Marseille will look to advance into the Coupe De France semifinals with a victory over Nice on Wednesday and Jorge Sampaoli will have the services of Konrad De La Fuente for only the second time in 2022.
De La Fuente is back available for Marseille’s cup match this week after recovering from a muscular injury, which forced him to miss the past five matches. The U.S. men’s national team winger was also out after contracting COVID-19, but was named to Sampaoli’s squad list on Tuesday ahead of the quarterfinal showdown on Wednesday.
The 20-year-old Florida native has struggled for consistency in his first season in Ligue 1, registering three assists in 21 combined appearances for Marseille. De La Fuente has appeared in the UEFA Europa League as well as Ligue 1 and Coupe De France matches, but is still seeking his first goal for the club.
De La Fuente joined the club on a permanent transfer from La Liga side Barcelona this summer, with hopes of earning first team minutes in France. He impressed with Barcelona’s B team over the past two seasons, scoring nine goals and registering five assists in 29 combined appearances.
Marseille is currently in second place in the Ligue 1 standings, 13 points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain. The club is also the highest-ranked team remaining in the Coupe De France, with Nice, Monaco, and Nantes joining them as the only top-flight side remaining in this season’s tournament.
He’s only 20 on one of the best teams in France. Give him time. He’s shown enough to indicate a lot of potential. He just needs to put in the work and have the desire.
I always look for him on the field, when tuning in to watch Marseille, and then check the bench and if he’s not there, watch something else. Marseille’s matches are on every week through BeIN Sports so its easy to keep track of him.
Im sure the bench missed him. I hope he figures it out and isnt Justin Mapp 2.0.
I doubt he’ll ever be considered Justin Mapp 2.0. Mapp was an MLS lifer when MLS wasn’t a very good league. He had a total of 8 appearances for the USMNT while in his mid-20s.
Konrad at 20 has 3 USMNT Caps and has 16 appearances out of 23 matches with the 2nd place club in France this year. While he hasn’t had many starts this season, he has been used fairly consistently as a super-sub (~20 minutes) when available. With a little more seasoning he should be positioned to earn minutes and advance himself at his club and with the USMNT.
Yes we have a nice stable of wide attacking players at the moment (Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, Aaronson, Morris)….but Reyna is more of a ACM/CM and Aaronson may become the same as he matures. Reyna & Pulisic have both had injury concerns as well. Morris has had 2 significant knee injuries and will begin aging out in the not so distant future. Konrad looks to be well positioned to take over a roster spot as soon as Gregg moves Reyna centrally or Morris gets sidelined.
It seems the obvious move. Based on player qualities, roster make up, tactical needs- GB certainly shouuuuld move Reyna central…. I hope he moves Reyna central. Will he? ….? …..? ……..?
LOS
“Yes we have a nice stable of wide attacking players at the moment (Pulisic, Weah, Reyna, Aaronson, Morris)….but Reyna is more of a ACM/CM and Aaronson may become the same as he matures”
Funny you should say “wide attacking players” instead of “winger” :
Brenden is already an ACM/ CAM for Salzburg and does not play on the wing for them. He’s like Ale Bedoya who made his name in the middle of the park and only played on the “wing” for the USMNT.
BVB moved Gio into the center of the park a long time ago. I’m old enough to remember when they moved him centrally. And when he can play again, I’m guessing that’s where he will stay.
Weah and Morris are more “natural” center forwards but have been forced wide because their teams have found better central attacking players.
Pulisic is the only one on your list who is a “natural winger” whatever that means, but what success he has had these days is when he cuts further inside and stays nearer to goal. If he plans on staying at the top, he’s going to have to score more.
I don’t know if he’s not good enough for the team or if he doesn’t fit what they want him to do but my only problem with KDLF is that he’s never looked good or comfortable in a USMNT shirt.
If the standard for good USMNT wing play is Timo, then KDLF is not like Timo. They don’t do the same things.
And if the standard is Ariolla, then God help them, because KDLF is nothing like Ariolla either, the less said the better.