I came across a video recently of some high profile American players and some European players (from various countries) discussing the level of respect given to American players in Europe. While opinions differed in the video, it does beg the real question – are American players disrespected in Europe? If so, why is that?
Personal experience
I do have some personal experience based on a short stint with the U23 side of a Bundesliga team (their equivalent of a reserve team) in 2008. The first day I came into the changing room for training, the coach was introducing me and a couple of other trialists to the group before we went to the field. I don’t speak German, but when he introduced me I knew that he mentioned I was American, and I could hear snickering and hushed laughs around the room.
These guys had never seen me play, but they definitely made a judgement based on my nationality. There was another goalkeeper on trial (Ukrainian), who definitely got the more favorable training schedule and treatment. I actually managed to hang around instead of him for a few weeks after gaining their respect (the coach told me point blank that he would have sent me home on day one if I wasn’t good enough).
Although I did not get signed, it was still a good experience for me despite the low expectations from the start.
While the coaches, players, and fans will ultimately judge you by your performance and ability, as winning is the most important thing, American players have historically had to overcome some initial level of disrespect.
Let’s dig into why.
History of Americans in Europe
Americans only really started playing in Europe in the early 90s, with our first Champions League participant taking part of the 1990-1991 campaign. Before this time, Americans didn’t have a great team or individual players, and those who were full time professionals played domestically in the NASL.
The US men’s team didn’t qualify for a World Cup from 1950 (where we famously upset the heavily favored English team) until 1990. In that time, we didn’t produce players who were good enough to play at the top level in Europe. Soccer was not our main sport, and we barely had any structure in place to identify and develop homegrown talent, aside from the college soccer system.
Even when our national team did become more of a mainstay on the international stage, we only had a few players who were good enough to make an impact in Europe. Until the late 90’s into the early 2000’s, we had maybe 1-2 players in each of the Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, and Serie A.
After 2000, more scouts started getting younger American players over to Europe, some of whom had success in the MLS or with our youth national teams. Guys like Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey and a few others started to pave the way for a new generation of young Americans at the highest level.
Goalkeepers
This is one position where we did excel in Europe since the late-90s. Guys like Friedel and Keller early on, followed up by Howard, Hahnemann, and Guzan a bit later, all performed well in top leagues in Europe for a sustained period of time.
Our excellence in this position makes sense (as does our decline), as our country has great athletes that play sports using their hands growing up. We were able to get a little ahead of the curve here (we could also argue that college soccer is good for goalkeepers, as opposed to other positions).
But these were goalkeepers, and field players are a whole different game.
Still no respect
But even with the success of our goalkeepers and the burgeoning quality of players we were producing in the early 2000s (and that we have produced since then), why do Americans still feel that lack of respect to this day?
General dislike of America
Everyday fans in other countries still have little respect for American players and our national team.
We did not have any impact on the international game at all until 1990, even though the NASL became a retirement league to some of the best players the game had ever produced.
And I think that’s where some of the resentment starts. A lot of other countries don’t like the US in general (for both warranted and unwarranted reasons), and it’s very easy to project this dislike on the soccer field. Most of these countries take their “battles” to the soccer field anyway (through their hatred of other national teams and rival clubs), and this is one way for them to vent this dislike of America.
This creates an environment where our players have to go the extra mile to prove themselves worthy.
Additionally, our insistence on participating in the sport of the world, even though it’s our 5th most popular sport, likely annoys fans from other countries. As does our changing of the rules and norms to “Americanize” the game (MLS shootout, cheerleaders in the NASL, calling it soccer, etc…), calling it “soccer”, etc… We still bring a distinctly American attitude to the world’s game, which rubs people the wrong way.
Slowly changing, but still there
What’s really bringing this attitude to light is that we are starting to develop some legit players. But these guys still do not get the respect that their performances deserve. If you were to just change their nationality to anything else, I believe their treatment by the coaches and fans would have been drastically different.
Weston McKennie’s annual comeback story
As mentioned earlier, McKennie has had to re-win his spot in the squad for Juventus in each of the last two years. After a solid season last year, he was one of a few players cast aside as Juventus looked to undergo a small rebuild.
But he was brought back into the fold, again, as they seem to forget that his combination of workrate, determination, and quality were key attributes to a squad in transition. McKennie worked his socks off to get back in the squad and maintain a key rotation place so far in 2024.
If he was from any other country, do you think based on his performance last year that he would find himself in this position? It’s hard to say, but the perception of our players at least makes you think his nationality is a factor to make him an easy scapegoat.
He did experience this blame when he was at Leeds on loan. He took a lot of criticism for their team’s form which led to their relegation a couple seasons back. While he wasn’t at his best, he was far from the only problem on that squad (and certainly not the worst). He took a disproportionate amount of abuse, some aimed at his physique, by a passionate but angry (unreasonable?) Leeds fanbase.
Pulisic always getting blamed at Chelsea
Another example is our current best player Christian Pulisic during his last couple seasons at Chelsea. After helping Chelsea to a Champions League title in 2021 (he didn’t start the final but made some key contributions leading up to the final), Chelsea had some up and down seasons.
Pulisic caught a lot of blame for Chelsea’s poor form from both the coaching staff and fans. He did encounter some injury issues in that time, but when he was fit he was often played out of position, at either wing-back or center forward and was not given much of a chance when he was played in his best position. Eventually Chelsea spent a record amount on Mikahlo Mudryk who plays the same position (who has fared much worse than Pulisic ever did).
Pulisic was an easy target for fans, critics, and the coaching staff. He never regained his spot and was eventually sold to AC Milan, where he has rediscovered his form and is hitting new heights in his career.
Verdict
There’s likely many other stories of American soccer players in Europe who have had to overcome additional obstacles because of their nationality.
While our place in the international game has improved quite a bit since 1990, the perception of our country as a soccer backwater has yet to catch all the way up. This could be due to the general international dislike towards the US, or our insistence that we take soccer seriously and impose another piece of America on the rest of the world. I can see why those involved in soccer around the world might resent our players because of this.
But we are gaining respect. The great thing about soccer, or any other sport, is that performance on the field matters above everything else. And as long as our players perform well, we will eventually gain the respect we deserve.
