FanHouse EddieJohnson

The biggest complaint most fans of European soccer have with Major League Soccer in America is that the regular season has too little value. Eight out of 14 clubs make the playoffs, and teams that finish last don't get relegated to the second division. MLS and CONCACAF are trying to change that by tying regular season performance into international competitions like SuperLiga and the new CONCACAF Champions League, but those events don't quite have enough prestige to convince MLS players to play with the same urgency in the regular season as European players do.

Someone really needs to explain these things to Eddie Johnson.

The former Kansas City Wizard moved to Fulham last January to help the club with its offense, and he's displaced Clint Dempsey in the starting lineup. In three starts, Johnson has produced a grand total of one shot on goal. He's also been easy to push off the ball and less than eager to chase after crosses that aren't put right on his head.

Basically, he's playing with zero urgency. Johnson plays for a club battling for its Premier League life, and he acts like he's just playing out a string and will be back in the top flight next season. That was evident today in Fulham's 2-0 loss at Newcastle.

Major League Soccer's fourth-best goal scorer is headed to the Premier League -- for the next four months, anyway.

Ives Galarcep is reporting Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson has secured his UK work permit and signed a 3 1/2-year deal with Fulham. Johnson left the U.S. men's national team training camp a week and a half go to begin negotiations with the relegation-threatened London club, and he's reportedly fetching a transfer fee of $4 million.

There was talk that Johnson's deal might not happen after Fulham reportedly signed Marlon King away from Watford, but that deal was scuttled last week, reportedly because King failed a physical. King denies that claim.

Johnson, who rejected an offer from Derby County last August, will join fellow Americans Clint Dempsey, Carlos Bocanegra, Brian McBride and Kasey Keller at the club. He'll also join three other new Fulham transfers -- Norway defender Brede Hangeland from FC Copenhagen, Danish midfielder Leon Andreasen from Werder Bremen and Gabonese striker Daniel Cousin from Rangers.

However, with Dempsey entrenched as a starter, Cousin coming in and McBride expected to return soon from injury, how much playing time will Johnson actually get at Fulham? He won't get any in the FA Cup; Bristol Rovers took care of that. Will Dempsey move back to a midfield spot, or will Roy Hodgson employ a 4-3-3 formation to fit everyone in? And would Johnson be happy playing in the Coca-Cola Championship next year? I guess we'll find out soon enough.

All the really good American players end up playing in Europe, right? Clint Dempsey, Brian McBride and Carlos Bocanegra all ended up at Fulham. Freddy Adu may have rejected Benfica for now, but he's bound to end up playing somewhere in Europe before it's over.

So why wouldn't Eddie Johnson, the Kansas City Wizards striker who is currently MLS' leading scorer (12 goals), want to play in the Premier League as well? Why would he reject a transfer to Derby County?

I can give you a good reason -- because it's Derby County. It's a very small club that may have won "the most valuable club match in the world" last May, but it won't win much else in the upcoming Premier League season, and it's the odds-on favorite to be the first team relegated back to the Coca-Cola Championship. A talented striker like Johnson isn't going to lift that team out of the relegation zone by himself.

Meanwhile, the Kansas City Wizards are 7-5-5 and just a point out of first place in MLS' Eastern Division. Those seven wins may be more than Derby gets in the Premiership all year, and while things like Superliga and the CONCACAF Champions Cup don't seem quite as prestigious as the UEFA Cup, Johnson actually has a much better chance of seeing international competition next year with Kansas City than with Derby.

If Johnson had gotten an offer from Reading, with whom he trained last year, this might be a different story. Reading has a much better shot at Premier League success than Derby, and they may pursue Johnson yet if Kevin Doyle gets hurt again. For now, though, Johnson will remain in MLS, and that league probably couldn't be more thrilled that Derby inadvertently gave their league a little boost in reputation.

Don't worry, Derrick Frost, we'll find you someone to compete with!

Just as soon as the Redskins signed punter Eddie Johnson, he had a can of Miller Lite fall on him for saying his leg was tired after ONE WHOLE DAY of practicing, so the Redskins had to let him go. I mean, how bad do you want the job if you can't fight through one day's worth of aches and pains? For a measly $5,000 (in which he probably got more, maybe), I'll kick the pigskin around for three days straight and pretend my leg was okay even when I was on a crutch.

The Redskins might bring in NFL veteran punter Toby Gowin to compete with Frost. Gowin was beat out by Johnson to get first crack at the job so that's not saying much. Two weeks before the season starts and we have one kicker in camp who kicks a beautiful ball, out of bounds or out the back of the end zone every now and again.

With the looks of the offense so far, the punter just may play a huge role in the games. Field position is critical, no matter how suffocating our defense can be. Giving up just 10 yards on a shanked punt eliminates three more plays that have to be executed perfectly for the opponents and adds three more plays to our defense which is already suffering some major injuries.

I wonder if Mr. Utility Antwaan Randle El can punt?

Two weekends to go before the regular season openers and the Redskins are still shuffling around with the roster. RB Jesse Lumsden and CB Dimitri Patterson were released to make room for the signings of punter Eddie Johnson and DB Vernon Fox.

With the trade to bring in TJ Duckett and Lumsden fighting off nagging injuries, the move wasn't too much of a surprise. The backfield was already considered crowded with Clinton Portis, Ladell Betts, Rock Cartwright and Mike Sellers (who's actually a FB). Once Portis returned, though, there wasn't much expectations for Lumsden to get carries during the games anyway.

Patterson more than likely will end up on the practice squad if he goes unsigned. He did record an interception against the Dallas Cowboys last year late in the season and saw some action due to injuries, but he hasn't stood out enough to be worthy of a roster spot yet. Vernon Fox will be brought in to compete at the safety position. Other than starters Sean Taylor and Adam Archuleta, the safeties are Pierson Prioleau and rookie Reed Doughty. If Fox performs well enough, all the warm fuzzy feelings for Doughty could come to an end. He has had some solid moments, but he's still riddled with rookie mistakes, and the Redskins aren't looking to rebuild this year. Fox is a fifth-year player, playing in 56 games in his career bringing some experience at the position. He has played for the San Diego Chargers and the Detroit Lions.

The move to bring in a punter was less of a surprise and more of a relief. Frost has been consistently inconsistent so far, just like last year, and could get a foot in the rear if he doesn't get his foot out his own rear. The only question with this move is why did it take so long? Then again, looking at incoming punter Johnson's stats, he played in 14 games as a rookie for Minnesota and had 56 punts for a frosty 39.1 yard average.