The US ladies lost a heartbreaker to England on Friday 2-1 after some questionable calls which included a PK for England and a US goal called back by VAR. Coach V – took a young squad to Europe, with Alex Morgan and Becky Sauerbrunn among others missing due to injury. Sophia Smith was sensational along with Trinity Rodman and Megan Rapinoe up front. Alana Cook playing centerback for the injured Sauerbrunn – gave up the pretty bad 2nd goal. The US pushed down the stretch but couldn’t find the net in front of a sold out Wembley Stadium in England. The #2 team in the world played well at home over our #1 US squad. The US will travel to Pamplona to run with the Bulls vs #9 Spain on ESPN2 at 2:30 pm on Tuesday. Hey Refs – What do you think of this offsides call that cost the US a great goal? More Ref stuff below.
Indy 11 Last Home game Sat 7 pm
The Indy 11 wrap up the home season tonight at 7 pm at the Mike, An 8W-6L-2D overall record at home this season has put off mostly good vibes, and the impetus this weekend for the squad falls on leaving the Eleven faithful with a good impression of what could come at Carroll Stadium in 2023. Tickets start at $15 at indyeleven.com/tickets or watch MyINDY-TV 23, ESPN+. Be Sure to Vote for former CFC GK Coach and Indy 11 GK Jordan Farr Player of the Month in the USL. His San Antonio team is first seed in the USL West. More GK stuff below.
High School – #1 CHS Boys Sectionals Final 6 pm at Murray, #3 CHS in final vs North Central @ Westfield 2 pm
The Carmel High School boys host regionals tonight at The Carmel High School boys host the Sectional Finals tonight at 6 pm at Murray Stadium. Here’s the shootout from Thursday night’s 4-4 (5-4) win where long time Carmel FC forward Will Latham hit the game winner. The #3 CHS ladies knocked off Zionsville 3-1 and now play North Central in the Finals at 2 pm at Westfield. Best of wishes to former Carmel FC GK Bethany Ducat who injured her kneecap and will miss the playoffs – fortunately another CFC GKU former keeper Aubrey Empie is there.
Congrats to these Carmel FC Socctoberfest Champions from last weekend.
U13 Gold Boys went 4-0 – with 3 4-0 wins in Group play at a 2-0 win in the final. Coach Mark Stumpf (right) Asst Coach Shane Best (left)U12 Boys Gold Champions Coach Jim Ruden2013 Gold Team Champions
BIG GAMES ON TV
Sat, Oct 8
10 am USA Wolverhampton vs Chelsea (Pulisic)
10 am Peacock Fulham (Ream, Jedi) vs New Castle United
12 noon Paramount+ AC Milan vs Juventus (McKinney)
12:30 pm ESPN+ Bayern Munich @ Dortmund (Reyna)
12:30 NBC Brighton vs Tottenham
Sun, Oct 9
9 am USA Crystal Palace vs Leeds United (Aaronson, Adams)
Was absolutely thrilled to do Girls Academy Games last weekend with these fine refs.
USWNT falls to England in friendly at packed Wembley Stadium
By The Athletic StaffOct 7, 2022
The U.S. women’s national soccer team fell 2-1 to England on Friday in a packed Wembley Stadium in London, snapping a 13-game winning streak by the U.S. The result of the friendly between two top-four teams in FIFA’s world rankings didn’t end in the Americans’ favor, but it provided a chance for younger players to test themselves against a formidable English side.
Forward Sophia Smith provided the only goal for the top-ranked U.S. in the 28th minute on a play set up by veteran Lindsey Horan, who muscled the ball away from England as they played out the back. Smith finished with a hard shot to the lower left corner past England’s goalkeeper Mary Earps.
Lauren Hemp opened the scoring in the 10th minute for the Lionesses, ranked fourth in FIFA standings heading into the match, who took the 2-1 lead with a penalty kick netted by Georgia Stanway in the 33rd minute.
The U.S. nearly leveled the score minutes later when Trinity Rodman sent a ball into the net off a pass by Smith, but it was overturned with Rodman called offside.The match also saw defender Crystal Dunn return to action for the national team after the birth of her son in May. The absence of star forward Alex Morgan, who was ruled out of the trip due to a knee injury, was notable, but 17-year-old forward Alyssa Thompson saw her first minutes on the senior squad.“I can literally be her mom and like not her team mom,” forward Megan Rapinoe said. “I asked her a couple times: are you just like, What the fuck is going on? You’re playing in this massive game. It’s such a young age.”The USWNT is set to play in a friendly against Spain on Oct. 11 in Pamplona.
USWNT’s loss to England was a major test, and an exercise in clinging to joy
Last summer, one of the main themes of the U.S. women’s national team’s performance at the Olympics centered around joy. Or rather, the apparent lack of it. Whether it was the strangeness of lockdowns and empty stadiums, or the lack of time to build chemistry, or the adjustment period with head coach Vlatko Andonovski at his first major tournament, or some other reason or a combination of all of them, the USWNT looked flat and uninspired for significant spells of their time in Tokyo. The door opened significantly to the creeping fear that the world was catching up ahead of the 2023 World Cup and an attempted three-peat.On Friday night, four days after the release of the full findings from U.S. Soccer’s independent investigation led by former deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates, joy wasn’t just an important ingredient for the potential success of the team; it became a concept to cling to, to find a moment’s respite from an extraordinarily heavy week.“I’d be lying if I said we were doing well,” Crystal Dunn told assembled reporters on Wednesday before training. “We’re getting through it. I think a lot of us are trying to find joy in playing this game.”
Every player on the team was navigating it differently, she said — some were able to separate the work from the news, to focus on one training at a time. Dunn said she personally tried to navigate everything at once. “I find joy in playing the game, but I also know that there are things bigger than training and this game coming up, that really matter and they deserve our attention as well.”
Friday’s 2-1 loss to England was supposed to be one of the major tests of the calendar year for the USWNT, after the CONCACAF W Championship final against Canada, and followed by another away match against Spain, before a double test against Germany in November. The narrative was simple, and billed like a heavyweight title fight on the half-and-half scarves sold outside Wembley at the bootleg merch stands: the world champions vs. the European champions.
Emerging from the Jubilee line outside Wembley on Friday night, fans were greeted by banners honoring every single player on the Euros roster (and, of course, head coach Sarina Wiegman), changed over at some point between Thursday’s pregame press conference and Friday’s match. A sea of ecstatic England fans flowed and crested below, before orderly filing into Wembley where the final count would prove to be less than the expected full capacity, but impressive nonetheless: 76,893 strong and loud.
England defender Lucy Bronze promised a moment of solidarity with the USWNT ahead of the match. “Every single one of us is in solidarity with all of those players,” she said on Wednesday. “Particularly the ones who have spoken out and told their truths because I can imagine — well, I can’t even imagine — how hard it must be to have gone through it, and then to speak out.”
On Friday night, players from both teams wore teal armbands in solidarity with sexual violence survivors. The lights of Wembley stadium also became a wash of teal. The two teams gathered for a pre-match photo behind a banner reading “Protect the Players.”
Moments like these are not the true work, but there can still be power in a symbol if that solidarity continues and builds.
“Any time teams come together like that, any time any team, really, takes a stand, I think it galvanizes everybody,” Megan Rapinoe said after the match.
She mentioned the team’s next opponent, Spain, where 15 of the team’s most prominent players are embroiled in their own battle against their federation; Rapinoe said the USWNT was behind those players “100%.” While there are other, bigger reasons for the Spanish players to essentially boycott their own national team, consider this smaller detail: until 2019, they could not lock their own hotel room doors at night while traveling with the team. They had to wait for manager Jorge Vilda to check on them at night and meet his standards. Only then could they close their door and go to bed.
“Without the players, you don’t have anything,” Rapinoe said. “You don’t have a game, you don’t have a sport at all. If we’re not protected in the right ways, then nothing really else matters. For us to come together, and take a moment on a night like this, I think is really important and powerful.”
This week has largely been an exercise in still trying to comprehend the scale of the problem, the depth of the systemic abuse: sexual, emotional, verbal, racial, and homophobic. How those intersect with each other, how they extend with many tendrils to other parts of the game and other parts of the globe. There has been some progress on the accountability front in certain markets, even greater pressure from the public, media and sponsors, but we are just scratching the surface — even with a 171-page report. The true work still lies ahead.
“The scope of (the NWSL and NWSLPA) joint investigation includes every instance of inappropriate conduct towards players by individuals in positions of power at every existing NWSL club since 2013 and seeks to trace it back to its origins,” a statement from the players’ association (issued on Wednesday) reads. “While the findings of and recommendations in the Yates report are significant and disturbing, it is not the end of the story.”
There is still yet more light that needs to shine brightly into every corner of the sport. As much as the Yates report has been painful, the account is not yet complete. We may now have a much better sense of the scale, but we are still waiting to see the true extent. We have not yet seen the bottom of this hole.
On Friday night, though, the match provided a moment to hold all of this at once, to grapple with the highs of a massive crowd at Wembley with two top teams battling it out, existing right alongside the sobering context of the last week, the last year, the ten-year history of the NWSL. It was an opportunity to see everything that this game could be, but also to know the cost of reaching this moment, to feel a twinge of guilt for enjoying a world-class football match but to embrace that inner conflict, or even recharge thanks to the electric atmosphere.
England vs. USA was a time to hope that there is not just a way out of the darkness, but a way that reimagines a night like Friday as the norm, rather than the remarkable outlier.
England beat the USWNT as both teams send out a message that can’t be ignored
Fireworks flew and lights flashed as the pre-match show to England against the USA foreshadowed the lightning talent on the pitch.It was a fitting celebratory atmosphere as the European champions looked to make a statement against the champions of the world in front of a 76,893-strong Wembley crowd. England did just that, defeating the icons of women’s football for the first time in five and a half years and the first time on home soil since 2011.Juxtaposed with that carnivalesque feel, however, was an important message. Before kick-off, every player, wearing teal blue armbands, stood behind a banner which read “PROTECT THE PLAYERS” while the Wembley arch also shone in the same colour.It was a show of solidarity from the two squads after the report published on Monday — commissioned by US Soccer and led by former deputy attorney general Sally Q. Yates — that found allegations of abusive behaviour and sexual misconduct in America’s National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL).
There is a tension between the joy of playing on the pitch and the “horrible situations”, in Sarina Wiegman’s words, that many players experience off it. Both exist side by side, a reflection of the state of the women’s game.“We celebrated lots of things but also when this happens, you can’t let it go,” said Wiegman after the match“The timing is now. We used this momentum to spread the word that this is unacceptable. We are all behind it and supportive, but then we can play a very intense game. You could see lots of respect.”
So what does this victory mean for England? A 2-1 friendly win over the USWNT — “a good measure” and a “test”, according to their manager Wiegman — extends England’s winning streak to 15 games, a run which includes victories over the world’s top three ranked sides, plus the Netherlands and Spain. They are undefeated in 23 games and have never lost under Wiegman. The World Cup is 10 months away and this was another step in the right direction.“We took this moment to take another starting point to see where we are and we will take it from there,” said Wiegman.Since her appointment in September last year, the England manager has cultivated an unshakeable self-belief. The focus is not on their opponents’ strengths but their own.“As English people, we are the first to point out opposition and say, ‘They’re unbelievable’,” said Georgia Stanway. “Whereas now, we look in the room and we think we’re unbelievable.“This is us — this is what we’re here to do, that is how we play, this is our crowd, this is our home.”Before kick-off, captain Millie Bright, in the absence of the injured Leah Williamson, said she told her team “to put the stamp on our game”. The US are quick, physical, and make darting runs in behind. England didn’t choose to sit back, though, and restrict the space behind the defence. They set out with a high press and went at their opponents; a team they, and the world, had once feared.England reaped the rewards with Lauren Hemp, filling in for Alessia Russo at No 9, poking home from close range in the 10th minute.England’s performance, in the first half in particular, was dominant. They reduced the US’s possession to 31 per cent, the lowest number recorded since 2016. Of course, it’s not all about possession but it’s what you do with it, but England looked strong offensively, despite Russo’s absence, registering an expected goals (xG) total of 1.89.The all-conquering US put England under pressure, however; a much-needed test to see if they could adapt.“There were moments that were challenging, especially when we’re trying to build up and play out from the back,” said Stanway, who, hassled by Lindsey Horan, conceded possession in front of goal. Sophia Smith found the equaliser with a razor-sharp finish.In previous times, England may have crumbled but this summer’s triumph has established an unwavering confidence. For Stanway to step up and convert a penalty five minutes after five minutes after she was dispossessed, leading to the US’s equaliser, is symbolic of this side’s resilience.“We had already overcome that (mental) barrier before this game,” said Bright. “The summer proved to ourselves the level that we can play. Winning a major trophy, you’re on an equal ground almost; two top teams coming together.”“We proved to ourselves that we can beat anyone,” added Wiegman. “We just have to do what we can control and stick together, communicate with each other at all times. We need to have the freedom to make our own choices. We are doing well in that.”
There are “extra gears”, in Stanway’s words, to be found and that counts for both sides. Of course, the caveat is the US squad is missing key players and come the new year, their team will look very different. Wiegman, as is her trademark, made few substitutions compared to her US counterpart, Vlatko Andonovski. Lauren James’ 91st-minute appearance is a nod to her progress so far.Just as this is not cause for panic for the US, Wiegman is not getting carried away. “It’s now October and not July yet,” she said. “You are the best team in the world when you have won the World Cup. We didn’t.”It was a display of two of the top teams on the biggest stage but Megan Rapinoe wrapped it up best.“Without the players, you don’t have anything. You don’t have a game, you don’t have a sport at all,” she said.“If we’re not protected in the right ways, then nothing else really matters. So for us to come together and take a moment on a night like this, it is really important and powerful.”
Leeds have a difficult balancing act to provide Gelhardt a pathway to the first team
The first episode of Leeds United’s Academy Dreams documentary starts with a question-and-answer session for their under-21s. Sam Greenwood is the best finisher in the squad, or so says Nohan Kenneh. Charlie Cresswell is the player who cannot keep out of the gym. Sean McGurk is most in need of a haircut and Crysencio Summerville is promising (or threatening) to drag McGurk to his barber.Lewis Bate gets onto talking about Joe Gelhardt and cuts to the chase, saying Gelhardt has it in him to be an England international, to go to the top, to be whatever he wants to be. Gelhardt hears that said about him a lot and he is one of those footballers who will end his career with his reputation lying one of two ways: either promise fulfilled or promise which should have been. No one could look at him and pretend that the faculties were not there in the first place, ready to be mined.
So sold are Leeds on him that he was used as part of the justification for the club’s inclination to let the last transfer window close without signing a forward. To quote their chief executive, Leeds — prior to hastily summoning Wilfried Gnonto from FC Zurich at the last minute — were content with their choices up front because those choices included someone “widely regarded as the best young striking talent in the league” and it is hard to be any more effusive than that. Gelhardt, for a snip from Wigan, was the sort of signing which could hardly go wrong; the sort of signing which could, quite easily, earn a club a killing competitively or financially.
Gelhardt was signed from Wigan in 2020 and has already made an impression in the Premier League (Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
They talk constantly about pathways at Leeds because pathways are essential bargaining chips in negotiations with any young footballer of any real value who is not simply chasing the dollar. Academy players with a brain and a clue want to know that the first team exists as an entity they have a reasonable chance of reaching. Clubs in the market want to be able to show that they do. Gnonto is a thinker, an intelligent cove, and it is almost inconceivable given his previous career choices that he did not ask that question or do some homework on what academy dreams at Leeds actually entail.He must have thought about Gelhardt because, to some extent, they are in direct competition: emerging, admired, looking to push themselves and working on establishing the exact type of forward they are. Gnonto likes to play a little deeper than a No 9 and moves into wider roles with Italy’s national side. Gelhardt can be highly effective off a striker too, but compared to Gnonto, looks more vibrant and more of a handful in central areas, congested or otherwise. Moving at speed, his touch and balance makes him difficult to contain but Gnonto has that air about him too, a player who wants the ball at his feet.In analysing strikers in the transfer market this summer, Leeds said more than once that they were mindful of avoiding any signing that, in style or ability, would cramp Gelhardt’s pathway. Despite everything, Gelhardt was able to turn last year into something of a break-out season, which made him a focal part of selection discussions.
It invited Leeds to push him further again. But on Sunday he was the spare part at Elland Road, the player omitted as Jesse Marsch picked his 20 for a goalless draw with Aston Villa. The fitness routine Gelhardt went through before the warm-up told the crowd he was available, simply because it was obvious from the running drills that he was fit. This is what players sometimes do when they are about to watch from the stands.Marsch and Leeds have options up front which, in the context of the year behind them, is a welcome and necessary novelty. What is yet to establish itself on his watch, though, is a clear or complete pecking order in which people know their place.There is a sense that if Marsch had all of his cards to play, Patrick Bamford would start up front but Bamford suffered another knock last week so the game of persistence continued with Rodrigo. Marsch doubted at first that Gnonto would be primed for the Premier League straight away but it turns out that he is, to some degree anyway, and a seat for him on the bench meant no seat for Gelhardt.
“It’s not based on performance because I think (Gelhardt) is playing well,” Marsch said. “We have a lot of other guys performing well right now. Please don’t take that as a negative on Joffy.” Which is fair enough and Gelhardt knocked in two goals for the under-21s two days later. But omitting Gelhardt on Sunday touched on something Marsch found himself discussing 48 hours earlier: how best to manage those players who are caught in the grey area where under-21s football is easy bread and butter but first-team football is not fully in their grasp? How to keep pathways open when the laws of choosing a squad dictate that a coach cannot maintain pathways for everyone? Who has to suck up the reality of hard numbers?Those numbers ebb and flow, dictated by some things Marsch cannot control. Luis Sinisterra’s impending one-match ban will open up a space in the squad for Sunday’s game at Crystal Palace. Gelhardt, in any case, is good enough to prove the theory of cream always rising to the top. But it is not a secret that he would have liked more minutes last season and that certain occasions when he wasn’t used, particularly as a substitute, confused him as much as others watching. Every appearance he makes in Academy Dreams says the same thing: that he wants to play, any time, anywhere.That the door is not open quite so wide is not inherently a bad thing for the club. It was incumbent on Leeds over the summer to move beyond the stage where players were in the squad by default or where naming a squad meant making up the numbers. Whereas last season Gelhardt had no guarantee of starting, now there is no guarantee of who will make the bench.It is on him to take up the challenge and on Marsch to keep the pathway clear.
Wow and we thought Japan on Thurs was bad – now we couldn’t beat a Saudi Arabia teamed ranked 69th in the world. Things are falling apart quick for a US team with so much hope just a few months ago. Now we were still missing key guys as Winger Tim Weah and Mid Yanus Musah showed how much we really miss him with his absence. Any thoughts that MMA (Mckinney/Musah/Adams) works without Musah has been negated this week. With Musah – balls move out of pressure as he does the work to connect our D to our offense as he drives forward with abandon. NO ONE else except perhaps Aaronson in the mid has show this ability. Overall while we were better in the mid vs the Saudi’s than we were vs Japan – we still didn’t look good. And Pepi and Pulisic up top ? Well they barely touched the ball at all? I thought Dest looked ok on the left – and serves as a serviceable left back if Jedi goes down. I thought Scally also looked good on the right – but it seems he doesn’t drink the Berhalter Kool-Aide – (he’s just a starter for a Bundesliga team (the what 3rd bet league in the world? Why would GB like him. Much like Tim Ream (who 100% sure be on the plane to Qatar – he starts in the EPL for heaven’s sake). I have defended Berhalter for years now – give him time – look at the results I have said. See him trying to change our culture to a team that possesses instead of counter attacks and buckles down to play tough American defense. Now we play no defense at all – play out of the back with horrific results – and basically look like one of THE WORST TEAMS IN THE WORLD coming off this international break. Maybe he’s setting us up for a 3-0 sweep with the final nail coming on the Day After Thanksgiving when the largest Ever US Audience can watch us get drummed by England 4-1 or something. I mean if not for the spectacular shot stopping of Matt Turner (who by the way Berhalter won’t start if he has his way – he loves our 3rd best GK right now Zach Steffan instead). At this point the defense looks slow and clueless, the midfield disjointed and the offense non existent. Pulisic pouted his way thru 75 lackluster minutes before stomping off in the 76th minute – throwing his captain band to Adams. Adams who by the way should be the captain. Gio Reyna – perhaps our best actual player if he ever gets healthy again – left unexpectedly in the 30th minute with tightness in his leg. Do we really think Reyna who hasn’t played ALL YEAR is going to have an impact on the World Cup in less than 60 days? Doubtful. And up front – well besides Aaronson trying to do it all himself – we had little to nothing. No shots by Pepi the all world 19 year-old who is continuing his disappearing act while Berhalter strokes his back and begs him to score – a goal – any goal for the first time in over a year. If he leaves the only #9 in the World actually playing well Jordan Pefok from Union Berlin (3 goals, 3 assists leads the Bundesliga) at home – well he may well have his Donovan moment. That moment where the entire team knows he’s clueless and won’t be able to even coax a win out of the most talented group of American’s to ever wear the Stars and Stripes at the same time. GK Matt Turner was the one bright spot this window. Speaking of Goalkeepers – check out the GK section Below.
Indy 11 Home Sat – Breast Cancer Awareness Night 7 pm
Indy Eleven used a 2nd half penalty kick conversion from its captain Ayoze and a dominant defensive performance to capture a hard-fought 1-0 home win. The victory marked the Eleven’s 4 straight home win. They return home Saturday, Oct. 1, when they host FC Tulsa for Breast Cancer Awareness Night Tickets start at $15 at indyeleven.com/tickets or watch MyINDY-TV 23, ESPN+.
Big Games
The end of the international break is highlighted by some huge games this weekend and this week. Sat league leading Arsenal hosts Tottenham at 7:30 am on USA, while at 9:30 am league leading Union Berlin and Jordan Pefok travel to top 6 foe Frankfurt and fellow American Timmy Chandler. 10 am on USA gives us Pulisic sitting the bench I am sure for Chelsea vs Crystal Palace while #6 Fulham along with Jedi and Tim Ream will host New Castle in a surprising top 10 battle. Sunday gives us the Manchester Derby at 9 am on Peacock while Leeds United States of America with Coach, and Aaronson and Adams host Aston Villa looking to move back into the top10. Sunday also gives us huge MLS playoff battles as Portland fights for their playoff lives hosting league leading LAFC on ABC at 3 pm followed by Sporting KC vs Seattle – both still mathematically alive at 5 pm on Fox Sports 1. Of course ladies NWSL has battles royal Sat and Sun as well. Oh and Champions League is back Tues/Wed next week with Inter vs Barca and Chelsea vs AC Milan (see full schedule on the obc)
CFC GKU – GK Coach Noelle Rolfsen Named All Conference Player of the Week
Carmel FC GK coach Noelle Rolfsen was named all Conference Player of the Week for her 3rd ranked Marian University Knights. Noelle Rolfsen was voted the Crossroads League Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office earlier this afternoon. The honor marks the first time in her career as a keeper for the Knights. The senior goalkeeper played the full 90 minutes and recorded a shutout in a win against No. 18 Grace, posting four saves to help the Knights to a 2-0 win over the Lancers. Rolfsen has played in every game this season, notching 28 saves with 0.67 goals against average, helping Marian towards an 9-0-1 record. Rolfsen and the Knights knocked off #2 Ranked Spring Arbor Wed night and return home Saturday at 7:30 PM to host Bethel for senior day with hopes that a #1 Ranking may follow.
High School Local – #1 CHS Boys host Regionals, #3 CHS Girls travel to Westfield
The Carmel High School boys host regionals next week. The #3 CHS ladies tied #4 Zionsville 0-0 as 5 former or current Carmel FC Goalkeepers saw action between the pipes in JV and Varsity action. They close out the year at #15 Westfield tonight. Carmel Men’s highlights in win over Guerin. The Carmel Girls head into regionals next week ranked 3rd in the US and Indiana according to Max Preps – who also has Noblesville (2nd), and Zionsville (21) in the top 25 nationally.
US Women’s Roster Set
The USWNT will face European champion England at a sold-out Wembley Stadium on October 7, before taking on Spain in Pamplona four days later. “These are big tests for our team in front of crowds cheering against us and after long travel, but our players absolutely love games like these,” said Andonovski. “The group we are bringing to Europe includes players who have a lot of experience against top European teams and some that don’t, so these games are even more critical for our growth as our team. Our whole squad needs to get a clear picture of what these games are like as we continue to prepare for the World Cup.”
USWNT roster
GOALKEEPERS (3): Aubrey Kingsbury (Washington Spirit), Casey Murphy (North Carolina Courage), Alyssa Naeher (Chicago Red Stars)
DEFENDERS (7): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Crystal Dunn (Portland Thorns FC), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Hailie Mace (Kansas City Current), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (8): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC), Savannah DeMelo (Racing Louisville FC), Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon, FRA), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (6): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC), Alyssa Thompson (Total Futbol Academy)
Good Luck to our Carmel FC teams playing in Soctoberfest in Zionsville this weekend – I will be out there coaching and reffing – be sure to post your pics to our Twitter and FB pages !
Also if looking to watch some solid soccer this weekend – the GA Girls Academy teams from all over the US are playing at Grand Park this weekend – I will be reffing on Friday/Sunday.
Was privileged to ref my first Girls Academy games this weekend with Marco from Indy left and Steve from North Carolina right.
BIG GAMES ON TV
Fri, Sept 30
2:30 pm ESPN+ Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen
Sat, Oct 1
7:30 am USA Arsenal vs Tottenham
9:30 am ESPN+ Dortmund (Reyna) vs Koln
9:30 am ESPN+ Frankfurt vs Union Berlin (Pefok)
10 am USA Crystal Palace vs Chelsea (Pulisic)
10 am Peacock Fulham (Ream, Jedi) vs New Castle United
12 noon ESPN+ Roma vs Inter Milan
6 pm Para + NY Gothem vs Portland Thorns NWSL
7:30 pm ESPN+ Chicago Fire vs Cincy
10 pm Para+ Seattle Reign vs Orlando Pride NWSL
Sun, Oct 2
9 am USA Man City vs Man United
10 am USA Leeds United (Aaronson, Adams) vs Aston Villa
The injured Yunus Musah was in attendance and saw that the U.S. needs Yunus Musah in a 0-0 tie against the World Cup-bound Saudis. MURCIA, Spain — The U.S. men’s national team tied Saudi Arabia 0-0 on Tuesday in the last game before the World Cup starts in November. Here are my three thoughts on the game: GrantWahl.com is a reader-supported soccer newsletter, and this is how I make my living. Quality journalism requires resources. The best way to support me and my work is by taking out a paid subscription now. Subscribed Upgrade to Paid • This was better than the ugly Japan loss, but the U.S. still isn’t where it should be so close to the World Cup. The U.S. had to make an improvement over that performance against the Japanese, and they did, showing more poise and a bit more energy against a not-full-strength Saudi Arabia starting 11. Weston McKennie and especially Tyler Adams had better performances over Friday in the midfield, and central defenders Aaron Long and Walker Zimmerman didn’t lose their composure this time. (They even looked for some line-breaking passes over the top.) It was good to see Christian Pulisic back on the field, and the U.S. looked decent on the handful of occasions when Pulisic showed flashes of creativity on the ball in the attack. But Pulisic still didn’t have a signature moment that could have really gotten him going again amid his club issues. Meanwhile, the U.S. still didn’t create many scoring chances and had just two shots on goal against a Saudi team that was well-organized by the veteran coach Hervé Renard. The Saudis don’t concede many goals (they tied fellow World Cup entrant Ecuador 0-0 here on Friday), and the U.S. didn’t do enough to find holes in the defense. Playing at left back, Sergiño Dest remains an enigma, a player capable on this night of some brutal unforced errors but also of a couple piercing runs forward. Simply put: It has to getter from the U.S. before the World Cup opener against Wales if the Americans are going to put three points on the board in that game. • The U.S. really needs Yunus Musah. The 19-year-old Valencia midfielder could have made a huge difference in this game had he been on the field instead of missing with an injury. Musah actually came down the coast and watched the game in the stadium, and what he saw was a U.S. team that doesn’t have anyone quite like him who can carry the ball forward on the dribble in the midfield and threaten opposing defenses. Musah has a real chance to be the breakout player of the World Cup for the United States. Give Gregg Berhalter credit for recognizing early that Musah can be dangerous in a central role instead of the wide role that his club played him at until Rino Gattuso decided to do so this season. But is it a concern that the U.S. doesn’t seem to have anyone else who can do what Musah does? You bet it is. Which is why it’s so important that Musah gets healthy and stays that way through November. • Gio Reyna can’t buy a break health-wise. The 19-year-old Borussia Dortmund attacker has been plagued by injuries for the past year, and he recreated an all-too-familiar scene in the 30th minute when he touched the ball out of play and walked off the field through the tunnel (with Gregg Berhalter following behind). U.S. Soccer said Reyna had muscle tightness and came out as a precaution. Reyna, who still seems better-suited to a central midfield than a winger spot with the U.S., hadn’t made a major mark in these two international games, but it was good just to see him start two games in a row as he tries to get back to full fitness for club and country. It has almost become a meme at this point to see a distressed Reyna walking off the field through the tunnel, and you have to hope that it isn’t an injury that will set him back as he tries to become a regular contributor for the U.S. and for Dortmund. There’s a psychological element to how Reyna processes his injuries, and it’s something you never want a player so young to have to deal with on a regular basis. USMNT winger Gio Reyna will return from injury ahead of World Cup Sep 29, 202215
U.S. men’s national team winger Giovanni Reyna “has a strain and will be out for seven to 10 days,” Borussia Dortmund coach Edin Terzić said Thursday.Reyna, who also plays for the German club, sustained the injury during a friendly against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday. The 19-year-old exited the World Cup tune-up match after just 30 minutes and headed right to the tunnel after leaving the field. He was replaced by Paul Arriola, and the match ended in a scoreless draw.Reyna has struggled with hamstring injuries in the past, most recently missing the bulk of the European domestic season due to a torn tendon sustained while playing for Borussia Dortmund in April. That injury required four full months of recovery and followed another hamstring problem that prevented him from playing for five months.The Americans begin World Cup play with a Group B match against Wales on Nov. 21. Given Reyna’s estimated recovery timeline, he should be available to play. World Cup state of play: Dismal form, injuries and lack of striker impairing USMNT Sam Stejskal and Paul Tenorio Sep 29, 2022 163
The U.S. men’s national team’s final two matches before the World Cup — a 2-0 loss to Japan in Dusseldorf, Germany, last Friday and a scoreless draw against Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain, four days later — raised some serious concerns. What went wrong in the buildup? What problems does head coach Gregg Berhalter face? ADVERTISEMENT Here, Paul Tenorio and Sam Stejskal answer the big questions.
What is the team’s form like and how have they performed during this break? This was perhaps the most disheartening international window for the U.S. since the one in October 2019 when they suffered a shock defeat on the road to Canada in the CONCACAF Nations League. That loss served as a turning point for this national team — a reminder that their intensity and energy are still critical to their success. This latest window reinforced that notion. There are still some very big weaknesses in this young team. The two big areas of concern — center-back and forward — flared up in the defeat to Japan and draw with Saudi Arabia. Just as concerning, though, was the midfield’s inability to play through the opposition. The U.S. certainly felt the absence of 19-year-old Yunus Musah and they’ll hope his return in November will help settle the midfield.
Which players are in or out of form? Are there any that the fans/the manager will be worried about? Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams are starting every week for Leeds United, Weston McKennie is getting healthy minutes with Juventus and Walker Zimmerman is having another fine season for Nashville. But those four aside, there are legitimate form concerns for most of the U.S.’s main players. Christian Pulisic has had a rough start to the season at Chelsea. His playing time under new head coach Graham Potter will be a major focal point for U.S. fans in the coming weeks. Giovanni Reyna had not made a league start for Borussia Dortmund before this month’s international break as he continued to work his way back to fitness and his injury on Tuesday will likely delay that further. Sergino Dest didn’t play at all for Barcelona in the three games between the start of the season and his deadline-day loan move to AC Milan, where he’s been used in a reserve role so far, making three substitute appearances. It’s conceivable that none of those three will have a consistent run of starts between now and kick-off in Qatar. Striker may be the most confounding position. Jesus Ferreira is in good form in MLS but he has yet to translate any success he’s had with FC Dallas to a match against a difficult opponent on the international level. Ricardo Pepi is off to a fine start to his loan at Dutch top-flight club Groningen but it’s only been two solid games after a rut that lasted nearly a year. ADVERTISEMENT Josh Sargent and Jordan Pefok are performing well at their clubs, but Sargent played the fewest minutes of any of the three strikers called into the September camp while Pefok was left off the roster entirely. Aaron Long is starting at center-back for the U.S. but he isn’t having his best year for the New York Red Bulls. Mark McKenzie entered September in good form at Genk in Belgium but he then struggled mightily for the U.S. This position will remain a huge concern up to, and likely throughout, the World Cup. Then there are the injuries. Lots and lots of injuries. Are there worries over the fitness of, or injuries to, certain players? The U.S. went into the September window missing several starters due to injury: Musah, left-back Antonee Robinson, center-back Chris Richards and winger Tim Weah. It then got worse.Robinson emerged as one of the most influential players in this U.S. team due to his attacking abilities but missed out on this window with an ankle injury. There has been no indication of just how bad the ailment is. If he misses the World Cup, his absence would likely force Dest to the left side and shake up the back line.Richards has struggled to stay healthy and his injuries have limited his availability and playing time with the national team. Center-back is the thinnest spot on the roster and Richards’ passing ability is especially missed. If he can get healthy and play a stretch of games with Crystal Palace, the U.S. will be much better for it. Another center-back, Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers, also pulled out of this camp due to an injury, forcing the U.S. further down the depth chart for the September games.Musah was a late exclusion due to a muscle injury but his issues seem like a shorter-term problem. Weah, meanwhile, remains out for Lille due to a foot injury and is yet to play this season. As mentioned above, Reyna left Tuesday’s draw as a precautionary measure due to some hamstring tightness. The injury is not expected to be serious, according to Berhalter, but it’s a reminder that over the past year, Reyna has been unable to stay on the field for long stretches. Right-back Reggie Cannon picked up a groin injury in this September camp and is expected to miss a few weeks.Cristian Roldan missed camp due to a groin injury suffered in August but he returned to the field for Seattle on Tuesday. He could be back with the U.S. squad in November — he’s seen as an important presence within the locker room.
What is the squad’s depth like? Are there any problem positions? There’s good depth at winger, where Pulisic, Reyna, Aaronson and Weah are competing for two starting spots, and Paul Arriola and Jordan Morris are fighting for a reserve role. The U.S. is pretty thin just about everywhere else, however. We saw that in the September window. Luca de la Torre, who started against Japan, and Kellyn Acosta, who went the full 90 minutes against Saudi Arabia, didn’t come close to replacing Musah’s ability to break pressure and assist Adams in buildout play. At center-back, injuries to Richards and Carter-Vickers prompted Berhalter to start Long in both matches.The absence of Robinson and the tough outing that Sam Vines had against Japan led to Dest flipping from the right to the left on Tuesday. It worked fine but it was a case of hurting one side of the back four to fix the other. Berhalter likely only felt comfortable trying the flip because the U.S. has somewhat decent depth on the right with DeAndre Yedlin, Joe Scally and Cannon, though the latter is now out for the next few weeks due to his injury.Again, the main problem positions are center-back and striker. Zimmerman has been solid defensively but he’s limited in possession. Long hasn’t been up to par while McKenzie was poor in September. The U.S. need Richards to get healthy and onto the field for Palace, but given his lack of playing time before his recent injury, the latter outcome seems unlikely. Carter-Vickers returning to the field at Celtic could provide a boost, too. It’s a similar picture at striker.None of the options have done anything of note at the international level. Ferreira has finished poorly with the U.S. and hasn’t done a good job of threatening opposition back lines with runs in behind. Sargent didn’t get much of a chance in this window. Pepi is a total wild card, given his prolonged struggles over the last year. Union Berlin’s Pefok is the option du jour but Berhalter seems to have decided his limitations in possession preclude him from starting in Qatar.Simply put, the U.S. is several cuts below the top international teams at both these positions.That won’t change between now and the World Cup.
Are there any issues to fix before the World Cup? There are a couple of major aspects to address. The U.S. must be better at handling a team’s press and they have to figure out how to unlock teams who sit in a low block. Both areas have given this team problems and they should expect to see both tactics employed against them at the World Cup. As mentioned above, the issues at center-back and striker aren’t “fixable”, per se. Players need to step up but there are tactical tweaks that could help in handling the press better and the U.S. need to figure out what to do to unlock the attacking strength of their team: the wingers. Dropping Musah closer to Adams, shifting McKennie a bit to the right, and opening space on the left so that they can play through Pulisic could be key.
What are the expectations of the fanbase for the World Cup? Before these last two matches, they seemed relatively high. The minimum expectation was to emerge out of group B, which also includes England, Wales and Iran. After the September window, that may have changed a bit. Most fans will likely still expect the U.S. to advance to the 16-team knockout stage but most certainly feel a lot less confident in that happening than they did just one week ago. U.S. Soccer’s 30-year run on ESPN has come to an end
Jon Heath followSeptember 28, 2022 5:13 pm ET The U.S. men’s national soccer team’s 2-0 loss to Japan in a friendly last week marked the end of U.S. Soccer’s 30-year partnership with ESPN. In the final minute of the game, former USMNT player and current ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman put a bow on a long era of Disney-owned coverage of the national team. “For so many of us, it was [growing up with] the ABC games, the ESPN family of networks — just watching the games,” Twellman said. “Way before I even got here, they just did such a good job of helping this national team — both the women’s and the men’s — grow. It’s remarkable to think that at the end of 2022, it’s all done.” Twellman followed up his on-air remarks with a tweet thanking those “behind the scenes” who made the network’s coverage possible. What networks will broadcast U.S. Soccer games now? ESPN did not renew its deal with U.S. Soccer that’s set to expire at the end of 2022, so where can fans watch going forward? First, the 2022 World Cup in Qatar will air on Fox Sports networks this fall, and the 2023 Women’s World Cup will be on Fox next summer. Fox also owns the rights to the 2026 World Cup. Meanwhile, Nations League matches will remain with CBS (likely on Paramount+) through next year and then the rights will become available. After the World Cup, Turner Sports will take over most non-World Cup matches beginning in 2023. Turner Sports reached an eight-year agreement with U.S. Soccer in March that will pay the federation between $25 million and $27 million per year for English-language rights to USMNT and USWNT games, according to The Athletic. Turner will have the rights to USMNT and USWNT friendlies, the SheBelieves Cup, as well as USWNT and USMNT World Cup qualifiers among other properties. The USMNT is expected to automatically qualify for the 2026 World Cup at home, so qualifiers (for the men’s team) might not come into play before the 2030 World Cup cycle. As part of the deal, Turner also acquired U.S. Open Cup rights. According to U.S. Soccer, TNT or TBS will televise approximately half of the more than 20 matches Turner Sports carries annually. All games will also be available to stream on HBO Max, and it remains to be seen if Turner will opt to make any games exclusively available on the streaming service. Meanwhile, Spanish-language rights remain available, and newly merged TelevisaUnivision appears to be a major contender to acquire that package. Is this really the end of ESPN’s coverage? The rights to some USMNT games — such as Gold Cup matches — are held by CONCACAF, so it’s possible that ESPN might acquire select games going forward, but their current agreement with U.S. Soccer is coming to an end.
USMNT World Cup roster and lineup projections as Qatar 2022 nears
Henry BushnellTue, September 27, 2022 at 8:03 PM Yahoo Soccer Gregg Berhalter has 11 players in mind who, “ideally, in a perfect world,” would start for the U.S. men’s national team in its 2022 World Cup opener.The USMNT coach knows, of course, that “that’s not international soccer”; that this world is far from perfect and that injuries will surely disrupt his plans. But he has been concocting them, gradually, for years now. On what is effectively World Cup Eve, with his final warmup friendlies played, he has just about all the information he needs to pick a starting lineup — and, for that matter, a roster.Berhalter has not yet settled on a 26-man squad for Qatar 2022, but he is close. The roster, he indicated, was 80-85% set prior to a September training camp. A 2-0 loss to Japan last week and a 0-0 draw with Saudi Arabia on Tuesday provided further clues — and for Berhalter, “some clarity.” He and U.S. Soccer will reveal the World Cup roster on Nov. 9. He’ll then sweat through one last weekend of club games before submitting his final list of 26 players to FIFA by Monday, Nov. 14. By then, the entire USMNT will have gathered in Qatar, at their luxurious hotel on The Pearl, and at their Al-Gharafa training base.And by then, barring any last-minute fitness doubts, the starting 11 will also be decided. Here, with less than two months to go, is what we think it will be. USMNT projected starting lineup for 2022 World Cup Over the past 12 months, Berhalter’s ideal starting 11 has crystallized. Assuming full health, with the exception of Miles Robinson, it appears to be this — with a few caveats below: Goalkeeper: Matt Turner Right back: Sergiño Dest Center back: Walker Zimmerman Center back: Chris Richards Left back: Antonee Robinson Defensive midfield: Tyler Adams Central midfield: Yunus Musah Central midfield: Weston McKennie Right wing: Tim Weah Striker: Jesús Ferreira Left wing: Christian Pulisic Caveat No. 1: In his “perfect world,” Berhalter would love to start Zack Steffen, who’s more capable than Turner with the ball at his feet. But Steffen’s form and fitness have been unstable. He would need to get back onto the field and into a groove for Middlesbrough, his English Championship club, if he is going to start at the World Cup ahead of Turner — who played all 180 minutes (and played well) in the September friendlies.Caveat No. 2: Same goes for Chris Richards. He is the most talented center back in the U.S. pool, but missed all six World Cup tuneups due to injury. In his place, Aaron Long was the only USMNT player, regardless of position, to start all six. If Richards isn’t ready to play 90 minutes — and given that he has no clear path to regular playing time at Crystal Palace, he might not be — Long appears to be the deputy, no matter how uncomfortable he has looked. (Long might also be the best matchup for 6-foot-5 Welsh striker Kieffer Moore.)The only other slight question mark is at striker. Josh Sargent and Ricardo Pepi remain in contention to start up top. But Berhalter heaps praise on Jesús Ferreira whenever he can, and said this month that Ferreira “checks all [the] boxes.” If Weah and Pulisic are both in the lineup against Wales, Ferreira should also be in it — with some rotation possible further into the tournament. USMNT 2022 World Cup roster prediction The roster is a tad more complicated. But 20 outfield players and one goalkeeper appear to be locks or near-locks. Before we get to position-by-position analysis, and identify those locks, here’s our best guess at the 26: Goalkeepers: Zack Steffen, Matt Turner, Sean Johnson Fullbacks: Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin, Reggie Cannon Center backs: Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards, Aaron Long, Cameron Carter-Vickers Central midfielders: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, Kellyn Acosta Attacking midfielders/wingers: Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Brenden Aaronson, Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman, Paul Arriola Strikers: Jesús Ferreira, Josh Sargent, Jordan Pefok, Ricardo Pepi GOALKEEPERS Locks: Matt Turner Likely: Zack Steffen Bubble: Sean Johnson, Ethan Horvath, Gaga Slonina Turner will be either the starter or the No. 2. Steffen could be the starter. If not, he could be the No. 2, or he could be off the roster altogether. For the remaining one or two slots, Berhalter has two options: pick a “locker-room guy,” or peer into the future. In the first scenario, Johnson versus Horvath is a coin flip. In the second, the 18-year-old Slonina is an obvious choice. He’s the best goalkeeper prospect the U.S. has produced in some time, and the early favorite to start in 2026. He hasn’t played for the national team yet, but could be brought to Qatar for the experience. FULLBACKS Locks: Sergiño Dest, Antonee Robinson Likely: DeAndre Yedlin, Reggie Cannon Bubble: Joe Scally, Sam Vines Berhalter dropped a massive hint on Tuesday when he started Dest at left back and Yedlin at right back, rather than giving Scally a legitimate look on the left. Scally was somewhat impressive off the bench — but on the right, which is telling. The takeaway is that Dest, in addition to his role as the starting right back, is the backup left back. If Antonee Robinson were to go down in Qatar, Dest would switch flanks, and either Yedlin or Cannon would slot in at right back, depending on situation and opponent. (Cannon is valued for his ability to play on the right side of a back three in possession.) So, Scally would, in theory, be the third-string left back and fourth-string right back. Vines, who looked a bit out of his depth against Japan, would be the third-string left back. Both seem unnecessary. With Robinson injured, Berhalter brought only one left-footed fullback to September camp, and his reasoning — “we didn’t feel like we had enough depth on the left side to go with two left-footers” — could probably apply in November as well. CENTER BACKS Locks: Walker Zimmerman, Chris Richards, Aaron Long Likely: Cameron Carter-Vickers Bubble: Mark McKenzie Longshot: Tim Ream, James Sands Zimmerman and his two potential partners are on the plane. Carter-Vickers is the clear favorite to join them. Those were the four on this September roster until Richards and Carter-Vickers pulled out with minor injuries. In their absence, Berhalter called in McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown, but, rather than give them real opportunities, he kept trying to forge a viable Long-Zimmerman partnership. The question is whether he’ll take a fifth center back. The extremely logical option would be Ream, who A) is currently captaining a Premier League club, B) has all sorts of experience, C) would be the left-footed ball-playing center back that the U.S. so sorely lacked against Japan and D) could serve as the third-string, in-case-of-emergency left back. But Berhalter’s September decisions and words suggest that Ream is, at best, seventh on the depth chart and out of the picture. “Some of the things that we’re looking for in our center backs is to play a high line, cover a lot of space behind them, be dominant in the air, dominant on offensive and defensive set pieces,” Berhalter said after naming the roster. “And that’s not Tim’s strength.” (McKenzie played in the second halves of both September games, and, although he’d seem redundant if the top four options are all available, he could be the fifth choice.) CENTRAL MIDFIELDERS Locks: Tyler Adams, Weston McKennie, Yunus Musah, Luca de la Torre, Kellyn Acosta Longshots: Cristian Roldan Can play here too: Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson, Malik Tillman The midfield seems simple. The three starters — Adams, Musah and McKennie — are obvious. Acosta is the backup to Adams. De la Torre is a backup at either of the other two positions. So are Tillman, Reyna and Aaronson, who, as a trio, give Berhalter enough flexibility to feel comfortable taking only five true central midfielders. There remains an outside chance, though, that he could use the 26th roster spot on a sixth, which could be Roldan, a well-liked and versatile veteran who’s currently injured — and whose stock might have risen in absentia. WINGERS/ATTACKING MIDFIELDERS Locks: Christian Pulisic, Tim Weah, Gio Reyna, Brenden Aaronson Likely: Malik Tillman Bubble: Paul Arriola, Jordan Morris We’re hesitant to lock in Tillman only because his USMNT track record is so short. But Berhalter clearly rates him. Speaking prior to camp, he essentially challenged the 20-year-old attacking midfielder to “increase his level,” then said: “He can help this group, but he needs to pick it up a little. He’s a guy that the coaching staff was highly impressed with, and think he’s got a huge ceiling.” Berhalter then used Tillman in both September games off the bench, once in midfield and once on the left wing. That he didn’t stand out isn’t all that relevant, because nobody did. With creativity more than accounted for, then, by that locked-in group of four or five, the conventional wisdom is that Berhalter will take a more direct winger as the sixth player in this category. It’ll likely be whoever between Arriola and Morris concludes the MLS season in better form. STRIKERS Locks: Jesús Ferreira Likely: Josh Sargent Bubble: Ricardo Pepi, Jordan Pefok Ferreira will be on the plane, even if he doesn’t start. Sargent should be, unless he falls back into a rut at Norwich. And then we arrive at the most controversial decision of all. Berhalter would do anything to reincarnate 2021 Ricardo Pepi. He called the 19-year-old into September camp despite 11-plus months without a goal. (Pepi finally scored one the following weekend.) He praised him effusively in news conferences, and handed him a start against Saudi Arabia. He desperately wants Pepi to make this 26-man squad, and to be his third striker — or something more. Whether Pepi ultimately does will depend on his performances for his new club, FC Groningen; but also on Berhalter’s answer to an infrequently discussed question: Might he take four strikers to Qatar? He certainly does not need four. But he doesn’t need a fifth fullback, a fifth center back or a sixth central midfielder either. The separate scenarios that call Pepi and Pefok into action are far more plausible than the ones that summon Scally, or Vines, or McKenzie, or Roldan. Pefok, as the third striker, would serve a very specific role. He’d never start, because his profile doesn’t jibe with Berhalter’s system; but he’d be the penalty-box target that Berhalter would turn to when systems fly out the window, with 15 minutes remaining and in need of a goal. Pepi would then be the fourth striker who could deputize in any of the three roles, and who, in the absolute worst-case scenario, would soak up the experience and store it away for 2026.
What are my NWSL team’s playoff chances? Your guide to the season’s final weekend
The 2022 NWSL regular season is down to its final six matches, but we still have plenty of drama in store.
Four teams have a shot at finishing at the top of the standings when all is said and done (alright, really only three, but our playoff scenario pieces have been about extremes, and technically there are four), while we could very well see the final game of the entire season become a one-game playoff elimination game.
Follow along as we detail all the possibilities for each of the eight teams that are still alive!
Eliminated: NJ/NY Gotham FC, Racing Louisville, Washington Spirit, Orlando Pride
This section hasn’t expanded despite two playoff bubble teams both losing last weekend, which is wild, but also shouldn’t be a surprise by now given the territory we’ve covered. We’re in a definitively weird space, you just have to embrace the oddity.
There’s little to play for for this group. Gotham cannot escape the cellar, and while Orlando, Louisville, and Washington all have to balance analyzing their squads for next year against opponents that all have something on the line in the final weekend. Every game on the docket has meaning, which might make for some rough sledding for this quartet.
Fewest disciplinary points (with points assigned for yellow cards and red cards picked up by an entire team over the year)
If two teams are still tied, the tie is broken by a coin toss. If the tie involves more than two teams, it will be broken by a drawing of lots.
8. Angel City FC (29 points, 8W-5D-8L, -2 GD, 23 GF/25 GA)
Final game: at Chicago Red Stars (Sunday 10/2, 8:00pm ET, Paramount+)
Angel City has made a tremendous impact on the NWSL in its first year, but to carry that statement to the on-field side, they’re going to need a lot of things to go right this weekend. There’s no dodging that their 3-1 home loss to Louisville this past Sunday is a huge slip-up, and now even a final-day win over Chicago doesn’t do the job for them.
Angel City needs to go to Chicago and win (note: the Red Stars only have two home losses all season), and they also effectively need San Diego to win Friday night’s clash against North Carolina.
Technically a draw in that game would keep the door open for Angel City, but they’d step onto the field in Bridgeview with a 15-goal gap to make up for the tiebreaker, and with all due respect, a team with 23 goals in 21 matches is not likely to score 15 goals, even against a depleted Chicago side.
Playoff chances: Wearing navy blue and pink on Friday while watching every sports underdog movie
7. Chicago Red Stars (30 points, 8W-6D-7L, +4 GD, 32 GF/28 GA)
Final game: vs. Angel City FC (Sunday 10/2, 8:00pm ET, Paramount+)
Chicago and Angel City are in the same boat in terms of still being alive amid some very bad vibes from their penultimate game. While Angel City will rue losing at home to an eliminated team, Chicago will instead look to the gritty details of their 3-0 defeat at Portland.
Namely, the Red Stars melted down in a way that will definitely impact their chances on Sunday. Bianca St-Georges — who is on this writer’s shortlist for a Best XI spot — was sent off for choosing to dispute a throw-in call with the suddenly popular double birds, while Zoe Morse (who was on track to be an NWSL “iron woman”) picked up a second yellow card well after the game was dead and buried.
Because they’re 11 goals behind the Courage on the goal difference tiebreaker, Chicago is effectively in must-win mode just like Angel City. The only difference is that they have a few more paths to the postseason. If San Diego avoids defeat against North Carolina, Chicago can get into sixth place with a win on Sunday.
Additionally, if Houston loses at Washington on Saturday night, the goal difference tiebreaker might let the Red Stars sneak past the Dash. Houston is only three goals clear of Chicago at the moment, and a loss necessarily means they’d be no better than two goals clear when Red Stars-ACFC kicks off.
Of course, this potentially huge game could end up meaning nothing, as wins for the Courage and Dash would shut the door on both Chicago and Angel City.
Final game: at San Diego Wave (Friday 9/30, 10:00pm ET, Paramount+)
On August 13, the Courage lost a 4-3 thriller to Kansas City that seemed at the time like the end of any NC playoff hopes. By the end of the night, they were alone at the bottom of the NWSL table on 10 points. OL Reign were in sixth place on 21 points, meaning that North Carolina had more points to make up on the playoff pack than they’d collected on the season.
It’s 47 days later, and look at the Courage, sitting in sixth and holding their destiny in their own hands. Much like last year’s Spirit, they’ve successfully run the gauntlet, winning seven times in nine games. While there’s no hiding the fact that things have been rocky off the field, North Carolina have managed something really special on it.
But the job isn’t done yet. They have a tough assignment in their final game, a road trip to San Diego against a Wave team aiming for a first-round bye (or, at the very least, the guarantee of a home playoff game). A loss means they’re out of the playoffs if either Chicago or Angel City wins on Sunday, and a draw would leave them vulnerable to elimination if the Red Stars won the next day.
North Carolina can’t climb higher than fifth place, so their best-case scenario is still a road playoff game, but remember where they were a few weeks ago.
Playoff chances: The epic comeback is one step from reality
Final game: at Washington Spirit (Saturday 10/1, 7:00pm ET, Paramount+)
Houston saw a chance to clinch their first-ever playoff spot slip through their grasp, as they fell 2-0 to OL Reign at home. Making matters worse, they’ll be without Shea Groom for their regular season finale, as the attacking midfielder picked up a yellow card accumulation suspension despite the very best efforts of her teammate Katie Naughton.
The Dash also have to deal with their recent history against the Spirit, which is quite bad. They haven’t beaten Washington since July 20, 2019, even after having a Spirit home game end up being played in Houston (which saw Washington score their game-winner with only 10 players on the field after an earlier red card).This year, just as was the case last year, they only need a draw at Audi Field in their final game to secure a playoff spot. In 2021, they had that point in hand, only for a tactical blunder from then-coach James Clarkson to hand Washington the time to find a late game-winner, eliminating the Dash in heartbreaking fashion.But still, the Houston of 2022 seems to be made of sterner stuff, and they really do just need a single point, or a non-win from either the Courage or Red Stars, to finally get into the playoffs. A win opens the door to a possible home playoff game, though they’d need help in the form of either San Diego or Kansas City losing.
Playoff chances: One last ghost to fight off
Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-USA TODAY Sports
4. San Diego Wave FC (35 points, 10W-5D-6L, +11 GD, 32 GF/21 GA)
Final game: vs. NC Courage (Friday 9/30, 10:00pm ET, Paramount+)
San Diego’s late two-goal comeback at Orlando was just enough to assure themselves of a place in the NWSL postseason. While they have some concerns — Abby Dahlkemper appeared to suffer a fairly serious injury, while Taylor Kornieck also left that last game after rolling her ankle — they don’t have any must-win or must-not-lose scenarios approaching.
However, they’ve still got a good shot at bringing a playoff game to Snapdragon Stadium, and could even seal a first-round bye. They’re even technically in the NWSL Shield race, but with a 14-goal deficit to cover with Portland, we can put that topic to the side.
If San Diego picks up a draw, Houston would have to win in Washington by at least four goals for the Wave to fall out of the top four, which would guarantee at least one playoff game in SoCal. A loss, combined with the Dash not winning their finale, would also lock in a fourth-place finish.
With a win and some help, the Wave can finish as high as second. They’d need the Reign to tie or lose to Orlando, as well as Kansas City to do something other than win at Louisville (both games are on Saturday).
Playoff chances: In, and possibly (probably?) hosting3. Kansas City Current (36 points, 10W-6D-5L, +1 GD, 29 GF/28 GA)
Final game: at Racing Louisville (Saturday 10/1, 7:30pm ET, Twitch)
After watching the Spirit hit the post early, Kansas City wasted no time in making sure they weren’t going to suffer a fate like Houston’s. The Current scored three goals in a 23-minute span, putting the game away by halftime to clinch their place in the postseason.
They’re in a great position to host a game as well. The only way they can fall out of the top four would be to lose in Kentucky while San Diego takes at least one point on Friday and Houston wins in D.C. on Saturday.
The Current still have a shot at the NWSL Shield, but even with a win, it’s not likely. They’d need the Reign to fail to beat Orlando at home, which feels like a stretch, but they’d also need Gotham to end the NWSL’s all-time record losing streak by beating Portland on Saturday. On the plus side, a win and a Reign draw gets KC into second place, and they get a first-round bye as a result.
Playoff chances: They’re in, and they’re the team no one wants to play
Final game: vs. Orlando Pride (Saturday 10/1, 10:00pm ET, Twitch)
The Reign have really shown their mettle down the stretch, taking nine points from a three-game road trip over just one week that included victories at Houston and North Carolina.
As the team in the best form in the entire league, they’ve marched up to second, and have a real shot at winning the Shield. Still, it’ll take some help that’s unlikely to come: if Portland wins at Gotham, the Thorns will get the silverware instead. A Reign win is a prerequisite, unless Portland loses by 15 (that’s fifteen) goals at Red Bull Arena, which would also open the door to a Reign draw being enough. It’d probably also signal the end of days, so don’t worry too much about that scenario.
The Reign have guaranteed themselves a home playoff game, but they can get a bye their veteran-laden squad would probably appreciate if they can beat the Pride. They could also get there with a draw if Kansas City and San Diego stumble.
Final game: at Gotham FC (Saturday 10/1, 6:00pm ET, Paramount+)
A win gets the Thorns another NWSL Shield, but that’s the only way it’s guaranteed. If they slip up in their cross-country trek to face Gotham, the door is open for them to fall to third (or, if you want to pretend there’s any chance that their loss and San Diego’s win wipes out Portland’s plus-14 goal difference edge, then fourth).
If the Thorns only get one point in New Jersey, OL Reign can leap over them at the last gasp. With a loss, wins for the Reign and Kansas City would oblige Portland to host a playoff game without the benefit of a bye.
But let’s be real here: the chances of each of these things happening are remote. Portland will be richly favored to further Gotham’s misery for good reason, and if they do it, they’re your regular season champs, and all paths to the championship go through them.
Playoff chances: The likely No. 1 seed for a reason
Wow – what a horrific showing by our boys and our coach vs Japan. Japan’s high press absolutely EXPOSED both our defense and the pathetic plans of Berhalter as the build out of the back BS was destroyed. Right CB Aaron Long was exposed and should be replaced IMMEDIATELY by Fulham’s Tim Ream. Zimmerman also struggled – but when paired with a slow CB like Long who can’t pass for $hit what is the guy to do? McKinney was Equally bad – as we can see now why he can’t get off the bench on a bad Juventus team. Musah was certainly missed in the MMA midfield as there was NO ONE who could maneuver out of pressure – McKinney can’t do it and De La Torre was WAY over his head. I think we saw in the middle today without Musah there to connect between the offense and defense – Adams can’t do it all alone. Adams too was not his normal destroyer in the middle that he is at Leeds. Obviously a 2-0 win loss to a good Japan team that could have easily been 4-0 if not for Matt Turner’s POG performance. We were missing 5 starters and realistically we aren’t deep enough to do that against non CONCACAF competition. Pulisic, Musah, Richards, Jedi and Tim Weah would have made a difference today and will have to make a difference in the World Cup or my prediction of getting to the Round of 16 will look ridiculous – much like Berhalter’s tactics and personnel decisions.
Forward Jesus Ferreira whiffed on his only chance to put us up 1-0 when a perfect ball delivered by Dest was horrifically headed over -even though he was wide open. (Listen I would be upset if our U11 boys missed that header – and they aren’t allowed to head) He blew it and if he’s on the plane – it dang well better not be as a starter. We have a guy who’s got 3 goals and 3 assist in the Bundesliga for league-leading Union Berlin named Jordan Pefok who Berhalter left home. Hopefully Josh Sargent gets the chance to start at the #9 Tues and see how he plays with Pulisic and Reyna in the game. Also hopefully we see Pepi in the 2nd half to see if he deserves a spot on the plane to Qatar. This game tomorrow afternoon at 2 pm is HUGE. Our defense needs to show it can fix things. That and we need to show if Berhalter can change plans a little and stop forcing us to play out of the back when it isn’t working. We need to see Sargent or Pepi do something up top along with hopefully a fitter Pulisic and Reyna. These guys need to play and play well together. I would move Aaronson into the center midfield with McKinney and Adams and see if that can work.
Here’s my line-up Tues
Pulisic, Pep, Reyna
Adams, Aaronson, McKinney
Scally, McKinsie, Zimmerman, Yedlin
Horvath or Turner
USMNT September roster (caps/goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 18/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 27/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 17/2), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 27/3), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 8/0), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 2/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 74/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 31/3)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 52/2), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 30/1), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 11/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 35/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0), Malik Tillman (Rangers/SCO; 2/0)
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 22/6), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 47/10), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 13/7), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 48/11), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen/NED; 11/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 51/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 12/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 19/3)
Indy 11 Home Sat – Breast Cancer Awareness Night 7 pm
Indy Eleven used a 2nd half penalty kick conversion from its captain Ayoze and a dominant defensive performance to capture a hard-fought 1-0 home win.The victory marked the Eleven’s 4 straight home win. They return home Saturday, Oct. 1, when they host FC Tulsa for Breast Cancer Awareness Night Tickets start at $15 at indyeleven.com/tickets or watch MyINDY-TV 23, ESPN+.
High School Local – #1 CHS Boys host Harrison Mon night, #3 CHS Girls travel to Westfield
The Carmel High School boys host their finale tonight vs Harrison at Murray at 7 pm before hosting regionals next week. The #3 CHS ladies tied #4 Zionsville 0-0 as 5 former or current Carmel FC Goalkeepers saw action between the pipes in JV and Varsity action. They close out the year at #15 Westfield tonight. Carmel Men’s highlights in win over Guerin. The Carmel Girls head into regionals next week ranked 3rd in the US and Indiana according to Max Preps – who also has Noblesville (2nd), and Zionsville (21) in the top 25 nationally.
CFC GKU – GK Coach Noelle Rolfsen Named All Conference Player of the Week
Carmel FC GK coach Noelle Rolfsen was named all Conference Player of the Week for her 3rd ranked Marian University Knights. Noelle Rolfsen was voted the Crossroads League Women’s Soccer Defensive Player of the Week as announced by the league office earlier this afternoon. The honor marks the first time in her career as a keeper for the Knights. The senior goalkeeper played the full 90 minutes and recorded a shutout in a win against No. 18 Grace, posting four saves to help the Knights to a 2-0 win over the Lancers. Rolfsen has played in every game this season, notching 28 saves with 0.67 goals against average, helping Marian towards an 8-0-1 record. Rolfsen and the Knights will be on the road at #2 Ranked Spring Arbor Wednesday before returning home Saturday at 7:30 PM to host Bethel for senior day.
BIG GAMES ON TV
Mon, Sept 26
2:45 pm FS1 England vs Germany
Tues, Sept 27
2 pm Fox Sports1 USMNT vs Saudi Arabia in Spain
2:45 pm FS2 Switzerland vs Czech Republic
Fri, Sept 30
2:30 pm ESPN+ Bayern Munich vs Bayer Leverkusen
Sat, Oct 1
7:30 am USA Arsenal vs Tottenham
9:30 am ESPN+ Dortmund (Reyna) vs Koln
9:30 am ESPN+ Frankfurt vs Union Berlin (Pefok)
10 am USA Crystal Palace vs Chelsea (Pulisic)
10 am Peacock Fulham (Ream, Jedi) vs New Castle United
12 noon ESPN+ Roma vs Inter Milan
6 pm Para + NY Gothem vs Portland Thorns NWSL
7:30 pm ESPN+ Chicago Fire vs Cincy
10 pm Para+ Seattle Reign vs Orlando Pride NWSL
Sun, Oct 2
9 am USA Man City vs Man United
10 am USA Leeds United (Aaronson, Adams) vs Aston Villa
10 am Peacock Fulham (Ream, Jedi) vs New Castle United
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Tomorrow, the United States Men’s National Team will play its final friendly before the 2022 World Cup when they take on Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain. It’s the final opportunity for the USMNT to evaluate where they are against another team that will head to Qatar in November.
The USMNT head to Murcia, which has become a home away from home for Saudi Arabia. Tuesday’s friendly will be the 4th straight the Saudis have played in Murcia, so the Americans will take the field against an opponent that understands its surroundings. Still, with World Cup spots on the line, the USMNT need to put on a good show and individual players will want to leave that final positive impression on the mind of head coach Gregg Berhalter, who will name his World Cup roster on November 9th.
Latest Form
USA
L (0-2) – Japan – Friendly
D (1-1) – El Salvador – Concacaf Nations League
W (5-0) – Grenada – Concacaf Nations League
D (0-0) – Uruguay – Friendly
W (3-0) – Morocco – Friendly
Saudi Arabia
D (0-0) – Ecuador – Friendly
L (0-1) – Venezuela – Friendly
L (0-1) – Colombia – Friendly
W (1-0) – Australia – World Cup Qualifying
D (1-1) – China – World Cup Qualifying
What To Watch For
Back line needs to be better. The USMNT had several mistakes on defense against Japan, and they cannot duplicate that against a Saudi Arabia team who can take advantage of them. The back line needs to play mistake free, but they also have to play with poise.
Take shots. You can’t win if you don’t shoot. Against Japan, the USMNT did not register a shot on goal, and that doesn’t help you win matches. The team needs to be more creative on offense and more ruthless in the attacking third by putting a ton of shots on net.
Possession doesn’t mean a thing without production. The USMNT had close to 60% possession against Japan, but that didn’t matter because there was no production. The USMNT has to figure out how to turn possession into production, moving the ball forward and creating scoring chances. They have to do that against the Green Falcons.
Lineup Prediction
With Reggie Cannon out for several weeks due to an injury he picked up against Japan, the back line options get a bit thinner. Combined with the other changes that we think are coming, this is what we predict Gregg Berhalter will do tomorrow:
Predicted Lineup vs. Saudi Arabia
Matt Turner will once again start in goal, while the back line will have a couple of changes. DeAndre Yedlin gets the start at right back with Mark McKenzie lining up alongside Walker Zimmerman as the centerback pairing. Sergiño Dest starts at left back.
In the middle, Kellyn Acosta lines up alongside Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie in the middle, with McKennie being the guy that moves forward on the attack. Up front, Christian Pulisic returns to the lineup at left wing after being held out against Japan, with Brenden Aaronson starting at right wing ahead of Gio Reyna, a player who will likely have his minutes managed by entering as a substitute. Ricardo Pepi gets his opportunity to start at the 9 to see if his recent move to Groningen has helped his confidence.
Prediction
It turns into another sluggish affair for the USMNT, but they manage to get one on the board. They hang on for a 1-1 draw.
USA vs. Japan, 2022 friendly; What we learned
The USMNT took on Japan as preparation for the World Cup, and it didn’t go quite as planned. Here’s what we learned.
The United States Men’s National Team took on Japan in Düsseldorf, Germany, and fell 2-0 in what turned out to be a torrid and dispiriting performance.
As a pre-World Cup test, this was a good one. Japan are actually quite a decent team. This particular squad appeared to be a little more experimental than the normal starting XI, but the team overall is pretty good. They were at the 2018 World Cup, where they advanced to the knockout stages (albeit, on the 7th tiebreaker after tying for 2nd place in their group) and very nearly saw off Belgium, one of the darlings for that tournament and a major candidate for the top prize for this year’s tournament.
However, the way that the USMNT played in this one does not inspire confidence. I don’t want to overstate how much it matters to lose a friendly with several months between it and the World Cup, but I do not think this performance was a good sign. To keep things a little more concise — it would take ages to sit and pick apart all the major problems in this match — we will focus on the points of failure on the turn over that led to Japan’s opening goal. From there, we’ll talk about some individual player performances and what that means roster-wise for the World Cup.
Aaron Bears His Doubts Weston Blesses Empty Space Blue Samurai Strikes
The opening goal for Japan really highlighted all that was wrong with this match. If you need a second look, you can watch the goal here:
We are going to look at the turn over that preceded the goal. For our purposes here, I’ve illustrated the turnover to show approximately where the outfield players are on the field and to highlight the key actors and decisions.
The play starts out on the USMNT’s right, with the US winning the ball right by the sideline. The ball moves out to Aaron Long towards the middle, who takes a few touches towards the center circle. He passes to Weston McKennie who, in turn, attempts a one-touch pass backwards. That pass is mishit, falling between Long and Sam Vines, the later of whom has moved forward and was no longer a pass option. Japan easily and quickly picks up the ball and, with a 4 vs. 3 on goal, they put a clean finish past Turner.
There are a series of problems that turned a comfortable situation into a one-goal deficit, problems that range from individual errors and moments of unskillfulness, to fundamental tactical problems. To list, we will touch on:
The slow pace at which the USMNT advances up the field.
The disconnect between the backline and the midfield
The fullback and winger decisions sacrificing the left wing
Aaron Long’s mediocre pass
Weston McKennie’s positional and individual mistakes
I will try and go through these sequentially, but each wrinkle is contingent on what else is happening. Each of these problems is contextual and pulling them apart as individual mistakes risks losing the forest for the trees.
To begin with, the US is moving too slowly here. A lot of people will immediately point to Aaron Long’s hesitancy on the ball, but I think that is far too simplistic. On a well-drilled, counter attacking side, as soon as the ball is recovered, you have players moving down the field, presenting possible options to advance towards goal. On the visual, there’s a huge patch of green space on the USMNT’s left side (the top in the picture) that is completely open. With quick play and aggressive movement, there is an opportunity for the US to attack into the space and advance to goal. The fullback can aggressively move into that space. Or the winger can make a run in behind to get onto a long ball (or at least drag the defenders out of their disciplined lines). There’s space for an attacking motion, to advance the ball before Japan can get reorganized or begin aggressively pressing.
However, the USMNT here has a lack of urgency. Rather, it looks like the team looks to establish a stance with clear and comfortable possession. Players do not break towards the space that Japan has left open. They languidly take up central positions. Gio Reyna tucks inside, Sam Vines merely drifts along the wing. Instead of planning and making runs in behind to present a long-ball option, Jesus Ferreira and Brendan Aaronson take up positions where they can receive the ball at their feet during build up.
With nobody taking any aggressive actions, Aaron Long lingers on the ball. Now, would Long have played an aggressive pass? I can’t say. He doesn’t have the reputation for it, but you can’t fault him for not making a pass that wasn’t there. What he does do is look for a passing outlet. And here, there aren’t good options. Sam Vines is open, but he’s not in an advanced enough position to be worth it, especially not with a nearby Japanese player to press him. Gio Reyna is in a Japanese player’s cover shadow, same for Ferreira and Aaronson. Tyler Adams and Luca de la Torre were out wide to recover the ball and they aren’t back in position yet (and shifting the ball right puts it back in danger with so many Japanese players still there). The one straight forward, open option is McKennie. So that’s the pass he makes.
When people say that Aaron Long is not a good passer, I tend to believe they mean he either does not make aggressive forward passes, or he tends to turn the ball over. While Long did, indeed, turn the ball over quite a bit vs Japan, the problem here is more subtle. The pass comfortably reaches its target. But the pass is towards McKennie’s left foot, with him facing goal. This means that McKennie, who is aware that there is a Japanese player who will close down on him, must make a play with his back facing goal. He can either turn and try to dribble out of the pressure and advance up the field (not his strong suit), or he can hit a one-time pass. McKennie chooses to make the one-time pass… and he loses his concentration and hits the ball to no one, allowing Japan to win the ball with a numbers advantage.
Iran, England, Wales We must return to the world Demonstrate Talent
On a basic level, if McKennie keeps his concentration up, he doesn’t make this mistake and doesn’t turn the ball over to Japan with the defense in such a vulnerable position. Or, if he were more confident/skillful, he would turn and move up the field. Or, if he were a little more positionally aware, he could have taken a slightly different position a little closer to Long, making it substantially easier for Long to make a pass that McKennie could run onto, while making it more difficult for Japan to close down on him (McKennie overshot that position). And, of course, Long could be a more skillful passer (while that was a big deal in the game, it kind of was the least relevant mistake for this one.)
These fixes would have addressed this particular bad moment. But they would not have addressed the fundamental problems in this game. Everybody is talking about how the USMNT couldn’t deal with Japan’s press. But as this moment shows, the underlying problem is really that the US played too passively. They gave time for Japan to put a press into place, time that they could have used to advance up the field. They need to play quicker.
Player availability was definitely relevant in this game. Antonee Robinson has become such an important player for the USMNT and he was dearly missed for this one. The difference between Robinson’s shaky first few caps under Berhalter and now is that Robinson understands his limitations and plays in a way that minimizes them while highlighting his strengths. Because of that, he’s sufficiently solid on defense and an integral attacker, stretching the field and maintaining width to allow the US to advance. Tim Weah, similarly, helps advance the team by stretching the field both vertically and horizontally, with dangerous runs in behind on the wing. Christian Pulisic is a bit less aggressive with his runs in behind, but, as shown against Morocco, he has the capacity to combine such runs up through the middle with excellent technical skill to break defenses down. On the other side, we missed out on Chris Richards and his more assured passing under pressure. And the team seriously missed the calm presence of Yunus Musah, whose sublime ability on the ball helps the team advance up the field and thwart opposing presses.
All these omissions due to injury were relevant. But the team still had players who would have helped make a difference. A lot of fans detest the inclusion of the likes of Paul Arriola and Jordan Morris with the national program. But one thing those players do consistently that the more-highly regarded players like Reyna and Aaronson do not, is stretch the field vertically. They make runs in behind the backline. And not having them on the field from the start made it too easy for Japan to close space down and shut the US out. While Jesus Ferreira’s ability to combine is often quite useful in and around the final third, the fact that he tucks into midfield instead of making runs in behind did the USMNT no favors. When he came on, Josh Sargent was a marked improvement in this regard. And this is a place where players who weren’t called up, players like Jordan Pefok and Brandon Vazquez, could contribute even more.
These omissions are on Berhalter. I cannot blame him for missing players due to injury, but I can and do blame him for not realizing that the line up he chose was going to be too narrow and too static. I also blame him for failing to instill that sense of dynamism and urgency in his players. I tend to chalk this up to the relative youth of so many of our players and the unfortunate reality that so many key players have had so limited minutes playing together. But this Japan side was also quite young and inexperienced, and they wiped the floor with the US. People are right to raise criticism and questions, what with the World Cup so close at hand.
Closing Thoughts
The good news is that Wales cannot play like this. The Welsh squad has not demonstrated the kind of technical ability nor coordinated press that we saw from Japan. They are a Bunker-&-Counter team and are unlikely to take this approach for the US’s group opener at the World Cup. England and Iran, on the other hand, may approach things differently.
Weston McKennie was outright terrible in this one. He’s been a source of turnovers for a while, but this was just all-around a terrible display. Normally, we get a level of intensity, physicality, and forward thrust from the Juventus man. But for this one, his flaws, his lack of concentration and his limited technical range, were on show. I know he’s been coming back from injury, but he needs to recover that form. Or else, he probably becomes the man that gets dropped from the midfield. Speaking of the midfield…
The USMNT outnumbered Japan in the midfield and STILL got squished there. The US had a midfield trio of Adams, de la Torre, and McKennie, with Reyna and Ferreira tucking in, and they STILL got outrun by Japan’s midfield duo. That’s an effort problem. You need to get more concentration and more intensity there.
The USMNT continues to be weak away from home. Yeah, this was technically a neutral match, but this game continues a long trend where the US is far more limp than they should be while playing on the road. Unless it’s in Mexico’s Estadio Azteca, the US can’t seem to get the intensity and sharpness that they have while playing in the States. And, as it turns out, Doha isn’t in the United States.
There weren’t a lot of good performances in this one, but Matt Turner certainly gave one. There was a bit of concern that Turner, who is the number 2 with Arsenal, wouldn’t be sharp given his lack of playing time. But that wasn’t the case. He made a number of great saves and stood out as the one obvious positive take away from this match. I expect he’s just about gotten that starting spot for the USMNT locked up.
USMNT:
Lowery: What went wrong for the U.S. in possession against Japan (more here)
“We want to use the ball to disorganize the opponent and create goal-scoring opportunities.”
That’s how Gregg Berhalter described his tactical philosophy back in 2019, just weeks into his new job as the manager of the U.S. men’s national team.
But in the United States’ 2-0 loss to Japan on Friday, they failed to truly break down Japan and create chances. Berhalter’s team took just four shots against their very aggressive and well organized opponents. Japan forced the U.S. to play through them and create chances and, after 90 minutes, the USMNT largely failed at both of those things.
So, what went wrong for the United States in possession?
1. Turnovers killed momentum
According to Opta, the U.S. had 20 “high turnovers” (turnovers deep in their own half, which are high up the field for their opponents) against Japan. From those high turnovers, the U.S. allowed six shots and one goal. In all 14 of their World Cup qualifying games, they allowed seven shots and no goals. That absurd increase stemmed from Japan’s decision to press higher up the field in ways that most of the USMNT’s Concacaf opponents avoid. But it also stemmed from some individual and team-wide errors.
Aaron Long struggled with his distribution and had a tone-setting unforced turnover less than 60 seconds into the game. Weston McKennie did… whatever this is in the 24th minute, which created the runway for Japan to break forward for their first goal. Those unforced errors from Long, McKennie, and a host of others killed any brief positive periods that the United States had on Friday.
2. Poor spacing
Sloppy touches weren’t the only thing killing the U.S. on Friday, though. Poor spacing also hurt the USMNT’s ability to play through Japan’s 4-4-2 and exploit the space behind their backline.
Take this sequence in the 13th minute as an example. As Walker Zimmerman looks for a passing option in buildup, Luca de la Torre moves wide to provide width as Sergiño Dest pushes up the right wing. But there’s a problem. De la Torre doesn’t actually move wide enough to get open or to create a passing lane for Zimmerman to find Brenden Aaronson in the right halfspace.
Instead, he clogs up the midfield and doesn’t take Takefusa Kubo out of the play, which lets Kubo intercept Zimmerman’s pass and launch a quick attack for Japan. Two seconds later, Matt Turner is forced into a big save.
3. Not enough direct play
There’s one other thing we have to discuss here when it comes to the USMNT’s attacking issues. It’s this: many of the U.S.’s outfield players on Friday against Japan aren’t very good at using the ball to create chances.
Think about Turner, Long, Zimmerman, Tyler Adams, McKennie, and Aaronson. Are those players comfortable on the ball under pressure? Are they exceptional ball progressers? Or great chance creators? No, not really. Those players will have the occasional good moment in tight spaces. They had a few of those moments even in a messy game on Friday. But they’re not, primarily, players you want building from the back under disciplined pressure.
And yet, Berhalter had the U.S. build attack after attack with passing that started in the back and attempted to bypass Japan’s press. At this point, we know how that story ended.
So what’s one final solution here for Berhalter and the USMNT? Play more direct passes and move in behind. With a starting lineup mostly composed of players who thrive in quick, long passing schemes and second-ball scraps, the United States made life more difficult for themselves by relying so heavily on buildup play and short passing.
For some reason, they chose to lean away from that vertical game and even away from a balanced attack in their most recent game. Given that they have some technically limited players in key positions, the United States can’t afford to forsake that balance.
Time is extremely limited, so finding some sort of attacking balance in what little of it remains before must-win games in November is essential for the USMNT.
ON BOARD THE USMNT CHARTER FLIGHT TO ALICANTE, Spain — Act like you’ve been here before. That’s my usual mantra when finding myself in unaccustomed situations like sharing a charter flight with the U.S. men’s national team and going through the VIP wing of the airport in Düsseldorf, Germany, the one that actual rock stars pass through when they travel to their next concert. And the fact is, I have been here before. Back in 2013, I flew with a few other journalists on the USMNT charter ferrying the team between World Cup qualifiers in Kingston, Jamaica, and Seattle. When commercial flights between two game locations are a hassle, the added convenience is nice, and we journos pay our own way to prevent any conflict of interest. Media and soccer teams flying together on charters has actually been somewhat common in Europe for travel to Champions League games.The mere fact that there is a charter plane is a sign that U.S. Soccer has come a long way financially over the years. Back when the federation was basically broke, in 2000, I remember flying back with the USMNT on a commercial flight from a World Cup qualifier in Barbados and sitting in economy next to U.S. goalkeeper Zach Thornton. Poor Zach was stuck in a middle seat, and he was a big guy, so he was pushing up against his armrests in a major way.
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Middle seats in economy class were a way of life for U.S. national teams for a long time (more so in the not–too-distant past for the women’s team). Say what you will about Jürgen Klinsmann’s tenure as the USMNT coach, but he did more than anyone else to pressure U.S. Soccer into spending more on travel accommodations (flights, hotels, etc.), which was possible once the federation started bringing in more revenue. As a result, you couldn’t excuse a bad performance by saying you had been staying in a roach motel in Central America or, for that matter, Florida.We’ll get to the no-excuses bad performance the U.S. delivered in Friday’s 2-0 loss to Japan soon enough here, I promise, but having brought you onto Friday’s charter plane, I feel like I should share some details to answer any questions you might have:• No, the media doesn’t interact with the players onboard. Media and U.S. Soccer staff board first and sit in the back half of the plane. The players and coaches board after that and sit in the front half. It’s not like I’m going to walk up to Christian Pulisic and ask him for an interview. Everyone’s a pro here. (Again: Act like you’ve been here before.) The vibe is a little like the old Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue launch parties that SI writers would be invited to; the models tolerated our presence (kind of like the USMNT players do now), but it’s not like they were overjoyed we were there. (The one exception was Chrissy Teigen. She always liked meeting writers for some reason. Maybe it was because we weren’t the leering mid-level sponsor bros who were also at those events and took pictures with the models, but you’d have to ask her. I have yet to meet Chrissy’s USMNT equivalent. Remind me to tell you the story of when Cristiano Ronaldo came to that SI swimsuit party when his then-girlfriend, Irina Shayk, was on the cover.)
• Times have changed since the 1970s. When I recently re-watched the classic documentary Once in a Lifetime about the New York Cosmos with Pelé, Franz Beckenbauer and Giorgio Chinaglia, someone in the movie was talking about the charter flight the Cosmos took to the 1977 Soccer Bowl in Portland, Ore., and casually dropped the nugget that at least two sex acts took place on the plane. That is, um, not the case on this flight.• The plane itself is totally fine, but it’s not like we’re flying on a PJ with captain’s chairs, leather sofas and a fully-stocked bar or anything. (All those things seemed to be in play when, for example, Leeds United flies in Tyler Adams once his transfer has been arranged.) In fact, this plane is six seats to a row, with about the same amount of legroom as premium economy on a commercial flight. It’s no different for the players and coaches up front. I’m kind of bummed there’s no wifi available on the plane, but it’s only a two-and-a-half-hour flight from Düsseldorf to Alicante, so the time saved is still worth it.• Somewhat scarily, we go through significant turbulence on the flight, including seeing lightning strikes outside the plane. It’s enough that one of my scribe colleagues wonders if, should the flight go down, we journos might be listed as “X number of others on the plane” in news reports. • I can’t help but remember rank-and-file players like Alan Gordon, my favorite MLS player in history, who took his first charter flight from Los Angeles to Toronto when David Beckham joined him on the LA Galaxy in 2007. When the flight attendant came to offer Gordon a pre-takeoff cocktail, he looked around at the first-class leather seating, the lie-flat beds and the fully stocked bar up front. “Let me tell you something, ma’am,” Gordon said, turning on the charm. “This is nicer than my apartment.” The flight attendant laughed. “No,” he replied. “I’m serious.”• The best part of the experience might be the VIP lounge at the airport, where the staff (presumably thinking we’re actual VIPs) constantly brings you drinks, food, wifi passwords and just about anything else you might want. This must be how the other half lives, and it’s kind of nice. When one of the servers says she likes my hat, I consider telling her that my name is Gio Reyna or Iron Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain. I’m the only member of the media/USSF staff contingent who gets a beer, which I’m kind of proud of. I’ve also never flown out of an airport where nobody checked my ID before. They did make us go through security, though.The other reason it’s a subdued flight is that the U.S. basically stunk up the joint on Friday against Japan. We should talk about that, too.Zero shots on goal. Turnovers galore, especially in the first half, mostly by the centerbacks and midfielders. Cool domination by Japan. Let’s be honest: The U.S. looked bad in Friday’s 2-0 loss, and hardly like a team that will advance in the World Cup playing this way.Midfielder Tyler Adams plays for a high-pressure club team at Leeds United, so he knows the ways to solve pressure, too. After the game, he could only shake his head over the U.S.’s inability to get things right. Starting centerbacks Aaron Long and Walker Zimmerman got exposed trying to pass the ball, and Adams, Weston McKennie and Luca de la Torre couldn’t keep possession either.
“I felt like we were just playing into Japan’s hands,” Adams said. “We could have figured out quite easily that they were pressing us high, and the solution I think in the beginning of the game was probably to play a little bit more direct, a little bit in behind to settle that pressure and have them think to drop off a little bit and create more space and calmness on the ball. But it was difficult. We didn’t find solutions early on.”One of the main reasons Zimmerman clawed his way into a lock starting position during World Cup qualifying was his improvement in passing the ball out of the back, a steadiness that eventually won over U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter and helped vault Zimmerman ahead of ball-playing centerbacks Tim Ream and John Brooks. But Zimmerman took a step backward with his passing against Japan.“We were pretty disappointed with how it went, especially the first half,” Zimmerman said afterward. “We played it into their pressure a good bit, and a lot of their chances came from our mistakes. So that’s something we obviously have to look back on and realize we can’t force it so much inside all the time, especially when teams are put in a shape to make us do that. And maybe there are times we can stretch them and get in behind with some runs and be a little more direct.”The U.S. doesn’t have a prototype speedy forward who can run in behind defenses to keep them honest, however, and Jesús Ferreira and Josh Sargent certainly weren’t that on Friday. We could write a whole treatise comparing the 2022 U.S. forward search to 2010, but part of Bob Bradley’s quest in 2010 was to find a defense-stretching striker to replace Charlie Davies after his auto accident. Bradley settled on Robbie Findley, and while you can understand the thought process, it didn’t exactly work out.McKennie in particular had an off game, losing possession frequently (including on the play that led to Japan’s first goal) and sometimes not tracking back quickly enough to put out the fire. His Juventus team has been struggling lately, and U.S. fans will have to hope that form doesn’t carry over to the World Cup.About the only semi-bright spot for the U.S. was goalkeeper Matt Turner, who made some solid saves and kept the scoreline from being even worse. It should be said that Turner wasn’t sending Ederson-style balls deep to solve Japan’s pressure either, but that’s not Turner’s game. Shot-stopping is, but while that’s Job 1 for a keeper and enough for many watchers to lean toward Turner as the No. 1 for the World Cup, you can’t escape the feeling that Berhalter will still favor Zack Steffen if he’s healthy.You can be certain that the U.S.’s World Cup opponents will watch the Japan game and see that the U.S. can be pressured, and the Yanks will have to hope they learn from what happened on Friday—just as they did following a similar performance in a 3-0 friendly loss to Mexico in 2019. The key difference now, though, is that the U.S. has only one more game to play before the World Cup.“We try to use these games to replicate what a World Cup scenario would look like, and for us that would be that we didn’t get three points at the end of the day,” Adams said. “So we need to figure it out. Because we obviously have high standards for ourselves, especially going into a World Cup in two months, so we need a better performance coming out of this camp.”That chance comes on Tuesday in Spain against fellow World Cup entrant Saudi Arabia.
USMNT to start Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi for final World Cup warm-up game
Neither player featured in last Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Japan. Pulisic sat out the match due to a knock picked up in training, while Pepi was an unused substitute. Now, both will get a look against the Saudis.
Pepi was something of a surprise inclusion to the roster for this international window given that FC Union Berlin striker Jordan Pefok has been in excellent form with four goals in eight league and cup appearances. But Berhalter has been keen to get Pepi back on track after the forward completed his loan move to Groningen from FC Augsburg.
“This is a great opportunity to look at Ricardo,” Berhalter told reporters. “Jordan, you know what he’s doing. But Rico, he’s just gotten to Groningen. This is a great opportunity for us to look at him. A guy who scored three goals for us in qualifying, it’s important for us to get him in the group.”Berhalter was asked for further analysis of the Japan defeat, and he didn’t hold back in his criticism of the team or himself.”I’m really glad the game happened when it did,” he said. “I think it was poor coaching, poor execution, poor training beforehand, a lot of everything. It’s just one of those games and we were very bad.”When asked to provide more details on how he erred as a coach, Berhalter said the team’s preparation was off because he and the staff thought the players would be able to take on more tactical details, even though it had been three-and-a-half 3½ months since they were last together.
He added he could sympathize with the stress for some players that comes with trying to clinch a spot on the final World Cup roster. But that still didn’t excuse the performance.”As coaches we took for granted that they understood what we wanted,” he said. “So, when we trained during the week, we were training details. ‘You know this, now we’re going to go into detail.’ And we took for granted that the players were competent in this. But they didn’t understand. They didn’t know it. That’s what it was.”He added, “We thought it was going to be easier to switch gears than it turned out to be.”As a result, the U.S. failed to cope with what Berhalter said “wasn’t a complicated press” by Japan and that “we didn’t solve it at all.” He added that it was on both him and the team to identify solutions quicker during the game and make adjustments from there.Berhalter said he expects his side to get back up to speed against Saudi Arabia. But the Japan match is also a lesson he will factor in when the players arrive in Qatar and begin their final preparations ahead of the 2022 World Cup.”I think it’s the mindset of preparing the guys ahead of time a little bit,” he said. “And then when they’re in camp, right from the beginning, focusing on the big picture rather than details again, which is usually a national team thing anyway.”Berhalter finds himself down several key players in this camp, with Lille forward Tim Weah, Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson, Crystal Palace center-back Chris Richards and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah all absent due to injury. But Berhalter insisted he wouldn’t be changing his system if a similar scenario plays out in Qatar.
“It doesn’t matter, because [when we arrive on] Nov. 14, guess what? A different five could be missing. So, we need to deal. That’s a great message to the team. ‘Guys, forget about guys that aren’t here. We’ve got to focus on who is here and still try to be successful.’ Because that’s the reality of national team soccer. And we’re going to be anxiously waiting on Nov. 13 to see who actually shows up after the weekend.” In the meantime, Berhalter is hoping that the contingent of injured players gets back to full health.”Fitness is going be a factor,” he said in relation to his final roster selections. “I mean, I would love if you told me Chris Richards is going to be a part of the team right now, he’s going to be fit by November. I would say, ‘You know, he’ll make the team.’ I just don’t know that though. It’s really hard, and it’s frustrating.”
USMNT player ratings vs. Japan: We’re better than this (hopefully)
THE IDEA OF THE U.S. GOING AGAINST ENGLAND’S HIGH PRESS IS NOW TERRIFYING
This USMNT team is very young; they’ll be the youngest at Qatar. Sometimes they look like serious 2026 World Cup contenders, sometimes they look lucky to have qualified for the 2022 tournament. Friday’s 2-0 loss to Japan was a look at, as we outlined in our match preview, many of the worst-case scenarios for this team.The philosophy of building from the back couldn’t have gone worse. In the opening 45, according to the ESPN broadcast, the U.S. turned it over 40 (!!!) times in its own third. At the other end of the pitch, the U.S. failed to land a single shot on target over the entire 90 minutes.
The U.S. isn’t as bad as this match. The players aren’t as bad as these ratings. But I’ve got a job to do.
USMNT Player Ratings Vs. Japan
Starting XI
Matt Turner (90 minutes): 8 — The U.S. man of the match with six saves, and the Arsenal backup pulled off a couple stunners to keep it at a respectable 2-0 when it could’ve been four or five for Japan. He’ll be starting at the World Cup, and he’s also going to see a lot of action in the buildup with the Gunners playing in the Europa League and EFL Cup.
Sam Vines (90 minutes): 5 – Vines escapes criticism from the first-half horror show simply because he wasn’t trusted in possession. He very rarely got out of the U.S. half (although he still didn’t manage to win a duel), and his most preferred passing options were a back-pass to Turner or sideways ball to Long.
Aaron Long (45 minutes): 2 – Didn’t win a duel, didn’t win a tackle, didn’t distribute well at all. Rightfully hooked at halftime.
Walker Zimmerman (90 minutes): 4 — He made a couple blocks and challenges defensively that helped repel Japan, but it was also Zimmerman himself who invited Japan forward with poor distribution from the back. This pass was particularly pathetic.
DEST 5 – The classic Dest story. Looked good getting forward and provided the cross that Ferreira should’ve done better with, but frequently overdid it inside his own half and put the team under needless pressure.
Weston McKennie (67 minutes): 3 – It’s difficult to recall a worse game in a U.S. shirt from McKennie. He was at fault for Japan’s opener in the 24th minute with the sort of pass that, if made while playing for Juventus, lands you on the bench for three months. He began play as the team’s midfield operator, and then hit passes at a 69.2% clip. That’s really, really bad, so he was later ostracized up top as an outlet for hopeless punts forward.
Tyler Adams (90 minutes): 6 – Adams wasn’t as godawful in possession as his midfield partners, but he was frequently left without options and occasionally took the wrong one. He also wasn’t at his best as “The Terminator” — his duel success rate (20%) was miles away from what he’s been enjoying with Leeds.
Luca de la Torre (67 minutes): 4 – Is De la Torre cutout for this level of international play? Everything seemed to be passing him by in midfield as he marveled at the speed and quality of Japan. Didn’t seem on the same wavelength as Aaronson in applying the press, and he couldn’t really find his pockets to assert his typical rhythm on the game.
Gio Reyna (45 minutes): 7 – Didn’t do a whole lot, but Reyna was on another level from his teammates with the ball at his feet. He breezed by his marker out wide early, relieved pressure with a skillful flick that drew “oohs” and “aahs” from the crowd and hit the target (Zimmerman) with a set piece when everyone else routinely seems to screw up dead balls. Was smartly taken off at half to be wrapped in wool.
Jesús Ferreira (45 minutes): 2 — Not involved at all with very few touches and only 55% pass success, but the one glaring moment was an unmarked header in front of goal that he blooped harmlessly over.
Brenden Aaronson (90 minutes): 6 – Was involved in more duels than any U.S. player, suffered three fouls and was most frequently found in a crumpled heap on the floor, but he kept after it. In the end, it was a lot more effort than effectiveness, as highlighted by a juking, jinking run at Japan’s defense that ended with a shot that went five yards wide.
Subs
Reggie Cannon (45 minutes): 4 – He was doing good! Cannon brought some defensive balance to the side! Then Brighton’s Karou Mitoma squared him up, drove at him, kept going and curled one inside the far post for Japan’s second. Damn.
Jordan Morris (45 minutes): 5 — I don’t really remember tbh. So Berhalter probably saw gold out there.
Mark McKenzie (45 minutes): 6 – Didn’t pass the ball to Japan time after time. I admire that.
Josh Sargent (45 minutes): 5 — Wasn’t much more involved than Ferreira, but he didn’t miss any chances because he didn’t attempt any shots.
Johnny Cardoso (23 minutes): N/A – Not the greatest opportunity to get out there and strut your stuff.
Malik Tillman (23 minutes): N/A – Unable to put the U.S. on the front foot going forward, but he won a couple tackles.
USMNT has ‘work to do’ before World Cup after humbling Japan loss – Berhalter
Sep 23, 2022
Jeff CarlisleU.S. soccer correspondent
DUSSELDORF, Germany — United States men’s national team manager Gregg Berhalter conceded that his side has “work to do” ahead of the World Cup following a 2-0 friendly defeat to Japan in which the Americans struggled against the Samurai Blue’s press.
Japan applied pressure throughout the opening 45 minutes, limiting the U.S. to just five touches in the opposition penalty area. U.S. keeper Matt Turner was forced to make several saves, including a one-on-one duel with Daichi Kamada in the 13th minute.
But the Eintracht Frankfurt striker made a deserved breakthrough in the 24th minute. Japan broke quickly following a U.S. turnover, and Kamada’s first time shot from Hidemasa Morita‘s pass cleanly beat Turner for Japan’s first goal.
The U.S. looked a bit better in the second half following a quartet of substitutes, but never really threatened Japan’s goal except for a late effort from Brenden Aaronson that went wide. Japan substitute Kaoru Mitoma sealed a deserved victory with an 88th-minute tally.
“We’ve got work to do. We clearly need to improve, but overall really good experience for this team,” Berhalter said at his postgame press conference.
“Give Japan a lot of credit. I think they played a good game and they gave us a hard time. I think at times we were well in the match and performing well, but overall, over 90 minutes, we could have been better. [It] wasn’t good enough.”
The manner of the defeat, with the U.S. guilty of numerous turnovers in its own half, will give Berhalter pause. So will the fact that Japan was quicker to 50/50 balls and more aggressive overall, as evidenced by it committing 16 fouls to just three for the U.S.
“I don’t know if the proximity of the World Cup has anything to do with it, but the guys didn’t look fresh, and from a physical output we just looked a step behind,” said Berhalter. “And then it’s difficult, a team like Japan will punish you.
“The adjustment in the second half helped give us more control of the game, gave us more passes between the lines. But in the first half, I think it was just the lack of comfort on the ball, silly giveaways.
“We built the opponent up after a decent start, but then it started snowballing and giving some balls away and it wasn’t what we envisioned.”
The U.S. was without several first choice players, including Chelsea attacker Christian Pulisic, who suffered a minor injury earlier in the week in training, and was kept out of the match as a precaution.
Berhalter said Pulisic’s status would be monitored. The U.S. plays against Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain, on Tuesday.
“Christian, his status is day to day,” Berhalter said. “It was knock, and, we’ll see [at Saturday’s practice] if he can get on the field.”
U.S. midfielder Tyler Adams insisted that Japan’s press was a tactic that other teams had used against his side, but in this instance, it took too long to for the Americans to make adjustments.
“I think that some of the teams in CONCACAF, you know, the Mexicos and the Hondurases, they’ve pressed us, and we found solutions,” he said.
“We just needed to find solutions earlier on. I think that we had a match plan and I think it would’ve been effective if we stuck to the game plan. But sometimes I just felt that maybe we just started to search for individual solutions instead of sticking together, sticking to the match plan, staying disciplined in our game plan.
“And you saw Japan, they did that well. They had one game plan and it was effective.”Time’s running out for USMNT’s fringe players hoping for a World Cup call-up, but nobody’s panicking yet
Time’s running out for USMNT’s fringe players hoping for a World Cup call-up, but nobody’s panicking yet
Sep 25, 2022 ESPN
MURCIA, Spain — When the U.S. men’s national team takes the field against Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, it will mark 43 days until manager Gregg Berhalter names his 26-player roster for the 2022 World Cup. For the likes of Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Tyler Adams — assuming they’re healthy — their spots are secure. There is no drama as it relates to their World Cup fate.
But for those players on the bubble, those final days — as well as Tuesday’s match — will see them engage in an awkward dance. After all, they’re feeling the pressure that comes when lifelong dreams are within touching distance of becoming reality but could just as easily slip away.
For most of those bubble players, the approach centers on the well-worn player adage of “controlling the controllables,” though there are some different flavors to that strategy. U.S. defender Sam Vines opts for being hyper-focused on the present in the hope that the soccer gods — well, and Berhalter — will bequeath him with a roster spot. “It’s a dream to go to a World Cup. I’ve been dreaming of it since I was born,” Vines told ESPN. “But you can only control so much, and you just have to work as hard as you can and hope that’s enough to get you on the squad.
“I just try and focus on the day-to-day. Today we have training, next day we have training, next day is a game. I just try and take it day by day and not overthink anything.”
Of course, that’s easier said than done. While it might be easy to focus during training or a game, pushing out any negative thoughts when you’re away from the field is tougher, and this is a reality that teammate Mark McKenzie acknowledges.
“Of course it’s always in the back of your head. Every player knows the World Cup is coming,” he said. “So although you can say, like, ‘Yeah, I blocked it out,’ no, you sit and you go home and you’re like, ‘We’re weeks away at this point,’ you know? Before this, you’re like, ‘Oh, it’s ticking down.’ That’s something that everybody is aware of. But you can’t really focus too much on the future because you don’t know what it has in store. So the biggest thing is being present, being in the moment, using this opportunity here in the camp.”
It’s open to debate just how much the Nov. 9 roster announcement is impacting the performances of certain players. In Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Japan, the U.S. was let down the most by players whose roster spots seem most secure. And while Vines struggled as well, he said the overriding vibe he felt was the trust of Berhalter and the rest of the coaching staff.
“Especially if you start the game, [Berhalter] puts trust in you, so you’re not worried about making mistakes,” he said. “You’re just more focused on how you can help the team.”For McKenzie, the fact that he’s even here with the U.S. is a bonus. The KRC Genk defender was initially left off the roster, only to be added when Crystal Palace‘s Chris Richards and Celtic‘s Cameron Carter-Vickers were both forced to withdraw because of injury. He did his prospects no harm in a solid 45-minute stint against Japan.
McKenzie added that the spirit within the team is still positive, regardless of a player’s likelihood of going to Qatar. The focus now is on how to make amends for what was clearly a poor teamwide performance against the Samurai Blue.
“I don’t feel like there’s that tension within the team where you feel like you’re walking on pins and needles, where guys are so edgy to the point of collapse,” he said. “I think it’s the business end of the World Cup buildup and I think everyone realizes that and understands that you need to learn the lessons from Japan and take that forward to Saudi Arabia and end this period together on high.
“The group is still tight-knit, the group is still together. The group is still focused on making sure we prepare all facets of the game.”
There’s another reason to not view the current camp as an all-or-nothing enterprise, too. The fact remains that after Tuesday’s match, players will have around seven matches to play with their clubs before the roster announcement, which amounts to one last-ditch effort to impress Berhalter and prove that they deserve to be on the plane.The weeks might feel like an eternity in terms of waiting for Nov. 9, but they’ll also flash by as each game is played.”You don’t know what’s going to happen in between now and then,” said McKenzie about the roster announcement. “Crazy things happen, where guys who were anticipated to be for-sure locks end up going off form and aren’t really considered anymore. Also, guys who are sleepers end up coming into the tournament. Guys who are expected to be there get injured before — there are all these different factors and variables that play into it.”
USMNT falls 2-0 to Japan in World Cup warm-up
The USMNT disappoints in a 2-0 defeat to Japan in preparation for the World Cup.
This brings up another awkward element for players during the run-up to the roster announcement: that of staying healthy and how that affects a player’s level of aggressiveness. There was a notable lack of bite by the U.S. against Japan, as evidenced by the fact that the Americans committed just three fouls to Japan’s 16. One would hope that the U.S. will play with more assertiveness against the Saudis.
McKenzie, if he sees the field, isn’t one to worry about his health.
“If you think about injury, it’s probably going to hit you,” McKenzie said. “And if you start thinking about how, ‘Well, I’m not going to get into too many tackles here,’ then it may hurt your game in the long run. If you’re only playing at 70% because you’re thinking already about three, four weeks down the line for roster selection, it’s not going to benefit you to start pulling back from your game.”
Granted, a player in McKenzie’s position has no choice but to go full throttle, and given how he has secured a starting spot at club level after some extended periods of struggle, he’s not going to back down now. Tuesday will reveal how the rest of his U.S. teammates manage the moment, as well as the weeks and games that follow.Gio Reyna doesn’t want to dwell on his injury-ravaged 2021-22. He’s too focused on the 2022 World Cup
Sep 24, 2022
Sam BordenESPN Senior Writer
DUSSELDORF, Germany — Giovanni Reyna comes into the room. He sits down. He leans back in his chair and, after maybe 30 seconds of small talk, he says, “Listen, I don’t want to look back in the past. At all.” He smiles.
Reyna isn’t being unreasonable. He has had, by any measure, a brutal year. There was a hamstring. There was a thigh. There was a hamstring. There was a tweak. There was an illness. There was a twinge. Reyna is still only 19, but he has already had a taste of middle age, the injuries seemingly never stopping. Reyna missed 34 of Borussia Dortmund‘s past 45 matches and 15 of the past 19 for the United States in the past 12 months. Watching that much soccer when you should be playing? Reyna withered. He wilted.
So it makes sense that he wants to look ahead. With the World Cup just eight weeks away, Reyna is finally healthy. He and his coaches, including U.S. boss Gregg Berhalter, are being careful not to overdo his workload too soon, but of the very (very) few positives for the United States that came out of Friday’s 2-0 loss to Japan in Dusseldorf, Reyna’s first start for the Americans since last September was significant.
Reyna was hardly amazing. No one on the U.S., save for goalkeeper Matt Turner, had anything close to an excellent performance against Japan. Any team that fails to register a shot on goal despite having nearly 60% possession deserves the criticism it receives.
Reyna did show flashes, though. The best chance for the U.S. came in the first half, when he pinged a pass to set up Sergino Dest ripping down the edge before crossing to Jesus Ferreira directly in front of goal. That Ferreira weakly headed over was unfortunate, but the passage of play leading up to it was exactly what fans (and Berhalter) have been craving.
So, too, was the sequence when Reyna took the ball in his own half and went on a run, cutting in and out of defenders and moving the U.S., all on his own, into the attacking third. In the past, Berhalter has typically used Reyna out wide, but he acknowledged this week that he sees the value of Reyna’s on-the-ball skill in a more central role. Against Japan, Reyna completed 9 of 11 passes, 3 of 4 within the attacking third, and registered two progressive carries and one progressive pass (events in the opposition half that progress the ball toward goal by five or ten yards, respectively). It seems almost inevitable that Reyna will end up more in the middle in games when the U.S. needs to push the pace.
“You don’t really say it like this in soccer, but I guess my playmaking abilities can hurt the other team,” Reyna says. “Like, in basketball or football, when someone has a ball, you can kind of create something from nothing or create chances. And I think that’s what I can do, whether it’s for a dribble or with a pass or combining — I think I’m able to do a bit of everything. And that’s just what what I love to do.”
It is what his father, Claudio, did, too. On Friday, Gio wore No. 21 instead of No. 7, an homage to his dad, a national team legend who wore 21 for the U.S. at the 1998 World Cup in France.
It was an intriguing choice. Family legacy has been a perpetual question for Gio since he was an academy player (his mother, Danielle Egan, also played for the U.S. on the women’s national team), and it contributes to the heavy expectations that linger over him.
Generally then, Reyna shies away from talking much about his parents or siblings. But earlier this week, when he did — despite his initial vow — allow himself to think more deeply about what he went through in the past 12 months, he shook his head when talking about needing his family to help him through the most difficult moments.
“I had some really, really tough days,” Reyna says. “Some really, really, you know — don’t want to do anything, kind of just sit in my room all day. Don’t want to go outside. Not in the mood to talk to my friends.”
He shrugs. “It’s frustrating, you know? You’re missing games, you’re missing trainings, you’re back in America when you should be in Dortmund playing.”
To their credit, Reyna says, Dortmund allowed him to return to the United States for part of his rehab, which helped, at least from the mental side. Being around positivity from his family — and not having to see, up close, all that was happening without him in Germany — allowed him to focus on what he needed to do instead of what he was missing. Berhalter, who checked in regularly, says he learned very quickly that Reyna had a strong preference about how their conversations should go.
“He was one of those guys who, after a little while, didn’t want to talk about his injury at all,” Berhalter says. “His eyes were forward. That was it.”
Now the question is how Reyna avoids what he (and everyone around the U.S. team) fears: A relapse. Another knock. Another run where he pulls up.
Reyna says he constantly worked to strengthen his legs during his rehab process, but he has no plans to change his style or approach when he’s on the field. He wants to be — and has been waiting to be — the driving force that the U.S. will need in Qatar.
“I’ve played in the Champions League,” Reyna says. “And the only thing that really is kind of on my bucket list as a kid — since I first started watching soccer — is to play in a World Cup with the USA.”
He laughs. “It hasn’t really sunk in yet,” he says. “I’m sure it will probably closer to the first game but I’m just so excited. It’s going to be a great experience for all of us.”
England roar back to draw with Germany in final World Cup warm-p
4:43 PM ET
England rallied from two goals down to take the lead momentarily before drawing 3-3 with Germany in a thrilling UEFA Nations League group stage finale at Wembley Stadium on Monday night.
Second-half goals from Ilkay Gundogan and Kai Havertz looked to have Germany on their way to victory, but Luke Shaw and Mason Mount levelled the score in a span of five minutes. VAR then awarded England a penalty, which Harry Kane converted to give the home side a brief lead, before Havertz tucked away his second of the night to reach the final scoreline.
Nations League finals spots were off the table for both sides with England already relegated to the competition’s second tier and Germany coming into their last matchday sitting third, but the game had added importance for the Three Lions as it marked their final test ahead of the start of the World Cup on Nov. 20.
England’s Raheem Sterling had the best chance to score for either side midway through the first half, but after his clever cut-back to get a clear look at goal his tame effort was palmed away by an onrushing Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Gareth Southgate’s side continued to look dangerous on the counter, but there was no end result with Sterling once again firing right at Ter Stegen following his full-field run to get onto Kane’s ball into the area.
Gundogan scored Germany’s first from the penalty spot early in the second half after Harry Maguire fouled Jamal Musiala in the area and were two up 15 minutes later when Havertz curled a perfect shot in from distance that left Nick Pope no chance.
What seemed unlikely as the clock passed 70 minutes soon became reality, as Shaw and substitute Mount struck in quick succession to get the match back on level terms and bring the home support roaring back to life.
Nico Schlotterbeck‘s stamp on Jude Bellingham‘s ankle earned him a yellow card and a chance for England to take the lead from the spot, which Kane did with aplomb to the delight of the Wembley faithful.
However, Pope made a mistake as he spilled a long-range shot back into the path of Havertz to side-foot into the back of the net and end the game 3-3.
Bukayo Saka broke clear on goal in second-half stoppage time with a chance to win it for England only for Ter Stegen to touch his shot past the post.
Flick said he was disappointed to see a 2-0 lead turn into a 3-2 deficit in the space of 13 second-half minutes but focused instead on his own team’s late recovery.
“We were quite stable at 2-0, but England brought on a couple of substitutes that made them better offensively,” Flick said.
“But we have to look at it positively as well. I said to my players that they showed great courage and never gave up so it was great to come back.”
Southgate’s side finished bottom of the group with three points behind Germany on seven, Hungary with 10 and Italy, who topped the group on 11 points to reach the Nations League final four.
It is more than 100 years since England last went six competitive games without a victory, but they at least changed the narrative with this stirring comeback against Germany.
Both sides needed a pre-World Cup tonic after poor Nations League campaigns, with England losing 1-0 away to Italy last Friday, the same night Germany lost by the same scoreline at home to Hungary.
The last time the two heavyweights met at Wembley, in last year’s Euro 2020 finals, England were riding a wave of euphoria and manager Southgate could do no wrong.
But the mood has turned sour mainly because of a woeful lack of goals — Kane’s last-minute penalty in Germany being their only goal in their previous five Nations League games.
USMNT to start Christian Pulisic, Ricardo Pepi for final World Cup warm-up game
Neither player featured in last Friday’s 2-0 defeat to Japan. Pulisic sat out the match due to a knock picked up in training, while Pepi was an unused substitute. Now, both will get a look against the Saudis.
Pepi was something of a surprise inclusion to the roster for this international window given that FC Union Berlin striker Jordan Pefok has been in excellent form with four goals in eight league and cup appearances. But Berhalter has been keen to get Pepi back on track after the forward completed his loan move to Groningen from FC Augsburg.
“This is a great opportunity to look at Ricardo,” Berhalter told reporters. “Jordan, you know what he’s doing. But Rico, he’s just gotten to Groningen. This is a great opportunity for us to look at him. A guy who scored three goals for us in qualifying, it’s important for us to get him in the group.”
Berhalter was asked for further analysis of the Japan defeat, and he didn’t hold back in his criticism of the team or himself.
“I’m really glad the game happened when it did,” he said. “I think it was poor coaching, poor execution, poor training beforehand, a lot of everything. It’s just one of those games and we were very bad.”When asked to provide more details on how he erred as a coach, Berhalter said the team’s preparation was off because he and the staff thought the players would be able to take on more tactical details, even though it had been three-and-a-half 3½ months since they were last together.He added he could sympathize with the stress for some players that comes with trying to clinch a spot on the final World Cup roster. But that still didn’t excuse the performance.”As coaches we took for granted that they understood what we wanted,” he said. “So, when we trained during the week, we were training details. ‘You know this, now we’re going to go into detail.’ And we took for granted that the players were competent in this. But they didn’t understand. They didn’t know it. That’s what it was.”He added, “We thought it was going to be easier to switch gears than it turned out to be.”
As a result, the U.S. failed to cope with what Berhalter said “wasn’t a complicated press” by Japan and that “we didn’t solve it at all.” He added that it was on both him and the team to identify solutions quicker during the game and make adjustments from there.Berhalter said he expects his side to get back up to speed against Saudi Arabia. But the Japan match is also a lesson he will factor in when the players arrive in Qatar and begin their final preparations ahead of the 2022 World Cup.
“I think it’s the mindset of preparing the guys ahead of time a little bit,” he said. “And then when they’re in camp, right from the beginning, focusing on the big picture rather than details again, which is usually a national team thing anyway.”Berhalter finds himself down several key players in this camp, with Lille forward Tim Weah, Fulham left-back Antonee Robinson, Crystal Palace center-back Chris Richards and Valencia midfielder Yunus Musah all absent due to injury. But Berhalter insisted he wouldn’t be changing his system if a similar scenario plays out in Qatar.
“It doesn’t matter, because [when we arrive on] Nov. 14, guess what? A different five could be missing. So, we need to deal. That’s a great message to the team. ‘Guys, forget about guys that aren’t here. We’ve got to focus on who is here and still try to be successful.’ Because that’s the reality of national team soccer. And we’re going to be anxiously waiting on Nov. 13 to see who actually shows up after the weekend.”
In the meantime, Berhalter is hoping that the contingent of injured players gets back to full health.
“Fitness is going be a factor,” he said in relation to his final roster selections. “I mean, I would love if you told me Chris Richards is going to be a part of the team right now, he’s going to be fit by November. I would say, ‘You know, he’ll make the team.’ I just don’t know that though. It’s really hard, and it’s frustrating.”
Italy beat Hungary for spot in Nations League finals
Italy clinched a place in the Nations League final four with a 2-0 win away to Hungary thanks to goals by Giacomo Raspadori and Federico Dimarco in their last League A-Group 3 game on Monday.
European champions Italy, who missed out on a place at the World Cup in Qatar, finished top on 11 points from six games, one point above second-placed Hungary who needed to avoid defeat to secure a place in their first Nations League semi-finals.
Raspadori took advantage of a mistake by the defence in the 27th minute to convert a rebound from the edge of the box.
Hungary then had a great chance to equalise just after the break but goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma kept out a flurry of shots by Loic Nego, Callum Styles and captain Adam Szalai, who on ended his international career after the match.
Midfielder Dimarco made it 2-0 for the visitors in the 52nd minute when he blasted the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
“We were excellent for 70 minutes. The last 20 I didn’t like too much,” Italy coach Roberto Mancini said.
“It’s important to have reached the Nations League final four for the second time, but the previous results unfortunately remain.
“Let’s say that we were good at restarting and setting up a group that has values on which you can work.
“The goal? It’s bypassing the month of December,” he added, with his team sidelined for the World Cup which runs from Nov. 20-Dec. 18.
Italy join Croatia and the Netherlands in next year’s finals tournament, while Spain and Portugal will play in Braga on Tuesday for the last spot available.
So the roster is set and most of the key players will be on hand as the US enters the last phase before the World Cup with the friendlies vs Japan on Friday morning (ESPN2 8 am) and Tuesday afternoon vs Saudi Arabia (Fox Sports 1 2 pm). While I have enjoyed watching Nations League games in Europe – the fact that blocks the US from EVER playing European Teams really stinks. For the US the injuries and those missing might be just as big a thing and those who are playing. Ricardo Pepi at the #9 along with Josh Stewart over the top scoring American Forward Jordan Pfok who has his Union Berlin atop the Bundesliga (above Bayern Munich) is perplexing. Perhaps Berhalter is giving Pepi one last chance to make the plane to Qatar while Pfok has already proved his worth and is in. Not sure – but if GB leaves Pfok off the plane and doesn’t get out of the group stage he’ll be fired before the plane gets home from the World Cup. My hopes are Stewart and Pepi play well – but I doubt Pepi will get it done. I think Pfok is on the plane. As for midfielders – the MMA will perhaps be replaced with the MAA – as Musah is out injured. I think Aaronson fills that #8 slot alongside McKinney and Adams (because Aaronson simply has to start). That’s if Gio Reyna is healthy enough to start on the right wing of course. Turner is the GK of course with Horvath deserving a look perhaps in game 2. Now for defense – I would like to see Joe Scally start on the right with Dest on the left covering for the injured Jedi Robinson along with Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long (stinks that Richards and CCV are not here to fight for that spot – but they are both on the plane to Qatar if healthy. As for Predictions – listen this Japan team is a good team – I think we are looking at 1-0 US win in a close one. (assuming Turner plays all game). On a lighter note – My goodness these US Uniforms are horrible, of course Alex Morgan makes them look a little better. Also awesome to see Tad Lasso win best comedy again – and AFC Richmond is going to be in FIFA 23 – that’s Lasso’s Team!
Here’s my line-up Friday AM
Pulisic, Sargent, Aaronson
Musah, Adams, De La Tore
Sands, Long, Zimmerman, Dest or Scally
Turner
USMNT September roster (caps/goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 18/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 27/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 17/2), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 27/3), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 8/0), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 2/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 74/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 31/3), Mark McKensie, Palmer-Brown
MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 52/2), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 30/1), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 11/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 35/9), Malik Tillman (Rangers/SCO; 2/0),
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 22/6), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 47/10), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 13/7), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 48/11), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen/NED; 11/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 51/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 12/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 19/3)
Indy 11 Home Sun 5 pm Hispanic Heritage Night
Indy Eleven saw its four-game unbeaten streak come to a halt last Sat evening against Monterey Bay F.C. side in a 5-0 defeat to Monterey Bay. The defeat, coupled with other results from around the Eastern Conference, officially eliminated Indiana’s Team from playoff contention. The Boys in Blue return to the Mike on Sun, when they play host to Loudoun United FC for a special 5 pm ET kickoff. Details on the club’s annual Hispanic Heritage Night festivities –can be found at indyeleven.com/promotions, and tickets are just $15 at indyeleven.com/tickets,
NWSL Attendance Record of 32,000 fans Broken
A packed house watched the first-year San Diego Wave defeat Angel City FC on Saturday night at Snapdragon Stadium. There’s reason to believe the best may be yet to come – How San Diego smashed the NWSL attendance record with 32,000 fans. My daughter Courtney was in attendance and said it was awesome !!
High School–CHS Boys Move into 1st Place host Guerin Fri, #3 CHS Girls host #4 Zionsville Sat 11:30 am
The Carmel High School boys have moved into 1st place in the state heading into their final 2 home games at Murray vs #16 Guerin Catholic Fri at 7 pm and Tues vs Harison at 7 pm. The #3 CHS ladies wrapped up Senior Night last night and host #4 Zionsville on Sat at 11:30 am at Murray before closing out the year at #15 Westfield Mon.
Carmel High Seniors – love those GK’s former FC’ers Aubry Empie and Bethany Ducat. CFC GKU!
Funny Alex Morgan wears the new kit fairly well – the 4 stars over the logo does help !
Big questions before USMNT’s pre-World Cup friendlies – Can Pepi nail down spot? Is Turner too rusty?
12:24 PM ET Bill Connelly ESPN Staff Writer
In less than two months, the 3,065-day wait between World Cup matches for the United States men’s national team will come to an end. Only tuneups against Japan in Germany (Friday, 8:25 am ET on ESPN2/ESPN+) and Saudi Arabia (on Tuesday in Spain) remain before the Nov. 21 group-stage opener against Wales in Qatar.
hese two friendlies are, for all intents and purposes, the last chance for players to make direct impressions on U.S. manager Gregg Berhalter before he makes his World Cup selections. Berhalter insists other players could still end up on the team beyond those invited to camp this week, and he will prove how true that is when he makes his final 26-man selection in early November.But there are indeed roster spots still to be decided, and we’ll see who takes the greatest advantage of this week’s opportunities. Here are five questions to ask as we, too, get our final pre-Qatar look at the national team.
Nine (or so) USMNT World Cup roster spots are left. Who takes them?
Figuring out a national team manager’s preferences can be pretty tricky due to the disjointed nature of the international calendar. Who’s healthy and/or in form when the matches show up on the calendar? Who isn’t? It can make a huge difference on selection.
Still, we can make some pretty educated guesses. We know who Berhalter has played the most over the year or so since World Cup qualification began: Timothy Weah, Christian Pulisic, Brenden Aaronson, Jesus Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi in attack; Tyler Adams, Yunus Musah, Weston McKennie and Kellyn Acosta in midfield; Walker Zimmerman and Miles Robinson in central defense; Antonee Robinson, DeAndre Yedlin and Sergino Dest (when healthy) at fullback; Matt Turner and Zack Steffen in goal.Weah, Musah, Steffen and Antonee Robinson have battled minor injuries of late and are not involved in this window of matches, but one assumes their spots on the plane to Qatar are secure if healthy. Miles Robinson will certainly miss the World Cup due to a long-term Achilles injury suffered in May, and even though he was selected for these two matches, Pepi could also miss out despite being healthy as he has battled major form issues this calendar year.So that’s 15 players we can loosely assume are involved.We know that Giovanni Reyna would have been in heavy rotation had he not been injured for most of 2021-22, and we know that midfielder Luca de la Torre enjoyed some fantastic and super-active moments as he was given more minutes late in qualification and over the summer. That’s probably 17.That still leaves nine spots or so that are undecided — maybe 10 or 11 if Berhalter gives up on Pepi for the time being, or if Steffen’s combination of health and form issues continue. One extra spot will go to a third goalkeeper, and one to two spots will go to backup midfielders. But at least a couple more forwards will come to Qatar, and there are quite a few spots to be decided in defense.
Outside of the names already mentioned above, here are the players in each position group who were invited to camp in this international window:
Those are the players to pay closest attention to against Japan and Saudi Arabia.
Is Zimmerman-Long as effective as Zimmerman-Robinson?
With Miles Robinson out, the biggest question for Berhalter to answer regarding the team’s starting XI is who lines up next to Zimmerman in central defense in Qatar. Evidently Aaron Long will get the first crack, as he will start alongside Zimmerman against Japan.
McKenzie and Palmer-Brown were last-second additions after both Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic) and Chris Richards (Crystal Palace) had to withdraw with minor injuries. (Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan likely would have been involved here if not for injury, as well.) All of this has further clouded what was already the cloudiest position on the roster.None of the primary options have logged the same amount of time next to Zimmerman as Robinson had. Richards and Zimmerman have played in the same U.S. match four times, Long twice — he’s coming off of his own Achilles recovery — and McKenzie and Palmer-Brown once each. If Carter-Vickers were to end up starting next to Zimmerman against Wales, it would be their first match together. That’s a bad time to get to know each other.Richards started four qualification matches and seemed reasonably likely to be the new first-choice option here, but minor injuries (and the poor timing of said injuries) have limited his time in various camps. So Long gets the first shot.Herculez Gomez gives his opinion on the new USMNT kits for the World Cup in Qatar.Berhalter leaned heavily on the combination of Zimmerman and Robinson in World Cup qualification — they were two of the four players who topped 800 minutes — and the United States‘ defense was rock solid most of the way. In the seven matches in which this duo played, the U.S. allowed just four goals (from shots worth 4.3 xG) and amassed 16 points. In the seven they didn’t: six goals allowed (from 5.6 xG) and nine points. In terms of output, that’s not an enormous difference, but it’s a difference.Neither Japan nor Saudi Arabia is heavy in terms of attack or length-of-the-pitch pressure. We certainly won’t learn everything we need to know in two matches, but if one of either Long, McKenzie or Palmer-Brown were to stand out from the others, it would likely make a strong impression.
Will Pepi, Sargent capitalize amid Pefok snub?
Jordan Pefok and his Union Berlin side have been a revelation since the start of the current Bundesliga season. The counter-attacking partnership of Pefok (three goals and two assists from 10 chances created) and club teammate Sheraldo Becker (six goals and three assists from 12 chances) has been a huge reason why Die Eisernen sit top of the German league table.
As for his performance for the USMNT, Pefok hasn’t really done much. The 26-year old has made nine appearances with the national team and has scored once on eight shots worth 1.2 xG in 307 minutes. Granted, no one has really stood out consistently in center-forward, but of those who have played at least 200 minutes for the national team over the last two years, Nicholas Gioacchini (1.23), Ferreira (1.13), Daryl Dike (0.55), Pepi (0.44) and Gyasi Zardes (0.41) have all averaged more xG created per 90 minutes than Pefok’s 0.35, and Sargent (0.34) and Matthew Hoppe (0.30) aren’t exactly far behind.
The U.S. seems to be at its best when it is giving the other team the ball and opening space for counters. That has been true historically, and it still seems true now. In the four World Cup qualification matches in which the U.S. had under 50% possession, they averaged 2.5 points and 2.8 goals scored per match; in 10 matches over 50%, they averaged 1.5 points and 1.0 goals. It’s true that game state had a role to play here — when the U.S. is leading, it is much less likely to be dominating the ball or trying to play with a high defensive line — but one could make a pretty easy case that Pefok (one of the strongest counter-attackers in Europe at the moment) should have a spot on the roster, even if just as a substitute.
Maybe that will come to pass. Maybe Berhalter was serious when he said last week, “We’re pretty confident we know Jordan’s profile, we know what he can do… we didn’t feel like we needed to see him in this camp to determine whether he could be on the [World Cup] roster or not.”left for attackers and now Pepi, Sargent and Arriola get chances to make last-minute impressions, hopefully swaying Berhalter’s thinking. Will they take advantage?Sargent has certainly taken advantage of a drop in competition levels. Still only 22, he spent the last two seasons with moribund teams. Werder Bremen was relegated in 2020-21 after a terrible season in the Bundesliga, and he moved to Norwich City, which finished last in the Premier League in 2021-22.
Over those two seasons, he managed to score just seven goals in 58 matches and while he was in no way the primary reason for those teams’ dreadful performances, he obviously didn’t help that much either. Predictably, his form with the national team suffered, too. After scoring five goals in his first 12 appearances, he failed to score in his last seven matches; in the first three matches of World Cup qualification, he attempted four shots in 116 minutes, put none of them on target, and wasn’t included in further matches.This season in the English Championship, Sargent already has six goals and an assist in 10 matches for Norwich. Because of an injury to veteran Teemu Pukki, he’s put in nearly half of his minutes at center-forward, too, which hasn’t hurt his cause. He’s put 42% of his shots on target, and his body language has improved immensely. He’s doing this in the second division, yes, but he desperately needed confidence and form, and he’s found both.
Pepi… is still searching, as the last year or so has turned him into a prime example of “too much, too soon.”
Still only 19, Pepi rode a hot streak to a 13-goal, two-assist season for FC Dallas in 2021 — he scored three times for the U.S., too — and he parlayed that success into a transfer to the Bundesliga to play for FC Augsburg.
Over the course of about seven months, he made just 16 appearances for 587 minutes (equivalent to just 6.5 full 90s) and scored zero goals with zero assists. He was solid from a ball-pressure perspective, but as a forward, you’re hired to score at least a few goals. He is spending 2022-23 on loan with the Eredivisie’s FC Groningen, and in two matches and 110 minutes he’s already produced a goal and an assist.
Maybe a lower level of competition will coax the same improvement we’ve seen from Sargent, but he’s only just started there.
Will the shots be on target?
For obvious reasons, the players themselves — their individual performances and where they fit in the team — are what we will be primarily focused on in these two matches. In fact, we’ll return to that line of thinking shortly. But there’s still something to be gleaned from the team’s play, especially as it pertains to the attack.Berhalter has made clear through the years that he prefers slow buildup and quality possession numbers; this made it kind of awkward when, as mentioned above, the U.S. turned out to be far more potent with less of the ball.Against a set of CONCACAF opponents that were typically happy to play with a low defensive line and give more talented teams all the aimless possession they wanted, the U.S. obliged. They were inconsistent in breaking these defenses down to any major degree, and it created some blemishes.In seven qualification wins, the U.S. averaged 15.3 shots per match, attempted at least 12 in every match and put 40% of shots on goal. In six meaningful qualification draws and losses (not including the final loss to Costa Rica, when they had already clinched qualification), they averaged 10.0 shots per match, managed fewer than 12 in four of six and put just 25% of shots on goal.With Iran in their World Cup group, the U.S. will play at least one match against a low-line, low-possession team — one that is very good at that system, no less. And as preparation, you could do a lot worse than playing Japan and Saudi Arabia. In friendlies and World Cup qualification matches over the last two years, Saudi Arabia has allowed just 8.2 shot attempts per match (37% on target), Japan 6.8 (31%). Was there a lot of weak opposition in that sample? Absolutely. But there was quite a bit of raw quality, too, especially from Japan.When Japan played a loaded Brazil team in a June friendly — one that started Neymar, Vinicius Junior and Raphinha in attack and brought Gabriel Jesus and Richarlison off the bench — they did allow 21 shot attempts. But only two of the shots were worth more than 0.2 xG, only 24% of them were on target and Brazil’s lone goal came from a 77th-minute penalty.Japan manager Hajime Moriyasu has a sound defense to lean on, one that includes veterans like captain Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04) and Hiroki Sakai (formerly of Marseille) and exciting younger players like Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart) and Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal). Further up the pitch, Japan has both proven players like Takumi Minamino (AS Monaco), Daichi Kamada (Eintracht Frankfurt) and Kyogo Furuhashi (Celtic) and up-and-comers like Takefusa Kubo (Real Sociedad) and Ritsu Doan (SC Freiburg). This squad will test the U.S. from front to back, but how the Americans fare in attack might be the most telling. And against Saudi Arabia in particular, they should get plenty of reps against a packed-in defense.
How sharp is Turner (and will he play both games)?
According to data recorded by StatsPerform, Matt Turner — who will get the start on Friday against Japan — played 43 matches and a total of 3,869 minutes for club and country in 2021.In 2022, he’s played 14 matches and 1,193 minutes. In 2021, he registered an excellent 14.1 goals prevented (a StatsPerform measure comparing the post-shot xG value of shots on goal to actual goals scored or allowed). In 2022, that figure is minus-0.3. It could be a correlation — or merely a coincidence.The 28-year old Turner missed a large portion of the spring to injury, then moved from the New England Revolution to Arsenal over the summer. Professionally, it was an obviously exciting move for him to make. He’s been regarded as the best pure shot-stopper in the U.S. player pool for a while, and now he gets to ply his trade for one of England’s biggest clubs.He did see a little bit of push-back to the move from those thinking more about the national team than about Turner himself. Would his form be affected by the fact that he wouldn’t be playing as much — he’s now Aaron Ramsdale‘s backup — especially after coming off of an injury?
Indeed, he’s played in only one match for the club, along with three recorded friendlies. He was shaky against Germany’s Nurnberg in a July friendly, but the only goal he allowed in his Europa League debut came from a penalty. He has said all the right and predictable things about the move, pointing out that things are so fast in practice that he feels more prepared than ever for a World Cup-level challenge.We’ll get a fleeting glimpse of Turner’s sharpness over the next week, but it will be interesting to see if Berhalter also starts him against Saudi Arabia, knowing that it will be his last chance to get a look at potential backups like Horvath and Johnson as well.
Will De la Torre be rested or rusty?
We’re going to get quite a look at how club form affects country form this week and, perhaps, at the World Cup. Turner is one case study, and De la Torre is another.De la Torre, 24, emerged as a bolt of lightning and phenomenal at ball recoveries for the U.S. this spring and summer. Over seven 2022 matches with the U.S., and in just a 275-minute sample, he recorded 38 ball recoveries, completed 90% of his passes and created six chances with two assists. He was a wrecking ball with Heracles Almelo in the Dutch Eredivisie, too: He was one of only three players to combine at least 230 ball recoveries with at least 40 chances created.He moved from Heracles to LaLiga’s Celta Vigo in the offseason, however, and has proceeded to play 17 total minutes in 2022-23. The odds are good that he will land on the 26-man World Cup roster regardless, but now’s a good chance for him to prove his sharpness — to prove he’s rested, not rusty — after sitting the bench for most of the last six to eight weeks.
Their hope is that even when key faces are missing or unavailable, or the team finds itself up against a wall, as is quite likely to be the case for significant stretches in Qatar against the likes of Group B foes Wales, England and Iran, that the journey to this point has created a collective much greater than the sum of its parts.
Which would be no small sum, considering that this is widely considered both the youngest and possibly most talented group the United States has ever sent to a men’s World Cup. And several of them have known one another since middle school or thereabouts.
“One of the things, as far as me and Tyler, have learned about each other is that he does all the running and I do all the playing. No, I’m just kidding!” said McKennie, flashing another trademark smile. “But I think just us being together for as long as we have and knowing each other for so long, we’ve, I think, developed a relationship that we know each other’s tendencies, we know each other’s abilities, we know each other’s strengths and weaknesses and how to cover for one another.
“Many of the guys that are coming in that may have not been with the group so long, we’ve played with them or against them at some point in our lives, in our careers. Say for instance, Luca de la Torre, [who] maybe came on a little bit later into the national team, me and Tyler have been playing with him since we were 14, 15 years old. So I think whoever comes in, we have some sort of familiarity with each player.”
Evaluation time
Understandably, fans and pundits are already debating decisions like leaving out Pefok, or whether to start Jesus Ferreira vs. Josh Sargent up top instead. Or if Brenden Aaronson should be slotted into a No. 8 role alongside McKennie instead of on the right wing, to make sure the Leeds United standout is on the pitch given other flank options like Gio Reyna, Malik Tillman or Paul Arriola. Or whether anyone else in the player pool can replicate what Antonee “Jedi” Robinson has brought to the left back position, with Sam Vines looking to impress.
As important as those finer points of Berhalter’s roster and lineup selection are, Adams suggested that Berhalter’s overarching concepts reduce the extent of adaptation when changes become inevitable, as they already are.
“One of the keys to our team is our depth. You already see, based off of the players that are here, all of them can play at any given moment, they can really offer something different,” said the holding midfielder. “We have a system, and although, yeah, we have individual quality all over the field and [roster spots] one through 26, there’s all different types of qualities, when you come into the system, you have to know your role and you have to know your job on the day and for who we’re playing against.”One of Asia’s elite sides for a quarter-century and counting, Japan have qualified for seven consecutive World Cups and this autumn must chart a course out of a ferocious Group E alongside Germany, Spain and Costa Rica. Their technical, up-tempo blend of possession and pressing will undoubtedly ask difficult questions of the USMNT on both sides of the ball.That leads to useful lessons for the players, and data points for Berhalter as he mulls his final roster decisions.“We’re trying to put together the best possible team that can perform at our best levels at the World Cup. And for that, we pick players that fit the way we want to play and the way we are, and our team culture. And so there’s not one easy answer for that,” said the coach.“We take the decisions very seriously. We deliberate continuously. And we feel bad for guys and happy for other guys. It’s an emotional process where we care for each and every one of our players in our player pool. Every player that’s ever stepped on the field or stepped on a training field for us since we’ve been involved in 2019, we care for. And they’re never easy conversations. But in the end, we’re trying to do what we feel is best for the team – and the team is always going to be the most important thing.”
USMNT to start GK Turner, defenders Long, Zimmerman in friendly vs. Japan – Berhalter
11:36 AM ET Jeff CarlisleU.S. soccer correspondent
“Aaron and Walker are going to play, going to start, and we’ll probably make a sub at half-time, or maybe after that and get another center back in. And then next game, take a look at another one,” Berhalter said during a roundtable with reporters.Berhalter later confirmed during a virtual media availability that Antwerp left back Sam Vines would also start against Japan.The center back position has been hit by injuries in recent months. Atlanta United’s Miles Robinson suffered a ruptured achilles tendon back in May, while Crystal Palace’s Chris Richards and Celtic’s Cameron Carter-Vickers were ruled out of this international break due to minor injuries. That left Berhalter to call in RKC Genk’s Mark McKenzie and Troyes’ Erik Palmer-Brown.The absences have led to concerns that some chemistry will be lost, but Berhalter said Long, McKenzie and Zimmerman were all part of his first national team camp back in 2019.”Mark’s played in some big games, Aaron and Walker played together for three and a half years now, so I think there is familiarity with this group,” Berhalter said. “And then for Eric, it’s a good opportunity. He’s playing in Ligue 1. He’s playing against [Kylian] Mbappe and [Lionel] Messi and the quality strikers there.”Berhalter said that he is making some tactical modifications, even at this late stage before the start of the World Cup in November, where the U.S. will square off against Wales, England and Iran. In addition to Japan on Friday, the U.S. will play their final preparation match against Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain on Sept. 27.”I think it’s beneficial for us to put tweaks into what we’re doing because opponents come in all shapes and sizes and forms and formations in the World Cup,” Berhalter said. “So I think this will help prepare us. There’s probably a little bit in it over the course of two games, for sure.”Midfielder Weston McKennie said the U.S. will try to handle playing in transition better, which was something the team struggled with in friendlies last June against Morocco and Uruguay.”When the ball gets switched to the other side or our press gets broken down, just to track back and get behind the ball again,” he said.”That’s one of the things that we’re concentrating on in training, and just building out, playing and having a confidence to find those balls that maybe aren’t the easiest to find, but most effective. And in general, just I guess making sure our chemistry is intact, which I don’t think that’s ever been a real problem, but always good to have the guys in.”
Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Jesus Ferreria are the 3 Strikers called in for the final 2 games before the World Cup.
A Glimpse Into USMNT’s Forward Thinking
Fit or form? That appears to be the key question up top for the U.S. as it braces for the World Cup. Brian Straus SI
Maybe the Bundesliga just wanted to find a novel way to remind everybody that it has a title race to promote in late September. Union Berlin is, after all, the surprising leader of a league that’s often already in Bayern Munich’s hands by now. But this was an interesting way to do it—essentially criticizing a foreign national team coach for his roster selection.“Jordan [Pefok] has contributed to more goals in the early part of 2022-23 than any U.S. international playing their club football in a top European league,” the Bundesliga website proclaimed, adding that the 26-year-old striker “deserves a USMNT recall in time for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.”The German league’s editorial was unorthodox, but it’s an indication of just how contentious and confounding the U.S. striker conversation has become—at least outside the program. The World Cup is two months away, and there’s just one camp and two friendlies left to play before coach Gregg Berhalter has to choose his 26-man team (and then the 11 men who’ll start against Wales in Al Rayyan, Qatar).There are other roster concerns, including at goal and center back. But none is attracting more attention and opinion than the puzzle up front. There, no one but 21-year-old FC Dallas forward Jesús Ferreira, who scored one goal in six World Cup qualifying appearances before netting four against tiny Grenada in June, appears to be a November shoo-in. As of last week, the likes of Pefok, Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Haji Wright and Brandon Vazquez were considered contenders for the remaining two or maybe three slots.Berhalter has said time and again that this month’s camp in western Germany (where the U.S. faces Japan on Friday in Düsseldorf) and Murcia, Spain (where the Americans play Saudi Arabia on Sept. 27) is not a World Cup dress rehearsal. It can’t be. Too many important pieces, such as Antonee Robinson, Tim Weah and Yunus Musah, among others, are missing. Nevertheless, a message has been sent about the race for the No. 9 role: fit may trump form. There’s no other way to reconcile the inclusion of Pepi, who hadn’t found the net in the 11 months that preceded last week’s roster announcement (he then scored for Groningen over the weekend), over Pefok, who’s been the most consistent American scorer in Europe. The Washington, D.C. native had tallied 21 goals between Pepi’s last marker and last week’s unveiling, and now has four in eight games for first-place Union.Ferreira and Sargent, who hasn’t scored for the U.S. in two years, are the other strikers now in camp. Wright, who spent June with the national team and has five goals in seven matches for Turkey’s Antalyaspor, was left out. So was Vazquez, whose bid for an inaugural senior cap has been fueled by a brilliant 16-goal, five-assist campaign for resurgent FC Cincinnati.“I don’t think there’s a case where there’s a huge talent discrepancy, and we went with the guy who has experience or has a body of work over that talent. You’re talking about minor differences,” Berhalter explained.“We’re not going to be the most talented team at the World Cup and we’re going to have to compensate for that by being a cohesive unit, by working for each other, fighting for each other and having a great team spirit,” the coach continued. “So part of it is leaning on guys that have been there before and been around the group before, and understand the team culture and understand their teammates really well.”Form is typically temporary, especially up top. Strikers can be streaky, for better or worse. What seems to matter more to Berhalter is profile—attributes, qualities, abilities and instincts that transcend a given stat. How the player fits into the group tactically, physically and personally is a priority.“It’s no secret. We use [strikers] in a number of different ways,” Berhalter said when asked what he was looking for from his No. 9. “One of them is to drop in and help us give us an extra man in midfield. One of the ways is to run behind the back line and then arriving in the penalty box, making good runs inside the penalty box, and then finally starting our defensive pressure. We want to be a high pressing team. We need forwards that understand the press, know how to use triggers to initiate the press and then actually execute the press well.” https://f458671a9cbecd1c50adad69622ac743.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html That combination of qualities is why Ferreira is atop the U.S. depth chart. “When you look at a guy like Jesús, he checks all those boxes in terms of what his skill set is,” Berhalter said. “So that’s how we’ve been evaluating a lot of these guys, and I think that it’s a complicated position. But there are guys out there, even not in this camp, that we believe can get the job done. We said that all along, that we believe we have forwards that can do the job.”Ferreira is smaller than his compatriots, but he’s mobile, smart and comfortable on both sides of the ball. Speaking from U.S. camp this week, he detailed how focusing on those foundational qualities can help a player produce an end product. He said he’s even been meeting with a sports psychologist to help embrace that cause and effect.“[I’ve been] working with a guy that has helped me understand that in games, I need to focus more on having a good touch, making sure that my press is good, making sure that my runs are good, making sure that I can come down and help with my first touch for buildout, just making sure that I have a good game before I think about the final product,” Ferreira said. “Thinking about having a good game will lead me to having the final product, which is the goal.”Berhalter has expressed confidence in Pepi and Sargent despite their recent struggles. Pepi’s transfer to Augsburg has been a disaster, and he’s now on loan in the Netherlands. Sargent has been revitalized by Norwich’s relegation from the Premier League, a positional adjustment and an offseason weight training program.“Pepi has also had some good history with us. He’s started really important games, and we just weren’t willing to give all that up right now on Pepi. We still think there’s a big upside with him,” Berhalter said. “Let’s not forget in our last qualifying window, he started two of the three games in a crucial qualifying window. So he’s a guy that we’ve counted on in the past, and we want to give him an opportunity in this window.” Berhalter said regarding Sargent, “We wanted to take a look at Josh due to his hot start and he’s been with the [national] team for a while as well.”Norwich uses a 4-3-3 formation that’s similar to the the Berhalter’s, and Sargent earned some time up top in the absence of the injured Teemu Pukki. Sargent then returned to a right-wing role that affords him more opportunity to drift inside, he said. The 22-year-old has six goals in 11 games this season.”I haven’t really had a season like this,” Sargent told media Wednesday in Cologne. “I would say in terms of getting a lot of scoring chances, getting minutes at striker like I have this season so far, confidence is at an all-time high at the moment. I’m just trying to keep that momentum going as long as possible, keep scoring goals.”Wright and Pefok have fewer caps than the men called in (but not by much in Pefok’s case—he’s just two behind Pepi). Pefok also plays in a 3-5-2 at Union that’s quite different from Berhalter’s set-up. Vazquez, meanwhile, has no time with the U.S. at all, and integrating a player into the side this close to the World Cup just doesn’t seem like a task the coaching staff is eager to take on.
Pefok seemed like the bigger snub.“We’re pretty confident we know Jordan’s profile,” Berhalter said last week. “We know what he can do, and we didn’t feel like we needed to see him in this camp to determine whether he could be on the [World Cup] roster or not. … He’s been working hard. He’s been a handful to play against, and he’s doing a lot of things right.“We’ve been consistent in saying it may not be the best forward that is in the group,” he added. “It’s a guy that fits what we’re doing the best and again, we’re pretty confident we know what Jordan can do.”So is Pefok.”In the big competitions you need experience, but you also need desire and to apply yourself,” he said in that Bundesliga piece. ”In a cup competition anything can happen. Why shouldn’t performances at the highest level in club football be reflected in the national team?”Perhaps Pefok already is considered a World Cup squad member unless Pepi and/or Sargent flourish this month. Or maybe his profile just isn’t right. Either way, the scoreboard will tell the story. First up is the 24th-ranked Samurai Blue, who are headed to their seventh straight World Cup following a qualifying campaign in which they won 15 of 18 games, scored 58 goals and yielded just six.”They don’t give much up at all,” Berhalter said of Japan. “They don’t give many goal scoring opportunities up. They play teams very tight—very good work rate. Everyone gets behind the ball when they lose the ball. So I think that’s going be an interesting opponent.”It sounds like a good test for a striker. It’s one that somebody will have to pass, or else questions will continue as time grows short.
Bracing for Roster Change Is the USMNT’s Only Constant
Injuries have shaped the makeup of the U.S.’s last squad before the World Cup team is chosen, but in the national team’s universe, that’s par for the course.
Gregg Berhalter saw it coming. But then again, anyone who has been closely following the U.S. men’s national team for the last few years probably should have, too.“A lot can change,” Berhalter prophetically said regarding his penultimate squad choice before the World Cup begins, specifically about those who were and were not selected. “We have to be monitoring these players, we are monitoring these players, we’re having ongoing conversations with guys in the camp and not in the camp, because we know things can change really quickly.”And so it has. In the time since Berhalter made those comments, last Wednesday, three of his 26 initial choices for the last U.S. camp—Yunus Musah, Chris Richards and Cameron Carter-Vickers—have withdrawn with fresh injuries. Another handful wasn’t available to be called on in the first place due to either lingering or recent injury issues. Such is what resembles “normal” for the USMNT.It bears repeating that the U.S. has never had what most would consider its optimal lineup together for a single game in the four years leading into the 2022 World Cup. Injuries, COVID-19, form, discipline … you name the circumstance, and it has prevented the U.S. from truly being at full strength even once in Berhalter’s time as coach. So it should be no surprise, then, that the U.S., which has commenced its last camp before the World Cup, is again braced for change. It’s been the only real constant for a group that has achieved plenty as an extended unit and goes into its World Cup group against Wales, England and Iran feeling optimistic about its chances, regardless of who makes the final cut. A camp that spans time and a pair of matches against World Cup–bound foes in Germany and Spain, is the next checkpoint on the road to Qatar, but it’s not the end-all for those hoping to reach the World Cup stage. Berhalter made sure to stress that point repeatedly, with it extending both ways—just because someone was called into camp doesn’t necessarily mean he’s a shoo-in for Qatar, and, conversely, just because someone wasn’t included doesn’t mean his World Cup hopes are toast. But there is going to be the expectation for the next men up to rise to the occasion if called upon. In this case, it’s the three replacements: Brazil-based midfielder Johnny Cardoso, and Europe-based center backs Mark McKenzie and Erik Palmer-Brown. “This isn’t something where we need to lock in the [World Cup] roster right now. If we’re 80% done now, or we think we’re 80% done, still things can change from there,” Berhalter said. “They’re playing up until the last weekend before the World Cup. Think about how many guys pulled out of [USMNT World Cup] qualifiers at the last weekend. “It’s important to keep in mind that this is not the final roster. It’s not the final roster for the World Cup. A lot can happen between now and Nov. 9 [when the U.S.’s squad will be revealed]. A lot can happen between the ninth and the 14th [when FIFA’s roster deadline actually is]. So just keep that in mind. That was the conversation I had with the players not selected in this camp, is that a lot can happen in some of the positions where we’re looking to evaluate certain guys that we don’t have enough information on and other players just weren’t selected.”So that’s the position in which the U.S. finds itself with one week and two games left before any undecided places—that 20% or so that Berhalter referenced—come down to remaining club performances (Berhalter did add that a separate, off-calendar camp for MLS-based players whose teams don’t make the playoffs will be held next month). In addition to the three aforementioned injuries, winger Tim Weah, left back Antonee Robinson and goalkeeper Zack Steffen, three players whom most would call core fixtures for a team familiar with flux, all were held out as well. Steffen’s absence is made a bit more confusing considering he returned from a knee injury for Middlesbrough over the weekend, but it opens the door for Matt Turner to make his claim for the No. 1 job.“We’re waiting to see how [Steffen] recovers and gets back on the training field and then a game field,” Berhalter had said last week.Nevertheless, he remains out. Weah is also in a waiting game, with his ankle injury preventing him from playing for Lille at all so far this season. At the very least, Robinson’s injury does not appear to be prohibitive. The instrumental fullback injured his ankle against Tottenham earlier this month, but Berhalter appeared to play down the severity when giving his assessment last week, and that was backed by subsequent words from Fulham manager Marco Silva.“It’s not really serious, and because of that we are testing every day how he feels,” Silva said late last week, before Fulham’s match vs. Nottingham Forest. “It’s something that could be one or two days, [that’s] the feedback that I received from the medical staff. We need to check again, because he doesn’t feel really comfortable yet, but I think soon we will have Robinson again.”
That’s a breath of fresh air for the U.S., which has options, but not ones that would be characterized as fully secure, behind Robinson in the pecking order.The roster churn over the last few days doesn’t account for all of the pressing story lines with the current U.S. squad. The chief focus is on the center forwards, which, at this camp, are Jesús Ferreira, Josh Sargent and Ricardo Pepi. Ferreira’s form with FC Dallas and most recent contributions with the U.S. made him an automatic call, while Sargent has been on a scorching scoring run—at last—for Norwich City and has a deep history with this player pool. Berhalter said he didn’t want to bring four players at the position to camp when getting game time for all would have been a tough task, leaving the final call, presumably, down to Pepi and Jordan Pefok.Whereas Pepi, who finally broke his scoring drought for club and country after more than 11 months with a goal in the Netherlands for Groningen, made the squad, Pefok, who has scored regularly for Bundesliga-leading Union Berlin, including another goal Sunday, did not. Both players’ goals were scored on headers, with Pefok’s of a higher degree of difficulty, in a better league—the same league where Pepi struggled to find a foothold. Even so, the thought process is not that simple. Pepi is getting another look, perhaps owing to what he meant to the group during qualifying, with his three goals last fall helping propel the U.S. during a turning point. Berhalter was also quick to point out that Pepi was a starter in the final qualifying window. It’s not as if he hasn’t been more involved in key moments, and when contemplating what a team will look like in Qatar, more than stats go into it. Pefok’s goals speak for themselves, and he’s done just about everything he can to show he should not only go to Qatar but perhaps play a significant role, but he won’t get that last audition. And he might not need it, anyway.“We’re pretty confident we know Jordan’s profile, we know what he can do,” Berhalter said. “And we didn’t feel like we needed to see him in this camp to determine whether he can be on the roster [for the World Cup] or not.”If there’s one thing that can ease Pefok’s mind, and that of anyone else who is on the fringe but wasn’t called in for this camp and matches against Japan and Saudi Arabia, it’s Berhalter’s four words that represent what’s possible in a small time window.“A lot can change.”
FC Dallas alumni shine, Pefok scores again, Ream wins at LB, Yanks struggle in Italy, & more Americans abroad analysis
Unless you were in Italy, it was generally a fun weekend for Americans in Europe. Jordan Pefok helped keep Union Berlin atop the Bundesliga with another goal. Tim Ream played out of position and helped Fulham gut out another win. The FC Dallas alumni trio of Bryan Reynolds, Reggie Cannon, and Ricardo Pepi all stood out. ASN’s Brian Sciaretta covers all the good and bad while putting a lot of context with the U.S. national team.
BY BRIAN SCIARETTA SEPTEMBER 18, 2022 11:00 PM
THE WEEKEND FOR Americans abroad is over and that ushers in the final international break before the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. It was a far better weekend than the previous weekend and there is a lot more to talk about – both good and bad.We had significant news from just about every of the major European countries.So, let’s start with breaking it all down and giving you some of my thoughts
FC DALLAS HOMEGROWN ALUMNI SHINE
Players who came up through the FC Dallas system, signed homegrown deals, made it to the first team all had good weekends – with the exception of Justin Che who is trapped in the abyss at Hoffenheim. First you had Ricardo Pepi, who was somewhat controversially selected to the national team last week despite not having scored for club or country since last October. His run at Augsburg was poor and he was shipped to the midtable Eredivisie with FC Groningen to jump start his career. He made a strong debut last weekend when he assisted in a 1-0 win over Cambuur. On Saturday, he earned his first start with Groningen against Sparta Rotterdam and initially it went extremely well with Pepi ending his scoreless skid with a very nice header. The magnifying glass will still be on Pepi as he remains the most unconvincing forward right now in the player pool and Jordan Pefok’s surge continues to have many fans asking “why not Pefok? He’s scoring for the Bundesliga’s top team.” It’s a fair question. While Berhalter keeps stressing the style of the team and fitting into the system, for a lot of fans that is overcomplicating things. Mike Tyson once had a famous line: “everyone has a plan until they are punched in the face.” When you get into battle, the style and the system are great but there comes a time when that will break down. When that breaks down, becomes a matter of raw talent.This doesn’t mean that Pepi doesn’t have the talent. But this one Eredivisie goal needs to be the start of a huge upward trend or else it’s going to only raise more questions. One important note here is that Pepi was not having a particularly solid game until his 62nd minute goal. The goal does distract from everything but maybe it provides a spark. It has to start from somewhere.
Staying with the FC Dallas alumni, Bryan Reynolds has not had a great time since getting sold from FC Dallas to AS Roma in January 2021. He rarely played at Roma and his first loan this past January to Kortrijk wasn’t great. He didn’t standout as that team tanked.
Now at Westerlo, he is on a newly promoted team but one with a little more promise. After weeks of being glued to the bench, Reynolds is now a starter. On Saturday against Sporting Charleroi, he scored his first goal when his 4th minute strike gave Westerlo 1-0 lead. That proved to be a valuable goal in a 3-2 away win over Sporting.
Reynolds is finally in a place where he can build his game and the club should be a midtable finisher. It’s not glamours, but this is where he should have been at initially. The level of play is the same as Dallas but there he can work free of the hype and get acclimated to a different country and culture.
His national team prospects aren’t great – either now or in the future. If he’s a right back, Sergino Dest and Joe Scally are also young and are clearly ahead of him. With the emergence of other left backs after Antonee Robinson (such as Sam Vines, who is higher up the ladder in Belgium), it doesn’t seem likely Dest or Scally get switched to left back.
Reynolds might in in time find his way into a backup role with the U.S. team but that is a long way off. He should put all his focus into his club career to improve his standing once his Westerlo loan ends and then maybe push for an Olympic team spot. He’s a long term project but is finally showing the possibility of a nice ceiling if he continues to work hard.
Finally, completing the FC Dallas homegrown hat trick of good news this weekend was Reggie Cannon. While he isn’t playing as a right back, he is playing as a right sided central defender for Boavista on a weekly basis. On Saturday, he went the distance in a very good defensive outing as Boavista defeated one of Portugal’s traditional powers in Sporting CP. It was a gritty and hard-fought defensive battle and showed the value for Cannon in being able to help his team defend its way to an upset. Gregg Berhalter surely took note of that too.
Boavista are in a surprising fifth place in Portugal through seven games to start the season. It’s been a steady climb up since Cannon joined and this is their best season with him.
PEFOK & BOYD: CRUSHING IT IN GERMANY
There were some impressive displays from the forward position in Germany – one which is sure to raise the most angst among U.S. national team fans and the other, while no longer in contention for the U.S. team, is just a positive and feel-good story.
Let’s start with the angst.Jordan Pefok scored his third goal of the Bundesliga season on Sunday for Union Berlin when he opened the scoring of what would turn out to be a 2-0 win over Wolfsburg. His 54th minute header was truly a display of individual class. On top of it all, Union Berlin sits atop the Bundesliga table with 17 points from seven games.We all know the reason why Pefok is not in the U.S.team. He doesn’t fit the profile of how Berhalter wants his forwards to play. But this then draws links with Pepi who broke his 11+ month scoreless drought with a goal that looked like it would have been scored by Pefok. Josh Sargent struggled for years in the Bundesliga trying to do what Pepi did.It doesn’t dismiss Berhalter’s concerns either. I remember the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. As one of the three overage picks, Peter Nowak selected Brian McBride who was coming off another season in the Premier League. Jozy Altidore was still a very young forward on the Red Bulls and Charlie Davies was still in Sweden. McBride, despite having the best resume at the time, looked completely out of step for how the team wanted to play. Altidore and Davies looked better.But as I mentioned above, “everyone has a plan until they’re punched in the face,” and when the system is breaking down, where are the goals going to come from against the run of play? The 2008 U.S. Olympic team over-relied on McBride. I think the concern with leaving Pefok off is that he doesn’t have to start, but it is very easy to see a situation arise where he’d be useful. Yes, he doesn’t get a lot of touches on the ball, he doesn’t press much, he might not get behind the lines very often, and he has yet to show a good working chemistry with the U.S. wingers, but when the U.S. trailing late and looking for an equalizer, he seems like the guy you want to be in the box for crosses.As for the club situation, he’s in a great spot. He has great chemistry with Sheraldo Becker (a chemistry which would be nearly impossible to replicate at on the U.S. team, to be honest). Holding off Bayern Munich is unlikely but they’re a team in transition with Lewandowski gone but Union Berlin looks like the team to really go for it.In this game, Kevin Paredes came off the bench and played the final 11 minutes for Wolfsburg. Once again, he wasn’t a game changer, but he was a positive for Wolfsburg. It seems as if the U.S. U-20 winger is building towards his first ever Bundesliga start.
In the German 2.Bundesliga, Terrence Boyd scored two goals for Kaiserslautern in a 2-2 draw with FC Heidenheim. In this game, his second goal was an equalizer with his team down to 10 men. His first goal, was a very impressive header.
Boyd, 31, now has five goals on the season and is just one off the pace for the 2.Bundesliga scoring lead. That’s not easy on a newly promoted team. Boyd never scored in repeated opportunities with the U.S. team and he never scored in an ill-fated move to Toronto. But he remains one of the most likable and easy to root for American players in the game. Now he is looking to end his career with a string of successful seasons.
Also in this game, Lennard Maloney went 75 minutes for Heidenheim in the draw. It was a tough outing in what has otherwise been a nice start to the season for the German-American central defender who earned two U.S. U-20 caps in 2018. Heidenheim looks like a contender for promotion.
MCKENZIE & EPB IMPRESS
As everyone knows by now, Erik Palmer-Brown and Mark McKenzie were added to the U.S. national team roster on Sunday to replace the injured Cameron Carter-Vickers and Chris Richards. Both are listed as out with minor injuries.But in getting added, both players will arrive in camp on the heels of good performances.
Erik Palmer-Brown once again played the full 90 for Troyes in a 3-1 away win over Clermont Foot on Sunday. After a tough start, Troyes is playing like an upper-mid table Ligue 1 team. Palmer-Brown is in a position where he must battle week-in and week-out and things are starting to really fall into place for him. Here, he had eight clearances, two blocked shots, and won 4/6 of his duels. Mark McKenzie, meanwhile, had his best outing for Genk since assuming the starting job after the club sold Jhon Lucumi to Bologna. In the weeks since that sale, McKenzie had been performing well against smaller Belgian clubs but in this game he faced a good Gent team and he helped preserve a very nice 1-0 cleansheet victory.
Both players will like where they stand heading into the international break. Both players have a chance to sneak firmly on the inside of the World Cup bubble. Among the central defense pool, I see Walker Zimmerman as the team’s only lock. Aaron Long has had a decent season for the Red Bulls but isn’t spectacular.Then there should also be questions about why Richards is considered a lock as well given 582 minutes of club minutes in 2022 and his last U.S. appearances were in January. Richards has a lot of talent but he’s not at the level of Pulisic where he is an automatic selection if healthy.Carter-Vickers has done very well for Celtic but is not much further ahead of Palmer-Brown or McKenzie on talent. A good camp from McKenzie or Palmer-Brown could swing the balance. Especially for Palmer-Brown who is playing in the challenging Ligue 1.
REALLY TOUGH WEEKEND IN ITALY
With the sole exception of Andrija Novakovich, this weekend was a terrible stretch for the Americans in Italy.We will start with Weston McKennie and Juventus who dropped a 1-0 decision on the road to Monza. Not long ago, this would have been an unimaginable upset (as it was Monza’s first Serie A win). But in a sign about how far things have fallen for Juve, no one who has paid attention to the club is surprised by the result.McKennie played the full 90 – which is good. While he didn’t play well, it’s fair to say no one on Juventus played well. It’s also fair to say that the biggest culprit for Juve’s losing effort was Angel Di Mario who was sent off in the 40th minute.McKennie played on the right side of the midfield and while he worked hard defensively, wasn’t able to provide much to help his team offensively. He did have a very nice cross in the second half that could have been put away, but in terms of how he played the previous two season (when healthy) for Juventus – it is a step down.The team was booed loudly by its own supporters and Max Allegri could be in a position where his hot seat eventually caves. The blame must also shift to the players. Allegri is a successful coach and he has a long history with Juve. If he can’t win with these players, who can?
AC Milan dropped a 2-1 decision to Napoli at home. Of all the Americans in Europe this weekend, Sergino Dest is top of the list of players who had a weekend he’d like to forget.Dest came into the game to start the second half with the score 0-0. He was asked to provide some defense, but instead conceded a 55th minute penalty. While Milan equalized in the 69th via a goal Dest was not involved, Giovanni Simeone found a 79th minute winner for Napoli in a 2-1 victory.Dest is getting criticism from Milan fans, which is to be expected from them, but Dest has been put in a tough situation. He was publicly forced out the door at Barcelona and he rarely played in preseason. Now he is being thrown right into the mix at Milan. The good news for the U.S. team is that he is making his mistakes now, not on international duty.But that raises two concerns. What is his confidence level after getting forced out at Barca and now a mishap in Milan when he is pushing for regular minutes? Second, will this see his minutes reduced?
Unfortunately, we don’t know. Dest won’t arrive into U.S. camp in a confident manner. But can he compartmentalize it and separate himself when he’s with Milan or the U.S team?
In Serie B, Venezia played to a disappointing 1-1 draw with Pisa on Saturday. Andrija Novakovich and Gianluca Busio started for Venezia. Americans Patrick Leal and Jack DeVries were on the bench and did not play. Tanner Tessmann was suspended. As mentioned earlier, Novakovich was the lone American to play well in Italy and the Wisconsin native scored Venezia’s only goal. It was his first for Venezia. But a 1-1 draw against a newly promoted team from Serie C who went down to 10 men in the 71st is a very poor result. Busio played a full 90 and played relatively well but this was a game Venezia needs to dominate if it wants to be in contention for another promotion.Finally, in Serie B, Anthony Fontana continues to ride the bench as an unused substitute for Ascoli Calico. He didn’t play again on Saturday in a 3-1 home loss to Parma.Italy was a horrible place for Americans this weekend.
REAM GETS IT DONE AT LEFT BACK
On Friday, Fulham travelled north to face Nottingham Forest in a batle of newly promoted Premier League teams. This was a huge challenge for Fulham captain Tm Ream who was forced to play left back given a wave of injuries at the club, including one to Antonee Robinson.Ream, 34, held his own and helped Fulham to a big 3-2 win which now has them sixth in the Premier League table. While Ream won’t be pushing Robinson for the job, he was quietly competent and made no real mistakes.His effort did not go unnoticed. Fulham head coach Marco Silva does not like to mention players by name in postgame media, but he couldn’t resist talking about his captain – who will do anything for his club.“I don’t like mentioning individual players but I have to mention Tim Ream,” Silva said. “34 years old, he’s probably been our best centerback, so far. And with the problems that we had on our left side without Robinson or Kurzawa, I didn’t have doubts to adapt him there.”It makes you reflect on Ream’s terrific career at the Red Bulls, Bolton, and now Fulham. He’s been part of three promotions and this is the best he’s looked in the Premier League. That much is widely talked about, but consider how many managers he has impressed over the years? Every club manager sees a ton of value in him, both on the field and off the field.This is what Robinson told me just before the start of the season on Ream.“Since Tom Cairney was injured a lot last season, Tim was pretty much the captain most of the season,” Robinson said. “He started every game which – for someone his age to start every game in the Championship and perform as well as he did – it’s nothing short of incredible, to be honest. He has a real calmness on the ball and a warrior spirit. He was fighting, throwing his head into tackles, getting cut every week. To have that as one of your baseline players, it really does lift the team.” “Off the pitch, he was basically taking on the duties of being co-captain almost with Tom,” he added. “When it came to speaking to the management, staff and things like that, trying to organize stuff off the field and making sure that all the lads were happy and all the coaching staff were happy, and that we were working in unison – he was huge for us.
As everyone knows, Ream is not on the U.S. roster despite two additions to central defense which saw Palmer-Brown and McKenzie added instead. Berhalter said last week that what he’s looking for in central defense doesn’t match Ream’s strengths. Few would expect Ream to start in central defense, but the concern many seem to stress is that Ream’s leadership and veteran calmness seem as if they should count more than ever with a U.S. team which should be the youngest in Qatar.
STEFFEN & HORVATH GET CLEAN SHEETS
Zack Steffen retuned from injury on Saturday to start for Middlesbrough in what turned out to be a 0-0 draw with Rotherham United.
Ethan Horvath, meanwhile, was in net for Luton Town on Saturday in a 2-0 win over Blackburn.
What can be made of these wins? Not much, unfortunately. Neither goalkeeper was forced to make a single save. Horvath in particular has only made 15 saves in 10 games as Luton Town’s defense does not concede many shots.Both goalkeepers are tough to read after mostly sitting on the bench for the past several years. Neither yet this season have been forced into a match where they’ve truly been a difference maker.
GIO & SCALLY IMPRESS IN GERMANY
Gio Reyna and Joe Scally are long-time friends who grew up in the New York area and came up through the NYCFC academy. Gio bailed before he signed a homegrown deal. Scally signed the homegrown deal but left after his first season when Borussia Monchengladbach made a big offer. Joe Scally has turned into a very consistent performer for Borussia Monchengladbach and has now appeared in 32 Bundesliga games. His effort on Saturday in a 3-0 win over RB Leipzig was one of his best so far. He was so consistently solid at right back and he was instrumental in the build-up to the first goal. On the play he beat his man to the endline with a nice move. His cross was perfect and it forced a shot which was saved, but then hit home from close range. Scally remains a top prospect not because dynamic offensive plays but more because he rarely makes serious mistakes. He doesn’t swing wildly between excellent and bad; he just is consistently good. For a teenager, that is rather remarkable.
As for Gio Reyna, Borussia Dortmund continues to manage his minutes wisely. On Saturday, he was on the bench for the return of the Riverederby against Schalke. But an injury to Marco Reus in just the 32nd minute brought the American into the game earlier than expected. He played until the 84th minute, five minutes after Dortmund took a 1-0 lead. That would end up the final score.Reyna was very sharp in his 52 minutes and his substitution reflects the need for managed minutes. After the game, it was also announced that Dortmund would continue to work with the United States national team staff to continue his minute regulation during this window.In his 52 minutes, Reyna had 47 touches and was 26/30 in passing. He created one very dangerous chance in the second half and had two shots inside the box. On the ball he looked very smooth. His consistency might still be lacking, but that’s simply a matter of him needing more reps. Dortmund knows what he can do and the care they are showing him reflects how highly they rate him.As for this window, I doubt he will go a full 90 for the U.S. team in either of these games but he could play a half in either one. Just seeing him on the field will be a big boost for the U.S. team.
VINES & ANTWERP REMAIN PERFECT
Sam Vines and Royal Antwerp defeated RFC Seraing 2-1 on Friday to keep up its perfect 27 points from nine games to start the Belgian season. Vines has been a steady starter for Antwerp but he took on a much bigger role in this one.
Over 90 minutes, Vines had 119 touches which is the most I can ever recall him having. He was also 80/91 in his passing and he won 5/6 of his ground duels. This was a big effort.
Vines will have a big opportunity to prove himself to the U.S team in this camp and a ticket to Qatar is within reach. He is the only true left back on the roster and the other options are right-footed right backs. Vines simply needs to play well.
But even beyond this World Cup, moving forward Vines is in a great position. At the club level, Royal Antwerp’s terrific start now has more scouting eyes upon them. With left backs always in demand, Vines will have opportunities sooner rather than later.
NOTES AROUND EUROPE
Without touching upon every single game, here are some other stories and performances that caught my eye from the weekend.
According to this Dutch report, Cole Bassett has a “minutes threshold” on his loan from Colorado to Fortuna Sittard. If he is not meeting that threshold, Colorado can recall him this January. Even if they recall him, Feyenoord (who originally had him on loan) would continue to hold his option to buy. Even if he continues to play for Colorado, Feyenoord could then buy him.
Will he return to Colorado? Whatever gets him on the field. He was an unused substitute again under the new manager on Sunday for its 1-0 win over Excelsior.
But at least there is a way out for him and a place he can go to play. Things aren’t that great for Taylor Booth who again went as an unused substitute for Utrecht in a 0-0 draw with Nijmegen.
In Portugal, John Brooks made his Benfica debut in a 5-0 win over Maritimo. He came on in the 89th minute to close out the win. That was his first game (including friendlies) since May 14. Joel Sonora, meanwhile did not get off the bench for a Maritimo team that has lost all of its games to start the season. Once Benfica’s injured centerbacks return, can Brooks be expected to play at all?
Staying in Portugal, it was a tough game for Vizela and both of its American players when they travelled to face Braga on Sunday. Alex Mendez started for Vizela and U.S U-20 midfielder Alejandro Alvarado played the final two minutes. Braga, however, scored in the 85th and then in stoppage time for a 2-0 win. Vizela is battling hard and is competitive in most games, but they have just five points from seven games.
Rangers defeated Dundee United 1-0 on Sunday and, as expected, James Sands and Malik Tillman were on the bench after lackluster performances. Tillman managed to get off the bench for the final 20 minutes and he forced a nice save. Sands was an unused substitute in the game following his red card to concede a penalty vs. Napoli. Ian Harkes went the distance in the loss and things are ugly right now for Dundee United, sitting in last place without a win.
Matthew Hoppe scored for Middlesbrough’s reserve team in a loss to Norwich’s reserve team on Sunday. He’s done well in his reserve team appearances which should open the door eventually given that the first team is also struggling. But will Chris Wilder’s job be in jeopardy? That could be good or bad for Hoppe but he seems to have moved into an uncertain environment.
Konrad de la Fuente did not make the bench for Olympiacos on Sunday for its 2-1 loss to Aris. After the game manager Carlos Corberan was fired after just 11 games in charge. Assuming that a new manager is going to open the gates to more minutes for de la Fuente doesn’t capture the complexity of the issue.
De la Fuente does not have an EU passport and Greek Super League teams are limited to eight non-EU players on its roster and only five can be on any matchday squad. So de la Fuente has a separate competition just to make the squad. On top of that James Rodriguez signed with Olympiacos last week and while Rodriguez does have a Spanish passport, it still limits the need for de la Fuente to be one of the five non-EU players to suit up.
This makes you wonder if de la Fuente is in the best place right now for his development. Now in his third team in three years, he might need to find a fourth club where he can settle.
Haji Wright has cooled off a bit after his torrid start although his game for Antalyaspor on Sunday was wild. In a 3-0 loss to Adana Demirspor, Antalyaspor was reduced to 10 men in the 40th minute. Then to start the second half, Adana Demirspor also saw a red. But minutes later, Antalyaspor picked up a second red card. Adana Demirspor then scored twice late to seal the win.
Grant Wahl Free to Read: Josh Sargent Picked a Good Time to Heat UpWe’re on the ground in Germany with the USMNT.Grant Wahl Sep 21 OLOGNE, Germany — I always like hitting the ground running when I land in Europe, so it was nice to see U.S. striker Josh Sargent with a small group of reporters at the team hotel just after I arrived in town following an overnight flight and train trip up from Frankfurt. Somehow I’ve never been to Cologne before, even though it was a World Cup 2006 host city and is known as the coolest city in Germany other than Berlin. But we’re here now!Sargent, now 22, went through a rough two years in which he got relegated twice (first at Werder Bremen, then at Norwich City), was moved out from the No. 9 spot to the wing and saw his club production slip enough that he lost his position in the national team. But the red-headed St. Louisan has rebounded so far this season, playing more at center-forward and producing six goals and one assist for Norwich, currently in second place in the Championship.U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter rewarded Sargent with a recall, where he has joined likely starter Jesús Ferreira and Ricardo Pepi as the No. 9s. (Omitted from the roster, somewhat bewilderingly, was Jordan Pefok, who starts for Bundesliga leader Union Berlin.) GrantWahl.com is a reader-supported soccer newsletter, and this is how I make my living. The best way to support me and my work is by taking out a paid subscription now. SubscribedUpgrade to Paid “I spoke with Gregg [last season], and his point was I wasn’t getting many minutes at striker, I was playing on the wing a lot and just wasn’t scoring goals,” Sargent said. “So if I wanted to be called back in, I think the biggest thing was to get minutes at striker and start scoring again, which obviously I have been doing so far this season.”With Norwich’s usual center-forward, Teemu Pukki, sidelined, Sargent got the start there against Millwall on August 19 and took full advantage of it, scoring both goals in a 2-0 win. The forward position is so much about confidence, and Sargent admits he had become more unsure of himself. But he also knew the Millwall game presented a big chance.“In my mind, I wanted to be playing striker, so when I got that opportunity I knew I had to take it,” he said. “And just thinking, you know, do I still have my touch? I don’t know. I haven’t played there in a while. So it felt amazing to score that first game I got the chance. And then it started just coming back to me, the goal-scoring touch.”And even though Pukki has returned to his No. 9 spot at Norwich, Sargent feels like his role has changed too. He’s not entirely back on the wing, where he said he doesn’t feel totally comfortable, but rather playing sort of a hybrid role.“It’s a little bit of a different situation,” he said. “Pukki obviously is a great striker and a legend there. So I think even if I’m playing on the wing now, there’s an understanding between me and the coach and the team also that I’ll be playing a little bit more as a second striker and tucking more on the inside and not playing kind of a true winger role.”With Berhalter’s omission of Pefok, there has naturally been a lot of discussion about what exactly Berhalter wants from his center-forwards. And if Pefok is banging in goals atop the Bundesliga, should it even matter if he’s not a perfect fit for Berhalter’s system? So I wanted to ask Sargent what it is that Berhalter is asking from his No. 9s.“As a striker, you need to be scoring goals, but at the same time I know it’s very important for him that our nines can drop down and get on the ball and connect with the team,” Sargent said. “And defensively also with pressing, I think you need to have a high workrate along with the team and have everybody on the same page. You’re kind of that front-line beginning of the press. So it’s very important for him that you’re switched on in regards to that.”A couple other intriguing things emerged from Sargent’s roundtable session: • He has put on some muscle since the end of last season. “I don’t want to brag or anything,” he said to some laughs. “During my injury at the end of the season in the Prem, I kind of made it a goal for myself and with the athletic department at Norwich that I realize these guys are pretty big and strong in the Prem. So I made it a goal of mine to hit the gym a bit more and try to work on that.”• Being married and having a young child has been good for him to have some time away from focusing on soccer. “It definitely helps you just shut off and forget about football for a little bit,” he said. “As a single guy, when you come home and you’re just stuck in your thoughts, thinking about training or whatever it was, it can benefit you to learn from it. But also it can be damaging for you if you’re thinking too much about it. So it helps me out a lot with kind of just unwinding and forgetting about football for a bit.”Now a World Cup roster spot is there for the taking. “My confidence,” Sargent says, “is at an all-time high at the moment.”
Ricardo Pepi, Josh Sargent, Jesus Ferreria are the 3 Strikers called in for the final 2 games before the World Cup.
USA vs. Japan, 2022 friendly: What to watch for
It’s the penultimate match for the USMNT before the World Cup.
Tomorrow, the United States Men’s National Team will play its first friendly of the September international window when they take on Japan in Düsseldorf, Germany. It marks the second to last match the USMNT will play before they open up group play at the 2022 World Cup in November.
It’s a chance for the team to test itself against an opponent that will also be in Qatar for the World Cup, a dangerous Japan squad that has the ability to defeat any team. It’s also an opportunity for Gregg Berhalter to test out possible lineup combinations while the players make their final cases for why they should be one of the 26 players that makes the final roster when it’s announced on November 9th. That will be motivation that will help to make this an entertaining match.
Latest Form
USA
D (1-1) – El Salvador – Concacaf Nations League
W (5-0) – Grenada – Concacaf Nations League
D (0-0) – Uruguay – Friendly
W (3-0) – Morocco – Friendly
L (0-2) – Costa Rica – World Cup Qualifying
Japan
W (3-0) – South Korea – EAFF E-1 Football Championship
D (0-0) – China – EAFF E-1 Football Championship
W (6-0) – Hong Kong – EAFF E-1 Football Championship
L (0-3) – Tunisia – Kirin Cup
W (4-1) – Ghana – Kirin Cup
What To Watch For
Maintain possession. The USMNT will want to maintain a lot of possession to keep the ball off the feet of Japan’s stars. It will also be a nice chance to test whether possession ball is something that the USMNT can play at the World Cup if needed.
Take chances on offense. If Gregg Berhalter can get many of his creative players on the field, then they should try to take some chances on offense. This is the time to see what works and what doesn’t, and they should take full advantage of that opportunity to see what chemistry they have between players who can push the ball forward.
Play clean soccer. The idea here is no mistakes. Of course, that’s always the goal. But, Japan thrives with players who can turn a mistake into points on the other end. The USMTN won’t give them a chance to do that if they keep Japan in front of them and if they do take shots downfield, that they have the cover to get back should Japan counter.
Lineup Prediction
There are some injuries at a couple of positions, but Gregg Berhalter still has a few options at several spots on the field. So, we’ll likely see this lineup from him tomorrow:
Predicted Lineup vs. Japan
Matt Turner will be the goalkeeper, while Sergiño Dest will return at right back. Walker Zimmerman and Aaron Long will once again be the centerback pairing, with Joe Scally taking Antonee Robinson’s place at left back.It’s an opportunity for Gregg Berhalter to examine what a midfield that produces tons of creativity would look like. Tyler Adams and Weston McKennie are joined by Brenden Aaronson in the middle to see how you get your best players on the field at the same time.Up front, Christian Pulisic will be back in the lineup at left wing, with Gio Reyna making his return at right wing. While Jesus Ferreira has played extremely well this year for club and country, the gut feeling is that Josh Sargent will get the start at the 9 to see if he can seize the moment and fight for a starting role on the World Cup team.
Prediction
The USMNT will have a difficult time trying to get things together initially. In the end, neither team shows too much and it’s a 1-1 draw.
USMNT vs. Japan, 2022 friendly: Scouting Japan
The Asian power should provide a strong test ahead of the World Cup.
The United States Men’s National Team has entered the final international window prior to the 2022 World Cup. This is one of the last chances for players to build in-game chemistry while also impressing the manager and booking one of the final spots on the roster. In the first of two friendlies, Gregg Berhalter’s side is taking on Japan, a fellow qualifier for Qatar. The friendly will be played at MERKUR SPIEL-ARENA in Düsseldorf, Germany.his is the third all-time meeting between the two nations, split between a 1-1-0 record. Japan is currently ranked 24th in the world by FIFA and easily qualified for the World Cup with a second-place finish in Group B of the Asian Football Confederation’s third round. In July’s EAFF E-1 Football Championship, the Samurai Blue claimed the title with wins against Hong Kong and South Korea as well as a draw with China. The program scheduled a challenging slate of friendlies over the past year, which could pay dividends in Qatar.Hajime Moriyasu was appointed to the manager position in July of 2018, taking over in the midst of a stint with the U-23 team. The retired midfielder has compiled a 38-10-7 record from the technical area, registering a runner-up finish at the 2019 AFC Cup and winning the aforementioned East Asian championship. A rough start to qualifying had domestic media questioning whether the federation would be forced to look for a replacement. Instead of his tactics, he credited the players’ “mindset” with riding out the storm.
Moriyasu named a 30-player roster for the friendlies against the USMNT and Ecuador. While there are a few talents missing, this is essentially the A-squad with some extra back-up. The group is composed of 22 call-ups from Europe and eight from the domestic J-League.
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GOALKEEPERS (4): Eiji Kawashima (Strasbourg), Shūichi Gonda (Shimizu S-Pulse) Daniel Schmidt (Sint-Truiden), Kosei Tani (Shonan Bellmare)
DEFENDERS (9): Miki Yamane (Kawasaki Frontale), Shogo Taniguchi (Kawasaki Frontale), Ayumu Seko (Grasshoppers), Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Takehiro Tomiyasu (Arsenal), Hiroki Sakai (Urawa Red Diamonds), Yuta Nakayama (Huddersfield Town), Maya Yoshida (Schalke 04), Hiroki Ito (VfB Stuttgart)
Moriyasu typically deploys a 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3 formation with a triangle midfield that swarms when on the defensive. The run-of-play tends to move through the wings, with crossing serving as a key component of the attack. Uncommon at the international level, Japan employs something resembling a high press with central triggers in Zones 12, 13, and 14, which helped tilt the balance in victories over Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Projected Japan Starting XI (via BuildLineup.com)
After starting in nine out of ten fixtures during the final round of qualifying, Shūichi Gonda is the presumed number one. The 33-year-old competes with Shimizu S-Pulse in the domestic J-League and was named to the AFC Asian Cup Team of the Tournament in 2019. He gets to ground quickly and largely chooses to stay on his line, displaying a preference for kick saves. The manager could also opt for the towering Illinois-born Daniel Schmidt, the starter at Belgium’s Sint-Truiden who made his senior international debut in 2018.Japan has what could be considered an embarrassment of riches at the center back position. Arsenal’s Takehiro Tomiyasu has the versatility to play on the inside and outside of the back line. He possesses a high level of athleticism and innate understanding of the game, contributing on both sides. There’s also Shogo Taniguchi who picked up three starts during the final round of qualifying. The 6’ defender has spent his entire career with Kawasaki Frontale and displays a penchant for heroic last-second denials and thrives as finisher on set pieces. Perhaps the most important piece is 34-year-old Maya Yoshida who has earned 119 senior international caps. The recent Schalke signing provides a steady veteran presence and is an excellent one-on-one stopper while spraying passes all over the field.No longer the attacking livewire of his youth, Yuto Nagatomo remains a fixture at fullback position since making his debut in 2008. The 36-year-old is back competing with FC Tokyo after a long career in Europe including stops at Inter Milan, Galatasaray, and Marseille. On the other side of the formation is Hiroki Sakai of Urawa Red Diamonds. He’s a physical player who covers the entire length of the field, getting under the skin of opponents with his intense play.Occupying the role of six is Wataru Endo, a 29-year-old with VfB Stuttgart who featured in ten qualifying matches. The native of Yokohama is a true two-way midfielder, winning the ball and serving bellwether in possession. He has formed a quite functional partnership with Hidemasa Morita of Sporting, a highly technical passer who always manages to pick out teammates. His ability to cover the entire field and perform the roles of multiple positions makes him difficult to contain. The trio is completed by Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Ao Tanaka, whose dribbling opens up key space when in sustained possession. The box-to-box is also a source for goals, finding advantageous opportunities at the top of the area.
Monaco attacker Takumi Minamino could almost be described as a “defensive winger” with the amount of pressure he puts on the back line, a true student of the Red Bull finishing school. The combination of his work rate, high technical ability, and occasional goal-scoring prowess could make him a match-up nightmare for the USMNT. On the other side of the formation is Junya Ito, who recently joined Reims after a few successful seasons with Genk. The 29-year-old loves to cut inside from the wing and smash the ball into the far post, having the pace and quickness to get behind the opponent.
With Yuya Osako outside of the roster, the likely starter is striker Ayase Ueda of Cercle Brugge. The 24-year-old appeared in the final two qualification matches but has yet to score for Japan at the senior international level. He is an expert at finding space behind the back line, has the dribbling ability to carve out enough space for his lethal right foot, and can also finish in the air. Domestic competitor Shuto Machina could also lead the formation, finding the back of the net three times during the summer’s East Asian Football Championship.In many ways, Japan and the USMNT are similar programs, thriving outside of UEFA and CONMEBOL. Both countries have relatively new domestic leagues and are viewed as the dominant or second-best teams in their respective regions. This friendly is a solid test ahead of the World Cup, with two successful yet still growing squads mainly composed of European-based players looking to fine-tune and whittle down to a final roster.
With ½ the games in the EPL canceled again this weekend – not much to see in the EPL again this weekend Sat NBC does have Tottenham vs Leicester at 12:30 pm, while MGladbach and American Joe Scally host RB Leipzig and new coach Thomas Tuchel at 12:30 pm on ESPN+. Sat AM’s game to watch is American Gio Reyna who started in Champions League on Wed hosting Schalke on ESPN 2 at 9:30 am. Sat night gives us a huge matchup in NWSL with Alex Morgan and San Diego opening their new stadium on Para+ and hosting Angel City (my daughter is going!) The big game is of course Sunday’s Madrid Derby – with Athletic Madrid hosting Real Madrid at 3 pm on ESPN+. Of course the USA plays next Friday at 8:30 am vs Japan and National team games start Thursday.
US Men
I will have my full reaction to the US Men’s Roster next week in a special mid week USA Breakdown.
Indy 11 @ Monterey Sat – Return next Sun 5 pm
Indy Eleven will make its longest road trip of the 2022 season when it heads to the Pacific Coast for its first meeting against expansion side Monterey Bay F.C. on Saturday evening.The Eleven enter the weekend on a roll, unbeaten in 4 straight games, including 3 wins at home against playoff-bound competition. Postseason participation isn’t the team’s primary motivation at this point, but another win this weekend would stave off mathematical elimination heading into the final four weeks of play. Indy Eleven will carry a three-game unbeaten streak back into Carroll Stadium on Sunday at 5 pm, when it welcomes Loundon United to the Circle City on Hispanic Heritage Night.
High School Local – CHS Boys host Pack the House Night, Friday 9/16
FC Cincinnati will host Club Deportivo Guadalajara, “Chivas” at TQL Stadium on Wednesday, September 21 as part of the 2022 Leagues Cup Showcase. This friendly match will be the first ever meeting between FC Cincinnati and the historic LIGA MX club. The match kicks off at 7:00 pm. Tickets start at just $20 and are on sale now!
The Leagues Cup Showcase will serve as a preview to the 2023 Leagues Cup, the month-long official tournament between MLS and LIGA MX. All 47 MLS and LIGA MX clubs will participate next summer, with the tournament champion earning automatic qualification for the Concacaf Champions League (CCL) round of 16.
USMNT coach Gregg Berhalter released his 26-player roster on Wednesday for upcoming friendlies against fellow World Cup 2022 entrants Japan and Saudi Arabia. The two games are the U.S.’s last ones before the World Cup starts in Qatar.The biggest news is at the center-forward position, where Berhalter called up Josh Sargent, Ricardo Pepi and Jesús Ferreira and omitted Jordan Pefok, Haji Wright and Brandon Vázquez.Injured players who are not included in the call-ups include Zack Steffen, Jedi Robinson and Tim Weah.
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GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0), Sean Johnson (New York City; 10/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 18/0).
Injured: Zack Steffen.
Notable Omissions: None.
My Thoughts: I expect that Turner, who has started playing in cup games for Arsenal, will be Berhalter’s starter, though I don’t say that with absolute 100 percent certainty since Horvath and Johnson have been the full-time starters with their clubs.
DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 27/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0), Sergiño Dest (Milan/ITA; 17/2), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 27/3), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 8/0), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 2/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Miami; 74/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville; 31/3).
Injured: Jedi Robinson, Miles Robinson.
Notable Omissions: Ream, Sands, Brooks.
My Thoughts: The only semi-surprise for me here is that Berhalter hasn’t called up Sands, who has had some good games for Rangers, which is in the Champions League group stage. Ream has been playing very well and captaining Fulham, showing that he can hack it in the Premier League, but he has been out of Berhalter’s call-up picture for a bit now. So too has Brooks, who recently signed with Benfica. It has been clear for a while that Brooks is not in Berhalter’s plans, though he does bring experience and skill at the position.
MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 52/2), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 30/1), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 11/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 35/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0), Malik Tillman (Rangers/SCO; 2/0).
Notable Omissions: None.
My Thoughts: There aren’t really any surprises in the midfield. Yunus Musah has been breaking out at times for Valencia. It’s a bummer for Djordje Mihailovic that he got injured in June and missed out, because I think he could have made a case for himself. Tillman has played well for Rangers, and I expected he would be called up, though it’s interesting to note that he’s listed as a midfielder and not a winger/forward.
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 22/6), Paul Arriola (Dallas; 47/10), Jesús Ferreira (Dallas; 13/7), Jordan Morris (Seattle; 48/11), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen/NED; 11/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 51/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 12/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 19/3).
Injured: Weah.
Notable Omissions: Pefok has been the starting center-forward for a Union Berlin team that is currently leading the Bundesliga, but he isn’t called in for the USMNT? That’s certainly a choice by Berhalter, who likely thinks Pefok isn’t a great fit for his game model. But still. Haji Wright has five goals this season for Antalyaspor. But you got the sense that Berhalter felt like Wright didn’t make the most of his chance with the national team in June. And Brandon Vázquez has 16 MLS goals this season but didn’t get the call. Berhalter is clearly going with players who have spent more time in his system.
My Thoughts: The biggest surprise of this roster for me is that Ricardo Pepi is on it, despite not having scored a goal for club or country since last October’s World Cup qualifying win against Jamaica in Austin. It’s a huge vote of confidence from Berhalter as Pepi tries to get things going again on loan at Groningen. Sargent’s inclusion is a reward for the five goals he has scored this season for Norwich, which is finally using him in the No. 9 spot. Ferreira still figures to be the starting center-forward, though, which I expect will continue at the World Cup.
USMNT weekend viewing guide: Before the break
Last chance for club impact heading into Septembers international window.
Presumably either because they hate Americans generally, or because they hate Todd Boehly and his idea of an all star match specifically, the English have decided to respond by cancelling the most American matches of the weekend. Chelsea FC, Leeds United, and Crystal Palace will not play, with Fulham being the only team slipping through the cracks because neither of their Americans were called up. The joke is on them however, as this just ensures that Christian Pulisic, Brendan Aaronson, Tyler Adams, and Chris Richards will have a little extra break as they had into the final camp to prepare for the upcoming World Cup and their matchup with England, where the real payback will happen.
Welcome back, Gio Reyna. Reyna saw his first start of the season, and just his fourth appearance of more than 35 minutes in over a year on Wednesday in Dortmund’s 2-1 loss to Manchester City in Champions League group play. It’s been a brutal year for the young man, and it seems likely the club will continue to take the cautious approach with him so he may not start right away this weekend as they face Schalke on Saturday in a match that is breaking through the Plus barrier to show up on network TV. Dortmund do need to get a result against Schalke this weekend after being thumped by RB Leipzig 3-0 last weekend. They still remain just two points back of league-leading Union Berlin and tied with Bayern Munich, but will rue the missed opportunities at the end of the season if they are unable to defeat the newly promoted side.
Other notes:
Atlanta United cling to a sliver of playoff hope as they host a Philadelphia Union side that has been steamrolling their competition recently. This match will be at 3:30p on Univision and Twitter.
Streaming overseas:
Pellegrino Matarazzo’s Stuttgart snatched a point last weekend with a late goal against Bayern Munich and now face Timothy Chandler’s Eintracht Frankfurt at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Joe Scally and Borussia Mönchengladbach face RB Leipzig at 12:30p on ESPN+. ‘Gladbach are coming off a scoreless draw with Freiburg last weekend.
Yunus Musah has picked up a knock that has forced him to withdraw from the upcoming USMNT camp and he is unavailable for his club this weekend when they take on Luca de la Torre’s Celta Vigo at 12:30p on ESPN+.
Timothy Weah remains sidelined for Lille who face Toulouse at 3p on beIN Sports.
The most surprising omission from Gregg Berhalter’s list of September call ups was Jordan Pefok, whose Union Berlin side continue to lead the Bundesliga six matches in to the season. It’s early days but still a surprising result for the Berlin side. Union defeated Köln 1-0 last weekend on the back of an own goal just three minutes into the match. Pefok had a chance to add to his Bundesliga goal tally several minutes later, but was unable to bury the opportunity from the penalty spot. Union Berlin will now take on a Wolfsburg side that finally picked up their first win of the season last weekend 1-0 over Eintracht Frankfurt. Kevin Paredes was an unused substitute in the match.
Weston McKennie and Juventus have some work to do to get back on track coming off a 2-1 loss to Benfica in Champions League play and struggling to find the expected results in league play. They face a Monza side that picked up their first point of the season last weekend in a 1-1 draw with Lecce. The match will be played at 9:30a on Paramount+.
Sergiño Dest and AC Milan face a tough matchup with Napoli at 2:45p on Paramount+. Dest has been seeing regular time off the bench for his new club. The two clubs are tied on points for the league lead with Napoli holding the top spot due to goal differential
MLS mashup (all matches on ESPN+):
DC United have gone into play your kids mode with their season effectively over, which could lead to some opportunities. They face DeAndre Yedlin and Inter Miami at 5p.
Kellyn Acosta and LAFC look to stay within striking distance of the Philadelphia Union in the Supporters Shield race when they take on the Houston Dynamo at 10:30p.
What the players missing from the USMNT September friendlies roster says about the team
It is just under nine weeks until the start of the World Cup and it’s getting to be decision time for Gregg Berhalter. The USMNT manager finds himself in the enviable situation of having the deepest and most talented American men’s player pool in the history of the team and it is inevitable that some players will be left out.
He commented on some of those following the roster announcement.
Kyle Bonn of the Sporting News posted on Twitter that Berhalter noted that Jordan Pefok wasn’t called in so that Ricardo Pepi could get a look.
Berhalter on Jordan Pefok: “We know what Jordan can do, he’s been great in the Bundesliga, and we just went with someone else in this camp…we didn’t want to just give up on Pepi.”
Sounds like GGG isn’t out on Pefok just yet, wants to give Pepi a shot to earn it #USMNT— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) September 14, 2022
Berhalter went on to describe that Pefok was considered but didn’t put much detail forward about anything Pefok could do to lock down a roster spot. Perhaps if Pepi had only gotten 44 minutes so far this season it would be a different story.
Elsewhere, Meg Swanick of the Guardian and Philly Inquirer noted that Berhalter is mulling over some other names for the World Cup roster.
He goes on to name specific players who could earn their way onto the team, including: Zack Steffen, Gaga Slonina, James Sands, Tim Ream, EPB, Matt Miazga, Mark McKenzie, Shaq Moore, Johnny Cardoso, Eryk Williamson, Jordan Pefok, Haji Wright & Brandon Vasquez— Meg Swanick (@Meg_Swanick) September 14, 2022
Other roster news came that an October camp for MLS players who are eliminated from the playoffs will be planned.
Berhalter says there will be an October camp for MLS players whose teams aren’t in the playoffs. #usmnt— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) September 14, 2022
Of course, depending on how the regular season shakes out and where teams end up finishing this could include a wide range of players from Jordan Morris to… Cade Cowell or Sebastian Lletget in a roster that will be sure to enthrall fans.
The names included in the lists above and elsewhere in the player pool do offer some interesting possibilities and gives insight into the overall strength of the player pool that’s worth reviewing.
Goalkeeper
Woof. Having typically been a strength of the USMNT with a starter usually well established, the no. 1 shirt is up for grabs. Presumably as long as Matt Turner isn’t forced to play a game on Hoth, he has the inside track to the job. The fact that Zack Steffen has been left off, and has reportedly lost a chance to be the starter at Middlesbrough, also makes it seem as if at least two keeper spots are open.
Defenders
The list that was called in seems pretty solid and the names that have been left off are not totally objectionable.
John Brooks is, of course, missing as he’s taken the mantle of “guy who isn’t on the roster because the manager doesn’t rate him for reasons” in a tale as old as soccer time.
Tim Ream has not been called in, but with the USA facing England and Wales in the group it’s almost surprising that a player who has defended a fair share of players from the UK (even if Fulham isn’t exactly known for their defense in the top flight) isn’t in the conversation more.
James Sands has also been logging solid minutes with Rangers and is not on the list as well. He has the capability to play in central midfield and when it comes time to pick players for a World Cup that might see him get a bump.
Left and right back might not be the strongest spots depth-wise also. There’s no shortage of Americans in these positions, but saying that there are many pushing for callups is debatable.
Midfield
The main player who could make an impact not on the list is Djordje Mihailovic, but aside from him… Johnny and Eryk Williamson aren’t exactly players that seem like the could make a big difference at this stage. If anything the list of midfielders not on the list indicates that depth behind first choice players is a bit lacking.
Forward
It’s very difficult to see a player like Pefok or Haji Wright not making a World Cup squad unless Ricardo Pepi finds the back of the net in the Netherlands on a regular basis soon. Of course, there’s plenty of time for that to happen, but striker is still an unproven position for the national team. There have been some nice performances by players here and there in a USA shirt, but there won’t be any statues built for the players on the list as of now at least.
Pepi and Sargent in, Pefok and Vazquez out as USMNT September roster released
September 14, 2022 11:00 am ET
U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has named a 26-man roster for the team’s final two World Cup tune-ups against Japan and Saudi Arabia.The biggest headlines were perhaps at the hotly contested striker position, where Berhalter opted to call in Ricardo Pepi and Josh Sargent, and omit Brandon Vazquez and Jordan Pefok.Pefok (Union Berlin) and Vazquez (FC Cincinnati) miss out despite strong form for their club sides, while Pepi gets his first USMNT call since March after leaving Augsburg on loan for Dutch side Groningen. Sargent, meanwhile, returns to the USMNT for the first time since September 2021 after his red-hot start to the season with Norwich City.
Gio Reyna is also back with the USMNT for the first time since March after his return to form for Borussia Dortmund, as the 19-year-old is gradually brought back into the fold after an injury-hit 2021-22.
There were also a few notable injury absences: Antonee Robinson, the team’s normal starting left back, was left out after suffering an ankle injury against Tottenham on September 3. Sam Vines, who is off to a strong start in Belgium with Royal Antwerp, was called in his place.Goalkeeper Zack Steffen missed out after he missed Middlesbrough’s past four games with a knee injury, and Tim Weah was also omitted as he recovers from an ankle injury.
The USMNT will face Japan on September 23 in Düsseldorf, Germany (8 a.m. ET, ESPN2/UniMás), and will then face Saudi Arabia in Murcia, Spain on September 27 (2 p.m. ET, FS1/UniMás).
USMNT September roster (caps/goals)
GOALKEEPERS (3): Ethan Horvath (Luton Town/ENG; 8/0), Sean Johnson (New York City FC; 10/0), Matt Turner (Arsenal/ENG; 18/0)
DEFENDERS (9): Reggie Cannon (Boavista/POR; 27/1), Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic/SCO; 11/0), Sergiño Dest (AC Milan/ITA; 17/2), Aaron Long (New York Red Bulls; 27/3), Chris Richards (Crystal Palace/ENG; 8/0), Joe Scally (Borussia Mönchengladbach/GER; 2/0), Sam Vines (Royal Antwerp/BEL; 8/1), DeAndre Yedlin (Inter Miami; 74/0), Walker Zimmerman (Nashville SC; 31/3)
MIDFIELDERS (6): Kellyn Acosta (LAFC; 52/2), Tyler Adams (Leeds United/ENG; 30/1), Luca de la Torre (Celta Vigo/ESP; 11/0), Weston McKennie (Juventus/ITA; 35/9), Yunus Musah (Valencia/ESP; 19/0), Malik Tillman (Rangers/SCO; 2/0)
FORWARDS (8): Brenden Aaronson (Leeds United/ENG; 22/6), Paul Arriola (FC Dallas; 47/10), Jesús Ferreira (FC Dallas; 13/7), Jordan Morris (Seattle Sounders; 48/11), Ricardo Pepi (Groningen/NED; 11/3), Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/ENG; 51/21), Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/GER; 12/4), Josh Sargent (Norwich City/ENG; 19/3)
What Gregg Berhalter’s USMNT squad vs. Japan, Saudi Arabia suggests about his World Cup plans
Experimentation time is over. With only two friendlies left before the United States men’s national team begins World Cup play against Wales on Nov. 21, there’s no time left for coach Gregg Berhalter to waste on determining the final, mostly inconsequential roster spots.
For that reason, the 26-man roster he called in for the upcoming games against Japan (Sept. 23) and Saudi Arabia (Sept. 27) will serve as somewhat of a World Cup preview. The team is without potential starters goalkeeper Zack Steffen, left-back Antonee Robinson and winger Timothy Weah due to injuries, but outside of those three there isn’t much reason — barring more injury complications — to believe anyone else in the U.S. player pool remains in serious contention to contribute in Qatar.
Berhalter stressed otherwise Wednesday, saying other players can still make the final roster — he has no incentive to say anything to the contrary — but his selections are a clear message about how he views the team. The reality of the way this World Cup is structured requires these next two games to be used to help the team gel.
Let’s take a look at who’s in the team, and at whose expense.
Ferreira was the only near-lock at this position. The combination of his MLS form (18 goals in 30 games) and increased role with the U.S. in the past several months indicated as much.
So, that left the five others vying for inclusion, and what’s tempting to read into is how many players are on this roster. Mexico, for example, called in 31. There isn’t a limit. If Berhalter wanted to bring in another player or two, he had that option. He chose not to, citing the desire the mimic the amount the team can carry at the World Cup (26) and the lack of game time to get players on the field.
The most notable omission here is Pefok, who has started five of six games in the Bundesliga for first-place Union Berlin, scoring two goals. By Berhalter’s own admission, he’s been “tearing defenses up.” Contrast that with the inclusion of Pepi, who hasn’t scored since October 2021 and was so ineffective following a big-money move to FC Augsburg (currently 13th in the Bundesliga) that he was loaned out, and the logic is hard to follow.
Berhalter acknowledged Pepi has had a tough time since scoring three goals early in qualifying and that they are trying to get his confidence up. Maybe it pays off. Pepi has shown he can be a prolific goal scorer, but it’s certainly a gamble to use this period to get a young player’s confidence up ahead of the World Cup instead of going with a more proven, in-form option.
Playing out of position on the wing last year in the Premier League, Sargent’s opportunities with the U.S. became limited. But now that he’s playing at his natural No. 9 position following Norwich’s relegation, he’s regained his form with five goals in his past five league games (all wins). The question now becomes: How close is he to earning the starting job?
This group is straightforward. Weah isn’t in because of injury, and if Berhalter elects to carry five wingers in Qatar, that likely means the final spot will be between Arriola and Morris, neither of whom figure to have a significant role.
Reyna’s return is massive. He’s slowly been worked back into form at Dortmund early this season after a disastrous year on the injury front that limited his involvement with the national team. When healthy, he can be the most impactful player on the roster. Both Reyna and Aaronson give the team some positional flexibility. They’re both in the mix to start on the right wing — opposite Pulisic on the left — but can also be effective playing in central midfield. After seeing how effective Aaronson has been for Leeds, it will be tough to keep him off the field.
Similar to winger, the midfield almost self-selects at this point. There is a clear starting trio with Adams, McKennie and Musah, with De la Torre, Acosta and Tillman clearly in a different tier.
The only player in this group whose World Cup roster spot doesn’t appear solid is Tillman, who is on loan at Rangers from Bayern Munich. “He’s done well but he needs to do better,” Berhalter said. “He needs to increase his level. Disappointed with his last couple performances against Ajax and Celtic but he’s got a ton of quality.” It’s not exactly a ringing endorsement, which hints at that possibility that his spot is vulnerable upon Weah’s return (taking into account, again, Reyna and Aaronson’s flexibility).
With Robinson, an established starter, out due to injury, it provides both Vines and Scally a chance to compete for the backup left-back spot. It seems unlikely either will factor in much in Qatar, but both are off to good starts with their club teams. Berhalter said Vines is “in the form of his life,” playing regularly in Belgium. Dest is almost assured to start at the World Cup and the preferred pairing is with him on the right and Robinson on the left, but with Robinson unavailable it will be interesting to see Berhalter’s selections for the friendlies. Does he play Dest on the right to build chemistry with those he’ll most likely play alongside in Qatar? Or does he shift to the left, which he’s done in the past, to get Cannon or Yedlin on the field ahead of Vines or Scally? The inclination here would be to play Dest on the right because, to stress this point again, this should be as close to a dress rehearsal as possible.
Dan Thomas is joined by Craig Burley, Shaka Hislop and others to bring you the latest highlights and debate the biggest storylines. Stream on ESPN+ (U.S. only).
In this calendar year, Berhalter has given minutes to six center-backs: Zimmerman (630), Miles Robinson (425), Long (305), Carter-Vickers (216), Richards (180) and Palmer-Brown (55). With Robinson out through injury and Palmer-Brown the least used of the group, the four roster selections were in no way surprising.
Still, there were other players that deserved strong consideration. Ream is captaining the 10th-place team in the Premier League, Sands is playing in the Champions League and McKenzie has locked down a starting spot for the second-place team in Belgium. Berhalter name-checked those three, plus Palmer-Brown and Miazga, noting that it made for difficult decisions. It remains bizarre that Brooks, who was on Benfica’s gameday roster in the Champions League on Wednesday, has fallen so far out of favor without a clear explanation, but that’s only barely still noteworthy.
Turner or Steffen? That’s been the main question for more than a year. They’re the only two who have really factored into the discussion about who should be the No. 1, and now neither of them are playing. As expected, Turner has been on the bench following his move from the New England Revolution to Arsenal, while Steffen is out with injury following a shaky start to his loan at Middlesbrough, where there’s speculation he’ll be on the bench upon his return to health.
It’s a problematic situation that won’t be solved by switching to Johnson or Horvath, who have two combined caps since the start of World Cup qualifying.
The athleticism shown by Erling Haaland on City’s game-winning goal, when he was well-covered by three defenders, was incredible (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The hyper-compressed men’s UEFA Champions League schedule is already two matchdays in. Here are my three thoughts on Wednesday’s games:
• On a day when Manchester City was there for the taking, Borussia Dortmund couldn’t seal the deal. The game I watched most closely was City hosting BVB, which deservedly went ahead through Jude Bellingham in the 56th minute but then saw City’s talent win out in the end. John Stones equalized with a long-distance strike, and João Cancelo pulled out a trivela assist to Erling Haaland, whose outrageously skillful finish saw him hit the ball karate-kick style with his boot at a crazy height in a goal that reminded me of prime-years Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Good news for U.S. fans: Gio Reyna started, went 62 minutes and played well, which is a good portent for his role in the upcoming national-team games. Gio, still 19, just doesn’t look out of place at all in games of this magnitude, and the U.S. needs as much of that fearlessness as humanly possible for the World Cup. Another note: Jack Grealish is a shadow of his Aston Villa self for Man City. He keeps getting chances and started this game, but his ity tenure has been entirely underwhelming so far, and that continued today.
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• Reyna and Cameron Carter-Vickers aside, it was an underwhelming Champions League day for USMNT players. Christian Pulisic got just six minutes in Chelsea’s disappointing 1-1 tie against Salzburg in Graham Potter’s coaching debut. (Todd Boehly presumably thought there should have been a penalty-kick shootout to determine a winner on the day.) Weston McKennie played all 90 minutes for Juventus, but it resulted in a 2-1 home loss to Benfica that left Juve six points behind PSG and Benfica and home fans booing their own team in Turin. And James Sands, who was left off today’s U.S. roster, got yellow cards two minutes apart to be sent off as Rangers lost 3-0 at home to Napoli. At least Cameron Carter-Vickers, freshly off being included on the U.S. roster, had a mostly solid 90 minutes for Celtic as it got a point on the road against Shakhtar in a 1-1 tie. Also, save a thought for American goalkeeper Josh Cohen, whose Maccabi Haifa team went up 1-0 at home against might PSG, only for PSG’s trio of Kylian Mbappé, Lionel Messi and Neymar to score in a 3-1 comeback win. I’d lose my nerve if I was a keeper playing against those guys, so I’m raising a glass to Cohen tonight.
• Is it time for Zinédine Zidane to replace Max Allegri at Juventus? Heck yes. We saw two coach firings after Matchday 1 (at Chelsea and Leipzig), and Juventus really should consider becoming the third team to make a change. Juve needs a different direction, and if Zizou is interested the club should make it happen. Juve just isn’t a very good team this season, if we’re being honest, and it’s only partly about the players.
Former Hoosier Tommy Sommer Selected to Germany’s World Baseball Classic Team
Former Indiana pitcher and current Chicago White Sox minor-leaguer Tommy Sommer got dual citizenship this spring and is now a German citizen as well. As it turned out, it’s giving him a great international opportunity, because he’s been chosen to play for Germany in the prestigious World Baseball Classic.
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Juergen Sommer’s parents were born and raised in Germany, and when he left Indiana to play professional soccer in Europe in the early 1990s, one of the first things he did as a dual German-American citizen was to get a passport overseas so he could play right away on the continent.So when Germany extended its dual citizenship program a few years ago, Sommer thought it would be a good idea if his two sons, Tommy and Noah, did the same thing. In dealing with the German consulate in Chicago, they got it all done this summer, and both of his boys are German-American dual citizens as well.Tommy, who played baseball at Indiana from 2018 to 2021, was picked in the 10th round of the 2021 MLB Draft by the Chicago White Sox. His professional career is off to a good start, and he’s seeing the very first rewards of his German citizenship. He has been invited to play for Germany in a qualifying tournament for the prestigious World Baseball Classic next month.He’ll be the first Indiana player to ever play in the WBC.“My dad’s parents are German, and my dad is an American-German dual citizen. When he played overseas, it was a big deal to be a German citizen so he could play in the Premier League,” Tommy said last month. “Little did we know that six or eight months later, this would come about for me, this amazing opportunity. He had a lot of forethought for sure.”
Tommy Sommer was an important Friday starter during his time at Indiana. He was 13-9 in his career. (Photo courtesy IU Athletics) https://a2b281d17c32633e5e304c700246941a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html Sommer was 13-9 during his career at Indiana with a 3.71 earned run average. He’s been very good in the minor leagues as well, and has already been promoted once this season in the White Sox organization. He’s 6-7 on the season with a stellar 2.77 ERA, and the organization is high on the left-hander.”He’s having a great year, so it’s awesome that he’s getting this opportunity to play in the WBC,” Indiana coach Jeff Mercer said. “I love Tommy, and he was great to coach. Even last offseason, he stayed around here to work out and he was a huge help for a lot of our younger guys. The way he works, he’s a great role model.”Juergen Sommer is glad that everything worked out so well. He knows both of his sons will benefit from this, much like it did for him.”When I first got to talking to the people at the consulate, this program was expanded because so many families left after the war,” Juergen Sommer said. “There are kids and grandkids now in these families, and they want to make that new connection with those families.”It’s great for us. Noah, who’s a junior at Vanderbilt, speaks fluent German, and this will create a lot of business opportunities for him, as well. The entire process took some time, but we did the final interviews in May. It’s great that it’s done, especially with this opportunity coming together so fast for Tommy.”The World Baseball Classic has become a popular event on the Major League Baseball calendar. It started in 2006, and was meant to be designed after soccer’s World Cup. There have been four events — in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017, but there hasn’t been one since because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The full event will take place next spring, but there are two qualifying tournaments in September to fill the newly expanded 20-team field. Germany is one of six teams in Pool A, along with Spain, France, the Czech Republic, South Africa and Great Britain. The tournament is Sept. 16-21 in Regensburg, Germany, with the top two teams advancing to the full field next spring.Germany gets a bye in the first round, and will play the Great Britain-France winner on Sept. 17. The games are broadcast live on the MLB Network.Sommer is finishing up his minor-league season this week, and then will have a few days at home in Indiana before flying off to Germany. It’s a fun next step in his baseball journey.All from a thought about citizenship and an email to the manager.”I sent an email out about Tommy after the draft and heard back from Steve Janssen, who runs the German team,” Juergen said. “They were coming here to look at players, and he was excited to meet Tommy. They went to camp to see him. They had dinner and he saw him throw, and that’s when they added him to the player pool.”
Tommy Sommer was promoted to High-A Winston-Salem in July and has had a great first full season in the Chicago White Sox organization. (Photo courtesy of Winston-Salem Dash) https://a2b281d17c32633e5e304c700246941a.safeframe.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-38/html/container.html For Tommy Sommer, 2022 has flown by. He started the year in Kannapolis, N.C. with the White Sox’s Low-A team. In his last six starts there, he allowed only four earned runs in 30 1/3 innings, a stingy 1.19 ERA.He was called up to High-A Winston-Salem on July 24, and has made eight starts. there. He’s allowed two runs or less in six of his eight starts.“It’s been a lot of fun. I played in Kannapolis in our Low-A for three months and had a really good time there,” Sommer said. “I’m here now in Winston-Salem with our High-A team, and it’s been great. It’s a different level of competition, and a lot of new guys, but it’s been good. I’m getting used to the new surroundings and I feel like I’m pitching pretty well. It’s been a good year for me. Former Indiana Baseball Pitcher Tommy Sommer Talks Minor League
Former Indiana baseball pitcher Tommy Sommer chats with Hoosiers Now publisher Tom Brew about his time in the Chicago White Sox organization.
https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.530.1_en.html#goog_1920519449 0 seconds of 59 secondsVolume 90%“I’ve just been keeping my head down and doing what I can control. I’ve worked hard for it, and to actually get the call (to High-A), that was a good thing to see. When it comes, you just have to adjust and keep working hard.Sommer has posted solid numbers in his year-plus in the pros. He was always a smart, crafty left-hander at Indiana, and he’s adjusted well at the next level and dangerous hitters“The biggest difference (between college and the pros) is just more talent and more power,” Sommer said. “They will do damage to you a lot quicker, but there’s also ways to attack hitters with your best stuff, and I’ve had a lot of success in transferring that mindset. I’ve been pretty spot on so far.’’He said he’s also adjusting to life on the road, and has made a lot of new friends in the White Sox organization.“Last summer was the big adjustment, going from IU where you had a totally controlled environment, and being close to home and everything,” Sommer said. “Then I went right out to Arizona (after the draft) with no car and you just get adjusted to everything going on with the next level of baseball. “This year has been a lot different. I’ve made a lot of friends on this team, and we’ve been having a good time. I’m very happy with where I’m at right now. I know they have other guys that they have bigger investments in, but I’m just going to keep working and keep pitching well, and see where it all takes me.”We know where it takes him next — to Germany for baseball’s biggest international event.
With No EPL this weekend attention turns to MLS with Nashville and the LA Galaxy battling for playoff position at 3:30 pm Sat on Univision. Sat AM does give us American Yanus Musah and Valencia traveling to Raya Vallecario at 8 am on ESPN+, followed by American Claudia Reyna and Dortmund traveling to RB Leipzig at 9:30 am on ESPN+. Champions League is back Tues with Sporting hosting Tottenham at 12:45 pm on Para+, along with Liverpool vs Ajax, Rangers vs Napoli, Leverkusen vs Athletico Madrid and the featured game Barcelona traveling to Bayern Munich all at 3 pm on Para+. Wed Milan host surprising first round winner Dinamo Zagreb at 12:45 pm para+, followed by Man City hosting Dortmund and American Reyna, Real Madrid vs RB Leipzig, Juve and McKinney hosting Benefica, Chelsea and Pulisic vs Salzberg and more at 3 pm on para+.
EPL Wk 5 – On Hold, Tuchel out at Chelsea
The EPL and all English Soccer clubs are taking the week off with the death of the Queen – no word on when play will resume. Finally the German coach is NO more at Chelsea. In a move long overdue in my mind – Thomas Tuchel is out as manager at Chelsea. Much like in ALL of his other jobs – his immediate results with other coaches’ players worked fine (including a Champs League win 2 years ago) when he was able to come in and shore up defensive issues with his double 6 midfield defender alignment. But just like every other job Dortmund, PSG – his days became numbered when he “got his players” in the squad. All Tuchel managed to do was take multi goal attackers like Romeo Lukaku, Havertz, Timo Werner, and American Christian Pulisic and reduce them to shadows of their former selves as he played them often out of postition and with little to no midfield support. I don’t think its crazy to say he’s the WORSE offensive minded coach in the world today. Brighton’s Graham Potter now takes over for American Owner LA Dodgers man Todd Boehly and we’ll see if this means more playing time for Pulisic. Or least playing time in his natural positions of underneath forward or left or right wing. Pulisic needs space to run –Frank Lampard gave him that – and he scored – Tuchel did not and he hasn’t.
Indy 11 Home Sat 7 pm / MLS has
Indy Eleven will carry a three-game unbeaten streak back into Carroll Stadium on Saturday, when it welcomes yet another team in playoff position in Birmingham Legion FC to the Circle City on Pride Night.
US Ladies Sign Equal Pay Bill along with dominating victories over Nigeria before England match Oct 7
The US Ladies returned to play last week and they dominated Nigeria “the best team in Africa” with 5-0 and 2-1 wins – Winger Sofia Smith showed her tremendous potential is being realized with 4 goals in the first game last week. In the 2nd game – a weakend US squad with plenty of rotation – found themselves in a 1-1 tie until Megan Rapinoe came in during the 78th minute and immediately sent a cross off the head of Portland teammate Rose Lavelle for the go ahead goal. The most eventful moment of the night was probably the first of its kind signatures on the bill featuring Equal Pay for the Men’s and Women’s National teams of the United States – the first for any country in the world. US soccer teams sign equal pay deal after USWNT’s victory over Nigeria NWSL Action Sat has Ashley Hatch, Kelley Ohara and Andi Sulllivan and the Washington Spirit hosting Alex Morgan and the San Diego Wave at 1 pm on CBSSN and a 7 pm show of NC hosting Racing Louisville at 7 pm on Para+. Sun has NY/NJ Gothem and Margaret Purse + Kristie Mewis hosting KC current and Sam Mewis and, Lynn Williams and GK Adrianna French at 6 pm on CBSSN and Houston hosting Angel City at 7 pm on Para”.
High School Local – CHS Girls host Pack the House Night, Mon 9/12
Carmel Girls rise to 3rd in the rankings after a couple of solid wins last week including this save of the week by CHS GK and former CFC GK Bethany Ducat. The Boys are up to #5 with 2 wins this past week including a huge 1-0 win over fellow powerhouse Columbus North on this spectacular goal by Josiah Shepson. A reminder the CHS Ladies will host Pack the House Night vs North Central, Monday 9/12 at 7 pm at Murray Stadium. Free admission for all Carmel FC and Carmel Dad’s Club players with their uniforms on. Bring a canned food item to benefit the Carmel Backpack Program. Carmel High School Girls & Boys Varsity Schedules
Carmel Dads and Carmel FC players wear you uniform to get Free Admission to the Game – see you there!!
CHS Boys host Pack the House Night, Friday 9/16 7 pm
All youth players in their CFC or Carmel Dad’s club uniforms will get FREE admission,
American’s In Champions League this week
Tuesday
Porto v Club Brugge, 3p on Paramount+: Owen Otasowie hasn’t played for Brugge’s first team in over a month. He’s played in the last 3 games for their reserves in the second tier. (Champions League Group B).
Marseille v Eintracht Frankfurt, 3p on Paramount+: Timmy Chandler and Frankfurt are on the road in France (Champions League Group D).
Wednesday
AC Milan v Dinamo Zagreb, 12:45p on Paramount+, TUDN, UniMás, fuboTV (free trial): Sergiño Dest made his Milan debut in their Champions League opener. They host Zagreb in matchday 2 (Group E).
Shakhtar Donetsk v Celtic, 12:45p on Paramount+: Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic are on the road against Ukrainian opposition in Group F.
Rangers v Napoli, 3p on Paramount+: Malik Tillman and James Sands lead Rangers at home in Group A.
Chelsea v RB Salzburg, 3p on Paramount+: Christian Pulisic looks for a fresh start with Chelsea, as they take on Salzburg at Stamford Bridge (Group E).
Manchester City v Borussia Dortmund, 3p on Paramount+: Gio Reyna and Dortmund face old friend Erling Haaland and Man City in Group G.
Juventus v Benfica, 3p on Paramount+: Weston McKennie and Juve host John Brooks and Benfica in Group H.
Thursday
Braga v Union Berlin, 3p on Paramount+: Jordan Pefok returned from injury for Union at the weekend. They face Portuguese side Braga in Europa League Group D.
BIG GAMES ON TV
Tues, Sept 13
12:45 Para+ Viktoria Plezen vs Inter Milan
12:45 Para+, Unimas Sporting CP vs Tottenham
3 pm Para+, Univision Bayern Munich vsBarcelona
3 pm Para+, Liverpool vs Ajax
3 pm Para+ Braga vs Union Berlin (Pefock)
3 pm Para+ Marseille vs Frankfurt (Chandler)
Weds, Sept 14
12:45 Para+, TUDN AC Milan (Dest) vs Dinamo Zagreb
12:45 Para+, Unimas Shakhtar Donestsk vs Celtic (Carter Vickers)
3 pm Para+ Rangers (Tillman, Sands) vs Napoli
3 pm Para+ Chelsea (Pulisic) vs RB Salzburg
3 pm Para+ Man City vs Dortmund (Reyna)
3 pm Para+ Juventus (Mckinney) vs Benefica
Thurs, Sept 15
3 pm Para+ Braga vs Union Berlin (Pefok) Europa
Fri, Sept 16
3 pm USA Aston villa vs Southampton
3 pm Peacock Notingham Forest vs Leeds United (Adams, Aaronson)
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We asked for your American soccer questions on Twitter earlier this week – and you delivered!
What does Thomas Tuchel’s exit mean for Christian Pulisic at Chelsea? How do you make the USWNT even better? Are LAFC’s problems overblown? We’ll get to all that and more
This article was originally sent out via email. Subscribe to our free newsletter to get future mailbags delivered right to your inbox.
We’re back with another midweek mailbag. I put out a call for your questions on Twitter and you delivered with a great mix about all sorts of American soccer topics.
Let’s get to it!
@SKINMATT28
What chances would you give Sacramento Republic of winning at least one CCL match if they had won the U.S. Open Cup?
This would be fun, wouldn’t it? Whenever it happens, a USL team participating in the Concacaf Champions League for the first time after winning the U.S. Open Cup will be a great story.
When a USL team makes it to this region’s Champions League, I think they have a real shot of getting a win. USL teams don’t have nearly as much talent as some of the other teams they could face in the CCL. Most MLS teams and Liga MX teams participating in the competition would be bad matchups (upsets happen, though). But what about some smaller Central American teams? Or some non-MLS Canadian teams?
Those are winnable games. And when the Concacaf Champions League expands to 27 teams in 2024, a USL team, should they make it, will have an even better shot at picking up a win.
So, while it’s difficult for USL teams to qualify for the CCL, I could see some promising performances from second-division teams once they’re inside the competition.
@BARTIMUSPRIME19
What are some specific tactical changes Vlatko Andonovski could make for the USWNT to produce more goals consistently?
I love this question because it gets right at the heart of my biggest issue with the U.S. women’s national team right now: they lack discipline in the attack.
The USWNT is a team full of superstars. They have an absurd amount of individual quality in every line. But too often, the U.S. roll out a remedial tactical gameplan that leaves far too much to chance. They rely on individual quality instead of stitching that individual quality together into something more.
Now, it’s not that the U.S. can’t, or doesn’t, create chances in possession. They scored a combined six goals against Nigeria in their two friendlies earlier this month. But too often, the U.S. hit hopeful crosses into the box or look disjointed with their attacking spacing.
If I’m Vlatko Andonovski, I’m working on my kill patterns in the final third. This team is dynamite in transition, so my focus is on possession. I’m telling my wingers to get in behind, find the Manchester City Zones (those outer corridors of the box), and then cut the ball back to a runner inside the box. Pushing into those spaces and combining with teammates in the halfspaces and the edges of the box could turn this team into a virtually unstoppable attacking force, even against other top-tier competition.
We’ve seen glimpses of those final third patterns from the U.S., but I’d love to see more than glimpses.
@ES_BOOT
Is the LAFC roster turnover narrative overblown, given that Ginella was a backup No. 6, Fall was fifth in center back rotation, and Rodriguez missed a huge chunk of the season?
LAFC’s biggest challenges have to do with their recent signings, rather than their recent departures. I don’t think they’re really missing any of Francisco Ginella (left on loan to Nacional), Mamadou Fall (left on loan to Villarreal), Brian Rodríguez (transferred to Club America).
But with so many new attacking players up front, there are some valid questions about how Steve Cherundolo is going to set up his team. How do you use Carlos Vela and Gareth Bale together and still maintain some sort of pressing identity (or at least some defensive solidity)? How do Denis Bouanga and Cristian Tello fit into this team? Can any of those players give LAFC the same aggressive off-ball running that Kwadwo Opoku gives them?
LAFC’s attacking shuffle is a problem for Cherundolo. It’s a Champagne problem, but Champagne problems are still problems. LAFC are probably still going to win the Supporters’ Shield, but things are more complicated in LA now than they were a couple of months ago.
@ANDREWCHWALIK
Do you think Chelsea firing Thomas Tuchel will be beneficial for Christian Pulisic?
Define beneficial. Is playing for pretty much anyone else in the world other than Thomas Tuchel going to help Christian Pulisic’s confidence? Absolutely. But is playing for a manager that actually rates him and plays him going to be good for Pulisic’s health? I’m not so sure.
Pulisic’s injury record is miles long. He missed a big chunk of last season for Chelsea with injuries. He missed a stretch of the year before with injuries, too. He hasn’t played more than 2,000 league minutes in a single season since 2017-18.
Getting a new voice in the locker room will be a refreshing thing for Pulisic ahead of the World Cup. But if he ends up playing a bunch of minutes between now and November, I’m not optimistic that Pulisic will stay healthy before Qatar.
@CAPTNMARK42
Has Sam Vines played his way into the backup LB spot behind Jedi?
Left back is a touchy subject for the United States right now after Antonee Robinson went down with an ankle injury with Fulham over the weekend. Regardless of the severity of the injury, finding a capable backup for Robinson is important.
Sam Vines is a regular starter in Belgium’s top division – and he even scored a goal the other day – but I don’t think he’s locked into that backup spot. Vines’ biggest competition doesn’t come from other potential left backs, though. It comes from the right back depth chart.
With Sergiño Dest’s move to AC Milan, where he’ll get more playing time than he did at Barcelona, and Joe Scally’s time on the field for Gladbach in the Bundesliga this season, Gregg Berhalter has a couple of different options who can play on either side of the backline. And given that both Dest and Scally have played left back for the USMNT, it’s clear that Berhalter is willing to use a right-footed player on the left.
Now, if Robinson isn’t fit, I think Vines has the inside track relative to the rest of the left back competition. But if Robinson is ready to go, it wouldn’t surprise me if Berhalter brought just one true left back to the World Cup.
Chelsea’s new owners show ruthless streak in sacking Tuchel
Kieran CANNINGWed, September 7, 2022 at 9:29 AM
Chelsea are still adjusting to life under their new regime but the ruthless sacking of manager Thomas Tuchel shows the change of ownership has not ushered in an era of patience at Stamford Bridge.The German was well aware of the fate that befalls managers who stumble from the day he walked into the Premier League club, initially handed a contract for just 18 months despite his pedigree.”What does it change?” said Tuchel as he was unveiled in January 2021. “If they are not happy with me, they will sack me anyway.”A hire-and-fire culture became the norm during Roman Abramovich’s spectacularly successful reign, which ended in May when Todd Boehly’s consortium took over.Tuchel earned himself a two-year contract extension after winning the Champions League in May 2021, a triumph that came just four months after he inherited a squad that was under-performing under Frank Lampard.But less than 16 months after Chelsea overcame Manchester City in Porto, and after a big-spending transfer window at Stamford Bridge, he finds himself out of a job.Boehly’s group spent a world-record £4.25 billion ($4.9 billion) to buy Chelsea in May after Russian billionaire Abramovich announced he was selling the club shortly after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.The following week Abramovich was hit with UK sanctions, with the government describing him as part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle.The new regime splashed out more than £200 million on a list of high-profile players including Raheem Sterling, Kalidou Koulibaly, Marc Cucurella, Wesley Fofana and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.And Tuchel appeared to have earned the trust of the new owners.He pushed for the signing of Aubameyang after their time together at Borussia Dortmund and reportedly cooled Boehly’s interest in Cristiano Ronaldo, who wanted to leave Manchester United.
– Erratic –
Yet, just seven games into the new season, the 49-year-old has been cut loose after damaging defeats to Leeds, Southampton and Dinamo Zagreb.In keeping with his time at Dortmund and Paris Saint-Germain, results have dipped after a bright start. Chelsea won the Club World Cup, reached two domestic cup finals and finished in the top four of the Premier League last season despite the difficulties caused by the sanctions imposed on Abramovich, which affected the club’s operations. Yet the expected Premier League title challenge following the club-record £97-million signing of forward Romelu Lukaku never materialised. Lukaku complained publicly of struggling to fit into Tuchel’s preferred system and has been shipped back to Inter Milan on loan at huge cost to the Blues. Reports in recent weeks suggested other attacking players were unhappy with Tuchel’s methods, frustrated that they were not given the freedom to shine.Kai Havertz, Christian Pulisic and Hakim Ziyech have all struggled to deliver on big transfer fees, while Timo Werner returned to RB Leipzig last month.Scoring goals has been a persistent problem and the defensive solidity that was the hallmark of Tuchel’s early success at the club has been absent this season.Tuchel can point to an untimely injury to midfielder N’Golo Kante, a loss of form for goalkeeper Edouard Mendy and the need for time for the club’s new signings to bed in. But his own behaviour had grown more erratic as the pressure increased. He was sent off for two physical confrontations with Tottenham boss Antonio Conte in a 2-2 draw last month and lambasted his players for a “soft mentality” in losing at Southampton. A limp 1-0 defeat on Tuesday to a Zagreb side with a strikingly poor Champions League record was the final straw. “We are clearly not where we need to be and where we can be,” said Tuchel after the match. Boehly has made the bold call that a man who has reached two Champions League finals with two different clubs in the past three seasons was the problem. Now the pressure is on the American to make the right hire to turn his investment into results on the pitch.
2022 World Cup: Andrés Cantor discusses USMNT’s chances, player to watch
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Logan Reardon Thu, September 8, 2022 at 8:49 PM Andrés Cantor discusses USMNT’s chances, player to watch originally appeared on NBC Sports Bayarea The 2022 FIFA World Cup is quickly approaching. After missing out on the tournament in 2018, the U.S. men’s national team is back in the field for 2022. Led by a group of talented young players, expectations are raised for the American squad. World Cup broadcaster Andrés Cantor sat down with NBC to share his thoughts on Team USA, their outlook for the tournament and one key player to watch in Qatar. Let’s take a look at Cantor’s preview for the U.S. team: What stands out about the USMNT? The World Cup roster for the USMNT hasn’t yet been announced. But we have a general idea of the players that will head to Qatar. There should be an exciting mix of youth and experience as the U.S. looks to advance through the group stage. Cantor sees the American team as having a good balance with young talent that has already started playing on the big stage in Europe. “I believe the U.S. team has a group of very young, but talented players,” Cantor said. “Many of them are mainstays on top European clubs. That experience is invaluable when it comes to the World Cup. “I have trust and belief that the U.S. can do well,” Cantor said. “Even though the team is, on average, very young, it doesn’t mean they don’t have experience. Christian Pulisic, Giovanni Reyna, (Yunis) Musah, you name it. They have European football under their legs.” How can the USMNT get out of the group stage? Following a random draw, the U.S. was placed in Group B with Wales, England and Iran. England is the favorite to top the group, as it is ranked No. 5 in the world in FIFA’s rankings. The U.S. is ranked No. 14, with Wales at No. 19 and Iran at No. 22. The USMNT will face Wales in its first match, before playing England second and closing out the group stage against Iran. “The most important moment of a World Cup, before the ball is kicked, is the World Cup draw,” Cantor said. “The second most important thing in every World Cup is the opening match. “So, what (does the U.S.) need to get out of the group stage? Obviously, beat Wales in the opening match and get to the England game with three points in hand. Then, battle it out (against Iran), at least with three points from the opening game. That’s the key, the opening match.” Who is the player to watch from the USMNT? When you think of the USMNT, one player immediately comes to mind. “I will go with the obvious choice, which would be Christian Pulisic,” Cantor said when asked which American player is the most important. “He is probably the most experienced player, a European champion. He plays at the highest level of all, and plays a very defined role at Chelsea.” Pulisic, 23, has been in the spotlight since he made his national team debut in 2016. He made the move to the English Premier League to play for Chelsea in 2019, where he has scored 19 goals in 80 career appearances. “He’s such a talented player, and he’s young. He can give you a couple of positions, he can play on the left, on the right or as a false nine.” “If you ask this question to 10 people that follow the U.S. team, I’m pretty sure nine out of 10 will say Christian Pulisic. He knows that all of the eyes are going to be on him. It’s good that he has the European experience, but this is different. He’s going to wear the captain’s armband, and that creates another level of pressure that he hasn’t had at Chelsea.”
Report: USA “serious candidate” to host FIFA Club World Cup It would take place in February 2023. By Donald Wine II@blazindw Sep 9, 2022, 12:45pm PDT
The trophy for the greatest club team in the world could be lifted on American soil. According to Spanish outlet AS, the United States is “a serious candidate” to serve as hosts for the next FIFA Club World Cup.Because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in November and December, if the Club World Cup takes place, the targeted dates are February 6-12, 2023. The tournament involves the champions of every FIFA confederation plus the winner of the host nation’s domestic league.That would mean that Major League Soccer could have two representatives for the first time ever at the Club World Cup. The Seattle Sounders became just the 3rd MLS team to win a Concacaf confederational trophy when they won the Concacaf Champions League in May. Should the United States host the Club World Cup, this year’s MLS Cup champions would also book a trip to the tournament.AS reports that Abu Dhabi and China were also under consideration to host the tournament, but that FIFA couldn’t reach an agreement with either, which put the focus onto the United States. The matches would likely be played at a NFL stadium that could allow for huge crowds. The normal FIFA World Cup tournament format: Entering in Playoff Round: 2022 OFC Champions League winners (Auckland City), 2022 MLS Cup champions (TBD) Entering in Quarterfinal Round: 2022 AFC Champions League winners (Urawa Red Diamonds/TBD), 2022 CONCACAF Champions League winners (Seattle Sounders), 2021-22 CAF Champions League winners (Wydad AC) Entering in Semifinal Round: 2022 Copa Libertadores winners (Flamengo/Athletico Paranaense), 2021-22 UEFA Champions League winners (Real Madrid)
Grant Wahl Sep 8 Orlando City won the U.S. Open Cup final in a 3-0 victory over the Sacramento Republic on Wednesday.
Here are my three thoughts on the game:
• The biggest move in this game came when Benji Michel subbed on in the second half. Facundo Torres ended up scoring the decisive goals in the 75th and 80th minutes, which deserve plenty of recognition, but it was Orlando coach Óscar Pareja’s move to bring on Michel up front not long before that that made the biggest difference in the game. Suddenly, Orlando had more unpredictability in the attack, and it was Michel who fed Torres for the breakthrough goal (after Iván Angulo’s great work to win the ball in Sacramento’s end) for a tougher-than-it-looked finish after 75 minutes of deadlocked play. Michel coming on for Ercan Kara was huge; Kara was more static and beginning to get into an unnecessary personal battle with Sacramento keeper Danny Vitiello. Pareja recognized that and changed the game. The result: Deserved history for Orlando. Michel’s late goal to finish things off only sealed the deal.
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• Sacramento showed that non-MLS teams have tremendous value. Sacramento had a chance to become the first non-MLS team to win the U.S. Open Cup since the Rochester Raging Rhinos in 1999. And while it didn’t complete the feat, Republic acquitted itself well for the vast majority of the final and throughout the tournament. A first-half scoring chance went tantalizingly just wide, and the fight from Sacramento kept things even for more than 70 minutes. Republic may or may not end up in MLS, but there is a great soccer story happening there nonetheless, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see this team back in this position before too long.
• The Open Cup is a sleeping giant. I’m thrilled that the U.S.’s century-plus-long knockout tournament has continued unabated, and that it has been possible in recent years to see every game live. I’m also looking forward to U.S. Soccer finally getting things right and starting a women’s tournament to match the men’s. But there is even more growth to be had in a nation that has spent billions on other prominent knockout tournaments (the NCAA men’s and women’s basketball tourneys). We love underdog stories in the U.S., and what could be a better underdog story than a lower-league team like Sacramento making the final? Let’s hope that Turner Sports, the new U.S. Soccer broadcast rights holder, can take things to the next level starting next season as the U.S. Open Cup (men’s and women’s) so surely deserves.
USWNT Big Board: Projecting the 2023 World Cup roster, who joins Alex Morgan, Megan Rapinoe, Rose Lavelle?
9:56 AM ET ESPN FC
This is the point in the four-year cycle when the World Cup starts feeling real. The major continental tournaments of summer are in the books, teams have qualified, rosters are starting to get more consistent and opponents for friendlies are becoming more challenging. The 2023 Women’s World Cup begins in just over nine months. The draw? That’s six weeks from now.
Now, the pressure will ratchet up for players in the coming months as they try to make their dreams reality and position themselves higher up the depth chart with strong performances for club and country — or else, they will fall out of roster contention if form dips.
ESPN will answer that question on a rolling basis throughout the next nine months, starting now with our USWNT Big Board, Vol. 1. A team loaded with so many bona fide stars offers some certainties, but the recent turnover within the team leaves plenty of roster spots up for grabs on the 23-player team. Add in the handful of potential starters who are recovering from injuries, and the field is further clouded.
How we’re doing this
Let’s start with the obvious: The team of 23 going right now will not be the team of 23 going to the World Cup (and for all we know, this could become a 26-player roster like the men’s edition in Qatar).
Injury situations guarantee impending changes, but form will also ebb and flow, the team’s needs will change, and other injuries could take place. Basically, nothing is official until it is on paper in FIFA’s hands and the roster deadline has passed.
This is a ranking, by position, of how things stand right now. That means players with long-term injuries would not be on the roster if the World Cup started today. Plenty will change in the coming months as some of these players face competition unlike any they’ve faced before, including an Oct. 7 showdown with European champions England at Wembley.
Within each position, we’ve made tiers of players to add nuance to where things stand:
Tier 1: Roster locks. These players are either clear starters or pushing to be one, and as of today, would be on the plane for the World Cup.
Tier 2: The bubble. Players on both the right and wrong side of it, because if you aren’t a lock, you are part of the bubble where nothing is certain.
Tier 3: Outside looking in. Players who have had a passing look with the team without tangible progress, players performing well for club but who haven’t gotten a look, or players who were once integral but no longer seem part of the plans.
Wait and see: Former locks racing against time. This is a special category to account for injuries and absences — these are players who were once locks, but now need to recover quickly enough and regain their status for a spot on the plane. There are enough of them that it needs its own category because an injured starter can’t be Tier 1 right now, but we expect they should have a clear path to return to that tier — if they get back to 100% in time.
If anyone is going to challenge Naeher, it’s Murphy, but there is work to be done. Naeher is a two-time World Cup champion and was the starter for the 2019 triumph. After that, Aubrey Kingsbury is in a bubble of her own as the choice No. 3 right now, a position which she has had locked down for the entire calendar year.
Bella Bixby and Jane Campbell are the last goalkeepers to receive call-ups outside of that trio, and those came for relatively experimental games in Australia last November. Adrianna Franch hasn’t played for the U.S. in nearly a year following her emergency duties at the Olympics, where Naeher got hurt in the semifinal. Andonovski spoke on multiple occasions this year about learning from that moment, which is why Murphy has earned significant minutes this year, including at World Cup qualifying. Kingsbury still only has one cap.
Andonovski wants two options who are ready to be the No. 1 come the World Cup and right now, his trio is as set as it could be.
On the plane right now: Naeher, Murphy, Kingsbury
Full-Backs
Roster locks: Emily Fox, Kelley O’Hara, Sofia Huerta
The bubble: Hailie Mace
Outside looking in: Carson Pickett, Imani Dorsey, Caprice Dydasco, Kristen McNabb, Merritt Mathias
Wait and see: Crystal Dunn, Casey Krueger, Emily Sonnett
Ah, full-back: The position of eternal questions for the U.S. men’s and women’s teams alike.
Emily Fox is clearly the starting left-back right now and has been all year. Andonovski tabbed her for that role last year, when she was an NWSL rookie, and he said he would spend the year building up her minutes to get her ready for the World Cup. That is exactly what happened and Fox offers the U.S. pace to go with a unique attacking profile in the position.
Of course, left-back was previously the position held down by Crystal Dunn, who gave birth to her first child in May and has not played yet this year. She trained with the USWNT in the most recent camp and expects to play some minutes for club and potentially country before the end of the year. Yes, she can play in the midfield, but her services are of greater need for the USWNT at full-back. At her peak, Dunn is the best the team has at the position.
By the time the World Cup kicks off, the question might not be Fox vs. Dunn, but rather who gets which side? As for now, Dunn is still trying to get back on a pitch during a game, so we’ll revisit that.
Right-back is where were find more questions. Kelley O’Hara (recently, but not significantly injured) is the incumbent there and continues to show why when healthy. The health caveat is an important one that has been a factor for some time. Emily Sonnett‘s injury is significant enough to have been season-ending for the Washington Spirit, or she would otherwise be Tier 1 based on how she has rotated into Andonovski’s lineups.
Huerta’s beautiful cross helps USWNT gain 4-0 lead
USWNT’s Sofia Huerta crosses the ball in that Ashley Hatch capitalizes on to up their score to 4-0 over New Zealand.
Sofia Huerta has earned her most extensive trial as a U.S. international after making the one-time switch from Mexico, a dream she thought she had lost after blowing her initial opportunity in the previous cycle. Huerta continues to make her argument as the best crosser from wide areas in the entire USWNT pool, and her defensive game has largely improved.
She did misplay the ball that led to Nigeria’s goal on Tuesday and ended the USWNT’s 880-minute shutout streak, but she was stellar on both sides of the ball and played a role in two goals in the first game against Nigeria, a 4-0 win. Whether Huerta is the starter remains a question, but right now she is solidly part of Andonovski’s plan. How she plays against England will tell how ready she is for a World Cup.
Casey Krueger also gave birth to her first child and has not played this year. She was used semi-frequently as a reserve full-back in 2021. The wild card, though, could be Hailie Mace, who only joined the USWNT for games against Nigeria as a replacement for O’Hara, but impressed enough in training to earn looks off the bench in both matches. Mace is in her best form ever in the NWSL as a wing-back for the Kansas City Current, who play a 3-5-2, but she had not been in camp in over four years prior to last week.
For all of the above players, there’s still time to get on the roster — especially at this position.
On the plane right now: Fox, Huerta, O’Hara
Center-Backs
Roster locks: Becky Sauerbrunn, Alana Cook, Naomi Girma
The bubble: Abby Dahlkemper
Outside looking in: Sam Hiatt, Alex Loera, Sam Staab, Emily Menges
Wait and see: Tierna Davidson
Center-back is also a curious position right now. Becky Sauerbrunn, Alana Cook and Naomi Girma have been the three players rotating into those two spots almost exclusively since Tierna Davidson tore her ACL in March. Cook is the preferred starter alongside Sauerbrunn, who is the captain, but Girma has the skillset to claim the starting role.
Is there even a bubble after that? The most likely candidate for that is Abby Dahlkemper, but since returning from broken ribs earlier this spring, she has fallen out of favor as the starting center back alongside Girma at San Diego Wave FC, and the calls from Andonovski have stopped, too. Dahlkemper needs to get back in the XI for San Diego before she gets back into a USWNT camp, and does have the potential. She played every minute for the USWNT at the 2019 World Cup and has a passing range to rival any center-back.
From there, the rest of the talent pool is inexperienced, with Cook and Girma still early into their international journeys. A peek at the 55-player preliminary roster for the CONCACAF W Championship suggests that any of Alex Loera, Sam Hiatt, Emily Menges or Sam Staab are in Andonovski’s peripheral thoughts. Combined, they have zero caps.
Davidson’s return will be the most important to this position, and she could double as an emergency No. 6. Sonnett and even Mace also provide versatility between full-back and center-back, which is always a helpful trait when deciding on bubble spots. As it stands today, the USWNT is one more injury away from a major depth problem.
On the plane right now: Sauerbrunn, Cook, Girma
Midfielders
Roster locks: Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan, Andi Sullivan
The bubble: Ashley Sanchez, Kristie Mewis, Taylor Kornieck, Sam Coffey
Midfield features the most interesting bubble section. Rose Lavelle, Lindsey Horan and Andi Sullivan are Andonovski’s starting trio as the Nos. 10, 8 and 6, respectively, but there are at least three spots behind them wide open for the taking, although Ashley Sanchez is looking more likely and should claim one of those reserve spots. Plus, what happens when Sam Mewis returns?
Lavelle is undroppable and in form, and Horan is best as a two-way midfielder when asked not to shoulder too much of the defensive responsibility, which can also be said for Mewis. Catarina Macariomight also be part of this conversation, but we’ll get back to that.
Sam Coffey earned her first cap on Tuesday and played the entire match in the No. 6 role. As debuts go, it was solid if not necessarily spectacular, which is about as much as anyone could ask for in a thankless role. As wild as it seems to go from first cap to World Cup, Coffey’s case for inclusion right now is as good as anyone else’s in the position, especially on form.
Julie Ertz previously defined the No. 6 role, so much so that it has been difficult for observers to evaluate any of her replacements. Ertz gave birth to her first child earlier this year and her playing future is unclear. Andonovski might know more about that, but for now, he must plan for life without Ertz.
Lindsey Horan on stepping into a greater role as leader for USWNT
Lindsey Horan credits Megan Rapinoe, Becky Sauerbrunn and Kelley O’Hara’s experience in helping her grow as a leader with the USWNT.
Kristie Mewis has filled in at the No. 6 in a pinch, but it has largely looked forced. NJ/NY Gotham FC is rounding out an awful season, which has not helped her club form. Still, her ability to play in any of the three positions is to her benefit. Morgan Gautrat played her best club season to date in 2021, earning a recall to the USWNT, but she only played 45 minutes at February’s SheBelieves Cup and has not played for the Chicago Red Stars since April 2 due to injuries.
Savannah DeMelo will have something to say about all this, and Racing Louisville FC teammate Jaelin Howell might still, too. For now, though, it’s possible the final midfield spot comes down to Coffey and Taylor Kornieck. Given current injuries and the numbers game of roster composition, they both go as of today.
Also, at what point does Lo’eau LaBonta‘s NWSL form warrant a look in camp? She played for Andonovski at FC Kansas City, so there is familiarity there and a precedent set by Kristie Mewis’ return to the USWNT following a great league campaign.
On the plane right now: Lavelle, Horan, Sullivan, Sanchez, K. Mewis, Coffey, Kornieck
Sophia Smith and Mallory Pugh are NWSL MVP candidates and have the starting winger positions on lock for the U.S. national team. There really is not a debate. Both reiterated against Nigeria how dynamic they can be and why they are threats to any defense they come up against. The largest remaining criticism is their conversion rate at times, but that’s also a matter of setting realistic expectations for any forward — each is averaging better than a goal every other game in 2022.
Rapinoe continues to affect games off the bench, as she did on Tuesday when she assisted Lavelle’s game-winning goal only 73 seconds after entering the match, and she is back to being a 90-minute player for OL Reign, notching four goals and three assists in four games in August. In short, Rapinoe is going to a fourth World Cup with sights set on winning a third straight.
Rapinoe makes instant impact with assist on Lavelle’s diving header
Right after Megan Rapinoe comes onto the pitch, she crosses one to Rose Lavelle for the header.
Trinity Rodman might be next in line off the bench. In 2021, she put in an NWSL Rookie of the Year campaign that nearly doubled as worthy of MVP talk. She hasn’t quite had a sophomore slump, but the Washington Spirit’s generally horrible form has not helped Rodman’s case. Smith and Pugh are also playing extremely well, so Rodman’s role remains that of a reserve.
Margaret “Midge” Purce is in the mix after missing out on last year’s Olympics. Lynn Williams is the player who could disrupt the depth chart upon her return, but that likely won’t be until 2023. Elsewhere, Morgan Weaver will need a solid stretch run with the Portland Thorns to push her name back into the conversation, as would Tobin Heath, who was once a sure starter on the USWNT’s World Cup-winning teams but hasn’t been in the picture in nearly a year.
Christen Press‘ absence from the CONCACAF W Championship roster was the most surprising given her form. She tore her ACL two days before the public announcement of the roster, but had already been informed she would not be on the roster. The necessary recovery time for that injury likely puts her back on the field around the start of the 2023 NWSL season, which would make for a tough timeline to get back into the mix for a third World Cup.
On the plane right now: Smith, Pugh, Rapinoe, Purce, Rodman
Strikers
Roster locks: Alex Morgan
The bubble: Ashley Hatch
Outside looking in: Mia Fishel, Bethany Balcer, Kristen Hamilton, Cece Kizer, Jessica McDonald
Wait and see: Catarina Macario
Alex Morgan is once again the clear No. 9, as if nothing changed at all. That is not true, of course. Earlier this year, Andonovski began building the team around Macario as the false nine who seamlessly interchanged with Lavelle in the attacking midfielder role, which left Morgan on the outside, not earning call-ups.
The results with Macario were brilliant at times even if they featured growing pains against lesser competition. But Macario’s injury coincided with Morgan’s career-best form, and Morgan handily beat out Ashley Hatch in the competition for the starting role in the meantime.
Assuming Morgan stays in this form and Macario picks up where she left off, Andonovski has a champagne problem. He is not going to move away from the 4-3-3, and he isn’t going to drop Lavelle. So one of Morgan or Macario would have to sit, and they would rotate as needed in the World Cup (how’s that for a super-sub in either case). Otherwise, Macario could become part of a “double-10” alongside Lavelle — that would trigger a question of who as a pure No. 6 would then carry the defensive load, all while Macario would take a spot in an already crowded midfield depth chart.
Meanwhile, Mia Fishel remains in top form for Tigres as one of the best forwards in Liga MX, but Andonovski said last week that he has not had any conversations with her. Given the general lack of depth right now at the No. 9 position, and that Liga MX plays through the winter (when the NWSL is off), there remains an opportunity for her to change that.
US Ladies host Nigeria Sat 1 pm on Fox, Tues 6 pm on ESPN2
So the US Ladies return to play this weekend and next week –as they face African powerhouse Nigeria Sat at 1 pm on Fox. Trinity Rodman has been ruled out for family reasons for the games which features the below stars for NWSL.
DEFENDERS (6): Alana Cook (OL Reign), Emily Fox (Racing Louisville FC), Naomi Girma (San Diego Wave FC), Sofia Huerta (OL Reign), Kelley O’Hara (Washington Spirit), Becky Sauerbrunn (Portland Thorns FC)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Sam Coffey (Portland Thorns FC); Lindsey Horan (Olympique Lyon), Taylor Kornieck (San Diego Wave FC), Rose Lavelle (OL Reign), Kristie Mewis (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Ashley Sanchez (Washington Spirit), Andi Sullivan (Washington Spirit)
FORWARDS (7): Ashley Hatch (Washington Spirit), Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC), Mallory Pugh (Chicago Red Stars), Midge Purce (NJ/NY Gotham FC), Megan Rapinoe (OL Reign), Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit), Sophia Smith (Portland Thorns FC)
Games to Watch
Saturday we move overseas as Brighton hosting Leeds United States of America at 10 am on USA Network takes center stage again this time vs Brentford at home. The 10 am Peacock game also features American’s as Fulham (Tim Ream, Jedi Robinson) host Tottenham.. Other big games Sat Everton hosting Liverpool – who needed a last second goal to win on Wed. The Milan Derby is the featured game of the week with AC Milan hosting Inter at noon Saturday on CBSSN & Para+ and of course The US Ladies hosting Nigeria at 1 pm on big FOX. Sunday its Man United hosting league leading and undefeated Arsenal at 11:30 am on USA.
Champions League group stage fixtures (all kick off times ET)
Matchday 1
Tuesday, 6 September Dinamo Zagreb vs Chelsea (Pulisic) (12:45) Dortmund (Reyna) vs Copenhagen (12:45) Salzburg vs AC Milan (Dest) (3:00) Celtic (Vickers) vs Real Madrid (3:00) Leipzig vs Shakhtar (3:00) Sevilla vs Man City (3:00) Paris vs Juventus (McKinney) (3:00) Benfica vs Maccabi Haifa (3:00)
Wednesday, 7 September Ajax vs Rangers (Sands) (12:45) Frankfurt vs Sporting CP (12:45) Napoli vs Liverpool (3:00) Atletico vs Porto (3:00) Club Brugge vs Leverkusen (3:00) Barcelona vs Plzen (3:00) Inter vs Bayern (3:00) Tottenham vs Marseille (3:00)
EPL Wk 4 – Fulham America in top 6
Fulham America stands at 6th with 2 wins and 2 draws and one of the stingiest d’s in the EPL with the left side of defense manned by American’s Jedi Robinson and Tim Ream. It leads some to believe Tim Reem might get a call up to the USMNT for their September set of 2 games 9/23 & 9/27.
Of course we should have know Leeds was going to come back to earth on the road at a solid Brighton team and they did with a tough 1-o loss on the road. That was followed by an even tougher 1-1 tie at home as Everton dominated the first half before Leeds dominated the 2nd and should have won it – but couldn’t find the last goal despite 75% possession. Finally Chelsea is evidently blocking the move for Christian Pulisic – because the new American owner doesn’t want to give up the #1 American. Of course the Manager Tuchel refused to play the American. Frustration city.
High School Local – CHS Girls host tourney Sat @ Murray
Coach/Ref Shane Best with our former Carmel FC JV and Varsity goalkeepers now playing for Carmel High School – Claire, Mary Grace, Bethany, Chloe & Aubrey at a last weekend’s Kick Breast Cancer Tourney at Carmel High. Carmel Dads and Carmel FC players wear you uniform to get Free Admission to the Game – see you there!!
JPW’s Champions League predictions – Matchday 1
Tuesday, 6 September Dinamo Zagreb 1-2 Chelsea Dortmund 3-1 Copenhagen Salzburg 1-2 AC Milan Celtic 1-3 Real Madrid Leipzig 2-1 Shakhtar Sevilla 1-2 Man City PSG 2-1 Juventus Benfica 2-0 Maccabi Haifa
Wednesday, 7 September Ajax 1-2 Rangers Frankfurt 2-1 Sporting CP Napoli 2-1 Liverpool Atletico 2-1 Porto Club Brugge 1-3 Leverkusen Barcelona 3-0 Plzen Inter 1-3 Bayern Tottenham 3-1 Marseille
BIG GAMES ON TV
Thur, Sept 1
3 pm USA Leicister City vs Man United
Fri, Sept 2
3 pm ESPN+ Dortmund (reyna) vs Hoffenheim
Sat, Sept 3
7:30 am USA Everton vs Liverpool
9:30 am ESPN Dortmund (reyna) vs Hertha
9:30 am ESPN+ Union Berlin (PefoK vs Bayern Munich
9 am Para+ Forentina vs Juventus (Mckinney)
10 am USA LeadsUnited (Adams, Aaronson) @ Brentford
10 am Peacock Fulham (Reem, Jedi) @ Tottenham
12 noon para+ AC Milan vs Inter
12:30 pm NBC Aston Villa vs Man City
1 pm FOX US Women vs Nigeria @ KC
3 pm ESPN+ Sevilla vs Barcelona
3 pm beIN Sport PSG vs Nantes
7:30 pm ESPN+ Detroit vs Indy 11
Sun, Sept 4
11:30 am USA Man United vs Arsenal
5 pm Para+ NY Gothem FC vs NC Courage NWSL
Tues, Sept 6
12:45 pm Para+ Dinamo Zagreb vs Chelsea (Pulisic) (12:45) 12:45 pm Para+ Dortmund (Reyna) vs Copenhagen (12:45)
3 pm Para+. TUDN Champions League
3 pm PSG vs Juventus Mckinney
6 pm ESPN2 US Women vs Nigeria @ DC
Weds, Sept 7
3 pm Para+ Ajax vs Rangers (Sands) (12:45) Frankfurt vs Sporting CP (12:45)
3 pm Para+. TUDN Champions League 3 pm Para_ Napoli vs Liverpool
Coach Shane and Kevin Russo and Family made it out to watch former Carmel FC GK coach and Indy 11 GK Jordan Farr play for San Antonio. The Indy 11 sprung the upset 1-0 however before beating Louisville on Wed night to win their 2nd in a row.
After clinching their spot in the 2023 Women’s World Cup by winning the CONCACAF W Championship, it’s time for the United States Women’s National Team to get ready for the September international window. Nigeria will be their opponent in two friendlies to take place this weekend.Nigeria is the first opponent for the USWNT as they begin preparations for the Women’s World Cup next summer, where they will vie for an unprecedented third straight World Cup title. The Labor Day weekend series of friendlies begin Saturday in Kansas City, one of the best supporting cities in the United States for women’s soccer. Then, both teams will travel to Washington, D.C., for a second friendly on Tuesday.”Of course, we’re looking forward to bringing the team back to one of the best soccer cities and best soccer stadiums in the United States in Kansas City,” Vlatko Andonovski said about the upcoming match between Nigeria in Children’s Mercy Park Stadium, home of the Kansas City Current and Sporting Kansas City.The Super Falcons landed in Kansas City on Wednesday. Nigeria remains Africa’s most successful women’s team, with 11 African Cup of Nations titles, and they are also the only country to advance to the knockout round in the World Cup and Olympics. They suffered a tough loss to Morocco in the 2022 Women’s Africa Cup of Nations semifinals in a 5-4 victory on penalties. However, the bleeding didn’t end there, as they were defeated in the 3rd place game 1-0 to Zambia. It was only the second time Nigeria didn’t leave the WAFCON with a medal.This is the first friendly for both teams since their confederation tournaments last month. The USWNT have already announced they will head to Wembley Stadium for a heavyweight match against Euro champs England on October 7th. First, they must prepare for Nigeria, who could come into these friendlies with some motivation due to their lackluster performance in the WAFCON.
The USWNT will see some new faces in camp
When the 23-player roster was announced for the window, it included some changes for the World Cup qualifying USWNT. The most notable change is the addition of Crystal Dunn, who is back in camp after returning from maternity leave. Dunn will only be a part of camp to get back into form, but will not be on the roster for the matches.Savannah DeMelo replaces Trinity Rodman, who left the squad due to a family commitment. DeMelo is looking to earn her first senior team cap after a positive career on both youth squads. Hallie Mace also joined the squad, replacing Kelley O’Hara, who is nursing a hip injury. Mace gets her first call-up since 2018, looking for her 4th international cap in her career.
Randy Waldrum needs a great Nigerian performance
Randy Waldrum is on the hot seat as Nigeria coach after the WAFCON letdown. The Nigerian media and fan base has been critical of Waldrum due to his poor talent management , putting many players in unnatural positions on the field. Nigerian federation president Amaju Pinnick came to Waldrum’s defense, saying they have to honor his contract despite the calls for his job. A solid performance from the Super Falcons against one of the best teams in the world could change the trajectory.
Vlatko Andonovski goes for preparation over evaluation
With the USWNT having qualified for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, normally the fall friendlies would focus on evaluating players who could potentially make the final roster next summer. However, for these friendlies, USWNT head coach Vlatko Andonovski opted to bring in essentially the same roster that he had for the Concacaf W Championship. There are a couple of recent additions due to injuries (and Trinity Rodman’s family commitment), but it’s clear he’s opting to start preparations for the World Cup now with the group he considers his most solid.There’s still a long time before the World Cup begins, and the coaching staff will have plenty of time to evaluate players. However, Andonovski has decided it’s more important to continue molding this group of players, save for a few, into the world beating machine that will be needed to win a 5th star.What are you most looking for against Nigeria this weekend from the USWNT? Hit the comments and discuss.
Borussia Dortmund really isn’t taking any chances with Gio Reyna
Borussia Dortmund is doing everything possible to ensure that Giovanni Reyna doesn’t suffer a repeat of last season.
Reyna suffered multiple serious muscle injuries in 2021-22, resulting in a mostly lost season that saw him make just 12 total appearances.
After a full offseason of rehab, Reyna is being introduced back into the fold in an extremely deliberate fashion.
The 19-year-old has been in the squad for just two of the club’s five total games so far this season, and progress has not been linear.
One week after making his season debut off the bench for Dortmund, Reyna was again left out of the squad for Saturday’s 1-0 win at Hertha Berlin. According to coach Edin Terzic, Reyna was omitted after aa minor complaint before the match.
“With Gio, it’s a special situation,” Terzic said after the game. “Gio has been struggling with injuries for almost a year now. He kept fighting back and was then quickly disappointed again when the injuries kept returning.
“He actually trained very well this week. We have a very specific program tailored to him. But he didn’t feel good before the game. And when he feels that, then there’s no point in risking the next setback.
“But we will continue to build him up carefully in the hope that he will fully join in training from next week. We’d rather give up one or two appearances than risk having to do without someone for months.”
With the World Cup coming up, USMNT fans won’t be too upset about Dortmund’s extreme caution. But at some point in the near future, seeing Reyna back healthy for an extended period would also be nice.
Former Carmel FC GK Coach & Indy 11 GK Jordan Farr returns w/ league leading San Antonio Sat 7 pm
Despite being in the midst of a 12-game winless streak, Indy Eleven’s defense continues to keep it in games, with Indy allowing just one goal in 7 of its outings during its winless streak. Of the 10 losses in the streak, seven have come by a one-goal margin – with last week’s match serving as the fifth heartbreaking 0-1 scoreline during the stretch. Overall in 2022, the Eleven’s 38 goals allowed through 24 games ranks 14th in the USL Championship, placing it squarely in the middle of the 27-team pack.
Defense is where the Alamo City outfit shines, its 21 goals allowed ranking second in the league behind only Louisville (16). Former Indy 11 GK Jordan Farr has stood tall when called upon his 10 clean sheets are just one behind a trio of league leaders in the category and he has won Goalkeeper Save of the Week multiple times this season helping San Antonio to the 2nd best record in the league. The 3-1-7 Special offer this weekend includes $3 drinks, $1 popcorn and $7 tickets if you buy them online before game time. Learn More
Games to Watch
A big weekend of Soccer action on TV starts tonight with MLS at 8 pm on ESPN as league leading LAFC travels to 2nd place Austin. Both teams coached by former USMNT players LAFC (Steve Cherundolo) and Austin (Josh Wolff) features 2 of the hottest teams in the MLS right now (Preview). At 10 pm also on ESPN is the Cascadian Cup Match of the biggest rivals in American Soccer Seattle and Portland. Both teams are struggling to make the playoffs this year – which makes this game as important as ever. Just flip over and catch a bit of these games to see what MLS soccer has become!
Saturday we move overseas as Brighton hosting Leeds United States of America at 10 am on USA Network takes center stage. The 12:30 NBC game also features American’s as Fulham (Tim Ream, Jedi Robinson) travel to league leading Arsenal and US GK Matt Turner. Other big games Sat have Juventus (Mckinney) hosting Roma in Italy on Paramount + at 12:30 pm along with the huge German match-up of Bayern Munich hosting Borussia Mgladbach and American outside back Joe Scally 12:30 Sat on ESPN+. American’s overseas viewing guide
EPL Wk 3 – Leeds United States of America Arrives – 2nd in EPL
That thud and huge roar you heard on Sunday morning last week was Chelsea falling to the ground and Leeds United States of America stepping on their faces !! Yes if you actually play your American’s Tuchel – good things might just happen. Leeds didn’t just beat Chelsea with American youngster Brendan Aaronson scoring his first EPL goal in dramatic fashion. They slaughtered the former European Champions 3-0 at Elland Road (from the stands)– with fellow American Tyler Adams being named Player of the Match for his midfield performance as the ultimate #6 – shutting down Chelsea’s attack before it could get off the ground. At least 3 times he cut off fast break opportunities and was seemingly all over the field. Even the insertion of American Christian Pulisic in the 65th minute did nothing for the blues who have basically disintegrated now that Chelsea manager Tuchel is inserting his “own” players. Tuchel has made even the best attackers looks like bums with the 3rd worse offense in the EPL.. My favorite of the weekend might have been American coach Jesse Marsch reaction after Aaronson scored the first goal (its spelled Soccer you English bums!). Yes this American coach who has this former formidable club Leeds United back near the top of the table, can coach. And these American’s he signed – Brendan Aaronson, Tyler Adams and even Jack Harrison really (he’s English but played his formative years in MLS) CAN PLAY SOCCER. There is room on this bandwagon American Soccer fans – join us as the next 2 week’s games are on USA Network at 10 am on Saturday’s– a sign that Leeds United States of America is here!! Cool Story on Leads and Jesse MarschNice piece on Brendan Aaronson
Other EPL news had Man United shocking Liverpool 3-1 at Old Trafford Monday –(as protesters burned American owners the Glaziers in effigy) while Liverpool is limping along at 0-2-1 on the season just 1 point above the relegation zone. The win for Man United moved them to 1-2 L on the season. Fulham America stands at 7th with a win and 2 draws and one of the stingiest d’s in the EPL with the left side of defense manned by American’s Jedi Robinson and Tim Ream. It leads some to believe Tim Reem might get a call up to the USMNT for their September set of 2 games 9/23 & 9/27.
Champions League draw has 10 Americans in the 22-23 Competition
Group A: Ajax, Liverpool FC, Napoli, Rangers FC (James Sands, Malik Tilman
Group B: Porto, Atlético Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, Club Brugge (Owen Otasowie)
Group D: Eintracht Frankfurt (Chandler), Tottenham Hotspur, Sporting Lisbon, Marseille
Group E: AC Milan, Chelsea FC (Pulisic), Red Bull Salzburg, Dinamo Zagreb
Group F: Real Madrid, RB Leipzig, Shakhtar Donetsk, Celtic FC (Carter-Vickers)
Group G: Manchester City, Sevilla, Borussia Dortmund, FC Copenhagen
Group H: Paris Saint-Germain, Juventus (McKinney), Benfica, Maccabi Haifa (Josh Cowen GK)
WORLD
Nice to see Benzema of Real Madrid win the FIFA Player of the Year award – lets hope this means a BallonD’Or for him in the future.
High School Local – CHS Girls host tourney Sat @ Murray
Check out the local team rankings for Girls and boys teams below in the Ole Ballcoach. The Carmel Girls are hosting the Carmel Invite with $6 Admission (Kindergarten and younger admitted free).
Varsity Schedule
Murray Stadium is located directly behind Carmel High School.
9:00 am Murray Stadium Carmel (Guests) vs. Avon (Home)
10:45 am Murray Stadium Cathedral (Guests) vs. Fishers (Home)
5:00 pm Murray Stadium Avon (Guests) vs. Cathedral (Home)
6:45 pm Murray Stadium Fishers (Guests) vs. Carmel (Home)
Junior Varsity Schedule
Football Practice Fields are north of Murray Stadium behind the football stadium.
9:00 am FB Practice Fields Carmel JV Blue (Home) vs. Avon (Guests)
9:00 am FB Practice Fields Cathedral (Home) vs. Fishers (Guests)
3:00 pm FB Practice Fields Avon (Home) vs. Cathedral (Guests)
3:00 pm FB Practice Fields Fishers (Home) vs. Carmel JV Blue (Guests) (I will be reffing this one)
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Indiana high school girls soccer: Hamilton Southeastern takes top spot in Fab 15 rankings
There’s a new No. 1 in the Central Indiana girls soccer Fab 15 with Hamilton Southeastern opening the season with wins over Class 3A finalists Carmel and Homestead. The Royals will have a chance to solidify their grip on the top spot this weekend, with their game against Noblesville one of many powerhouse clashes scheduled for this week. In the meantime, here’s where the area’s best rank after the first eight days of the season.
1. Hamilton Southeastern (5-0)
LW: 5
The Royals opened the season with a 4-1 win over Carmel, against whom they were 0-6-1 with a mere four goals scored since 2010. Seniors Caroline Kelley (nine goals, two assists) and Tatum Coleman (eight assists) have been top-notch on the attack, while goalkeeper Hailey Wade has allowed just one goal on 11 shots, including a shutout vs. Homestead (W, 2-0). HSE will try to defeat Noblesville for the first time since 2014 on Saturday.
Smooth start to the year for the Millers, whose first two wins came by a combined score of 7-0. Four different players (Sydney Elliott, Meskerem James, Meredith Tippner and Ava Bramblett) scored against Cathedral; Lily Ault joined Bramblett and James in the goals column against West Lafayette. Noblesville hosts Avon on Wednesday before HSE comes to town for a rematch of last year’s sectional thriller.
3. Carmel (3-1)
LW: 2
The Greyhounds bounced back from a lopsided loss to Hamilton Southeastern with wins over Plainfield, No. 5 South Bend St. Joseph and Class 2A No. 3 Guerin Catholic (shortened by storms). Clare Simmonds netted the winner vs. SBSJ (assisted by Annika Nelson); Olivia Cebalo scored the lone goal against Guerin (assisted by Sophie Shepherd). Carmel hosts Avon and Fishers on Saturday.
4. Center Grove (2-0-1)
LW: 11
The Trojans started the season with three ranked opponents. They beat East Central and Columbus North, then tied Bloomington South. Five different players had scored for CG entering the Bloomington South game (Taylor Wert, Brooklyn Brown, Ella Dewitt, Addie Crowe and Madi Kramer).
5. Brebeuf Jesuit (1-1-1)
LW: 3
Brebeuf suffered its first loss of the season — a 1-0 decision at Avon — on Saturday, despite outshooting the Orioles 8-2. It let a second-half lead get away vs. Zionsville in the opener (tied, 2-2), but bounced back with a win over Brownsburg. Three quality tests for Brebeuf, which has three conference games upcoming: Bishop Chatard (Tuesday), Covenant Christian (Thursday) and Guerin Catholic (Saturday).
6. North Central (1-0-2)
LW: 4
It was a busy, but good week for the Panthers, who tied with Zionsville and Cathedral (shortened by storms) and knocked off Lawrence Central. Five different players have scored goals for NC, led by senior Samantha King with four, plus two assists. Maryn Weiger has allowed only two goals on 10 shots through three games.
7. Bishop Chatard (3-0-1)
LW: 6
Chatard started the season with a couple 3A wins (Brownsburg and Mt. Vernon), and a triumph over Class A champion Heritage Christian. Note from the 5-3 win over Heritage Christian: senior Bri Buels scored a hat trick; Cece Leffler registered three assists. Tough stretch upcoming with Brebeuf on Tuesday, followed by Roncalli and Guerin next week.
8. Cathedral (1-1-1)
LW: 9
It would have been nice to see if the Fighting Irish could have broken through against North Central, but Mother Nature had other plans with inclement weather ending the game in the 60th minute. Couple more of those measuring-stick games upcoming with Roncalli on Wednesday, then Fishers and Avon on Saturday.
9. Zionsville (0-0-3)
LW: 13
Three draws against three quality opponents for the Eagles, whose week one dance card featured North Central, Brebeuf and Guerin. Reese Nehlsen scored both goals against Brebeuf (scored the game-tying goal in the second half), fellow senior Katie Chadwick scored against Guerin. Nehlsen and Bryn Maxwell accounted for the two goals against North Central.
10. Heritage Christian (1-2)
LW: 10
The Eagles wasted no time putting themselves to the test with games against Roncalli and Chatard. They have just one game this week (Danville), with a visit from Brebeuf scheduled for next week.
11. Guerin Catholic (1-1-1)
LW: NR
Alex Soucie scored a second-half goal to secure a tie vs. Zionsville, then the Golden Eagles limited 3A foe Carmel to just one goal in a weather-shortened clash on Saturday. Soucie and Sutton Worman are tied for the team lead with two goals apiece.
12. Roncalli (3-0-1)
LW: 14
Summer Fishel has the Royals rolling early on. The sophomore has six goals and three assists through four games, highlighted by a season-opening hat trick vs. Heritage Christian. Roncalli travels to Cathedral on Wednesday.
13. Fishers (4-0)
LW: NR
After winning their first two games by a combined score of 12-0, the Tigers had to grind against Westfield and Franklin Central, coming away with matching 2-1 victories. It’s worth noting Fishers’ scoring has come from a variety of players in its past two games. Elise May and McKinley Boland scored against the Shamrocks; Addie Allgeier and Emmy Streeter accounted for the goals against Franklin Central. Fishers has five players with multiple goals.
Goalkeeper Lucy Furqueron has allowed just one goal for the Panthers, who beat Avon and Brownsburg, and tied with Chatard. They’re off until Saturday when they travel to Columbus East. Park Tudor’s schedule does not include a Class A opponent until September when it faces Fort Wayne Canterbury (Sept. 2) and Heritage Christian (Sept. 6).
15. Tri-West (1-1)
LW: NR
The Bruins will try to bounce back from a 3-0 loss to Cathedral on Monday against Brownsburg. Clare Donald and Paige Halford scored goals against Greencastle last Tuesday, with Danica James securing the shutout.
Follow IndyStar high school sports Insider Brian Haenchen on Twitter at @brian_haenchen.
IHSAA boys soccer: Northside continues to rule Fab 15 after opening week
With a week’s worth of games to work with, there was a healthy amount of shuffling beyond the top two teams in our first boys soccer Fab 15 of the regular season.
1. Fishers (2-0-1)
LW: 1
The Tigers surrendered the game-tying goal in the second half of a 1-1 draw with Westfield, but sandwiched that result between blowout wins over Franklin Central and Harrison. Junior Kyle Clayton, who scored Fishers’ goal against Westfield, has six on the season, while seniors Noah Reinhart and Santi Morales have combined for seven goals. Miles Hardy and Gavin Clayton have split goalkeeper duties through the first three games.
2. Hamilton Southeastern (2-0-1)
LW: 4
Brady Strawmyer made four saves, and Logan Puls and Rex Randy provided the offense (with assists from Grady Garrand and Rodrigo Silvestre Muniz) to lift the Royals to a come-from-behind win over Carmel on Saturday. That’s big for HSE, which could (maybe even should) be unbeaten entering the month of September, which starts with matches against Brebeuf Jesuit and Fishers — and doesn’t let up from there.
3. Zionsville (1-0-1)
LW: 3
The Eagles snapped a three-game losing streak vs. Carmel with a scoreless draw in the season opener. They followed that with a rout of McCutcheon on Thursday, a nice tune-up for what’s to come: Fishers on Tuesday, then Westfield a week later.
4. Noblesville (2-0)
LW: 10
AJ Tippner and the Millers found a way to win against both Perry Meridian and Carmel, with Cole Thompson and Noel Peña posting matching shutouts in net. They have another series of tests upcoming with Tuesday’s trip to Avon followed by Brebeuf, Fishers and Westfield over the next three games.
A late second-half goal burnt the Greyhounds against Noblesville on Thursday, then they failed to close out HSE on Saturday, allowing two goals in the second half of a 2-1 loss. This obviously isn’t the start coach Shane Schmidt and his squad were looking for, but they started slow last season, too, and wound up reaching the state finals. In summation: Don’t read too far into Carmel’s early results. It’s a young-ish team that’s been thrown directly into the deep end.
6. Brebeuf Jesuit (2-0)
LW: 5
Following wins over Avon and Cardinal Ritter, Brebeuf has one more tune-up (Roncalli) before entering the meat of its schedule with Thursday’s match vs. Noblesville followed by Carmel, Westfield, HSE and Cathedral. Senior Stefan Boes leads the team with four goals; six players have registered assists, led by Alex Kirberger with two. Aidan Wade has yet to allow a goal in 120 minutes played.
7. Westfield (0-0-2)
LW: 13
The Shamrocks came away with 1-1 draws against two of the better teams in the state (Fishers and Pike). Goalkeeper Liam Lloyd, who had an assist vs. the Red Devils, has made 19 saves (12 vs. Fishers). Cooper Ardiaolo and Oliver Smith have accounted for the scoring, though Aiden Yonkus, Yahir Lopez and Marlon Gomez lead the team in shots (4).
8. Pike (0-0-2)
LW: NR
The Red Devils played Carmel and Westfield to 1-1 draws to start the season.
9. Heritage Christian (2-1)
LW: 9
HC found different ways to collect its wins last week. Goalkeeper Landon Hight and the defense shined in a 1-0 win over University in the season opener; three first-half goals carried the Eagles to a wild 4-3 win over Bishop Chatard on Saturday. HC will face another former sectional opponent, Park Tudor, on Saturday.
10. Perry Meridian (3-1)
LW: 8
The Falcons’ lone loss came to Noblesville, a 1-0 decision on Tuesday. Senior Vicktor Thang had three goals and three assists entering Thursday’s conference clash vs. Decatur Central, and goalkeeper Cung Hmung had made 14 saves (two goals against).
11. Center Grove (2-1-1)
LW: NR
The Trojans bounced back from a one-goal loss to Bloomington South with a 1-0-1 showing at the Trojan Classic on Saturday. The win came over Columbus East, while the tie came against Castle, which is ranked No. 7 in Class 3A by the coaches. Ely Detty, who scored four goals in a 5-1 win over Roncalli, registered a goal and an assist vs. Castle.
10 Americans to compete in 2022-23 UEFA Champions League
USMNT fans will have plenty of Champions League rooting interests.
The 2022-23 UEFA Champions League group stage draw took place today in Istanbul, and 32 teams were drawn into 8 groups of 4 for Europe’s most prestigious club tournament. For fans of the United States Men’s National Team, there are several rooting interests located within those 8 groups, as 10 American players will once again compete in the hopes of lifting the Champions League trophy next June 10th.
The 10 Americans that will compete in the Champions League:
*Assuming Dest remains with Barcelona after the close of the summer transfer window At this point, USMNT fans should be used to this number of Americans playing in the Champions League, with 10 players being in the competition the past 2 seasons. Still, it’s a wonderful sight to see so many USMNT players getting that kind of experience and playing for one of the world’s most heralded trophies.
CHICAGO (Aug. 22, 2022) – U.S. Women’s National Team head coach Vlatko Andonovski has named a 23-player roster for two September friendly matches against Nigeria, the first on Sept. 3 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas (Kickoff at 12:30 p.m. CT / 1:30 p.m. ET with coverage beginning at Noon CT / 1 p.m. ET on FOX) and the second on Sept. 6 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., presented by Allstate (6 p.m. ET on ESPN2). All 23 players will suit up for both matches. All 23 players were on the roster for the USWNT as they won the Concacaf W Championship in July. After going undefeated without allowing a goal in capturing its 9th Concacaf title, the team’s focus turns to preparation for the 2023 Women’s World Cup, which begins next July in Australia and New Zealand. The team will learn who it will play in the group stage when the draw is held on October 22nd. Until then, they appear to be challenging themselves with quality competition with the matches against Nigeria and a friendly against England at Wembley Stadium on October 7th.“All the players on the roster performed well in Mexico at qualifying and have carried that form for their clubs, so we’ll continue the process of growing as a team with this group in what will be two challenging games against Nigeria,” said Andonovski. “Preparing for the World Cup is a long process, and I’ve been very happy with how our team understands that process, is willing to do the work and is making positive strides every camp to get us to where we want to be next summer.”The only player from the Concacaf W Championship that is absent from this roster is Emily Sonnett, who is recovering from injury. Crystal Dunn, who has been on maternity leave, will return to USWNT camp to train with the team, but will not be included on the roster.
In a stunning result, Leeds United beat Chelsea 3-0 in the most convincing of ways on Sunday, unleashing a barrage of energy against one of the Premier League’s top teams. Here are my three thoughts on the game:
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• Brenden Aaronson is designed for the Premier League. The 21-year-old American was a devastating mix of skill and energy again, providing constant threats with his passing and turns (see you later, Kalidou Koulibaly, enjoy that yellow card!) while injecting energy and defensive pressure whenever Leeds lost the ball. That resulted in the game’s opening goal, when Aaronson picked the pocket of Chelsea keeper Édouard Mendy in front of an adoring Elland Road crowd. When I interviewed Aaronson in Leeds for my recent magazine story on the Americans there, I asked him what position he would play. “Not the striker,” he said, “but the three under the striker. Any position there. Left mid, center attacking mid, or right mid.” On Sunday Aaronson was deployed in the number 10 role for the first time, and while not everything he tried came off, the sheer verticality of some of his menacing through-balls reminded me of Michael Laudrup. Aaronson’s is also crazy fit. He went 82 minutes at a breakneck pace and has been on the field for all but 13 minutes in Leeds’s first three games. Hats off to one of the Premier League’s top newcomers so far this season.
• This game was a distillation of MarschBall. The philosophy of Leeds’s American coach, Jesse Marsch, is all about constant energy, full-field pressure and striking quickly in transition once you win the ball, especially when it’s in the opponent’s end of the field. Marsch, who emphasizes data analysis, also invests lots of training time into an array of intricate set-piece routines. Look how Leeds scored its goals on Sunday: The first (by Aaronson) came as the direct result of pressure on Mendy. The second (by Rodrigo, his league-leading fourth of the season) came on a well-executed set-piece corner kick. The third (by Jack Harrison) came on a decisive counterattack with Daniel James delivering a terrific cross with zero Chelsea pressure from the left side. No Leeds player knows MarschBall better than Tyler Adams, the 23-year-old American who started playing for Marsch at age 15, and Adams was sneaky-phenomenal on Sunday, seemingly everywhere to win balls in the midfield and showing his smarts to know exactly when to insert himself to stop Chelsea counters. (A particular moment happened in the second half when Adams dispossessed Raheem Sterling on a post-set-piece counter without even drawing a foul.) MarschBall is heavy-metal football, a 90-minute rush, and it was especially fun to see Marsch celebrating that way on the sideline after Leeds goals. (And you know what’s crazy? Leeds really should have a perfect nine points in the league instead of seven after losing a 2-0 lead at Southampton last week.)
• What must Christian Pulisic be thinking right now? Chelsea’s American No. 10 once again didn’t start, even though the ineffective Ruben Loftus-Cheek did in a position where Pulisic could certainly play, and losing to the Premier League’s America’s Team (with Aaronson, Adams and Marsch playing central roles) has to have Pulisic wondering about greener pastures elsewhere. Pulisic didn’t have much impact once he came on in the second half, and it’s obvious that he doesn’t have Thomas Tuchel’s trust. If he did, Chelsea wouldn’t be looking to acquire more players in his position. I would almost rather see Pulisic move on loan to Newcastle than to the dumpster fire of Manchester United, but he needs to make a move and get playing time ahead of the World Cup if he wants to have the biggest impact he could at the tournament. That’s the only bummer of an otherwise phenomenal day for fans of United States soccer.
Brenden Aaronson, the USMNT’s fastest-rising star, bosses Chelsea on a banner day for American soccer
Brenden Aaronson’s meteoric rise from Medford, New Jersey, toward the top of global soccer hit new heights on Sunday in a rip-roaring Leeds United win over Chelsea — and on a landmark day for Americans in the sport.It wasn’t just the goal, Aaronson’s first in the Premier League and Leeds’ first in a 3-0 victory.It wasn’t just the spin that put Kalidou oulibaly, one of the world’s most accomplished defenders, in a blender.It was that everything Aaronson and Leeds did epitomized what he and American men’s soccer have become.In the first 45 minutes alone, the 21-year-old buzzed around Elland Road from his central attacking midfield position. He snapped into tackles. He broke lines with clever flicks. He ran in behind Chelsea’s overwhelmed defense.He popped up on the right wing and the left wing, in the middle third and even the defensive third, and everywhere in between.He wasn’t, and isn’t, flawless on the ball. In fact, mere seconds before tapping it into an empty net, he gave it away with a sloppy pass.But Aaronson’s most coveted skill, despite the “attacker” label, is actually his front-foot defending. He’s one of the world’s premier pressers. He is relentless without the ball, “an annoying gnat, like a fly that you can’t get out of your face,” U.S. teammate Weston McKennie once said.His reaction to losing the ball in the 33rd minute was, and always is, to sprint toward it. He charged down one Chelsea player, then a second, and then, finally, goalkeeper Edouard Mendy.Because he did, he had the freedom, and the audacity, to score his first EPL goal with a no-look finish.He also had a U.S. teammate, Tyler Adams, getting stuck in on Chelsea midfielders and supporting him all afternoon long.He has an American manager, Jesse Marsch, empowering him and the rest of Leeds United to swarm opponents, no matter how big or rich those opponents are.Marsch celebrated Aaronson’s goal with a sprint of his own down the touchline, a jump and a fist-pump. He celebrated the third goal — scored by English winger Jack Harrison, a product of an American high school and college and MLS — with a spike of his water bottle. He spent several minutes after the final whistle twirling his jacket and pounding his chest as Leeds supporters sang his name.Christian Pulisic entered the fray off Chelsea’s bench in the second half, and perhaps the most astounding aspect of this astounding day was that, of the five American soccer products to take part in a Premier League game, Christian Pulisic, the country’s most celebrated star, was the least-discussed of the five. After the match, as Marsch made the rounds, commending players and saluting fans, Aaronson, Adams and Pulisic chatted briefly on the field.Adams then wrapped himself in an American flag and paraded around the pitch.Aaronson told NBC Sports in a postgame interview: “It just goes to show people around the world that Americans can play football too.”
Christian Pulisic, Tyler Adams and Brendan Aaronson chat postgame. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt – AMA/Getty Images)
The scary part — or, rather, the scary good part — is that Aaronson has found it difficult to even crack the U.S. men’s national team starting 11. Head coach Gregg Berhalter has preferred Pulisic, 23, and Lille forward Tim Weah, 22, on the wings. He has preferred McKennie, a 23-year-old regular at Juventus, as the most advanced midfielder. There is no obvious place for Aaronson in the team.And yet he might, at the moment, be the best American player in the world.He is definitely a sign of the times, a representative of the most promising generation of men’s players that the U.S. has ever produced, and proof of concept for the academies producing them. Just five years ago, he was being trained and educated by the Philadelphia Union academy and the specialized prep school affiliated with it.He is now their postboy. But he’s certain that he won’t be the last.”I can say, there’s gonna be a lot more talents coming out of the Philadelphia Union academy,” he assured reporters earlier this year. “I think that it’s only starting now” — in Philadelphia and, he clarified, “in the whole country,” where “academies are getting better and better.”The next in the soon-to-be-long line might be his brother, Paxten, 18, who some in Philadelphia believe could be as good or better than Brenden.And Brenden is still just 21. Three years ago, he was a teenage MLS rookie. Just last year, he was moving to Red Bull Salzburg in Austria. Just a few months ago, he was in agony as he watched Leeds try to stay in the Premier League, his move contingent on them avoiding relegation.They did, and now he’s the second-most expensive U.S. player ever, and maybe the most exciting. He is sending Premier League stadiums into rapturous celebration. He is an ultra-modern player in an ultra-modern team that is flying all sorts of flags for Americans in the sport. And there is no telling how good he might become.
Brenden Aaronson celebrates scoring his first Premier League goal, and Leeds United’s first against Chelsea. (Photo by Dave Howarth – CameraSport via Getty Images)
The transfer window is closing soon, and that would normally mean a pretty furious avalanche of rumors, requests, bids, and stories. Deadline day has become the sport’s free agency day in the NHL or NBA (or even election night), with masses of reporters spread out across the European continent breathlessly covering physicals and car types arriving and not arriving. Only on the one day in August and the one in January do you see a cavalcade of journalists standing in a parking lot in the rain hoping to see a car with tinted windows roll by. It’s a little more entertaining than TSN reporters standing in the baking sun outside of empty arenas and practice facilities on Canada Day, but probably only because of the accents.This August’s window is even more fraught, because not only clubs like Barcelona and Manchester United scrambling and clawing for anything they can find on the shelves, and the clubs they eventually buy from needing to find replacements and on down the line, but players are frantic in trying to secure bigger roles to solidify either their spot on a World Cup roster or be as sharp as possible when that tournament rolls around in November. Normally with a summer World Cup, players would be doing this in the January transfer window, and would have a much more solid handle on where they fit with their current team and manager with the season already half-over. Trying to do it in August means trying to do a lot of projection of where you might fit, and then having to guess if that will be enough before everyone decamps to Qatar.Which brings us to Christian Pulisic. Captain America, at least when Tyler Adams isn’t wearing the armband. Still the US’s most accomplished player, and likely still their most talented. When the chips are down in Qatar, and the US need a goal after the 80th minute, he’s still the one you’d count on to do some shit, unless Gio Reyna’s legs stop being made of graham crackers. Both Pulisic, Gregg Berhalter, and every USMNT fan would prefer that Pulisic is playing regularly, at the top of his game, and most importantly healthy come the World Cup.For once, the last part is in place, for now. It’s always “for now” with Pulisic, who has his own graham-cracker ligament tendencies as well. You can never be sure with Christian. And while very few US fans would admit this, the idea of Pulisic just being a super-sub and spot-starter for Chelsea the next two and a half months is a-ok, because the chance of something going TWANG! is that much lower. Maybe he won’t be as sharp as possible, but he’ll be on the field, and given Pulisic’s history, on the field is a relief. Of course, we can all easily imagine the mainstream media’s loudest gaping maws who just drop in for a World Cup belching their pollutant takes about him if he doesn’t rack up a hat trick against Wales. We’ll worry about that then.But Pulisic himself isn’t content to just be a bit-part for Chelsea and Thomas Tuchel. He’s never been able to lock down a spot in the first 11 (even though he played for Tuchel at Dortmund), either due to his spotty injury history or his spotty performances. Pulisic had just 13 starts last year in the league last season, another four in the Champions League. Mostly having his campaign known for this. Hasn’t started in either of Chelsea’s first two games so far this season. This is after Raheem Sterling was brought in to bolster the front three, though Romelu Lukaku was subtracted from it. So was Timo Werner. The numbers are still just about the same. But there are rumors that Chelsea are hot after Everton’s Anthony Gordon, apparently feeling they need to fill out an “awkward looking ginger who dives all the time” quota. Pulisic is feeling the crunch.It’s not that Pulisic would ever lose his place in the USMNT squad, and likely not even the starting lineup. But Pulisic has waited four years for this tournament, to play in it for the first time, and thanks to 2018’s full body dry heave from the entire set-up, he’s only got maybe one or two after this one left. He doesn’t want to go there and be off.And it’s that level of desperation that led to the rumor that not only have Manchester United calling about a loan, but that Pulisic didn’t laugh them out of the building. You know you’re down bad and maybe not thinking straight when you consider the offer of the biggest basketcase team in the league, on the continent, and quite possibly on the planet. Yeah, Pulisic might get to play a lot, and in that playing he may completely lose his desire for the sport or fall into a sinkhole on the Old Trafford pitch, such is the way they’re going.Would Pulisic play at United? That would depend if Marcus Rashford departs for PSG, which is another rumor. That would essentially leave Anthony Martial as just about the only competition on the left side of United’s attack. And though Martial is on his fourth or fifth consecutive year of “best shape of his life!” stories advertising a bounce back campaign to come, if it were going to happen it, would have happened. Pulisic can likely nail down a spot ahead of him. Even if Rashford doesn’t move, he’s been so woeful for so long he’s not a huge obstacle either.But playing in what? Erik Ten Hag is only two games into the season and can’t decide if he can play the way he wants with the players he has or has to rejigger everything to get results to stay high enough in the table to get the players he needs to play the way he wants. Christian Eriksen was trotted out as a defensive midfielder last time out, and he’s in his 30s with a heart defect. This is where they’re at. If Ronaldo stays, Pulisic can look forward to some combo of Ronaldo dropping into his space and then bitching at him when Pulisic doesn’t pass him the ball. Oh, and he’ll have to do Ronaldo’s running and pressing for him while Ronaldo scowls and huffs and makes sure the cameras pick up just how dissatisfied he is and how beneath him he thinks the rest of the team is. And given the pressure already on Ten Hag, one or two iffy performances could see Pulisic rotated out of the team anyway and something else hurled wall-ward.Here’s another thing: Chelsea have 21 games (at least) between now and the World Cup. Fourteen in the league, six in the Champions League, and a League Cup game. Starting at the end of the month, Chelsea will only have basically one week where there isn’t a game midweek until the World Cup. Twenty-one games in 83 days, with an international break thrown in. Pulisic will get starts. The five subs assure that he will likely get on the field a lot, even if it’s just for 20-30 minutes at a time. He’s one injury away from starting regularly. And in a team that has a clear plan, a clear style, where his role will be strictly defined. And it’s not all that different from what he is assigned to do with the US. That sounds a lot better than turning out regularly for a team that each week looks more like a community theater production of Marat/Sade. Don’t do it, Christian. Patience, son. Just because the abyss might be staring back into you doesn’t mean you have to dive headfirst into it.
Do we have to talk about this? Really, do we have to?
FINE.
Christian Pulisic is being linked with a move to…
*takes a drag off cigarette, lets out long, deep, forlorn sigh*
Manchester United.
The Athletic,ESPN, and Sky Sports are all reporting it so it must have a small sliver of truth, although Manchester United has been linked with every functioning player with two legs and a pulse these days. So yeah, grain of salt.
But why, Christian? Why would you ever want this? Why would you even, as The Athletic says, prefer a move to Manchester United?
In a way, it makes sense. Pulisic hasn’t been an every-game starter at Chelsea for a while now. The World Cup is just three months away, and he wants to be in absolute tip-top form heading to Qatar.
But not Manchester United. No no no no.
United is a complete laughingstock, as you may have heard. The club’s current transfer strategy can best be described as “five-year-old unleashed in a candy store.”
Is there a plan at Old Trafford? No there is not.
There is no way to know if Pulisic would be in United’s long-term plans, because United does not have any long-term plans.
United’s transfers are currently being overseen by a man who has flown to Barcelona and Turin this summer to wrap up deals for two players, and has wrapped up zero deals.
Ralf Rangnick was brought on to temporarily coach the team last season before becoming a consultant for two years. After saying the club needed “open-heart surgery,” he decided after a few months that procedure was best left to someone else.
Would Pulisic play at Manchester United? Perhaps. He may be a fit for Erik ten Hag’s system but like at Chelsea, there are plenty of other options at winger.
But let’s say Pulisic earns Ten Hag’s trust. How long will Ten Hag last anyway? Two games into his tenure, there is already behind-the-scenes sniping.
So let’s see: Pulisic could stay at a club where he’s still a valuable player, move somewhere stable, or join the club equivalent of the Fyre Festival.
Brenden Aaronson of Leeds United epitomizes the style of play that has made coach Jesse Marsch’s team, partly owned by 49ers Enterprises, the talk of the EPL in the early going.PHOTO BY CATHERINE IVILL/GETTY IMAGES
If it looked historic, that’s because it was: A jubilant English soccer crowd was literally singing the name of an American manager, Jesse Marsch, at the conclusion of a Premier League match.
An American player, Tyler Adams, paraded around the field draped in the Stars and Stripes, while another Yankee, Brenden Aaronson, was being interviewed about a wily first-half goal that propelled Marsch’s Leeds United squad to a 3-0 drubbing of powerhouse Chelsea.The victory was Leeds’ first over Chelsea in 20 years, and it marked yet another milestone for the growing U.S. presence in the world game. And not just on the field, where Aaronson became the first U.S. player to score for an American manager in the history of the English Premier League.
Off the pitch, Leeds is 44% owned by 49ers Enterprises, the parent company of the NFL’s San Francisco franchise; Paraag Marathe, president of 49ers Enterprises, is vice chairman at Leeds. Majority owner Andrea Radrizzani holds 56% of the club, but 49ers Enterprises reportedly has an option to buy the Italian businessman’s stake. The company didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Meanwhile, the team Leeds beat, Chelsea, is owned by a group led by LA Lakers and Dodgers co-owner Todd Boehly, who purchased the club in May for $3 billion.Making Sunday’s Leeds lovefest all the more interesting is that 50 miles to the southwest, U.S. ownership faces a very different situation. The Glazer family, who’ve been in control of iconic Manchester United since 2005, are taking the full brunt of fan criticism for the team’s 0-2 start and a woeful outlook on the season. The club’s $4.65 billion valuation hasn’t saved them from the bottom of the Premier League table and tensions remain high. Just three-and-a-half months after fan rioting sparked by the Glazers’ decision to join the failed breakaway European Super League postponed a match, protests were planned ahead of Monday’s game against Liverpool.So loathed are the Glazers right now that a noted Twitter prankster’s musings about buying the club spiked the team’s stock price—and set off a week of media speculation on the chances the team might get sold. (Verdict thus far: not bloody likely.)Man United traditionalist fans have long decried the team’s profit-seeking under the Glazers’ watch. Criticism intensified as the formerly formidable Red Devils have slipped out of the UEFA Champions League, and rose to a fever pitch when the team was humiliated by tiny Brentford, 4-0, last week.Great British griping over Yank ownership is nothing new, nor is respect for American investment, as evidenced by Liverpool fans’ general approval of Fenway Sports Group’s stewardship of the club—with the exception of the club’s own Super League flirtation. But the kind of adoration seen by Marsch and company is something novel.Part of it has to do with Marsch’s success (and good fortune) last spring, when he took over a struggling squad in February and guided it out of relegation peril on the final day of the season.
The excitement can also be attributed to Marsch’s coaching system, which applies relentless defensive pressure, traps opponents deep in their own end, frustrates their attacking plans and forces turnovers. The tactics were epitomized by Aaronson’s goal, in which he harassed Chelsea goalkeeper Benjamin Mendy at full speed, dispossessed the keeper in front of the net, and tapped the ball in for a 1-0 lead as if he were scraping something off his shoe while sprinting to catch a bus.Finally, the fan fervor is celebrating the club’s assembly of talent, which includes not only the signing of Aaronson, but of Adams, a tireless midfielder who seemed to stop every Chelsea threat on Sunday, and who played for Marsch at two of the manager’s previous stops: the New York Red Bulls and Red Bull Leipzig.“It just goes to show people around the world that Americans can play football, too,” Aaronson said after the game.Of course, three games in, all caveats about a long season apply. But on Sunday, in the eyes of the Brits, live at Leeds, the American kids were alright. So was their American manager, and even their American owners.For anyone uncomfortable with that, there’s always Monday’s Man United match.
Inside Jesse Marsch’s Leeds revolution: Work rate, relentless football and good people
Aug 23, 2022 Tom HamiltonSenior Writer ESPN
LEEDS, England — Marc Roca lets out a shout of frustration as a move breaks down, and his group head back to halfway to try again. It’s early Wednesday morning at Leeds United‘s training ground Thorpe Arch and the team are preparing for the Sunday match against Chelsea.The whole passage of play restarts. The attack wins the ball off the defence in midfield, Jack Harrison emerges down the wing, zips past a defender and slips it to Roca, who squares it for Tyler Adams to thump it home. Roca turns to two people watching and roars approval, and amid some laughter they head back to start the drill again. All the while Jesse Marsch and his coaches watch, offering tweaks here and there.Once training has finished and the players have had lunch and showered, they head off in various directions, but Brenden Aaronson is left holding a soaked sponge; the USMNT star is covered in water and foam. He lost one of the games in training, and his forfeit was to clean Adams’ car.It’s all very relaxed. Four days later, Leeds hammered Chelsea 3-0 and moved up to second in the Premier League. You wouldn’t know that months earlier, the club were scrapping against relegation.When Marsch took over from Marcelo Bielsa at the start of March, Leeds were fighting for their Premier League life. The environment he encountered was tense, the strain of the situation getting to the players. “I could see the stress when I came in, and I knew the job I thought I had to do was maybe five times harder,” Marsch tells ESPN. But as they hit a midseason reset, they started clocking up the points and on the final day, the club avoided relegation thanks to their win at Brentford and Burnley dropping points elsewhere. Then the focus shifted to the next season in the Premier League under their new boss. The summer saw two star players leave in Raphinha and Kalvin Phillips, with that money reinvested in seven new faces, giving Leeds an opportunity to evolve. The players brought in all slot into how Marsch wants his team to play: high-pressing, quick-tempo, relentless, claustrophobic football. The recruits were perfect for Marsch’s system and made an immediate impact. But though there’s a short-, medium- and long-term plan for the club, none of that detracts from the weekly necessity of racking up points and making sure they’re nowhere near another relegation scrap.
“I know the longevity of a person in these positions is not great,” Marsch says. “But every job I take, I treat it as I’m the custodian of the club. I try to operate in the best interests of the club and team, and I find if you do that effectively, you can create both short-term, and long-term success. Now, here at this level, it’s the biggest challenge of my life, right?”
When he was first approached by Leeds, Marsch wasn’t sure if he was ready for a return to the hot seat. The outgoing manager was seen as a footballing deity by Leeds fans, having led the club back into the Premier League for the first time in 16 years and into the ninth spot in their return to the top flight. But their form was troubling in the 2021-22 season and by the end of February, the club and Bielsa went their separate ways.When February ticked around into March, Marsch was enjoying time away from the daily rigours of management. His previous role at RB Leipzig hadn’t worked out, and he left in December after just four months in the post.He spent the intervening period travelling, visiting friends, spending time with his family and soaking up new experiences. Then the phone rang.
“Leeds came knocking before I thought I would get back to work, and my first thought was the timing wasn’t right,” Marsch says. He spoke to his wife, Kim, and to his three children. Hearing he was approached by a club is nothing new. Kim’s message to Jesse has always been to not tell the family of potential interest “until it gets serious because things get tossed around all the time,” he says.
Marsch was approached by the club after sporting director Victor Orta had identified him as the best man from 42 potential candidates to replace the outgoing Bielsa. “I would say Victor and his team do a really good job of scouring the world really looking for — and using data very heavily, data and analytics — the right types of players that can fit into the way that we think about football,” Marsch says. “This was how they found me as the coach.”
Marsch was originally keen to take over at the end of the season, rather than midway through the campaign, but as he thought more about the opportunity, he envisaged these jigsaw pieces clicking together.
“The more I looked at the potential of what I thought the club and the team could be, the more excited I got,” Marsch says. “I changed my mind overnight. I knew I was going to have to dig into everything on a higher level and faster than I wanted to, but that the reward and opportunity was bigger than the threat of failure. I came here because I felt like Leeds was the right place for me.”
On arrival, he knew the potential and ability of the group, but the key was to tap into it amid a period as stressful as the club had endured for some time. “At the start Andrea [Radrizzani, the majority shareholder at Leeds] asked me how quickly I could transform the team from the way Marcelo played into the way I wanted to play. I wasn’t totally sure, because I’d never taken over a team so deeply ingrained in a specific style to what I wanted. But I think we did well; it wasn’t just the style of play, but also the stress of the relegation situation. It meant we had to free the players to commit intellectually, physically and emotionally to what we needed to become.”
Marsch emptied the tank over those two-and-a-half months leading up to the final day. Rodrigo, the Spain striker, speaking back in March, said Marsch’s first on-field steps were to shift the team away from one-vs.-one marking to zonal, and it helped their transitional play from defense to attack. He also emphasised how Marsch “tried to understand everyone” to figure out how to get the best out of the squad. Some players needed picking up, other players needed reminding of their ability.
“As soon as he came in, he’s been brilliant,” Daniel James tells ESPN. “He’s good with everyone, giving information all the time. He’s someone you can approach with anything, anytime.”
After several heart-stopping moments and twists and turns, goals from Raphinha and Harrison gave Leeds a 2-1 win at Brentford, while Burnley losing to Newcastle United meant Marsch’s side had successfully retained their top-flight status. “It wasn’t easy to manage and I was trying to think of ways to help the group tactically and, to be fair, we have had good performances, it’s just trying to put it all together that hasn’t always looked perfect,” Marsch said at the time.
“The stress has been high for three months, I’ve tried to stay calm and focus on us and you see the quality of the mentality and character.”
How a tough conversation led to Tyler Adams’ Leeds move
Jesse Marsch and Tyler Adams explain the conversation they had before the USMNT midfielder signed for Leeds.
As he reflects on the end of last season, Marsch smiles, but also exhales. He says it “required all of the experience and insight and expertise that I’ve gathered over my years to get this moving the way I wanted it to,” though his memories of that day aren’t around the goals but instead the fans and that connection they had with the team. After his first three months of working on psychology to get the team out of a relegation battle, the next stage was shifting attention to the football and the future.
Marsch headed back to the U.S. to refuel after the season. A couple of days in, he needed a new pair of jeans. He was in New York at the time, so he headed to the Levi’s shop in Times Square. It was the usual routine he’d done tens of times before: train to Penn Station, 15-minute walk to the store. But this time, he had football fans asking him for a photo.
“That for me was an eye-opening moment, because I’d never been treated like that,” he says. “You know, sometimes here around Leeds people know who I am. But back home, I never thought that that would be the case. So you know, there’s obviously a sense of responsibility in terms of what that means.”
His favourite on-field moment so far is Joe Gelhardt‘s goal against Norwich last term, but his most memorable off-field memories shift daily, from the fans he meets while out walking his dogs, to those waiting outside the training ground asking him to autograph a shirt while advising him which player to sign.
How did it go so wrong for Chelsea in Leeds humiliation?
Janusz Michallik feels Chelsea are severely lacking in attacking options and need to strengthen immediately in that area.
From their opening three matches, we’ve seen Leeds operate in a 4-2-3-1, which shifts to a 4-2-2-2. The front three players — Harrison, Aaronson and James started there against Chelsea — are largely interchangeable behind Rodrigo leading the line, and it’s their mission to run like hell at the opposition. They hustle the opponents until they give up the ball and then attack at pace, in as quick and direct a manner as possible. Leeds are playing more vertically this season than before, but it’s anchored on fitness and sprinting. You can see how the summer recruits have slotted in: Adams and Roca causing mischief in the midfield but forcing turnovers, and then it’s up to Aaronson and Sinisterra to turn the opportunity of a counterattack into a goal-scoring chance.
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Leeds also went for younger players, and it’s their policy to offer such talents long-term contracts. They have the sixth-youngest average age of their starting XI in the Premier League, and it’s all tuned into their policy in the transfer market.”It’s always an opportunity,” Marsch says of the summer’s business. “I don’t care. If you’re talking about failure, success, money, losing players, gaining players, it’s always about seeing the opportunity and then seizing it. And so it’s the reason I came here in the end was because I saw the opportunity even in a relegation fight of what Leeds United could become.”And we tried to, at every moment, see what’s happening within our team, within our transfer politics. Within every decision we make we see where the opportunities are and how to grow and how to get better.”Their vast database includes many matching capabilities, but it comes down to a human touch. “Once the metrics match their metrics, then it’s about really investing in who the person is to ensure the person we’re bringing in honours the environment that we really are establishing and trying to create every day,” Marsch explains. “And I think the balance of the two is what Victor does so well.”Some of the transfers were planned before Marsch’s arrival, such as Aaronson from Salzburg. Leeds went for him in the January transfer window, but he decided to see the season out in Austria. And just days after Leeds’ survival was confirmed, he was the first signing of the Marsch Aaronson remembers his first meeting with Leeds and the appeal of the club. “Just the plan that the club had, you know, and the people surrounding it,” Aaronson tells ESPN. “The club wanted me here and was so supportive and showed me how much they wanted me here and how they wanted me to be a part of that plan. We have high expectations of the club and the fans do, too. And that’s something I want to be a part of developing me as a player and as a person.”He was later joined by fellow USMNT starter Adams. While Aaronson finished the 2021-22 campaign on a high, Adams struggled in his last season at Leipzig while managing some niggling injuries, but his class endured. He was the player Leeds identified to form a double pivot with Roca in midfield, but they had to be sure about where his head was at first.”I had a tough conversation with Jesse before I came here about finding the old Tyler,” Adams said. “I felt like in my time at Leipzig I lost a little bit of confidence. I lost the way of, you know, who I was and what I wanted to become. And I got a little bit too much in my comfort zone.”So we had a tough conversation, we talked over it, not an argument in any way or sense but some difficult points came across.””I’ve known him for so long,” Marsch said. “I’m very proud of him and I’ve always believed in him. Always, but I’ve also known that he’s had challenges, you know, big challenges. And it’s not just about playing or not, it’s about how an environment works and how people interact.What’s behind Brenden Aaronson’s hot start in the Premier League?
Brenden Aaronson speaks about his start to life in the Premier League with Leeds United.
“When I brought him here, I said we just need you to get back to being the kind of player that you are and more freedom in the way that you express yourself as a person, as a player on the pitch. We have a really strong foundation of a team here and we have leaders in the team, but I wanted to make sure that he knew there was a responsibility to commit to the team fully in a selfless manner, because I know what the mentality of the group and the character of the group is here.””We took a week to reconnect,” Adams said, “and I reflected on my time at Leipzig, you know, [and] what I wanted to become as a player and person, and when we reconnected I was all-in and bought into the idea of coming here and finding the old Tyler.”Adams describes the old Tyler as an “absolute beast on the field,” someone who “doesn’t really overthink anything.” He fits the bill of what Marsch pictures as your archetypal Leeds player. Marsch says he wants his team to be known for their hard work, with his players “ready to fight and run and commit and do everything they can for every second of the match.”There may yet be further recruits this summer — Leeds are looking into bolstering their options up front — but only if the right player is there.”I know that those transfers are always a lightning rod in the public and they want to see us continue to invest,” Marsch says. “But we just want to make sure that every decision we make is the right one.”I think the additions we’ve made have been perfect. Perfect. Right, really, I think the seven additions we’ve made have been fabulous. And the key is to keep that 100% rate. And it’s almost impossible to do, but that’s our job.”
Leeds’ season began with Wolverhampton Wanderers coming to Elland Road. The new-look team edged past Bruno Lage’s side 2-1, thanks to goals from Rodrigo and (officially) an own-goal from Rayan Ait-Nouri, though Aaronson still claims he had the final touch. But there were no doubts over Aaronson’s first in Leeds’ win over Chelsea on Sunday, as he hustled Edouard Mendy to force the error that gave the team their opener. Their third was reminiscent of what they were practising in training Wednesday: winning the ball back, countering at pace and punishing the opponent.But Marsch would have loved one statistic above all in that match, exhibiting exactly what he wants from his team: after 80 minutes, Leeds had run 11 kilometres farther than Chelsea. When Aaronson is told that statistic postmatch, the young American smiles and says that’s what they want to be known for: work rate.When you talk to the new signings about their first impressions of the Premier League, Adams says he was “absolutely shattered.” But without prompting, they mention the Elland Road atmosphere. Aaronson says it was “electric,” while Adams adds: “It gave me goosebumps. This kind of support is what pushes you on in the 90th minute to make that extra sprint back to tackle harder.”For Marsch, there are many moments that have emphasised how big a job managing the team is: like when he saw his first Leeds United tattoo on a supporter’s leg on his first day, or when he heard the club’s anthem coming from the stands. “This is what I love. You know, I don’t like when they chant my name. I just don’t, and I know they’re doing it to be unified in what we’re doing. But I love it so much more when I hear ‘Marching on Together’ or Leeds or Yorkshire or whatever, you know, it’s not me I care about, it’s the club and this is why I love being here.”
Jesse Marsch reveals ‘eye-opening’ shopping experience in Times Square
Leeds manager Jesse Marsch recalls the moment he got recognised when shopping in New York.He quickens the pace as he talks more about why he feels so at home at the club. “It’s just a selflessness from every member of this entire sporting organization to help the team and to do whatever they need to do in their role for the on-the-field product to be what we all want it to become.”Marsch has also enjoyed interacting with the San Francisco 49ers, with 49ers Enterprises owning a 44% stake in Leeds. “I liked going to watch the 49ers train, seeing how they work, seeing how organized they are, and how they are structured,” Marsch says, referring to his visit to the 49ers minicamp in the offseason. “That’s been a bit of an eye-opener and very interesting to see. And I think it’s helped me even organize things. And I like to be organized. I like to be on top of things. I don’t like to be caught by surprises.”The focus shifts to what Marsch hopes Leeds achieve in the future. “We can’t feel too good about ourselves, we can’t feel too bad about ourselves. We just have to have a relentless commitment to keep moving forward.”The goal isn’t to have total harmony, but to create a common understanding as to what we are, our identity and to commit to that every day. I don’t have a problem of telling somebody if they’re not carrying their weight, or of telling them how disappointed or angry I am because I will protect the environment above everything. That’s the most important thing: it’s not harmony, it’s about identity, expectation and making sure that in every way we’re maximising the potential of each other and of the group every day.”Marsch and his family are settled in Yorkshire: the Wisconsinite who found a home in Leeds. “I think what I’ve learnt more than anything, it’s just that I belong here,” he says. But he’s just getting going. He’s aware of how managers are an endangered species, and his responsibility in keeping the ship steered in the right direction. “There’s still a lot of work to do and our goals are much bigger than just a couple of good performances,” Marsch says. “But I’m thankful to be here. It’s an important position, an important club and I know that fully.”So yeah, when you asked me how’s Leeds? Leeds is pretty damn good.”
Q&A: MLS MVP PICKS, EXPANSION, AND THE USMNT’S MIDFIELD
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Hey everyone, Joe Lowery here. You know what day it is. You know what time it is. It’s Wednesday, which means we’re back with another midweek mailbag!I asked for your American soccer questions on Twitter – and you delivered. I’ll answer a number of them down below, but if there’s something you desperately want answered that didn’t make it into this mailbag, submit it here and we’ll do our best to answer it on the site.
Alright, let’s do this thing.
@DR_PGB
Should (or would) Berhalter adapt his USMNT midfield structure to be more similar to Leeds, given the success of Adams and Aaronson in that team? I’m thinking a Musah-Adams pivot with Aaronson centrally.
He already has!
Remember back in June when we saw Tyler Adams and Yunus Musah play as a double pivot in possession with Aaronson hanging out in the right halfspace? That’s exactly how Jesse Marsch uses both Adams and Aaronson. And if I squint just a bit, I can even pretend that Adams’ partner in the double pivot at Leeds, Marc Roca, is Yunus Musah.
Pushing Musah deeper and getting another attacker on the field makes a ton of sense for the USMNT. It likely won’t make sense for every game – there will be times when having three dedicated central midfielders covering ground is more valuable than squeezing an extra attacker on the field. But the fact that the United States can flip back and forth between midfield shapes is a good thing.
Now, I don’t think Gregg Berhalter is copying March’s homework here (especially given that Berhalter made this shift before Adams and Aaronson had played a game in the Premier League). But hey, maybe those two managers text each other little tactical tidbits.
Berhalter: Hey Jesse, was just thinking about using Adams and Musah in a double pivot against Morocco lol could be fun
Marsch: I like it GGG. Might as well toss BA in the halfspace while you’re at it tbh
Berhalter: *sends gif of one of his own behind the back bounces passes*
I’m just saying, I can see it.
@WENDELLGEE5
Are y’all gonna do a “USMNT for Idiots” guide for us to send our not-really-soccer-fan friends, who will suddenly take an interest when the WC starts?
We’ve got all sorts of World Cup content in the works over the next few months, including some introductory guides to the USMNT. Is there a better time to get people interested in soccer than during the World Cup? I certainly don’t think so.
At Backheeled, we’re excited to bring new fans into the fold.
And don’t worry, we’ll have plenty of fun and interesting things for those of you who know your stuff. You deserve some sort of reward for living through and experiencing the Never To Be Spoken Of Again Dave Sarachan Era.
@MICHELEG3
If Minnesota ends up ahead of Austin in the standings, would the Golden Boot be enough for Driussi to win MVP over Reynoso? Or is Minnesota over Austin a wrap for Reynoso?
Michele coming in with the MLS MVP hypotheticals. I’m here for it. Before I get to Emanuel Reynoso vs. Sebastian Driussi, I want to get my 2022 MLS MVP pick out there: Jose Cifuentes.
I know you’re rolling your eyes right now, but hear me out on this. Cifuentes has been the midfield glue for this year’s best team (who would not be this year’s best team without that midfield glue). He’s an active presser, he moves the ball forward, he crashes the box, he creates chances. and he scores goals. Cifuentes has been the best player on the best team in MLS this year and, unless something crazy happens between now and Decision Day, he’s my pick for MVP.
Now, setting my love for Cifuentes aside, I think Driussi has a stranglehold on this year’s MVP award. He leads the league in goals, he’s in the top 20 in MLS for assists, and he’s been the most impactful attacker on an Austin FC team that has defied all expectations in 2022. Even if Austin fall below Minnesota United in the Western Conference standings, that won’t change the fact that the voters love goals.
Assuming Driussi wins the Golden Boot (and that my #Cifuentes4MVP campaign doesn’t go viral), the MVP award is his to lose.
@ALFVEBE
Are Minnesota United good, great, or elite?
They’re good.
They’re not great and they’re certainly not elite. But Minnesota United are a dangerous team right now. Adrian Heath and Co. have won seven of their last 10 games and are basically locks for the postseason at this point in the year.
The reason why I say that Minnesota United aren’t more than good is because they’re still not creating a crazy amount of chances and they’re still not denying a crazy amount of chances. Even looking back at just their last 10 games, Minnesota’s expected goal difference is barely positive (+0.03, according to American Soccer Analysis).
Don’t get me wrong: no one in the West is going to be excited about coming up against Minnesota United in the playoffs. With Reynoso as the No. 10 and some actually functional attacking pieces around him, this team can do some damage. But I need to see a little more from Minnesota before the end of the regular season if they’re going to get upgraded from good to great.
@PRIMEROYCE
Hypothetically if Joe Lowery is in this USMNT pool, what position does he play and what club does he play for?
This is self-indulgent, but I love it.
In high school, I played as right back and as a center back. I could read the game from those two spots, organize things in the back, and direct traffic without needing to be on the ball too much. Believe me, me not being on the ball too much was a good thing for everyone.
I think we can connect those positions to today’s USMNT, don’t you? Berhalter’s center backs get on the ball a bit more than the central defensive contingent on my very average high school team did. But hey, I’m not about to apologize for the fact that we didn’t play free-flowing soccer on some random half dirt/half grass field out here in Phoenix in the middle of August.
I see myself in the ‘fullback in defense, auxiliary center back in possession’ role that Berhalter has used a number of times during his U.S. tenure. Daniel Lovitz/Tim Ream played it back in 2019 on the left and Reggie Cannon played it for the U.S. earlier this year. In that role, I’m not getting too far up into the attack, which is good, but I am coordinating things from deeper areas and pulling some of the team’s strings.
I think it works well. Whether Berhalter would agree with me is a different story…
As far as a club goes, I think I’m following Richy Ledezma’s path. Ledezma, who’s from Phoenix just like me, went from playing club soccer in Arizona to playing in the Real Salt Lake academy. From RSL, he moved over to the Netherlands.
Would the Dutch approve of my first touch? Not a chance. Would they appreciate my detailed knowledge of Frank de Boer’s time coaching Atlanta United? I sincerely hope so. Because that’s pretty much all I have to offer.
@DBEFFERT
If MLS wanted you to plan for 30-32 teams, how would you go about it? MLS I and II with internal pro/rel? East and West have their own Supporters’ Shields and only meet in playoffs?
As much as I’d love to see internal promotion/relegation in MLS, I just can’t see it happening. Maybe I’m wrong and three decades from now it becomes a reality. But pro/rel in MLS seems so unlikely, even with limited consequences in a still-closed system.
If we set pro/rel aside, the best way I can think to create a schedule for a 30-32 team league would be to cut out inter-conference play, as the question proposes.
Why? Well, if you cut out inter-conference play, you have a chance of creating balanced schedules for teams within the same conference. The schedules for, say, the Colorado Rapids and the New York Red Bulls would be completely different. But balancing the schedules between conference opponents could help create a level regular season playing field.
Right now, we don’t get the clearest picture of who the best team in the league is because the schedules are wildly imbalanced. If you cut out cross-conference play, you still don’t know who the best team in the league really is, but you do know who the best team in each conference really is.
And maybe that’s an improvement? I think the whole idea behind dividing MLS into two somethings really starts to get interesting when you’re closer to 36 teams. Then you can split things right down the middle and put 18 teams in the East and 18 in the West and balance the 34-game schedules.
But do we really want 36 MLS teams?
Voices: DaMarcus Beasley
Could Brenden Aaronson be the most important US soccer player at the World Cup?
By DaMarcus Beasley @DamarcusBeasley Tuesday, Aug 23, 2022, 02:36 PM
With the excitement of the Qatar 2022 World Cup getting closer for the US men’s national team, everyone from the fans to the media will be picking their own squad of 26 players who they think should be on the plane come November.With the three added spots approved by FIFA for this World Cup, it could become a bit easier to pick the USMNT squad, that is if Gregg Berhalter decides to use all 26 roster spots.Back in 2002, I was a surprise inclusion. Not many people would have thought I would make the roster, let alone start the first match of the World Cup against Portugal, so you never know who will prove to be a key player. Still, one player we all can agree on that will not be a surprise come November is Brenden Aaronson. Mr. Silky himself.The only question surrounding his role is whether he’d be better coming off the bench or getting the start with the USMNT in Group B play. In my opinion, the guy must start.
A unique type of talent
I remember watching Brenden play for the first time back in 2020 in the MLS bubble when he was with Philadelphia Union. His nonstop movement and attacking ability caught my eye straight away. Not every play went perfectly, but his desire to just keep going at you was impressive.Fast forward two years, and he is now enjoying a brilliant start to his Premier League campaign with Leeds United as arguably the most in-form USMNT player we have currently (Union Berlin’s Jordan Pefok has to be in that conversation as well). Granted, the USMNT have a lot of injury concerns at the moment, but you cannot argue the fact that he will be a key player in Qatar. Could he be the most important? I’m not so sure, but more on that in a minute.The intensity that is required in a World Cup these days is far more demanding than it was in 2002 and Aaronson seems to make that part look easy. Mix that with the quickness and quality he has on the ball, and you cannot leave him out of the starting XI.He can play any position in the attacking front line, as well as the No. 10 role. The friendly match we saw against Morocco on June 1, a 3-0 win, solidified that. He was clean with his passing, linking up well with his front players.We already know about his work ethic and commitment he puts into every match, but I have to admit I was a bit skeptical about how he would do through the middle of the park. Any doubt I had was put to rest after that performance.
Taking the EPL by storm
Playing in the English Premier League is only going to further Aaronson’s development for the better. It is the best league in the world, in my opinion, and he is competing every day, not only with his teammates, but with the rest of the league to show why Leeds paid around $30 million for his services.
He is at a great club, one with a lot of history in English football, and one that suits his style to a T. He has a manager in Jesse Marsch who believes in him, trusts him, and will give him opportunities to succeed. Jesse has not wasted any time in playing him from the start in his first two matches at Leeds United, but why would he? Aaronson has gained a ton of experience playing in big games over the past couple years, from World Cup Qualifying to Champions League matches with RB Salzburg. He doesn’t shy away from a challenge and having that kind of mentality at a young age (21) is rare.
We all have heard the saying “he just needs time to adapt to the Premier League,” which is true in a lot of cases. With Aaronson, however, it seems the bigger the stakes, the better he plays.
Another big factor that plays a part in him settling in England so quickly is having American teammate and New York Red Bulls product Tyler Adams there as well. Going to a new club in another country during an important World Cup year can be tricky, but for a young player to have a teammate that you know well and can vibe with off the pitch is underrated.
Thinking back on my career, I had an American teammate in every club I played at outside of the US, including Lee Nguyen (PSV), Claudio Reyna (Manchester City), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96) and Michael Orozco (Puebla). Not every situation for me worked on the pitch, but off it, it helped tremendously.
Brenden Aaronson had 7g/9a in 51 games (48 starts) for the Philadelphia Union. (Andrew Dieb-USA TODAY Sports)
So, will Aaronson be the key USMNT player in Qatar?
With how great Brenden has been playing as of late, to me it remains that the most important player in Qatar must be Christian Pulisic.
He will most likely wear the captain’s armband and we need to have an in-form and confident Christian in the World Cup. He is a fighter, and all the players look up to him. He is not getting the playing time at Chelsea for him to reach the levels that we have seen in the past, but he is a guy that on his day can win a game for you. Hopefully that changes.
We’ve had other great players with that killer instinct in the attacking third in World Cups; Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey come to mind. This time around? It has to be Pulisic.
From the interviews I have seen of Christian after qualifying for the World Cup, I can tell he is hungry and mad excited for Qatar. We need to score goals and Pulisic has shown he can score on the biggest of stages. Now comes an even bigger test: representing your country at the highest level possible in our sport. Can he do it at the World Cup? My answer is, undoubtedly, yes.
That big game vs. England
If you look at one specific game that is circled on everyone’s calendar that the USMNT will play in the group stage in Qatar, all the hype will be around the match against England on Nov. 25, their second in Group B.
I can imagine all the players, especially the ones that play in the Premier League, will be up for this one. Will it be an advantage to have six players that play in the EPL? Maybe. What I can say is that those players will be full of confidence going up against opponents they see every week. They will know their tendencies and individually how the English players like to play. Mentally, I wouldn’t expect any lack of concentration as they will want to do well and have some bragging rights when they go back to their respective clubs. It is a great matchup for the US. England have never beaten us in a World Cup match in two tries… hopefully that run continues.
There are only three short months left before the USMNT begin their World Cup journey. With the short amount of time that Berhalter will have with his full squad before the first match, form and consistency at club level are essential.
We all know that a lot of decision-making will depend on injuries heading into the final months, but when you look at this core group of players, I can’t help but be optimistic. Aaronson and Pulisic will take a lot of the headlines. The bottom line is that they both need to be on the pitch, and they both need to perform.
Jesse Marsch’s Major Leeds Soccer: Softer approach, set-piece sessions and Elland Road bond
Leeds United would not be so bold as to class this summer as entirely plain sailing. It took until this morning for their new home kit to hit the shops and eyes were rolling at Elland Road a few weeks ago when the club learned that a cargo ship carrying merchandise out of Vietnam had spilt several containers into the sea, threatening another delay. Only at Leeds, or so they like to say, but hold-ups in the production of shirts for this season have affected other teams besides them and, all in all, the business of reasserting themselves in the Premier League has come together almost as planned. Sunday’s demolition of Chelsea found Leeds in their element, a club happy in their own skin again. Jesse Marsch is theirs and, by the end of that game, fans in Elland Road were happy about it. Marsch has a phrase he likes to repeat, one he first used when he became head coach of New York Red Bulls in 2015 to the delight of no one in particular: “Some people will like me, some people will hate me and as every coach learns, that’s football.”
But in saying so on Sunday, he misread the groundswell of approval around him. The question now is not whether Marsch has it in him, but whether Chelsea was a fair and attainable benchmark and whether his team are genuinely as good as they looked in that game. Quality football causes no conflict of emotion. The murals of Marcelo Bielsa are proof of that. When Leeds offered Marsch the manager’s job in February they presented it as a two-part role, at least until he showed the longevity to take the club beyond those stages. The final 12 games of last season were a matter of survival — no more, or less — and all Leeds asked of him was leadership to hold the dressing room together and prevent relegation. Emerge safely from that, as he did, and this season would launch his tenure in earnest: a fresh start with a new squad and the open expanse of a full 38-game campaign.
Andrea Radrizzani, the club’s chairman, appreciated the way Marsch motivated the players and prevented the squad from splintering as the walls threatened to close in. Now the expectation was that Marsch would truly shine. Victor Orta, as he had with Bielsa, stuck his neck out by backing the 48-year-old for the job so heavily.
It was agreed in advance of survival that if Leeds fell short and went down, Marsch would stay on. Leeds were all-in on his style, his tactics and his suitability, even when their position in the Premier League looked hopeless.The journey from abject crisis to the sensation of the win over Chelsea has been multifaceted — a combination of transfer business matching Marsch’s requirements and the manager connecting with his squad tactically and mentally. Bielsa liked to keep the players at arm’s length and that arrangement worked for him. Marsch prefers to get close to them, being softer on the squad without being soft. His empathetic style is appreciated, not least because of the stress the club were under last season Leeds were one of several clubs who spent part of their pre-season in Australia. Manchester United were another. Manchester United’s players and staff were asked to stick to strict curfews in the evening but Marsch’s attitude was to tell his team that the line between fun and disrepute was blindingly obvious and he preferred to trust them to stay on the right side of it. He admonished one player who missed a public appearance at a supporters event in a way that quickly cleared the air. Leeds could feel his tactics taking hold
Over the past six months, Thorp Arch has become a world of conversations, one-on-one chats, small group discussions and broader meetings involving the whole dressing room. People who know Marsch well always describe him as a natural communicator and his expansion of Leeds’ leadership group — the collection of senior players who speak for the squad — created a stronger link between him and them
Rodrigo was targeted for specific attention. The forward, Leeds’ record signing, had experienced two mixed years in England and Marsch sensed that Rodrigo was at a crossroads, in need of some support.
Marsch was ridiculed in public when it emerged he was using quotes from historical figures, among them Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Theresa, as inspirational tools but his interaction with the squad went further than that. He would encourage them to read books or newspaper articles written about world-class athletes, to find out what made them tick or how they achieved marginal gains, particularly when it came to stamina and fitness.He tried to engage with those players who were not seen as natural leaders, to make sure they felt valued.
Many one-on-one meetings were handled by his assistant, Cameron Toshack, and the topics of conversation varied. Some focused on tactics and technical improvement. Some had an aspirational tone, asking players to think about where they wanted to be in five years. Some would challenge them to think about how much of a life they had outside football; to place importance on finding pleasure and fulfilment beyond the day job. The idea was to create stronger personal relationships and an environment that was not entirely fixated on business.Marsch and Leeds agreed in advance what would happen in the transfer market if they avoided relegation, setting themselves up to press the button as soon as survival was assured. Marsch said recently that he considered the club’s purchases to be “our signings” rather than his alone — deals done collectively — but the targets Leeds chased were identified with Marsch’s tactical model in mind, a strategy built around him.
Aaronson and Jack Harrison celebrating against Wolves (Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Whatever the stereotypes of players from the USA, the rest of the squad at Leeds felt self-confidence oozing from Aaronson and Adams when they arrived.Marsch began adapting training to make those signings work. Bielsa’s strenuous sessions had created a squad with impressive stamina — on Sunday, Leeds were able to outrun Chelsea by more than 10km, having already recorded the highest distance covered of any Premier League side on the season’s first weekend — but Marsch switched attention from distance to intensity.Much of the running in pre-season was tailored to condition the players for his tactics, the hunting in packs that required rapid acceleration on repeat. Drills were designed to provoke high-intensity sprints, to help with pressing and counter-pressing.For all that Bielsa’s shadow loomed large, Marsch was not scared of talking about him. He would tell his side to take the character and personality they developed under Bielsa and apply it to his own model. Set pieces were practised daily and some sessions devoted to them entirely. Above all, Marsch would urge his squad to make sure their football matched the passion and fervour of Elland Road. That intensity was what forged the connection between Marsch and the crowd on Sunday, the mutual desire to intimidate Chelsea and steamroller them. Football like that was an easy sell.The problem for Marsch as last season got out of control was that Elland Road no longer caused fear — at least not to opponents. There was passion and fervour but so much of it was channelled negatively, the consequence of a frightening decline on the pitch. The rout of Chelsea told the league that the crowd had his back and he had theirs. His inauspicious start has been dramatically buried, the vicious tension of spring left behind.When The Athletic interviewed Marsch in March, not long after his appointment, communication and interaction were two of his watchwords, the weapons he planned to use to his advantage. “Through those channels, I felt I could refresh the air and let everyone move forward,” he said.
Some big games for American’s this weekend as Chelsea and disgruntled American Pulisic travel to Leeds United States of America on Sunday at 9 am on USA Network. And yes I now have my Leeds United Jersey and will be wearing it proudly I pick Leeds to win at home and teach that horrific German Chelsea manager Tuchel that Americans can play! Dortmund and American Reyna will host Werder Brennen on ESPN at 9:30 am on Saturday right after Tottenham hosts Wolverhampton Sat at 7:30 am on USA. Monday gives us Man United vs Liverpool at 3 pm on USA – Man U is supposedly a preferred landing spot for our own Christian Pulisic. Speaking of Capt America – check out this Pulisic commercial now running in EPL games.
Brenden Aaronson celebrates his first-half goal against Chelsea, the opener of his Premier League career (Photo by Catherine Ivill/Getty Images)
In a stunning result, Leeds United beat Chelsea 3-0 in the most convincing of ways on Sunday, unleashing a barrage of energy against one of the Premier League’s top teams. Here are my three thoughts on the game:
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• Brenden Aaronson is designed for the Premier League. The 21-year-old American was a devastating mix of skill and energy again, providing constant threats with his passing and turns (see you later, Kalidou Koulibaly, enjoy that yellow card!) while injecting energy and defensive pressure whenever Leeds lost the ball. That resulted in the game’s opening goal, when Aaronson picked the pocket of Chelsea keeper Édouard Mendy in front of an adoring Elland Road crowd. When I interviewed Aaronson in Leeds for my recent magazine story on the Americans there, I asked him what position he would play. “Not the striker,” he said, “but the three under the striker. Any position there. Left mid, center attacking mid, or right mid.” On Sunday Aaronson was deployed in the number 10 role for the first time, and while not everything he tried came off, the sheer verticality of some of his menacing through-balls reminded me of Michael Laudrup. Aaronson’s is also crazy fit. He went 82 minutes at a breakneck pace and has been on the field for all but 13 minutes in Leeds’s first three games. Hats off to one of the Premier League’s top newcomers so far this season.
• This game was a distillation of MarschBall. The philosophy of Leeds’s American coach, Jesse Marsch, is all about constant energy, full-field pressure and striking quickly in transition once you win the ball, especially when it’s in the opponent’s end of the field. Marsch, who emphasizes data analysis, also invests lots of training time into an array of intricate set-piece routines. Look how Leeds scored its goals on Sunday: The first (by Aaronson) came as the direct result of pressure on Mendy. The second (by Rodrigo, his league-leading fourth of the season) came on a well-executed set-piece corner kick. The third (by Jack Harrison) came on a decisive counterattack with Daniel James delivering a terrific cross with zero Chelsea pressure from the left side. No Leeds player knows MarschBall better than Tyler Adams, the 23-year-old American who started playing for Marsch at age 15, and Adams was sneaky-phenomenal on Sunday, seemingly everywhere to win balls in the midfield and showing his smarts to know exactly when to insert himself to stop Chelsea counters. (A particular moment happened in the second half when Adams dispossessed Raheem Sterling on a post-set-piece counter without even drawing a foul.) MarschBall is heavy-metal football, a 90-minute rush, and it was especially fun to see Marsch celebrating that way on the sideline after Leeds goals. (And you know what’s crazy? Leeds really should have a perfect nine points in the league instead of seven after losing a 2-0 lead at Southampton last week.)
• What must Christian Pulisic be thinking right now? Chelsea’s American No. 10 once again didn’t start, even though the ineffective Ruben Loftus-Cheek did in a position where Pulisic could certainly play, and losing to the Premier League’s America’s Team (with Aaronson, Adams and Marsch playing central roles) has to have Pulisic wondering about greener pastures elsewhere. Pulisic didn’t have much impact once he came on in the second half, and it’s obvious that he doesn’t have Thomas Tuchel’s trust. If he did, Chelsea wouldn’t be looking to acquire more players in his position. I would almost rather see Pulisic move on loan to Newcastle than to the dumpster fire of Manchester United, but he needs to make a move and get playing time ahead of the World Cup if he wants to have the biggest impact he could at the tournament. That’s the only bummer of an otherwise phenomenal day for fans of United States soccer.
Starting with Leeds after looking at both team sheets, the team that Marsch has picked won’t surprise too many fans. Bamford has been replaced in the starting XI by Dan James after picking up yet another injury in the 2-2 draw with Southampton last weekend. The Welshman’s vacant spot on the bench has been taken by Joe Gelhardt who has been struggling for fitness himself.
For Chelsea, there is some surprise to see Conor Gallagher drafted into the team – in place of Kante – to partner Jorginho in the middle of the park. The expectation was probably that Loftus-Cheek would move from right wing-back into the midfield but he remains on the right-hand side after a strong performance against Tottenham.
That means that James is likely to be deployed in the right centre-back role, unless Tuchel opts for a back four which seems unlikely. Other than the forced change, the rest of the team for the visitors is exactly the same as the one that started against Spurs.
EPL Wk 2
Wow so the EPL was enthralling this weekend – Man United getting pounded 4-0 to Brentford – yes Brentford (no idea where that is) and then the drama and emotion just dripping in the London Derby Sunday between Tottenham and Chelsea with Harry Kane’s 95th minute header stealing the game at Chelsea (full highlights). Disagreements between the managers Spur’s Conte (former Chelsea League winning Mgr) and Chelsea’s Tuchel (current German idiot Mgr who won’t play Pulisic) led to this altercation postgame leading to 2nd yellow cards & Reds for both after the game. Listen I love the emotion – I love it when my coach cares – this was a little over the top but both guys care – and both wanted to will their team to victory. If you get a chance to go back and watch – this last 45 of this game is classic EPL between 2 teams and fan sets that don’t like each other. (Think Bears/Packers, Ga/FL or Yankee’s/Red Sox. In other EPL news both American teams tied this weekend as Fulham tied 0-0 at Wolves & Leeds United with coach Marsch saying they let 1 slip away with a 2-2 finish at Southampton after having a 2 goal lead.
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USMNT weekend viewing guide: A Premier matchup
The American trio look for a matchup with Pulisic and Chelsea.
Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson and Fulham have opened the season with two draws, which is not a dream start. Still, it is a pretty solid result for a newly promoted side, particularly when you consider they were facing a midtable club in Wolverhampton Wanderers and stealing points off of title-contending Liverpool.
This weekend’s matchup comes against a Brentford side that were bottom half of the Premier League table last year but are notably coming off a 4-0 thumping of Manchester United and have picked up four points in their first three matches to sit 3rd in the early season standings. It will be interesting to see if a matchup against newly promoted Fulham is a letdown game for Brentford or if they are able to maintain some level of momentum from last weekend to come out and start a serious streak.
Other notes:
Borussia Dortmund and Werder Bremen face off at 9:30a in a match that will be broadcast on ESPN. Unfortunately, Giovanni Reyna did not travel with Dortmund last weekend and, based on Edin Terzic’s comments about his squad depth, it seems likely Reyna will be eased along.
Streaming overseas:
Ricardo Pepi has found minutes hard to come by early on as he barely saw the field last weekend in Augsburg’s 2-1 win over Bayern Leverkusen. Augsburg face Mainz this weekend at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Pellegrino Matarazzo and Stuttgart look for their first win of the season when they face Freiburg at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Jordan Pefok and Union Berlin take on RB Leipzig at 12:30p on ESPN+. Union are coming off a scoreless draw with Mainz, while Leipzig are looking for their first win of the season.
MLS Mashup (all games streaming on ESPN+):
Aaron Long and the New York Red Bulls take on Brandon Vasquez and FC Cincinnati at 6p.
Jack McGlynn, Quinn Sullivan, Paxten Aaronson and the Philadelphia Union visit DC United at 7:30p. McGlynn looks like a regular starter, while Aaronson and Sullivan have been making appearances off the bench.
The American matchup in the Premier League is Sunday morning as Jesse Marsch’s Leeds United host Christian Pulisic and Chelsea FC. Leeds are coming off a 2-2 draw with Southampton, not a terrible result in a vacuum but fairly disappointing after they held an early two goal lead. Brendan Aaronson and Tyler Adams have started both matches and shown that they belong, Aaronson through his goal creation and Adams currently leading the league in tackles.
Christian Pulisic has certainly shown over the past couple of years that he can play at an EPL level as well, though recent signs suggest that perhaps this won’t be at Chelsea with reports going so far as to suggest that Thomas Tuchel “doesn’t trust” the American. Pulisic saw just six minutes off the bench last weekend in Chelsea’s explosive 2-2 draw with Tottenham. Chelsea were rather dominant in possession but let a 2-1 lead slip away in the dying moments as Harry Kane’s header drew Spurs level. Both managers received red cards after the final whistle so Marsch (and Pulisic?) won’t deal with a direct confrontation with the manager this Sunday.
Timothy Chandler is still looking for his first minutes with Eintracht Frankfurt this season. The club face Köln at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Yunus Musah and Valencia face Athletic Bilbao at 11:30a on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+. Musah started in the midfield for Valencia last weekend in their 1-0 win over Girona.
Timothy Weah likely remains out this weekend with transfer rumors swirling and Lille set to host Paris Saint-Germain at 2:45p on beIN Sports.
Neither Jonathan Gomez nor Sergiño Dest made their respective teams’ gameday squads last weekend, with Gomez still looking to break through at Real Sociedad and Barcelona apparently trying to force Dest out. The two teams meet up at 4p on ESPN+.
MLS Mashup (all matches on ESPN+):
Gaga Slonina and the Chicago Fire look to bounce back from a mistake-marred 4-1 loss as they face sliding NYCFC at 6p.
Walker Zimmerman and Nashville host FC Dallas and leading scorer Jesus Ferreira at 8:30p. Ferreira was assisted by Paul Arriola again on Wednesday and has 15 goals and 5 assists in 21 matches this season.
Bonus Monday action:
Weston McKennie made a quick recovery from his dislocated shoulder to start for Juventus last Monday in their 3-0 win over Sassuolo. The team has another Monday fixture this week as they take on Sampdoria at 2:45p on Paramount+.
Pulisic in limbo at Chelsea with World Cup looming, Man United’s De Gea on borrowed tim
ESPN
Christian Pulisic could be heading out of Chelsea to boost his World Cup prospects — ESPN’s Insider Notebook has the latest. PLUS: David de Gea is on borrowed time at Man Utd.
Chelsea’s Pulisic set for showdown talks
Christian Pulisic is set to hold talks with the Chelsea hierarchy over his future and will push to leave the club if his prospects of regular first-team football look bleak, sources told ESPN.
The possible arrivals of attacking duo Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang from Barcelona and Everton‘s Anthony Gordon in particular would affect Pulisic, who sources suggest is concerned about playing regularly enough to ensure he heads to the World Cup finals in Qatar with the United States national team in the best possible shape.
That has left Pulisic in limbo with less than two weeks of the window remaining. The winger featured in both of Chelsea’s Premier League games to date, each time from the bench in two appearances totaling 30 minutes. One source said Pulisic is also frustrated with coach Thomas Tuchel’s handling of the situation, not least that he has played in a variety of different positions including as a False No. 9 and a left wing-back.Pulisic’s role this season appears to be as an impact player, but there are concerns the USMNT international could become marginalised further if Chelsea are successful in bringing in players before the end of the transfer window and his camp are thought to be seeking clarification.Talks are continuing with Barcelona over a move for Aubameyang, Gordon, Leicester City‘s Wesley Fofana and Inter Milan‘s Cesare Casadei while a late move for Barca’s Frenkie de Jong has not been ruled out.Pulisic’s situation may also be affected by departures elsewhere. Callum Hudson-Odoi has been told he can leave on loan while Hakim Ziyech is attracting interest from AC Milan. Chelsea will not allow all three to depart without first strengthening their forward options.
United remain hopeful a loan agreement can be reached with Pulisic, who is open to the idea of joining another club in England, but further clarity is expected on his future in the coming days. — James Olley
Ten Hag’s De Gea concerns
Erik ten Hag was well aware of David de Gea‘s limitations on the ball before the start of the season, but the Manchester United boss decided to stick with him over fears making too many changes in his first summer would cause too much disruption, sources told ESPN.
De Gea has been criticised for his distribution during defeats to Brighton and Brentford and he was culpable for the second goal at the Gtech Community Stadium after playing a dangerous pass into midfield.
Ten Hag is keen for his teams to build from the back, and he has been questioned by some supporters over his decision to put his faith in De Gea. Sources told ESPN the goalkeeping situation was identified as a problem ahead of the new season, but Ten Hag believed the best option was to stick with the 31-year-old in his first season while other more pressing issues were solved.
United, meanwhile, made a point of only making Dean Henderson available for loan in the summer and did not allow Nottingham Forest to include an obligation to sign clause in his temporary move to the City Ground. Henderson is considered better on the ball than De Gea but he was desperate for regular first team football after making just three appearances last season.
Sources added United are looking to sign another goalkeeper to compete with De Gea before the transfer deadline on Sept. 1, but they expect Henderson, who has impressed already at Forest, to return to Old Trafford at the end of the season and compete for the No. 1 spot. — Rob Dawson
Is Ten Hag’s job already in danger?
Rob Dawson feels Erik ten Hag hasn’t been given a chance as a manager at Manchester United and explains why he’s a vulnerable target as the club’s manager.
Xavi tells Dest: It’s time to go
United States right-back Sergino Dest has been told by coach Xavi that he should leave Barcelona in search of first-team football, sources told ESPN.
Dest had been told ahead of preseason that he would be used as cover at left-back, but the defender has since been told he can leave due to a change in the side’s intended style of play and the ongoing financial pressure on the club. The LaLiga giants have been struggling to register their new signings, including Jules Kounde, who joined from Sevilla last month, and potentially Marcos Alonso, whose move from Chelsea is at a standstill.
The 21-year-old, who joined Barca from Ajax for €20m in 2020, is a crucial part of the U.S. side that will compete at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which begins in November, and sources told ESPN he would prefer to remain at the Camp Nou despite the club’s change of heart.
His contract at Barca runs until 2025, but options for a move away look slim. Potential suitors Bayern Munich signed right-back Noussair Mazraoui from Ajax, while Atletico Madrid added Nahuel Molina from Udinese. Manchester United have been linked with a move for Dest but interest from Chelsea, whose transfer business is being led by new American owner Todd Boehly, has also cooled. — Sam Marsden and Moises Llorens
New men’s UEFA Champions League Deal for CBS (6 years, $1.5 billion) is latest example soccer has passed ice hockey in the U.S. as a major sport; Plus I answer your Mailbag questions
CBS Sports/Paramount will broadcast the men’s UEFA Champions League for six more years
The big news landed on Friday: CBS Sports/Paramount has extended its contract with UEFA for the U.S. English-language rights for the men’s UEFA Champions League and other UEFA club tournaments. This time it’s for twice the term length (six years instead of three) and a 2.5-times increase of the annual value for a total of $1.5 billion (or $250 million a year).
The move continues the relentless growth in the value of soccer broadcast rights in the United States. Some perspective: It wasn’t that long ago—like, the late 1990s—when the U.S. was one of the worst countries in the world in which to watch soccer. Just read Steve Rushin’s hilarious 1999 column about it. Now the U.S. is one of the best.
Here’s a rundown of some of the major U.S. soccer TV broadcast deals as it now stands:
There’s a lot to digest here:
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• The NWSL seems wildly undervalued given the audiences it has pulled for games on big CBS, which rival and sometimes exceed the over-the-air audiences for MLS games.
• Fox and Telemundo got sweetheart, well-below-market deals on the 2026 World Cup rights when FIFA awarded them on a no-bid basis to avoid being sued for moving World Cup 2022 from June-July to November-December. And that was especially the case when FIFA awarded ‘26 hosting rights to the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
• When you add up the payments for soccer rights, which are much more fragmented than other major sports, U.S. companies are now paying significantly more overall for soccer rights than they are for ice hockey rights (the NHL is currently getting $625 million/year from its U.S. rights holders). Just the incomplete list above of soccer rights is worth $1.44 billion per year.
Long story short: Soccer is now much bigger than ice hockey in the U.S. as a major professional sport. And the list above doesn’t even include Liga MX, the most popular domestic league in the U.S., which sells its rights by team and not by league.
• The men’s UEFA Spanish-language rights for the U.S. still await being sold. I’m told there’s a delay because Spanish-language streaming platforms like Univision’s Vix are just getting going. Clearly, though, this will be another big number whenever the deal gets done.
• The recent trend is for longer-lasting broadcast deals. The new UEFA, Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga and MLS rights deals are all for longer terms than the deals used to be. And that makes more sense, since channels will invest more in long-term promotion of their properties if they know they won’t be losing them in three years.
• Just look at how many different U.S. broadcast companies are now investing in soccer rights. You’ve got all four major over-the-air English-language networks (ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC). You’ve got one giant streaming company (Apple), while another (Amazon) was CBS’s biggest competitor for the Champions League rights. You’ve got a big cable/streaming company (Turner) and the two Spanish-language giants (Univision and Telemundo).
The upside is we have the chance to see basically all the soccer in the U.S. these days. The downside is that if you like watching all the different leagues, the services you pay for to watch them add up.
• Streaming is here to stay, especially for soccer. In the U.S., at least, fútbol is a pillar for the streaming strategies of CBS, ESPN and NBC. (And if you hadn’t noticed, Spanish-language Vix recently went to a pay model.) If you’re a cord-cutter like me, it’s cool that you can get every Champions League game (on Paramount+), every La Liga and Bundesliga game on ESPN+ and every MLS game on Apple TV+ without having to pay for a cable-like package a la YouTubeTV. It’s also why I dislike the way NBC presents the Premier League, which requires you to pay for multiple paywalls and get a cable-equivalent package for USA-exclusive games.
Full disclosure: I do some (non-exclusive) work for CBS.
OPENING THE MAILBAG
NBC is sending Peter Drury and co. to Bournemouth-Arsenal on Saturday (on big NBC) and Man Utd-Liverpool on Monday (obviously) but not Leeds-Chelsea on Sunday. Any surprise/disappointment from you?
Media friend who asked not to be named
I’m surprised NBC hasn’t done more to promote the Leeds United games this season, since Leeds now has a U.S. coach (Jesse Marsch) and two USMNT stars (Brenden Aaronson and Tyler Adams). This decision adds to that surprise. Maybe they don’t want Drury doing three games in the same weekend very often?
How does U.S. Soccer pick jersey designs, and why are they so bad?
Sean H
The best story I’ve read on how kits get designed is by Pablo Maurer for The Athletic on MLS. I’m not sure what the exact process is between Nike and U.S. Soccer, but both deserve blame for the USMNT World Cup kit designs that leaked this week and received near-universal criticism from fans and even Weston McKennie and Tim Weah.
Which club (other than Leeds United) would you pick to be featured in the next “All or Nothing” season?
Thomas
Probably PSG. Even the on-field clip showing the uncomfortable interactions between Kylian Mbappé, Neymar and Lionel Messi over the past week showed there must be a massive ego situation in that locker room. Woe be unto any coach (good luck, Christophe Galtier!) who has to try and manage that. I’ve changed my mind over the past year and realized that the successful tradition some clubs have (Real Madrid) and some clubs don’t have (PSG) does indeed make a difference in performance. If your players have enormous egos and don’t respect the history of the club, bad things can happen behind the scenes on a regular basis. But I’d love to see those things in a PSG All or Nothing!
You have been a stalwart of the soccer sports journalism scene. Obviously your Substack business model signals a change in the way we consume sports content. I’m curious what your thoughts are on the short-term and long-term outlook of the soccer media landscape.
Bob Lowe
Well, the TV conversation at the top of this column suggests that the long-term outlook for televised soccer in the U.S. is quite good! As for soccer journalism in the U.S., and journalism in general, that’s a bit more murky in the long term. Local newspapers are largely struggling. Free sites have a lot of annoying ads, clickbait and dumb stories. The outlets that actually produce stories you’re going to remember are typically subscription sites like the ones on Substack (including mine), The Athletic and the New York Times (which are actually the same company now). As much as the sport of soccer is growing in the U.S. right now, you’d hope that U.S. soccer journalism would be growing with it. But that’s sadly not the case. That’s why I hope enough people will subscribe to GrantWahl.com!
How do they fix Manchester United? How long will it take?
RichG
The answer to this could be an entire column. Manchester United needs new ownership, needs a real sporting director with a long-term philosophy, needs that sporting director to hire the head coach, needs to have players who fit the long-term philosophy of the sporting director. One thing Man United does have is money, which should help, even if it hasn’t in recent years. But the process to do all the things I just mentioned will take a few years. New cultures don’t get established overnight.
I am a big USMNT fan. Is there one good website/newsletter that provides a good consolidated synopsis of how each USMNT player played at their respective clubs the past week. If I don’t have time to watch the club games, it is hard to tell how these guys are doing.
Phil
I think everyone at Scuffed is doing a good job on keeping people very up to date on USMNT (and lately USWNT) players. Brain Sciaretta also does a good job on this front.
As a D.C. United loyal fan, I would love to hear your thoughts on Wayne Rooney as our coach. Thanks. I read your every published word.
Laurie Kauffman
Thanks for reading! Granted, we don’t have a lot of data points yet, but what Rooney accomplished at Derby County, nearly keeping the team up despite a huge points penalty, was incredible. I think he’s a future Premier League coach, and I like the way he has gone about not trying to take a Premier League job as soon as humanly possible. I don’t think he’ll be in D.C. that long, but if he’s not, that’s actually a good sign for what he’s about to accomplish with a team that looked pretty awful before he took over.
USMNT fans seem to want a serious soccer broadcast and pre/post game. I’m NFL, MLB and NBA too. I hate the nonsense, jokes, bits and comedy and just want pure intelligent analysis. I think NBC Sports has done this with the EPL. ESPN at times has done this with international games. Can we count on the World Cup on Fox treating us, the fans, like adults and not trying to “Americanize” the broadcast?
Mike
We could talk for a while on this one. So much of what we like or don’t like in sports studio shows is personal taste. I’m not even sure that your first statement—USMNT fans seem to want a serious broadcast—is backed up by what audiences actually prefer. I mean, the NFL has the most-watched studio shows of any sport, and those studios are what I would generally call “chuckle fests.” I’ve got no problem with having fun, but chuckle fests turn me off and I would prefer more intelligent conversation, analysis and reporting. That includes actual tactical discussions, which so many U.S. soccer studio shows seem afraid of presenting, as if they’ll be deemed “too smart” for their audiences.
Still, that’s my personal taste. One expected benefit of having many U.S. channels broadcasting soccer now (see above) is that each channel will have its own philosophy on how it approaches broadcasts and studio shows. I agree with you that NBC has the most intelligent studio analysis, followed by a tie of CBS/ESPN (though I wish Roberto Martínez was still on CBS; he was so smart and clearly watched a lot of games on the Continent). Fox seems to be mostly about embrace debate. We’ll see which directions Turner and Apple (produced by MLS) go in. I’m hoping Turner learned a lesson from what happened with its previous Champions League experience: Hire producers that are actual soccer people, and don’t strain every vein in your neck trying to be young and hip.
At this point it’s pretty obvious there is more broken at MLS side Atlanta United than Achilles tendons and ACLs. When will the front office (minus the recently departed Darren Eales) be held to account?
Josh Lane
The downward trend in Atlanta is starting to be long-term at this point, and the person with the most pressure on him is probably technical director Carlos Bocanegra. I was surprised he got a contract extension last November, but I don’t think that necessarily takes him off the hot seat, especially when owner Arthur Blank demands results and has already seen success when Tata Martino was the coach.
Have a great weekend!
UEFA strikes record deal with CBS for Champions League US TV rights
UEFA has agreed a deal for the US media rights for its club tournaments with Paramount Global, the owner of the CBS network, who saw off Amazon to agree one of the most lucrative broadcast deals in world sport.Paramount Global have agreed a six-year deal for the rights, in a total package worth $1.5billion, which breaks down to $250million per season.This is a dramatic increase on the $100million per season previously paid by Paramount and Univision.The deal comes after UEFA and the European Club Association (ECA) appointed TEAM Marketing and Relevent Sports Group as sales partners for their men’s club competitions.There will be a separate sale for Spanish-speaking rights.“UEFA has been a key driver for Paramount+ since our launch and we are thrilled to extend this successful partnership showcasing even more world-class soccer through the 2029-30 season, building on the incredible momentum we have created the past two years,” said Sean McManus, the chairman of CBS Sports. “UEFA is a perfect example of our differentiated strategy presenting marquee properties to drive and strengthen both our streaming and traditional linear businesses. This multiplatform approach allows us to leverage the power of Paramount Global to reach the broadest possible audience and elevate and grow the reach of UEFA in the United States. “We look forward to continuing to provide soccer fans CBS Sports’ best in class coverage that our viewers expect.”
Amazon retain a strong relationship with UEFA, given they already have broadcast deals in the UK, Germany and Italy. It is thought they are concentrating their major efforts in the US market on the NFL’s Thursday Night Football project.UEFA told The Athletic: “Due to ongoing contractual negotiations, we are not in a position to comment.”The contract will start from the 2024/25 season and will cover the UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League, as well as the lucrative UEFA Champions League — which is set for sweeping changes.The tournament is set for a new format which will follow the ‘Swiss model’ and see the competition expanded to 36 teams with more matches.The 32-team group stage will be eliminated. Instead,36 teams will participate, in which each club will play 10 group stage games: five at home, five away.The top eight will advance automatically to a 16-team knockout round, and the next 16 teams will go into a play-off round to decide those final eight slots.
Americans in Europe: Where the USMNT’s World Cup hopefuls are playing across the Atlantic
Aug 17, 2022 ESPN
With the World Cup looming in November, never before has the start of a European club season been more important for players of the United States men’s national team. Those with aspirations of going to Qatar 2022 will need get off to a flying start to the 2022-23 season to confirm their place on the plane.
With leagues across the Old World kicking into gear, U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter will have his eyes on more screens than he can count, monitoring how his players are performing in domestic competitions all over the continent. But where exactly are those Europe-based players playing this season?
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ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle, Kyle Bonagura, Bill Connelly, Dan Hajducky, Caitlin Murray, Danny Guerra and Austin Lindberg pin down where every World Cup hopeful is playing in 2022-23 and where they stand within their respective clubs. And while the transfer window remains open for the rest of the month, they’ll update this story with all the latest moves on who’s moving where.
Age: 21 Position: Attacking midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 3,089 (FC Salzburg) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 842
Has anyone in the U.S. player pool seen their stock rise as rapidly as Aaronson in the past two seasons? After two solid MLS seasons with the Philadelphia Union, the New Jersey native, now 21, moved to FC Salzburg in January 2021 and quickly made an impact. In a season and a half in the Austrian Bundesliga, he scored eight goals with nine assists, and last year in the Champions League he scored twice in qualification, then recorded two assists in the group stage. He proved himself relentless in ball pressure, as well.
All the while, he’s become almost irreplaceable for the national team. With other key attackers battling injuries, he was one of the USMNT’s steadiest players in World Cup qualification, combining two goals with one assist and an endless supply of energy. Former Salzburg manager Jesse Marsch brought him to Leeds United this summer, and he’s been pivotal in playing 174 of 180 minutes against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Southampton. — Connelly
Age: 23 Position: Midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,057 (RB Leipzig) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 1,219
Leeds manager and English pundits’ favorite American punching bag Marsch has taken heat for the Peacocks barely staying in England’s top flight last season. How did he bolster his squad? By making Adams, 23, the then-fourth-most-expensive American in soccer history.
Marsch may not be favored across the pond, but Adams is. His Leeds debut was met with wide praise: he was one of 12 Premier League midfielders to play 90 minutes, register 50-plus touches and 25 completed passes, take a shot and create a chance. After Leeds were relegated following the 2003-04 season, they didn’t sniff Premier League action for 17 years, but with Adams anchoring their ranks, they look poised to more than stay afloat.
Best of all? Adams is a mainstay in global football’s most competitive league right before a World Cup. — Hajducky
Why Marsch really needs Tyler Adams to succeed at Leeds
Herculez Gomez says there’s more than Leeds’ success riding on Tyler Adams’ performances at his new club.
Age: 20 Position: Left-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 427 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 249
Signed from Atlanta United FC in January, the 20-year-old left-back couldn’t help to prevent Arminia Bielefeld from suffering relegation last season. Both he and his club have gotten off to a terribly slow start on defense this season. Thus far, the move to Germany has not aided Bello’s development. — Connelly
Age: 29 Position: Center-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 3,037 (VfL Wolfsburg) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 135
Brooks made just two appearances last season, both of which occurred nearly a year ago, in last September’s international window. Berhalter told the German-born and raised center-back that his physical attributes didn’t mesh with the high defensive line the manager’s tactical setup called for, and Brooks’ improved play in the second half of the season at Wolfsburg didn’t convince Berhalter to change his mind.
The Hertha Berlin academy graduate remains without a club, having left the Volkswagen Arena as a free agent over the summer, and that won’t do his chances of appearing at a second World Cup any favors whatsoever. — Lindberg
Age: 20 Position: Midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,956 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 121
Busio looked bright in his first season in Europe, playing an hour or more in 14 of his first 18 appearances for Venezia before suffering from the fatigue of playing for a calendar year straight around the turn of the year. He was good enough in Serie A that the Venetian club’s relegation to Serie B prompted speculation that he would depart just 12 months after his arrival, in search of opportunities in one of Europe’s Big Five leagues. He penned a new two-year contract with the Italian club, though, stating his intent to return the team to Italy’s first division, and started and played 69 minutes in Venezia’s season-opening loss to Genoa. — Lindberg
Age: 24 Position: Right-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,873 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 374
With roster sizes increasing to 26 for the 2022 World Cup, Cannon could end up being one of the beneficiaries of the additional three slots — he is not a likely starter, but could add valuable depth. He has played every minute for Portuguese top-flight club Boavista this season, and he will be looking to bounce back from a 2021-22 in which he missed three months to injury.
Although he is primarily a right-back, Cannon is capable of playing as a center-back and spent last season at Boavista in a back five. That versatility could prove useful, especially if Berhalter wants to use something akin to the 3-2-2-3 shape the USMNT has tinkered with. — Murray
Age: 24 Position: Center-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 4,064 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 216
After a delightful loan spell in 2021-22, Celtic signed Carter-Vickers permanently this summer. It means that for the first time in his club career, the 24-year old — a strong passer and aerial presence — will play for the same club for two consecutive seasons. That certainly can’t be a bad thing for his overall development. — Connelly
Age: 21 Position: Attacking midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,077 (Marseille) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 72
The ex-Barcelona academy graduate moved to Marseille last summer in hopes of more playing time, but injuries limited his impact. Now on loan at Olympiakos after initial reports of a LaLiga return, Konrad’s chances of a spot on the World Cup squad look slim. With the move to the Greek club, he just needs consistent playing time in order stay in the USMNT mix post-Qatar. — Guerra
Age: 24 Position: Midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 3,043 (Heracles Almelo) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 347
De la Torre played in Europe — largely toiling in anonymity — for almost a decade between Fulham‘s youth ranks and senior squad from 2013 to 2020. Then he surprised in the Eredivisie from 2020 to 2022 as well; among players with 5,000 minutes played, De la Torre was first in passing percentage in the attacking third (86.1%), second in overall passing percentage (87.3%) and 16th in chances created (55).
He’ll contribute under the brightest lights yet, moving to LaLiga’s Celta Vigo this summer, although he didn’t get off the bench in their season opener. If he can get into a rhythm and build momentum in Spain, he could turn heads in Qatar. — Hajducky
Age: 21 Position: Right-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,042 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 424
Dest’s future at Camp Nou resembles the club’s finances: shrouded in mystery. The recently “clinically dead” Barcelona welcomed an apocryphal flood of newcomers this summer, casting some doubt on Dest’s future there.
Dani Alves‘ release supported reports that Dest was in Xavi’s plans moving forward, but sources have told ESPN that the manager prefers Dest as a complementary defender, suggesting playing time could be limited — he was an unused substitute in Barca’s season-opening scoreless draw against Rayo Vallecano. Privately, Dest’s camp aren’t against a move; ESPN’s Moises Llorens reported that Barcelona are hearing offers and already beleaguered Manchester United coach Erik ten Hag — who gave Dest his professional debut at Ajax in 2019 — fancies the Dutch-American full-back.
It’s not an ideal concoction with Qatar three months out. Of course, a swift move to Old Trafford could be an elixir. Dest, 21, is an upgrade over United wing-back Diogo Dalot and steady Premier League minutes, with U.S. vs. England looming on Nov. 25, could prove invaluable. But how does the injury-prone Dest fare in the bruising Premier League? And is that club stable enough for him to really show his skills? Wherever Dest’s future lies, it needs resolution … and fast. — Hajducky
Gomez warns Dest against ‘career derailing’ Man Utd move
Herculez Gomez says a switch to Man Utd would be even worse for Sergino Dest than staying on the bench at Barcelona.
Age: 22 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 84 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 0
After a hamstring injury dampened his spring arrival to West Brom, Dike had looked good for the Championship side in preseason, only to suffer a “substantial tear” to his thigh muscle in training following the first game of the regular season. If the ex-Orlando City man gets fit again and rediscovers the form he had during his loan at Barnsley in 2021, he will be in the mix for the much-maligned USMNT striker role. — Guerra
Age: 21 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 169 (Mallorca) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 17
Hoppe’s single season in LaLiga with Mallorca didn’t go as planned. He made just seven appearances, with one start, although injuries and a bout with COVID-19 played a part. Now he’s secured a permanent move to Middlesbrough in the Championship, and the hope is that he’ll have more opportunities to make an impression on Berhalter, be it as a forward or out wide. — Carlisle
Age: 27 Position: Goalkeeper Minutes for club in 2021-22: 900 (Nottingham Forest) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 90
Playing time has been hard to come by for the 27-year-old, as he ended up as a backup at both Club Brugge and Nottingham Forest the past three years. He’s been loaned to Luton this season, however, which should give him a chance to find his form; he’s started all three of their league games so far in 2022-23. Is it too late to make an impression? — Connelly
Age: 23 Position: Midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,965 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 777
If the USMNT is going to be successful in Qatar, Juventus midfielder McKennie will likely need to play a big role, and he’ll want to avoid a repeat of last season in the run-up to the World Cup. McKennie’s 2021-22 was dogged with on-and-off injuries, as well as disciplinary issues with both the USMNT and Juve, and he finished with four goals in 29 appearances. Despite a preseason injury, he started Juventus’ 2022-23 Serie A opener on Monday, playing 76 minutes in a win over Sassuolo.
In this window, McKennie has been linked to bigger clubs throughout Europe, including Tottenham Hotspur, AS Roma and Atletico Madrid, but it appears he will stay put at Juve, where his contract runs three more years. Coach Massimiliano Allegri has expressed confidence in McKennie, last month calling him the best American in Europe at the moment. That’s up for debate, of course, but McKennie’s versatility has seen him play in several positions in his career, particularly at his former club Schalke 04, and his ball-winning ability means that looking only at goals stats won’t capture all he brings, even in an attacking midfield role.
It appears Allegri will give McKennie the chances to earn continued minutes in Turin, but McKennie’s biggest challenges may be to stay healthy and out of the newspaper gossip pages. Those are realistically the only setbacks that could prevent McKennie from making the trip and starting regularly for the USMNT. — Murray
Age: 23 Position: Center-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,128 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 180
After getting his move to Genk in Belgium in January 2021, after helping Philadelphia to the Supporters’ Shield in MLS, McKenzie seemed positioned to compete for a starting role with the U.S. That hasn’t happened. He struggled for minutes in the second half of the club season and hasn’t played for the U.S. since going 90 minutes in a 1-0 qualifying loss to Panama in October. At this point, he’s a long shot to play his way back into Berhalter’s plans. — Bonagura
Age: 19 Position: Midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,714 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 1,003
Musah’s decision to represent the USMNT over England was a major coup for Berhalter and the 19-year-old midfielder is among the most promising and versatile players in the pool. Musah will have a new manager in Gennaro Gattuso (an ex-midfield maestro himself) at Valencia, which could bode well for his development. He started their season opener (a 1-0 win over newly promoted Girona) in central midfield and went the full 90 minutes there. — Guerra
Age: 25 Position: Center-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,857 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 55
After a lengthy spell in the Manchester City loan army, Palmer-Brown moved permanently to Troyes last season and started 19 Ligue 1 matches. He looked solid in a back three during the club’s narrow, season-opening loss to Montpellier, and sources have told ESPN’s Julien Laurens that manager Bruno Irles sees him as a key contributor in 2022-23. — Connelly
Age: 26 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 3,164 (Young Boys) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 139
What Pefok did at Young Boys in the Swiss Super League in the past two seasons was quite impressive: 42 goals and nine assists in 87 appearances, which works out to be a direct goal contribution every 96 minutes. That he was rewarded with just 307 minutes for the national team across those two years is rather curious.
If there were questions about the strength of competition in the Swiss league, those will be put to bed by the former France youth international moving to the Bundesliga with Union. Sunday’s scoreless draw with Mainz was just Pefok’s third game with his new team, and it was also the first time he hadn’t scored for Die Eisernen, having netted in his first two appearances. In all three games so far, he’s started, suggesting he will get every chance to prove himself worthy of playing in one of the strongest leagues in the world on a regular basis. — Lindberg
Age: 19 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 475 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 708
Heading into 2022, Pepi seemed like a virtual lock for the USMNT in Qatar. At just 18 years old, he scored in his first two games for the USMNT — back-to-back World Cup qualifying wins — including both goals in a 2-0 victory over Jamaica in October. Then he made the leap to Europe, joining Bundesliga side Augsburg in January from MLS for a hefty $20 million transfer fee.
But that was end of what was expected to be Pepi’s big breakout. He tallied no goals and no assists in 11 appearances for Augsburg last season, and barely has gotten on the field during preseason and the new Bundesliga season. He hasn’t scored for the USMNT since his first two games either. Meanwhile, the striker’s chances of heading to Qatar keep dropping. — Murray
Age: 23 Position: Attacking midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,207 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 862
Last season was one of frustration for Pulisic. Sure, he made 38 appearances in all competitions, scoring eight goals, but just 21 of those were starts, and his shifting role — he was used as an attacking midfielder, as a false nine and as a wing-back last year — reveals that he wasn’t one of Thomas Tuchel’s preferred attacking options.
This campaign is shaping up as more of the same, with sources telling ESPN’s James Olley that there are doubts about Pulisic within the Chelsea hierarchy. Romelu Lukaku and Timo Werner may be gone, but Raheem Sterling has arrived. Reports state that Chelsea are searching for another forward, and with Tuchel employing a 3-4-3 (at least so far), the American is looking like a depth piece.
That assumes that he remains at Stamford Bridge. Sources told Olley on Wednesday morning that Manchester United have inquired about a deal for Pulisic. And the Red Devils aren’t alone in their interest: Newcastle United are also monitoring the situation, while Juventus and Atletico Madrid are said to be keen on adding the former Dortmund starlet as well. — Carlisle
Gomez: Pulisic has to get out of Chelsea during this window
Herculez Gomez urges Christian Pulisic to find somewhere to get the playing time he needs ahead of the World Cup.
Age: 19 Position: Attacking midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 647 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 194
Perhaps the most talented player in the pool, Reyna is coming off a nightmarish season during which he spent the bulk of his time rehabbing and watching from the sideline. Thanks to an injury picked up in the first U.S. qualifying match, Reyna made just 10 Bundesliga appearances for Borussia Dortmund (with two goals and an assist) with his season coming to a teary end five minutes into a start against Stuttgart on April 8.
He has yet to appear for Dortmund this season as the club takes a cautious approach to bringing him back. However, a debut could come at any time.
When he’s healthy, he needs to be on the field for the U.S. Whether that’s on the wing, in central midfield or maybe even at striker can be sorted out later. If he’s healthy, his talent will make a difference in some capacity. — Bonagura
Age: 22 Position: Center-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,525 (TSG Hoffenheim, Bayern Munich) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 361
Richards has been gaining considerable experience the past two seasons in the Bundesliga, earning a starting spot while on loan at Hoffenheim before injuries cut short his most recent campaign. He also established himself as a dependable option in Berhalter’s lineup, and with Miles Robinson sidelined by an Achilles injury, Richards figures to be one of the starting center-backs.
He hasn’t completely locked up that position just yet, though, and now that Richards has moved to the Premier League with Crystal Palace, he has made one substitute appearance in the first two games of the season. He’ll need to change that if he’s to maintain his hold on a starting spot. — Carlisle
Age: 25 Position: Left-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 3,032 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 1,284
There isn’t need for a mind trick here, with the player known as “Jedi” expected to heavily feature for both club and country. He’s locked in as the starting left-back for both teams — especially for the USMNT, where the depth is thin — and went the full 90 minutes in Fulham’s pair of draws against Wolves and Liverpool to start the season.
Along with speed and solid defensive skills, Robinson has the ability to stay out wide and contribute to the attack. Playing on the same side as Pulisic in a first-choice XI, Robinson can pressure the opposing outside back with the ball and get in position to send in crosses if the wingers drift toward the middle. — Guerra
Josh Sargent | Norwich City | English Championship
Age: 22 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,976 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 116
Sargent’s first season in England wasn’t a resounding success, contributing directly to a goal every 256 minutes in 2021-22. On paper, the former Werder Bremen striker should find this season more straightforward, contesting the second division with Norwich; he’s started two of the Canaries’ five competitive matches so far, scoring one goal.
While Sargent is unlikely to be a consideration for the national team at any position other than No. 9, he’s divided his time for Norwich between center-forward and right wing. Perhaps worrying for the USMNT, just less than half of the Missouri native’s 199 minutes this season have come up front for Dean Smith’s side. — Lindberg
Age: 19 Position: Right-back Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,129 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 135
Of all the Americans in top-five European leagues, none played more minutes last season than Scally. On its own, that’s a remarkable achievement for the New York City FC academy graduate who won’t turn 20 until New Year’s Eve. With the national team, he’s been limited to a 45-minute appearance in the summer friendly against Morocco (with mixed reviews), but as long as he’s playing regularly with Monchengladbach — which will be a tall order with the return to fitness of Stefan Lainer — he’ll be in mix for one of the backup full-back spots. — Bonagura
Zack Steffen | Middlesbrough | English Championship
Age: 27 Position: Goalkeeper Minutes for club in 2021-22: 810 (Manchester City) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 540
Last season tested — and perhaps exceeded — the limits of Steffen’s role with Manchester City as backup to Ederson. His high-profile blunder in the FA Cup semifinal against Liverpool, when he gifted a goal to Sadio Mane, not to mention some uneven performances for the U.S., validated concerns about Steffen’s lack of game sharpness. So now he’s off to Middlesbrough on loan.
It’s still crazy early, but Steffen’s performances so far have been uneven, especially in the 3-2 defeat to QPR. There is time to turn things around, and he remains a favorite of Berhalter’s, but the reality is that the competition for the starting spot with the U.S. is still open, and Steffen needs to find some consistency. — Carlisle
Age: 20 Position: Attacking midfielder Minutes for club in 2021-22: 164 (Bayern Munich) Minutes for country in 2021-22: 70
Tillman only became eligible to play for the USMNT in May after representing Germany throughout his youth career, but lately he has emerged as a player to keep an eye on. The 20-year-old got promoted from Bayern Munich II to the senior side last year, making four appearances, and last month joined Rangers on loan, where he is finding his footing.
He scored his first goal for the Glasgow club over the weekend and then on Tuesday he netted in a win that put Rangers through to the next round of Champions League qualifying. Tillman remains a long shot for Qatar, but more performances like these could change that. — Murray
Age: 28 Position: Goalkeeper Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,100 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 990
By this point, Turner’s rapid ascent has been properly documented, but it’s still worth taking a second to acknowledge his unique path to Arsenal and the English Premier League. When his time playing college soccer at Fairfield (a small Division I school in Connecticut) was up in 2015, there was only cursory interest from professional teams. An invite to train with New England landed him a contract and a place at the bottom of the depth chart before developing into one of the best goalkeepers MLS has ever seen.
Since moving to Arsenal this summer, Turner has been told to fight to be the club’s No. 1, although sources told ESPN’s James Olley that there is an acceptance that he will begin the campaign behind Aaron Ramsdale on the depth chart. Turner has quickly become a popular figure in north London, with staff impressed by his approachability, professionalism and willingness to learn.
There is little doubt he will be with the U.S. in Qatar. He’s been in a battle for the starting job for more than a year, so the only question about his role will be will he start or will he be the No. 2. — Bonagura
Age: 22 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 1,888 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 785
Weah, 22, is still positioned to excel in France, but he’s struggled to stay healthy — and has missed Lille’s first two games of the 2022-23 season with a foot injury — perform consistently and meet (admittedly lofty) expectations.
Leaving Paris Saint-Germain was supposed to mean a clean slate, but Weah has found the net just six times since arriving at Stade Pierre-Mauroy in 2019. He’ll be in Qatar, but he’s a long shot for the starting XI. — Guerra
Age: 24 Position: Forward Minutes for club in 2021-22: 2,069 Minutes for country in 2021-22: 119
After years spent in the European wilderness, Wright resurrected his career last season, scoring 15 goals in all competitions while on loan with Turkish Super Lig side Antalyaspor and earning a recall to the U.S. side. Quite sensibly, he made the move from Danish side SonderjyskE permanent, and that familiarity should maximize his odds of going to Qatar.
His spot is still very much up in the air, however. While he scored a penalty in the 3-0 win over Morocco, overall, with the U.S. he didn’t really make that much of an impact from open play. The forward competition remains wide open, but Wright still has plenty of work to do to get on the plane for Qatar. — Carlisle
Christian Pulisic’s potential Manchester United loan has appeal after years of Chelsea uncertainty
Thomas Tuchel’s comment in his press conference following his first game in charge at Chelsea seemed entirely innocuous.“It was an unfair decision for him today to not start,” the German said of Christian Pulisic, whom he had previously coached as a teenager making his professional debut at Borussia Dortmund. “I told him it was only because I know what he can bring from the bench.”But that thought in January 2021 proved to be a harbinger of what has become a tenuous spell for Pulisic under Tuchel — one that may be nearing its breaking point.Pulisic arrived at Chelsea in the summer of 2019 having altered the perception for what is possible for American players in Europe. If Clint Dempsey opened the door for creative Americans at the game’s highest level, Pulisic introduced the possibility that they can be found at younger ages and fostered to star status. He remains a central figure for a youthful U.S. national team that will go to Qatar with a level of expectation and optimism that is unlike that of any other U.S. men’s team. Even with a Champions League title and some bright individual moments at Chelsea, his time in West London has been far from perfect, though. Over the last 18 months, especially, Pulisic has been in a constant fight to prove his place on the field under Tuchel,at times even when he is producing and playing well.Pulisic has not convincingly grabbed a top role, but it has never felt as though he was backed to win one, either. From the start, it has seemed like an uphill climb. The American winger started just twice in Tuchel’s first 10 games at Chelsea and often found himself on the bench in the biggest contests that first season — in both legs of the Champions League round of 16 against Atlético Madrid; in the FA Cup semifinal and final; in the second leg of the semifinal against Real Madrid after starting and scoring in the first leg; and then in the Champions League final. The dynamics were unchanged last season. Pulisic started just 13 of 22 Premier League games in which he appeared. Even when selected by Tuchel, he was often played out of position — he hasn’t seen regular minutes at his preferred left winger spot in a 4-3-3 but started in central midfield, right wingback and as a false 9.Now 23 years old, Pulisic is difficult to get a read on — in the media spotlight since the age of 17, he’s learned to protect his true feelings — but it became clear that the precariousness of his role with Chelsea last year was taking a toll. “Obviously it has been up and down this year, for sure,” Pulisic said in a press conference ahead of World Cup qualifiers in January. “Not exactly where I want to be and how I want things to be right now. I’m just going to keep going and it doesn’t affect me when I come here.”
Even as he acknowledged the mental strain, Pulisic seemed game to prove himself to Tuchel, just as he had under previous Chelsea manager Frank Lampard. He finished with eight goals and three assists in all competitions last season despite the instability of his position. In April, Pulisic told reporters he was happy at Chelsea, and his attitude this offseason was to once again fight his way into Tuchel’s plans. “I’ve had some good moments and some tougher moments and I’m continuously having to prove myself,” Pulisic told ESPN. “And that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”With a total of just 30 minutes played in Chelsea’s first two Premier League games this season, however, and Tuchel lining up multiple options at his position, including the newly-acquired Raheem Sterling, Pulisic may finally be open to a change of scenery.The Athletic reported Wednesday that Manchester United is interested in taking Pulisic on loan for the season and that Pulisic is amenable to the move, where more regular playing time, albeit at a club in the middle of its own mess, could afford him some relief — and better preparation for the November World Cup in Qatar.Three years after arriving at Chelsea with a price tag once unfathomable for an American player, Pulisic seems to be at a pivotal moment in his career. He is three months away from a World Cup that he has been waiting for since missing the 2018 tournament as a teenager. The inconsistencies of his time at Chelsea have hardened his mentality, but left us wondering what potential may have been unfulfilled. He still has so much left to prove.You can’t stand your tallest when you’re on uncertain footing, however, and Pulisic seems set on looking for more stable ground — even if it means going to a club that appears unmoored.
Pulisic reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on May 19. (Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images)
Four years ago, as Pulisic was figuring out his move away from Borussia Dortmund, the influence of then-Chelsea manager Maurizio Sarri played a pivotal role. Pulisic felt he fit into Sarri’s tactics, and despite the Italian’s claim that he was in the dark about the signing, Pulisic’s father, Mark, told the New York Times that his son and his camp met with the Chelsea coach for some time before finalizing the move.
The hope was that the energetic, quick, creative player who thrived in the Bundesliga in the transition style of play at Dortmund could take the next step at a club like Chelsea. In order to get the deal across the line, however, Dortmund required Pulisic to finish out the season in Germany. And by the time Pulisic arrived at Chelsea, Sarri was departing for Juventus and Pulisic was walking into a drastically different scenario. Lampard, not Sarri, would be his manager. In the midst of a transfer ban, Chelsea was also making a push to utilize more of their young, homegrown talent. There would be no red carpet for the American.Leeds manager Jesse Marsch, then at Red Bull Salzburg, recalled a conversation with Lampard in the preseason in which he felt Lampard undervalued Pulisic’s readiness for the Premier League.
“Even Frank Lampard, when I spoke to him in preseason a year ago now, I was talking to him about having Christian Pulisic and he was kind of like, ‘Yeah, he’s got a lot to learn so we’ll see how he does,’” Marsch said on MLS’s ExtraTime podcast. “I said to him, ‘Listen, he was at Dortmund, and they had a high level of tactical thinking, of playing, and he was very successful.’ … I could see right away that Frank Lampard’s idea of Christian Pulisic was shaped a lot by the fact that he was American and not that his football education came a lot from what has happened in Germany. Since then, I think Lampard has learned that Pulisic is a lot better than he gave him credit for.”It was a characterization Lampard pushed back on, but even then it seemed Pulisic, a marquee $73 million signing, had to prove his value. And he did. Pulisic started matches in the early portion of the season, but was relegated to the bench in the fall, after a September international window. Following three consecutive substitute appearances, Pulisic got a start and scored a hat trick against Burnley. That performance helped propel him back into Lampard’s preferred 11, and Pulisic would start 27 of 34 games played across all competitions that season, scoring 11 goals with six assists. By the end of the year, Lampard and Pulisic had forged a stronger understanding. Lampard seemed to confirm that this summer, when on tour in the U.S. as Everton manager. Asked about Pulisic, the former Chelsea star backed him to have a big influence at the club, if given the chance.“I’ve got a lot of time for Christian,” Lampard told Pro Soccer Wire. “I think I worked well with him and just tried to develop him and had a really good relationship with him. He’s got incredible talent. He’s a great boy. I found him really pleasurable to work with as well as a talent.“He’s really fast and (has a quick) change in direction and it’s balanced. He’s still a young player. It feels like he’s been around a long time because he broke through so young. So there’s still a lot to come from Christian, but those basics of the speed and balance is not (something) everyday players have. He’s special like that.”Lampard, of course, can now only provide outside perspective because he was sacked in January 2021, once again forcing Pulisic into a battle to prove himself. When Tuchel was hired by Chelsea, the assumption was that Pulisic’s time with him at Dortmund would be an advantage. But the pair had never forged a close relationship in their year and a half together in Germany. And, after that first Premier League game together, it seemed clear that Tuchel had his mind made up about what Pulisic could bring to his squad. Pulisic was asked this summer in an interview with ESPN if he felt Tuchel still saw him as the 17-year-old from Dortmund.“It could be,” Pulisic said. “I guess you’d have to ask him. That’s not who I am anymore. For sure he knows I’ve grown a lot as a player, there’s no doubt. I think I have grown a lot and that’s not how I want him to view me, I want him to view me as the player I am now. I’m just going to continue improving and showing him why I deserve to be on the field as much as I can.”If there has been a theme to Pulisic’s time at Chelsea, it has been that. He has shown a mental fortitude to push through the difficult moments and fight his way back onto the field. U.S. head coach Gregg Berhalter noted as much in an appearance on The Athletic’s Allocation Disorder: 1v1 podcast earlier this month.“I think if there’s one player in our player pool that really understands how to deal with adversity and deal with the competition at a big club, it’s Christian,” Berhalter said. “He’s been doing that at a young age at Dortmund, a big club in Germany, moving to Chelsea and just clawing his way into playing time and results and performance and goals and assists.”
That mentality will surely benefit Pulisic, but it hasn’t been enough to earn him a regular spot at Chelsea. At a point that could determine the trajectory of the rest of his career, Pulisic feels he has much more to give. With his first crack at the game’s biggest stage coming up in November, there is added urgency in finding the right place to be able to grow.
Reaction to the news of Manchester United’s interest in Pulisic was swift for USMNT fans on social media: Why Manchester United? Why now?
Erik ten Hag became the first United manager since 1921 to lose his first two competitive games in charge. They sit bottom of the table for the first time since 1992 after two hopeless performances. Ten Hag’s replacements are already being bandied about by bookmakers and on fan forums. There has never been less curb appeal for Old Trafford, but the reality is that Manchester United is still a massive club. It’s one a 17-year-old Pulisic once noted was a club he loved to watch growing up, with a player whose passion he so admired: Wayne Rooney. A chance to follow in Rooney’s influential footsteps might be what the U.S. star needs to push forward.On the international stage, Pulisic is still a player around which the U.S. team is built. There is no clear No. 9 for the Americans as they prepare for Qatar. Berhalter’s system is built to emphasize midfield play, and especially the wingers: Pulisic, Gio Reyna, Tim Weah and Brenden Aaronson. Without a true goalscorer, they hoped that Pulisic could ascend into that featured role. But as he’s struggled for consistent form at the club level, it’s been a big ask for him to be the star man for the U.S. That Pulisic led the team in goals in qualifying with five, however, shows that he is still their biggest difference-maker when he is in form.A chance to get a regular run of games in a consistent position is enticing, even as poor as United have looked so far. Pulisic faces less competition for a starting role with United than at Chelsea in Ten Hag’s 4-3-3. Jadon Sancho has struggled and Anthony Martial is only just returning from injury, while Marcus Rashford hasn’t had his best start to a season. Theoretically, Ten Hag’s style of football should fit Pulisic’s abilities. Pulisic has shown how difficult he is to defend when he’s on the left wing, running at defenders in space. His ability to press defensively, progress the ball forward and get into dangerous positions in and around the box — one of his strongest attributes is arriving in the box to finish plays — could give United an element they’re clearly missing.
In addition, moving to Manchester United instead of Newcastle, another club rumored to be interested in Pulisic, presents plenty of short- and long-term benefits. United will play in Europe this season, Newcastle won’t. Manchester United has the funds to buy Pulisic if he performs well. Newcastle has the ownership cash to do it, but might face financial fair play challenges. Globally, Manchester United is still seen as a massive club. Newcastle is in the early stages of what they hope is a Manchester City-like build, but even with a massive influx of cash, that transformation took time.There’s also very little risk for Pulisic in a one-year loan, which is how this deal would likely be structured. Manchester United’s current position only elevates the potential reward for Pulisic should he perform, and aid a turnaround at the club. If things continued to go south for Manchester United, however, Pulisic could extricate himself from the situation and return to Chelsea next season.From a U.S. perspective, the risk is very much worth the potential reward. There is very little drawback ahead of the World Cup. Playing regularly at Manchester United would certainly help Pulisic hit his stride before Qatar. And the U.S. will want Pulisic playing regularly, if possible — though it’s notable that they found ways to keep Pulisic productive with the U.S., even during last year’s tumult. Regardless of where Pulisic is, or how much he is playing, he will be on the U.S. roster and in contention to play and start in Qatar. He’s simply too important to the squad to think otherwise. But the U.S. needs him to be more than just in the squad and in contention to start. Pulisic’s creative ability and effectiveness around the box is elite. The U.S. needs him to be a star. They need him to be the type of player that a $73 million move to Chelsea represented.Ultimately, the potential move to United will come down to whether Chelsea is willing to let him go on loan, and whether Pulisic feels its best for him, both in the short- and long-term. Pulisic’s time with Chelsea accomplished plenty — it changed how Americans are perceived, even despite his irregular playing time; he was the first American to play and win a Champions League final; and he showed he can be productive in the Premier League. Mostly, though, it’s left us wanting more —
Christian Pulisic to Manchester United: Does it make sense for him, USMNT and Chelsea?
Over the last 12 months, there has been a creeping sense that Pulisic’s future lies away from Stamford Bridge. For all head coach Thomas Tuchel commands an important place in the American’s story after ushering him into Borussia Dortmund’s senior ranks in 2016, he has been unconvinced by Pulisic’s value in the Premier League.Just 13 starts came in the 38 league matches last season as his progress was derailed by COVID-19 and an ankle injury, and Pulisic has again had to settle for a peripheral role in the opening weeks of this one. He came off the bench to play a combined total of 31 minutes in Chelsea’s two fixtures so far — a 1-0 win away to Everton and Sunday’s 2-2 draw with Tottenham.Pulisic spoke in the summer of his “tough moments” at Chelsea and having a will to prove himself to Tuchel but a lack of first-team opportunities has become an increasing source of irritation. With the World Cup just three months away, the USMNT captain will be desperate to arrive in Qatar in peak form and fitness.He does love being at Chelsea — both the club and his team-mates. Pulisic is just keen to play more football though and, in that sense, the only issue is what Tuchel thinks of him.
What has happened there?
Like others at Chelsea, including Romelu Lukaku, Timo Werner and Hakim Ziyech, Chelsea’s sizeable investment in the American has brought no guarantees of a long-term future. Pulisic has struggled to make a lasting impression at the west London club since signing for £58million ($70m) in 2019, with the good form of Mason Mount and Kai Havertz at positions he could play limiting his chances.The summer signing of England-team regular Raheem Sterling from Manchester City has provided another obstacle in a squad that also includes youngsters Armando Broja and Conor Gallagher, who are back with their parent club after impressing out on loan last season. The very public pursuit of Everton’s promising forward Anthony Gordon, a 21-year-old who could cost Chelsea as much as £50million, is another indication that Pulisic’s face no longer fits.The club’s enormous summer of spending — and an appetite to do even more of it before the transfer deadline on September 1 — also demands that Tuchel’s squad is trimmed accordingly.Lukaku has been loaned out to Inter Milan, with Werner joining RB Leipzig — in both cases, the clubs Chelsea had signed them from. Morocco international Ziyech, another keen on more game time ahead of the World Cup, is another they will consider offloading before this window closes.Just offloading Pulisic’s wages in a loan deal will help their finances but Chelsea also need to raise money through sales. This is where farming out Pulisic to a possible rival for a top-six finish this season — and so, European football in 2023-24 — in United makes less sense. He has two years left on his deal, so any loan would only park a potential sale until next summer, when his contract status could negatively impact any fee Chelsea could receive.If the American takeover of Chelsea, led by Todd Boehly and Clearlake Capital, was once considered a potential turning point for Pulisic, it has done little to alter the perception that Tuchel has other preferences.Going out on loan this summer would at least leave the door open for a return.
Pulisic has not started either of Chelsea’s league games so far this season (Photo: Getty Images)
Is joining Manchester United the right move?
Being signed by United is not the glamour transfer it used to be. They are already in a hole two games into the season, bottom of the Premier League after losing 2-1 to Brighton & Hove Albion at home and then suffering Saturday 4-0 embarrassment away to Brentford. Already, the pressure is on new manager Erik ten Hag, whose team will play Europa League football this season, not Champions League, after finishing sixth last time.
United do desperately need greater attacking options.
The 37-year-old Portugal international has attempted to engineer a move away from United this summer so he can play in Champions League this season and Ten Hag is now willing to let the veteran forward — despite his age, the club’s top scorer last season with more than twice as many goals as their next most prolific player — leave.France international striker Anthony Martial is, at least, close to returning from the injury that caused him to miss the Brighton and Brentford games.https://theathletic.com/report/podcast-clip?clip_id=5939
The dearth of depth in United’s attacking ranks makes new talent a must in the next two weeks but any signing would need to be capable of handling mounting scrutiny at a club grasping for the reset button with growing desperation.
The main thing in United’s favour is that there doesn’t appear to be a huge market for Pulisic in terms of signing him permanently for a significant fee.
Where would he fit in at United?
Sancho, another who made his name in Dortmund, has struggled to find his feet in Manchester since being signed last summer and the arrival of Ten Hag, a serial title winner with leading Dutch club Ajax, has so far done little to address the individual malaise. Rashford, too, has been unable to provide an attacking spark in a team who have been beset by defensive issues in their opening two games.Ten Hag wants United to play “proactive” football so Pulisic, in theory, would be aligned to the Dutchman’s style. They are desperately struggling to press high up the pitch. It was painfully apparent during the ill-fated reign of interim manager Ralf Rangnick over the second half of last season and very little has changed with largely the same personnel now available to Ten Hag.Pulisic has verve and energy, and can be a creative force for team-mates. He would offer something different for United.
Would this move help the USMNT before the World Cup?
There is every chance it would. No national team wants their talisman undercooked going into a tournament. The United States face Wales in their opening game on November 21, before further group matches against England and Iran.There are only 14 rounds of Premier League football left before its 20 clubs down tools for the World Cup and although staying at Chelsea could afford Pulisic additional chances in their six-match Champions League group phase campaign and the domestic Carabao Cup — although they will only play once in that competition before Qatar — there would be questions over his sharpness going into Qatar 2022 if his season continues as it has so far.That is the greatest incentive for Pulisic to leave Chelsea before the end of the summer window.He has made no secret of his belief that the USMNT can go far in Qatar, and the first World Cup of Pulisic’s career warrants the best preparation. There will be a heavy burden on the nation’s 23-year-old captain.
Norwich’s Josh Sargent proves his point after shining in desired central role
Josh Sargent paused. There was a nervous laugh and, not for the first time on the night, a broad smile.t felt for a moment like there would be no answer forthcoming, but he finally broke the silence.“I was patient, I’ve got this opportunity and I’ll try to make the most of it. That’s where we are at right now,” said Sargent.Where is he?
Firstly, he is in a good place. Norwich’s 2-1 home win over Huddersfield Town on Tuesday was their first of the season (at the fifth attempt) and came following Sargent’s opening goal in the sixth minute — his first since January and first at Carrow Road in eight days shy of a year.
Secondly, he is central. Slap-bang in the middle, playing as Norwich’s sole striker.
The pause had been Sargent’s diplomacy kicking in. Turning down the chance to play minutes in the Premier League does not happen, even if it is not in your preferred position.For a 22-year-old already faced with the need to develop his game and a transfer fee of around £9million ($10.9m) from last summer to justify, his efforts in a wider forward role – where the vast majority of his Norwich appearances have come – have often struggled to stretch beyond functional.But with Teemu Pukki sidelined by the bruised foot he picked up against Hull City at the weekend, Sargent got his shot and produced an eye-catching 68 minutes. As eye-catching as any of the 33 outings he’d made for the club before last night.Once again, head coach Dean Smith opted to play a 4-3-3 formation that switches to a 4-1-4-1. In both scenarios, it leaves the sole striker as a key component in Norwich’s attacking play.
Sargent had 24 touches of the ball against Huddersfield. Those included his goal and an unofficial assist – a deflected shot – that led to Danel Sinani making it 2-0 after just 16 minutes, as well as reaching Sinani’s wonderful first-time through ball just after half-time before Tom Lees committed the foul that would earn him a red card.You can see them all below, including eight in the opposition box and all bar two in the Huddersfield half.
For comparison, Pukki managed 19 playing up front in Norwich’s other home Championship game so far this season — a 1-1 draw with Wigan Athletic 10 days earlier.Perhaps most interestingly, Pukki’s (No 22) Wigan outing saw his average position pulled slightly to the left channel, which you can see below.
Milot Rashica (7) was the highest team-mate in support and Todd Cantwell (14) the closest, but with a lop-sided midfield passing network behind him, that hampered the Finn’s goal-scoring opportunities. Pukki recorded an expected goals (xG) figure of 0.18 in 90 minutes against Wigan.
Compare that with Sargent’s role against Huddersfield, where his average position was much more central and higher up the pitch. He also recorded a match-high individual xG of 0.35.
Although the stronger passing combinations were still behind Norwich’s striker rather than involving him, there was a better balance with a triangle in each channel behind the United States international.
That works as an indication of the wider service of crosses Smith’s side looked to provide, rather than the more central through balls Pukki prefers.
Sargent had already headed a cross from right-back Max Aarons over the bar before nodding home Sinani’s inswinging delivery from the same flank.
“I talked to Max after our last game at Hull and I just said, ‘You put in two good crosses at the end of the game; keep doing that. It’s really good. Don’t cut back. Take the risk. Put the ball in the box. We’ll get guys in the box and we’ll get rewarded for it’,” Sargent told The Athletic.
“It wasn’t him that crossed it for my goal but if we put the ball there, you can see we will get the rewards.
“Obviously, it’s been a while since I’ve scored and to be able to play in my favourite position, I felt it was a very good opportunity. To get that goal was huge for me and also the team.”
Smith gave his relegated team a clear ultimatum over the opening weeks of the Championship season: that his forward players will be judged on the goals they score and create. If they fall short in those areas, they won’t play.
That in part accounted for Rashica dropping to the bench here having started the three previous league games this season.
It was last week that Smith had revealed how popular Sargent is with his team-mates and how he was sure the man from Saint Louis, Missouri, via Werder Bremen would start scoring once his opportunity arrived – which it did on Tuesday.
There may be a future where Pukki and Sargent start together. Adam Idah’s return to fitness could also add another dimension in future weeks — especially if Smith fancies revisiting the 4-2-4 with which Norwich won back-to-back Premier League fixtures at the start of the year, before Idah’s season-ending knee injury in February.
Sargent’s performance last night is almost certain to keep him in the starting XI for Millwall’s visit on Friday night, even if Pukki’s swollen foot has shrunk to a size that will fit in a boot.
The quality of the American’s runs and his assured first touch also emphasised why he is currently ahead of Jordan Hugill in Smith’s pecking order, despite his rival’s decent scoring return in pre-season.
Sargent will hope this performance and victory were a boost for his prospects at Norwich, having opted to stay in England and play in the second tier when the same prospect following Bremen’s 2020-21 relegation to the German equivalent was less palatable.
“This is a league where we can create a lot of chances, we can be a team at the top, and I think it’d be good for me to score a lot of goals in this league,” Sargent told The Athletic. “It’s (the Championship) very physical but the thing is, it’s still good quality. Without VAR, there are a few things that are let go a bit more.”
But there is no denying Sargent hopes his club form can lead to another major goal for the remainder of 2022: getting selected for the World Cup.
Sargent has missed out on recent squads and USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter has talked to him about the reasons for that; conversations the player is keen to keep private.
“Nothing is settled yet,” Sargent said. “All I can do is do my best here, score as many goals as I can and hopefully put myself in a good position to get called up.”
There is a lot of work to do for him to be in Qatar in November, but Tuesday did at least offer the way forward for Sargent, in the role he has always wanted to play. It was his reward for patience and hopefully just the start.
Leeds United’s Brenden Aaronson is perfect pressing machine for Jesse Marsch’s system
Before he turned professional, Brenden Aaronson would sometimes ask when he would start to grow. When would he sprout and when would he bulk up, giving him physical parity with the boys he trained with?To the naked eye, Aaronson was slight and unintimidating and, even fully grown at 5ft 10in (178cm), it could be said he still is — but nothing left him short on stamina. From a young age, he could cover distances of over 12km in 90 minutes, as he did for Leeds United against Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday. He was capable of running and running, yielding data which European clubs were bound to notice.
There was technical appeal when Leeds paid more than £20million ($24.4m) to sign him from RB Salzburg in May, an appreciation of his skill on the ball, but on top of that came the guarantee the club’s money was buying an exceptional athlete. Aaronson’s fitness spoke for itself and across Europe, pound for pound, his pressing was on a par with any player in his position. By sustaining those bursts of acceleration all day, he was tailor-made for the Red Bull philosophy — and primed for the model Leeds aimed to build with Jesse Marsch.
If Salzburg became home for Aaronson after his move from Philadelphia Union in 2020 then Leeds is home away from home; a familiar formation, tactical ideas he learned in Austria and the same coach, Marsch, who took him to the Austrian Bundesliga. He brought a good engine with him and he will need it at Elland Road.On Saturday, during a 2-1 victory over Wolves, Leeds covered more ground as a team than any other Premier League side over the course of the new season’s first weekend. They ran hard and when the stats arrived at full-time, very few of Marsch’s players had run harder than Aaronson. His competitive debut cast him as a pressing beast, an outing which beat Wolves’ left-back Rayan Ait-Nouri into submission.Aaronson is only 21 and it might be that over time his exact role at Leeds changes. His strengths would suit the position directly behind Marsch’s No 9 — Patrick Bamford on Saturday — but for now, Marsch is using him as the right-sided attacker in a 4-2-3-1. That system, tweaked in a certain way, can provide penetration on the flanks but as Leeds’ average positions from the win over Wolves make clear (graphic, below), they are effectively playing with a line of three 10s. Nonetheless, Marsch needs discipline in their positioning, particularly off the ball, and Aaronson was strict in following clear orders to harass Ait-Nouri and limit his time on the ball.
There are several principles to Marsch’s pressing, and one of them is that the press should be coordinated, applied as a unit. Making it work relies on aggression but also on individual judgement about when to go and who to target. Ait-Nouri was in Aaronson’s line of fire throughout Saturday’s match and it did not take long to see how the USA international planned to cut the supply down Wolves’ left side. It was necessary to limit their flow because over 90 minutes, Wolves outscored Leeds by 507 completed passes to 291.
Aaronson drifted into a wider variety of areas when Leeds were in possession but defensively, he made the right flank his responsibility. He kept eyes on Ait-Nouri and his speed over short distances meant he could close the ground quickly as Wolves tried to play out, as in the next sequence of play on 17 minutes (below).
He is fully 25 yards from Ait-Nouri when Wolves shape to spread the ball wide to the full-back but what looks like an easy pass ends with a clearance up field as Aaronson gets to Ait-Nouri in a couple of seconds. One moment Ait-Nouri has time, the next he has Aaronson invading his personal space.
This scenario repeated itself throughout the first half. In the following passage of play (below), Wolves try an identical move — goalkeeper Jose Sa rolling out to a centre-back who in turn sends possession on to Ait-Nouri — but the speed of the press from Aaronson forces a mis-control from Ait-Nouri and lets Leeds pin down Bruno Lage’s defence with four bodies in a tight space. The ball ended up back with Sa, forcing Wolves to start again.
Even better for Marsch were the moments where the attention on Ait-Nouri forced turnovers of possession, inviting Leeds to about-turn and counter. Recovering the ball and attacking in transition is a core aspect of Marsch’s tactics. Across the Premier League, Leeds’ application of 64 successful pressures — regaining possession within five seconds of applying the press — was the highest in the division. What Marsch wanted was situations like that shown below, where Aaronson squeezes Ait-Nouri and forces a rushed pass which Rasmus Kristensen intercepts. Aaronson then has space behind him to offer an outlet going forward.
Forcing errors through spirited pressing was Leeds’ route to their equalising goal, scored in the 24th minute. The finish was avoidable from Wolves’ perspective, invited by two missed chances to clear, but Aaronson’s tenacious tackling was responsible for turning a heavy through ball from Jack Harrison into an opportunity for Rodrigo.
Two challenges on Ait-Nouri forced a game of ping pong inside the box and a ricochet off Harrison gave Rodrigo time to make space for himself and shoot under Sa at the near post. In this instance, Leeds’ counter-pressing paid off.
The test for Aaronson will be applying a consistent level of influence over a full Premier League season but it is clear that pressing comes naturally to him. That attribute was in him when he was emerging in the US and has long been seen as one of his strengths. In possession, meanwhile, his movement and passing kept Wolves guessing and gave Leeds both creativity and goalscoring intent.
By dropping deep in the next sequence and arcing his run between two Wolves’ players, he was able to take a pass from Robin Koch, turn in space and bring Kristensen into play down the right. Given how reliant Leeds are on their full-backs for width, it will fall to players like Aaronson to provide them with service, working the gaps and anticipating overlaps.
But Aaronson’s pace and direct running allowed for counter-attacks from more defensive zones, too. A good example of this came in the 27th minute.
As the screenshots below show, Leeds are on the back foot in their box but Aaronson is there to help crowd Wolves out. A clearance by Tyler Adams drops to Rodrigo and Aaronson has reacted at a speed which lets him take an inside pass and burst into space. This is where he seems to be in his element, driving forward over halfway with the opposition backing off.
Leeds can expect to see him do this repeatedly over the course of the season and in the end, their failure to make anything of the attack was a waste of a very good position.
In his career to date, Aaronson has not been a prolific goalscorer but he was good for four or five a season in his time at Salzburg and the winner on Saturday, 16 minutes from time, showed intelligence in spotting how an attack would unfold. The speed of the move was impressive — seven seconds to send the ball, via four passes, from the halfway line to the back of Sa’s net — and it showcased the vertical passing style which Marsch favours.
The first image, below, shows how rapidly Aaronson (top left) wants possession directed to him when space opens up near the centre circle. Adams’ pass goes instead to Klich but Aaronson sees straight away that the flow down the left might present a chance to score at close range. He sprints for the six-yard box as Klich guides Bamford into the left channel and the forward’s cutback is impossible to defend. Ait-Nouri turns it in before Aaronson can get a touch and though there was disappointment afterwards that the finish went down as an own goal, it was a fitting representation of the grief Aaronson gave Ait-Nouri for so much of the afternoon.
Elland Road’s initial glimpse of him suggested that for more than £20m, an all-round game is part of the package. Aaronson can be an asset defensively, he can pose a threat going forward and there was nothing on Saturday to indicate that the Premier League will be a problem for him physically. His tally of 31 individual pressures applied, 12 of them successful, topped the charts on the opening weekend.
“I thought he was active and lively and dangerous all match,” Marsch said, and it was immediately obvious why Aaronson had dominated the traditional bleep test at the start of pre-season, a competition Jamie Shackleton was used to winning. Marsch needs runners and at first glance, Aaronson looks like the pick of them.
100 Days to the World Cup, Spain/Italy Start and Other notes So we are just 100 days until the World Cup starts in Qatar the Nov 20-Dec 12 World Cup in the middle of the European Seasons. Yes the start has been adjusted as now the WC will start on Sunday night not Monday as Qatar moved the schedule so they could launch the games with Sunday night home game. Messi is missing from the Ballon d’OR list for the first time in 7 years – but he still had the goal of the weekend with this beauty in PSG’s opening win of the season. Spain and Italy start their season’s this weekend. (see full previews in the The Ole Ballcoach). Goalkeeping Predictions for 2022-23 in Europe.
EPL Fulham America and Leeds United States of America good starts
Wow the EPL season got off to a great start if you like to watch American’s succeed in the EPL – Fulham with American’s Jedi and Tim Ream holding down the left side of defense tied Liverpool at home 2-2. Then America’s favorite EPL coach – Jesse Marsch and his American signees shined as Brendan Aaronson scored this goal and Tyler Adams had the most break-up plays of anyone in the EPL in week 2. Can Americans play soccer ?? Heck yes !! Leeds might now be looking at Tim Weah from France – lets hope!! Disappointing to see that Pulisic seems to be on the outs a Chelsea – listen their Manager Tuchel is THE WORSE OFFENSIVE COACH in the history of soccer. Pulisic should have left for Juventus this summer – we’ll see if he gets a chance this Sun at 11:30 am when Chelsea hosts Tottenham in the biggest game of the weekend the LONDON Derby on USA Network. Aston Villa host’s Everton Sat at 7:30 am on USA then Brentford hosts Man United on NBC for the boring game of the week Sat at 12:30 pm – yey NBC. Leeds travels to Southampton at 10 am on Peacock the same time as Fulham travels to Wolverhampton also on Peacock while Man City host Bournemouth on USA (yey).
Indy 11 @ Hartford Sat Night, 7 pm ESPN+
After closing its three-game homestand last weekend, the Eleven will take to the road for its next two, beginning tomorrow Aug. 13, with a 7:00 p.m. ET kickoff at Hartford Athletic (live on ESPN+). Following a pivotal meeting for postseason hopes at FC Tulsa on Aug. 20 (8:30 p.m., live on ESPN+), Indiana’s Team will return home with two games against top of the table sides in four days’ time on Aug. 27 against Louisville City FC (7:00 p.m.) and Aug. 31 versus San Antonio FC and USL leading GK former 11 GK Jordan Farr. Tickets for those matches – and all future contests at Carroll Stadium – can be purchased online at indyeleven.com/tickets, and fans can learn more about promotional themes for the evenings at indyeleven.com/promotions.
MLS AllStars Beats LIGA MX All Stars 2-1
Really cool watching both the skills challenge and the MLS Allstar game this week – as MLS beat Liga MX (Mexico) in everything. Yes we dominate them in Ladies/Mens/Boys/Girls and now Concacaf Champions League (Seattle) and now for back to back seasons – MLS All-Stars kicked Liga MX All Stars on the field – again. The best thing I saw was the return of the Goalkeeper wars !! More of that is needed.
Huge Congrats to our Former and current Carmel FC players and GKs who made their high school teams – Season’s Start this Weekend
10 Carmel High School GKs played at Carmel FC (All 7 Ladies) (3 Boys)
On the Girls Side for Carmel High – we are proud that all 7 of the GK’s on the roster are former or current Carmel FC Players. Seniors Bethany Ducat and Aubree Empie, along with Junior Chloe Fouts, JV has Claire and Mary Grace, while 9th Grade has current CFCer’s Paulina Arana and Lilly Bose. On the boys side the Varsity has former CFC’ers Charlie Featherson and Jacob Havice, and JV has Will Hartsock. Both our Zionsville GKs made it as Cooper Cass made the Freshmen team along with Avery Keller making Varsity Girls.
A huge reminder for those who didn’t make it – you are really good players – Carmel is a huge school – chances are you all would have made it at HSE/Fishers/Guerin or Noblesville. Keep the head up and get ready for the club fall CFC season or rec at CDC!
I will have local high school previews next week – exciting with Carmel High School Girls and Boys teams coming off of State Finals Appearances last year.
BIG GAMES ON TV
Fri, Aug 12
2:30 pm ESPN+ Freiburg vs Dortmund (Reyna)
3 pm beIN Sport Lille (Weah) vs Nantes
8:30 pm Para+ Houston Dash vs Racing Louisville FC NWSL
10 pm FS1 Juerez vs Pachuca
Sat, Aug 13
7:30 am USA Aston Villa vs Everton
9:30 am ESPN+ RB Leipzig vs Koln
10 am USA Man City vs Bournemouth
10 am Peacock Southampton vs Leeds United (Adams, Aaronson)
10 am Peacock Wolverhampton vs Fulham (Reem, Jedi)
12:30 pm NBC Brentford vs Man United
12:30 ABC Schalke vs Mgladbach
3 pm ABC Barcelona (Dest) vs Rayo Vallencano
7 pm ESPN+ INDY 11 @ Hartford Athletic
7:30 pm ESPN+ Cincy v Atlanta United
10:30 pm Para+ San Diego Wave (Morgan) vs Orlando Pride NWSL
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Hi everyone! First off, my apologies for this Friday Newsletter coming out on Saturday. I put so much into finishing my 5,000-word story for Friday on the Leeds United Americans—working well past midnight Wednesday and Thursday—that I was a hollowed-out shell of myself for most of the day Friday. It turns out that pulling all-nighters in your 40s isn’t the same as when you were in your 20s. Who knew?!?
But I hope you enjoyed the Leeds story. If you haven’t yet, check it out. I’m really happy with how it came out. And I’d appreciate it if you could do me a favor: If you like the Leeds story or any of the 30 other premium magazine stories I’ve written for this site over the past 11 months, spread the word about GrantWahl.com to people you know. That’s the best way to help me be able to spend the money to keep doing ambitious stories like this that you won’t see elsewhere
This has been a wild work stretch for me. After reporting trips in July to Mexico and England (sandwiched around a not-fun, long-awaited bout of Covid), I’m at home for this part of August writing the stories that I’ve had in my notebook—Leeds and, next up, Qatar—while my wife is on a two-week reporting trip of her own in Asia. So it’s been me and our two toy poodles, Zizou and Coco, who spend their time watching me write or sitting on the sofa with me checking out games. It’s the start of the European season, so I’m trying to see a bunch of matches and get a handle on how teams look to kick things off.
That meant our Saturday went like this:
• Watch Southampton 2, Leeds United 2. I skipped the 7:30 am ET game (Aston Villa 2, Everton 1) trying to catch up on sleep, but I think it’s fair to say I’m likely to watch every Leeds game live this season with the American coach (Jesse Marsch) and two USMNT stars (Tyler Adams and Brenden Aaronson). Leeds seemed like it was in control after going up 2-0 in the second half on Rodrigo’s second goal, but Marsch waited too long to make his subs and Ralph Hasenhüttl made a big tactical change for Southampton, which equalized at 2-2 in a brutal nine-minute stretch for Leeds. It’s a bummer for Leeds, which could have been at the top of the table with a perfect six points with Man City and Arsenal, but four points after two games isn’t bad at all for a team that was in a relegation fight to the final day last season. Leeds has Chelsea at home next weekend, which will be a US-palooza with Christian Pulisic coming to Elland Road.
• Watch Brentford 4, Manchester United 0. Easily the craziest result of the weekend with United being down 4-0 after just 35 minutes and David De Gea melting down in front of us. But don’t put the blame entirely on the goalkeeper. United deserves to be at the extreme bottom of the table after two ugly losses in two weeks, and every time the camera showed Erik ten Hag it was essentially a meme. Here’s an idea: Put Lisandro Martínez at the six (where I guarantee you he’ll be better than as a CB) and start Raphaël Varane and Harry Maguire in the central defense. I’d also rather see Marcus Rashford or Anthony Martial as the starting nine than Cristiano Ronaldo. The faster Ronaldo can get his wish to leave, the better for United as a whole.
• Watch Barcelona 0, Rayo Vallecano 0. Even if most of what Barcelona’s directors did this summer seemed shady and terribly risky for the future, the one thing we were supposed to agree on was that this Barça team would be much improved on the field. Well, not today! Robert Lewandowski, Raphinia and Gavi looked a bit off, Sergio Busquets got sent off, and while things picked up somewhat after Frenkie de Jong came on, it wasn’t enough to keep Barça from dropping points at home to start the season. One cool thing about today: The second and third games I saw were on over-the-air NBC and ABC, which I hope keeps happening more. I understand the economics of why so much soccer on U.S. TV is on streaming services these days, but we’re still a country where millions of new soccer fans remain to be created, and the best way to do that is by making good games easily available.
OPENING THE MAILBAG
We are less than 4 months away from the World Cup, and it seems like Qatar officials have so many issues to solve before the tournament, including the schedule for the first 2 days and whether fans can drink alcohol. Is this going to be a disaster?
Raúl
It seems kind of crazy that after Qatar has had 12 years to prepare for the World Cup, FIFA literally changed the opening day of the tournament this week! So now Qatar-Ecuador will kick off the World Cup on November 19 as a stand-alone game. That probably should have been the case all along, but I don’t like that FIFA seems to be accommodating Qatar and doing something at the last moment that will make life difficult for Ecuador fans. Based on what I learned from the announcement of the World Cup 2026 host cities, it seems like FIFA does a lot these days by the seat of its pants.
The Qatar World Cup has a lot of big issues, obviously. But I actually don’t think consuming alcohol will be a problem. I was in Qatar in late February, and it was pretty easy to get a drink at a hotel bar or restaurant, much easier than when I visited Qatar in 2013. One significant concern I see will be for hotel rooms for visiting fans. I’ll try and get more info on this in the coming weeks.
Dan Le Batard got BigSoccer riled up during the 2006 World Cup with some anti-soccer comments. Now he employs Fancy Lad Chris Wittyngham. How much is this an indicator of progress for soccer?
James
Ha! Maybe not the best indicator, but it’s something. Dan still isn’t a huge soccer guy, but he has people on his show who care about the sport. And I’m seeing a few other signs on big sports shows. Colin Cowherd had Stu Holden on his show this week, and Cowherd not only follows the U.S. national teams now, but he also knows what he’s talking about. We’ll see if we can get Stephen A. Smith (“Let’s do that soccer!”) in a place like that before long.
How do you think the NWSL compares in terms of quality of play to the European leagues? Do you foresee a day when there will be a match between the European champions and the American ones?
Roger Bauman
It was revealing not long ago to interview Lindsay Horan, who spoke about the differences between the NWSL and playing at Lyon. She noted that Lyon was better technically, while the NWSL was more rough-and-tumble athletic. I agree with her. But I’d also add that the NWSL is much more competitive than the French league and has a better distribution of talent among the teams. And while the WICC games next week will be fun, I’m waiting for FIFA to get its act together and get a Club World Cup for women started ASAP. We needs those games, and it should have already happened by now.
I feel sad about the rough season my hometown Washington Spirit is having after winning the NWSL championship last year. Do you have any insights—general or specific—about how they’ve gone from red hot to almost bottom of the pack? (I wonder if it’s particularly hard for team cohesion to have a whopping seven players disappear from time to time for USWNT camps?)
Alison MacAdam
It’s been a crazy turn-around this season for the Spirit. There’s more stability under the new ownership of Michele Kang, and you’d think things would be better with previous abusive coaches out of the picture. But the team has gone a long time without winning (not since May 1), and the situation at Segra Field is a mess, and you’re right, it hasn’t helped to miss so many players with the national team. But if you have that many national team players, you should start getting results when they’re back. And that hasn’t happened.
From the USMNT perspective, is the team better with Pulisic playing with Chelsea as a super sub or as a regular player with a lesser Premier league team (ex: West Ham)? Ultimately, the goal is to have Christian at his peak going into the WC.
Paul Saiz
If you’re the USMNT, you obviously want Pulisic playing as much as possible. Right now it seems like Raheem Sterling, Mason Mount and Kai Havertz are being preferred by Thomas Tuchel, but I’m hoping Pulisic finds a way to crack that soon. We’ve seen some discussion about the potential of a Newcastle transfer for Pulisic, but it’s still hard for me to envision him making a move this month.
If Seattle doesn’t make the playoffs, is Schmetzer out? Does whether Lagerwey stays affect Schmetzer’s future? If Brian is fired, is Preki the obvious choice for interim coach?
James
Even if the Sounders miss the MLS playoffs (and I think they’ll end up making it), I would be stunned if Schmetzer or Lagerwey would be in trouble at all this season after the Sounders won the CCL title. That trophy, and the two MLS Cups they’ve won in recent years, buys a lot of credit for those two. That said, I kind of like that the question is being asked, because I think it’s a good thing for there to be more pressure on MLS coaches and sporting directors than we have seen in the past.
What outrageously wild predictions would you have for the first half of the Euro season? Some team coming from nowhere or some player we never heard of? Who’s the next Sheriff? Or just who should we turn an eye toward?
Lou Hudson
I’m fascinated by what’s going on at Rangers. You’ve got a team that went to the final of the Europa League (losing to Frankfurt), a team that has USMNT players James Sands and goal-scorer Malik Tillman, a team that has one more hurdle to clear with PSV Eindhoven to get to this season’s Champions League group stage. So how about predicting that Rangers gets there, and that Tillman becomes the goal-scorer (his ups are crazy) that the USMNT needs for the World Cup?
Why is it that women’s clubs in Europe are attached to men’s clubs as opposed to the “expansion style” in the U.S.? Do you think one model is better for the development of the women’s game?
MR
It’s just the soccer culture in Europe, where we haven’t seen any real situations pop up yet where someone wants to start a women’s team from scratch and compete with the established order. It’s instructive that it was seen as important for the women’s game in Europe when Manchester United and Real Madrid finally took women’s soccer seriously enough to start investing in top-division teams (even though they aren’t the best teams in their leagues at this point). I don’t think one model is clearly better, and you do see some NWSL teams owned by people who also own MLS teams, but as long as the owners show they care, that’s what matters to me.
With the self-imposed announcement date passed and nary a peep during the All-Star break, is MLS to Vegas off or do we still expect to hear something soon? Also, I’m assuming MLS goes to 32 teams. When will that happen and who are the most likely candidates?
Michael Mancini
I still expect that Las Vegas will get the next MLS expansion team to bring the league to 30 teams. At that point, the next leading candidates are San Diego, Phoenix, Sacramento and maybe Detroit. MLS commissioner Don Garber indicated last week that he’d like to get to 32 teams. But it’s in his interests for there to be the appearance of scarcity, so I doubt we’ll hear him say anything about the potential for more than 32 teams for a while to come.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading!
USMNT weekend viewing guide: We’re all rolling now
With LaLiga and Serie A beginning this weekend, all the major European leagues are back.
Here we go! The action is in full swing now as La Liga and Serie A sides begin their season this weekend, joining the other European leagues who kicked things off last weekend and leading to a full slate of action. There are already some injury concerns impacting our watch schedule, as well as transfer rumors suggesting some individuals could be on the move, but at least for now here’s what we’ll be watching:
Gio Reyna made last weekend’s matchday squad for Borussia Dortmund but was an unused substitute in the team’s 1-0 win over 10-man Bayer Leverkusen. It is not surprising the club would continue their cautious approach with Reyna, who barely saw playing time during the preseason. Marco Reus scored 10 minutes into Dortmund’s opener, and the team would hang on to win 1-0 in what was an important, if unconvincing, victory over a Leverkusen side that seems likely to be a competitor for Champions League qualification by season’s end.
This weekend, Dortmund will take on a Freiburg side that finished last season in 6th place and opened their new campaign with a 4-0 thumping of Augsburg. Their match was scoreless through the first half, but Freiburg scored twice within the first three minutes of the second half kickoff and coasted to victory through a balanced attack that saw four different players find the back of the net.
Other notes:
Timothy Weah missed Lille’s opener last weekend (a 4-1 win over Auxerre) due to yellow card accumulation and now looks like he will miss a couple weeks due to a foot injury. Lille face Nantes at 3p on beIN Sports.
Saturday
Barcelona v Rayo Vallecano – 3p on ABC
Sergiño Dest could be on the move yet this month as Barcelona has reportedly made him available, and it seems that he is third in the pecking order at the right back spot, having seen limited playing time during the preseason. It’s no secret that Barcelona have wage and money issues, but it’s also no secret that they don’t operate in typical fashion so it remains to be seen whether they are seeking to move Dest to recoup some money and register some of the numerous players they have already added this summer or if they are trying to replace him with yet another signing.
For now, Dest remains with Barcelona as the team kicks off their season against Rayo Vallecano Saturday afternoon on ABC. Barcelona finished a distant second place to Real Madrid last season and, as we mentioned above, has brought in a number of reinforcements (Robert Lewandowski, Andreas Christensen, and Raphinha, to name a few) in an attempt to close the gap. However, it isn’t without a high degree of risk. In fact, it has been argued that unless Barcelona are able to close the gap on Real Madrid in both La Liga and Champions League and reap the financial rewards, then president Joan Laporta’s summer strategy could send the club into an unrecoverable financial tailspin. They will be dealing with a different kind of pressure this season as they look to make good. They will start their campaign on Saturday against a Rayo Vallecano side that finished 12th place in La Liga last season, just four points out safe from relegation.
Streaming overseas:
Ricardo Pepi came off the bench last weekend in Augsburg’s 4-0 loss to Freiburg. This weekend, the team face Bayer Leverkusen at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Timothy Chandler was an unused substitute for Eintracht Frankfurt last Friday as they were smashed by Bayern Munich 6-1. Things should get easier this weekend as they face a Hertha Berlin side that needed to win the relegation playoff to escape being dropped to the 2. Bundesliga. This match will also be played at 9:30a on ESPN+.
Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, and Jesse Marsch look to build on last weekend’s season opening win over Wolves when they face Southampton at 10a on Peacock. Southampton opened the season with a 4-1 loss to Tottenham.
Tim Ream, Antonee Robinson and Fulham were involved in the shock result of last weekend as the newly promoted club drew with title contending Liverpool 2-2. Fulham take on Wolverhampton Wanderers at 10a on Peacock.
Luca de la Torre could make his LaLiga debut as his new club Celta Vigo open their season against Espanyol at 11a on ESPN+.
Joe Scally got the start for Borussia Mönchengladbach last weekend in the team’s 3-1 win over Hoffenheim. ‘Gladbach look to build some momentum as they face a newly promoted Schalke side that lost to Köln 3-1. The match will be played at 12:30p on ESPN+.
The Houston Dynamo host Djordje Mihailovic and CF Montreal at 9p.
Kellyn Acosta and league leading LAFC host Charlotte FC at 10:30p.
Sunday
Mainz v Union Berlin – 9:30a on ESPN+
Jordan Pefok got his Bundesliga career off to the perfect start last weekend, scoring the opening goal for Union Berlin in the team’s 3-1 Berlin Derby win over Hertha Berlin. Pefok redirected a cross in with a header from a sharp angle in the 30th minute and his side were off and running, getting out to a 3-0 lead before conceding a consolation goal in the 85th minute. It was a dream debut for Pefok, who joined Union Berlin over the summer following a prolific year for Switzerland’s BSC Young Boys, with 27 goals across all competitions. It would be unreasonable to expect Pefok to maintain such a high scoring rate with the jump in leagues, but if he is able to continue slotting home goals with some regularity for Union Berlin, it should help keep the attention on USMNT fans and, more importantly, USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter.
Other notes:
Christian Pulisic saw 25 minutes off the bench for Chelsea FC last weekend in the club’s rather mundane 1-0 win over Everton. They now face a Spurs side that looked rather explosive last weekend in putting four goals past Southampton. The match will be played at 11:30a on USA Network.
Yunus Musah has been playing regularly in the middle of the pitch for Valencia during the preseason, which is a welcome development for USMNT fans. His side open their 2022-23 campaign against Girona at 1:30p in a match that can be seen on ESPN Deportes and ESPN+.
Walker Zimmerman and Nashville SC host Minnesota United at 9p on FS1. Nashville sit just a point ahead of the Seattle Sounders in the playoff race.
Streaming overseas:
Erik Palmer-Brown and Troyes got their season off to a rough start last weekend suffering a 3-2 loss to Montpellier. They’ll look to rebound this weekend as they face Toulouse at 9a on beIN Sports.
Real Sociedad start their season with a trip to Cadiz at 11:30a on Sunday in a match that can be seen on ESPN+. Jonathan Gomez reportedly will get some opportunities with the first team this season, though it remains to be seen in what capacity. It would take a flurry of activity to grab the attention of Gregg Berhalter ahead of November’s World Cup.
MLS Mashup (all matches on ESPN+):
Jordan Morris, Cristian Roldan and the Seattle Sounders host Diego Luna and Real Salt Lake at 10p.
Bonus Monday action:
Weston McKennie remains sidelined for Juventus, who begin their Serie A campaign as they take on Sassuolo at 2:45p on Paramount+.
Chris Richards was an unused substitute for Crystal Palace last weekend. The side now face Liverpool at 3p on USA Network.
Let us know what you’re eager to keep an eye on this weekend and what other action you see in the comments section below.
USMNT players and their kids. (L to R) Deandre Yedlin, Aaron Long, Walker Zimmerman
LaLiga 2022-23 preview: Will Barcelona topple Real Madrid? What to watch for ahead of new season
Before the action gets underway, though, let’s examine some of the biggest storylines worth following as the 2022-23 season begins to unfold. ESPN contributers Alex Kirkland, Sam Marsden and Sid Lowe look at players to watch for, and Cesar Hernandez rounds up United States and Mexico players in LaLiga.
The euphoria generated by Real Madrid’s 14th Champions League win in May hasn’t faded yet. That victory over Liverpool, close on the heels of a 35th LaLiga title wrapped up a month earlier, left Madrid feeling self-assured and confident about this team’s trajectory. Stability and prudence have been the watchwords this summer, with no panic buying, and a determination to move only for elite players who can genuinely add something to the side.
Antonio Rudiger — a Champions League-winning central defender at Chelsea — fits into that category, and so does top midfield prospect Aurelien Tchouameni, who joined from AS Monaco. Otherwise, Madrid trust in the players who won it all last year — and unflappable coach Carlo Ancelotti — to go out and do it again.
Barcelona finished second last season and it was reluctantly accepted as a success after Xavi Hernandez took over as manager in November with the team languishing ninth in LaLiga. A second-placed finish this time round will not be so highly regarded after what could perhaps be dubbed one of the most remarkable transfer windows of all time.
After losing Lionel Messi a year ago because they could not afford to keep him, Barca have since sold off 25% of their domestic television rights and 25% of in-house production company Barca Studios for over €600 million.
That money, as well as helping reduce debt, has fuelled the signings of Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha, Jules Kounde, Franck Kessie and Andreas Christensen. And president Joan Laporta says they are not done yet, either — although a bloated payroll also needs reducing first. As a result, Xavi has been handed a stacked, highly competitive squad. The team looks especially exciting in attack, with Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembele, Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang complementing Lewandowski and Raphinha. Finishing 13 points behind Madrid this season will not be acceptable. — Marsden
Last year’s LaLiga season was characterised by the failure of any of Real Madrid’s rivals to deliver a proper title race. Nowhere was that more evident than at Atletico Madrid, whose bid to defend the 2020-21 crown fell apart in an identity crisis as coach Diego Simeone struggled to find a balance between defence and attack.
This season could be different, especially with the departure of Luis Suarez — Joao Felix is increasingly influential at one end of the pitch, while Reinildo Mandava has brought back some of the old bite at the other. Summer business has been limited to the free transfer signing of Axel Witsel and the belated arrival of a specialist right-back in Nahuel Molina.
Elsewhere around the league, there are concerns about Sevilla’s readiness for a top four battle, having lost both Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos, although sporting director Monchi looks to be readying a late sweep of the transfer market. Villarreal are strong contenders to follow up last year’s remarkable Champions League semifinals run by pushing for fourth, while Real Betis and Real Sociedad will both expect to challenge. — Marsden
Gennaro Gattuso’s coaching record in Italy (AC Milan and Napoli) was passable, if not exceptional, but Valencia represent a different challenge altogether.
Los Che are one of the biggest teams in Spain, but it feels like until the continued confrontation between supporters and owner Peter Lim ends, they will struggle to be where they should be in LaLiga: at least competing for the Champions League places.
For years now Valencia have struggled to fill their potential, in part because of that tension between Lim and the fans. Stability has also been a problem as they have raced through coaches. Each of the past four campaigns has now begun with a new manager. Their summer has been low-key, with Samu Castillejo and Samuel Lino interesting signings, but there remains uncertainty around two of their best players. Both Carlos Soler and Jose Luis Gaya are in the final 12 months of their deals, with no immediate resolution to their futures in sight. — Marsden
If there’s a club that has made a virtue of departures, always able to assimilate loss and reinvent itself, that club is Sevilla. And yet, this time feels different: sales are happening because they have to rather than because they are planned per se, both central defenders (Jules Kounde and Diego Carlos) have departed, and they have actually not been very good for quite a while now — look at their results since the turn of the year and they don’t lose often at all but they don’t win much either.
The signing of Isco and the loan of Alex Telles from Manchester United can help, but there’s already a slight sense of loss and maybe even a little mistrust that might accelerate problems if things don’t start well for manager Julen Lopetegui. There are stalwarts such as Ivan Rakitic and Youssef En-Nesyri, but no sign of a new striker yet. Conceding six at Arsenal in a preseason friendly was a warning. — Lowe
Isco: Real Madrid did not let me play
New Sevilla signing Isco explains why he decided to join Julen Lopetegui’s side and insists he will give his all for the club.
Ernesto Valverde is back at San Mames for a third spell in charge of Athletic Club and refreshed after over two years out of the game following his departure from Barcelona. During his second spell in Bilbao, which lasted four years and ended in 2017, he led the Basque side into the Champions League and never failed to finish outside the top seven, qualifying for Europe in every campaign. In the five seasons since he left, Athletic have finished 16th, 8th, 11th, 10th and 8th.
Athletic will always have their hands tied due to the fact they are committed to signing only Basque players, but Valverde knows the club inside and out and how it operates. There is talent in the squad in the form of Inigo Martinez, Iker Muniain and Inaki Williams, and the club’s academy at Lezama continues to produce talent for the first team. — Marsden
Getafe’s transfer window — led by new director of football Ramon Planes — has been quietly excellent. Defender Domingos Duarte, midfielders Jaime Seoane and Luis Milla and forwards Portu and Borja Mayoral are all sensible additions who will strengthen a team that lost a record seven consecutive games at the start of last season.
Quique Sanchez Flores has also steadied the ship after previous coach Michel’s struggles. Sanchez Flores is a seen-it-all, underrated manager who knows how to build a solid, effective team, and will be hoping for a straightforward midtable finish rather than a relegation battle. — Kirkland
Hutchison blasts ‘amateur’ Barcelona for registration issues
Don Hutchison and Julien Laurens discuss Barcelona’s problems with registering their new signings.
Can busy Barcelona stop Real’s repeat?
First of all, let’s assume all of Barcelona’s signings can be registered and there is a satisfactory outcome to the Frenkie de Jong situation. If so, there can be no excuses for Xavi and Barcelona this season. While it’s true Xavi transformed Barca last season after floundering midtable for a part of it, it’s also true he was given much more leeway than his predecessor, Ronald Koeman.
Xavi was backed in January with the signings of Ferran Torres and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, and has been spectacularly backed this summer. Robert Lewandowski is the standout arrival at €45 million, but big money has also been invested in exciting Brazil winger Raphinha and vibrant defender Jules Kounde. It’s going to be fascinating to see how all the new signings do at Camp Nou, but also to see how Ousmane Dembele progresses after signing a new contract and how youngsters Pedri, Gavi and Ansu Fati continue to evolve.
Club president Joan Laporta says success is a requirement at Barca and that is why he has sanctioned this summer’s spending. Now it’s up to Xavi to stop Ancelotti’s Madrid, who have also strengthened with the signings of Antonio Rudiger and Aurelien Tchouameni, retaining the title. The Clasico battles (Oct. 16 in Madrid, March 23 in Barcelona) for the top of the table will be full of promise. — Marsden
Will Madrid be fazed by Mbappe snub?
“Kylian who?” That’s been the message from the Bernabeu ever since Madrid missed out on their long-term top target when France star Kylian Mbappe signed a new contract at Paris Saint-Germain. The timing of that abrupt U-turn — a week before the Champions League final — looked awkward at first but turned out to be a godsend when Madrid’s victory over Liverpool helped reassure fans that not signing Mbappe was, perhaps, no big deal. In fact, it’s been remarkable how quickly the saga has disappeared in the rearview mirror.
In any case, Mbappe’s arrival would have caused Ancelotti an unnecessary headache, likely shifting Vinicius Junior from his preferred left-wing berth just as he’d established himself. Nonetheless, Madrid are all-in on Vinicius now. The Brazil winger will do well to repeat his 17-goal haul from last season. With no forward expected to arrive, it will be down to him and Rodrygo to support Karim Benzema (can Eden Hazard rebound from his injuries?) in the goal-scoring department. — Kirkland
Eden Hazard ‘focused’ on proving himself at Real Madrid
Eden Hazard speaks about potentially joining MLS and his hopes for this season with Real Madrid.
What about the coaching carousel?
Appointing a new coach refreshes expectations, and three LaLiga sides will be hoping a change of face on the touchline will improve their fortunes this season. It proved true for Cadiz and Mallorca last term, who dramatically stayed up after appointing Sergio Gonzalez and Javier Aguirre, respectively.
Ambitions will be loftier at Athletic Club, Valencia and Espanyol, though. Ex-Barca boss Ernesto Valverde returns to Athletic with the task of helping the Basque side back into European football. That will also be the task facing Gennaro Gattuso at Valencia. The former AC Milan and Napoli coach replaced Jose Bordalas this summer.
Finally, Diego Martinez is an intriguing appointment at Espanyol. He produced miracles to take Granada to the Europa League, and the Barcelona-based side will want the same success. Realistically, though, they will struggle to break free from the no-man’s land between the relegation battle and the hunt for European places. — Marsden
Promoted sides offer a challenge?
There’s an element of intrigue to the owners of all three promoted teams. Real Valladolid are owned by Brazil legend Ronaldo, Almeria by Saudi Arabian billionaire Turki Al-Sheikh and Girona‘s majority owner is the City Football Group. Modern football, eh?
Of the three, Real Valladolid have had the most low-key summer, perhaps because it’s been only a year since they were last in the top flight. However, Almeria have spent over €15 million, which is a fortune in Spanish football for a team outside the top four. Among their key signings is Brazilian defender Kaiky, who is only 18 and was scouted by Barcelona. The real sign of Almeria’s wealth, though, is that they have so far resisted bids for star forward Umar Sadiq, a Nigeria international with over 40 goals in his two years at the club.
Girona, meanwhile, have had a good summer on paper. David Lopez adds experience to a squad that already includes veteran striker Cristhian Stuani. And the City Football Group has used its network of clubs to make some interesting additions, none more so than Valentin “Taty” Castellanos, who joins on loan after winning Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot in 2021 and leading NYCFC to the MLS Cup title.
So, who wins LaLiga? Who’ll play in Champions League?
“The hunger is the last thing I am worried about,” Carlo Ancelotti said. If Madrid can maintain the basis of last year, and integrate Rudiger and Tchouameni, plus last season’s big signing Eduardo Camavinga, it feels like they should be the strongest side again — although the absence of another striker might be a concern.
Given the way that they finished last season and how they have signed in the summer, Barcelona really should compete all the way to the finish this time.
And not being defending champions might be good for Atletico Madrid. Sevilla and Real Betis probably won’t be as good as they were. Considering the stability and resources, fourth place should be there for Villarreal. Look for Real Sociedad to aim for fifth place and the Europa League berth.
Looking for a revelation: how good might Athletic Club be with the return of Ernesto Valverde as coach? Or what about Getafe, who impressed once Quique Sanchez Flores took over and seem to have signed well too. — Lowe
Lewandowski: I don’t want to be compared with Benzema
New Barcelona signing Robert Lewandowski praises Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema but says he isn’t keen on being in direct competition with him.
Benzema, Lewandowski. Anyone else in Golden Boot mix?
There’s nothing like a head-to-head Golden Boot race between two of the biggest names in world football to get people’s attention. That’s been absent since Cristiano Ronaldo and then Lionel Messi left LaLiga, but the arrival of Robert Lewandowski from Bayern means it’s back with a vengeance.
Last season, Karim Benzema walked it — his 27 goals were nine more than second-placed Iago Aspas‘ 18, with Vinicius Junior and Raul de Tomas each having 17 — but this year will be a different story altogether. Lewandowski won the European Golden Shoe in both 2021 and 2022, and if anyone can outgun Ballon d’Or favourite Benzema, it’s he.
Otherwise, expect Celta Vigo icon Aspas to retain his crown as the top-scoring Spaniard. De Tomas’ prospects depend on whether he’s still at Espanyol come the end of the transfer window, and three players who disappointed in terms of numbers last season — Villarreal’s Gerard Moreno (9), Real Sociedad’s Alexander Isak (6) and Atletico Madrid’s Antoine Griezmann (3) — should all improve their tallies significantly. — Kirkland
‘Taty’ to keep Girona up?
Girona‘s signing of Valentin “Taty” Castellanos from Major League Soccer champions New York City FC would have been more out of left field if both clubs were not owned by the City Football Group. However, despite that fact, the Argentine forward’s loan move to Catalonia still has the potential to be one of the most exciting deals in Spain this summer.
Castellanos, 23, who won the MLS Golden Boot last year and was leading this season’s race before leaving, already has Girona fans excited after preseason goals against Andorra and Napoli. If you have goals in your side, you have a good chance of staying in LaLiga, and with Castellanos and veteran Cristhian Stuani, Girona should have them in abundance. — Marsden
Morales key to Villarreal’s top four hopes?
The player known as “El Comandante” built a reputation as one of LaLiga’s most fun-to-watch players at Levante. Jose Luis Morales‘ best efforts — and 13 goals — couldn’t keep them up last season, and his tears of frustration on the pitch when relegation was eventually confirmed were hard to watch.
The 35-year-old’s initial insistence on staying at Levante in Segunda was admirable, but he shouldn’t be judged too harshly for the change of heart that saw him join Villarreal. Morales deserves a late-career crack at European football, playing alongside footballers of a similar calibre. His quality might help Villarreal break into the top four. — Kirkland
U.S., Mexico players in Spain
The two traditional powerhouses from the CONCACAF region will each have a handful of representatives in LaLiga for the 2022-23 season.
Starting with the United States, 24-year-old midfielder Luca de la Torre is the newest USMNT player in LaLiga, making the move over to Celta Vigo this summer. Fullback Sergino Dest will be entering his third season with Barcelona, and midfielder Yunus Musah should feature more for Valencia. All three appear to be USMNT roster locks for the upcoming World Cup.Another name to keep an eye on is Espanyol‘s 17-year-old midfielder Luca Koleosho. Last season, Koleosho became the youngest American-born player to debut in Spain’s top flight. Also eligible for Canada, Koleosho hasn’t made a decision just yet regarding his national team future.
Is De la Torre’s Celta move a risk in a World Cup year?
The Futbol Americas team discuss the USMNT’s Luca de la Torre moving to Celta Vigo with the World Cup on the horizon.As for Mexico, Sevilla‘s Jesus “Tecatito” Corona is the most noteworthy name from the El Tri contingent. The 29-year-old winger has looked promising in the preseason with a couple of goals during July friendlies. Mexico captain and veteran Andres Guardado will be entering his sixth year with Real Betis, helping the team win the Copa del Rey last season.Over at Real Sociedad, fullback Jonathan Gomez will aim to break into the first team after earning consistent minutes for Real Sociedad B last season. Gomez has represented both the United States and Mexico at the youth and senior level, but last featured for El Tri during a friendly in April. He has yet to commit to either side.Both Corona and Guardado are shoo-ins for Mexico’s World Cup roster. Gomez is unlikely to be included due to his national team status being up in the air, but plenty could change if he establishes himself with Real Sociedad’s first team.Also of note for Mexico are three newcomers in Spain’s second division. Real Oviedo have brought in Daniel Aceves and Arsenal academy product Marcelo Flores, while Gijon have added Liga MX Rookie of the Year Jordan Carrillo from Santo Laguna.
A new Barcelona No. 1, outsider for Premier League Golden Glove: Bold goalkeeper predictions for 2022-23
It’s hard to believe the 2022-23 season has already kicked off. It feels like just yesterday that Manchester City won the Premier League on the final matchday of the season, and Real Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt and AS Roma clinched some historic European silverware.
Now it’s time to do it all again: to watch new teams write history, new players make a name for themselves and new stories come to life. To celebrate the start of a new European football season, I’ve compiled a list of some of my goalkeeper predictions for the 2022-23 season — but with a twist. Instead of going the safe route, I’ve added a little bit of spice to my predictions. From a star goalkeeper losing his starting position to a World Cup record getting broken, here are some of my boldest goalkeeper takes for the new season.
The prediction: After a short loan spell at Galatasaray, Inaki Pena is back with Barcelona, replacing Neto as the club’s backup goalkeeper. But the promotions won’t stop there for Pena. I predict that by the end of the 2022-23 season, Pena will have supplanted long-time starter Marc-Andre ter Stegen as the club’s No. 1.
Why it’ll come true: There was a point in time when Marc-Andre ter Stegen was undisputed as one of the world’s top goalkeepers. But since his career season in 2017-18, the German’s performances have dipped. His league save percentage has dropped each season since his Barcelona career high of 79.7% in 2018, down to 70.9% last season; he’s failed to keep more than 11 league clean sheets in each of his past two seasons; and his expected league goals saved above average has been below zero for the past three seasons.
He’s also been involved in some humiliating losses, such as the Liverpool comeback in 2019 and Bayern Munich’s8-2 dismantling of Barcelona in 2020. Ter Stegen hasn’t been able to find his composure since these losses, and his inability to bounce back has led to some fans calling for him to be replaced. This is why I believe the 23-year-old Pena is poised to take over Barcelona’s starting duties by the end of the 2022-23 season.
The Alicante native is one of the brightest prospects in Spanish goalkeeping. He’s displayed great agility and aerial dominance throughout his development, and his quick footwork and steely composure have made him an excellent sweeper-keeper for both the Barcelona and Spain youth ranks.
Pena is not a finished product, nor will he be one by the end of the season. And for the time being, the starting position isn’t Pena’s. But what happens if Ter Stegen’s numbers don’t improve over the first half of this season? What if his save percentage continues to dip? What if Ter Stegen continues to play at the level that has plagued him in recent years?
These are all legitimate concerns, and if Pena impresses in the limited Copa Del Rey minutes he’s likely going to get, I can see Xavi Hernandez giving the youngster a chance.
With Barcelona back in win-now mode after Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha’s signings (among others), they need a goalkeeper who can provide them with the same consistency, game-stealing performances, mental stability and drive for success they relied on a few seasons ago. This is something I’m afraid Ter Stegen can no longer do (at least, not over a full season, and certainly not in the Champions League).
The club has to look ahead to a future without Ter Stegen as their first-choice goalkeeper, and by easing Pena into the No. 1 role by the end of this season, I think they’d be setting themselves up for success in both 2023 and beyond.
The World Cup penalties saved record will be broken this year
The prediction: In the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Croatia goalkeeper Danijel Subasic matched the World Cup’s all-time penalties saved record when he stopped four penalties in seven appearances. It was an incredible achievement — but this year, it will be bested. I predict a goalkeeper will break the all-time penalties saved record in the World Cup.
Why it’ll come true: Penalties are a tough thing to predict when it comes to major international tournaments. Since most of these tournaments only require a team to play a maximum of seven games from start to finish, goalkeepers don’t tend to face a lot of penalties. This is especially true for the average goalkeeper, since most teams tend to play four or fewer games in a single international tournament and might not qualify for another World Cup for years.
But even with that context, I can’t shake off the feeling that four is a beatable number. The numbers also suggest that more penalties are being taken at World Cups, leading to more chances for a goalkeeper to break the record. We see this in the rise of the number of World Cup penalty shootouts.
The record for most penalty shootouts in a single World Cup is four, set initially in the 1990 World Cup. Three of the past four World Cups have matched that mark, including each of the past two World Cups. This isn’t a World Cup-specific occurrence either. Though no Copa America has matched the shootout record set in 1995 (also four), four of the past five Copa Americas have seen three shootouts take place. In Europe, Euro 2020 matched the all-time single-tournament shootout record (also four, seeing a pattern?), and Euro 2016 hit the three shootout mark for the first time since 1996.
Another number that seems to lean in favour of this prediction is penalty conversion percentage. Since the first shootout took place in a World Cup in 1982, only four World Cups have seen players record a total shootout conversion percentage below 70%. One of those World Cups was the 2018 edition (66.7%), and two others were World Cups that took place in the 21st century (2006: 63.6%, and 2022: 68.4%).
Penalty conversion rates seem to be on the decline elsewhere too. In the Premier League, penalty conversions have dropped significantly since the 1990s; and the 2021 Copa America had the lowest percentage of successful shootout penalties (62%) since 1997.
Though these percentages include off-target penalties, I reckon it also has to do with improvements in penalty knowledge and gamesmanship in goalkeeping. Given the talent today’s goalkeepers have as well as the numbers presented above, I’m confident this prediction will come true.
Premier League’s Golden Glove will be won by a goalkeeper not representing a top-3 club
The prediction: The Premier League Golden Glove is awarded annually to the league’s goalkeeper who kept the most clean sheets in a specific season. Usually, this is a goalkeeper playing for one of the season’s top clubs. But this season will be different because the award will be won by a goalkeeper not representing a top-three club.
Why it’ll come true: To understand just how bold of a prediction this is, we need to understand how exclusive the Premier League Golden Glove award is.
Since the award’s inception in 2005, the Golden Glove has been awarded 18 times. Over that time, nine different goalkeepers have won the award, representing one of just five different clubs: Manchester City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United. Only two goalkeepers — Pepe Reina in 2008 and Wojciech Szczesny in 2014 — have won the award while representing a club that finished outside of the top three that season and in both cases, their club finished fourth.
Given this context, what makes me think things will be different this season? First, although the winner has almost always been a goalkeeper representing a top-three club, the runner-ups, while still largely made up of goalkeepers from the top three clubs, aren’t nearly as exclusive.
Of the 54 goalkeepers who have finished first, second or third in a Golden Glove race, 23 of them represented a club that finished outside of the top three that season. These include goalkeepers who were playing for a club outside of the top six, like Emiliano Martinez in 2021 (Aston Villa finished 11th), Nick Pope in 2020 (Burnley finished 10th) and Fraser Forster in 2017 (Southampton finished 8th).
Many of these goalkeepers came in second place too. In fact, eight of the 18 Golden Glove silver medallists were goalkeepers who played for non top-three clubs. These include two of the past three runner-ups.
Although the winners of the award have almost exclusively been goalkeepers representing a top-three team, the podium has a much healthier dose of goalkeepers representing non top-three clubs. So it’s not unreasonable to think one such goalkeeper could have a good year and finish the race on top — especially when you consider the current crop of talented goalkeepers the Premier League boasts.
In the past, most of the Premier League’s top goalkeepers were those playing for one of the league’s big five or six clubs. In the 2010-11 season, for example, only five goalkeepers hit the 10 clean sheet mark — and of those five goalkeepers, four of them were playing for a club that finished in the top six (Mark Schwarzer played for 8th-placed Fulham).
Another example is the 2016-17 season, which only saw six goalkeepers hit the 10 clean sheet mark. Again, four of those goalkeepers were representing a top-six club (Forster played for 8th-placed Southampton and Tom Heaton played for 16th-placed Burnley).
Fast-forward to the 2020-21 season, though, and 13 different goalkeepers hit the 10 clean sheet mark — a record in the 38-game Premier League era. These goalkeepers ranged from Premier League winner Ederson to Nick Pope and Robert Sanchez, whose clubs finished in 17th and 16th.
Many of those goalkeepers are still in the Premier League, in some cases with their same club, and I can see them not only breaking the 10 clean sheet barrier again but challenging for the Golden Glove too. Last season, only four clean sheets separated Alisson and Ederson from Lloris (whose Tottenham finished fourth). If a couple of bounces worked Lloris’ way or against Alisson and Ederson, it might’ve been Lloris lifting the Golden Glove last season.
Throw in some of the new faces we’ll see this season (such as Thomas Strakosha, now at Brentford) and I think there’s a decent pool of goalkeepers outside of the top three to bet on to win the Premier League Golden Glove.
Conte’s revitalised Tottenham face first big test in London derby at Chelsea
Aug 11, 2022
James OlleySenior Writer, ESPN FC
On Sunday, Antonio Conte returns to the place where his worst fears about Tottenham were realised for the first time. It was particularly galling for a former Chelsea manager that the scale of his task was made clear at Stamford Bridge of all places, as the Blues eased to a 2-0 win in the Carabao Cup semifinal, first leg in early January.
The scoreline wasn’t particularly savage, but Spurs conceded two dreadful goals and failed to register a shot of any description until the 50th minute in a meek surrender that left Conte unwilling to pull any punches in his post-match assessment. “There’s an important gap, an important difference, there’s a big job to do to retrieve the situation,” he said in assessing the distance between Spurs and the top sides.
Conte was barely eight weeks into the job, and he had already masterminded a draw against Liverpool and seven wins from his first 12 games in charge.
But the chastening nature of that defeat to Chelsea — followed by an equally insipid showings in the return leg and a Premier League defeat to the same opponents later in the month — began a series of public utterances which raised questions over whether he would even stick around. After losing to Burnley on Feb. 23, Conte publicly doubted whether he was the right man for the job.
Even after pulling off an improbable fourth-place finish by thrashing Norwich 5-0 on the final day of the season, he still refused to commit to remaining as Tottenham head coach amid concerns the club would not back him to the extent he felt necessary to turn Spurs into title challengers.Conte knows enough about London to “mind the gap.” Optimism that this “gap” between them and the top clubs is finally closing comes from six summer signings, a full preseason working under the Italian and an encouraging 4-1 win over Southampton on the opening day. But Sunday’s trip to Chelsea represents the first meeting of the Premier League’s traditional Big Six this season, and will also offer the clearest indication yet whether Conte’s rebuild is on track.Both Conte’s brilliance and his volatility are well documented. The 53-year-old is an elite manager, but has never spent more than three consecutive seasons at the same club, often leaving in acrimonious circumstances. Juventus were Serie A champions when he quit after one day of preseason ahead of 2014-15 following disagreements over the club’s transfer strategy. He was sacked from Chelsea in 2018 after falling out with the hierarchy and several senior players, again over the direction of the club. Conte departed Inter Milan last May in opposition to an unloading of top stars triggered by financial problems related in part to COVID-19.He did win four Serie A titles and the 2016-17 Premier League with Chelsea during this span, but his combustible personality always seemed an improbable fit with Tottenham, a club that has long prioritised financial prudence and long-term planning over short-term, boom-and-bust under the watchful eye of chairman Daniel Levy.
Conte’s unstable rhetoric around last season effectively built to a two-day meeting in Italy as the summer began and, together with the club’s football managing director, Fabio Paratici, they finalised a list of summer targets. Significant backing was required. Previous managers — perhaps most obviously Mauricio Pochettino — became disillusioned when failing to receive the support they felt necessary to take Spurs to the top, meeting a brick wall built from financial caution. This time, it was different. Levy and the majority shareholders, ENIC, agreed to help realise Conte’s vision for the future. It was a significant moment.
February’s departure of the club’s longstanding director of technical performance, Steve Hitchen, was a sign of Paratici’s growing influence, but here, emboldened by Conte guiding Spurs back into the Champions League, was a real sea change in Tottenham’s willingness to support their head coach.
Previously, players were signed with potential and a clearly defined future transfer market value. This time, they were in large part being targeted for the here and now. The arrival of 33-year-old wing-back Ivan Perisic embodies this shift more than any other signing. Spurs announced a £150m cash injection from ENIC that’s helped finance a spending spree with Perisic, Richarlison, Fraser Forster, Yves Bissouma, Djed Spence and Clement Lenglet arriving at the club.
This activity has generated a sense of momentum that quashed any concerns England captain Harry Kane could look for to leave the club — having tried to force a move away last summer — and, significantly, most of these signings were acquired early in the window, giving Conte a full preseason to work with his new players.
Conte’s training sessions are infamously tough. An agent of one player at the club told ESPN about double sessions involving tens of shuttle runs at the end. Another expressed surprise that Conte chose to work his players so hard in a session open to the cameras in Korea that Kane was sick by the side of the pitch, while others including Son Heung-Min could hardly stand during a brutal running drill. But the players have fully bought into Conte’s methods, in part seduced by his track record, and respectful of the level of control he clearly enjoys having been wholeheartedly supported by Levy in the transfer market.
ESPN has also been made aware of other data their coaches are using to explain the need to improve player fitness, including the high number of late goals Tottenham concede. If last season’s Premier League matches are broken down into 10-minute blocks, with each of the nine segments assigned an aggregate score based on goals scored and conceded in those minutes, Liverpool and Manchester City are the only sides ending with a positive score in all of them. Spurs had positive net scores in the first eight, but in those crucial final 10 minutes of matches, they scored seven and conceded 10, leaving them on -3. By contrast, City were +15 and Liverpool +14 in the final 10 minutes of matches last season; Chelsea were +8.
There are a plethora of reasons to explain this, not least the manner in which City in particular wear teams down with their level of possession, but it is one indicator which Conte is demanding greater intensity from his players for the entire game — they also fell behind in 17 league matches last season, a figure higher than Arsenal (15), Liverpool (12), Chelsea (11) and City (eight). Combined with Conte’s devotion to a 3-4-3 system, the players have been left under no illusions about the physical and tactical expectations placed upon them this season. Although it still remains a tall order on paper to match City and Liverpool, perhaps the biggest doubt over Spurs remains their ability to implement what is being asked of them under pressure.
The “Spursy” tag — a derogatory term essentially meaning “to falter with the winning line in sight” — is one the club have found difficult to shake. They were superb for the majority of the Pochettino era but ultimately ended his five-year stint without a trophy to show for the progress made. Their last success of any description remains the 2008 League Cup.
Can Richarlison turn Tottenham into title challengers?
James Olley debates how Richarlison could fit into Antonio Conte’s plans at Tottenham.
Jose Mourinho’s appointment as his successor was made with the idea in mind of fostering a siege mentality to galvanise the group, but he never achieved it. Nuno Espirito Santo’s 17-game tenure was a brief as it was unmemorable, and so Conte now finds himself charged with responsibility of changing this mindset. When asked in May whether he knew what “Spursy'” meant, he said: “I am trying to cut this.”
The only way is to win silverware. A smaller step on that path is improving Tottenham’s record away at the traditional Big Six. They have lost 37 of their last 60 league games away to Arsenal, Liverpool, City, Manchester United and Chelsea, winning only nine. Although Spurs beat City and drew at Liverpool under Conte, they have won just one league game at Chelsea since 1990 — a 3-1 victory in April 2018.
“Obviously when you face that kind of opponent [in Chelsea] it’s a good moment to judge yourself,” captain Hugo Lloris said after their opening-day win over Southampton.Chelsea may have the proven pedigree but their summer transfer business is far from complete, and a new defence is bedding in after the departures of Antonio Rudiger and Andreas Christensen. There are certainly worse moments to play them.By contrast, Tottenham have enjoyed a more settled preseason, building nicely from the last. Spurs improved considerably in the second half of last season, winning 10 of their last 14 league games to show a level of form, which prompted Conte to suggest he wished they could have another crack at Chelsea soon to see where they were at.This weekend, he will finally get his chance.
Twice as nice! MLS All-Stars beat Liga MX All-Stars behind Vela, Ruidiaz goals
ST. PAUL, Minn. – With goals from Carlos Vela and Raul Ruidiaz, the MLS All-Stars held off the Liga MX All-Stars for the second straight year, securing a 2-1 victory in the 2022 MLS All-Star Game presented by Target on Wednesday night at Allianz Field. The MLS All-Stars got the party started early with Vela heading home a cross from LAFC teammate Diego Palacios in the third minute. The Black & Gold’s left back showcased his skill by chopping a Liga MX defender before serving in a perfectly-placed ball to his forward on the back post. Liga MX pushed to find an equalizer before the halftime break, with their best chance coming from Juan Dinenno in the 44th minute. The Pumas UNAM striker elevated for a header after receiving a cross from Juan Escobar inside the 18-yard box. He connected well, directing the ball to the lower left corner, but Minnesota United FC goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair pushed the attempt wide in front of his home supporters’ section. Ruidiaz added to the MLS All-Stars’ lead in the second half through a penalty kick after New England Revolution playmaker Carles Gil wiggled his way through the Liga MX defense after receiving a pass from FC Dallas forward Jesus Ferreira. The Seattle Sounders FC striker made no mistake in the 73rd minute. Liga MX pulled one back in the 85th minute when Kevin Álvarez blasted a shot from outside the box that zoomed past New York City FC goalkeeper Sean Johnson. Mexico national team forward Alexis Vega was credited with the assist, but the comeback attempt proved futile as MLS celebrated a win for a second straight year.
THE BIG PICTURE: It was an electric evening, with the MLS All-Stars claiming bragging rights over the Liga MX All-Stars for the second year in a row. MLS won the first iteration on penalty kicks in 2021 at LAFC’s Banc of California Stadium. MLS Commissioner Don Garber hinted it might be the last time we see these two leagues face off in an All-Star match, but in 2023 an expanded Leagues Cup will be introduced, where all of the clubs from MLS and Liga MX will compete in an annual, month-long tournament.
MOMENT OF THE MATCH: The game-winner from Vela in the third minute. The LAFC duo of Vela and Palacios showcased their league-leading quality with a clinical cross and header combination.
ALL-STAR GAME MVP: Dayne St. Clair earned MVP on the night by making four saves in front of his home fans.
MLS All-Stars prize party in St. Paul: “Everybody’s enjoyed being with each other”
Wednesday night in St. Paul, Minnesota represented a showcase for the top talents from North America’s largest leagues, a lively international spectacle for fans of many stripes and a much-deserved close-up for the Twin Cities’ thriving soccer culture and the graceful venue at its heart.
“A great group of guys”
Above all, the MLS All-Star Game presented by Target provided a celebration, a gathering of luminaries both on and off the field that served as another milestone for an explosively-growing league, and a pleasant distraction before the 2022 season’s final sprint.
“The most pleasing thing was the competitive nature of all the guys,” said MLS All-Stars and Minnesota United FC coach Adrian Heath after his team’s 2-1 victory over their Liga MX counterparts at Allianz Field. “Everybody’s actually, I think, enjoyed being with each other in the group. So the atmosphere in the dressing room is terrific. The guys have been an absolute pleasure to be around for the last two or three days.”
The honor of making this roster is one thing; the firsthand experience offers another level.
“A great group of guys here,” said Loons goalkeeper and All-Star MVP Dayne St. Clair. “Just seeing some guys off the field and being teammates with them, because sometimes when you’re playing against some guys, they’re a little bit different than when you’re teammates with them. So that’s been nice, and I’m sure they’d probably say the same about me.”
The MLS All-Star Game provides a change of pace for elite professionals accustomed to facing off as rivals in club play, a chance to work as teammates, to train and break bread together. This one, in particular, had a real family atmosphere, with children like Walker Zimmerman’s young son Tucker front and center.
Walker Zimmerman and his son Tucker play after the match
MNUFC
The Englishman is now an MLS veteran, having led Orlando City SC into MLS before moving north to oversee a comparable project at MNUFC. He’s seen the growth and maturation of US and Canadian soccer, and spoke with pride of his club progressing along a similar journey, a story they and their supporters proudly shared with the rest of the league this week.
“The way that the club has shown itself,” said Heath, “I knew that people would turn up. I didn’t think that so many would turn up last night in the skills game, that speaks volumes. And then tonight, I knew the stadium would be full tonight.
“It’s been a great way to showcase what the club is about. I’m so pleased for all the ownership and everything we’ve tried to do here, and it shows. Six years in, the club is now firmly on the map and I think that we can only get bigger and stronger and better.”
Mutual respect between leagues
Such links stretched across to the Liga MX side as well. The cut and thrust of the game itself, with heavy tackles, emotional reactions and other signs of full commitment from the players, revealed this to be an exhibition match with some stakes, some pride on the line.
But the nastiness of yore between the US and Mexican national teams, the bad blood that so enflamed past border matchups, has evolved into something closer to mutual respect and recognized commonalities.
“We had a great game. Like I said to the boys, this is a great experience, and especially because we got to meet and to know each other,” said Liga MX All-Stars and Atlas manager Diego Cocca, an Argentine who has coached across Latin America.
“Rivalry is good. We can grow. If you have a strong rival, you can grow, you can get better. And both leagues can grow like this. And I think that the barometer is going to be the Concacaf Champions League. We came here and we lost, they can go there [to Mexico] and they can lose. For example, at Estadio Jalisco, the result could be different.”
New fronts of competition between the two leagues loom large, like the upcoming 2022 Campeones Cup between Atlas and New York City FC, and next year’s launch of a dramatically expanded Leagues Cup. The hope is that broad, sustained, toe-to-toe competition between member clubs can expand on the spectacle served up by these last two All-Star meetings.
“MLS won today. We had many opportunities; we played very well. There was no big difference, there is no big gap between the leagues,” said Cocca. And those who’ve followed the region’s soccer scene for any length of time will recognize the quiet revolution represented in his words.
Gelhardt was signed from Wigan in 2020 and has already made an impression in the Premier League (Photo: Michael Regan/Getty Images)
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Jeff CarlisleU.S. soccer correspondent
Sam BordenESPN Senior Writer
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Kyle BonaguraESPN Staff Writer
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Aaronson and Jack Harrison celebrating against Wolves (Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Aug 21
Josh Sargent | 
Pulisic reacts after a missed chance during the Premier League match against Leicester City at Stamford Bridge on May 19. (Harriet Lander/Copa/Getty Images)
Pulisic has not started either of Chelsea’s league games so far this season (Photo: Getty Images)
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The Ole BallCoach 
