Eddie Johnson Signs With Fulham
Brad Guzan On Trial At Celtic
As many of you already know, Brad Guzan is on trial at Celtic. The Chivas USA keeper has impressed at his current club and earned himself some starts for the US National Team. He was previously linked with Arsenal. If he were to earn an offer from Celtic, should he take it? Celtic has a very consistent keeper with Boruc, so how much playing time would Guzan actually see? Personally, I think he should make the move if it is available to him. He will get some playing time in cups and will receive much better coaching at a club with Celtic’s quality. He is only 23, so there is no rush to get him playing full time in a top league in the world.
Eddie Johnson Signs for Fulham
Eddie Johnson has signed for Premier League strugglers Fulham. He was granted a work permit today and has signed a 3 and a half year deal. The team, which includes fellow Americans Dempsey, Bocanegra, McBride, and Keller, sits second from bottom in the league. They have been need of a striker since captain Brian McBride suffered a serious knee injury earlier in the season. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson had this to say about the American Striker:
“I have made no secret of the fact that I believe the squad lacks a certain balance in specific areas of the team and following the loss of Brian McBride to injury, this is true of our strike force. At 6’1” inches tall Eddie has the presence that will complement the other forwards within our squad and he has the ability to offer us another dimension to our attacking play. I am delighted that he has joined us and am grateful to the representatives from the Home Office for granting him the work permit which will enable him to play for us as soon as possible.”
This is a great move for Eddie and can really help him advance his career. Hopefully he’ll adjust quickly and we’ll be able to see him soon. He may be a bit rusty do to MLS’s schedule, but he should be back to normal in a few weeks. Now if Fulham could just bolster up their defense, they may actually stay in the Premier League for next season.
Feilhaber Coming Home?, EJ Going Abroad?, MLS Draft!
Benny Feilhaber Back To MLS?
That’s right. Derby County has told the younger American midfielder that he may leave the club after a slow start to his first year with the team. Feilhaber did not feature much with the team, and he is now poised to make a return to MLS during the January transfer period. A bid was made for Benny by Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv, but it was turned down by Derby and now they are looking to sell him to an MLS club. So where could Feilhaber end up? DC United could use him as a replacement for Josh Gros. You can never count the Galaxy out of any transfer speculation either, so that’s always a possibility given Feilhaber’s California roots. They have too many center mids but that’s never stopped them before. My guess is that he ends up with San Jose. He’s close to home, and they need help all over the field. This will be something to keep an eye on in the next few weeks.
Eddie Johnson To Fulham.
As reported here earlier, Eddie Johnson left the USMNT camp in California to negotiate with the EPL club. That deal is now all but done, and Johnson should be suiting up for the Cottagers by next week. With fellow Americans Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Kasey Keller, and soon to be returning Captain Brian McBride, Johnson may provide enough firepower to shoot Fulham out of the relegation zone, just like Clint Dempsey did last year. Hopefully Johnson will become a better player in England and hopefully he’ll bring back some of his new skills to the USMNT, which is desperately in need of strong forwards.
Best Buy To Sponsor Chicago Fire
The Chicago Fire will be sporting jerseys with a brand new Best Buy logo on the front as they agreed to a 3 year, multi-million dollar deal with the company yesterday. “This is huge,” Fire defender C.J. Brown said. “When I started with the Fire our sponsors were league sponsors. This is another big step in the right direction for the league and also for the Fire. You’re in good company when you have Best Buy in your corner.”
MLS Draft
The 2008 MLS Draft will take place Friday, January 18 at 2 pm EST. The draft will be shown on ESPN 2.The Kansas City Wizards have the first pick in this year’s draft after sending longtime defender Nick Garcia to San Jose for the # 1 pick. Here’s a Mock Draft to check out before the draft. And that’s the news for the day. Back tomorrow with more.
RIP Phil O’Donnell
There are a few things to get out of the way before we get back into the football action. Let us start by apologizing for the lack of activity recently. With the holiday season, Brian and I have been pretty busy. We will be updating regularly again and don’t expect any long breaks in the near future. And since we missed it, everyone here at StateSide Footy would like to wish everyone a happy new year.
Also, we would like to send out our condolences to the family and friends of Phil O’Donnell and all of the fans of Motherwell. The veteran collapsed on the field during a game versus Dundee United and died shortly after. He will be missed by all in the footballing community.
The Premiership
Italy and Spain have been on break so we’ll focus on the English Premier League. Arsenal sits on the top of the table to start the new year, but Manchester United are hot on their heels. Arsenal stays atop with a 2-0 win over West Ham United. With all of their injury problems, Jonathan Spector has been able to see a lot of playing time in his left back position. He was able to help lead West Ham to a shock win over the champions earlier, but was unable to stop Arsenal. Manchester United, on the other hand, dispatched Birmingham City 1-0 to stay in the hunt. Both teams are just waiting for the other to slip up. I have a feeling it is going to be a tight race all the way until the end.
One team that can’t be ruled out yet is Chelsea. They faced a few issues earlier in the season and still have a long injury list, but have been able to avoid losing points to stay close to the top. With the return of Ballack, they should be able to stay at least in contention until Terry, Carvalho, Lampard, Drogba, and Cech return. The London club were able beat Fulham today 2-1 with the last goal coming from the penalty spot after Clint Dempsey took down Ballack in the area. There was a shirt tug, but Ballack did go down rather easily, and the call could have gone either way.
Elsewhere in the league, Everton and Tim Howard were able to defeat Middelsborough 2-0. Marcus Hahnemann and Reading got their second defeat in a row by losing to Portsmouth 2-0. They never had much of a chance as Sonko was sent off early in the match for a clumsy challenge in the area.
Beckham To Train With Arsenal During Offseason
LA Galaxy star David Beckham is headed back to England, but he will not be leaving MLS. According to the Associated Press, the England international will be training with current English Premier League leaders Arsenal in an attempt to stay fit for future England fixtures and to prepare for the upcoming MLS season. “We will help him to get fit and prepare for the season,” Arsene Wenger told BBC Radio. “There’s a good chance that he will come in January, but it’s not decided.” The longtime Arsenal manager also stressed that Beckham would not be suiting up for the Gunners, only training and getting ready for next season.
This move makes sense on many levels. Beckham spent most of his first season with the Galaxy on the sidelines due to injury. Part of the reason he was injured so much was because he simply was not fit enough to play. At age 32, while still young, Beckham must stay fit if he is continue to play both domestically and internationally. Gone are the days where David Beckham is guaranteed a place in the English side, especially with new manager Fabio Capello now at the helm. Capello has already said that he will be keeping a close eye on the fitness of Beckham, so being ready to play will be even more important to Beckham. With younger players such as David Bentley and Shaun Wright Phillips ready to move into Beckham’s place, Beckham will have to be fit and then some to keep his spot.
So how will this play out? I think Beckham is still England’s best winger, even at 32. As long as he is fit, his crosses and free kicks are still at a world class level. I also think that if and when Beckham is back in the fold for England, he will do so as the new captain. While John Terry has done a decent job for England, Beckham is what makes this team go. The players know it, and so does Capello. Capello watched Beckham basically put Real Madrid on his back and carried them to La Liga glory last season. Even though they had a falling out last season, Capello knows what Beckham is capable of. He’ll never lead England in goals, but he will lead them in heart, something that England lacks right now. Not only will Beckham get his 100th cap for England, I think he will reach at least 110, and perhaps even 120 before he is done with international play. For a player who has given everything he has to England, he deserves nothing less.
Weekend Action and World Cup Qualifying Draw
English Premier League
The premier league was well underway this weekend. Arsenal moved away at the top of the table with Manchester United slipping up against Bolton, while Bolton finally move out of the relegation zone. Derby still sit at the bottom with 6 points. Benny Feilhaber made a substitute appearance against Chelsea, but couldn’t keep them from losing yet again. After the game, the team parted ways with manager Billy Davies. You have to feel bad for him. He lost his job for over achieving if you think about it. The team was obviously not ready for the Premier League, but over achieved and got promoted anyways. Regardless, look for their new manager to spend quite a lot of money in the January transfer period to try and rebuild the team. If we’re lucky, he’ll like Benny Feilhaber much better than Davies did.
A struggling Reading lost yet again. Stephen Ireland unleashed a rocket in stoppage time to give Manchester City all 3 points. Even though they lost, it was nice to see Bobby Convey get a full game under his belt. Tim Howard looked good yet again for Everton, even though he didn’t need to be. Everton’s offense unleashed a 7 goal performance on Sunderland. The team seems to be revitalized with the return of Tim Cahill after a long injury. Roy Keane’s side has really fallen off the pace after a good start to the season, and if they continue this play they could see themselves back in the Championship. Fulham played good once again, but failed to hold on to all 3 points. With a little tweaking in the transfer window, this side could move into a comfortable mid-table position. This will be a much needed improvement, as year after year they find themselves in the relegation battle.
Liverpool, one of two undefeated teams in the league, are apparently going through some sort of crisis. At least that’s what American owners George Gillett and Tom Hicks think. You can see where they are coming from, though. With all the money they spent over the summer, Benitez should have his side higher than 5th. That being said, the public arguing is doing nothing but hurting the team. If it continues, especially Benitez calling out the owners again, we may see a change in management at the team.
Portuguese Liga
Freddy Adu seems to have found his scoring stride for Benfica. He scored yet again in the teams 3-1 win over the weekend. He’s starting to look like their ’super-sub’, but if he continues to perform, we could be seeing him start very soon. The team is sitting comfortably in second place behind FC Porto.
The goal can be seen here.
Champion’s League
The Champion’s League began it’s second to last group stage round today. DaMarcus Beasley and Rangers were unlucky to lose to Stuttgart 3-2. Marica found the winner for the German champions in the 85th minute. Beasley played well getting an assist from a corner kick. Once again, he had to leave the game with an injury. That’s not surprising at all. If I was a betting man, I would put my money on the fact that he’s made of porcelain, and will get injured every other game. It’s frustrating that a player with his skills has such bad luck with injuries. Hopefully he doesn’t become the United States’ ‘Michael Owen’.
LA Galaxy
The Galaxy played a friendly against Sydney FC in their Beckham tour. The game was anything but friendly. I’ve had trouble finding highlights, but some of the Galaxy players really made the league look bad, starting quite a few little skirmishes. There was even a pretty deliberate stomping towards the end. There was a game played too, and both Beckham and Donovan were able to get on the scoreboard. It was not enough as Sydney won 5-3. Beckham’s was a trademark freekick, while Donovan scored towards the end after the game was already out of reach. Sydney dominated the game, making the Galaxy look like the kind of team that they really are. A terrible one.
Highlights can be seen here.
World Cup Draw
The drawing for World Cup qualifiers happened over the weekend. All the publicity goes to England, as they drew Croatia in what is sure to be an intense match-up. There are some things to talk about in the CONCACAF division. The United States drew Barbados (124), Dominica (129), and Cuba (70). That pretty much translates into easy win, easy win, and easy win. It may seem cocky to say, but our qualifying group is a bit of a joke. There are some political matters in the background in group, though that probably won’t improve the football being played. It will be the first time the United States has ever played against Cuba, and the first time we’re playing them at all since 1949. Still, however, I predict an easy win.
Daily Roundup 11/12/07
What’s up everyone? Been a while since I’ve been here. Plenty of things went on in Europe and StateSide this weekend, so lets hop right in….
The English Premier League was in full swing this weekend, with Blackburn Rovers taking on champions Manchester United. Rovers lost 2-0 to United with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging the brace over Brad Friedel. It could have been much worse for Rovers, but Friedel had an excellent game save the 2 goals he allowed. He stopped shots from Carlos Tevez, Rio Ferdinand, and denied Ronaldo a hat trick in the second half. Tim Howard and Everton faced off agaisnt Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Howard played well, denying England international Frank Lampard twice, but was hurt by terrible defending on the goal by Didier Drogba. Everton then shocked Chelsea by sneaking a goal in off of a beautiful bicycle by Carlo Cudicini. Derby County is up next and they played West Ham United. Derby lost 5-0 ,with an Eddie Lewis own goal as a part of their demise. Benny Feilhaber once again did not make the bench for Derby. I’ve said it in nicer terms before but I’m just going to put it all on the table here. Derby are terrible. I have to wonder about the person in charge there, because Feilhaber not being able to get minutes in this side is just down right maddening. Hopefully this will change, but I’ve been saying it for weeks and it hasn’t. We shall see. And finally, Fullham fought hard but lost to Liverpool 2-0. Clint Dempsey was booked for dissent while he and Carlos Bocanegra both played the full 90 min. for the Cottagers. Liverpool was boosted by goals from Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres.
Its time folks. The decision has finally been made to give New York Red Bulls forward Jozy Altidore his first cap for the USMNT as they take on South Africa this Saturday, 9 am on Fox Soccer Channel. Here is the rest of the lineup…..
GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard (Everton FC), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA)
DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Dan Califf (Aalborg BK), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege)
MIDFIELDERS: Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Benny Feilhaber (Derby County), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby County)
FORWARDS: Josmer Altidore (New York Red Bulls), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)
I’m surprised to see Jay Demerit not in this side, but other than that, I love it. No Eddie Johnson, no Taylor Twellman, all is good with me. That’s the news for the day. Check back tomorrow for a preview of the MLS Cup!
Daily Roundup:10/31/07
Good Morning Folks! Happy Halloween! Sorry this is coming a bit late. Forgive us, its been busy around here. Lots of things going on in Europe and in the States, so lets jump right into to things……
In England, Manchester United continued on its tear after scoring 4 goals again against Middlesbrough. Meanwhile, EPL table leaders Arsenal drew with floundering club Liverpool. All this is in preparation for what should be the biggest game of the year for both teams as Man Utd. will travel to the Emirates Stadium to take on Arsenal this weekend with first place on the line. Should be a great game. Now how about those Americans? Lets start with Everton and Derby County. Tim Howard had a shutout for Everton as they beat Derby 2-0. The match highlights can be seen here. Benny Feilhaber was not seen in this game once again. Eddie Lewis did play 60 min for Derby, but the fact that Feilhaber is seeing so little time is a concern to me. What’s he doing wrong? He plays well for the national team and Derby isn’t exactly setting the EPL on fire, so I don’t get why he isn’t playing. He was signed to play wasn’t he? We’ll have to keep an eye on this one. Up next, Jonathan Spector finally saw some time for West Ham as he entered as a sub in the 78th min for the Hammers in what would turn out to be a 0-0 draw against Portsmouth.
Up next we have Reading and Newcastle United. Marcus Hahnemann played very well , only allowing an own goal by Michael Duberry to spoil his day. Bobby Convey didn’t get off the bench for the Rovers. Fullham and Sunderland squared off as well with Clint Dempsey leading the way. Dempsey had a few chances and almost put a Simon Davies free kick into the back of the net. Dempsey was shown a yellow card, as was fellow American Carlos Bocanegra. Kasey Keller and Brian Mcbride were not featured due to injury, but Mcbride is expected back in December. The final game in the EPL involved Brad Friedel and the Blackburn Rovers. The Rovers won 2-1 behind great keeping from Freidel. Blackburn is now in fifth, an excellent spot for a team that was not expected to be that high at the start of the season.
As for the rest of Europe, Freddy Adu continues to impress as he scored the late winner for Benfica last Saturday against Maritmo. Adu came in and reeked havoc until the 87 min. He then slotted a close shot into the back of the net, giving Benfica the win. I’m not sure what you can say about Adu, except that he sure does seem to have a flair for the dramatic. It is this kind of form we looked for in MLS, and now we’re starting to see it. Is Adu finally maturing or was he always capable of this? Nobody but Adu knows this, but he is looking like the player we all thought he would be. The US national team gets more and more competitive by the day, and I for one cant wait to see where Team USA goes with the young nucleus that they are slowly but surely building. That’s the news for the day. Tomorrow we’ll have a preview of the MLS playoff games, and we’ll also cover the daily news. Have a safe Halloween!
Daily RoundUp: 10/22/07
Good Afternoon to everyone. There’s a lot of news today, so lets jump right in…..
It was a busy week in Europe for our boys this weekend. Coming off the international break, it was interesting to see how club teams came out and played following the break. While some teams like Manchester United and Arsenal came storming out of the break, Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona and Italian giants AC Milan all lost. The English Premier League saw US keepers Brad Friedel and Marcus Hahnemann face off with Friedel coming out as the victor. Blackburn won 4-2 with the Rovers slotting 4 past Hahnemann, who didn’t have the best day he’s ever had. Bobby Convery missed out on this one, as he is still recovering from an injured leg. Fullham and Debry County were up next and this game was a tie 0-0. Clint Dempsey and Eddie Lewis each played the full 90 min. Carlos Bocanegra came on in the second half for Fullham. Kasey Keller was not included on the Fullham bench, and fellow American Benny Feilhaber was not included for Derby either. Fullham Captain Brian Mcbride is still out with a dislocated knee, although he is expected back by Christmas. Everton lost to Liverpool 2-1 with US # 1 keeper Tim Howard allowing 2 goals to the Reds.
Back in the States, the Chicago Fire eliminated David Beckham and the LA Galaxy on Sunday to lock up the final playoff spot for the Fire. While it would have been nice to see Beckham in the playoffs, its probably a good thing that the Galaxy didn’t make it. Don’t let their late run fool you. This team is terrible. Its Beckham, Donovan, Cannon, and that’s about it. Should Alexi Lalas keep his job, he will have a lot of work to do when it comes to rebuilding this team. Later this week, we’ll have a detailed look at the upcoming MLS playoffs.
In Team USA news, Women’s national team coach Greg Ryan has been fired by the USSF. Ryan was fired just a month after the top ranked US women were eliminated in the semifinals of the World Cup. Sunil Gulati said that the next coach will have to have international experience and will need knowledge of US soccer. Good call, Sunil. Hopefully you mess this one up like you did with Jurgen Klinsmann. Don’t get me wrong, I like Bob Bradley, but I really had my heart set on Klinsmann.
On a different note, I am shocked to see that AC Milan keeper Dida had his 2 match ban reduced to one game by UEFA. For those who don’t know, Dida was “attacked” by a Celtic fan after the Champions League matchup between Celtic and Milan. The fan came on to the field and pushed(and that’s pushing it for lack of a better word) Dida, who began to run after then fan, then inexplicably dropped to the grass like he had been shot. Pure acting job, and what made it worse was the fact that Dida had to be carted off the field for injuries that were nonexistent. So UEFA decides to ban him from 2 Champions League games. Milan appeals, and of course, the ban is reduced to one game. The reason cited? He sincerely regretted his actions. Well of course he did. I’m sure he did, because of his actions at the San Siro the next time they were at home. Still, I can’t believe that UEFA based their decision on that. While I’m sure that wasn’t the whole basis, the fact that that’s the reason they gave just angers me. I’m not looking to start an argument, but I find it interesting and appalling that Milan always manages to wiggle its way out of actually being disciplined for its actions. The example I’ll cite is the match fixing scandal in Italy. While Juventus is relegated to Serie B for its actions, Milan is only docked 7 points and they are allowed to stay in the Champions League. I probably come off as bitter, but I feel that Milan is held to a different standard and the fan in me would like to know why. That’s the news for the day, have a good one folks.
Fulham Continues Unlucky Streak
As a subscriber to Fox Soccer Channel, I have been able to watch many Fulham games this season. The first thing you notice about the Cottagers this season, is that they look absolutely nothing like last season. In many of their games they control a majority of the play. The striker force, lead by Dempsey and Healy, has scored more than both Chelsea and Manchester United. Yet still, they find themselves in the relegation zone. At first glance, I would blame poor defense. After all they have allowed 16 goals in 9 games. But after watching most of their games, they don’t defend too poorly. Sure they allow one or two chances per game, but who doesn’t? But for some reason, those couple of chances per game, are ALWAYS put away against Fulham. In my opinion, they don’t deserve to be in the relegation zone, and probably won’t stay there for long.
All of that being said, Fulham went 2-0 down to Portsmouth on Sunday. The Pompey goals were scored against the run of play, with Bocanegra even deflecting one by veteran keeper Kasey Keller. Dempsey performed impressively against the physically dominating Sol Campbell. But once again, it was not their day, and they go back into the relegation zone.
Elsewhere in the league, Feilhaber got his first start for Derby in the 1-0 loss to Reading, giving Marcus Hahnemann a much needed clean sheet to boost his confidence. Tim Howard of Everton let in 3 in a loss against Newcastle. The game was tied 1-1 for most of the second half, but came to an exciting end with three goals all after the 85th minute. Brad Friedel gave a solid performance for Blackburn in their win against Birmingham.
Over in Holland, Michael Bradley was involved in an historic game where Heerenveen defeated Heracles Almelo 9-0. The score wasn’t the most shocking part. The biggest shock is that 7 of Heerenveen’s goals were scored by Brazilian striker Afonso Alves, and 4 of them were scored in the space of 9 minutes. Highlights of the game can be seen here. With a performance like this, it is hard to see how a team from a bigger league won’t pick him up in either January or next summer. He really seems to have an eye for goal, scoring 31 league goals last season and 6 UEFA Cup goals.
Daily Roundup 9/26/07
Long time, no update. I have to admit, Danny and I lead busy lives. Sort of. Actually, not really. Lets just do this thing….
Bobby Convey scored in the Carling Cup against Liverpool, slotting one past GK Charles Itandje in the 28th minute. He would have scored his second of the game right before halftime, but his shot was saved brilliantly by Itandje. Its good to see Convey back on the scoreboard. He’s had it tough the last year or so, and while I do think his time on the national team should be coming to an end soon, but he can still provide valuable minutes to a club like Reading.
In other news, sources are saying that US Women’s Keeper Brianna Scurry will start on Thursday against Brazil. This means that Hope Solo will not be starting. I’m not sure why this is happening to be honest. Solo hasn’t been playing badly, and while Scurry is still solid, at 36, one has to wonder if she can still bring it at this level? We’ve already seen the demise of another over 35 keeper for a US national team(cough Kasey Keller cough). I would hate to see the US flame out of the tournament over a mistake by Scurry that Solo would not have made. We shall see. The Greatest Team You’ve Never Heard Of Until You Read This Post faces Brazil at 7:55 am Thursday. Also, FoxSports.com did a very interesting piece of DC United midfielder Ben Olsen. You can check that out here. And really, thats the news for today. Later this week, we’re looking to do an in depth report on the MLS playoff race, and who we think will end up winning(hint: Freddy Adu used to play for them). So until then, enjoy the week, catch up on European games(Go Red Devils!), and just kick around if you get the chance.
I’ll leave you with this. It still gets the adrenaline pumping for me.
Credit to YouTube and user Seraphim921 for the video.