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Americans Abroad: Weekend Rewind

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By FRANCO PANIZO

Clint Dempsey has had a difficult time finding his feet since joining Tottenham, but his performance on Sunday might just be what sparks his first string of strong outings with Spurs.

Dempsey enjoyed a stellar showing against West Ham United, assisting on one goal and taking part in the buildup of another in Tottenham’s 3-1 win. Dempsey, who was starting in his eighth league game for Spurs, also had a shot smack off the post in what may have been his best game for the club.

Fabian Johnson did not set up a goal, but he did find the back of the net for Hoffenheim on Sunday. Johnson scored his career-high third goal of the Bundesliga season by netting Hoffenheim’s lone goal in a 2-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. The strike gave Hoffenheim a glimmer of hope after falling behind, 2-0, but they never found an equalizer.

Johnson’s former Hoffenheim teammate, Joe Gyau, also had a noteworthy weekend. Gyau earned his first start for St Pauli in the club’s 4-1 win over MSV Duisburg on Sunday and he played 64 minutes before being substituted.

More good news came out of Germany, as former U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team forward Bobby Wood played in his first game in more than a year in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-2 draw with FC Union Berlin. Wood came off the bench and played the final 16 minutes of the match to officially put an end to the knee problems that have been hampering him in recent months.

Here’s how the Americans Abroad performed this weekend:

ENGLAND

Premiership

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Everton’s 1-1 draw vs. Norwich City on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel dressed but did not play in Tottenham’s 3-1 win vs. West Ham United on Sunday.
  • Clint Dempsey started, played 90 minutes and had an ASSIST for Tottenham.
  • Brad Guzan started, played 90 minutes and made one save in Aston Villa’s 0-0 draw vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj came off the bench and played 39 minutes for Aston Villa.
  • Geoff Cameron started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Stoke City’s 1-0 win vs. Fulham on Saturday.
  • Maurice Edu did not dress for Stoke City.

Championship

  • Tim Ream started and played 78 minutes in Bolton Wanderers’ 1-1 draw vs. Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
  • Stuart Holden did not dress for Bolton Wanderers. He is recovering from a knee injury.
  • Jonathan Spector started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Birmingham City’s 3-2 loss vs. Derby County on Saturday.
  • Will Packwood did not dress for Birmingham City.
  • Conor Doyle did not dress in Derby County’s 3-2 win vs. Birmingham City on Saturday. He is recovering from an appendix injury.
  • Zak Whitbread started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Leicester City’s 2-0 win vs. Sheffield Wednesday on Saturday.
  • Robbie Findley did not dress in Nottingham Forest’s 2-1 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

League One

  • Frank Simek started and played 90 minutes in Carlisle United’s 3-1 win vs. Yeovil Town on Saturday.
  • Robbie Rogers dressed but did not play in Stevenage’s 1-1 draw vs. Tranmere Rovers on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Scunthorpe United’s 4-0 loss vs. Doncaster Rovers on Saturday.

SPAIN

La Liga

  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in Malaga CF’s 4-0 win vs. Valencia on Saturday.

Segunda Division

  • Carlos Bocanega did not dress in Racing Santander’s 4-1 loss vs. Barcelona B on Sunday. He is recovering from a hamstring injury.

ITALY

  • Michael Bradley started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in AS Roma’s 1-0 win vs. US Pescara on Sunday.

GERMANY

Bundesliga

  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover 96’s 5-0 loss vs. Bayern Munich on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Schalke 04’s 1-1 draw vs. Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
  • Fabian Johnson started, played 83 minutes and scored a GOAL in TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s 2-1 loss vs. Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday.

https://dailymotion.com/video/xvda71

 

  • Danny Williams dressed but did not play for TSG 1899 Hoffenheim.
  • Timmy Chandler started and played 90 minutes in FC Nurnberg’s 0-0 draw vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Saturday.
  • David Yelldell did not dress in Bayer Leverkusen’s 2-1 win vs. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on Sunday.

2. Bundesliga

  • John Anthony Brooks dressed but did not play in Hertha Berlin’s 4-0 win vs. FC Erzgebirge Aue on Sunday.
  • Alfredo Morales did not dress for Hertha Berlin.
  • Andrew Wooten came off the bench and played 24 minutes in SV Sandhausen’s 1-1 draw vs. FC Ingolstadt 04 on Sunday.
  • Joe Gyau started and played 64 minutes in St Pauli’s 4-1 win vs. MSV Duisburg on Sunday.
  • Bobby Wood came off the bench and played 16 minutes in TSV 1860 Munich’s 2-2 draw vs. FC Union Berlin on Saturday.

NETHERLANDS

  • Jozy Altidore started and played 90 minutes in AZ Alkmaar’s 2-0 loss vs. Feyenoord Rotterdam on Sunday.

PORTUGAL

  • Tony Taylor came off the bench and played six minutes in G.D. Estoril Praia’s 1-0 loss vs. CD Nacional de Madeira on Sunday.
  • Caleb Patterson-Sewell dressed but did not play in Vitoria Setubal FC’s 5-3 loss vs. Rio Ave on Sunday.

BELGIUM

  • Sacha Kljestan started, played 82 minutes and received a yellow card in RSC Anderlecht’s 4-1 win vs. Germinal Beerschot on Saturday.

RUSSIA

  • Eugene Starikov started and played 72 minutes in FK Rostov’s 2-0 win vs. Mordovia Saransk on Friday.

AUSTRIA

  • Terrence Boyd did not dress in Rapid Vienna’s 2-0 win vs. FC Trenkwalder Admira on Sunday. He was serving a one-game suspension due to yellow card accumulation.

DENMARK

  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland’s 1-0 loss vs. Esbjerg on Sunday.
  • Clarence Goodson dressed but did not play in Brondby IF’s 2-0 win vs. AC Horsens on Sunday.
  • Conor O’Brien came off the bench and played 15 minutes in SonderjyskE’s 2-1 loss vs. FC Copenhagen on Sunday.
  • Charlie Davies came off the bench, played eight minutes and received a RED CARD in Randers FC’s 1-0 loss vs. Aalborg BK on Friday.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3fEOoPepj8?feature=player_embedded]

MEXICO

  • Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in Club Tijuana’s 3-0 win vs. Leon in the second leg of their semifinals series on Sunday. Club Tijuana won on aggregate, 3-2.
  • Joe Corona started and played 61 minutes for Club Tijuana.
  • Greg Garza did not dress for Club Tijuana.
  • Ventura Alvarado did not dress in Club America’s 2-1 win vs. Toluca in the second leg of their semifinal series on Sunday. Club America lost on aggregate, 3-2.

——-

What do you think of these performances? How impressed were you with Dempsey’s outing? How many more goals do you see Johnson scoring this season?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. What happened to that guy who was saying Bradley was 6th on the Roma depth chart anyway? I guess there’s a reason they call him MB90 eh?

    Reply
    • He’s actually been seeing some time at right back and I think he played one game at left back and maybe a few at cm. stokes cb are very solid but perhaps he could get a look in a cup match. Shawcross also is drawing some interest but apparently he is considering a 6 year contract which would keep him at the club for a while

      Reply
    • Not all English coaches are geniuses!

      Michael Bradley saw practically no time on the field for Villa. While you can argue he has continued to improve since then, it is hard to believe the move to Chievo made him so much a better player in the 2 months it took for him to establish himself as one of the best players on the squad and in only 6 months had everyone convinced he was too good to stay at Chievo. While you can argue Dempsey made his own stink in the process of leaving Fulham, the coach and management did little to make a case for their own good sense and probably ended up costing Fulham some amount of transfer fee.

      We will see in a year or so if his present coach has it right or not.

      Reply
      • Dennis,

        Do you mean managers who work in England or managers who are English?

        Houllier, the genius manager who brought Mikey to Villa is French.

        Jol, who managed Dempsey to his finest year ever is Dutch.

        And his predecessor, who also got good years out of Deuce, was Hodgson who is English.

        AVB Clint’s current manager is Portuguese.

        I will agree with you about MikeyB.

        I have made the point in the past that what happened to Mikey at Chievo was he got himself into a good situation with a team and manager that believed in him and had a role for him to play. Of course the reason they believed in him in the first place was they felt he already had all the necessary skills and ability already in him. Anyone who thinks the coaching staff at Chievo taught Bradley how to pass a ball or control it is foolish in the extreme.

        I’m not surprised by the hysterically premature reaction to Dempsey’s struggles at Spurs. Most of the rants I’ve seen fail to mention that the entire team is in disarray.

        Americans fans still think in NFL terms; as if the performance of the attack, midfield, defense and keeper were separate entities; not unlike the offense, defenses and special teams in the NFL.

        Soccer is a team game and Spurs are a team that has yet to gel properly.

        The other thing about Dempsey is he has been missing the guy most likely to help him and Spurs look good,Dembele, Now that Modric is gone, Dembele may be Spurs most important midfielder.

    • Interesting to see MacMath’s name linked in the article.

      I think Howard has always suffered concentration issues when he’s not forced into a save for long periods of time. But get him in a game where shots are fired at all angles the full 90 and he’s one of the best around.

      Reply
      • Yes, but that kind f focus is an essential skill to have if you’re team is aiming for a CL spot though. He’s gotta get with the times, and he’s been mentally a little questionable this season for Everton.

        I’d hazard a guess that I am the biggest Tim Howard fan on this site and I will be the first to defend him when folks try to pin a loss on him, but the Norwich result was in the bag and he was committing to that cross and then changed his mind. A huge mental error that resulted in a loss of 2 points. Results aside, having someone to really push him in training for the #1 spot (not a kid like MacMath but a real challenger for the #1 spot) will be a good thing for him for his club and and for the NATS team. I am confident he will rise to the occasion, but it’s clear he needs a push.

      • Josh D,

        “concentration issues when he’s not forced into a save for long periods of time.”

        I’ve never been as comfortable with Howard as I was with Keller and Friedel for that very reason. Timmy does well for long periods and then every once in a while, usually at a bad time, he goes to sleep.

        If he really was the fantastic keeper that most USMNT fans believe him to be the USMNT would gone farther in the 2010 World Cup. It needed him to be as good as advertised. And he wasn’t.

        I think you will find that what separates the good keepers from the great keepers is mostly between the ears. There are a lot of goalkeeping coaches who will tell you that the more acrobatic and spectacular the save, the more likely it is that the keeper was poorly positioned in the first place. And what causes poor positioning in the first place? In a veteran keeper like Howard, it’s usually a lack of concentration or indecisiveness.

        There is a lot more to goal keeping than acrobatic saves. Maybe the best thing Howard did in the WC was that last minute outlet pass to Donovan, who was on the halfway line at the time, against Algeria which eventually resulted in THAT goal.

        Now the next thing you will tell me is that Howard is burdened by a crap defense. Okay but Howard is part of that defense, part of the team. The keeper is the only one who has everything in front of him at all times. I would expect such a veteran keeper play a big part in organizing the defense telling his defenders what is going on and setting the walls for free kicks near the area, something that has been flawed recently.

        I’ve watched Guzan for his entire USMNT career and he seems to be much more focused than Timmy. Of course, he has always been in the situation of having to prove himself better than Friedel, better than Howard and better than Given, while Howard, once Keller and Freidel retired, has been without any serious competition for the US for some time and is that most dreaded of things ,the automatic choice by default.

        My hope is that Guzan, who is certainly capable of it, either replaces Timmy before the World Cup, or at least, lights a fire under him Timmy. Competition for the keeper spot can only be good for the USMNT.

      • Saucedo is not a US citizen.

        He may not have a green card

        His mom is now a US citizen but it is not clear if she was one when he was born.

        Assuming I have my facts straight, it is nearly impossible to get him eligble in time for the WC 2014.

        And he is already in his thirties. I’m sure he would be a welcome addition but the US has more pressing issues.

  2. Castillo and Corona both started for Tijuana, Corona just got subbed out in the 62nd minute. Tijuana is up 1-0 at the moment, down 1-2 on aggregate.

    Reply
    • Duarte hasn’t even made Nacional’s bench in ages, and has never represented the U.S. on any level. There are enough Americans Abroad to focus on without having to add every player on the books in Europe with the smallest ties to the U.S. So no Micah, we don’t NEED to add him. If and when the time is right, we’ll add him.

      Reply
      • He still is eligible to play for the US. You have had players who have not represented the US on any levels, and you still added them. Also, I know he has not made the bench a lot. He also, has not represented Portugal neither.So why does he get snubbed?

  3. Robbie Rogers is a great athlete, and is still very young. The lack of playing time can’t be helping his development though, or his morale.

    Reply
    • Robbie’s not that young. He’s 25 and a speed guy. He’ll only have top speed for 3-5 more years, tops. The clock is ticking fast on him. He has always been overly reliant on speed, resorting to pushing the ball ahead and running after it instead of ball skills.

      Reply
  4. “Eugene Starikov started and played 72 minutes”

    This is almost as surprising as Bobby Wood returning after missing a year with knee injuries.

    Reply
  5. Hahahaha wheres adrian at????? All you do is talk (crap) about Clint week after week. How dare he go 90 minutes and add an assist. How dare he look disjointed early in the season because he missed out on the WHOLE preseason with spurs. Doesnt AVB know hes selling him in january? He should have stayed at fulham and settled for being a big fish in a small pond right?? Why would we expect USMNT players to try and succeed at the highest possible level when then can be comfortable at low tier clubs? Ill take one player that fights and earns his spot at the elite level than 10 that have playing time guaranteed and dont want to make a move because it might not be the right fit

    Reply
    • +1. Some people easily forget how hard it is to acclimate to a team when you haven’t even gone through pre-season with them. Nothing new for Dempsey though, he thrives in tough situations.

      Reply
  6. Another weekend and another yellow card each for Michael Bradley and Jermaine Jones, like two peas in a pod 🙂

    gosh, I hate those goofy smiley faces 🙁

    not 🙂

    Reply
    • Are you saying they are more card prone than others?

      In league play to date:

      Fabregas 1yellow

      De Rossi 1 yellow 1 red

      Jones 3 yellow

      Bradley 3 yellow

      Scholes 5 yellow

      Schwiensteiger 4 yellow

      Reply
    • Somehow, it seems in really bad taste to laugh at him. Maybe it has something to with how amazing it is that he’s even playing professional soccer.

      Reply
      • Some of you guys will excuse anything from Davies because of his accident. The guy played just eight minutes off the bench before receiving a RED card. That’s just awful by him.

      • I don’t understand why some of you guys get so butt hurt about these guys careers, as if they owe you something. Let’s put your life under the microscope.

      • I wish Charlie Davies the best. Haven’t paid any attention to him lately, so I’m not at all “hurt” to use the cleaned up version of your phrase. I found the Charlie Davies Miracle Comeback ™ story to be overkill in the extreme back when it was happening. Most people here appeared to buy into it. I think that’s what Good Jeremy was referring to, perhaps tastelessly, to begin with.

      • yes, and some folks will never forgive him for getting in the accident to begin with. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could find some middle ground?

  7. What is the story with Stuart Holden? When will he be back in action? Wasn’t he supposed to be back on the field by October of this year?

    Reply
      • I’d praying for a Holden comeback. He is pure class, and a damn hard worker. I remember when Bolton was in the Premier League Owen Coyle once said,”The boy doesn’t know what it is to be tired or afraid.” I also heard Alan Smith describe him and Muamba as one of the best CM pairs in the league at the time. Granted time has passed, and sadly Muamba was forced to retire, but the point is the skill and class is there, I can’t wait for him to be back full swing for Bolton and the US National team.

  8. Dempsey looked total class in the second half. Lots of haters happily eating crow on Twitter and Spurs boards.

    Bradley played well enough, but was asked to do very little, sitting deep in a purely defensive role against a team that couldn’t attack. His card was just a simple foul, by no definition of the rules a yellow. Roma’s attack was woeful. Hopefully that results in Bradley getting to play more box to box. They are better when he is allowed to get forward.

    Altidore had yet another stinker. Two goals since Sept. 16th. Earnie Stewart is watching money vanish right before his eyes.

    Reply
    • I think altidore is still going through some of the growing pains of being a young player. Besides I hope he finishes the year at AZ and isn’t sold during the winter

      Reply
      • 23 is hardly young. By 22 he should be clearly well on his way to being a quality adult player. Young player as a description ends by 22-24. He should be able to pass for a mature adult player most of the time now.

      • Do you all watch Altidore’s games? Serious question because people on here make it seem like he is not playing to first 11 caliber and thats not true. Early goal disallowed today plus multiple dangerous passes. His teams problem is they give the ball away constantly, they seem to be on the back foot every game I watch which makes hard for guys like Jozy and Adam Maher to get going.

      • First 11 caliber on what team? I have watched most AZ games and Jozy has been average to poor for long stretches of nearly every game since mid-September. The best he has looked was in the first 15 minutes of last week’s game against Groningen, but then he lost the plot entirely and played flat out awful football for the rest of the match. Today the whole team was overmatched but a lot of those giveaways that you mention were Jozy’s. I don’t remember these dangerous passes you mention. He had a couple nice diagonal balls to overlapping runs on the wings but they didn’t produce scoring chances.

      • Right, and of his 9 goals only 2 have come since Sept. 16. He was leading the league, then second, now third. There are 8 more players with either 7 or 8 league goals. You get the drift.

      • I’m not disputing you, but still… there’s ~20 regular season games left. He has plenty of time to get back in form. At this stage I would barely call it a goal drought.

        Plus, you know Jozy. He always drifts in and out. If he can ever keep the switch set to “ON” he’s going to be amazing.

        Most of those big Clydesdale forwards off the top of my head didn’t start producing consistently at a high level until mid-late 20’s (Ibra, Drogba, Anelka, Bent). The only beast I can think of killing it out of the gate is ole Van Nistelrooy. (There’s probably so many arguments for and against me here, so feel free to rip my big forward theory to shreds).

  9. Good to see Wood back. Good weekend for Americans. Gyau and Starikov will hopefully start making frequent starts for their respective teams along with Wood.

    Dempsey was money today, and finally looked in synch with his teammates.

    onwards and upwards for Yanks Abroad.

    Reply
    • Bobby’s return is astronomical. Everyone talks about Davies, but here’s another feel good story – season Bobby was actually cut from the team and only brought back a little later to play in what is essentially their amateur team and told he would probably never play again because of his knees which I think he hurt playing for the US u20 team.

      I had big hopes for him and was disappointed when injuries seemingly destroyed another YA career. But what a comeback! Pure grit and determination. I’d love to see a feature article on him and what exactly happened since his injury.

      Reply

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