Stars, Stripes and Soccer: Weekly Round Up (Feb. 15-21 2021)

By Cameron Meyer

With the Champions League and the Europa League back in full swing this past week on top of European league matches, there were plenty opportunities for Americans abroad to make a statement on the pitch. Some did, and some…  had an off week.

Here were the best and worst performances of Americans this past week:

Best Performances of the Week:

(Photo courtesy of Michael Molzar/SEPA.Media/Getty Images)

Brenden Aaronson (RedBull Salzburg/Austria)

What happens when you pair an American playmaker with an American head coach in Europe? Apparently, the makings of a more-than-promising prospect at the highest level. Aaronson made the step over to Austria only a couple months ago, yet he looks right at home. 

Playing on the right and left side of a 4-4-2 (or 4-2-2-2; whatever you want to call it), he has really shined coming inside and being a creative outlet. In this role, Aaronson hasn’t seen the same hindrances to his game that he had in Philadelphia. 

Back in the states, he sometimes had trouble finding the ball and got lost in games as the number ten. At Salzburg, now in his new role, Aaronson has the byline to work with as opposed to the vast center of the park that comes with being the Trequartista. 

His games this past week, most specifically the weekend match against Rapid Wien, were some of his best displays of talent in a Salzburg kit. 

https://twitter.com/UCLonCBSSports/status/1362526066204631043

Midweek against Villareal, Aaronson didn’t get too many chances on the ball considering his side’s 43 percent possession rate, but when he did, he looked sharp. He also showed off some of his flair for the highlight reels in the 20th minute – not bad for an American.

However, his hands-down best performance of the week came on Sunday. He bossed the Salzburg attack in a game he only started due to an injury during warmups accrued by Noah Okafor. I genuinely wish I could put at least five of his highlights, but I’ll restrain myself to his best one. 

This hockey assist to open up the scoring for Salzburg required immense precision and patience. Despite his mark falling down, he doesn’t go to the end line as he sees his options are running in late. Instead, knowing he can beat the defender with quick feet, sizes him up and sends a great ball in that leads to a goal. 

Tim Weah (Lille/France)

Ever since Tim Weah had his series of devastating injuries that kept him off the field for Lille, his stock has dropped drastically with many USMNT fans. Recently, he’s shown up his doubters in a big way.

Despite an attack that includes Jonathan Ikone, Jonathan David, Jonathan Bamba (notice a trend) and Yusuf Yazici, Weah has forced himself onto the team sheet with some stellar performances. His midweek match against Ajax definitely qualifies as one of them.

Before Lille’s defense crumbled to Ajax’s pressure in an eventual loss for the French side, Weah scored the opening goal off of a terrible mistake from Noussair Mazraoui. The goal was not only a tidy finish, but marked his fifth of the season, meaning he averages a goal about every one and two-thirds games. 

That’s not an astonishing stat by any means, but considering he was severely overlooked in the fall by manager Christophe Galtier, that’s a great turnover.

I don’t know about you Gregg Berhalter, but that looks like a guy I’d want to be playing the number nine in a World Cup qualifier. 

Chris Richards (Hoffenheim/Germany)

Moving on to another guy that has impressed after a January move, Chris Richards has looked nothing short of fantastic for Hoffenheim and last week was no different. In the Europa League fixture, as it looks like it’s becoming a trend, the center half looked solid despite the dropped points by his team.

He particularly looked great in the air and in his passing, which looks like is improving week-to-week. Although it doesn’t count for anything, his hockey assist for Hoffenheim’s third goal was particularly impressive.

Ignoring the slight self-promo, the pass truly was something to be admired. He hits a pinpoint pass with his weak foot that sets up the go-ahead goal. This is something that USMNT fans have been craving for years: a center back partner to John Brooks that can actually pass out of the back. 

That wasn’t even his best game of the week. He also started in Hoffenheim’s midweek league match against Josh Sargent’s Werder Bremen and was a brick wall for the full 90. He not only earned his first clean sheet in blue and white, but also had 82 percent passing and made a crunching tackle on Josh Sargent.

Usually, advocating for American-on-American violence would be looked down upon. However, when it involves a ball, a grass field and a German stadium, you can’t help but cheer.

DeAndre Yedlin (Galatasaray/Turkey)

Yedlin needed a move away from Newcastle. It may be to a team in a league that most Americans can’t get legal coverage of, but still, it’s a positive. So far it seems, he’s finding his form.

I will say, the last thing I expected to hear coming out of this week was Yedlin pinging a 50-yard peach of a ball for a winning assist, but it’s a welcomed surprise either way. He even earned himself man of the match by Whoscored.com’s standards.

Let’s hope Yedlin can keep this up for a Galatasaray team that’s first in the Turkish Super Lig. Although at the moment he’s out of the picture for any sort of World Cup qualifier, that’s not a fact that’s etched in stone.

Duane Holmes (Huddersfield Town/England)

Does anyone else remember when Duane Holmes was considered an easy midfield starter back in the last World Cup cycle? Unfortunately, he has been unable to break out into the Premier League and his career has been hurt by injuries. Doesn’t mean he can’t have a breakout game every once and awhile.

I think most Americans were watching Huddersfield vs. Swansea for Jordan Morris and Paul Arriola. I don’t think many expected to watch the Duane Holmes show. I mean, scoring twice as a box-to-box midfielder against the league leaders – that’s impressive. 

It’s been awhile since I’ve watched Holmes play and I think I forgot how good he was. The way he can glide through defenders like they’re traffic cones and his receiving the ball on the half-turn is not shabby at all.

Couple that with a strike that would send USMNT Twitter into a frenzy if Christian Pulisic was at the end of it and you definitely draw the attention of Berhalter. Now maybe the hype train has left the station on Duane Holmes but I’d like to personally request for its’ recommission.

He’s only 26 and has bags of experience at a high level. I’m not saying he should start but I wouldn’t be averse to seeing him get a chance to make the 23-man squad. 

Worst Performances of the Week:

(Photo courtesy of AS English)

Sergiño Dest (FC Barcelona/Spain)

Okay, listen. It’s not everyday when you come up against Kylian Mbappe in the Champions League. So when the future Ballon d’Or winner dunks three on Dest’s head, you can’t just help but shrug.

Dest had a bad game against PSG in the Champions League – probably his worst so far for the Blaugrana. His defensive awareness and positioning was pretty shocking, but it didn’t help that communication from the rest of his backline was nonexistent. 

This isn’t going to be a match USMNT fans will go back to, that’s for sure. But a 2/10, L’Equipe? That’s harsh. Although Dest didn’t handle Mbappe, you can’t say he was individually poor compared to the rest of Barcelona’s defense. This is the type of match you accept and move on knowing a 20-year-old defender is going to have growing pains. 

At least the weekend was a little better for him. 88 percent pass completion and a 7.0 rating is a good way to bounce back from a performance like that. 

Christian Pulisic (Chelsea/England)

Now, the next two aren’t necessarily bad performances, because both either didn’t play or played very little, but it’s simply about their current spot in their respective squads. According to Thomas Tuchel, Pulisic picked up a calf strain midweek and was therefore ruled out of the game against Southampton. 

It wasn’t like he was going to play anyway, but it’s a horrible trend that seems to be persisting with Pulisic and injuries. Many USMNT fans were encouraged by Tuchel’s hire as they thought an old face would recognize Pulisic’s talents and give him a good shot at the starting lineup. I guess they forgot Tuchel basically froze him out of the club his last year with Dortmund.

If we’re going by colors here, it’s not code red yet, but it’s definitely a shade of red. Considering Chelsea’s good form and Pulisic’s lack of contributions, it’s hard to see his ‘in’ back into the starting 11. 

He’s been linked with Bayern recently, which I guess isn’t too out of the question. At this point, faith should still be kept in Pulisic and Tuchel that the winger can earn his way back into an incredibly competitive Chelsea team… for now. 

Gio Reyna (Borussia Dortmund/Germany)

Round two of an American starlet barely playing for their respective club team, but this one’s slightly more optimistic. Reyna had an awesome start to the season but has since fallen off in a big way. He’s been lucky to get some decent substitute minutes.

This past week, he stayed on the bench and got a pitch-side view of the Erling Haaland show on Wednesday and it was more of the same three days later with an added ten-minute cameo. This situation isn’t as bad as Pulisic’s. 

Reyna was a big surprise for USMNT and BVB fans alike when he burst onto the scene. The fact that he hasn’t been playing very consistently is simply a function of his development at 18. Also considering Dortmund are hiring a new coach in the coming months, I wouldn’t be too worried. He’s an outrageously good talent and some adversity is what can propel some to the next level.

Jordan Morris (Swansea City/Wales)

I hate to end this column on an incredibly dire note, but Jordan Morris had the most tragic moment of the week. Already down by three to Huddersfield, Morris attempted to run on to a ball and took a bad step.

It looked like he and the players around him knew exactly what had happened — a torn ACL. It’s an awful situation for a guy that already worked his you-know-what off to recover better from the same injury two years ago. You just have to feel for him; he finally got his shot in Europe and a pesky ligament just had to do him dirty.

For his sake and the team’s, you just hope that he’ll recover to a level where he can make a potential World Cup roster because he deserves it. You just have to wish him a good recovery; he’s done it once before and I’m sure he can do it again. 

(Featured image courtesy of Jane Barlow/AP) (All statistics courtesy of Whoscored.com)

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