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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

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It was a light weekend on the Americans Abroad front, with just seven Americans playing in Europe’s top flight (eight if you count Giuseppe Rossi).

One constant did remain. Michael Bradley kept finding the net. He finished off a brace in Heerenveen’s 3-0 win against DeGraafschap on Saturday.

Here is how the rest of the Americans fared last weekend in Europe’s top leagues:

ENGLAND

Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Blackburn’s 1-1 tie with Aston Villa on Saturday.

Eddie Lewis started and played 24 minutes before leaving the match with an injury in Derby’s 4-1 FA Cup loss to Preston North End on Saturday.

Benny Feilhaber did not dress for Derby County.

Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford’s 4-1 FA Cup loss to Wolverhampton on Saturday.

HOLLAND

Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes and scored two goals to help Heerenvee rout De Graafschap on Saturday. The goals raised Bradley’s season total to 11 in league play and 15 overall, a record for an American born player in a European first division.

SPAIN

Giuseppe Rossi started, played 90 minutes, and scored his ninth goal of the season in Villarreal’s 3-2 loss to Real Madrid on Sunday.

Danny Szetela dressed but did not play in Racing de Santander’s 2-2 tie against Real Zaragoza on Sunday.

PORTUGAL

Freddy Adu came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Benfica’s 3-1 win against Guimaraes on Saturday.

Share your thoughts on this weekend’s performances below.

Comments

  1. I agree that Rossi can play for whoever he wants.
    I also agree that Ives can cover Rossi however he wants.
    And finally, I agree with myself that I do not consider Rossi and American and I wish we’d quit referring to him as an American playing abroad. He’s chosen to be an Italian – fair play to him – but if someone asked me about American footballers having success overseas, Rossi would not make my list.

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  2. GET A LIFE FOLKS..

    It’s a FREE WORLD… ROSSI can Play whoever he wants to play for!!

    He doesn’t want to Play for the LOSER ,
    crapola runned US Soccer ,,,,, do you blame him?

    We couldn’t even hire a World Class Coach.

    Sorry Bob Bradley is not World Class..

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  3. Honestly, stop reporting on Rossi with the Americans Abroad. Rossi is not an American. He has spit at the prospect of becoming part of America’s future in the sport. If he wants to be Italian, instead of Italian American, let him be reported on in Serie A stories instead of Americans Abroad.

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  4. really, the rossi comments are annoying. It’s not like hes choosing the Italian side over us, they’ve chosen him, seeing how they’ve capped him at every youth level. I mean, you can skew it to think that he’s malicous of the US for some reason, but that’s probably not the case at all. I’m for the USNATS about as hard as anyone, but if the World Champs came calling my number, i’d have to think twice about it too…

    Just look at it like its is, as US raised player who appears to have a very bright future in international football…

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  5. SeaOtter,

    Gabe Ferrari was not loaned out to a Serie B team. You might be getting confused with a different player, Nicola Ferrari on Albinoleffe. Anyway, Gabe Ferrari has been playing on the Sampdoria Primavera (Youth) Team, and probably won’t get 1st team time unless it is late in the season and Sampdoria has locked up a European spot.

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  6. I agree that if Ives wants Rossi on there, then Rossi should be on there. But that doesn’t make me wish he shreds his knee any less.

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  7. Please stop with the Rossi comments, If Ives chooses to put him up there, it is his blog, so be it. Regardless of which National team he plays for he is an American by birth. He also grew up in Ives backyard so he has a soft spot for him.

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  8. Personally, I agree, Fulham is signing too many strikers and Americans, and I would rather see Feilhaber (or Bradley) play just about anywhere than Fulham.
    However, I may have some insight into the Fulham striker-buying spree. Surely, no team not in several cups and competitions needs five or six strikers. But Fulham have an incredible record over recent years of buying players that don’t pan out, especially at forward (the McBride signing and the Montella loan deal being notable exceptions). It seems to me they may be buying with that in mind — “If two thirds of our strikers aren’t going to come good and we need two of them right now, we’re going to need to buy six of them.”
    It’s not a conservative or sustainable strategy, but for a club in the relegation zone grasping at straws for a hope and a chance, it might be the approach they’re putting their money on.
    Obviously, I see all the alternatives, as well: “What they really need is cover in defense.” “Why not spend the money they spent on strikers to buy a top-notch playmaker?” Etc, etc. And each has its merits and disadvantages, neither of which I’m going to get into. But it seems desperate times breed desperate measures.

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  9. Rossi counts as American for the same reason, at the end of the day, that Deco is Brazilian. It doesn’t matter if he plays for Portugal. While it would be nice if the best American player actually played for America, it might actually mean more for American soccer if Rossi becomes a starter on an Italian side that is defending its World Cup win. The bottom line is that it is good if America produces great players.

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  10. IMO, ProEvo has better gameplay – some of the automated things in FIFA drive me crazy – but FIFA’s Manager Mode is the most fun thing in either game.

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  11. this is a fifa 08 convert telling you how it is. Winning eleven has probably 4-5 times better gameplay than fifa, its way more realistic as far as players and having a center of gravity. In fifa 08, the movement is very static, you can see players popping and locking all over the field going from one animation to the next.
    plus, the computer AI is so rediculous its like they intended people to feel how bad it is so they can go buy it to play multiplayer.

    plus, people complain about PES not having all the liceneses and all the teams n stuff, but all that stuff can be fixed by just downloading a fully patched version.

    I have a few MLS teams with completely accurate rosters and the complete US team, which btw is leet ;D on my PES.

    fifa 08 went with quantity over quality, much like fulham, doh.

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  12. Ugh. FIFA 08 (though i’ve played hundreds of matches waiting for WE:PES to come out) has atrocious gameplay, the player are seemingly guided on rails through a vat of molasses.

    They boast that player can make 1,000 decision (or something) a second, but apparently all of those decisions are “give the ball away.” I put in last years PES and was so amazed by how much more fluid and gun the actually playing is. I do however, love all the players and teams included, but the game play just stinks. IMHO.

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  13. Dave:

    I havent played this year’s version of Winning Eleven but previous versions were MUCH better than FIFA. However, I did buy FIFA 08 and it’s pretty great. They changed a lot and it’s come a looooong way from games ending 6-0 and having horrible gameplay. I’d probably side with FIFA 08 over the new WE with you.

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  14. I’ve been reading a lot of hear-say on Big Soccer that Szetela is making the bench because of injuries, which can be a good and bad thing.

    It’s good because one more injury could get him 1st team minutes to prove his worth.

    It’s bad because he could have to ride the pine through the transfer window while injured players rehab and miss out on loan opportunities.

    Ferrari’s playing somewhere in Seria B, I think. Scored a goal last week, but that’s all I know. There’s info on him on the usual soccer forum (BS).

    The Rossi argument is just pointless. If you don’t like news referring to him as American, then don’t read it.

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  15. Holy Moly. Fulham signed another striker (Erik Nevland) today from FC Groningen. What is the deal? Does anyone else get the feeling that this is like Winning Eleven where you have a week to sign players so you put out offers for 5 strikers and then realize you’re screwed when all 5 bids are accepted? Maybe Fulham should realize that they’re not playing Winning Eleven.

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  16. Ferrari’s problem is that he has Antonio Cassano (4 goals this season), Claudio Bellucci (9 goals), Emiliano Bonazzoli, Andrea Caracciolo (1 goal), Ikechukwu Kalu, and Vincenzo Montella (3 goals, when healthy) to be out for playing time.

    I don’t even know if he will receive any playing time this season. It depends on whether Sampdoria is in a dog fight for a European spot for the rest of the season or not. Once Sampdoria locks up a European spot, I think you will see them play some youngsters like Ferrari. Well, I hope they do anyway.

    By the way, I watch Serie A every week, including the Coppa Italia, and I have never seen Ferrari play. So I don’t even know if anybody even knows how good he is.

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  17. mentioning Rossi in a column about Americans just makes me sick, if he isn’t playing for us, then he shouldn’t be mentioned any more than any other italians

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  18. (Not an American, but for those interested in following this former MLSer)

    Andy Dorman: Started and played 87 minutes in St. Mirren’s 4-0 loss to the Rangers

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/scot_prem/7208167.stm

    “Rangers eased to victory over 10-man St Mirren to stretch their lead over Celtic at the top of the SPL”

    “Recent signing Andy Dorman forced McGregor into a save at the second attempt as St Mirren made a rare break.”

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  19. Speaking of Danny, I read something somewhere (Goff? ASD?) that Santandar was considering loaning Szetela for the remainder of the season. Anyone know anything about that?

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