By FRANCO PANIZO
Stuart Holden scored his first goal abroad while Michael Bradley netted his second of the season in their clubs respective wins on Saturday.
Holden scored the winner in Bolton Wanderers' 3-2 triumph over Wolves, hitting a one-timed shot into the open net after American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann was forced out of position. Holden also assisted on John Elmanders' goal in the second half.
Bradley found the back of the net for Borussia Moenchengladbach in its 4-0 win over FC Cologne, a win that helped the club in its fight against relegation. The goal came in the second half when Bradley's shot from outside the penalty area took a deflection, wrong-footing Cologne's goalkeeper.
You can see both of the goals after the jump.
Holden's goal:
Bradley's goal (at 2:35):
———
What do you think of the goals? Surprised to see Holden doing so well? Do you see Bradley and Moenchengladbach's win as a potential spark in their run to avoid relegation?
Share your thoughts below.
Jozy Altidore has played in Copa del Rey matches, not Liga games. They played a 3rd division team and he tapped in a ball on an open net that my Grandma could have made.
Uh, yes, I want to remove him. Have you seen Dempsey starting and playing full the 90 in the the EPL (arguably the best league in the world)?? He is in superb form.
Jozy has done nothing really.
(SBI-Altidore has been playing regular in Europa League matches. Copa Del Rey only began recently. In Europa he has struggled to score but in every match he’s drawing fouls and holding up the ball well and being a handful for opposing defenses.
He’s a La Liga reserve on a team with stud forwards in Rossi and Nilmar and you think that somehow makes him worse than MLS forwards? Altidore started in the World Cup and played a key role in some of the most important plays of the tournament for the US team.
To say he’s “done nothing really” is pretty absurd, but you can go ahead and dismiss him if you want.
I think we should move Landon Donovan to LB for the ’14 World Cup. Stay with me here. In 4 years he’ll by 32, and a couple steps slower. Our midfield is very deep right now; Holden’s turning into a mainstay at CM for a good EPL club, and presumably by then others will have emerged even more.
If the choice is between bring LD off the bench as a super sub and having him on the field the entire time at LB, with all his leadership, don’t we take the second choice? Left back goes from a horror show to an Ashley Cole-esque strength. And it adds a whole new dimension to the attack. Watching LD defend in these playoffs makes me think he could make the switch defensively
Bradley seems to play better for his club team. His passing looks a lot better. I think that has to do with how the team play is setup. Holden is getting better, although the 1st goal for Hull was somewhat his fault. That 2nd goal by the Bolton forward, that is the type of play our US players can’t do yet.
They can get a cross or shot.
No you two. Every time USA plays a 4-3-3 we lose. Also your formation gives opposing teams a field day you have everyone bunched up in the middle of the pitch. All the wingers have to do is get by the wing defense and they can get a cross of or score.
Just did some research.
Broken German, but adequate.
I don’t really speak Dutch (although I can understand it a bit), but that seemed much better.
Good on him!
So was habe ich noch nie gesehen.
(I’ve never seen it.)
Link for German, please.
Why are people so keen on Altidore right now. Yes, I’m a huge Altidore fan and I can’t wait till he finds regular time with Villareal and becomes the great striker I know he will be, but right now Buddle is a better striker than him. Just as experienced as Jozy even though of course Jozy has more international caps than him and also is more in form than Jozy.
In other news, whatever happened to Demerit???
Also, I like Tim M. lineup, although continuously seeing Bornstein in the lineup is pretty depressing.
(SBI-What exactly is your evidence to suggest Buddle is a better striker than Altidore? Purely total goals scored, regardless of level of competition? Altidore is considerably better. If you disagree that’s your call, but it’s not really close.)
+1 (or Freddy Adu)
I think Tim’s lineup is spot on. Maybe Omar Gonzalez or Gooch for Goodson, but I really think this is almost exactly the formation/personnel we should be using. BB’s obviously fiercely (detrimentally?) loyal to the 4-2-2-2 for though.
I don’t think you understand how each player functions in our formation. Bradley and Holden are not interchangeable.
You can find interviews of him answering questions in Dutch and German.
I don’t know if Torres will ever be that player, he himself plays a holding role for Pachuca.
If he continues at this rate and continues to rise to the occasion and progress, he totally gets my vote for USA’s Soccer Athlete of the year award in 2011.
our*
you can only play your best players to a certain extent. are mids have certain strengths and weaknesses. its all about finding the right combination and chemistry.
Some players have to play though. Jozy, Dempsey, Donovan, Howard, Boca and now Holden and Jones are those players for right now. All things have to change. 09 Gooch and Charlie Davies were solidified then. Now their not. Until a forward steps up and starts scoring regularly for the national level, there wont be any talk of displacing Jozy.
As far as LB i think it depends who, were playing. If they have speedy wingers, Boca will get torched.
And, although Edu has the potential to be a great CB, that’s just not what he’s about. Id rather have someone who loves their role, and plays it to the fullest, then someone who doesn’t have their heart in it and doesn’t understand the position to the needed extent, especially on the national level.
@ Ben
It wasn’t supposed to be the bench, but rather our options at midfield.
As far as Sacha, the guy’s still only 25 and only coming into the prime of his career. He’s made great strides since first being introduced into the nats and is in great form and starting for a winning Anderlecht side, beating out very talented players on a team packed with midfielders. He hasn’t been the most consistent, but he’s still maturing.
He has the vision, touch, and technique you don’t normally see in other American’s. Also, a great work ethic and he can go hard for 90 minutes. I think that he’s really still only coming into his own. MLS really never suited him. Its not really the league where you can hone his aforementioned skills. Like it or not were going to see him again and again.
Except for Holden those are hardly very creative players. I love them, but the trend in top flight soccer is holding mid-types with more technical ability. I’m still not that impressed. I’m really disappointed Torres has not come into his own yet. But I’m happy he’s at least playing full games on a more consistent basis for Pachuca now. Same goes for Feilhaber. As good as Bradley has been, he was mostly second best when he went up against the other center mids during the World Cup. Of course, I loved his goal in the WC (and Edu’s for that matter. Even if it was called offside).
Regardless, stoked for both of them to get their goals!
“Plus MB speaks fluent Dutch and German.”
Says who?
Now that Jozy is seeing some action and scoring some goals for Villareal, you want to remove him from the starting XI?
No. He’s right, Bradley was the best.
Frankly, I’m just glad our talent pool is deep enough to be having these arguments over who should start. A player like Kyle Beckerman, who would’ve been one of our better players a decade ago, is firmly entrenched as a member of our ‘C’ team.
Bradley, Holden, Jones, Edu… all of ’em can play really well in the center of the pitch, and while I have my (slight) preferences, I feel pretty confident in that corps no matter who’s playing (as long as it’s not Rico Clark).
Agreed. Really nice composure on the ball.
No, no more Sacha, especially since you have a bench of all midfielders.
I like Michael Bradley as much as the next person, but Holden could be playing the best of any US player at this moment. He has Bolton to 5th right now, very impressive. He leads in tackles and without drawing cards. Thank goodness Bob isn’t calling either Mike or Stuart for the South Africa game. Holden is giving every US fan something to think about. If the US goes for a 4-4-2, do you move Landon up to forward, despite him playing his best, in my opinion, on the outside? It is unfathomable that if you picked a team today, you would leave out Holden. I’ve been trying to catch as many Bolton games as I can, and from what I see, Holden is just playing superb right now. Barely into his first full season, he is already indispensable for Bolton.
I guess Nostradamus is only good at seeing the future, not so good at seeing the past.
It’s clearly just his (michael’s) demeanor that doesnt endear himself to fans I think. He’s not in the business of tweeting, the pictures of him having a laugh (or even smiling) are nowhere to be found. He’s just a really focused dude.
I think that other stuff is what gets guys like Holden, Edu and to some extent Altidore a free pass with fans sometimes. I love those guys, and I think Holden is a WONDERFUL player but it seems like that’s the case.
There’s VERY little to choose between Holden, Bradley and Edu but to say that Bob Bradley how HAS to put Michael on the bench is absurd and if you think that you clearly don’t know enough to see what Michael Bradley brings to the fray.
For this cycle of qualifying I’m getting Mikey’s number on my jersey.
It’s really great to see Holden doing so well. He has really come into his own.
Bradley is a great player as well. He’s s beast and a workhorse. I love his work ethic.
Maurice Edu is also in great form right now. He really makes a difference on the pitch. He’s always getting involved on a lot of plays.
Clint Dempsey is also looking like a true and great striker. He has been showing impressive flashes of creativity and skill up top lately. He is a little frail as a midfielder. I say he is our main striker now.
Agreed. Decent scoring rate in both Holland and Germany. Has so much potential. Plays decent in most matches though underwhelms to a big degree in certain matches and can be annoying. He was very brillant in the WC and got a scrappy goal from his eagerness to move forward.
Plus he’s only 23. He’ll probably be captaining us in 2014.
Dude, forget about putting Jozy in the lineup!!
Start Dempsey up top with Donovan! We have all these great midfielders now (Bradley, Edu, Holden) so let’s leave them there.
Dempsey is really playing well at Fulham up top. I saw the Chelsea mid-week game and he had an awesome strike. He also played very well against Newcastle today.
MB has 9 goals in 67 matches with BMG. Not bad for a mid-fielder on a relegation fodder club.
Plus MB speaks fluent Dutch and German
I’m just grateful Aaron Carter finally found a profession he’s good at. My only criticism is that he decided to change his name rather than his hairdo.
It’d be awesome if he unfurled a mini US flag everytime he scored lol
but seriously what else would he do if he scored? He always seem to rush to the sidelines and dedicate the goals to the fans.
I’m with you, except I put Edu at CB for Goodson, Boca for Bornstink and slot Gooch in as the other CB.
Try second best.
I think we have enough diversity in the midfield to play a 4-3-3, especially know with kljestan and Stuey riding high in the center for their teams.
I agree that you’ve got to put your best players on the pitch.
As of now, id say our strongest team would be…
————Jozy—————
———————-Dempsey AM
-LD AM————————-
——————–Stuey——
—-Jones———————-
———–Bradley————-
——————————-
Bornstein—————-Dolo–
——-Boca——Goodson——-
——————————-
———–Howard————–
This would be my set up if i was managing the USA WWFM or on paper :).
Kinda crude, but i hope you get the positional placing
and its intent. Edu, Sacha, Benny, Torres, Bedoya and Beas are all good options off the bench. We’ll see if Mix can be in that conversation, but I’m sure we’ll see more of him in the future, as we’ll as Shea
Love how even when MB scores people still find a way to hate. Has there ever been such a good/successful American who draws as much vitriol from some fans? Only one I can think of is pre-2009 Donovan.
Newsflash: Michael Bradley is really good, and our team would be much, much worse off if he wasnt around. Stop complaining.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Elmander
it would be akward if he did the stanky leg.
Beautiful footwork, great finish
What about that dude Elmander? That goal was sublime.
Michael Bradley was our best player at the World Cup. He should absolutely be starting in the center of our midfield.
It would be better if we had all our best players on the pitch in that case we should have Jones, Bradley and Holden and if we needed one of them to play out wide Holden would be the best option because of his crossing ability.
No, No Holden on the Wing. Holden aint racking up these performences pretending he is David Beckham, he is racking it up in the center of the pitch. Tough Luck, Bob is just going to have to use Michael as a sub for once. There is nothing wrong with a Holden-Jones partnership in our center midfield.
He has started in the last two friendlies.
The kid may have variation in passing, but he’s missing it in celebrations.
Come on – who wouldn’t like to see Mikey hit that Stanky Leg?
I’m not surprised by Holden’s success, he’s the real deal. Now if only Bradley will play him. We may have to move Dempsey up front and play Holden on the wing or have Holden play back a little with Dempsey and LD on the wing…
Is it just me, or does every Bradley goal celebration look exactly the same?