Top Stories

Tyler Adams misses RB Leipzig match with ‘muscle issue’

16 Shares

If there is one player U.S. men’s national team fans (and probably Gregg Berhalter) did not want to see winding on any sort of injured list ahead of October’s World Cup qualifiers, it is Tyler Adams.

Unfortunately, that is exactly where the American midfielder finds himself after being forced to miss RB Leipzig’s eventual 6-0 romp over Hertha Berlin with what the team described as a ‘muscle issue’.

The new issue ends a stretch dating back to June where Adams had successfully stayed healthy, which allowed him to take part in this summer’s Concacaf Nations League finals and September’s Concacaf World Cup qualifiers with the USMNT, as well as the start of the Bundesliga season.

It remains to be seen just how serious the new issue is for Adams, but it could also be a precautionary move given RB Leipzig plays an important UEFA Champions League match against Club Brugge on Tuesday.

Adams’ absence didn’t keep RB Leipzig from snapping out of its recent month-long winless funk, as Jesse Marsch’s side rolled to a 6-0 victory over Hertha Berlin.

USMNT will have to wait for more information on the extent of Adams’ muscle issue, with World Cup qualifying set to resume on Oct. 7 when the Americans play host to Jamaica at Q2 Stadium in Austin. The USMNT then travels to Panama for their Oct. 10 qualifier before wrapping up the October window with a home match in Columbus, Ohio against Costa Rica.

Adams has settled into a starting defensive midfield role for Berhalter’s USMNT, and was one of three players (Miles Robinson and Matt Turner being the others) who played all 270 minutes during the September World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador, Canada and Panama.

If Adams is unable to take part in the October qualifiers, Berhalter would likely turn to Kellyn Acosta as a starting option in the defensive midfield role.

The USMNT roster for the October World Cup qualifiers is set to be named toward the end of the coming week.


What do you think of this development? Who would you start in the defensive midfield role for the USMNT if Adams is unavailable?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. i’d go straight to the horse’s mouth and simply ask adams how he feels. whatever is really going on with him is likely to dictate RB Leipzig’s response to any request to call him anyway. i am personally not a fan of monkey see monkey do nonsense where we just mimic what the club team does and don’t do our own work. to be clear, there’s a difference between he has a pulled muscle and is out vs he had a tight muscle and was kept out as a precaution, or RBL wanted a face-saving excuse to play someone else this week. do your own diligence.

    Reply
  2. I was going to wait for a who starts vs Jamaica article to drop this. Acosta starts at the 6 for me vs Jamaica. Rest Captain Adams match 1 and start him the last 2 matches. GB needs to stop playing and have Chris Durkin there as a backup to Acosta vs Jamaica, and 25-30 minutes at home vs CR. Acosta gets 25-30 v Panama. I think, there should be three, 6’s/ D-mid’s in the 30 man roster. Again, I was going to wait for the defensive midfield depth chart. Hopefully, he won’t miss this window, or any other one. I hope people are starting to understand that 270 minutes has to be divided up. Position by position, home & away!

    Reply
    • Have you actually seen Durkin play this season? I know their on ESPN+ sometimes but by the time I try to catch all the guys in Germany, England, Italy, Spain and MLS there’s not much time left. I’d say play Wes as the six rotating with Acosta and use Musah, DLT, Busio and/or Green in Wes’s spot.

      Reply
      • No I haven’t. I haven’t been able to watch the Jupiler league since last year. AT&T used to show it in eleven sports, similar to Bein Sports. I subscribe to the STVV Utube channel but it doesn’t show many replays, interviews mostly. The lil’ I do know about Durkin so far is he’s started every match this year. He’s played CB, RB, and a 8 last year, as well as the 6. Similar to McKennie w/ Schalke few years back, playing out of position more time then not. I hear ya’ about the US players in all the leagues. I can’t keep up, with every league especially with adding Ligue 1 & Serie A. Your strategy isn’t a bad at all! Did you see/hear Musah was subbed due to injury?

    • I heard that, but I only saw the first half, had to go to my son’s game. Musah looked ok in the first half, Valencia tended to bring the ball up the opposite side so he didn’t get a lot of touches. He had one threatening shot but was from a tough angle and was probably always headed for the side netting. Hopefully taking him off was just precautionary.

      Reply
      • to elaborate on my “cruncher” point, i thought the lesson of the first window was that the coach and team had perhaps underestimated the physicality and intensity of quali ball. i don’t think the coach’s idea of a passing 6 works in the vast majority of quali games we will play that are hotly contested. what you need for concacaf reality is a cruncher with some wheels to get around ending counters before they start. adams does that. acosta fairly well. mckennie can but his concentration is uneven. some others i listed. busio didn’t strike me as fit enough for the job and yueill wants to make 1 smart anticipation play that displays impressive soccer IQ instead of keep up with the other 15 transition plays going by him like swiss cheese.

        so whoever we pick has to fit reality. reality is the 6 we use in this region has to be physical and motor around for 90′. or bad things happen.

    • i’d expect it to be acosta and mckennie. no sands after how that looked. you’re not experimenting with durkin in quali. based on how coach responded to attrition last window i’d be concerned he’d call yueill as a third rotation player/ sub. personally i’d go with someone like dotson, perea, johnny, holmes, tessmann, or push roldan back. i think mckennie while capable of the great isolated track back play is given to sleeping, and more gifted in the attack. so leave him that side of the ball and put a true cruncher back at 6. we may need every attacker we can get due to the attrition.

      Reply
      • Experimenting is Lletget as a false 9. Integration is the word. Durkin is 6’1’ 180 lbs. Has been the starting 6 for 2017 U17s & the last U20s. Been playing in front of James Sands since the U15s. Thinking Sands is a better 6, then Durkin, is like saying Dest is a better LB than Antonee. He’s a better 6 than anyone you just named. He can make a 30 yard diagonal pass with either foot. I’ve seen him do it as a youth in several matches. Played more in Belgium than the MLS. US pipeline players have been facing the best CONCACAF players since age 15. Durkin is good and not some pipe dream. Think Shaq Moore!!

Leave a Comment