It was a quiet midweek window for the USMNT key players, but 11 of them were either in action or their teams had a scheduled match.
Gaga Slonina was the standout player of this window – albeit against limited competition. His League One (England’s 3rd tier) Barnsley side upset Championship (England’s 2nd tier) visitors Sheffield United in the 2nd round of the Carabao Cup. He’s played well in all of Barnsley’s matches thus far, and if he keeps this form up Chelsea may be able to secure him a more prestigious loan opportunity next season. Barnsley’s reward is a glamor cup tie against Manchester United at Old Trafford in the 3rd round of the cup. We may get a chance to see Slonina take on some genuine top tier talent in that one.
Few other Americans had any match time this window. Chris Richards came off the bench for Crystal Palace. Cardoso and Maloney both went the full 90 as their teams qualified for the Conference League. In fact, Cardoso had his best match of the season which was encouraging as he’s generally been second choice to Marc Roca (formerly Tyler Adams’ midfield partner at Leeds) in Betis’ midfield. It’s been reported today that Tottenham acquired an option to purchase Cardoso in the future as part of a loan deal for Gio lo Celso. Super interesting structure.
In other transfer news – Matt Turner secured a loan move to Crystal Palace, where he’ll team up with Chris Richards. It’s a better situation than what he was in at Forest, but he’ll still be a backup. It’s simultaneously good news and disappointing, as he is unlikely to get the consistent first team minutes we’ve been hoping for.
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10.4 – Weekend Recap
The last match window before the USMNT all gather in Austin for Pochettino’s first camp was action packed.
Pulisic scored, and was Milan’s best player, again! It’s almost every game this year he’s been either the best player by the data or as voted by fans. …But we get some bad vibes from his teammates twice stripping him of the PK responsibility against the coach’s orders. Theo Hernandez and Tammy Abraham both had their PKs saved by David de Gea – so they probably should have let Pulisic, who is 10/10 in his career, take them.
September 2024 “team of the month”
This is basically how the USMNT would line up in our first matches under Pochettino – if he made his decisions based ONLY on current club form. He obviously won’t do that – but it’s a cool way to look at who is playing well, and who isn’t, for the USMNT.
10.4 – Weekend preview
Best matches of the weekend, brought to you by #DosACero. This is the final match window before the guys head to #Austin for the FIRST CAMP WITH POCHETTINO. Here’s hoping for a strong set of performances, with everyone coming in hot. LFG!