American Transfer Developments

Despite all the transfer speculation surrounding Oguchi Onyewu, it looks like he might be wearing the jersey in the above pic just a little bit longer. I guess the sporting director believes that Gooch's services for the rest of the season are worth more than 3 million euro's that he could fetch for his transfer. And he isn't the only American with transfer possibilities, as Sacha Kljestan has been receiving interest from multiple teams and apparently Neven Subotic might be on his way to Napoli (Where the hell did that come from?). Then again these are all rumors, so after the January transfer window, Gooch could be wearing a PSG jersey, Kljestan could still be wearing a Chivas USA jersey, and Subotic could still be rocking a Borussia Dortmund kit. Where do you think they will/should end up?

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Frankie Simek Injured Again

Frankie Simek is unlucky. In his second consecutive game starting for Sheffield Wednesday after a long injury layoff, Simek had to leave the field after 38 minutes due to a hamstring injury. It now appears that his hamstring injury is a serious one, and he will be missing up to another six weeks. Here is a Q&A with the American defender before he found out the extent of his injury , courtesy of Soccer365. Hopefully, Simek can bounce back again because when healthy he adds quality depth to the fullback position for the US.

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Good Morning, Where Have You Been?

Sorry for the lack of posts over the weekend and yesterday, I was busy trying to get my room/house into a respectable condition. And after I got tired of that, I was mainly just slacking off, and that can take a lot out of you. So let's see what I missed over the last couple of days; Maryland won its 2nd National Championship in 4 years after UNC had upset Wake Forest in the semis and Seattle prepared to make a major announcement (Welcome Sigi). Also, in the Yanks Abroad category, Heath Pearce earned a rare start, Jose Torres started in the Club World Cup, Dempsey went the full 90 again, and Bradley returned to his place in the starting lineup in Germany. Oh yeah, and Jozy put in another significant stint (33 minutes) for La Liga power, Villareal. Finally, after some dealing on Friday, it looks like some other MLS teams might be looking to make a splash on the trade market.

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Charlie Davies on the Move?

Coming off a 15 goal, 4 assist season with Swedish club Hammarby, Charlie Davies was sure to get some attention during the January transfer window. In the last few days it has come to light that a lot of that interest is coming from Sochaux, a French Ligue 1 side that currently sits 18th out of 20 in the standings, and in the drop zone. With only 15 goals this season through 17 games, Sochaux could certainly use some of Davies' dynamic ability. It remains to be seen whether Davies would want to jump the Hammarby ship for a French team struggling to stay in the first division. Personally, I think Davies is a star on the rise, who is constantly overlooked due to his younger National team teammates, Freddy Adu and Jozy Altidore. I can't wait to see what he could do with the senior team with some more opportunities. Check the video below to see some of the damage he has already done in the Swedish league.

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Yanks Abroad - Let's Focus on the Positive

When looking at the Americans plying their trade abroad this past weekend, there were a fair share of positives and negatives to take away from their matches. But since it is Monday and there is a full work week ahead, I'm trying to stay positive. I am going to ignore the fact that Eddie Johnson, Steve Cherundolo, and Jay Demerit missed out due to injury, and I am going to overlook that Michael Bradley lost his starting place (although he did make a 23 min sub appearance) in a 3-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. Instead I am going to focus on the good stuff, like Jozy Altidore making his second consecutive league start and going the full 90 in an incredibly entertaining 3-3 tie with Getafe, in which Villarreal was down 3-0 at half (video above). I'm also liking Damarcus Beasley starting and playing 78 minutes in a 7-1 victory for Rangers, Clint Dempsey going the full 90 in a 1-1 tie for Fulham, and Freddy Adu actually getting off the bench to play 9 minutes in a 1-1 tie for Monaco.

Update: Can't believe I forgot Frankie Simek returning to the starting lineup and going the full 90 for Sheffield Wednesday in a 1-1 tie with Southampton.

It's nice looking at the weekend with a positive slant, that is why I am focusing on UMD Men's soccer team making their fifth final four in seven years, and how the Terps' basketball team crushed GW last night; definitely a lot better than facing the harsh truth that my Washington Wizards suck and the Redskins have lost four out of their last five games.

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