USMNT Player Tracker: Balogun’s timely reminder, Robinson concerns and Reyna pines for progress – The Athletic
With international duty over for another month, European soccer’s American stars were back on club duty over the weekend and experienced fluctuating fortunes.
It went well for Folarin Balogun in Ligue 1, but Gio Reyna and Weston McKennie have more questions to answer.
Welcome to this week’s USMNT Player Tracker.
Balogun’s timely reminder
Folarin Balogun needed to start showing signs of his true capabilities.
With his status as the USMNT’s starting striker fading and players such as Josh Sargent and Haji Wright — both enjoying resurgent seasons in England’s second-tier Championship — breathing down his neck, it was high time he returned to scoring ways for club and country if he wanted to give himself a chance of going to the 2026 World Cup as the main man, as he was at the Copa America a year earlier.
So he will look back at the two most recent USMNT camps, where he scored twice in the four games, and his improvement with Monaco as a timely revival.
Folarin Balogun is playing in the Champions League with AS Monaco this season (Antonio Borga/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)
Last season was largely one to forget for the 24-year-old on the domestic front as persistent injuries reduced him to just 13 Ligue 1 appearances across the 34 fixtures (six of them starts) and four goals.
Despite his own injury issues, Sargent managed 15 goals (and five assists) for Norwich in the same campaign, and has scored five in 10 games this time. At the same level, Wright rode his own injury travails to hit 12 goals in 20 league appearances for Coventry in 2024-25 and has started the current campaign on fire — eight in 10 matches, putting him top of the division’s scoring chart.
So it was essential for Balogun that he started firing over the water in French football.
Momentum is key, and he built on his most recent USMNT strike — in the 1-1 draw with Ecuador — and responded to Wright’s brace against Australia four days later by coming off the bench to score in Monaco’s 1-1 draw away to Angers on Saturday.
The New York-born forward was the only USMNT player to play a significant part for his European club as domestic leagues resumed this weekend after this latest international window, with most being benched by their coaches to ensure their full recovery following those friendlies in Texas and Colorado and the long-haul journeys back across the Atlantic.
Monaco’s players descend upon Balogun to celebrate his goal (Sebastien Salom-Gomis/AFP via Getty Images)
Introduced as a 62nd-minute substitute at Raymond Kopa stadium, Balogun had only been on the field for 10 minutes when he took advantage of a Takumi Minamino deflection to score emphatically from inside the box.
On a weekend when Haji endured a rare blank in Coventry’s 2-0 home win against Blackburn and Sargent only managed one shot on target as Norwich lost 1-0 to visitors Bristol City, it was advantage Balogun in what will remain a fascinating race to become top pick to lead the U.S. line going into the summer.
Robinson concerns remain
He is one of the Premier League’s best left-backs and a major asset for the USMNT. So seeing injury-hit Antonee Robinson stalled on a combined 61 minutes of top-flight football for Fulham this season, including just 10 since the end of August, and missing altogether once again for their defeat by Arsenal on Saturday, will be a concern.
Having travelled to the national camp for this month’s games — Pochettino conceded Robinson had “a minor problem with his leg, a bit of pain”, which prevented him playing a full part — the left-back was unavailable again back in Europe as the injury problems mount up for Fulham coach Marco Silva.
The west London club have now lost three league games in a row, with Robinson’s absence for 260 of those 270 minutes against Aston Villa, Bournemouth and Arsenal keenly felt. “When we’re talking about a player like Robinson, for example, you know the impact that he’s had in the last two or three seasons in all aspects of the game,” Silva told reporters in the build-up to the latter defeat.
Antonee Robinson undertakes some light training while with the USMNT in Austin, Texas, earlier this month (John Dorton/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images)
Given the 28-year-old is trying to work his way back from knee surgery in May, it seems he needs more time to fully recover from the operation and any related fitness issues.
There is plenty of time for him to return and recapture his best form before the World Cup begins in June, of course, so nobody will be panicking yet. But both club and country have missed those trademark marauding runs and attacking contributions.
Same sentiment, no progress for Reyna
“He’s still young. It’s not like playing in Gladbach is worse for him. Maybe it’s better for him because he’d play more games and that’s very important for him.”
That was former Germany international turned LA Galaxy forward Marco Reus’ stance on Gio Reyna after the American departed Borussia Dortmund for fellow Bundesliga side Borussia Monchengladbach over the summer. Speaking to ESPN, Reus added: “I trust in him and I see a very good player in him. You’ll see good games from him this season.”
His words had a familiar ring. So often it’s about potential with Reyna; what he will show when he gets chances, how he just needs games. And it is of course true that, at 22 (23 next month), he is still young and has time on his side.
But in this crucial period ahead of the World Cup, his move to Monchengladbach is yet to yield those crucial minutes, or tangible proof that he can become a consistent performer.
Left on the bench for Friday’s visit to Union Berlin, Reyna came on after an hour and finished Gladbach’s 3-1 defeat with only a stoppage-time yellow card to show for a low-key performance.
Gio Reyna playing for Borussia Moenchengladbach against Union Berlin (Christian Verheyen/Borussia Moenchengladbach via Getty Images)
Adams and Richards share points in thriller
Chris Richards has been building a convincing body of work to underline his credentials as one of the first picks for Pochettino in next summer’s tournament. That three-man central defence under Oliver Glasner at Crystal Palace has brought the best out of him, and he has become a key performer for the south London side.
But the Palace back line were severely tested on Saturday during their 3-3 draw at home against Tyler Adams’ Bournemouth, and Richards was reminded of the perils of opponents blessed with searing pace.
That’s what Antoine Semenyo has, and he used it to get the better of the American, leaving him second-best in a foot race in the buildup to Bournemouth’s second goal, which gave them a 2-0 half-time lead.
Chris Richards (right) forlornly pursues the fleet-footed Antoine Semenyo (Robin Jones – AFC Bournemouth/AFC Bournemouth via Getty Images)
Being so exposed can be a mental hurdle for a defender, but Richards showed the resilience to redeem his display by winning a corner ahead of Palace’s added-time equaliser.
He was not alone in making mistakes. Palace captain and fellow centre-back Marc Guehi also made a rare error leading to a goal, but Richards and company kept going to ensure they have still lost just once this season across 13 matches in all competitions.
How did other U.S. players do?
After his recent goal against Wolfsburg, Noahkai Banks made his second consecutive start in Germany’s Bundesliga for Augsburg in the 1-1 draw away to Koln on Saturday. It is no mean feat for an 18-year-old to be starting games in defence at such a high level, and he played a solid 85 minutes.
Weston McKennie’s yo-yo club fortunes continued as he was back on the bench as Juventus suffered a surprise 2-0 defeat at Como. McKennie eventually came on in the 77th minute, just before Como doubled their lead, and although he tried to make a difference with three passes into the final third, Juventus are now winless in four Serie A matches.
It never rains for embattled Sheffield Wednesday and Ethan Horvath in the English Championship, it pours. The goalkeeper, on loan from fellow second-tier side Cardiff, was sent off in second-half stoppage time on Saturday for clattering Charlton’s Isaac Olaofe outside the box. It meant defender Liam Palmer had to go in goal as the clock ticked down on a 2-1 away defeat for financially-stricken Wednesday, who now do not have a senior ’keeper available for their midweek home game against high-flying Middlesbrough with Horvath suspended. Academy kid Logan Stretch, 18, may make his debut.
Ethan Horvath is on loan at Wednesday from Cardiff (Jess Hornby/Getty Images)
Midfielder Aidan Morris will hope to be back in the visitors’ line-up for that one, after starting their 2-1 defeat of Ipswich on the bench. Morris started against Ecuador and featured as a substitute against Australia, which was played in the early hours of Wednesday UK time, so was rested for the Friday night fixture, only coming on for the final 20 minutes, but will want to pick up where he left off with Middlesbrough just a point behind Wright’s table-topping Coventry.
What’s coming up this week?
All times ET
Arsenal old boy Balogun faces a tough test of his renewed form as Monaco host Europa League winners Tottenham Hotspur in the Champions League on Wednesday. See how he fares on Paramount+ (3pm). A day earlier, on Tuesday, Sergino Dest and Ricardo Pepi also look like having their hands full in the same competition as PSV get a visit from Serie A champions Napoli (Paramount+, 3pm).
See if Robinson is fit enough to play a part for Fulham as they go to Newcastle (Peacock Premium, 10am). On Sunday, Adams and his impressive Bournemouth entertain struggling Nottingham Forest; same channel, same time. In the Bundesliga, Kristoffer Lund started again for Koln last weekend and will be hoping to remain in their defence away to Cole Campbell‘s Dortmund (Saturday, 12:30pm, ESPN+).
