Despite U.S. team’s success, American players are struggling in Europe

 

In the fall of 2012, things were arguably looking better than they ever had for American players plying their trade in Europe. Clint Dempsey had finished the previous season with Fulham fourth in the Premier League scoring charts, behind onlyRobin van Persie, Wayne Rooney and Sergio Aguero to earn a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. Meanwhile in Italy, Michael Bradley had already parlayed an impressive season with Chievo Veronainto a transfer to AS Roma.

Both moves were significant, putting U.S. men's national team players on sides that could reasonably vie for spots in the prestigious UEFA Champions League, and in Bradley’s case, theSerie A title. Suddenly two of American soccer’s leading lights were knocking on the door of Europe’s elite. But it never quite panned out. After one season with Spurs, during which he netted seven goals, Dempsey decamped back to MLS as a designated player for the Seattle Sounders. A few months later, Bradley followed him back across the Atlantic to join Toronto FC.

Money undoubtedly played a big part in the moves. MLS offered both players far more than they were likely to get from European clubs. But for American soccer fans, it was frustrating. Just when it seemed that two of our best players were positioned to distinguish themselves on club soccer’s biggest stage, they hightailed it back to MLS, leaving fans with the sinking feeling that maybe our players weren’t quite good enough after all.

Unfortunately, 16 months on from Dempsey joining Seattle, there’s been little to suggest otherwise. After two impressive seasons with AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie, Jozy Altidore moved toSunderland in the Premier League where it’s impossible to say he’s been anything other than a flop. Brek Shea, who left MLS two seasons ago to join Stoke City, has also failed to find his feet in the English top flight and will join MLS expansion outfit Orlando City next year.

Ironically, at a time when many feel that the U.S. is flying higher than it ever has before, American players seem to be having a harder time "making it stick" in Europe. Despite the urgings of U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann for Americans to leave the safety of MLS behind and challenge themselves in Europe's top leagues, currently the USA doesn't seem to be producing players who are capable of meeting that challenge.

But there are reasons to be hopeful. Even now, promising USMNT right back Deandre Yedlin is on his way to joining Tottenham. Aron Johannsson is playing well in the Dutch league for AZ andAlejandro Bedoya, representing Ligue 1 side Nantes, recently netted a spectacular goal against French powerhouse, Paris Saint-Germain. Klinsmann’s crop of German-born players all feature prominently for their Bundesliga clubs. Gedion Zelalem, a teenage midfield prodigy at Arsenal, who’s been compared to Cesc Fabregas, has just become an American citizen and is expected to commit to the U.S. program. 

But for American soccer to reach the next level, it must eventually produce an attacking player capable of leading the line at one of Europe's elite clubs. Once upon a time, that player might’ve been Landon Donovan. But with the USMNT's all-time leading scorer now retired after having played the majority of his career for the LA Galaxy, we've yet to catch sight of the player who could be U.S. soccer’s next great hope. And with three and a half years to go until the 2018 World Cup in Russia, there couldn't be a better time for him to emerge.