By FRANCO PANIZO
Tim Howard and Everton may not have defeated Manchester United, but their 3-3 draw against the Premiership heavyweights surely must have felt like a victory nonetheless.
After falling behind 3-1 in the second half, Everton managed to claim a point through two late goals from Tim Cahill and Mikel Arteta. The last-gasp goals prevented the Toffees from suffering their third loss of the season, and will likely give the players a boost in confidence. Howard made three saves against his former club.
Stuart Holden got his first taste of playing against one of England's top clubs when Bolton Wanderers visited Arsenal. Deployed at central midfield, Holden started and played 90 minutes in Bolton's 4-1 loss to Arsenal.
Eddie Johnson and Ricardo Clark made their respective season debuts this weekend. Johnson replaced Clint Dempsey and played seven minutes in Fulham's 2-1 win against Wolves. Clark had a one-minute cameo in Eintracht Frankfurt's rout of Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Everton's 3-3 draw vs. Manchester United on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 83 minutes in Fulham's 2-1 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
- Eddie Johnson came off the bench and played 7 minutes for Fulham.
- Brad Friedel and Aston Villa play Stoke City on Monday.
- Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Stoke City on Monday.
- Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Stoke City on Monday.
- Marcus Hahnemann started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-1 loss vs. Fulham on Saturday.
- Jonathan Spector did not dress in West Ham United's 3-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden started and played 90 minutes in Bolton Wanderers' 4-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Mike Grella did not dress in Leeds United's 2-1 win vs. Swansea City on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread did not dress in Norwich City's 2-1 win vs. Barnsley on Saturday. He is recovering from a calf injury.
- Conor Doyle came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Derby County's 1-0 loss vs. Sheffield United on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 1-0 win vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
- Anton Peterlin started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Plymouth Argyle's 1-1 draw vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
- Jemal Johnson came off the bench and played 7 minutes in in Milton Keynes Dons' 2-0 loss vs. Brighton on Saturday.
Scotland
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 2-1 win vs. Hamilton Academical on Saturday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 3-0 win vs. Heart of Midlothian on Saturday.
Spain
- Jozy Altidore dressed but did not play in Villarreal's 4-0 win vs. Espanyol on Sunday.
Italy
- Oguchi Onyewu did not dress in AC Milan's 2-0 loss vs. Cesena on Saturday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Hannover 96's 2-2 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play in Hannover 96's 2-2 draw vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
- Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 4-0 loss vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
- Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04's 2-0 loss vs.TSG Hoffenheim on Friday.
- Ricardo Clark came off the bench and played 1 minute in Eintracht Frankfurt's 4-0 win vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams did not dress in SC Freiburg's 2-1 win vs. VfB Stuttgart on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- Kenny Cooper did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-1 loss vs. MSV Duisburg on Saturday. He is recovering from an ankle injury.
- David Yelldell started, played 90 minutes and made one save in MSV Duisburg's 2-1 win vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Saturday.
- Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play Energie Cottbus on Monday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress in FC Ingolstadt 04's 2-1 loss vs. RW Oberhausen on Friday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
France
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 1-0 win vs. Toulouse on Saturday.
- Charlie Davies did not dress in Sochaux's 2-1 loss vs. Stade Rennes on Saturday.
Greece
- Freddy Adu did not dress in Aris Salonika's 1-0 loss vs. Panathinaikos on Saturday.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan did not dress in RSC Anderlecht's 2-0 win vs. St. Truiden on Friday.
Denmark
SUPERLIGA
- Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 win vs. Odense BK on Saturday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 3-2 loss vs. Horsens on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Chris Rolfe did not dress for Aalborg BK.
VIASAT DIVISIONEN
- Benny Feilhaber started, played 90 minutes, had two ASSISTS and played a role in forcing an own goal in AGF Aarhus' 7-1 win vs. Hvidovre on Sunday. You can see the assists here.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 90 minutes in Orebro SK's 2-1 loss vs. Djurgarden on Sunday.
- Ryan Miller started and played 90 minutes in Halmstads BK's 2-0 loss vs. Hacken on Friday.
Norway
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 3-2 loss vs. Lillestrom on Sunday.
- Hunter Freeman started and played 90 minutes for IK Start.
- Mikkel Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF's 3-2 loss vs. Valerenga on Sunday.
- Steve Clark dressed but did not play in Honefoss BK's 2-0 loss vs. Haugesund on Sunday.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started and played 45 minutes in Pachuca's 1-1 draw vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez came off the bench and played 5 minutes for Pachuca.
- Marco Vidal started and played 90 minutes for Pachuca.
- Edgar Castillo did not dress in San Luis' 1-0 win vs. Pumas UNAM on Sunday.
- Sammy Ochoa started and played 45 minutes in Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G.'s 1-0 win vs. Atlante on Saturday.
- Sonny Guadarrama did not dress in Atlante's 1-0 loss vs. Estudiantes Tecos U.A. De G. on Saturday.
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Surprised Howard and Everton tied Manchester United? How do you think Holden fared against Arsenal? Think Clark and Johnson's cameos are a sign of things to come?
Share your thoughts below.
?
Listen “El Dude” Jefferson Montero is sick and he is known in South America you obviously don’t follow football much if you really think he is a no-name. He was a sensation with Villareal B last season and played some games for the 1st team. This pre-season he impressive and that’s how you make a name for yourself. Jozy is a decent player but he doesn’t have the skills of Montero, Thats just how it is sometimes, it’s not discrimination. Jozy will get his chance he will just have to impress like Montero has.
lol montero is just better plain and simple.
4-2-3-1 Sure it’s in vogue.
But mostly because it puts out best players on the field at the same time.
Bradley / Edu or Jones
Dempsey / Holden / Landon
Altidore
My question is.. Coyle has been playing Holden in the middle since late Feb. Why didnt’ we once see this line up pre World Cup.
I agree.. Holden in my opinion played the simple pass really well. In fact I think Bolton would have been better off if the players around Holden had played some more balls through him, rather than the long ball so often.
The only instances he seemed outmatched or more correctly was over run, was when Bolton was playing with 10.
this is a great format for a Euro report! Thx Ives
too hard to for 3 backs to cover the width of the field. in a 3-5-2, the outside mids have to do a lot of defensive work. holden and donovan might be able to do that work though leaving edu, bradley and jones central
I think you make good points and it brings up a peripheral. This country certainly does not have a shortage of talented athletes.
The key is to begin teaching them young and keep them with soccer over primarily basketball or football. There certainly was ppotential Henry, Drogba, or Snejder taken in the last NBA or NFL draft.. or worse was a good player on some D1 team but didnt get drafted because they dont have an NFL or NBA body.
This country need to do a better job of identifying the best 9-11 year old athletes and getting them to ‘commit’ to soccer and get the teaching they need thru academies. Once this begins to happen, 15 years later.. we’ll finally begin to see the real potential.
Ahhhhhh, “To Train and Not Dress or To Train, Dress, and Play (in the U.S.)” That is the Question. . .
This is also akin to child labor and servitude. If that’s what it takes to make Americans better soccer players, then it won’t happen – we value education too much.
You make some great points Dennis! Problem is that we need more quality youth coaches who are willing to look at the big picture and understand that winning is not the most important thing at this level. I’ve been coaching youth players for about 6 years and after a meeting with parents for my U8 team, I had a parent approach me and basically say that my approach was wrong. He felt that I should emphasize winning more. My approach has been to emphasize skill development –close ball control, awareness, purposeful passing, more ball control, anticipation, etc. When I told him I could care less about winning right now—that I would rather see us lose 4-3—especially if those three goals came from link up play, he about fell out of his chair. It is a hard concept to learn…it took me a while to accept and appreciate this approach. I do feel this is the right approach even though I doubt I have coached any future “stars”. I just feel that you can always teach defensive awareness when the kids get older, but it is never too young to encourage offensive creativity.
Didn’t Chile play something like a modified 3-5-2? And Mexico as well.
Montero didn’t play for their reserve team as you state (or at least as you’re thining) He played for Villareal B, which is a second team owned by the Villareal team that played in the Spain’s second division. Many Spanish teams have second teams which are ran seperately once the rosters are set and play in the second division. It sounds like he lit up the second division, so I think he’s probably a bit better then you’re giving him credit for. Also, he’s 20 years old and Villareal would like to put him in the prime shop window.
One of the highlights this week is Vidal getting 90 for Pachuca. He hasn’t even been on the bench the first few weeks.
How’s that short term memory working out for you? Hell, how’s the long term working out? I understand Clark has had a couple decent games, but overall he’s been a bust. The question was asked, “think Clark and Johnson’s cameos are a sign of things to come?” Unless we have set the bar so low that a 1 min appearance is cause for celebration, I frankly am not getting to excited about Clark turning his career around.
Excellent point! People bitch all the time about certain players and playing time. The coaching staff watch these players all week and then they decide who is in form.
I have been involved in youth soccer for over 25 years in the USA as coach, administrator and referee. (The rest of this paragraph is a gross over-simplification.) In that time I’ve seen the “philosophy” of youth coaches move from putting the best athlete in goal and next best as central defender to (about 10 to 20 years ago) morphing to putting the best athlete up top to race onto long balls and the kids with the best skills in midfield. Perhaps 10 to 15 years ago, the ability to make short connecting passes gained increasing importance. It is only recently that I’ve seen youth teams taking a more balanced approach with players being encouraged to make plays that make sense in the game situation.
The youth program is where players (whether attackers, defenders, midfielders, or goalkeepers) will come from, whether they are Asian, Latino, Black or white. It is the emphasis that they see when they are 9 to 15 that will shape their soccer futures much more than anything else.
If you want the US to have better players in 10-15 years, start coaching youth teams now.
Lot’s of started and played…
Spector has been in a major slump and could use a boost of confidence.
I watched the Shalke game Friday to see Jermaine Jones for the first time. He was all over the place, covering for the right fullback when he made runs forward, made runs forward himself, pushed up to the top of the 18, won balls in the left corner. He is going to be awesome for us internationally.
not a great weekend overall.
I’m just curious why sides don’t use it. I thought most clubs have four defenders because they have athletic/speedy outside backs, which we don’t really have.
^Yay, someone pays attention.
Jefferson Montero also gave a pretty good pass that set up the 4th Villareal goal.
you’d think if it was a useful modern formation than sides would use it…
Thanks, gunners. Yeah I read it a few weeks ago, but I had to again just now. It’s a fantastic read, and if there is any “Yank” football fan who wants to understand the way youth development should happen in a realistic way, they should read it as well. Thanks dude.
It was new york times magazine.
Why is it obsolete?
Big Smoke – here it is. Great read.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/magazine/06Soccer-t.html?_r=1&ref=magazine
Were you in attendance at Villareal’s practices this week?
3-5-2’s a bit obsolete nowadays, still good on fifa, though.
Nilmar and Rossi never came out…montero went in for a MF
Jozy is ST….lets all relax
I like that idea a lot. I think those three guys could really distribute the ball well to players like Donovan and Dempsey in the final third. I would like to see one game with a 3-5-2 formation, with Jones and Donovan being the other midfielders and Dempsey and Altidore up top.
thoughts on an edu-bradley-holden midfield?
He means for the next few months…
bigger holes? i don’t know, left back i’d say is equally swiss cheese for us but midfield has a lot of depth if utilized properly
Dazed, what I am referring to requires that “cultural change” to which you originally referred. That way, our best and most skilled athletes are kicking soccer balls instead of practicing free throws. If we were a soccer-nation, we’d be among the world’s best…just as we are in pretty much everything else. That was my point, and it agrees with yours.
THANK YOU. SOMEBODY FINALLY SAID IT
as for altidore they play tuesday so he should play.
as for altidore they play tuesday should play
You think it’s that simple, huh?
Good see our yank playing hope davies returns soon
Zamora broke his ankle in the first half.
Dempsey was subbed out late in the second half by…. EJ.
Somehow, I don’t see Zamora’s bad luck as helping EJ and Dempsey’s PT very much.
“Tell me what Jefferson Montero has ever done?”
Well, one man’s treasure is another man’s garbage. Jozy is one year younger and what does height have to do with anything? This ain’t basketball. Montero scored 9 goals for Villareal reserves last year and he’s a midfielder not a striker.
He has apparently drawn a lot of transfer interest. Obviously, Villareal are either showcasing him for other teams or think he fits in pretty well. After all, he’s been there while Jozy was somewhere else.
They should know more about it than you. I suspect Villareal are more motivated by a love of money than by any hatred for Americans.