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Holden and Bradley score in victories

Stuart Holden 7 (Getty Images)

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):

 

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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.

Comments

  1. You’d start Jozy over Davies? The man has 58 league goals in 260 games for Bolton in the Premiership. He’s a deadlier version of Ching and would be a good man to mentor Jozy.

    Petrov has 18 goals in 81 games for Bulgaria and is the sort of winger the US needs right now. Donovan and him would be great swtiching wings. Dempsey isn’t a winger and would be moved inside for Lee.

    Lets put it this way, BB would breathe a lot easier if he had those Bolton guys in his pool of players. If Bolton(with Holden)is into it and playing well I see no reason why they couldn’t beat a first string USMNT.

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  2. You don’t think MB makes the final 23 for another top 16 WC team?? That’s almost laughable. What about Jones? You don’t think a team could use him?

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  3. There is no way those players would start for the USMNT outside of Elmander and Taylor. With Donovan and Dempsey on the wings, I highly doubt Lee could challenge them for those spots.

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  4. Donovan was excellent. Bradley was better. But of course no one noticed since Bradley did all the hard work in the center of the pitch while Donovan scored the big goals.

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  5. “Bradley seems to play better for his club team. His passing looks a lot better.”

    That is pretty common.

    US fans seem to forget that international players spend the vast majority of their time playing with their club guys not their international team mates. And even if the core( Donovan,Dempsey, Boca, Jozy etc.)stays the same, there always seem to be a couple of new guys.

    And of course its always possible that his US teamates are not as skilled as his BMG teammates. It takes two players to complete a pass.

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  6. You are being seduced by Buddle’s subesequent performances in the MLS. This is now, that was then.

    Maybe we didn’t watch the same World Cup.

    Against Algeria Buddle had what one might call a “free header” which he should have scored on and didn’t. Other than that he looked in over his head.

    In the same game Jozy Altidore, who spent most of that game and the World Cup getting the snot pounded out of him, took the last minute pass from Donovan, centered it for Dempsey’s blocked shot which eventually led to Donovan’s historic goal. Gomez did not have as many chances but he did look good against Solvakia and it was his off the ball run that freed up Bradley for the equalizing goal.

    I have no issue with Buddle’s playing time and I might have wanted to see more of Gomez but the situations did not call for it.

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  7. I’m a little tired of people who think scoring goals, any goal, is easy.

    While I don’t know your grandmother and apologize in advance, I doubt she has the positional sense and the stamina over the course of 90 minutes to put herself in position to “tap in” the ball.

    In any given match the ball will roll free of either defenders or attackers somewhere in front of the goal. Most of the time ther is no one around to take advantage.

    Those attacking players who figure out how to be in position when that happens are called goal scorers and they deserve the goal since not everyone is that sharp.

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  8. “Bradley tries way too many aimless long passes to just be given that role. ”

    The question is is it the guy doing the passing or the guy receiving the pass?

    In other words, I’ve seen Bradley make more than a few of those “aimless long passes” when he plays for BMG and it works fine over there. Maybe, just maybe, his US teamates don’t read him as well as his German teamates do.

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  9. If you leave out the obvious weaker teams (New Zealand, North Korea, etc)and focus on the other top 16 teams, other than the goal keepers and possibly Donovan and Dempsey, no US player makes the final 23 for the any other top 16 World Cup team.

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  10. Dempsey has played up top numerous times for the US but he doesn’t do the same things that Jozy does. He is not a direct replacement for Jozy.

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  11. Holden has done well but it’s a little dangerous to assume you can take Holden’s play at Bolton and have it translate directly to the USMNT.

    At Bolton, Holden has much better players to play with and a more clearly defined role.

    The US is not as organized and couldn’t support him the way Bolton does.

    At Bolton, on the attacking end he has guys like Petrov, Davies, Lee, Matty Taylor and Elmander to work with, all guys who would probably start for the USMNT right now.

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  12. Holden is not a wide player.

    Holden himself has said in interviews that that he can’t stay out wide and keeps coming inside looking for the ball. If you saw the Colombia game Holden and Shea both kept coming inside clogging an already crowded midfield.

    Good as Holden is the real need for the US is at least one good wide man

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  13. Looked to me that Holden was responsible for both of the Wolves goals. The second less so than the first, but in both he is ball-watching and allowing his man or his zone free.

    But good for him. First EPL goal and a win. Nice

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  14. Gomez is not better then Buddle. “What have you done for me lately”? Gomez scores in bunches and then disappears. He was embarrassing at the WC. In the aftermath of all that Findley and Gomez play, weren’t we all questioning why we hadn’t seen more Buddle?

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  15. We’ve hardly played with that formation for those words “every time” to apply. Last time being the friendly against Columbia, we had Stuey and Shea on the Wings, and they would constantly defer back into the midfield. There’s no doubt Dempsey and Landon would have any trouble getting out and attacking.

    Like i said this was a very crude design and was only supposed to give an idea of where ideally they would be placed on the pitch. obviously our mids wouldn’t be bunched up like this and Donovan and Dempsey would farther out wide, but Dempsey not too far behind Jozy.

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  16. How they function is determined by the role they are given. They are not galvanized pegs that can only fit into certain holes.

    Holden is a much better distributor in the center than Bradley. That’s been his role for Bolton and he does it VERY well. He is becoming highly rated. Bradley tries way too many aimless long passes to just be given that role. I do like Bradley too though, he just lacks that ability to control the game. Holden is much closer to being that influence we have sorely missed since Claudio Reyna retired.

    Holden has gotten time in that central midfield “engine room” with the national team and he has done pretty well. It’s just somewhat unfortunate for him that he is the best crosser on the team, because its going to keep him playing out wide more often which is a waste of his brain and passing technique.

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  17. Kirk: In addition to what Ives has said, first of all, you’re incorrect that he’s only played in Copa matches. Second of all, that tap in is not the only goal he has scored. You’re either conveniently forgetting or haven’t seen the beautiful goal he scored the week before. Third of all, I never said anything about Dempsey, so I don’t know why you’re bringing him into the conversation. Of course Dempsey should start. That doesn’t mean that Jozy shouldn’t. In case you haven’t noticed, they’ve started together for the nats more than a few times.

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  18. so the question put forth is…is a forward that plays sparingly in a top league but can’t really score but is young, is better than a player that scores a lot in a lesser league? tough one, my answer would be with another question…would Altidore be in a WC team other than the US based on his scoring history?

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