This has not been the best weekend to be an American in the Bundesliga
We here at Yahoo Soccer acknowledge a measure of support for the United States men’s national team. It’s our home country, we pretty much all grew up as fans, and when the USMNT is doing well, audience interest is high and stories are plentiful. In short, it’s good for everyone.
But who would we be as media if we weren’t balanced in our coverage?
Which brings us to this weekend’s Bundesliga action, a forgettable couple days for the Yanks who ply their trade in Germany’s top flight.
It started on Friday when Weston McKennie missed FC Schalke 04’s 2-2 draw at Hertha BSC due to card accumulation. McKennie picked up his fifth yellow of the league season last Sunday, which results in an automatic one-match suspension. He only saw yellow twice in the first three and a half months of the season, but has received a card in each of Schalke’s last three Bundesliga matches, including the two right before the month-long winter break began in late December.
Two other Americans didn’t see the field in the match, with Schalke’s Haji Wright being nailed to the bench and Jonathan Klinsmann, goalkeeper and son of former USMNT boss Jurgen Klinsmann, failing to make the matchday squad for Hertha.
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Christian Pulisic, the USMNT’s best and perhaps most famous player, spent another matchweek watching on as Borussia Dortmund maintained its Bundesliga lead, this time hammering Hannover 5-1 on Saturday. Pulisic is out of favor at Dortmund, having agreed to join Chelsea this summer while spending the rest of the season on loan at his current club.
Pulisic hasn’t played in two of the last three games, and he only played about 18 minutes as a substitute in the other. It makes some sense; as bright as Pulisic’s future is, if he’s not going to be part of Dortmund’s, why would the club play him over those around for the long haul? But it could potentially hurt Pulisic’s USMNT development if this keeps happening.
Bobby Wood’s situation might be even worse. He had started five of Hannover’s last seven games, but he didn’t make Saturday’s matchday squad despite being fit. He has just three goals and one assist in 15 appearances as a loanee from Hamburg SV this season, and unless those numbers ramp up, he could be relegated for a second straight season.
At the other end of the table, Borussia Monchengladbach jumped Bayern Munich into second thanks to a 2-0 win over FC Augsburg, but once again a USMNTer, this time Gladbach’s Fabian Johnson, never made it off the bench.
You know who did make it off the bench? Josh Sargent. You know who didn’t make a difference, unfortunately? Josh Sargent.
The Yanks’ star-striker-in-waiting came on for Werder Bremen in the 69th minute against Eintracht Frankfurt, but he and his fellow attackers couldn’t find a goal to break the 2-2 draw. Sargent set up Davy Klaassen in the 85th minute for a potential winner, but Frankfurt keeper Kevin Trapp was up to the task.
USMNT defender Timothy Chandler is still recovering from a knee injury suffered in August, and figures to be a little less than a month away from returning to training with Frankfurt.
Chandler’s fellow defender, John Brooks, had a forgettable night for VFL Wolfsburg as well, receiving a yellow card for a bad foul in his own half as his side conceded three times in a 3-0 home loss to Bayer Leverkusen.
Wolfsburg is locked in a battle for the fourth and final Champions League spot, as eight clubs are currently within five points of each other from fourth place through 11th. Results like Saturday’s won’t help.
Fortunately, two more Americans are yet to play this weekend, with Tyler Adams’ RB Leipzig facing Alfredo Morales’ Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday. Morales started Dusseldorf’s last match and recorded an assist, while Adams is hoping to crack the starting XI for the first time since joining Leipzig this month on a four-year deal from New York Red Bulls.
Plus, Gregg Berhalter makes his USMNT debut against Panama in a friendly Sunday night in Glendale, Ariz. So there’s still hope this weekend for U.S. soccer fans everywhere.
Including us.
Joey Gulino is the editor of Yahoo Soccer and moonlights as a writer. Follow him on Twitter at @JGulinoYahoo.
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