Men's National Teams

It’s been an eventful week for building from the back. It began with Mexico’s beatdown of Gregg Berhalter’s longterm vision for the USMNT in East Rutherford, a result which led to a cry for abandoning the philosophy.

Things reached a crescendo yesterday with Arsenal — the masterful architects of their own downfall in recent times. Sokratis Papastathopoulos showed exactly why 2-0 is the most dangerous lead in football by passing the ball straight to Gerard Deulofeu in his own area.   

Hirving Lozano scored on his debut with Napoli on Saturday, netting the second in an ill-fated three-goal comeback against reigning Serie A champion Juventus. It was a remarkable start to Lozano’s career in Italy, becoming the first Mexican to score in Serie A, even if it came in a heartbreaking, last-minute loss. 

While Liverpool and Manchester City again look a cut above the rest in England, there’s every indication that a club outside the “Big Six” may yet disrupt the hegemony and finish in the Champions League places. This morning saw a clash between two such sides — Everton and Wolves — at Goodison Park.

Josh Sargent has opened his 2019-20 Bundesliga account with Werder Bremen in absurd fashion. After missing out on the Gold Cup and being restricted to an eight-minute cameo over the course of Werder’s opening two league fixtures, the well-rested 19-year-old was given his first start of the Bundesliga season today against FC Augsburg. 

The 2019 Champions League groups were drawn on Thursday in Monaco, with three USMNT players being drawn together in Group H. 

Group H includes Chelsea, Ajax, Valencia and Lille, with three of those clubs including young Americans who will play a big role in trying to get the USMNT back to the World Cup. Christian Pulisic (Chelsea), Sergiño Dest (Ajax) and Timothy Weah (Lille) will all go up against compatriots when the 2019 Champions League group-stage matches begin on Sept. 17. 

After coming within a whisker of reaching the 2019 Champions League final, Ajax needed some brilliance on Wednesday just to reach the 2019-20 Champions League group stage.

That brilliance was supplied by 18-year-old American defender Sergiño Dest, who earlier in the day was called up for the senior USMNT for the first time.

León striker José Juan Macías was the story of the 2019 Liga MX Clausura season after leading all Mexican goal scorers with eight in 14 appearances. That he accomplished it at the age of 19 while on loan after being cast off by Chivas only strengthened the narrative.

Barring a meeting in the 2019 MLS Playoffs — please let that happen — LAFC’s wait for a victory over El Tráfico rivals LA Galaxy will go into a third season. On Sunday night at Banc of California Stadium, the two clubs played to a frantic 3-3 draw after an early Zlatan Ibrahimović brace was answered by two from LAFC’s Latif Blessing. Cristian Pavón and Carlos Vela would also exchange goals.