What happened to kicking the tires?

With the announcement of another conservative, heavily German-born roster for the upcoming friendlies against France (Friday, Nov. 11, 3pm on ESPN2) and Slovenia (Tuesday, Nov. 15, 12pm on ESPN2), apprehension has begun to creep to the front of many US fans' minds.

by Dru Boyer The Yanks Abroad returned to Europa League play on Thursday with a vengeance ... not a single Yanks' squad lost a match. It was a pretty decent Thursday, in fact the Yanks were 7-2-0 in the matches (Dominic Cervi and Brad Friedel did not dress for Celtic and Tottenham, respectively.) The Player of the Week honor goes [.

Photo: Guido Gaeffke

Union

Judging from the reaction on Twitter, last night's Supporters Summit was a great success. Check out our report and look for Earl Gardner's photo essay later today.

The Union Dues has a report of their own.

One of the results of the summit will make Twitter followers happy: Sebastien Le Toux will join Twitter next week.

SBI is reporting that American midfielder Alejandro Bedoya is set to join Scottish giants Rangers FC after agreeing to terms with the Glasgow-based club on Thursday.

Bedoya finalized a pre-contract with Rangers on Thursday. He will move on a free transfer and begin a three-year contract with Rangers in January, provided he is able to secure a work permit.

Photo by The Laird of Oldham

After reports that a deal was off, officials for the Scottish Premier League defending champion Rangers announced today an agreement to acquire American international Alejandro Bedoya, pending successful completion of a U.K. work permit.

Bedoya was an after-thought on the U.

1. Bob Bradley's lineup will look a lot like the one we saw against Panama, with a couple of exceptions. While it would be ideal to start Clint Dempsey up top, the decision is really between Juan Agudelo and Sacha Kljestan. Since Sacha had a fairly bad game against Panama, we're going to say Juan gets the nod.

1. Bob Bradley's lineup will look a lot like the one we saw against Panama, with a couple of exceptions. While it would be ideal to start Clint Dempsey up top, the decision is really between Juan Agudelo and Sacha Kljestan.

By Jon Levy USA – Mexico: TYAC Previews The Gold Cup Final – Part 1 of 2 The North American neighbors took drastically different paths to Pasadena, but CONCACAF doesn't count style points. The US struggled in group play before finding form in the quarterfinal and gutting out a quality win in the semi over [.

The P2010 Index is a ranking system based on player ratings assigned by some of the country's top soccer sites and journalist. These ratings are then weighted by strength of opponent, match significance, venue, and recent form. (It's all explained here.) In this post we are simply looking at the average (unweighted) ratings from the Gold Cup semi-final match vs.

By Dr. Raf Crowley and Neil W. Blackmon Round 2....fight! I'm starting off strong today ladies and gentlemen! The good news first: the USMNT will play in its 4th consecutive GC final. As expected when the tournament began, we will play Mexico, who again looked vulnerable after squeaking out a 2-0 victory against Honduras shortly [.

1. The lineup for tonight's match will be very similar to the one Bob Bradley fielded against Jamaica. It will be the same 4-5-1, but Kljestan will start on the bench. Deuce will move central and Donovan will take a spot on the wing, opposite Bedoya. Agudelo will start up top in place of the injured Altidore.

1. The lineup for tonight's match will be very similar to the one Bob Bradley fielded against Jamaica. It will be the same 4-5-1, but Kljestan will start on the bench. Deuce will move central and Donovan will take a spot on the wing, opposite Bedoya.

By Jon Levy One match changes everything. That's a mantra gleaned from marketing exec's and an idea prevalent in pretty much every Hollywood sports movie. It's not usually true in real life. What's more likely, and what actually happens more often, is that one match changes a season or tournament. Fans of the United States [.

By Dr. Raf Crowley As many of our Twitter followers are aware, this weekend was a reunion of sorts for several members of the TYAC staff Gainesville contingent. Two friends of the site were married in a wonderful ceremony in beautiful Melbourne, FL. From all of us at TYAC, Congratulations to Ricky Scherzer and Jessica [.

1. Given the success most of the team had against Guadeloupe on Tuesday particularly the back line and center mids Bob Bradley will only make one change to this afternoon's lineup. Chris Wondolowski will be benched, Clint Dempsey will pair with Jozy, and Alejandro Bedoya's recent substitute performances will be rewarded with a start on the left wing.

By Neil W. Blackmon Three thoughts on a great win for the USMNT today at RFK Stadium and more broadly on a weekend that changed (for now) the complexion of this Gold Cup tournament. Mexico looked vulnerable Saturday night, despite a comeback victory. They were disorganized in the back against a Guatemalan team that only [.

Dempsey scored the go-ahead goal.
The United States finally found form in their quarterfinal match-up against Jamaica in front of a packed RFK stadium in Washington, DC. The Americans vaulted to victory behind goals from Jermaine Jones and Clint Dempsey, who each played exceptionally well on the day.

1. Given the success most of the team had against Guadeloupe on Tuesday particularly the back line and center mids Bob Bradley will only make one change to this afternoon's lineup. Chris Wondolowski will be benched, Clint Dempsey will pair with Jozy, and Alejandro Bedoya's recent substitute performances will be rewarded with a start on the left wing.

1. Bob Bradley will field the exact same lineup that he sent out against Canada. What's more, two of his three subs will be the same Edu and Wondolowski. The one change is that Eric Lichaj will get a run at left back in the second half.

Correct on the lineup, incorrect on the subs.

As reported a little over a week ago, Bedoya was brought into the USMNT Gold Cup camp while Benny Feilhaber's injury was evaluated.

Bedoya has now officially replaced Feilhaber on the roster and will be available for selection in Gold Cup matches.

Share:

In 2009, the US pulled an historic upset, beating Spain, the best team in the world, in a semi-final of the Confederations Cup. Though I saw the result first-hand, what kept coming to my mind was the inimitable Vizzini from Princess Bride saying "Inconceivable!"

In advance of the next meeting of these two teams, scheduled for this Saturday, the line that instead comes to me is when Fezzik showed up at Miracle Max's door and said, "I'm on the Brute Squad.

A report has just come out stating that Alejandro Bedoya has been added to the Gold Cup roster, presumably replacing the injured Benny Feilhaber. You can find the report here (in Swedish).

We're waiting to confirm this with a source we're familiar with. At that point, we'll remove the question mark from the title and update the post.

Another National Team tournament, another confusing set of roster decisions from Bob Bradley.

Here is a look at six moves that could have been made to add depth and quality to the US team. Bradley's lineup features a number of his classic favorites who are either completely off of pace in their domestic leagues or serve no foreseeable purpose with this team.

by Dru Boyer Ladies and Gentlemen, we have reached the conclusion of Yanks Abroad the 2010/2011 edition. It has been a record-setting season for some, disappointing for others, and ending in relegation for one...well... two if Eddie Johnson stays at Preston, but I don't see that happening. The Gold Cup roster has been released (welcome [.

My name is Robert Hay, and I am a fan of Freddy Adu.

That statement has for years been quite controversial, as the young American has been the center of much discussion of the failures of American soccer. We hype them too young! We don't develop our own talent! Don't let players like Agudelo and Bunbury get Adu'ed!

I won't front and pretend that I pay attention to what's going on in Sweden because I don't. Hell, I'm barely concerned with Spain or England these days. But I know baller-assed performance when I see one --or 1:20 of one at least-- and Alejandro Bedoya gave one this weekend against FK Viking Ikea 1645.

Share:

Will Oguchi Onyewu be apart of the Gold Cup roster? (Photo by ISIphotos.com)

We'll know on Monday who Bob Bradley picks for the US National team for this summer's Gold Cup and for the upcoming friendly against Spain. I figured today would be as good of a day as ever to throw out my 23-man roster that I think Bradley could select come Monday.

Photo by C.A.M. Stephans

By now you have probably heard the Bob Bradley deadline of May 23 to announce his call-ups for the U.S. National Team. This is a critical call-up, as not only will these players play in the 2011 Gold Cup but also in the friendly versus Spain. As such, Bob Bradley will likely go the opposite of Camp Cupcake and take a veteran lineup to Foxborough.

by Dru Boyer Brad Friedel made a save in a 1-1 draw with Wigan at Villa Park. MB0 was active, but did not appear...kinda like the ghosts on Ghost Hunters, or am I the only one that watches that show? Mystery remains open as to where the Favre of Villa Park will land next season. [...]

By Dru Boyer The season is rapidly coming to a close and many of our heroes abroad are aligning themselves for a run and Champion's League or Europa League glory next season. Mo Edu, Steve Cherundolo, and Gooch certainly have some big matches forthcoming, let's all say a prayer that Captain Steve will be able [.

By Neil W. Blackmon Obviously, this was a slow news week. Fortunately, there was at least one big story: Bob Bradley expects to announce his final roster for the 2011 Gold Cup in the next two weeks, with a target release date set in a five day period, May 16-20. As most our readers know, [...]

by Dru Boyer Very limited action for the Yanks Abroad this week, however the EPL featured a couple Yank doubles. Until the magic of Wednesday night's CONCACAF Champions League Final, I was going to make Mo Edu my player of the week for putting in 180 minutes in Glasgow and propelling the Gers back to [.

The theme for the USMNT heroes abroad this week? Yellow, Mexican league goals galore, and of course, the endless effort to say "Goal" in Turkish. Many cards of that color were handed out, and several goals were scored. That said, Tim Howard's understudy Brad Guzan of the yellow clad Hull City Tigers is my Player of [.

By Dru Boyer The Yanks returned to their club teams over the weekend after a pair of USMNT matches on US soil. No goals, a few saves, and an assist or two later, the boys were back into the swing of things off the continent. The best news of the week? Club team coaches showing [...]

USMNTer Alejandro Bedoya is trying to make like The Jeffersons and move on up; dude has left Orebro SK in Sweden and is on trial with Birmingham City. If he ends up moving there I'm calling for a straight up, All-American party house in Birmingham with Bedoya, Eric Lichaj, Michael Bradley and The Brads complete with off-season keggers and a deportation-worthy 4th of July party.

Union

Jonathan Tannenwald reports the Carlos Ruiz deal is complete and that a signing announcement should be expected today or Tuesday. He reports the "source with direct knowledge of the deal" also says Ruiz has been training with the Union. No further details are presently known.

From the Union website, one of the major benefits from the upcoming trip to Greece will be bonding within the team.

We applaud the move too....

Prelude to a move?

Via Soccer by Ives and the Orebro Web site, the TSG crowned Ambassador to Brazil, Alejandro Bedoya will train with Birmingham City.

City could certainly use the wingers cough, Alexander Hleb and Bedoya's got the body, the crossing power and headers for the EPL.

By Dr. Raf Crowley, writing from Gainesville, FL For the first time since the inception of this blog, writers of TYAC have not touched on a USMNT match – the USA-Chile match last week. At this point, a comprehensive analysis serves no purpose for two reasons: 1.) The #1 point to take from this match is that Coach Bradley appears to have realized that a 4-4-2 formation going forward is self-defeating.

1. The January Camp friendlies rarely provide the most exciting matches normally our MLS-ers against a decent country's domestic-leaguers but they do provide a glimpse at our youth (most players on our roster are under 25). For a lucky few, it can even propel them into the first-team conversation.