11 U.S. players are in the world’s biggest club competition
There was once a time where a U.S. men’s national team player being on a Champions League squad list — even if they might have no shot at playing in any actual games — was a very big deal.
It’s safe to say those days are gone, with no fewer than 11 U.S. players on the books for clubs that qualified for this year’s competition.
Sure, in some cases the player in question is probably a major longshot to even dress on gameday, but between Christian Pulisic’s sublime start to life at AC Milan and a USMNT trio at PSV, USMNT fans are likely going to be watching games on multiple screens just to keep up.
Here is the complete list of U.S. men’s players to make it to this year’s Champions League proper:
The defender will miss the USMNT’s friendlies against Uzbekistan and Oman next month
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers has said defender Cameron Carter-Vickers will be out eight weeks with a hamstring injury.
Carter-Vickers left at halftime of a league match against Aberdeen on August 13. Following scans, the injury has been revealed to be worse than originally expected.
Speaking to the media on Thursday, Rodgers said that Carter-Vickers, along with fellow center backs Maik Nawrocki (hamstring) and Stephen Welsh (ankle) would all miss around two months.
“It is obviously disappointing for us in terms of Cameron Carter-Vickers, Maik Nawrocki and Stephen Welsh, probably about eight weeks,” Rodgers said.
“Stephen Welsh had an operation just the other day so he has come through that well.
“The other two we were hopeful would come back sooner, but we sought further scans on them and it puts them probably about eight weeks from now.”
With so many injuries in defense, Rodgers said he was hopeful Celtic could bring in reinforcements before the transfer window closes next week.
“I think we have to look at it, there’s no doubt. It’s an area that we are light on,” the manager said.
“When you are losing three players for that length of time, and knowing the number of games we will have and the importance of every game, then it’s definitely something we have to look at.”
Celtic qualified for the Champions League group stage after winning the Scottish Premiership last season. With the group stage set to begin on September 19 and 20, the injured trio will miss the beginning of Champions League play.
Carter-Vickers will also miss the U.S. men’s national team’s friendlies next month, with the USMNT facing Uzbekistan on September 9 and Oman three days later.
Turner probably envisioned making his Premier League debut at the Emirates Stadium, but not exactly like this
Matt Turner probably envisioned making his Premier League debut at the Emirates Stadium, but not exactly like this.
Just days after completing a transfer from Arsenal to Nottingham Forest, the U.S. national team No. 1 made his debut for his new club. Coincidentally, it came at the home of his old club.
Turner failed to see any Premier League action in his lone season with Arsenal, but the 29-year-old now looks like Forest’s top choice in goal — at least for the time being.
It seems like he’ll get plenty of save opportunities as well. Turner made five saves from seven shots against the Gunners, as Forest fell 2-1 to the title-chasers in week one.
After some time on the beach, the Americans Abroad Five returns for a whole new season this week. What better way to begin than checking in with an old friend in a brand-new locale?
It’s been a good year for U.S. men’s national team players in Scotland.
Cameron Carter-Vickers and Malik Tillman were both named to the PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year for 2022-23, which was announced on Tuesday.
Carter-Vickers was one of seven Celtic players named to the squad, which is not particularly shocking when you account for the club winning the league by 13 points and winning 31 of their 34 matches. Carter-Vickers started 29 of those games, captaining Celtic seven times in the process. With Carter-Vickers in the lineup, Celtic conceded just 21 goals; their only loss to Scottish opposition this season (a 2-0 defeat at St. Mirren all the way back in September) was in one of the rare games he didn’t play.
Your PFA Scotland Premiership Team of the Year – voted for by the players ⬇️👏 pic.twitter.com/nkhDy4sh9E
Tillman, meanwhile, joined Rangers on loan from Bayern Munich this past summer, and has been a clear success at Ibrox. The 20-year-old became a critical part of the recipe for Rangers right away, going on to score 10 times and adding four assists in 28 league appearances. He joined James Tavernier — who leads Rangers in goalscoring despite being their right back — representing the blue half of Glasgow on the team of the season.
While Carter-Vickers has a contract running for the next three seasons at Celtic, Tillman’s future is far less clear. His loan from Bayern expires at the end of the season, and Rangers manager Michael Beale has repeatedly said he’d love to see the club make the move permanent. However, even if Rangers did opt to lay out the required fee, Bayern reportedly has a buy-back clause and could end up retaining him regardless of the Scottish side’s plans.
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.
Like it’s been for so much of the season, Fulham’s Americans had a good day and those at Leeds did not
The preponderance of Americans in the Premier League this season meant games like Saturday would always be on the horizon.
Fulhamerica versus Leeds United States of America. The Yankee Doodle Derby. The game that we here at the Five had been salivating over for weeks.
Four Americans started, two on either side. Two more could’ve been involved were it not for injury (Tyler Adams) or getting sacked (sorry, Jesse Marsch).
In the end, like it’s been for so much of the season, Fulham’s Americans had a very good day and those at Leeds did not.
The marquee matchup for fervent Americans Abroad trackers like ourselves leads off this week’s Five.
The USMNT midfielder found himself in an unfamiliar place this weekend: the bench
Yunus Musah’s name has been in the news quite a bit this season and more often than not, it’s been about his next destination.
Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea and Inter, among others, have been strongly linked with the Valencia midfielder, who seems destined to leave the Liga club this summer.
Lost among the hype and justified excitement over Musah’s potential is how he is actually playing with Valencia this season. And the answer appears to be: OK, not great!
It’s worth remembering, of course, that Musah is only 20 and in his first season as an every-game starter in La Liga. Interested teams aren’t just after the player he is, but the player he could one day become.
But right now, Musah and his club are going through a rough patch. The midfielder’s up-and-down campaign leads off the Five this week.
Musah: “I have a lot of respect for (England) for everything they’ve done for me”
The U.S. men’s national team won’t face anyone at this World Cup that they’re as connected to as England, their opponent in Friday’s much-anticipated Group B meeting.
There are the basic connections that most fans can rattle off: eight USMNT players ply their trade with English clubs, and several of them will be standing across from club teammates. Christian Pulisic will see three familiar faces from Chelsea, while Arsenal’s Matt Turner will see the same number of club colleagues suiting up for the Three Lions. At Borussia Dortmund, Gio Reyna often lines up right next to England playmaker Jude Bellingham.
The intertwined nature of these teams goes deeper on the USMNT side, though, as three players (Cameron Carter-Vickers, Yunus Musah, and Antonee Robinson) were raised in the UK, and speak with English accents.
Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Carter-Vickers — born in England but eligible for the USMNT through his father, who hails from Baton Rouge, Louisiana — laughed as he noted that in his family, “half of them want us to win, and half want England to win.”
Sitting alongside the Celtic center back, Turner acknowledged another important factor: most USMNT fans are regularly watching the Premier League, boosting the desire to measure up to England on the field.
“There’s definitely a tremendous respect from the people of America of English soccer,” said Turner. “It’s the [league] that I grew up watching when I got a little bit older.”
“I think for me, it’s a game that I really want to win, just like any other game in the World Cup,” said Carter-Vickers. “To be honest, I’m not too sure how I’m gonna feel when when the game comes around, but you know, I do know that I’ll be doing everything I can to try and help the team win.”
(AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Musah, who played for English youth national teams, shared a similar thought. “I don’t know how I’m gonna feel that day. But yeah, it’s a special game for sure, because I played on both sides, and to be able to be on the pitch with the same national team I used to play with is just special.”
Musah came up in Gareth Southgate’s pre-match remarks as well, as the England manager mischievously credited Gregg Berhalter for his “talent identification,” noting that the USMNT had successfully lobbied the Valencia midfielder to play for the United States despite his youth national team history with the Three Lions. “He obviously took [Musah], which we weren’t very happy about. Fair play.”
Musah called that choice “difficult,” adding that “it was a really nice time with [England]. I have a lot of respect for them for everything they’ve done for me.”
USMNT respects Saka, Kane, Bellingham
Turner, like Musah, is very familiar with England’s Bukayo Saka. Turner sees him with Arsenal on a regular basis, while Musah trained with him for years in the Gunners’ academy system. Both underlined the threat they know is coming from the 21-year-old, who had a brace against Iran.
“He’s one of the young stars of world football,” explained Turner. “He’s a top, top player, and I think you don’t need me to tell anybody on our team how much of a threat that he poses in the game. He’s scoring goals in a variety of ways.”
Musah agreed, and added that Bellingham — his teammate at the youth national team level — is in the same category. “You can see what they’re doing week-in, week-out, and they’re producing at the World Cup as well,” said Musah. “We’re gonna have to be on our game on Friday.”
“I think it’ll be difficult,” Carter-Vickers said of a reunion with the Spurs forward. “He’s a top player, you know, they’ve got a squad full of top players. So, I think we all know that we have to put in one of our best performances to beat them.”
The 24-year-old did not travel with his team to Madrid
Celtic defender Cameron Carter-Vickers will miss Wednesday’s Champions League game against Real Madrid with an injury, his coach Ange Postecoglou has confirmed.
Postecoglou said at Tuesday’s press conference that Carter-Vickers picked up the undisclosed injury in a 3-0 win over Livingston on Sunday, and did not travel with the team to Madrid.
“Cameron Carter-Vickers pulled up a bit sore after the game on Sunday,” Postecoglou said. “The artificial pitch wasn’t great for him so we’ve left him home.”
Carter-Vickers is in the midst of a strong season for the Hoops, and has even served as a stand-in captain in recent weeks with Callum McGregor injured.
The 24-year-old’s injury is also a worry for the U.S. national team with just three weeks to go until the World Cup kicks off in Qatar.
Carter-Vickers looks likely to make the USMNT roster and could even be a candidate to start in defense alongside Walker Zimmerman.
Another candidate to start, Chris Richards, hasn’t played since August, with Crystal Palace coach Patrick Vieira saying last week the defender is still 7-10 days from starting training.
Knock on wood but … the USMNT’s injury situation is looking quite rosy a month before Qatar
If there’s one thing the September window showed, it’s that the U.S. men’s national team desperately needs a select few players to be healthy.
Shorn of the injured Yunus Musah, Antonee Robinson and Tim Weah, the USMNT struggled badly in its two friendlies. Clearly the team’s issues went deeper than that trio’s absence, but the Americans’ awful displays would’ve at least been lifted with their presence.
This weekend saw a number of Americans abroad find the net, but no development was more important than the return to the pitch of Musah, Robinson and Weah.
The USMNT seems to be getting healthy at the right time. Knock on wood.
