Ricardo_pepi_-_asn_top_-_fc_dallas_vs._skc_-_9-29-21 MLS Soccer
Midweek analysis

Aaronson & Weah impress in a tough week for Americans abroad. Pepi, Robinson, & Roldan standout stateside

The Champions League and Europa League games were mostly disappoiting for American fans this week. Stateside, however, was pretty good as top American players generally performed well. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
October 01, 2021
5:05 AM

IT WAS A REALLY ROUGH week for Americans abroad outside of the Salzburg – Lille game as most players struggled. In MLS, things were actually much better as key players like Ricardo Pepi and Miles Robinson impressed.

 

There are a lot of games to get into, so let’s jump into it.

 

Aaronson vs. Weah

 

In are rare Champions League matchup that saw two U.S. national team players oppose each other, Tim Weah got the start for Lille as they travelled to Austria to visit Red Bulls Salzburg -  with Brenden Aaronson starting.

In what was welcome news American fans, both Weah and Aaronson played well. Weah played the first 60 minutes. He started off slowly but grew into the game. He didn’t have much of an impact in the final third but his ball-winning and defense in the midfield were very effective. Combined with his outing last weekend in the win over Strasbourg, Weah is in a good spot with Lille where he can grow into a consistent starting role.

As for Aaronson, he was part of one of the best moments of the game for Salzburg. His pass set up Ariyo Adeyemi in the box to draw a penalty for the first goal. He’s been one of the best American success stories in Europe to start this season.

As for Salzburg, four points from two games is a good start in Group G (although they should have won their first game). Lille is sitting with just one point and were overall poor on the day.

Unfortunately, for Americans this game really was the only bright spot for Americans in either the Europa or Champions League.

 

Barcelona drilled by Benfica

 

Sergino Dest started for Barcelona in a brutal 3-0 loss away to Benfica. It was a day just about everyone on Barcelona will want to forget and individual performances almost are meaningless as it seems like big changes are in store for the club.

Dest was pretty good for stretches of the game, but his handball conceded the penalty which led to Benfica’s final goal in the 79th minute.

Right now it’s all about when (not “if”) head coach Ronald Koeman will be sacked as Barca’s head coach. Dest has had enough good moments to show his talent and that he can be part of the team’s solution. But standing out amid so much coaching speculation is hard.

 

Champions League blues

 

Most of the other games involving Americans in the Champions League were mostly negative.

Weston McKennie played the final 14 minutes for Juventus in a big 1-0 win over Chelsea. Despite the win, McKennie was shaky in a few key moments. Meanwhile, Christian Pulisic remained out injured for the Blues.

Zack Steffen remained on the bench for Manchester City in a 2-0 away loss to Paris St. Germain.

Jordan Pefok started and played 66 minutes but made little impact for BSC Young Boys in a 1-0 away loss to Atalanta.

John Brooks was suspended for Wolfsburg’s 1-1 draw with Sevilla.

The most difficult news of the Champions League, however, came on Tuesday when RB Leipzig lost 2-1 at home to Club Brugge. It was a very difficult loss for Jesse Marsch as his club is off to a poor start since his hire. Runners up in the Bundesliga last year, Leipzig has suffered tough losses in the Bundesliga and the Champions League. With this loss to the Belgian champs, Leipzig has 0 points from two games.

Yes, Leipzig has sold off some key players but Marsch’s teams have lost to team it still should have beaten – Mainz and now Club Brugge are two examples. Marsch is a bit more rigid in his adoption of the Red Bull system than his predecessor Julian Nagelsmann and there is clearly an adjustment for the players. Tyler Adams played the final 10 minutes in the loss. Brugge is off to a great start but Owen Otasowie is yet to make is club debut at any level.

 

Robinson’s injury

 

Antonee Robinson was not on the matchday roster for Fulham on Wednesday in the club’s 3-1 win over Swansea City. An injury was not listed on the club’s match preview or press conference.

Fulham manager Marco Silva indicated that it was a knee injury which kept him out but that it appears to be minor.

 

 

Harkes wins Player of the Month 

 

After scoring goals against Celtic and Dundee FC recently in a local derby, American midfielder Ian Harkes was named the Scottish Premiership’s Player of the Month for September.

Harkes, 26, is playing the best soccer of his career.

 

 

Europa & Conference League struggles

 

As mentioned, it was a tough week for Americans in the Champions League. The Europa League and Conference leagues weren’t any better.

Here is a rundown.

Cameron Carter-Vickers played a full 90 for Celtic in a 4-0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen in the Europa League. The American defender actually wasn’t a weak link, despite the score, but these are rough times for Celtic right now.

Henry Wingo started and scored an own goal for Ferencvaros in 3-1 home loss to Real Betis in the Europa League.

Konrad de la Fuente and DeAndre Yedlin were both substitutes in the scoreless draw between Marseille and Galatasaray. De la Fuente was quiet in playing the final 10 minutes. Yedlin was actually sharp after coming on in the 65th minute and was easily the best American performer in the Europa League.  

Christian Cappis played the final 17 mins for Brondby in a 3-0 away loss to Lyon in the Europa League.

Josh Cohen started in goal for Maccabi Haifa which suffered a 3-0 loss to Union Berlin in the Conference League.

Bryan Reynolds and AS Roma traveled to the Ukrain and defeated Zorya 3-0. The American fullback, however, did not get off the bench.

 

Pepi scores again

 

MLS had a full slate of games on Wednesday and there were some big performances for teams and for some players individually.

Ricardo Pepi continues to have one of the best seasons in league history for an 18 year old attacker.

In Wednesday’s game, he scored in a 3-1 loss to Sporting Kansas City. Here is the goal – but the big debate is whether he was offside. Different angles give different impressions.

 

It is also impressive in that Pepi is putting up impressive numbers despite playing on a bad FC Dallas team. He is only getting limited opportunities but is making the most of them.

When looking at good performances from teenagers, Mark Followill chimed in.

 

In terms of quality, this is the most excitement generated by a young American forward in MLS since Jozy Altidore in the 2007 season followed by the first half of 2008 before he was sold to Villarreal.

 

Miles Robinson shines in Atlanta win

 

After a tough loss to Philadelphia, Atlanta United bounced back with a convincing 1-0 win over Inter Miami.

Miles Robinson looked ready for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers and for the playoffs after that.

 

He is in top form right now, and Atlanta United is trending in the right direction. They’re not deep and as the loss to Philadelphia showed – there are times when they will not only lose but also get played off the field. But if Miles Robinson and Alan Franco are shoring up the back, Josef Martinez and Ezequiel Barco are in form in the attack, they can beat anybody.

I think a matchup between New England and Atlanta in the playoffs could be excellent. The playoffs are about the star players showing up.

Meanwhile, congratulations to Josef Martinez for goal #100. He's been one of the best and most influential players in league history. 

 

Roldan’s lifts Seattle

 

Cristian Roldan is often underappreciated by U.S. national team fans and fans in general – except for Seattle Sounder fans. Roldan works incredibly hard and has a knack for delivering in big games. This season, he’s been playing with a lot of quality.

In a 3-1 away win over San Jose on Wednesday, Roldan assisted and scored in what was a comfortable win for the Western Conference leaders.

His assist was a lovely team goal from Seattle that was just pretty to watch.

 

His goal showed impeccable timing.

 

Without Jordan Morris and Nico Lodeiro, Roldan is a big reason why this team continues to roll. Yes, Raul Ruidiaz still gets the headlines and scores the goals. Roldan, however, makes the team tick.


 

Wicky out in Chicago

 

Despite posting a 2-0 win over NYCFC on Wednesday, the Chicago Fire announced it had parted ways with head coach Rapha Wicky on Thursday. He had an option for next season in his contract but Chicago declined it and let him go early before the end of the season.

Chicago is starved to be relevant in the league and the new ownership is committed to making big changes. They’ve already made bold decisions returning to Soldier Field, spending money on younger players and DP’s but the results aren’t there. It has been a long time since Chicago has been a team that people consider among the better teams in the league.

“Look, ultimately this is what I always say, it’s professional sports and we all depend on results in the end and we didn’t deliver the results that we all wanted to deliver," Chicago sporting director Georg Heitz said. "Why now? Because we had decided to not pick up Rapha’s option for the ‘22 season and as you all are familiar with his family medical situation, we wanted to release him with immediate effect in order to allow him to travel to his family.”

Chicago has had some pretty good players but they don’t have an effective and deep core that can roll through an entire season. It takes some time to build back up (like what Bruce Arena has done for the New England Revolution) but Chicago’s next hire desperately needs to be right.  

On another note, 17-year-old goalkeeper Gaga Slonina now has two straight shutouts and looks like a quality prospect. It’s exciting to see a young American goalkeeper make a breakthrough and the U.S. U-20 national team looks set in that position for the upcoming cycle – which should begin in November.

 

 

Crew win Campeones Cup

 

The Columbus Crew have had a tough season defending their title but they won the Campeones Cup with a 2-0 win over Cruz Azul. With the CONCACAF Champions League and the League Cup, the Campeones Cup is of mixed importance but The Crew played well and more tournaments and games outside of the league is a good thing.

 

One note is that U.S. national team forward Gyasi Zardes did not play in this one due to hamstring tightness. Zardes, 29, has been playing very well lately and the U.S. team staff is certainly hoping for a recovery by the weekend.

Columbus remains five points out of the playoffs and needs a strong end to the season – starting in Saturday’s trip to Philadelphia.

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