Weston McKennie and Tim Weah’s determination at Juventus, Johnny Cardoso’s return to form and Malik Tillman’s best position revealed — welcome to this week’s USMNT Player Tracker.
Throughout the season, we will bring you updates on the U.S. players plying their trade in various leagues around Europe. With a World Cup on home soil on the horizon and new national team boss Mauricio Pochettino monitoring from afar, we’re keeping tabs on how they perform every weekend.
Issue of the weekend
“Fino alla fine (Until the end).”
That was the defiant message from Weston McKennie after he played his part in Juventus’ thrilling 4-4 draw with Inter on Sunday.
It is also the spirit that has sustained the USMNT midfielder over the past two summers as he has endured months of uncertainty over his future only to remain a Juve player. He has withstood the doubt over his value and proved it all over again.
McKennie is nothing if not resilient.
His two assists during the high-scoring encounter in San Siro meant that Thiago Motta’s side remain in the early title race, and reminded everyone of what he brings to their midfield.
McKennie and team-mate Weah may have been overshadowed lately by their compatriots at AC Milan (hey Christian, hi Yunus) but they both helped Juve to their point at the weekend.
Assists for Dusan Vlahovic and Kenan Yildiz were big moments from McKennie, as was Weah’s 26th-minute strike.
Juve grabbed their dramatic draw despite being 4-2 down thanks to Yildiz’s brace (McKennie’s second assist was for Yildiz’s first goal). It left Motta relieved — and perhaps glad the club decided to extend McKennie’s deal until 2026 in August, rather than allow his contract to wind down and risk seeing him agree a free transfer with another club in January.
“We were always dangerous in a game that was always open with many chances for both teams,” Motta told the Juventus website after the game, with his side third in Serie A, a point behind second-placed Inter and five behind early leaders Napoli.
“We have players in form, like on the left-wing with (Francisco) Conceicao and (Andrea) Cambiaso, but also McKennie, who did very well today.”
It was a rousing afternoon collectively and personally for the Americans. McKennie’s first assists of the campaign were important, and Weah was smiling widely at the final whistle, too. The 24-year-old endured a difficult summer. His red card in the USMNT’s Copa America defeat by Panama set the tone for the team’s early exit, and he has missed four of Juve’s nine league games so far this term with injuries.
Both will hope playing their part in Sunday’s game will provide a platform for better days ahead.
Player of the weekend
Johnny Cardoso picked a good time to have his best game of the season so far.
The USMNT midfielder was excellent as Real Betis beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 on Sunday, extending their unbeaten run to three games.
Betis are fifth in La Liga, only two points behind Diego Simeone’s side, and Cardoso put in a monumental shift to help them to victory.
No player on the pitch made more defensive actions (15) than the midfielder, who was a whirlwind of action. He was not just defensively resolute, but the 23-year-old from New Jersey also went close to an assist when his wonderful defence-splitting pass sent team-mate Abde Ezzalzouli through one-on-one, only for the Moroccan to put his shot wide.
Quote of the weekend
“I think his best position is really the No 10 position, but because he is an athlete and a soccer-intelligent player, he can also play on the left or as a controlling midfielder. Although those are not his favourite positions, mind you.”
Speaking to the club website, PSV Eindhoven manager Peter Bosz was full of compliments for USMNT midfielder Malik Tillman, in response to a question based on the American making a crucial ball retrieval in his own half before setting up a goal during the 6-0 thrashing of PEC Zwolle.
Tillman also netted his team’s third in the game, for good measure.
How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Ricardo Pepi
Club: PSV Eindhoven
Position: Striker
Games (in all competitions): 13
Goals: 6
Pepi marked a rare start ahead of Luuk de Jong with an expertly taken brace in PSV’s 6-0 win and his sizzling form was also noted afterwards by Bosz.
“His performance is impressive, but he only has one problem,” said the PSV boss in the post-game press conference. “There is someone in front of him who is also showing impressive numbers. I see the development with him in terms of ball retention and defending. But scoring, he can do that. There should be no doubt about that.”
Name: Haji Wright
Club: Coventry City
Position: Striker
Games: 14
Goals: 5
Wright scored a 91st-minute winner for Coventry City on Saturday as they edged out Luton Town 3-2 in dramatic fashion, coming back from 2-0 down at half time. It was the Californian’s fifth goal of the season and ended a three-game winless streak for last season’s FA Cup semi-finalists.
Name: Tyler Adams
Club: AFC Bournemouth
Position: Midfielder
Games: 1
Adams’ was a symbolic appearance as a substitute, this time for an established USMNT international who was back on the field for Bournemouth after a long spell on the sidelines following back surgery in the summer.
The midfielder was introduced 81 minutes in and was on the field as the Cherries scored a 96th-minute equaliser, through Evanilson, to secure a point against Aston Villa. “A long time coming. Excited to be back with the boys,” he wrote afterwards on Instagram.
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Name: Tanner Tessmann
Club: Lyon
Position: Midfielder
Games: 7
The former Venezia midfielder started for only the second time since joining Lyon in the summer. He completed the full game, next to former Chelsea and Manchester United player Nemanja Matic, in the engine room as Lyon drew 2-2 with Auxerre.
Name: Gabriel Slonina
Club: Barnsley
Position: Goalkeeper
Games: 14
Slonina is supposed to be at the League One club to play regularly as part of his season-long loan from Chelsea, but he was dropped to the bench for their 2-0 win at Shrewsbury Town on Saturday.
After conceding seven goals in their last four league games, manager Darrell Clarke preferred Ben Killip in goal.
Name: Cole Campbell
Club: Borussia Dortmund
Position: Winger
Games: 1
A special moment for the 18-year-old as he made his Bundesliga debut for Dortmund, coming on as late substitute in their 2-1 defeat at Augsburg.
The Texan had already made the bench previously for Nuri Sahin’s outfit, but has now gone that symbolic step further. He may have only touched the ball four times, but it will be a memorable moment for a player who chose to represent the U.S. over Iceland — he is a dual citizen — earlier this year.
Graphic of the weekend
So let’s have a look at where Campbell enjoyed those four touches…
What’s coming up?
(all times ET)
After their game over the weekend was postponed due to flooding in Bologna, you can see AC Milan pair Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah in action against Napoli on Tuesday (3:45pm, Paramount +).
It will also be interesting to see whether Campbell gets another chance for Dortmund as they face Wolfsburg in the DFB-Pokal Cup the same day (3:45pm, ESPN+).
On Wednesday, Gianluca Busio should feature for Venezia in Serie A as they play Udinese (1:30pm, Paramount +). Later that day, see if McKennie and Weah can build on their performances against Inter as Juventus face Parma (3:45pm, Paramount +).
Then on Thursday, Johnny can try and shine again for Betis, who are in Copa del Rey action against Gevora (4pm, ESPN +).
(Top photos: Getty Images)
