By FRANCO PANIZO
While John Brooks has rebounded from his early-season snafu, his club has fallen prey to several poor results in recent months and is in sore need of three points.
Hertha Berlin is currently in the Bundesliga’s relegation zone at 17th place, but could move out of it this weekend if certain results go the club’s way. Most importantly for Hertha is its Sunday encounter with Wolfsburg, which won’t be easy given that its on the road and against the second-placed team in the league. Brooks will likely need to deliver another solid outing in defense if Hertha is to have any shot at pulling off an upset victory, but he will have his hands full going up against the likes of Kevin De Bruyne.
In the lower German division, Bobby Wood will aim to start a scoring tear when he and Erzgebirge Aue take on Darmstadt. The 2. Bundesliga duel is one of many involving Americans Abroad players on Friday, but Wood would certainly grab his share of the headlines if he can find the back of the net again. Wood is coming off a two-goal outing that broke a long personal drought, and his confidence should be plenty high going into this one as a result.
Another match that will likely pique the interest of several stateside observers is the Championship tilt between Nottingham Forest and Bolton Wanders. The Saturday showdown will pit two of more consistent Americans playing abroad against one another, as defenders Eric Lichaj and Tim Ream will try and help the Reds and Trotters move up the standings, respectively. Ream and Bolton will be especially hungry to grab maximum points on the road after coming out victorious just once in their last seven games across all competitions.
Here is who the Americans Abroad lock horns with this weekend:
FRIDAY
Oguchi Onyewu and Charlton Athletic play Wigan Athletic.
Joe Gyau and Borussia Dortmund play VfB Stuttgart. (Gyau is out injured.)
Bobby Wood and FC Erzgebirge Aue play SV Darmstadt 98.
Jann George and SpVgg Greuther Furth play Andrew Wooten and SV Sanhausen.
Alfredo Morales and FC Ingolstadt 04 play VfR Aalen.
Michael Orozco, Herculez Gomez and Puebla play Morelia.
Edgar Castillo and Atlas play Santos Laguna.
SATURDAY
Brad Guzan and Aston Villa play Geoff Cameron and Stoke City.
Gedion Zelalem and Arsenal play Crystal Palace.
Jonathan Spector, Will Packwood and Birmingham City play Brighton & Hove Albion. (Packwood is out injured.)
Zak Whitbread and Derby County play Sheffield Wednesday. (Whitbread is out injured.)
Danny Williams and Reading play Ipswich Town.
Emerson Hyndman and Fulham play Millwall. (Hyndman is out injured.)
Eric Lichaj and Nottingham Forest play Tim Ream and Bolton Wanderers.
Timmy Chandler and Eintracht Frankfurt play Mainz 05.
Aron Johannsson and AZ Alkmaar play Go Ahead Eagles.
Rubio Rubin and FC Utrecht play SC Heracles Almelo.
Conor O’Brien and FC Magna Wiener Neustadt play SK Sturm Graz.
Jose Torres and Tigres UANL play Jaguares de Chiapas. (Torres is out injured.)
SUNDAY
DeAndre Yedlin, Brad Friedel and Tottenham Hotspur play West Ham United.
Tim Howard and Everton play Leicester City.
Julian Green and Hamburg SV play Fabian Johnson and Borussia Moenchengladbach.
John Brooks and Hertha Berlin play VfL Wolfsburg.
Terrence Boyd and RB Leipzig. (Boyd is out injured.)
Alejandro Bedoya and FC Nantes play Lyon.
Ventura Alvarado and Club America play Pumas UNAM.
Greg Garza, Joe Corona, Paul Arriola, Alejandro Guido and Club Tijuana play Universidad de Guadalajara.
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Which of these matches are you most anticipating? Are Brooks and Hertha doomed for relegation or do you see them having a shot at staying up this season? Think Wood will score again?
Share your thoughts below.
God, this list is awful. I can’t remember a time when our abroad list has been so lackluster. Good thing we have a domestic league.
The domestic league is the reason our list is so lackluster. Not that I have a problem with national team players playing in MLS.
I have mixed feelings. As it means that we dont have any players good enough to overcome any bias and get snapped up by a big team.
I am with Increase0 on this one. I like seeing some players back in MLS. However, those who are good enough to win the battle to be regulars on teams that battle for teams in Champions League and Europa League in Top 5 leagues should go (EPL, La Liga, Ligue 1, Serie A, Bundesliga). However, if you going to ride pine or play in Scandinavia, stay here.
…well…that was a horrible run-on sentence.
Edmondo,
For USMNT players playing in MLS still seems like a second choice on a professional and a personal level though you would need to get an honest answer from each one which we should not expect.
When Mikey and Clint came back to MLS both were offered crazy money that would been near impossible to refuse.
Both were facing uncertain futures in terms of playing time. From what I could tell from media reports the European alternatives they had were not likely to come near matching the MLS money.
Both were veteran players and if an MLS move were going to decrease their “level of play “, which is debatable, it was only going to be for a short time before the World Cup. Regular playing time in MLS leading up to Brazil was certainly preferable to sitting on the bench in Europe.
Clint was old enough to where 2018 was probably not a consideration anyway and Mikey was young enough so that he still has time to move back to Europe before 2018, if that is something he wants to do.
So those two, who I feel might still be in Europe if they had their druthers, are exceptional cases.
Sacha was being phased out by Anderlecht and perhaps was not getting offers from higher level leagues than Belgium’s. And his wife is a model for whom either NY or LA would be a good career move.
Mix was out of contract and it did not seem like he was in great demand in Europe either and has always wanted to live in NYC.
Jozy, it seems, had little choice in the matter.
Jones, it seems, might be the only guy for whom MLS was his personal and professional first choice. And he seems very happy about it.
So guess Lichaj’s consistent playing time doesn’t warrant a call up?
Who needs Eric when we can have ASHTON GOTZ!!!!
Götz is an Olympic prospect for now.
Besides Yedlin, who was not playing for Spurs and apparently needed the game time, did you see any other Americans from England,like Geoff Cameron for example, at the January camp and the subsequent games?
Marc Pelosi was there but still rehabbing unfortunately
Then would that not put Pelosi in the same category, i.e. rehab case, as Yedlin?
Why would Cameron be at the January camp? He was playing in the Premier League for Stoke.
Cameron wouldn’t be at the January camp. Stoke would not release him for it
And any American who is playing in England probably wouldn’t get released for the January camp if they are playing for their club, Yedlin and Pelosi, guys needing to build fitness, being the exception .
It could also mean he does not rate Ream, Lichaj that highly in those positions and is looking for youth. Ream & Lichaj are 26/27. I don’t think either guy is that special. I think that there are better players in the pool, but I think we could use them in the short-term.