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Americans abroad analysis

A look at the Brutal Weekend for Americans abroad: most in the USMNT struggle in Europe

It was a terrible weekend for Americans in Europe - one of the worst weekends in many years. But was it a trend or an outlier? It's still too early to tell. ASN's Brian Sciaretta walks you through it.
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
April 11, 2023
10:30 AM

THE WEEKEND FOR Americans abroad was one of the worst in years. Injuries, limited minutes, players benched, ugly losses, and poor performances were all prevalent. Any sort of a decent performance was a rarity. Before rushing to judgment, we’ll pay attention to the upcoming weeks to see if this is part of a trend as opposed to, hopefully, just an isolated ugly weekend.

Normally, ASN goes into great detail about performances and breakdowns but will kind of just cover the generalities. We’ll get into the specifics if this weekend becomes an alarming trend.

 

The Limited Good News

 

The best news of the weekend was in the Bundesliga when Hoffenheim defeated Schalke 2-0. It was the third win in a row for Hoffenheim and the club has now gone from last-place to five points clear of the relegation zone. The team had been skidding since last October and American manager Pellegrino Matarazzo initially struggled to right the ship. But now things are trending well and Hoffenheim has a clear path towards survival.

The path ahead is still tough because Hoffenheim has seven games left but that includes visits to Bayern Munich (next week), RB Leipzig, and Wolfsburg along with home games against Eintracht Frankfurt and Union Berlin.

That's a hard road but at least they are trending up.

 

John Brooks has been a key part of the past three games including a solid 90 minute effort in the win over Schalke. He's become key in the relegation fight - which are almost always tight.

Sticking with American managers, Houston-born Fabian Hurzeler is off to one of the best starts ever in German soccer. Since he was hired by St. Pauli in December at age 29, he has now won his first 10 games. This is coming from a St. Pauli team that won just three of its first 15 games this season. The club was just one point clear of the relegation zone. Now, it is in fourth place and is in the promotion race.

 

The 10th win came in a 1-0 away win over second-place Heidenheim on Saturday with Lennard Maloney going 90 minutes in the loss. Now 30, Hurzeler is making a huge name for himself with his first 10 games and it’s easy to get carried away. Nevertheless, if he continues to win and St. Pauli somehow come close or even earn promotion, he’ll get snapped up very soon.

One of the cool aspects of Hurzeler is that he spent time last summer studying coaching at the Philadelphia Union and watching Jim Curtin work.

Staying in the 2.Bundesliga, midtable Greuther Furth posted a 2-0 away win over relegation-battling Sandhausen. Julian Green went 77 minutes in the win but a shoutout goes to midfielder Max Dietz, 21, who came in in the 6th minute of stoppage time for Furth for just his second ever professional appearance (his debut came on March 18). The New York native is eligible for the U.S. U-23 team.

In Belgium, Standard Liege defeated a Genk team that is skidding but is still in first place. 2017 U.S. U-20 right back Marlon Fossey was excellent in the win and he continues to have a season where he is showcasing himself well as a first-team professional. He might move on quickly, as the team’s head coach Ronny Deila (formerly of New York City FC) is linked with a move to a bigger club and Fossey could stick with him. Of course, Fossey’s success this weekend was bad news for Mark McKenzie for Genk who saw their lead slip to just two points.

In Turkey, Haji Wright scored his 13th goal of the season for Antalyaspor in a 1-1 away draw at Konyaspor.



Wright continues to put himself in a good position and his next move is probably up the food chain within Turkey to one of the big Istanbul clubs.

In La Liga, things weren’t necessarily bad for Luca de la Torre who came on the in the second half for Celta Vigo, which was trailing Sevilla 1-0, and was on the field to see a comeback for a 2-2 draw. Will it be enough for him to return to the starting lineup?

In the Championship, Ethan Horvath and third-place Luton Town continued their promotion hunt with a 3-1 win over Blackpool. The Colorado native made four saves in the win. Lynden Gooch played 90 minutes at left back as Sunderland posted a 1-0 away win over Cardiff City. Fresh off promotion into the Championship last season, Sunderland has stabilized nicely this year to sit midtable in 10th place.

On Friday in Portugal, Boavista defeated Vitoria Guimaraes 2-1 and U.S. national team defender Reggie Cannon went 90 minutes in central defense in the win. His positional switch to central defense has really hurt his standing within the national team.

In Austria, Sebastian Soto, 22, scored his first ever top division goal when he found the back of the net for Austria Klagenfurt in its 3-1 loss to Rapid Vienna. Soto came into the game in the 55th and equalized the game in the 59th before Klagenfurt surrendered goals in the 70th and 90th minutes.

Finally in Norway it was a winning opening weekend for two Yanks there. Sam Rogers went the distance in central defense as Rosenborg opened up their season with a 1-0 win over Viking. Kobe Hernandez-Foster went 90 for HamKam in a 2-0 win over Sandefjord.

 

Rough weekend for most USMNT vets

 

For just about all of those who are big parts of the USMNT player pool or who are in the extended pool, the weekend was just bad.

Leeds United misses Tyler Adams badly and this was apparent in Sunday’s 5-1 home loss to Crystal Palace (who continues to see Chris Richards unable to suit up due to injuries). It actually started off well for Leeds United as Brenden Aaronson delivered a corner kick assist on the opening goal. But then Leeds United collapsed. Aaronson looked promising early but faded and removed in the 60th minute. Aaronson was the least of the team’s problems on the day. Weston McKennie had a poor after last week’s impressive showing in the 2-1 win over Nottingham Forest.

 

Yes, they’re two points clear of relegation, but this was a deflating loss that even hurts them in the goal differential. Next up is Liverpool followed by three more doable games (Fulham, Leicester, and Bournemouth) which should define their season.

Christian Pulisic played the final 29 minutes in another bad loss for Chelsea. This time it was a bad 1-0 loss to Wolves. Chelsea needs massive work this summer and they are now in 11th place, 14 points out of European competition next year.

Fulham continued its skid over the weekend in a 1-0 loss at home to West Ham in a London Derby. The team’s promising start will keep it safely in midtable, but they’re no longer the darling surprise of the Premier League. Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson each went 90 minutes in the loss.

That being said, Fulham are coming to the USA this summer. Expect these guys to do a ton of media. 

Matt Turner, as usual, did not play for Arsenal in a 2-2 draw at Liverpool.

In the Bundesliga, Gio Reyna did not play in Borussia Dortmund’s 2-1 win over Union Berlin but Jordan Pefok only managed to play the last six minutes. The U.S. forward has only scored once since September.

On Sunday, Borussia Monchengladbach defeated 2-0 Wolfsburg. Joe Scally started but left injured in 76th minute with a muscle injury in his leg. U.S. U-20 winger Kevin Paredes entered in the 59th when score was 1-0 but couldn’t impact the game.  

In France’s Ligue 1, Tim Weah started at right back and went 90 minutes for Lille in a 1-0 loss to Angers, who are currently in last place. Also, Erik Palmer-Brown and Troyes went 90 minutes in 2-0 loss at home to Clermont. Troyes is now seven points deep in the relegation hole.

In Spain, Yunus Musah played the final 16 minutes for Valencia in a 2-1 loss to Almira. That loss sent Valencia back into the relegation zone, two points in the hole. What is interesting is that Valencia has a -4 goal differential and normally teams in relegation zones are much worse. But the team doesn’t win games it should and they find a way to concede at the worst times.

Musah, 20, isn’t blameless. His inability to contribute more goals, assists, and in the build-up to scoring chances is apparent. He has no goals and two assists all season. He’s smooth on the ball but he needs more final product.

As mentioned above, Mark McKenzie and Genk have seen their once double-digit lead atop Belgium shrink down to two points after Sunday’s 2-0 loss to Standard Liege. McKenzie played the full game for Genk. It could have been worse as second place Union SG settled for a 1-1 draw with Gent.

Bryan Reynolds didn’t suit up for Westerlo in its 0-0 draw at Anderlecht.

Sergino Dest is completely out of the picture at AC Milan and didn’t suit up again for a scoreless draw with Empoli. He’s setting himself up for another move this summer after this wasted loan to Milan.

In the Eredivisie, Groningen fell to Utrecht 2-1 at hom. Ricardo Pepi played 90 minutes in the loss and wasn’t able to do much as his team fell seven points deep in the relegation zone. American midfielder Taylor Booth started but was forced out in the 41st minute with a head wound.

Meanwhile, Djordje Mihailovic started and played 60 minutes for AZ Alkmaar in a 1-0 loss at home to Sparta Rotterdam. AZ is winless in its last three and has faded to fourth place.

In the Scottish Premiership, it was an Old Firm clash where Celtic defeated Rangers 3-2 to move 12 clear atop the table. Celtic has 23 wins and a draw in their last 24 Premiership games. Cameron Carter-Vickers played 90 minutes in the win but didn’t have his best game and was sloppy. Malik Tillman struggled in 69 mins in the loss to Rangers.

In the Championship on Monday, West Brom played QPR to a 2-2 draw. Daryl Dike played the final 14 minutes, which were uneventful. Josh Sargent saw his cold streak continue in a 90 minute effort in a 0-0 draw with Rotherham United. Zack Steffen made five saves but Middlesbrough’s struggles continued in a 2-2 draw away at Bristol.

In Mexico, Club America defeated Monterrey 2-1 but U.S. national team attacker Alejandro Zendejas broke his nose. He had a minor procedure that will allow him to finish the season but he will need to have a full operation afterward and this will likely rule him out for the summer games for the U.S. team.

 

Mostly Struggles elsewhere 


Even outside the U.S. national team player pool, there were still mostly struggles.

Paxten Aarosnon and Timothy Chandler were unused substitutes for Eintracht Frankfurt in a 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Caden Clark was not in the squad for Leipzig in a 1-0 away win over Hertha BSC.

In the 2.Bundesliga, Terrence Boyd played 67 minutes for Kaiserslautern in a 1-0 loss at Eintracht Braunschweig. Kaiserslautern now has gone five games without a win. George Bello was still not back from Arminia Bielefeld in a 2-2 draw with Fortuna Dusseldorf. Ryan Malone went 90 minutes in central defense as his Hansa Rostock team lost 3-2 at home to Holstein Kiel and is now very likely to be relegated.

In Belgium, Sam Vines is still looking for his first appearance for Royal Antwerp after his broken tibia in November. He did not play in Saturday's 2-1 win over Cercle Brugge.

In Serie B, Reggina defeated Venezia 1-0 on Monday. Tanner Tessmann played 90 minutes and was probably Venezia’s best player. Gianluca Busio played the final 36 minutes while Andrija Novakovich played the final 27 minutes in the loss. Venezia is only out of the relegation playoff position on goal differential.

In Portugal, neither Alex Mendez nor Alejandro Alvarado suited up for Vizela in a 1-0 win over Santa Clara in the Azores. Arouca defeated Maritimo 1-0 and Benji Michel was inactive while playing the final 22 minutes.

In Scotland, Dundee United defeated Hibs 2-1. Matthew Hoppe was unused for Hibs, which lost its fourth in a row. Ian Harkes played 88 minutes for Dundee United, which is still in last place.

In Croatia, Hajduk Split played Istra 1961 to a lackluster 2-2 draw. Rokas Pukstas played 90 minutes for Hajduk while Agustin Anello was an unused substitute.

In Belgium, Christian Cappis was an unused substitute for Brondby in a 2-1 loss to Nordjaelland. In the relegation round, OB defeated Aalborg BK 3-2 with Emmanuel Sabbi picking up an assist.

In Sweden, Joe Gyau played the final 18 minutes for Degerfors in a 3-1 win over Halmstad. All the scoring took place before Gyau came into the game.

In Mexico, Juarez played Atlas to a 1-1 draw. Neither Alan Sonora, Joel Sonora, or Ventura Alvarado played for Juarez. Sebastian Saucedo also did not play for Toluca in a 2-1 win over Puebla.

On a bit of bright news, Jorge Ruvalcaba scored the final goal for Pumas in a 3-1 win over Atletico San Luis. He came into the game in the 57th minute.

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