Top Stories

Americans Abroad: A Look Ahead

USMNTFE11112011076

photo by Florian Eisele/ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

If you came away from the U.S. men's national team friendlies wanting to see more of Fabian Johnson, you'll likely get your chance on Sunday.

Johnson should make his way back into TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's lineup when it takes on relegation-threatened Hamburg SV. Johnson has yet to score in his eight appearances this season, but he'll look to change that as Hoffenheim attempts to climb up from its ninth-place standing. Fellow U.S. international Danny Williams could also take to the field for Hoffenheim in the match.

Edson Buddle is another player to keep an eye on. Coming off a strong, goal-scoring performance against Slovenia, Buddle should be full of confidence as FC Ingolstadt 04 goes up against TSV 1860 Munich. Having failed to win a game since mid-September, Ingolstadt is in desperate need of a win as it currently sits in last place in Germany's second division.

One match-up of U.S. national team players worth watching features Jermaine Jones and Schalke taking on Timmy Chandler's FC Nurnberg. Jones didn't get much time with the United States in its recent friendlies, but he has become an integral part of Schalke's strong squad, while Chandler will look to improve on some less than stellar national team performances.

Here is who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:

FRIDAY

David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play Kaiserslautern.

Edson Buddle and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich.

Matt Taylor and SC Paderborn 07 play Luis Robles and Karlsruher SC.

SATURDAY

Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Arsenal. (Whitbread is out injured.)

Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Everton play Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Sunderland.

Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play West Bromwich Albion. (Holden is out injured.)

Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City play Peterborough United.

Daniel Potts and West Ham United play Coventry City.

Conor Doyle and Derby County play Hull City.

Robbie Findley and Nottingham Forest play Ipswich Town.

Mike Grella and Brentford play Charlton Athletic.

Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Sheffield United. (Simek is out injured.)

Anton Peterlin and Walsall play Bury.

Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers play St Johnstone.

Dominic Cervi and Greenock Morton play Deveronvale in the third round of the William Hill Scottish Cup.

Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play SC Freiburg.

Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg.

Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play VfL Wolfsburg.

Terrence Boyd and Borussia Dortmund play Bayern Munich.

Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Lorient.

Diego Restrepo and America de Cali play Millonarios.

SUNDAY

Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona play Catania.

Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Hamburg SV.

Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Alemannia Aachen.

Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play Excelsior.

Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP play Sporting Braga in the fourth round of the Taca de Portugal.

Eugene Starikov and FK Tom' Tomsk play FK Rostov-Na-Donu.

Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play St. Truiden.

Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF play FC Copenhagen.

Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Conor O'Brien and SonderjyskE.

Brad Rusin and HB Koge play Lyngby.

Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play FC Midtjylland.

Josh Gatt, Sean Cunningham and Molde FK play Sarpsborg 08.

Mix Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Haugesund.

Jose Torres and Pachuca play Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Mexico Apertura Liguilla. (Torres is out injured.)

Adrian Ruelas and Jaguares de Chiapas play Santos Laguna in the first leg of the quarterfinals of the Mexico Apertura Liguilla.

MONDAY

Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa. (Lichaj is out injured.)

————-

Which matches are you most looking forward to? Expecting Johnson to have a big game against Hamburg? Do you see Buddle finding the back of the net against TSV 1860 Munich?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. There’s not a lot too get excited about at the forward position as far as someone who can help USMNT for qualifying, Olympics or the WC in Brazil.

    Thanks to US soccers partnership with US military to father and raise half German half American kids who can infiltrate German soccer culture we now have Terrence Boyd. He looks like the physical specimen of a top American athlete except withe German technical and tactical pedigree.

    Agudelo is an exciting player but we need more options. As far as Charlie Davies, I won’t hold my breath. If he improves great but we all need to move on.

    Reply
  2. “not fantastic” meaning he’s not Xavi/Ronaldinho all rolled into one?

    He’s a better passer than 90% of the stiffs we got out there passing.
    He doesn’t show it enough, but he’s got the skills.

    Reply
  3. Seeing the Rangers’ Yanks listed harkens me back to Fulham in spring of ’07 when this could be listed: Kasey Keller, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra play…

    Reply
  4. The only person qualified, at this point, to play the “fast forward” role is Donovan. So we got that goin’ for us, which is nice…I guess.

    Reply
  5. Totally agree. If he needs to run a 4-1-3-2 to get goals, then he’ll probably need a new D-mid.

    Then again, if we can outscore teams, who cares if the opposition gets a few goals?

    Reply
  6. Do any of you soccer people know if we’ve got a blazing fast forward coming through the ranks? I mean, playing Buddle and Altidore together is all well and good, but if we’re gonna mess around with this 442 any more, we should at least get back to the Davies-Altidore type tandem that was so successful back in the CC. A lot of pro teams do it that way, so why shouldn’t we?

    Reply
  7. It’s possible that shifting to a 4-1-3-2 mightforce his hand. I don’t think Beckerman has the range to cover the territory that a single DM needs to. He’s protected more in the 4-2-3-1.

    Reply
  8. It seems Klinsman is making player management a priority with this regard, rather than putting the best team out there that gives us the best chance of winning. While this might be reasonable now, I hope he doesn’t continue to do this as we move towards more important games.

    Reply
  9. In an interview with Sporting News last week, Klinsmann said:

    **Some may say, “Why is there a Kyle Beckerman right now occupying the No. 6 (defensive midfielder) role, when we have Jermaine Jones playing for Schalke or Michael (Bradley) in Verona and they’re really good players?” Right now, what I tell (Beckerman) to do, he’s doing it 100 percent.**

    http://aol.sportingnews.com/soccer/story/2011-11-10/sporting-news-conversation-jurgen-klinsmann-explains-his-vision-for-us-soccer

    Reply
  10. The Ingolstadt coach was fired last week while Buddle was on international duty. This can only be positive, I think, Buddle, but I still would like to see Buddle get the heck out of Ingolstadt and transfer in January to a First Bundesliga team.

    The Hoffenheim game will have a whole bunch of emotion, as Hoffenheim Coach Holger Stanislawski until last year was coach of Hamburg SV’s cross-town and much hated rival St. Pauli. Earlier this year a St. Pauli team coached by Stanislawski beat Hamburg 1-0 for the first time in a million years or so, and Hamburg will be out for revenge against him. Should be a very exciting game and here’s hoping Johnson and Williams have good showings.

    Reply
  11. You’re kidding right. Kyle “I-never-saw-a-through-ball-I-didn’t-like” Beckerman is your paradigm of a nice simple sound game? The guy lumps it up field whenever he gets a chance. Neither of them are spectacular passers, but Jones is by far the more athletic of the two.

    Reply
  12. he’s not a fantastic passer, and takes some risks that I’m sure Jurgen does not want his deep lying DM to make. Beckerman, while not my favorite, plays a nice, simple, sound game which is clearly something Jurgen favors.

    Reply
  13. You’ve got to wonder why Jones hasn’t gotten more of a shot at Beckerman’s position. This is a guy playing well in that position at a top-level club. Granted, his appearances for the US haven’t all been great, but he seems to have reached his best form by a good distance since he joined the USMNT.

    Reply

Leave a Comment