By FRANCO PANIZO
Villarreal is one point shy of first place in La Liga, and Jozy Altidore may be able to help the club surpass Real Madrid for the top spot this weekend.
Having scored his first goal of the season on Wednesday, Altidore could see time when Villarreal travels to take on Sporting Gijon. Altidore is unlikely to start the match, but his goal in the Copa del Rey, combined with his goal for the U.S. national team three weeks ago, might have instilled enough confidence in manager Juan Carlos Garrido to give the American a lengthy cameo of the bench.
Aiming to score his first goal of the season, Stuart Holden will likely play a big role in Bolton Wanderers' match against struggling Liverpool. A win would help Holden, who has played nearly every minute in nine league matches this season, and Bolton close the gap on fourth place. They are currently five points shy, and sit in eighth.
Far from sitting pretty in their respective league, Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach will attempt to escape the drop zone when they face relegation-threatened Kaiserslautern. Moenchengladbach should expect a tough match as it has won just once on the road this season.
Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:
FRIDAY
Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg play Bayern Munich.
Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Istres.
SATURDAY
Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Arsenal.
Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Wigan Athletic.
Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play Manchester City.
Tim Howard and Everton play Stoke City.
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Cardiff City. (Whitbread is out injured.)
Conor Doyle and Derby County play Watford.
Frank Simek, Mike Grella and Carlisle United play Bristol Rovers.
Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Oldham Athletic.
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play St Johnstone.
Maurice Edu and Rangers play Inverness Caledonian Thistle.
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play Juventus.
Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Kaiserslautern.
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play St Pauli.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play Bayer Leverkusen. (Jones is out injured.)
Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Hertha Berlin. (Igwe is out injured.)
Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich. (Cooper is out injured.)
Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Lyon.
Carlos Bocanegra and St Etienne play Brest. (Bocanegra is out injured.)
Freddy Adu and Aris Salonika play Atromitos.
Marcus Tracy, Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Randers FC. (Tracy and Rolfe are out injured.)
Jose Torres, Herculez Gomez, Marco Vidal and Pachuca play Atlas.
SUNDAY
Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Birmingham.
Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Liverpool.
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal play Sporting Gijon.
Steve Cherundolo, DaMarcus Beasley and Hannover 96 play TSG Hoffenheim.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Racing Genk.
Benny Feilhaber and AGF Aarhus play AB Copenhagen.
Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK play Helsingborg.
Steve Clark and Honefoss BK play Valerenga.
Clarence Goodson, Hunter Freeman and IK Start play Odd Grenland.
Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Sandefjord.
Sammy Ochoa and Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. play America.
Edgar Castillo and San Luis play Toluca.
Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play Necaxa.
MONDAY
David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play Fortuna Dusseldorf.
Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play Odense BK.
Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play IFK.
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Think Altidore will get a lengthy appearance off the bench as Villarreal look to grab the top spot in La Liga? How do you see Holden and Bolton faring at home versus Liverpool? Will Moenchengladbach and Bradley jump out of the relegation zone this weekend?
Share your thoughts below.
Who is Amaechi Igwe?
Inverness Caledonian is a club mostly famous for once beating up on Celtic and generating the immortal headline:
“Super Cali Goes Ballistic Celtic are Atrocious”
“Fortunately, we have many great midfielders. So, let’s utilize them and leave Donovan and Dempsey up top. ”
Donovan and Dempsey are the two best US outfield players by some distance.
Saying that all the remaining midfielders are “great” is a huge exaggeration. I’d have a hard time seeing any of them starting for Spain, Holland, Germany or Uruguay, the final four. In fact, I’m not sure they make the final 23 of any of those teams.
As for the glimmer twins, they have shifted back and forth between forward and midfield for a reason; most likely because that’s how they are best utilized. I have no problem with Dempsey as a full time forward but Donovan is in midfield because that’s where he plays his best.
As for Jozy up front, he was probably placed there before his time and he has basically been learning on the job; but it’s not as if there are a lot of alternatives. If Davies had not been injured and had kept his form, I’m not convinced Jozy would have made the WC squad. However,if you were objective about it, you have to think the odds are he is going to get better.
Tell me who do you feel is a much better option and why?
Franco is obviously speculating and isn’t pretending to do otherwise. He says Jozey “might have installed enough confidence” in coach to give him a “lenghty cameo.” I agree a “lenghty cameo” is optimistic. But, this coach has clearly been trying to give Jozy some time after Nilmar and Rossi get their minutes. I think chances are good he gets 10 to 15 minutes.
This piece was written by Franco, not Ives. That aside, I tend to agree that Jozy probably won’t see much, if any, time this weekend. Rossi and Nilmar are both pretty good, and tend not to come out until the 85th minute or so, if at all.
Last weekend Ives claimed that Lichaj had a very good chance to feature for Aston Villa, and he didn’t even make the bench. I hope I’m wrong, but this post seems to be more unfounded speculation of that sort.
I’m pretty sure Inverness Caledonian Thistle is a sex move or a torture method. Might even be a condition. “I can’t make it into work today. My Inverness Caledonian Thistle has flared up.”
Ives – Why are you always hyping up Jozy Altidore so much? He scored a good goal against a 3rd division team. I don’t see the need to act like this is going to be a huge turnaround for him. I doubt very highly that he will get any significant, if any time at all this weekend.
I really hope that Jozy begins to progress as a player, but I honestly feel that the US federation needs to start looking at other players and/or shifting people from their usual positions and try them at forward.
I think we will be just fine with Dempsey and Donovan up top, especially as Donovan begins to get older. Donovan has great ability to give great balls. I mean, he won the Silver Boot in MLS for good reason.
Dempsey, for whatever reason, tends to tire out in the midfield. And, he has more opportunity to show his flare and creativity in the forward position. He seems to play with joy up on top for Fulham, so let’s leave him there.
Fortunately, we have many great midfielders. So, let’s utilize them and leave Donovan and Dempsey up top.
I really do hope Jozy Altidore can get better, but his rate of progress given the sheer amount of opportunities that Bob Bradley has given him does not lend one to believe that he is the “future” of US Soccer. I think we should cut our losses.
that would be a cool costume, but it would go over heads… you will be explaining yourself all night… (assuming you have an afro wig)
Anyone know of a site from which I can get a Fellaini home Everton Jersey by Halloween?
I just connected high speed internet in my apartment. Would you guys recommend purchasing foxsoccer.tv? I didn’t get cable specifically because I practically only watch soccer, and thus I would be willing to pay a little bit each month if the feeds are reliable and quality.
The only way Spector and Adu are going to see any action is if they meet each other halfway between England and Greece for a game of Foosball.
“Jonathan Spector did not dress.”
“Freddy Adu did not dress.”
I hope Jozy gets at least 15 min.
Bayern vs. Freiburg at 2:30 EST today on Gol TV. Auf gehts Bayern! I’m slipping away for that one. But it sure would be nice to see Danny Williams gets some more PT since his inclusion in the DFB Pokal mid-week match.