Tag: Josh Sargent

Josh Sargent is on an absolute heater — and Norwich City is in first place

The Canaries have won five straight and the USMNT striker has five goals in those games

Two and a half weeks ago on this website, we posited a theory: There may be hope yet for Josh Sargent — if he can actually play striker.

That story came after Sargent got his first extended minutes at striker since January and, perhaps not coincidentally, scored his first goal since January.

Fast forward a couple weeks and Sargent has more than just hope: He appears to have put himself on the fast track to a USMNT roster spot for this month’s friendlies.

The Missouri native scored and grabbed an assist on Saturday as Norwich City beat Coventry 3-0. The 22-year-old has now scored five goals in five games, completely transforming his standing in the USMNT pool.

Sargent has also completely transformed Norwich’s season. The Canaries didn’t win any of their first three league games before Sargent started against Huddersfield on August 17. Since then, they have won five in a row and now sit atop the Championship table.

The catalyst has been Sargent, who was just named the club’s Player of the Month for August.

“It felt really good to win, big thanks obviously to the team for helping out with that and thanks to the fans,” Sargent told Norwich’s website.

“It’s a great achievement and hopefully I can carry that confidence into the next month.”

Watch Sargent’s goal and assist vs. Coventry

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The Americans Abroad Five: Reconsidering Ream

Could the Fulham veteran make a late charge toward a World Cup roster spot?

We have been known to lead with the attackers in this here column but this week, it’s time to talk about a defender first.

Tim Ream, at age 34, is commanding a Premier League defense and looking every bit like a player who deserves a spot at the World Cup. But with no USMNT call-ups in almost a year, is it too late for Ream?

We’ll get to the strikers this week too, as a red-hot trio continued their strong play in Europe.

There are also major transfer questions that will be resolved this week, with two of the USMNT’s most vital players potentially set to find new homes.

Let’s get to the Five.

The Americans Abroad Five: Suddenly the strikers are red hot

Gregg Berhalter may have a selection headache when it comes to September’s roster

All of a sudden, the U.S. men’s national team has some striker options.

In one week. three USMNT forwards combined for five goals: Josh Sargent, Haji Wright and Jordan Pefok.

Like any striker not named Jesús Ferreira, the trio is right on the roster bubble for the World Cup and, more immediately, on the roster bubble for September’s final two tune-ups.

It’s unlikely that all three will be on the plane to Qatar but if they keep up their current form, they will give Gregg Berhalter a desired and unexpected problem: too many in-form forwards to fit on one roster.

Josh Sargent strikes again (and again) for Norwich City, boosting USMNT hopes

Sargent as a striker? It’s better than you think!

Josh Sargent is making a great case for the concept of playing him as a striker, and not out wide.

For the second time in just three days, Sargent scored for Norwich City, this time striking twice—and participating in the build-up both times—as the Canaries beat Millwall 2-0.

Coming into the week, Sargent hadn’t scored since January, but the issue was at least partially down to the fact that he was stuck out on the wing, with Teemu Puuki favored as Norwich’s No. 9. With Puuki injured on Tuesday, Sargent scored in a win over Huddersfield, and even with the Finn available against Millwall and the short rest between the games, Dean Smith rewarded that goal with a second straight start as a true center forward.

Sargent, to his credit, ran with the opportunity. He scored the opener on an intricate Norwich move up the middle, combining superbly with Kieran Dowell and Danel Sinani before shooting with power past Bartosz Białkowski in the 50th minute.

Sargent made it a brace in the 75th minute, and in impressive fashion. Norwich cleared an attacking throw-in from Millwall, and Sargent sprinted over to the touchline at midfield, simply trying to keep the ball from being pushed back forward.

Sargent battled away against two Millwall defenders, somehow turning the situation into possession on the break for Norwich. Sargent poked the ball up the wing for Dowell. With Millwall having pushed numbers forward, Dowell played a simple return pass to Sargent, who continued his run into a huge gap in the defense. From there, Sargent made it look easy, taking a touch before expertly shooting past Białkowski to make it 2-0.

Sargent’s sudden run of goals couldn’t have come at a better time in terms of the battle to make the USMNT World Cup roster. Jesús Ferreira and Jordan Pefok have been in good form, while Brandon Vazquez has made a great case for further consideration as well. Sargent still has an uphill battle, with Puuki healthy enough to sub in for him in the final minutes against Millwall, but he couldn’t have done much more this week to get back into the conversation for Gregg Berhalter.

Check out Sargent’s goals for Norwich City

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USMNT striker stock watch: Pefok and Vazquez make strong cases

Which strikers will the USMNT take to the World Cup? Jordan Pefok and Brandon Vazquez are making strong cases

As the 2022 World Cup continues to draw closer, fans of the U.S. men’s national soccer team seem to have a pretty good guesstimate of a first-choice roster with one position in particular standing out as a question mark: striker.

Who will start at the No. 9 spot for the USMNT in Qatar this summer, and who will back him up? The position appears to be totally up for grabs, so we’ve been monitoring the stock of the notable U.S.-eligible striker candidates.

Stateside, the MLS playoff race is heating up, and in Europe, the 2022-23 season has kicked off, providing a good opportunity for a stock watch update.

Let’s get to the list!

USMNT striker stock watch: Dike’s back, Ebobisse’s heating up

Who will start at No. 9 for the USMNT at the World Cup? Right now, Jesús Ferreira leads the striker stock watch power rankings.

If everyone’s healthy, U.S. men’s national team coach Gregg Berhalter probably has a pretty good idea of his preferred starters for the World Cup this fall – at most positions, anyway.

Most spots in the XI have obvious first-choice options, but striker remains a big question mark for the USMNT, at least in the eyes of fans and pundits.

The top candidates for the No. 9 role can make Berhalter’s job easier by performing for their club teams and creating some separation in the competition leading up to November.

We’re going to be periodically checking in on the top striker candidates leading up to the World Cup with our new striker stock watch series. With MLS teams hitting midseason and European clubs beginning preseason, now’s a good time to start.

Let’s get to the list!

USMNT won’t play in Olympics, but they could still feature a strong U-23 squad this summer

Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie and Sergiño Dest headline the USMNT’s strong core of U-23 players.

After losing 2-1 to Honduras on Sunday, U.S. Soccer’s under-23 men’s team failed to qualify for the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan (the women’s team qualified last year).

Unlike the women’s game, the men’s Olympic tournament is an under-23 competition (technically under-24 this time after the Olympics were postponed one year due COVID-19). Because the men’s competition is considered a youth tournament, FIFA does not require clubs to release their players for international duty (for qualifying or the tournament).

For that reason, many of the best U-23 players in the world don’t participate in the Olympics and many countries don’t take soccer seriously at the tournament. It’s not anything close to the World Cup.

Americans love the Olympics, though, and we gather together every four years to watch sports we otherwise don’t care about. Evan casual American sports fans would have tuned in if the USA’s U-23 soccer team reached the semifinal or final at the Olympics — it’s another chance to win gold!

The USMNT won’t get a chance to grow its popularity during the Olympics this summer after they failed to qualify, but they could still build a strong U-23 roster for the Concacaf Nations League in June or the Gold Cup in July.

U.S. Soccer won’t be limited to 18-player rosters this summer, but I capped it at that just to demonstrate the Olympic-eligible core the USMNT has (teams can also bring three overage players to the Olympics). This squad won’t play in Tokyo, but they represent a promising future for the national team.