American players abroad

MADRID, Spain (AP) - Real Madrid is reportedly interested in American teenage star Jozy Altidore.

Sporting director assistant Carlos Bucero had traveled to New York amid reports the Spanish champions were interested in signing the 18-year-old New York Red Bulls striker, the team said Friday.
Altidore's agent wouldn't say if he had met with Bucero, but confirmed his client's interest in Madrid.

"We've heard of the interest and for any soccer player it is a thrill to be linked with Real Madrid, and Jozy's really happy about the news," Richard Motzkin told The Associated Press. "We all know information has been published about this. Jozy's happy with where he's at in this stage of his career with the Red Bulls, but we'll see what happens."

Altidore made his U.S. national team debut in a 1-0 friendly win over South Africa on Nov. 17.

He scored four goals as the United States reached the quarterfinals at the under-20 World Cup earlier this year, and had nine goals in 22 games in Major League Soccer this season.

A move to Madrid would see Altidore join U.S. teammate Freddy Adu on the Iberian Peninsula. The 18-year-old Adu moved to Portuguese club Benfica from D.C. United in August

Hey Mr F whats your view on De Marcus Beasley? He has recently started to become a more regular starter for Rangers but just wondered what your thoughts on the guy are.

Hes an old-school winger. Kinda on the small side but lightning fast .His ability to track back and help out on defense has really blossomed in the past year. On a team with midfielders that can time their passing to release him behind defenses he can be a huge asset

Yeah thats pretty much what I see in him, his pace is such a huge assest the best example was against Lyon got a great goal and Lyon could not handle his pace on the counter attack. I really like him he's gives Rangers that injection of pace and hard work.

Rumors have it that forward Eddie Johnson is heading to Fulham. With Dempsey doing well and McBride retourning to training as I post, I wonder which Americans will be playing. If this goes through,5 Americans will be playing for Fulham including Bocanegra and Keller

Wow, havent posted here in almost a year. Watched last weekends Fulham - Chelsea match and had to rave about Clint Dempsey. The 2 goals are going to make the highlight reel for sure, but that wasnt the end of his contribution. He showed a lot of maturity with his play at midfield. He was calm and precise with his passing, slowing down the pace of the match when he had put Fulham ahead. Dempsey has come a long way since his move to England

yeah Fulham have had a good run recently and Dempsey seems to be one of the main reasons behind that I have nver really noticed him that much before but in the games I have seen this season he seems to be a very skilled and more importantly intelligent midfield player.

One of the London rags is reporting that Everton is trying to get 19 year old Jozy Altidore away from Villareal on a loan deal. Personally , Id rather see him settle in , learn something, then go out and show the world that he has developed some of that raw talent he has. Besides, Everton could just as easily sign either of the 2 Russian strikers they have been linked with, or that Venezuelan fellow that plays for Atlas in Mexico whos name escapes me

Well I don't know if Altidore is a regualt starter with Villareal but if he is then I cannot see them letting him go anywhere on loan as right now they are pushing for a UEFA cup place and eve have an outside chance of making the champions league and to be honest i dont think Villareal have such a big squad anyway. Personally I think he's better in La Liga because I think it's a better league than the Premiership which has been ruined by obscene amounts of cash.

First off , obscene amounts of money make everything better, especially football.

Second, he's only 19. Its a great learning experience for him just to sit on the bench and watch players like Guiseppe Rossi. ( he does play in the odd league/ cup match as well ) If he hasnt made his way into the starting 11 at Villareal, I think it would be even harder at Everton with players like Amichabe, Saha and the Yak.

I have to disagree on the money aspect with the huge amounts of cash that these clubs get they end up buying players who are only in it for the cash for example do you think Robinho is at man city because they are a better club than Real Madrid or becase they can offer him more chance of a champions league win than Madrid? if your only in it for the cash you will eventually get bored of it. secondly ask a whole generation of young mainly english players if the cash is a good thing or ask the England manager if it's a good thing. Also it's not good to rely on that cash because it could be gone at any time and then what happens? look at west ham those Icelandic investors were a godsend - for a bout 5 months now they are practically bankrupt lie every other Icelander and that brings into question what happens to the hammers.

Anyway none of it matters because Altidore is going nowhere the bord said last night that -
"Altidore is a player of the future and Villarreal is not interested in a sale." So looks likie everton will have to spend thier £30 million tv money elsewhere

Central defender Oguchi Onyewu has reportedly inked a deal with AC Milan. He and Carlos Bocanegra were outstanding vs Spain and Brazil in the Confederations cup, but as of yet I see little to make me believe he is the next Maldini

Rumors are foalting around that Rangers are interested in Stuart Holden. Just rumors so far

yeah this rumour has been going about since the start of the season in Scotland both Rangers and Celtic are interested and it hink Hearts have had a fleeing interest in Holden as well.
Dunno if he will sign for Rangers though because of the financial situation unless we find a buyer Holden will only come in if somebody leaves which is a shame because all reports suggest he is a decent player

Since the MLS season just ended, now is the time for serious negotiation before the Dec transfer window. If something is going to happen , it will happen soon

Dont know how important he is to the USA national team but Maurice Edu has said he will be fit for Americas world cup campaign he hasnt kicked a ball since the end of last season but he has claimed he is over the injury and should be ready to return to the Rangers First team within a few weeks and hopes that the match experience will have him ready for South Africa.
Not so bothered about the World cup but we need Edu back because he is a player of real quality

Recent rumors have Landon Donovan in talks with Everton for a loan deal during the MLS off season ala Becks. Id like to see him finally live up to his potential on a big stage for a club team, hopefully itll be with the toffees

Everton confirmed they are in talks to sign Landon Donovan on loan and David Moyes is keen to sign him.

Donovan has spent two spells in European football before. His first was with Bayer Leverkusen where he played only 7 times and was sent on loan to the San Jose Earthquakes. In 2005 he left Leverkusen and returned to the MLS with Los Angeles Galaxy after turning down a late bid from then 1st Division Portmouth and thus missed out on being part of Pompey's 1st Division winning season and subsequent Premier League adventure. His second spell in European fooball came with Bayern Munich where he played only 6 games on loan from L.A. Galaxy.

He has failed to score any competitive league goals in European football but had only managed to make a total of 13 appearences. He had scored 98 league goals in 208 appearences in American football. His international record is 35 goals in 45 under 17 appearences, 9 goals in 15 under 23 appearences and 42 goals in 120 full international appearences.

Saw De Marcus Beasley playing for Rangers tonight and he was in exceptional form looked sharp some nice touches and an absolute cracker of a goal, he seems despearte to get into the team and keep his place think it might have somehing to do with getting in the USA squad

Good to see DaMarcus in form, Rangers too, even if it is a bit late for the European campaign. I dont know where he fits into the US team at the moment. The last time I recall him playing for the US was during the outside defense experiment , when we had a glut of midfielders and needed backs. Things are a bit more balanced at the moment so it would be interesting to see where he fits in currently, if at all. No friendlies are currently scheduled before the cup, hopefully a couple will be in the near future to deal with situations like this

Ive noticed Marcus Hannemann has been starting in goal for wolves the last couple of weeks. Overall he has done very well so far (even with the softie vs red devils).

Im a big fan of Wayne Hennesy, does anybody know if he is injured of if it is just a tactical change?

Just announced today, USA vs Honduras , January 23rd , 6 pm at the Home Depot Center in LA.

If we arent too broke, maybe I can take Damon

The US is playing Holland in Holland June 3rd- the official FIFA international date. Edu should be in this one

This from the AP



Updated Dec 17, 2009 1:31 PM EDT
Glasgow Rangers manager Walter Smith has told midfielder DaMarcus Beasley there is no reason for him to leave the Scottish club to ensure he makes the U.S. World Cup squad.

Beasley said last week that he was cGlasgow Rangers manager Walter Smith has told midfielder DaMarcus Beasley there is no reason for him to leave the Scottish club to ensure he makes the U.S. World Cup team.

Beasley said last week he was considering quitting Rangers during the January transfer window because he feared his lack of match action would cost him a place in South Africa.

But Smith says the midfielder would be guaranteed to start for Glasgow if he maintains the form that saw him saw score his first goal since May 2008 in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Dundee United.

"After coming back from his serious knee problem, he has had things go wrong with his hamstring and his groin," Smith said. "In the last two or three months, he has settled down and looked sharper in training. He's obviously now playing well in games, too.

"The lad's comments before were quite simple. He said he had to try to get games so that he could be included in the World Cup. That's an acceptable factor because he wasn't getting a regular game here, but that wasn't always due to the fact he wasn't getting picked."

Now that Beasley is fit, Smith doesn't think playing time will be an issue from the 27-year-old from Fort Wayne, Ind.

"Sometimes he wasn't available but he is now and there's no reason for him to move," Smith said. "DaMarcus has enough experience and enough caps that if he does play, he'll be in with a very good chance of being selected for the USA's squad."

Beasley has 17 goals in 89 international appearances but has not played for the U.S. since the first round of June's Confederations Cup, when he failed to read a short corner kick from Landon Donovan and the mix-up led to the second goal in a 3-0 loss to Brazil.onsidering quitting Rangers in the January transfer window because he feared his lack of match action would cost him a place in South Africa.

But Smith says the midfielder will be guaranteed to start for Glasgow if he maintains the form that saw him saw score his first goal since May 2008 in Tuesday's 3-0 win over Dundee United.

Beasley has been struggling with hamstring and groin injuries.

Smith says that "sometimes he wasn't available but he is now and there's no reason for him to move."

Nice editing on the first 3 paragraphs

Well done AP