Alejandro Bedoya just won’t stop scoring.
Facing off with Bordeaux in a Coupe de France Round of 16 clash, Bedoya scored the game-winning goal in the 118th minute to seal a 4-3 Nantes victory. The goal is Bedoya’s fourth in the U.S. Men’s National Team midfielder’s last six games.
Bedoya began the game on the bench before being substituted on in the 108th minute of action. After falling behind in the eighth minute of extra time, Nantes leveled the score in the 115th minute through Johan Audel. Just three minutes later, Bedoya headed home a second ball on the back post, sealing a dramatic cup victory for Nantes and a berth in the quarterfinal round.
The USMNT midfielder had previously scored an extra time winner in Nantes’ Round of 32 defeat of Mantes 78, while Bedoya had also scored against Bordeaux when the two sides met just three weeks ago.
Take a closer look at Bedoya’s goal below:
Rapids need to get him.
oooOOOOOOOHHH….Eh, BEDOYA!!!
Let’s not get carried away he’s scored 43 goals across all competitions in his nine European seasons. He’s been hot over the last few weeks, and its nice to see something besides did not dress in the Americans Abroad section.
Second, he played DM once and I think everyone agreed it didn’t work, but to say he’s been played out of position besides that one game is ridiculous. He’s spent at most equal time as a winger if not more time than as a CM. And I believe at least 2 of the 4 goals have come off set pieces in which his position means nothing.
he also played at right back at least one game (though he has lined up a couple times as a right *wing*back for his club), but you’re right–bedoya’s not really been an egregious example of klinsmann tinkering. think the brasil example was mentioned because it was just so absurd.
Thank you!
Bradley, Bedoya, Johnson, Ngyuen would be a good set of midfielders who can all contribute to the attack now. They would be able to provide Wood and Altidore the service they need. JK will probably be more conservative though and insert Jones or Williams to provide more defensive cover. I think the back line is still pretty much open.
I think Klinsmann likes to have 2 defensive mids because he prefers to have his FB’s going down in attack and attacking from the flanks rather than have more players bunched in the middle.
I agree that despite his claim of wanting to play attacking soccer JK tends to setup with 2 (or 3) midfielders who are by nature defensive. Jones, Williams, Cameron, Diskerud and Bradley all are more comfortable sitting deeper than up top. Sure a lot has been made of JK claiming Bradley is an attacking mid, but that is belied by how deep Bradley drops so much of the time and even Diskerud, despite maybe being a bit better going forward, can be found sitting deeper more often than not.
Even more attacking options like Yedlin and Johnson ,despite their ability to join the attack, play their club soccer as defenders at least some of the time. I wonder if that contradiction in JK’s mind is a reason players like Nyguen, Feilhaber, Kjlestan, and a couple of the younger players have had a hard time sticking with the USMNT.
Johnson, Nagbe, Bradley, Bedoya is a pretty solid international midfield, and we have good depth there too.
Bedoya has always been a hard working midfielder but his club form hasn’t really transitioned well to the National Team. If he’s not careful the depth options (Pulisic, Menneh, etc…) may well overtake him on the USMNT sooner rather than later.
What? Manneh isn’t eligible to play for the US until September, and Pulisic is a long ways away from stealing Bedoya’s NT time. What’s your definition of sooner rather than later? I think Bedoya has looked good for the US when deployed in his natural position.
He certainly left no doubt about that one. A good goal.
He’s probably scored twice as many for Nantes in the last month then he ever has for the US.
If Bedoya, Wood and WIlliams can bring there club form, the Guatemala matches should be blow outs.
…keep on playing a player regularly and he will eventually find rhythm. Mr. Alejandro seems to have found his
And put him in a position to succeed (i.e. don’t play him in a position he’s never played in his life against Brazil).
@slowleftfarm:
Sincere question: We’ve deployed him just about everywhere but striker, correct? There’s no doubting his industrious work ethic when he’s been called up but he’s another case of club form not aligning with international duty far too often.
I think there’s some fair arguments for locations players are deployed under Jurgen but I don’t think this is one of those cases. He’s been all over the pitch and never found his footing.
I don’t think he’s been deployed as a CAM with the Nats, his current position with Nantes, but the problem is JK likes to play players where he thinks they can best help the national team and not where they perform.week in and out with their club teams. It’s adimiral to think your players are versatile enough to play all over the field but at the senior level it’s a disservice to chemistry and ultimately results
Recent history is that he gets forward as an attacking midfielder for Nantes, just under the forward line. But before that he played much deeper and / or out wide.
Slow, most of the games that I had seen him play for Nantes, he has usually been out wide, which is where he usually plays for USMNT. He played d-mid once. Every other time, it’s been wide. This forward role is new on Nantes.