Americans Abroad 2021-22: The Hype Train Is Leaving The Station

cromulence

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Man, gotta be happy for him. Fans chanting his name while he got interviewed until he stopped and acknowledged them.
 

Titans Bastard

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View: https://twitter.com/MLSist/status/1486027185169252352


I am very high on Kevin Paredes and I hope this deal works out. Wolfsburg hasn't been a great location for US youth, but Paredes is also a considerably better prospect than guys who have gone there in the recent past like Kayo, Hernandez-Foster, and Llanez, and comes in with a much higher up-front investment.
 

rguilmar

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Super excited for Paredes. Unlike Gomez, he's a young LB who I imagine most of us have seen. I know Wolfsburg's reputation for young US players is not the best, but I am guessing that he is on his way to the first team based on his talent (I'm super high on him as well) and the transfer fee, and not the youth teams where so many other Yanks have struggled.
 

Titans Bastard

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Arminia's bid has apparently improved to $2m from the previously reported €600k. It's not huge money, but Bello still needs work and only has one year left on his contract. If Atlanta don't sell him now, he's probably signing a pre-contract in the summer and walking on a free in the winter. He's a fine MLS player, but he hasn't been so good that replacing his production will be a big problem.

View: https://twitter.com/FabrizioRomano/status/1487785375691124740
 

Monbo Jumbo

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the other Athens
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rguilmar

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I’ll be shocked if he ever plays for Arsenal. He’s a very decent MLS CB out of the Philadelphia academy. He played for the Union at a pretty young age (maybe 18??) at least for a CB. He’s played the last couple of seasons in Colorado. He’s a pretty aggressive defender, at times to a fault. I haven’t seen much of him lately so others can speak to this better, but he wasn’t a great passer when he played for the Union. I’m not even sure how he gets a work permit.
 

67YAZ

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Wow. I thought Trusty had a very strong 2021 and deserved a US camp call-up, possibly even a roster spot with our relatively thin CB pool and congested summer schedule. But Gregg held off until the January camp.

All that is to say, he's a fine MLS player and could probably find success in many second-tier European leagues right now. But projecting him to break into the Arsenal squad is a stretch.
 

Morgan's Magic Snowplow

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I’ll be shocked if he ever plays for Arsenal. He’s a very decent MLS CB out of the Philadelphia academy. He played for the Union at a pretty young age (maybe 18??) at least for a CB. He’s played the last couple of seasons in Colorado. He’s a pretty aggressive defender, at times to a fault. I haven’t seen much of him lately so others can speak to this better, but he wasn’t a great passer when he played for the Union. I’m not even sure how he gets a work permit.
Wow. I thought Trusty had a very strong 2021 and deserved a US camp call-up, possibly even a roster spot with our relatively thin CB pool and congested summer schedule. But Gregg held off until the January camp.

All that is to say, he's a fine MLS player and could probably find success in many second-tier European leagues right now. But projecting him to break into the Arsenal squad is a stretch.
Thanks guys. I'm now seeing some tweets that suggest that this deal is really about building scouting bridges with the US and facilitating more cooperation on players between different franchises owned by KSE. They're going to loan him out to some other European club, but not seemingly with the intention of ever bringing him back. As rguilmar suggested, he seems unlikely to ever play for Arsenal.

View: https://twitter.com/gunnerblog/status/1488237242644680712?s=21
 

rguilmar

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A bunch of Yanks abroad are back in the fold after Covid or injuries. Just a few of note:

Gio is back and got sub minutes over the weekend. Played both out wide and centrally. Busio came off the bench for Venezia after returning from Covid. Probably best to not have started this one as Napoli really bossed the game.
Konrad made the bench for Marseille after recovering from a muscle injury. They played rival Nice in the cup, losing 4-1. The last time the two met in Nice the game was suspended after some pretty ugly fan incidents*
Not a return from injury, but Yunus Musah has started four straight La Liga games, I believe all at CM.

*If you’re middle age and want to feel really old, watch a Nice match. Justin Kluivert (son of Patrick) and Khephren Thuram (son of Lilian) both play for them. While both dads played at Barcelona, their careers at the Camp Nou did not overlap. Kluivert scored a goal today that his father would be proud of.
 

Titans Bastard

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Some hype for Chicopee's own Ryan Malone, who has really taken the hard route to a 2.Bundesliga starter role.

View: https://twitter.com/BrianSciaretta/status/1493630061559353355


NCAA D3 soccer to a 3. Liga club where he didn't stick, four years in the Regionalliga, got promoted to the 3.Liga with Lübeck, then got the move to Rostock this past summer, and at age 29 finally won a starting job.
 

cromulence

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Aaronson with an assist in the Champions' League against Bayern.

Seems like he's more central for Salzburg than he is for us, and it suits him better.
 

candylandriots

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Apologies if this has been mentioned elsewhere in the forum, but I just heard on the Wolfsburg-Union broadcast (I’m behind after watching the Palace game), that John Brooks will be leaving Wolfsburg at the end of the season.

Not a huge surprise I suppose, but wanted to pass it on, especially if not common knowledge already.
 

cromulence

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Yes, his start today seems to confirm it. Cooper had said after the cup game that he's taking his chance so it seemed likely. Very good timing for us with the Steffen and Turner injuries.
 

rguilmar

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Maloney came in for BVB to close it out and Bello went the full 90. When’s the last time we had 3 yanks on the field at the same time in a top 5 league game?
 

dirtynine

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That was a truly classy goal that he made look a lot easier than it was. The angle was really tricky. Great sign ahead of Azteca.
 

Joe D Reid

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CCV scored the game-winner for Celtic at Rangers today. The Celtic fans have already been stressing about whether it's possible to buy CCV permanently; there is now a chance they will kidnap and repatriate him if he goes back to Spurs.
 

thehitcat

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It was a good goal, off a bit of a scramble but more importantly he was immense at the back in the second half when Celtic had to defend against waves of Rangers attacks. Really big win for the Hoops today at Ibrox and they don't get probably any points without Carter-Vickers.
 

scott bankheadcase

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CCV scored the game-winner for Celtic at Rangers today. The Celtic fans have already been stressing about whether it's possible to buy CCV permanently; there is now a chance they will kidnap and repatriate him if he goes back to Spurs.
Levy is just going to keep extending his contract and loaning him out. He’s a loan cash cow for Tottenham.
 

rguilmar

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In the “You’ve Got to be Kidding Me” category, Gio Reyna grabs his hammy about a minute into his start for Dortmund and is subbed off more or less in tears.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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My kingdom for some sturdier soft tissue.

Sometimes feels like there is a pitcher-style injury nexus all of these guys need to get through.
 

67YAZ

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He just has to be healthy next fall…I’m not asking for much god, just allow Gio Messi to get to and through the World Cup…
 

rguilmar

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Not an ideal weekend for Americans in Spain.

Copa del Rey final was on Saturday, and Musah came on as a late game sub. The game ended up going to penalties, which Valencia ended up losing 5-4 against Betis. The only miss came from Musah. To be fair, he's 19 and that is a ton of pressure.

The only La Liga game this weekend was Barca-Rayo. Dest started and was subbed off at the half. He failed to track Alvaro Garcia who ended up scoring, and I imagine Dest was warned about the speed of the Rayo winger (second fastest in La Liga). Barcelona have been kind of a mess for a few weeks now with three straight losses at home. Dest isn't alone in the blame and has actually looked good recently, but Xavi was "furious" with Dest for his role in the goal.

So it goes with young players.