wood has four goals. Everyone else on the team has combined for two.

Here's your strange picture of the day:

 

Titans Bastard

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Wait - is the Stars and Bars a traditional flag concept for Hamburg?
Point of order. What's widely called the Confederate Flag today is the battle flag of the Army of Northern Virginia.

This is the Stars and Bars:

 

Jimy Hendrix

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Looking at the logo on the flag, as well as the "Halle..." visible on the bit we can see to the right, that's supporters of Hallescher, not Hamburg.

Still weird and a bit troubling.
 

Titans Bastard

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Dec 15, 2002
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In many cases I believe the Battle Flag is used as a substitute where the swastika is banned by law.
My b.

Question still stands though.

Do Hallescher fans wear trucker hats too?

Edit: changed club name

I think SFiC is correct in that it is sometimes code for banned and/or taboo right-wing symbols.

I also think that foreigners sometimes interpret the battle flag of a generic symbol of rebellion (stripped of racial connotations) or just think it is a cool-looking piece of Americana. I once walked past a restaurant in Nizhny Novgorod that had a couple confederate flags painted over its door. But it seemed to have a Hard Rock Cafe-style collection of random pieces of "flair" and didn't have a skinhead look or feel to it otherwise.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
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I don't know about the city of Halle specifically, but it is in an area that received a high proportion of votes for the anti-immigrant Alternativ für Deutschland party in the last election.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
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Dec 16, 2010
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Cameron Carter-Vickers got the start in Spurs 2-1 loss to Liverpool. Apparently he didn't have a great day.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/teenaged-american-cameron-carter-vickers-played-in-his-second-spurs-game-and-looked-like-a-teenager-211739392.html

OK, here’s the good. American central defender Cameron Carter-Vickers, the 18-year-old who was born in England but whose father was an American basketball player in Europe, played in his second game for Tottenham Hotspurs’ senior team on Tuesday. He went all 90 minutes in Spurs’ 2-1 loss to Liverpool in the fourth round of the largely superfluous League Cup – which really only serves to give young players, like Carter-Vickers, competitive senior team minutes.

Carter-Vickers remains committed to the United States national team program, which he has represented at the under-18, under-20 and under-23 levels, although he could still file for a one-time switch to England.

And here’s the bad. CCV, as he goes by in the American soccer community, looked raw and young. He plainly has the physical tools to play at this level, but he will need a lot more seasoning before he can do it well. Certainly, he is still a full two months away from his 19th birthday, and little more could reasonably be expected from a man – barely – his age.
 

67YAZ

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Dec 1, 2000
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The real issue was that CCV was dealing a Daniel Sturridge who is pushing to either crack Klopp's first team or get transferred out. A healthy, motivated Sturridge is a load for any CB tandem to handle. I counted 2 clear cut chances in addition to the brace for Sturridge yesterday. Playing the full 90 suggests CCV didn't completely lose the manager's trust, so here's hoping this was a painful, but powerful learning experience.
 

Titans Bastard

has sunil gulati in his sights
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There are some reports that Julian Green may make his first appearance of the season for Bayern in the DFB Pokal tomorrow.
He starts today against Augsburg. It's his first start for Bayern and his second appearance of the season after coming off the bench against Carl Zeiss Jena.

No Pulisic for Dortmund in the DFB Pokal, as he's sick. BVB are starting Emre Mor and Jacob Larson, who they've called up from the U19 team due to various illnesses and injuries. I remember when there was concern that Pulisic wouldn't play much after Dembélé, Götze and Schürrle arrived.

A winger named Stephen Payne has signed with Estoril of the Primeira Liga in Portugal. Nice work for a guy who was coming off the bench for UCLA as a freshman last year.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Aug 23, 2008
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He starts today against Augsburg. It's his first start for Bayern and his second appearance of the season after coming off the bench against Carl Zeiss Jena.

No Pulisic for Dortmund in the DFB Pokal, as he's sick. BVB are starting Emre Mor and Jacob Larson, who they've called up from the U19 team due to various illnesses and injuries. I remember when there was concern that Pulisic wouldn't play much after Dembélé, Götze and Schürrle arrived.

A winger named Stephen Payne has signed with Estoril of the Primeira Liga in Portugal. Nice work for a guy who was coming off the bench for UCLA as a freshman last year.
Green pops in a header from about 10 yards out. He was all alone having settled into a space in the box, but it was a pretty difficult header sent toward the far corner from a standing position. Keeper could have done better, but nice goal.
 

candylandriots

unkempt
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Berlin
He starts today against Augsburg. It's his first start for Bayern and his second appearance of the season after coming off the bench against Carl Zeiss Jena.

No Pulisic for Dortmund in the DFB Pokal, as he's sick. BVB are starting Emre Mor and Jacob Larson, who they've called up from the U19 team due to various illnesses and injuries. I remember when there was concern that Pulisic wouldn't play much after Dembélé, Götze and Schürrle arrived.

A winger named Stephen Payne has signed with Estoril of the Primeira Liga in Portugal. Nice work for a guy who was coming off the bench for UCLA as a freshman last year.
Little bit off-topic, but I'm excited for Union Berlin who just tied the game against Dortmund (Union conceded an own goal at the end of the 1st half) with an 81st minute goal! Wishing I could see this at work....Edit: the Union goal was by Skrzybski who came on the 80th minute--nice move Jens Keller!

They were trying to create a "red wall" at Signal Iduna Park today, though the game was delayed after someone threw a firecracker at police and there was a rush to the entrance. The Union train was delayed by about 30 minutes getting to Waldstadion.

Edit 2: ugh 0-3 from the "eleven meter" spot
 
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