Tag: Chris Richards

Richards admits USMNT must change mentality after Colombia thrashing

The U.S. is looking to bounce back after a humiliating defeat to Colombia

U.S. men’s national team defender Chris Richards has admitted that the team must improve mentally following a humiliating 5-1 defeat to Colombia on Saturday.

The USMNT’s Copa América preparations got off to the worst possible start in Landover, Maryland, as a late collapse saw a one-goal game turn into a thrashing by the South American side.

Individual errors were at least partially to blame on all five Colombia goals, which Richards said could potentially be viewed as a positive.

“Some of the positives that we can take from the game is that we did play with one of the Copa favorites for 65, 70 minutes,” Richards told the media on Monday.

“We watched the tape back, I think almost all of their goals were goals that we gave to them rather than completely being broken down.”

Both Richards and Tim Ream admitted that the USMNT wasn’t up to the task mentally on Saturday, which will need to be corrected quickly with Brazil looming on Wednesday in the team’s final pre-Copa América friendly.

“From being on the field you learn how much these games mean to other teams,” Ream said. “I know we talk about these being friendlies and you’re not playing for three points or moving on in a knockout stage, but you understand and start to get a feel for what those games are going to be like.

“We’re moving into tournament play after this week. So knowing what it means to them, I think it needs to mean as much if not more to us and that goes back to the intangibles, the fight and the will to try to get a result.”

Asked about what needed to change going into the match against Brazil, Richards echoed his teammate’s thoughts on the mental side of the game.

“I think a few things willl need to change, not just structurally but also I think mentality, like Tim spoke about,” the Crystal Palace defender said.

“When you play these types of teams, even if it’s a friendly, you can tell the spirit, the fight that they have. And so I think for me, the one thing that we really need to change is our mentality.”

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Richards: Crystal Palace boss Glasner sees me as center back

The USMNT defender is happy to be back in his natural position after a spell at defensive midfield

Chris Richards is back playing his natural position, and he looks set to stay there for the foreseeable future.

Richards has played center back his entire career, but started in defensive midfield for a stretch of Premier League matches earlier in the season.

But under new Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner, the U.S. international has returned to his natural position, starting four straight games at center back under the Austrian before suffering an injury last month.

Speaking to Palace’s website, Richards said he was happy to return to center back after being shifted around earlier in the season under Roy Hodgson.

“Centre of defense, preferably,” Richards said of his ideal position. “It was a lot of learning this year, playing right back, center back, center mid.

“[It was] a lot of positions that I’m not quite used to, but again, like I said, I’ll do whatever to be on the pitch and help us win. I think it’s been good to play in different positions because you learn a lot.

“We played against [Glasner’s] teams in Germany, so I think he remembers what my best position was.

“But coming in, we did have a small conversation, and he just kind of said that for the future he sees me playing center back. All the games I played for him have been at center back.”

Richards provides injury update

The USMNT defender has now missed three straight games with what he revealed to be a knee injury.

Speaking before last weekend’s match at Liverpool, the 24-year-old said he was targeting this Sunday’s game against West Ham for a potential return.

“I think frustrating would be a good word for it,” Richards said.

“I feel like I worked hard over the last two seasons that I’ve been here and I think I was finally reaping the benefit of that. It’s always nice playing games.

“I have a knee injury. Hopefully, what we’re aiming for is West Ham. I’m just kind of taking it day by day, hoping that it continues to heal and that’s what I’m aiming for, at least, is the West Ham game.”

Prior to his injury, Richards had gone the distance in 16 consecutive Premier League matches.

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Richards out 2-3 weeks with injury, Crystal Palace boss Glasner confirms

The USMNT defender had played 16 straight league matches before his injury

Chris Richards is set to miss between two and three weeks with an undisclosed injury, Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has confirmed.

Richards suffered the injury in Palace’s 1-1 draw with Nottingham Forest last weekend, then missed his side’s midweek defeat to Bournemouth.

With the Eagles set to face Manchester City on Saturday and Liverpool next weekend, Glasner said at a press conference that the U.S. men’s national team defender would be out for both matches.

“We will look from day to day — one day it looks better and then the next day not so,” Glasner said.

“But I think he will miss at least the Liverpool game and then we will see. He will be out for two or three weeks.”

Prior to the Bournemouth game, Richards had gone the distance in 16 consecutive Premier League matches. After starting the season on the bench, the 24-year-old has become an ever-present for Palace — first playing as a defensive midfielder before shifting to his natural defensive position.

Richards also played the full match in both of the USMNT’s Nations League encounters last month, as Gregg Berhalter’s team beat Jamaica and Mexico to retain the title for the third straight tournament.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Weston McKennie won’t go away quietly

From an afterthought just a couple months ago, McKennie is once again integral at Juventus

Weston McKennie admits he wasn’t exactly welcomed back to Juventus with open arms.

The midfielder left the club in January at the height of the Plusvalenza scandal, then proceeded to turn in a disappointing loan spell at Leeds. When he returned, there were reports Juventus was looking to offload him.

“You’re a starting player for one of the biggest clubs in the world, and you decide to leave [that] club at a time of crisis, you know?” McKennie said on Tim Ream’s The American Dream podcast last week. “It’s pretty natural. I came back and I felt like nobody really cared.”

From an afterthought just a couple months ago, McKennie has once again made himself integral to the Bianconeri. 

McKennie’s resurgence has come at a position he’ll admit isn’t his preferred spot on the field, but he has nevertheless shown that reports of his Juventus demise appear to have been greatly exaggerated.

We’ll kick off this week’s Five with McKennie’s breakout display on Saturday.

Americans in the Premier League in 2023-24

Eight USMNT players are in the English top flight this season

The U.S. contingent on Premier League rosters may have diminished in the last couple of months, but the group is still solid.

Even after Serie A became the summer’s hot new league to play in for U.S. men’s national team players, eight remain on rosters in the English top flight.

With Tim Ream and Antonee Robinson holding it down at Fulham, and moves for Tyler Adams and Matt Turner to stay in the English top flight, four players seem set for plenty of starts in the world’s most highly-regarded league.

On the other hand, a quartet of players face something of a battle for minutes at their clubs, though Chris Richards has at least appeared in cup play for Crystal Palace.

Here are the eight Americans playing in the Premier League this season:

The Americans Abroad Five: PSV showing promise for USMNT trio

Sergiño Dest, Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi should all be big factors for the Dutch giants this season

In the span of just a few months, PSV became one of the first clubs on the list of anyone monitoring Americans Abroad.

Three players who figure to play a key role over the next decade for the U.S. men’s national team — Sergiño Dest, Malik Tillman and Ricardo Pepi — all joined the Dutch giants over the summer.

The transformation of PSV into a hub for Americans is largely due to Earnie Stewart, the former sporting director of U.S. Soccer who now holds the same position with PSV.

The season is still young, but there are some promising signs coming out of Eindhoven for all three USMNT players.

Dest looks to be the player who’s immediately benefitted the most, but Tillman and Pepi can also be encouraged by their first month at the club.

Let’s kick off this week’s Five with a look at PSV’s American trio.

USMNT coach Berhalter hints Richards may soon leave Crystal Palace

Richards has recently been linked with a move back to the Bundesliga

U.S. men’s national team head coach Gregg Berhalter has hinted that Chris Richards could be set to leave Crystal Palace in the coming days.

Richards has established himself as a key player for the USMNT, but injuries and coaches’ decisions limited him to just 10 total appearances last season after an offseason transfer from Bayern Munich.

This season has been more of the same for the 23-year-old, who has yet to play in any league games for Palace and made his first appearance of 2023-24 in a Carabao Cup win over Plymouth on Tuesday.

After naming Richards to his September roster on Wednesday, Berhalter was asked in a media availability about his lack of minutes at the club level.

“That may change in the next couple of days, right? That’s not set in stone,” the coach said, with the transfer window set to close on Friday.

“We see him as an important piece to what we’re doing,” Berhalter continued. “I think he’s got a tremendous amount of potential. Now for him, it’s about getting minutes and staying healthy. He’s a great guy, great competitor, and looking forward to having him back in camp. His last camp went really well with the Nations League and scoring a goal (in the final against Canada).

“We think that he’ll make a big impact in this camp, but also excited to see what the future brings for him.”

Richards has been capped 10 times by the USMNT, and was forced to withdraw from contention for the World Cup squad last year due to a hamstring injury.

Earlier this month, Kicker reported that Stuttgart was interested in bringing Richards in on loan to help replace Konstantinos Mavropanos, who transferred to West Ham.

Joining Stuttgart would reunite Richards with Sebastian Hoeness, who coached Richards at Bayern Munich and during two loan spells at Hoffenheim. Hoeness was named Stuttgart coach in April 2023. 

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USMNT defender Chris Richards announces he’ll miss the World Cup

The Crystal Palace center back has not played since August due to a hamstring injury

Chris Richards will miss the World Cup due to a lingering hamstring injury, he announced on Instagram on Tuesday.

Richards has not played for Crystal Palace since August due to the injury, and hasn’t played for the U.S. national team since January.

Crystal Palace head coach Patrick Vieira said over the weekend that Richards had yet to resume team training, putting his status for the World Cup in serious doubt with just two weeks remaining until the USMNT’s first match.

On Tuesday, one day before the USMNT announces its World Cup roster, Richards confirmed himself that he will not be going to Qatar.

“Gutted that this injury has ruled me out of the World Cup but I know that the boys will go crazy regardless,” he said. “I’ll be rooting for y’all the whole way. Go out and make history.”

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USMNT center back options

Richards was almost certain to make the roster had he been healthy, and was a candidate to start next to Walker Zimmerman at central defense.

The 22-year-old joins Miles Robinson as World Cup roster locks who will be forced out of the tournament with injury. Robinson tore his Achilles in a game with Atlanta United in May.

His absence makes it more likely that either Aaron Long or Cameron Carter-Vickers will partner Zimmerman when the USMNT begins the World Cup on November 21 against Wales.

With Richards out another defensive roster spot will also open up, which could be filled by Fulham’s Tim Ream.

Ream hasn’t played for the USMNT since September 2021, but is in the midst of a stellar campaign in the Premier League. According to a report from the U.S. Fútbol Podcast, Ream has been selected for the World Cup squad in Richards’ place.

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USMNT’s Chris Richards is running out of time to get fit before the World Cup

It’s time to start nervously tugging on some shirt collars

The U.S. men’s national team will reveal its World Cup roster next week, and that tight timeline is not looking good for Chris Richards.

The Crystal Palace center back has been out for over a month with a hamstring injury, and according to his boss at club level, he’s only just begun workouts separate from the team.

“Chris has started doing some work outside but he didn’t do any kind of training with the team yet,” said Patrick Vieira in quotes published by The Athletic. “What is important is about him physically, there is a step he has to go through and at the moment he hasn’t done any kind of training with the squad.”

Vieira added that he is following guidance from club doctors, giving them the final say on whether Richards is cleared to train or not.

“The decision is not going to be mine but with the doctor we have to decide as a club what is best for the club,” said the former Arsenal and France midfielder, who reportedly indicated that he plans to speak with USMNT head coach Gregg Berhalter in the near future.

Richards the latest concern

As is the case with many national teams, injuries are starting to pose more and more of a conundrum for the USMNT.

A healthy Richards seems like a strong bet to make Berhalter’s 26-man squad, and possibly even start in Qatar. However, it’s not known how severe his hamstring issue is, and the USMNT is 17 days away from kicking off against Wales.

Given that center backs are generally counted on to play the full 90 minutes if at all possible, Richards likely needs to go beyond being fit enough to play some minutes, and get to a place where he can reliably play a full match.

If Richards were the only concern, the situation wouldn’t be ideal for the USMNT. Instead, the list long enough that we need to break out the bullet points:

That list doesn’t include the long-term injury Miles Robinson suffered a few months ago, and it doesn’t account for any of the bad news to come between today and the final two rounds of club matches before players report to the USMNT.

In other words, it’s gonna be a long, nervous couple of weeks before that flight to Qatar lifts off.

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The Americans Abroad Five: Oh boy, here come the injuries

Some key USMNT players are fighting to get fit with three weeks until the World Cup. Nobody panic!

Three weeks ago, this very column celebrated the triumphant return to health of many key U.S. national team players who had been battling injuries.

We are very, very sorry.

It’s not time to panic yet because the injuries are all minor-ish, but some important USMNT players have gone down over the past week. The World Cup kicks off in three weeks, so even a minor problem right now could have an impact in Qatar.

Tick tock. Tick tock. Let’s get to the Five