Agreed, it should be local players with a scattering of veteran international stars.

Interesting march today in the Italian Serie A. AC Milan v Venezia, featuring 2 potential USMNT midfielders, both in their early 20s. No, not Pulisic for Milan, who I think is still recovering from injury.

Musah for AC Milan, who seems to be reviving his career, and Busio, who captains Venezia.

And of course there's the MLS RBNY v Philadelphia Union match tomorrow with high-ceiling young US players all over the pitch… Sullivan, Pierre, Mehmeti (and Hall, Westfield).

Cal88 said:

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Agreed, it should be local players with a scattering of veteran international stars.

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100%. This is how to build a sustainable and entertaining league that also benefits the USMNT, which benefits the MLS in return.

Crystal Palace down 0-1 to Man City at half. Saw the last 10 minutes of the half and Richards shouldered what should have been a good header on goal. Not sure if he was responsible for the Haaland goal. Gozo is on the bench, this could be his debut.

On the highlights Richards was flat out terrible. He is one level above the players we need to replace. For now Ream, Dest, and Adams are the guys.

At least Gozo is in - came in at 68 mins. Palace down 3-1.

Looks like Musah is having another solid game for AC Milan.

Freeman also not playing for Villarreal today. Hope he gets solid La Liga minutes this year. Edited to add: oops they subbed Freeman in at 62'.

OneKeg said:

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At least Gozo is in - came in at 68 mins. Palace down 3-1.

Looks like Musah is having another solid game for AC Milan.

Freeman also not playing for Villarreal today. Hope he gets solid La Liga minutes this year. Edited to add: oops they subbed Freeman in at 62'.

---

Richards ... I fear for his mental health. There is a term "howler" for a bad game, but it was beyond that. He was slow and dropped too much and was partly or fully responsible for all the goals. Easy for me to say from my couch, Man City was super on.

Gozo was okay. Got some touches on the ball. Only with one real blunder in 25 minutes. Looks like he belonged athletically. Played left wing, which is fine, he is flexible on position. He needs to gain some weight in his lower body, he is a narrow guy, got clobbered twice. Defensively, he looked totally lost. This derailed the careers of Pulisic and Reyna. American players adapt more easily offensively than defensively. I am not going to worry until the end of the season about this. That he was brought in so early shows the club is serious about him.

2-time European champions PSG held to draws in their first two games, will be 4pts behind the leaders by Sunday...

sluggo said:

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OneKeg said:

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At least Gozo is in - came in at 68 mins. Palace down 3-1.

Looks like Musah is having another solid game for AC Milan.

Freeman also not playing for Villarreal today. Hope he gets solid La Liga minutes this year. Edited to add: oops they subbed Freeman in at 62'.

---

Richards ... I fear for his mental health. There is a term "howler" for a bad game, but it was beyond that. He was slow and dropped too much and was partly or fully responsible for all the goals. Easy for me to say from my couch, Man City was super on.

Gozo was okay. Got some touches on the ball. Only with one real blunder in 25 minutes. Looks like he belonged athletically. Played left wing, which is fine, he is flexible on position. He needs to gain some weight in his lower body, he is a narrow guy, got clobbered twice. Defensively, he looked totally lost. This derailed the careers of Pulisic and Reyna. American players adapt more easily offensively than defensively. I am not going to worry until the end of the season about this. That he was brought in so early shows the club is serious about him.

---

Kind of makes me wonder about the USMNT players in the Premier League. My perception is that of the top 5 European Leagues, the EFL Premier League and France's Ligue 1 are particularly physical/athletic on average, whereas La Liga has more finesse/possession-oriented teams on average. Not that Premier League and Ligue 1 teams can't be great with finesse and possession too (like PSG which can do it all) or that La Liga/Bundesliga/Serie A teams are never physical, but I've gotten the feeling those are the general stylistic differences on aggregate.

So I wonder about guys like Zavier Gozo going to the Premier League where he might not be ready for the physical style of play on both offense and defense, even though his athleticism is fine there. I have a similar worry with Gio Reyna at Ligue 1 Strasbourg. Physicality is not the strong suit for either Gozo or Reyna. I wish some, let's say Bundesliga or Serie A team had signed both players instead. Might have been for less immediate money, but possibly a better outcome. Dunno.

OneKeg said:

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sluggo said:

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OneKeg said:

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At least Gozo is in - came in at 68 mins. Palace down 3-1.

Looks like Musah is having another solid game for AC Milan.

Freeman also not playing for Villarreal today. Hope he gets solid La Liga minutes this year. Edited to add: oops they subbed Freeman in at 62'.

---

Richards ... I fear for his mental health. There is a term "howler" for a bad game, but it was beyond that. He was slow and dropped too much and was partly or fully responsible for all the goals. Easy for me to say from my couch, Man City was super on.

Gozo was okay. Got some touches on the ball. Only with one real blunder in 25 minutes. Looks like he belonged athletically. Played left wing, which is fine, he is flexible on position. He needs to gain some weight in his lower body, he is a narrow guy, got clobbered twice. Defensively, he looked totally lost. This derailed the careers of Pulisic and Reyna. American players adapt more easily offensively than defensively. I am not going to worry until the end of the season about this. That he was brought in so early shows the club is serious about him.

---

Kind of makes me wonder about the USMNT players in the Premier League. My perception is that of the top 5 European Leagues, the EFL Premier League and France's Ligue 1 are particularly physical/athletic on average, whereas La Liga has more finesse/possession-oriented teams on average. Not that Premier League and Ligue 1 teams can't be great with finesse and possession too (like PSG which can do it all) or that La Liga/Bundesliga/Serie A teams are never physical, but I've gotten the feeling those are the general stylistic differences on aggregate.

So I wonder about guys like Zavier Gozo going to the Premier League where he might not be ready for the physical style of play on both offense and defense, even though his athleticism is fine there. I have a similar worry with Gio Reyna at Ligue 1 Strasbourg. Physicality is not the strong suit for either Gozo or Reyna. I wish some, let's say Bundesliga or Serie A team had signed both players instead. Might have been for less immediate money, but possibly a better outcome. Dunno.

---

I agree, Gozo seems built for Spain or Italy. But if he wants to be great for the USMNT, he will have to be able to handle the physicality. He is so young, no harm in giving it a try if it does not hurt his confidence. It took Pulisic a year or two to adjust to the Premier League, and I had my doubts, but he did thrive before his injuries got the better of him. Reyna can play anywhere, he just needs a coach to appreciate what he brings. He would be best at a top team, lower level teams have defensive problems, and that is not his strength.

Here is a thread on bigsoccer of Gio that will go throughout the season: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/gio-reyna-strasburg-fc-pbp-gameday-thread.2140088/

Looks like he had a great game. I will have to watch him next week. He played 76 minutes. I KNOW he can play, he just needs another chance.

Yeah, seems like a good day for Gio Reyna. Will have to watch the highlights later if I can. Probably more of a college football day for me, though, and I know I'm going to watch the RBNY - Philadelphia Union highlights. Would love to hear your thoughts after you watch that one.

"My guy," as you refer to him, George Campbell, captain and center back for West Brom played the whole match but presumably did not have the greatest match (losing 3-1) against Middlesbrough and their trio of mediocre US players. Actually, Boro looks like they are about to sign a fourth US player, another midfielder Rokas Pukstas, a young player (just turned 22), who had been tearing it up in a bad (Croatian) league, but he's not on the team yet. Will be interesting to watch him.

Looks like Mathis Albert made the bench again for Dortmund in their 2-0 win over Hamburg.

Malik Tillman's Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-2 to recently promoted Elversburg in the Bundesliga. Any thoughts on 20yo US winger Cole Campbell, who just recently joined Elversburg? He scored in this match and surely has to be on the radar for at least the Olympic team in 2028 if he's playing a bunch and scoring in the Bundesliga at that age, right?

Oh and of course, Tyler Adams came in as a sub for Bournemouth with his team up 1-0 on Everton and of course Everton then equalized late, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

A somewhat belated thanks-a-million to sluggo, Cal88 and concordtom for helping me appreciate soccer this year, via this thread. I'll never attain sicko status, but the more I can appreciate, the better. I have been augmenting my learning by being the last person in the US to "slow binge watch" Ted Lasso. Halfway through Season 2; it's great!

OneKeg, if memory serves, it was you that posted some poignant shelter-in-place stories during the pandemic, correct? We were all wishing you the best.


Okay, having reestablished myself on this thread, I have a San Francisco question loosely disguised as a soccer question (maybe right up OneKeg's alley... or others, as well):

My daughter, playing for concordtom's old club, Bay Oaks, has a game tomorrow afternoon in The City, specifically at the Beach Chalet athletic fields. The map they sent us shows parking right across the Great Highway...

I don't get out to SF much, but I thought the big controversy now is that that whole area is closed to cars, no? Where should I park to get my daughter and her teammate to that field at noon tomorrow (Sunday)? And how should I get there (from the East Bay)?

Big C said:

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A somewhat belated thanks-a-million to sluggo, Cal88 and concordtom for helping me appreciate soccer this year, via this thread. I'll never attain sicko status, but the more I can appreciate, the better. I have been augmenting my learning by being the last person in the US to "slow binge watch" Ted Lasso. Halfway through Season 2; it's great!

OneKeg, if memory serves, it was you that posted some poignant shelter-in-place stories during the pandemic, correct? We were all wishing you the best.

Okay, having reestablished myself on this thread, I have a San Francisco question loosely disguised as a soccer question (maybe right up OneKeg's alley... or others, as well):

My daughter, playing for concordtom's old club, Bay Oaks, has a game tomorrow afternoon in The City, specifically at the Beach Chalet athletic fields. The map they sent us shows parking right across the Great Highway...

I don't get out to SF much, but I thought the big controversy now is that that whole area is closed to cars, no? Where should I park to get my daughter and her teammate to that field at noon tomorrow (Sunday)? And how should I get there (from the East Bay)?

---

Hey Big C. Don't think that was me posting any poignant shelter-in-place stories during the pandemic. We had it relatively easy living in the Presidio in SF like we do. Went for a hike every day instead of the gym. And I don't remember folks on BI needing to wish me well for any reason. Maybe it was someone else you're thinking of? Unless I have amnesia.

Beach Chalet Fields are indeed up my alley. That location is one of my son's designated home fields for HS soccer (season just getting under way), and since he's now a junior, I've been to soccer games there many many times. It was actually the location where his HS team (Bay School in the Presidio) won the D2 North Coast championship in soccer last fall over Gateway. (To be clear, some schools play boys' soccer in the fall trimester, and some in the winter trimester, so the winter schools would have a different D2 champion).

Parts of the Great Highway are indeed closed sometimes, and in fact were sometimes temporarily closed by necessity anyway even years before due to sand from Ocean Beach blowing onto the road. I don't know the latest, though I drove that segment of the Great Highway a few weeks ago and at least the short stretch right there was open even though other parts were closed.

But neither you nor I should need to know the latest because you don't need the Great Highway to get to the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields. The Beach Chalet Fields parking lot is on John F Kennedy Drive in the western end of Golden Gate Park, near but NOT on the Great Highway. On game days, the lot sometimes gets full, but you can park (for free) curbside along JFK drive within a few minutes walk to the BC Athletic Fields almost 100% of the time.

Make sure you put "Beach Chalet Athletic Fields" and not just "Beach Chalet" into Google Maps or Waze or whatever you use, since by contrast, the nearby Beach Chalet (and adjoining Park Chalet) restaurants are indeed on Great Highway.

There are 4 soccer fields there, numbered 1 through 4, with 1 being on the far left when coming from the parking lot and 4 on the far right.

Want to hear your report on the RBNY - Philly match, sluggo. From watching the highlights, Cavan Sullivan and Neil Pierre with goals within 4 minutes of each other (Pierre's off a set piece of course) in Philly's 3-1 win. Sullivan's goal was a fantastic bit of work after receiving a long cross-field pass, and Pierre's goal was good too, using his long legs and feet this time to reach a ball. Pierre got beat on defense for RBNY's goal, though you could argue it was the fault of his fellow defenders for keeping Pierre's man onside.

Looks like Julian Hall for RBNY had some big chances but could not put one in (did have a good shot off the post). Not sure how Adri Mehmeti looked for RBNY.

Feeling like Sullivan, Pierre and Mehmeti are the high ceiling players, where as a couple others in the game, Hall and Frankie Westfield for Philly may not be senior USMNT-level players, but probably Olympic/U-23 level during this cycle? Though of course the first 3 may play in the 2028 Olympics too.

Edited to add: speaking of high ceiling players, Justin Ellis, playing right offensive midfield this match, got another assist in Orlando City's wild 3-3 draw against Minnesota United. Great run to receive Griezmann's long cross-field pass on the counterattack, then great instincts to cut into the middle on the 3-on-3 break to draw defenders and feed it back left to Griezmann for the goal.

OneKeg said:

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Want to hear your report on the RBNY - Philly match, sluggo. From watching the highlights, Cavan Sullivan and Neil Pierre with goals within 4 minutes of each other (Pierre's off a set piece of course) in Philly's 3-1 win. Looks like Julian Hall for RBNY had some big chances but could not put one in (did have a good shot off the post). Not sure how Adri Mehmeti looked for RBNY.

Feeling like Sullivan, Pierre and Mehmeti are the high ceiling players, where as a couple others in the game, Hall and Frankie Westfield for Philly may not be senior USMNT-level players, but probably Olympic/U-23 level during this cycle? Though of course the first 3 may play in the 2028 Olympics too.

---

For a new sicko your evaluation skills are great. Sullivan, Pierre and Mehmeti are potential USMNT starters. Hall and Westfield might become squad players. Not sure if all are available for the Olympics (U23), Westfield is the only one in question (and I have a strict no research policy for this thread that I sometimes break). To the evals:

Sullivan-Typical game. Finds the game in the first half, commits mayhem in the second half. See his goal below, he needs a better league. Also is a master of the slip pass that his crap teammates can't finish.
Pierre-Was a monster defensively. Was never beaten. The goal was a messed up offside trap by Wagner, not his fault. And he scored his fourth goal, shown below, a monster number in like 10 games for a center back.
Mehmeti-I heard someone call him Modri (Mehmeti+Rodri). While he says he models his game off Busquets, it is more like Rodri, who is a better player than Busquets ever was. He does crazy things like receive the ball, turn, and pass almost instantaneously, all with the same foot. I love Reyna, but there are things even Reyna can't do that Mehmeti does. And he is 17. Every time I see him play he plays the same great game, tonight was no exception.
Hall-Did a lot of good running, got in some good positions, did not finish. He can be Balogun-lite if he can finish better.
Westfield-Whatever. I guess he played.
Ellis-Played in a different game, but since he is the only other MLS player I care about, I am including a very nice assist that he had.

WHAT A GOAL BY CAVAN SULLIVAN 🇺🇸🤩 pic.twitter.com/fHGdyPPs5s

— American Ultras Talk (@usmntaut) August 30, 2026

NEIL PIERRE CAN’T STOP SCORING FOR PHILADELPHIA UNION

4th goal in 7 MLS matches this season pic.twitter.com/ONNAiNJmuq

— American Ultras Talk (@usmntaut) August 30, 2026

Justin Ellis (‘07) with a lovely assist to Antoine Griezmann, nutmegging a defender in the process pic.twitter.com/LCSpKmv9UQ

— American Ultras Talk (@usmntaut) August 30, 2026

OneKeg said:

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Big C said:

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A somewhat belated thanks-a-million to sluggo, Cal88 and concordtom for helping me appreciate soccer this year, via this thread. I'll never attain sicko status, but the more I can appreciate, the better. I have been augmenting my learning by being the last person in the US to "slow binge watch" Ted Lasso. Halfway through Season 2; it's great!

OneKeg, if memory serves, it was you that posted some poignant shelter-in-place stories during the pandemic, correct? We were all wishing you the best.

Okay, having reestablished myself on this thread, I have a San Francisco question loosely disguised as a soccer question (maybe right up OneKeg's alley... or others, as well):

My daughter, playing for concordtom's old club, Bay Oaks, has a game tomorrow afternoon in The City, specifically at the Beach Chalet athletic fields. The map they sent us shows parking right across the Great Highway...

I don't get out to SF much, but I thought the big controversy now is that that whole area is closed to cars, no? Where should I park to get my daughter and her teammate to that field at noon tomorrow (Sunday)? And how should I get there (from the East Bay)?

---

Hey Big C. Don't think that was me posting any poignant shelter-in-place stories during the pandemic. We had it relatively easy living in the Presidio in SF like we do. Went for a hike every day instead of the gym. And I don't remember folks on BI needing to wish me well for any reason. Maybe it was someone else you're thinking of? Unless I have amnesia.

Beach Chalet Fields are indeed up my alley. That location is one of my son's designated home fields for HS soccer (season just getting under way), and since he's now a junior, I've been to soccer games there many many times. It was actually the location where his HS team (Bay School in the Presidio) won the D2 North Coast championship in soccer last fall over Gateway. (To be clear, some schools play boys' soccer in the fall trimester, and some in the winter trimester, so the winter schools would have a different D2 champion).

Parts of the Great Highway are indeed closed sometimes, and in fact were sometimes temporarily closed by necessity anyway even years before due to sand from Ocean Beach blowing onto the road. I don't know the latest, though I drove that segment of the Great Highway a few weeks ago and at least the short stretch right there was open even though other parts were closed.

But neither you nor I should need to know the latest because you don't need the Great Highway to get to the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields. The Beach Chalet Fields parking lot is on John F Kennedy Drive in the western end of Golden Gate Park, near but NOT on the Great Highway. On game days, the lot sometimes gets full, but you can park (for free) curbside along JFK drive within a few minutes walk to the BC Athletic Fields almost 100% of the time.

Make sure you put "Beach Chalet Athletic Fields" and not just "Beach Chalet" into Google Maps or Waze or whatever you use, since by contrast, the nearby Beach Chalet (and adjoining Park Chalet) restaurants are indeed on Great Highway.

There are 4 soccer fields there, numbered 1 through 4, with 1 being on the far left when coming from the parking lot and 4 on the far right.

---

Thanks for the Beach Chalet Athletic Fields advice. We're all set for a 1:15 game on field #2. I don't think my daughter's team is very strong for a U15 premier-level team. They've moved my daughter to defense -- which is fine -- because apparently no one else can or seriously wants to defend. Played a good team today and got destroyed. I think we are 1-2 so far this season. (I just want her to enjoy the team and develop to her potential.)

Regarding the pandemic story, I guess it was someone else, but it was a story of keeping a boy isolated so he wouldn't spread COVID to his grandparents, or maybe they kept him isolated from his grandparents. Been five years now, so who knows, but it was a very moving story. Maybe it was posted on sluggo's epic thread, I forget.

Regarding getting to Beach Chalet athletic fields, I will be coming to SF over the Bay Bridge, Can I just drive through GG Park and onto JFK Drive like I could in the good ol' days?

(I halfway know the area... just concerned about the any traffic closures.)

Big C said:

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Regarding getting to Beach Chalet athletic fields, I will be coming to SF over the Bay Bridge, Can I just drive through GG Park and onto JFK Drive like I could in the good ol' days?

(I halfway know the area... just concerned about the any traffic closures.)

---

Just follow Waze or Google Maps. The western part of JFK drive through Golden Gate Park that the Beach Chalet fields are near is open, but other parts are closed to traffic (like the parts further east near the California Academy of Sciences, De Young Museum and Stow Lake).

So I'm guessing GPS well send you west down Fulton street, which borders the north end of GG park lengthwise. If so, just before getting to Ocean Beach/Great Highway, you can turn left on 47th Ave., which is one of the entrances into the park, and then left again on JFK drive, and the parking lot will then be on your right after very shortly after that, or you can park at the curb (either side) and walk.

Edited to add: by taking Fulton, I don't mean right off the freeway, but more once you get near GG park. For example, one way is to take 80W to 101N to the Octavia exit, then after a few blocks, left/west on Fell Street, which is 3 lanes one way. Take Fell west a couple miles, but after Masonic, stay in the right lane and stay straight when Fell curves to "exit" and turn right on Stanyan. Then after two blocks, turn left on Fulton (this is the northeast corner of the park). Fulton then is a straight shot west all the way down to the northwest end of the park where the Beach Chalet fields are.

Good luck to your daughter!

Thanks for the report on the RBNY - Philly match, sluggo! So many good young US players on the pitch.

Yeah, I edited the part of my post about Pierre's man scoring, noting that his teammates kept his man onside, even before I saw your point to the same effect.

Heh, I could have guessed you don't care about Westfield, but as we've discussed before we need outside backs. The USMNT needs them, and the Olympic/U-23 team will need them, since we are thin there. Westfield is 20 now, so he will be 22 for the Olympics. And it's important that US soccer does well in the Olympics as it will improve interest in the game, less so than this World Cup (until Belgium), but still.

It would not surprise me if Peyton Miller and Frankie Westfield are our starting left and right outside backs for the 18-man Olympic roster (because who else? Luca Bombino maybe?), and Hall is one of the strikers. I don't see wasting one of the 3 over-age slots at outside back. Probably will use an over-age slot for a goalie, unless we want Diego Kochen to be the starting Olympic goalie. Not that any other goalie we have is much good, regardless of age. Perhaps we'll convince Brandon Taishi Nozawa to come over from Japan by then.

Of course, Ellis could be the starting striker over Hall on the Olympic team if he's not a regular with the senior team by then. Just as Sullivan, Pierre, Mehmeti, Albert and Gozo could be Olympic starters, but may instead be mainstays with the senior USMNT already by then.

OneKeg said:

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Thanks for the report on the RBNY - Philly match, sluggo! So many good young US players on the pitch.

Yeah, I edited the part of my post about Pierre's man scoring, noting that his teammates kept his man onside, even before I saw your point to the same effect.

Heh, I could have guessed you don't care about Westfield, but as we've discussed before we need outside backs. The USMNT needs them, and the Olympic/U-23 team will need them, since we are thin there. Westfield is 20 now, so he will be 22 for the Olympics. And it's important that US soccer does well in the Olympics as it will improve interest in the game, less so than this World Cup (until Belgium), but still.

It would not surprise me if Peyton Miller and Frankie Westfield are our starting left and right outside backs for the 18-man Olympic roster (because who else? Luca Bombino maybe?), and Hall is one of the strikers. I don't see wasting one of the 3 over-age slots at outside back. Probably will use an over-age slot for a goalie, unless we want Diego Kochen to be the starting Olympic goalie. Not that any other goalie we have is much good, regardless of age. Perhaps we'll convince Brandon Taishi Nozawa to come over from Japan by then.

Of course, Ellis could be the starting striker over Hall on the Olympic team if he's not a regular with the senior team by then. Just as Sullivan, Pierre, Mehmeti, Albert and Gozo could be Olympic starters, but may instead be mainstays with the senior USMNT already by then.

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I don't disagree about Westfield and Miller. But unlike American football that is just about wins and losses, I watch soccer for the joy, and those players bring no joy. Especially in a game where Sullivan does a perfect Arjen Robben imitation on his goal. I will think practicalities as tournaments get closer.

One thing to consider is that the Olympics are during the offseason on American soil. Unlike the U20 tournament, some established USMNT players may choose to play. Maybe all the young guns will play.

OneKeg said:

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Yeah, seems like a good day for Gio Reyna. Will have to watch the highlights later if I can. Probably more of a college football day for me, though, and I know I'm going to watch the RBNY - Philadelphia Union highlights. Would love to hear your thoughts after you watch that one.

"My guy," as you refer to him, George Campbell, captain and center back for West Brom played the whole match but presumably did not have the greatest match (losing 3-1) against Middlesbrough and their trio of mediocre US players. Actually, Boro looks like they are about to sign a fourth US player, another midfielder Rokas Pukstas, a young player (just turned 22), who had been tearing it up in a bad (Croatian) league, but he's not on the team yet. Will be interesting to watch him.

Looks like Mathis Albert made the bench again for Dortmund in their 2-0 win over Hamburg.

Malik Tillman's Bayer Leverkusen lost 3-2 to recently promoted Elversburg in the Bundesliga. Any thoughts on 20yo US winger Cole Campbell, who just recently joined Elversburg? He scored in this match and surely has to be on the radar for at least the Olympic team in 2028 if he's playing a bunch and scoring in the Bundesliga at that age, right?

Oh and of course, Tyler Adams came in as a sub for Bournemouth with his team up 1-0 on Everton and of course Everton then equalized late, with the match ending in a 1-1 draw.

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Lots of good info here. Some thoughts:
1. Albert needs an injury. Otherwise he is going make the bench but not play. He will actually play for one of their youth teams during the week. This is hardly tragic at 17, but I am greedy.
2. Cole Campbell was a bench player for Dortmund a couple years ago. I was excited to see him play in the last U20 WC, where he showed nothing. Maybe he was nervous, but I don't expect much from him now. I do have a story that I will tell below.
3. Puktas played maybe two U20 WCs ago, very average. Perfect for the Boro average Amercians.
4. On an early post about Gianluca Busio, I have not seen him in many years. At like 16 he was starting for Sporting KC and was a starter on the U17 WC team. But he was small and not fast and did not really have a position. I think he settled as a central midfielder of a sort. I know he helped Venezia, not a good club, get promoted. Some people on the internet say he has improved. Maybe he deserves another look.

A couple years ago when Cole Campbell was the lowest guy on the Dortmund bench he apparently brought a multi thousand dollar murse on a team trip. His German bosses thought it was immodest and showed a lack of seriousness and supposedly cost him status at the club. Vince, who is black, of the Scuffed Podcast (my only soccer podcast), lost his mind and started referring to Campbell as the blackest athlete in America. Just listen to the podcast.

LMFAO https://t.co/XJpgsdwodu

— scuffed (@scuffedpod) August 29, 2026