Yanks Abroad 2016-17: Pulisic GIF Repository

[Titans Bastard]

There have been a few updates today on the trials and tribulations of some players fighting against red-tape restrictions on moves to Europe.

Ben Lederman was kicked out of La Masia, as he was one of the young players ruled to have moved illegally to Barcelona. However, he has reportedly obtained a Polish passport which would allow him to move back.

John "Xuxuh" Hilton's case to join Ajax went before the CAS, but the ruling has reportedly not gone in his favor. Presumably, he will have to join a club in the US for the time being.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Pulisic starting in a strong BVB lineup for the Revierderby today.

 

[Infield Infidel]

Bobby Wood suspended for 3 club matches for throwing an elbow
http://www.foxsports.com/soccer/story/bobby-wood-suspended-for-3-games-but-will-be-able-to-play-for-usmnt-vs-mexico-110116

 

[Titans Bastard]

Silky first touch from Pulisic in the buildup to Dortmund's only goal today. He also hit the crossbar in the first half.

http://www.espnfc.com/video/champions-league-highlights/149/video/2987533/borussia-dortmund-1-0-sporting-cp

 

[Quintanariffic]

The little flip to Gotze to set up that shot was the best part. He is special.

 

[McBride11]

Are we sure Pulisic is from Hershey and not from Germany?
That touch on the goal setup is absurd and he is constantly fighting to be in position to help.
Ya, we are on the hype train, but he really performs on another level compared to American stars. Does Jozy trap that ball? Does Dempsey lay it off or take the shot? Maybe Landy in his prime but his game always seemed to rely on his speed plus his other assets whereas CP22 gets by without speed being the key.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Are we sure Pulisic is from Hershey and not from Germany?
That touch on the goal setup is absurd and he is constantly fighting to be in position to help.
Ya, we are on the hype train, but he really performs on another level compared to American stars. Does Jozy trap that ball? Does Dempsey lay it off or take the shot? Maybe Landy in his prime but his game always seemed to rely on his speed plus his other assets whereas CP22 gets by without speed being the key.

I wouldn't underrate the importance of Pulisic's speed. He's an explosive player and, combined with his technical ability, is what makes him a very strong 1v1 player.

There are lots of speedy wingers. There are lots of tricky, technical wingers. There are not a lot of wingers who are excellent in both categeories, and those guys are very valuable.

I think Pulisic is a much stronger 1v1 player than Landon was. Donovan may have combined with teammates a little better than Pulisic does now. However, given that CP is only 18 and already has a very good soccer IQ and makes a lot of smart off-the-ball decisions, it's not difficult to imagine CP surpassing LD in that category.

 

[McBride11]

I wouldn't underrate the importance of Pulisic's speed. He's an explosive player and, combined with his technical ability, is what makes him a very strong 1v1 player.

There are lots of speedy wingers. There are lots of tricky, technical wingers. There are not a lot of wingers who are excellent in both categeories, and those guys are very valuable.

I think Pulisic is a much stronger 1v1 player than Landon was. Donovan may have combined with teammates a little better than Pulisic does now. However, given that CP is only 18 and already has a very good soccer IQ and makes a lot of smart off-the-ball decisions, it's not difficult to imagine CP surpassing LD in that category.

Sorry I might not have been clear. I agree. CP22's speed makes him top notch, without it he would still be a fantastic player. Landy without his speed would have been average. Relatively, CP22 tech abilities seem a lot stronger.

CP will improve his passing / combining skills.

'We are all witness'?

 

[Infield Infidel]

Yedlin had another assist yesterday, cut inside from the right flank, got to the edge of the box and set up the shot with a nifty through pass

 

[Titans Bastard]

AGF (and ex-Revs) center back A.J. Soares has retired at age 27 after a head injury.

http://www.thebentmusket.com/2016/11/16/13651426/head-injury--aj-soares-retirement-revolution-agf-aarhus-viking-fk

 

[Titans Bastard]

Haji Wright scored two goals in Schalke's 4-1 win over Leverkusen U19. He's up to 9g/7a in 14 U19 games since joining the club late last spring. Weston McKennie continues to captain the squad since taking over the role in his fourth game for the U19s.

Attacking midfielder Josh Perez is reportedly traveling with Fiorentina's first team for the (rather short) trip to Empoli. Positive signs that he could make his Serie A debut soon.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Christian Pulisic, pulled with a result still in reach on Tuesday, brought in to help seal a 1-0 win over Bayern on Saturday.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Red Bulls U18 goalkeeper Wojciech Gajda signed with Hearts today.

http://www.heartsfc.co.uk/news/5528

I'm going to go out on a limb and speculate that he has a Polish passport that helped facilitate the move to the UK. He committed to Stony Brook in the spring, but never showed up on the roster this fall.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Portland Timbers midfielder Darlington Nagbe reportedly being targeted by Scottish side Celtic F.C.

He was at the Barcelona game:



Nagbe signed a contract extension with Portland in March, so if Celtic want to sign him they'll need to put forth a solid offer. The rumor is a bid of around $1.85m:

The Scottish Sun indicated that Celtic would be looking to acquire Nagbe for about $1.85 million, which seems too low to likely interest the Timbers.

 

[Titans Bastard]

• Timothy Chandler started (as usual) for Eintracht Frankfurt, playing RWB in a 3-5-2 and assisted on the first goal in a 2-1 win over Dortmund. Frankfurt are third in the Bundesliga at the moment. Chandler's had a good year, starting regularly with assists against both Bayern and Dortmund. His mental lapses and poor performances for the US would be much less frustrating if he were a more mediocre player overall.

• First win for Bob Bradley in the EPL in an insane 5-4 win over Crystal Palace. He still has a lot of work to do to get Swansea out of relegation trouble and will need to have a successful winter transfer window. In other managerial news, Joe Enochs has guided Osnabrück to second place in the 3. Liga on goal difference. Tom Dooley is had a bad run in the ASEAN Cup, as the Philippines crashed out in the group stage after finishing third behind Thailand and Indonesia. Thailand is the strongest team in the ASEAN region, but failing to finish in the top two while hosting could cost Dooley his job.

• Bjorn Johnsen scored a brace for Hearts today in a 3-0 win over Motherwell. It's fun to see a massive, old-school, goofy center forward like him do well.

• The Belgian press has a rumor that Club Brugge are looking at Ethan Horvath. Solskjær was quoted a bit earlier saying that Molde might lose him over the winter. Belgium would be a reasonable step up for Horvath - as a GK you don't want to make too big of a jump as obviously no substitute minutes are available to make your case if you don't start. Horvath has two more years on his contract so they don't need to sell, but they do have a Swedish YNT keeper as a backup who seems decent enough to take over, so maybe they'll decide to cash out.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Here's one to keep a close eye on:

Josh Perez, another 18 year old attacking midfielder, just made his pro debut for Fiorentina at the San Siro in a 4-2 loss to Inter. He officially joined Fiorentina last January when he turned 18, though he had been training with them on-and-off unofficially for a good while before that.

For the US U17s, he was generally deployed as a right winger who liked to cut inside (he's left-footed) and occasionally played in a central attacking position. He's a crafty, technical player with a good tactical sense (former USMNT Hugo Perez is his uncle). Physically, he's not as explosive as Pulisic but he's not a plodder either.

 

[dirtynine]

More on Perez: http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2016/11/28/13769718/josh-perez-debut-serie-a-fiorentina-inter-milan-american

 

[Titans Bastard]

More on Perez: http://www.starsandstripesfc.com/2016/11/28/13769718/josh-perez-debut-serie-a-fiorentina-inter-milan-american

Side note: the article quoted a Twitter account that claimed Perez is the first person with American nationality to play for Fiorentina.

First of all,

Second of all, there were a couple of Italian-Americans that played in Serie A (and for Fiorentina) in the 1930s and 1940s. Alfonso Negro and Armando Frigo. Frigo later joined the Italian army in WWII and was captured and killed by the Germans.

 

[dirtynine]

Ha, never thought about our old pal from Jersey. Spot on. The deeper dive on the old-schoolers is actually really interesting. I bet there's a fascinating history to be written of immigrant American families producing top-level players, from pre-war to present day. If you ever write it, TB, be sure to slip a copy under Arena's pillow.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Ha, never thought about our old pal from Jersey. Spot on. The deeper dive on the old-schoolers is actually really interesting. I bet there's a fascinating history to be written of immigrant American families producing top-level players, from pre-war to present day. If you ever write it, TB, be sure to slip a copy under Arena's pillow.

Hah. I actually wish I knew a bit more about the immigrant-driven early heyday of pro soccer in the 1920s and 1930s. Here's a good place to start.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Lynden Gooch sustained some sort of ankle ligament injury in a U23 game a few days ago and it's now been reported that he'll be out for 2-3 months.

Andrew Wooten scored his 8th goal of the 2.Bundesliga campaign for Sandhausen today. That ties his career high in five seasons at this level.

Aron Johannsson has resurfaced for Werder the first time in six weeks, making the bench today. Another player who has been out of favor is Alfredo Morales, who hasn't appeared in a matchday squad since October.

Elsewhere, John Brooks starts for Hertha and Christian Pulisic is on the bench for Dortmund.

 

[InstaFace]

Hey, speaking of Pulisic GIFs, here's his run (and near-goal) in the Battle of the Borussias. He came in off the bench and looked to be making an impact.


Speaking of him, the rumors are that both Liverpool and PSG are about to get into a bidding war to buy him from BVB, which doesn't want to sell him. And I quite agree that in the interests of his continued development, he could hardly do better than staying where he is, at a club justly renowned for its willingness to give playtime to youth on pure merit.

If, like me, you can't get enough of the guy, here's a really well-done Vice Sports mini-documentary on the kid, featuring interviews with his mom, dad, and Christian himself.

 

[Titans Bastard]

The Belgian press has a rumor that Club Brugge are looking at Ethan Horvath. Solskjær was quoted a bit earlier saying that Molde might lose him over the winter. Belgium would be a reasonable step up for Horvath - as a GK you don't want to make too big of a jump as obviously no substitute minutes are available to make your case if you don't start. Horvath has two more years on his contract so they don't need to sell, but they do have a Swedish YNT keeper as a backup who seems decent enough to take over, so maybe they'll decide to cash out.

The Norwegian press is reporting that this is happening.

So is the American press:



Brugge's starter is 33 year old Frenchman Ludovic Butelle. He was purchased for €1m last winter from recently-promoted Angers of Ligue 1, though most of his recent playing history was in Ligue 2.

 

[McBride11]

Side note: the article quoted a Twitter account that claimed Perez is the first person with American nationality to play for Fiorentina.

First of all,

Second of all, there were a couple of Italian-Americans that played in Serie A (and for Fiorentina) in the 1930s and 1940s. Alfonso Negro and Armando Frigo. Frigo later joined the Italian army in WWII and was captured and killed by the Germans.

To think he could have actually played in a World Cup in his career if he had liked the US

 

[Titans Bastard]

• Ventura Alvarado made a sub appearance in the Club World Cup. América didn't bring shame upon the CONCACAF family this time, beating Jeonbuk Motors 2-1. (Next up, Real Madrid....) Alvarado rode the bench for almost the whole Apertura, but has been starting in the playoffs for some reason. The CWC has messed with the Liga MX schedule; Alvarado will face Tigres and Jose Torres in late December over the two-legged final.

• Russell Canouse scored his first professional goal in Bochum's 1-0 win over 1860 Munich. He's the third-choice CM at the moment, but has gotten a decent amount of time filling in at CM and also at RB. So far, this seems to be a decent loan for him.

• After winning promotion to Sweden's top flight, journeyman goalkeeper Josh Wicks has left AFC United and joined another recently promoted club, IK Sirius.

• Former U17 center back Mobi Fehr has joined Hoàng Anh Gia Lai of Vietnam. He's not even the first American to play there; Lee Nguyen signed for them in 2009 after leaving Denmark. Fehr has been out of contract for most of 2016 after a couple of seasons in the Japanese third division with SC Sagamihara. At 21, his career has all the making of an epic globe-trotting adventure.

• Weston McKennie is out for six weeks with some sort of ankle/foot injury. He won't miss that much game time because Germany's winter break has already started at the U19 level, but it's a bummer because he'll miss a chance to impress the first team during Schalke's winter camp and the timeline cuts it close for CONCACAF U20 qualifying.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Pulisic back in the starting XI today but down after three minutes when Hoffenheim beats the high line and the keeper is caught in the middle of fuckin nowhere.

Taran Killam equalizes quickly.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

Dortmund's back three is getting carved up. Reus jus picked up his second yellow tracking back poorly. Not many chances for Pulisic, couple nice runs to the end line.

 

[InstaFace]

I caught most of the first half because you bumped the thread to point out that the game was going on. Thanks for that.

Pulisic did his "close control run into traffic" thing a few times and came up empty. As he did with Marcelo, and as he did with success vs, I think, Darmstadt. But it's clearly a part of his game he's focused on, and there ain't no opponent he's afraid to run straight at.

Reus' second yellow was absolutely inexcusable from him, he left the ref no choice and he absolutely didn't have to do that at all.

 

[rguilmar]

Bobby Wood with a cannon goal for Hamburg in his return to the starting XI.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Bjorn Johnsen won SPL player of the month for November.


He scored again today against Partick Thistle.

 

[Titans Bastard]

18 year old center back Hector Montalvo signed with Tigres UANL.


Montalvo is a FC Dallas academy product who just finished his freshman season at Grand Canyon University (under former SMU and FCD coach Schellas Hyndman). He's been active with the US U19 team, but hasn't been able to crack the deep pool of U20 center backs.

My sense is that he's not quite on the same level as other FCD prospects who have recently been signed to pro deals. Plus, FCD has a pair of quality CBs in Hedges and Zimmerman. Neither of them are going anywhere soon. Still, even if they weren't going to sign him this winter, they probably would have wanted him eventually. This is the pitfall of having a productive academy but no reserve team in the USL, I think.

I've become a big skeptic of players going to Liga MX academies because it seems like such an insanely low percentage of them ever make anything of themselves down there. Tigres is particularly bad - under Tuca Ferretti they have become a very veteran-heavy team. Good luck breaking into that squad.

 

[InstaFace]

Pulisic currently projected to start against Augsburg today at 2:00pm ET. Lineups still TBC.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Bobby Wood scored again today:



Goff says Julian Green is close to a move to Stuttgart:

 

[InstaFace]

I am so excited to have Bobby Wood used by a manager who doesn't just think he's a poor man's Jozy Altidore.

Do you think his best role is as a winger, or as a second striker playing more centrally?

 

[Titans Bastard]

I am so excited to have Bobby Wood used by a manager who doesn't just think he's a poor man's Jozy Altidore.

Do you think his best role is as a winger, or as a second striker playing more centrally?

I think he's best as the most advanced forward. The best parts of his game are his ability to stretch the field and make good runs off the shoulder of the defense. He also has a lot of strength and can hold his own in physical battles with big CBs. Wood isn't a great or particularly inventive passer. That's why I'm interested in the Wood-Altidore partnership - Altidore is slower, but is a much better passer. Altidore + Wood/Morris is somewhat reminiscent of the excellent Altidore-Davies partnership that was cut short by the car accident.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Green to Stuttgart is now official:


Bayern's website says he signed a 2.5 year deal through the end of the 2018-19 season. The 2. Bundesliga has already begun their winter break, so Green will have the whole midseason mini-camp to integrate into Stuttgart's squad.

Stuttgart uses a formation with a single striker. That's Simon Terodde, who has a terrific scoring record in the second tier over the last 2.5 seasons. So if Green is going to crack the starting lineup, it will probably have to be on the wings.

 

[Titans Bastard]

Ventura Alvarado managed to get sent off in the second leg of the Liga MX final despite not even playing. América lost on PKs to Tigres; Alvarado saw red during a brawl in extra time. That's the end of his career at América, too - he's moving to Santos Laguna for the Clausura.

 

[Titans Bastard]

It looks like the end is nigh for Bob Bradley at Swansea. It's a poor squad, but they're just leaking too many goals.

 

[Dummy Hoy]

http://the72.co.uk/70308/huddersfield-town-terriers-linked-with-14-cap-usa-striker/

Wagner looking to bring Terrence Boyd over to Huddersfield?

 

[SoxFanInCali]

Bradley is out after 85 days, per the BBC.

 

[swiftaw]

Bob Bradley fired after only 11 games

 

[Cellar-Door]

Bradley didn't get much of a fair shake. West Ham on Boxing Day was just about the worst draw for his chances to survive, an underachieving team (so fans didn't expect to get destroyed) with a lot of attacking talent that would score since Swansea's defense is garbage.

 

[JayMags71]

This is going to give the big four leagues greater license to pass over American managers.

 

[Statman]

Bradley didn't get much of a fair shake. West Ham on Boxing Day was just about the worst draw for his chances to survive, an underachieving team (so fans didn't expect to get destroyed) with a lot of attacking talent that would score since Swansea's defense is garbage.

It also doesn't help that Bradley screwed up with the lineup and the tactics for the West Ham match. Among other things....

• He did not start Llorente when he's scored 4 goals in last 2 matches at home.
  
• He started a center forward at the wide position where said center forward has never played before.
• He started three defensive mid fielders in a must win match at home which caused the team to have no pace, width or link up play.
  
• He started an inexperienced CB pairing against Ayew, Payet and Carroll.

The team conceded 3 or more goals in 8 of the eleven matches that he managed which was the worst in the EPL during that stretch. Bradley was just in over his head and his managing showed that.

 

[Cellar-Door]

It also doesn't help that Bradley screwed up with the lineup and the tactics for the West Ham match. Among other things....

• He did not start Llorente when he's scored 4 goals in last 2 matches at home.
  
• He started a center forward at the wide position where said center forward has never played before.
• He started three defensive mid fielders in a must win match at home which caused the team to have no pace, width or link up play.
  
• He started an inexperienced CB pairing against Ayew, Payet and Carroll.

The team conceded 3 or more goals in 8 of the eleven matches that he managed which was the worst in the EPL during that stretch. Bradley was just in over his head and his managing showed that.

I don't really think he was over his head, he was stuck with a squad of 95% garbage and he was trying to find something that would work so he could hold out until the window when he could bring in someone who could play. I'm not going to kill him for starting an inexperienced CB pair, because his experienced pair are terrible, the DM was a conservative move, but given how badly they leak goals, he probably hoped (and was kind of correct in the first half) that they could hold down WH and steal a point or even 3 given West Ham's own vulnerability to the counter. Even at home it is tough to play aggressively when your squad is far less talented than your opponent. The CF out wide was probably a mistake, but sometime you find gold that way.

 

[Jimy Hendrix]

Bradley was dealt a bad hand but also played it badly. The defending was horrifying and the firing is probably just for that reason, but also this is a team that's had its guts ripped out in the transfer market and has largely struck out replacing them. Bony, Ayew, Williams, even Shelvey, all gone & replaced with not a single above-average Premiere League player.

The first test of the darling "Hey this small club is paying good football and overachieving. Awesome!" team is doing that at all, but then the second test is reloading after the larger clubs descend like vultures and pick that team clean. Swansea is in the middle of a few years of failing that test.

 

[Vinho Tinto]

I don't think Bob is EPL material, Pardew will be an slight upgrade if hired (Primarily due to his experience in the EPL) while Giggs will be a human surrender flag, but Bradley was set up to fail from the beginning. I don't mean they hired him with the intention of undermining him, but he was not put in a position to succeed. When you are on your third manager before the New Year - that is on the management.

The lack of support for their manager from everyone at that club should be an embarrassment. Maybe after they are relegated, they will look back and regret treating their managers like they are worthless.

 

[SoxFanInCali]

How many non-interim managers don't get at least one transfer window?

 

[Jimy Hendrix]

As a relatively new Premiere League fan, the key takeaway for me in the end is how few missteps it takes to go from being the next Southampton to the next Sunderland (and I suppose also how many worse fates are in store than being Sunderland). It seems very easy for failures to cascade.

 

[Dummy Hoy]

Bradley had a shit hand, played it horribly, and almost certainly perpetuated anti-American stereotypes in European football.

All of that sucks.