Take a glimpse at how hard Bolton and U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden is working to rehab his knee injury—in between calling out Clint Dempsey, catching up on his reading, and throwing down IHOP breakfasts:
“No Holden Back” is a part of the new YouTube soccer channel, KICK.
Yesterday, we posted about U.S. and Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden’s latest setback, which was that he needed follow-up surgery on the knee he injured six months ago.
The initial word was that Holden would miss just six weeks of action following the procedure, but the news went from bad to worse after doctors began the operation late Wednesday night.
They discovered cartilage damage that will keep the 26-year-old midfielder sidelined for the next six months.
This latest blow is devastating for the player (and for Bolton and the U.S.), and it’s also part of a disturbing trend in Holden’s career, dating back to 2005, when he left Clemson University after his sophomore year to go on trial with Sunderland.
Let’s break down the bad breaks:
• March 2005—Just weeks after joining Sunderland, Holden was attacked outside a bar in Newcastle and suffered a broken eye socket that kept him out of action for two months.
• May 2005—Holden returned to training with the Black Cats, only to injure his ankle and miss the rest of the season.
• March 2010—After establishing himself at Bolton and signing a new three-year deal with the club, Holden was set to play a big role for the U.S. at South Africa 2010. Then he had his leg broken by Nigel de Jong of the Netherlands in a March 3 friendly.
• March 2011—In the midst of his best season ever, Holden was consistently the highest-rated player for Bolton—until he clashed with Jonny Evans in a sliding tackle at Old Trafford on March 19. He suffered a torn ACL and a gash that required 26 stitches.
• Sept 2011 —Eight days after returning from the six-month layoff for the knee injury … Holden was dealt this latest blow.
Stuart Holden—born under a bad sign.
U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden, who required 26 stitches and a knee operation after the above challenge with Manchester United’s Jonny Evans six months ago, has learned that he needs follow-up surgery and will miss an additional six weeks.
Club doctors had originally targeted next summer for the operation, but decided it needed to be moved up.
Holden had just returned from the initial injury, appearing in an FA Cup game against Aston Villa last Tuesday, with the Guardian writing of his performance:
“The visitors [Bolton] certainly looked the hungrier side in the early stages. Stuart Holden, making his return after six months out injured, looked as though he had never been away, and his distribution, along with Fabrice Muamba’s physicality, gave Bolton a clear edge in midfield, where Villa looked distinctly lightweight.”
Holden broke his leg in March 2010 after a nasty challenge by the Netherlands’ Nigel de Jong and saw limited playing time at South Africa 2010 as a result.
If there’s a silver lining in Holden’s bad luck with injuries, it’s the attitude he’s developed in response. Here he is on Twitter after the latest setback:
“Obviously I’m disappointed as I’ve worked so hard the last six months, but in the grand scale of things it’s only a minor blip.”
The blip will keep him out of the U.S.’s October friendlies against Honduras and Ecuador.
Here is American midfielder Stuart Holden talking to U.S. Soccer about his rehab routine in the wake of the knee injury he suffered in March.
He uses a “knee bender” (sorry for the technical terminology), as well as an electrical stimulator to prevent atrophy to the quadriceps muscle above the injured knee.
That thing is no joke:
You may have seen the clip of the studs-up challenge from Manchester United defender Jonny Evans that gashed Stuart Holden’s knee on Saturday. (See it here.) The play sent Holden to the hospital for 26 stitches and will sideline the American midfielder for up to six months.
To us it seemed like Evans came in a little too hard and with his studs up, but Holden also crashed into the 50-50 tackle. It was a case of neither player wanting look like he was ducking out of anything, and unfortunately, Holden is going to miss the rest of the Premier League season—which includes an FA Cup semifinal for Bolton—along with this summer’s Gold Cup, because of it. Holden was scheduled to depart today to join the U.S. national team ahead of its March 26 friendly against Argentina.
It’s a tough blow, and it’s the second consecutive March that Holden has suffered a serious injury. (Last year, Dutch defender Nigel de Jong fractured Holden’s leg with a reckless tackle.)
One name that hasn’t been much mentioned in this is that of Holden’s Bolton teammate Lee Chung-Yong, an excellent player whose overly weighted pass led Holden into the clattering challenge with Evans. We had a coach who called passes like that ‘hospital balls.’ Lee’s was a textbook example.
In better news, U.S. attacker Clint Dempsey set a record for most goals in a Premier League season by an American when he scored his 10th of the year in a 2-1 loss to Everton on Saturday, zipping one past U.S teammate Tim Howard in the Everton goal (click here for highlight).
Dempsey surpassed the record of former U.S. international Brian McBride, who twice scored nine goals in a Premier League campaign.
At Villa Park, veteran U.S. goalkeeper Brad Friedel started and went the distance in Aston Villa’s 1-0 loss to Wolverhampton. American midfielder Michael Bradley dressed but did not play for the Villans. Ditto U.S. keeper Marcus Hahnemann for Wolves.
The loss keeps Villa in the thick of the extremely crowded relegation fight with 33 points. Wigan sits in last place with 30, and there are currently eight teams with 33 points or fewer, with eight games to play.
U.S. defender/midfielder Jonathan Spector did not dress for West Ham’s 0-0 draw with Tottenahm at White Hart Lane on Saturday.
American-German midfielder Jermaine Jones played the full 90 in Blackburn’s 2-2 tie with Blackpool.
The quote of the week comes from ever-reliable Wolves manager Mick McCarthy, after his team’s win at Aston Villa, in which the home manager Gerard Houllier heard it from the crowd:
“You didn’t have to be the brightest light on the Christmas tree to recognize there was some tension amongst the crowd. I don’t like to hear any manager get hostility towards them but I would prefer it to be him or 18 other managers rather than me! It comes with the job.”
On a weekend in which Wayne Rooney stole the show with what he called the best goal of his career—a bicycle kick into the top corner that gave Manchester United a 2-1 win over Man City—Americans in Europe made some key contributions of their own.
Leading the way was Bolton midfielder Stuart Holden, who set up Wanderers first goal in a 2-0 win over Tim Howard’s Everton on Sunday. Holden sent a 10th-minute free kick into the box, where it was headed home by Gary Cahill.
After Daniel Sturridge made it 2-0 for Bolton in the 66th minute, Holden thought he’d added a third in the 80th, burying a back heel from Sturridge. But the goal was waved off as the ref ruled that Sturridge had played the ball from beyond the endline.
Michael Bradley made his first appearance for Aston Villa, helping the 10-man Villans preserve a 1-1 tie against Blackpool with 18 minutes of defensive-midfield work.
U.S. keeper Brad Friedel started and went the distance for Villa.
Recently capped American midfielder Jermaine Jones played the full 90 for Blackburn in a scoreless draw with Newcastle on Saturday. In the early stages, Jones attempted to replicate Rooney’s golazo with a bike of his own, but … was whistled for a high kick on Newcastle defender Mike Williamson.
Jonathan Spector continued his recovery from a recent injury, logging 12 minutes in West Ham’s comeback from a 3-0 halftime deficit to West Brom. The Hammers got a second-half goal from Carlton Cole and two from Demba Ba—who was making his first start—to share the points.
Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play in Wolverhampton’s 2-0 loss to Arsenal on Saturday, and Clint Dempsey and Fulham host Fulham today.
In other Yanks-Abroad news, Aston Villa defender Eric Lichaj started and went the distance in the first appearance of his loan deal with second-tier Leeds United, helping his new team to a 2-0 win over Bristol City.
On-loan Villa keeper Brad Guzan played 90 minutes and made four saves in Hull City’s 1-0 win over Preston North End, which suited up U.S. striker Eddie Johnson for a goalless 90 minutes.
In Germany, 20-year-old U.S.-eligible attacker Timothy Chandler scored a goal and set up another in Nurnberg’s 4-1 romp over Stuttgart. It was the first professional goal for Chandler, who has yet to play internationally for any country, but is eligible for the U.S. and Germany, where his American father served for the U.S. military.
Steve Cherundolo played the full 90 on Sunday for Hannover 96—who are currently sitting fourth in the Bundesliga, one point shy of a Champions League berth—in a 1-1 tie with Werder Bremen.
DaMarcus Beasley did not dress for Hannover. (MLS return for Run DMB? We’d recommend it.)
Former Houston Dynamo midfielder Ricardo Clark did not suit up for Eintracht Frankfurt’s 3-0 loss to Bayer Leverkusen. He’s out with a fractured cheekbone.
Edson Buddle played 65 minutes in Bundesliga 2 side Ingolstadt’s 3-1 loss to Fortuna Dusseldorf on Saturday.
Finally, in Turkey, Jozy Altidore debuted for Bursaspor and helped create his team’s goal in a 1-1 draw with Eskisehirspor.
Picking up the ball in midfield, Altidore made a surging run and pulled off a Gretzky-esque spin-o-rama move around a defender before laying the ball off to a teammate on the wing. The ensuing cross was cleared to 25 yards, where Bursaspor’s Serbian midfielder Ivan Ergic met it with a drive into the back of the net.
It was a big weekend for Americans in the Premier League as Clint Dempsey scored both goals in Fulham’s 2-0 win over Stoke City, Jonathan Spector buried one in West Ham’s 2-2 draw with Everton, and new U.S. national teamer Jermaine Jones went the distance and was named Man of the Match in his debut for Blackburn, which downed West Brom 2-0.
Jones is on loan from German side Schalke 04, and his first performance in England drew praise from Blackburn manager Steve Kean, who said of his new signee, “He’s not even fully fit, but he’s got everything.”
Dempsey’s goals were his team-leading eighth and ninth of the season. They pulled the Cottagers further out of the relegation zone, and got us wondering—as rumors of Deuce transferring to Liverpool resurfaced this week—how productive Dempsey might be if he played for a “big four” team. We may find out before he’s done over there.
Erstwhile defender Spector continued to shine in a midfield role, scoring his fourth goal in all competitions from that spot this season. He beat U.S. teammate Tim Howard with a side footed shot into the roof of the net to give the last-place Hammers a 1-0 lead in the 27th minute.
West Ham held a 2-1 lead into injury time and were on the verge of a desperately needed three points—until Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini found a late equalizer.
Click here to see Dempsey’s and Spector’s goals.
At Villa Park on Saturday, U.S. keeper Brad Friedel, who is facing bankruptcy after investing millions in a soccer academy in his native Ohio, put aside his personal woes to make several key saves and preserve Aston Villa’s huge 1-0 win over third-place Manchester City.
Friedel backstopped Villa to another win today—a 2-1 victory at Wigan that put more distance between the Villans and the drop zone.
Yesterday at the Reebok Stadium, U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden and Bolton fell to Chelsea 4-0. Holden started and played 87 minutes. Bolton has tumbled to 10th in the standings after their bright start, having claimed just eight points from their last 10 games.
U.S. midfielder Clint Dempsey scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season (in 19 starts) on Tuesday, burying the second for Fulham in a 3-0 win over West Brom.
Click here for the highlights.
And check out Fulham fans serenading the man from Nacogdoches:
(All together now: “He scores with his left!/ He scores with his right!/That boy Clint Dempsey/ Makes Drogba look shite!”)
The win lifted the Cottagers out of the relegation zone and all the way up to 14th place. That’s a helpful boost, for sure, but the bottom half of the table is absurdly crowded: just five points separate Everton in 11th place and West Ham in 20th.
Speaking of those two clubs, Everton snatched a valuable three points from visiting Tottenham yesterday, winning 2-1, while West Ham was thrashed 5-0 at Newcastle.
U.S. keeper Tim Howard made several saves in Everton’s win, including a brilliant denial of Rafael Van der Vaart from six yards. The game was a cracking, back-and-forth affair, won by Seamus Coleman’s diving header in the 75th minute.
Jonathan Spector dressed but did not play for West Ham, which plunged further into relegation trouble with the loss. The Hammers have played one more game than all of their fellow drop-zone denizens, yet trail all on points as well.
Aston Villa and Brad Friedel fell 1-0 at home to Sunderland, on Phil Bardsley’s 80th-minute winner. Friedel started and went the distance. Young U.S. defender Eric Lichaj dressed but did not play, while Yank keeper Brad Guzan is on loan to Hull.
Villa fell into the drop zone with their loss to the Black Cats, thanks to Wolverhampton’s stunning 1-0 upset of Chelsea on Jose Bosingwa’s fourth-minute own goal. Wolves jumped over Villa on goal difference with the shocker. American netminder Marcus Hahnemann dressed but did not play for Wolves.
Hey, when you’re missing the best player in the league from your lineup, your results are going to suffer, and that’s just what’s happening to Bolton following Stuart Holden’s injury in the Chelsea match at the end of December.
The U.S. midfielder missed Bolton’s next game, a loss to Liverpool, and yesterday, he sat out his team’s home match against Wigan, and Wanderers produced another underwhelming result: a 1-1 tie against the relegation battlers.
Bolton did dominate the game, but couldn’t finish the several chances they created after 19-year-old Rodrigo Moreno’s 54th minute opener. (Dutchman Ronnie Stam tied it for Wigan ten minutes from time.)
The Premier League is off this weekend for FA Cup third-round matches.
Timbers fans will be ready for their April 14 home opener. Count on it.
A lot went down while we were up North. Here are the top ten items we would have posted about had we not shuttered the BP for the past 12 days:
10. Philadelphia Signs Homegrown Player Zach Pfeffer
The 15-year-old Upper Dublin, Pa., resident became the fourth-youngest signing in league history. Pfeffer is the 23rd player signed as part of MLS’s recent ‘Homegrown Initiative.’
9. Stuart Holden Hurt in Chelsea Match, Misses Liverpool Tilt
The newly minted Best Player in the Premier League picked up a knock in Bolton’s 1-0 loss to the Blues on Dec 29, then missed the next game, versus Liverpool, on New Year’s Day. Not surprisingly, Bolton, which was also without defender Paul Robinson (suspension), lost, 2-1.
8. Brads Friedel and Guzan Enjoy Big Weeks
Friedel stood on his head to preserve a see-saw 3-3 tie for Aston Villa vs Chelsea on Jan 2, while his backup, Guzan, was loaned out to second-tier Hull City on Dec 30. He immediately stepped into the starting lineup and went 1-1 in his first two games with the Tigers.
7. Dwayne De Rosario Goes AWOL to Celtic
Toronto FC’s deadliest attacker hopped a plane to Celtic Park on Boxing Day (Dec 26) for a few kickabouts with the (original) Hoops. When asked about it, TFC first insisted the player had done no such thing, then said he did not have their permission. De Ro swore that he did have his employers’ OK. Upshot: Toronto worked out an arrangement with Celtic after the fact, and this story is developing.
6. Silly Season of (Aging) Foreign-Stars-to-MLS Rumors Kicks In
While rumors of Ronaldinho-to-LA Galaxy cooled (and he was chased by several Brazilian clubs, and Blackburn), they were replaced by reports that Nicolas Anelka, Adrian Mutu, and Guillermo Franco all had designs on eventual Stateside moves, along with Patrick Vieira, Roberto Carlos, and Marco Materazzi. These reports are always fun and to some extent flattering for the league, but, well, let’s just say that they—and the players’ fitness for MLS—should be taken on a case-by-case basis.
5. Portland Timbers Breach 10,000 Mark in Season Tickets Sold
Think they’re fired up for MLS in the Northwest? Hell and yes. The team surpassed 10,000 in 2011 season ticket sales on Jan 3, and says it will cap the sales at 12,000. The club’s newly renovated stadium, PGE Park, seats 20,000. According to this story, the Timbers’ Cascadia Cup rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps have accepted more than 13,000 season-ticket deposits for 2011, but haven’t said how many of those have been turned into season ticket sales.
4. Purported Beckham Loan Deals Verge on Farcical
More than half a dozen Premier League teams, along with several sprinkled across Europe, were linked to loan deals involving MLS’s most famous player in the past couple of weeks. Most of them turned out to be nothing more than rumors, but this past week Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said he and Spurs were serious about acquiring the 35-year-old winger. Why they would want to disrupt the excellent season they’re having by bringing in a player who is a sideshow in and of himself is an open question—as is why the aging and recently injured (Achilles tendon, last March) Beckham would want to do it, and why Los Angeles or MLS would allow it.
3. Generation adidas, MLS Combine Names Announced
Rising futbol factory the University of Akron provided five of the first nine 2011 Generation adidas players (a 10th player, UCSB defender Michael Tetteh, was added today), and five non-college foreign players were included in the MLS Combine list, a first for the league. Those five, led by Wayne Rooney’s brother John, will be available in the Jan 13 SuperDraft alongside the NCAA candidates. Combine rosters here, Generation adidas players here.
2. Toronto FC Hires Former Dutch International Aron Winter as Coach
The 43-year-old former Ajax midfielder, who will be unveiled tomorrow will also act as Technical Director, with a staff that will include former New England assistant Paul Mariner and Winter’s fellow Dutchman Bob de Klerk, though their roles are as yet unclarified. The trio will try to get an overhauled TFC to the playoffs for the first time in its five-year existence.
1. Robin Fraser Lands Chivas USA Coaching Job
When this announcement was made, some MLS fans tweeted that they’d never heard of Fraser—enhancing our belief that the former rock-solid centerback is one of the most underrated players in MLS and USMNT history. A key assistant coach at Real Salt Lake the past few seasons, Fraser was a five-time Best XI selection and two-time defender of the year as a player in MLS, and always performed well in a U.S. shirt (he had 27 caps). Like TFC, Chivas is in a severe rebuilding mode, so Fraser has his work cut out for him. He will reportedly hire former Galaxy and U.S. teammate Greg Vanney as an assistant.
All right, we are more or less caught up. Next: Clint Dempsey continues to tear it up for Fulham, and MLS Combine news.
About two months ago, former Liverpool star Jamie Redknapp called Fulham attacker Clint Dempsey “the best American” ever to play in the Premier League.
Today, readers of the British daily The Guardian saw Redknapp’s praise for Dempsey and raised it for U.S. midfielder Stuart Holden, rating him the best player, period, in the English Premier League this season.
And they didn’t arrive at that designation through a nebulous opinion poll, but rather through the more objective means of their weekly player ratings: Guardian editors analyzed all the match ratings awarded by their readers after each Premier League game this season, and Holden came out with an average mark of 7.4 (out of 10), the highest of any player in the league.
Not too shabby.
Click here for the Guardian story.
PS: And again, we say this right here was the moment Holden started becoming a player worthy of these kinds of accolades.
