Bobby Wood spent an anonymous 56 minutes on the pitch last weekend in Hamburg’s 2-1 defeat to Hertha Berlin, consigning the club to 16th in the 18-team Bundesliga and opening Wood to fierce criticism from manager Markus Gisdol. Wood has started nine league matches for Hamburg this term, but he’s only managed a single goal. That was back in August.

While playing for a big team like Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United or Chelsea is definitely the most common dream for young players, some analysis shows that moving to Spain or England may not be the best choice for CONCACAF players in Europe, at least not early on in their careers. 

In this article, we will analyze what the best options are for CONCACAF players dreaming of having successful careers across the pond.

You could forgive Bill Hamid for electing to stay with DC United for the rest of his playing career — he’s got a pretty good thing going in the nation’s capital. Having risen through the ranks of the club’s youth system, Hamid established himself as the team’s No. 1 over the course of eight stellar seasons, including a 2014 campaign that saw him named MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.

In the wake of the USMNT’s utterly pathetic defeat to Trinidad and Tobago and subsequent bouncing from the World Cup, perhaps no man on the planet has greater license to say “I told you so” than former head coach Jurgen Klinsmann. That’s not to say that Klinsmann shouldn’t have been fired or that he would’ve steered the U.S. to the World Cup, it’s just to say that he’s ultimately been vindicated in his criticisms of Major League Soccer and American player mentality.

Because Christian Pulisic is too old and will never accomplish anything, we present to you the next American Messi: 9-year-old Alessandro Cupini (no relation to Cuphead). The Kansas City native will be moving to Italy next year to train with AS Roma according to a press release, an impressive step for a young American. 

A short while after many his fellow Americans took a knee during the national anthem at Wembley Stadium, DeAndre Yedlin showed solidarity by taking a knee in the middle of Newcastle’s match against Brighton & Hove Albion south of London on Sunday. 

Tomer Hemed took exception and stamped on the back of the American’s leg.

The Bundesliga may be lagging far behind the English Premier League in terms of popularity in the United States, but the German league is far ahead in signing American players. Josh Sargent is the latest as the 17-year-old agreed on Wednesday to join Werder Bremen in February. 

USMNT and Borussia Dortmund attacker Christian Pulisic has been named to the shortlist for the 2017 Golden Boy, the award handed to the top under 21 talent playing in Europe. Previous winners of the award include Paul Pogba (2013), Sergio Aguero (2007) and Lionel Messi (2005). This is Pulisic’s first appearance on the shortlist after enjoying a season of more prominent and consistent performances for both club and country.

Christian Pulisic, born on Sept. 18, 1998, turned 19 on Monday. In the first 18 years of his life, he has already been called the greatest American soccer player of all time. But how does he compare to Landon Donovan at the same age?

Grumblings of an early crisis on Tyneside appear to have been hugely premature on the back of another Newcastle United victory on Saturday, their third straight in the Premier League. With a 2-1 win against Stoke City, Newcastle climbed into the Champions League places and confirmed their finest start to life in England’s top division in six years.