Photo by Robin Parker/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
In the same week that long-time U.S. Men’s National Team right back Steve Cherundolo retired, two players staked their claims as his potential long-term successor.
Geoff Cameron likely further convinced U.S. head coach Jurgen Klinsmann that he is a more than capable right back by turning in another solid performance that included a goal in Stoke City’s 4-1 rout of Aston Villa on Sunday. Cameron netted the final goal in the victory at Villa Park, making a late run into the penalty area and hitting a composed finish past fellow American Brad Guzan to notch his second of tally the season.
Fabian Johnson was the other player to make an impact for his club. Johnson, who was again playing as a right back for Hoffenheim, set up the game-winning goal in a 3-2 triumph vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday. The assist marked the second straight week in which Johnson has directly helped create a goal.
It was not all good news, however. Aron Johannsson missed out on a chance to add to his impressive goal-scoring total this season by having a penalty kick saved in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win vs. PEC Zwolle, Jose Torres left played just 32 minutes for Tigres UANL before coming off with an injury, and Hertha Berlin’s defense conceded three goals in a defeat that came in John Brooks’ return to the starting lineup.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Everton’s 3-2 win vs. Swansea City on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in Sunderland’s 2-0 loss vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
- Geoff Cameron started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Stoke City’s 4-1 win vs. Aston Villa on Sunday.
- Brek Shea dressed but did not play for Stoke City.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa’s 4-1 loss vs. Stoke City on Sunday.
- Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham Hotspur’s 3-2 win vs. Southampton on Sunday.
- Cody Cropper did not dress in Southampton’s 3-2 loss vs. Tottenham Hotspur on Sunday.
- Sebastian Lletget did not dress in West Ham United’s 2-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Oguchi Onyewu started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday’s 1-0 loss vs. Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.
- Danny Williams did not dress in Reading’s 2-1 win vs. Birmingham City on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Duane Holmes dressed but did not play in Huddersfield Town’s 1-0 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
- Will Packwood started and played 90 minutes Birmingham City’s 2-1 loss vs. Reading on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes for Birmingham City.
- Tim Ream started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-2 draw vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Eric Lichaj did not dress in Nottingham Forest’s 5-0 loss vs. Derby County on Saturday. He is recovering from a groin injury.
- Zak Whitbread dressed but did not play in Derby County’s 5-0 win vs. Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
- Gboly Ariyibi did not dress in Leeds United’s 2-1 win vs. Millwall on Saturday.
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-2 win vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm1uhbliYGc]
- John Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 3-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler did not dress in FC Nurberg’s 5-2 loss vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-2 loss vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday.
Bundesliga 2
- Alfredo Morales started and played 90 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04’s 0-0 draw vs. St Pauli on Saturday.
- Bobby Wood dressed but did not play in TSV 1860 Munich’s 1-0 loss vs. Kaiserslautern on Sunday.
- Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played eight minutes in FSV Frankfurt’s 0-0 draw vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
FRANCE
- Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 39 minutes in FC Nantes’ 2-1 win vs. Montpellier on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Aron Johannsson started, played 73 minutes and failed to convert a penalty kick in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 win vs. PEC Zwolle on Sunday.
- Juan Agudelo and FC Utrecht did not play this weekend.
TURKEY
- Jermaine Jones came off the bench and played 37 minutes in Besiktas’ 3-0 win vs. Akhisar Belediyespor Sunday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht did not play this weekend.
DENMARK
- Conor O’Brien came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Odense BK’s 2-1 win vs. Brondby IF on Sunday.
- Babajide Ogunbiyi came off the bench in second-half stoppage time in Viborg FF’s 1-0 loss vs. FC Vestsjaelland on Friday.
AUSTRIA
- Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 3-0 win vs. Wolfsberger AC on Saturday.
MEXICO
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes in Puebla’s 3-1 loss vs. Club Tijuana on Saturday.
- Michael Orozco started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card for Puebla.
- Jose Torres started and played 32 minutes before coming off with an injury in Tigres UANL’s 2-0 loss vs. Queretaro on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Atlante’s 2-1 win vs. Toluca on Sunday.
- Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 3-1 win vs. Puebla on Friday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench, played 15 minutes and received a yellow card for Club Tijuana.
- Joe Corona dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Greg Garza dressed but did not play for Club Tijuana.
- Paul Arriola did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Alejandro Guido did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Fernando Arce Jr did not dress for Club Tijuana.
- Joaquin Alonso Hernandez dressed but did not play in Monterrey’s 2-1 win vs. Pumas UNAM on Sunday.
- Gabriel Farfan did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas’ 2-0 loss vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
- Michael Farfan dressed but did not play in Cruz Azul’s 0-0 draw vs. Club Leon on Saturday.
—–
What do you think of these performances? Would you prefer to see Cameron or Johnson at right back for the USMNT? Which piece of bad news (Johannsson’s missed penalty kick, Torres’ knock, Hertha’s showing in Brooks’ return) is most concerning to you?
Share your thoughts below.
For all the frustration that JK has caused most of us, I can say two things we take for granted, in international competitions he gets it right: He did for Germany, He did for us in the Gold Cup, we won our qualifying group, and he doesn’t lose at home and he has put us in a great position to succeed. With much of the difficulty in the Ukraine game, that is actually a hard game for any player to play in… Ukraine was going thru turmoil at home, so they have a reason to get up for the game, and the US isn’t in an environment that gets you up for the game.
just got an email that Green’s switched has been approved.
After the good games from Cameron and Fabian Johnson over the weekend can we please end the incessant whining and hand-wringing about the USMNT fullback situation heading into Brazil. As long as Cameron and F. Johnson are healthy, we are rock solid at starting right back and left back. I missed the first part of the game with his alleged mistake that contributed to Aston Villa’s goal. If it was indeed his mistake, well, stuff happens even agaisnt world-class right backs and three-quarters into the PL season Cameron has generally been strong on defense against some of the best attackers in the world. Otherwise, he would not still be a starter.
As for team play, Stoke was incredibly good, playing the beautiful game under Mark Hughes. This is not the same Stoke team so many of us hated in the past. This can only mean good things for Cameron and we can hope soon for Shea because an in form Shea would be a huge asset for Brazil and then next year Agudelo can start developing at Stoke. Wish Jozy would have gone to Stoke instead of Sunderland.
Great to see JJ-Y get some meaningful minutes in Turkey. Hopefully he will soon win a starting slot for his club. A strong Jermain Jones is a key asset for the USMNT.
+1. Good call Biff. Now we just need JK to actually play our inevitable back 4 together.
Klinsmann-the-Tinkerer loves to surprise with his lineups, but even though with the contract extension and the Group of Death he will be teflon coated if the USMNT does not make it out of group, he nonetheless is a fierce competitor and no doubt in my mind is aching for success. So in the end, I expect him to yield to common sense and start our best two fullbacks in Brazil at—fullback.
When the world is crashing down around me, I can always count on JJ getting a yellow within 20 minutes of coming on. Something for me to hang on to.
he also had a would-be goal saved off the line.
Uhm, anyone else worried that our only consistent CBs are both outside looking in players in the Championship. Onyewu and Ream are the only CBs playing well week in and week out (see recent MLS faliures against Liga MX) and one of them is an old vet and the other is player who hasnt been capped in quite some time. Headaches for JK.
There’s a pretty long list of worries at this point, but yes that’s probably one of them as well.
I think everyone is worried about the consistency of our CBs. Personally, given the opposition we face in Brazil, I think there is no bigger concern.
Our first-choice CBs both play in MLS. If we’re starting Gooch and Ream in the world cup, we have big problems.
what is the deal with the constant lack of info regarding Liga MX games on these recaps? Gomez, Beasley, and Castillo each got assists…
The only goal and Assist came from defenders
I know this is kind of different but can you make an MLS version of American weekend Rewind? A lot of american players in MLS now and it’ll be cool to see there progress all on one page rather than clicking on every box score of every MLS game with a USMNT player.
+1
Hmmm, they would have to do active national team players only. A more random Americans in the MLS. Otherwise you get stuff like
Marcus Hahnemann – dressed but did not play
+2
6-7 starters now, and easily half of the 23. I would be interesting to hear a quick synapse on how these guys did individually in there games.
Cameron was also responsible for getting beat on that goal Stoke gave up.
hater………
you left out how he got one back for his club by scoring. so he’s even on the day….. stop the hating…
Why is Roy a Hater?
huh…fair observer? interesting name. not hating, just making an accurate observation.
Cameron’s problem isn’t getting beat, it’s miss reading a pass and trying to intercept it. He just needs to learn you can ‘t take those kind of chances in your own end. When he just keeps everything in front of him as he did the rest of the match he was fine.
Cameron made the BPL best XI for some publications.
Anyone see how Brooks looked? I’m guessing not good…
Wasn’t really at fault on the first 2, perhaps could have done more on the last one. Was at least more aggressive and proactive. Something to build on at least.
Germany
Regionalliga, Bavaria Division
Julian Green started and played 90 minutes for Bayern II in a 2-2 tie at Aschoffenburg. Green did not score a goal but he received his first yellow card of the season.
Wait. I thought we were getting a winger. Yellow cards…. This sounds like Jermaine Jones.
except it was his first yellow card of the season………. JJ probably only last 3 games into the season before getting his….
he got one today after being on for about 20 minutes
JG90Y!!!
In his press interview after the match Bayern II head coach, Hermann (the German) Gerland said: “Julian Green is our best player but today he seemed to lack concentration, like that yellow card he picked up at the 40 minute mark.”
“It was like he’s thinking about something else, his mind did not seem to be totally into the game. He has been like this for the last week. Of course, this happens to young players. Maybe he has a new girlfriend or something” I think I will talk to Pep about it,”
You are becoming one of my favorite trolls.
So I just noticed that Fernando Arce’s son is listed here for TJ, does any one have any info on him? Has he spoken about representing the US?
http://owhentheyanks.com/2014/01/14/top-prospect-fernando-arce-jr/
Thanks Michael. Guess I have another American playing in Mexico to pay attention to. Wonder if not wanting to be compared to his father influences his decision on national teams.
It would be so cool to see father and son play against each other, but Arce was always a mediocre player.
My understanding is Arce wants Jr to play for the US.
Arce Jr is a lot taller then his Dad. That is a plus too.