On the eve of the much-anticipated American Civil War between Everton and Fulham, American soccer fans are relishing the chance to see three of their best players take the pitch at the same time at the highest level of competition.  Other American sports’ fans do not understand the importance of this match: Kobe plays LeBron often (usually on Christmas) and Manning and Brady seem to play every year.  However, U.S. soccer fans for years have settled on seeing their best players either square off in MLS or not face each other competitively, due to playing in different leagues.

When the players take the pitch tomorrow another interesting sidebar will be discussed, and that is why the three best American soccer players are playing in, well, this game.  To put it another way, is this the best American soccer players can do, two clubs that are mid-table at best or, in Fulham’s case, seemingly always in danger of slipping into the relegation zone?  Why isn’t this historic match-up taking place in a Manchester derby or West London derby?  For the Everton U.S. players, the answer is that the chance has already slipped by.  Tim Howard had his time at Manchester United but has really found his place with Everton, a smaller club.  Landon Donovan has gone through a similar situation, except he simply failed to catch on at Bayern Munich and is just now being seen as potentially EPL worthy.

Clint Dempsey is different.  Although not a young prospect, the Texan is hitting his peak and his peak is pretty damn good.  His goal total for 2011-2012 is up there with players who could be considered with the Ballon d’Or, trailing only Wayne Rooney, Robin Van Persie, and Sergio Aguero.  He became the first American to notch a hat trick during an EPL match and it was his second in all competitions this year.  The man scores goals but at age 28 his peak productivity window is closing.  So, should he strike out now while his Q rating is at its highest and make a move to a larger club?  Or is Fulham the best place for him right now?

One man with a large voice in the U.S. Soccer Federation made his opinion known last week.  In the press conference after the Venezuela friendly, Jurgen Klinsmann addressed the Dempsey hat trick and made clear that he wants his players to play at the highest level (audio can be found on the Total Soccer Show podcast).  In essence, he said that he wants to see players like Dempsey play at the highest level of soccer, which is not just the EPL; it is playing for a Champions League contender or, at the very least, a Europa League contender.

Practically speaking this may be a hard task, even if Dempsey desires a move.  While I will leave the analysis of team needs in the Prem to our sister site EPL Talk, I will say that there are few opportunities for consistent playing time in the Top 6 of the EPL, due to congestion at Dempsey’s position and budgetary restrictions.  The best fits may be Tottenham or Arsenal (which the Gunners being the better fit of the two) but even those two London clubs would not potentially give Dempsey consistent playing time.  And that is the biggest negative for Dempsey if he moved to a larger club: playing time.  Right now he has established himself as a fixture in the starting XI for Fulham.  Except for injury or forced rest, he’ll play for The Cottagers.  He will play against the best clubs in England and have a chance to refine his skills at the highest league level, something that will definitely benefit him in international play.  A move would likely impede this playing time as he would not be assured a starting spot in any of the top six clubs.

However, there are two major reasons he should seek a transfer to a larger side (we’ll stick with the EPL for ease of comparison).  The first is the competition would be extremely beneficial to push himself to the next level; it’s one thing to fight off a player below you for time and it’s another to push someone like Andrei Arshavin for a starting spot or first sub off the bench position.  The ability to play with the best players in the world in the best competitions in the world will not only improve Dempsey as a player but really test him for World Cup qualifying.  This is worth the trade-off of a few starting minutes.

There is another, off-the-pitch reason to make this move and Brian Straus nails it completely in his recent article on Dempsey.  Straus quotes an exchange from a recent The Guardian ”Football Weekly” podcast when discussing Dempsey’s hat trick:

“Pundits always say, ‘Oh, Clint Dempsey, I always like Clint Dempsey.’ What is it about Clint Dempsey? I think it’s that infectious spirit of, basically, he’s an American, which is quite exciting and glamorous. He’s a rapper, yep. What else we got?” one writer asked.

“He’s got a cool name, Clint Dempsey. He’s just cool. He scores great goals as well,” said another.

“Is he redneck? I asked this before and got accused of all manner — it’s a genuine question!”

While anyone who listens to the podcast knows that it has a sense of humor about itself, the undertone to the exchange is the lack of respect that American soccer players have in larger leagues.  They are at times a sideshow, primarily because in the past when they’ve played for the best clubs, they’ve failed to perform.  An American player should step up and show pundits and soccer fans how far this country has come.  Dempsey is our best shot, and he certainly could fail with a Champions League contender.  But I suspect he won’t, and we’ll never know unless he steps up and grabs the opportunity.

 

Sitting here almost a week after the 2010 World Cup, I like many other US fans have been going over the many pros and cons of retaining Bob Bradley as the US manager.  US Soccer President Sunil Gulati and Fulham owner Mohamed Al Fayed probably have many of the same questions that we do,  as they decide what action they should take regarding Bradley.  But there is one question that keeps haunting me, one that I would definitely have to know the answer before I retained or hired Bradley, and that is,  Can Bob Bradley Learn?  Let me explain

During his tenure Bradley’s team have been chronic slow starters. These slow starts haven’t  just been a disease of the World Cup.   Starting  at the beginning of World Cup qualifying in 2008 to today the US has played a total 40 matches.  In 13 of those matches the US was trailing by halftime, that’s 32%!  Ten of those thirteen matches the US trailed by the 25th minute.  The startling aspect of these numbers are that these results came against CONCACAF teams during qualification.  Teams that are considered inferior competetion by the world’s footballing standards.  Now I am not saying the the US should expect to beat  all their opponents by 4 goals or that Bradley should have the US playing some sort of free-flowing, pass happy football.  He can only work with what he has. But  Bradley has regularly fielded teams that were unprepared in some aspect of the game, be it mentally, physically, or tactically.  After this World Cup the US will be taken seriously in any tourmanment it enters but their inability to start quickly gives the appearance that they don’t take match seriously.  For the first time the US can leave a tournament with international and domestic respect.  In the next four years lets have that respect because the US can field a team of truly professional, composed footballers and not because we are the spunky underdogs or the fighters who never quit.  Lets be the fighters who never give up a lead, the fighters that kill off games. Let teams chase us. This can all be done playing the brand of football we play right now!

Now the growth of this US team since 2006 can not be understated, but can Bradley grow and learn as a manager in the same way?   Bradley will not last long in a second tenure with the US or at Fulham if he continues to have his teams shoot themselves in the foot in the first halfs at matches.  In the past four years we have seen Dempsey and Donovan prove to us that they perform in a world class league and on the big international stage. We’ve seen them complete their growth as players.  Will we see Bob Bradley complete his growth as a manager?

In the next few days, USMNT Coach Bob Bradley will begin showing his cards and send out invitations to 28-30 players to join his camp in Princeton later this month.  Before those invitations go out, it is time for all the fans, pundits and blowhards to pipe in with our opinions on which 23 lucky souls should be on the plane to South Africa. 

So, without further ado, and with no Freddy Adu…here is my list:

Forwards – 4
Jozy Altidore
Brian Ching
Herculez Gomez
Edson Buddle

There is no thinner portion of the US team, made unfortunately thinner by the absence of Charlie Davies.  As dramatic as it would be to see Davies take the field next month, a mere eight months after his horrific car accident, it is just not going to happen.  Davies’ first competitive game, and his first test to see whether he has the ability to sprint, stop on a dime and pick out the right target, cannot be against England.  Sorry, but Charlie will have to wait until Brazil 14 to play in his first World Cup.

As for Gomez and Buddle, they get the slots in a slim field because they are doing the one thing that no other US forward is doing right now – scoring goals.  They may not be the best, but they are the best right now.

Midfield – 9
Michael Bradley
Maurice Edu
Landon Donovan
Clint Dempsey
Ricardo Clark
Stuart Holden
Jose Torres
Benny Feilhaber
Alejandro Bedoya

All of the sudden, the injured seem healthy, the substitutes are all starting, and our midfield seems surprisingly strong.  With Bradley, Donovan and Dempsey sure starters, the competition for that fourth slot in the midfield seems intense.  Edu has recovered from his injuries to become a critical player for Rangers.  Clark has recovered and is now starting and impressing for Frankfurt.  Torres has had an outstanding season for Pachuca.  Holden was doing great for Bolton before his injury and is back in full training.  If Holden impresses in the camp, he could slot in on the wing allowing Donovan or Dempsey to move into a forward slot.  Bedoya probably does not get in any game day roster, but as a rising star, going to South Africa would be a great experience.  Bob Bradley has a lot of tools in his midfield, and a lot of options on how to deploy them.

Defense – 7
Oguchi Onyewu
Carlos Bocanegra
Jonathan Spector
Clarence Goodson
Jonathan Bornstein
Jay DeMerit
Steve Cherundolo

With Gooch back in training with AC Milan, this all becomes a little easier than it was a couple of months ago.  It would be nice for Gooch to have a run out in AC Milan’s last couple of games, but at least he will show up in Princeton fit.  This allows Bradley to put in his preferred back line of Bocanegra, DeMerit, Gooch and Spector/Cherundolo.  At the moment, I would go with Cherundolo who seems to be playing better than Spector, but in either case, Bradley looks to have all the options for which he could have hoped.  The potential wildcard in all of this?  Goodson, who has had a rocking season in Norway and looked like the only American worth a damn in the January friendly against Honduras.

Goalkeeper – 3
Tim Howard
Marcus Hahnemann
Brad Guzan

Howard is the guaranteed starter, and barring something tragic, Hahnemann and Guzan will enjoy a pleasant seat at the festivities.  That being said, Hahnemann has been outstanding for Wolves this season – in fact a large measure of credit for the way Wolves has avoided relegation is down to Hahnemann’s work between the pipes.  He has been calm when needed, acrobatic when needed and positioned himself particularly well.  If Hahnemann’s affection for heavy metal music was the cause of his great form, Bradley would have the rest of the team listening to Slipknot all the time.

I can’t imagine any of these 23 not being invited to Princeton.  We will see who their competition is in the coming week.

As Landon Donovan settles into the Everton, Michael Bradley becomes even more a fixture at the Bundesliga, and Stuart Holden and Ricardo Clark leave the US and take big career risks to fight for a position on European teams, many American fans are bemoaning the fate of the MLS. What if all our stars go to Europe? What if the MLS becomes just a developmental league for European teams?

It may be counter-intuitive, and perhaps a little heretical, but soccer in America, and MLS in particular, can thrive as an exporter of quality domestic talent.

As I have said before, there are plenty of great soccer nations that export all their quality players and yet command a fervent following from their fans. Nearly every great Dutch player plays outside of Holland, and that does not make the Ajax fans walk around bemoaning the state of their league. The majority of the Argentina national team plays in Europe, and the River vs. Boca Super Classico in Buenos Aires makes the Galaxy/Chivas Superclassico look like a garden party. And of course, there is not a single member of the Brazil starting XI who plays for a Brazilian club team (with the possible exception of the newly outcast Robinho), but there are still over 400 teams in the Brazilian Football Confederation.

For the casual US soccer fan, they need to know MLS is not some rinky-dink outfit full of future high-school soccer coaches and European geriatrics. Nothing affirms the quality of our domestic league like watching our players be able to compete in the best leagues of Europe. As Donovan, Bradley, Clint Dempsey, and Tim Howard move from MLS, lock down starting XI positions and square off on a weekly basis against the best talents in the world, casual fans begin to accept the product put out by MLS as worthy of their attention and support.

The more talent we export, or more precisely, the more MLS talent is craved in Europe, the more esteem MLS will garner among US fans. As US players head off to Europe, US soccer fans are affirmed in their decision to follow the teams that can create that type of quality. As the US fans learn, through the experiences of our US players, about the culture and atmosphere of European soccer teams, they will want to replicate that atmosphere here with our domestic league.

Most importantly, the success of soccer in America has far more to do with the success of the US National Team than it does Major League Soccer. Do you want to see full MLS stadiums this summer and fall? If the US team has a decent run in South Africa, it will make a MLS ticket one of the hottest tickets in town. For the US to do well in South Africa, its best player must spend a lot of time in Europe playing against the best the world has to offer. I don’t think anyone seriously argues with that (if you do, I have the US/Honduras game from last month featuring a mostly MLS team on my Tivo to show you). Will Donovan, Clark and Holden be better players this summer after their European experiences? There is little doubt they will be.

Sometime in the coming years, the US will hopefully produce a truly world class outfield player – a player who may start in MLS, but will go on to play an important role for one of the great teams of Europe. The moment when some US player takes off their Kansas City Wizards or Columbus Crew uniform and puts on their Real Madrid or Manchester United kit will be one of the great moments in MLS history – the moment when the MLS will have truly arrived as a great league worthy of the casual sports fans’ attention.

As the US took the field to play Honduras Saturday night at the Home Depot Center, nobody was any under illusions about the nature of the game.  It was a friendly in the friendliest sense.  The pregame party in the parking lot was full of good cheer.  The Honduras fans, which outnumbered the US fans by 4 to 1, heartily applauded when Jonathan Bornstein, whose late strike against Costa Rica in October sent Honduras into the World Cup finals, was introduced.  The Ole’s and the wave rebounded around the stadium.

For the US players, though the outcome was unimportant, the performances were critical.  This was not so much a game as an audition.  With Charlie Davis all but ruled out this summer, Clint Dempsey and Oguchi Onyewu out of action until Easter, questions about who the right partner for Michael Bradley is in the middle, and a left back position that still seems up for grabs, this was a chance for a number of players to make a case for themselves.

Unfortunately, if this was an audition, after the 17^thminute the lines they had memorized had to be trashed and it was improv theater for the rest of the evening.  Jimmy Conrad was caught out of position twice, hacked his opponent down twice, gave up a PK, was given two yellow cards and shown the shower before the game had even developed a rhythm.  Were the yellow cards harsh?  Perhaps a tad.  But the US picked up yellows and reds at an alarming rate in both the Confederations Cup and at the last World Cup in Germany,  If the US is going to succeed in South Africa, they are going to have to avoid giving international referees a reason to reach into their pockets.

With Conrad gone, Jonathan Bornstein was shifted to a more central position, Robbie Rodgers played a little more in the back, and any experimenting with width was pretty much over.  For the rest of the half, Robbie Findley and Jeff Cunningham were isolated up front, and when they did get a toe on the ball, it was in the midst of three defenders without a sight at goal.

At the other end of the field, Chad Marshall had a night to forget.  Beaten badly for the second goal and unable to get the challenge in time for the third, he was subbed out in the 60^th minute.  He slumped onto the bench with his arms folded, banged the back of his head against the bench shield, and spent the next couple of minutes staring straight at the ground.  There are a lot of questions about the US central defense at the moment, and Marshall did not provide any evidence he has the answers.

On the other hand, when Clarence Goodson came on in the 60^th minute, he looked very useful.  Beyond the goal he scored off a corner, he tracked back superbly and seemed to win every ball in the air.  Don’t be surprised to see Goodson get a good look when the US plays the Netherlands in March.

On the flip side, aside from Conrad, the most disappointing player this evening had to be Benny Feilhaber.  If he had a good touch all night, it escaped me.  He lost the ball, had his passes intercepted, and generally looked out of sorts all game.  In his post game news conference, Bradley highlighted how poor the team passing was in general, noting that even when passes were not intercepted, they were often received chest high and unplayable for quick advantage.

In the end, Bradley called is an “educational” evening.  Having Conrad sent off gave Bradley to opportunity to see some players perform under stress, out of position, and in uncomfortable situations.  It may have not been the screen test that Bradley was designing, but it still yielded some valuable insights.  On the positives, Bornstein looked comfortable switching from a wide position to a more central role, Goodson looked worthy of further investigation, Robbie Rogers looked industrious, and Alejandro Bedoya got his first Senior Cap. 

On the downside, there was just about everything else.

For most Europeans, the January transfer window is all tease and no touch.  Very few moves of true import happen in January, and that is especially true in a World Cup year, where players would rather see if the tournament can up their stock.  However, for American soccer stars, the January transfer window, which occurs during the MLS off-season, is their best chance to find a new home.  With several moves simmering away or coming to fruition, this is a good chance to recap the current state of play.

Ricardo Clark Signs With Bundesliga Team Eintracht Frankfurt.  For a tough tackling player like Clark, this is a great move.  The Bundesliga probably suits Clark’s talents more than Premier League and it will give him a greater chance to grow as a player.  Interestingly, Clark has been offered and accepted a contract through the end of the season with an option held by Frankfurt to extend it by three years.  For Clark to accept this contract represents a real leap of faith on his part, and he will need to prove to Frankfurt that he is worth keeping.  You gotta like that type of bottle!

Stuart Holden is not Going to Bolton, So He May be Off to Portugal. Stuart Holden’s trial at Bolton was probably doomed the moment the team fired Gary Megson and hired Owen Coyle as their new manager.  Coyle was always unlikely to start chopping heads and hiring new talent in his first week as manager knowing that his main mission is to inspire a demoralized team.  Given that, it came as little surprise that Bolton did not opt to pick up Holden, who is now seriously looking at playing for Sporting Braga in Portugal.  Let’s hope that Holden does find time on the pitch wherever he goes, because the US could need him this summer if Clint Dempsey is not fully fit.  That being said….

Dempsey to avoid Surgery.  Fulham released a statement today saying that, “Early indications are positive in that no operation is required.  At this stage it is thought that the injury will not prevent him playing prior to the end of the season.”  Although another detail or two would be nice (what is the injury, how long is the rehab?!?!?!), this should take a worry line or two away from Bob Bradley’s forehead.  Hopefully we can see Dempsey out on the pitch continuing his terrific run of form sometime soon.

Is Carlos Bocanegra on the Move?  It seems the rumors are swirling that Bocanegra is moving from Rennes to Saint Etienne.  After having a successful season last year, Bocanegra has found himself on the bench for most of this season under new coach Frederic Antonetti, and a loan to League 1 strugglers Saint Etienne will both help him be ready for South Africa and give him a chance to prove his value in a possible summer transfer.

Has Hull Given up on Jozy Altidore?  Maybe.  By signing Zaki from Egypt and signaling that they may also be making a move for his compatriot Mido, Hull seems to be moving away from Altidore as the solution to their lack of goals.  The signing of Zaki, one of the great head-cases in the sporting world, indicates how desperate Hull coach Phil Brown is to find some goals from any source.  Altidore has talent, and his size and speed are rare weapons, but he is very far from a finished product at this point.  It looks like Jozy will have to either commit himself to developing more on the training pitch or with a different team before he can really get some quality minutes in a major league.

As I am sure all fans of football in America are now aware, Clint Dempsey, the most recognizable and successful United States outfield player in Europe has suffered a potentially devestating injury in today’s Fulham loss to Blackburn. Dempsey, who only minutes earlier had hit the crossbar with a spectacular bicycle kick suffered a potential ACL or MCL tear. A full scan will reveal the details tomorrow, but Fulham Manager Roy Hodgson is not hopeful.

“Clint will be scanned tomorrow, but we feel it might be a posterior cruciate knee ligament, which would be very bad for us and he would be out for a while,” Fulham manager Roy Hodgson said. “It’s a concern up front because Clint Dempsey is very useful for us.” (From BBC Sport)

Please stay with us here at MLS Talk for full coverage and analysis once the details of Dempsey’s injury are known on Monday.

Jozy Altidore Against Spain at Confederations Cup

As promised last week, here are my highlights from 2009 in American Soccer, in no particular order:

U.S. National Team Beats Spain in Confederations Cup Semi-Finals:

On June 24, 2009, in the Semi-Finals of the Confederations Cup, the U.S. National Team, which barely advanced out of the group stage, managed a stunning 2-0 victory over Spain, the winners of Euro 2008. Going into this match, Spain was sitting in the top place in the FIFA rankings and was looking to keep alive its 35 match unbeaten streak. Spain ended up making the biggest mistake a team can make in International football, they underestimated their opponent, while the United States came into the match determined to get a victory. Jozy Altidore picked up the US’s first goal in the 27th minute, giving his team the lead going into halftime. In the 74th minute, Landon Donovan crossed the ball to Clint Dempsey who scored the US’s second goal, sealing their victory over Spain. By playing 90 minutes of aggressive, focused football on June 24, 2009 in Bloemfontein, South Africa, the United States showed it can beat one of the best teams in the world.

Real Salt Lake 2009 MLS Cup Champions:

When the Los Angeles Galaxy beat the Houston Dynamo, 2-0, during extra time in the Western Conference Final, it must have been a dream come true for Don Garber and other executives in the MLS front office. Finally, David Beckham would be featured in a MLS Cup Championship match. While the folks at MLS most likely wanted Chicago to advance to the Cup match too, I doubt they complained much when Real Salt Lake beat advanced by beating Chicago on penalty kicks. Real Salt Lake was the last seed into the MLS playoffs and it was likely that they would crash and burn in the Cup, the way New York did in 2008 after a similar run through the playoffs. To add to the excitement, David Beckham’s first appearance in the MLS Cup would occur in Seattle where ticket sales were brisk, so the Cup was setting up to be a great way for MLS to showcase itself to the foreign press that would show up because of Beckham. In front of 46,011, Mike Magee got a goal for the Galaxy in the 41st minute, giving his team the lead going into the half. Galaxy held firm until Robbie Findley picked up the equalizer for Real Salt Lake in the 64th minute. In the end, Nick Rimando played hero for Salt Lake and spoiler for Los Angeles by ably defending the goal during penalty kicks. When a scrappy team like Real Salt Lake can claw their way to becoming MLS Champions, beating the previous year’s champions and the so-called “Super Club” of their league, you know there is something special about the playoffs. They might not have playoffs in the top flight leagues in Europe, but in a league like MLS, where there is no relegation system, the playoffs that extra spark of excitement that makes fans look forward to next season.

Summer of Soccer:

The summer of 2009 was anointed the Summer of Soccer thanks to the Confederations Cup, the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the World Football Challenge, and the MLS 2009 Regular season. The summer provided a plethora of soccer for the soccer fan in the United States, bringing out thousands of fans to stadiums across the country to witness great soccer at many levels.

The Crowds in Seattle:

Technically, the crowds at Qwest Field for the Seattle Sounders’ home games were not true sell-outs since large portions of the stadium were tarped off, but the newest club to join MLS brought the fans out in droves. For the Sounders’ inaugural match, which was aired on ESPN2, 32,523 football fans showed up to watch Seattle beat New York, 3-0. For the rest of the season Seattle averaged 30,943 fans per match, a new MLS record.

United States v. Brazil in Confederations Cup Final:

Yes, I know the United States lost this match 3-2, after going up 2-0 in the first half, but what was important about this match was how much attention it garnered from the mainstream sports media and sports fans across the United States. Going into this match, there was a certain sense of anticipation, across the board, that I had never seen prior to a US match. Sports talk radio stations that all but ignored soccer were talking about this match, ESPN’s coverage was amped up, and even Tennessee Titan’s running back Chris Johnson, who rushed for over 2000 yards this season, was tweeting about the match. The US had a rough start to the Confederations Cup, but in the end it proved a good tournament for increasing interest in the Beautiful Game here in the States.

Clint Dempsey is the model American player in Europe right now. Having gone through three managers at Fulham after rejecting any and all overtures to stay in MLS, Deuce is the inverse of Landon Donovan. Now Donovan appears ready to assert himself in a loan spell at Everton.

Rejecting his comfort zone for a challenge that would raise his quality and relevance as a player, Dempsey has become the signature American player for fans of the European game. His quality is so evident, that he was recently named to La Gazzetta Della Sports’ Premier League Best XI for 2009. This honor given by one of Europe’s leading football authorities, speaks loudly as to the reputation Dempsey has developed abroad.

Landon Donovan, on the other hand is seen as soft and a bit of a joke by leading European football pundits. For all his accomplishments on the international level, he has gone missing in several big US matches and in his previous stints in European club football. So laughable have Donovan’s performances been, that anytime his name comes up on the Guardian Football Weekly podcast, it becomes running joke.

A theory has been floated by people who don’t watch the Bundesliga that Donovan was somehow successful there. As someone who watched every League match Donovan played for Bayern, I came to the conclusion that he was over his head in a league that is not as strong as the one Dempsey features in.

FC Bayern Sporting Director, Ule Hoeness  is a good authority on what makes a quality player  observed Donovan’s work ethic in training and off the ball movements were not up to a Bundesliga standard. He claimed Donovan could not even make Bayern’s amateur squad based on his training and match performances.

Bayern’s spacing and tactics were often times negated by Donovan’s presence on the pitch. Many times Donovan floated inside causing Bayern players to bunch up, or pushed too far forward, and did not track back quickly enough. Additionally, his off the ball runs into space were poorly timed and often led to Bayern coughing the ball up in midfield. Donovan himself gave the ball away all too often.

Donovan’s performances in 2005 for Bayer Leverkusen were even more embarrassing, and occurred while fellow American youngster DaMarcus Beasley was impressing for Guus Hiddink’s PSV side. At Leverkusen, Donovan often got lost far up the pitch and ended up being a detriment to the clubs ability to actually maintain possession and play attacking football.

Contrast this with Dempsey’s work off the ball at Fulham. Dempsey times his runs to perfection and pushes inside and up when necessary. His work on the ball is remarkable also, as his technical skill has become among the best in the English game. So strong is the belief his team has in his quality, that he now takes the penalties for Fulham. This is remarkable considering originally Roy Hodgson had no use for the American midfielder.

Landon Donovan rarely ventures out of his comfort zone. He’s been marketed as the poster child for US Soccer at home, while another player has eclipsed him by a large margin abroad. Donovan has become an MLS superstar, while Dempsey and several other current and former national team players have had the confidence in their quality and skill level to stake their claim abroad.

My sincere hope is that as Donovan begins this short ten week loan spell on Merseyside, he takes the lessons of Clint Dempsey, Claudio Reyna, DaMarcus Beasley and others and really applies himself. In his previous European stints, Donovan has shown little character or quality, and has buckled under the slightest adversity.

His national team form is one thing, but he isn’t a Premiership or Bundesliga level player unless he proves otherwise in the next ten weeks. That may sound harsh but is the reality of the situation as I see it. Landon Donovan must prove he is on Clint Dempsey’s level both mentally and physically in his time at Everton.

The last time many of us saw DaMarcus Beasley, his miss on a corner launched a Brazilian counter-attack that led to the eventual trouncing of the US in the group phase of the Confederations Cup.  It was the culmination of a number of mediocre and lackluster performances from him in the national team shirt, which was the only shirt he was wearing due to his lack of play at his club Rangers in Scotland.

Fast forward to this December which sees Beasley inserted back in to the starting line up and producing. In five games he’s given Rangers 2 goals and 4 assists, which has many of us US supporters wondering if this play is sustained thru the season, does he merit a call up for next summers World Cup in South Africa.

In my opinion yes. For the simple fact that he solves some of the tactical problems Bob Bradley has due to the loss of Charlie Davies.

We are all wondering if Jeff Cunningham or Robbie Findley can be a suitable replacement for Davies, in reality the perfect replacement for him would be Landon Donovan.  In the current setup moving Donovan up top would leave a hole on the left side of midfield, a hole that Beasley can and has filled in the past.  He has pace to match Donovan and he has a fine tuned understanding of Donovan and Clint Dempsey’s play. It is also gives us a true left footed midfielder, one who can ease the burden of set pieces off Donovan.  Beasley is also easily the most experienced American player who has played in Europe. With a resume that includes  playing in the PSV/Ajax derby, in a Champions League semi-final, the Manchester City/ Manchester United derby, and in 2 World Cups.

With the US getting their most favorable draw ever in a World Cup and desperately needing to get rid of the bad taste of the 2006 World Cup out of everyone ‘s mouth, this summer Bob Bradley has to send an all hands on deck call to all players who can help them progress out of their group. Now this is all contingent on Beasley maintaining his current level of play, if that is done, then not only does Bob Bradley have an extra tactical option, but we all have a greater sense of hope as we head to South Africa.