by FRANCO PANIZO
If there was any doubt about Michael Bradley having returned to his top form, he surely killed off that uncertainty this weekend.
Bradley capped off his impressive October on Saturday, starting and going the distance in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-2 victory over Hamburg SV. Bradley's 90-minute performance was his fourth straight at the club level, and comes after his rough start to the season.
Bradley's performance was one of several bright spots for Americans Abroad this weekend. Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw, while Clint Dempsey and Clarence Goodson each scored in their respective matches. Goalkeeper Dom Cervi also donned the Celtic kit as the Scottish power's back-up goalkeeper this week.
Here is how the rest of the Americans Abroad fared this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Everton's 1-1 draw vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Jozy Altidore came off the bench, played 31 minutes and received a yellow card in Hull City 's 2-0 loss vs. Burnley on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Fulham's 3-1 win vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 3-1 win vs. Liverpool on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in West Ham's 2-2 draw vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Everton on Saturday.
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Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Everton on Saturday.
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Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-2 draw vs. Stoke City on Saturday.
COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP
- Jay DeMerit did not dress in Watford's 5-0 loss vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday. He is recovering from an eye injury.
- Frank Simek started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw vs. Bristol City on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Ian Joyce dressed but did not play in Southend United's 1-0 win vs. Gillingham on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 2-1 win vs. Colchester United on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 4-0 win vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson did not dress in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-1 win vs. Bristol Rovers on Saturday.
- Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 17 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 3-2 loss vs. Walsall on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 1-0 first half lead vs. Dundee United on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury, and the game was abandonded at halftime due to weather conditions.
- DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play in Rangers' 1-0 first half lead vs. Dundee United on Sunday. The game was abandoned at halftime due to weather conditions.
- Dominic Cervi dressed but did not play in Celtic's 3-0 win vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 2-0 win vs. Parma on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 3-2 win vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 1-0 win vs. FC Cologne on Saturday.
- Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 1-0 win vs. FC Cologne on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-2 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper came off the bench and played 15 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-0 loss vs. Kaiserslautern on Sunday.
- Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 1-0 win vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Sunday.
- Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in FSV Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. FC Union Berlin on Friday.
- David Yeldell did not dress in TUS Koblenz's 3-0 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Sunday.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Stade Rennes' 3-0 loss vs. Valenciennes on Sunday.
Portugal
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 1-1 draw vs. FC Porto on Friday.
- Kamani Hill and Vitoria de Guimaraes play Academica de Coimbra on Monday.
Denmark
- Benny Feilhaber started and played 75 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 2-2 draw vs. FC Midtjylland on Saturday.
- Jeremiah White started and played 82 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 2-2 draw vs. FC Midtjylland on Saturday.
- Danny Califf did not play in FC Midtjylland's 2-2 draw vs. AGF Aarhus on Saturday.
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 loss vs. Brondby on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy and Aalborg play Odense BK on Monday.
Norway
- Troy Perkins started and played 90 minutes in Valerenga's 2-0 loss vs. IK Start on Sunday.
- Mikkel Diskerud dressed but did not play in Stabaek's 3-1 win vs. Sandefjord on Sunday.
- Clarence Goodson started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in IK Start's 2-0 win vs. Valerenga on Sunday.
- Hunter Freeman started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 2-0 win vs. Valerenga on Sunday.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 89 minutes in Orebro SK's 1-1 draw vs. Trelleborg on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Francisco Torres started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca's 1-1 draw vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in San Luis' 3-0 loss vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Tigres UANL's 2-2 draw vs. U.A. de G. on Saturday.
- Marco Vidal dressed but did not play in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 2-0 loss vs. Puebla on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Happy to see Bradley return to top form? Think Simek is bound to get more starts? Impressed that the Americans Abroad had two goals this weekend?
Share your thoughts below.
If anything EJ’s hard work and sort of success have been worse for him than if he hadn’t been getting the job done. He’s showed well during reserve matches to the point that he’s probably the #5 option up top so Fulham is keeping him around in case more than one of the guys ahead of him picks up a knock.
He’s in London workin’ hard. You haven’t heard the last of him.
EJ’s been doing fine. He’s playing well with the reserves and he’s in and out of the bench. The fact that they kept him rather than loan him out I think should speak volumes to where he is as a palyer versus where he was
What is up with EJ? this guy just seems to have fallen off. When is his contract up and coming back to MLS?
He’s been playing for the reserves. He recently scored 2 goals in 7 minutes versus Cardiff. Roy has there to watch. They were nice goals. The FA cup starts in January and he can be added to the Europa league roster. It doesn’t help anything right now though. He did make a public plea for a loan move but I haven’t heard anything else about it.
I’d say around age 30(See Grafite). So 2019, 2020.
Fantastic weekend for the AA’s. I stumbled on the Borrusia Munchengladbach/Hamburg game on ESPN360 and it was highly entertaining. Hamburg is loaded with talent, and Munchengladbach did well on the counter with their speed.
FYI Bradley was about 12 inches from the ball on their second goal, but was taken aback when Dante came flying in to score off the header.
Our AA’s should have this kind of weekend every week. They all should be starting and making an impact on the field in order for the MNT to get better.
What is up with EJ? this guy just seems to have fallen off. When is his contract up and coming back to MLS?
As my buddy on the tennis tour recalls, quoting a never was, “Bob, I’m just one week away”.
im pretty sure Connor Casey is ahead of Bradley’s pecking order in term of “target guy”
I forgot about Stu. But he’s more of a wide midfielder for the national team and Dempsey is healthy and on form (another goal against Liverpool, does he have a personal vendetta against them?) so his chances of starting are slim anyway.
That looks alot like Thom Yorke lol.
The Telemundo announcers mentioned during the game that it was believed that Castillo wouldn’t be playing because he was nursing an ankle injury.
That might be part of the reason for his struggles this weekend.
Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses’ 1-1 draw vs. FC Porto on Friday.
*Why doesn’t Bob Bradley start Freddy more? ! ? !
Wycombe can’t buy a win. They were up 2-0 at halftime and threw it away. Pittman will be gone when they are relegated. No way he goes back to League Two.
I watched most of the 1st half of UAG-UANL last night and I have to say Castillo got burned a lot and lost the ball a lot in the attack. Considering both of these teams are just above relegation, that doesn’t bode well. Hope it was just a bad game, but the other time I watched him a little he didn’t look good.
I think Bornstein may be a much better player than he.
Does Bradley have his arm around a young Thom Yorke?
I thought I remember reading somewhere that Adu is nursing an ankle injury….
Also, Stu will be unavailable if Houston wins…increasing Torres’s chances of playing
I like Castillo, but he’s the exact same kind of player as Bornstein; a wingback with good attacking skills known for getting forward with barely above average defensive skills. It’s not much of a change.
It will be interesting seeing how Castillo fits with the Nats in the coming Euro friendlies. He confirmed his call up by Bob in a post game interview yesterday.
If you are a USMNT fan, there are several reasons to root for Chivas to beat the Galaxy in their series:
1. Donovan will be available for both friendlies in Europe. He is without a doubt the Nat’s best player and I want to see him against some European World Cup-bound teams.
2. Borstein will be tied up, therefore leading to Edgar Castillo’s call up and start (?) against Slovakia and/or Denmark. I can see why Bradley wouldn’t call him up for the final two WCQ’s with so much on the line and not wanting to disrupt any chemistry on the backline but now is the perfect time to see how he fits in.
Some other possibilities:
If the Crew beat RSL and Houston beat Seattle:
1. I’m wondering if Bradley will pair Jozy up top with Robbie Findley as that speedy replacement for Charlie Davies. He has that quick burst and has had a knack for finding the back of the net recently. Plus, if Houston wins, Ching won’t be available as the target striker that Bradley so loves to use.
2. Could we possibly see a Torres sighting at the beginning of a game? If Houston goes through, that means Ricardo Clark will be unavailable. And with Jermaine Jones and Maurice Edu still out injured, I’m thinking Torres will get at least one start in the middle with Michael Bradley.
does seth green play for gladbach?
*cant
How old must Adu be before we can write him off as a bust? This is yet another club where he can find playing time
Where does Goodson fit into the CB equation for the nats? Seems to score a few each year in Norway (third tier league – but consistent starter)
BTW – nice to see both Benny and Jerry start for Aarhus
Simek is so far off the rader right now. One or two games a year doesn’t cut it. He’s a RB and he’s no where close to Hedjuk let alone Cherundolo and Spector
Anyone who wants Orozco to be called into camp is seriously misinformed. He’s in very poor form right now. His last good game was in early September. At the moment we have much better options at CB than Orozco.
Castillo played poorly. He’s got talent but he’s a lability right now at LB. He may get some PT for the USMNT but he’s not going to be a magical cure-all to our LB woes.
Bradley played well. Huge win for BMG.
Dempsey played well.
Torres played well.
Orozco hasn’t played well in months.
Cherundolo is better than Spector right now.
It should be stated that Bedoya’s shot was saved by the keeper and then tapped in by a teammate for Orebro’s lone tally.
orcozo and simek please report for the next training session to enter the lottery to claim a starting spot for the national team
Lots of minutes this weekend. Good stuff. Let’s hope that trend continues.