photo by Javier Garcia/ISIphotos.com
By FRANCO PANIZO
Three months into the season, Everton and Fulham are each just two points away from the relegation zone, leaving Tim Howard and Clint Dempsey to attempt to help further their respective club away from there this weekend.
They'll have to do so against one another, though.
Dempsey and Howard will do battle in the marquee match-up involving Americans Abroad this weekend. Dempsey heads into the match looking to build on his two goals and two assists this season, while Howard will aim to prevent that en route to recording his second cleansheet of the campaign.
Timmy Chandler shares a similar task this weekend, as he looks to help Nurnberg make its way up the Bundesliga table. Nurnberg is four points shy of the drop zone, and a win over fourth-place VfB Stuttgart could go a long way in helping Chandler and his club gain some momentum after failing to win in their last four league matches.
Wondering what other interesting match is on tap? Look no further than Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona's match against Inter Milan. Bradley has helped Chievo put together a string of good results since making his way into the lineup (including last weekend's scoreless draw against Juventus), and he'll try to do that once again when the Flying Donkeys take on talented-but-underwhelming Inter Milan.
Here is who the Americans Abroad face this weekend:
Luis Robles and Karlsruher SC play VfL Bochum.
Bobby Wood and TSV 1860 Munich play Matt Taylor and SC Paderborn 07.
Mix Diskerud and Stabaek IF play Josh Gatt, Sean Cunningham and Molde FK. (Gatt is out injured.)
SATURDAY
Brad Guzan, Eric Lichaj and Aston Villa play West Bromwich Albion. (Lichaj is out injured.)
Stuart Holden and Bolton Wanderers play Sunderland. (Holden is out injured.)
Zak Whitbread and Norwich City play Liverpool. (Whitbread is out injured).
Robbie Findley and Nottingham Forest play Blackpool.
Conor Doyle and Derby County play Middlesbrough.
Frank Simek and Carlisle United play Charlton Athletic. (Simek is out injured.)
Mike Grella and Brentford play Notts County.
Anton Peterlin and Walsall play Tranmere Rovers.
Alfredo Morales and Hertha Berlin play Mainz.
Timmy Chandler and FC Nurnberg play VfB Stuttgart.
Fabian Johnson, Danny Williams and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim play Borussia Moenchengladbach.
Quentin Westberg and Evian Thonon Gaillard play Sochaux.
Adrian Ruelas and Jaguares de Chiapas play Michael Orozco and San Luis.
Herculez Gomez and Estudiantes Tecos play Santos Laguna.
Jose Torres and Pachuca play Pumas UNAM. (Torres is out injured.)
Jonathan Bornstein and Tigres UANL play Monterrey.
Sonny Guadarrama and Atlante play Club Tijuana.
SUNDAY
Clint Dempsey and Fulham play Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann and Everton.
Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play Blackburn Rovers.
Jonathan Spector and Birmingham City play Bristol City.
Maurice Edu, Alejandro Bedoya, Carlos Bocanegra and Rangers play Heart of Midlothian.
Dominic Cervi and Celtic play Aberdeen.
Michael Bradley and Chievo Verona play Inter Milan.
David Yelldell and Bayer Leverkusen play Jermaine Jones and Schalke 04.
Steve Cherundolo and Hannover 96 play Bayern Munich.
Edson Buddle and FC Ingolstadt 04 play Alemannia Aachen.
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt play MSV Duisburg.
Jozy Altidore and AZ Alkmaar play Roda JC Kerkrade.
Eugene Starikov and FK Tom' Tomsk play Spartak Moscow.
Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht play KVC Westerlo.
Conor O'Brien and SonderjyskE play AC Horsens.
Chris Rolfe and Aalborg BK play Odense BK.
Brad Rusin and HB Koge play FC Midtjylland.
Clarence Goodson and Brondby IF play Silkeborg IF.
Samuel Petrone and Mjallby AIF play Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK.
DaMarcus Beasley and Puebla play Toluca.
Edgar Castillo and Club America play Chivas de Guadalajara.
MONDAY
Oguchi Onyewu and Sporting CP play Gil Vicente.
Michael Parkhurst and FC Nordsjaelland play FC Copenhagen.
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Which matches are you most looking forward to? What's more likely, Dempsey scoring or Howard getting a shutout? Think Chandler will put in a big performance against Stuttgart? How do you think Bradley will do against Inter?
Share your thoughts below.
If Jones plays his best, something he has never done for the USMNT, then he can be JK’s new Torsten Frings.
I love Beckerman and feel comfortable with him. He alway gives the US his best. But Jones at the top of his game is a definite upgrade.
Still it’s not about individuals with JK it’s about the system and how well the players work the system.
JK will let both fight it out until the end.
As for Castillo, there is no reason for JK to give up on him. Whatever good he saw in him still has a chance to come out. US fans like to discard players after one or two bad outings. Good managers generally have to take the long view.
As for Fabian Johnson, the man has herniated disks in his neck. Maybe everyone should wait and see how he comes back before we name him the latest in the line of God-like USA soccer saviour supermen.
Normally you are 100% correct.
But Deuce does something at a proven high level, score goals amd make them, that is a very rare commodity.
If he keeps up his pace, some contender who feels they are the proverbial ” one player away” may well take a chance on him.
I totally would wear my Deuce jersey if I ever went to a Fulham game. In fact, I have been entertaining the idea of going to England to catch matches and now I am going to make a point to go see Fulham (or whatever team Deuce is on at the time…)
Inter vs. Chievo will stream on ESPN 3 on Sunday – available on replay.
Because there’s better options than him like guys playing in Germany or Deuce, or the rising of Shea and there’s always Donovan? Hell Torres was playing great until he got injured, if Edu can get to a French top 8 team or a German Club or even EPL club hell even he will improve even more.
Sacha is improving but the book on him is still he cannot handle constant pressure which is what you get at the international level, too many turnovers and bad passes…
Are you asking pure strikers? Not forwards?
Kind of surprised not to see Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo in there
I’m assuming you mean Ronaldo as in the original Ronaldo the Brazilian?
Where’s Ronaldinho in all of this? What other guy has won a WC, Copa America, Confederations Cup and CL? Plus 2 La Ligas and a Serie A?
Just wondering about what you meant with strikers?
I’m really looking forward to this weekend’s soccer on TV column.
Has Dempsey ever scored on Howard in the EPL?
Midfielders or Center Midfielders?
If midfielders, you are missing quite a few.
If center midfielders, you’re missing Holden, Johnson, and Adu. Also, to some extent Bedoya and Deuce, depending on their positioning and role.
At Hoffenheim, Daniel Williams is a central defensive midfielder and Fabian Johnson is a very good central attacking midfielder. With Johnson hurt and not playing, Hoffenheim has not scored a goal the past three games. Despite all the posts talking about Johnson playing left back on the USMNT, I would be very surprised to see that happen. I think he will be up front attacking and passing to Jozy, Dempsey, Donovan and Shea and maybe scoring some goals himself.
At left back, despite all the negative posts on the poor guy, I think Klinsmann at some point is going to bring Castillo back for another look. I actually liked Castillo’s attacks on the left side against Costa Rica and thought he was not bad on defense against both Mexico and Costa Rica.
True. He also gives a more offensive look I think than the glut of more defensive destroyer mids we have.
The downside to Sacha is that he is prone to giving the ball away.
Something to do with their local rivals joking that Chievo would be promoted to SA when donkeys flew.
Kljestan has become a starter with a top team in a decent league such as Belgium, but he’s been hurt by past bad performances. Plus he’s so buried by depth in the NT.
I thought both Williams and Johnson play inside middle. In the past they both play all over the backline.
I can see Fulham’s Jol getting the axe if he doesn’t turn the club around quickly. They just had a bad loss to Stoke and in EL. In the Stoke loss they were completely undisciplined.
I haven’t seen a minute, but everything I hear is praise. I don’t know why he’s not on JK’s radar. He had a solid performance in his Gold Cup appearances and an above average 20 min or so in his one cap under Klinsmann.
Jones’ ability is huge, but he’s so inconsistent. Look at his Gold Cup performances vs. Jamaica (MotM I think) and against Panama or Mexico (not so great).
How come so little press on Sacha Kljestan and RSC Anderlecht? The guy is starting every game on a winning team – first in the Jupiler Pro league and first in their Europa league group. I’ve only watched a few RSCA games – so don’t know how his role. Anybody following him closely?
Stu Holden when healthy
This is exactly what JK and most fans want to see…..Depth and compitition for every position. In the case of a true CDM player (stay @ home destroyer) there is really only Jones & Beckerman. The others are more box-to-box type CDM’s. Regardless, both Jones & Beckerman will be in their 30’s come 2014…Williams & Johnson bring versitility….Johnson plays RM & LB, while Williams can play RB & LB; leaving Bradley & Edu as the likely future # 6 in JK’s system. Regadless the comitition will make everyone work harder and give us flexability on the field/formations. Looking forward to the battles to come.
He says he wants CL football. If you ask me, the only reason he didn’t leave Fulham this season was due to them qualifying for the EL. Bigger teams like AV and Everton did not. Tottenham did but he’d face more competition. CL teams like Schalke, PSG, Villarreal were in talks for him. Sure he’s soon to be 29. But he’s a cheap buy and consistent and has experience playing against the best. Plus he would sell a heck of a lot of jerseys.
So with the upcoming WC cycle, our midfielders insist of Bradley, Torres, Edu, Kljestan, Jones, Willams, Diskerrud. am I forgetting anyone?
I don’t see anyone other than Bradley and Edu/Torres winning those 2 spots
O/T but who are you guys top 5 strikers for the past decade? Country,club, CL,
Mine are
1) David Villa
2) Thierry Henry
3) Rudd Van Nistlerooy
4) Samuel Eto’o
5) Ronaldo
honorable mentions go to Fernando Torres, Raul,
5 goals in 12 matches, only like 6 of those were starts. The thing is, his manager starts him on home matches. Away matches he’s always on the bench. Like last week’s match.
Excellent. Jones is better than Beckerman and passes WAY better out of the back. Also a longer frame so he can get his legs in from further away. Although, he seems to sometimes not give 100%. I’m looking forward to seeing Danny Williams in this role. CDM is his natural position?
I agree. He’s fine where he is and if he moves up, maybe he doesn’t play at all?
+100000! I was just going to say that! Definitely a Deuce USA jersey in the stands right there. That guy was probably about to go streak the field if he saw a goal there.
Clint is not going anywhere. If he was going to move on it had to be this summer. He is to old. 29 and 30 year olds are not hot commodities. He is likely only to go down hill at this point.
I love how the guy in the crowd (bottom left) looks like he’s wearing a Dempsey USA jersey as well
Yelldell had a nightmare outing end of July in a DFB Pokal game against 2nd Bundesliga team Dresden, which, I think, was down 0-3 but came back to wing 4-3. Yelldell I don’t think has played since.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JNciiiX_Isg
I also am pulling Buddle. But he seems to be in an awful situation at Ingolstadt. The coach did not put him in last week until the second half. Buddle needs to escape Ingolstadt real bad. Hopefully he can move in January to a better situation.
+1 I want to see him in the November friendlies!
The plot thickens in the battle to win the holding midfielder position for the USMNT. Jermaine Jones started in the Number 6 slot Thursday in Schalke’s 5-0 blowout of Larnaca and had a solid 67-minute outing. Schalke’s new coach Huub Stevens, who after last weekend’s shock loss to Kaiserlautern called for more nastiness from his players, seems to like Jones. If Jones can keep playing, would mean that he, Beckerman, Edu, MB and probably Danny Williams are going to be fighting for that one precious USMNT starting holding mid spot. assuming that Klinsmann stays with the 4-1-3-1-1 formation used against Ecuador and Honduras. Will be interesting to see what Jones can do Sunday against a very good Bayer Leverkusen.
Yelldell does not seem to play soon. The No.1, Rene Adler is out because of an injury and Leverkusen rather hired the 19 year old Bernd Leno than letting Yelldell play. Leno is doing his job so great that even Adler (German National Keeper) will have to look for a new team. Yelldell is a good goal keeper and would be a great enrichment for the MLS
is Chievo really nick-named the “Flying Donkeys”? … hilarious!…
Or he remains and become a club legend. Seems to be where Howard’s head is at right now as well…
Would be great for Clint to score. But like I always say, I don’t see him staying at Fulham beyond the summer. He’s really reached the Peak of what Fulham can offer him
Nice catch! That’s awesome
great picture
Is there an idea of when Fabian Johnson is going to be back on the pitch? Anxious to see him line up for the US. He and Williams seem promising.
The best part of that picture? Someone wearing a CD8 USA jersey.
I’m depressed every time I see the Bolton games listed in the Yanks Abroad section.
Also, why is Anderlecht playing on Saturday? A 2-day turnaround after a Europa League game is pretty brutal.
I sure hope Buddle and Gomez score this weekend so they can get call-ups
what’s the deal with Goodson and Brondby? They are the 2nd best team in Denmark and are close to fighting relegation
any news on Yelldell, Robles or Westberg? They were starting keepers for their clubs until recently. How much is Yelldell making at Leverkeusen? Perhaps MLS could offer him some good money. it’s pretty obvious after Tim Howard, we have no worthy no2’s. Hamid is practically a baby. Sean Johnson, the same. Guzan can never get any PT. Friedel is long retired.
Oh yeah baby
Dempsey and Howard: america’s Shaolin Football masters….
Best photo ever.
Josh Gatt should be marked as “being out injured”