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Americans Abroad: Goodson scores, Holden wins Bolton awards and more

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. national team centerback Clarence Goodson is going to be entering the Gold Cup on a good run of form.

Goodson scored his second goal of the season for Danish outfit Brondby, heading home a corner kick in the early moments of his club's 1-1 draw with FC Nordsjaelland on Wednesday. With one game remaining in the season, Brondby has already clinched a place in the UEFA Europa League and will look to fend off FC Midtjylland, with whom it is level on points but ahead on goal differential, for third place in the Superliga.

Goodson went the distance for Brondby — as did Michael Parkhurst for Nordsjaelland — and will compete for a starting spot on the United States' back line in this summer's tournament.

Here are a couple of other items involving Americans Abroad:

HOLDEN NAMED BOLTON POY

Despite missing the latter part of the season with a knee injury, Stuart Holden was named Bolton's Player of the Year by the club and the media at the club's end-of-the-season banquet.

Holden was a huge part of Bolton's success this season, establishing himself as one of the top tackling central midfielders in the Premier League. He suffered an unfortunate injury when he collided with Manchester United's Jonny Evans and is rehabilitating to try and be ready for the start of the upcoming season.

MONCHENGLADBACH STAYS UP

Borussia Monchengladbach, the parent club of U.S. national team midfielder Michael Bradley, won its relegation playoff against 2. Bundesliga side VfL Bochum and will remain in the Bundesliga next season.

Monchengladbach won the first leg of their playoff tie, 1-0, and forced a 1-1 draw in Wednesday's second leg to seal its fate in Germany's top flight.

Bradley is under contract with the club through next summer, though he has been linked with a move away from the club ever since going on loan to Aston Villa in the winter.

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Do you think Goodson should start for the United States in the Gold Cup? What do you think of Holden winning the Player of the Year for his club? Do you think it would be good for Bradley to play out his contract with Monchengladbach now that it's safely in the Bundesliga for next season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Geez, how good IS Holden? What are the comps, now? I hate to be one of those noobs who throws crazy comparables out, but I can’t deny the attraction. What is Stu’s ceiling? Are we talking about a young Paul Scholes, here?

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  2. I have been impressed by Goodson in the past, so this is very encouraging. A central pairing of Goodson and Ream gives some hope for a bit of a moribund back line. Chandler also gives some future hope and there are some good CB’s that are just too young and inexperienced but have the potential (Boss, Ike, etc.), but it would be very, very reassuring to to see Goodson and Ream to be able to hold down the middle in th Gold Cup.

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  3. K. Bowen,

    I’m not saying that Jones didn’t excel, but he also came into a very advantageous situation. I agree, Villa’s midfield is not nearly ManU, but in the same vein, Blackburn’s midfield is not as deep as Villa’s.

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  4. It’s nowhere near that simple AT ALL, and it’s comments like this that show the tactical ineptitude of a lot of American Soccer fans. Even aside from not scoring, he played pretty well. He showed he’s got some growing to do, but he also showed he’s done a lot of growing. Forwards can have other benefits besides goalscoring. The fact that you can’t see that immediately makes your comment even less profound.

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  5. Jones excelled at Blackburn. He was handed nothing. He’s a priority signing for the club this off-season. The fans say he’s the best midfielder they have had in years.

    If they were convinced of Bradley’s quality at Villa, he would have played more. They didn’t bring him over to sit. They have a good midfield, but you make it sound like it’s ManU in the Scholes-Giggs-Beckham days.

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  6. Torres is criticized because he cost 50 million pounds. When you cost that much, you dang well better score. Rooney gets props when he brings other players into the game.

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  7. And people forget the stat that up until the round of 16 Jozy had drawn more yellow cards than anyone in the tournament. I wish he would do more with his physicality but that is saying something.

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  8. Good on Holden! How awesome is that! I sure hope his bad luck ends and we can see an uninjured holden in a starting role in a major tourney for the nats soon. He is the missing link.

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  9. I agree with your last statement…”he needs a forward that compliments him and can score” because Jozy hardly scores? mmm, something doesn’t sound right.

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  10. Hahahahaha… you are a funny man… what are you basing this on ? One somewhat unproductive loan? Or the fact that he got shipped out from a nearly relegated Bundesliga team?

    Michael had a falling out with the coach, and they didn’t see eye to eye, so the coach moved him, big deal.

    Same thing happened with Jermaine Jones, except Jones moved into the extremely soft midfield at Blackburn where their most internationally experienced midfielder is a 32 year old Australian. Bradley went to Villa instead, where their captain and vice captain are both midfielders, they brought in another MF on loan at the same time, and they have Pirlo (French just like Houllier) and several other experienced English midfielders… oh and one crazy manager. Quite the shocker that he didn’t immediately come in and be handed 90 minutes every week like Jones.

    I’m not saying MB should be going to ManU, Arsenal, Barca, or anything, but remember, he’s still only 23! And he was one of the top rated midfielders in that quaint tournament in South Africa last summer. Unless injuries, or a premature move to a mega team derail him, Bradley is going to end up starting on a quality team in the top 3 leagues by the time he’s 27.

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  11. I’m for this backline completely. I don’t think Gooch is as off as people are saying, but I do think Goodson and Ream are a good pair of centerbacks.

    Something I would like to see again is Edu paired with Goodson. Edu can deal with the pacy strikers, while Goodson goes up against physical, slower strikers. I know Edu’s last showing at centerback wasn’t amazing, but to expect him to grow into a role in one match is a bit unfair. I seriously think the two would make a good pairing if given time, although to be fair, we may not have time.

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  12. I think we should expect our strikers to be an integral part of the attack. Even when we had Charlie and Jozy together, their job was more about creating space for Donovan and Dempsey than it was to actually get the goals themselves.

    The fans on this site are so focused on which player is better, and fail to see which player is more tactically advantageous. Bob has that ability, and that’s a pretty big part of the reason he gets so much criticism.

    Am I saying we shouldn’t expect goals? No. I’m saying we shouldn’t let that be the lone criteria for what striker should be in the game.

    So, despite what you say, a striker may be out there to score goals, but he also can have other functions depending on the team’s needs. Jozy has the support of a damn good midfield, and his job is to take pressure off them, make space for them, and bring them into the game with his hold up play, ability to run the channels with speed, and linking up with them. He’s improved in that department and is currently the best striker in the pool at all that. Therefore, he’s going to start. End of story.

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  13. Jozy has started every game from 2009 as forward when he is called in. That is two years people their has not been a forward he has built chemistry with except for Davies. He needs a forward that compliments him and can score.

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  14. I don’t believe that it would be a slight against Michael, nor totally off base for me to suggest that Michael’s ceiling as a pro is as a really good starter in the Dutch League. He’s a squad level player at best for average/above average level teams in the Bundesliga, and probably isn’t going to be a consistent starter on a good team in the top 3 European leagues.

    But what’s so bad about that? If the USMNT had 4 more Michael Bradley caliber players throughout the field positions, we’d be in pretty good shape.

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  15. Glad someone else sees it the way I do.

    People on here love to bring up that “hold up play” stuff. That’s all fun and good, but quite frankly, a striker is in the game to score goals.

    When Wayne Rooney or Fernando Torres are not scoring, they get criticized. There is nothing wrong with criticizing our own striker(s) for the same issues.

    Jozy is obviously not on the level of those 2 world class players I mentioned, but we absolutely should expect goals out of our strikers just as any other nation’s/team’s fans would.

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  16. People seem to forget that Jozy played really well at the world cup. He doesn’t have to score all the time as long as he is contributing. Which he has done. His hold up play has improved quite a bit, not to mention his passing and getting other players involved. Expect him to score a few goals in the Gold Cup.

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  17. If it wasn’t for Hangeland this year could have seen both Dempsey and Holden named POY for their respective clubs. Although I do suppose there is a chance Dempsey could win for Fullham, either way it was an impressive year for these guys.

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  18. You have to convince a team to take a chance on the loan in the first place.

    If he really was that important to the squad and their success, they never would have let him leave, and especially not on loan.

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  19. Where have you seen that written?

    He probably isn’t the best US striker but he plays well for the National Team, when it counts ( World Cup, WC qualifying, Confederations Cup).

    It doesn’t matter what he does in exhibitions and frankly other than the fact it keeps him sharp for the US I couldn’t care less about his club accomplishments.

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  20. Not on a loan, they didn’t. Can’t pump and dump if the other party gets to sample the milk before deciding to buy the cow.

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  21. Never thought of it like that, but it makes sense when you think about it. Their future moves will tell us their true intentions.

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  22. At the time, it did seem odd that the club pumped out how much they wanted him and needed him while simultaneously loaning him out to a club where he would not get playing time.

    I think you are right, Gladbach was trying to hype the trade value and dump him.

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  23. As time progresses, it looks more and more that Gladbach was putting on a charade to raise the stock value and to drop Bradley from the squad.

    They dropped him and the coach, and turned their season around to stay up.

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  24. It’s not a matter of should start for Goodson…he will start. He’s playing too well not to.

    Back line should be: ‘dolo —–Goodson—–Ream—–Bocanegra

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  25. Can anyone hope to fend off a juggernaut like FC Midtjylland? They are unstoppable, as far as I’m concerned.

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  26. The following is a headline you hardly ever see in the Americans Abroad section:

    “Jozy Altidore Scores!”

    That’s because he rarely scores.

    And yet he starts every National Team game. So, he’s really the best striker from America?

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