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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Alejandro Bedoya (Getty Images)

By FRANCO PANIZO

Alejandro Bedoya is beginning to make a compelling case for why he should be included in one of the U.S. Men’s National Team’s rosters this summer.

Bedoya continued his run of good form at the start of the Allsvenskan campaign, scoring the goal that sparked Helsingborg to a 5-1 rout of Gefle on Saturday. Helsingborg fell behind early, but Bedoya tucked a way a left-footed shot to the far post from a tough angle just after the half-hour mark to pull his club level. The goal was Bedoya’s second of the season and fourth in April, with the two others having come in Svenska Cupen play.

Another player who added to his recent string of good performances was Jozy Altidore. The 23-year-old striker put in a Man of the Match-worthy outing on Friday, scoring two goals and assisting on another in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 mauling of SC Heerenveen. Altidore’s goals, one of which came on a picture-perfect free kick, give him 30 across all competitions this season – a record for an American playing abroad – and all but assured AZ another year in the Eredivisie.

Fabian Johnson may not have found the back of the net but he did find a way to make a big contribution for relegation-threatened Hoffenheim. Deployed as a left midfielder against Timmy Chandler, Johnson delivered the assist on the early opener in Hoffenheim’s 2-1 win over Nurnberg on Saturday. The win gave Hoffenheim some hope of avoiding the drop, as they are now three points away from safety with three matches left to play.

Here’s how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Geoff Cameron came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 win vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
  • Brek Shea did not dress for Stoke City.
  • Sebastian Lletget did not dress in West Ham United’s 2-1 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Tottenham’s 2-2 draw vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play for Tottenham.
  • Tim Howard started and played 90 minutes in Everton’s 1-0 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Sunderland on Monday.
  • Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Sunderland on Monday.

Championship

  • Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 3-1 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City. He is recovering from a leg injury.
  • Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 2-1 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden came off the bench and played one minute in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw vs. Cardiff City on Saturday.
  • Tim Ream dressed but did not play for Bolton Wanderers.
  • Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Leceister City’s 2-1 loss vs. Watford on Friay.

League One

  • Frank Simek dressed but did not play in Carlisle United’s 2-0 loss vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Scunthorpe United’s 3-1 win vs. Swindon Town on Saturday.

SPAIN

La Liga

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in Malaga CF’s 2-1 win vs. Getafe on Sunday.

Segunda Division

  • Carlos Bocanega started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Racing Santander’s 2-1 loss vs. Barcelona B on Friday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in AS Roma’s 4-0 win vs. Siena on Sunday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 2-1 win vs. FC Nurnberg on Saturday.
  • Danny Williams did not dress for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
  • Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 2-1 loss vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenhim on Saturday.
  • Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Augsburg’s 3-0 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones started and played 81 minutes in Schalke 04′s 4-1 win vs. Hamburg SV on Sunday.
  • David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 1-0 win vs. Werder Bremen on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96′s 3-2 win vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Friday.

2. Bundesliga

  • Joe Gyau came off the bench and played 18 minutes in St Pauli’s 3-2 loss vs. Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
  • John Anthony Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 3-2 win vs. St Pauli on Sunday.
  • Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes for Hertha Berlin.
  • Andrew Wooten started and played 90 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 1-0 loss vs. VfL Bochum on Friday.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played eight minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-1 draw vs. FC Cologne on Sunday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Jozy Altidore started, played 90 minutes, had an ASSIST and scored TWO GOALS in AZ Alkmaar’s 4-0 win vs. SC Heerenveen on Friday.

PORTUGAL

  • Tony Taylor dressed but did not play in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 2-1 win vs. Braga on Friday.
  • Caleb Patterson-Sewell did not dress in Vitoria Setubal’s 2-0 loss vs. FC Porto on Saturday.

RUSSIA

  • Eugen Starikov did not dress in FK Rostov’s 3-1 loss vs. Lokomotiv Moscow on Saturday.

TURKEY

  • Maurice Edu started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Bursaspor’s 1-1 draw vs. Akhisar Belediye on Saturday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht’s 2-1 loss vs. Club Brugge in the playoffs on Sunday.

DENMARK

  • Clarence Goodson did not dress in Brondby IF’s 2-1 win vs. Odense BK on Sunday.
  • Charlie Davies came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Randers FC’s 1-0 loss vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.
  • Conor O’Brien did not dress in FC Nordsjaelland’s 2-2 draw vs. SonderjyskE on Saturday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd came off the bench and played 21 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 3-1 loss vs. Red Bull Salzburg on Saturday.

SWEDEN

  • Alejandro Bedoya started, played 81 minutes and scored a GOAL in Helsingborg IF’s 5-1 win vs. Gefle IF on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sa7jbOe1Pro?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Brian Span came off the bench and played nine minutes in Djurgarden IF’s 1-0 loss vs. Syrianska FC on Saturday.

NORWAY

  • Josh Gatt started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Molde FK’s 2-1 loss vs. Stromsgodset on Sunday.
  • Mix Diskerud started and played 73 minutes in Rosenborg BK’s 1-0 loss vs. Sandnes Ulf on Sunday.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 1-1 draw vs. Sarpsborg 08 on Sunday. 

MEXICO

  • Herculez Gomez started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Santos Laguna’s 1-0 loss vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
  • Benji Joya did not dress for Santos Laguna.
  • Joaquin Alonso Hernandez did not dress in Monterrey’s 1-0 win vs. Tigres UANL on Saturday.
  • Michael Orozco Fiscal started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 1-1 draw vs. Atlas on Sunday.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes for Puebla.
  • Jose Torres started and played 90 minutes in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 loss vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress for Tigres UANL.
  • Edgar Castillo did not dress in Club Tijuana’s 1-0 loss vs. San Luis on Saturday. He was suspended due to the red card he received last weekend.
  • Joe Corona did not dress for Club Tijuana. He was suspended due to the red card he received last weekend.
  • Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Alejandro Guido dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
  • Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 4-2 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.

BRAZIL

  • Freddy Adu did not dress in Bahia’s 2-1 loss vs. Vitoria in the Baiano group stages on Sunday.

—–

What do you think of these performances? Which USMNT roster would you like to see Bedoya on this summer? How impressed are you by Altidore’s latest performance and his season overall?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Brek Shea’s too-early jump across the Big Pond continues to look more and more like a Gooch-class train wreck of a career move. Just what the perpetually sputtering U.S. National Team offense doesn’t need — another skillful and potentially valuable attacking player super-glued to the bench at his club team!

    Reply
    • Nah, Brek needed to get a glimpse of the big show. It’s a minor setback that he couldn’t make an immediate impact but we should reserve judgement until hes had a full off/pre season to heal and acclimate

      Reply
    • Brek’s move was great. He needed to challenge himself and mature. He’s doing both. All this talk about our boys going too soon is us being afraid that our players won’t make it. For most, if they fail, it’s because they never had it. Donovan is the only one who failed, but would have succeeded if his head was stronger.

      Shea was never going to start for them consistently after coming off a foot injury and no preseason, on a team that somehow ended up fighting relegation a bit. He was played early more out of desperation than Shea impressing – in my mind.

      Shea is there for the future. Stoke need attackers, this season proved that. We’ll see him come August.

      Reply
  2. Nightmare start to the season for Molde, but maybe they’ll take a lesson from last year’s Galaxy.

    Also, anyone have a report on how Morales played? He went the whole 90′ in a win, but they let in 2 goals against a low table team. He’s worked his way into some decent minutes this year, so I’d say it’s overall a good sign.

    I’ve also liked what I’ve seen from him for the U.S., both U-23 and in limited minutes against Canada. Maybe JK will put him on the Gold Cup roster despite the MLS-heavy claims.

    Reply
    • i thought morales did alright at d-mid; was more impressed with JAB. neither morales nor JAB were at fault for either of st. pauli’s goals: one was a neat 1-2 to get past the right back, and the other was a pk from the hertha berlin keeper punching some guy in the face.

      was a really fun game to watch. not an impressive outing from gyau though; he seemed more interested in taking people on than making the smart pa$$.

      Reply
      • and a note on JAB: i’m not sure he’s ready for the full usmnt (i’ve been hearing some people wanting to call him up).

        he’s very good at clean-up, and his positioning is good for his age, but some of the messes have been of his own making. i do think he’s very promising, and i’d love to see him at the gold cup where he could at least get integrated with some of the first team guys.

  3. interesting to see several college players playing in Scandinavia. why can’t MLS match the wages for these kids? all they want is like 100-150 K. surely MLS can match it

    Reply
    • MLS is not going to drop 100k-150k on a starting salary for an untested player out of college. They’ve done that in the past and it hasn’t worked well. At least that’s the argument I’ve heard as to why they don’t offer competitive contracts.

      Reply
      • i would imagine GA contracts are in the range. I don’t recall if Bedoya was offered one but i know Jones declined because he wanted to play on the other continent.. can’t change that.

    • Why stop at 150k? How about 500k? MLS could raid Liga MX and get even better players. Isn’t it fun playing with other peoples money?

      Reply
  4. The idea of Donovan on the right and Fabian on the left is very interesting. I believe Biff wrote yesterday that Johnson actually played a lot centrally as well.

    Sure would be nice to get 9 points in June. Probably a little greedy, but if winning in Jamaica and then two home games is doable. 13 points after 6 games would be very nice.

    Reply
    • hey, byrdman. You can see in the video above that Fabian makes his pass for the assist from the right hand side. And other highlights I saw he seemed to be mostly playing central attacking midfielder.

      In any case, the Nurnberg defender on the first goal who is three steps behind the play to let the goal scorer hit the back of the net is none other than Timothy Chandler, who also gets caught out on the second goal. Timothy apparently once again had an awful day at the office. Nonetheless, I see fans up above continuing to pencil in Chandler as being good enough not only to be our starting right back, but heck, why not left back, although we Edgar Castillo who is a better left back than Chandler. I honestly think DeMarcus Beasely would be a better left back then Chandler and I know that both Dolo and Cameron are better at right back than Chandler.

      I am totally perplexed by the love affair with Chandler of some fans when we have better players? There is only one reason I can think of that some fans are illogically rating him as top of the fullback depth chart.

      I will say that in past months I have not supported moving Fabian up to attacking midfielder. I am still not entirely convinced, but let’s just say after yesterday’s showing in Hoffenheim I am much more open to the switch if the bossman thinks it’s a good idea, although I would rather see Fabian at left back behind (and overlapping) Demarcus Beasley at left wing. I think that would be more productive.

      Reply
      • People think Chandler is a starter at RB because he is a German league starter on a very good defensive team and has been for two years. Cherundolo may still be the starter for 2014 or, given his aging frame, may not. Cameron plays about every position it seems so as a pure RB, it is very reasonable to figure Chandler will be a starter.

        At LB, meh…Fabian is probably the best we have…and that ain’t bad.

      • Chandler had been being playing on the right wing for over month before this last game. He never really made an impact and appears to be playing right back again. Its hard to tell just how settled into a role he is for Nuremberg.

      • The infatuation with Chandler is due to his past performances months ago (was it a year?) when he was destroying the position. His best was better than anyone else’s, and if fan’s haven’t seen him lately or think the last nats game was a fluke (when he was terrible) then they rate him higher than Castillo who, ATM, is better than Chandler.

      • +1.

        i think i’ve tried telling biff this before: when chandler made his first appearances for the usmnt, he not only had his side constantly locked down, but he contributed to the attack as well. he was (for us and possibly germany as well) the undisputed future at right back.

        it’s only the past year or so that he’s been poor. i still hold out hope for him, as i do for lichaj; but for the present, there are certainly better options.

      • “I am totally perplexed by the love affair with Chandler of some fans when we have better players? There is only one reason I can think of that some fans are illogically rating him as top of the fullback depth chart.”

        Of course you are perplexed. Your frequently displayed personal prejudice against Chandler clouds whatever ability you have to objectively evaluate players or the ongoing dynamics of a player pool.

        The old saying is “form is temporary but class is permanent”. In English that means just because a player is going through a bad spell for whatever reason it does not mean they are necessarily inferior to another player who happens to be in better form at the moment.

        For example, Donovan is a far superior player to Zusi, but at the moment Graham is playing better for the US. However, should LD get his mojo back, his superior class will show.

        More to the point, for a while there Cameron, as a right back, was in better form than Chandler so you play him ahead of Timmy. However, that is most likely, though not necessarily, temporary.

        Chandler, during his first series of games for the USMNT and in his subsequent run of games since becoming a starter for Nurmberg showed himself to be a fundamentally superior soccer player to Cameron in almost every way. Geoff may be a bit better in the air but Timmy is a fundamentally superior fullback.

        Does that mean Timmy should play before Cameron? Not if Chandler isn’t playing well. However sooner or later Cameron’s form will slip.

        Once or maybe if, Chandler gets his head on straight, and Dolo gets healthy and back in form, it should become clear that he, Dolo and Fabian Johnson are the best right backs in the US pool. As far as I’m concerned, if everyone is healthy and in good form, Dolo at right back, Chandler at left back and Fabian on the right or left side of midfield would be the best use of these three.

        Cameron is a very gifted athlete who is smart enough and athletic enough to give you an EPL level, temporary, impersonation of a midfielder/centerback/ fullback on both sides. There is a tendency on SBI to look down on utility players but for Cameron, considering he got to the EPL a little older than usual, it is probably what got him a job with Stoke.

        My guess is this is why Pulis bought him in the first place. Perhaps when he saw Cameron he was reminded of an old favorite of mine, John O’Shea, currently of Sunderland, who made a career out of doing for Manchester United what Cameron is now doing for Stoke and the USMNT.

        O’Shea did his utility thing for the Red Devils for about 12 years. He never did settle on a permanent position and had a great career. SAF loved him. Look him up, you’d be amazed at the similarities. I’m sure Cameron or anyone would be happy to last half as long as O’Shea did.

  5. Moving Fabian Johnson to the midfield if Dolo and Chandler are healthy is worth considering to provide some width for an attacking spark. Finding the right mix isn’t easy with some positions well stocked (right back and CM) while other positions are pretty barren (both wide midfield positions).

    Reply
  6. MB goes 90 as Roma deploys the 4-2-3-1, Fabian Johnson plays LW (also in a 4-2-3-1), and Jones returns and goes 80. Wondering if the MNT could deploy something like this over the next few games.
    _________Altidore___________
    F. Johnson__Dempsey__Donovan
    _______Bradley__Jones_____
    Chandler_Gonzo_Cameron_Dolo
    _________Howard__________

    Reply
    • Possibly. Klinsmann will have some player positions to think about going forward.

      I do think Besler and Gonzo will start at CB. Cameron never plays CB and has recently become a bench player.

      Reply
    • why not castillo instead of chandler at left back? he’s actually been playing well (and in that exact position) this season. other than that, i really like it.

      Reply
    • Wow..I like that line-up. I always thought that johnson was great at bombing down the wing as a midfielder like he did against Slovenia rather than at RB.

      Reply
    • I like it, but I worry about the right side. Not sure that Dolo and Donovan are in form enough at this point.

      Reply

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