Top Stories

Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Jonathan Spector 4 (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

The U.S. national team has yet to find an ideal solution for its problematic situation at left back, but Jonathan Spector's latest performance for West Ham might be a sign that he is the answer.

For the third consecutive game, Spector started at left back and helped relegation-threatened West Ham post a cleansheet in its 0-0 draw with Blackburn. Spector and the Hammers' shutout was their second in the past three games, and brings their goals conceded total to one during that stretch.

Despite much speculation about his immediate future with Stade Rennes, fellow defender Carlos Bocanegra also enjoyed a strong showing this weekend. Bocanegra, who has now started in four of Rennes' last five games, played 90 minutes as the club posted a 4-0 victory over Grenoble.

While the performances by Spector and Bocanegra bode well for an ailing U.S. team backline, the most interesting game may have come on the offensive side of the ball. Freddy Adu made his Aris Salonika debut in a 2-1 defeat to FC Xanthi, but provided an assist to forward Eddie Johnson, whose goal was his first for the Greek club and first since April 8 of last year.

Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Landon Donovan started and played 75 minutes in Everton's 1-0 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton's 1-0 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore started, played 68 minutes, had an ASSIST and drew a penalty kick in Hull City 's 2-2 draw vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

  • Clint Dempsey did not dress in Fulham's 2-0 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 0-0 draw vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made four saves in Aston Villa's 2-0 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 2-0 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-2 draw vs. Hull City on Saturday.

  • Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 2-0 loss vs. Liverpool on Sunday.

COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Jay DeMerit and Watford's match vs. Swansea City on Saturday was postponed.
  • Frank Simek came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's 2-1 win vs. Plymouth Argyle on Saturday.
  • Kenny Cooper did not dress in Plymouth Argyle's 2-1 loss vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Ian Joyce did not dress in Southend United's 2-2 draw vs. Swindon Town on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Norwich City's 2-1 win vs. Hartlepool United on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 2-0 win vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
  • Jemal Johnson started and played 90 minutes in Stockport County's 2-0 loss vs. Southampton on Saturday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 3-2 win vs. Bristole Rovers on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
  • DaMarcus Beasley did not dress in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday. He is recovering from a thigh injury. 
  • Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 1-0 win vs. Hamilton Academical on Saturday.

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 1-1 draw vs. Livorno on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA

  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 4-3 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 3-1 loss vs. Nurnberg on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Ricardo Clark did not dress in Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 loss vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.

BUNDESLIGA 2 

  • Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play Alemania Aachen on Monday.
  • Matt Taylor did not dress in FSV Frankfurt's 2-0 loss vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Sunday.
  • David Yeldell did not dress in TUS Koblenz's 1-0 win vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Friday. He is recovering from a leg injury.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Stade Rennes' 4-0 win vs. Grenoble on Saturday.
  • Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 1-1 draw vs. Valenciennes on Sunday. He is recovering from multiple injuries. 

Portugal

  • Kamani Hill did not dress in Vitoria de Guimaraes' 3-1 loss vs. Benfica.

Greece

  • Freddy Adu came off the bench, played 26 minutes and had an ASSIST in Aris Salonika's 2-1 loss vs. FC Xanthi on Sunday.
  • Eddie Johnson came off the bench, played 20 minutes, received a yellow card and scored a GOAL in Aris Salonika's 2-1 loss vs. FC Xanthi on Sunday.

Mexico

  • Jose Francisco Torres started and played 66 minutes in Pachuca's 5-1 win vs. Atlante on Saturday.
  • Edgar Castillo did not dress in Tigres UANL's 3-1 loss vs. Guadalajara on Saturday.
  • Marco Vidal and Indios de Ciudad Juarez play America on Sunday evening.
  • Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 20 minutes in Puebla's 2-1 loss vs. Queretaro on Sunday.

—————————–

What do you think of these performances? Is Spector is the solution at left back? How happy are you to see Bocanegra getting back in the mix with Rennes? Do you see Adu and Johnson continuing to wreak havoc on defenses?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. No wonder you had such a crap international career.

    Short of Bloody murder, Terry stays on the team. If Capello is smart and has a sense of humour he makes Terry and Bridge room together. But the real story here is that Bridge is a scrub and not very important, though the USMNT would welcome him in a NY minute. Screw Bridge, winning is everything.

    Whether he is captain or not is irrelevant. They should just default and give it back to Becks.

    Reply
  2. i question bornstien’s experience to play in big games. cherundolo is very experienced and someone whos been on the big stage before. and spector is used to semi-important games in front of large crowds in england. i also like dempsey and altidore up front with davies off the bench. jermaine jones and torres in the midfield. then youve got landon playing at his natural position at right-mid. with holden/rodgers at the left-mid

    Reply
  3. Guys like you really shouldn’t post. You have absolutely no sense of humor and or intelligence. Everything is dead serious and about hate to you. At least go post on political boards. It will be a much better fit for you. You can hate until your heart is content.

    Reply
  4. I think your spot on in the attacking half…but you need to Delete Bornstein from the team and put spector at LB. Torres to the middle of the field (strictly for distribution) Move Bradly out right and bring in Edu or Beasley on the left)

    Reply
  5. i agree with wally. obviously none of you have wives or gfs because i couldnt play with a guy who screwed my gf or ex gf. thats just low. teamates should be friends too it think its part of being a team.

    Reply
  6. The ideal would be for Onyewu to go into the World Cup after a run of games with Milan.

    Besides goalkeeper, the absolute worst place, with the least margin for error, to play a rusty outfield player is at center back. If Davies comes back and he is a litle rusty, he would have a lot more margin of error than Onyewu would.

    If Davies makes a mistake the US has to get back on defense; if Onyeewu screws up, it might lead instantly to a goal.

    On the other hand, there is a big difference between playing a very established starter returning from injury such as Onyewu and playing a new guy who has never been a starter for the USMNT or has not played a lot for them (examples being Jones and Edu).

    It’s way too early yet to figure out just how bad the rust will be and how much it will hurt (or not).

    If the USMNT a settled, clearly established back 4, this might not be an issue, Onyewu would sit. But the back 4 is currently in chaos. If nothing else, Onyewu’s return would add some stability to the back.

    Reply
  7. hahahaha…. nicely done RedLine. Why are we even discussing Wynne? The guy is terrible. In the top 3 of worst players in our current USMNT pool. There’s a reason why the majority of time he sees on the field is during friendlies. If anyone else mentions Wynne in a another thread I may ….. well, i don’t know what I’d do. I will be very, very angry. And I’m going to write you a letter telling you how angry I am.

    Reply
  8. i believe cherundolo is ahead of spector on the depth chart, and if he isn’t he really should be.

    Personally i dislike wynne quite a bit, but he is not much of a step down from bornstein. I would consider it more of a lateral movement rather than going down. I would say they both have the same amount of downside, yet it manifests itself in different parts of their game.

    Reply
  9. Speaking as a West Ham fan, I’d personally take Spector in the RB position over Faubert any day of the week. I know it’s not Faubert’s typical position, but even Spector’s crossing abilities are far better compared to the Frenchy’s misfires.

    Spector should be head and shoulders above Bornstein in the pecking order.

    Reply
  10. She became his ex-girl after he found out about it. When the papers say she’s his ex-girl they mean now not at the time Terry was hitting it.

    Reply
  11. Ives, according to BBC: “I work for Rushcliffe Borough Council, next to the City Ground. I have just seen someone jump out of a cab who one of my colleagues identifies as Jonathan Bornstein – apparently an American international left-back.”

    Reply
  12. Is it too late to file the FIFA paperwork for Daniel Williams to play
    for the Yanks? Wishful thinking that he could line up for us vs. The Dutch next month esp.
    With ‘Dolo’s injury?

    Reply
  13. While this may be true right now, there is still a long and very tough season ahead for Villa and Man U. The English players have a much better chance than the USMNT guys of showing up at the World Cup either burnt out or inured.

    Reply
  14. Jamie,

    You must be delirious! What are you smoking.

    Everyone knows tht Boltan was relegated along with Zardoz FC,and Valerian United from the Mongo Premiership. Their owner, Ming Galarcep of Mongo is not happy. Relegation on that planet usually means death for the Captain and the manager.

    Reply
  15. The defender jumped, Jozy stayed on the ground to shield the ball on the rebound. I think the defender figured Jozy would have jumped too (which maybe he should have!), but in doing so he brought Jozy down. Big whoop, teams that draw penalties and free kicks are pretty dang successful (see Germany’s free kick that led to the goal vs the USA in WC2002, Ching’s penalty “claim” vs Mexico in 2007 Gold Cup, Brazil’s free kick that led to their first goal in the first Confed Cup game vs the USA, etc.). I don’t care how we score goals or get chances in SA….I just want loads of ’em.

    Jozy seems pretty adept at drawing penalties…..do I wish he were a more accurate striker who hit the back of the net more often instead of drilling most of his chances directly at the keeper? Sure. But at this stage he’s not. If he can draw a pen or 2 in SA, I’ll be a smug and satisfied man.

    Reply
  16. Don’t believe it. Wolgar was playing their 3rd string keeper, who had the flu and three broken fingers.

    (Incidentally, broke them punching out their slimeball captain who had been screwing his girlfriend.)

    Reply
  17. Season ticket holder at WHU. Saturday was by far Spector’s best game of the season. With a stready run of games his confidence seems to be growing. Zola even lets him make a few runs forward as well. Still think he is better suited on the right, but never the less a good game for 18.

    Reply
  18. Guys like you really shouldn’t post. You have absolutely no sense of humor and or intelligence. Everything is dead serious and about hate to you. At least go post on political boards. It will be a much better fit for you. You can hate until your heart is content.

    Reply
  19. Guys like you really shouldn’t post. You have absolutely no sense of humor and or intelligence. Everything is dead serious and about hate to you. At least go post on political boards. It will be a much better fit for you. You can hate until your heart is content.

    Reply

Leave a Comment