photo by John Dorton/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Gale Agbossoumonde did something this weekend that he had not done since playing for Miami FC about a year and a half ago: he started a match at the club level.
Agbossoumonde earned his first start for Djurgardens IF, and he went the distance in a 1-0 defeat to Malmo FF on Friday. Despite playing a man down for an entire half, Djurgarden and Agbossoumonde nearly earned a point, but they surrendered a goal in the final moments of the match.
Sacha Kljestan helped create a goal, assisting on the insurance tally in RSC Anderlecht's 2-0 victory over Genk in the Belgian playoffs. Kljestan also started (his first since the playoffs began) and went the distance in the match that lifted Anderlecht to first place in the playoffs table.
A pair of young Americans went at it as Mixx Diskerud and Josh Gatt dueled in Molde FK's 3-2 victory over Stabaek IF. Diskerud played 90 minutes for Stabaek and Gatt came off the bench to play 18 minutes, yet the more interesting development from that game may have been 18-year-old left back Sean Cunningham making the game-day roster for Molde for the first time this season.
Here is how the Americans Abroad did this weekend:
England
PREMIERSHIP
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 1 save in Everton's 2-0 win vs. Blackburn Rovers on Saturday.
- Clint Dempsey and Fulham did not play this weekend.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made 4 saves in Aston Villa's 2-1 win vs. West Ham United on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan did not dress for Aston Villa.
- Michael Bradley did not dress for Aston Villa.
- Marcus Hahnemann and Wolverhampton Wanderers did not play this weekend.
- Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play in West Ham United's 2-1 loss vs. Aston Villa on Saturday.
- Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 5-0 loss vs. Stoke City in the FA Cup semifinals on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Jermaine Jones started and played 90 minutes in Blackburn Rovers' 2-0 loss vs. Everton on Saturday.
CHAMPIONSHIP
- Conor Doyle and Derby County play Queens Park Rangers on Monday.
- Zak Whitbread started and played 90 minutes in Norwich City's 2-1 win vs. Nottingham Forest Friday.
- Eric Lichaj started and played 90 minutes in Leeds United's 2-2 draw vs. Watford on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress for Leeds United.
- Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest's 2-1 loss vs. Norwich City on Friday. He is recovering from a thigh injury.
- Eddie Johnson started and played 72 minutes in Preston North End's 3-1 win vs. Sheffield United on Saturday.
LEAGUE ONE
- Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United's 4-1 win vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
- Anton Peterlin started and played 87 minutes in Plymouth Argyle's 2-1 loss vs. Peterborough United on Saturday.
Scotland
PREMIER LEAGUE
- Maurice Edu started and played 90 minutes in Rangers' 2-1 win vs. St Mirren on Saturday.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 4-0 win vs. Aberdeen on Saturday.
Germany
BUNDESLIGA
- Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. Hamburg SV on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover 96.
- Ricardo Clark dressed but did not play in Eintracht Frankfurt's 1-0 loss vs. TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday.
- Daniel Williams dressed but did not play in SC Freiburg's 3-0 loss vs. Borussia Dortmund on Sunday.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in Nurnberg's 2-0 win vs. Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
BUNDESLIGA 2
- David Yelldell started, played 90 minutes and made 1 save in MSV Duisburg's 3-1 loss vs. Energie Cottbus on Saturday.
- Luis Robles started and Karlsruhe play FC Augsburg on Monday.
- Edson Buddle dressed but did not play in FC Ingolstadt 04's 3-0 win vs. VfL Bochum on Friday.
- Amaechi Igwe did not dress for FC Ingolstadt 04. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-1 loss vs. FSV Frankfurt on Friday.
- Alfredo Morales did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 4-0 win vs. VfL Osnabruck on Saturday.
France
LIGUE 1
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in St Etienne's 2-1 win vs. AS Nancy Lorraine on Saturday.
LIGUE 2
- Quentin Westberg did not dress in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 3-2 win vs. Istres on Friday.
Netherlands
- Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Twente Enschede's 1-1 draw vs. De Graafschap on Sunday.
Turkey
SUPER LIG
- Jozy Altidore came off the bench and played 24 minutes in Bursaspor's 1-0 loss vs. Trabzonspor on Sunday.
BANK ASYA 1. LIG
- Freddy Adu dressed but did not play in Caykur Rizespor's 0-0 draw vs. Boluspor on Saturday.
Belgium
- Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in RSC Anderlecht's 2-0 win vs. Genk in the playoffs on Friday.
Denmark
SUPERLIGA
- Michael Parkhurst did not dress in FC Nordsjaelland's 3-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
- Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg BK's 2-1 win vs. Brondby IF on Sunday. He is recovering from a knee injury.
- Chris Rolfe dressed but did not play for Aalborg BK.
- Clarence Goodson came off the bench and played 59 minutes in Brondby IF's 2-1 loss vs. Aalborg BK on Sunday.
1ST DIVISION
- Benny Feilhaber did not dress in AGF Aarhus' 3-2 win vs. Viborg on Saturday. He has transferred to MLS.
Sweden
- Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play Gefle on Monday.
- Ryan Miller dressed but did not play in Halmstads BK's 2-0 loss vs. GAIS on Saturday.
- Gale Agbossoumonde started and played 90 minutes in Djurgardens IF's 1-0 loss vs. Malmo FF on Friday.
Norway
- Mixx Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF's 3-2 loss vs. Molde FK on Sunday.
- Josh Gatt came off the bench and played 18 minutes in Molde FK's 3-2 win vs. Stabaek IF on Sunday.
- Sean Cunningham dressed but did not play for Molde FK.
Mexico
- Jose Torres started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Pachuca's 2-1 loss vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Herculez Gomez started and played 90 minutes for Pachuca.
- Edgar Castillo did not dress in Puebla's 2-0 win vs. Cruz Azul on Saturday.
- Sammy Ochoa and Estudiantes Tecos U.A. de G. play America on Sunday evening.
- Sonny Guadarrama did not dress in Atlante's 1-1 draw vs. Necaxa on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL's 1-0 win vs. Chiapas on Saturday.
- Gustavo Adrian Ruelas came off the bench and played 3 minutes in Santos Laguna's 1-0 win vs. Chivas de Guadalajara on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Expecting Agbossoumonde to tear it up for Djurgarden? Think Kljestan should be on the Gold Cup roster? Crossing your fingers (and toes) that Cunningham turns into a solid left back for the USMNT?
Share your thoughts below.
“Josh D said in reply to away goals…
But that’s the risk and has always been Bradley’s biggest failure as a coach: His starting 11. Look at the Ghana game – an embarrassment changing out a player in the first half.”
It’s funny you should say that because prior to the World Cup everyone was talking about how BB was good at prepping a team for a game but knew nothing about substitutions.
To the best of my knowledge BB has never explained why he started Clark rather than Edu in the Ghana game. I am not a card carrying member of the “every decision BB makes is colored by his incompetency and a suicidal desire to fail at his job” club. Therefore I assume he had a good reason to do so. Maybe Edu showed up hurt and tired at training or maybe Clark showed up really well. I doubt you and me and the general public will ever really know.
What I do know is Clark told the media afterwards why he was pulled and, interestingly , it was for the reason I suspected at the time. BB told Clark he was pulling him because Rico quickly picked up a yellow in what was clearly a frustrated reaction to his infamous turnover. BB did not want to risk a red card and going down a man. At the time, I thought Rico had lost it. Pulling him was a very savvy move . I still feel that way.
If there is any embarrassment here it is not on BB, it’s on Clark who let BB and everyone else down with the turnover and then nearly compounded that by losing his mind and getting a red card.
I would say BB’s move to quickly put out that brushfire showed good judgment. It’s all very well for you and everyone else to say he should have started Edu in perfect hindsight but, BB didn’t have the benefit of that when he made the decision. Capello thought Milner was a good idea to start in the England game but pulled him after the 31st minute. Sometimes gambles don’t work out but the key is both managers moved quickly to correct the mistakes.
“We risk valuable time and opportunities by starting Michael with no game experience to his name for 2 months during a Gold Cup game, go down against a minnow team and having to claw our way back.”
If MB is an integral part of the team, and most would say he is, playing him against minnows is a way to get him PT with minimal risk. If not then, yes, bring in Dax or Beckerman.
“Sure if he plays well it doesn’t matter, but there’s a risk to finding out. Whereas someone like Jones, Edu – even Clark nowadays, you can see them playing week in and out so you know what to expect
There’s no way a rusty CM player can come straight into an international game and play even 75% of their ability.”
Are you sure this is the case? You cannot prove a negative.
When Davies was supposedly going to save the World Cup campaign for the US people were throwing around figures like ” 75% of Davies is better than …whoever”.
It was BS then and it’s BS now. In any competitive form of sporting endeavor you either get the job done or you do not. I don’t believe Davies would done anything in the World Cup because he did not have the requisite basic level of fitness. MB, while he hasn’t played first team games, does have the requisite level of basic fitness. Most people feel MB did very well these last two games, against teams that will be at least as tough if not tougher than any Gold Cup opposition. There is no reason to think he won’t be better by the Gold Cup. Contrast that with Jones, who has been getting regular time and should be showing much better, yet he continues to disappoint , even though he is more talented than MB.
Your basic premises sound like they make sense but I think you look at the USMNT as a club team not a national team . Two very different situations.
Your statement , “you can see them playing week in and out so you know what to expect” , is not necessarily true.
A player can be tearing it up with his club team but when he steps on the field with the USMNT all of sudden everything, the manager, the playing scheme and style, the language, the terminology, the players , the opposition, may be completely unfamiliar to him. Comfort level and confidence may suddenly go right out the door. Some guys like Chandler step right in and do well from the start. Jozy did also but then he tailed off. Will Chandler tail off as well? Maybe; I don’t know.
Others take a while and some never adjust. And yet all of these players may be equally talented.
The cold, hard, unvarnished truth is that some excellent players never really fit in with their national team for any number of reasons.
Frank Lampard has been outstanding for Chelsea but never really has played nearly as well for England and the history of the game if full of guys like him. So it should come as no surprise to anyone that Bradley, and most national team managers, are very attached to their favorites. I’m positive BB already knows about 20 of the 23 guys (it is 23 right?) who will be on the Gold Cup roster.
They have so little time to organize their teams that they will almost always take the familiar guy over the more talented (ON PAPER) one.
Lippi of Italy is famous for saying something like ” it is the 11 who play the best together, not the best 11 players”. This from the guy who kept the extremely talented wack job Cassano off his team and still managed to win a World Cup.
Sometimes I’ve had to leave the site and start over again and then it’s okay. But sometimes it’s not.
I’ve never read a reporter or media type who seemed to think that MB’s playing time was primarily nepotism related. Maybe that is because they are ignorant but of the one’s I’ve read that I’m sure are not, maybe they think, as I do, that BB hardly has a wealth of sure fire options. Jones, Edu and MB are more or less equivalent, all equally flawed or equally talented, depending on your personal bias. In the long run take two of the three and it won’t make a lot of difference. Getting hot over which two is like rearranging the decks chairs on the Titanic (post Iceberg). Pointless nitpicking. For the US media I doubt this rises to the level of a QB controversy, and it shouldn’t.
The club playing time thing is something of an urban legend. Bradley has always said it is important but is not the only factor.
It matters more for new guys than the regulars because obviously, it’s hard for Bradley to see what you can do when you are on the bench for Freiberg. That kid Williams, who has only played a few minutes here and there, will have to get an extended run at Frieberg if he expects the US to call him up. The template is Chandler who forced the issue by playing so well he forced Nurmburg to play him and then did the same to the USMNT. What you want is people getting so hot,Bradley can’t ignore you. Buddle,Gomez and Chandler all did that. It’s not enough to be German and US eligible or left footed. You have to be showing you can play as well.
On the other hand Donovan and Dempsey could sit until the end of their seasons and they would still be starters until their form for the US started to tail off. Apparently MB is also in the class.
I expect MB will play in the Spain game. He will be on the Gold Cup squad and he needs the practice.
He played well in his last two US games and, in any event Villa has only about 5-6 games left so this lack of club playing time has proven to not be a big deal, at this stage, for the Gold Cup.
Now if MB doesn’t get more playing time at Villa or wherever he winds up next season , then maybe you have something. On the other hand there are many cases of players who are peripheral figures at their clubs doing well and sometimes starring for their international teams. For example, Miro Klose plays about half the time or less for Bayern but sets goal scoring records for Germany.
Yea….Takes a while to get over the Sucks….
I’ve always had Bradley over Edu, and have never been one to criticize his continuous starting XI role. But with the lack of playing time, and two solid options in Edu and Jones, Bradley needs to sit.
Wasn’t meaning to be snide. He put away a corner on Saturday.
haha unfortunately i think najar might outvote him
I have had the same thing happen, but it worked this time.
It seems to be a bug that comes and goes. When it happens, I haven’t worked out what I need to do to get it to work again. I don’t recall if merely leaving the SBI site and returning worked or if I had to quit Safari.
Good reply, and I could appreciate the response (if that’s really what he thinks). However a couple of follow-up questions may be something like: “Why have no other centermid combo’s been tried for an extended look in a competitive match in 2 or 3 years?” or “What role would Holden have played had he not been injured and how would that affect the other players in the midfield?” or even “Why hasn’t Bobby Convey gotten a sniff at the gaping hole of a leftback position?” All other coaches in bigtime sports get fielded difficult questions constantly. I don’t envy them, but they surely understood that’s part of the job description. I appreciate the job coach Bradley has done, but the fan in me gets frustrated at his continued use of favorites.
Someone posted an article from a German magazine on another web site (BS)which mentioned that he picked up a thigh injury in training this week and although he was fit enough to make the bench, he could not go 90. It also mentioned that the manager of his club team starts him for home matches because of his distribution and overall attacking talent, but starts a different forward for away matches because he is not as effective defensively.
Someone posted an article from a German magazine on another web site (BS)which mentioned that he picked up a thigh injury in training this week and although he was fit enough to make the bench, he could not go 90. It also mentioned that the manager of his club team starts him for home matches because of his distribution and overall attacking talent, but starts a different forward for away matches because he is not as effective defensively.
Again, any rust or lack thereof will show in the weeks leading up to the gold cup.
If bob starts edu ahead of mb on june 7th, the decision won’t be based on a complex formula comparing their 2010-2011 match minutes. It will be because bob thinks edu is playing at a higher level.
Whether we agree or disagree with bob’s assessment, it really is that simple. This whole firestorm over mb’s status is assigning priority to the wrong criterion.
Quality on the day of the match is the trump card always. Club playing time might affect that quality, but it should never be the final deciding factor.
Ives – FYI, the reply function in the comments section often doesn’t work, at least for me. Basically, I will sign in to typepad, click reply to someone commenting about whether MB dressing for AV to factor into his spot on the USMNT (because that’s the only thing that interests me about soccer) but then no little comment box opens up, thus not allowing me to further the great convo about MB’s playing time. Sometimes the box pops up and sometimes it doesn’t – it’s about a 50/50 shot.
I said “two months without a game” indicating that from the last game he played until the summer, without any playing time he would be too rusty to play.
Jones didn’t look too sharp in October – made some very solid passes but his game was off. He’d play “well enough” but in the Gold Cup, well enough is not good enough.
I thought Buddle was scoring regularly, yet seems to not play much lately. What’s up there?
Does anyone know the last time Beasley got a game in? Does he at least get to play with the reserves?
That’s all well in theory…
But if we can’t compensate for one player’s performance (be it Bradley, or anyone else) at home, versus Canada, Panama and Guadeloupe, we’ve got much bigger problems.
By then, after a month of training and four competitive matches, we should have a much better grasp on Bradley’s form.
“There’s no way a rusty CM player can come straight into an international game and play even 75% of their ability.”
Bradley looked pretty good in the last set of friendlies.
Jones didn’t look that bad in the October friendlies.
The full team will be in camp in the weeks leading up to the gold cup. If mb’s form has dropped, I doubt it goes unnoticed.
“No way a rusty CM… can play even 75% of their level.”
MB did just that in the most recent friendlies. Whether he was the best cm in those friendlies is debatable, but he certainly didn’t embarass himself relative to the other two.
He’s been ill….. Bwahahahahaha, learn facts and read what someone commented above.
But that’s the risk and has always been Bradley’s biggest failure as a coach: His starting 11. Look at the Ghana game – an embarrassment changing out a player in the first half.
We risk valuable time and opportunities by starting Michael with no game experience to his name for 2 months during a Gold Cup game, go down against a minnow team and having to claw our way back.
Sure if he plays well it doesn’t matter, but there’s a risk to finding out. Whereas someone like Jones, Edu – even Clark nowadays, you can see them playing week in and out so you know what to expect.
There’s no way a rusty CM player can come straight into an international game and play even 75% of their ability.
The question doesn’t need to be asked because the answer is obvious.
Reporter: Coach Bradley, why does your son start despite his lack of playing time at the club level?
Bob: (squints eyes in disgust, moves on to next question)
Implied answer: Because I’m the coach of a competitive men’s national team and I start the players I think give me the best chance of winning a match.
I’ve noticed Michael Parkhurst not starting in the last few games. He was a staple last year, anyone know what happened?
Agreed… Moenchengladbach is doomed to relegation, so hopefully he’ll play well for the national team this summer, get noticed by a team with a need, and transfer away to a consistent starting position in a notable league
It matters because club playing time has been the general standard by which coach Bradley has awarded call-ups and USMNT pt to all other players in the pool. There have been exceptions for sure, and MB is one of the more talented players we have. But I agree with Josh D above that this will become a question that needs asked. And doubly agree that there has not yet been a reporter to broach the subject, which is strange. I can’t imagine the press a similar situation would generate in one of the other 4 major US sports.
Adu on the bench for a Turkish 2nd division team???
Bwahahaha, time to come back to MLS, little Adu…
Away Goals Rule! I agree. As long as he’s playing well for the red, white and blue who cares how he’s playing for his club.
Lets hope the recent rash of red cards since the standing where last published don’t knock England out of the top 3.
Questions only need to be asked if mb plays poorly in the national shirt and _then_ continues to start over other options.
As long as he’s playing well for us, his aston villa minutes are irrelevant.
I’ve never been Bradley’s biggest fan as an automatic starter, however, this trend of not even making the bench is worrisome for us coming into the Gold Cup.
Will be interesting to see where this puts him in our next friendly. If this trend continues and he makes the starting 11, questions have to be asked from Papa..
Does the media even get to interview him properly after a match like in Europe? I’ve never seen a reporter brave enough to ask the hard questions..
Bornstein shoulda taken the president of Honduras job when he had the chance
I’m interested in this Cunningham kid. Anyone know if he is any good?
Will he be our savior!? Lol
Fair play league
Patrick, Fulham is 15 points back how are they going to go into Europa league next season?
timothy chandler had an assist against kaiserslautern….the announcers were impressed with the way he played.
He’s getting over an illness…
Instead of being snide you could provide some useful info?
Hey Ives, Babjide Ogunbiyi netted for Viborg yesterday. Guess he is not on your radar just yet.
Considering he came of the injury list on the 1st of April after being out for 6 months it is pretty good.
Daniel Williams dressed this passed week. Making the bench is important these days…..
Fulham was off this week and it looks like Deuce and Co. will be playing Europa League Football in the summer after the Gold Cup.
Gatt’s club teammate from Michigan. He was signed in January.
Adu’s on the bench? Oy vey.
Yes and yes
thanks!
who the heck is cunningham?
Miguel Angel Ponce started, played 90 minutes at Left-Back for Chivas of Mexico.
Is Guzan’s loan at Hull over, and if so, is he back at Villa for the rest of the season?
http://www.soccerbyives.net/soccer_by_ives/2011/04/feilhaber-coming-to-mls.html
Here you go.
This Sean Cunningham is a left back? CAP HIM NOW.
What’s been going on with Buddle?
whats goin on with feilhaber coming to MLS? i just got wind of this story anyone got any more info?