Saturday, August 22, 2009

Yanks Abroad Ticker and some Donovan News

Jozy Altidore impressed mightily in his Hull City debut today against Bolton. He entered in the 60th minute and his first two touches changed the game, one to settle and one to lift a glorious pass over the defense to Kamel Ghilas who hammered a shot from 10 yards out. Elsewhere around the continent:

  • Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play for Wolves against Manchester City.
  • Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 2-2 draw with Blackpool.
  • Frank Simek did not dress for Sheffield Wednesday.
  • Oguchi Onyewu dressed but did not play in AC Milan's 2-1 victory over Siena.
  • Steve Cherundolo started and played 90 minutes in Hannover's 2-0 win over Nurnberg.
  • Charlie Davies started and played 71 minutes in Sochaux's 2-0 loss vs Montpellier.
  • Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Rennes' 1-1 draw with Marseille.

In some interesting news, a French report has linked Landon Donovan with a move to PSG. I'm sure Landon would fit in well with the French outfit, one that is far less physical than the Bundesliga and he'll have the opportunity to start immediately. Of course there are several other teams interested including Serie A suitors Livorno.

Other yanks transfer news:

Freddy Adu's loan fallout with Danish club Odense BK is highly disappointing for the young American who needs nothing more than playing time. Rumor has it that the clubs could not agree on the players pay as Adu's salary would be considerably higher than most players are paid in Denmark.


The whole Ricardo Clark to Livorno situation comes down to the end of the current MLS season. Whether or not Livorno's interest continues remains to be seen.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Football Week In Review

With several teams in Champions League this week, plus a couple MLS regular season match-ups this week, plus the couple of EPL and La Liga matches on ESPN, and UEFA Champions League matches, you must say you've been spoiled, or at least I have.

Three MLS sides started their group stage match-ups in the CONCACAF Champions League (DC United, Columbus, and Houston) and the showing wasn't all that bad. DC United played Honduras power Marathon to a 1-1 draw before giving up two late goals ending in a 3-1 loss, Luciano Emilio scored the lone United goal. The Columbus Crew beat USL side Puerto Rico 2-0 with goals from Andrew Lenhart and Robbie Rogers. Finally the Houston Dynamo beat El Salvador side Metapan 1-0 with a goal from Brian Ching.

Last nights MLS match-up featured top Eastern and Western division team as LA visited Chicago, both who sit now in second place in their respective conferences, but it was LA's lack of star power which was thought to bring them down as they played without David Beckham, Eddie Lewis, Edson Buddle, and Alecko Eskandarian. Instead the Galaxy controlled the match and found an early goal through Mike Magee and a late one with Landon Donovan to go on and win 2-0.

Tonight's MLS match-up pits the New England Revolution against Seattle Sounders FC in the first ever meeting between the two clubs. You can watch it on ESPN2HD at 10pm EST.

The final of the US Open Cup will pit Seattle Sounders FC against DC United. The game will be played September 2nd at RFK Stadium at 7:30pm EST and will be broadcast on Fox Soccer Channel.

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Yanks Abroad Ticker


Much to talk about as most European leagues kicked off this past weekend, and nothing more so than Charlie Davies brace vs. the French champions Bordeaux. Here is how the rest of the yanks abroad fared this weekend.

England

PREMIERSHIP

  • Tim Howard started, played 90 minutes and made three saves in Everton's 6-1 loss vs. Arsenal on Saturday.
  • Jozy Altidore did not dress in Hull City's 2-1 loss vs. Chelsea on Saturday. He is sorting out work permit issues.
  • Clint Dempsey started and played 90 minutes in Fulham's 1-0 win vs. Portsmouth on Saturday.
  • Eddie Johnson did not dress in Fulham's 1-0 win vs. Portsmouth on Saturday.
  • Jonathan Spector came off the bench and played 25 minutes in West Ham's 2-0 win vs. Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Brad Friedel started, played 90 minutes and made five saves in Aston Villa's 2-0 loss vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Brad Guzan dressed but did not play in Aston Villa's 2-0 loss vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Eric Lichaj did not dress in Aston Villa's 2-0 loss vs. Wigan Athletic on Saturday.
  • Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton Wanderers' 2-0 loss vs. West Ham on Saturday.

COCA COLA CHAMPIONSHIP

  • Jay DeMerit started and played 90 minutes in Watford's 2-0 loss vs. Sheffield United on Saturday.
  • Frank Simek dressed but did not play in Sheffield Wednesday's 1-1 draw vs. Peterborough United on Saturday.

LEAGUE ONE

  • Ian Joyce dressed but did not play in Southend United's 2-2 draw vs. Walsall on Saturday.
  • Zak Whitbread did not dress in Millwall's 0-0 draw vs. Carlisle United on Saturday.
  • Mike Grella dressed but did not play in Leeds United's 1-0 win vs. Wycombe Wanderers on Saturday.
  • Jemal Johnson started and played 90 minutes in Milton Keynes Dons' 0-0 draw vs. Swindon Town on Saturday.
  • Jon-Paul Pittman came off the bench and played 28 minutes in Wycombe Wanderers' 1-0 loss vs. Leeds United on Saturday.

Scotland

  • Maurice Edu did not dress in Rangers' 4-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday. He is recovering from an injury.
  • DaMarcus Beasley dressed but did not play in Rangers' 4-1 win vs. Falkirk on Saturday.

Germany

BUNDESLIGA

  • Michael Bradley did not dress in Borussia Moenchengladbach's 2-1 win vs. Hertha Berlin on Sunday.
  • Steve Cherundolo did not dress in Hannover 96's 1-1 draw vs. Mainz on Saturday.
  • Sal Zizzo came off the bench and played 14 minutes in Hannover 96's 1-1 draw vs. Mainz on Saturday.
  • Jermaine Jones did not dress in Schalke 04's 3-0 win vs. VfL Bochum on Sunday. He is recovering from an injury.

BUNDESLIGA 2

  • Kenny Cooper started and played 72 minutes in 1860 Munich's 2-1 loss vs. Hansa Rostock on Saturday.
  • Luis Robles dressed but did not play in Kaiserslautern's 1-0 win vs. Ahlen on Sunday.
  • Matt Taylor dressed but did not play in FSV Frankfurt's 4-0 loss vs. SpVgg Greuther Furth on Friday.
  • David Yeldell started, played 90 minutes and made six saves in TUS Koblenz's 3-2 win vs. Arminia Bielefeld on Sunday.

France

  • Carlos Bocanegra started and played 90 minutes in Rennes' 1-1 draw vs. Nice on Saturday.
  • Charlie Davies came off the bench, played 45 minutes and scored TWO GOALS in Sochaux's 3-2 loss vs. Bordeaux on Saturday.

Denmark

  • Benny Feilhaber came off the bench and played 9 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-0 win vs. FC Copenhagen on Saturday.
  • Jeremiah White started and played 71 minutes in AGF Aarhus' 1-0 win vs. FC Copenhagen on Saturday.
  • Dan Califf and FC Midtjylland play Odense BK on Monday.
  • Michael Parkhurst started and played 90 minutes in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-1 draw vs. Koge on Sunday.
  • Marcus Tracy did not dress in Aalborg's 1-0 win vs. Sonderjyske on Saturday.

Norway

  • Troy Perkins started and played 90 minutes in Valerenga's 1-0 loss vs. Lillestrom on Sunday.
  • Mikkel Diskerud came off the bench and played 9 minutes in Stabaek's 0-0 draw vs. Tromso on Saturday.
  • Clarence Goodson started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-0 win vs. Fredrikstad on Sunday.
  • Hunter Freeman started and played 90 minutes in IK Start's 1-0 win vs. Fredrikstad on Sunday.

Sweden

  • Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro SK play Djurgarden on Monday.

Mexico

  • Jose Francisco Torres started and played 45 minutes in Pachuca's 3-0 loss vs. San Luis on Saturday.
  • Michael Orozco started, played 90 minutes and scored a GOAL in San Luis' 3-0 win vs. Pachuca on Saturday.
  • Edgar Castillo started, played 90 minutes and received a yellow card in UANL's 2-1 win vs. UNAM on Sunday.
  • Marco Vidal started and played 45 minutes in Indios de Ciudad Juarez's 5-0 loss vs. Morelia on Sunday.
Jesus Padilla came off the bench and played 13 minutes in Chivas de Guadalajara's 2-0 win vs. Queretaro on Saturday.

English Premier League Kickoff

The EPL kicked off action this past weekend and it saw several interesting results as Arsenal clocked Everton 6-1 and Liverpool was dropped by Tottenham. Here are the results from the first weekend of action:

Chelsea 2, Hull City 1
Aston Villa 0, Wigan Athletic 2
Blackburn Rovers 0, Manchester City 2
Bolton Wanderers 0, Sunderland 1
Portsmouth 0, Fulham 1
Stoke City 2, Burnley 0
Wolverhampton 0, West Ham United 2
Everton 1, Arsenal 6
Manchester United 1, Birmingham 0
Tottenham 2, Liverpool 1

MLS Weekend Look Back

Results from this past weekend in MLS:

DC United 0, Toronto FC 2
FC Dallas 0, Columbus Crew 2
Chivas USA 2, New York Red Bulls 0
Houston Dynamo 0, Real Salt Lake 0
Seattle Sounders FC 2, LA Galaxy 0
Chicago Fire 2, Kansas City Wizards 0

US vs Mexico

See those three keys I said would lead the US to victory in Mexico? The US only accomplished one of them, and that was draw the first blood. They did so brilliantly through Landon Donovan's perfect pass to Charlie Davies who out ran the defense and slotted home a world class finish. The US lead lasted only ten minutes however as a lack of positional awareness from the central midfield and a failure to step up and contain from Carlos Bocanegra allowed Castro a long range opportunity. To be fair, no keeper in the world would've saved that shot, but many defenders would've stepped up closer to close down his space. There wasn't much Bob Bradley could do either, his subs were all offensively minded and Mexico's second goal came off an unlucky deflection in the box from Jay DeMerit and fell straight to Sabah who was six yards from goal, though I do believe Howard could've done better with that one. No ratings this time, just good and bad players:

The good:
Oguchi Onyewu- Continued his dominant aerial performance from the Confederations Cup, time at AC Milan will only make him better.

Charlie Davies- What a streak the 22 year old is on right now. After solid Confederations Cup and Gold Cup showings, the speedy forward became only the fourth ever player in a US jersey to score at Azteca.

The bad:
Michael Bradley- Was simply off, bad passes and distribution, and a lack of defensive acumen, unlike young Bradley. I'm sure he'll recover.

Landon Donovan- After a brilliant start which saw him make a perfect pass to Charlie Davies for the goal he disappeared entirely from the match.

Clint Dempsey- Dempsey with yet another international Houdini act.

Wing backs- Cherundolo and Bocanegra both struggled at times to contain Guardado and dos Santos. These two will always struggle with the speedy winger types.