Hyndman loaned to Rangers

The January window is still young but there have already been a few Americans on the move in Europe. Julian Green finally left Bayern Munich for Stuttgart and there are rumors that Gedion Zelalem might leave Arsenal for Borussia Dortmund.

On Monday AFC Bournemouth sent Emerson Hyndman to Glasgow Rangers on a six-month loan. Hyndman, 20, made three Cup appearances for Bournmouth this season, including a start in the FA Cup match over the weekend.

As with any deal for a youngster still trying to establish himself as a professional, it will be a great move if he plays a lot and it will be disappointing if he does not.

Playing time at Rangers will not come easy for Hyndman. The club was promoted back to the Scottish Premier League last year after five years in the abyss. Now in second place, it has no chance of catching archrival Celtic this year but it is a team heading in the right direction.

At first, it is hard to see what this loan offers Hyndman that he hasn’t already learned. Yes, the Scottish League is physical and it doesn’t hurt for a young player to learn that aspect of the game. But Hyndman made his first inroads as a professional at Fulham during a time when the London club was in a relegation battle in the Championship. So the style in Scotland should not be foreign to him.

The advantage here is that Rangers, unlike Fulham during Hyndman’s time, are expected to win most of its games. The Dallas native likes to be a playmaker who thrives in the possession game. So now he is on a team that should have the better of play against every opponent except Celtic. It should play into his strengths.

“The philosophy is the same as Bournemouth in the way they like to press but when they have the ball they like to keep it in attack,” Hyndman said yesterday. “Hopefully that will make my transition a lot easier.”

His biggest challenge will be getting on the field and proving that he belongs on a team which is already heading in the right direction. Will Rangers’ coach Mark Warburton feel compelled to make a change to his rotation of players. This weekend Rangers will take on RB Leipzig and Hyndman will get a chance to prove himself.

“He’s one of their young assets so we have got to look after that asset and fingers crossed send him back a better player,” Warburton said of Hyndman when addressing the media. “It’s been a whirlwind for Emerson but he’s up here, he trained well, he’s in the squad, and absolutely he’ll play some part in Leipzig.”

Rangers has been the home of many American players in the past, including Carlos Bocanegra, Claudio Reyna, Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, DaMarucs Beasley, and Gedion Zelalem. Many of these players are still held in high esteem by supporters and they hope to see Hyndman, the captain of the United States 2015 U-20 World Cup team, continue that tradition.

“I think he will help Rangers score more goals in the second half of the season and that will obviously be good for the team,” Bedoya told The Daily Mail. “I know they have been lacking a bit of creativity since the injury to Niko Kranjcar and I reckon Emerson can help solve that problem. He is undoubtedly one of the most promising talents we have in the U.S.”

Carter-Vickers Gets a Start

Over the weekend Cameron Carter-Vickers earned the start for Tottenham in the FA Cup and he went the distance in a convincing 2-0 win over an inept Aston Villa squad.

It was great to see the 19-year-old get on the field at such a talented club, currently in third place in the Premier League. Carter-Vickers is one of the most promising American prospects and he has not looked out of place whenever given the chance.

The good news for Carter-Vickers is that the FA Cup and the Europa League should provide more opportunities to see the field. The bad news is that is still not enough since elimination from either tournament could come at any time. All signs point to the fact that unless a slew of injuries hit the team’s central defenders, his Premier League debut is still likely not on the horizon.

For now he is in a great situation and Tottenham is a strong environment for his development. But at some point, he is going to have to get on the field on a consistent basis in meaningful games. 

Guzan earns pair of clean sheets

Brad Guzan has not seen much of the field this year at Middlesbrough, as he is stuck behind starter Victor Valdes. But Valdes was hurt in Middlesbrough’s 2-1 loss to Manchester United and that has allowed Guzan to get the nod in the last two games.

Fortunately for Guzan, he has posted consecutive clean sheets against reigning champions Leicester City and against Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup. Unfortunately for Guzan, Valdes should be back sooner rather than later.

It puts Middlesbrough in a tough situation. Guzan is a very dependable backup but MLS teams are likely to come calling with offers of a starting spot. There was one rumor that Atlanta United was pursuing the U.S. international although that might be premature. It is a story worth following for U.S. fans, since Tim Howard is out injured and Guzan could be stuck on the bench in England. Bruce Arena will need a healthy, in-form goalkeeper for the two Hexagonal matches in March. 

Bundesliga winter camp underway

The Bundesliga is still 10 days away from resuming but teams have reported for camp and many are playing friendlies. The winter break has been a great time in the past for American players to break into the first team with Christian Pulisic, Danny Williams, and Timothy Chandler all using this period to launch their respective professional careers.

Here is what you need to know so far:

John Brooks traveled for Hertha’s first-team camp after missing the last two games in December with an Achilles’ injury.

Fabian Johnson is also out with an Achilles’ injury and while he did not travel with Borussia Monchengladbach’s first team to Spain for camp, he told ASN that he expects to be back for the Bundesliga restart.

Aron Johannsson scored a late equalizer for Werder Bremen in Monday’s 1-1 draw against Karlsruher with a nice header off a set piece.

Bobby Wood started and played the first half for Hamburg against Al Nasr in Dubai. Wood left with Hamburg up 1-0 and the club would eventually win 5-0.

Christian Pulisic scored a goal for Borussia Dortmund in a 4-1 friendly win over PSV Eindhoven over the weekend.

Haji Wright was scheduled to make the bench for Schalke in today’s friendly vs. Oostende in Belgium. The U.S. U-20 attacker is aiming to break into the first team and make his professional debut in 2017.

Matt Miazga gets punked

Finally, Matt Miazga found himself the victim of a prank played by his Vitesse teammates at the Eindhoven airport. The New Jersey native initially thought he was in trouble with the authorities but later found out it was all a set up.