Posted at 5:36 PM ET, 01/ 2/2011

American soccer players abroad

By Steve Goff

Most leagues around the world take time off this time of year. Not only do the English keep playing, they seem to be competing with NCAA football bowl games for calendar saturation. Anyway, here's how the U.S. lads fared the past few days:

GOALKEEPERS
Tim Howard 90 in Everton's 2-0 loss at Stoke
Brad Friedel 90 in Aston Villa's 3-3 draw at Chelsea
Brad Guzan 90 (on loan) in Hull's 1-0 loss to Leicester
(Hull at Portsmouth on Monday)

Marcus Hahnemann in 18, didn't play in Wolves' 2-0 loss at West Ham
Dom Cervi not in 18 for Celtic's 2-0 win at Rangers

Luis Robles and Karlsruhe on break

For defenders, midfielders and forwards.....

DEFENDERS
Jonathan Spector not in 18 for West Ham's 2-0 win over Wolves
Eric Lichaj in 18, didn't play for Aston Villa
Frank Simek 90 in Carlisle's 2-2 draw with Huddersfield
(Carlisle at Tranmere on Monday)

Oguchi Onyewu and AC Milan on break
Carlos Bocanegra and Saint-Etienne on break
Steve Cherundolo and Hanover on break
Clarence Goodson and Start season completed (transfer to Brondby)
Michael Parkhurst and Nordsjaelland on winter break
Edgar Castillo and San Luis season completed (loan to Puebla)
MIDFIELDERS
Clint Dempsey 90 in Fulham's 1-0 loss at Spurs
(Fulham vs. West Brom on Tuesday, 3 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com)

Stuart Holden not in 18 (thigh injury) for Bolton's 2-1 loss at Liverpool
Maurice Edu not in 18 (injury) for Rangers' 2-0 loss to Celtic
Michael Bradley and Moenchengladbach on break
Jermaine Jones and Schalke on break
Sacha Kljestan and Anderlecht on break
Ricardo Clark and Eintracht Frankfurt on break
DaMarcus Beasley and Hanover on break
Jose Torres and Pachuca season completed
Benny Feilhaber and Aarhus on break
Alejandro Bedoya and Orebro season completed
Marco Vidal and Pachuca season completed
Mikkel Diskerud and Stabaek season completed
FORWARDS
Jozy Altidore and Villarreal vs. Almeria on Monday
Eddie Johnson not in 18 for Fulham
Mike Grella 58 for Carlisle
Conor Doyle 90 in Derby's 2-1 win at Preston North End
(Derby vs. Millwall on Monday)

Charlie Davies and Sochaux on break
Herculez Gomez and Pachuca season completed
Sammy Ochoa and Tecos season completed

By Steve Goff | January 2, 2011; 5:36 PM ET
Categories: Americans Abroad | Tags: Americans abroad
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Comments

Any news by anyone on the happenings of Jermaine Jones? Last thing I saw was that he and a teamate, Ratikic, had fallen out with the coach and would be moved? Any updates?

Also, a Freddy update? Last I heard he was back in DC.

Posted by: grubbsbl | January 2, 2011 7:28 PM | Report abuse

Welcome back, Steve! The long winter is finally over.

Posted by: benonthehill | January 2, 2011 7:30 PM | Report abuse

Welcome Back Steve!

Posted by: jake77 | January 2, 2011 7:38 PM | Report abuse

Great move for Guzan moving to Hull. Onyawu needs to move somewhere. ANYWHERE!!!

Posted by: 9Nine9 | January 2, 2011 8:26 PM | Report abuse

Guzan is on loan for one month.

Thanks for coming back Steve. We were starting to get crazy(ier).

Posted by: I-270Exit1 | January 2, 2011 8:57 PM | Report abuse

Welcome home Steve. Stoked to see Guzan get some playing time.

Posted by: DadRyan | January 2, 2011 9:28 PM | Report abuse

How did Spector go from starting center mid to not in the 18?

Posted by: OWNTF | January 2, 2011 9:38 PM | Report abuse

Welcome back, Goff! As I was watching the wild finish at Stamford Bridge this morning, I was wondering whether FSC reached the spot on the Outer Banks where the Insider family was staying, although perhaps you were back home by then.

Also, I was annoyed that we were all frozen out of the discussion for nearly 48 hours, until this new thread was started. Is there any way to prevent that from happening in the future?

Posted by: universityandpark | January 2, 2011 9:55 PM | Report abuse

That was the longest month without the Insider EVER!!!

Posted by: boda-united | January 2, 2011 10:36 PM | Report abuse

Zak Whitbread saw his first action of the season (he's been injured), going the full 90 for Norwich in a win over QPR.....

Posted by: fischy | January 2, 2011 10:44 PM | Report abuse

Zak Whitbread saw his first action of the season (he's been injured), going the full 90 for Norwich in a win over QPR.....

Posted by: fischy | January 2, 2011 10:44 PM | Report abuse

Fixed. Whew!

Welcome back, Steve. I'm certain the newsroom wasn't the same without you. Wilbon was in such despair, he quit!

Also, DC United won the MLS Cup. And there's a top spinning on my desk. What gives?

Posted by: Rand-al-Thor | January 2, 2011 10:46 PM | Report abuse

Good. You're back. All is right with the world.

Posted by: seahawkdad | January 3, 2011 4:43 AM | Report abuse

Can we PLEASE have an NFL-style playoff in MLS. It actually makes a lot of sense for soccer (maybe even more than for football). Getting a bye in the first round of the playoffs is huge and truly awards winning during the regular season. Then forcing the lowest remaining seed to play at the highest seed in the second round does even more of the same. The idea is to make the mountain hard to climb for the low seeds since they didn't earn a level playing field over the course of the regular season. (And about having home games in the postseason, I would much rather have a guaranteed conference final at home with an extra week or two to sell tix than the current format, with only a 50/50 chance of advancing.)

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American soccer players abroad