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Relegation tough on Americans?

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Sunday bloody Sunday. One way or another, at least four and possibly nine American players are doomed to relegation today when the 2007-2008 English Premier League season comes to an end. Either Manchester United or Chelsea will clinch the title, but at the other end of the table, Derby County, which includes former UCLA players Benny Feilhaber and Eddie Lewis, already is assured of going down. Joining Derby in the ridiculously named League Championship -- which is, in fact, the second division in England's four-tier professional setup -- could be either Reading, with Americans Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey, or Fulham, with its quintet of U.S. players -- Brian McBride, Kasey Keller, Carlos Bocanegra, Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey -- or both.

Los Angeles Times

Eddie Johnson , Stephen Dunn/Getty Images Eddie Johnson , Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
May 11, 2008  09:56 AM ET

I'm afraid they all will be relegated...whether or not dempsey, etc., get picked up by another team is a different story

May 11, 2008  11:01 AM ET

At least we still have Howard over there. U-S-A! U-S-A!

May 11, 2008  11:02 AM ET

On an unrelated note, the US jersey in that picture is one of the best kits I've ever seen.

May 11, 2008  12:48 PM ET

fulham stays... thank god. if they would have gotten relegated that would have been far worse then any other considering out National teams captain and potential best player are on Fulham.

May 11, 2008  12:48 PM ET

our*

May 11, 2008  01:30 PM ET

The FA Championship is so-called because the Premier League teams broke away from the FA when that league was formed, leaving the former Division 2 to be Division 1 (and latterly renamed the Championship) of the FA. It is no sillier (and perhaps less so) than the Single-A minor league set-up. Imagine the confusion of someone coming over from Europe who is used to Serie A soccer.

May 11, 2008  02:40 PM ET

so its derby, birmingham, and reading going down..., at least fulhams up

May 11, 2008  06:54 PM ET

Good post leber. But the LA Times need not cover football anymore. Their absolute lack of knowledge came in an earlier post when they wrote a post on the Liverpool Soccer Club,

Stick to the Lakers you morons. Leave football to the professionals, or at least read up on it before you make ridiculous posts like this.

May 11, 2008  07:19 PM ET

At least the LA Times gives regular coverage to the sport, something most papers don't.

May 11, 2008  07:22 PM ET

Irish, I was wondering if I was the only person who thought that the blue and pinstripes kit was nothing short of awesome.

May 11, 2008  10:01 PM ET

Convey can find another club, but will this lead to Hanehmann going to MLS?

May 11, 2008  10:08 PM ET

Those jersey's are sweet

Yes my fav player Dempsey will be in the prem next season

Congrates to MANU on another title even though you have to give Arsenal credit b/c there payroll isnt even half of what the top two team pay out.

May 11, 2008  10:28 PM ET

come on arsenal, how about the denim and stars jersey from 94?

As for "Americans being relegated", I think it is a story for fans of the USMNT who want their players getting quality and quantity playing time, but at times the implication of the story is that relegation is an idictment of the American soccer players in general. Some ARE slackers, like EJ of late. But to imply that the teams are being relegated because of the presence of Americans (especially in the case of Fulham) seems to be a stretch of the evidence.

May 11, 2008  10:29 PM ET

just kidding about the denim jersey. i do like the pinstripe, though, as well as the new blue ones. Not sure about the new whites, tho

May 12, 2008  12:20 AM ET

@Jackie_Treehorn | 05/11/08, 06:54 PM
the LA Times probably has the largest section devoted to football of any major paper in the US. They are knowledgable and normally right.
What specifically about the Liverpool article made you mad? That they rightly said the fans were acting like morons?

RE: National team uniforms: we need to dump the white tops forever. I hate them and they look too much like England and Germany's kit. We should keep the Navy ones, the pinstripe ones and the anthracite once (my favorites)

May 12, 2008  10:26 AM ET

The only Americans going down play on Derby. I think the Fulham crew should stay with the side. Well except for Bocanegra. He's probably coming back to MLS.

May 12, 2008  11:28 AM ET

You're forgetting Reading. Fulham's miraculous end of season hot streak screwed them over. So like the article says, Hahnemann and Convey are no longer EPL players.

Honestly, I don't care about the Americans on Derby -- Feilhaber needs to leave anyway, and Lewis is on his last legs as a professional soccer player.

I don't much care about Convey either, not anymore. He had promise when he was younger, but he's failed to meet expectations, imo. I hope we've seen the last of him on the Nats.

I do feel bad about Hahnemann, though. He is clearly a first-division caliber player, and doesn't belong in a league like the Championship.


OH AND BTW, I really hope Fulham cuts EJ this off-season as they try once again to assemble a roster that can compete for a top-half position in the EPL. It's embarrassing for me to see him on Fulham -- by being exposed in European play for the one-dimensional and lazy goal-poacher that he is, he just makes American soccer look bad. His failings reflect negatively on other American players when it's demonstrated in high-profile European first-division play.

May 12, 2008  11:40 AM ET

Here's what I hear:

J-Hova, more than Derby going down...Reading too.

Reading: M.Hahnemann (GK) a bigger club in the EPL might try to pick him up as solid back-up--otherwise, he stays at Reading at least one more season before going to MLS." Bobby Convey will stay down with Reading and might get more time as a few Reading players will be exiting and heading back to the EPL with newly promoted clubs or others (see Steven Hunt for sure will be hunted down by EPL clubs). Word on the street is that no one is even remotely interested in Convey. If you saw his play this year and knew about his injury prone time with reading, you wouldn't be interested either. His confidence is totally shot.

Derby: Eddie Lewis. Does it matter if Eddie goes down? He is used to playing one level down as he did with Leeds for years. Benny Feilhaber better get out there and sell his skills to somebody or he'll be in MLS or with Maccabu Haifa shortly. He WAS good enough to play in the EPL, so he must still have those skills... He just needs to PROVE it and keep his mouth shut.

peezeeunited: didn't I tell you that Fulham was staying up late last week! Oh, ye with little faith! Seriously, I did a dance when they scored... And when the whistle blew, I sighed the biggest sigh of relief you've ever heard. Let's hope they do much better next year so it doesn't come down to the final ga,e AGAIN. My nerves are a little fried...

May 12, 2008  11:45 AM ET

Right on Serotonin... I agree with letting EJ go. I still, to this day, cannot figure out why the nat'l team and clubs keep wanting to give him another try. He seems like a nice guy, but his play has been less than stellar. Honestly, if Fulham wanted a proven striker who would have contributed, they would have done better with say, uh, Twellman. Even Twellman would have been a better choice. Meanwhile, as long as McBride is healthy, EJ will never get another look at a game in a Fulham uniform again.

 
May 12, 2008  12:07 PM ET

PS. Just so this is out there. I can CONFIRM that both Everton and Blackburn are looking closely at bringing Michael Bradley onto their teams from Heerenveen. That must be because he is so "talentless" right?

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