Americans Abroad 2018-19: Youth Movement

Titans Bastard

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what's Pulisic been up to lately? He's started around half of BVB's games, including the most recent loss at Spurs in the UCL knockout round. He's had 1 goal and 0 assists since October in 8 starts and 6 sub appearances since then.
He's had good games and bad games, but obviously not a ton of end product either way. Guerreiro often starts on the left, with Jadon Sancho limiting CP's opportunities on the right. Pulisic is out with a minor injury right now, but will hopefully be back soon.

It does feel to me that things have gone stale at Dortmund for Pulisic and a change of scenery would be welcome. Of course, he's going to a nurturing, stable environment like Chelsea...



By the way, this local report suggests that Schalke aren't in great financial shape and as such may be motivated sellers for young talents with value like Embolo and McKennie.

https://www.ruhr24.de/s04/schalke-embolo-mckennie-wechsel-geruecht-161620/
 

Cellar-Door

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what's Pulisic been up to lately? He's started around half of BVB's games, including the most recent loss at Spurs in the UCL knockout round. He's had 1 goal and 0 assists since October in 8 starts and 6 sub appearances since then.
He's playing poorly, also he's not a key player for them and since he's sold no reason to force it. To be honest I'm surprised he has 8 starts, they should have better options most games
 

Titans Bastard

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The Chelsea move really is risky because the huge price tag will put a target on his back with the fans. Even if he starts playing to the best of his ability, there will be grumbling. Also, who know who the manager will be. At least he'll get a lot of chances for sure, now that Chelsea won't be bringing anyone else in this summer...
 

teddykgb

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The Chelsea move was probably good for him and Dortmund financially as he seems to be getting Weigl’d right now but it’s such a risky on field move. Chelsea are likely to appeal their ban and accelerate spending which could bring him competition. It’s really hard to know how that roster shakes out with Hazard possibly leaving along with Willian and Pedro there. He likely gets a good look in due to few but he needs to recapture his form by summer and grasp that opportunity because whomever is manager at Chelsea, including Sarri, won’t have the opportunity to wait for him to get acclimated.

From a US perspective we have to hope the move and having Sancho just explode has unsettled a young player and that he can focus better when his environment settles. If Sarri is still there and he can get a regular place he will get a real opportunity to play high possession attacking football which would be enormous for us (unless he develops unrealistic expectations of the quality of his NT teammates)

I think the PL in general was a tough move for him and am irrationally worried about his development as a result but there is a path there. He needs to get into Chelsea’s camp early and make an impression. I don’t know what his USMNT commitments for this summer are but I hope we are intelligent enough to understand his next 4-5 years are at stake and use him judiciously
 

Titans Bastard

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I don’t know what his USMNT commitments for this summer are but I hope we are intelligent enough to understand his next 4-5 years are at stake and use him judiciously
The Gold Cup is scheduled to run from June 15 to July 7.
 

cromulence

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Jonathan Spector scored the greatest goal of my FIFA career (actually World Cup 2010 but whatever). A missile from just inside the halfway line that I never should have attempted. I'll always remember him for that.
 

Titans Bastard

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Adams started again for RB Leipzig, who beat Nürnberg 1-0 on the road. I certainly haven't seen all his games in Germany, but it can't be a bad thing that in his 494 minutes, Leipzig have scored 13 goals, conceded only one, and won all five of his starts.

Schalke got stuffed at home by Fortuna Düsseldorf, 4-0. McKennie was out with an injury. At this point he's probably one of their best players, though that says a bit more about the current state of Schalke than it does about McKennie.
 

Titans Bastard

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McKennie's back after a short injury layoff and gets an assist with a flicked header. It's not too dramatic, but it's a reminder that he's an absolute beast in the air despite being a bit shy of six feet.

 

Titans Bastard

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Find somebody who loves you like Domenico Tedesco loves McKennie.

" McKennie is definitely here. We need it like the daily bread ", confirmed Domenico Tedesco to Buzz04 with regard to the match against Werder Bremen.
Now it is McKennie, who is to lead the S04 after surviving injury from the sporting misery. "With him, we have a punch, a power and energy in the center - that's amazing," said Tedesco about the Americans.
https://www.ruhr24.de/s04/schalke-mckennie-tedesco-165098/
 

Cellar-Door

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MCKennie is going to end up rotting on then bench on a top 6 side in the EPL next year and it's going to be so disappointing.
 

Titans Bastard

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Always a ray of sunshine, @Cellar-Door. :)

It does sound like there's a decent chance that he will be sold this summer, given Schalke's reported debts and McKennie's status as one of their more valuable assets.
 

DJnVa

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Pulisic comes on in the 79th minute of a 1-1 game that Dortmund NEEDS---sets up the tie breaking goal 6 minutes later, then scores in 92nd minute.
 

cromulence

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Things finally looking up for CP - comes on as a sub and is involved in the buildup to a goal to go up 2-1, then scores another to make it 3-1.
 

Titans Bastard

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Here's CP's goal:


Other notes:

Antonee Robinson is finally back from the injury he sustained in November and is starting for Wigan.

17 year old forward Charlie Kelman is making his first start for Southend United. He's scored a million goals at the youth level, then had the chutzpah to successfully chip the keeper from the midfield circle in his pro debut.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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MCKennie is going to end up rotting on then bench on a top 6 side in the EPL next year and it's going to be so disappointing.
If only one of those clubs was extremely thin in central midfield, liked developing and playing younger players, and was probably too cheap to buy a more established midfielder given their recent transfer “activity” and new stadium debt.
 

Cellar-Door

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If only one of those clubs was extremely thin in central midfield, liked developing and playing younger players, and was probably too cheap to buy a more established midfielder given their recent transfer “activity” and new stadium debt.
Spurs aren't paying for McKennie, I mean the next tier (West Ham, Everton, etc.) would throw 15-20M at him no doubt maybe more, and Spurs plan seems pretty clearly to be "don't spend a goddamn dime until the stadium is done", otherwise they'd have made a bid for Almiron instead of letting him go to Newcastle.

Mckennie will end up at Liverpool or something, play 4 cup ties a year then get loaned out at 23 to Real Betis or something. It just feel inevitable.
 

DJnVa

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Spurs aren't paying for McKennie, I mean the next tier (West Ham, Everton, etc.) would throw 15-20M at him no doubt maybe more, and Spurs plan seems pretty clearly to be "don't spend a goddamn dime until the stadium is done", otherwise they'd have made a bid for Almiron instead of letting him go to Newcastle.
It's done.
 

InstaFace

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I hadn't realized Dortmund was tied at the top of the Bundesliga table.

In 4th by 6 points is Gladbach, who still employ Fabian Johnson, but his starts and minutes have been cut dramatically this year. Only 15 games / 11 starts in the Bundesliga, none in other competitions. He has another year on his contract after this one ends, which may include more Champions League time, but at 31 you have to imagine he's not going to be upgrading clubs on the open market.
 

Jimy Hendrix

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That raises a yellow flag for me just because Tedesco loves him so much it seems, but on the other hand maybe the new guy will play him in midfield only, which'd be nice.
 

Titans Bastard

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That raises a yellow flag for me just because Tedesco loves him so much it seems, but on the other hand maybe the new guy will play him in midfield only, which'd be nice.
Yes, that's definitely a factor, but I'd a bit more worried if Schalke didn't have a relatively crap roster this season. I feel good about McKennie's chances of cracking the XI regardless of the manager.
 

Titans Bastard

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Can anyone offer any insight into this move?
Zelalem had a very long injury layoff on top of some unimpressive loan stints in Scotland and the Netherlands, so getting away from Arsenal was a needed move. He was out of contract in the summer anyway.

Peter Vermes' SKC teams have evolved over the years from being somewhat brutish pressing teams to now being one of the slicker passing teams in the league. Stylistically, SKC is a good fit for Zelalem. However, he will have a lot of competition, including Ilie Sanchez, Roger Espinoza, and Kelyn Rowe.

The quotes I read in the local KC press indicate that the club wants to make Zelalem a deeper-lying midfielder. I'd guess that being the less-defensive deep-lying mid in a 4-2-3-1 fits him well. I see Zelalem as a poor man's Darlington Nagbe, the sort of smooth-passing, silky-touch midfielder who everyone wants to be a stylish attacker, but who lacks the instincts for it. Like Nagbe (and Jose Francisco Torres before him), Zelalem is too passive to be an attacker and is more comfortable circulating the ball. He needs to toughen up defensively if he is going to play that sort of role at a high level, though.

SKC have a reserve team in the USL for him to get reps to get back on his feet. He played in a few Arsenal U23 games recently, but he does not have many minutes under his belt in the last 18 months.
 

InstaFace

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Pulisic played 90 at Berlin today and by my eyes had a pretty good, threatening game, though wasn't close to being the best player on the field. Failed at every chance to appear on the scoresheet, including an absolute sitter at 77' that went wide (see roughly 9:00 here). Was a bit of a bonkers game, finished 11-on-9.
 

Titans Bastard

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An American group led by a guy named Jordan Gardner have taken over Danish club FC Helsingør.


He wants to use the club as a springboard for American players to eventually reach bigger Euro clubs. It all seems very quixotic and likely to fail, but I'm curious to see how it works out.
 

InstaFace

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Wasn't there another club, somewhere in Benelux, that had the same intention?

Getting Americans playing in a euro structure and development program against euro competition is a good idea, but I think the entry level ability there is "better competition and development than MLS", and I'm not sure Denmark provides the latter, nevermind the former. And of course, if you can't help on visas then you're useless.
 

Titans Bastard

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Wasn't there another club, somewhere in Benelux, that had the same intention?

Getting Americans playing in a euro structure and development program against euro competition is a good idea, but I think the entry level ability there is "better competition and development than MLS", and I'm not sure Denmark provides the latter, nevermind the former. And of course, if you can't help on visas then you're useless.
I just think proof-of-concept is hard for this.

1. They'll need to sign good talent with actual potential. That's a hard sell, given that it's a 2nd or 3rd tier Danish club.

2. If the point is to sell players on for decent fees, that's tough. First of all, the best American talent isn't signing for Helsingør; they'll be dealing with 2nd and 3rd rate talent. Second of all, who pays big fees for players from the Danish 2nd and 3rd tiers?

3. These sorts of situations usually involve the owners disregarding local fans and eventually getting chased out with torches and pitchforks. Nobody wants their club used like this.

Denmark doesn't have foreigner restrictions, but most Americans can't go abroad until they are 18 (unless they have the right second passport).
 

Titans Bastard

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Hmm, that looks like the kind of pass Trapp & Bradley are asked to make in their role for the US.
 

Titans Bastard

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Nice goal for Julian Green.



Tim Weah seems to have been screwed by Celtic's managerial change. He's always played well for them, but his minutes have dried up.
 

Kliq

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Nice goal for Julian Green.



Tim Weah seems to have been screwed by Celtic's managerial change. He's always played well for them, but his minutes have dried up.
I’m pretty disappointed in how things have ended up for Weah at Celtic. Whenever he has gotten the chance to play he is productive, but whether it is PSG or Celtic he can’t seem to get enough minutes.
 

Titans Bastard

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Uly Llanez's long-rumored move to Wolfsburg could soon come to fruition. He looked really good in U20 qualifying, even as an '01 who was playing up a cycle.

 

Titans Bastard

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He's not tied to the US yet is he?
Not fully. He has played in official youth games, which means that he is with the US until and unless he files a one-time switch to Mexico.

In that vein, I'm glad he's going to the Bundesliga and not to a Liga MX club.
 

Titans Bastard

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Some Tyler Adams stats:

  • - Tyler Adams has started 8 games for RB Leipzig. In those 8 games, RB Leipzig has 6 Bundesliga wins, 1 German Cup win, & 1 Bundesliga draw
  • - Adams has played a total of 837 minutes for RB Leipzig. 747 were in the Bundesliga and 90 was in a German Cup game against Bundesliga side, Wolfsburg.
  • - In the 837 total minutes with Tyler Adams on the field Leipzig has scored 19 goals & conceded 1 goal.
  • - Leipzig has actually conceded 0 goals from the run of play with Adams on the field. The one goal it conceded with Adams on the field came off a very questionable handball to a teammate which resulted in a penalty which was successfully converted.
  • - Leipzig now has the most impressive defense in the Bundesliga by a very large margin. The 20 goals conceded over 27 games is the lowest in Germany’s top flight. The second lowest is Bayern Munich which has conceded 28 goals
  • - At the Bundesliga winter break before Adams joined the club, Leipzig still had the fewest goals conceded in the Bundesliga at 17 goals in 17 games. But at that time, the next highest amount was Borussia Monchengladbach, Bayern Munich, and Borussia Dortmund each at 18. So Leipzig’s has widened the gap in fewest goal conceded from one to eight since Adams joined the club in the second half of the season.
He's played 837 minutes and during that time RB Leipzig has not conceded a run-of-play goal. That's amazing.
 

67YAZ

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Some Tyler Adams stats:



He's played 837 minutes and during that time RB Leipzig has not conceded a run-of-play goal. That's amazing.
Considering Yedlin wore the armband against Chile...how long until Adams becomes captain? I don’t think I he can break Pulisic’s record for youngest captain, but I feel unreasonably confident that he’ll break Bocanegra’s record 64 games as captain.
 

Titans Bastard

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McKennie is back on the training field, at least to some extent.

 

Titans Bastard

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Sebastian Soto has scored 14 goals in 21 U19 games for Hannover. They announced they he was promoted to the first team a few days ago and, sure enough, he made his Bundesliga debut off the bench. Hannover are awful and are very likely going down to the 2.Bundesliga, so it remains to be seen if Soto is truly ready for first team minutes or if they are just throwing shit against the wall to see what sticks.

Still, the list of Americans age 20 or younger to play in the Bundesliga has grown: Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright, and now Soto. [Meanwhile the total number of minutes given to teenager American attackers in MLS in 2019 will probably surpass the entire 2018 total within two or three weeks.]

I like Soto, but the crazy thing is that he might only be our 4th or 5th best forward prospect among the current U20s (1999s and 2000s). He's clearly behind Sargent and Weah, I'd take Ferreira over him, and I'm not sure where he stands vs. Rennicks.

Richie Ledezma returned from his injury layoff to make his debut for PSV U19. This bodes well for his chances of making the U20 World Cup squad, as his foot injury had been lingering for a dangerously long period of time.
 

Titans Bastard

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After a season as an assistant at RB Leipzig, Jesse Marsch will get his chance to manage a first team in Europe at Red Bull Salzburg. This is a major opportunity for him; this is very much a springboard position if he does well. The challenge is that unlike all of Bob Bradley's gigs abroad, Marsch is taking over a club that is absolutely expected to be dominant within its league. He'll have to hit the ground running.

 

InstaFace

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I'm sure the germanic origins of his surname helped him considerably, even if he's as culturally American as most of us here are.

Congrats to him, that's no third-division backwater. But was he really regarded as a top coach even at MLS? Coach of the year in 2015, but a lot has happened since then.