Another weekend of European soccer action, another series of performances by American talent. There has been a wave of Yanks making the move across the Atlantic in recent times and here are some of the best displays turned in over the weekend by Americans currently plying their trade in the European leagues.
Weston McKennie | Schalke
Tyler Adams, having hit the ground running in the Bundesliga, was rested for RB Leipzig’s game against Eintracht Frankfurt, but the other half of the USMNT’s midfield of the future — Weston McKennie — played the full 90 minutes for Schalke in their trip to Bavaria to take on German champions Bayern Munich.
Beautifully weighted ball from @WMckennie for his 3rd assist of the season ?pic.twitter.com/Ru5wyyaG4m
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) February 9, 2019
There was only so much McKennie could do to stop the resurgent Bavarians, with Schalke outplayed and overpowered by their more illustrious opponents, but the American still managed to contribute an assist, playing a wonderfully weighted through ball for Ahmed Kutuca to equalize after 25 minutes. Schalke were only level for two minutes, but McKennie held his own.
Matt Miazga | Reading
Matt Miazga’s season was going nowhere when Nantes canceled his loan move early. However, since being farmed out to Reading in the English Championship, the American center back has truly found his feet. This weekend saw him turn in another impressive display for his new team, helping them to back-to-back clean sheets.
Miazga has given Reading a defensive structure that they were lacking prior to the American’s arrival, with his positional sense and ability for getting the ball down and playing it out from the back also proving useful. What a turnaround in the defender’s fortunes there has been.
Andrija Novakovich | Fortuna Sittard
It’s only two weeks ago that American striker Andrija Novakovich made us all sit up and take note when he scored a stunning strike against Feyenoord. Well, the on-loan Reading forward continued his fine form with a stoppage-time goal in Fortuna Sitar’s emphatic 4-1 victory over Excelsior at the weekend.
?? @AndrijaNovakov3 provides the exclamation point for @FortunaSittard.
— U.S. Soccer MNT (@USMNT) February 10, 2019
pic.twitter.com/8XcPDir0hA
Novakovich now has five Eredivisie goals for the season and is starting to make his mark in Netherlands having struggled for game time in the English Championship. The 22-year-old will surely be in the thoughts of U.S. national team head coach Gregg Berhalter in the not so distant future.
Tim Ream | Fulham
This was an afternoon to forget for one of American soccer’s most experienced figures. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s decision to rest a number of key figures for Manchester United’s trip to Craven Cottage on Saturday raised hope that Fulham could pull off a result to give their Premier League survival chances a shot in the arm. It was not to be, though.
Tim Ream struggled, as did many of his teammates, to cope with the movement and dynamism of the Man Utd attacking line. Fulham were fortunate to escape with just a 3-0 defeat. This could have got even uglier for the Cottagers and Ream was just as culpable for the loss as anyone else in white on the pitch. Not his best performance.
Timothy Weah | Celtic
The teenage forward has made quite the impact since joining Celtic on loan until the end of the season from Paris Saint-Germain. However, this was one of Timothy Weah’s more subdued displays for the Hoops, coming off the bench with the Scottish champions already 4-0 up in their Scottish Cup tie against St Johnstone.
It didn’t help Weah that Celtic took their foot off the gas for the final 20 minutes or so of the match, but the young American may well be required in the Europa League this week. Celtic face Valencia in the round of 32 and Weah is the kind of player who can expose the space in behind the La Liga outfit’s high press. Brendan Rodgers might have used him sparingly against St Johnstone with a plan in mind.
Bobby Wood | Hannover
It has been a frustrating season so far for Bobby Wood. His loan move to Hannover was supposed to give him a platform to show what he could do at Bundesliga level. Instead, he has found himself fighting for a place in the team.
Wood was given nearly half an hour in Hannover’s 2-0 win over Nurnberg at the weekend, helping his side lift themselves off the foot of the Bundesliga table. The American forward struggled to get into the game and looks low on confidence right now. However, it’s difficult to build consistency when his opportunities are so sporadic.
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.