By Clemente Lisi – NEW YORK, NY (Apr 10, 2023) US Soccer Players – For American soccer fans, spring means the start of some early MLS trends and big games in the Concacaf Champions League. It also means that USMNT players in Europe are reaching the climax of their domestic club seasons.
If August is a month full of promise for what can be, April signals the start of what will be. League titles and trophies are on the line over the coming weeks. Also on the line across Europe are teams looking to stay in their respective top flights, while others are looking for promotion.
As has been the case for quite some time, Americans are very much involved in these battles. Here are five USMNT players to keep an eye on as Europe’s 2022-23 club season nears its end.
Christian Pulisic (Chelsea)
Chelsea is still very much alive in the Champions League. They will take on defending champions Real Madrid on the road Wednesday in the opening leg of the quarterfinals. Contrast that to the Premier League, with a top four finish now out of reach. Those results have Chelsea under their third manager since the start of the season, with Frank Lampard now in charge.
As for Pulisic, the USMNT striker has played in only 20 Premier League matches this season. A knee injury kept him out of the lineup for two months and he only returned in March. Pulisic’s most successful time at Chelsea came under Lampard’s previous stint as manager. With eight games remaining, it’s an opportunity for a healthy Pulisic in the Premier League as well as the Champions League.
Ricardo Pepi (FC Groningen)
Pepi has been one of the most prolific Americans in Europe this season. It helps that he plays in the Eredivise, a league where Americans have excelled in the past and a competition known for offense.
Pepi has been in brilliant form. He has ten goals and three assists in 22 league matches, but FC Groningen finds itself second from bottom and in desperate need of points. Groningen, in the first division since the year 2000, needs to make up an eight-point gap with 15th-place FC Emmen with six games to go to avoid relegation. The bottom two clubs are relegated automatically in the Eredivisie with the 16th-place club entering a playoff with the 3rd through 8th-place teams from the Eerste Divisie.
Pepi, who is on loan to FC Groningen from German club FC Augsburg since last year, scored three goals in the USMNT’s two games (two against Grenada and the winning goal against El Salvador) during last month’s international break. Pepi is a promising player and his form as of late has helped the National Team. It could also end up helping FC Groningen.
Jordan Pefok (Union Berlin)
The other American scorer getting attention in Europe is over in the Bundesliga. Pefok has been a vital part of Union Berlin’s magnificent season. The club is currently contending for a top-four spot and qualification for next year’s Champions League for the very first time in what would be a historic finish. The club was temporarily in first earlier in the season, but eventually surpassed by traditional powers Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund.
Pefok has adapted well to Germany’s topflight, with five goals and three assists this season across all competitions. Used primarily as a super sub at Union Berlin, he plays on a team known for its defensive setup under coach Urs Fischer. This style works for Pefok, who can exploit opposition defenses on the counterattack.
Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic)
A first choice center back at Celtic, Carter-Vickers has helped the Scottish giants already achieve much this season. He has played in 27 league matches so far in 2022-23 as Celtic aims to win the Scottish treble. After winning the League Cup in February, Celtic is a dozen points ahead in the Scottish Premier League and faces rivals Rangers on April 30 in the semifinals of the Scottish Cup.
Originally loaned out to Celtic in 2021 from Bournemouth, Carter-Vickers established himself with the Glasgow-based club in a season where they won the Premiership and the League Cyp. Not only is he a regular in the starting lineup under manager Ange Postecoglou, Carter-Vickers is one of the best American defenders in Europe at the moment.
Ethan Horvath (Luton Town)
The English Championship is among the most-competitive second-tier tournaments in Europe. While promotion to the Premier League isn’t easy, Horvath is a big reason why Luton Town is contending for a spot. Horvath recorded an EFL-leading 18th shoutout of the season this past Friday in a scoreless draw against Millwall. The Hatters are currently in third.
Horvath has been here before. He joined Luton on loan last summer from Nottingham Forest after they had won promotion. Horvath played 11 games for Forest last season and even came on as a 90th minute sub in the EFL playoff Final at Wembley. He could very well be there once again next month.
Clemente Lisi is a regular contributor to US Soccer Players. He is also the author of the new book “The FIFA World Cup: A History of the Planet’s Biggest Sporting Event.”
More from Clemente Lisi:
- Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver six weeks into the 2023 MLS season
- Advancing, options, and offense for the USMNT in March
- MLS tactics early in the 2023 season
- Red Bulls defender John Tolkin on his club, the rest of the East, and debuting for the USMNT
Photo by Angel Marchini – SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire – ISIPhotos.com
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