Doug McIntyre – Page 2 – Football Scout

U.S. Hot List: Kellyn Acosta on the rise, Alejandro Bedoya on the outs?

The guys chat with U.S. star Jermaine Jones, who has a message for his doubters, and ICC mastermind Charlie Stillitano.

As much as our U.S. Hot List exists primarily to track how American players’ performances with their clubs impact their standing with the national team, the recent international break revealed even more about where members of the squad stand in the estimation of coach Bruce Arena.

The choices that Arena made both with his roster and his lineup for last month’s World Cup qualifiers against Honduras and Panama provided the first real window into the current pecking order. And that information that…

MLS Winners and Losers: Clint Dempsey shines, Sebastian Lletget injured

Clint Dempsey tells Julie Stewart-Binks that his hat trick in his national team return will help him build confidence.

Sebastian Salazar and Herculez Gomez recap the return of Tim Howard in Colorado’s 1-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls.

Portland Timbers head coach Caleb Porter joins the Heineken ESPN FC Boot Room to discuss Darlington Nagbe’s potential, his ideal U.S. starting XI and more.

Herculez Gomez attributes Clint Dempsey’s success for both club and country to his fighting spirit.

After playing an abbreviated schedule last weekend during FIFA’s most recent international window, Major League Soccer returns this weekend with a full slate of games. The impact of the international break will linger on by players and their clubs, however. Here are some of the biggest winners and losers as the attention on league play resumes.

Winners 

Clint Dempsey, Seattle Sounders/USA:
For a guy who wasn’t even supposed to be called in by U.S. coach Bruce Arena after missing eight…

Bradley Wright-Phillips signs new Designated Player deal with Red Bulls

Sebastian Salazar and Herculez Gomez evaluate the draw between undermanned RSL and a ‘Jeckyll and Hyde’ Red Bulls side.

Bradley Wright-Phillips puts New York Red Bulls back on level terms with a header past Stefan Frei.

Bradley Wright-Phillips led MLS with 24 goals last season.
Bradley Wright-Phillips has signed a new Designated Player contract with the New York Red Bulls, the club announced on Wednesday.
Terms of deal were not disclosed, as per MLS policy. But the Red Bulls called the extension for the franchise’s all-time top scorer a “multi-year” agreement.
The 32-year-old Englishman earned $715,000 in guaranteed compensation last season, according to figures released by the MLS Players Union.
“We are very pleased to extend Bradley’s time in New York,” Red Bulls sporting…

Clint Dempsey is Mr. Clutch and USMNT’s greatest ever player

Returning hero Clint Dempsey netted a hat trick as United States thrashed Honduras.

SAN JOSE, Calif. — A strong argument for Clint Dempsey as the best American player ever could have been made long before Friday night, when his 54-minute hat trick in a 6-0 drubbing of Honduras put the U.S. back on course to qualify for next summer’s World Cup in Russia.

It was a signature performance and all the more remarkable considering that it came in the 34-year-old’s first international following an eight-month layoff because of a heart scare that threatened to end his career. It also…

Dempsey, Pulisic and Altidore impress; U.S. boosts World Cup qualifying hopes

In dire need of a win, the United States scored goal after goal in a World Cup qualifying rout of Honduras in California.

Herculez Gomez attributes Clint Dempsey’s fighting spirit as the reason for his success for both club and country.

Taylor Twellman feels Pulisic is better than Donovan was at 18 years old in the United States’ 6-0 win over Honduras.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — SAN JOSE, Calif. — A day before the United States systematically annihilated Honduras 6-0 in Friday’s high-stakes World Cup qualifying match, coach Bruce Arena was asked to describe the mood of his squad.
“The mood is we’d like to be playing right now,” he responded.
It showed. The hosts were relentless from the opening whistle, taking an early lead on Sebastian Lletget’s first international goal and going on triple their advantage to make the outcome a formality with almost…

Pulisic doesn’t care about position for U.S., wants to be ‘attacking presence’

Christian Pulisic wants to channel his experience in big matches with Borussia Dortmund for the U.S. against Honduras.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Wherever position Christian Pulisic occupies when the U.S. national team meets Honduras in Friday’s pivotal CONCACAF World Cup qualifying match, the 18-year-old attacker will be looking to provide the same spark that helped propel Borussia Dortmund into next month’s Champions League quarterfinals.
Pulisic had been deployed as a winger for Thomas Tuchel’s side for most of his first full season with Dortmund’s first team. But Tuchel has used him in a more central role recently,…

Squad withdrawals make Arena’s selection choices more straightfoward

Alejandro Moreno says the USMNT have no option but to view their World Cup qualifier against Honduras as a must-win.

With Bobby Wood pulling out of the US squad, the FC panel agree it’s in Bruce Arena’s best interest to start Clint Dempsey.

Michael Bradley stresses the importance of starting off on a positive foot to put things right after poor results.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — If there’s any silver lining to having a shorthanded roster for Friday’s critical World Cup qualifier against Honduras, it’s that some of U.S. coach Bruce Arena’s toughest decisions have become a whole lot easier.
For example, Tim Howard is a lock to start in goal after Brad Guzan withdrew from the squad to be with his wife and newborn daughter. Meanwhile, Premier League handyman Geoff Cameron is penciled in at right-back after three other candidates were ruled out either by…

U.S. veterans say Honduras match is a ‘like-to’ not ‘must’ win situation

With Bobby Wood pulling out of the US squad, the FC panel agree it’s in Bruce Arena’s best interest to start Clint Dempsey.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — Ever since the U.S. dropped its opening two games of the final round of World Cup qualifying for the first time in program history back in November, this Friday’s home qualifier against Honduras has been billed as a “must win.”
The players have called it that. So has their coach, Bruce Arena, who was brought in for the fired Jurgen Klinsmann in large part to defeat Los Catrachos and steer the Americans back onto the road toward Russia 2018.
And to be sure, three points at Avaya…

Christian Pulisic has improved since November – Tim Howard

Tim Howard is amazed with Clint Dempsey’s recovery and happy to once again play under Bruce Arena.
SAN JOSE, Calif. — United States goalkeeper Tim Howard says that 18-year-old teammate Christian Pulisic has improved in the four months that have passed since the two last trained together.
Pulisic is back with the U.S. squad ahead of Friday’s World Cup qualifying match against Honduras and another in Panama City on March 28. It’s the first time the Borussia Dortmund midfielder has been with his national team since November, when he was on the field for qualifying losses to Mexico and Costa Rica.
Pulisic…

How will Arena’s U.S. team differ from the squad Klinsmann left behind?

FC’s Herculez Gomez reveals his projected XI for the US against Honduras, and makes the case for John Brooks inclusion.

Tim Howard is amazed with Clint Dempsey’s recovery and happy to once again play under Bruce Arena.

The old adage that “if you can’t change the players, change the coach” came to mind once again as Bruce Arena’s U.S. national team convened Monday in San Jose, California, ahead of Friday’s high-stakes World Cup qualifier against Honduras and another in Panama next week.

No fewer than 13 of the names that occupied Arena’s original 24-man list were also included on former manager Jurgen Klinsmann’s final squad in November, when the Americans dropped their most recent pair of qualifiers for Russia…

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