The LB/Sideline View Readers vote for the 2008 Honda Player of the Year is in. I just sent my vote over, about 11 hours before the polls close.

If our readers' opinions are any indications, a certain English-based player will win in a landslide.

There were 26 first-place votes submitted - 18 of them were for Tim Howard. Click to continue reading...

Carling Cup FULHAM 0 BURNLEY 1 Dempsey had his chance today, going a full 90 minutes for Fulham as they fell to Burnley behind a late goal from Jay Rodriguez.  Despite the disappointing result, Dempsey looked strong in attack, and was praised mightily by Fulham's Official Match Report: "Clint Dempsey tried his luck on 41 minutes as Fulham [. Click to continue reading...

After totaling just 12 minutes between them over the weekend, Clint Dempsey, Bobby Convey and Eddie Johnson hope to see increased time in the League Cup. Click to continue reading...

Attention all U.S. national team fans, if you have seen Clint Dempsey please contact SBI. He has gone missing since returning to Fulham. At least missing on the field.

Dempsey has found a seemingly permanent place on the bench at Fulham, making him one of several key American players to ride the pine last weekend without getting a single minute of action.

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English Premier League FULHAM 0 BLACKBURN 1 In what has surely been a nightmare season so far for the Texan, Dempsey was left on the bench for Fulham's 1-0 loss to Blackburn this morning.  Matt Derbyshire made the difference in the 84th minute after coming on for Treacy, shooting low and hard past Mark Schwarzer. Click to continue reading...

This weekend was a memorable one for Americans Abroad as two recent MLS transfers made their European club debuts, while a few other Americans found the net.

Maurice Edu (pictured) made his debut for Glasgow Rangers on Saturday in a 2-1 win over Kilmarnock while U.S. Olympic teammate Jozy Altidore impressed in his La Liga debut for Villarreal.

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Much to do today, but I'll try to get through a full roundup:

EVERTON: If you're a fan of the club, this is a welcome win -- 3-2 away to pesky Stoke with two players (Marouane Fellaini and Segundo Castillo) making their debuts. If you're a fan of Tim Howard or the U.

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This article from the New York Times where John Harkes outlines his concerns about the U.S National Team is very interesting, and also happens to echo a lot of the same things that I've been writing about. Basically the premise is that while the U.S. has gotten the results that it had needed, they still is room for improvement, especially in attack. Click to continue reading...

Hey y'all. SF from The Offside Rules in for Il Bruce as he traverses his way across the midwest. He's on his way back home from last night's US match in Chicago last night so let's start there. Then we'll hit some MLS stuff. Then that's it because frankly I feel too disconnected to the Mexican and Euro leagues right know to even bother; long-distance relationships (no matter how hot she is) kinda suck. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

You wanted more goals? Check.

You wanted a dominating victory? Check.

You wanted to see Michael Bradley have a great game? Check.

You wanted to see Eddie Johnson play well?

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The U.S. beat a clearly out of their depth Trinidad & Tobago Wednesday night, taking advantage of their opponents' obvious inexperience (and lack of leadership as ESPN commentator and former T&T goalkeeper Shaka Hislop pointed out numerous times) to comfortably win 3-0 in Chicago.

Some observations:
*Neither Brian Ching nor Eddie Johnson were particularly convincing (again) at forward.

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Sporadic commentary will follow ...

USA lineup: GK Tim Howard, D Carlos Bocanegra, D Oguchi Onyewu, D Steve Cherundolo, D Heath Pearce, M Clint Dempsey, M DaMarcus Beasley, M Michael Bradley, M Sacha Kljestan, F Landon Donovan, F Brian Ching.

On the bench: GK Brad Guzan, D Frankie Hejduk, D Dan Califf, M Ricardo Clark, M Eddie Lewis, M Maurice Edu, F Eddie Johnson

Not playing: D Michael Orozco, D Marvell Wynne

Not called in: M/F Freddy Adu, F Jozy Altidore, D Jimmy Conrad, etc.

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The U.S. national team is back on home soil after posting a pair of road wins to kick off CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying. The Americans face Trinidad & Tobago tonight in a match-up of the top two teams in Group A (ESPN2/Galavision, 8pm).

The U.S. team has mustered a pair of 1-0 victories on the road, but will expect a more wide-open encounter from a Trinidad & Tobago side that has scored four goals in its first two matches (a win and a tie).

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Six points in the bag and little doubt the US will advance to the hexagonal. However the truth be told I think the United States finishes third in the hexagonal on current form and must improve its linkup play and general possession play in the final four matches of this qualifying stage. With this in mind this is the lineup I would like to see tomorrow assuming the bucket is being used by Bradley again.

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Reuters Photo

Three points is three points I suppose. But tonight's game unlike last months qualifier in Guatemala City has me very concerned about the state of play regarding the US Team. Against a side that in its own stadium last month gave up three relatively quick goals to Trinidad and Tobago, the US had to grind out a result again dependent on some clutch goalkeeping and quite frankly some mistakes by the Cuban team.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Now that the really hard work has been done, it is time for the U.S. men's national team to finish off its World Cup qualifying group.

The Americans can essentially do just that on Wednesday when it takes on Trinidad & Tobago at Toyota Park on Wednesday.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Now that the really hard work has been done, it is time for the U.S. men's national team to finish off its World Cup qualifying group.

The Americans can essentially do just that on Wednesday when it takes on Trinidad & Tobago at Toyota Park on Wednesday.

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Good evening folks. I was able to work my way through the third of four parts of the most recent SBI Q&A session. There some very good and interesting questions in this batch, including asking for my takes on best American field players ever and best strikers in the world right now. There's a little something for everybody.

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No Cooper.  No Adu.  No Altidore.  Really?  To the disappointment of many American fans (myself included), Bob Bradley continues to call up players like Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Frankie Hejduk, and Eddie Lewis over younger players.  The most common excuse given by supporters of Bradley's strategy is the experience argument. Click to continue reading...

Here is a link to a great article by Greg Lalas from Sports Illustrated about Oguchi Onyewu's success with Standard Liege in the Belgian League, and also the rumors that have surfaced about a move to a bigger club. I have always been very impressed with "Gooch" and felt that he would turn into a top class defender. Click to continue reading...

Here is an excellent article from Kartik Krishnaiyer on the MLS Talk blog that goes through the differences between the managing styles of Bruce Arena and Bob Bradley, and also provides some interesting thoughts on the recent callups that Bob Bradley has made for the U.S. National Team. For the most part, I agree with Kartik's column, but I disagree with the comments he made about Clint Dempsey. Click to continue reading...

Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching celebrate a goal against Barbados, the only game which a current US striker has scored a goal in the last 14 months for the national team.

Bob Bradley's tenure as United States National Team manager has gone about as well as can be expected: A CONCACAF Gold triumph, several victories in the "old world" and thus far a smooth run in qualifying including an elusive win over Guatemala.

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Wow, what a crazy holiday Monday in the world of international soccer. Man City gets a new owner and promptly outspends Roman Abromavich and Chelsea for Brazilian star Robinho. Man United goes ahead with the purchase of Dimitar Berbatov from Tottenham, allowing them to finalize two other signings and take a ManU player in on loan. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Andy Johnson (Everton), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg), Bobby Zamora (West Ham), John Pantsil (West Ham), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zoltan Gera (West Brom), David Stockdale (Darlington). Notable departures: Collins John (NEC Nijmegen), Gabriel Zakuani (Peterborough), Steven Davis (Rangers), Eddie Johnson. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Andy Johnson (Everton), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg), Bobby Zamora (West Ham), John Pantsil (West Ham), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zoltan Gera (West Brom), David Stockdale (Darlington). Notable departures: Steven Davis (Rangers), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff, loan), David Healy (Sunderland), The club. Click to continue reading...

Notable arrivals: Andy Johnson (Everton), Fredrik Stoor (Rosenborg), Bobby Zamora (West Ham), John Pantsil (West Ham), Mark Schwarzer (Middlesbrough), Zoltan Gera (West Brom), David Stockdale (Darlington). Notable departures: Steven Davis (Rangers), Eddie Johnson (Cardiff, loan), David Healy (Sunderland), The club. Click to continue reading...

MICHAEL BRADLEY TRANSFER SAGA Nothing materializing yet as far as an actual bid, but Goal.com reported today that Bradley is "In Talks with Boro." Conversely, Southgate is denying that he will make any moves before the window shuts.  BBC reported earlier today: "Gareth Southgate says he will be expecting a hectic transfer deadline day, but only because [. Click to continue reading...

  Eddie Johnson and Brian Ching celebrate a goal against Barbados, the only game which a current US striker has scored a goal in the last 14 months for the national team. Bob Bradley's tenure as United States National Team manager has gone about as well as can be expected: A CONCACAF Gold triumph, several [. Click to continue reading...

20 lucky folk were selected for World Cup qualifying beatdowns of Cuba and Trinidad and Tobago.

Enjoy:

Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan, Tim Howard.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Hejduk, Oguchi Onyewu, Michael Orozco, Heath Pearce, Marvell Wynne.

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GOALKEEPERS: Tim Howard, Brad Guzan. DEFENDERS: Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Heath Pearce, Frankie Hejduk, Danny Califf, Steve Cherundolo, Michael Orozco, Marvell Wynne. MIDFIELDERS: DaMarcus Beasley, Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, Maurice Edu, Eddie Lewis, Sacha Kljestan. FORWARDS: Brian Ching, Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Eddie Johnson. Click to continue reading...

....is not the new title for Greg & my efforts, by the way! US strikers squared up in the Welsh capital on Tuesday as Eddie Johnson's Cardiff City topped Jemal Johnson's Milton Keynes Dons 2-1 in the League Cup. 6,334 witnessed Eddie's Bluebirds debut at Ninian Park. Jemal was born in New Jersey but like Zak Whitbread, lost his American accent long ago and is now indistinguishable from the Click to continue reading...

The lone American goal scorer from World Cup 2006 now has consistently played so poorly for the national team if the opponent is not Barbados, that his presence seems to actually help stagnate the side. Dempsey's last good performance for the National Team against a decent opponent was last October in Switzerland.

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Call it a new feature here on WVH, while I'm trying to maintain focus on the MLS playoff race; this is something I've been wanting to do for a while now, a focus on the Americans abroad in other leagues. I was going to debut this last week but honestly ran out of time early [...] Click to continue reading...

Another frustrating move by a European club with an American player as Fulham are loaning Eddie Johnson out to Cardiff City. Eddie Johnson barely had an opportunity to play for Fulham, having joined the team during the winter break last season as they were in the middle of a relegation battle. His chances to play were few and far between and now he will be going down to the English Championship League, which is one division lower then the Premiership. Click to continue reading...

U.S. international forward Eddie Johnson has been loaned out by Fulham to Championship outfit Cardiff City, the team announced today.Johnson, 24, made four appearances for Fulham (two starts) during the 2007-08 English Premier League season, failing to register a goal or assist in that time. He was not part of the club's 2-1 loss to newly-promoted Hull to open this season, but will hopefully see more playing time with the Bluebirds. Click to continue reading...