A trio of American players are set for involvement in the Serie B promotion playoffs.
Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio, and Kristoffer Lund all concluded their regular season schedules on Friday, sealing top-eight finishes with their respective clubs. Tessmann and Busio missed out on automatic promotion following a 2-1 road loss to Spezia while Lund and Palermo finished sixth in the table are earning a 1-0 road win over Sudtirol.
Palermo will take on Sampdoria in a two-legged playoff series, with the winner advancing to take on Venezia over two legs.
Lund, 21, has enjoyed a leading role in his first Serie B campaign, totaling 35 appearances, two goals, and two assists. The versatile fullback made his U.S. men’s national team debut last year and has remained an option for Gregg Berhalter this summer.
The 22-year-old Tessmann has made 37 league appearances for Venezia, contributing six goals and three assists. A former FC Dallas academy player, Tessmann has been key in midfield alongside Busio.
Busio, 21, added seven goals and four assists in 37 league appearances, continuing to develop as an attacking midfielder. The former Sporting KC homegrown has been one of the better midfielders in Serie B this season and certainly one of the best for Venezia.
Parma won the Serie B title on 76 points while Nicholas Gioacchini and Como finished second with 73 points.
Como & Nico were promoted to Serie A
He doesn’t really play though. 9 appearances under 200 minutes 0 goal contributions. The three in the article are regular starters for their club with multiple goal contributions.
Always forget how young these players are still. All three of these guys are still developing. Busio has definitely grown a lot this year as a two way 8. Definitely think all 3 will be pushing for potential WC roster selection.
Midfield is probably where our player pool is deepest, which is going to make it difficult for anyone new to break into consideration for the WC squad.
6’s Adams (25), Cardoso (22), Maloney (24), Tessmann (22),
8’s McKennie (25), Musah (21), Luca DLT (25), Busio (21)
10’s Reyna (21), M. Tillman (21)
Strong performances at the Olympics will hopefully help some of these guys continue their progression, but anyway you look at it we still have a fairly young squad and roster spots are going to be tightly contended.
Only reason why I would disagree with the stance that it would be hard to break into the midfield, is because our guys can’t seem to stay healthy. Adams is the worst and it pains me to say it.
But these guys can’t seem to always be on form AND healthy all at the same time…we almost ALWAYS are missing someone.
To add on to that you start looking further past 2026 to 2030 the three young two way 8’s that I think show the most promise and can push Musah and Busio are: obed Vargas, Cremaschi, and Pukstas. I think Paxton Aaronson will ultimately be an attacking midfielder either out wide or centrally.
I also rate Mcglynn highly too. But as a Pirlo-esque tyoe of deep lying playmaker. Not a lot of pace but so smart, smooth on the ball, high IQ, can pick out a pass, and has a hell of a left foot.
2tone that would probably require a special formation or set of tactics just for McGlynn which doesn’t seem all that realistic unless he reaches Pirlo like skill level.
Edwin in LA,
“can’t seem to always be on form AND healthy all at the same time…we almost ALWAYS are missing someone.”
That’s because our so called “depth” is a mile wide and an inch deep. In other words, non-existent.
For example while Johnny is looking good he’s not “proven” yet. There has not been an acknowledged, proven, replacement for Adams. Just “prospective” bodies.
Same for Weston. Same for Jedi. Same for Dest.
And how do you think the USMNT looks if Pulisic can’t go?
We’re not special.
Injuries happen to all national teams.
If we ever develop real depth then the injuries won’t be so noticeable.
France lost Benzema, arguably one of the best 9’s in the entire world at that time. early in Qatar. And they went onto make the final of the World Cup. I get we’re not France but that’s who we are aiming at overtaking.
Edwin in LA –
“But these guys can’t seem to always be on form AND healthy all at the same time…we almost ALWAYS are missing someone”…
True, but injuries and slumps of form have always been part of the game. Having been a USMNT fan for more than 40 yrs. the options we have now far surpass what we’ve ever had previously.
Vacqui –
“That’s because our so called “depth” is a mile wide and an inch deep. In other words, non-existent.” “There has not been an acknowledged, proven, replacement for Adams. Just “prospective” bodies.”
Acknowledged & Proven options requires that we give players/prospects actual games. We waste a lot of opportunities for these prospective bodies to Prove themselves due to GGG’s bullheadedness. While not as bad as it was last cycle, Gregg is still slow to integrate prospects and give them meaningful minutes. Hopefully after the Olympics GGG starts focusing more….Move away from non-performers and aging players and gives reps/minutes to the guys who are playing and doing well.
Lost in Space,
“Acknowledged & Proven options requires that we give players/prospects actual games. We waste a lot of opportunities for these prospective bodies to Prove themselves due to GGG’s bullheadedness.”
Absolutely correct. I’m not fair minded but to be fair to Gregg, and all USMNT managers, opportunities for a player to prove oneself are very hard to come by. This problem goes beyond who the USMNT manager is.
We’re in CONCACAF. Because it is our home conference, we should be prioritized to dominate all things CONCACAF. And we can
But because we are to CONCACAF teams like the Dodgers are to AAA teams, playing in CONCACAF is almost entirely useless when it comes to prepping the USMNT to face real tournaments.
The Nations League, while good for the other CONCACF nations, sucks for the US because it takes away the USMNT’s chances to schedule better teams to test themselves against.
I believe that steel sharpens steel. When we play CONCACAF, it is steel on balsa wood. Scoring 5 goals vs, St. Kitts and Nevis or Grenada really doesn’t mean much. The USMNT should never lose a game to any CONCACAF opponent. Notice I wrote “should” not “will never”.
If we stay in CONCACAF the team will rot and there is no way out.
The USMNT spends most of its very limited time together preparing for and playing minor league CONCACAF teams. No one should be surprised that they are not ready for prime time when it comes.
The way the USMNT gets out of this is the way the big boys do it. Put more and more players on teams in the Champions league so that those players can get real tournament experience against real players.
By 2030, when Gregg picks the 2030 team, he can go much more reliably off of their club form much to the horror of IV.
Alternatively, the USSF could mount a search for a more dynamic manager. But finding the right one would be difficult and costly and the USSF is lazy, cheap and stupid. I’ll take comfort in the fact that at least those f+ckwits chose Gregg instead of Jesse, the devil you know and all that jazz.
That lost to Spezia was a really bad one for Venezia considering Spezia were 15th in Serie B. If Venezia don’t go up I still think both Tessman and Busio are bought by a team in a bigger league, they’ve both been really good this year
Spezia was fighting relegation, would have had them pulling a Sunderland and going from Serie A to Serie C in two seasons. (La Spezia is a cool place, highly recommend and an easy train ride to Cinque Terra)
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Might actually be better for Tanner and Gianluca to move even if Venezia win the playoffs. A move to a mid table team that won’t face the pressure of a season long relegation battle wouldn’t be a bad thing. Although I think a manager would trust both now in a relegation fight after the two more years of seasoning.