Jordan Siebatcheu enjoyed a dream season with Swiss side Young Boys last campaign, and he looks determined to surpass last season’s heroics if his early success in the new term is any indication.
The U.S. men’s national team striker scored a pair of goals to help Young Boys eliminate Romanian side CFR Cluj in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League, 4-2 on aggregate.
Siebatcheu’s pair of first-half goals have pushed Young Boys to within one more round of securing a place in the Champions League group stage. They will face Hungarian side Ferencvaros, and American defender Henry Wingo, in the playoff round Champions League qualifying, in a two-leg clash set to be played on August 18 and August 24.
https://twitter.com/mandrrilo/status/1425170115872673798?s=20
Fresh off his impressive showing with the USMNT in the Concacaf Nations League, where he scored the game-winner against Honduras in the semifinals and started in the final win against Mexico in June, Siebatcheu is off to a good start in the new season for Young Boys, already notching four goals in all competitions.
Siebatcheu’s early form bodes well for him not only playing a role in the USMNT’s World Cup qualifying campaign in September, but also challenging for the starting striker role. He has established himself as a viable starting option, and with Josh Sargent facing a battle for playing time after securing his transfer to English Premier League side Norwich City, Siebatcheu could benefit from an edge in sharpness when the USMNT convenes for training camp ahead of the September qualifiers against El Salvador, Canada and Honduras.
Siebatcheu joined Young Boys on loan from Ligue 1 side Rennes last season, and enjoyed a standout campaign, scoring 15 goals in all competitions to help Young Boys win the Swiss League championship. That success led Young Boys to exercise its option to buy Siebatcheu.
Now, if Siebatcheu can lead Young Boys past Wingo and Ferencvaros, it would add him to the list of Americans set to compete in the upcoming season’s Champions League campaign, a list that includes Christian Pulisic, Sergiño Dest, Gio Reyna, Weston McKennie, John Brooks, Zack Steffen, Tyler Adams and Tim Weah.
That list could grow even longer depending on whether Chris Richards stays with Bayern Munich, and if Owen Otasowie completes his rumored transfer to Club Brugge. Brenden Aaronson is also set to compete in the playoff round of the Champions League with Red Bull Salzburg, which faces fellow American Christian Cappis and Danish side Brondby.
From what we know from GBs roster for the NL and GC, Sargent is 1, Siebatcheu is 2, Zardes is 3, Dike is 4. Two strikers per squad, gives you A & B squad. That leaves Novakovich, Ebobisse, Soto, Ramirez, uncapped Pepi & Bolugan (Arsenal). Wood, Rubin, & Mason Toye could all be in the convo if their seasons are productive. Pick 2 for the C team. Ferreira & Hoppe display a variety of skills than a CF. Both players have GREAT vision and passing skills. Nico hasn’t scored for Caen in a 1000 minutes. I’m no coach, but is that great numbers for a CF? He draws more fouls and gets assists out wide. He’s a quick twitch athlete not a point man for the attack. All 3 can be on the team I don’t have them at CF. In today’s game, coaches don’t ask their CF to hold up the ball, just as fullbacks are more offensive than ever. Examples (Lacazette, Aubemeyang (Arsenal), Lewandowski, Gabriel Jesus, Aguero, Cavani, Lauturo Martinez, Icardi, and the list goes on. Zlatan & Altidore hold up the ball, because they’re huge humans and slow. Every one else gets the ball out from their feet, turns and attacks the goal. (Lukaku is different monster than any other CF in the world). Rarely, do CF play with their backs to goal, nowadays. I noticed GB does want his CF to be the head of the press. As much as I like Siebatcheu, he’s not good at that, but US is in good shape at CF.
-Gyasi Zardes 15g 5a 2020, wins MLS, comes on in GC Semi to score late winning goal against #58 Qatar
-Jordan Siebatcheu Pegok 15g 4a, wins Swiss Super League, comes on in NL semi scores late winning goal against #67 Honduras
Almost identical numbers in pretty comparable leagues. You really could pick either both have good qualities and deficiencies.
I have really liked seeing Pefok develop. At 25, he’s not really considered a “young” prospect, but that doesn’t mean he can’t/won’t improve. We know how much Berhalter likes to tinker, and having a big target striker who is good in the air for certain game situations is a plus. I would even like to see Pefok work alongside someone like Sargent/Weah in a front 2.
Exactly. A certain Jamie Vardy took a little while to get going, too. Am I comparing the two? Of course not. But he’s got time for two or even three more cycles pending consistent performances and fitness. I think he’s stating his case to be in the picture at least. A move back to Ligue 1 next summer would only help his case.
I think he’s a little more than just in the picture, at least right now. He’s game fit and is producing, he’s got to be the frontrunner to start up top in one or two of the September qualifiers. Who knows how much game time Sargent will get in the next three weeks, and Dike has a couple of goals for Orlando but wasn’t great at the Gold Cup. Maybe Zardes is his main competition right now.
I guess the question is whether Berhalter want to continue “exploring the pool” or whether he’s going to start trying to consolidate and lock things in come qualifiers. Either way, I agree that Jordy is on form and should be in the ~30 player pool for the start of qualifying. Given that there’s no limit on players we can call up, there’s really no good reason for him not to be (as far as we know).
odd and decontextualized argument when you had 15 goals in all competitions plus the honduras winner and your main competition had half that many and hasn’t scored in 2 years in our shirt. to me he got his job done and the others in the pool are the ones who need to elevate their game. one reason i gripe about snobs is this sort of inversion of reality or inconsistent deployment of critique. he is the least of our problems. try talking to the kid who responded to last year’s struggles by signing to be a backup or get moved to wing.
based on the order of usage this summer it would have been sargent pefok dike. i expect dike to be dropped and whether we like it or not zardes gets the 3rd job by default. GB didn’t really open 9 up and give a bunch of new people chances. he gave dike and zardes do overs and zardes looked slightly better. he could have tried nico and hoppe but moved them wide. he left off ferreira and soto (and any other ideas anyone has). the coach is not some JK type who will surprise people. he will pick from within this universe, and by that the people called for either tournament. he really only gave 4 people a serious shot at CF this summer so it’s a short list.
why would Greg give opportunities right now to a player in Ferreira that looked out of his depth in Olympic Qualifying, or to Soto, who has transferred to 3 different teams in 2 years and still can’t get playing time higher than that of U-23’s? Boy oh boy, I understand wanting to post hot takes but your logic some times just makes no sense!
if he carries 28-30 then the conversation is academic and he probably keeps dike (regardless how the summer went) and hoppe (wide) plus 3-5 other mids and backs.
weah looked lost as a CF for the U20s.
Dude really is magnificent in the air.
Between that and his hold-up play you wonder if it might be enough to get him on the plane to Qatar, especially since Dike did not exactly seize hold of the 9 spot and own it.