Weston_mckennie_-_asn_top_-_goal_vs._barcelona_-_12-8-20
Midweek musings

Juve buy McKennie; Dike, Aaronson, & CCV score; Musah in limbo; & much more

Wednesday was a huge news day in American soccer with a lot to talk about both on and off the field. ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks it all down. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
March 03, 2021
4:00 PM

WEDNESDAY TURNED out to be an unexpectedly wild ride in American soccer both on and off the field. It was a roller coaster of news with both highs and lows with interesting developments both on and off the field.

In one regard, Weston McKennie’s groundbreaking season reached another high points with Juventus officially completing a transfer for the American. On the field, Daryl Dike, Tyler Adams, Brenden Aaronson, Cameron Carter-Vickers, and Sergino Dest all made statements on the field.

On the other side, the battle for Yunus Musah might (emphasis in “might”) be trending in favor of England. On the field, DeAndre Yedlin and Galatasaray suffered a bad loss that will probably drop them off the top of the table in Turkey.

Tuesday was a news free day without much success on the field. There were a few negative moments with Gio Reyna not getting off the bench for Borussia Dortmund, Nicholas Gioacchini and Caen losing to Nancy, Owen Otasowie turning the ball over to gift Manchester City a goal, and Duane Holmes and Huddersfield drawing Birmingham City at home.

But Wednesday? There was so much news that is hard to know where to start but McKennie seems like a good place to begin.

 

Juventus complete McKennie purchase

 

It seemed as if this was going to happen at some point (maybe even required given how much he has played) but Juventus formally purchased the contract of U.S. national team midfielder Weston McKennie for $22 million (plus potentially more if incentives are met) from Schalke and the Texan is no longer at the club on loan.

 

McKennie, 22, is now a fulltime Juventus player. The only way to take in this news is to state what everyone knows – his success with the legendary Italian club has been the best story of the past year in American soccer and the sky is the limit for McKennie. He has served as the team’s glue in the midfield where he is effective on both sides of the ball. Juventus clearly see him as part of the team’s future and this is a remarkable accomplishment for him and for American soccer overall.

 

Musah’s USMNT future in doubt?

 

Keith Costigan, a reliable reporter, splashed some cold water on American fans stating that he is hearing from reports he trusts that momentum is with Yunus Musah opting to stay with English setup for now. Of course nothing is every firmly set until he plays in an official first-team game for either team (or files a switch after playing in an official youth game) but this would force U.S. national team manager Gregg  Berhalter to head into qualifying withing penciling in Musah.

 

If what Costigan is hearing is accurate, this would be disappointing for U.S. fans but it would also make sense – and be somewhat admirable. By any objective measure, Musah feels more connected to England. He was raised there and developed as a player there from a very young age until he left for Valencia.

But it would be admirable in a way because he would be betting on himself, big time. Making England right now is exceptionally challenging. They have a great player pool that can go five deep and still be solid. If Musah wants to play for England, he is going for it against remarkable competition. He is chasing his dreams – and dreams that are completely understandable.

There is the argument that the U.S. offers him minutes but at 18, why give up on what you truly want. If he opts for the U.S. now, he is likely going to be permanently tied – possibly this summer at Nations League and definitely by the fall for qualifying. If he opts for England now, the door to switch back to the U.S. team is extended. Perhaps he is willing to playing the waiting game on England through the 2022 World Cup? He might decide that chasing his dream of playing for England is worth missing one World Cup with the United States, when that door could be open to him for years and multiple more World Cups – if he is good enough. That is not assured with the rapidly improving U.S. player pool.

This is all just speculation right now. My guess is that he has not completely made up his mind now and deciding to play for the U.S. in 2021 is still a possibility. But there reports Costigan talks about also make a lot of sense.

 

Dike scores big Barnsley goal

 

Daryl Dike, 20, has been a big asset for Barnsley since arriving on loan from Orlando at the end of January. On Thursday, Barnsley defeated Queens Park Rangers 3-1 for its sixth straight Championship win – which started with Dike’s club debut.

In this game, Dike used his remarkable physical ability to head home a corner kick from Alex Mowatt in the 23rd minute for a 1-0 lead.

 

Dike eventually left the game in the 56th minute when Barnsley manager Valerien Ismael opted to replace his entire front three attacking line. Barnsley was up 2-1 at the time and would win 3-1. The club has now acquired all 18 points since Dike’s arrival. The win briefly moved Barnsely into the all-important top six for the promotional playoffs but AFC Bournemouth found a late winner from Cameron Carter-Vickers to defeat Bristol City 2-1 and move into sixth.

But Barnsley is in the promotional race and Dike has played a huge role.

This move has been everything that Dike and Orlando have wanted. Dike is gaining valuable experience and might end up fetching a huge sum of money. It will probably only be Barnsley if they get promoted but other clubs in England are watching Dike closely because he has physical tools that are hard to come by. He also brings with him skill and a nice touch. His runs have also shown a high degree of soccer IQ.

Orlando did a great job developing Dike and they will either reap the rewards of having an more polished Dike upon his return or will earn a huge some of money.

Also of note in this game, former U.S. international Geoff Cameron went a full 90 in the loss for QPR while U.S. U-20 forward Charlie Kelman played the final three minutes plus stoppage time in the loss.

 

 

Carter-Vickers scores winner

 

Cameron Carter-Vickers picked a great time to score his second career goal. With AFC Bournemouth and Bristol City even at 1-1 in the 88th minute. Cameron Carter-Vickers stepped up and volleyed home a corner kick from close range to deliver Bournemouth a critical goal for an away win.

That win, moved Bournemouth past Dike and Barnsley back into sixth place of the Championship.

This is a great time for Carter-Vickers, even if his national team hopes appear to be declining with Brooks, Richards, Miazga, Palmer-Brown, McKenzie, Long, Robinson, and Zimmerman all having cases to be ahead of him.

The English-born American has now been on loan from Tottenham to six different Championship teams but each of those loans has been to a midtable or relegation-battling team. He is now, finally, getting a chance to compete for promotion.

Carter-Vickers can finally move on from the Tottenham loan-army this summer. After a successful season last year where he helped Luton Town avoid relegation and now he is competing in a promotional race, his resume is much stronger now than a year ago.

 

Dest strong in Copa del Rey win

 

Sergino Dest, 20, had one of his best outings in months for Barcelona over the weekend in a 2-0 win over Sevilla on the road. That game was in La Liga, but the two teams would get an opportunity for a quick rematch on Wednesday in the Copa del Rey second leg, with Sevilla carrying a 2-0 lead from the first leg.

Ousmane Dembele gave Barcelona a 1-0 lead in the second leg and cut the aggregate deficit in half. Just after the hour mark, Dest was subbed out and Barcelona found its equalizer in stoppage time on a header from Gerard Pique. Then in the 95th minute, Martin Braithwaite delivered the winner.

Dest’s numbers were solid in this one and he was active pushing forward.

  • 63 minutes
  • 59 touches
  • 0 shots
  • 1 key pass
  • 37/40 passing (93%)
  • 6/12 duels won
  • 4/7 successful dribbles
  • 1x fouled
  • 1/1 tackle attempts
  • 0 aerial attempts
  • 0 interceptions
  • 0 clearances

 

For Dest, he now has posted back-to-back solid outings which has made the most out of his skills where he was active getting forward. While a few other young Americans are slumping, Dest appears to be getting back into fine form.

 

Adams bests Brooks in Pokal

 

Tyler Adams got the start in the middle of the field, yet again, for RB Leipzig when they hosted Wolfsburg in the quarterfinals of the German Cup. His U.S. national team teammate John Brooks was in the starter. It was a high profile matchup of the second and third placed teams in the Bundesliga meeting up in the German Cup

Leipzig got the better of Wolfsburg in this one. Wout Weghorst had the chance to give Wolfsburg a lead in the 26th minute but missed a penalty. Yussuf Poulsen gave Leipzig a 1-0 lead in the 63rd minute and Hee-Chan Hwang put the game out of reach in the 88th minute with the second goal for Leipzig in a 2-0 win.

Adams played as the No. 6 for Leipzig again. He was coming off a terrific outing over the weekend in a thrilling 3-2 win over Borussia Monchengladbach. In this game, he continued to make a case to play centrally ever game.

  • 90 minutes
  • 76 touches
  • 0 shots
  • 0 key passes
  • 43/56 passing (77%)
  • 4/6 long balls
  • 7/16 duels won
  • 1 dribble (2 attempts)
  • 1x foul
  • 4 tackles (4 attempts) (!)
  • 1/3 aerials won
  • 3 interceptions
  • 1 foul

 

Adams is clearly trending up at the right time and Leipzig is having a very solid season. Sitting in second in the Bundesliga, it trails Bayern Munich by only two points and is now heading to the semifinals of the German Cup.

 

Aaronson scores in Cup win

 

After Red Bull Salzburg dropped a disappointing 2-1 loss to Sturm Graz in the Austrian Bundesliga over the weekend, the two teams got to face off in the semifinals of the Austrian Cup on Wednesday. This game was all Salzburg from the onset and the team cruised to a 4-0 win.

In the 79th minute, Brenden Aaronson scored the team’s final goal when he tapped home a Karim Adeyemi pass after Adeyemi dribbled through traffic into the box.

 

Aaronson is in a great position to chase silverware with Salzburg in his first season. Despite the loss last weekend, Salzburg remain atop the Austrian Bundesliga by three points (while having a huge goal differential edge) and are now in the Austrian Cup final where they will face LASK on May 1.

 

Weah starts in Lille win

 

Tim Weah got the start for Lille on Wednesday when they hosted Marseille. The standings in Ligue 1 have tightened with Paris St. Germain now trailing leaders Lille by just two points (with PSG having a large edge in goal differential).

Weah ended up going 75 minutes in this one and left with the game scoreless. With Paris St. Germain defeating Bordeaux 1-0, Lille needed to win this game to remain in first place. Fortunately for them, American-born Canadian forward Jonathan David scored in the 90th minute and again in stoppage time for a 2-0 win.

  • 74 minutes
  • 34 touches
  • 3 shots
  • 0 key passes
  • 19/22 passing (86%)
  • 1/2 dribbles
  • 1 foul



In this game, Weah played on the left side but frequently cut in and was fairly dangerous. It will be interesting to see how often he starts and if he continues to come off the bench for 25-30 minutes on a regular basis. Either way, it will take a massive effort hold of PSG. A lot will depend on how PSG handles its squad rotation due to its ongoing Champions League campaign.

 

Boyd & Yedlin start in Turkey

 

In Turkey’s Super Lig, Tyler Boyd started for Sivasspor against Hatayspor and later in the day, DeAndre Yedlin started for leaders Galatasaray away at Ankaragucu.

Boyd, 26, had his best outing since September and his best since joining Sivasspor. While the game finished 1-1, Boyd was dangerous in this one. A streaky player, if Boyd can get into a good run of form, it could do well to force a move this summer as Besiktas would probably be willing to sell the New Zealand-born American for a reasonable price.

 

For Yedlin, the story was more disappointing. While Yedlin has been playing very well as of late, he was subbed out for tactical reasons to start the second half as Galatasaray trailed Ankaragucu 1-0. It only got worse for Galatasaray after Yedlin left as they conceded a second goal in the 55th minute and were reduced to 10 players after a 57th minute red card to Mostafa Mohamed. It ended up losing 2-1.



Yedlin and Galatasaray still are atop the Super Lig but Besiktas is even on points and has now played one fewer game.

 

Elsewhere in Europe


In the Swiss Super League, Jordan Siebatcheu played the final nine minutes or leaders BSC Young Boys in a 1-1 road draw with Basel.

Matt Miazga started and played a full 90 for Anderlecht in a 1-0 win over Cercle Brugge in the quarterfinals of the Belgian Cup.

In the German Cup quarterfinals, Isaiah Young and Rot Weiss Essen saw their Cinderella run end with a 3-0 loss to Holstein Kiel.

In the Championship, Rotherham United picked up a huge win in their hopes to avoid relegation after defeating Sheffield Wednesday 2-1. Right back Matthew Olosunde from New Jersey started and scored a fluky own-goal in the win. Both of these teams are in the relegation zone but Rotherham United is now only three points from safety while having two games in hand.

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