Tim_weah_-_asn_top_-_juventus_vs._como_-_8-19-24
Americans abroad

Americans abroad: Weah scores, Wright & Sargent impress, Wiley starts, & more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta offers up his thoughts on the weekend for Americans abroad including Caleb Wiley's first Strasbourg start, Sargent and Wright continuing to be big Championship players, Tim Weah's strong start, and much more
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
August 19, 2024
4:50 PM

THE WEEKEND FOR Americans abroad was full of good and bad, but given that we are still early in the 2024/25 season, there are also added issues of where players stand and whether they will be on the move in the coming weeks.

Sticking with our typical format, we’ll talk about some top stories first before breaking down into the specific countries and leagues for the rest.

Weah scores in Juve opener

 

Tim Weah is off to a strong start in Serie A. Earning the start at wing on Monday against newly promoted Como, Weah enjoyed a big moment just before half when he put Juventus up 2-0.  Juve would go on to win 3-0.



Weah was pulled at halftime after picking up an injury. Weah was not feeling at his best prior to the goal but he was able to finish out the half.

The first half was perfect snapshot of Weah’s career: a glimpse of brilliance followed by an untimely injury.

Afterward, Juventus boss Thiago Motta had this to say about Weah.

“Did I tell him to move centrally?” Motta said. “It was the player’s great instinct. He wasn’t feeling his best, but when a striker senses the goal, he must go for it. We’ll assess his injury, but he’s done well from day one.”

All of that is very good. Weah’s injury didn’t seem major and Weah has impressed his manager from day one. Weah has only gone on to prove Motta right.

Then there is Weston McKennie who made the bench after there were signs the club is going to reintegrate him following an ugly transfer saga where McKennie showed no interest in moving and Juventus tried to force a sale. We still don’t know where this will go, but there are signs that McKennie might win a game of chicken with Juventus for the second year in a row.

That’s rather remarkable.

 

Sargent scores in Norwich draw

 

After a poor performance in a 2-0 loss to newly promoted Oxford United in the Championship season opener, Josh Sargent turned in a good performance on Saturday as Norwich drew Blackburn 2-2. It was still a disappointing result for a Norwich team that wants to be in the promotional race this year (it is one of the reasons why the club fired American manager David Wagner who took the team to the playoffs last year but lost in the first round).

The good news for Norwich is that Sargent finally showed why he can be a top offensive player in the Championship and is good enough to be the No. 9 for a promotion-caliber team.

The bad news, however, is that Norwich’s defense is porous and could not hold the lead. The 2-2 draw left the team with just one point from its first two games.

But Sargent moved well and was playing at the level we saw from him from January-May of last season.

In the 65th minute, Sargent scored his first goal of the season. It was a great finish after a Blackburn turnover in the midfield. Sargent was then played into the box on the left side and he finished with a hard-driving shot to the top corner of the near post.



Then in the 73rd minute, Sargent assisted Borja Sainz to briefly put Norwich up 2-1.



There are some rumors now about Sargent being a target in the transfer window in the final two weeks of August. But selling Sargent likely puts Norwich out of the promotional race. It essentially ends their ability to compete. For them to forego that, the price would have to be enormous.

In the meantime, Sargent continues to have a good 2024. He just needs to stay healthy and pain free. If he does, he’s probably the best American No. 9 in the game.

 

Wright’s Brace lifts Coventry

 

In Coventry’s season opening 1-0 loss to Stoke City, Haji Wright came off the bench as he missed a big portion of the preseason due to his Copa America involvement. In the team’s second game on Saturday at home against newly promoted Oxford United, Wright was able to start the game.

The result was a performance that was on part with what we saw from Wright in 2023/24 when he scored 19 goals between the FA Cup and Championship games.

Wright opened the scoring in the 15th minute.



Then with the score 2-2 deep into stoppage time, Wright played the hero when he got behind Oxford United’s backline and finished a 1v1 with the keeper to deliver all three points.

There is a lot of speculation whether Wright will move, but an important factor to consider is that the market isn’t great right now and Wright is the club’s all-time highest transfer import. If he leaves, the club’s promotional hopes take a big hit. It’s a similar situation to Sargent.

For now, Wright seems like he is in a great spot and he’s in a good position with the new USMNT staff because he is always going to be playing.

 

Zahiroleslam big day in Belgium

 

Kahveh Zahiroleslam, 22, had a big day in Belgium when he had two goals and an assist for St. Truiden in a 3-3 draw with newly promoted Dander SV. It was his first two goals of the season and it comes at a time when St. Truiden has been terrible to start the season. This was the team’s first point of the season after four games.

Zahiroleslam started off his professional career playing well last season and then cooled off later in the season and he ended up not breaking into the U.S. Olympic team for a camp invite. He’s probably not close to the USMNT picture as there are strikers far ahead of him (even with a new staff, this is unlikely to change).

But for now, Zahiroleslam is likely aiming to put himself onto a good team either this winter or after this season. It will be hard to score on a bad team and this came against a newly-promoted team. But he is making himself visible.

Internationally, it seems more likely that Zahiroleslam will catch the eye of Iran’s national team than the U.S. team. But we will see how open he is to that, if it happens.

 

Wiley earns Strasbourg start

 

It what was somewhat of a surprise, Caleb Wiley earned the start for Strasbourg in its League One opener against Montpellier. Fresh off being sold by Atlanta United to Chelsea and then loaned to the French squad, Wiley earned the start and went 89 minutes in a 1-1 draw.

Wiley, 19, played more of a left wing before moving to left wingback. It was a great sign to see him immediately start. His performance was still mostly quiet. He had a dangerous pass early that set up a chance and then he created a half-chance early in the second half. But overall was into too involved in dangerous chances offensively.

Now that Wiley has gotten his debut out of the way, it will be interesting to see how quickly he adjusts and grows into the role with his new team. It’s great that he is playing, but it’s probably better for him long-term to setting into a left back role because that is where he is strongest.

 

Aaronson stands out in Utrecht draw

 

Paxten Aaronson had made a good first impression at Utrecht and has fit right in despite missing a portion of the preseason due to the Olympics.

Aaronson, 20, worked extremely hard on Saturday in a 1-1 away draw with Heerenveen. The former Union homegrown went the distance, created multiple chances, and played good defense.

His biggest impact came in the first minutes of the game. He assisted on Ole Romney’s goal in the third minute and then four minutes later, scored a great goal – only for it to have been taken away by VAR.

 

Aaronson really fits well into the Eredivisie, and we saw this last year on the loan to Vitesse. The question will then be taking it to the Bundesliga with Eintracht after this loan. After a full year, he should be ready for that.

Internationally, Aaronson might be a player who benefits from a new USMNT head coach. He was on the edge of the player pool with Berhalter, but for a new manager looking to make changes, Aaronson could check boxes if he is producing.

On another note, Taylor Booth came into the game in stoppage time. Whether he needs more time to settle in after the Olympics or whether he has fallen in the pecking order remains to be seen. But it hasn’t been a good start for Booth.

 

Ledezma features again for PSV

 

PSV has an easy start to the Eredivisie season and the team now has six points from two games following Saturday’s 3-1 away win over Heracles. Interestingly, PSV coughed up an early goal via a penalty and trailed 1-0 at the half. But the champs rallied for a win with goals in the 52nd minute, 57th minute, and then in stoppage time.

As we all know, Sergino Dest will be out until 2025. But Malik Tillman started in PSV’s midfield and Richard Ledezma continued his surprising start to the season where he got the start again at right back. After last week’s 5-1 win, PSV manager Peter Bosz said that while Ledezma is a No. 10, he was impressed by his football intelligence and that gave him confidence to fill in at right back with Dest out and Jordan Teze likely on the move.

The takeaway from this game was that Tillman was off. He did not follow up his strong performance in the season opener well and instead was pulled at halftime.

Meanwhile, Ledezma had another good outing at right back. He was solid on both sides of the ball and was far more involved offensively than last week.

The big questions for Ledezma will be how he uses these opportunities to build up a future move. Will PSV reup his contract? He is expensive due to the high Eredivisie minimum salary for a non-EU player. Or does he have value to sell? He’s in the last year of his contract and can negotiate with clubs in January if he is not re-signed.

On another note, Ricardo Pepi did not get off the bench for PSV. That is actually becoming a concern as to how much the club trusts him to eventually be a replacement for Luuk de Jong. It just seems like it would be different if he was trusted.

 

Musah impresses in Milan

 

The good news for USMNT fans is that Yunas Musah played well on Saturday for AC Milan in its season opening 2-2 draw with Torino.

The bad news, however, is that it really was a poor performance aside from the final five minutes for Milan. Christian Pulisic started and played 78 minutes in the No. 10 role but left with his team down 2-0. He had three shots, but generally wasn’t very effective.

Musah, 21, on the other hand was one of his teams few bright spots. He came into the game in the 73rd minute, had five shots, completed 16/17 in passing, and was just very dangerous all around. One of the knocks on him as a player is that he tries to problem solve through dribbling too often (which is hard to do at the highest levels).

In this game, Musah was on with his passing and crossing. In stoppage time, his cross led to Noah Oakfor’s equalizer.



The odds are that Pulisic will be fine. He knows how to thrive in Serie A. But this was more important for Musah. It wasn’t that he played well, but his historical weaknesses in his game were his strengths on Saturday. One game is just a blip, but it will be worth following if Musah can develop into a more well-rounded midfielder. He has the talent to do so, and if he does, he’s can be very good.

 

England: Slonina & Pines boosting Barnsley

 

We covered Sargent and Wright in detail above. But for the rest of the Yanks in England, it wasn’t a good weekend.

Antonee Robinson played well for Fulham, but he was unable to prevent his team from surrendering a late winner to Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Premier League’s opening game of the 2024/25 season. The USMNT left back was one of his team’s better players on the day in covering a ton of ground to help on both sides of the ball. Fulham probably deserved a draw in this one, but Manchester United had a bit more to offer late.

Chris Richards also started for Crystal Palace in his team’s 2-1 away draw to Bentford on Saturday. Richards played 84 minutes and was on the right side of a three-man backline. Overall, it wasn’t a great game for Richards who was just 1/6 on aerials. He is typically better than he was in this outing. As always, season openers are to be taken with a grain of salt.

Matt Turner, meanwhile, wasn’t even on the bench for Nottingham Forest on Saturday in its 1-1 draw with Bournemouth. If he’s now the third keeper, he needs to push for a move ASAP.

On the managerial front, Houston-born Fabian Hurzeler won his first Premier League game as Brighton & Hove downed a bad Everton team 3-0 in Liverpool.  

Heading into the Championship, things were also a little stale aside from Sargent and Wright.

Aidan Morris played 68 minutes for Middlesbrough in a 1-0 loss to Derby away. Morris, 22, was fine and wasn’t one of the issues Boro had on the day. But Morris wasn’t as sharp as he was in his first two games with the club either.

Lynden Gooch went 63 minutes for Stoke City in an ugly 3-0 loss to Watford. Gooch keeps moving from position to position and was at left midfield in this one.

Duane Holmes played the final 18 minutes for Preston North End in a poor 3-0 loss to Swansea. He was unused in the first game, so this was his season debut. With PNE’s terrible start to the season, it’s only a matter of time before Holmes gets minutes.

Sheffield United and Queens Park Rangers drew 2-2. No Americans played, but there are American takeaways. Auston Trusty again went as an unused substitute. As a player who played so much last season, the fact he is riding the bench while healthy in league play should be a concern for him. The fact he was on the edge of the player pool and now with a new manager coming in, Trusty runs the risk of falling behind. Meanwhile, Reggie Cannon wasn’t in the squad again for QPR. This comes on the heels of losing his lawsuit against his former club Boavista. At some point, QPR will have to make a statement over Cannon’s standing with the club.

Brenden Aaronson played the final 26 minutes for Leeds United in a 0-0 draw with West Bromwich. Unlike the season opener where Aaronson was instrumental off the bench, he was contained in this one.

It was a miserable day at the office for Ethan Horvath who made a dreadful error on an own goal for Cardiff City to open the scoring for Burnley. Horvath ended up with 0 saves and an own goal in a 5-0 loss. The club now sits dead last with a -7 goal differential through two games.

Meanwhile in third-tier League One, one of the more surprising stories for Americans abroad as been that Gaga Slonina and Donovan Pines have had a great week with Barnsley. After the two players were huge in Barnsley’s Carabao Cup win midweek, on Saturday both players again shined in a 2-1 away win over Lincoln City. There is a lot of enthusiasm for both players among the Barnsley supporters.

Also in League One, Charlie Kelman went the distance for Leyton Orient in a 1-0 loss away to Charlton in a London Derby.

 

DFB Pokal: Most Americans win in German Cup weekend                                                                                       

 

It was the traditional DFB Pokal opening weekend (for the top two leagues) which precedes the Bundesliga opening weekend. For the most part, the Bundesliga teams take on Regionalliga or even Oberliga teams. It’s tough to read much into these games except for whether or not a player is in the plans.

One of the best stories was young Tampa area native and midfielder Santiago Castañeda, 19, who continues to impress with Paderborn. He’s started the club’s first two games of the 2.Bundesliga (both wins) and then on Saturday he scored in a 4-0 win over Regionalliga side Bremer SV.  He’s certainly a young American player to watch.

Joe Scally played all 90 minutes for Borussia Monchengladbach in a 3-1 win over Erzgebirge Aue. He’s one player to watch this season as there were reports M’Gladbach was going to look to unload him halfway through last season. But then Scally began to play really well to end the season and now is in a much better place. But he needs to keep that up.

We don't yet know how much Jordan Pefok is in the plans at Union Berlin after spending last season away on loan at M'Gladbach. But he started and played 80 minutes on Saturday in a 1-0 win over Greifswalder FC.

Lennard Maloney looks once again to be the defensive presence in the midfield for Heidenheim and he played the entire game in Saturday's 4-0 win over Villingen.

Julian Green and Max Dietz both played 90 minutes for Greuther Furth in a 2-0 win over Schott Mainz.

On Monday, Johan Gomez started for Eintracht Braunschweig and went the distance in a 4-1 loss at home to Eintracht Frankfurt (who were without Timmy Chandler). 

Finally, Damion Downs played 73 minutes for Cologne in a 3-2 extratime win over Sandhausen.   

On the manager front, both American managers in Germany have their clubs into the next round. Pellegrino Matarazzo needed his Hoffenheim team to prevail past Wurzburger Kickers via penalties after a 2-2 draw. But Joe Enochs and his Jahn Regensburg team pulled a big 1-0 upset win over Bochum of the Bundesliga.

 

Belgium: Westerlo take step backward

 

In Belgium, Westerlo saw its perfect three wins/three games start to the season come to a crashing halt with a 4-1 loss to Gent. Bryan Reynolds has had a great start to the season but was not good in this game before being subbed out in the 76th. Griffin Yow, meanwhile, came into the game in the 56th minute and had four shots, including one in the 76th minute which forced a save.

Also in Belgium, Marlon Fossey went the distance for Standard Liege in a 1-0 loss to Kortrijk. Liege was reduced to 10-men in the 34th minute. Fossey was actually very useful for Standard in his ability to cover ground and push forward with his club down a man. He was one of his team’s best players in the loss.


France, Italy, & Spain: Balogun and Monaco win

 

Folarin Balogun and Monaco defeated St. Etienne 1-0 to win its Ligue 1 opener. The USMNT forward had four shots on goal and had a close-range effort saved in the fifth minute. Balogun is another player who is under pressure this season to score.

Johnny Cardoso came off the bench for Real Betis on Thursday in a 1-1 draw with Girona. The New Jersey-born Cardoso played the last 13 minutes in an uneventful shift.

Luca de la Torre is in club limbo and was not in the squad for Celta Vigo in a 2-1 win over Alaves.

In Italy’s Serie A, neither Yank was involved for Venezia in its 3-1 loss away to Lazio. Gianluca Busio is out with a knock and Tanner Tessmann is out in transfer limbo.

In Serie B, Kristoffer Lund went 80 minutes for Palermo in a 1-0 season opening loss to Brescia. It was a decent outing for the USMNT left back who exited the game with the score 0-0.

Also in Serie B, Andrija Novakovich played the second half for Bari in a 3-1 loss to Juve Stabia.

 

Denmark: Three Yanks suffer Superliga defeats

 

In the Danish Superliga, four Americans were on the matchday rosters. One didn’t play and the three who did, lost.

Jonathan Amon did not get much going for Lyngby in his 80 minutes of a 2-1 loss at home to Midtjylland.

Milan Iloski went the final 27 minutes for Nordsjaelland in a 4-1 away loss to Silkeborg. Unfortunately for Iloski, the score was 2-1 when he came on.

Andres Jasson went all 90 minutes for Aalborg BK in a 4-0 loss to Brondby. Jasson was one of AaB’s better players, but the loss doesn’t reflect well on anyone.

Meanwhile, Jose Gallegos did not get off the bench for SonderjyskE in a 2-1 win over Randers.

 

Elsewhere: CCV rolls, Bello impresses

 

There was plenty to talk about elsewhere in Europe too.

Cameron Carter-Vickers and Celtic continued their perfect start to the season, this time with a comfortable 3-1 win over Hibernian in the Leagues Cup. These days, CCV just seems so untested in Scotland.

In Austria, George Bello earned positive reviews for his performance for LASK in a 1-0 loss to Salzburg. Despite the loss, Bello played well on both sides of the ball and he continues to improve after what was an effective rebound season in Austria last year.

In Croatia's HNL, Rokas Pukstas had a rare poor outing for Hajduk Split when he narrowly avoided a red card in a 2-1 win over Varazdin. Despite the win, Pukstas was pulled at the half with Hajduk down 1-0. There are now reports that suggest this could be his last game for the club. Local media reporting that Parma is one of the interested clubs.

Elsewhere in the Eredivisie, Anthony Fontana did not get off the bench for PEC Zwolle in a 5-1 loss at home to Feyenoord.

In the second tier Eerste Divisie, Dordrecht drew Den Haag 1-1. Korde Osundina played 72 minutes for Dordrecht while Josh Pynadath started and was pulled at the half.

In Poland’s Ekstraklasa, Danny Trejo started and played 69 minutes for Korona Kielce in a 1-1 away draw at Slask Wroclaw. Meanwhile, Ian Hoffmann was an unused substitute for Lech Poznan in a 1-0 away win over Zaglebie Lubin.

Finally in Switzerland, Konrad de la Fuente scored the opening goal for Lausane in a 7-0 win over sixth-tier FC Champel in the Austrian Cup.

Post a comment

AmericanSoccerNow.