Americans Abroad: Christian Pulisic immediately finds form, while Josh Sargent and Haji Wright maintain torrent goalscoring pace ahead of crucial USMNT window

USMNT social media all got a bit collectively concerned when Pulisic was benched for Milan's game with Lecce. There was speculation that he had an ankle injury. This all sounded rather bad, especially given that we are just over a week away from a friendly that could be pivotal in defining where, exactly, this U.S. side is heading into the World Cup. 

And as the game wore on - and Milan couldn't crack a well-drilled defense - Pulisic's absence became increasingly worrysome. Could Max Allergri risk him? Would he? Was Pulisic on the bench to make up the numbers, or was this a load management situation?

Turns out, it was the latter. Pulisic came on for the last 20 minutes. By then, Milan were leading 1-0. And he was magnificent. The Rossonieri were limp when Pulisic came on. He changed that, near single-handedly. Pulisic bagged one goal, and would have likely set up another had his teammates been more clinical.

The extent of his knock remains unclear, but if this was a warmup for 180 important minutes, then Pochettino should be encouraged.

Josh Sargent is a truly baffling footballer. Either that, or he's just someone who's found his level - and should stick to it. All summer, there's been background chatter that a bigger move is on the way. There was noise about a transfer to Germany that he turned down. Burnley were momentarily interested. There is, for some reason, a groundswell of insistence that Sargent should be playing in a top-five league. 

Whether that's accurate or not isn't clear. What is immediately apparent, though, is just how good Sargent is at the EFL Championship level. He scored twice for Norwich against an admittedly poor Blackburn side on Saturday, finding the net from the penalty spot shortly before half time, and then later smashing home to ice a win.

After his second goal, he ran to the fans in the corner of the stadium, tapping the badge with the kind of gusto of a man who doesn't plan on going anywhere. If he sticks around - based on this form - that might not be such a bad thing.

What about dueling strikers in the EFL Championship? Sounds kind of fun. And that might be the reality here. Haji Wright - say it very quietly - might just be the better of the two, in comparison to Sargent. He's more versatile, better defensively, and more capable with his feet. But while Sargent has constantly ticked along, Wright had been held back by a litany of little knocks here and there. 

Well, he's been injury free to start the campaign, and it shows. Wright now has five goals and one assist in six games across all competitions, and contributed to yet another Coventry win with a tidy finish inside the box on Saturday.

There wasn't going to be loads of glamor about their fixture with struggling Oxford United. But the Sky Blues got it done, and Wright, once again, was integral to their effort. Now, it's just a question of staying fit.

Well, that's sorted. Malik Tillman is elite. The U.S. were lucky to snap him up so early, because this dual-national should be playing for Germany. Goodbye, Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, and a collective of top-10 midfielders in the world, here we have an American who was good for PSV last year.

Of course, that's something of a harsh characterization.

Tillman earned his $41 million transfer to Bayer Leverkusen. He couldn't make it as a teenager at Bayern Munich, but proved that he is ready for a step up from the Eredivisie, where it was clear that he simply saw the game quicker and easier than everyone else. Leverkusen, though, is a tricky place.

They are a team in between eras, with Xabi Alonso's exit leaving new manager Erik Ten Hag with a rebuilding job on his hands. Tillman has walked into a high pressure situation.

And despite not quite being 100-percent fit, he embraced the challenge in full in his first start for his new club. Tillman glided around the pitch for an hour, connecting play, putting in work when he didn't have the ball, and always making the right decision.

He grabbed a goal, too, reacting first to a loose ball and poking home. There will, surely, be games where he is more involved. But for an hour's work at a new club, few could complain. 

There were plenty of good vibes when Timothy Weah signed with Olympique de Marseille in mid-August.

After two seasons at Juventus, where he was more of a utility player, Weah was heading back to Ligue 1 - the league where he found his feet at Lille, winning a title. The move also had a full-circle feel, since Marseille was where his father, George Weah, closed out his European career in 2000-01. And with OM coming off a second-place finish under Roberto De Zerbi, expectations were that they’d at least make things interesting with PSG at the top of the table.

It hasn’t played out that way so far. Marseille have just one win from their first three games - a 5-2 result against newly promoted Paris FC - with losses to Stade Rennais and Lyon. Losing to Lyon isn’t exactly embarrassing given their status in France, but the way it happened was: OL had 58 percent of the ball, outshot OM 17-5, and still only needed one goal to take three points.

For Weah, the bigger issue is how he’s being used. At Lille, he did his best work as a winger, stretching defenses and creating problems in the final third. Back in France, though, he’s mostly been stuck at fullback - starting on the right in the opener and on the left in Sunday’s 62-minute appearance.

The only time he played further forward was against Paris FC. Three matches in, he has zero goals, zero assists, and his xG sits at 0. Sure, he’s not a pure goalscorer, but we’ve seen both at club level and with the USMNT that he’s way more dangerous when he’s higher up the pitch. If nothing changes, those good vibes from August won’t last long - for Weah or for De Zerbi.

+ Weston McKennie was on the bench, but didn't see action in Juventus' 1-0 win over Genoa

+ Tyler Adams played 88 minutes of Bournemouth's 1-0 win over Spurs

+ Atletico Madrid's Johnny Cardoso started against Alaves, and played 72 minutes of a disappointing 1-1 draw for the Spanish giants - who are without a league win

+ Yunus Musah got his first start under Max Allegri, and lasted the whole 90 in Milan's 2-0 win

+ John Tolkin grabbed an assist in Holstein Kiel's 2-1 loss to Hannover 

+ Gio Reyna didn't dress for Borussia Monchengladbach, his new side, but teammate Joe Scally lasted 84 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Stuttgart

+ Brenden Aaronson turned in a more encouraging performance for Leeds, but had little impact on the scoreline as his side fought to a scoreless draw with injury-plagued Newcastle