Christian_pulisic_-_asn_top_-_milan_injury_vs._atalanta_-_12-6-24
Americans abroad

Pulisic injured, PSV Yanks thrive, amid average weekend for Yanks abroad

ASN's Brian Sciaretta breaks down an up and down weekend for Americans abroad that featured a huge day for Pepi, Tillman, and Ledezma at PSV but also an injury to Christian Pulisic. Here's the latest and some thoughts on it all. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
December 10, 2024
4:05 AM

THE WEEKEND FOR AMERICANS abroad wasn’t great outside of a banner day for the trio at PSV. Among the things that went wrong were Christian Pulisic’s injuries and a wave of average performances.

Let’s break it down in detail.

 

Yanks in the Netherlands

 

It was a banner day for the three Yanks at PSV Eindhoven, who all played full 90 shifts and scored in a 6-1 romp over fifth-place FC Twente on Friday. Of course, head coach Petr Bosz rotated his squad thanks to a Champions League game away to Brest on Tuesday, but this was such a convincing performance that all players helped their case.

Ricardo Pepi scored the team’s final goal in the 85th minute, and assisted on Ismael Saibari’s 54th minute goal for a 4-1 lead. This season, his productivity numbers are outstanding. In the Eredivisie, Pepi now has 10 goals and 2 assists in just 611 minutes. He has a goal every 61 minutes and a goal contribution every 51 minutes. In the Champions League, he has one goal in 64 minutes of work.

PSV will soon either have to make Pepi their main forward or sell him for a big profit. But then how to they eventually replace Luuk de Jong? Pepi has forced a complicated decision on PSV that will soon force the club to make a choice between Pepi or de Jong.

Richard Ledezma played the full game at right back and it was a great moment for him in the 63rd minute when he scored a delightful goal to make it 5-1. It was a complete performance from Ledezma who connected on 53/55 passes and had 76 touches. He was 4/4 in long balls, won 3/3 of his ground duels, and drew two fouls. His only touch in the Twente box was the goal he scored. He was helped by the fact Twente gave up in this game early, but Ledezma played a role in the blowout.

Ledezma is in an interesting situation. He's playing well at right back where he is filling in, and helping with squad rotation. But when Sergino Dest returns, it seems logical his minutes will decrease.

The former NYCFC loanee is in the final year of his contract and the tricky thing about his situation is that as a non-EU citizen, he is subject to the high non-EU minimum salary. It is asking a lot for a club to meet that standard for a player who has an unclear path towards being a starter. PSV is one of the few Dutch clubs who can afford that salary, but if a young player from within can do what he does at a cheaper rate, it becomes harder to justify signing Ledezma.

But Ledezma's performances are ensuring that he will land on his feet elsewhere in case PSV elect to let him go.

Malik Tillman continues to be very good with overmatched opponents. He scored in the 24th minute to put PSV up 2-1 and it came off a corner. He now has nine goals and three assists this season between the Eredivisie and the Champions League (1544 minutes).

Meanwhile, Sergino Dest was on hand to watch. 

FC Utrecht moved back into second place on Sunday thanks to a 3-1 win over Almere City combined with an Ajax loss to AZ Alkmaar. In the win, Paxten Aaronson didn't have a goal contribution but played very well over 90 minutes against the league's last place team.

Aaronson completed 34/35 of his passes and had several good moments. His one shot in the 52nd minute was saved. He also set up chances for Zidane Iqbal in the 18th minute and Yoann Cathline in the 36th minute. Defensively, Aaronson continues to offer a lot to Utrecht this season and that is a big sign he is developing well. Aaronson was successful in 4/5 of his tackles. He also won most of his duels.

On another note, Taylor Booth did not get off the bench for Utrecht as his standing within the club only sees him playing limited minutes in recent months.

In the second tier Eerste Divisie, FC Dordrecht moved into fourth place with a 3-2 win over Telstar. John Hilton, 22, played 90 minutes at left back while Korede Osundina played 85 minutes at right wing and scored in the 60th minute to give Dordrecht a 2-1 lead. The former Orange County SC attacker now has 6 goals and 1 assist in 1275 minutes this season, and a promotion race looks likely for Dordrecht.

Also in the second tier, Zach Booth played the final 34 minutes for leaders Excelsior in a 1-1 draw away against fifth place FC Emmen on Sunday.

 

Yanks in Italy

 

There was good and bad news to report from AC Milan’s game away at Atalanta away on Friday, as  USMNT start Christian Pulisic was forced out early in the 37th minute due to an injury. Given the quality he has shown this season, any injury to him is potentially big news. The initial reports are now that he might not be back until January, which isn’t necessarily bad given that Milan only has three more Serie A games until then. Injuries happen, and Pulisic struggled with injuries during his time at Chelsea.

Injuries are never good, but this is probably the best time to go through one for a Serie A player. He gets a midseason break and there are no USMNT games for another three months. In other words, it could be worse - even if it takes him into the first half of January.

More bad news in this game is that Milan was poor and lost the game 2-1. It was 1-1 when Pulisic was subbed off and he never got going.

Yunus Musah also started and played 89 minutes. It wasn’t a good performance. Again, he struggled with his final ball and in the 75th minute he missed a close shot wide. But overall, he didn’t create much against one of Italy’s best tactically disciplined sides. He’s a tough player to figure out and eventually to remain in AC Milan’s starting XI, he will need to do more

With the loss, Milan fell to seventh place.

Tim Weah started and played 80 minutes for Juventus in a 2-2 home draw with Bologna on Saturday. It was a disappointing result for Juventus as they needed an injury time equalizing goal to earn the point and remain in 6th place. Weah played left wing in this game and was relatively quiet, although he did have his moments. His best came just before the half when he was part of the buildup to a dangerous chance. But overall, he continues to be a starter due to his ability to play well on both sides of the ball. In this game, he also made several good defensive reads.

Weston McKennie continues to miss time due to a muscular injury.

In a battle between newly promoted Serie A teams, Venezia and Como played to a 2-2 draw on Sunday in Venice. Gianluca Busio started and played 84 minutes for Venezia but did not get on the ball nearly as often as he typically does. The former Sporting Kansas City homegrown midfielder was limited to just 30 touches and 8/16 passing with one ball into the final third. Despite the point, Venezia are still in last place with just nine points from 15 games.

Kristoffer Lund was again an unused sub for Palermo has his status with the club continues to decline. He watched as his team lost 1-0 away to Carrarese. With the loss, Palermo fell to 8th place in Serie B. 

Bari moved into 6th place of Serie B after a 1-0 win over Cesena FC on Saturday. Andrija Novakovich assisted on the games only goal in the 33rd minute when he held the ball under pressure, moved to the end line, and crossed it to Mehdi Dorval for a header at the back post, which he converted. 

Bari moved into 5th place of Serie B, after leapfrogging their opponents. Novakovich is playing well and likely has a huge opportunity in the form of a promotional race in the months ahead. 

 

Yanks in the Bundesliga

 

Joe Scally, 21, had a tough assignment starting at right back for Borussia Monchengladbach against Borussia Dortmund. It matched Scally up against BVB left winger Jamie Gittens. In the end, M'Gladbach walked away with a 1-1 draw and while Gittens scored, it was not on Scally. Scally had a few shaky defensive moments but was generally solid - as he has been since the end of last season. In the 53rd minute, he hit a nice through ball to set up Tim Kleindienst for a shot that was blocked.

Gio Reyna played the last 13 minutes for BVB and was overall decent in his limited shift. He had a cross in stoppage time that set up a header for Serhou Guirassy.

With the result, Borussia Monchengladbach end the weekend in 11th place and Dortmund is in 6th place.

Jordan Pefok, 28, came close to scoring his first goal of the season for Union Berlin on Friday. The Washington, DC-born center forward came into the game in the 70th minute with Union Berlin trailing Stuttgart 3-2. In the 84th minute, he was set up for a great chance but shanked a shot from within the box wide. Aside from that, he only had seven touches and one completed pass in his 20 minutes. The tough season for Pefok continues and Union Berlin fell to 11th place with the loss.

Kevin Paredes will hopefully be back in January, meanwhile the 2024 U.S. Olympic team winger saw his Wolfsburg team defeat Mainz to climb into fifth place.

Lennard Maloney played all 90 minutes for Heidenheim is a tough 4-2 loss away to leaders Bayern Munich on Saturday. He played his normal defensive midfield role to break up plays and sit in front of the backline to help shield from Bayern’s powerful attack. He played relatively well given his responsibilities. He was not part of the attack, or he didn’t help in possession, but he made some big tackles, and he prevented Bayern from going up the middle at times. Unfortunately, Heidenheim lost for the fifth straight time and is now in the bottom three. There are rumors that Maloney might be on the move in January given that he is in the last year of his contract and he is not willing to sign a new deal (per local media). 

United States U-20 central defender Noahkai Banks was on the bench for the third straight time on Saturday for 13th-place Augsburg in a 2-2 away draw with Eintracht Frankfurt, but is still awaiting his first team debut after going as an unused substitute again. Timmy Chandler was not in the squad for 2nd place Eintracht. 

 

Yanks in the 2.Bundesliga

 

It was a rare subpar game from Paderborn on Friday as the club entered Friday atop the 2.Bundesliga table but suffered a 4-2 loss at home to Schalke. After Paderborn equalized the game at 2-2 in the 52nd minute, Schalke took control down the stretch.

Santiago Castaneda, 20, has started every game of the season for Paderborn and it is a great story for the young defensive midfielder from Tampa. In this game, he played 89 minutes but didn’t stand out all that much as he only had 49 touches. Defensively, his position was more tactical as he tried to prevent Schalke’s attack up the middle of the field. Overall, it was just a game to forget from Castanea and everyone else on Paderborn. It’s been a great season for him, but this just wasn’t his day – but he was far from alone on Paderborn.

Johan Gomez, 23, started for Eintracht Braunschweig but was replaced at the half with his team down 3-0 to 5th place Fortuna Dusseldorf. While he was ineffective, things did not get any better in the second half and Eintracht lost 5-0. They now sit just one point clear of the bottom three in what looks like a relegation battle ahead in 2025.

Damion Downs, 20, was subbed into the game for FC Koln away against last place Jahn Regensburg in the 34th minute to replace an injured Tim Lemperie. It wasn't a great game for Downs who missed the target on two headers, the first in the 51st minute and the second in the 52nd minute. Aside from that, he missed duels and will probably be overall frustrated with the game, despite that Koln ended up winning 1-0 to move into sixth place.

Greuther Furth defeated Hertha BSC 2-1 on Saturday to climb away from the bottom three and into 13th place. Julian Green started and played 90 minutes in the win and the 2014 USMNT veteran had a great two-way outing in the win even if he didn’t have a goal contribution. The Tampa-born midfielder created loads of chances in his 62 touches. In total, he had 11 balls played into the final third and several well placed corner kickers 

Recent U.S Olympic team defender Max Dietz also assisted on the winning goal for Furth in the 55th minute but was sent off with his second yellow in the 77th. Furth was able to see out the win while down a man.

John Brooks still has not played a minute this season for Hertha due to injury. 

 

 

Yanks in the Premier League

 

Antonee Robinson once again wore the captains armband for Fulham in a 1-1 draw at home in a London Derby against 3rd place Arsenal. Fulham were saved by VAR which disallowed a Bukayo Saka goal in the 88th minute. Robinson played well although was given a yellow card late which gave Arsenal a free kick deep in the attacking half. Robinson was busy defending in this game as Arsenal had 66% possession and outshot the Cottagers 12-2. In the end, Robinson was a big contributo r as to why Fulham's defense did not break despite the pressure.

Fulham now sits 10th in the Premier League with the result.

Tyler Adams was not part of the squad for Bournemouth on Sunday in a 2-1 win over Ipswich. The club continues to monitor his minutes as he comes back from his long term injury.

Bournemouth impressively moved into 8th place with the win.

 

Neither Chris Richards nor Matt Turner got off the bench for Crystal Palace in an otherwise impressive 2–2 draw at home with Manchester City. The news is more curious for Richards says it is unclear where he stands within the team in terms of its central defense pecking order. It appears that the club does not quite trust him to play a lot of minutes in big games at the moments. Palace climbed to 16th place in the Premier League with the point. 

American-born manager Fabian Hurzeler saw his Brighton team blow yet another two goal lead and have to settle for a 2-2 draw away to Leicester City to fall to seventh place.

 

Yanks in the Championship

 

Aidan Morris continues to be out for Middlesbrough with the injury he picked up in November with the U.S. national team. The former Columbus Crew midfielder watched his Boro teammates draw Burnley 1-1 away to fall into fifth place.

Lynden Gooch was an unused sub for 14th place Stoke City as they lost on the road to his former club, 4th place Sunderland 

Brenden Aaronson had a good outing on Saturday for Leeds United in a 2-0 win over Derby County. The New Jersey native played 68 minutes and was responsible for some of the best Leeds chances. In the first half, he nearly drew a penalty with a shot that hit a Derby defender’s arm, but the ref did not award a penalty. 

On the first goal in the 39th minute, Aaronson was played into the box. His hard shot was saved out of bounds but the ensuing corner resulted in a goal. In the second goal just before halftime, Aaronson was played on the right wing and his cross was deflected by a Derby defender. Max Wober was there to hammer home the ball after the deflection for a 2-0 lead. 

Aaronson also drew three fouls in the game and the win sent Leeds temporarily atop the table. 

Duane Holmes was a 76th minute sub in Preston North End’s 1-1 away draw with Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday. The American attacking mid entered the game a minute after Wednesday equalizer but he was unable to turn the tide and had only 8 touches, with nothing amounting to anything dangerous. PNE sits 18th after the result. 

Haji Wright is still out with an ankle injury and missed his 14th-place Coventry team notch a 1-0 away win over Millwall in London. 

The same was true for Josh Sargent who continues to miss time from surgery for Norwich - who lost 3-0 away to QPR on Saturday. Norwich now sit 10th in the Championship. 

 

Yanks in Ligue 1

 

Tanner Tessmann played the final 8 minutes for Lyon in a comfortable 3-0 win over Angers on the road. Tessmann had a quiet and brief outing but was on the field for the team’s final goal. Lyon moved into 5th place with the win. Despite the uneven playing time, Tessmann remains in a positive situation on a talented Lyon team that also must balance European play (such as this week’s Europa League game against Eintracht Frankfurt). 

American winger Emmanuel Sabbi missed Le Havre’s 2-1 loss to Nice on Saturday and Le Havre remained in the bottom three of Ligue 1 as a result. The injury to Sabbi was not specifically diagnosed but it is said to not be serious. 

Toulouse fell on the road to 3rd place Monaco 2-0 on Saturday with Mark McKenzie going the distance for a Toulouse team that entered the game with three cleansheet wins in their last four games. In this game, Monaco was simply better and had the added benefit of playing at home. McKenzie played well and was not at fault for either of the Monaco goals and he also made some strong defense plays. He won a high percentage of duels.

Toulouse remains in midtable of Ligue 1, which is a good place after a poor start to the season.

Folarin Balogun reinjured his shoulder and is out a few more weeks.

Caleb Wiley, 19, is also out with a shoulder injury – which he injured two weeks ago in his first game back from knee tendonitis. The former Atlanta United left back missed Strasbourg’s 0-0 draw with Reims to remain in 14th place.

 

Yanks in La Liga

 

Luca de la Torre made his first La Liga appearance of the season when he came into Celta Vigo’s 2-1 win over Mallorca in the 87th minute on Friday to move into 10th place. While de la Torre did little of note, he now has two games this season under his belt after appearing midweek in a 7-0 blowout win in the Copa del Ray.

For de la Torre, it is will be interesting to evaluate his situation in the weeks and months ahead. There have been conflicting reports about how much he is wanted by the club. If he is not wanted, playing him in games in December helps to keep up his value. We will see. It’s been such a tough season that we will learn about how much the club rates him sooner than later.

Johnny Cardoso is still out with a thigh injury and the USMNT midfielder missed Saturday’s Real Betis game as they played to a 2-2 draw with Barcelona. Betis remains in 11th place with the point. 

 

Yanks in Belgium

 

In Belgium’s top flight, Marlon Fossey, 26, went the distance for 7th-place Standard Liege in a 1-1 draw with Oud-Heverlee Leuven on Saturday. It was a quiet day for the American right wingback but he should have had an assist in the 38th minute when his great cross found Andi Zeqiri for an open header that hit the right post instead. 

Both Bryan Reynolds and Griffin Yow played all 90 minutes for Westerlo in a 1-0 loss away to FCV Dender on Sunday in a matchup between midtable teams. Reynolds had a good game playing right back and was aggressive in the attack. With his 95 touches, he played 21 balls into the attacking third, drew two fouls, and won a considerable number of his duels. Meanwhile, Yow got into a number for dangerous positions but was unable to get clean looks for any of his four shots. He brought a lot of energy into the attack for Westerlo, but Dender's defense was able to hang on. Westerlo fell to ninth with the result.

Staying in Belgium, former Yale forward Kahveh Zahiroleslam is not expected back before February due to the injury he sustained in November and he was missed by St. Truiden in a 2-0 loss to Gent on Saturday. St Truiden sits 13th in the 16-team Belgian First Division. 

 

Yanks Elsewhere

Likely due to rest with the Champions League approaching, Cameron Carter-Vickers was kept on the bench for leaders Celtic in Saturday’s 3-0 win over Hibernian. Auston Trusty, however, started and played all 90 minutes in central defense for Celtic. The former Philadelphia Union homegrown had two very good chances to score off corners in this game - a close shot in the 30th minute and off a header in the 78th minute. He also completed 108 passes and won a lot of duels as Hibs was completely overmatched. 

Staying in Scotland, Dante Polvara was not part of the squad for 2nd place Aberdeen in a disappointing 1-1 draw with St. Johnstone at home on Saturday. 

In Slovakia’s Super Liga, Iowa-born forward Eduvie Ikoba played the 2nd half for 6th place Zemplin Michalovce in a 0-0 draw with 10th place Komarno. 

Also in Slovakia, Zyen Jones played the whole match as a left wing back for 5th place FC Kosice  in a 1-1 home draw with last place Skalice. 

Rokas Pukstas, 20, didn’t have a good outing Hajduk Split in a 1-0 away loss to HNK Gorcia. The tough loss dropped them into second place in Croatia HNL. The young American attacking midfielder didn’t create much and lost a lot of duels before eventually being subbed out in the 77th minute. 

In the Austrian Bundesliga, George Bello, 22, was good individually for LASK, but was unable to prevent his club from suffering a 2–1 loss to Wolfsberger on Saturday. It was the third straight defeat for LASK, and the loss sent them into the bottom half of the standings. Bello had 113 touches, win 8/10 of his ground duels, 4/6 of his aerials, 3/5 of his tackles, was 3/3 in dribbles, has 12 passes into the final third, and set up Florian Flecker’s shot in the 28th minute. The former Atlanta United left back played well, despite the result.

Staying in Austria top tier, Quincy Butler played the final 30 minutes for WSG Tirol in a 3-0 loss at home to Strum Graz. He was aggressive when he came in, completing 4/7 of his dribble attempts, drawing two fouls, and winning 6/11 ground duels all in limited minutes. Ultimately, he was not able to help create a goal against the Bundesliga leaders.

In the Swiss Super League, Konrad de la Fuente earned a rare start for Lausanne in a 3-0 win over FC Zurich on Sunday. De la Fuente, 23, was subbed out in the 62nd minute. He had only 19 touches, was 1/3 in passing, and had three shots but nothing on target.

In Slovenia’s Superliga, Steven Juncaj played the final 22 minutes for 7th place NS Mura in a 3-1 loss at home to third place Koper.

In the Greek Super League, Erik Palmer-Brown was not part of the squad for 4th place Panathinaikos in a 1-0 away win over Asteras. The same was true for left back Jonathan Gomez who didn’t make the bench for 3rd place  PAOK in a 4-1 win over Panserraikos.

In Argentina, Matko Miljevic, 23, played the first 56 minutes in the midfield for Newell’s Old Boys in a 1-0 loss at home to Boca Juniors. It’s been a miserable season for Newell’s Old Boys which sits 26th in the 28-team league.

Post a comment

AmericanSoccerNow.