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Weah back at Lille facilities for restart of training sessions

The Ligue 1 season may be over, but one young American is back at his club for the restart of training sessions.

French side Lille will resume training sessions on June 15th after several weeks off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. U.S. Men’s National Team striker Timothy Weah has returned to the club in hopes of getting back to full fitness ahead of the the 2020-21 Ligue 1 season.

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Weah and the rest of his Lille teammates will first undergo COVID-19 testing this weekend before sessions resume. The 20-year-old made the move to Lille in the Summer of 2019 from Paris Saint-Germain, but respective hamstring injuries plagued his season.

Weah made only three appearances for Christophe Galtier’s side in Ligue 1 play, totaling 84 minutes of action. After returning to action in February from a torn hamstring, Weah suffered a new issue and was sidelined for the remainder of the season.

The former PSG forward has also been forced to miss several U.S. Men’s National Team camps under head coach Gregg Berhalter, who he’s yet to appear for since the 46-year-old took over in Dec. 2018. Weah’s earned eight caps with the USMNT, scoring his only goal back in May 2018.

With the 2020 Tokyo Olympics moved to 2021 because of COVID-19, Weah could be a possible addition to the U.S. Under-23 Men’s National Team. Jason Kreis’ side did not begin the Concacaf Qualifying Tournament due to the pandemic and no official rescheduled date has yet been determined.

Lille finished fourth in the Ligue 1 standings after the French Football Federation (FFF) decided to conclude the season for safety reasons. Should Weah recover from his injury and impress during summer camp, he could play a vital role for Lille in the Europa League Group Stage.

Comments

  1. Hoping that the shutdown of League 1 has allowed Weah to fully recover, and that he’s able to make the leap to being a consistent starter for his club when they start the upcoming season.
    Excited by the prospect of having some solid options to play opposite Pulisic in the near future, and hopefully for many years to come. Someone who’ll force opponents to play an honest defense and not double/triple team Pulisic. Weah, Reyna, & Uli all look like they’ll be a possible option…and should keep the pressure on whoever ends up being the starters.

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    • Amen. What excites me about have seen in Weah’s (obviously limited) time with the USMNT has been his combination play with fellow attackers. Great awareness of where his partners are as he receives the ball, coupled with good patience to let things develop. Really nice to see that in a young player. Guy just needs minutes right now…. still less than 20 total senior professional appearances at the club level, and almost nothing as a 90 min player. This has to change and his health is where it has to start.

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    • I really like the idea of a CF with Pulisic/Reyna/Weah across the next line with Wes and Tyler cleaning up. All three of those attackers could interchange and be really tough to cover. With the next NT matches likely not until 2021, a lot could happen with Weah and Reyna, as Gio likely to get more minutes with a Sancho leaving and Tim hopefully healthy. That lineup wouldn’t be great if we were stuck in our own half defending but it could really press and keep pressure on the opponent.

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      • Let’s not dismiss the possibility that Weah could be leading the line in attack for the USMNT…..we have to be honest about Sargent not developing as quickly as we thought as of now, and with Werder looking like a team that’ll be relegated we have no idea where that leaves him in his development!

    • I agree with Ronniet….Weah would be an interesting option interchanging as a winger/foward…It would add a dimension to the attack instead of just a traditional center/target forward option….Forwards that are very mobile running in and out of the backline causing defenders to have trouble keeping tabs on them….

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    • Ronnie and ac: that’s definitely an adjustment that could be made as well, especially if we’re facing a team we need to be more defensive for you could slide another CM in and move Weah up, or bring on a player like Ledezma if you need a better passer in your #10 spot. I do realize I’m falling into the trap I’m normally warning others of, we haven’t seen Weah for 8 months so he must be better than Sargent. Sargent would have been considered in front of Tim before the injury so did Josh get worse or we just forgot Tim’s issues. Am I recalling correctly wasn’t Tim better as wing for the U20s than as a CF?

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      • I hear you on the “trap” phenomenon but I’m going off of first team minutes between the two and from what I remember Timo was more productive or showed better than Josh has in his loan to Celtic where he played fwd and in his time cut short by injuries starting out with Lille in my opinion. With the U-20’s Weah played both and was effective at both but that team was short on productive wingers(except Llanez, who by the way didn’t start for some reason)so I think he was kind of forced to play more out wide…again, all my opinions though!

      • Another wrinkle to consider….IF we have a line of Pulisic, Reyna, Weah (Uli as an alternate/backup)…that could allow Morris and/or Boyd to become options at the striker position. I’m not saying that either would be a perfect solution to the problem, but it would provide more depth to what is becoming our thinnest position.
        Jozy – Aging out and often injured
        Sargent – Under performing at the club level, but has shown great link-up play at times.
        Zardes – Has the motor but lacks the technical ability
        Morris – A physical presence like Jozy but still question his technical ability. Probably higher than Zardes for me.
        Boyd – a bit of a forgotten player. Has the speed & size to be a CF, but can he make the transition? Similar to Sargent has had a lack-luster club season.

        Final thought on this subject/thread….and a bit more of a “What if….”
        Gio Reyna @ 17 is a 6’1″ winger for BvB. As he matures and adds muscle he could become a real threat as a CF. Imagine his quick step and tight turns at the top of the attack with line of Pulisic, Weah, & Uli just behind him and McKennie & Adams doing the dirty work.
        This could be a truly terrifying attacking option in a couple years if this group can continue their progress.

    • Hard to compare Scotland to Bundesliga and made worse by Weah’s loss of minutes when Rodgers left and Kohfeldt’s “not rushing” strategy. I just feel you could put Zardes in front of the dynamic group of Reyna, Weah, and Pulisic and still be able to score at least 2 or 3 every game. You throw in Dest pushing up and McKennie or Adams making late runs, yikes how do you defend that without just parking the bus. Of course most of those guys have been injured for big chunks the last two seasons.

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      • I’m not as down on Zardes as most seem to be, so I’d tend to agree with you on that! The fwd depth chart is kind of pathetic right now, so we’ll see Zardes for the foreseeable future and that’s just what it is!

    • And considering the CF for 3G just has to occupy the two CBs and knock home crosses from point blank range it’s a job Zardes can do.

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