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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Altidore Hull 1 (Getty Images) 
 
by FRANCO PANIZO

If Jozy Altidore is to regain the top form he demonstrated earlier this year, then his performance in this past weekend's game was a step in the right direction.

Coming off a pair of lackluster performances with the U.S. national team, Altidore responded by starting and playing 74 minutes in Hull City's 3-3 draw vs. West Ham United on Saturday. Altidore did not find the back of the net, but he worked tirelessly and proved to be a handful for West Ham all match long.

Frank Simek also continued to enjoy his new-found playing time, going the full 90 minutes in Sheffield Wednesday's scoreless tie against Ipswich Town.

Not all was positive this weekend, however, as Tim Howard and Everton surrendered three goals in a shutout loss to Manchester United, while Freddy Adu failed to find minutes for Belenenses despite playing a fourth division club.

Here is a rundown of how the rest of the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Everton's 3-0 loss vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore started and played 74 minutes in Hull City 's 3-3 draw vs. West Ham on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Birmingham on Saturday.
  • Eddie Johnson dressed but did not play in Fulham's 1-0 loss vs. Birmingham on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in West Ham's 3-3 draw vs. Hull City on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Burnley on Saturday.

  • Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 4-0 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.

COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Jay DeMerit did not dress in Watford's 3-0 win vs. Scunthorpe United on Saturday. He is recovering from an eye injury.
  • Frank Simek started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Sheffield Wednesday's 0-0 draw vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Ian Joyce did not dress in Southend United's 2-1 win vs. Milton Keynes Dons on Friday.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 2-0 loss vs. Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 3-0 win vs. Brighton on Saturday.
  • Jemal Johnson came off the bench and played 8 minutes in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-1 loss vs. Southend United on Friday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman started and played 30 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 2-0 win vs. Millwall on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • DaMarcus Beasley did not dress in Rangers' 3-0 win vs. Kilmarnock on Saturday.
  • Dominic Cervi dressed but did not play in Celtic's 2-1 loss vs. Dundee United on Sunday. 

Italy

  • Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 4-3 win vs. Cagliari on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA

  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 win vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96's 2-0 loss vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday.
  • Sal Zizzo did not dress in Hannover 96's 2-0 loss vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 2-0 win vs. Hannover 96 on Saturday. He is recovering from a leg injury.

BUNDESLIGA 2

  • Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 1-0 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Luis Robles and Kaiserslautern play FC Union Berlin on Monday.
  • Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in FSV Frankfurt's 3-1 win vs. RW Oberhausen on Saturday.
  • David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made one save in TUS Koblenz's 1-0 win vs. Alemania Aachen on Sunday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra came off the bench, played 69 minutes and received a yellow card in Stade Rennes' 2-1 win vs. Le Mans on Saturday.

Portugal

  • Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses' 1-0 win vs. Valenciano in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup on Sunday.
  • Kamani Hill did not dress in Vitoria de Guimaraes' 1-0 win vs. Benfica in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup on Sunday.

Denmark

  • Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play Aalborg on Monday.
  • Jeremiah White and AGF Aarhus play Aalborg on Monday.
  • Danny Califf did not dress in FC Midtjylland's 3-0 win vs. Esbjerg on Saturday.
  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-1 win vs. Koge on Saturday.
  • Marcus Tracy and Aalborg play AGF Aarhus on Monday.

Mexico 

  • Michael Orozco came off the bench and played 1 minute in San Luis' 1-0 win vs. Toluca in the Apertura quarterfinals on Saturday.

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What do you think of these performances? Did you like Altidore's performance? Think Simek should get called back up to the national team in 2010? More disappointed that Howard lost to his former club, or that Adu did not play against a fourth division team?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Ives, the next evolution of this particular weekly must include a breakdown of how people play. It’s fine to say they played 90 minutes but I want to know how they personally played. Sort of how you treated Jozy’s this time around.

    Also, what’s up with ignoring Eric Lichaj? He may be only playing in a League 2 side but he still belongs to Villa and a good few fans say he’s worth keeping. Had some really productive games for the reserves last year and still only 21.

    (SBI-Josh, when you’re ready to send over the check for me to pay for the manpower your suggested endevour would take, you let me know. Seriously speaking though, we don’t have the resources to make that happen.

    As for Lichaj, we’re not ignoring him. We just don’t track below League One. Once he’s playing at League One or above we’ll add him to the list. We can’t keep track of every league in the world and have to establish limits to what we can cover.)

    Reply
  2. “just” below? he is nowhere near Dolo. Vica-Captain at Hannover, 90 minutes every week (except for this week, what is up with that?!?!), in the Bundesliga. That beats Simek.

    Spector also is well above Simek, but the lack of PT is not helping his case.

    Reply
  3. Why should any manager (at least in Europe) why mess with this head case, this entitled prima donna, the expensive and undersized Freddy Adu?

    Freddy is 20. I bet if you surveyed the 20 year olds on the rosters of the top 20-30 clubs in Europe you would find a lot of players who were nearly as talented, if not more talented than Adu. I’ll bet you that the majority of them have better attitudes, work harder, may well be cheaper and fit in better than Adu.

    It’s a cutthroat business.

    Reply
  4. Simek has been out of action for a little longer than a year or so. You would expect him to be rusty and in lesser form than the dynamic duo. Let’s see how he develops this season with Sheffield Wednesday.

    Reply
  5. Simek doesn’t provide as good service as Spector does though( or at least not from what we saw at the Gold Cup). Simek seems just below Cherundolo and Spector( and MAYBE Hejduk).

    Reply
  6. What if Gooch does not come back? That leaves you one right back short because Spector moves over. Frankie H. may have shot his last bolt. You can never have too many good players.

    Reply
  7. The average League has about 30 + games. Then there are the various other competitions (cups, exhibitions etc.). From what I’ve seen of him Freddy seems to be good for about 10 games or so a season but that just isn’t good enough. And given his salary, it’s hard to justify keeping him around as a part time player.

    Reply
  8. Not if Bob ends up doubling Spector at CB as well during the WC as a way to have them both out there at the same time. I think Simek is a multi position defender as well, and if so, a utility man on the bench would be great for us.

    Reply
  9. I agree. But with Cherundolo and Spector already at right back, I don’t think we really need that extra right back come next summer. Still I’d like Frankie Simek to get a look in the January, February and/or March friendlies

    Reply
  10. That makes you think he hasn’t been giving his all until just then. And that there is more he is holding back.

    And everyone wonders why he isn’t playing.

    Reply
  11. Freddy’s response to a fan asking about how training is going:

    “great man. Just turned it up a notch so hopefully gets rewarded u know”

    Reply
  12. Does anyone know what’s up with Califf: Danny Califf did not dress in FC Midtjylland’s 3-0 win vs. Esbjerg on Saturday.

    Seems to have fallen WAY off the map…

    Also…time for Freddy to consider MLS otherwise he can forget World Cup.

    Reply
  13. Based on his tweets it looks like not playing this week really got to Adu. He hasn’t even mentioned anything about the game (usually he says something about them).

    He seemed to be having fun and doing well in practice last week, so not getting to play might have frustrated him quite a bit.

    Reply
  14. I — like DC Josh — would like to get just little closer look at Freddy’s unbelievable situation since leaving MLS. It’s not like he hasn’t shown potential — and fleeting moments of brilliance — in the past. Surely, SURELY, there must be some deeper, underlying issue. Is he a cancer in the clubhouse? Does he rub managers the wrong way? Does his ego get in the way? I mean, for crying out loud, the guy commands quite a hefty wage bill. Why in the world doesn’t he play?

    I think there was a hint of seriousness in DC Josh’s original post. For better of worse, Freddy is internationally known as a US soccer player. He has an ungodly number of Twitter followers for someone who can’t get any legit minutes. AND he seems to have no problem Twittering his daily regimen day in, day out. I wish some writer would get in touch with him, and say, “Hey Freddy, how about 30mins of questions to set the record straight about your situation?” I, for one, would love to see a frank interview with Freddy. Not because I think he’s as relevant to the US as, say, an Eddie Johnson or Jeff Cunningham at this point, but just because we all had such hopes for the kid, and he’s still young. That’s the important point: there’s still time for him to turn things around. But why is that not happening??

    Reply
  15. Freddy needs to stop worrying about making the world cup team. What he needs is to find a team, with an established manager who’s not afraid of losing his job, who will crack down on him and force him to give his best, someone like Wenger, Ferguson, Redknapp, Mourinho or Hiddink.

    Reply
  16. I happen to be one of the biggest Adu fans out here, and having watched Belenenses play, I was sure he would play an entire season with them, but I’m dumbfounded. I don’t know what the hell is going on over there. Either he’s not working hard for the team at practice and acts like he’s better than everyone, or the coaches just don’t get how good the kid is. There is no doubt that he’s talented. We will never know where he would be right now if he had gone to Inter Milan when they wanted him as a kid. He could’ve been playing with Balotteli on a regular basis. Oh well. C’est la vie.

    Reply
  17. Simek’s return combined with Hejduk’s obvious lack of anything resembling ability to perform at the int’l level should earn him a call-up, presuming of course he remains healthy and keeps improving. Positive signs from Frankie (S.) lately, as opposed to Frankie (H.).

    Reply
  18. Can’t take a joke?

    Seriously though, look at where Jozy is and where Freddy is. Pretty large gap, and they are both the same age. Freddy has the talent, but I don’t think he can deal with the mental side of professional sports. He wasn’t ready for Benfica, Monaco, or the bottom feeder Portugal punching bag. In terms of development, he has digressed the last two years and would have probably been better off sitting on the couch.

    I don’t want the same to happen to our other youngsters like Gil or Renken.

    Reply
  19. After three years of defending Adu, I am resigned to the fact he is just not at the level I had hoped, that the flashes of incredible skill are just that – flashes. It’s too bad, but at 20 or 21, he has plenty of time to get better. How he will do that when he’s not playing – I have no idea.

    Reply
  20. I will be on that website every day…. it would get more hits that alot of porn sites…..lol… I for one really would love to see him with the Red Bulls… especially if we get Schelloto from Columbus…. he would be a great mentor for freddy

    Reply
  21. Clearly there is some kind of conspiracy going on regarding Adu. His playing future is far more important to the future of soccer in America than any World Cup bid.

    I nominate DC Josh to head up a committee to force the USSF to make Freddy Adu a guaranteed starter on the 2010 World Cup team so he can demonstrate to the world that America has talent. If he can dominate Under 20’s then surely he is guaranteed to dominate Over 20’s.

    Reply
  22. Disagree with the pairing of JA and JVoH. They are too similar to play well together. Jozy does better matched with a quick, shifty partner like Ghilas or Geovanni or Fagan (or Davies).

    And right now he is earning praise from the coach and the fans. Goals will come….

    Reply
  23. Will this be the third year Adu doesn’t play? Neither Freddy nor his agent seemed concerned with money for nothing, and his fans should look at this as nothing more.

    Reply
  24. Until Jozy is paired with Hesselink, Hull won’t produce much up top. Jozy had a shot blocked in a goal mouth scramble, but he is not ready to be the point man by himself. He’s very raw but even more talented. He’s not going anywhere but up.

    Reply
  25. Jozy’s scoring rate will be questioned if he doesn’t put the ball in the net soon. He’s had what 9 league appearances, although I realize he has come on as a sub for most of them, the expectation will be to at least score a goal soon.

    Reply
  26. Altidore was great. He occupied defenders and played some great early balls into space to launch Hull’s attack. I hope this means he’ll be getting regular starts in the future. Jimmy Bullard in the midfield should help Altidore get more oportunities. Great to see some improvement.

    Reply
  27. Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Belenenses’ 1-0 win vs. Valenciano in the fourth round of the Portuguese Cup on Sunday.

    Okay so wtf is going on with Freddy? Ives, you have the most popular soccer blog site in the country, can we please get an in-depth look at his demise? He clearly isn’t ready for Europe. Just watched some U-20 ’07 highlights and Freddy was a beast. I miss you Freddy, where have you been?

    Forget the US world cup bid, let’s start a bid to bring Freddy back to the MLS or into Scandinavia.

    Reply
  28. Jozy is doing well. Not many others his age playing as much as he is in the PL. I think once he gets a goal others will start to come. From what I read he was a handful in the game, so he did his job.
    With Bullard back Hull might even stay up.

    Reply
  29. I think Hull wants forwards that score and if Jozy doesn’t score, he won’t play. Working hard is a requirement, not something you’re luck if you get. Jozy needs to be a threat if he wants to keep playing

    Reply

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