230215 ASU Newsletter

February 15, 2023

🚨🚨BREAKING NEWS:🚨🚨 Jesse Marsch will NOT become the next Southampton manager. After the former Leeds boss looked like a lock for the job, the two sides reportedly could not come to an agreement on the length of contract. According to the Daily Telegraph, the Saints did not want to award Marsch a long-term contract given the sudden nature of negotiations, especially after the financial hit they took by sacking Nathan Jones after just 94 days. No immediate Premier League return for the 49-year-old from Racine, Wis.

Gutted for Marsch who would have reveled in the opportunity to rebound so quickly. 🇺🇸🙌

Elland Thunder Road:

Yorkshire Bash Brothers are a go. Weston McKennie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Little Elm, TX) and Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Wappingers Falls, NY) have started Leeds United’s last two matches together in midfield, both against Manchester United. While the Yorkshire club drew one and lost one, the American duo likely endeared themselves to Leeds fans by raining some CONCACAF Thunder down on their club’s rivals. Wes had some hard tackles and game-saving plays. Tyler shared some Yorkshire Hellos, steamrolled former teammates, and gave blood. And then when Brenden Aaronson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Medford, NJ) joins in, Leeds become 27.2727272727 percent Eagle. 🦅🦅🦅

Americans in European Action:

A bit of European Nights action for some Baby Eagles this week. Gio Reyna 🇩🇪 (20; Bedford, NY) and Dortmund host Chelsea in the Champions League on Wednesday, and word is that interim USMNT coach Anthony Hudson will be in attendance at the Signal Iduna Park to do some scouting. Jordan Pefok 🇩🇪 (26; Washington, DC) and Union Berlin head to Ajax on Thursday in the Europa League Round of 32. Richy Ledezma 🇳🇱 (22; Phoenix, AZ) and PSV are at Sevilla on Thursday, also in the Europa League, although the 22-year-old midfielder hasn’t played for the senior side since Nov. 3.

European Nights Podcast With Rory Smith, Presented by Paramount+

Rog and Rory are back to look at the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. Rory breaks down the FFP charges against Manchester City and what they could mean for the last decade of English Football. Plus, a preview of perennial domestic champs PSG and Bayern. And, in the Europa League, a seismic clash between Barcelona and Manchester United. 🎙️LISTEN HERE🎙️

American Adler 🦅🦅:

While Marsch’s return in England didn’t quite work out, Pellegrino Matarazzo has risen again, only in Germany. The New Jerseyan was hired as Hoffenheim manager last Wednesday after getting the sack at Stuttgart in October. The 45-year-old Columbia grad with a degree in applied mathematics, who played lower-tier football in Germany for a decade before getting into coaching, takes over a Hoffenheim squad two points above the relegation zone. Matarazzo inherits two Americans on his squad: center-back John Brooks 🇩🇪 (30; Berlin, GER) and right-back Justin Che 🇩🇪 (19; Richardson, TX).

More Senior Eagles in Germany! In the second tier, 29-year-old Fabian Hürzeler, who was born in Houston, Tex., is now the manager at St. Pauli. The former U-20 U.S. midfielder has won all three of his matches in charge of the North German hipster club so far.

News and Notes:

  • On the Christian Pulisic 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Hershey, PA) front, latest reports out of Chelsea are that the Blues will let CP10 sign elsewhere in the summer, with reports from Spain saying he’s off to Atletico Madrid. No word yet on whether the Chiefs of Kansas City are in the mix for his signature.

  • Another Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (35; St. Louis, MO) start. Another Fulham win. Another Reamaldinho Mixtape highlight.

  • Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; O’Fallon, MO) scored a very Sarge-y goal against Hull City Tuesday, his club-leading 11th of the season for Norwich City. (WATCH)

  • Rokas Putskas 🇭🇷 (18; Stillwater, OK) has already seen his young career take him from Kansas to Croatia, where just Saturday the U.S. U-20 midfielder bagged a brace for Hajduk Split (WATCH). Putskas now has three goals on the season. And one tweet from the Stillwater Mayor.

  • Tanner Tessmann 🇮🇹 (21; Birmingham, AL) scored his second goal of the season for Venezia in a 2-1 win over SPAL Saturday (WATCH).

  • Joe Scally 🇩🇪 (20; Lake Grove, NY) has started Borussia Monchengladbach’s last three matches at right-back, and is now trailing only Jude Bellingham in terms of U-20 minutes played in the Bundesliga.

  • Folarin Balogun 🇫🇷 (21; New York, NY) showed some muscle in scoring his 15th goal of the season Sunday against Erik Palmer-Brown 🇫🇷 (25; Lee’s Summit, MO) and Troyes (WATCH), placing the US-eligible striker atop the Ligue 1 goal-scorers list, ahead of Messi, Neymar, Mbappe, etc. The Arsenal loanee is thriving with Reims, and his decision to spend this season in France should be lauded, according to Gunners boss Mikel Arteta.

  • It’s four starts in a row for Luca de la Torre 🇪🇸(24; San Diego, CA) at Celta Vigo. The ex-Fulham midfielder has looked at home in La Liga, a league that’s more physical than most realize, according to LDLT.

  • Having departed Swedish club Malmo at the end of last year, forward Romain Gall 🇷🇸 (28; Paris, FRA) scored his first goal for new club FK Mladost Novi Sad on Saturday in the Serbian SuperLiga (WATCH).

Fit But You Know It:

Chris Richards 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Birmingham, AL) missed Crystal Palace’s last match with a back injury. Eagles boss Patrick Vieira had the line of the year about the fearless defender, telling Rog on the Men in Blazers YouTube page: “He will put his head where other people will put their foot.” … Yunus Musah 🇪🇸 (20; New York, NY) came off early for Valencia on Saturday, with what looked like a knock. Good news is that he came off under his own power. … Sergino Dest 🇮🇹 (22; Almere, NED) remains out injured for AC Milan, but as far as Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman is concerned, Dest should still be with Barca … Djordje Mihailovic 🇳🇱 (24; Lemont, IL) has missed AZ Alkmaar’s last three matches due to a calf injury, which is unfortunate as Anthony Hudson and Co. were hoping to watch him play in the Netherlands while on their USMNT overseas scouting trip.

Parting Shots:

This is one you’ll have to see to believe. Baby Eagle Malik Tillman 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (20; Nürnberg, GER) placed himself at the center of a hot-take hurricane during the Scottish Cup on Sunday. In the 71st minute of the match, the Rangers star stole the ball from Partick Thistle off a drop ball — though to be fair the visitor’s first touch was super heavy — and went on to score on the stunned Thistle defense. Proper pub brawl broke out between the two sides after Rangers took the lead, but once things calmed down, Gers manager Michael Beale told his side to stand down and allow the second-tier side to walk the ball into the Rangers net, leveling the score again. WATCH THE ENTIRE AMAZING SEQUENCE HERE. But wait. In the 86th minute, The Guy From Rye James Sands 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (22; Rye, NY) rose up and headed home the winner, his first goal for Rangers. 🙌

Afterwards, Tillman was asked about the incident and much more in an extensive interview with German football publication Kicker. The Bayern loanee shared his thoughts on the Cup kerfuffle, his future with Rangers, and much more. Worth a look.

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