By FRANCO PANIZO
It took 15 years, but finally another member of the U.S. men's national team has started a Serie A match.
The man responsible for accomplishing that feat is Michael Bradley, who got the nod and went the distance in Chievo Verona's surprising 1-0 win over Napoli on Wednesday. Bradley's start, which came just three days after he made his debut for Chievo, makes him the first U.S. international to earn a start in Italy's top flight since Alexi Lalas did so for Padova back on February 25, 1996.
Another player to earn his first start with his new club was Alejandro Bedoya, who made his official Rangers debut in the club's Scottish League Cup game against Falkirk. Bedoya played 59 minutes before being subbed off in a match Rangers lost 3-2, a result that eliminated the reigning champions from the competition.
Here's how the Americans Abroad performed on Wednesday:
CARLING CUP
- Clint Dempsey did not dress in Fulham's 4-3 penalty kick loss (after a 0-0 draw) vs. Chelsea.
- Jonathan Spector started and played 90 minutes in Birmingham City's 2-0 loss vs. Manchester City.
- Tim Howard dressed but did not play in Everton's 2-1 extra-time win vs. West Bromwich Albion.
SCOTTISH COMMUNITIES LEAGUE CUP
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 2-0 win vs. Ross County.
- Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 3-2 loss vs. Falkirk.
- Alejandro Bedoya started and played 59 minutes for Rangers.
- Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes for Rangers.
SERIE A
- Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in Chievo Verona's 1-0 win vs. Napoli.
LIGUE 1
- Quentin Westberg did not dress in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 2-0 loss vs. Olympique Marseille.
RUSSIAN CUP
- Eugene Starikov came off the bench and played 45 minutes in FK Tom Tomsk's 3-1 loss vs. FC Rostov in the Round of 16.
COFIDIS CUP
- Sacha Kljestan dressed but did not play in RSC Anderlecht's 4-0 win vs. Lommel United in the sixth round.
LANDSPOKAL
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 2-0 win vs. Hjorring in the third round.
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in Brondby IF's 4-0 win vs. Elite 3000 in the third round.
- Conor O'Brien came off the bench and scored a GOAL in SonderjyskE's 1-0 win vs. Svebolle in the third round.
ALLSVENSKAN
- Ryan Miller started and played 90 minutes in Halmstads BK's 5-1 loss vs. Malmo FF.
——
Suprised Bradley's start marked the 12th year since a U.S. men's national team player played in Serie A? What do you think of Bedoya's official Rangers debut?
Share your thoughts below.
u got moded biff deal with it mayn… Good info vince… Can’t argue with u since u actually comprehend deustch… Give it up biff, ur def not credible
Watching the game now on ESPN3. Napoli certainly tried to attack up Bradley’s side, but darn little came of it. It will take more than a single game before we see how MB’s performance should be judged. Single game results can appear to make players look good or bad depending on how well the opponents played. It is just too hard to make assessments that are not colored by how the other team performs. (Aside from obvious things like miss-trapped balls, poor passes to what were open teammates or a first touch, sans, pressure that is too heavy; most situations depend upon the level of pressure the other team applies and upon the skill the opponents can muster.) I saw nothing to make me think he did not belong there, nor nothing that would lead anyone to believe he is headed for a new level of greatness.
Dude, biff, you’re digging your own grave here.
Do you even read German? The Express more or less translates to “in discussion to go to Chievo Verona on a last minute transfer for around one million euros.”
“In discussion” is not a final deal. Plus, if The Express posted the story days before, as you insist, that probably means the deal wasn’t final yet. It doesn’t make The Express any less credible; the Bradley news was posted in their “Rumors” section.
The final deal ended up being 2.8 million euros. Deal with it.
yeah, biff got schooled
lets put it this way, he was starting in his first game in A LONG time. it was a new team he just arrived at. he does not speak italian yet. his team won 1-0 against a superior team. his role was clearly to help defend and they did well since they maintain a clean sheet. so, based on that, you can’t say he had a poor game. he certainly didn’t have an amazing game, but he wasn’t poor.
appears you failed to get the facts straight. generally you may want to research and cite multiple sources before coming to a conclusion. especially one in which you call someone else out for not checking facts.
It is early in Bradley’s Italian adventure, but some things remain the same. Early in the first half, on 5 occasions the Chievo backline ignored an open/obvious Bradley and played much riskier passes with 4 resulting in immediate turn-overs. This is reminiscent of Gladbach ignoring him on attack no matter how open he was. Hopefully the team will gain some confidence going through Michael in future matches.
I am happy to say that I have never had the sort of fantasy you describe above. It is purely a product of your imagination. Maybe a repressed part of your imagination? If I were to have the fantasy you had, it would star Demi Moore.
The Express newspaper in Germany covers Glabbach regularly and has good sources, broke the news that MB was going to Chievo several days before it was official and reported in the US. It is a much more credible source for the transfer fee than the ones you mention, who might be quoting people who want to inflate the fee for whatever reason or regurgitating numbers they read on Internet forums. The club has no reason to deflate the transfer fee, as it makes them look bad, while other interested parties might want to inflate the level of the fee. Of course, the Express reporter who wrote the story might be a p r i c k or an a$$hole. Right?
That is what I was thinking.
It is his first full club game in over a year.
Not gonna rush to congratulate MB but I would agree that he did not look out of place by any means. I don’t think anyone on that Chievo team played better than him. Though I doubt the phrase “brilliant job” could be attached to anyone on the field for either team(scrappy match much?). Also noticed him in a new position for MB? He was on the right side of a 3 wide midfield that was bunched and packed in. Almost felt like Chievo was going with 7 defenders at times. You could tell he looked mildly confused at the tactics but went with it. And I would agree, his support of the back line was nice to see.
It also didn’t look like anyone on the field could beat him and he certainly played well enough to warrant 90 mins week in and week out. Doesn’t look like he’s going to learn much creativity out there though… oh well, at least he’s playing again.
MB looks like he’s doing the pee pee dance in this photo. “Why do I always have to play the full 90! I really have to go!”
Relax, Biffy. You’re just mad because you got ripped a new one for your previous posting error. BTW, I have seen Hush post here b4. I think he has been critical of MB in the past.
yeah, that pretty much sums up MB, average.
+1 – Have to agreee Biff was being an ashhole…
“But since you insist on being a bassbowl”
Holy crap that’s funny. And nice clarification on the deal.
+several
He’s played mostly D-mid at Birmingham, but he was at RB for the Carling Cup last night.
No idea if that’s a one off thing or what. Spector continues to be a jack-of-all-positions, master-of-none.
Ooh, this is fun Biff! I’m an American expat currently living in Germany, so I speak the language in your link. “Gesprach” means “discussion,” so the link you reference means the deal was in discussion for “around one million euros” to translate exactly.
But since you insist on being a bassbowl, here’s a link to the final deal, quoted at 3 million euros: http://www.soccertimes.com/americans/2011/aug31
I believe Steven Goff at the Wash Post reported the deal at 2.8 million euros, so that’s “nearly 3 million” quoted in the article above.
Note: the link is English, so even you might be able to figure it out.
I watched the Chievo game, and thought Bradley had a solid performance. Not his best by a long shot, but a solid game none the less. He was better in the second half, where he seemed to have more freedom to roam and assert himself all over the field. He did get burned a few times (as did everyone) by Zuniga on the wing. If Chievo expects him to defend speedy wingers one v one, this could a point of concern going forward. I’m hoping it just comes down to better communication with the fullback, which will fix itself as they work together more.
Early round league cup games (OR in Howard’s case, secondary cup) means opportunity to rest the starters.
Also, why did Howard, Dempsey, nor Sascha play ?
I heard comments saying they were resting starters.
+1 LMAO! He probably typed this while he was fantasizing about spending the night in a “Villa” with “Ashton” Kutcher.
Yeah, the comments were pretty typical of a MB game. If you think about the psyche behind commenting (pos. or neg.) on just one specific player, you probably have a bias one way or the other. If you want to see negative things, then you will… if you want to see positive thing, you will. The best thing to do, as you wrote, is to watch the games yourself! ha.
It’s been mostly a D-Mid for him, and he will get in to the attack through the middle when needed, and drop far back when the game calls for it. With the formation, he’s often listed as D on the roster, but somebody watching the game wouldn’t say he’s on the backline.
Overall, that team doesn’t have much offensive firepower right now, so unless that changes he prob won’t be notching too many assists or goals. That said, he’s definitely been playing solid, positive ball. His work in the middle of the field is great (as he doesn’t get exposed and left for dead as sometimes happens to left or right backs), and he creates more good chances than you’d expect!
Did Napoli rest some starters or were they full strength? Impressive win for Chievo.
Yeah, he should give a more even-handed response, like yours!
It sucks when you make a typo when being a prick.
So, Hush, you normally are “one who is very critical of Bradley.” Really? Funny, never seen you post here before–at least under the pseudonym “hush” 😉
A brilliant job? MB’s showing against Napoli was not a disaster as some are saying, but it was generally a weak performance. In MB’s defense, it was his first club start since February and it will take him time to regain his form and learn the team’s system. He had several bad passes up front and was continually getting beat bad on the left wing by ?Zuniga (without recovering). MB is lucky one or two of those did not turn into goals. On another night they will.
MB did show a couple of times that he can attack forward when there is a hole in the defense and make a good pass, and he looked good doing this. But one-on-one, he is lost and invariably has to pass back where more offensive-minded midfielders will create. I seriously doubt CAM will be MB’s role at Chievo, and I am certain he will not play this spot on the USMNT.
I hope that MB in the next few games builds on the Napoli match, which was a great win for Chievo, and that he can solidify a starting position on the team. But in order to do this, he is going to have to considerably raise the level of his performance from what he showed in the Napoli match. Using phrases like “outstanding job” and “brilliant job” to describe MB’s performance is ridiculous and the MB fans who swarm the boards doing this (including his fans who first claim to be critical of MB before writing glowing comments) lose all credibility. I would suggest you all calm down and let MB develop at his own pace.
Let’s get facts straight. MB’s transfer fee was not 3 million euros. It was around 1 million euros. Borussia Mönchengladbach had hoped to get 4 million from Ashton Villa. But after MB’s poor showing there, his value plummeted and Gladbach had to settle for only 1 million.
http://www.express.de/moenchengladbach/last-minute-transfers-bradley-wechselt-nach-verona—idrissou-nach-frankfurt-,3286,10020028.html
Sorry for the missing sentences and words like “dud”… posting from an iPhone is getting annoying.
I’m one who is very critical of Bradley, but today, he was one of the top 3 players for Verona.
What game were people watching? Bradley was very compose, played it very safe with the passing from the midfield not trying to do anything fancy. Zuniga. He dud a brilliant job inbthe midfield closing spaces. He also they a decent job on the right side against a player like Zuniga with NO HELP. He did get beat twice, but did well in recovering. Also Verona players did an awful job getting to the right side to help Bradley…. Unlike the Cheivo midfielders, MB did an outstanding job helping a poor RB & midfield. Seeing MB move forward on the right side and making Napoli move the lines a bit back was interesting, good job MB.
Some folks mention that MB almost gave up a goal passing to the back in one of the post sections??? Really people? He headed the ball to the RB and the RB tool decided to make a run back and pass across the box, instead he lost it, how is that MB’s fault?lol .. Futbol noobs!
Bottom line, I don’t see MB being on the bench too long. I believe he will start the next up coming match once again. All the holding midfielders for Verona are similar to MB, the difference is MB’s speed and aggressiveness on both sides of the field. MB clearly showed better quality than the rest of the midfielders in my opinion. MB not playing constant Futbol and to show up like this is amazing. Good job.
I just watched the game on Xbox live. So for those that have LiVE you can catch the reply there.
Chievo is not a rich team. (Not a poor one either; solidly mid-level Serie A.)
But either way, they are not the type of team that can pay 3 million euros for a player to ride the pine. They had a plan for Bradley when they bought him, but they just needed to work him into the squad.
I figured it would take 5-6 matches and a few sub minutes. Instead, Bradley’s starting by Matchday 3.
Big, big win for Chievo, by the way. They needed that after blowing a win in their first match with a late red card, and snatching defeat from the jaws of victory over the weekend by giving up an injury-time goal.
it’s the default setting-they just forget to replace it
I did watch the game. I was commenting on what others have been saying, as my post above clearly states
I thought he played quite well…not sure what game you watched…
Weird how Starikov always seems to play 45 minutes for Tom Tomsk.
Hearing a lot of talk about how poorly he played. I watched the replay on espn3 and saw an average game out of MB. He did nothing spectacular but nothing to warrant any harsh criticism either.
I’ve not had a chance to see any of Birmingham’s games…. Where is Spector playing? DMid, more Central or Offensive mid? Or back to defense. Just curious because he seems to be getting a lot of minutes, so he must be performing adequately.
Here’s to Bradley learning a bit of catenaccio at Chievo and bringing that skill set to the USMNT. Hell, actually, I’m just happy to see him playing again.