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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

DaMarcus Beasley 2 (Getty Images)

by FRANCO PANIZO

DaMarcus Beasley has been one of the most criticized players on the U.S. national team this year due to his lack of sharpness and sporadic minutes at the club level, but the Rangers midfielder took a positive step towards resurrecting a career that appeared to be in shambles.

Beasley followed up his midweek Champions League start with another in Rangers' league game against St Johnstone, and he did not take long to make his presence felt. It took less than 30 seconds for Beasley to dish out an assist, setting the tone for Rangers' 3-0 victory. Beasley, who had two shots on goal, also helped set up the final goal of the game with a right-footed pass that looked similar to his assist against Ghana in the 2006 World Cup.

Beasley's performance was just one of a handful of stellar outings this weekend. Jay DeMerit earned his first start for Watford since returning from an eye injury, and a trio of American goalkeepers managed favorable results against top competition.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Everton's 3-3 draw vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore came off the bench, played 24 minutes and received a yellow card in Hull City's 0-0 draw vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.
  • Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 1-1 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in West Ham's 1-0 loss vs. Birmingham on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Aston Villa's 1-0 win vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-0 win vs. Manchester United on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes, made seven saves and received a yellow card in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 1-0 win vs. Tottenham on Saturday.

COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 1-0 loss vs. Derby County on Saturday.
  • Frank Simek did not dress in Sheffield Wednesday's 3-0 loss vs. Leicester City on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 3-2 win vs. Hartlepool United on Saturday.
  • Ian Joyce dressed but did not play in Southend United's 1-0 loss vs. Charlton Athletic on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 0-0 draw vs. Brentford on Saturday.
  • Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-1 win vs. Leyton Orient on Saturday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 10 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Carlisle United on Saturday. 

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. St Johnstone on Saturday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started, played 73 minutes, assisted on a goal and helped set up another in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. St Johnstone on Saturday.

  • Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-2 win vs. Motherwell on Saturday. 

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 2-0 loss vs. Palermo on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA

  • Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes, and scored a GOAL in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 5-3 win vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday.

  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 69 minutes in Hannover 96's 5-3 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 5-3 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.

BUNDESLIGA 2

  • Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-0 win vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 3-0 win vs. TUS Koblenz on Friday.
  • Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in FSV Frankfurt's 0-0 draw vs. Ahlen on Saturday.
  • David Yeldell started, played 59 minutes and made four saves in TUS Koblenz's 3-0 loss vs. Kaiserslautern on Saturday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra did not dress in Stade Rennes' 2-1 win vs. AS Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.

Portugal

  • Freddy Adu and Belenenses play Vitoria de Guimaraes on Monday.
  • Kamani Hill and Vitoria de Guimaraes play Belenenses on Monday.  

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What do you think of these performances? Think Beasley is slowly playing himself back into the national team mix? Should he still leave Rangers in the transfer window? Happy to see DeMerit go the distance so quickly?

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Comments

  1. Beasley has lost a step, he’s never been a pure goal scorer, and let’s face it…. he’s rubbish…. along with Freddy…. let’s all move on.

    Reply
  2. Freddy Adu has to get out of Portugal right this moment!

    This is unbelievable. Belenenses has scored only 7 goals in 13 games and have only one home win and this manager won’t give Adu a shot to see if he could spark the offense? Idiot.

    Reply
  3. Why not have more players to pull from for the World Cup? Im glad to see Beasley play well. Hopefully he can start a resurgence for Americans as these past few months have been rough with the amount of injuries that have occurred. Get Edu back, keep Davies in our prayers, and who knows what the team will look like in 6 months. I am just glad to hear good news about American players on a consistent basis recently, and hopefully the momentum will start to build.

    Reply
  4. He’s still too green for my taste. There is something missing in the crop of new players it seems. When Beasley and Donovan showed up at the world cup in ’02 they literally ran defenses ragged and showed no fear.

    I see fear from Rogers and some of the newer kids coming up.

    Reply
  5. Pretty good weekend for YA’s. Dissapointed with Jozy’s current form. Our number one striker should be starting. Given that he’s only 20, I cut him some slack but it’d be nice if he was on a more offensive team.

    I don’t understnd all the Beasley hate. If he can work his way back on the MNT, then kudos to him. He won’t be on the squad unless he’s playing well, which will only make the 23 spots more competitive.

    Pumped we have another MNTeamer playing consistently in DeMerit. He’ll be in top form come June, barring any injuries.

    Reply
  6. Kawa,

    In an article I read last week, Beasley is seeking a transfer. Here’s the quote from him.

    “My current situation is not ideal… it’s been frustrating,” Beasley recently told YA. “I’m looking to move away from Rangers because I want to play. It’s not that I’m not happy with the club, it’s just that I want to play. I’m only 27 and I feel like I have another six, seven or even eight years left.”

    “My options are open,” continued Beasley. “It might be a move back to Holland or maybe Spain, but it needs to be the right situation where I get a chance to play and stake my claim to Bob [Bradley] about getting back on the US national team and playing at the World Cup next summer.”

    Reply
  7. Maybe the question you should be asking yourself is: Why is Beasley miraculously starting all of the sudden, just weeks away from the transfer deadline, whereas he hasn’t been starting (or playing much) for several months?

    Reply
  8. some of you guys are just plain idiots , why the heck would beasley want to transfer when he’s not starting and making good plays impressing his coach again.

    Reply
  9. Beasley looked real good yesterday. Actually was attacking the other team. I haven’t seen that out of him in over a year, maybe two… Look out Robbie Rogers, Stuart Holden, and anyone else that thinks they have a spot on the National team. Beasley at his best is a great weapon to have, It may allow Dempsey to play more centrally

    Reply
  10. Imagine a world with an in form Davies, Donovan, and Beasley? A blitzkrieg counter attack offense that would scare any team. Ahhh what could have been, or, maybe…could be?

    Reply
  11. It would be immense if Beasley could return to form. Sure, he is being shopped, but that is the best thing for him. The SPL is no league for a guy like Beasley and I will never understand him going there to begin with.

    Reply
  12. Rogers impressed me against Costa Rica he’s got some pace and he’s not a bad crosser either. though Beasely’s experience defintaely would give him the edge

    Reply
  13. two concerns with that formation, which i do like:

    1) Jones not being ready or having enough time with the team to get into the starting XI. (i think he’s the key to the our midfield)

    2) I’m worried about Jozy havin to play up top by himself because he seams to struggle for club and country as a lone striker. Though he has gotten better at hold-up play according to some Hull City reviews. I’d rather pair Dempsey up top with him and let our speedy wings (Donovan and Beasely/Holden/Rogers) make runs of the two of them.

    Reply
  14. Adu should return to MLS and pray it does for him what it did for Donovan. DC United seems like a team who could use a striker under 30 years old 🙂

    Reply
  15. I would say club is more important than league.
    To be honest I say England, Eredivise, or MLS. I think his succuess would depend more on which club than which league.

    i.e. I bet if Convey returned to LAG or HOU he’d be in better form, but he returned to SJ who shuffled him around and put too much responsability on him, when he just needed to take care of himself.

    I don’t know enough about all the clubs in europe, their coaches, or rosters, so I can only guess that if I was to pick a team for Beasley it would be LAG or Sounders. I can see Arena or Schmid “getting the most” out of a player.

    Reply
  16. i hope they have plans to use him soon, because he’s not exactly a baby. at 21, there are plenty of players that are in or around the villa first team that are much younger.

    i would love to learn why they loaned him to a side so far down the league set up. why not a championship or league one side?

    Reply
  17. Pittman scores a lot more than Jemal Johnson. Johnson has been pretty much non-existent this season. Pittman has 6 goals. He’ll get a callup at some point. He’s only 23, he has plenty of time.

    Reply
  18. I’m not sure if people actually realize how important Beasley’s potential resurgence is to the national team with Charlie Davies now questionable for the World Cup. We’re now missing speedy player who can take players on, and cover tons of ground. If Beasley gets back into form, the question of Davies recovery, while still something weighing on the hearts and minds of US Soccer fans, might not contain as much of an impact.

    Reply
  19. True. Technically speaking, that brace he scored against Cuba took us to the final round of Qualifying last week.

    The other thing is that Beasley challenged for the subsequent long ball from Bougherra. In fact I think he won it. Either way, the ball fell to the center back’s feet, who cleared it poorly straight to Beasley, leading to the goal.

    Reply
  20. lol the clip was a little too fuzzy for me to say if it was a handball or not, but i agree that the assist was definitely not reminiscent of his vs Ghana.

    I so hope Beasley gets back to form come World Cup time. Beasley on the right, Dempsey on the left, with Landy up top

    Reply
  21. the thing i like about the clip with the first goal was that after beasely made the pass, he was moving in position for the return pass for a shot on goal. he used to score those goals for the US MNT. It looks like his confidence is returning. that can only be good. remember Bease knows how to put the ball in the back of the net.

    Reply
  22. Rangers are shopping Beasley for sure, but Rangers looked absolutely garbage in the Champions League so maybe he is also getting playing time because the team just isn’t very good. Nacho Novo is all I have to say.

    It’s good to see the Beas getting minutes, if he keeps playing week in and week out, he will be on the plane to South Africa. The experience of two World Cups work in his favor. I would much rather have him there than one of these Columbus Crew type of players. What’s his name? Rogers?

    Reply
  23. beasley a step slower than what he was is still a very useful to the USNT. Hopefully he goes back to Holland where it all beganfor him and has a strong 2nd half

    Reply
  24. I don’t think Beasley’s hustle has ever been missing. He may have slowed a couple of steps, and lost some of his cleverness, but he’s never been lazy, on or off the ball.

    Reply
  25. I’m not thoroughly convinced that Walter Smith is on the take from Bob Bradley. No, not because Beasley getting minutes all of a sudden is that unbelievable, it’s just the fact that Beasley has been played on the right, an area of the field where the USA has been looking for someone who can fill the attacking and defensive capabilities. While it’s only St.Johnstone, who’re 10 out of 12 in the Premier League table, at least after this game, we saw the Beasley of old pop out of that hole he’s been in for what seems like forever. If we get Beasley to not only play well, but play well on the right, something he failed to do against the Czech Republic, we might be looking at an fine starting lineup for WC 2010:

    ————————Altidore———————-

    Donovan—————–Dempsey—————-Beasley

    ————–Bradley————-Jones—————

    Bocanegra———————————–Cherundolo

    ——————-DeMerit—-Onyewu——————

    ————————-Howard———————–

    This is purely speculative, I’m not saying this is what SHOULD happen or this is what WILL happen.

    Reply
  26. Well as I live and breathe, harry’s back; and what a surprise, he marks his return with a comment containing only pure opinions and conspiracy theories with no facts or figures to back them up.

    Reply

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