By FRANCO PANIZO
The Clint Dempsey-to-Liverpool rumors just won't go away, and they will likely continue should he have a strong game against the club this weekend.
Dempsey and Fulham travel to take on Liverpool in a game that could help the Cottagers further themselves from the relegation zone or drop them into it. Dempsey is currently Fulham's top goalscorer and tied for assist leader, so a big day from him would likely result in a favorable outcome for Fulham, and some more transfer talk.
Far from relegation, Bolton Wanderers take on Sunderland in a battle between the Premiership's sixth and seventh placed teams. Stuart Holden, who scored a winner last week, is almost certain to start as Bolton aims to regain a place in Europe.
One attacker who will be looking to just see the field will be Kenny Cooper, who made the bench for TSV 1860 Munich last weekend after recovering from an ankle injury he picked up in July. Cooper has not played at the club level in over six months, but he'll be hoping to change that when Munich faces SC Paderborn 07.
Here is a rundown of who the Americans Abroad play this weekend:
FRIDAY
Michael Bradley and Borussia Moenchengladbach play Hamburg SV.
David Yeldell and MSV Duisburg play VfL Bochum.
Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Troyes.
SATURDAY
Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Sunderland.
Jonathan Spector and West Ham United play Blackburn Rovers.
Brad Friedel, Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play Wigan Athletic.
Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson and Fulham play Liverpool.
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Coventry City. (Whitbread is out injured.)
Conor Doyle and Derby County play Reading. (Doyle is currently with the U-20 national team.)
Anton Peterlin and Plymouth Argyle play Leyton Orient.
Jemal Johnson and Milton Keynes Dons play Oldham Athletic.
Frank Simek, Mike Grella and Carlisle United play Yeovil Town.
Maurice Edu and Rangers play St Mirren.
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal play Mallorca.
Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan play AS Roma.
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Borussia Dortmund.
Steve Cherundolo, DaMarcus Beasley and Hannover 96 play Nurnberg.
Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04 play FC Cologne.
Carlos Bocanegra and St Etienne play Arles.
SUNDAY
Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers play West Bromwich Albion.
Daniel Williams and SC Freiburg play Bayer Leverkusen.
Kenny Cooper and TSV 1860 Munich play SC Paderborn 07.
Amaechi Igwe and FC Ingolstadt 04 play VfL Osnabruck. (Igwe is out injured.)
Charlie Davies and Sochaux play Bordeaux.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play Club Brugge.
MONDAY
Tim Howard and Everton play Manchester City.
Luis Robles and Karlsruhe play FC Union Berlin.
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How do you see Dempsey faring against Liverpool? Think he'd like to play for Hodgson again? Do you think Bolton and Holden will defeat Sunderland? Expecting Cooper to see the field?
Share your thoughts below.
Probably the main thing for any American in Europe is to go to a club where you are as certain as you can be that the manager believes in you.
Holden, who was available to a number of other Premiership clubs who passed on him, proves that. He’s been good but he’s also very fortunate to have Coyle on his side.
Moyes and Coyle believed in their Americans and were rewarded. Gooch’s manager doesn’t feel the same way. The people at Bayern didn’t believe in Donovan.
Clint should think long and hard if he decides to move from Fulham.
Hodgson and Dempsey did not always see eye to eye and Clint may not want a re-union.
Clint’s what, 27? I don’t think name recognition is what he should be looking for, not do I think he’d want to spend a year or two working his way into the lineup. I’d rather not see Clint coming off the bench, period, even if he has to miss out on the mid-table wonderfulness that is Liverpool. So what, he gets to hear a song as he walks out as a sub? Awesome! Also, you forgot to address the fact that Clint would be a Hodgson guy, and that Liverpool fans despise Hodgson. What happens when Hodgson is gone this summer? We’ve seen this show before with other American players, and it doesn’t end well.
Nowhere did I insist that Clint should stay with Fulham. I’d be happy to see him move to a bigger club where he’d be wanted by the manager and the fans.
Finally, I honestly would rather see Clint playing Hull City in the Championship than sitting on the bench in Liverpool, if those were the only options. Sitting on Milan’s bench hasn’t done Onyewu much good, has it? I really don’t think that training with Liverpool and sitting on the bench is better than playing with Fulham.
Dempsey to Liverpool has disaster written all over it. Of course, he could also spark the team to life and help run them back up to a Champions League spot. That would earn him some serious cred.
I was at the tsv 1860 munich match last weekend. Their fans were very happy to see kenny cooper back. I had to hold my tongue from asking why
mike ur trippin hard… Liverpool is still Liverpool no matter how bad they are… even if it means coming off the bench. Just training(Gerrard, Torres) and being apart of LFC would help his game out tremendously, and give him more name recognition. if he were to start out as a sub i think we all agree thank Clint could definitley make the starting 11 in time. Fulham is a great club, but the Cravens Cottage isnt Anfield… could you imagine Dempsey walking out with Gerrard and Torres while the crowd sing YNWA???? Dempsey to me makes perfect sense for Liverpool… an all around kinda guy with a nose for finishing… and whos to say Fulham wont be relegated?…. i would rather see Dempsey come off the bench for Liverpool than see him playing against Hull City in the Championship… wouldnt you????? honestly answer that question!!!
Oh it was a joke. I couldn’t read the humor in that post. I still can’t actually.
Dempsey would have to be a moron to go to Liverpool. He would rightly be seen as Hodgson’s guy. Liverpool fans despise Hodgson. They’d start to talk about “Fulham north,” and how they deserve to get Messi and not this stupid American, and how Liverpool are really the Barcelona of the north, at a minimum, because of all those titles they won 20+ years ago. Clint’s a pretty tough guy, if anyone could do it, I suppose he could. But then you have to consider that Hodgson probably won’t last past next summer, and then Clint’s playing time would depend on the new manager, whoever that might be. Liverpool is a mess, and Clint would do well to stay away.
Wow. You were born this way or did you have your funny bone surgically removed?
The best American midfielder currently plies his trade in West London…not Bolton…
SBi…i agree. your job as a journalist is to report what you hear. you should not be condescended for doing your job
Be still my beating heart!!!
I get a lot of credibility for being a Fulham fan instead of ManU or Chelsea, but I would LOVE to see Clint playing for Liverpool!!
I think he actually deserves it considering that he has had to fight his way on to the Fulham squad every year despite his stellar previous performances. It would be nice for a coach (Hodgson) to give him the nod.
Reading the mbm report on kicker, most of BMGs offensive plays have the word ‘Bradley’ at least once.
Bradley should transfer to Bolton so we can find out who really is the best American midfielder?
Oh calm down. Erroneous rumors are part of the fun of soccer. Dempsey to Liverpool is far more credible than the crazy Iniesta to Man City one that started yesterday.
*truth from rumor, not from fact.
The rumors won’t go away because respected journalists like Ives keep airing them and giving them false credence. I want to read Ives for his ability to sift truth from fact, an not for his ability to throw everything at the wall until something sticks.
(SBI-Dank, you really need to settle down. Who threw something at a wall? There are Dempsey to Liverpool rumors, Dempsey is playing Liverpool this weekend. It’s not a reach to mention it, nor is it something that a journalist should avoid. We didn’t devote a seperate post to it, but in this instance to merely acknowledge that the rumors exist is hardly some crime against journalism, whether you may think so or not.)
and right as I start watching…they sub Bradley. ???????? he was having a damn good game.
well yeah his team does suck. someones gotta be good on Moenchengladbach.
Bradley does seem to be their best player. Monchengladbach needs a new goalkeeper.
Announcer on ESPNDeportes just said that Bradley has been the best player on the field. How many other US midfielders would be able to do that in a Bundesliga game?
Was just about to post that. Hmmm, dunno if that cross is good enough to justify a starting spot on the USMNT team though… 😛
Bradley with a huge play — nice run and a GREAT cross — to earn an assist and tie up the game, less than a minute after Elia had put Hamburg on top.
True. But I stayed at a Holiday Inn once. And that’s no rumor. 🙂
Dude Evian Thonon Gaillard is the club Westberg plays for.
Evian … sounds like a water boy.
Um, where in this post did he pass on conjecture as a news story?
Hint: He didn’t.
He noted simply that “rumors just won’t go away” and a big day from Dempsey would likely result in “some more transfer talk.” Both of those things are true: rumors exist, and more transfer talk will likely exist. The fact that the talk and rumors are false would not make the existence of the talk and rumors false. Their existence is true whether you want them to be or not.
Before you criticize others’ writing, perhaps you should learn to be a better reader.
“Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Troyes.”
Never heard of this Evian Thonon Gaillard. What position does he play? 😉
Wow, someone’s wound up pretty tight on a Friday afternoon.
True, but Dank is getting a job with ESPN.
Can you please stop passing on baseless tabloid conjectures as news stories? Dempsey isn’t going to Liverpool, Donovan isn’t going to Fulham, Bob Bradley isn’t the next coach of Aston Villa.
He is still there, I believe his coach said today that he will stay with the reserves bc he has not impressed the reserves coach
Is Jermaine Jones still demoted to the 4th team or has that been resolved?
Monchengladbach vs Hamburg is on espn3.com right now.
Bradley has some really good chances early. Probably should have scored on one of them….