Premier League Manager Slams USMNT's Reckless Player Injury Handling as Crisis Escalates
Crystal Palace head coach Oliver Glasner has voiced his frustration regarding Chris Richards featuring in every minute for the United States national team during their matches against Ecuador and Australia in the October international break.
The Eagles manager, who guided his team to a 2-0 victory over Brentford in Premier League action on Saturday, has witnessed Richards establish himself as a crucial defender in his backline, forming a partnership with Marc Guéhi—a player attracting interest from top clubs including Liverpool, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Bayern Munich.
However, Richards has been managing a minor injury, continuing to play despite the concern, while the USMNT are not participating in competitive matches as they serve as one of three host countries for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
"My sole grievance is that the U.S. national team failed to communicate with us because Chris had been battling calf problems for several weeks," Glasner informed the media. "We reached out to them and suggested he should be rested since these were merely exhibition matches. Yet they utilized him in both games for the full duration. That's somewhat frustrating. Meanwhile, we've been attempting to carefully manage his playing time here.
"Chris's physical condition indicated he required additional recovery time...He claims he's okay, the medical staff confirms he's okay."
Although Richards participated in these matches during an earlier international period in the European schedule, his involvement—along with other Europe-based players representing North American nations—has faced significant criticism.
Different from most nations, the United States, Canada and Mexico, the three 2026 FIFA World Cup host countries, will not have participated in any competitive fixtures between the conclusion of the 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup in July 2025 and their respective World Cup opening matches in June 2026.
Without World Cup qualification requirements, these teams have depended on exhibition games, creating dissatisfaction among some of Europe's premier clubs, with Richards serving an important function for both club and national team.
Alphonso Davies and "Gross Negligence"
Richards isn't the initial player to encounter such difficulties in 2025. During March, Bayern Munich considered pursuing legal proceedings against Canada Soccer regarding what they termed "gross negligence" for fielding left-back Alphonso Davies in the Concacaf Nations League third-place fixture against the USMNT, resulting in his ACL tear.
While Bayern ultimately chose not to pursue legal action, they remained displeased with Davies' participation, claiming that Canada manager Jesse Marsch and the federation should have avoided playing him, despite his availability.
"He serves as captain, a young player who desired to assist his squad, but it was questionable," stated Bayern's sporting director Christoph Freund. "The additional concern is the injury occurring after just 12 minutes. Then Phonzy returns on a 12-hour journey, and we all believed it wasn't a severe injury, but then we discovered this.
"That represents carelessness. It lacks professionalism, and we must discuss and resolve this matter. We are the employers, we compensate the players, so we will investigate what transpired."
Davies hasn't featured since sustaining the injury, but is anticipated to return before 2025 concludes and be fit for Canada's pre-World Cup exhibitions as well as the tournament proper.
Could Christian Pulisic Face a Similar Judgment?
Richards' USMNT colleague, Christian Pulisic, may be absent from the November international period due to AC Milan's desire for him to remain with the club to recover from the hamstring injury sustained in October against Australia.
The 26-year-old entered as a substitute in the USMNT's victory over Australia, but departed the match following a heavy tackle and has been unavailable for each of Milan's subsequent fixtures, preventing him from continuing his impressive form of four goals and two assists in Serie A thus far.
The USMNT will return to action with two concluding exhibition matches in 2025, facing Paraguay on November 15 and Uruguay on November 18, before preparing for the March international period—the final club football interruption before the World Cup.