2009-10 OT XI honoree Hunter Freeman will not be appearing on the 2010-11 team. The ex-Virginia Cavalier and Texas native, who made 51 appearances with IK Start in Norway over the past two seasons, has agreed to terms with MLS’s Houston Dynamo. Freeman, who will be 26 on January 8, joins his 4th MLS team, having also played with the Colorado Rapids, New York Red Bulls, and Toronto FC.

The Dynamo are in rebuilding mode, having missed the postseason for the first time in their existence in 2010. Twenty-four year-old Canadian Andrew Hainault was Houston’s primary right back in 2010, so he would represent Freeman’s main competition for domestic playing time.

If he finds success in MLS, I could easily see Freeman turning into a fringe national team player as he has been fairly good with IK Start.

With a few of the Scandinavian leagues coming to a close in the next month, I thought I would give a quick run down on how a few Americans are sitting with the last couple games to be played.

Finnish Veikkausliiga

In Finland, there is one game left for each of the 14 teams.  Daniel Antunez and FC Inter Turku sit in sixth place with 36 points.  Unfortunately, they are four points behind fourth place and unable to get a Europa League First qualifying round spot.

Vaasan Palloseura (Greg Eckhardt and Brian Pope) are in 10th place with 30 points, three points ahead of 13th place and a spot in the relegation playoffs.  While there are teams in 11th and 12th place, their -11 goal differential is worse and could come into play if they lose and some teams below them get wins.

One of those teams slightly behind them is IFK Mariehamn and the American trio of Giuseppe Funicello, Lamar Neagle and Mason Trafford.  They sit in 11th place with 28 points, one point ahead of the relegation playoffs (13th place) and two points ahead of the automatic relegation (14th place).

So the Veikkausliiga is coming down to the last game of the season.

Norwegian Eliteserien

Next we head to Norway’s top-flight league, which has three games left in the season for the 16 teams.

IK Start (Clarence Goodson and the now injured Hunter Freeman) currently sit in eighth place with 38 points.  They are safe from relegation and probably mathematically eliminated from third place (Europa League First qualifying round spot).

Mikkel Diskerud and Erik Benjaminsen are in 11th place at Stabæk with 36 points.  They are safe from relegation.

Over at Hønefoss (Steve Clark and Kenneth Di Vita Jensen) are in 14th place (relegation playoffs), five points ahead of 15th place (automatic relegation), but six points behind 13th place and safety.  If they get stuck in the relegation playoffs, they will be in a four-team playoff with the teams that finished between third to fifth in the Adeccoligaen.

Norwegian Adeccoligaen

In Norway’s first division, there are four or five games left for the 15 teams.

Joseph Bendik and Sogndal are in first place with 52 points, seven points ahead of second place.  In the Adeccoligaen, the top two teams get promoted automatically, so they have a good shot at promotion with four games left to be played.

Colin Burns and Sarpsborg 08 are in third place with 41 points.  Like mentioned above, teams third through fifth are put in the promotion/relegation playoffs.  Fourth place is at 40 points, while fifth and sixth place are at 34 points.

Graham Dugoni and Mjøndalen are in 11th place with 28 points, only three points ahead of the relegation zone, so their last five games are very important.

Swedish Allsvenskan

Over in Sweden, there are three to four games left for the 16 teams in the top-flight league.

USMNTer Alejandro Bedoya has his Örebro SK side in third place with 45 points.  They are 13 points behind second place, but only two points ahead of fourth place.   If they can hold onto third place, they will get a Europa League First qualifying round spot for next season.

Ryan Miller and Halmstads BK are in 12th place with 32 points, but are only four points ahead of the relegation playoffs spot (14th place).  So they have some work to do in their last three games to stay safe this season.

Swedish Superettan

A pair of Americans play at Ljungskile BK  (Nick Noble and Michael Thomas).  They are in fifth place with 44 points, but with only one game left to be played, they are five points shy of making the promotion playoffs, so they will be in the Superettan in 2011.

League of Ireland Premier Division

Two games are left in Ireland and Ryan Guy has his St Patrick’s Athletic squad in fifth place, three points behind third place and a Europa League First qualifying round spot for next season.

League of Ireland First Division

Down in the first division, goalkeeper Chris Konopka and Waterford United are currently in third place (promotion playoffs), two points ahead of fourth place and nothing with two games left in the season.

Russian Premier League

Finally, we head over to Russia where Eugene Starikov (on loan from FC Zenit Saint Petersburg) and FC Tom Tomsk are in 10th place out of the 16 teams with 27 points.  There are still five to eight games left, depending on the team, so there is still a lot of soccer left to be played in Russia.

So there you have it.  Hopefully you are all caught up to speed on the leagues that are coming to a close in October and November.

I noticed that Hunter Freeman, usually a lock in IK Start’s starting lineup, did not play this weekend and now I know why thanks to Greg Seltzer over at MLSsoccer.com.

The former MLS defender was injured in a collision during training last week and missed the team’s weekend draw at Kongsvinger.

“At first, he didn’t know anything was wrong, but it got worse,” Start press officer Roy Emanuelson told MLSsoccer.com. “He had some water on the knee. He’s in training, but not with the guys on the pitch yet.”

The club will set a full practice return date later in the week but is unsure whether he will be back by the time it closes the season by hosting FK Haugesund on Nov. 7.

“We have three games left,” Emanuelson said. “Hopefully, he can be back for the last one.”

With the US likely giving three players (Jermaine Jones, Brek Shea, Eric Lichaj) their first cap with the USMNT either on Saturday or Tuesday, which uncapped player (looking at European-based players only) would you like to see Bob Bradley give a chance in the near future?

If you choose other, let us know who you think in the comments.

» Feilhaber pushing for top-flight return [MLSsoccer.com]

» Edu, Rangers hold Man. Utd [MLSsoccer.com]

» Diskerud discusses Stabaek season [Yanks Abroad]

» Freeman gunning for shot at USMNT [Yanks Abroad]

IK Start beat Aalesund 1-0 this weekend with Hunter Freeman assisting Clarence Goodson for the lone goal in the game.

Both Hunter Freeman and Clarence Goodson went the distance in IK Start’s 2-1 victory over Sandefjord with Goodson scoring IK Start’s first goal of the game.

I’m a sucker for any sort of list, so with the European leagues wrapping up, I give you my 2009-10 Best XI and other awards. While the seasons aren’t quite over yet, I wanted to discuss this now before we switch over into World Cup roster speculation, because the lists are going to be different.

One thing I want to clarify beforehand is that these selections are intended to reflect player performance relative to the league that they were playing in. This isn’t my list of the best 11 US players in Europe or a stab at the national team, it’s a ranking of the seasons that these guys have had. I’m also picking four defenders, four mids, and two forwards although it could certainly function as different formation.

Goalkeeper
Brad Friedel, Aston Villa (England)
The Cal Ripken Jr. of the Premier League (227 consecutive starts) gets the nod over US national team goalkeeper Tim Howard of Everton. Howard played well, but I’m giving the edge to Friedel who continued to be stellar in the goal even as Aston Villa’s offense at times broke down.

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra, Rennes (France)
Clarence Goodson, IK Start (Norway)
Hunter Freeman, IK Start (Norway)
Jonathan Spector, West Ham United (England)
The US captain Bocanegra had a rough spell in the middle of the year, losing his starting position in December and January. However, he earned it back and has played well again in helping guide Rennes to another mid-table finish, having featured in 26 of 35 matches (and all but 1 since returning to the lineup). IK Start teammates Freeman and Goodson have become quietly successful in Norway. IK Start spent the 2008 season in the 2nd division; Goodson helped them earn promotion that year. In 2009, Freeman left Toronto FC to join Start; the two helped guide them to a 9th-place finish in the 16-club Tippeligaen and have them 6th so far this year (and just two points back of a European spot). Spector has struggled at times with West Ham as he has been forced to play out of position at LB due to injuries, but he has finally been healthy and has finally become a Premier League regular.

Midfielders
Maurice Edu, Rangers (Scotland)
Landon Donovan, Everton (England)
Alejandro Bedoya, Örebro (Sweden)
Ryan Guy, St. Patrick’s Athletic (Ireland)
While Donovan only played 10 league matches in Europe, his impact with Everton was significant enough that he makes the list. He received a player of the month award from the Everton fans and impressed in wins over Chelsea and Manchester United, the top two teams in the Premier League this year. Edu was hurt for the early part of the season, but featured in 18 matches (2 goals) once returning to health. His stoppage time winner in the Old Firm all but sealed Rangers’ title. Bedoya made a surprising impact with Örebro and has become a starter this year for a club currently in a Europa League slot. Guy, meanwhile, tied for the league lead in goals for St. Patrick’s Athletic last year with 6 and leads the club so far in 2010 with 5. His performance has been critical for the Saints as they currently sit atop the League of Ireland table.

Forwards
Eddie Johnson, Aris (Greece)
Clint Dempsey, Fulham (England)
Strictly speaking they are still actually teammates as Johnson is merely on loan to Aris. After a rough 2008-09 that saw him score just twice in 30 appearances with Cardiff in the 2nd division and make just two sub appearances for Fulham in the fall, Johnson has started to find his groove in the Greek Super League. His brace in the playoff against Olympiacos gives him 4 goals in 14 league appearances, which is actually double the number of goals he has scored since leaving Kansas City after the 2007 season. Dempey’s play this year was simply outstanding. Despite missing a long stretch due to injury, he has matched a career high with 7 Premier League goals which included some stunners. Meanwhile, the Cottagers have made a Cinderella run to the Europa League final, in no small part due to his outstanding goal to complete a miracle comeback past Juventus.

2009-10 MVP
Clint Dempsey, M/F, Fulham (England)
I really don’t see how it could be anyone else. Even despite missing several weeks with torn ligaments in his knee (and freaking out American fans everywhere), Dempsey had perhaps his best season as a professional. On May 12, he will (almost assuredly) become the first American to play in a European final as Fulham look to earn their biggest win ever (unless the 1949 and 2001 Second Division titles excite you). The sports bar at Fulham’s Craven Cottage might be called McBride’s, but if Fulham win on May 12 Dempsey’s goal in the quarterfinals might have made him the most legendary American Cottager ever (and there have been several).

Goal of the Year
Could it be anything besides Clint Dempsey’s twice-mentioned strike against Juventus in the Europa League quarterfinals in March? Seriously, it might have been the biggest and best goal by an American in Europe ever.

Performance of the Year
While I’m not going to profess to having seen every game an American played in Europe, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a better performance than Donovan’s in Everton’s 2-1 win over Chelsea. While he did not score, he absolutely controlled the match from his spot on the right wing, brutally terrorizing Ashley Cole before (mercifully?) injuring Cole in a challenge.

What do you guys think? Any omissions? Anything surprise you? I decided to keep with the Eurasian focus of this site; since we don’t really cover Herculez Gomez and Jose Francisco Torres in Mexico, I’d be remiss to put them on this list.

Both Clarence Goodson and Hunter Freeman went the full 90 minutes in IK Start’s victory.

Another name I didn’t see this weekend while doing The OT Report was Jozy Altidore.  I thought maybe the new manager was trying to shake things up in his first game at Hull City, but it turns out that Jozy is another American who caught the recent hamstring bug.

Two journalists had Clint Dempsey articles today.  One in the New York Times.  And one in the Observer (UK).  Apparently people took notice of his monster goal against Juventus last week.  It still gives me chills when I watch it.

Yanks Abroad continues its great coverage of the various Scandinavian leagues with an article on IK Start’s Hunter Freeman.  Freeman has formed a nice defensive partnership with fellow American Clarence Goodson.

And another US U-20 making an appearance on the bench this past weekend.  Much like Gale Abossoumonde a couple weeks ago with Sporting Braga, Jared Jeffrey appeared on the bench for the first time with German side Mainz.