Every Monday this season, we will be bringing you updates on the USMNT players plying their trade in various leagues around Europe, ahead of a huge summer that includes the Copa America and with a World Cup on home soil on the horizon.
This week, we are covering hope for goalkeepers, patience paying off and lessons learned in Italy.
Issue of the weekend
What’s that flickering faintly in Nottingham? Is it a light at the end of the tunnel for Matt Turner?
The USMNT first-choice ’keeper was back in the starting line-up for his embattled team at the weekend after being benched for Nottingham Forest’s previous five games.
He may not have kept a clean sheet in the 1-1 draw with Wolves at Molineux, but Steve Cooper’s strugglers avoided defeat and that, at least, was a start.
Coming after Odysseas Vlachodimos — Turner’s rival for the No 1 spot — conceded 12 goals in the last four consecutive defeats for Forest, the point on Saturday will have been a relief for both club and ’keeper.
The chance to get back on the field will have provided much-needed respite for the 29-year-old, who would have been forgiven for wondering whether his summer switch to the City Ground had backfired dismally.
Matt Turner is back for Nottingham Forest (Glyn Kirk/AFP via Getty Images)
Turner left Arsenal to seek first-team football, feeling it was important for him to be in peak condition for this summer’s Copa America. At first, it seemed to be going well as he started the first 10 Premier League games of the season, but the late arrival of Greece international Vlachodimos in the summer transfer window raised questions over Turner’s long-term job security.
Those fears were clear when Cooper dropped the former New England Revolution player in October after he was adjudged to have been at fault for Mohamed Salah’s goal in Liverpool’s 3-0 win at Anfield.
Turner had two clean sheets in the league from those 10 games, but his successor has not fared much better. Vlachodimos has one from five and Cooper is desperately seeking solutions as he battles to save his job.
Whether Turner can now keep his spot remains to be seen, but a scenario that looked difficult when he was dropped and raised the issue of whether a loan exit was required in January looks a bit brighter for now.
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Graphic of the weekend
It’s worth examining the Forest goalkeeper situation in a bit more depth, as their quest to avoid a relegation battle will have an outsized impact on the USMNT goalkeeper’s readiness for the Copa América next summer. Turner has conceded 16 goals while facing 53 shots, a far better rate of prevention than Odysseas Vlachodimos’ 12 allowed from 23 shots.
In fact, only Crystal Palace’s Sam Johnstone has a worse goals prevented rate when comparing the goals they’ve conceded to the expected goal rate.
We’ve sorted the table above by shot prevented rate, which adjusts for the volume of shots to analyse the degree to which a keeper concedes at a rate above or below expectation.
In that sense, Vlachodimos has been one of the league’s poorest shot-stoppers among goalkeepers who have played at least 450 minutes to date. And while Turner’s 0.9 rate is just below what you’d hope for from a starting Premier League goalkeeper, it’s in line with positional peers who are in far less danger over losing their place atop the depth chart.
Forest have plenty to stress over as Steve Cooper’s future hangs in the balance with every result. However, Turner has been, at worse, a dependable starter whose gloves should keep his team in games.
Turner has also proven better than Vlachodimos in a couple of pre-shot metrics. Currently, Turner is stopping 8.4 per cent of opponents’ crosses into the mixer (1.45 stops per 90), while the Greece international is only stopping 3.3 per cent of crosses. Additionally, Turner averages 1.36 sweeper actions beyond the box per 90, well above Vlachodimos’ 0.4 per 90. In short, the U.S. international isn’t just preventing more goals than his rival — he’s doing his team a favour by cutting down on their opponents’ dangerous chances before they even get to shooting.
Jeff Rueter
Player of the weekend
Patience is a virtue for Ricardo Pepi. The USMNT forward may not have started a single Eredivisie fixture for all-conquering PSV Eindhoven yet this term, but last week he enhanced his super-sub status with his fourth goal of the campaign.
Pepi faces the unenviable task of getting into the starting XI ahead of team captain Luuk De Jong, who has 10 goals and six assists in PSV’s 15 league games.
His club are flying high. They have taken maximum points from every league game so far and booked their place in the Champions League knockout stage last month when Pepi scored again in their 3-2 win at Sevilla.
Ricardo Pepi (left) has impressed for PSV (Erwin Scheriau/APA/AFP via Getty Images)
So even though the 20-year-old might be a touch frustrated at not getting more starts, he will be encouraged to be playing in what might be a special season for his team, alongside USMNT team-mates Sergino Dest and Malik Tillman. The latter pair both started in the 2-0 win over Herenveen, sealed by Pepi’s goal scored just 60 seconds after coming on last Thursday.
Tillman has five goals and two assists in 11 league appearances for PSV and Dest is flourishing after his difficult spell on loan at AC Milan last season.
Quote of the weekend
“The things I’ve learned here are definitely tactical. Playing in Germany it was more back and forth, the same in England, lots of running, but here it is very tactical, all about the position. That is something I needed to improve in my game instead of running around like a headless chicken.”
This was what Weston McKennie told DAZN after he started in Juventus’ 1-0 win over Napoli, helping to keep his side’s Serie A title race alive and pressure on leaders Inter.
How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Christian Pulisic
Club: AC Milan
Position: Forward
According to Opta, only Marcus Thuram (12) has more goal contributions among Serie A newcomers this year than Pulisic (8: 5 goals, 3 assists). Pulisic created his latest in Milan’s 3-2 defeat against Atalanta on Saturday.
Pulisic was on form against Atalanta (Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
GO DEEPER
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Name: Rokas Pukstas
Club: Hajduk Split
Position: Midfielder
The Oklahoma-born U.S. under-20 international is having an impressive season for his Croatian club despite a knee-ligament injury that caused him to miss eight games. He has three goals from 10 league appearances for Hajduk and has proved very capable in a variety of roles: from defensive midfield and right-winger to a more attacking remit. Pukstas, who joined the club aged 16, will be hoping for a special season, with Hajduk top of the SuperSport HNL, seven points ahead of rivals Dinamo Zagreb.
Name: Lennard Maloney
Club: Heidenheim
Position: Midfield
It was a worrying moment for the USMNT international during his side’s game against Darmstadt on Saturday. His unfortunate 60th-minute deflected own goal left the hosts 2-1 down. Seven minutes later, he was subbed off. Fortunately, Heidenheim came back to win 3-2 and Maloney’s strong season to date will not be blemished by his slice of misfortune.
What’s coming up?
This week sees the final group games of this season’s Champions League and all eyes will be on Pulisic’s AC Milan to see if they can make it out of Group F. They will need to beat Newcastle at St James’ Park and hope Dortmund beat Paris Saint-Germain in Germany (Wednesday, 2pm, Paramount +).
Pulisic will be wanting international team-mate Gio Reyna, of the already qualified Dortmund, to do him a favour (and get himself some rare minutes) against PSG the same evening (Paramount +, TUDN, Univision).
Brenden Aaronson has a big game too. His Union Berlin side face Real Madrid on Tuesday, although the German side cannot qualify for the knockout stages (Tuesday, 2pm, Paramount +).
(Top photos: Getty Images)
Sarah Wilson is your guide to the latest trends, viral sensations, and internet phenomena. With a finger on the pulse of digital culture, she explores what’s trending across social media and pop culture, keeping readers in the know about the latest online sensations.
