Ligue 1 side Marseille is expected to lose several key squad players this summer and manager Igor Tudor has reportedly targeted one key U.S. men’s national team player for a potential summer transfer.
Timothy Weah is on the radar of Marseille with left back Nuno Tavares’ loan set to end this May, L’Equipe reported Monday. Tavares, 23, is on loan from current English Premier League leaders Arsenal and is not expected to join Marseille permanently, according to the report.
The 23-year-old Weah was previously linked with Fulham and Sevilla earlier this year. Weah has mainly featured as both a full back and wing back in Paulo Fonseca’s squad during the second half of the season due to injuries.
Weah has registered two assists in 23 Ligue 1 appearances as Lille sits sixth in the league standings. He has not featured for the USMNT since a 3-1 World Cup Round of 16 loss to the Netherlands last December.
Weah was called into the USMNT’s March CONCACAF Nations League squad, but had to withdraw due to entering concussion protocol at Lille.
Marseille sit second in the Ligue 1 table, eight points back of league-leaders Paris Saint-Germain with six matches left to play.
“what this team needs is wide attacking pace and only so many pool guys have it and also some skill.”
Timo is not going to forget how to do that and can slot back into that role when on USMNT duty if he likes.
Besides that opens the door for someone else. The USMNT can search for someone else to do that. That’s more incentive to develop our very thin depth.
Alphonso Davies doesn’t have a problem being versatile and Fabian Johnson didn’t either .
” i think he’d be a good back but at the expense of us getting stuck playing more of a half court offense with more technical types wide. personally i want to see more technique central and more pace wide.”
This team is should not revolve around what Timo does or does not do.
If it does then it is in a lot of trouble.
If the new manager decides to play ” your” style, the manager can always reshuffle the deck.
side question, can a player turn down a transfer or is he along for the ride if his team sells his rights? is the game to get silly with personal terms? because weah is out of deal in 24 and probably only stuck in this wingback fetish if he stays in france. so what he needs is either his own say where he goes or the ability to resist new personal terms and just leave on a free next season. personally i think a good agent helps at this point to drum up interest in some destinations where he will be played right. to me if they sit around passive they get the high bidder including any dumb ideas that team has.
Generally speaking, players can always refuse a transfer.
Outside of MLS generally, the player has control over where they go. Often the agents are contacted first to determine interest and the salaries are agreed to before the clubs work out the transfer fee.
this article is implying that he’d be brought in to Marseille as a outside back, that does nothing for the USMNT and hopefully Timo knows that before making that type of decision and instead looks for a club that will allow him to flourish as a attacking player on the front line!
” implying that he’d be brought in to Marseille as a outside back, that does nothing for the USMNT”
So what?
Being listed nominally as an outside back does not mean you are not an attacking player. See Reece James, Trenton Alexander-Arnold or better yet Alphonso Davies.
Being listed as a winger/striker saw Timo spend a lot of time on the bench.
He seems to have much more of a future with this wingback/fullback hybrid role.
As for the USMNT, Timo’s first priority is to get a job where he can play regularly.
Don’t like the idea of Weah as a traditional outside back. Now as a wing back in a 3-5-2….. I could get behind that.
i don’t buy it. my personal experience a 4 man backline is actually more offensively liberating than a 352. done both, like a 352, but the absence of 352 wing cover encourages conservative attacking runs. i did 442 and 352 in college and had a lot more G and A as a fullback than a 352 wing because i had to worry how much defensive help i had as the only wing on my side. vs. if i have a wing in front of me i can ironically rely on him covering for me if i get forward.
now in theory you can slide over like miles does but a good team if it keeps the ball exploits that by playing it across to the weak side that you left open sliding over.
i also don’t want to encourage making weah a back because what this team needs is wide attacking pace and only so many pool guys have it and also some skill. i think he’d be a good back but at the expense of us getting stuck playing more of a half court offense with more technical types wide. personally i want to see more technique central and more pace wide.
Either way Weah offensive numbers for Lille are not great. But the same can be said for most of our attackers playing Europe right now.
“what this team needs is wide attacking pace and only so many pool guys have it and also some skill.”
Timo is not going to forget how to do that and can slot back into that role when on USMNT duty if he likes.
Besides that opens the door for someone else. The USMNT can search for someone else to do that. That’s more incentive to develop our very thin depth.
Alphonso Davies doesn’t have a problem being versatile and Fabian Johnson didn’t either .
” i think he’d be a good back but at the expense of us getting stuck playing more of a half court offense with more technical types wide. personally i want to see more technique central and more pace wide.”
This team is should not revolve around what Timo does or does not do.
If it does then it is in a lot of trouble.
If the new manager decides to play ” your” style, the manager can always reshuffle the deck.