Carling Cup Tuesday: Dempsey goes 90

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 attempted to force their way up the pitch. Dempsey, who had been looking good in possession and had played some wonderful one-touch passes, shot from 25 yards but pulled his effort wide…

…a strong run from Clint Dempsey on 55 minutes drove Fulham forward, the American striker ghosted past a couple of players before playing the ball out wide, the pass was returned but Dempsey’s shot was deflected wide.

The American attacker, who had put on a good show in the first half was becoming more of a central figure in Fulham’s attacks.

My Thoughts: A bad result for the team, but a strong showing for Dempsey. By all accounts, Clint played very well, but the result still stands and hopefully Hodgson saw enough in the American to keep including him. Fulham face West Ham this weekend and while I’m not confident Clint will feature after just playing a full match, hopefully this is the start of an upturn in form for the Texan.

CARDIFF CITY 0 SWANSEA 1

This might just be my last coverage of Eddie Johnson.  He started and played the first 45 minutes and put simply, he was atrocious.  I watched his minutes and nearly every time he touched the ball, he played a poor layoff pass that was oftentimes intercepted.  He never looked threatening and he always looked unsure of himself.  I was embarrassed for him as the announcers kept commenting on how poor he was performing.  I don’t think it will be long until we see EJ back in the MLS, because today I think he has played himself deeper onto the bench for Cardiff.  The Tale of Eddie Johnson will be a sad story some day.

German Cup

BORUSSIA M’GLADBACH 0 COTTBUS 3

Wow. Michael Bradley did not play today in a match that saw Energie Cottbus score 3 times from the Penalty Spot.  Now Gladbach is out of the DFB Cup and also firmly in the bottom 3 of the Bundesliga. What has Michael Bradley walked into? At this point it may be too early to say “what was his agent thinking sending him here?” but to be honest, I’m already thinking it.

Any other insights on these games today?

–psc