American Players Abroad

Cameron Carter-Vickers, an 18-year-old American center back, made his second appearance for Tottenham Tuesday. It did not go well. His debut came in the EFL Cup against Gillingham and he played well in a win. Tuesday, though, the likes of Gillingham were nowhere to be seen. Tottenham played Liverpool.

Mauricio Pochettino continued the time-honored tradition of playing his second-string in the EFL Cup because who cares it's the EFL Cup, so Carter-Vickers got the nod. 

Liverpool also trotted out a fairly inexperienced side except for, um, the strikers.

Bobby Wood scored a brace for Hamburg SV and Fabian Johnson scored the goal of the day for Borussia Monchengladbach as the USMNT members helped their respective sides to the round of 16 in the DFB-Pokal.

Johnson’s Gladbach took on German second division side VfB Stuttgart, and the American winger got the home side off to a dream start in front of 40,452 at Borussia-Park. Collecting the ball off an exquisite back heel pass from Andre Hahn, Johnson scored his second goal in all competitions for the club.

Bob Bradley was appointed as the new coach for Swansea City on October 3rd, becoming the first American to manage in the Premier League. 

Swansea are currently struggling at the bottom of the table with one win, one draw and six losses in their first eight games. They are in 19th position and decided to let Italian manager Francesco Guidolin go after only 25 matches in charge.

Bob Bradley thinks he’s one of the world’s best managers. So we didn’t expect him to be intimidated by his surroundings when he faced off against Arsène Wenger and Arsenal at the Emirates in his first Premier League match. In the end, Swansea were unlucky not to get a positive result against the Gunners.

Former USMNT coach Bob Bradley was appointed manager of Swansea City this week, the Welsh side eliminating Francesco Guidolin like 20,000 emails being wiped from the Clinton Family Server. Having saved them from relegation only a matter of months ago, it feels like a rough deal for Guidolin. The British press, however, have reserved their sympathies for another supposedly wronged man: Ryan Giggs.

Why, you might ask, is a multi-millionaire former footballer with a penchant for other people’s wives receiving the sympathies of Fleet Street?

Bob Bradley is the coach of Premier League side Swansea City. Let that sink in for a second. 

Crazy, right?

Well, if you’re Bob Bradley, then no, it’s not that crazy. According to Bob Bradley, he is on the same managerial level as Pep Guardiola, Jurgen Klopp and Carlo Ancelotti. So the chance to manage a club in the Premier League makes sense. 

The nominees for the annual Golden Boy award, selected by Italian newspaper Tuttosport and ultimately bestowed upon Europe’s best footballer aged under 21, are out. Among the boys are Tottenham’s Dele Alli, Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman, Borussia Dortmund’s Ousmane Dembele and Manchester United’s Marcus Rashford.

Noticing the talent of Christian Pulisic and believing he’ll have a great career should no longer be classified as jumping on the hype train. The term 'hype train' is like the plans for a high-speed rail in the United States, a theoretical concept that’s been touted since 1965 but has never materialized. 'Hype train' infers that nothing is settled, that everything is still in the balance.

Newcastle United manager Rafa Benitez’s preference for the tactically astute Vernon Anita at right-back has made league minutes tough to come by for DeAndre Yedlin. However, a three-match suspension for Anita opened the door for the 23-year-old American.

Yedlin was preferred to the Spaniard Jesus Gamez on Saturday for Newcastle’s league encounter with Aston Villa. The American seized his opportunity with a man of the match display but was unfortunately subbed off due to an apparent ankle injury in the 73rd minute.