Tag: Americans Abroad

Pulisic dropped from Chelsea squad for Arsenal match

Pulisic has seen the field in just two of Frank Lampard’s six games in charge

When Frank Lampard took over as Chelsea caretaker manager, there was some optimism that the appointment could boost Christian Pulisic in the middle of another tough year at Stamford Bridge.

Pulisic’s best time at Chelsea came when Lampard was previously in charge, and the USMNT star has spoken highly of the Chelsea legend in the past. But just like Lampard‘s overall tenure so far, Pulisic‘s time under the manager has been extremely not fun.

The latest low came on Tuesday when Pulisic did not even make the bench for Chelsea’s game against Arsenal.

There was no indication that Pulisic was injured. If the American was indeed not hurt, it would mark the first time all season he was a healthy scratch for a Premier League matchday squad.

Pulisic has not seen the field in four of Chelsea’s six games under Lampard and after falling 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium, Chelsea has lost all six of those games.

Overall this season, Pulisic has one goal and two assists in 27 games for the club, of which only 10 have been starts.

Following the Gunners match, Chelsea only has five games remaining this season, which, not coincidentally, is probably the amount of games Pulisic has remaining in his Chelsea career.

The 24-year-old is expected to be a part of a summer clear-out at Stamford Bridge after a hugely disappointing season for the club. Pulisic has one year remaining on his current contract.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Carnage, carnage everywhere

It was the kind of weekend where those who played envied those who didn’t

This has not been the greatest season overall for Americans Abroad, and this weekend was a nice little encapsulation of that sad reality.

It was the kind of weekend where those who played envied those who didn’t. Where, in one day, three of the best performing Americans in Europe were lost for the season. Where more shocking performances left some top USMNT players staring relegation right in the face.

It was carnage. And relief may not be coming anytime soon.

Let’s look back on a truly ugly weekend in the Five.

Tim Ream exits Fulham-Man City match with ugly arm injury

The veteran defender has played his last game in 2022-23

One of the best performing Americans in Europe has played his last game this season.

Tim Ream, who has started every Premier League game for Fulham in a resurgent 2022-23 campaign, was forced out in the first half of Sunday’s match against Manchester City with a serious looking arm injury.

Midway through the first half at Craven Cottage, Ream awkwardly fell after a collision with Julián Álvarez in the box. The defender immediately grabbed his right arm in pain after what looked like a bad injury.

Issa Diop came on to replace the U.S. international, who received a big ovation from the home fans as he left the field in a makeshift sling.

After his side fell 2-1 to City, Fulham manager Marco Silva confirmed that Ream had suffered a broken arm.

Speaking to Sky Sports about Ream and Andreas Pereira, who was also injured in the game, Silva said: “They are both in hospital. They both look [like] serious injuries. Tim Ream looks like a fracture in his arm. Let’s wait to see if it’s not serious with Andreas.”

Silva later added to to Match of the Day: “It looked clear Tim Ream will not play for us this season, [he’s] broken his arm.”

Ream has experienced a renaissance in 2022-23, becoming one of the top center backs in the Premier League at age 35 while working his way back to the U.S. national team. The veteran started all four of the USMNT’s games at the 2022 World Cup.

The 35-year-old will not only miss Fulham’s remaining five games of the season, but is now also a major doubt for the USMNT’s two competitions this summer.

The USMNT will face Mexico in the CONCACAF Nations League semifinal in June, and will also look to defend its Gold Cup title starting the same month.

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Scally signs new Borussia Monchengladbach contract through 2027

The 20-year-old has entrenched himself as the club’s starting right back this season

Borussia Mönchengladbach has announced that Joe Scally has extended his contract at the club until 2027.

The U.S. national team defender’s previous deal was set to expire in 2026.

Scally has entrenched himself as Gladbach’s first-choice right back during the current season, starting 24 of the club’s 28 Bundesliga matches thus far.

“The most important thing for me is to be playing regularly. Borussia give me the chance to do that and help my development as a player,” Scally told the club’s website. “The club presented me with a clear plan regarding my future during our conversations. I’m pleased to be staying at Borussia.”

Scally joined Gladbach from NYCFC in January 2021 and became a regular with the club last season, making 20 league starts.

The 20-year-old made his U.S. national team debut in November 2021 and was named to the World Cup roster last year, though he did not see the field in Qatar.

“Joe has developed really well with us. He quickly made the transition from being a talented youngster in our U-23s to a regular for the first team, and even made the U.S. World Cup squad. This is a great example of the journey we want our promising youngsters signed from other clubs to take,” said sporting director Roland Virkus.

“This contract extension acknowledges his development, which we want to continue supporting in the future.”

Despite his new contract, Scally could still be sold this summer, with Bild reporting that Gladbach would be open to a sale if the price is right. Last month, MLSsoccer.com reported that Fulham was among several English clubs looking into a summer move for Scally.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Paxten Aaronson is ahead of schedule

The 19-year-old got rave reviews after his first extended Bundesliga minutes

When Paxten Aaronson signed with Eintracht Frankfurt, the club made it clear they weren’t expecting much from the teenager this season.

“We’ve got a very clear plan for how we want to gradually and carefully build him up,” said Timmo Hardung, head of first team football at Eintracht. “And part of that is he’s coming to us in January to start getting used to everything here so that ideally he’s ready to hit the ground running in the new season.”

Things had pretty much been going according to that plan in Aaronson’s debut half season, as he made just two brief cameos before this weekend’s game against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

But with Eintracht down a goal in the second half, head coach Oliver Glasner opted to hand the 19-year-old his first extended opportunity as he replaced Rafael Borré on 55 minutes.

The returns, early as they may be, were promising.

The younger Aaronson’s first real taste of Bundesliga minutes leads off this week’s Five.

Ricardo Pepi scores again, Groningen loses again

Imagine Groningen without Pepi

The contrast between Ricardo Pepi and Groningen in the Eredivisie couldn’t be more stark.

Pepi scored his seventh goal in his last 10 matches between club play and the U.S. men’s national team. The goal is his 11th in the league this season, and when you add in his three assists, he’s made a direct contribution to 50% of Groningen’s 28 goals.

It’s just that Groningen is in freefall as a club, squandering Pepi’s goal as Michiel Kramer’s 86th minute penalty gave RKC Waalwijk a 2-1 win on Saturday.

The defeat marked Groningen’s sixth straight Eredivisie loss, and the club is on a horrid 1W-3D-14L run. With just five games left to play and eight points between them and a promotion-relegation playoff spot, relegation seems certain.

Pepi, who is on a season-long loan, has been doing whatever he can to stave off the inevitable. His productivity on an otherwise doomed team, combined with his eagerness to avoid returning to Augsburg, should make him a hot commodity in this summer’s transfer market.

On Saturday, Pepi maintained his good form with another goal. After initially keeping a play alive by ensuring the ball didn’t run out of play, Pepi passed backwards as Groningen — who had fallen behind just seconds earlier — tried to find an opening in the massed RKC defense.

With the home side standing off, Groningen had time to get men forward, and left back Nordin Musampa pushed up into a more dangerous spot. With time and space, he curled a pinpoint cross in for Pepi, who had ghosted away from his markers to get wide open at the back post.

Watch Pepi strike again

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Daryl Dike stretchered off after Achilles injury with West Brom

If it weren’t for bad luck…

Daryl Dike just can’t buy a prolonged run of good health.

The U.S. men’s national team striker went down with a non-contact injury late in the first half of West Brom’s 2-1 win at Stoke City on Saturday.

While there has not yet been an official diagnosis, manager Carlos Corberán says that the issue is with Dike’s Achilles tendon, indicating that the club expects the recovery to be seen in terms of months rather than weeks.

Reporters at the Bet365 Stadium said that the lengthy treatment for Dike included oxygen before he was carried off on a stretcher in the 11th minute of first half stoppage time.

In quotes published by the Express & Star, Corberán confirmed suspicions of an Achilles tendon injury, but said the club won’t know how severe it is until he undergoes further examination.

“It looks like an Achilles injury and they never really are good,” said the Spanish coach. “Achilles injuries are never easy to manage but still, we need to assess… we need to see how much damage appears and depending on this, we will know the months.”

Per BBC Radio, Corberán would go on to dedicate the win to Dike.

Dike’s miserable luck

Since joining West Brom in January 2022, Dike has suffered multiple significant injuries. After just two appearances for the club, a hamstring strain effectively ended his first season at The Hawthorns.

Coming through the summer with a clean bill of health, he played in WBA’s season opener on July 30, but then tore a thigh muscle in training.

Dike would not recover in time to contend for a spot on the U.S. men’s national team at the World Cup. In the end, that second injury cost him 18 league matches and two Carabao Cup games with West Brom as well.

He made his comeback with a last-second cameo against Stoke City on November 12, and since than has appeared in all but one match for the Baggies (an FA Cup replay in January against Chesterfield). Over that time, he produced seven goals and an assist, starting 14 times for Corberán.

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Gio Reyna scored another winner off the bench — until Dortmund blew it

The USMNT forward continues to do more with less at Dortmund

Gio Reyna continued his habit of clutch goals off the bench for Borussia Dortmund on Saturday, but what should have been a stoppage-time winner was only enough for a point after Stuttgart found a 97th-minute equalizer.

Reyna hadn’t seen the field in Dortmund’s previous three games as he battled illness, but he made the most of his chance after he was brought on in the 82nd minute against 10-man Stuttgart.

With the game tied 2-2 in stoppage time, Reyna collected a rebound from a blocked shot, took a composed first touch and then rifled home from 10 yards out to give Dortmund the lead.

The visitors looked to have collected a massive three points in the title race but just as the final whistle neared, some slack marking allowed Stuttgart to equalize at the death through Silas.

Dropping two points will be a bitter pill to swallow for Dortmund, which had a man advantage for more than a half after Konstantinos Mavropanos was sent off in the 39th minute.

Dortmund also missed a golden opportunity to go level on points atop the Bundesliga table with Bayern Munich, who only managed to draw 1-1 against Hoffenheim on Saturday.

Instead, the Bavarians maintained a two-point advantage in first place.

For Reyna, the goal continues a trend of doing more with less, as he now has four goals in his last seven Bundesliga appearances — only one of which has been a start.

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Augsburg willing to listen to offers for USMNT forward Pepi

Pepi has made clear that he wants to leave the German club as soon as possible

Augsburg sporting director Stefan Reuter has said the club is willing to consider “concrete and adequate offers” for unsettled forward Ricardo Pepi.

Pepi and his agent Jaime Garcia recently gave an explosive interview to Voetbal International, airing their grievances with Augsburg and underlining their desire to leave the Bundesliga club.

Augsburg signed the U.S. national team striker for a club-record fee of $20 million in January 2022, but Pepi struggled to find his feet in a half season with the club.

Garcia slammed Augsburg for its treatment of Pepi before it sent the forward on loan to FC Groningen in the Netherlands early this season.

“We appreciate the investment the club has made, but once he came in, it seemed they didn’t know how to handle such an investment,” Pepi’s agent said.

“The manager didn’t speak to him, the director wanted him so badly that he twice did not show up for an appointment with Ricardo that he had scheduled himself. The coach talks about him at a press conference, but does not respond to a message Ricardo sent him for four days. Is that respectful?”

Augsburg responds

Though Pepi has a contract with Augsburg through 2026, Reuter said the club is willing to grant his wish — but only if the right offer arrives.

“Ricardo has a long-term contract with us. With his qualities, he fits in very well with our style of play. The coach also thinks highly of him. Of course I understand what his agent has said,” Reuter told Sky Germany.

“But the facts are clear and there have been no inquiries, let alone offers, for him so far. So a sale is not an issue for us at the moment.

“As always, we would consider concrete and adequate offers. But we will discuss that directly with him and the agent, not through the public.”

Pepi, who has 10 Eredivisie goals this season, has been linked with a move to Dutch powers PSV and Feyenoord, as well as to the Premier League.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Ricardo Pepi is playing hardball

The USMNT striker is taking a risk as he aims to escape Augsburg

Ricardo Pepi could have kept his grievances behind closed doors. He could’ve quietly asked Augsburg to let him leave and hoped his wish would be granted.

But Pepi, and his agent Jaime Garcia, have decided that quiet isn’t the way they want to do this.

In an explosive interview with Voetbal International, Garcia and Pepi put all their cards on the table. They don’t just want to leave Augsburg, they want the world to know just how awful the club’s been to them.

As much as they’d like it to be, leaving Augsburg isn’t all up to Garcia and Pepi. It was only 16 months ago that Augsburg invested a club-record $20 million into Pepi, and signed him to a contract through 2026.

They have an asset on their hands, albeit a disgruntled one, and are under no real pressure to let him go unless a suitable offer arrives.

But will such an offer come? Pepi’s big gamble leads off this week’s edition of the Americans Abroad Five.