230222 ASU Newsletter

Before we get to this week’s Americans Abroad updates, a quick shout-out to our U17 Men’s Youth National Team, who beat Guatemala Tuesday night to reach the semifinals of the CONCACAF U17 Championships. This means the U.S. boys have qualified for the U17 FIFA World Cup. Well done to our Baby Baby Eagles. 🙌🇺🇸🐣🦅

Now we newsletter.

How To Make It In Fulhamerica:

Plucky Fulham. Led by Mound City Maldini Tim Ream 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (35; St. Louis, MO). And Greatest Scouse American Antonee Robinson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (25; Liverpool, England). It’s an American soccer success story that never gets old. Keeps getting better, in fact.

Try to wrap your head around where things stand for the Cottagers right now. Sixth place in the Premier League. Just four points out of the Champions League spots. Through to the fifth round of the FA Cup (where they’ll face another American-heavy team, Leeds United). It’s honestly hard to think that Pep himself could manage what Marco Silva has pulled off so far with this team.

And Ream. The hockey assist in Fulham’s 1-0 win over Brighton. Pirlo-ing long balls off of an unsuspecting Jedi. His greatness is even catching his teammates off guard.

We’ve been so fortunate to have been there with Timmy for his recent successes. Rog recently sat down with him for an hour long interview which is up as a TV Show Special on Peacock, digital version on YouTube channel, and an extended Hour-Long Podcast, and in all of these interviews, he’s shown himself to be such a high quality gent. His play on the pitch only outdone by his character off it.

Long live the Fulhamerican Dream.

Welcome to Eagletown:

While Fulham are flying, Leeds are struggling. But the club has finally hired Jesse Marsch’s managerial replacement. Welcome to Yorkshire, Javi Gracia. Please take good care of our Baby Eagles. You’ll be a huge hit over here as long as you keep hitting that 27.2727272727 percent on the regs.

Two-thirds of that 27.272727% are the American midfield duo of Tyler Adams 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Wappingers Falls, NY) and Weston McKennie 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Little Elm, TX), whom are still making solid impressions on those around the club. Leeds legend Dominic Matteo, for one, thinks Ty and Wes are a lot like his old teammates Olivier Dacourt and David Batty, who helped steer Leeds to the semifinals of the Champions League.

McKennie also won praise from The Athletic, not just for his range and athleticism, but for his understanding of space.

Adams continues to engage in the on-field aggro-dance that is the Dutchess County Disco. And while his fearless attitude is a plus, Gracia might be well advised to help Adams come up with a more nuanced approach to confrontation on the pitch.

And while Brenden Aaronson 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Medford, NJ) might have hit a bit of a rough patch recently — understandable given that he recently had his appendix removed — he’s shown signs of getting back to his old Heat Map Jesus self, including scoring a fine, far-post goal for Leeds’ U21s against Aston Villa on Monday (WATCH).

US Manager Non-Update Update:

Speaking of football managers, none other than Thierry Henry was asked whether he’d want the USMNT job during a recent CBS broadcast.

No offense to Titi, the classy Arsenal legend, but the fact that this sort of idle speculation even takes place on our national airwaves casts our men’s program in such a bad light. It shows it to be a program in stasis, operating in a vacuum. No leadership. No urgency to make a hire; or even address the strategy behind not making a hire.

Suppose that’s one way to prep for a World Cup we’re co-hosting in 1,201 days.

News and Notes:

• After missing Crystal Palace’s Feb. 11 draw with Brighton due to a back injury, Chris Richards 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Birmingham, AL) played the final nine minutes of the Eagles’ 1-1 draw with Brentford on Saturday.

• Ricardo Pepi 🇳🇱 (20; El Paso, TX) scored his eighth Eredivisie goal of the season in Groningen’s 1-1 draw with FC Emmen (WATCH).

• Paxten Aaronson 🇩🇪 (19; Medford, NJ) scored the winner for Eintracht Frankfurt’s U21s in their 2-1 win over fourth-tier German side SV Viktoria Aschaffenburg.

• Giuseppe Rossi 🇮🇹 (36; Teaneck, NJ) is back, having signed with Serie B side S.P.A.L. for the remainder of the season. American Joe Tacopina is club chairman. They hit the kit pic together to commemorate the occasion.

• Birmingham City center-back Auston Trusty 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (24; Media, PA) sat down with Goal.com and dropped this great line comparing England’s Second City to Philly. “Moving here was an easy transition. It’s pretty similar to Philadelphia as well in terms of the grittiness of the people, the fans, the city. It feels like a home away from home.”

• Caden Clark’s 🇩🇪 (19; Medina, MN) Bundesliga debut might not be far off, as the midfielder was on the bench for Red Bull Leipzig in their 3-0 win at Wolfsburg.

• Croatian club Hajduk Split started two Baby Eagles in their 2-1 win over HNK Gorica on Sunday — Rokas Pukštas 🇭🇷 (18; Stillwater, OK) and Augustine Anello 🇭🇷 (20; Miami, FL).

• Daryl Dike 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (22; Edmond, OK) was a 62nd minute sub in West Brom’s tough 3-2 loss at Watford Monday. The USMNT striker was also a recent guest on our American States United podcast, where he talked about his year of personal growth, as well as how he’s successfully learned to differentiate between dish washing soap and laundry detergent in England. 😂 Give the pod a listen here. 🎧

This Sunday. It’s the big one. Our John Oliver mid-season review will be available on Peacock. A tradition unlike any other. It’s a special conversation in which we touch on a resplendent Arsenal, downtrodden Liverpool, and downtrodden… er Everton. But this is a special piece of content that we are honored to create. Watch it Sunday on Peacock, along with every episode from the last two seasons, which are all AVAILABLE HERE.

Stationary Bike Set 🚑:

Josh Sargent 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (23; O’Fallon, MO) subbed off at halftime of Norwich City’s scoreless draw with Wigan Saturday with an ankle problem, after which the Canaries announced he’d be out for their next two matches … Kevin Paredes 🇩🇪 missed Wolfsburg’s 3-0 loss to RB Leipzig on Saturday due to illness.

Parting Shots:

Matthew Hoppe 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 (21; Yorba Linda, CA) got his first goal for Hibernian in their 2-0 win over Kilmarnock on Saturday, which was just his second match with the club (WATCH). Great to see the ex-Schalke/Mallorca man settling in in Scotland. The Middlesbrough loanee even did a lengthy interview with the Edinburgh Evening News to talk about everything from Hibs’ European hopes, to a comparison of the various top leagues he’s played in. "In Spain they focus a lot on the technique, and in Germany it's more the tactical side of the game,” said the USMNT striker. “Here (in Scotland), it's a lot more physical and I think it's helping to shape me into a good player.” 🇺🇸🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🙌

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