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Soccer Sunday: Your Running Commentary

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By BRYAN ROBISON

Clint Dempsey will likely make his debut for Tottenham Hotspur, as they play host to Reading today. Dempsey, who was acquired by the London club on the final day of the transfer window, has yet to play this season due to holding out and not playing for Fulham in the first handful of matches to open the year. Dempsey, who played twice in the span of five days for USMNT against Jamaica, will likely see his first playing time as a subsitute off the bench.

Another American playing for Tottenham is Brad Friedel, who will continue his normal routine of having his name announced during the starting lineups, as the American goalkeeper will extend his record consecutive starts streak to 308. Friedel continues to barely hold off recent Tottenham signee Hugo Lloris, who also joined the club during the final day of the transfer window.

Elsewhere in Italy, Inter Milan will look to return to form after struggling in a 3-1 loss to Roma two weeks ago, as they take on Torino. The Roman club will also be on the pitch Sunday, as they travel north to take on Bologna.

Genoa will look to continue their strong start to the season, as they travel to Turin to take on defending Serie A champions Juventus in a pivotal early-season matchup.

Enjoy the action. (Today's TV schedule is after the jump):

Today's soccer on TV:

8:30 a.m. – ESPN3.com – AZ Alkmaar vs. Roda JC

9 a.m. – beIN Sport 1 – Roma vs. Bologna

9 a.m. - beIN Sport Ã± – Genoa vs. Juventus

9 a.m. – Univision Deportes – Stade Rennes vs. Lorient

9:30 a.m. – GOLTV – Freiburg vs. Hoffenheim

10:30 a.m. – Fox Soccer Channel – Reading vs. Tottenham

11 a.m. – beIN Sport 1/Univision Deportes – Lyon vs. Ajaccio

11:30 a.m. – GOLTV – Eintracht Frankfurt vs. Hamburg

1 p.m. – Univision – Pumas vs. San Luis

1 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Duke vs. Miami (women)

1 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Wake Forest vs. Florida State (women)

1:30 p.m. – GOLTV – Neza vs. Necaxa

2 p.m. – ESPNU/ESPN3.com – Missouri vs. South Carolina (women)

2 p.m. – ESPN3.com – Alabama vs. LSU (women)

2:40 p.m. – beIN Sport 1/beIN Sport Ã± - Torino vs. Inter Milan

3:30 p.m. – GOLTV – Cruzeiro vs. Vasco de Gama

5:30 p.m. – GOLTV – Flamengo vs. Gremio

7 p.m. – Univision Deportes – Atlante vs. Tijuana

7:30 p.m. – GOLTV – Velez Sarsfield vs. River Plate

Comments

  1. THANK YOU for providing much-needed perspective! Unless you’re Lionel Messi (and even then it doesn’t hurt…), a forward needs a midfield that’s capable of stringing together dangerous passes and getting the ball to you where you have a chance to score.

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  2. I think looking back in a few years, the Who was Better: Herc or Jozy debate is going to look silly as Altidore makes it pretty clear it was never really a contest (at least in terms of talent).

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  3. I think Klins starts Herc. Herc seems to fit better within Klins’ system. Agree with you completely on their talent levels. Herc is crafty, a fighter, and a good finisher, but he just doesn’t have Jozy’s raw talent, youth, physical presence and now that Jozy is putting it all together…

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  4. “Those who question his work ethic clearly don’t understand how much he has to work just to get on the field.”

    Absolutely. At best the “lazy altidore” accusations were drawn from conjecture. Too many gossip queens these days.

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  5. With the whole Jozy/Herc debate, I have to say I’m a bit confused why we can’t play both. Let’s play the attacking style JK claims he wants in a diamond.

    Jozy and Herc
    —–Clint—-
    LD——–Bradley
    Fab Boca Cam Dolo

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  6. I was about to add this – it’s what gives him the leg up. I hope we see him get time today (and score!) and that he regains full fitness quickly.

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  7. The president of Hoffenheim last week during the international break gave mixed support for Coach Markus Babbel. He said it would be crazy to fire a coach after three or four games, but then gave sort of a vague statement that you gotta give a coach eight to 10 games before making a decision like that. The loss today is a classic case of the glass half full, as Hoffenheim finally showed some offense and scored three goals–but allowed five goals.

    Despite the president saying a coach needs 8-10 games, owner and Klinsmann buddy Dietmar Hopp is not afraid to fire coaches and Babbel is no doubt on thin ice and if he does not get a win within two or three games, I would not be surprised to see him axed. Next week is Hannover, which is playing great right now and he could probably survive that loss, but then comes beatable teams Stuttgart and Augsburg. If he is not fired sooner, I think the key game will be Augsburg at home. He loses that, I don’t see how he can survive.

    There appear to be some internal problems on the team. Last season’s captain RB Andreas Beck appears to be in the dog house and was on the bench today. And some other players are apparently not getting along so well and Babbel got rid of several very good players. He personally lobbied for and brought bad boy former national team goalkeeper Tim Wiese from Bremen, although GK fan favorite Tom Starke was doing a good job. And, unbelievably, although Starke’s contract was valid to June 2013, Hoffenheim said they would let him leave on a free transfer and lo and behold FC Bayern swoops in and signs Starke as Manual Neuer’s back-up. And then Babbel names the new guy on the team — Tim Wiese — captain and he brought in a couple of older central defenders from Eintracht Frankfurt that some fans could not understand and on and on…

    Really a bummer for a USMNT fan. My feeling is that Joe Gyau was lucky to get the gig in St. Pauli and out of Hoffenheim and the great thing is St. Pauli has an option on Gyau for a second year. I don’t know details of why Gyau was offered the chance to go out on loan. It surprised me because he was playing a lot and playing well for the Hoffenheim first team in pre-season.

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  8. Disagree. Jozy’s touch is better, he has turn moves and hold up skills, and he scores higher quality goals. From what I’ve seen, Herc is not a great passer. Even on the goal at Jamaica, he missed Deuce wide open and shot it instead. Jozy’s experience with AZ has made him an excellent passer. He has made some excellent hold up layoffs for teammates with USMNT that have led to goals and chances. Look at the layoff to Deuce in Italy. Not taking anything away from Herc. Weirdly enough, I think Herc is actually better in the air, despite Jozy’s size advantage. They just have different strengths. Herc is not just a garbage,an by any stretch, but Jozy’s technical skills are vastly underrated.

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  9. Then you should always be very proud of Jozy. He went abroad a kid and through a dizzing array of teams, managers and countries has managed to persevere and succeed.

    If you’ve never had to move to a foreign culture for a job you can’t appreciate how difficult it can be. I have and I have nothing but respect for Jozy and all the others who have done so.

    Those who question his work ethic clearly don’t understand how much he has to work just to get on the field. And most of that is based on a comment by Ian Dowie, when Jozy was at Hull. I would say Verbeek is a much better coach than Dowie.

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  10. When players like Gatt and Gyau get integrated into the USMNT fold in the next three or for years, and Shea and Bedoya regain form, Jozy could end up being the national team goal scoring machine everyone’s always wanted him to be.

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  11. I agree.

    Who’s to say he wouldn’t have had a great game in Kingston if the team were actually capable of getting him a few balls.

    Yes, he played lazy in Columbus. While it’s not an excuse, I can see that his benching has affected him. From his perspective, it probably seems like he was benched for no reason, and at his age, after being the #1 choice for so long, it’s gotta be hard.

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  12. Tactically speaking, Bale might make the most sense. He’s a bit redundant with Lennon on the other flank offering pace in behind and crossing, and looking better overall right now. Dempsey could come in for Siggurdson but I’m not sure that happens after the great pass he offered for the assist.

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  13. TomG I think you are WAY shortchanging Her. You don’t fight your way to playing time in Mexico because of your work rate. Her is better passer, and has better technique than Jozy (although it is true that Jozy’s technique is much improved since he went to Holland). The style played by AZ has forced Jozy to play a more technical game and learn to involve his teammates with his passes- areas of his game that are light years better than when he left MLS- but that doesn’t necessarily translate into good hold up play. for the USA against Jamaica he wanted to play one twos and flick one and generally start the fast break. This is what he does for AZ, but is the opposite of what we needed right then, which was good hold up play.

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  14. Ugh…Hoffenheim have allowed 15 in four games. 3 losses in the league after the embarassment of losing to a 4th tier club in the cup.

    Not sure how many you can directly fault FJ or Williams (who hasn’t been a full-time starter) for, but a record that bad doesn’t reflect well on anybody.

    Somebody who knows German go read the papers and tell me how close the club is to a manager change. Can’t be far, I imagine. It’s not a big club and certainly not one who can afford to fall far behind early.

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  15. Pretty fair assessment. I’m such a Herc fan but Altidore is going to be (or is now) a more complete talent. That said, Herc is a garbageman and there is just no substitute for the uncanny knack of being in the right place. Hell, Inzaghi made a HOF career out of just that.

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  16. I agree 100 percent. I saw a Jozy that was hungry to score more goals and play football when he came on versus Jamaica. While his teammtes were in a different mindset of just killing off the game. One has to think that a 100 percent Macth fit Dempsey in a with drawn striker role and Jozy as the main striker will be the starting tandem against Antigua. I am a big fan of Herc, but he is not as talented as Jozy.

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  17. Jozy and Herc are an interesting contrast. Jozy better technically, stronger, better hold up player, better passer, harder shot, while Herc has a fantastic workrate and makes incredibly smart runs. On the road in CONCACAF, on shabby pitches where USA is playing conservative and looking for a draw, Herc is probably the better option b/c he can create something with sheer hard work, but at home, on a decent pitch, with USA creating service, Jozy is your best option for finishing.

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