By FRANCO PANIZO
Michael Bradley has wasted little time settling in with Italian club Chievo.
The U.S. men's national team midfielder earned his second straight start in a week, going a full 90 minutes and having a hand in both goals in Chievo's 2-1 win vs. Genoa on Sunday. Last Wednesday, he made his Serie A debut, becoming the first U.S. national team player since Alexi Lalas to play in Serie A. He helped Chievo post a 1-0 upset win vs. Napoli. The two wins now have Chievo in third place in Serie A four weeks into the season.
In Mexico, Herculez Gomez scored his fourth goal of the season for Estudiantes Tecos with a picture-perfect header after a long ball was whipped into the penalty area. The goal was the equalizer for Estudiantes Tecos, but Pumas went on to win the game 2-1. Gomez started and played 64 minutes in the loss.
Carlos Bocanegra and Maurice Edu also scored this weekend, netting early goals to help set the tone for Rangers 4-0 win over Dunfermline Athletic. Bocanegra opened the scoring with a header minutes before Edu took advantage of some lax marking to rifle one home from distance. Both players started and went the distance while teammate Alejandro Bedoya was subbed on to play the final 17 minutes.
Jozy Altidore did not find the back of the net, but he did start and play 69 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 2-1 win versus Feyenoord Rotterdam. The victory improved Alkmaar to 6-1-0 on the season and raised the club to first place in the Eredivisie with 18 points totaled through seven games.
Here is how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:
ENGLAND
Premiership
- Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made 5 saves in Everton's 2-0 loss vs. Manchester City on Saturday.
- Marcus Hahnemann did not dress for Everton.
- Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 0-0 draw vs. West Bromwich Albion on Saturday.
- Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made 2 saves in Tottenham Hotspur's 2-1 win vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
- Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 1-1 draw vs. Queens Park Rangers on Sunday.
- Eric Lichaj did not dress for Aston Villa. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Stuart Holden did not dress in Bolton Wanderers' 3-0 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
- Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Sunderland on Monday.
Championship
- Jonathan Spector started and played 56 minutes in Birmingham City's 1-1 draw vs. Barnsley on Saturday.
- Conor Doyle dressed but did not play in Derby County's 3-0 win vs. Millwall on Saturday.
- Robbie Findley started and played 73 minutes in Nottingham Forest's 1-0 win vs. Watford on Saturday.
League One
- Frank Simek did not dress in Carlisle United's 1-0 win vs. Stevenage on Saturday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
- Anton Peterlin dressed but did not play in Walsall's 1-0 loss vs. Colchester United on Saturday.
- Mike Grella did not dress in Brentford's 2-0 win vs. Oldham Athletic on Saturday.
SCOTLAND
- Maurice Edu started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in Rangers' 4-0 win vs. Dunfermline Athletic on Saturday.
- Alejandro Bedoya came off the bench and played 17 minutes for Rangers.
- Carlos Bocanegra started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL for Rangers.
- Dominic Cervi did not dress in Celtic's 2-0 win vs. Inverness Caledonian Thistle on Saturday.
ITALY
- Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes, and helped set up two goals in Chievo Verona's 2-1 win vs. Genoa on Sunday (goals at 2:10 and 2:42).
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FdAGRwSCLs]
GERMANY
Bundesliga
- Jermaine Jones did not dress Schalke 04's 4-2 win vs. SC Freiburg on Saturday.
- Steve Cherundolo dressed but did not play in Hannover 96's 0-0 draw vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday.
- Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg's 1-0 loss vs. Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday.
- David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen's 3-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
- Alfredo Morales did not dress in Hertha Berlin's 2-1 loss vs. Werder Bremen on Sunday.
- Fabian Johnson did not dress in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim's 2-0 loss vs. FC Cologne on Sunday. He is recovering from a neck injury.
- Daniel Williams dressed but did not play for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
Bundesliga 2
- Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play Dynamo Dresden on Monday.
- Luis Robles did not dress in Karlsruher SC's 1-1 draw vs. Hansa Rostock on Sunday.
- Edson Buddle came off the bench and played 45 minutes in FC Ingolstadt 04's 4-1 loss vs. SC Paderborn 07 on Friday.
- Bobby Wood did not dress in TSV 1860 Munich's 2-0 loss vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Sunday.
- Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in SC Paderborn 07's 4-1 win vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Friday.
FRANCE
- Quentin Westberg did not dress in Evian Thonon Gaillard's 4-2 loss vs. Caen on Saturday.
NETHERLANDS
- Jozy Altidore started and played 69 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 2-1 win vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on Sunday.
PORTUGAL
- Oguchi Onyewu started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Sporting CP's 3-0 win vs. Vitoria Setubal on Saturday.
RUSSIA
- Eugene Starikov did not dress in FC Tom' Tomsk's 4-0 loss vs. Zenit St Petersburg on Saturday.
BELGIUM
- Sacha Kljestan started and played 90 minutes in RSC Anderlecht's 3-2 win vs. Germinal Beerschot on Sunday.
DENMARK
- Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-0 loss vs. AGF Aarhus on Saturday.
- Marcus Tracy and Aalborg BK play Lyngby on Monday.
- Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Lyngby on Monday.
- Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in Brondby IF's 2-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Saturday.
- Brad Rusin did not dress in HB Koge's 0-0 draw vs. SonderjyskE on Sunday.
- Conor O'Brien started, played 78 minutes and received a yellow card in SonderjyskE's 0-0 draw vs. HB Koge on Sunday.
SWEDEN
- Ryan Miller started and played 90 minutes in Halmstads BK's 1-0 loss vs. Syrianska FC on Saturday.
- Samuel Petrone dressed but did not play in Mjallby AIF's 2-1 win vs. Elfsborg on Saturday.
NORWAY
- Mix Diskerud started and played 90 minutes in Stabaek IF's 1-0 loss vs. Stromsgodset on Saturday.
- Josh Gatt started and played 90 minutes in Molde FK's 0-0 draw vs. Viking on Friday.
- Sean Cunningham did not dress for Molde FK.
MEXICO
- Jose Torres did not dress in Pachuca's 1-1 draw vs. San Luis on Saturday. He is out with a foot injury.
- Herculez Gomez started, played 64 minutes and scored a GOAL in Estudiantes Tecos' 2-1 loss vs. Pumas UNAM on Saturday.
- Edgar Castillo and Club America play Club Tijuana on Sunday evening.
- Sonny Guadarrama dressed but did not play in Atlante's 3-2 win vs. Atlas on Saturday.
- Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL's 1-1 draw vs. Jaguares de Chiapas on Saturday.
- DaMarcus Beasley started and played 90 minutes Puebla's 2-1 loss vs. Santos Laguna on Sunday.
- Adrian Ruelas did not dress in Jaguares de Chiapas' 1-1 draw vs. Tigres UANL on Saturday.
- Michael Orozco started and played 90 minutes in San Luis' 1-1 draw vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
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What do you think of these performances? Should Klinsmann call in Gomez? Whose goal did you like better, Edu's or Bocanegra's? Surprised Altidore and Alkmaar are in first place of the Eredivisie?
Share your thoughts below.
I did not say that Bradley was better than or that he should play over Holden (I would need to see Holden play more for the USMNT before forming an opinion on that), I just said based on the list given above and the injury/fitness history of the other MFs on that list, there is a good chance that Bradley would have been a lock under a coach other than his dad.
Of course, if these health/fitness trends change, things may be different in the future…
Not really.
Holden has never been a regular starter for the US. The exception was when he led that 2009 Gold Cup B team.
Everytime it looked like he might start to break through he got hurt.
His best games have been for Bolton not the US.
There is no guarantee that he will come back and be as good as he was last year for Bolton.
If he does comeback as good there is no guarantee he can translate that to the US team.
The man is a good player but there are no guarantees.