The three best American soccer players in the world will be on the field together in a club match for the first time ever as Tim Howard and Landon Donovan lead Everton against Clint Dempsey and Fulham (3pm, Fox Soccer Channel).
Today's FA Cup Fourth Round showdown is being billed as a battle between Dempsey and Donovan, long-time USA teammates and two great players who draw different reactions from different fans.
SBI will be providing live commentary on today's match, so please feel free to follow along. As always, you are welcome to share your own thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.
Enjoy the action (Live commentary is after the jump):
um…no
Why didn’t this game record on Directv???? The replay is gone also! That after not showing on the guide until a day before.
Awful
What has yet to be mentioned is this was a Cup game so I did not expect full effort from either side.
Donavan had the better game but what was really telling was how much more dominant Fellini and Gibson were in the center of the pitch. Murphy is waaay on the downside of his career, Baird is best as a right back and Ruiz is so incredible lazy and soft…and thios all comes from a Fulham supporter. They need to play a 4-4-2 and keep Zamora on the pitch…he is the only forward who holds the ball up and gets them some possession. And, i cannot wait until Dembele is fit again.
Rules of the Game are posted online.
I wouldn’t agree that Donovan was man of the match. Fellaini really dominated the midfield: winning headers, keeping possession, making good passes. And his header for the goal was great, of course. Donovan played well, but Fellaini was why Everton won.
If you go out of bounds for tactical reasons, it is a foul to come back on without permission. If you go out accidentally — basically, you’re momentum or an opponent pushes you over, you do not need permission to return to the pitch.
Not to mention there’s this little thing called a contract that he has with the Galaxy, is not like they would just say “Why sure Landon, you can leave”
This round goes to Donovan. Sometimes I forget how good he really is. He truly excels at every level, be it MLS, USA or EPL the dude performs at an incredibly consistent and high level. I actually believe (no hyperbole here) that you could put him into either wing for a top EPL side and he would fit right in.
The point this game makes – as if it needed making – is that they are very different players. Both are great. But Dempsey is more of a gunslinger. He leaps on chances and fires. Donovan is a more rounded player. I think he does more than Dempsey and he is more the kind of player I prefer. But great teams have guys like Dempsey who can score and guys like Donovan who create. I think they are both pretty happy to have each other as team mates on the National team
Excellent point, O’Spud. I like it.
wait…. That second one about Landon…. You’re not allowed to come back in from being outside the line to receive the ball after it’s played?
Dempsey would have to show up for that to happen, eh Octopus….
Landon played today.
DONOVAN!!!! Enough said.
Wow…. You really tried to disprove the importance of the assist didn’t you? Wow… That’s just….. wow….
I think Dempsey has gotta be up top, or as a withdrawn forward. If Klinsi plays 4-3-3, Dempsey doesn’t belong in the midfield.
He should have tried getting a few of his own, then.
These officials don’t care much about the sideline/ Neville was clearly standing in the field of play when he threw it in. Earieir, Donovan was standing on the other side of the line while he was waiting for a pass, and then came back on to receive the pass.
I had honestly forgotten how good Landon still is. He has got to go to Europe. Hope Klinsi sees him killing it on the wing and leaves Dempsey in the middle underneath two strikers. Now about that second striker.
CCL
He has a chance to lead Galaxy to the Club World Cup. If he stays until the end of the season, he should leave on a transfer so LA can spend the money elsewhere.
2 assists.. dempsey thinks assists are cute.
I love MLS etc etc blah blah blah respect Donovan’s commitment to home soil alllll of that –
But why doesn’t he AT least finish out the EPL season? Is there any question he doesn’t belong there?
JP and Eric do know there are players other than Donovan and Dempsey on the field, right? I’m regretting every time I’ve defended American commentators.
If LD can retain most of his speed, he can be an excellent wing in Klinsi’s system for several years still. He seems a perfect fit, though Klinsi seems to like playing him underneath the forward in the middle. Hopefully his recent success on the wing will dissuade Klinsi of that notion. Shea developing on the left and LD on the right gives us nice, speedy width.
Wooooow, poor Cahill. He really can’t get a goal.
I hadn’t thought about it from that aspect but you make a very good point
Exactly.
Donovan 2, Dempsey 0.
TWO ASSISTS FOR DONOVAN!
+1
I am excited to see 3 of the more established US Nats on the field at the same time. It will be fun and interesting.
I can’t help but say that trying to make a soccer match into a one vs. one showdown reeks of the kind of cheap marketing that pisses me off about the NBA and in my opinion, chipped away at the quality of that league as it degenerated into individuals looking for press. Soccer is not about that at ALL! It is THE ultimate team sport and in a nation so young at it, and obsessed with the individual, I think it would serve us well to continually recognize and emphasize that. It is hard enough trying to couch young kids & have them realize that the best player on the pitch doesn’t always score… that a goal can often be a result of great defense or the first of several passes. That 11 average but smart players playing, in synch- playing with and for each other will beat 11 great individuals.
2 very different players, Donovan is more a play maker and Dempsey a scorer. On the Nats, they both need each other. Ok, sorry bout the rant.
It would be cool if Everton could afford Donovan and he wanted to go. Definitely interesting to see how he would fair through a whole Prem season.
The significance of this game shouldn’t be overlooked. We are watching a game between two top tier English teams in which you can argue the best player on both sides is an American.
Donovan 1, Dempsey 0.
You were saying?…
football alive dot org
Wow Donovan with the assist, what a cross.
Links anyone?
anybody know of a live stream? I dont have fsc
If Dempsey upstages anyone, it will be the fault of the Everton defense, not Donovan. Same in reverse.
Your answer to that and the converse question will come shortly grasshopper
What happens to Donovan if he’s completely upstaged on the field by another American, particularly Dempsey? Can he handle that? I think he’d shrivel up into a little baby ball like Voldemort and die.