James Sands not too long ago made a mortgage transfer from New York Metropolis to St. Pauli within the Bundesliga. On Wednesday, the Rye native spoke in regards to the transfer, his first few video games, and his worldwide ambitions shifting ahead.
BY
Brian Sciaretta
Posted
February 12, 2025
11:00 AM
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WHEN JAMES SANDS, made the transfer two years in the past to return to New York Metropolis FC from Rangers, he knew he finally wished to maneuver again to Europe however wanted to reset his profession along with his hometown workforce. The transfer to Rangers was profitable in some respects as Sands performed in some very large video games, together with the Europa League remaining, however he wished to commit himself as a midfielder as an alternative of a flexible swingman who additionally performs central protection.
Being a participant that’s primarily often called “versatile” generally is a blessing and a curse. In a single respect, it provides a participant quite a few methods to assist a workforce. However alternatively, versatile gamers are often used to “fill holes” and deal with weaknesses inside groups versus positioned ready the place they’ll flourish.
Sands, 24, made this clear to New York Metropolis when he returned from Scotland and the 2 events labored collectively and Sands made large strides in his improvement focusing nearly solely on midfield versus the backline.
“I have a lot of experience playing both in midfield and at center back,” Sands stated on Wednesday from Germany. “I feel like my best position is in midfield. When I made the move from Rangers back to New York, a big part of those discussions was about me featuring in the midfield on a consistent basis. Fair credit to New York, they held up their end of the bargain and that’s where I featured for two years. I developed a lot. And New York was able to push me in all the right ways and ultimately helped me make this jump back to Europe. It’s helped me establish a spot here at St Pauli.”
The outcomes had been there. Sands performed very effectively for New York Metropolis in each 2023 and 2024. After final season, he felt prepared for one more alternative. That got here when St. Pauli expressed curiosity in Sands to assist in their battle to stay within the Bundesliga after incomes promotion final season.
A deal was struck for a mortgage by means of the tip of the season with the power to increase it by means of 2025/26. Not like his mortgage to Rangers when it was unclear what function he would have with the membership, it was clear the place St. Pauli noticed him. Ultimately, Sands felt ready for the transfer.
“It’s been extremely helpful to have that prior experience in Europe,” Sands defined. “Rangers is a very big club and during my time with them I played in a lot of very big games with very big atmospheres. So now when I’m in the Bundesliga, which has very similar types of atmospheres, it’s helpful to have that experience already. When I was with Rangers, I learned really a different style of play than I was used to with New York. Having to make that adjustment and that adaptation once already will make the second time – adjusting to St Pauli – much easier.”
The early returns have been very promising, and Sands has performed very effectively. He has already made six appearances with the Hamburg-based membership with the final 4 coming as begins. The membership has carried out effectively with him within the beginning XI as they’ve two wins, a draw, and most not too long ago a troublesome 2-0 loss to Leipzig the place Sands nonetheless performed effectively (successful 7/8 grounds duels, and 4/5 of his aerials). He has been a giant asset on either side of the ball along with his passing, ball successful, and in protection.
As of now, St. Pauli has moved seven factors away from the relegation playoff place and their prospects of avoiding relegation have sharply elevated.
There’s additionally the problem of the nationwide workforce for Sands, who at the moment has 13 caps for america. His greatest moments got here through the 2021 Gold Cup which he helped the workforce win, and he performed effectively in central protection as soon as Walker Zimmerman needed to withdraw on account of damage. He was then a part of the 2023 Gold Cup workforce which misplaced within the semifinal.
“Involvement with the national team is one of my goals for sure and being a part of the World Cup team next year would be an amazing achievement,” Sands stated. “Having said that, whether you get selected or not for the team is out of your control. And the only thing I can control is how I perform on a day to day basis with my club. And I think being consistent and putting in strong performances will hopefully get my name back in the mix.”
Sands has all the time been on the sting of the participant pool, however is now trying to take steps that transfer him into being a daily. The competitors in central midfield is hard and there are numerous names within the combine. Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, and Yunus Musah have been with the workforce for years. Luca de la Torre is rebooting his profession in San Diego. Johnny Cardoso can be making strides. Recently, the pool has been boosted by Aidan Morris, Tanner Tessmann, Gianluca Busio, Lennard Maloney, and Jack McGlynn. Sands additionally factors out that he was scheduled to play with the U.S. workforce through the latest January camp however needed to withdraw due to the switch.
Sands additionally insists that the nationwide workforce is way from his solely motivation with making his return to Europe with St. Pauli. Even when he by no means receives one other call-up, this was a step he wished to soak up his profession.
“Looking at the national team pool, there are a lot of talented players and a lot of them are playing in Europe,” Sands mentioned. “I knew to have a realistic chance at the team, I would have to be competing at a very high level in Europe. Playing for the national team is one of my goals. But making this move to Europe was not only about the national team. If I play here for however long and I don’t get called up once, I would still view this as successfully playing in Europe, challenging myself at the highest level.”
American gamers have had a distinguished presence within the Bundesliga for a lot of the previous twenty years, however what additionally helps Sands is that there are a variety of gamers from the New York space, lots of whom he has recognized a very long time.
A local of Rye, N.Y., Sands has recognized each Gio Reyna at Borussia Dortmund and Joe Scally at Borussia Monchengladbach since his early teenage years and all three got here up collectively by means of the New York FC academy. Final month, New Jersey native John Tolkin made the transfer from the New York Purple Bulls to Holstein Kiel – solely about an hour drive from Hamburg.
“It’s very cool that you see a group of players from the same region all making the move to Europe,” Sands stated. “I think there’s something about people who are from the Northeast that translates well to the Bundesliga. Maybe they have a sense of grit or determination. That part of the country seems to send a lot of players over here. It’s also cool for me to see all the different journeys that we’ve taken to get to this point. Gio [Reyna], Joe [Scally] and I were all in the academy together. Gio left right away to go to Dortmund. Joe left when he turned 18 and went to Gladbach. I played with New York for several seasons and had a different experience in Europe and then and now in the Bundesliga. It’s cool to see how everything comes full circle. Now when I watch them, it makes me very proud to see them doing so well. It makes me appreciate how long or how far we’ve all come as players and, more importantly, as friends.”
It’s that friendship that has helped Sands hit the bottom working as Reyna and Scally have given him recommendation on adjusting to life in Germany each on and off the sector. Whereas that doesn’t present up metrics, it has performed a job.
“They tell me how quick the speed of play is and one of the most important things in this league is just to be consistent because a lot of the squads have so many quality players, the minute your level slips or you don’t perform, someone takes your spot,” Sands stated. “Them sharing their experience with me has been probably the most helpful.”
The following few weeks shall be essential for Sands and St. Pauli as video games towards Freiburg, Mainz, after which Reyna & Dortmund are on the horizon. Factors in these video games might go a good distance in direction of guaranteeing St. Paul stays within the Bundesliga subsequent yr. It presumably might additionally earn Sands a spot on the U.S. nationwide workforce for the ultimate rounds of the Nations League in March.
