DeAndre Yedlin had been on the outside looking in for most of the new English Premier League season, but has made the most of his latest opportunity for Newcastle United.
Five months after his last start for the club in July, Yedlin returned to Steve Bruce’s starting lineup in December and since has remained a regular at right back for the club. The U.S. Men’s National Team veteran has fought off recent competition for minutes in the Magpies backline and has registered four-consecutive starts in all competitions.
After being reportedly linked with a move away from St. James Park this month, Yedlin looks to be reaping the rewards of his latest stint in the squad.
“I have been absolutely delighted because he has come in from the cold after the problems that Javier Manquillo has had,” Bruce said Friday.
“He has grasped the opportunity. If you train well and work hard then the opportunity comes your way you can grasp it. I am sure there have been times when his future at Newcastle looked to be not here.”
Yedlin is coming off his best outing yet, helping Newcastle United to a scoreless draw against defending champions Liverpool. The 27-year-old helped keep in check one of the top offensive attacks in European Football while also showing Bruce he can deliver for the club.
With the Magpies aiming to move up the league table starting with this weekend’s date with Leicester City, Yedlin’s good run of appearances hasn’t gone unnoticed from his manager. Newcastle sits in 14th place coming into Sunday’s showdown with the Foxes, the first opportunity for Yedlin in what will likely be a busy 2021 year at club and international level.
I thought Yedlin should have gotten at least an honorable mention when SBI listed the best 11 Americans playing in Europe. Although a poster yesterday discounted Yedlin’s achievement since Newcastle is a mid table team so they don’t have to play as hard (his words, not mine), the fact is that that top to bottom the EPL may be the toughest league. When you see guys like Werner having trouble adapting and many players saying the EPL is tougher than other top leagues they played in, well, that should count for something. Congrats to Yedlin for fighting his way back onto the p8itch.
Yedlin has been the 3rd string RB for Newcastle until recently. Hard to give an honorable mention for dropping down the pecking order…even if it’s in the toughest league.
Cannon who did receive an honorable mention @ RB left a starting spot in MLS and almost seamlessly transitioned to a starting role in Portugal. While Portugal is not as tough a league it’s still a nice step up for him.
And before you or someone else references Ream….Honestly don’t think he should have received an Honorable mention at LB. Ream spent more time at LCB than LB…and while he did help Fulham to promotion he’s been benched for the past 2 months due to his defensive liability in the EPL. Hopefully we’ve seen the last of Ream with the National Team as well.
I think Ives was trying to stay true to 2 at each position so to include Yedlin you’d have to move Dest to LB and thus discount Robinson’s inclusion. Yedlin has had a good last few weeks of 2020 but not deserving of jumping the years of Dest, Robinson, and Cannon. Ream’s inclusion a little odd since he plays CB for Fulham but he was an integral part of their promotion run.
Yedlin has played over 100 games in the EPL and has 62 caps for the US. He is still only 27 years old. He has been hampered recently because of his manager Steve Bruce. Yedlin has shown his value over the years. Cannon has been playing in Portugal for a middling team for less than a season. And,if your criteria is how much a player has been playing recently, then Miazga should have gotten the nod over Richards. Richards has played very little for Bayern’s first team while Miazga has been a regular starter for Anderlicht and Palmer Brown a starter for a couple of seasons in Austria. Bayern’s youth team, where Richards usually plays, is in the German 3rd division. Richards may be the future. So may Cannon, but they aren’t there yet. If I were coach about to play a
WC qualifier and Dest wasn’t available, I’d pick Yedlin without a second thought ahead of Cannon. And I like Cannon, but he’s not yet at Yedlin’s level.
The article is about 2020, Yedlin had a bad 2020 mostly because of injury. Until two weeks ago Yedlin seemed destined for Turkey a league worse than Portugal. Although Cannon is in Portugal he made 13 straight starts playing every minute in the first 12.
——————————————
The Richards vs Miazga debate is tough. Richards made his debut in Bundesliga and CL for the best club in the World. He hasn’t played a ton but he does have a couple starts. His 3Bundesliga side did also win the title in 2020 giving him technically 4 pieces of Silverware during 2020 although he only really participated in two. Miazga saw him miss Jan and Feb with injury then spend 7 out of 11 during the restart either suspended or in the doghouse for his post match altercation. Anderlecht is a better club than Austria Wein but I don’t think you could say if you swapped Matt for EPB those clubs results would’ve been any different. I don’t think Ives is wrong with his choices but I wouldn’t say yours are too out there either. The guy that said Newcastle doesn’t try just likes to whine.