Who’s Hot?

Maurice Edu: Hey! It’s Maurice Edu on the field. After jumping off the sinking ship that was Rangers and landing at Stoke, Edu had played only a few more Premier League minutes than you or me (unless Clint Dempsey or Geoff Cameron is reading this, in which case he played a lot fewer minutes than you). Edu ended up in Turkey where he’s regularly going the full 90 for Bursaspor, a club with a delightful culture. The Crocodiles aren’t doing so hot lately, but seeing Edu back on the pitch making passes and, well, playing soccer is enough to warm American hearts.

Jozy Altidore: He was in this feature last week, he’s in it this week, and if he continues to score goals for AZ, he’ll be in it next week. Jozy Altidore’s play is the definition of hot. The forward again scored for his club on the weekend, putting him at 15 league goals in the Eredivisie this season. He also scored a penalty during the week in a cup match against Den Bosch, but what everyone is talking about is his actions on and off the pitch after being the target of racist chanting. In an unimaginably tough situation, Altidore let his play do the talking during the match, telling the referee he wanted the game to continue, and stepping up to score the penalty. After the match, he spoke about how regrettable the actions of the fans are but seemed to harbor nothing but disappointment toward them. Jozy Altidore wins the week, as a football player and as a person.

Who’s Not?

Brad Friedel: Friedel went into the season as Tottenham’s starting keeper, but now it looks like he’ll be spending the next few years at the club in a mentoring capacity to Hugo Lloris, who snapped the American's streak of 310 consecutive Premier League starts. Friedel looked rusty when called upon in the FA Cup and allowed two goals to lower-division Leeds United in an upset loss. What will frustrate the 41-year-old keeper is that barring an injury to Lloirs, it will be a while before he can get the taste of the bad performance out of his mouth.

Alejandro Bedoya: Bedoya is a talented player, but despite interest from multiple clubs during the transfer window, it looks like Edu’s fellow Rangers exile might be waiting until the summer to move to a different club as he appears set to re-sign with Helsingborg.

Bedoya has been in national team camp the past two weeks, and Jurgen Klinsmann put him into the USMNT’s match with Canada hoping he could provide a spark during a lethargic performance, but Bedoya largely fell into the lethargy and couldn’t help generate anything else. Is it enough to get him onto the roster that will face Honduras? As of now, only Klinsmann knows.

Jon Arnold (@ArnoldcommaJon) is ASN's CONCACAF correspondent.