There were questions early in the week as to whether Geoff Cameron would be healthy enough to play again for Stoke City before the end of the year.
Cameron not only ended up playing on Boxing Day but also impressed with a strong performance that helped Stoke pull out a victory.
Stoke claimed a 2-0 win on Saturday at home against Manchester United, and Cameron played a pivotal part in grabbing the result by turning in a 75-minute performance as a center midfielder. Cameron was solid with his distribution, and also effective in coming up with several timely tackles. The U.S. Men’s National Team veteran and 11th-placed Stoke are now four points shy of the English Premier League’s lone UEFA Europa League spot for next season.
Things did not go as smoothly for the American duo at Fulham. Tim Ream and Emerson Hyndman both earned starts for the club in its match against Derby County, but the Cottagers suffered a 2-0 defeat that extended their winless run to nine games. As if that was not bad enough, the decisive tally came via an own goal in the 52nd minute from Ream, who tried to clear a cross but misplayed it and pushed it backwards towards his own net.
A more positive result came for Tim Howard. Everton edged Newcastle United, 1-0, on the road on Saturday, and the triumph gave Howard his fifth shutout of the campaign. Howard made one save in the game, and the Toffees are now in ninth place ahead of their Monday match-up with Cameron and Stoke.
Here are how the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, and made one save in Everton’s 1-0 win vs. Newcastle United on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes, and made three saves in Aston Villa’s 1-1 draw vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
- Geoff Cameron started and played 75 minutes in Stoke City’s 2-0 win vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- DeAndre Yedlin did not dress in Sunderland’s 4-1 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
- Lynden Gooch did not dress for Sunderland.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City’s 3-0 loss vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw vs. Leeds United on Sunday.
- Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes in Reading’s 1-0 loss vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
- Tim Ream started, played 90 minutes, and scored an OWN GOAL in Fulham’s 2-0 loss vs. Derby County on Saturday.
- Emerson Hyndman started and played 71 minutes for Fulham.
- Cody Cropper dressed but did not play in Milton Keynes Dons’ 2-1 win vs. Cardiff City on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Should Cameron be getting more looks at center midfield for club and country? Surprised to see this poor run of form from Fulham?
Share your thoughts below.
Another solid performance by Cameron who does not look out of place as a holding mid in a team playing very well. He now has two excellent performances against the Manchester teams.
‘Cameron at DM’ is a good card to have in our back pocket assuming some of our younger CB prospects can develop ahead of schedule. But until then, Cameron’s improved technical ability and instincts to play out the back is just too valuable not to play him at CB. Gonzalez and Besler have consistently shown that against talent that is on par or better than the US, they just don’t trust themselves (or teammates) to play out the back. That’s just not good enough.
not sure where to post this but anyone watching the U12 La Liga Promises tournament on bein?
international tournament for the first time being held in the USA down in Florida. if you’re interested for a taste of what this age group can offer for talent and skill levels it’s a fun event to check out. 7v7 games for two 12 minute halves
cheers
Am I right assume its a U12 tourney with La Liga and maybe a few American youth clubs? Because I would love to see and compare the developmental cultures of Spanish vs American clubs. It might be a real eye-opener for what skills our kids should learning and emphasizing before puberty and growth spurts can cloud our judgement.
yep, it’s pretty cool to see. the Barca and Real Madrid clubs were the best yesterday, but the club from Chicago Fire showed well, losing 1-0 to Valencia and then thumping Mexico’s Club America 5-0. I’m not sure how many clubs are invited, maybe 16? but they come from Europe, Asia, N. America. Andres Iniesta, Gerard Piqué, Fernando Torres, Cesc Fabregas, Juan Mata and Thomas Müller all played in this tournament, among others
Ream with a goal!
So he should be the USMNT starting striker now?…
He’ll be better than Altidore…just saying