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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

By FRANCO PANIZO

Last weekend, it was all about goals. This past weekend, it was assists.

Three different Americans set up goals for their respective clubs, including U.S. Men’s National Team players Fabian Johnson and Sacha Kljestan. Johnson notched his second assist of the Bundesliga campaign by delivering a low pass from the left flank for the early opener in Hoffenheim’s 3-2 win over Schalke, while Kljestan hit a simple but effective pass to a teammate in Anderlecht’s 4-1 win against Mechelen.

Timmy Chandler was the other American to record an assist, and his helper came on the lone goal in FC Nurnberg’s 1-0 victory against Wolfsburg. Chandler, who went the distance in the game, floated a perfect cross from the right flank that a teammate buried with a diving header, giving Nurnberg three more points in the Bundesliga.

Michael Bradley may not have had an assist this weekend, but he did enjoy a solid performance in his latest start for AS Roma. Bradley, who now has started two straight games for the club, made a case for himself to continue to receive a heavy dose of minutes, as he was impressive in Roma’s easy disposal of Palermo. Roma won the game, 4-1.

Here’s how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes, made two saves and scored an own goal in Everton’s 2-2 draw vs. Fulham on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made two saves in Tottenham’s 1-0 loss vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card for Tottenham.
  • Brad Guzan started and played 90 minutes in Aston Villa’s 1-0 win vs. Sunderland on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj came off the bench, played 61 minutes before being substituted and received a yellow card for Aston Villa.
  • Geoff Cameron started and played 90 minutes in Stoke City’s 1-0 loss vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
  • Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.

Championship

  • Tim Ream came off the bench and played 11 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 2-1 win vs. Cardiff City on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jonathan Spector did not dress in Birmingham City’s 1-0 loss vs. Ipswich Town on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood dressed but did not play for Birmingham City.
  • Conor Doyle did not dress in Derby County’s 4-1 loss vs. Blackpool on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread started, played 83 minutes and received two yellow cards in Leicester City’s 2-1 loss vs. Watford on Saturday.

League One

  • Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United’s 4-2 win vs. Ebbsfleet United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Robbie Rogers came off the bench and played one minutes in Stevenage’s 3-2 loss vs. Rotherham United in the FA Cup on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella started and played 78 minutes in Scunthorpe United’s 4-0 loss vs. Gillingham in the FA Cup on Saturday.

SPAIN

La Liga

  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Malaga CF’s 2-1 loss vs. Rayo Vallecano on Saturday.

Segunda Division

  • Carlos Bocanega started and played 90 minutes in Racing Santander’s 2-1 win vs. AD Alcorcon on Saturday.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley started and played 90 minutes in AS Roma’s 4-1 win vs. Palermo on Sunday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 2-0 win vs. FC Augsburg on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones started and played 77 minutes in Schalke 04’s 3-2 loss vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Saturday.
  • Fabian Johnson started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 3-2 win vs. Schalke 04 on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvgN2NDKoHM?feature=player_detailpage]

  • Danny Williams started and played 90 minutes for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler started, played 90 minutes, received a yellow card and delivered the game-winning ASSIST in FC Nurnberg’s 1-0 win vs. VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday.
 

  • David Yelldell dressed but did not play in Bayer Leverkusen’s 3-2 win vs. Fortuna Dusseldorf on Sunday.

2. Bundesliga

  • John Anthony Brooks started and played 90 minutes in Hertha Berlin’s 0-0 draw vs. FC Ingolstadt on Friday.
  • Alfredo Morales did not dress for Hertha Berlin.
  • Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 27 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 2-1 loss vs. Eintracht Braunschweig on Friday.
  • Joe Gyau came off the bench and played three minutes in St Pauli’s 2-0 win vs. TSV 1860 Munich on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-1 loss vs. VVV Venlo on Sunday.

PORTUGAL

  • Tony Taylor did not dress in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 2-0 win vs. Academica de Coimbra on Sunday.
  • Caleb Patterson-Sewell dressed but did not play in Vitoria Setubal FC’s 2-1 win vs. Sporting CP on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST in RSC Anderlecht’s 4-1 win vs. KV Mechelen on Saturday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIqHc_-oGrA?feature=player_detailpage]

RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov did not dress in FK Rostov’s 2-1 loss vs. Zenit St Petersburg on Friday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd started and played 90 minutes in Rapid Vienna’s 2-1 loss vs. Sturm Graz on Saturday.

DENMARK

  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 2-1 win vs. SonderjyskE on Saturday.
  • Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in Brondby IF’s 3-0 loss vs. Odense BK on Sunday.
  • Conor O’Brien started and played 90 minutes in SonderjyskE’s 2-1 loss vs. FC Nordsjaelland on Saturday.
  • Charlie Davies came off the bench and played 15 minutes in Randers FC’s 0-0 draw vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.

SWEDEN

  • Alejandro Bedoya started and played 85 minutes in Helsingborgs IF’s 2-2 draw vs. Gefle IF on Sunday.
  • Brian Span did not dress in Djurgardens IF’s 1-0 loss vs. IFK on Sunday.

NORWAY

  • Josh Gatt came off the bench and played 36 minutes in Molde FK’s 1-1 draw vs. Tromso on Saturday.
  • Steve Clark started and played 90 minutes in Honefoss BK’s 1-1 draw vs. Sandnes Ulf on Sunday.
  • Mix Diskerud started and played 88 minutes in in Rosenborg BK’s 2-1 loss vs. Stromsgodset on Sunday.
  • Sean Cunningham did not dress in Stabaek IF’s 6-0 loss vs. Lillestrom on Sunday. He is recovering from a hip injury.
  • Chad Barrett and Valerenga play Sogndal on Monday.

MEXICO

  • Jose Torres started and played 90 minutes in Pachuca’s 4-0 loss vs. Club America on Saturday.
  • Herculez Gomez started and played 84 minutes in Santos Laguna’s 2-1 win vs. Cruz Azul on Friday.
  • Hector Joya did not dress for Santos Laguna.
  • DaMarcus Beasley started and played 69 minutes in Puebla’s 2-2 draw vs. Atlas on Sunday.
  • Jonathan Bornstein did not dress in Tigres UANL’s 1-0 win vs. Monterrey on Saturday.
  • Michael Orozco Fiscal did not dress in San Luis’ 0-0 draw vs. Club Tijuana on Saturday.
  • Edgar Castillo started and played 90 minutes in Club Tijuana’s 0-0 draw vs. San Luis on Saturday.
  • Joe Corona came off the bench and played 45 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza started and played 45 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 4-0 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.

——-

What do you think of these performances? Whose assist are you most impressed by? Expecting Bradley to string together a few more starts for Roma?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Clint has already demonstrated he can be successful at a small midtable club punching above it’s weight in the EPL; at this point in his career, it was now or never, to see if he can be successful at a bigger club with decent ambition. He pushed for a move and Tottenham decided to take a chance (probably since they could not land more preferred options).

    Unfortunately, Clint has looked like a journeyman midfielder on a team where the fans were expecting a high level attacking creative player, which Clint is not. The only way Clint can compensate is to start scoring goals consistently and help the other players score goals. Otherwise, he has looked pretty “average” and what’s more his demeanor makes him look lazy even if he may be one of the hardest working players on the field.

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  2. I hope the club takes a stand against Santos. Not only is he a liability, but asking for RVPs shirt at half time is hugely disrespectful to the Arsenal away fans, who were outstanding throughout the dreadful performance.

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  3. can someone who watched the AV game comment on what in the F happened with Lichaj?! he came on before half time, was that for an injury? and how did he play? because he then was subbed off. was it strictly because of the yellow or was he playing bad?

    also, did anyone caught the Xolos game? i noticed both Castillo and Garza are starting. given they are both LBs, someone is playing elsewhere. did castillo play LM? i know he was playing there for a while. lastly, did Corona come on for Garza? if i had to guess, Garza started at LB, Castillo at LM and then the coach brought on Corona for Garza and moved Castillo back to LB.

    in the time i took to write this, i probably could have found out…haha

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    • As far as Lichaj coming on for Bennett, I’m guessing injury. If it was poor form in 11 minutes, there’d be something about it in the match report.

      Lichaj got a yellow early in the second half. Villa has had a ridiculous amount of injuries on their back line. Lambert taking him off was a clear sign he didn’t want Lichaj to get a second yellow. Also, Enda Stevens is a new kid. Probably good to give him some minutes, and Sunderland has been in atrociously bad form (worse than Villa).

      I’m a Villa fan. It’s a painful existence. Luckily a lot of recent games haven’t been on FSC. I wouldn’t be surprised if we let go of Darren Bent in the transfer window and spent money on a marquee central defender. Let’s just say Guzan has his work cut out for him.

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  4. Only got to see a couple of games with US players this weekend. Bradley was very impressive. He made some really good passes and could have easily had an assist or two with good finishes.

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  5. The rumors about De Rossi and Zeman not getting along are back in the Italian press. Would obviously be good for MB’s shot a minutes if a deal happens in January, but I’d still like him to learn from and play with DDR. Zeman had seemed to favor two other young MFs over MB.

    Rome derby is next weekend. Can’t imagine DDR being left out of that. Fingers crossed MB gets in alongside him.

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    • Interesting quote from Zemen when asked whether leaving out the injured Daniele De Rossi actually made Roma more suited to his ideas. “Michael Bradley and De Rossi have similar characteristics” But, I think that if Roma were to sell Rossi, the real reason would be financial. I also think it is way too soon to say that Zeman “favors the two other young MFs over MB.”

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  6. I kinda wish Dempsey had stayed at Fulham… With the addition of Berbatov they’re looking pretty good this year. And Dempsey looked SO much more comfortable playing there. It’s going to take some time for him to settle in and it just seems like he’s lost all the momentum of last year’s incredible season. This year should be one of the best of his career but instead he’s in transition.

    Random American Abroad thought.

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    • NO NO NO, Eric, I will not let you sully The Clint Dempsey by DARING to suggest that he remain at that pathetically small-minded club on the Thames, whose name I won’t even mention. Don’t you know, Eric, that The Clint Dempsey is worthy of far better management than that troll Jol? The Clint Dempsey is far too great to play in a stadium as decrepit as something known as Craven Cottage. Daring to suggest that The Clint Dempsey MIGHT have had a really good situation in southwest London is enough to brand you with the Scarlet Deuce by the SBI commentariat.

      In fact, I don’t like the way you just refer to him as “Dempsey.” Don’t you know that The Clint Dempsey’s name must be spoken in a reverent whisper with your head slightly bowed?

      So watch yourself, Eric W, the Deuce Droves know where you live…

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      • All sarcasm aside, I wonder if he might have been better off staying as well. It was a great situation, but I totally default to his judgment about what he wants. I just don’t like how those that voiced that he might want to stay at Fulham were somehow guilty of wishing Dempsey ill, thinking he’s not any good, trying to hold him back.

  7. Let’s give a round of applause for our 3 GK’s who are starters in England.

    Howard for sure. He’s signed until 2016.
    Guzan has been a revelation for AV. Expect him to be there for years to come.
    Friedel. Looks like he may be number 1 for the rest of the year. Expect him to either be sold in January or retire when his contract ends in May

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    • Guzan is the story of the season so far for me. Most were saying he had to leave and go down a level and Given was too good to bump off. Stand up proud Brad, stand up proud.

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    • I would expect all of them in the January camp, as long as the January camp isn’t needed to prepare the first team for a tough start to WCQ (e.g. away at Mexico).

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    • Mix, Gatt, and Brooks are the three I’m def. calling in. Lichaj is up there as I doubt we take most of our Mexican (save Corona) and US friends so we need a sideback backup.

      I’m also giving the start to Guzan.

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    • Until such time as he becomes cap tied by Germany he is still someone to follow. If he commits to the US it would go a long way to alleviating concerns about Dolo. Having Chandler & Lichaj as optional backups makes too much sense.

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      • Lichaj still has much to prove before he gets call ups. He is becoming the J Jones of the Premeir league. He almost always picks up a yellow. Still think he has tons of potential but he needs maturing

      • Lichaj is getting a lot of minutes in arguably the best league in the world. So I am pleased. He needs to continue to grow, but experience and first class competition will go along way toward that. I figure just about every week he is matched up against a better forward than almost any in CONCACAF. Almost. So perspective is important

      • Agreed, Plus it depends on why he getting the yellows. Is it due to immaturity thats fixable, are the forwards too fast that could be a problem.

        He is young and has a bright future

  8. wow ….I left out my German team
    Steve Cherundolo started and played 90(nothing new there)
    Jermaine Jones started and played 77 (and no card!!!! uuuhhh…..is that why they lost)
    Fabian Johnson started, played 90, and assist
    Danny Williams started and played 90 (brilliant)
    Timmy Chandler started, played 90, and assist (mmm….don’t know if I’m rooting for US or germany here…lol)

    our players are fit and looking good…..can’t wait of the Russia game (Even though its a friendly…lol)

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  9. Highlights of the week
    Seeing Arena play Landon Donovan first at LM then LF in the last two games, hence him and Zusi can be on the field at the same time.
    Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes (nothing new there)
    Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes(though didn’t look effective but its 90 in the EPL)
    Brad Guzan started and played 90
    Geoff Cameron started and played 90
    Eric Lichaj came off the bench, played 61 minutes (and they won)
    Michael Bradley started and played 90 (nothing new there, on a team like Roma)
    Sacha Kljestan started, played 90, with assist/win (the most underrated player we have)
    Terrence Boyd started and played 90
    Michael Parkhurst started and played 90, with win(another underrated player)
    Conor O’Brien started and played 90 (very promising and giving us more options)
    Alejandro Bedoya started and played 85
    Mix Diskerud started and played 88 (another underrated player, very consistent)
    Herculez Gomez started and played 84 (nothing new there)
    Edgar Castillo started and played 90 (help locking down the defense)
    John Anthony Brooks started and played 90 (locking down the defense)

    I think as a whole I’m good this week…..players in key positions going the distance for their teams, lot of wins too……again good week

    Reply

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