Yanks Abroad 2017-18: Pulisic & Friends

18 year old forward Timothy Weah is expected to be in PSG's squad tomorrow. He's the beneficiary of a slew of injuries to their attackers at the moment.

https://en.psg.fr/pro/article/le-groupe-parisien-face-a-troyes-1

 

Big Tim Weah fan; his father is one of my all time favorite players and it would be rad if his son turns into a player for the USMNT.

 

He played the last 10 minutes or so and almost scored.

 

A world class striker would have faked the right footed shot and then gone left to round the keeper, but he had very little margin of error to work with there. I'll go with good save.

 

U17 left back Chris Gloster has signed with Hannover.

He came up with the NYRB academy, but he left them in search of a Euro deal several months ago.

 

Hey, screw you Hertha coaches.

 

I thought keeper was the one position where being American was supposed to be a good thing.

 

American keeper Klinsi is good. Hertha is looking for german keeper Klinsi...
The german article mentions a positive development especially in physical strength and his german got better. He still lacks confidence, some naivety (maybe too easy-going?), bad german and lack of communication with his defenders and the "german, serious, workmanlike approach".

 

Tim Weah is on for the last 20 minutes of Metz-PSG, replacing Angel di Maria.

 

New player watch: the US U16s have a camp and called up a few players I've never heard of before:

DF Dylan Kelemen (Club Deportivo Universidad Católica; Las Condes, Chile)
MF Chitua Hani-Okoroafor (Sheffield Wednesday Football Club; Leeds, England)
FW Vaughn Covil (Southhampton FC; Wiltshire, England)


There's a player from the RGV - that's a rarity.

Also another Alabaman in an MLS academy - this time Atlanta instead of Dallas like Servania and Richards.

 

Weston McKennie made his first start since getting hurt last weekend in Schalke's 1-0 win over Mainz.

Freiburg CB/DM Caleb Stanko is out for a bit with a meniscus injury. He's made six Bundesliga appearances this season, which is six more than I expected. I think he would have moved on this summer when his contract is up anyway.

Andrija Novakovich is up to 17 goals this season for Telstar in the Eerste Divisie. That's good enough for second in the league scoring chart. I'd love to see an Eredivisie club make a move for him next season, but a lot will depend on what his parent club (Reading) want to do.

Shortly after signing, Brian Iloski made his pro debut for Legia Warsaw, coming on as a late sub against Lechia Gdansk.

 

TB, who would you say is their best U-20 prospect at striker? Obviously Pulisic is their best attacking player, but as a pure striker who would you say is the best prospect? I'd like it to be Weah, who is physically strong and getting some run at an elite club even if it is because of injuries, but who else is in the conversation?

 

Spring update of Americans abroad:

Argentina
Primera
AM Joel Sonora -- 1996 -- Talleres

Belgium
First Division A
GK Ethan Horvath -- 1995 -- Club Brugge
CB Erik Palmer-Brown -- 1997 -- Kortrijk (on loan from Manchester City)
LB Kenny Saief -- 1993 -- Anderlecht (on loan from Gent)
CM Juan Pablo Torres -- 1999 -- Lokeren

Colombia
Primera
GK Kevin Piedrahita -- 1991 -- La Equidad

Denmark
Superliga
GK Bill Hamid -- 1990 -- Midtjylland
GK Mike Lansing -- 1994 -- Aalborg
AM Jonathan Amon -- 1999 -- Nordsjælland
FW Emmanuel Sabbi -- 1997 -- Hobro

1. Division
CM Arun Basuljevic -- 1995 -- Fremad Amager
CM George Fochive -- 1992 -- Viborg
FW Nick DePuy -- 1994 -- Fremad Amager (on loan from Montreal Impact)

England
Premier League
RB DeAndre Yedlin -- 1993 -- Newcastle United
CB Geoff Cameron -- 1985 -- Stoke City
CM Emerson Hyndman -- 1996 -- Bournemouth
CM Danny Williams -- 1989 -- Huddersfield Town

Championship
GK Eric Lichaj -- 1988 -- Nottingham Forest
CB Cameron Carter-Vickers -- 1997 -- Ipswich Town (on loan from Tottenham)
CB Tim Ream -- 1987 -- Fulham
LB Antonee Robinson -- 1997 -- Bolton Wanderers (on loan from Everton)
AM Luca de la Torre -- 1998 -- Fulham
AM Lynden Gooch -- 1995 -- Sunderland

League One
GK Brendan Moore -- 1992 -- Rochdale
LB Niall Mason -- 1997 -- Doncaster Rovers
AM Gboly Ariyibi -- 1995 -- Northampton Town (on loan from Nottingham Forest)
AM Duane Holmes -- 1994 -- Scunthorpe United

Finland
Veikkausliiga
GK Tim Murray -- 1987 -- Honka

Ykkonen
CB Etchu Tabe -- 1986 -- Ekenäs
CM Jacob Bushue -- 1992 -- Ekenäs
AM Josue Soto -- 1989 -- Oulu
FW Gerald Ben -- 1992 -- Haka

France
Ligue 1
FW Timothy Weah -- 2000 -- PSG

Ligue 2
GK Quentin Westberg -- 1986 -- Auxerre
FW Jordan Siebatcheu -- 1996 -- Reims
FW Maki Tall -- 1995 -- Tours

Germany
Bundesliga
RB Timothy Chandler -- 1990 -- Eintracht Frankfurt
CB John Brooks -- 1993 -- Wolfsburg
CM Weston McKennie -- 1998 -- Schalke
CM Caleb Stanko -- 1993 -- Freiburg
AM Fabian Johnson -- 1987 -- Borussia Mönchengladbach
AM Christian Pulisic -- 1998 -- Borussia Dortmund
FW Aron Jóhannsson -- 1990 -- Werder Bremen
FW Bobby Wood -- 1992 -- Hamburg

2.Bundesliga
GK Kenneth Kronholm -- 1985 -- Holstein Kiel
RB Ken Gipson -- 1996 -- Sandhausen
CM Alfredo Morales -- 1990 -- Ingolstadt
AM McKinze Gaines -- 1998 -- Darmstadt
AM Jann George -- 1992 -- Jahn Regensburg
AM Jerome Kiesewetter -- 1993 -- Fortuna Düsseldorf
AM Kevin Lankford -- 1998 -- Heidenheim
FW Terrence Boyd -- 1991 -- Darmstadt
FW Julian Green -- 1992 -- Greuther Fürth (on loan from Stuttgart)
FW Andrew Wooten -- 1989 -- Sandhausen
FW Haji Wright -- 1998 -- Sandhausen (on loan from Schalke)

3. Liga
GK David Yelldell -- 1981 -- Sonnenhof Großaspach
RB Marcel Costly -- 1995 -- Magdeburg
CM Royal-Dominique Fennell -- 1989 -- Halle
AM Nermin Crnkic -- 1992 -- Rot-Weiß Erfurt
AM Joe Gyau -- 1992 -- Sonnenhof Großaspach
AM Devann Yao -- 1990 -- Meppen
AM Isaiah Young -- 1998 -- Werder Bremen II
FW Marc Heider -- 1986 -- Osnabrück
FW Robbie Kristo -- 1993 -- Osnabrück
FW Mario Rodriguez -- 1994 -- Sonnenhof Großaspach

Regionalliga
GK Jonathan Klinsmann -- 1997 -- Hertha Berlin II
RB Masami Okada -- 1991 -- Babelsberg
CB Ryan Malone -- 1992 -- Lokomotive Leipzig
CB Javan Torre -- 1993 -- FSV Frankfurt
CM Mamadou Balde -- 1995 -- Altona 93
CM Mael Corboz -- 1994 -- Wattenscheid
CM Bryan Gaul -- 1989 -- Elversberg
CM Justin Kinjo -- 1997 -- Fortuna Düsseldorf II
AM Junior Ebot-Etchi -- 1996 -- Weiche Flensburg
AM Junior Flores -- 1996 -- Borussia Dortmund II
AM Gillian Jurcher -- 1997 -- Germania Halberstadt
FW Branden Stelmak -- 1989 -- Chemie Leipzig

Iceland
Úrvalsdeild
GK Will Dieterich -- 1987 -- Stjarnan
AM Dion Acoff -- 1991 -- Valur
FW Will Daniels -- 1990 -- Grindavik

Ireland
League of Ireland
CM Conor Agnew -- 1994 -- Derry City

Israel
Premier League
CM Jake Rozhansky -- 1996 -- Maccabi Netanya
FW Aaron Schoenfeld -- 1990 -- Maccabi Tel Aviv

Italy
Serie C
AM Joshua Perez -- 1998 -- Livorno (on loan from Fiorentina)

Japan
J.League
GK Daniel Schmidt -- 1992 -- Vegalta Sendai

Macedonia
First League
FW Travis Bowen -- 1989 -- Pelister

Mexico
Liga MX
GK Lalo Fernandez --1992 -- Tigres
GK Bernie Magaña -- 1993 -- Pumas
GK William Yarbrough -- 1989 -- León
CB Ventura Alvarado -- 1992 -- Necaxa
CB Omar Gonzalez -- 1988 -- Pachuca
CB Michael Orozco -- 1986 -- Tijuana
LB Jonathan Bornstein -- 1984 -- Querétaro
LB Jorge Villafaña -- 1989 -- Santos Laguna
CM Fernando Arce, Jr. -- 1996 -- Tijuana
CM Joe Corona -- 1990 -- América
CM Alejandro Guido -- 1994 -- Tijuana
CM Jose Torres -- 1987 -- Tigres
AM Landon Donovan -- 1982 -- León
AM Kekuta Manneh -- 1994 -- Pachuca
FW Rubio Rubin -- 1996 -- Tijuana

Ascenso MX
GK Benny Diaz -- 1998 -- Cimarrones (on loan from Querétaro)
GK Carlos Lopez --1996 -- Dorados (on loan from Tijuana)
GK Justin Perez -- 1992 -- Murciélagos
LB Josue Soto -- 1995 -- Cimarrones (on loan from Querétaro)
LB Jesus Vazquez -- 1995 -- Atlante (on loan from Tigres)
CM Manny Guzman -- 1986 -- Venados
CM Rodrigo Lopez -- 1987 -- Celaya
AM Fernando Mercado -- 1994 -- Venados
AM Jonathan Suarez -- 1997 -- Cimarrones (on loan from Querétaro)
AM Jesus Vazquez -- 1994 -- Universidad de Guadalajara
AM Alejandro Zendejas -- 1998 -- Zacatepec (on loan from Chivas)

Netherlands
Eredivisie
RB Ashton Götz -- 1993 -- Roda JC Kerkrade
RB Desevio Payne -- 1995 -- Excelsior
CB Matt Miazga -- 1995 -- Vitesse (on loan from Chelsea)
CB Shane O'Neill -- 1993 -- Excelsior

Eerste Divisie
AM Maurits de Baar -- 1997 -- RKC Waalwijk
FW Andrija Novakovich -- 1996 -- Telstar (on loan from Reading)

Norway
Eliteserien
CB Stefan Antonijevic -- 1989 -- Lillestrom

Poland
Ekstraklasa
CM Brian Iloski -- 1995 -- Legia Warsaw

Portugal
Primeira
CM Keaton Parks -- 1997 -- Benfica

Romania
Liga I
CM Kofi Twumasi -- 1996 -- Viitorul Constanta

Slovenia
Prva Liga
FW Kyrian Nwabueze -- 1992 -- Gorica

South Africa
Premier League
FW Nana Akosah-Bempeh -- 1997 -- Cape Town City

Spain
La Liga
RB Shaq Moore -- 1996 -- Levante

Sweden
Allsvenskan
GK Josh Wicks -- 1983 -- IK Sirius
CB Alex DeJohn -- 1991 -- Dalkurd
CB Brendan Hines-Ike -- 1994 -- Örebro
CM Mix Diskerud -- 1990 -- IFK Göteborg (on loan from Manchester City)
AM Romain Gall -- 1995 -- GIF Sundsvall
FW Andy Stadler -- 1988 -- Dalkurd

Superettan
GK Matt Pyzdrowski -- 1986 -- Varbergs BoIS
CM Zev Taublieb -- 1993 -- Varbergs BoIS

Vietnam
V.League
CB Mobi Fehr -- 1994 -- Hoàng Anh Gia Lai

 

It's between Weah and Josh Sargent, who has signed with Werder Bremen but can't play in games until next season because he turned 18 after the registration deadline.

Sargent was one of the stars of the last U17 team and even got bumped up to the U20 WC (which is rare for the US to do).

They are different types of forwards. Sargent is a classic #9, good at holding the ball and a solid passer who can combine with teammates well. Weah is a bit faster and can stretch a defense.

I like both of these guys, but the bench beyond them isn't deep. I don't see huge upsides in guys like Haji Wright, Jeremy Ebobisse, and Emmanuel Sabbi.

I guess it's worth mentioning FC Dallas attacker Jesus Ferreira. He's the son of Davide Ferreira and although he's not a citizen yet he is supposedly very close. Some people really like him, though it's not clear whether he'll be a winger type or a second striker.

 

Thanks TB; you do a better job in this forum than pretty much anyone else does on any other forum on this site.

 

Dumb question I probably should know---he had a call up for the US U17s, although he didn't play. You can do that before becoming citizen? Or was it because he's apparently going to be, that they just wanted him in camp?

 

I'll second that. It's like reading Kremlin Watcher's thoughts on Russia. Everyone here thinks likewise, but it feels almost redundant to keep saying it - still, I bet you'd like to hear it more often.

 

At the youth level you need to have proper documentation to play in official games (WC + qualifying tournaments), but FIFA doesn't regulate anything else. So, the latter. Diego Fagundez once went to a U15 camp, IIRC, and he wasn't even close to citizenship.

During the 2013 U20 cycle, we called up Danny Potts a few times, and it turned out he wasn't even eligible for citizenship.

 

Thanks guys, but we have to give the edge to Kremlin Watcher. I don't have any sketchy Eastern European club owners in my rolodex.

 

YET!!!

 

Unfortunate news for Danny Williams:

 

Attacking midfielder Nick Taitague is one of 4-5 players from Schalke U19 who have been training with the first team for a bit now. This is his last year of U19 eligibility and Schalke are considering doing away with their U23 team, so it's possible we'll soon get a clear sign of how Schalke rates him based on his contra.

I haven't seen too much of him, but he's supposed to be quite technical and quick enough, but not overwhelmingly fast. He's generally been a winger, but such a profile raises the question of whether his long-term future will be in the middle.

 

Lennard Maloney, an 18 year old German-American center back, made his pro debut for Union Berlin this weekend. He has a bit of a history with the German YNTs, most recently playing in a friendly for the U19s in November 2017. He has never appeared in a US camp at any level.

He'd be an interesting recruit for the current US U20s. The '99 and '00 cohorts look weak at CB right now.


--

Emmanuel Sabbi scored his first goal for Hobro in Denmark. I don't have high hopes for him, but still - a landmark for him.

 

Poor Union Berlin. I had such high hopes for promotion mid-season. It most definitely will not be happening. I just looked at the stats from Sunday’s game and it looked like a wretched performance. I’ll see if I can find any mention of him in the news about the game. I’d hoped to avoid that .

Edit: no real mention of him in the game report. He was called up from U19 team due to an injury to the regular player Marc Torrejon.

I haven’t been able to follow them too closely the last couple of months, but I was just stunned to see the word “Abstiegskampf” (demotion fight) show up so frequently. From fourth place (I think) to two points above the playoff since firing Jens Kellner (who I really liked), is not a good look for the current manager Andre Hoffschneider, or ownership, who fired a successful and popular manager in Kellner because they wanted to be in the first Bundesliga immediately. You may be getting out of the second, but not the way you wanted...

Sounds like there’s a Harvard business case to be written here. It’s like the reverse of de Boer and Hodgson for me.

This is a cruel, cruel game.

Edit 2: I should note that they’ve lost their two top goal scorers and are +6 in GD - which is actually somehow 5th in the league - but this team looked the real deal until Kellner was let go, presumably because they were a point or two off promotion at the time of his firing. Since Hoffschneider has been installed, they have the fewest points in the league.

 

Any Arsenal people know if this kid is good?

 

Not an Arsenal fan but I know he's supposed to be the best of his intake year and he destroyed West Ham U18 when they played.

One interesting note, this tweet is the only thing on the internet that says he was US born or eligible. Everything else lists England as his place of birth.

 

Sciaretta is a trustworthy source. One thing I've noticed is that with little-known young players, a lot of internet database sites basically just copy each other. There was a former QPR academy player named Romone Rose who was initially listed as being born in Reading, PA. Turns out he was born in Reading, UK and had no connection whatsoever to the US, but all the internet sites had the wrong info because it came from a solitary bad source.

 

The large majority of last fall's U17 WC squad have gone professional. One more joins their ranks:

 

Rubio Rubin scored his first goal for Tijuana:



17 y.o. German-American forward Maurice Malone made the bench for Augsburg yesterday. He's played for Germany's U17 in the WC, so he'd need to file a one-time switch to play for the US. I have no idea if he'd be interested if Germany doesn't work out, but he's been productive at the youth levels and is a name to file away.

Little-known German-American winger Jann George scored a brace for Jahn Regensburg yesterday. George & Regensburg are in the hunt for their third consecutive promotion, two points back of Holstein Kiel for the Bundesliga playoff spot. Kiel have their own obscure German-American - goalkeeper Kenneth Kronholm, who like George has fought his way up from the Regionalliga to become a 2.Bundesliga starter.

 

Pulisic had a decent game in the Revierderby today, though BVB went down to Schalke 2-0. McKennie came on for the last 20 minutes and drew a FK that resulted in Schalke's second goal.

Yedlin had an assist against Arsenal today:

Relatively unknown 19 year old German-American winger Kevin Lankford recorded a very nice first pro assist for Heidenheim:

Local kid Amos Shapiro-Thompson, who is from Worthington, MA, has joined Legia Warsaw's academy. He previously spent some time with Revs youth teams.

 

A rumor from a credible source that Wood may be heading to MLS this summer. Whatever happens, getting away from Hamburg will probably be good. He's having a bad year and Hamburg are going down.

 

That'd be a real shame. The guy who lit the 2.Bundesliga on fire 2 years ago and had a good campaign last year, suddenly has his team fall apart around him and now we're all sure he can't cut it in europe? That's Michael Bradley thinking. Even if he ends up in Ligue 1 or something, it's still making him a better player than he'd be in MLS.

 

We'll see what happens. Nobody in MLS is going to offer Wood anywhere near the money that Toronto is paying Bradley.

The way the article is phrased doesn't make it sound like he is absolutely set on going somewhere in MLS. I'm sure it will depend on what other offers come in. Wood is under contract until 2021, so it will depend on who bids for him and how much Hamburg will ask for to let him go. They'll undoubtedly be looking to shed salary, though I have no idea if Wood is one of their top earners or not.

If I'm a club executive in any league, the prospect of signing Bobby Wood makes me nervous. He's the sort of player that always seems to be either injured or playing through a minor injury. I'm actually not counting on him for the 2022 WC at all right now, just because I'm bearish on his knees.

 

Update on Wood:

 

I admire your ambition, that you are only bearish on his chances.

 

Pulisic an assist and a drawn PK so far today.

 

McKennie with the start today and so far he looks very good. Great worker, positionally sound, good closing speed, wins the ball, excellent passer whether he’s playing it out of the back or as part of an attack. Will fit in any scheme so the only way an American manager can truly misuse him will be by not using him.

He’s already very physical and is going to be an absolute beast when he gets his man strength. Commanding a very tough position as a teenager. Nothing eye-popping like Pulisic, but this is a future leader.

 

Going back to U17 days, Richie Williams says "challenge accepted!".

I definitely think so, too. Dude was captaining Schalke's U19 team in friendlies while still on trial.

It's gonna be awesome when he develops into the next Arturo Vidal!

 

He played a good game otherwise, but Yedlin was caught failing to clear the ball or close out his player and was probably the most at-fault player in conceding the only goal in Newcastle's match today at Everton.

 

Winger Romain Gall has recently had a good run in Sweden. He started his career in Lorient's academy but didn't get very close to the first team. He signed with Columbus, but barely played for them. He then moved to a third division club in Sweden, but moved to the top division after one season. Now he's scoring and assisting at an aggressive clip in his second year and is apparently being monitored by Heerenveen.

https://www.feanonline.nl/nieuws/tr...aller-maakt-indruk-op-friese-scouts-in-zweden

I'm skeptical that he has a super high ceiling, but winger is an area of particular weakness for the US player pool.

 

More Sweden-to-Netherlands rumors: Örebro center back Brendan Hines-Ike has interest from unnamed Dutch clubs. The article has quotes from Hines-Ike and his club's TD, so there's definitely some fire to this smoke. The article even says "top" Dutch clubs, but I'd have to imagine it would be an AZ Alkmaar / Twente type at best, not one of the Big Three.

http://www.voetbalzone.nl/doc.asp?uid=328756


Club Brugge's topsy-turvy GK season finally swung around in Ethan Horvath's favor. After he and his competition Hubert were both buried, the two new acquisitions also failed to impress and Horvath was brought back for the final two matches. He was in a goal for the season-ending 1-1 draw that clinched the title. It's been a very weird year for him and it's impossible to say what his future at the club might be.


Alfredo Morales is out of contract this summer. Ingolstadt have confirmed he's leaving the club. Rumors in the German press have him going to Fortuna Düsseldorf, who just won promotion to the Bundesliga.


Andrija Novakovich scored two goals across two legs of Telstar's promotion playoff series against De Graafschap. Telstar ended up losing 6-5 on aggregate, but it doesn't really matter for Novakovich who was on loan and unlikely to return to Telstar. He finishes the year with 22 goals across all competitions and was the second highest scorer of the Eerste Divisie. I've got my fingers crossed that he lands in a good location next year. I'd love for a solid Eredivisie club to take him off Reading's hands.


Tim Ream and Fulham just went through to the Championship playoff final. Ream is probably having the best season of his Championship career.


Julian Green scored a very nice equalizer in Greuther Fürth's final game of the season, which lifted them out of the 2.Bundesliga relegation playoff to safety. He now returns to Stuttgart where he has one more year on his contract and an uncertain future. I do think he arrested the decline of his career this season and maybe even boosted his stock slightly.

Tied for second place in the Ligue 2 scoring charts was French/American/Cameroonian forward Jordan Siebatcheu, who scored 17 goals as Reims easily won the league title. He has been on the fringes of the French youth national team program, but has never played in any official games. I am unsure of his interest in playing for the US, but he may get more chatter next year in Ligue 1. I saw this very nice highlight of the last goal he scored this year:

 

Emerson Hyndman got his first 60min of Premiere League football and seems to have done alright. Not getting injured in pre-season this year would be pretty huge for him. Beating Gosling/Arter/Surman out for minutes seems like an achievable goal, at least if he's as good as he'll need to be to get back into the USMNT picture.

 

If I read the provisional Mexican WC squad right, Jonathan Gonzalez didn’t make it.

 

Morales to Fortuna Düsseldorf is official. He signed a three year deal.

 

Per Goff, Joe Gyau has moved on a free from Sonnenhof Großaspach to MSV Duisburg. That’s a move up a level to the 2.Bundesliga.

 

I expect him to go on loan against next year. He now has the pedigree of being a proven commodity at the Championship level, at least, which should expand his options by reducing the aura of risk around taking a young player on loan.

 

Hmm - Goff says that the US is in contact.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news...ivision/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.5bf39e93c6e3

 

what do you suspect Spurs' long-term plans are with him? If they really do see him as a first-team CB of the future, he's got not only Vertonghen (43 starts) and Alderweireld (18) to contend with, but also Dier (41) and Davinson Sanchez (35), who are a lot younger - 24 and 21 respectively. Dier is more of a DM pressed into occasional CB service, but they clearly don't rate CCV as highly as Davinson Sanchez, whom they bought for 42M GBP last summer. How can he plausibly crack that lineup, or earn himself a transfer to another EPL team?

 

Juan Foyth is also ahead of him on the depth chart and looked very solid in his couple first team appearances.

I think Spurs believe CCV is a lower table premiere league player and they can sell him after another loan spell to a premiere league team.

 

FWIW, I was at an Ipswich game a few weeks back and asked people about CCV. Everyone I talked to was very high on him and said they thought he was a future EPL starter. Ipswich takes a bunch of players in on loan every year, so their fans usually have a pretty good idea about who will make the grade.