Americans Abroad: Weston McKennie continues to shine for Juventus, Patrick Agyemang heats up and Malik Tillman dominates
GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including McKennie scoring, again, for Juventus in an important victory. Last week, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti looked into a camera and suggested that Weston McKennie could be the perfect striker. And a lot of USMNT fans were rather worried. After all, this is a player who routinely gets used out of position, a plug-and-play guy who willingly does his part. Coming up with another role for him? Well, that just seemed a bit silly. Spalletti abandoned the striker experiment before it could truly start over the weekend, and it paid dividends. McKennie was used as a No.10, where he turned in an excellent showing for Juve. He was everywhere on the pitch and scored a truly lovely goal to cap off a wonderful performance. But it wasn't the only standout showing for an American in Europe over the weekend. Patrick Agyemang might not be top of the list for everyone's World Cup roster, but he can certainly play a bit - something he showed with a tidy goal against Bristol City. Malik Tillman bagged two for Bayer Leverkusen. And Folarin Balogun was also among the goals, providing a clean assist in a Monaco drubbing of Rennes. Sure, there were some less-promising displays. Brenden Aaronson's Leeds ran into a dominant Arsenal. Haji Wright couldn't make an impact off the bench. And Gio Reyna's fitness issues continue. Still, it was an otherwise successful weekend of work for USMNTers in Europe. GOAL rounds up the matchday for all of the top Americans Abroad...That's three goals in four games now for Agyemang. It's safe to say he's got the whole Championship thing all figured out now.After a relatively slow start after making his big move to Europe, the now-former Charlotte FC star has surely found his legs and is running riot through England's second division. His latest goal came on Friday in a 5-0 win as he added Bristol City to a list of recent victims that includes West Brom and Preston North End, too.In total, Agyemang now has nine goals and three assists in just under 2,000 minutes played. He's averaging a goal contribution every 160 minutes or so, and those numbers are only getting better thanks to his recent hot streak. Right now, there are a few more dangerous strikers in the Championship, which is why transfer rumors are already brewing just a few months into his European career.There's no doubting Agyemang's quality. On Saturday, the goal was scored with his head, but he's been finding other ways to put the ball in the back of the net, too. As a result, Derby are in seventh and climbing, with all involved right to wonder how much better things can get, even knowing how good things are with Agyemang right now.For all that was said about Agyemang, there's an American in even better form right now. It's his Gold Cup teammate Malik Tillman, who has had the best week of his career.After scoring twice in the Champions League midweek, Tillman scored another one on Saturday, leading Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Like Agyemang, Tillman needed time to adjust to life with a new club, but he's now seemingly fully adjusted and making things happen in the highest-level games in the sport.Tillman has been slightly unlucky this season. His goal and assist numbers could, and probably should, be higher than they are. Saturday's goal was his fourth in the Bundesliga, but his first since late November. The hope, then, is that this week can be a turning point. The confidence from his brace against Villarreal clearly carried over into Saturday. The goal for Tillman will now be to keep rolling it right on through to the World Cup. The midfielder is right in the mix for a starting spot, and goalscoring runs do nothing but help that push as he prepares for even bigger games ahead for club and country.Expectations were high for Monaco coming into the season. They had qualified for the Champions League last season and seemed, in theory, ready to kick on this campaign. The reality has been remarkably different. The French side has struggled at both ends of the pitch, not finding the net enough and conceding too many. An agreeable scoreless draw with Juventus midweek saw them squeak into the Champions League knockouts. But perhaps more important, it gave them something to build on. As it turns out, it is exactly what they needed. Monaco looked like the side they really should be in a 4-0 win over unlikely European contenders Rennes on Saturday afternoon. And Balogun, who has been a bit of a mixed bag this season, was vital. He provided a tidy assist for Monaco's opener and was involved in the build-up to another goal. There are certainly questions to be asked about his league goalscoring form - finding the net just four times in Ligue 1 isn't good enough. But involvements matter here. Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingIs this the best version of Weston McKennie? It may just be. The American has been excellent of late. There are a few reasons for that. The first is that Spalletti has finally allowed McKennie to play in his preferred position, deploying him as an attacking midfielder of sorts. The second is that his goalscoring touch has returned; whatever McKennie is trying at the moment, it's working. The results have been good for Juve. And on Sunday evening, they were at their best. McKennie operated as a No.10, tucked in behind fellow CONCACAF member Jonathan David. The two linked up admirably over and over again. David grabbed an assist, while McKennie scored a quite wonderful volley in a much-needed convincing win for Juve. Sure, McKennie was perhaps a tad fortunate to escape a sending off in the first half for a late challenge. But that will be largely forgotten in the scope of what was a mightily impressive showing in a convincing win. + There was no joy for Aaronson and Leeds as they were blasted, 4-0, by Premier League leaders Arsenal+ Joe Scally put in a solid shift, but Borussia Monchengladbach blew the lead after his substitution, conceding a 94th-minute equalizer to Werder Bremen. Gio Reyna was not named to the 18 for the club. + Alex Freeman was named to the bench but did not feature in Villarreal's 2-2 draw with Osasuna. Freeman signed with the club this week+ Aidan Morris was very good in midfield as Middlesbrough beat a Josh Sargent-less Norwich, 1-0+ Haji Wright came off the bench but couldn't save Coventry in a 2-1 loss to Queens Park Rangers+ Johnny Cardoso was one of Atletico Madrid's better performers in a 0-0 draw with Levante+ Marseille almost threw it away after taking Tim Weah out of the game, but they held on to a 2-1 win over Paris FC+ After missing last week's match against Bayern, Noahkai Banks was right back in the XI for Augsburg's win over James Sands and St. Pauli+ Gianluca Busio found the net in Venezia's 2-1 win over Carrarese to send his side top of Serie B
GOAL reviews the major takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, including McKennie scoring, again, for Juventus in an important victory. Last week, Juventus manager Luciano Spalletti looked into a camera and suggested that Weston McKennie could be the perfect striker. And a lot of USMNT fans were rather worried. After all, this is a player who routinely gets used out of position, a plug-and-play guy who willingly does his part. Coming up with another role for him? Well, that just seemed a bit silly. Spalletti abandoned the striker experiment before it could truly start over the weekend, and it paid dividends. McKennie was used as a No.10, where he turned in an excellent showing for Juve. He was everywhere on the pitch and scored a truly lovely goal to cap off a wonderful performance. But it wasn't the only standout showing for an American in Europe over the weekend. Patrick Agyemang might not be top of the list for everyone's World Cup roster, but he can certainly play a bit - something he showed with a tidy goal against Bristol City. Malik Tillman bagged two for Bayer Leverkusen. And Folarin Balogun was also among the goals, providing a clean assist in a Monaco drubbing of Rennes. Sure, there were some less-promising displays. Brenden Aaronson's Leeds ran into a dominant Arsenal. Haji Wright couldn't make an impact off the bench. And Gio Reyna's fitness issues continue. Still, it was an otherwise successful weekend of work for USMNTers in Europe. GOAL rounds up the matchday for all of the top Americans Abroad...That's three goals in four games now for Agyemang. It's safe to say he's got the whole Championship thing all figured out now.After a relatively slow start after making his big move to Europe, the now-former Charlotte FC star has surely found his legs and is running riot through England's second division. His latest goal came on Friday in a 5-0 win as he added Bristol City to a list of recent victims that includes West Brom and Preston North End, too.In total, Agyemang now has nine goals and three assists in just under 2,000 minutes played. He's averaging a goal contribution every 160 minutes or so, and those numbers are only getting better thanks to his recent hot streak. Right now, there are a few more dangerous strikers in the Championship, which is why transfer rumors are already brewing just a few months into his European career.There's no doubting Agyemang's quality. On Saturday, the goal was scored with his head, but he's been finding other ways to put the ball in the back of the net, too. As a result, Derby are in seventh and climbing, with all involved right to wonder how much better things can get, even knowing how good things are with Agyemang right now.For all that was said about Agyemang, there's an American in even better form right now. It's his Gold Cup teammate Malik Tillman, who has had the best week of his career.After scoring twice in the Champions League midweek, Tillman scored another one on Saturday, leading Bayer Leverkusen to a 3-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt. Like Agyemang, Tillman needed time to adjust to life with a new club, but he's now seemingly fully adjusted and making things happen in the highest-level games in the sport.Tillman has been slightly unlucky this season. His goal and assist numbers could, and probably should, be higher than they are. Saturday's goal was his fourth in the Bundesliga, but his first since late November. The hope, then, is that this week can be a turning point. The confidence from his brace against Villarreal clearly carried over into Saturday. The goal for Tillman will now be to keep rolling it right on through to the World Cup. The midfielder is right in the mix for a starting spot, and goalscoring runs do nothing but help that push as he prepares for even bigger games ahead for club and country.Expectations were high for Monaco coming into the season. They had qualified for the Champions League last season and seemed, in theory, ready to kick on this campaign. The reality has been remarkably different. The French side has struggled at both ends of the pitch, not finding the net enough and conceding too many. An agreeable scoreless draw with Juventus midweek saw them squeak into the Champions League knockouts. But perhaps more important, it gave them something to build on. As it turns out, it is exactly what they needed. Monaco looked like the side they really should be in a 4-0 win over unlikely European contenders Rennes on Saturday afternoon. And Balogun, who has been a bit of a mixed bag this season, was vital. He provided a tidy assist for Monaco's opener and was involved in the build-up to another goal. There are certainly questions to be asked about his league goalscoring form - finding the net just four times in Ligue 1 isn't good enough. But involvements matter here. Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reportingIs this the best version of Weston McKennie? It may just be. The American has been excellent of late. There are a few reasons for that. The first is that Spalletti has finally allowed McKennie to play in his preferred position, deploying him as an attacking midfielder of sorts. The second is that his goalscoring touch has returned; whatever McKennie is trying at the moment, it's working. The results have been good for Juve. And on Sunday evening, they were at their best. McKennie operated as a No.10, tucked in behind fellow CONCACAF member Jonathan David. The two linked up admirably over and over again. David grabbed an assist, while McKennie scored a quite wonderful volley in a much-needed convincing win for Juve. Sure, McKennie was perhaps a tad fortunate to escape a sending off in the first half for a late challenge. But that will be largely forgotten in the scope of what was a mightily impressive showing in a convincing win. + There was no joy for Aaronson and Leeds as they were blasted, 4-0, by Premier League leaders Arsenal+ Joe Scally put in a solid shift, but Borussia Monchengladbach blew the lead after his substitution, conceding a 94th-minute equalizer to Werder Bremen. Gio Reyna was not named to the 18 for the club. + Alex Freeman was named to the bench but did not feature in Villarreal's 2-2 draw with Osasuna. Freeman signed with the club this week+ Aidan Morris was very good in midfield as Middlesbrough beat a Josh Sargent-less Norwich, 1-0+ Haji Wright came off the bench but couldn't save Coventry in a 2-1 loss to Queens Park Rangers+ Johnny Cardoso was one of Atletico Madrid's better performers in a 0-0 draw with Levante+ Marseille almost threw it away after taking Tim Weah out of the game, but they held on to a 2-1 win over Paris FC+ After missing last week's match against Bayern, Noahkai Banks was right back in the XI for Augsburg's win over James Sands and St. Pauli+ Gianluca Busio found the net in Venezia's 2-1 win over Carrarese to send his side top of Serie B
