Top Stories

Joe Scally hailed as ‘fantastic’ after latest impressive performance for Moenchengladbach

45 Shares

Joe Scally’s stellar start with Borussia Monchengladbach continued Saturday as the former NYCFC academy product scored his first professional goal. After quickly adjusting to life in the Bundesliga, Scally is drawing praise for his early success in one of the Europe’s top leagues.

Gladbach head of sport Max Eberl lauded Scally following Saturday’s 3-1 road win over Wolfsburg, the first for the club in 18 years at the Volkswagen Arena. Scally has continued to be a consistent two-way performer for Adi Hutter’s side after earning the chance throughout preseason camp in the summer.

Now with his first competitive goal under his belt, Scally has been given high honors from one of the leading figures in the club’s front office.

“[He’s been] fantastic,” Eberl said in an interview with Sport1. “He has really been the winner of the season for us so far. He has adjusted a bit to Germany and now has played unbelievably well for seven games.”

Scally was thrown right into the fire this season, making his Bundesliga debut in a 1-1 draw with defending champions and European heavyweights Bayern Munich. Since then, the 18-year-old has continued to start at both left and right back, helping control many of the Bundesliga’s top offensive talents and lead Gladbach to wins over Borussia Dortmund and Wolfsburg in back-to-back weeks.

Now the American defender heads into a two-week break as European play pauses for the October international window. Scally was not included in Gregg Berhalter’s 27-player roster as the U.S. men’s national team resumes World Cup Qualifying with three matches over an eight-day period.

While there will be plenty more chances for him on the international stage, Scally is focused on improving with Gladbach and then hopefully earning a shot with the USMNT at the biggest stage possible.

“It’s a feeling I’ll never forget,” Scally said postmatch about his goal. “I always tell [goalkeeper] Yann [Sommer] that he should play it high to me when I’m free. When I got the ball, I saw that I had a clear path to goal, so I got a bit nervous and just sprinted off. When the ball hit the back of the net what I really wanted was to do it again, it was unbelievable.

“Every kid dreams of playing for his country,” Scally said when asked about the USMNT. “I wasn’t selected this time but maybe next time I will be. My main target is still the World Cup. It would be amazing to represent the USA in that competition.”

Gladbach returns to competitive action on October 16 at home vs. Stuttgart looking to build on its current 10th place position.

Comments

  1. its LAUGHABLE to me that not only is the best player on a Bundesliga team not good enough for the USMNT in this camp but wow, he couldn’t even get consistent playing time with NYCFC? bwhaha.

    NYCFC = joke franchise

    Reply
    • Shame, both starting LBs and backup RBs for NYFC couldn’t have gotten injured. Would’ve been easier than beating Matarita or Tinnerholm out of job. I’m with you! Screw meritocracy!!

      Reply
    • Joe had injury issues in 2019 including hip surgery, had an ok U17 WC but was rusty because of lost time in recovery. Then signed deal with BM, clubs don’t like to develop guys who aren’t staying (and of course the pandemic). He didn’t give any indication he was ready in the 4th division last year. Got a chance because of injury and did well. Got lucky during his stinker of a match against Leverkusen with the starter ready to return, that the RB broke his ankle and he got more chances. We’ve seen other youngsters like Gooch, Hyndman, and Vassilev get minutes during to injury but never secured a permanent spot. Kudos to Joe for taking advantage of an opportunity.

      Reply
  2. One of my favorite things about following the USMNT is seeing how players emerge and find their way into the team, maybe Ives can start doing projected 23 for Qatar at some point as I enjoy those articles.

    Reply
  3. I’m yet to hear even a decent argument for why he isn’t in the USMNT camp. Outside of Antonee Robinson, the first 3 qualifying games showed the LB/RB “depth” was a mirage with Dest, Yedlin and Bello struggling, and Cannon/Reynolds/Moore stapled to the benches for their clubs.

    I don’t want Tyler Adams or Acosta having to cover RB, when Scally is a regular starter against Champions League level teams and is playing well.

    Furthermore, since he’s young and hasn’t played with USMNT, why not bring him in now to get to know the group, coaches, etc…

    If he’s to have a shot at the WC roster, why wait til later to integrate him?

    I hope he stays healthy and keeps playing like he is.

    Reply
    • I am with you…particularly when you consider Berhalter easily could have brought in 28 instead of the 27 he did bring in and gotten him acclimated in camp even if he wasn’t going to play him for whatever reason.

      Get him worked in. The kid’s an obvious talent and he can likely help us. Yedlin’s our #2 and he’s not exactly got a hammerlock on the spot and he seems to be in a slow decline. Reggie Cannon, Shaq Moore, and Brian Reynolds all have “potential” but I’d rate them behind Yedlin right now too, as Gregg Berhalter does. They’re all three impressive athletes but none of them is overly technical and none of them have really grabbed a clear spot on the club level, which is what I think all three guys need to really take that next step. Regular PT helps so much because it grinds the rough edges off your game.

      Scally is already there, to me. He’s really technical, and a really solid defender…and he gets himself forward. He checks every box, to me.

      Reply
      • I hear the both of you, you make solid points regarding Scally being called in, but Greg did explain why he wasn’t even if it’s not to your liking. Greg has been pretty consistent with regards to calling in younger players, he tends to wait a bit but he eventually calls them in because he realizes the talent is there. What I don’t understand is why ourfans get so emotional and immediately call for this mans job ever time he doesn’t do something fans want right away?! Greg could have chosen to play nothing but older players since he’s been in charge, but he hasn’t done that, he’s player a ton of younger players with no international experience, and that’s further backed up by the 2 rosters used over the summer, the youngest ever rosters in our history, and also the first qualifying window in September where 21 players got their first ever wcq caps. I love our young talent, it will pay dividends for a long time to come, but I also don’t think you can rely on nothing but young, although talented, players to qualify for a World Cup, you need veteran experience even if those players aren’t as talented or playing at the club level like many of our euro players, there has to be a balance and I think Greg has done a pretty decent job of that so far!

    • @Ronniet.. I think the biggest reason is because he’s not limited to the number of guys he can call in. I don’t think there would be the same reaction if it was a normal cycle with 2 games & the normal 3 subs allowed.
      It affected us in the first window, and now you have to not only deal with the normal potential injuries but also yellow card accumulation.
      Now that Brooks is out he’s not going to call in a replacement..
      Makes no sense with 3 games in 8 days traveling 4k miles that the US team again goes in with the fewest number of players

      Reply

Leave a Comment