Now that the World Cup is over for the United States, many USMNT players will now begin to focus on the Premier League. Six players on the USMNT World Cup squad currently ply their trade in England’s top flight. In fact, all six played significant minutes for coach Greg Berhalter throughout the tournament.
Matt Turner (Arsenal), Tim Ream (Fulham), Antonee Robinson (Fulham), Tyler Adams (Leeds), and Christian Pulisic (Chelsea) started all four games at the World Cup for the USMNT. Brenden Aaronson (Leeds) also entered the fray as a substitute in every match as well.
Adams and Berhalter praise the Premier League
Prior to the matchup with England in the group stage, Adams spoke about the connection with the Premier League. “In America, you see a lot of young players tuning into a lot of the Premier League games. They’re on in the mornings, they’re easy to tune into,” the team’s captain said during a press conference. “You saw a lot of quality players on the pitch at the same time, no matter which team was playing in the Premier League.”
“So for me, it was always a dream of mine,” Adams continued. “I remember telling my mom at a young age that I wanted to play in England. The culture is not too far off of what America has to offer, so definitely that transition has been obviously a lot easier than playing in Germany [at RB Leipzig].”
“But there’s something special about the Premier League. Always has been and I think there always will be.”
Berhalter echoed his captain’s sentiments at the press conference as well. “Every Saturday morning, Americans are watching the league,” explained the coach. “And then seeing all the fan festivals … it’s an incredible league, we’re really proud to have our players playing [there]. To me, it’s similar to the NFL in terms of how dominant it is.”
Nine USMNT players in Premier League or British competition
Along with the aforementioned sextet, three other USMNT World Cup players also currently play in Britain as well. Josh Sargent (Norwich), Ethan Horvath (on loan at Luton Town), and Cameron Carter-Vickers (Celtic) will also soon be headed to the United Kingdom to play club soccer.
The Premier League is set to return from the World Cup break on December 26th. Ream and Robinson could get to see first action among the USMNT players in England as Fulham face Crystal Palace on Boxing Day morning.
PHOTO: IMAGO / Icon Sportswire
