January 24, 2008
The big news of the day is Eddie Johnson 's move from the Kansas City Wizards to Fulham FC in England. The Johnson addition gives Fulham five Americans on their roster joining injured captain Brian McBride, Johnson's USMNT best buddy Clint Dempsey, defender Carlos Bocanegra, and goalkeeper Kasey Keller.
It will be interesting to see if Fulham can get themselves out of the relegation zone or if their American contingent could be facing off against the likes of fellow USMNTers in Jay Demerit and Frank Simek in the Coca Cola Championship in 08-09.
News & Notes:
- Jeff Bradley's newest First XI is all about old faces in new faces. Personally, I would have put Carlos Ruiz to LA #1.
- It looks as if DC United got that international defender they said that they were after when they passed on signing Kenney Bertz. DC has also picked up Argentina's answer to Johnny Menyongar in 5'4" 145 lb forward Franco Neill.
- Ian Joy to RSL is official according to the Salt Lake Tribune.
- Chris Albright talks about his move from LA to New England.
- It looks like Pat Noonan is headed to Norway after New England opted not to pick up his option. Is it me, or is Norway one of the countries that players go to and are never heard from again?
- SBI.net is reporting that the Chicago Fire are trying to acquire French attacker Fabrice Pancrate.
- SBI.net is also reporting that Pablo Mastroeni is close to being traded away by the Rapids. Do the Rapids really think a rookie can replace Mastroeni? Good luck with that one..........
- Alexi Lalas is saying that Beckham won't be moving to Newcastle any time soon. And in case you missed it, Tony Kornheiser made a complete idiot of himself when the topic of Beckham to Newcastle came up on PTI the other day. I know it doesn't make for good TV, but Tony should just defer to Wilbon when soccer or hockey topics come up.
- Jack Bell and Jamie Trecker have their takes on the MLS "Super" Draft. I wonder what they think of the MLS Supplemental Draft ?
- While Pat Walsh thinks that Landon Donovan should play on the right side of midfield for the USMNT, I still think he's more effective in the middle of the park.
- How many people are left out there saying that Michael Bradley doesn't deserve USMNT time and is only in the pool because his dad is the team's head coach? SBI.net and Yanks Abroad both talk about Bradley's latest club match where he had another goal and an assist for Heerenveen. Bradley's 13 goals in all competitions may be a record for an American playing for a top flight European club.
I wonder when bigger clubs will come sniffing around for Bradley?
- Chris Armas talks about how he wanted to stick with the Fire after he retired as a player. My guess is that Cobi Jones could say a lot of the same things about wanting to stick with the Galaxy.
- Ridge Mahoney has a really cool piece about new USWNT coach Pia Sundhage. Hopefully things go well for her leading up to the Olympics.
- Nick DeSantis must be really happy today as the Impact played to a scoreless draw in Italy.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
