There is a new wave of American talent. Germany has long been a harbor for U.S. soccer players, but the wave is now crashing onto the shores of Europe as a whole, with a number of high-profile moves over the past few weeks and months. Here are a few of the best performances turned in by Europe-based American players, as well as one not-so-memorable day out on the pitch.
Tyler Adams | RB Leipzig
Tyler Adams is billed as the future of the USA’s midfield, and in this performance, his debut for RB Leipzig, there is justification to this argument. The 19-year-old shone in his Bundesliga bow, playing the full 90 minutes as he helped his side to a comprehensive 4-0 away win to Fortuna Dusseldorf.
4 - On Sunday, Tyler Adams became the fourth different RB Leipzig player to tally 9+ duels won, 9+ recoveries and 70+ touches in a #Bundesliga match this season. Debutant. #DieRotenBullen pic.twitter.com/dw2GcAmK6P
— OptaJack⚽️ (@OptaJack) January 28, 2019
The former New York Red Bulls midfielder was the Man of the Match. He covered 7.2 miles, more than any other player on the pitch, completing 81 percent of his passes as a box-to-box operator in a double pivot system. RB Leipzig have struggled to replacer Naby Keita since his move to Liverpool. They might now have found his successor.
John Brooks | Wolfsburg
This was an afternoon to forget for John Brooks. The American center back has been one of Wolfsburg’s best players this season, but he could do nothing to prevent the heavy home defeat inflicted on his side by Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
The whole Wolfsburg defense struggled to cope with the Bayer Leverkusen front three of Kevin Volland, Leon Bailey, and Karim Bellarabi. Brooks was arguably the worst of the lot, turning in an uncharacteristically rash performance. Wolfsburg have now lost back-to-back games and Brooks must pick up his level.
Cameron Carter-Vickers | Swansea City
Injuries have presented Cameron Carter-Vickers with a golden opportunity to nail down a starting place at Swansea City. Joe Rodon is out for the next six weeks with a broken foot so Carter-Vickers started the weekend’s FA Cup fourth round tie against Gillingham, turning in a decent performance.
Until now, it had been speculated that Carter-Vickers could have his loan from Spurs cancelled and then loaned out to another Championship side where he would be guaranteed a starting place, but the dynamic may have changed and Swansea manager Graham Potter will be pleased with what he saw from the American on Saturday.
Ethan Horvath | Club Brugge
The 23-year-old goalkeeper was handed a start for Club Brugge’s Belgian First Division A away match against Oostende just one week after the disappointing home defeat to Charleroi. This has been a landmark season for Ethan Horvath, who is now surely in the discussion to be the USA’s No. 1 under Gregg Berhalter.
There are still questions over Horvath’s distribution, and that might ultimately hold him back in a sport that now expects goalkeepers to be as good with the ball at their feet as they are with their hands, but this was a solid performance, helping his side to a 2-1 score to keep them within touch of top spot in the Belgian top flight.
Timothy Weah | Celtic
Following two goals in his first two appearances for Celtic, Timothy Weah was handed his first start for his new club in Saturday’s Scottish Premiership home match against Hamilton. There has been great excitement in Scotland about the performances of Weah, but this display from the teenager wasn’t quite as impressive.
Weah still looked sharp and played his part in a comfortable 3-0 win for the Scottish champions, but he offered no real cutting edge. His runs in behind created space for others, like Scott Sinclair, to take advantage of, but it still seems that Brendan Rodgers is learning how to use his new signing.
Graham Ruthven is a soccer writer based in the U.K. He has written for the New York Times, Guardian, Eurosport, Bleacher Report, and others.