Eindhoven’s comeback kids, Tessmann at the double and Gio Reyna’s “OK” day all play a part in this week’s USMNT player tracker.
Each Monday, we bring you updates on how American players in leagues around Europe fared over the weekend.
With a Copa America to host this year and the 2026 World Cup, also partially on home soil, looming ever larger on the horizon, we are keeping tabs on how they are performing.
How to follow the Copa America on The Athletic…
Issue of the weekend
Peter Bosz has proven an unflinching disciplinarian at times this season.
The PSV Eindhoven boss sent Malik Tillman home when he slept in and turned up late for a match-day meeting. But Bosz is also something of an inspiration for his players and, it as transpires, so is the young midfielder he is helping to mould.
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PSV could have collapsed after a miserable end to March when their shock loss to NEC Nijmegen ended their remarkable unbeaten record in the Eredivisie. The team had gone 26 league games unbeaten this season — and 42 combined with the tail-end to last term — prior to that setback. Dreams of going into the history books for an entire campaign without a defeat went in the bin and, to make things worse, they had also exited the Champions League after another rare setback at the hands of Borussia Dortmund.
But PSV have responded emphatically and their young American midfielder, on loan from Bayern Munich, has led that bounce back.
Tillman, who is attracting more interest from clubs with each passing week, scored in Saturday’s 6-0 thrashing of Vitesse Arnhem, with PSV having now scored 13 goals in their three April games so far.
The 21-year-old benefited from an assist from his compatriot Sergino Dest, another excellent loanee who crossed for Tillman to score. Dest is another whose form will have earned him options in the summer — the likely Dutch champions would like to keep both players — and Bosz was quick to praise the full-back’s involvement.
“He has a threat going forward, but he also sprints back just as fast,” he said. “It’s great that we have him in the team. At the same time, he still has plenty to learn, so I don’t think he has outgrown the Eredivisie.”
Like Tillman and his team-mate, fellow USMNT star Ricardo Pepi (who missed Saturday’s game with injury), Dest is dreaming of a celebratory end to the season ahead of a big summer for the USMNT. “We have seen an upward trend from the start,” he told PSV’s website. “I heard how they celebrate it in Eindhoven.
“This could be an unforgettable season.”
Player of the weekend
It is not just in Italy’s top flight where Americans are helping their clubs push for success.
While Christian Pulisic and Yunus Musah are playing key parts in AC Milan’s pursuit of Europa League glory and Weston McKennie is trying to help a stuttering Juventus achieve Champions League qualification, a U.S. duo are bidding to help their team establish themselves in the Serie A mix next season.
Tanner Tessmann and Gianluca Busio are a pivotal part of second-tier Venezia’s midfield. The former’s brace ensured a win over Brescia that kept their side in third place on Sunday. Indeed, the pair’s friendship off the pitch is helping Venezia thrive on it.
It might also be influential for the USMNT’s hopes of Olympic gold this summer. The pair, who each boast six goals and three assists this term, are both hoping to feature for Marko Mitrovic’s under-23s team which will compete at the Paris games in July and August.
The duo are keen golfers, as displayed in a light-hearted US Soccer video about spending their downtime on the course.
“It’s fun to play with Busio,” Tessmann said in a recent interview with FIFA. “We have a spark to us in midfield. Our relationship off the pitch also helps. We’ve become close friends and that allows us to communicate better on the field.
“We have a lot of talents (in the under-23s) who are playing in different parts of the world. It’s very interesting to see them play in their respective leagues. We have diversity in how we play and where we come from, and it really adds to the group. Our coach, Marko, is doing a great job with us.
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“When he brings it all together, I believe the team can be very strong. I think we can do something big.”
The final U.S. squad will be announced in the summer ahead of the men’s tournament, where the USMNT will take on hosts France in the opening game.
In Serie B, Venezia face bottom-of-the-league Lecco on Saturday.
Jeff Rueter on Tessmann: Sunday saw Tanner Tessmann turn in the kind of performance that endears a player to his club’s fanbase for years and years to come. Two years have passed since Venezia went one-and-done in Serie A, and the club is back in the thick of a promotion push.
Tessmann scored both goals in the 2-0 win over Brescia, pushing them to third with five matches remaining after Cremonese suffered defeat. Tessmann now has six goals and three assists in Serie B play, but his ball progression numbers do even more to show how well the former FC Dallas homegrown has developed.
Tessmann is among the best ball progressors in the band of competitions ranked a notch below Europe’s Big 5 leagues, comparing him to players in the Championship, the Eredivisie, MLS, Liga NOS, Brazil, Argentina and other respected circuits.
While making the Copa America is the chief focus of most players featured in this series, Tessmann instead projects to be among the most important members of the U.S. Olympic squad. U.S. U-23 coach Mitrovic was a holding midfielder in his playing days, and has called Tessmann into his preliminary camps as he vets the rest of the roster hopefuls.
Depending how Venezia’s promotion push resolves, he could be a player on the radars of first-division clubs looking to buy (relatively) low on a young player with plenty of minutes to his name.
Quote of the weekend
“He played good. He gave us good possession. He had good situations, good passing and finishing. He is a good option for us and different to what we have normally. He did OK.”
Nuno Espirito Santo was pleased with Gio Reyna’s first start for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, which saw the 21-year-old supply an assist for Morgan Gibbs-White in their 2-2 home draw with Wolves.
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How did other U.S. players get on?
Name: Griffin Yow
Club: Westerlo
Position: Right midfield
Appearances: 23
Goals: 6
Yow, 21, provided an assist but his impressive performance was unable to prevent Westerlo losing 3-2 to Mechelen in Belgium. His fellow American Bryan Reynolds, 22, also featured in the game for Westerlo as right-back.
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Name: Ethan Horvath
Club: Cardiff City
Position: Goalkeeper
Appearances: 13
Clean sheets: 4
After a clean sheet in his previous outing against Birmingham, Horvath was back down to earth with a bump as Millwall put three past the USMNT international on Saturday.
Name: Auston Trusty
Club: Defence
Position: Sheffield United
Appearances: 28
Relegation is looming ever larger for Trusty, who played the full game for battling Sheffield United as they lost 2-0 to Brentford on Saturday. The Blades remain bottom of the Premier League and destined for a swift return to the Championship.
Name: Jonathan Tomkinson
Club: Bradford City (on loan from Norwich City)
Position: Defence
Appearances: 26
The 22-year-old was booked as a second-half substitute for Bradford, who came from behind to beat Salford City 2-1. The youngster has amassed just under 2,000 minutes of first-team football with the League Two club this season.
Name: Emmanuel Sabbi
Club: Le Havre
Position: Striker
Appearances: 28
Goals: 5
After scoring in his previous outing, Sabbi was booked before being replaced in Le Havre’s 1-0 home defeat by Nantes on Sunday. The loss left them precariously placed in 15th place in the table, just two points clear of the bottom three.
What’s coming up?
(All times Eastern)
Watch Pulisic and Musah attempt to help Milan overturn a one-goal deficit against Roma in the second leg of their Europa League quarter-final on Thursday (3pm, Paramount +).
In Serie A action, Juventus face Cagliari the following day, Friday, as McKennie and Co seek a much-needed return to winning ways (2.45pm, Paramount +).
Lennard Maloney’s Heidenheim play RB Leipzig in the Bundesliga on Saturday (9.30am, ESPN+) while Kevin Paredes’ Wolfsburg face Bochum the same day (9.30am, ESPN +).
Also on Saturday, Trusty’s Sheffield United face a critical showdown with fellow strugglers Burnley at the foot of the Premier League (10am, Peacock Premium).
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(Top photos: Getty Images)
