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Americans abroad

Pulisic taking career to new heights, Tessmann's rapid rise, Richards' big win, & more

ASN's Brian Sciaretta covers all bases in his Monday column on Americans abroad. 
BY Brian Sciaretta Posted
September 29, 2025
7:55 PM

THE WEEKEND FOR AMERICANS abroad was, once again, driven by Christian Pulisic. His outstanding performance against Napoli set the tone that it was a good weekend for American players. It really wasn’t. But Pulisic was so good, he almost shifted the narrative himself of it being a successful period.

Pulisic wasn’t the only American who played well. Tanner Tessmann was once again solid, a few other players were above average.

But after that, it was pretty much run of the mill.

 

Pulisic’s magnificent performance

 

When Christan Pulisic wraps up his playing career in another decade or so, people will look back on the highlights of his career. We don’t yet know the context of his performance on Sunday against reigning Scudetto holders Napoli, but it should not be of a surprise that way in the future this was one of the gems of his career.

Look at what we do know: AC Milan is striving to return to the elite of Serie A, Pulisic has been among the best players in Serie A over the first month of the season, and Milan was hosting the Italian champs.

With that backdrop, Pulisic scores and assists on a terrific play to deliver Milan a 2-1 win. In Milan’s first seven games of the season, Pulisic now has six goals and three assists. The result, driven through his performances, have put Milan atop the Serie A table on goal differential. After the season-opening upset loss, Milan have played like the best team in the league, by far.

The bottom line is that the best American player is playing his best soccer. He is leading one of the world’s biggest clubs back to the top, he is in a Scudetto race, and he has been arguably the best player in the league to start the season.

But that’s for AC Milan. Will he now carry that over to the USMNT?

 

Tessmann and Lyon win again

 

After six games in Ligue 1, Tanner Tessmann and Lyon are now even with Paris St. Germain atop the table. Lyon is impressing while winning against some of the best French teams, the latest came on Sunday in a 1-0 away win over Lille. Tanner Tessmann has been immense for them this season and was good in this game as well, playing the No. 6.

The game was ugly. Between both teams, there were only five shots on target combined with 44 fouls and eight cards.

Tessmann was part of a close tackle at the end of the game on the edge of the box but the referee did not award a foul. Aside from that, it was just a competent performance in defensive midfield where he didn’t stand out, but did not make any mistakes.

 

Richards and Palace knock off Liverpool

 

There is now only one unbeaten team left in the Premier League. It is not Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, or now even Liverpool. It is Crystal Palace.

Liverpool entered Saturday’s game with a perfect record but left London’s Selhurst Park with a loss after Crystal Palace posted a 2-1 win.

Chris Richards had a great game until Liverpool scored a late equalizer. Yes, the goal should not have counted due to a Mo Salah hand ball, but VAR didn’t catch it – for some reason. But Richards was poor on the play.

Fortunately for Richards, Palace ended up finding a stoppage time winner in a monumental win that moved them into third place with 12 points from six games (Liverpool remained in first with 15 points and Arsenal in second with 13 points).

Richards should be the clear frontrunner to win U.S. Soccer’s Male Player of the Year for 2025 and a lock starter and maybe even potential captain for the 2026 World Cup.

 

Aaronson & Adams draw

 

In the Premier League, Leeds United and AFC Bournemouth played to a 2-2 draw with Brenden Aaronson playing 87 minutes for Leeds United and Tyler Adams starting for Bournemouth.

For Adams, the game marked a return to Leeds United where he played during the club’s unsuccessful relegation campaign two years ago. Despite Adams speak to the press earlier in the week and recalling his time at Leeds fondly, fans were hostile towards him. Overall his effort was decent but quiet.

As for Aaronson, he was part of some of the best Leeds chances and should have had an assist to Calvert-Lewin in the second half. His energy and work rate alone were a net positive.

Bournemouth sits sixth with 11 points out of six games while Leeds now sits 12th with eight points. Leeds is quietly picking up very useful points that could prove pivotal towards survival later in the year.

The big question is whether Aaronson has done enough to merit a recall to the USMNT. There are a lot of things that speak well for him. He plays hard, he’s a great teammate, he brings energy to games when needed. He doesn’t have to start, but it’s hard to say he doesn’t help in some key areas.

 

Musah and Wes meet in Serie A

 

In Serie A, Juventus and Atalanta played to a 1-1 draw in Turin. Weston McKennie played the final 33 minutes while Yunus Musah played the final 14 minutes for Atalanta.

 McKennie played well on the field although the main talking point over his performance is that he hit a close-range volley right at the keeper. He had the chance to win the game but couldn’t hit a more accurate shot. It was a tough shot, but he hit it hard and would like to have had it back.

Musah’s time was more limited, but he did quite well for the last 10 minutes after Atalanta were reduced to 10 players. He did well holding the ball and dribbling out of pressure. His weakness as a player has been his decision making in the final third and that is not what this game called for from him. Instead, he did well to help alleviate pressure from Juventus.

Overall, it was a good shift for both players that should help them build a case for future starts.

Juventus now sits fourth and Atalanta sits sixth in Serie A.

 

Pepi injured for PSV

 

PSV defeated Excelsior 2-1 on the road on Sunday in what was a poorly played game from the Dutch champs.

Sergino Dest missed the game as he deals with a minor injury. More details should be coming this week.

Ricardo Pepi, meanwhile, needed to be subbed out in the 31st minute with what appeared to be a hamstring injury. The good news is that afterward it was listed as not serious. The bad news is that it might keep him out of the Champions League against Bayer Leverkusen (and old friend, Malik Tillman). His involvement with the U.S. national team this window is now also up in the air.

It must surely be frustrating for Mauricio Pochettino to continuously not be able to have Pepi at his disposal.

 

Scally upset after bad loss

 

Joe Scally had two assists for Borussia Monchengladbach in a 6-4 loss to Eintracht Frankfurt. The scoreline flattered M’Gladbach as it was 6-0 at one point.

Scally was not happy after the game.

 


M'Gladbach is now in last place in the Bundesliga and is the only team in the league without a win. It’s a mess for Scally, and for Gio Reyna whenever he returns from his latest injury.

It’s a tough spot for both players to make a case to be part of the USMNT and both could end up not on the team next summer.

 

Campbell impresses at West Brom

 

George Campbell is playing a defensive right back position for West Bromwich since arriving from Montreal last month. On Saturday, he was very effective in a 1-1 draw with Leicester City in winning his duels (9/10), aerials, and tackles.

West Brom look like a team that will be in contention for the playoffs throughout the season.

As for Campbell, he might have a USMNT chance. It’s easy to be skeptical based on his history with Montreal and Atlanta as well as him not making the U.S. U-23 team despite there being a big need for central defenders.

But central defense is wide open on the USMNT and Campbell was part of January camp and played well enough.

 

Other notes

 

In the Bundesliga, Malik Tillman and Bayer Leverkusen defeated James Sands and St. Pauli 2-1 in Hamburg. Both Americans were decent even if they didn’t stand out.

Noahkai Banks played the final 32 minutes for Augsburg in a 2-1 loss to Heidenheim. It was good for Banks to play, but Augsburg has now lost four in a row and it might be a tough time for a young player at that club.

In the Championship, it was a tough weekend. Aidan Morris and Middlesbrough remained atop the table despite being held to a 1-1 draw with Southampton (who were missing Damion Downs). Morris was pretty good although not quite as effective as he has been to start the season.

Elsewhere in England’s second tier, no Americans stood out. Downs didn’t play. Josh Sargent was held scoreless for Norwich in a 1-1 draw at Stoke City. Haji Wright didn’t play well for Coventry but still was on the right side of a 3-0 win over Birmingham City to remain in second place. Caleb Wiley saw limited minutes for Watford in a 2-1 win over Hull City. Ethan Horvath and Sheffield Wednesday remained second to last after a 1-1 draw with QPR.

On a bright note, Patrick Agyemang started and assisted for Derby in a 1-1 draw against Wrexham. His assist came off a nice header. Derby still has only six points from seven games but this was the second assist for Agyemang.

In Ligue 1, Mark McKenzie went 90 minutes for Toulouse in a 2-2 draw with Nantes. Toulouse had to rally from two deficits to equalize twice. It was a quiet game for McKenzie, which isn’t bad for a central defender.

It was a brutal result for Monaco who fell to Lorient 3-1. The result was likely due to Monaco looking ahead to the Champions League combined with being reduced to 10 men in the 38th minute. Folarin Balogun played the second half but made no impact for Monaco, which fell to fourth place.

Tim Weah started for Marseille in a 2-1 win over Strasbourg. Weah was quiet and both Marseille goals were scored after he left the game.

It was a solid weekend for both Americans in the Greek Super League. Erik Palmar Brown was strong for Panathinaikos in a 2-1 comeback win over Panetolikos. Nicholas Gioachini scored for Asteras Tripolis in a 3-3 draw with PAOK.

It was terrible in Belgium as Marlon Fossey was sent off in the 62nd minute for Standard Liege in a 2-1 loss to Club Brugge. Meanwhile, both Griffin Yow and Bryan Reynolds had a tough day for Westerlo in a 2-0 loss to Union SG.

Cameron Carter-Vickers went the distance for Celtic in frustrating 0-0 draw with Hibernian. In an unusual sight, Celtic sits second in the Scottish table, two points behind Hearts.

In the 2.Bundesliga, Santiago Castaneda continues to have a good season. The young defensive midfielder from Tampa went all 90 minutes for Paderborn in a 2-0 win over Kaiserslautern (who were reduced to 10 men just before halftime). He could be one for the USMNT next cycle.

Meanwhile, John Tolkin started for Holstein Kiel in a 1-0 loss at Elversburg. Julian Green played the last 30 minutes for Greuther Furth in a 1-0 loss to Schalke. Bit of a miserable day today for Isaiah Young for Arminia Bielefeld. The New Jersey forward subbed into a 3-1 loss to Hannover in the 62nd minute and committed a foul that leads to a penalty. That started Arminia Bielefeld’s collapse from a 1-0 lead to a 3-1 loss. Captain Mael Corboz also went 90 minutes in the loss.

Meanwhile in Poland, Kahveh Zahiroleslam scored his first goal for Cracovia, an 89th minute equalizer off the bench against league leaders Górnik Zabrze. It was a matchup of the top teams in the Ekstraklassa. Meanwhile Aziel Jackson and Leon Flach remained in fourth place with Jagiellonia Bialystok after both played in a 1-1 draw with Lech Poznan.

Finally in Croatia, Rokas Pukstas started for Hajduk Split in a 2-0 win over NK Lokomotiva. The midfielder from Oklahoma played well in his 90 minutes and nearly scored but sent a shot off the woodwork in the first half.

 

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