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Edu targets Old Firm return

Maurice Edu 1 (Reuters)

Maurice Edu has been out of action for club and country for what seems like an eternity, but the Rangers midfielder has targeted a return date.

Having returned to training last week, Edu is eyeing to make his comeback on Jan. 3, when Rangers play arch-rival Celtic. With no winter break in the Scottish Premier League, Rangers has six league matches in December, but Edu feels his return from a complicated knee injury will have to wait until 2010.

The news of Edu's targeted comeback comes on the same week that potential U.S. national team midfielder Jermaine Jones returned to training for Schalke 04, and injured U.S. national team forward Charlie Davies said he would recover from multiple injuries in time for the World Cup.

Disappointed to hear Edu won't be playing again until 2010? Happy to know he is a step closer? Has this been the best week on the injury recovery front for the U.S. national team?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. demerit in form no.. i think edu, if given time would be 10 times better than marshall.. im just saying if gooch isnt healthy. boca-demerit-edu-dolo/spector.. most would spector-boca-demerit-dolo.. say someone gets hurt, marshall and goodson are the options.. gooooood luck with that

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  2. I think it forms like this. It looks like a single forward but you have either Dempsey or Landon cheating up at any given time.

    Altidore

    Landon–Bradley–Dempsey

    Jones — Edu

    Castillo–Boca–Gooch/Spector–Cherendolo

    You give up the wings sure.. but you dont let teams beat you in the middle. Looking back at big goals given up in qualifying a good amount were shots where the back four or midfield did not close down something materializing in the middle.

    Landon and Dempsey are able to drift and run off Altidore and not have the huge Defensive responsibilities due to the two strong Defensive CMs.

    JFT can play deep and provide creative spark replacing EDU if needed.

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  3. Beasley’s biggest problem is that in Bob Bradley’s system Landon Donovan is a 90 minute player at the position Beasley used to play. Donovan played centrally under Arena, but almost always plays wing side under Bradley. Beasley is never going to win that competition, and Torres and Feilhaber who sub well both centrally or wing side are more useful to Bob.

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  4. Ran into Gooch at the last two Galaxy games and by the second game he had lost the crutches already. When I told him we need him in South Africa, he was very unequivocal that he would be ready to go for WC 2010. He was gimpy but moving around pretty well all considering.

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  5. “Early in the 2009-10 season, DeMerit suffered a scratch on his eyeball while removing a contact lens. DeMerit’s eye became infected, severely obscuring his vision and requiring surgery. It is unclear when he will be able to return to action.”

    This has happened to a fair number of people, not all of whom, as you so delicately point out for our benefit, are “too stupid to live”. In fact, I had a cousin this happened and he’s dead now though not from the infection.

    The good news is you may be right. Demerit may never play again. Isn’t it wonderful to be some omniscient?

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  6. It’s a mistake to get too tied down in terminolgy. If Edu, Jones and Bradley are in midfield they won’t all be doing the same thing.

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  7. I thought you meant as a starter in the Confederations Cup. After all if Freddy Adu was on that roster,anyone, even you or me, could have been on it.

    Potential means you aren’t there yet. The World Cup rosters have to be submitted, I believe, in May. Not a lot of time for Edu to display just how much of that potential he can make real. The US will have maybe 4-5 exhibition games before May, at most, and they need to get as many close to proven performers as they can, pretty much right NOW. Outside of Jones, maybe Castillo and whoever replaces Charlie (maybe that will be Charlie!) it’s unlikely you will see any new faces, and Edu is a new face in those terms. Still, I hope he makes the cut.

    If you are a US fan you better hope Jones is the real deal and walks into camp and blows everyone away. If he lives up to his press, he can stabilize the midfield, which would help settle the defense. This could only help our attackers. My hope is he does for the US what Senna did for Spain in the Euros.

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  8. DeMerit may be too stupid to live, since he injured himself changing contacts. I think we should not count on him avoiding fatal falls or self immolation.

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  9. Holden has demonstrated some pretty good technical speed. I think he tries to play the ball quite a bit more than Beaz.

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  10. fred hit the nail on the head with his points. I dont get the love fest with Edu. I dont know why some ppl view him as a savior.

    ppl just need to calm down and be thankful there’s another CM to add to the depth pool.

    I just cant wait for good news on the Gooch front..the guy forces teams to play balls on the ground just by being on the field

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  11. Wrong side of Glasgow. You’re on the wrong side of Glasgow. Wrong side of Glassssgggooowwww, you’re on the wrong side of Glasgow

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  12. Those often result in the most serious injury. Whenever you see a player go down on his (or her) own, you can bet it’s going to be bad.

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  13. “Beasley’s type speed “- Holden is a nice player but speedster isn’t a term I would apply to him. When Beasley was in his prime his strength was his speedy, direct, attacking runs. Holden, Torres and Benny, bear no resemblance to the in form DMB. But, Demarcus, who can’t get PT on an awful Ranger team, is very unlikely to make the US team so the point is moot.

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  14. If BB took Beasley, who hadn’t been playing at all for Rangers, then he was definately going to take Edu. No way Sacha would have been called into the Confederations Cup ahead of Maurice Edu. So I do believe he was a shoe-in.

    I’m not saying that Edu is a “silver bullet”, or that he is a better player than Jones (although he might be before long). But his potential was seen during his rookie season in MLS. That’s why Rangers paid $5 million for him. I’m not saying put him in the hall of fame, but I am saying don’t just assume that Jermaine Jones is going to walk into camp and automatically have the starting job.

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  15. Shoe-in?

    Edu is a nice player but prior to his injury, he wasn’t a sure fire anything for either Rangers or the USMNT. He has a total of 12 appearances for the Rangers and 11 for the USMNT. He got the spot with Rangers to some extent largely because Barry Ferguson lost his mind. Now, chances are he probably would have gotten it anyway but Edu only had a short run of games before he got injured. That’s not enough time to determine if he was the long term solution. Right now if I had to choose 2 from Jones, Bradley and Edu, the choice is Jones and Bradley.

    Knee injuries are tricky and he my not be in top form by June. I really like Edu and he is a fine player but let’s not put him in the Hall of Fame just yet. We’ve got a few months before May 2010 so we’ll see how all these guys look closer to decision time.

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  16. Where have I been? I guess I missed that one. Well, more power to him. I hope that he gets some minutes. Still think Edu has more potential then Clark. But what do I know?

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  17. Against the right team, that could be a good lineup. Overall, I suspect he’s going to want a little more speed out wide — but, your lineup seems to put players to their maximum. Well, Donovan, anyway — which will be a boost to the forwards.

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  18. Four points in response to my naysayers:

    1) If Bradley plays a five-man midfield at the world cup, I will puke. Then, I will watch as we play three games and go home. Then, I will puke again.

    2) Given Jones’s quality, it’s pretty hard (although not impossible) to believe he will not work out for the USMNT. However, if that does happen, then I agree Edu likely will start if healthy and playing regularly for Rangers.

    3) Edu is nowhere near the level of Bradley and Jones (not to say that Bradley is exactly at Jones’s level).

    4) As to Clark possibly heading to Italy: http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2009/11/aberdeen-eyeing-holden.html#more

    Don’t get me wrong, Edu being healty can only be a good thing. But it’s not the silver bullet some people think it is. Gooch, Demerit, and Jones are much more important.

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  19. It’s great news that Edu is getting close to a return. 9 months is about right — on the early side of a 9-12 month recovery. However, I think it highly unlikely that he’ll see his first action in such a crucial match. I wouldn’t make too much of it if he isn’t in the team for that one. I think he’ll have plenty of time to get in form the Cup.

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  20. That rumour has been going on since his good performances at the Confederations Cup. The club, namely Livorno, stated interest in him after the tournament. Apparently MLS actually already agreed to it and they say he’ll be going during the winter transfer window.

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  21. Beasley? Really? I don’t recall his disappearance from USMNT having much to do with injury. As I remember it, he had a serious one a while back, but fully recovered and saw some USMNT action since. Didn’t he start at left fullback in one game? I’ve historically been a big Beasley fan but I think his best years are behind him and he has been surpassed by the development of Holden (who brings Beasley’s type speed to the table) and emergence of Torres. You can also through Feinhaber into the mix (even if he is not much of winger). So even if either Donnovan or Dempsy get moved up top then there still is not a spot for Beasley.

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  22. Wow….. this comment is crazy…..

    Of course we need him, granted he did not feature prominently with the nats but when he was having that incredible run of form at the end of last season he was most def gonna the man to start next to bradley for the next ten years.

    Clark going to Italy means nothing because Edu is a more polished player who is more versatile

    He can play CB in a pinch and at a high level… his style of play is much more complimentary to bradley’s than clark’s clark is strictly a d-mid while Edu is a two way player just like Bradley and just like Jones…….

    Mark my words:

    Bob Bradley will play three holding mids at the World Cup

    4-3-1-2

    Edu Jones and Bradley will all start behind Donovan

    ———–ST——————–
    ———————CF———-
    —————Cam—————
    ——–LCDM———RCDM——–
    LWB————CDM————RWB
    ———LCB———RCB———
    —————-GK—————

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  23. I’m glad to hear this.

    I feel like Edu might be better off in England playing for a mid to low table EPL club. England can help maintain his physicality, while working on his technical skills, not to mention deal with the speed of play.

    He seems like a Patrick Viera/Michael Essien type of player who has no problem sitting deep and making the tackles, but is also an excellent ball handler, smart passer, and pretty quick, although this injury might just have changed that a little bit.

    Mo has kind of had some tough breaks. He never really got a chance to play in his real position at the Olympics, and when he did get into the attack, he actually drew a penalty. Then, unexplainably, he hit some poor form from about the Cuba game to the Trinidad and Tobago game. He finally got some time in 09 against El Salvador only to be injured right before Costa Rica, which was when he was really looking good for Rangers. Now we’ll have to wait until January, at the minimum, to see him for Rangers, and, unless Bob calls him into the January camp, a bit longer to see him in the Red, White and Blue.

    I’m not sure people realize how close we were on this one to a central midfielder comparable to Bradley. Hopefully he can get back to that kind of form before the World Cup.

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  24. Clark is moving to Italy? That’s the first that I have heard of that rumor. I think Clark is a hard nosed player and a good effort guy. He is a solid defensive midfield by MLS standards, but really Italy quality? I think Edu, if healthy, could easily pass Clark by on the depth chart. I think he was well on pace to do so until his unfortunate injury. But clearly Jones is much stronger in that role then anyone either of them.

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  25. We NEED a strong player in that position. Jones has not dressed with the national team yet and until he does there is no way of knowing if he’ll work out.

    Maurice Edu was always on the radar and has always shown national team potential. He was a shoe-in for the Confederations Cup before his injury. If he’s on top of his game, he very well could be our best defensive midfielder.

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  26. I’ll believe it when I see it — he’s said things like this before.

    Anyway, why are people so concerned about Edu? He has never featured prominently in the USMNT, and he figures to be even less significant with Jones healthy again. At this point, he is — at best — our third-choice defensive midfielder. If Clark moves to Italy, Edu might be bumped down another spot.

    Certainly, we do not “NEED” Edu to be healthy, not by a long shot.

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  27. One and done. He’ll get injured in the Old Firm haha.

    Kidding aside, glad to hear he’ll be coming back from a 6 month injury that started as 3 months. SPL too rough for these guys, they need to play smarter or get out. Holden, stay away buddy, please.

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  28. We NEED him to be healthy and on top of his game for South Africa. I’d feel a lot better about the U.S. team if both Edu and Beasley were healthy and playing.

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  29. Good news. It feels like it’s been ages since the big man has played. Hopefully he’s fully set by January. I think he’ll have plenty of time to make his case for a spot in SA.

    Also, I saw a CNN feature about Gooch. He’s still going through intensive therapy, and can hardly limp himself along (walking, that is). It’s going to be a tough call about his fitness come May.

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