Only Michael Bradley made a deadline move in Europe, with Oguchi Onyewu and Heath Pearce likely targets in January. Elsewhere, the first Old Firm game of the season went off without American involvement.
By Graig Carbino
ALBANY, NY (Sept 2, 2008) USSoccerPlayers – The transfer window finally closed on Monday night and now European soccer can finally turn its attention back to the action on the field. Thad deadline surely had some American players happy just to see all the speculation come to an end.
Michael Bradley ended up the only American to make a late move, with rumors swirling around Oguchi Onyewu and Heath Pearce as well. All of them are in a similar situation, needing as many minutes as possible wherever they're playing.
Bradley was transferred to Bundesliga club Borussia Monchengladbach on deadline deal day just before the window closed. American abroad fans may recognize the club because of the time that Kasey Keller spent there a few years ago. ‘Gladbach were relegated during Keller’s last season but bounced back up and are now trying to establish themselves in Germany's topflight. Bradley should slot right into the starting lineup and will have the opportunity to play European powerhouses Bayern Munich and Werder Bremen before the season concludes.
Onyewu and Pearce are different stories as they both stayed on with their current clubs, Standard Liege and Hansa Rostock respectively. The case of Onyewu is a bit surprising in that he is a player that is in the final year of his contract and clearly wants to move. Standard now run the risk of losing Onyewu for free come January.
Sure, they could still move him during the winter transfer window, but he also has the option of signing a pre-contract agreement with another European club in January and seeing out the last few months with Standard. He would then leave for free after the season concludes, leaving Standard with nothing in return for a defender that saw his stock skyrocket after the teams recent Champions League encounter with Liverpool.
Stay or go isn’t the issue anymore. Onyewu in the Jupiler League and Pearce in the 2.Bundesliga are in good enough situations as far as the playing level is concerned to still hold their form and challenge for starting places for both club and country.
Bradley is in an even better spot, as he will battle for starting minutes for a rising Bundesliga club. It’s about playing time at this point and these three players all should be able to rack up appearances no matter their current destination across Western Europe.
Americans Abroad Report Card:
English Premier League: Tim Howard started and played 90 minutes for Everton in their 3-0 loss to Portsmouth on Saturday at Goodison Park. A Jermain Defoe double was sandwiched around Glen Johnson’s goal as the visitors ran out comfortable winners on Merseyside. Yakubu wasted a chance to bring Everton back into the game when he missed a 47th minute penalty kick.
Brad Friedel started in goal for Aston Villa on Sunday as they drew 0-0 with visiting Liverpool. Steven Gerrard was missing through injury for Liverpool who would also lose Fernando Torres to injury in the 31st minute. Brad Guzan made the bench for Villa for the first time this season. Jonathan Spector is out until January, missing West Ham United’s 4-1 victory over visiting Blackburn.
Clint Dempsey and Fulham will have to wait for their first shot at the champions this season after their match with Manchester United was postponed because of the UEFA Super Cup.
The Championship: Reading beat visiting Crystal Palace 4-2 over the Labor Day weekend. Marcus Hahnemann started in goal for Reading while Bobby Convey had to be content with a place amongst the substitutes. Kevin Doyle hit a hat trick for the Royals who jumped to sixth in the table after the victory.
Jay Demerit started and played the full ninety for Watford as they beat visiting Ipswich Town 2-1 on Saturday. Pablo Counago scored first for town before John Eustace leveled for the hornets. The match looked to be heading for a one-all draw before John-Joe O-Toole pounced on a late Richard Wright mistake to snatch all three points for the home team.
Eddie Johnson made his Championship debut for Cardiff coming on for the last four minutes for their 0-0 draw with Sheffield United. Frank Simek is still out injured and did not feature for Sheffield Wednesday in their 1-1 draw with Swansea.
Germany: Neven Subotic was the star for Borussia Dortmond as he played 90 minutes and scored the only goal in their 1-0 win over Energie Cottbus on Saturday. Subotic scored off of a rebound just before halftime to secure all three points for Dortmund.
Steve Cherundolo started at his customary right-back position as Hannover 96 lost 2-0 at VfB Stuttgart. Mario Gomez and Mexican international Pavel Pardo tallied for the hosts. Hannover has not scored a goal in three games this season and sit at the foot of the Bundesliga table. Sal Zizzo was not in uniform for the loss.
Grover Gibson started and played 90 minutes for Ahlen in their 2-1 home win over 1860 Munich on Sunday. Marinko Miletic and René Müller scored for the hosts while Daniel Bierofka scored for 1860. Gregg Berhalter could only watch from the bench for the Munich club.
David Yelldell played 90 minutes in goal for TuS Koblenz as they drew 0-0 with SV Wehen over the weekend. Matt Taylor started and played 69 minutes for Koblenz. Heath Pearce was a surprise half time sub for Hansa Rostock in their 1-0 loss to SC Freiburg. Mohamadou Idrissou scored for Freiburg.
Luis Robles watched from the bench as Kaiserslautern beat FC Ingolstadt 3-1 on Friday. Bryan Arguez did not make the bench in Hertha Berlin’s 4-1 loss to Bayern Munich on Sunday.
Scotland: The first installment of the 2008-2009 Old Firm match took place at Celtic Park in Glasgow on Sunday as Rangers stunned Celtic 4-2. Goals from Daniel Cousin, Pedro Mendes and two from Kenny Miller saw off the Bhoys. Georgios Samaras and Shunsuke Nakamura scored for Celtic. Cousin and Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink were sent off for Rangers and Celtic respectively. Maurice Edu made the bench for Rangers but DaMarcus Beasley was left out of the team altogether.
France: Carlos Bocanegra has been an ever-present at the back for new club Rennes all season and remained a starting fixture as he featured for all 90 minutes during the Red and Blacks 0-0 draw at Toulouse. Meanwhile, Freddy Adu was once again relegated to a late cameo as Monaco lost 1-0 at surprising Grenoble. Andrew Jacobson did not feature for Lorient in their 2-0 loss to Auxerre.
Spain: Jozy Altidore made the bench for Villareal in their opening day 1-all draw at Osasuna. Marcos Senna scored for the “Yellow Submarine” before Javad Nekounam leveled for the hosts.
Graig Carbino covers American Abroad and writes a weekly column for USSoccerPlayers. Contact him at graiger11@yahoo.com
