Little known fact: someone out there made a documentary starring Claudio (captain america movie) Reyna. There's a website out there dedicated to promoting this film, mainly by demonstrating an audience exists for this kind of movie.
Looks like there's a promo on YouTube (where else?) as well.
So spread the word out there. If you need encouragement, think of Claudio's feed to Brian McBride on our first goal against Mexico in 2002. He's made you feel good, hasn't he?
Given that the consequential parts of the debate over what kind of team the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT) sends to the Gold Cup versus the Copa America have been by and large settled, I almost didn't bother with the latest contributions. I'm somewhat glad I did, though, because one of them challenges a foggy assumption about what we'll get out of the Copa, while the other suggests a way to make both the Cup and the Copa work better with the ever-sprawling soccer calendar.
The first comes from Andrea Canales, whose Soccer365.com column discards the "Copa first" argument in a tone that approaches mocking - and that's a good thing, given the angle she's examining. That angle deals with respect and how it's earned and so on. The worst I can say about her column is that Canales ignores some practical benefits of the Copa: giving the expected U.S. first-string players experience against stronger opposition; this "what a waste" argument is the one I see most often. But her larger point, even if it's directed against a strawman - put another way, I rarely see the "prestige" argument she keeps attributing to "some quarters" - is that a solid performance in the 2007 Copa America won't do anything meaningful for the esteem in which U.S. soccer is held around the world. Reputation grows from sustained performance and nothing else, a point well supported by her thumbnail history of the past decade.
And, curiously, I'd argue we've reached a place in which we are, in fact, respected; I wouldn't go much beyond that, though.
The other item, this one written by Ken Pendleton for USSoccerplayers.com deals in tournament infrastructure and, for what it's worth, I'd say he's on to something. His piece argues for scheduling both the Copa America and the Gold once every four years. As it now stands, both tournaments are biennial (with some deviations with regards to the Copa). There's more to Pendleton's post than simply playing both tournament's every four years - he'd expand qualifying and, like me, look into merging the two tournaments - but the fundamental piece comes with lowering the frequency.
One last thing regarding my general snark about strawmen serving as the only "quarters" thinking that prestige will magically accrue to U.S. Soccer through a decent run in the Copa; this passage comes from Pendleton's essay:
It may not be direct, but it's out there.
The first comes from Andrea Canales, whose Soccer365.com column discards the "Copa first" argument in a tone that approaches mocking - and that's a good thing, given the angle she's examining. That angle deals with respect and how it's earned and so on. The worst I can say about her column is that Canales ignores some practical benefits of the Copa: giving the expected U.S. first-string players experience against stronger opposition; this "what a waste" argument is the one I see most often. But her larger point, even if it's directed against a strawman - put another way, I rarely see the "prestige" argument she keeps attributing to "some quarters" - is that a solid performance in the 2007 Copa America won't do anything meaningful for the esteem in which U.S. soccer is held around the world. Reputation grows from sustained performance and nothing else, a point well supported by her thumbnail history of the past decade.
And, curiously, I'd argue we've reached a place in which we are, in fact, respected; I wouldn't go much beyond that, though.
The other item, this one written by Ken Pendleton for USSoccerplayers.com deals in tournament infrastructure and, for what it's worth, I'd say he's on to something. His piece argues for scheduling both the Copa America and the Gold once every four years. As it now stands, both tournaments are biennial (with some deviations with regards to the Copa). There's more to Pendleton's post than simply playing both tournament's every four years - he'd expand qualifying and, like me, look into merging the two tournaments - but the fundamental piece comes with lowering the frequency.
One last thing regarding my general snark about strawmen serving as the only "quarters" thinking that prestige will magically accrue to U.S. Soccer through a decent run in the Copa; this passage comes from Pendleton's essay:
"For example, Brazil crashed out of the 2001 tournament to Honduras in the quarterfinals largely because they only fielded a few players who started for them during the World Cup the following year. Host Colombia went on to win the tournament, but how much prestige did they gain by winning a watered down competition?
It may not be direct, but it's out there.
There comes a time in the life of an pundit, whether amateur or professional, when he has to admit that he didn't cover all the angles he could before sitting down to write something. For me, that time came today. I can't be sure of the hour, but a sense of inadequacy has seared the event - my reading Jeff Carlisle's preview over on ESPN - into my memory.
The best I can say about the preview I turned in to Write On Sports is that it's respectably accurate in a big picture sense. That I missed so many details - see, Brian Ching's nagging injury (but I read his blog post! he said he was working out...on the beach!! Oh, the lies, Brian! Why!?!), back-up Stuart Holden's absence, the fact that I couldn't name a Puntarenas player besides forward Kurt Bernard - points to a degree of vagueness that gives me no choice but to write the following: read Carlisle's preview and call it a day.
With regard to my original, I'm doing penance by adding details as they come to me.
Well, that's enough self-flagellation for today (ah...hurts so good). There are other previews out there: one a "Fanblog" post on the Houston Chronicle's site devoted to Houston's chances, the other an MLSnet.com in-house preview.
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The best I can say about the preview I turned in to Write On Sports is that it's respectably accurate in a big picture sense. That I missed so many details - see, Brian Ching's nagging injury (but I read his blog post! he said he was working out...on the beach!! Oh, the lies, Brian! Why!?!), back-up Stuart Holden's absence, the fact that I couldn't name a Puntarenas player besides forward Kurt Bernard - points to a degree of vagueness that gives me no choice but to write the following: read Carlisle's preview and call it a day.
With regard to my original, I'm doing penance by adding details as they come to me.
Well, that's enough self-flagellation for today (ah...hurts so good). There are other previews out there: one a "Fanblog" post on the Houston Chronicle's site devoted to Houston's chances, the other an MLSnet.com in-house preview.
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Not since the Great Zidane Rumor of February 2007 have we seen an explosion of copy about a player's potential/impending arrival to Major League Soccer. But it's easy to find reports today asking whether Liverpool's Robbie Fowler will "join" fellow Englander David Beckham here in the U.S. of A.
Even with Fowler's agent denying talks are taking place, comments from New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol seems to be doing enough to keep this one alive. Whatever is happening behind closed doors, fans are ready, eager even, for this trade to happen.
Here's to hoping March will be the Month of Fowler; the vigil starts now. I'll be keeping an ear to the ground till this one either walks living into the light or is confirmed dead.
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Even with Fowler's agent denying talks are taking place, comments from New England Revolution head coach Steve Nicol seems to be doing enough to keep this one alive. Whatever is happening behind closed doors, fans are ready, eager even, for this trade to happen.
Here's to hoping March will be the Month of Fowler; the vigil starts now. I'll be keeping an ear to the ground till this one either walks living into the light or is confirmed dead.
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Write On Sports posted my preview for the second leg of the quarterfinals of the CONCACAF Champions' Cup this morning, which makes me timely, for once. I'll admit upfront that I phoned in the games that don't feature MLS clubs, but I'm confident there's nothing too outlandish in there (and maybe that's a problem). The copy should read better for the games involving the MLS clubs, though I spent more time on Houston's second leg with Puntarenas and for the obvious reason.
At any rate, maybe it's the prospect of actual games that's possessed me with the urge to predict the future; whatever it is, I can't help myself. I only wish online gambling on this kind of thing wasn't such a hassle.
So, here's what I'm seeing happening (and I must have it bad seeing as I'm going to throw out scores as well):
Deportivo Marquense 0 - 1 Pachuca CF
CD Guadalajara 3 - 0 W Connection FC
Now....drumroll, please...
DC United 1 - 1 CD Olimpia
Don't ask me to justify this score in light of what happened in the first leg, the coaching changes for Olimpia, and climatalogical issues; there's something that tells me that the Hondurans will pull out something better in hopes of impressing any new or prospective coach.
Houston Dynamo 1 - 1 Puntarenas FC
This call speaks to the distance between what I want and what I expect will happen. While I do think Houston will play better - I'll go so far as to think they'll control tomorrow night's game (apart for some snippets tonight, this will be the only one I'll see in full) - the Costa Ricans don't need to play to win. As much as their stadium set-up - narrow field, crappy surface - no doubt helped Puntarenas defensively in the first leg, they still looked plenty composed. Moreover, they'll benefit from the better surface and conditions right along with Houston; there's also the ongoing fitness issue to consider. So, as much as I'm pulling for the second blowout in as many weeks for an MLS club, I'm calling this one against. I have no excuse.
At any rate, maybe it's the prospect of actual games that's possessed me with the urge to predict the future; whatever it is, I can't help myself. I only wish online gambling on this kind of thing wasn't such a hassle.
So, here's what I'm seeing happening (and I must have it bad seeing as I'm going to throw out scores as well):
Deportivo Marquense 0 - 1 Pachuca CF
CD Guadalajara 3 - 0 W Connection FC
Now....drumroll, please...
DC United 1 - 1 CD Olimpia
Don't ask me to justify this score in light of what happened in the first leg, the coaching changes for Olimpia, and climatalogical issues; there's something that tells me that the Hondurans will pull out something better in hopes of impressing any new or prospective coach.
Houston Dynamo 1 - 1 Puntarenas FC
This call speaks to the distance between what I want and what I expect will happen. While I do think Houston will play better - I'll go so far as to think they'll control tomorrow night's game (apart for some snippets tonight, this will be the only one I'll see in full) - the Costa Ricans don't need to play to win. As much as their stadium set-up - narrow field, crappy surface - no doubt helped Puntarenas defensively in the first leg, they still looked plenty composed. Moreover, they'll benefit from the better surface and conditions right along with Houston; there's also the ongoing fitness issue to consider. So, as much as I'm pulling for the second blowout in as many weeks for an MLS club, I'm calling this one against. I have no excuse.
I'm so far past losing the stick up my ass about the disparaging comments some unnamed U.S. Women's National Team player made about Major League Soccer some years back that I probably can't find an example of it in the archives of my several blogs. As such, I have only warm thoughts to emit in the direction of the ongoing and improving project to re-establish the Women's United Soccer Association (WUSA).
Hmm. As it turns out, it's somewhat necessary to go back down that dark road, because what that unnamed player said about "not wanting MLS to piggy-back on our success" (weird to read, but it came in the context of the 1999 Women's World Cup) matters today, though in the opposite sense she intended it - at least for now. In ESPN's write-up on this news, Jeff Carlisle spoke to the people working on bringing a soccer franchise to St. Louis. While Carlisle reports that a deal for a temporary facility for a women's team is "close to being finalized" you'd have to think it going to taxpayers and investors with two teams professional teams on the table - which translates to 26 guaranteed revenue-earning events under MLS's current set-up and the assumptions about WUSA's schedule - would improve the chances of approval from either. Then again, maybe that's more an argument from logic that won't hold up to real-world scrutiny.
In any case, bundling teams from both leagues seems like the surest way to go. Being a liberated kind of guy, I don't care which league/gender rides on the other going forward; I'm happy so long as both leagues exist and do well enough to stick around.
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Hmm. As it turns out, it's somewhat necessary to go back down that dark road, because what that unnamed player said about "not wanting MLS to piggy-back on our success" (weird to read, but it came in the context of the 1999 Women's World Cup) matters today, though in the opposite sense she intended it - at least for now. In ESPN's write-up on this news, Jeff Carlisle spoke to the people working on bringing a soccer franchise to St. Louis. While Carlisle reports that a deal for a temporary facility for a women's team is "close to being finalized" you'd have to think it going to taxpayers and investors with two teams professional teams on the table - which translates to 26 guaranteed revenue-earning events under MLS's current set-up and the assumptions about WUSA's schedule - would improve the chances of approval from either. Then again, maybe that's more an argument from logic that won't hold up to real-world scrutiny.
In any case, bundling teams from both leagues seems like the surest way to go. Being a liberated kind of guy, I don't care which league/gender rides on the other going forward; I'm happy so long as both leagues exist and do well enough to stick around.
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A trip to familiar sites showed me that I'm not alone in wondering why the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) selected China for the opposition in an early June friendly. In his post on the subject, Brian of An American's View pointed to some of the practical concerns - notably, China prepares us for the Gold Cup and Copa America....how?
I'm not about to dispute that point here - not least because I agree with it - but do want to identify a potential silver lining, or even to paint it on if that proves necessary: the location, as in San Jose.
I'm just saying, when the people who organize club and/or country friendlies try places like Seattle, or more recently, Phoenix, Arizona, they're often trying to make a point - namely, see all these people showing up? Just think that you could have this 16 times a year* with an MLS club (* glossing over, for the moment, the reality that good U.S. national team games will always outdraw Major League Soccer's weekly attendance).
For the sake of the San Jose market, less-than-glamorous opposition aside, I hope this one's a blow-out, one big enough to separate useful people from their money and into league coffers.
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I'm not about to dispute that point here - not least because I agree with it - but do want to identify a potential silver lining, or even to paint it on if that proves necessary: the location, as in San Jose.
I'm just saying, when the people who organize club and/or country friendlies try places like Seattle, or more recently, Phoenix, Arizona, they're often trying to make a point - namely, see all these people showing up? Just think that you could have this 16 times a year* with an MLS club (* glossing over, for the moment, the reality that good U.S. national team games will always outdraw Major League Soccer's weekly attendance).
For the sake of the San Jose market, less-than-glamorous opposition aside, I hope this one's a blow-out, one big enough to separate useful people from their money and into league coffers.
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In high school, one might sometimes think young girls call one another to coordinate outfits. In a related vein, one has to wonder whether pundits email one another to coordinate colums.
Today, two of soccer punditry's heavy-weights weighed in on the fizzling, petering disappointment once celebrated as The Beckham Rule - e.g. the newly-minted designated player rule - and they reach similar conclusions through different paths. Paul Gardner, writing for the New York Sun observes that the Beckham Rule may have done all it can - e.g. bring in Beckham, a move that rather abruptly shined a spotlight on a league that probably doesn't know the word "spotlight." Ives Galarcep, in an item posted on NewJersey.com, mainly laments the designated-player rule's current inability to bring in trick-footed foreign players to Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs' youth development programs time to catch up.
The columns come together in the world of lamentation: i.e. is this all there is?
The more I think about it, the more I think it's both right and wise to say, yes - on one level at least. The more time passes, the more it seems that getting Beckham was a fluke, one built on his rather unique media profile and what that means to MLS. I can honestly think of no other player in the world who enjoys the level of celebrity as Beckham - e.g. the kind of celebrity that goes beyond soccer and into U.S. pop culture (e.g. "Wasn't he in that movie that starred that Indian girl from E.R.?). There are better players out there - plenty of 'em by my count - but those are players whose signing would be significant only to existing fans. Even if it were possible to sign as many world-class players as there are individual owner-operators in MLS, how much marketing upside would we get for all the money this would certainly take? Not enough by my count.
Assuming Beckham is a one-off, where do we go from here? Here again, I think both pundits would agree - and, for what it's worth, I'd nod along with them: since we can't realistically compete with Europe, let's just find any players we can to raise the level on the field. Their names might not mean anything, even to long-time, deeply-geeky fans of MLS - and the list both Galarcep and Gardner produced contains great examples and not a little crossover: Mauricio Cienfuegos, Christian Gomez, Carlos Ruiz, etc. etc. The trick, I suppose, is finding these kinds of players all over again and, when you find them, taking some risks on them, breaking the bank where you have to.
We're at a point where the names don't matter. Beckham's did, but that's done; It's all about what these players can do on the field. That said, when Beckham finally retires from the game, I'm all for finding the closest thing to him and showering him in money...
On a personal note, it's my understanding that the league has placed restrictions on how the New England Revolution can spend money from the trade that sent Clint Dempsey to England's Fulham. If the team can only spend $500,000 of $2.6 million on a player, I say they dump a big-assed chunk of that to flying scouts to Argentina, Brazil, England...I don't care where...till they can find a good way to spend that $500K.
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Today, two of soccer punditry's heavy-weights weighed in on the fizzling, petering disappointment once celebrated as The Beckham Rule - e.g. the newly-minted designated player rule - and they reach similar conclusions through different paths. Paul Gardner, writing for the New York Sun observes that the Beckham Rule may have done all it can - e.g. bring in Beckham, a move that rather abruptly shined a spotlight on a league that probably doesn't know the word "spotlight." Ives Galarcep, in an item posted on NewJersey.com, mainly laments the designated-player rule's current inability to bring in trick-footed foreign players to Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs' youth development programs time to catch up.
The columns come together in the world of lamentation: i.e. is this all there is?
The more I think about it, the more I think it's both right and wise to say, yes - on one level at least. The more time passes, the more it seems that getting Beckham was a fluke, one built on his rather unique media profile and what that means to MLS. I can honestly think of no other player in the world who enjoys the level of celebrity as Beckham - e.g. the kind of celebrity that goes beyond soccer and into U.S. pop culture (e.g. "Wasn't he in that movie that starred that Indian girl from E.R.?). There are better players out there - plenty of 'em by my count - but those are players whose signing would be significant only to existing fans. Even if it were possible to sign as many world-class players as there are individual owner-operators in MLS, how much marketing upside would we get for all the money this would certainly take? Not enough by my count.
Assuming Beckham is a one-off, where do we go from here? Here again, I think both pundits would agree - and, for what it's worth, I'd nod along with them: since we can't realistically compete with Europe, let's just find any players we can to raise the level on the field. Their names might not mean anything, even to long-time, deeply-geeky fans of MLS - and the list both Galarcep and Gardner produced contains great examples and not a little crossover: Mauricio Cienfuegos, Christian Gomez, Carlos Ruiz, etc. etc. The trick, I suppose, is finding these kinds of players all over again and, when you find them, taking some risks on them, breaking the bank where you have to.
We're at a point where the names don't matter. Beckham's did, but that's done; It's all about what these players can do on the field. That said, when Beckham finally retires from the game, I'm all for finding the closest thing to him and showering him in money...
On a personal note, it's my understanding that the league has placed restrictions on how the New England Revolution can spend money from the trade that sent Clint Dempsey to England's Fulham. If the team can only spend $500,000 of $2.6 million on a player, I say they dump a big-assed chunk of that to flying scouts to Argentina, Brazil, England...I don't care where...till they can find a good way to spend that $500K.
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Posted, as always, on The Offside. Today's topic: trying to divine how the New England Revolution's new-boys are doing based on a sentence of three.
The sub-text: how much will we know about these players by the end of the year and is that a good thing?
My comrade-on-blog, Sabin, posted an item on the restrictions that Major League Soccer's honchos are placing on the Revs as they seek to spend cash out of the "Dempsey Fund." I'm comfortable saying this is kinda BS, but, it terms of simply replacing Dempsey, surely they can find someone using the designated-player rule...
....speaking of which (dang it...see above).
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The sub-text: how much will we know about these players by the end of the year and is that a good thing?
My comrade-on-blog, Sabin, posted an item on the restrictions that Major League Soccer's honchos are placing on the Revs as they seek to spend cash out of the "Dempsey Fund." I'm comfortable saying this is kinda BS, but, it terms of simply replacing Dempsey, surely they can find someone using the designated-player rule...
....speaking of which (dang it...see above).
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Today's check-up on the New England Revolution discovered nothing less than the existence of another Revolution Blog!! Here I thought I was alone! I celebrated the arrival by stuffing a link into my sidebar. Next comes exploring the possibilities for mating and multiplying; the Revs fan species must survive! It must!
And there's some crap in there about where Taylor Twellman likes to eat and Jay Heaps having a kid, etc. (No offense intended to Twellman's palate or Heaps' new bundle, but I find these no more interesting than, I assume, a random stranger would find my taste in food or the arrival of my kid.)
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And there's some crap in there about where Taylor Twellman likes to eat and Jay Heaps having a kid, etc. (No offense intended to Twellman's palate or Heaps' new bundle, but I find these no more interesting than, I assume, a random stranger would find my taste in food or the arrival of my kid.)
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The most obvious "big news" to break over the weekend (or just before; can't keep track) came with the injury to Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein. For my money, you'll be hard-pressed to find a better consideration of the implications - for the player, his club, and country - than you'll find in the analysis by MLS Underground. I couldn't put it better and, therefore, won't try to. Though, at least with regard to country, we'll see something new in the next U.S. friendly.
Over on USSoccerplayers.com the (if-I'm-understanding-this-correctly) new-relocated Bill Urban looks in on the Kansas City Wizards preseason situation/mentality. It's possible I'm alone in thinking this, but the Wizards failure to miss last year's playoffs falls in the top five of "big stories" for 2006. When I look at this team's roster - even the current one - I just can't see how they're not a playoff team. Urban's central point is that, the same digs aside, between the new ownership and the new coaching staff, things feel different in Kansas City. The question of whether it will be enough comes in his conclusion:
Anyone else think Urban correctly divided the haves from the have-nots in the Eastern Conference?
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Over on USSoccerplayers.com the (if-I'm-understanding-this-correctly) new-relocated Bill Urban looks in on the Kansas City Wizards preseason situation/mentality. It's possible I'm alone in thinking this, but the Wizards failure to miss last year's playoffs falls in the top five of "big stories" for 2006. When I look at this team's roster - even the current one - I just can't see how they're not a playoff team. Urban's central point is that, the same digs aside, between the new ownership and the new coaching staff, things feel different in Kansas City. The question of whether it will be enough comes in his conclusion:
"Anyone who witnessed the collective spring in the Wizards players' steps during both training and a couple of scrimmages down here, one might easily argue that the Wizards will finish ahead of Columbus and Toronto in the seven-team Eastern Conference this season. Whether they can finish ahead of New York, D.C., New England or Chicago to qualify for the playoffs will depend on avoiding injuries, crucial bits of luck, and how much production Onalfo can coax from Eddie Johnson."
Anyone else think Urban correctly divided the haves from the have-nots in the Eastern Conference?
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As we wait for the second legs of the CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinals, some stories are coming in to help us figure what to expect. Naturally, the bigger news surrounds the Houston Dynamo, who have the harder challenge after dropping the first leg 1-0 to Puntarenas FC. As for DC United versus CD Olimpia, Steve Goff may not have intended the comment in this vein, but the weather differential between DC and Honduras may actually be the most intriguing thing to discuss while we wait on this one.
With regard to Houston, though, bad headlines aside - e.g. "Kinnear Eager to Host Return"; of course he is... - even the articles beneath them contain clues of what to expect. For instance, both the dubiously headlined article linked to above and Glenn Davis' "Soccer Notebook" contain hints to what will look different:
And that's when the Costa Ricans get to scribbling in their notepads. To his credit, Davis also takes frustrated fans to task for failing to understand that crappy fields and dodgy refereeing are part of soccer in Central America. Here, we have low attendance, widespread disinterest, etc., but the fields, have you seen those fields?
In all seriousness, looking forward to Thursday more than I did to junior prom...and senior prom for that matter.
In other news, the Los Angeles Galaxy got something positive out of their trip to Bermuda (after losing the mighty, mighty New England Revolution) when they beat the "Bermuda Select" team by a score of 4-0. Moving to the other tenant of the Home Depot Center, Chivas USA put out the Fuego by an even bigger scoreline (and I'm so, so pleased to have the opportunity to insert cheese into a post). And, no, this means nothing for the regular season, but they're at least winning like they should against weaker opposition.
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With regard to Houston, though, bad headlines aside - e.g. "Kinnear Eager to Host Return"; of course he is... - even the articles beneath them contain clues of what to expect. For instance, both the dubiously headlined article linked to above and Glenn Davis' "Soccer Notebook" contain hints to what will look different:
"'That field in Costa Rica took a lot away from our game, it took away our wide play,' Kinnear said."
And that's when the Costa Ricans get to scribbling in their notepads. To his credit, Davis also takes frustrated fans to task for failing to understand that crappy fields and dodgy refereeing are part of soccer in Central America. Here, we have low attendance, widespread disinterest, etc., but the fields, have you seen those fields?
In all seriousness, looking forward to Thursday more than I did to junior prom...and senior prom for that matter.
In other news, the Los Angeles Galaxy got something positive out of their trip to Bermuda (after losing the mighty, mighty New England Revolution) when they beat the "Bermuda Select" team by a score of 4-0. Moving to the other tenant of the Home Depot Center, Chivas USA put out the Fuego by an even bigger scoreline (and I'm so, so pleased to have the opportunity to insert cheese into a post). And, no, this means nothing for the regular season, but they're at least winning like they should against weaker opposition.
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I'll begin with a confession: I love Robbie Fowler. It's not just the goals, or that he plays for Liverpool, my adopted (and often-ignored) English club; it's the....the...everything. The goals help, to be sure, but it's more about how efficiently and incisively he plays elsewhere on the field - e.g. the capacity to deliver a killer ball, as he did in this weekend's pounding of Sheffield United; a decade of following Fowler has compiled a reel of dozens of sharp plays besides stored in what's left of my memory. It's also that classic mug that fronts his head; a hundred monkey-sculptors working for a hundred years would never craft a face like that - it simply wouldn't occur to them.
Fun as it was to see Fowler have a great day with Liverpool this past weekend, it's the Fowler-to-MLS rumors that really have me thinking about him. Better still, now and again, he gets linked to the New England Revolution; I mean, what's not to like? Another striker shouting for service...some times getting it, sometimes not...just think of the possibilities...
Of course, the trade may never happen; by the time you reach page four of that BigSoccer thread, you'll see links to articles strongly suggestive that Fowler would like nothing better than to stay at Liverpool. But if Fowler does makes it to MLS, I'll probably develop a deep affection for whatever team he joins - excepting possibly the Los Angeles Galaxy; can't stand them for some reason. I'm just saying, I'm one signing away from this space suddenly becoming, say, a Columbus Crew blog.
In other trade news, I didn't give the Nick Rimando getting reacquired and actually signing with Real Salt Lake story enough prominence last Friday and am doing it now. The fallout from this is actually pretty interesting, what with Jon Conway staying put with Red Bull New York (RBNY), etc. One does have to wonder, though, how excited Rimando is about his new home. Maybe an inside track on a starting spot will help with that.
Finally, if you want to read about the unravelling/unravelled deal to bring Agustin Delgado to RBNY, you could do worse than to read Ives Galarcep's write-up for a Jersey paper; frankly, I'm shocked he got a year ban for what sounds like, at third or fourth hand, simple fighting. If anyone out there knows it was bigger than this, feel free to pass on word. And tucked in the bottom of a Steve Goff blog post is mention of the Kansas City Wizards being interested in some Argentine player named Luciano de Bruno.
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Fun as it was to see Fowler have a great day with Liverpool this past weekend, it's the Fowler-to-MLS rumors that really have me thinking about him. Better still, now and again, he gets linked to the New England Revolution; I mean, what's not to like? Another striker shouting for service...some times getting it, sometimes not...just think of the possibilities...
Of course, the trade may never happen; by the time you reach page four of that BigSoccer thread, you'll see links to articles strongly suggestive that Fowler would like nothing better than to stay at Liverpool. But if Fowler does makes it to MLS, I'll probably develop a deep affection for whatever team he joins - excepting possibly the Los Angeles Galaxy; can't stand them for some reason. I'm just saying, I'm one signing away from this space suddenly becoming, say, a Columbus Crew blog.
In other trade news, I didn't give the Nick Rimando getting reacquired and actually signing with Real Salt Lake story enough prominence last Friday and am doing it now. The fallout from this is actually pretty interesting, what with Jon Conway staying put with Red Bull New York (RBNY), etc. One does have to wonder, though, how excited Rimando is about his new home. Maybe an inside track on a starting spot will help with that.
Finally, if you want to read about the unravelling/unravelled deal to bring Agustin Delgado to RBNY, you could do worse than to read Ives Galarcep's write-up for a Jersey paper; frankly, I'm shocked he got a year ban for what sounds like, at third or fourth hand, simple fighting. If anyone out there knows it was bigger than this, feel free to pass on word. And tucked in the bottom of a Steve Goff blog post is mention of the Kansas City Wizards being interested in some Argentine player named Luciano de Bruno.
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With signs finally suggesting the Zidane-to-MLS rumors have finally died, Ives Galarcep turned in a column for ESPN dubbing it a shame that the French great will likely never come. He notes the money Zidane was looking for (big), noted the reasons (Beckham's fault, the bastard), and gets a bit into why the money Zidane requested wasn't out of line: "Would you listen to anything less than $15 million if a player you knew you were clearly better than was making $25 million a season[?]"
An incidentally-related article, from the Boston Herald if you must know, touches on an upside Galarcep saw for Zidane coming out of retirement:
That that's the last line in the article bears noting: this is the footnote of Zidane's life.
Turning away from Zizou news, a quick interview with Red Bull New York's Jon Conway showed a bit of what the upstart 'keeper is all about. When Metrofanatic asked about how Conway felt about his situation with the arrival of Ronald Wattereus, his answer was telling: "No difference than last year when I was here. 36-year-old ex-international. We'll see how that goes." The kid has got balls, if nothing else.
Descending further into "Fluff" territory, SoccerAmerica wrote a respectable piece on four of this year's rookies: Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire), John Cunliffe (Chivas USA), Abdus Ibrahim (FC Dallas), and Maurice Edu (Toronto FC). No offense intended to any of them, but you could copy/paste the quotes from 90% of sports articles and get substantively the same copy.
Now in the realm of pure fluff, Ian Plenderleith, of USSoccerplayers.com fame bumped into the Kansas City Wizards' Players' Wives Club (third section, by the way). I only call this fluff in terms of its direct relation to the game itself. It actually sounds like a pretty cool thing.
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An incidentally-related article, from the Boston Herald if you must know, touches on an upside Galarcep saw for Zidane coming out of retirement:
"Zidane headbutted Italy’s Marco Materazzi during the World Cup final and ended his career with a red card. France lost to Italy on penalty kicks."
That that's the last line in the article bears noting: this is the footnote of Zidane's life.
Turning away from Zizou news, a quick interview with Red Bull New York's Jon Conway showed a bit of what the upstart 'keeper is all about. When Metrofanatic asked about how Conway felt about his situation with the arrival of Ronald Wattereus, his answer was telling: "No difference than last year when I was here. 36-year-old ex-international. We'll see how that goes." The kid has got balls, if nothing else.
Descending further into "Fluff" territory, SoccerAmerica wrote a respectable piece on four of this year's rookies: Bakary Soumare (Chicago Fire), John Cunliffe (Chivas USA), Abdus Ibrahim (FC Dallas), and Maurice Edu (Toronto FC). No offense intended to any of them, but you could copy/paste the quotes from 90% of sports articles and get substantively the same copy.
Now in the realm of pure fluff, Ian Plenderleith, of USSoccerplayers.com fame bumped into the Kansas City Wizards' Players' Wives Club (third section, by the way). I only call this fluff in terms of its direct relation to the game itself. It actually sounds like a pretty cool thing.
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I'm knocking off for the weekend, but wanted to pass on two late items.
The first involves a deadline that seems plenty significant as we head into next week. It's mentioned smack in the middle of an Ives Galarcep post on Red Bull New York's one-step-forward, two-steps-back attempt to sign a second designated player: "With the deadline for teams to be salary cap compliant set for next Friday, March 1st..."
I'm guessing there will be plenty of spazzing linked to that deadline in the coming days.
The other item just makes a point that doesn't get clearly mentioned all that much: Major League Soccer (MLS), and more specifically the teams that comprise the league, exist to serve their own ends. They are not specifically, or even primarily, about building the U.S. Men's National Team. This point came from a quality post on DCenters. Too right. It's possible I'm stating the point more emphatically than D, who wrote the DCenters post, but this is something you rarely hear stated explicitly. MLS is in this business for themselves and that's the way it should be; these two entities properly intersect only where individual players are involved.
One last editorial note before walking away for the weekend. Assuming things go according to plan, Fridays will look a lot like this from here on out. I'll post something about the Timbers, do my New England thing over on The Offside, and, when the regular season kicks off, I'll link to the previews on MLSnet.com and throw out some predictions on coming games, but, that should be all I do in this space on Fridays. In other words, it's my intention to go like hell all week and then chill on Friday. I'll make exceptions for MAJOR stories, but I'm not seeing any of those today (sorry, Nick).
Anyway, we'll see how this goes.
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The first involves a deadline that seems plenty significant as we head into next week. It's mentioned smack in the middle of an Ives Galarcep post on Red Bull New York's one-step-forward, two-steps-back attempt to sign a second designated player: "With the deadline for teams to be salary cap compliant set for next Friday, March 1st..."
I'm guessing there will be plenty of spazzing linked to that deadline in the coming days.
The other item just makes a point that doesn't get clearly mentioned all that much: Major League Soccer (MLS), and more specifically the teams that comprise the league, exist to serve their own ends. They are not specifically, or even primarily, about building the U.S. Men's National Team. This point came from a quality post on DCenters. Too right. It's possible I'm stating the point more emphatically than D, who wrote the DCenters post, but this is something you rarely hear stated explicitly. MLS is in this business for themselves and that's the way it should be; these two entities properly intersect only where individual players are involved.
One last editorial note before walking away for the weekend. Assuming things go according to plan, Fridays will look a lot like this from here on out. I'll post something about the Timbers, do my New England thing over on The Offside, and, when the regular season kicks off, I'll link to the previews on MLSnet.com and throw out some predictions on coming games, but, that should be all I do in this space on Fridays. In other words, it's my intention to go like hell all week and then chill on Friday. I'll make exceptions for MAJOR stories, but I'm not seeing any of those today (sorry, Nick).
Anyway, we'll see how this goes.
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I couldn't remember the last time I devoted a post on this site to the Portland Timbers without searching it. With the Timbers being an alleged focus of this blog, that's pretty sad. Worse, the last mention only came through another topic (for example). The last dedicated Timbers post appeared way back on February 2, 2007 - and that one carried a title that no one could possibly have understood. Dang.
Given all that, this week's post will be dedicated primarily to catching up - and it will also be the last time I will speak directly about catching up...unless, of course, I take another hiatus from weekly posts about the Timbers.
Fortunately, that will be easier than ever thanks to a deal the United Soccer Leagues (USL) crafted with Turner Broadcasting to broadcast USL games over the Web. Assuming I can work out the technology, every excuse I've got for missing Timbers games - money, baby-sitting, etc. - just evaporated (this assumption is far from automatic). While this makes me happy on one level, I've still got to figure the number of games I can view in a week winding up divorced...
Moving to more familiar terrain, I unearthed a few more Timbers'-related online resources today, all of which should help me keep up. I've mentioned the (100%-killer) Timbers Blog, which is hosted by the local MSM outlet, but there's also the Timber Mill, which is connected to the Soccer City USA message board: how I missed both of those sites for as long as I have, I'll never know. My visit to the Soccer City message board pointed me to IceFunk, some guy trying to establish a Timbers' presence on BigSoccer - and that seems to be working all right. After that, I've got the ol' bookmarks linked up to the rest of the local media, which means finding stuff shouldn't be all that hard.
Making time to post things, well, that's something else again. But between all that, I ought to find plenty of grist for posts; all y'all should too, I suppose, which raises questions as to what I'm doing here.
Moving on now to actual news...
...it's mostly personnel related. The most recent signing I'm seeing brought former Real Salt Lake defender Cameron Knowles to Portland. If you're looking for speculation, the aforementioned IceFunk linked to an article from a local biweekly titled the Portland Tribune to suggest that Andrew Gregor, who very briefly played for the Timbers a while back, may show up for a longer stint. The use of word "reportedly" in the article has me wondering whether this is done and dusted, but the world won't end if this turns out to be faulty.
Reaching back a little further (ahem, into the Timbers Blog archive), the Timbers signed a pair of players on February 16: Lawrence Olum and Kevin Meissner. Going back further still (yikes! February 4?!), that's when a pair of last year's players, Luke "Krispy" Kreamalmeyer and Lee Morrison re-signed with the Timbers. I'm embarrassed to admit that only Kreamalmeyer has managed to make a sufficient impression with me, but what success the Timbers enjoyed last year seemed to involve him; I draw a total blank when it comes to Morrison. For the rest of them, I have no friggin' clue. I'll have to see them play before saying much of anything.
Fortunately, that will be - or ought to be anyway - easier than ever to do. Looking forward to it greatly.
Given all that, this week's post will be dedicated primarily to catching up - and it will also be the last time I will speak directly about catching up...unless, of course, I take another hiatus from weekly posts about the Timbers.
Fortunately, that will be easier than ever thanks to a deal the United Soccer Leagues (USL) crafted with Turner Broadcasting to broadcast USL games over the Web. Assuming I can work out the technology, every excuse I've got for missing Timbers games - money, baby-sitting, etc. - just evaporated (this assumption is far from automatic). While this makes me happy on one level, I've still got to figure the number of games I can view in a week winding up divorced...
Moving to more familiar terrain, I unearthed a few more Timbers'-related online resources today, all of which should help me keep up. I've mentioned the (100%-killer) Timbers Blog, which is hosted by the local MSM outlet, but there's also the Timber Mill, which is connected to the Soccer City USA message board: how I missed both of those sites for as long as I have, I'll never know. My visit to the Soccer City message board pointed me to IceFunk, some guy trying to establish a Timbers' presence on BigSoccer - and that seems to be working all right. After that, I've got the ol' bookmarks linked up to the rest of the local media, which means finding stuff shouldn't be all that hard.
Making time to post things, well, that's something else again. But between all that, I ought to find plenty of grist for posts; all y'all should too, I suppose, which raises questions as to what I'm doing here.
Moving on now to actual news...
...it's mostly personnel related. The most recent signing I'm seeing brought former Real Salt Lake defender Cameron Knowles to Portland. If you're looking for speculation, the aforementioned IceFunk linked to an article from a local biweekly titled the Portland Tribune to suggest that Andrew Gregor, who very briefly played for the Timbers a while back, may show up for a longer stint. The use of word "reportedly" in the article has me wondering whether this is done and dusted, but the world won't end if this turns out to be faulty.
Reaching back a little further (ahem, into the Timbers Blog archive), the Timbers signed a pair of players on February 16: Lawrence Olum and Kevin Meissner. Going back further still (yikes! February 4?!), that's when a pair of last year's players, Luke "Krispy" Kreamalmeyer and Lee Morrison re-signed with the Timbers. I'm embarrassed to admit that only Kreamalmeyer has managed to make a sufficient impression with me, but what success the Timbers enjoyed last year seemed to involve him; I draw a total blank when it comes to Morrison. For the rest of them, I have no friggin' clue. I'll have to see them play before saying much of anything.
Fortunately, that will be - or ought to be anyway - easier than ever to do. Looking forward to it greatly.
Here, I'll pass on with little commentary Steve Davis' deliciously cynical explanation as to why the United States has a better shot at hosting the 2014 World Cup as opposed to the 2018 bid we're reportedly pursuing.
The whiff of sleaze isn't something you'd point out to your dear ol' grandma, but it does match my understanding of the way things work in the FIFA universe. And your grandma would still be proud of the accomplishment.
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The whiff of sleaze isn't something you'd point out to your dear ol' grandma, but it does match my understanding of the way things work in the FIFA universe. And your grandma would still be proud of the accomplishment.
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After accidentally taking a day (or two) off, I'm back on track with posting to The Offside. The first item talks about the New England Revolution's win over the Los Angeles Galaxy yesterday in Bermuda - that and my aspirations to make a trophy to celebrate the Revolution taking the spoils.
The second is more simple: there are two, um, mature Japanese players who joined the Revs as trialists. Don't know anything more about them than what I've got over there, but I'm certainly open to anything that might help the team.
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The second is more simple: there are two, um, mature Japanese players who joined the Revs as trialists. Don't know anything more about them than what I've got over there, but I'm certainly open to anything that might help the team.
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It only occurs to me now that I should have written this one first...oh well.
In spite of what wound up being an impressive stupor (hey, it was my birthday) I managed to retain a thing or two about both of last night's CONCACAF Champions Cup games: CD Olimpia v. DC United and Puntarenas FC v. Houston Dynamo. I'll start with what everyone else has said before adding/seconding comments of my own.
It seems wise to start with a couple articles that discussed both games, one by Jeff Carlisle for ESPN (LINK - they're covering this tournament pretty well so far) and the other by Marc Connolly posted on USSoccerplayers.com (LINK). Steven Goff, the Washington Post's soccer guy, somewhat naturally emphasized the DC game, and I'm guessing it's not just because he's a local - i.e. DC's was the more remarkable game; but he turned in a pair, one for his blog and the other for the Post (LINK). And, to get all the MSM stuff into one paragraph, the Houston Chronicle devoted all their copy to Houston's loss to Puntarenas.
And, oh my god, I'm a monster. I haven't gotten to the scores yet:
Puntarenas FC 1 - 0 Houston Dynamo
CD Olimpia 1 - 4 DC United
It's that second score that explains why the DC United corner of the soccer blogosphere is so happy today. An American's View posted a nice wrap, though it's worth mentioning that this was the most critical report I've seen on DC's performance; he also found a highlight reel from YouTube, so's all you late-comers can see what you missed (NOTE: worth viewing for Christian Gomez's first and Luciano Emilio's goal alone). DCenters produced a pair (if not more), one written in the first flush of victory, the other after some sober (hungover?) reflection. By the way, I know of no Dynamo blogs apart from Soccer y Futbol, but would invite anyone to pass along links/info if they know of others.
So...what did I see and think? Here goes:
Puntarenas v. Houston
Truth be told, I started fast-forwarding the VCR around the 88th minute thinking that Houston had gutted out a zero-zero draw. Even with the tape spinning faster, the opening through which Puntarenas' Kurt Bernard scored (off a deflection) was big enough that I actually stopped the tape in time to see the goal in real-time. So, yeah, pretty big hole and that lends some credence to the Chronicle's contention that fatigue sunk the Dynamo. Overall, the Dynamo looked ragged - damned ragged at that - and only offense that comes to mind came through Paul Dalglish and Brian Mullan. Otherwise, they looked nothing short of pinned in. To be sure, the field was a factor. Not only was the playing area tight and hemmed in by walls, but it sucked; the thing looked a step down from the junior varsity field I played on in Pullman, Washington and that wasn't even a true rectangle (one corner pinched in leaving no more than three yards on one side of the penalty area). Still, they defended well, even after going down a player with Eddie Robinson's mystery ejection. And, yeah, the officiating wasn't all that good, but it was expected...DC got lucky there.
For all that, though, I'm with the consensus view that Houston is hardly out of the tournament. I mean, if they play like this next Thursday then, yesh, they're doomed. But I don't see that happening. This one ought to be close...
CD Olimpia v. DC United
...unlike the second leg to this one. Dang. I'll start by admitting that when you program your brain a certain way, train it to expect a given outcome, that can really color what you see. I figured that when Olimpia tied the game, thereby cancelling out what could very well have been a moment of brilliance from Christian Gomez (that first goal was beautiful...seriously, go watch it...now), I expected the game would then shape up as expected. This isn't what remotely happened, of course, and it was fun to watch.
Two things - one good, one bad - stood out most for me about this game: Good, DC United passing circles around Olimpia in the opposition's half right around the 73rd minute, which was both incredible and ominous; Bad, the number of times DC's first touches got well away from them - Olimpia gave them insane amounts of space. On this last bit, I know DC will tighten up the touches in the regular season, but I also expect that MLS clubs will press more.
Still, this was a very, very impressive performance for DC; as someone commented after DCenters "first impressions" post, the rest of the league's teams must have been watching this, thinking about their own rust, and thinking, "Oh shit, they're back." (that was from BigKris, for the record). A couple mystery bootings from Facundo Erpen and Clyde Simms' loose marking on the Olimpia goal aside, they even defended fairly well - and those Hondurans had some tricks. On an individual level, I may as well mention what everyone already knows: Christian Gomez is really, really good; another commenter (Matt Y) to the same post got it essentially correct when he advised DC to "pay him whatever he asks." They'd be stupid not to. Also, Luciano Emilio met the expectations I had for him; the (nice, clever) goal aside, he holds up the ball quite well and has great awareness of the players around him; he looks like a rock-star acquistion. The only part of this "attacking triangle" who didn't impress me was Jaime Moreno. He didn't play horribly - apart from a give-away in the first half, which he didn't even bother to chase down (tsk, tsk, tsk) - but he also didn't look like the player he has been up to midway through 2006. That bears watching as the season progresses.
Still, the MLS delegation did us proud - proud to bursting in DC's case. Nice work, fellas.
In spite of what wound up being an impressive stupor (hey, it was my birthday) I managed to retain a thing or two about both of last night's CONCACAF Champions Cup games: CD Olimpia v. DC United and Puntarenas FC v. Houston Dynamo. I'll start with what everyone else has said before adding/seconding comments of my own.
It seems wise to start with a couple articles that discussed both games, one by Jeff Carlisle for ESPN (LINK - they're covering this tournament pretty well so far) and the other by Marc Connolly posted on USSoccerplayers.com (LINK). Steven Goff, the Washington Post's soccer guy, somewhat naturally emphasized the DC game, and I'm guessing it's not just because he's a local - i.e. DC's was the more remarkable game; but he turned in a pair, one for his blog and the other for the Post (LINK). And, to get all the MSM stuff into one paragraph, the Houston Chronicle devoted all their copy to Houston's loss to Puntarenas.
And, oh my god, I'm a monster. I haven't gotten to the scores yet:
Puntarenas FC 1 - 0 Houston Dynamo
CD Olimpia 1 - 4 DC United
It's that second score that explains why the DC United corner of the soccer blogosphere is so happy today. An American's View posted a nice wrap, though it's worth mentioning that this was the most critical report I've seen on DC's performance; he also found a highlight reel from YouTube, so's all you late-comers can see what you missed (NOTE: worth viewing for Christian Gomez's first and Luciano Emilio's goal alone). DCenters produced a pair (if not more), one written in the first flush of victory, the other after some sober (hungover?) reflection. By the way, I know of no Dynamo blogs apart from Soccer y Futbol, but would invite anyone to pass along links/info if they know of others.
So...what did I see and think? Here goes:
Puntarenas v. Houston
Truth be told, I started fast-forwarding the VCR around the 88th minute thinking that Houston had gutted out a zero-zero draw. Even with the tape spinning faster, the opening through which Puntarenas' Kurt Bernard scored (off a deflection) was big enough that I actually stopped the tape in time to see the goal in real-time. So, yeah, pretty big hole and that lends some credence to the Chronicle's contention that fatigue sunk the Dynamo. Overall, the Dynamo looked ragged - damned ragged at that - and only offense that comes to mind came through Paul Dalglish and Brian Mullan. Otherwise, they looked nothing short of pinned in. To be sure, the field was a factor. Not only was the playing area tight and hemmed in by walls, but it sucked; the thing looked a step down from the junior varsity field I played on in Pullman, Washington and that wasn't even a true rectangle (one corner pinched in leaving no more than three yards on one side of the penalty area). Still, they defended well, even after going down a player with Eddie Robinson's mystery ejection. And, yeah, the officiating wasn't all that good, but it was expected...DC got lucky there.
For all that, though, I'm with the consensus view that Houston is hardly out of the tournament. I mean, if they play like this next Thursday then, yesh, they're doomed. But I don't see that happening. This one ought to be close...
CD Olimpia v. DC United
...unlike the second leg to this one. Dang. I'll start by admitting that when you program your brain a certain way, train it to expect a given outcome, that can really color what you see. I figured that when Olimpia tied the game, thereby cancelling out what could very well have been a moment of brilliance from Christian Gomez (that first goal was beautiful...seriously, go watch it...now), I expected the game would then shape up as expected. This isn't what remotely happened, of course, and it was fun to watch.
Two things - one good, one bad - stood out most for me about this game: Good, DC United passing circles around Olimpia in the opposition's half right around the 73rd minute, which was both incredible and ominous; Bad, the number of times DC's first touches got well away from them - Olimpia gave them insane amounts of space. On this last bit, I know DC will tighten up the touches in the regular season, but I also expect that MLS clubs will press more.
Still, this was a very, very impressive performance for DC; as someone commented after DCenters "first impressions" post, the rest of the league's teams must have been watching this, thinking about their own rust, and thinking, "Oh shit, they're back." (that was from BigKris, for the record). A couple mystery bootings from Facundo Erpen and Clyde Simms' loose marking on the Olimpia goal aside, they even defended fairly well - and those Hondurans had some tricks. On an individual level, I may as well mention what everyone already knows: Christian Gomez is really, really good; another commenter (Matt Y) to the same post got it essentially correct when he advised DC to "pay him whatever he asks." They'd be stupid not to. Also, Luciano Emilio met the expectations I had for him; the (nice, clever) goal aside, he holds up the ball quite well and has great awareness of the players around him; he looks like a rock-star acquistion. The only part of this "attacking triangle" who didn't impress me was Jaime Moreno. He didn't play horribly - apart from a give-away in the first half, which he didn't even bother to chase down (tsk, tsk, tsk) - but he also didn't look like the player he has been up to midway through 2006. That bears watching as the season progresses.
Still, the MLS delegation did us proud - proud to bursting in DC's case. Nice work, fellas.
Red Bull New York
I'm days late on this one, I'm sure, but Metrofanatic's front page (on this day, February 22nd) carries a shot of Bruce Arena's mug next to the words, "Expect a signing, likely a DP, 'either this week or next week.'" Ives Galarcep has more, along with some commentary/speculation (Good man; keep it coming). My thoughts: neat-o.
Houston Dynamo
Snuck smack in the middle of the Houston Chronicle's report on Houston's loss last night to Puntarenas FC was this phrase:
What, what?
Toronto FC
They keep telling me Conor Casey is coming....it's like Santa Claus all over again...
I'm days late on this one, I'm sure, but Metrofanatic's front page (on this day, February 22nd) carries a shot of Bruce Arena's mug next to the words, "Expect a signing, likely a DP, 'either this week or next week.'" Ives Galarcep has more, along with some commentary/speculation (Good man; keep it coming). My thoughts: neat-o.
Houston Dynamo
Snuck smack in the middle of the Houston Chronicle's report on Houston's loss last night to Puntarenas FC was this phrase:
"'It's not a big advantage, but it's an advantage,' [Puntarenas forward Kurt] Bernard, a member of the Costa Rican national team rumored to be headed to Major League Soccer, said."
What, what?
Toronto FC
They keep telling me Conor Casey is coming....it's like Santa Claus all over again...
FC Dallas
While word of the knee injury to Adrian Serioux was big enough - nothing like a second baptism of fire for that team's young back-line - it's some comments from FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow that pique interest:
The same quotes appear in the Dallas Morning News' report, but they somehow read more ominously over there. Wonder how this shakes our - or even whether we'll see or hear anything if it does.
Garlick and RSL
So, Real Salt Lake's (RSL) Scott Garlick retired from the game on Tuesday this week. Truth be told, I'm sad to see him go; I always liked ol' Scotty "Pepper" (who owns that nickname, by the way? Tino Palace?) and remember him minding nets for one of DC United's championships. Now comes the question of finding a reliable replacement, so as not to throw rookie Chris Seitz directly into the mix. The Deseret News' report (first link) mentions Red Bull New York's Jon Conway as an obvious candidate, as does Ives Galarcep on his blog. But I see that Zach Thornton's currently both training and, um, between projects. Yeah, he's older, but he's also likely to cost less at this point; Conway's cheap for now, but I'd figure he's heading up salary-wise.
Chicago Fire
Speaking of the Fire and Thornton, you can read more about that here, but I'm passing on the link for the comments on rookie Bakary Soumare. Sounds like he's showing well and raw.
Houston Dynamo
I saw that 'keeper Pat Onstad left Houston's CONCACAF Champs' Cup game early with a pulled right calf. Anyone heard anything about the extent of the injury?
While word of the knee injury to Adrian Serioux was big enough - nothing like a second baptism of fire for that team's young back-line - it's some comments from FC Dallas head coach Steve Morrow that pique interest:
"Morrow definitely feels that the Hoops got "damaged goods" but was quick not to assign blame to any one party."
"'I think it's something that the league needs to look at,' he said. 'It's their player and we brought him back here and knew nothing about his physical condition. I think the situation must be addressed and needs to get better.'"
The same quotes appear in the Dallas Morning News' report, but they somehow read more ominously over there. Wonder how this shakes our - or even whether we'll see or hear anything if it does.
Garlick and RSL
So, Real Salt Lake's (RSL) Scott Garlick retired from the game on Tuesday this week. Truth be told, I'm sad to see him go; I always liked ol' Scotty "Pepper" (who owns that nickname, by the way? Tino Palace?) and remember him minding nets for one of DC United's championships. Now comes the question of finding a reliable replacement, so as not to throw rookie Chris Seitz directly into the mix. The Deseret News' report (first link) mentions Red Bull New York's Jon Conway as an obvious candidate, as does Ives Galarcep on his blog. But I see that Zach Thornton's currently both training and, um, between projects. Yeah, he's older, but he's also likely to cost less at this point; Conway's cheap for now, but I'd figure he's heading up salary-wise.
Chicago Fire
Speaking of the Fire and Thornton, you can read more about that here, but I'm passing on the link for the comments on rookie Bakary Soumare. Sounds like he's showing well and raw.
Houston Dynamo
I saw that 'keeper Pat Onstad left Houston's CONCACAF Champs' Cup game early with a pulled right calf. Anyone heard anything about the extent of the injury?
I tried something new today: I actually checked the official sites for (most) of Major League Soccer's (MLS) clubs. While there's not a whole lot there that isn't on the main page, I did find a useful thing or two. For instance...
Columbus Crew
...the Columbus Crews' official site provides a handy grid to help fans track their preseason. I didn't know the Crew's preseason record currently stands at 4-1-1. Well, I'll be...
Real Salt Lake
And that 4-1-1 is a patch better than RSL's preseason record: a middling 2-3-1. No offense to either the team or their fans, but that ain't playoff caliber. For all that, I think this is true: "RSL will boast what many believe to be the most talented squad in the team's short history..." Now, if only they'll start playing like it.
Chicago Fire
While I was off staring too much at other things, the Chicago Fire got shee-lacked by the Kansas City Wizards. Holy poop. I wonder what their preseason record looks like - their site is mum on the subject...not that I blame them.
Pioneer Cup - On the Tube
I found this site by total freak accident, but it's telling me that the Pioneer Cup will air on Fox Soccer Channel (look in the upper right-hand corner). Sure hope it's true...and hope other preseason tourneys, like say the one coming up in Puerto Rico, get picked up as well.
Columbus Crew
...the Columbus Crews' official site provides a handy grid to help fans track their preseason. I didn't know the Crew's preseason record currently stands at 4-1-1. Well, I'll be...
Real Salt Lake
And that 4-1-1 is a patch better than RSL's preseason record: a middling 2-3-1. No offense to either the team or their fans, but that ain't playoff caliber. For all that, I think this is true: "RSL will boast what many believe to be the most talented squad in the team's short history..." Now, if only they'll start playing like it.
Chicago Fire
While I was off staring too much at other things, the Chicago Fire got shee-lacked by the Kansas City Wizards. Holy poop. I wonder what their preseason record looks like - their site is mum on the subject...not that I blame them.
Pioneer Cup - On the Tube
I found this site by total freak accident, but it's telling me that the Pioneer Cup will air on Fox Soccer Channel (look in the upper right-hand corner). Sure hope it's true...and hope other preseason tourneys, like say the one coming up in Puerto Rico, get picked up as well.
I feel inklings of guilt about pointing this out - I mean, cheerleaders have rights too, right? - but I wouldn't have believed anyone actually shows up to cheerleader tryouts for a soccer team without photographic evidence. It does occur to me now, that I've never hung out with cheerleaders, so perhaps it's my inability to understand their motivation...
Speaking of cheerleaders - or, more accurately, supporters' groups (crap...I shouldn't write such things) - Andrea Canales wrote a quote-tastic sprawler of an article about the merger of supporter groups out in Los Angeles. The most interesting part to this, for me anyway, came with the stuff about hooliganism - which is probably why Canales led with it. In any case, it sounds like LA's supporter groups police their own - good thing, too. I don't get the fan violence stuff (which is to say I believe I understand the basic impulse: a guy's balls do weird things to him in his youth; once you collectively let violence in, various kinds of escalations seem inevitable; where was I?). It sounds like a total hassle to me.
Finally, in one of those "what do I do with this one?" pieces, the Dallas Morning News did a preseason look at FC Dallas' Ramon Nunez and his state of mind. I hadn't heard about the "shirt-tossing" incident from last year's playoffs. Very dramatic.
For future reference, I think player profiles that truck in "intangibles" - e.g. a player's mental space - qualify as fluff...though, again, that's not a commentary on the articles themselves....which can be good, bad, or indifferent.
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Speaking of cheerleaders - or, more accurately, supporters' groups (crap...I shouldn't write such things) - Andrea Canales wrote a quote-tastic sprawler of an article about the merger of supporter groups out in Los Angeles. The most interesting part to this, for me anyway, came with the stuff about hooliganism - which is probably why Canales led with it. In any case, it sounds like LA's supporter groups police their own - good thing, too. I don't get the fan violence stuff (which is to say I believe I understand the basic impulse: a guy's balls do weird things to him in his youth; once you collectively let violence in, various kinds of escalations seem inevitable; where was I?). It sounds like a total hassle to me.
Finally, in one of those "what do I do with this one?" pieces, the Dallas Morning News did a preseason look at FC Dallas' Ramon Nunez and his state of mind. I hadn't heard about the "shirt-tossing" incident from last year's playoffs. Very dramatic.
For future reference, I think player profiles that truck in "intangibles" - e.g. a player's mental space - qualify as fluff...though, again, that's not a commentary on the articles themselves....which can be good, bad, or indifferent.
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ESPN reports that Convey's season with Reading is over. Ouch. On the upside it sounds like the surgery on his knee is more precautionary than anything.
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While I'm pretty sure this is old news - and it's possible I've already mentioned this (yep) - Chivas USA's acquisition of Maykel Galindo from the Seattle Sounders has me sufficiently curious to post it prominently. While LA Soccer News' top-drawer bio more properly belongs to the "Bum-Fluff" category (which clarifies the category nicely by pointing out that I don't count these as weak articles, so much as they contain "soft" content), it should give some impression of who this guy is.
I can't explain why I think Galindo will work out well for Chivas, but seeing I wasn't the only one further piques my interest. This comes from Jeff Bradley's most recent First XI column for MLSnet.com:
Here I didn't even know about the speed. I'd just heard good things - even if those things were kinda generic.
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I can't explain why I think Galindo will work out well for Chivas, but seeing I wasn't the only one further piques my interest. This comes from Jeff Bradley's most recent First XI column for MLSnet.com:
"This is an under-the-radar move that could pay off big for Chivas. Galindo, who defected from Cuba two years ago, can fly. If Chivas had a weakness a year ago it was the lack of a speedy striker to complement Razov."
Here I didn't even know about the speed. I'd just heard good things - even if those things were kinda generic.
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Even if I can't for the life of me figure out how one finds individual articles on the Columbus Dispatch's website, I think enough of their "tale of woe" profile of Crew new-boy Andy Herron to pass it on (if the link takes you to an index page, hit the link about the earth shaking). For the record, I've always kind of liked Herron and wonder whether the Chicago Fire didn't screw up in letting him go; Herron, for his part, points to a "communication problem" with Dave Sarachan.
Elsewhere, there's plenty of good stuff in Steve Davis' freelancer* for MLSnet.com - whether it's Toronto FC's incredible season-ticket sales or word from Chivas USA's player pool - but the item that stuck with me was this:
Yeah, I know enough about how little money there is to be found in soccer writing, but, the cheap bastards! Anyway, I loved those columns.
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Elsewhere, there's plenty of good stuff in Steve Davis' freelancer* for MLSnet.com - whether it's Toronto FC's incredible season-ticket sales or word from Chivas USA's player pool - but the item that stuck with me was this:
"Conrad played briefly in Poland, where those European keyboards can be tricky, with goofy characters and letters in odd places. He got frustrated writing direct mails at the cyber cafes, which charged by the hour. So he vented all his angst in a rambling, clever 1,500-word e-mail sent to many recipients - which became the genesis of a freeform column he began penning for SI.com."
"'They weren't paying me, so I didn't feel bad about ... writing about whatever I wanted,' Conrad said."
Yeah, I know enough about how little money there is to be found in soccer writing, but, the cheap bastards! Anyway, I loved those columns.
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With a hat-tip to Metrofanatic and acknowledging I'm - what? - two days behind on this at least, I can report that Red Bull New York's perfect preseason record came to an end this weekend. RBNY stumbled with a 3-1 loss to the Houston Dynamo and recovered to a crawl with a 1-1 draw against Real Salt Lake.
Ian Plenderleith, a contributor to USSoccerplayers.com provided a full round-up of the weekend's scores. The only take-away from that: close scores against unheralded college teams can only mean it's preseason...I hope. I mean, a one-goal win over UC-Irvine? C'mon...
Players
Big Apple Soccer reports that Markus Schopp will undergo an MRI for his groin. Ouch.
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Ian Plenderleith, a contributor to USSoccerplayers.com provided a full round-up of the weekend's scores. The only take-away from that: close scores against unheralded college teams can only mean it's preseason...I hope. I mean, a one-goal win over UC-Irvine? C'mon...
Players
Big Apple Soccer reports that Markus Schopp will undergo an MRI for his groin. Ouch.
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I posted a second-hand game summary for the New England Revolution's first preseason game over on The Offside. For this site's independent record, the Revs topped the mighty, mighty Bermuda Hogges/Select by 3-1. And the best news in the report is word of decent outings for some new and prospective signings.
Here's the record so far: 1-0-0.
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Here's the record so far: 1-0-0.
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I'm happy to report that there's a fair breadth of coverage ahead of the Houston Dynamo's and DC United's entry into the CONCACAF Champions' Cup today.
On the DC United side, MLSnet.com fronted a respectably cautious preview on their "ever-smiling" site, though, not surprisingly, Steve Goff's write-up for the Washington Post adds some tarnish to that silver lining. And the DC United blogs that come readily to mind (An American's View and DCenters) have also chucked some warm thoughts on the fire.
As always, the Houston Chronicle has this covered (and how: LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK - nice local color/flavor on this last one) and the Soccer y Futbol blog chips in nicely with details on the weather, the sun, what to expect from the Dynamo by way of tactics, etc.
Put it all together and you've got something like good reason to 1) be pessimistic about the MLS clubs' prospects, 2) expect to be somewhat bored when you take in these games. If I hear about the "conditioning angle" one more time....I don't know....I'll be forced to blot it out with cheap whiskey? (Sorry: horrible night's sleep last night; that's the best I've got today.) Moving to more concrete details, and differences in team style that will likely manifest during the regular season aside, I expect the tactics Soccer y Futbol expects from Houston will match those from DC United (and I think it's fair to say the DCenters write-up concurs):
So, no, our guys don't have the legs to play for the ages, but I'm jonesin' so, so badly for the regular season that I'd probably tune in to watch team practice if Fox Soccer was willing to show it. Like a lot of you, I've adjusted my expectations to the point that a narrow loss will be cause enough to celebrate - though that's not to say I believe an actual result is impossible either.
Nice as the local stuff is, I'm going to credit Jeff Carlisle with the best one-stop, combined preview I've seen. There's just lots of good stuff in here, from players to watch on the Central American teams, to one great, big detail I totally overlooked when writing my preview on these games - and that's in spite of looking fairly closely at each tournament since the late 1990s: both MLS victories in the Champions' Cup (DC United, 1998; LA Galaxy, 2000) happened on U.S. soil. That should have been pretty obvious - especially considering I caught the 1998 edition live.
Anyway, good luck to both teams - and their fans. You've got at least one New England fan at your backs.
On a personal note, circumstances came together in such a way as to allow me time and space to watch both of today's games. This made me happy. It only occurred to me this morning that, because I have to tape the Houston/Puntarenas game, I'll more than likely discover the outcome from that game - and likely again and again - when I take in DC United/CD Olimpia. This made me sad.
I don't know what I'll do at this point. Probably watch the Houston game anyway, just to see what they look like. The principle at work here isn't all that different than the one affecting methadone and heroin....
On the DC United side, MLSnet.com fronted a respectably cautious preview on their "ever-smiling" site, though, not surprisingly, Steve Goff's write-up for the Washington Post adds some tarnish to that silver lining. And the DC United blogs that come readily to mind (An American's View and DCenters) have also chucked some warm thoughts on the fire.
As always, the Houston Chronicle has this covered (and how: LINK, LINK, LINK, LINK - nice local color/flavor on this last one) and the Soccer y Futbol blog chips in nicely with details on the weather, the sun, what to expect from the Dynamo by way of tactics, etc.
Put it all together and you've got something like good reason to 1) be pessimistic about the MLS clubs' prospects, 2) expect to be somewhat bored when you take in these games. If I hear about the "conditioning angle" one more time....I don't know....I'll be forced to blot it out with cheap whiskey? (Sorry: horrible night's sleep last night; that's the best I've got today.) Moving to more concrete details, and differences in team style that will likely manifest during the regular season aside, I expect the tactics Soccer y Futbol expects from Houston will match those from DC United (and I think it's fair to say the DCenters write-up concurs):
"Don't be surprised to see 10 Dynamos in their half when Puntarenas has the ball. It will be a wait-and-see approach to conserve as much energy as possible."
So, no, our guys don't have the legs to play for the ages, but I'm jonesin' so, so badly for the regular season that I'd probably tune in to watch team practice if Fox Soccer was willing to show it. Like a lot of you, I've adjusted my expectations to the point that a narrow loss will be cause enough to celebrate - though that's not to say I believe an actual result is impossible either.
Nice as the local stuff is, I'm going to credit Jeff Carlisle with the best one-stop, combined preview I've seen. There's just lots of good stuff in here, from players to watch on the Central American teams, to one great, big detail I totally overlooked when writing my preview on these games - and that's in spite of looking fairly closely at each tournament since the late 1990s: both MLS victories in the Champions' Cup (DC United, 1998; LA Galaxy, 2000) happened on U.S. soil. That should have been pretty obvious - especially considering I caught the 1998 edition live.
Anyway, good luck to both teams - and their fans. You've got at least one New England fan at your backs.
On a personal note, circumstances came together in such a way as to allow me time and space to watch both of today's games. This made me happy. It only occurred to me this morning that, because I have to tape the Houston/Puntarenas game, I'll more than likely discover the outcome from that game - and likely again and again - when I take in DC United/CD Olimpia. This made me sad.
I don't know what I'll do at this point. Probably watch the Houston game anyway, just to see what they look like. The principle at work here isn't all that different than the one affecting methadone and heroin....
As part of my ongoing attempt to keep readers of The Offside (and this space) up to date on the New England Revolution's preseason tour of Bermuda, I dug deeper than I ever have into Bermudian soccer. Unlike my previous digging in a similar vein, where I basically tuned into the reality that 65,000 people can actually field a national team, I dug more into where Bermuda stands relative to the rest of the Caribbean soccer world for this latest effort. The short answer: a couple miles north of the U.S. Virgin Islands and some long miles south of Haiti.
Anyway, it's kind of fun stuff. Moreover, this should be of interest to Los Angeles Galaxy fans, whose team will face the Bermuda Hogges (aka, the Bermudian National Team) on Thursday.
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Anyway, it's kind of fun stuff. Moreover, this should be of interest to Los Angeles Galaxy fans, whose team will face the Bermuda Hogges (aka, the Bermudian National Team) on Thursday.
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I know the date is off, but my losing life-long war with technology registered still another setback yesterday when I found myself stranded from the login page for The Offside. (Honestly, I'm willing at this point to submit to eating flavored paste from tubes and getting my eyes wired into a see-through computer screen that will allow me to be ever-productive; just give me a friggin' flying car and I'll go peacefully....)
At any rate, I posted yesterday's item today: a think-piece on expectations that Andy Dorman's role with the New England Revolution will grow and if and how he'll cope. All I'll say here is I'm unsure as to whether he's got the "extra something special" to fill the whole left in the Revolution squad by Dempsey's departure. Best case: he'll be a different, less-flashy, but by no means less effective player.
So, Dorman, prove me wrong, you Welsh stud.
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At any rate, I posted yesterday's item today: a think-piece on expectations that Andy Dorman's role with the New England Revolution will grow and if and how he'll cope. All I'll say here is I'm unsure as to whether he's got the "extra something special" to fill the whole left in the Revolution squad by Dempsey's departure. Best case: he'll be a different, less-flashy, but by no means less effective player.
So, Dorman, prove me wrong, you Welsh stud.
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I'll spare you the tales of blind alleys and data I just can't find and will instead just direct you to my tailored preview of the CONCACAF Champions Cup. More specifically, the article looks back over the past few years to see what that tells us about the prospects for Major League Soccer's (MLS) delegation.
I owe a massive hat-tip to the Wikipedia entry on the subject, which reads so, so much better than the official site (you'll find the trip down memory lane here by using the drop menu under "previous tournaments").
If I communicated my point well enough, you should sense that I'm a bit pessimistic about how well the Houston Dynamo and DC United will do this time around - though only pessimistic in terms of one of them winning the title. Our track record simply hasn't been much, especially in recent seasons when the Costa Rican clubs, in particular, seem to have raised their game; that we'll have to face the Mexican clubs in later rounds only deepens a mild sense of dread. And, please, don't read too much into that: I'm really, really hoping both teams show well (and, happily, I'll get to see both games) and will lavish all manners of praise upon them if and when they do.
But, hey, W Connection FC did it, didn't they?
And, by the way, I just saw Climbing the Ladder does its usual great work on breaking down the tournament. Good stuff.
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I owe a massive hat-tip to the Wikipedia entry on the subject, which reads so, so much better than the official site (you'll find the trip down memory lane here by using the drop menu under "previous tournaments").
If I communicated my point well enough, you should sense that I'm a bit pessimistic about how well the Houston Dynamo and DC United will do this time around - though only pessimistic in terms of one of them winning the title. Our track record simply hasn't been much, especially in recent seasons when the Costa Rican clubs, in particular, seem to have raised their game; that we'll have to face the Mexican clubs in later rounds only deepens a mild sense of dread. And, please, don't read too much into that: I'm really, really hoping both teams show well (and, happily, I'll get to see both games) and will lavish all manners of praise upon them if and when they do.
But, hey, W Connection FC did it, didn't they?
And, by the way, I just saw Climbing the Ladder does its usual great work on breaking down the tournament. Good stuff.
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The opening round of punditry about the United States' participation in both the CONCACAF Gold Cup and South America's Copa America has produced something of a consensus view, even if it's one with ample shades of grey. The basic point: Bradley will take something like two separate teams to each tournament, a decision that carries the potential to cheat our players out of what the Copa would ideally provide them - a chance at meaningful games against top-quality competition. The second part of this consensus amounts to an "oh well" acceptance that Bradley's position makes sense.
That's not to say everyone is quite on board. For instance, ESPN's Jeff Carlisle takes the strongest position against(-ish):
As you can see, I modified the word "against" above (yes, to the point of making it non-sensical) in part because I don't think Carlisle would disagree with Ives Galarcep's assessment of the circumstances under which Bradley works:
I almost wrote a post last week trying to split the difference between Carlisle and Galarcep; put another way, I think they both have a point, even as I believe Galarcep's better faces up to the realities in play. I'd go so far as to say I was leaning in Carlisle's direction. For whatever reason, I'm not all that sold on the Confederations' Cup as a high-stakes tournament - do participating countries take it as seriously as we think they do? - but the bigger point for me was seeing our players gain this experience. As a result, I'd be comfortable if Bradley turned the logic on its head and take players he is confident are World-Cup-2010-bound to the Copa for some seasoning.
But something I came across today - a Jeff Rusnack column, in fact - gave me a little more to think about:
That's a good argument...dammit. Good enough to knock me from contrarian to agnostic, to begin.
But another consideration has me leaning toward priotizing the Gold Cup - a simple desire to win something. Put it this way: I can't see us winning the Copa America, even with our best squad. Not this year, anyway. But the Gold Cup? If we bring our best squad, I expect us to win. And I'll take a happy feeling - e.g. winning an international tournament - over an intangible benefit any day.
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That's not to say everyone is quite on board. For instance, ESPN's Jeff Carlisle takes the strongest position against(-ish):
"Yet I can't shake the feeling that in some ways, the logic is all backwards. The primary reason for entering Copa America is that it provides better competition in a much more hostile environment than the Gold Cup does. But instead of sending its strongest team to Venezuela, the U.S. will be sending its B team. Both Brazil and Argentina have taken a similar approach in the past, but if last summer's World Cup proved anything, it's that even the most experienced American players would benefit from playing in Copa America, and the fact that they won't is a shame."
As you can see, I modified the word "against" above (yes, to the point of making it non-sensical) in part because I don't think Carlisle would disagree with Ives Galarcep's assessment of the circumstances under which Bradley works:
"The reality is that Bob Bradley doesn't have much of a choice when it comes to a preference for one major fact. The Gold Cup is a regional championship that clubs must allow its CONCACAF players compete in. Copa America is not the US team's regional championship and therefore clubs can stop their players from going, especially since that tournament takes place much closer to the European season."
I almost wrote a post last week trying to split the difference between Carlisle and Galarcep; put another way, I think they both have a point, even as I believe Galarcep's better faces up to the realities in play. I'd go so far as to say I was leaning in Carlisle's direction. For whatever reason, I'm not all that sold on the Confederations' Cup as a high-stakes tournament - do participating countries take it as seriously as we think they do? - but the bigger point for me was seeing our players gain this experience. As a result, I'd be comfortable if Bradley turned the logic on its head and take players he is confident are World-Cup-2010-bound to the Copa for some seasoning.
But something I came across today - a Jeff Rusnack column, in fact - gave me a little more to think about:
"Ideally, for U.S. interests, the dates for the tournaments would be reversed. But they aren't, which might not be so bad. After all, Onyewu, Beasley, Dempsey and other World Cup veterans have received their international baptism. Newcomers such as Jonathan Bornstein, Ricardo Clark and Jimmy Conrad are just getting theirs. And there's nothing like a game against Argentina on foreign soil to see whether they're ready."
That's a good argument...dammit. Good enough to knock me from contrarian to agnostic, to begin.
But another consideration has me leaning toward priotizing the Gold Cup - a simple desire to win something. Put it this way: I can't see us winning the Copa America, even with our best squad. Not this year, anyway. But the Gold Cup? If we bring our best squad, I expect us to win. And I'll take a happy feeling - e.g. winning an international tournament - over an intangible benefit any day.
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With a number of sources suggesting that the rumored arrival of Zinedine Zidane appears less likely today than it did on Friday, perhaps it's time to join Frank Dell'Appa in reining in expectations about a bum's rush of aging foreigners.
As much as seeing Zidane in Fire red (or white, depending on location) would be an exciting thing, that simply must be tempered by the fact that the "French legend" is heading down the wrong side of the hill. And I remain convinced that, marketing aside, these aren't the kinds of players to help Major League Soccer (MLS) take the proverbial next step. Sure Zidane is good - I'm guessing he'd still be better than half of MLS at 40 - but he's not going to win all that many games on his own, not anymore. In no small way, I count this something close to a good thing.
Personally, I'm hopeful that the Beckham Rule's unacknowledged Phase I - e.g. the signing, acquisition, and lavishing of riches upon David Beckham - is now complete. And I think Dell'Appa does well when he hints at what Phase II will look like:
When I watch the EPL these days, or even the Champions League, I'm watching out for players who bring a lot to their team, who could come to an MLS team as an outright star, but who couldn't command a payout that would demolish a given team's piggy bank. Let's just say MLS needs to think less about Stevie Gerrard and more about, oh say, Bolton's Kevin Nolan.
And, please, don't interpret that example as suggesting that MLS clubs limit their search to England...there's a whole world out there.
Then again, I'd argue the league would be better off still exploring another possibility Dell'Appa raises in his article:
Yup.
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As much as seeing Zidane in Fire red (or white, depending on location) would be an exciting thing, that simply must be tempered by the fact that the "French legend" is heading down the wrong side of the hill. And I remain convinced that, marketing aside, these aren't the kinds of players to help Major League Soccer (MLS) take the proverbial next step. Sure Zidane is good - I'm guessing he'd still be better than half of MLS at 40 - but he's not going to win all that many games on his own, not anymore. In no small way, I count this something close to a good thing.
Personally, I'm hopeful that the Beckham Rule's unacknowledged Phase I - e.g. the signing, acquisition, and lavishing of riches upon David Beckham - is now complete. And I think Dell'Appa does well when he hints at what Phase II will look like:
"Beckham should raise the Galaxy's game; but an Andres Guardado or Pavel Pardo could do that as well, for a lot less money."
When I watch the EPL these days, or even the Champions League, I'm watching out for players who bring a lot to their team, who could come to an MLS team as an outright star, but who couldn't command a payout that would demolish a given team's piggy bank. Let's just say MLS needs to think less about Stevie Gerrard and more about, oh say, Bolton's Kevin Nolan.
And, please, don't interpret that example as suggesting that MLS clubs limit their search to England...there's a whole world out there.
Then again, I'd argue the league would be better off still exploring another possibility Dell'Appa raises in his article:
"It makes more sense to contract five high-level players at, say, $2 million each than to break the bank for one import."
Yup.
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The Washington Post's Steve Goff - or St. Steven, as he may yet be dubbed for such services - revealed some fine-print details of how Major League Soccer (MLS) players get paid for their services on his Soccer Insider blog today.
There's more in here than can easily be discussed in dissected - at least in the time I have today - but it seems fair to describe the overall shape of the contract as pointing to an (extremely gradual) effort to making it harder to describe some league minimums as "embarrassing." That doesn't mean there aren't some weird and/or disappointing details in the numbers, though I'll only focus on the weird for now:
A look at this last one points to the happy coincidence that any player earning a league minimum could afford only a few of those prohibited activities (that's a bitch about spelunking, though).
In any case, I'm glad someone's sharing this stuff with the league being tightlipped as they are. Cool resource to have.
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There's more in here than can easily be discussed in dissected - at least in the time I have today - but it seems fair to describe the overall shape of the contract as pointing to an (extremely gradual) effort to making it harder to describe some league minimums as "embarrassing." That doesn't mean there aren't some weird and/or disappointing details in the numbers, though I'll only focus on the weird for now:
"-- If an MLS team receives up to 200,000 in prize money in a USSF, CONCACAF or FIFA sponsored tournament, the players will get 50 percent of it; if the prize money is more than 200,000, the players receive 50 percent of the first 200K and 30 percent of the amount over 200K."
"-- Players are prohibited from participating in other sports that may impair or destroy his ability and skill as a soccer player: football, boxing, wrestling, motorcycling, moped-riding, auto racing, skydiving, inline skating, downhill skiing, mountain biking, bike racing, rock climbing, rappelling, spelunking and hang-gliding. There are, of course, exceptions and casual family activities do not apply."
A look at this last one points to the happy coincidence that any player earning a league minimum could afford only a few of those prohibited activities (that's a bitch about spelunking, though).
In any case, I'm glad someone's sharing this stuff with the league being tightlipped as they are. Cool resource to have.
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While it's nice to finally know when qualifying for CONCACAF's Olympic slots takes place - March of 2008 - and swell as it is that the U-23s beat an MLS club (Chivas USA), the most interesting item in the Los Angeles Times' report on the Olympic team "taking shape" involves head coach Bob Bradley's state of mind.
What to make of this:
Whatever one thinks of Bradley - love him, hate him, think he's the future of the U.S. Soccer program, or someone the USSF is chasing down blind alley - it's hard not to admire the way he continues to behave as if he's already got the top job. I could be alone in reading that into his comments, but I don't think I am.
Bradley may not work out in the end, but it won't be for lack of trying.
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What to make of this:
"Assisting Bradley in this week's camp were Thomas Rongen, who has coached the U.S. under-20 national team into this summer's Under-20 World Cup in Canada, and John Hackworth, coach of the U.S. under-17 national team, which in May will try to qualify for the Under-17 World Cup in South Korea."
"It is probable that Bradley will eventually draw players from Rongen's team and, possibly, even from Hackworth's side, by 2008."
"'It's important that we share ideas,' he said of working alongside the two coaches. 'It's important that those programs understand how important they are and that they … are the building blocks. Any time we're all together and we can look at our players and discuss the things we see, discuss the things that need to be better, it helps.'"
Whatever one thinks of Bradley - love him, hate him, think he's the future of the U.S. Soccer program, or someone the USSF is chasing down blind alley - it's hard not to admire the way he continues to behave as if he's already got the top job. I could be alone in reading that into his comments, but I don't think I am.
Bradley may not work out in the end, but it won't be for lack of trying.
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I'll start with the big one - and, from any other source, I wouldn't have given this the teeniest, tiniest bit of credibility. Steve Goff posted word on Soccer Insider that the Chicago Fire has resumed the courtship of Zinedine Zidane. He also notes a decision "could be made" by Monday.
In a word, "wow." Zidane's age and the whole coming-out-of-retirement thing aside, this one would excite me.
In totally unrelated news, in spite of the fact both pieces share the same author (Goff), an article in yesterday's Washington Post reviewed Jay Needham's decision to pass on a developmental contract for DC United and to run with a shot at first-team soccer in Puerto Rico.
DC bloggers have already beat me in responding to this one (no surprise there, of course) and their reactions are, of course, worth the look. I'm fairly close to where DCenters' D was on this - "either Puerto Rico is overpaying for Needham, or DC misjudged its bid and the allure of playing for [Major League Soccer (MLS)]" - only more so. I honestly don't know how one faults Needham for this decision. However justified they may be from a budgeting point of view, MLS's developmental salaries are the sporting world's equivalent of stiffing the waiter; so long as he's got options that will pay more, and so long as he believes he's good enough for MLS, his decision assumes they'll keep an eye on him while he's earning more.
Anyway, I swear I saw one yesterday bemoaning DC's capacity to lose a player to the USL (can't find that one, dammit), but can you blame the guy? Really?
In a word, "wow." Zidane's age and the whole coming-out-of-retirement thing aside, this one would excite me.
In totally unrelated news, in spite of the fact both pieces share the same author (Goff), an article in yesterday's Washington Post reviewed Jay Needham's decision to pass on a developmental contract for DC United and to run with a shot at first-team soccer in Puerto Rico.
DC bloggers have already beat me in responding to this one (no surprise there, of course) and their reactions are, of course, worth the look. I'm fairly close to where DCenters' D was on this - "either Puerto Rico is overpaying for Needham, or DC misjudged its bid and the allure of playing for [Major League Soccer (MLS)]" - only more so. I honestly don't know how one faults Needham for this decision. However justified they may be from a budgeting point of view, MLS's developmental salaries are the sporting world's equivalent of stiffing the waiter; so long as he's got options that will pay more, and so long as he believes he's good enough for MLS, his decision assumes they'll keep an eye on him while he's earning more.
Anyway, I swear I saw one yesterday bemoaning DC's capacity to lose a player to the USL (can't find that one, dammit), but can you blame the guy? Really?
It's not often one gets to write "Red Bull New York (RBNY)" and "3-0-0" in the same sentence - unless, that is, one is noting the early-season record of the team that just beat them. But the 2007 preseason is shaping up very nicely for RBNY, who have managed a perfect record thus far.
It's not so much the 4-0 pounding meted out on the U.S. U-17s; that's a game any top-flight team should manage, really. But the 3-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards and, especially, the more recent 2-1 victory over DC United comes as a surprise - though news of defensive slips out of DC, less so.
In fact, the least surprising thing about all this is the glee RBNY fans are currently experiencing. Enjoy, guys, and don't pinch yourselves too hard...
Then again, it's possible happy the dream won't end. Ives Galarcep cobbled together a first team and formation based, presumably, on what's been used so far. It already looks impressive and, as he points out, will only look more so if RBNY can land Agustin Delgado in the coming weeks.
To steer this conversation toward the New England Revolution, word of a reloaded Red Bull is somewhat disconcerting; it's hard to escape the sense of a nearly-there team standing pat while everyone else improves.
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It's not so much the 4-0 pounding meted out on the U.S. U-17s; that's a game any top-flight team should manage, really. But the 3-1 win over the Kansas City Wizards and, especially, the more recent 2-1 victory over DC United comes as a surprise - though news of defensive slips out of DC, less so.
In fact, the least surprising thing about all this is the glee RBNY fans are currently experiencing. Enjoy, guys, and don't pinch yourselves too hard...
Then again, it's possible happy the dream won't end. Ives Galarcep cobbled together a first team and formation based, presumably, on what's been used so far. It already looks impressive and, as he points out, will only look more so if RBNY can land Agustin Delgado in the coming weeks.
To steer this conversation toward the New England Revolution, word of a reloaded Red Bull is somewhat disconcerting; it's hard to escape the sense of a nearly-there team standing pat while everyone else improves.
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Although plenty of games have been played, several more come this weekend with the Disney President's Day Soccer Festival....so, there'll be more to report in a space very much like this one come Monday. But the teams inked in for DisneyFest include Red Bull New York, Real Salt Lake, the Houston Dynamo, and the Chicago Fire.
I wish none of them luck...well, except maybe the Dynamo, who are relying on this tournament to get them riled and ready for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup game against Costa Rica's Puntarenas FC.
I'll touch on RBNY's preseason rip in another space; after that, though, the most interesting result came less because of the score itself than some chatter that followed. I'm referring, of course, to....
Columbus Crew v. Real Salt Lake
To begin, there's some wonderful, "homer" coverage at work on this 2-1 win for the Columbus Crew. Depending on whether you read the report from the Deseret News or the one from the Columbus Dispatch, you'll walk away thinking either of the teams did better than the other. (NOTE: The Dispatch's report doesn't seem to have a unique url; if you want to read it, click the article about "midfielder injury.")
But it's a single line from the Deseret report attracting most of the, well, ridicule:
Among those having fun with this is Ian Plenderleith (hey...it is hard to spell) over on USSoccerplayers.com; I'll let him speak for himself.
Chivas USA
In the only other preseason results I'm going to touch on here, Chivas USA dropped a game to the U-23s by a 2-0 scoreline. Given that Sasha Kljestan missed a penalty, one has to wonder about the comparative magnitude of this one.
I wish none of them luck...well, except maybe the Dynamo, who are relying on this tournament to get them riled and ready for the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup game against Costa Rica's Puntarenas FC.
I'll touch on RBNY's preseason rip in another space; after that, though, the most interesting result came less because of the score itself than some chatter that followed. I'm referring, of course, to....
Columbus Crew v. Real Salt Lake
To begin, there's some wonderful, "homer" coverage at work on this 2-1 win for the Columbus Crew. Depending on whether you read the report from the Deseret News or the one from the Columbus Dispatch, you'll walk away thinking either of the teams did better than the other. (NOTE: The Dispatch's report doesn't seem to have a unique url; if you want to read it, click the article about "midfielder injury.")
But it's a single line from the Deseret report attracting most of the, well, ridicule:
"We go in, we win our first 45 minutes, and that's a win for us in my opinion, and that's all that matters," said Real midfielder Carey Talley. "This is preseason, there would be a lot more pressure on (the second unit) if it were league points and I'm sure they'd do better. But it's new guys trying to get mixed in with the guys battling for positions."
Among those having fun with this is Ian Plenderleith (hey...it is hard to spell) over on USSoccerplayers.com; I'll let him speak for himself.
Chivas USA
In the only other preseason results I'm going to touch on here, Chivas USA dropped a game to the U-23s by a 2-0 scoreline. Given that Sasha Kljestan missed a penalty, one has to wonder about the comparative magnitude of this one.
Many years ago, Soccer America posed a challenge to its readers: write a brief column naming the worst player in Major League Soccer, stating the reasons why you thought as much. At the time, I chose Rob Smith, who, so far as I can recall played only for the Columbus Crew. My contribution said something like "in a league full of eager dimwits, Rob Smith stands tall above them all." It went on with much worse things following. I still feel guilty for that...though I still don't think of Smith as much of a player.
In any case, I'm trying to learn about posting photos. Bear with me.
As everyone's seen by now, the draw for this summer's Copa America was completed last night and the three groups set. And here is what the United States Men's National Team (USMNT) and everyone else in the tournament is looking at starting in late June:
As An American's View usefully points out (or that's where I saw it first, at least), qualifying for the second round of the Copa America is a little like reaching the MLS playoffs (not his phrasing, by the way, but mine): 8 of the the twelve teams will make that cut - the top two from each group, plus the top two third placed teams.
An American's View also happens to be the most optimistic about our chances, stating toward the bottom of his post that he "likes the USA's chances of advancing" and doesn't see any reason why we shouldn't get four or six points. The best answer to that optimism appears in Luis Arroyave's Red Card, specifically, this line:
To get a little tangential, I'm consistently fascinated at how soccer fans (or even political observers for that matter) reach the conclusions they do about which teams will do what. I'm closer to Arroyave's thinking, but holding up Ghana as a cautionary example hardly makes the case for anything more than caution. Put another way, what do I know about the current form of Paraguay, never mind Colombia, who didn't even compete in the 2006 World Cup (right? yep.) On the other hand, why not look at Argentina and wonder whether they won't wilt on the occasion, as they nearly did against Mexico?
At any rate, that seems a fair caveat to insert before posting a roundup of the rest of the prognostications I encountered in today's wanderings: "Totally hosed" reads the headline at du Nord, though that could be a commentary on how lucky Venezuela appears to have been with their group; while the content of his post focuses on his frustration that we passed on the Copa America for so many years, Luis Bueno also doesn't seem to like our chances; and a headline like, "Group of Death Redux" says enough about where Sports Illustrated is with this draw.
UPDATE: I missed a blogger in my roundup: Mike H from My Soccer Blog. He took a unique approach to figuring our chances in Group C: he looked at our past records against the teams in question. Novel idea.
With all this read and acknowledged, where am I?
Think of the Copa as a plate of unbuttered brussel sprouts; this isn't about pleasure or happiness, but health. And long-term health at that. So put me down on the sore backside half of the ledger. Argentina will want to open strong and, with the personnel at their disposal, I'm not sure we can stop them - though I'd still place a call to Francois Oman Biyik in Cameroon for some pointers; my chief, possibly-outdated impression of Paraguay is that they're hard to score against, which should match nicely with our, um, difficulties on offense;
And, no, butter don't mask the fact that brussel sprouts taste like shit.
Group A
Venezeula (host)
Uruguay
Bolivia
Peru
Group B
Brazil
Chile
Ecuador
Mexico
Group C
Argentina
United States (gulp!)
Paraguay
Colombia
As An American's View usefully points out (or that's where I saw it first, at least), qualifying for the second round of the Copa America is a little like reaching the MLS playoffs (not his phrasing, by the way, but mine): 8 of the the twelve teams will make that cut - the top two from each group, plus the top two third placed teams.
An American's View also happens to be the most optimistic about our chances, stating toward the bottom of his post that he "likes the USA's chances of advancing" and doesn't see any reason why we shouldn't get four or six points. The best answer to that optimism appears in Luis Arroyave's Red Card, specifically, this line:
"July 4, the U.S. plays Paraguay in its final group stage game. Doesn't sound very intimidating, does it? Then again, that's what people said about Ghana and we all know how that went."
To get a little tangential, I'm consistently fascinated at how soccer fans (or even political observers for that matter) reach the conclusions they do about which teams will do what. I'm closer to Arroyave's thinking, but holding up Ghana as a cautionary example hardly makes the case for anything more than caution. Put another way, what do I know about the current form of Paraguay, never mind Colombia, who didn't even compete in the 2006 World Cup (right? yep.) On the other hand, why not look at Argentina and wonder whether they won't wilt on the occasion, as they nearly did against Mexico?
At any rate, that seems a fair caveat to insert before posting a roundup of the rest of the prognostications I encountered in today's wanderings: "Totally hosed" reads the headline at du Nord, though that could be a commentary on how lucky Venezuela appears to have been with their group; while the content of his post focuses on his frustration that we passed on the Copa America for so many years, Luis Bueno also doesn't seem to like our chances; and a headline like, "Group of Death Redux" says enough about where Sports Illustrated is with this draw.
UPDATE: I missed a blogger in my roundup: Mike H from My Soccer Blog. He took a unique approach to figuring our chances in Group C: he looked at our past records against the teams in question. Novel idea.
With all this read and acknowledged, where am I?
Think of the Copa as a plate of unbuttered brussel sprouts; this isn't about pleasure or happiness, but health. And long-term health at that. So put me down on the sore backside half of the ledger. Argentina will want to open strong and, with the personnel at their disposal, I'm not sure we can stop them - though I'd still place a call to Francois Oman Biyik in Cameroon for some pointers; my chief, possibly-outdated impression of Paraguay is that they're hard to score against, which should match nicely with our, um, difficulties on offense;
And, no, butter don't mask the fact that brussel sprouts taste like shit.
(Editorial Note: While I'm not usually much on player "personality" articles, they're definitely a staple of sports reporting; as such, it seems wise to have this serve as a another "round-up" feature. And, every so often, they contain some good stuff, notably when they discuss state of mind/body, struggles, returning from struggles, etc.)
...as with today's first item (ooohhh...pushing ellipses through a parentheses and a paragraph jump...naughty).
DC United
For whatever reason, I expect big things from Luciano Emilio, even I can never remember which of his names go where. Today's Washington Post carries a decent look at the player and his life. But the key detail, and one I never got before, was that the team DC United will play in next week's CONCACAF Chumps' Cup 1st Leg (which I'll get to see - HUZZAH!!), is Emilio's former team. For the record, that's the Honduran club Olimpia.
Kansas City Wizards
This one's a two-day oldy, but the Kansas City Star examined the mental state of a seemingly rejuvenated Will John. I didn't know, 1) that he's young as he is, or 2) that all that much was expected of him. He seems at peace, which could portend a decent year.
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...as with today's first item (ooohhh...pushing ellipses through a parentheses and a paragraph jump...naughty).
DC United
For whatever reason, I expect big things from Luciano Emilio, even I can never remember which of his names go where. Today's Washington Post carries a decent look at the player and his life. But the key detail, and one I never got before, was that the team DC United will play in next week's CONCACAF Chumps' Cup 1st Leg (which I'll get to see - HUZZAH!!), is Emilio's former team. For the record, that's the Honduran club Olimpia.
Kansas City Wizards
This one's a two-day oldy, but the Kansas City Star examined the mental state of a seemingly rejuvenated Will John. I didn't know, 1) that he's young as he is, or 2) that all that much was expected of him. He seems at peace, which could portend a decent year.
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(Editorial Note: I have to confess that I felt like my editorial experiment with making sprawling, multi-subject posts did some damage to my visits. Put another way, it seems like readers follow subjects - e.g. a player's name, team names, etc. - while leaving the general information stuff to, frankly, better and first-hand sources. I can't say I blame them for that, but doing posts by subject groupings saves me a good chunk of time while allowing for broader coverage. As such, I think I'll stick with this kind of thing, even as it's not doing me any favors visitors-wise.)
Caveats out of the way, let's look at some of the movement, shall we?
DC United
Surprised as I am it took as long as it did, Troy Perkins signed a new deal with DC United. Let's hope this one's not a parking-lot mugging like the last one, yeah? Not that we'll know; the terms of the deal were not disclosed...at least not till tomorrow, when Steve Goff fills in some blanks (UPDATE: already done, actually, though not confirmed).
FC Dallas
The most interesting signing/rumor news of the day comes out of Dallas, even if it comes at the bottom of a puff-piece on Kenny Cooper's national team ambitions (a player interested in continuing to play for his country? No!!) Roberto Mina signed a new, two-year deal to stay in Dallas, which strikes me as good news for the Hoops; when Mina's good, he's a tough one to contain. But more intriguing than that is word that FC Dallas is chasing a young Colombian midfielder named Juan Carlos Toja. As often happens, I know nothing about this kid and, while I could probably find something in the Spanish-language media (with the help of my new friends!!), it's better, 1) to wait till he signs - why spazz now, and 2) to see how he does if and when he arrives in MLS.
Chicago Fire
Just to make the "rumors" part of the headline add up, I think I'll note the Chicago Fire's interest in Celtic FC forward Maciej Zurawski. That's listed under "Players of Local Interest," which makes sense for Zurawski, but Rafa Marquez?
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Caveats out of the way, let's look at some of the movement, shall we?
DC United
Surprised as I am it took as long as it did, Troy Perkins signed a new deal with DC United. Let's hope this one's not a parking-lot mugging like the last one, yeah? Not that we'll know; the terms of the deal were not disclosed...at least not till tomorrow, when Steve Goff fills in some blanks (UPDATE: already done, actually, though not confirmed).
FC Dallas
The most interesting signing/rumor news of the day comes out of Dallas, even if it comes at the bottom of a puff-piece on Kenny Cooper's national team ambitions (a player interested in continuing to play for his country? No!!) Roberto Mina signed a new, two-year deal to stay in Dallas, which strikes me as good news for the Hoops; when Mina's good, he's a tough one to contain. But more intriguing than that is word that FC Dallas is chasing a young Colombian midfielder named Juan Carlos Toja. As often happens, I know nothing about this kid and, while I could probably find something in the Spanish-language media (with the help of my new friends!!), it's better, 1) to wait till he signs - why spazz now, and 2) to see how he does if and when he arrives in MLS.
Chicago Fire
Just to make the "rumors" part of the headline add up, I think I'll note the Chicago Fire's interest in Celtic FC forward Maciej Zurawski. That's listed under "Players of Local Interest," which makes sense for Zurawski, but Rafa Marquez?
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Though I discovered MatchNight only recently - and though I never referred to it all that often since finding it - I have to confess to some shock and, well, sadness at reading that the site will shut down on March 31.
Some of their affiliates - UnitedMania and 3rd Degree, though not the little corner of MatchNight I visit most often - have mournfully noted the passing and each have vowed to carry on, but the best bit of this wake I've seen so far on this came from Andrea Canales, which she posted on her team blog, Sideline Views. Here's the part I noted:
I followed the political side of this world for a couple of years and saw some people graduate up the ranks, though most of that was professional-to-professional, as when a writer for a publication like Reason (to name a favorite) moves up to the Los Angeles Times. MLS Underground noted a similar migration of former Matchnight writers up the soccer-world food chain. One has to wonder what this migration will look like with more and more mainstream media sites now running blogs of their own; in other words, the pros are moving down, to put it crassly, so where do us bottom-feeders go?
For all that, it's not such a bad thing. The pros have the resources...and they can't pull the kind of crap I'm pulling - e.g. writing about a team from across the country.
Some of their affiliates - UnitedMania and 3rd Degree, though not the little corner of MatchNight I visit most often - have mournfully noted the passing and each have vowed to carry on, but the best bit of this wake I've seen so far on this came from Andrea Canales, which she posted on her team blog, Sideline Views. Here's the part I noted:
"I'm happy about the increased profile of U.S. soccer, but I'm not kidding myself that there are no drawbacks. Nor am I confident that the ones who know best the American game are going to stay involved, either at the media level or elsewhere. The way British press suddenly descended on Los Angeles after Beckham signed made that abundantly clear. You'd think the Galaxy never existed before."
I followed the political side of this world for a couple of years and saw some people graduate up the ranks, though most of that was professional-to-professional, as when a writer for a publication like Reason (to name a favorite) moves up to the Los Angeles Times. MLS Underground noted a similar migration of former Matchnight writers up the soccer-world food chain. One has to wonder what this migration will look like with more and more mainstream media sites now running blogs of their own; in other words, the pros are moving down, to put it crassly, so where do us bottom-feeders go?
For all that, it's not such a bad thing. The pros have the resources...and they can't pull the kind of crap I'm pulling - e.g. writing about a team from across the country.
As will happen from here going forward, I posted my New England Revolution content on The Offside. My contribution for the day is a scrambled piece about a Peruvian forward the Revs have invited to Bermuda. Hope to see good things from him...and hope the editor at The Offside doesn't mind me picking through the innards of my investigative efforts on soccer time....
In a highly related piece of news, I picked up a partner on The Offside New England Revolution Blog. He posts as Sabin and has already turned in a pair of contributions of his own; he introduces himself in one of them and flags a Washington Post article about players that David Beckham should watch out for when he arrives this summer. Three Revs make the cut: Daniel Hernandez (yes!), Joe Franchino, and goalkeeper Matt Reis. Anyone wondering why Matt Reis made the list should ask Alecko Eskandarian; I'm sure he'll have something to say. (The link on the other end of that article is just fascinating, by the way; Esky's a tad bonkers, though in a good way.)
Anyway, glad to have the company on The Offside. I'm hopeful we can establish a good right-brain/left-brain kind of vibe over there.
In a highly related piece of news, I picked up a partner on The Offside New England Revolution Blog. He posts as Sabin and has already turned in a pair of contributions of his own; he introduces himself in one of them and flags a Washington Post article about players that David Beckham should watch out for when he arrives this summer. Three Revs make the cut: Daniel Hernandez (yes!), Joe Franchino, and goalkeeper Matt Reis. Anyone wondering why Matt Reis made the list should ask Alecko Eskandarian; I'm sure he'll have something to say. (The link on the other end of that article is just fascinating, by the way; Esky's a tad bonkers, though in a good way.)
Anyway, glad to have the company on The Offside. I'm hopeful we can establish a good right-brain/left-brain kind of vibe over there.
An American's View may have scooped me in noting last night's upset in the CONCACAF Champion's Cup - Chivas de Guadalajara lost to, get this, W Connection FC of Trinidad & Tobago, and with their 'keeper sent off after 20 minutes - but I'm mainly looking forward to when the Major League Soccer (MLS) delegation takes the field next Tuesday.
In basic terms, call this a primer, a place to find TV listings (for the games involving MLS teams, and the general Fox Soccer lineup) as well as the tournament bracket.
I wish I could see every game, but, between work and a one-TV household, I'll have to catch what I can. I tried to catch some of the W Connection win, but there was some kind of technical breakdown, apparently, that stranded me to watch Bristol City (I think) outplay Middlesbrough just before midnight last night.
Anyway, best of luck to the MLS teams. Let's get out of the first round this year, huh? (If you scroll down to "CONCACAF Final Round/Ronda Final here, you'll see that Los Angeles and New England didn't do so hot in 2006.)
In basic terms, call this a primer, a place to find TV listings (for the games involving MLS teams, and the general Fox Soccer lineup) as well as the tournament bracket.
I wish I could see every game, but, between work and a one-TV household, I'll have to catch what I can. I tried to catch some of the W Connection win, but there was some kind of technical breakdown, apparently, that stranded me to watch Bristol City (I think) outplay Middlesbrough just before midnight last night.
Anyway, best of luck to the MLS teams. Let's get out of the first round this year, huh? (If you scroll down to "CONCACAF Final Round/Ronda Final here, you'll see that Los Angeles and New England didn't do so hot in 2006.)
Keeping with the day-late tradition of this site, I'm only getting to Ken Pendleton's latest column, in which he accuses Major League Soccer (MLS) of thinking small for building the SuperLiga when a perfectly good and prestigious tournament already exists. That tournament would be the Copa Libertadores, of course.
Even a semi-frequent visitor to this site would know by now that I've drunk plenty of SuperLiga Kool-Aid, just gallons of the stuff. As such, it pains me to admit the man has a point. Especially, here:
And can't you just picture seeing, say, the New England Revolution's name somewhere in the Copa Libertardores grid, squaring off against Internacional (BRA), Velez Sarsfield (ARG), and Nacional (URG). (No? Try another MLS team and see if that helps.)
Pendleton does concede MLS may have a hard time gaining entry to the tournament due to the relatively low esteem in which our little league is held. But he's also largely correct in saying the effort should be made. Then again, I'm one of those people who'd rather see the U.S. qualify in a combined CONCACAF/CONMEBOL "super-region," consequences be damned (hmmm...records of this position may have evaporated with one of the many blogs I've killed).
For all that, SuperLiga is what we've got. And, who knows? Maybe it will take off, courtesy of the wonderful animosity between the U.S. and Mexico. And I still think the SuperLiga has as good a chance of growing the game in the States as anything that's come down the pike, due mainly to accidental awareness MLS will gain when Mexican fans tune in to see their teams. But I'd be lying if I didn't say Pendleton's column doesn't take some rattle out of my noise-maker.
UPDATE: Brian Garrison from An American's View wrote a comprehensive defense of the SuperLiga in response to Pendleton's piece. Excited as I remain about the SuperLiga, I still think Pendleton's overall point holds - even if MLS clubs don't experience any success even in Superliga. But I'll join this discussion over on Brian's site; that he put more effort into his post makes that seem appropriate. Pop over and join the fun if you're interested.)
Even a semi-frequent visitor to this site would know by now that I've drunk plenty of SuperLiga Kool-Aid, just gallons of the stuff. As such, it pains me to admit the man has a point. Especially, here:
"MLS commissioner Don Garber "envision(s) having a Mexican first division and MLS version of the Champions League," but this will never materialize because the Copa Libertadores already serves as the Champions League for Mexican clubs."
And can't you just picture seeing, say, the New England Revolution's name somewhere in the Copa Libertardores grid, squaring off against Internacional (BRA), Velez Sarsfield (ARG), and Nacional (URG). (No? Try another MLS team and see if that helps.)
Pendleton does concede MLS may have a hard time gaining entry to the tournament due to the relatively low esteem in which our little league is held. But he's also largely correct in saying the effort should be made. Then again, I'm one of those people who'd rather see the U.S. qualify in a combined CONCACAF/CONMEBOL "super-region," consequences be damned (hmmm...records of this position may have evaporated with one of the many blogs I've killed).
For all that, SuperLiga is what we've got. And, who knows? Maybe it will take off, courtesy of the wonderful animosity between the U.S. and Mexico. And I still think the SuperLiga has as good a chance of growing the game in the States as anything that's come down the pike, due mainly to accidental awareness MLS will gain when Mexican fans tune in to see their teams. But I'd be lying if I didn't say Pendleton's column doesn't take some rattle out of my noise-maker.
UPDATE: Brian Garrison from An American's View wrote a comprehensive defense of the SuperLiga in response to Pendleton's piece. Excited as I remain about the SuperLiga, I still think Pendleton's overall point holds - even if MLS clubs don't experience any success even in Superliga. But I'll join this discussion over on Brian's site; that he put more effort into his post makes that seem appropriate. Pop over and join the fun if you're interested.)
In the process of trying to find out some information about the Bermuda National Team, which wound up taking me through the USL's official site (bookmark it, dummy! Now!!) for reasons explained elsewhere, I happened across the whereabouts of former FC Dallas head coach Colin Clarke. Turns out he'll be coaching the Virigina Beach Mariners this season.
If I'm not mistaken, that means I'll have a chance to see Mr. Clarke in person when the Mariners visit the Portland Timbers this July (the 15th to be precise). While I'm generally too mellow to razz a man for a small step down the ladder, there's this thing called beer, see, and it makes me say stuff sometimes...
There's another familiar name on the Virginia Beach coaching staff: Jim Rooney. Remember him? (Here's a photo for help.)
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If I'm not mistaken, that means I'll have a chance to see Mr. Clarke in person when the Mariners visit the Portland Timbers this July (the 15th to be precise). While I'm generally too mellow to razz a man for a small step down the ladder, there's this thing called beer, see, and it makes me say stuff sometimes...
There's another familiar name on the Virginia Beach coaching staff: Jim Rooney. Remember him? (Here's a photo for help.)
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Hey.
I volunteered to cover the New England Revolution for The Offside. I guess I just couldn't stand the yawning absence.
In any case, it'll be similar to what I've been doing here since, oh, last October, only in a different place. I'll link to that stuff whenver I post it.
Today's edition looks at the upcoming preseason tour of Bermuda that will feature games against the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Bermuda National Team - which, near as I can tell, will play in USL Division 2 as the Bermuda Hogges.
For the record, I've added "ament" to the backside of "tour," thereby unofficially dubbing this exercise a "tournament." Yes, I have that power.
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I volunteered to cover the New England Revolution for The Offside. I guess I just couldn't stand the yawning absence.
In any case, it'll be similar to what I've been doing here since, oh, last October, only in a different place. I'll link to that stuff whenver I post it.
Today's edition looks at the upcoming preseason tour of Bermuda that will feature games against the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Bermuda National Team - which, near as I can tell, will play in USL Division 2 as the Bermuda Hogges.
For the record, I've added "ament" to the backside of "tour," thereby unofficially dubbing this exercise a "tournament." Yes, I have that power.
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Disappointed as I am with the lack of detail in the New England Revolution's preseason schedule, MLSnet.com's interns filled in quite a few preseason dates and details for the rest of the league since I last checked. Perhaps there's a reason I get so very few hits through Soccer Blogs to any post headlined with the word "Revolution" or "Revs."
In other news....
Houston Dynamo
Continuing their reign as kings of local coverage, The Houston Chronicle looks in on the Dynamo's rookie class (gosh, they're positive!) and Brian Ching's new deal with MLS. Color me surprised on this last one: according to the piece, Ching's base salary comes in at only $200,000. Is he worth a Twellman, or what?
Chivas USA
The latest out of the Chivas camp contains some good news for Portland Timbers fans: it looks like Chivas USA will sign the Seattle Sounders' Cuban forward Maykel Galindo; after all, anything that makes the Sounders weaker helps the Timbers, right? There's nothing on the Sounders' site about this yet, but maybe that's down to the future tense used in the Daily Breeze's article....either that, or this is just a rumor. Anyway, from what I've read, Galindo's a decent player; could work OK for Chivas.
Red Bull New York/Toronto FC
Frank Giase's column looks into the possibility of Red Bull using now-superfluous 'keeper Jon Conway as bait for acquiring former-DC United forward Alecko Eskandarian. For what it's worth, Giase makes this sound sufficiently plausible as to make it probable. Then again, Steve Goff slips in a point or two on Soccer Insider that makes one think DC United might be the hunt as well - albeit only in a back-burner kind of way.
Real Salt Lake
Looks like Costa Rican defenders Daniel Torres will arrive quite soon, thereby solidifying RSL's proposed back three. It's an interesting trio: Torres, Eddie Pope, and Jack Stewart.
Colorado Rapids
This was a weird one, given how hard it was to find - I mean, I caught it as a name-only mention on Soccer New England's In & Out feature - but the Rapids acquired Panamanian forward Roberto Brown, immediately doubling the force of the Panamanian invasion. It's also possible I just missed the story: MLSnet.com ran a Rapids press release early last week. And, yes, Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo's eye for talent comes up again...
General - Picking the East
...as it did in the latest edition of Ives Galarcep's "Questions Answered" post on Soccer by Ives. But that's not what I'm passing on here (and you'll have to work to find it anyway). Way, WAY down in this sprawling post, Galarcep takes a stab at ranking the Eastern Conference powers. Here's the question and his take:
That read a little convoluted to me, but this came deep, deep in the post; I was losing track reading it, so I can only imagine what it took to write it. Looks like he's going DC, Chicago, Red Bull.
I figure New England must slip in the top somewhere....probably an oversight.
In other news....
Houston Dynamo
Continuing their reign as kings of local coverage, The Houston Chronicle looks in on the Dynamo's rookie class (gosh, they're positive!) and Brian Ching's new deal with MLS. Color me surprised on this last one: according to the piece, Ching's base salary comes in at only $200,000. Is he worth a Twellman, or what?
Chivas USA
The latest out of the Chivas camp contains some good news for Portland Timbers fans: it looks like Chivas USA will sign the Seattle Sounders' Cuban forward Maykel Galindo; after all, anything that makes the Sounders weaker helps the Timbers, right? There's nothing on the Sounders' site about this yet, but maybe that's down to the future tense used in the Daily Breeze's article....either that, or this is just a rumor. Anyway, from what I've read, Galindo's a decent player; could work OK for Chivas.
Red Bull New York/Toronto FC
Frank Giase's column looks into the possibility of Red Bull using now-superfluous 'keeper Jon Conway as bait for acquiring former-DC United forward Alecko Eskandarian. For what it's worth, Giase makes this sound sufficiently plausible as to make it probable. Then again, Steve Goff slips in a point or two on Soccer Insider that makes one think DC United might be the hunt as well - albeit only in a back-burner kind of way.
Real Salt Lake
Looks like Costa Rican defenders Daniel Torres will arrive quite soon, thereby solidifying RSL's proposed back three. It's an interesting trio: Torres, Eddie Pope, and Jack Stewart.
Colorado Rapids
This was a weird one, given how hard it was to find - I mean, I caught it as a name-only mention on Soccer New England's In & Out feature - but the Rapids acquired Panamanian forward Roberto Brown, immediately doubling the force of the Panamanian invasion. It's also possible I just missed the story: MLSnet.com ran a Rapids press release early last week. And, yes, Colorado coach Fernando Clavijo's eye for talent comes up again...
General - Picking the East
...as it did in the latest edition of Ives Galarcep's "Questions Answered" post on Soccer by Ives. But that's not what I'm passing on here (and you'll have to work to find it anyway). Way, WAY down in this sprawling post, Galarcep takes a stab at ranking the Eastern Conference powers. Here's the question and his take:
"CHRISTOPHER
- If the Delgado/ trade for Esky goes through, are we the best team in MLS, if not how good are we?
IVES
- You can throw pieces together and anoint a team the best in the league. Houston is still the best though DC is my pick to be the favorite in 2007. I think the Red Bulls are behind DC and maybe Chicago are ahead of them right now. If the RB can find a stud with its second DP slot then I put them ahead of Chicago."
That read a little convoluted to me, but this came deep, deep in the post; I was losing track reading it, so I can only imagine what it took to write it. Looks like he's going DC, Chicago, Red Bull.
I figure New England must slip in the top somewhere....probably an oversight.
So, what will Taylor Twellman really earn over the next four years? Depends on where you look. After posting the figures that appeared in yesterday's report in The Boston Globe - this is the "around $300,000 per year" figure - I've since come across reports pegging the payday a little higher. An Associated Press piece that appeared on ESPN reported:
For the record, several non-AP sources cite the same numbers (LINK and LINK - at least with regard to the first two years). Against that, Boston's other daily - The Boston Herald - goes with the same numbers as The Globe's.
So...what to think? At first I thought I'd go with the most recent date-lines, but that didn't fly: the AP's report ran on February 12, the same day as The Globe's. The rest of the stories appeared on February 13, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just read the AP's numbers and reported from there. I suppose it doesn't matter, seeing as Twellman's reportedly "delighted with the deal."
Then again, unless I'm misunderstanding the whole designated-player deal - or, possibly, the league maximum - it seems like those AP figures would put Twellman in designated-player territory, something the original Globe report explicitly precluded.
Whatever. I'm calling this for the local media, greater detail in the AP's report and what this means for Twellman's pocket-book be damned.
In other Revs news....
Twellman & Noonan
An MLSnet.com article, the one about Twellman being delighted, thinks out loud a bit about what a healthy and active Twellman/Pat Noonan partnership could mean to the Revs' offense this season:
In a word, said partnership would mean a lot, especially with Dempsey absent. Get well, both of you...we need you
Free Avery (or pay him, tightwads!)
If Twellman's delighted, there's another man on the roster feeling a decidedly opposite emotion: Avery John. Soccer New England caught up with the defender who sounds somewhat philosophical about MLS blocking a move to England's Queen's Park Rangers. Along with a few posters on the Bigsoccer thread (sort of) devoted to John's situation, I'm hoping the Revs front office makes up for blocking the trade by giving him a raise over the comparative pittance he earned last season. The Revs defense looked a fair sight better when he came on late in the season.
Miscellaneous
- This doesn't effect me so much, but there will be thorough regional TV coverage of the New England Revolution in 2007. Unfortunately, my Portland, Oregon (well...Beaverton, actually) cable package doesn't get TV38. Maybe when I go satellite....
- Here's the latest on the Revolution's preseason schedule according to MLSnet.com's grand round-up:
Mmmm...still thin on detail, I see.
"Twellman will make $375,000 in each of the first two years of the contract, more the third year with the total based on performance and $450,000 in the final year."
For the record, several non-AP sources cite the same numbers (LINK and LINK - at least with regard to the first two years). Against that, Boston's other daily - The Boston Herald - goes with the same numbers as The Globe's.
So...what to think? At first I thought I'd go with the most recent date-lines, but that didn't fly: the AP's report ran on February 12, the same day as The Globe's. The rest of the stories appeared on February 13, but I wouldn't be surprised if they just read the AP's numbers and reported from there. I suppose it doesn't matter, seeing as Twellman's reportedly "delighted with the deal."
Then again, unless I'm misunderstanding the whole designated-player deal - or, possibly, the league maximum - it seems like those AP figures would put Twellman in designated-player territory, something the original Globe report explicitly precluded.
Whatever. I'm calling this for the local media, greater detail in the AP's report and what this means for Twellman's pocket-book be damned.
In other Revs news....
Twellman & Noonan
An MLSnet.com article, the one about Twellman being delighted, thinks out loud a bit about what a healthy and active Twellman/Pat Noonan partnership could mean to the Revs' offense this season:
"After sharing 60 goals and 34 assists in their first three seasons together, the forward pairing badly missed each other in the 2006 regular season. Twellman's total of 11 goals was the second-lowest output of his career, while Noonan found the net just once."
In a word, said partnership would mean a lot, especially with Dempsey absent. Get well, both of you...we need you
Free Avery (or pay him, tightwads!)
If Twellman's delighted, there's another man on the roster feeling a decidedly opposite emotion: Avery John. Soccer New England caught up with the defender who sounds somewhat philosophical about MLS blocking a move to England's Queen's Park Rangers. Along with a few posters on the Bigsoccer thread (sort of) devoted to John's situation, I'm hoping the Revs front office makes up for blocking the trade by giving him a raise over the comparative pittance he earned last season. The Revs defense looked a fair sight better when he came on late in the season.
Miscellaneous
- This doesn't effect me so much, but there will be thorough regional TV coverage of the New England Revolution in 2007. Unfortunately, my Portland, Oregon (well...Beaverton, actually) cable package doesn't get TV38. Maybe when I go satellite....
- Here's the latest on the Revolution's preseason schedule according to MLSnet.com's grand round-up:
NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION
Feb. 16-24: Training in Bermuda
March 8-16: Training in Cancun, Mexico
Matches scheduled
Matches in Bermuda TBD
Matches in Cancun, Mexico TBD
Remainder of preseason schedule TBD
Mmmm...still thin on detail, I see.
I meant to get to this yesterday, but, in his first main action at his "real" (e.g. non-interim) job, U-23 U.S. Coach Bob Bradley called his first camp. Not surprisingly, it's an MLS-heavy affair, with all but three of the 20 coming from MLS teams. Good stuff, I think.
I hope they do well in qualifying - i.e. that they actually qualify for the 2008 Olympics this time around; that would give me reason to watch any part of that bloated, meandering event. Anyone out there happen to know when they actual qualification will take place? I checked FIFA's site and saw a "TBC" for the CONCACAF regions qualifiers.
In the meantime, there's that two-game tour of Japan to keep an eye on...
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I hope they do well in qualifying - i.e. that they actually qualify for the 2008 Olympics this time around; that would give me reason to watch any part of that bloated, meandering event. Anyone out there happen to know when they actual qualification will take place? I checked FIFA's site and saw a "TBC" for the CONCACAF regions qualifiers.
In the meantime, there's that two-game tour of Japan to keep an eye on...
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If the headline confuses you, just understand that is intended as a pointless and inscutable pun on The Facts of Life, an allusion to Steve Davis' "you take the good and take the bad" look ahead to Major League Soccer's 2007. It's a pretty good read top to bottom, and I like that he leads with the SuperLiga, suggesting that's the best of the good developments going into the season. But the most eye-catching bit comes at the very end, with his fifth "bad" point:
So, is this an idea whose time has come? I certainly wouldn't hurt, at least till missing the playoffs is harder than making them. Put this space down as "fer it," though I'd like to see some numbers before roundly endorsing any ol' plan.
In other news...
Red Bull New York
If you followed the bouncing Nick Rimando, you know now that he signed for the Red Bulls. Whether or not this was a good move - is Rimando cover for the cover of Ronald Wattereus? Who will be the first team guy? - it at least spares DC United the embarrassment of releasing and re-signing two players in the same preseason. Returning to the question posed between the dashes, competition for positions is good and all, but...dang, there can be too much of a good thing.
Real Salt Lake
One of the best items I read today was the Deseret News' blowout preview of RSL's season ahead. This one covers durn near everything, from where specific players will play, how they'll line up, the Adu effect, etc. Good, good stuff for getting to know RSL as they try to break their playoff duck.
For what it's worth, RSL, at least one person outside the Salt Lake City area wants to see you mangle the living shit out of that duck.
Um, General
I take no responsibility for the format, which takes me away from a team-by-team breakdown, but still have to applaud MLSnet.com for following even the most modest of preseason warm-ups for MLS teams. A lot of teams played in preseason scrimmages this past weekend, most of them picking on the kids (U-17s or one college side or another); in a game between grown-ups (no offense, kids!), DC United knocked a buttload of goals past the Columbus Crew. In better news still, new forward signing Luciano Emilio had a hand in a few of them.
But the best news of all is that the preseason is under way.
"5. The league has discussed individual match bonuses for winning teams as another method to elevate competitiveness and decrease the irrelevancy factor of the average MLS encounter. Yet here comes another season with no action on this matter."
So, is this an idea whose time has come? I certainly wouldn't hurt, at least till missing the playoffs is harder than making them. Put this space down as "fer it," though I'd like to see some numbers before roundly endorsing any ol' plan.
In other news...
Red Bull New York
If you followed the bouncing Nick Rimando, you know now that he signed for the Red Bulls. Whether or not this was a good move - is Rimando cover for the cover of Ronald Wattereus? Who will be the first team guy? - it at least spares DC United the embarrassment of releasing and re-signing two players in the same preseason. Returning to the question posed between the dashes, competition for positions is good and all, but...dang, there can be too much of a good thing.
Real Salt Lake
One of the best items I read today was the Deseret News' blowout preview of RSL's season ahead. This one covers durn near everything, from where specific players will play, how they'll line up, the Adu effect, etc. Good, good stuff for getting to know RSL as they try to break their playoff duck.
For what it's worth, RSL, at least one person outside the Salt Lake City area wants to see you mangle the living shit out of that duck.
Um, General
I take no responsibility for the format, which takes me away from a team-by-team breakdown, but still have to applaud MLSnet.com for following even the most modest of preseason warm-ups for MLS teams. A lot of teams played in preseason scrimmages this past weekend, most of them picking on the kids (U-17s or one college side or another); in a game between grown-ups (no offense, kids!), DC United knocked a buttload of goals past the Columbus Crew. In better news still, new forward signing Luciano Emilio had a hand in a few of them.
But the best news of all is that the preseason is under way.
The good news for New England Revolution fans: striker Taylor Twellman isn't going anywhere. Moreover, he's finally earning something like what one of the most consistent scorers in the league ought to.
Now there are two ways you can go about learning about this deal. You can read the vanilla, "terms of the deal were not disclosed" account on MLSnet.com, or you can find the details plus some background in Frank Dell'Appa's write-up for The Boston Globe:
The best of the "background" content looks at the horror parade that were Twellman's early deals with the league. It's nice to see this put right, as well as some effort put forth to keep one of the league's more notable players States-side where we can enjoy his play. Not surprisingly, the Revs' corner of BigSoccer.com greeted the news with incredulous joy.
Returning briefly to the content on MLSnet.com: Guys, c'mon; clearly someone, somewhere is dishing on league contracts, so let's just open up the books that precious little bit, OK?
Now there are two ways you can go about learning about this deal. You can read the vanilla, "terms of the deal were not disclosed" account on MLSnet.com, or you can find the details plus some background in Frank Dell'Appa's write-up for The Boston Globe:
"When Twellman makes his first appearance at preseason training today, the Revolution are expected to announce the signing of their all-time leading scorer to a four-year contract worth about $300,000 per year."
The best of the "background" content looks at the horror parade that were Twellman's early deals with the league. It's nice to see this put right, as well as some effort put forth to keep one of the league's more notable players States-side where we can enjoy his play. Not surprisingly, the Revs' corner of BigSoccer.com greeted the news with incredulous joy.
Returning briefly to the content on MLSnet.com: Guys, c'mon; clearly someone, somewhere is dishing on league contracts, so let's just open up the books that precious little bit, OK?
Some of you have no doubt read about how (comparatively) well the U.S. v. Mexico game did in terms of television. But it's worth noting compared with what:
That goes to show, I suppose, that if one inserts enough conditions, any broadcast can reach "highest rating ever" status. I'm being facetious, of course, but there is some satisfaction in whooping American Idol's ass in one market at least. And the Univision numbers are looking pretty swell too.
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"3. When the U.S. plays Mexico, people pay attention. A sellout crowd of 62,462 was in Glendale, Ariz., for the match, and ESPN2 got its highest rating ever for a soccer match that was not a World Cup match or World Cup qualifier. An audience of 1.1 million tuned in Wednesday on ESPN2, and another six million saw the Spanish broadcast on Univision. In Los Angeles, the game drew higher ratings than American Idol and Lost.
That goes to show, I suppose, that if one inserts enough conditions, any broadcast can reach "highest rating ever" status. I'm being facetious, of course, but there is some satisfaction in whooping American Idol's ass in one market at least. And the Univision numbers are looking pretty swell too.
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A few days beyind...as always...
There's not much to generate excitement in the partnership between the Colorado Rapids and England's Arsenal that was announced last week. From where I sit, the best news is that the Rapids are still the Rapids; a name change would have evinced a certain whorishness from the MLS side, especially with no money moving around. A report in the local media describes the extent of the deal:
Clearly, this is something less than a trans-Atlantic embrace. Still, it's hardly going to hurt, right, learning to play "the Arsenal way"? Today, yes. But, oh, ten years ago, the following quote from Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush, which appeared in an MLSnet.com press release-cum-article, would have prompted either raised eyebrows or laughter back in England:
Type "boring boring arsenal" into Google and you'll see what I mean - even if no less prestigious institution than the BBC has since ruled that albatross dead.
Another interesting wrinkle in the whole exchange came with the birth of the Arsenal Cup, an as-yet shapeless tournament that will be open to American teams. Ian Plenderleith, who tries, among other explorations into the deal, to predict what this Cup will be, had this to say:
While there's probably some truth in that statement, I'd suggest another possible angle: it could serve as a one-stop arrangement for Arsenal's scouts.
All in all, though, it is what it is: the Rapids new uniforms don't look so bad, they kept their name in the mail-order marriage, and, when it's all said and done, Colorado's players may learn a thing or two.
(########)
There's not much to generate excitement in the partnership between the Colorado Rapids and England's Arsenal that was announced last week. From where I sit, the best news is that the Rapids are still the Rapids; a name change would have evinced a certain whorishness from the MLS side, especially with no money moving around. A report in the local media describes the extent of the deal:
"The collaborative agreement doesn't involve an exchange of money or equity, but the Rapids will get to tap Arsenal's sports management and playing expertise, while Arsenal will have an on-the-ground partner to help it build its brand in the U.S."
Clearly, this is something less than a trans-Atlantic embrace. Still, it's hardly going to hurt, right, learning to play "the Arsenal way"? Today, yes. But, oh, ten years ago, the following quote from Rapids Managing Director Jeff Plush, which appeared in an MLSnet.com press release-cum-article, would have prompted either raised eyebrows or laughter back in England:
"It will be somebody with a strong Arsenal lineage who will come and build the Arsenal way of playing. Arsenal has a very special and stylized way of playing. It's a very offensive, very beautiful style that will be very attractive to the American customer."
Type "boring boring arsenal" into Google and you'll see what I mean - even if no less prestigious institution than the BBC has since ruled that albatross dead.
Another interesting wrinkle in the whole exchange came with the birth of the Arsenal Cup, an as-yet shapeless tournament that will be open to American teams. Ian Plenderleith, who tries, among other explorations into the deal, to predict what this Cup will be, had this to say:
"Whatever form that takes, it sounds ominously like a superfluous gimmick in an already crowded soccer calendar."
While there's probably some truth in that statement, I'd suggest another possible angle: it could serve as a one-stop arrangement for Arsenal's scouts.
All in all, though, it is what it is: the Rapids new uniforms don't look so bad, they kept their name in the mail-order marriage, and, when it's all said and done, Colorado's players may learn a thing or two.
(########)
This morning's Houston Chronicle ran a Q & A with Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who has actually has business with Major League Soccer (MLS) through his ownership(? - is it full? partial?) to HDNet. Cuban has some interesting things to say about "it all," but the most interesting part to me was this passage on some English dude's arrival in the States:
This got me thinking about a more specific question: what MLS players - current ones, mind you - would prompt you to make that little bit of extra effort to get to the local stadium to see them play?
This is probably an odd question for most full-time soccer fans. I mean, watching the game is borderline Pavlovian: you watch it because it's on TV or at the local stadium and you have no idea how that beer got in your hand...must be magic of some sort. (And, yeah, I watched The Office last night.)
Since I don't live in an MLS market, the question is somewhat hypothetical to me. But, that doesn't mean I'm not seeing anyone's name jump out on the long, long list of current MLS players. And some I don't even need to look for: without looking I'd name Dwayne DeRosario because I think he's that good. The same applies to a guys like Ronnie O'Brien or Brad Davis; I just like their respective games, I guess. Jeff Cunningham gets my vote on the "crazy factor" alone, but I also think he's worth watching for his game. Ditto with Amado Guevara - on both counts. And I still think Clint Mathis, weight, attitude, and all, sees the game on a different level than any American player; the brain is willing, but the body...
After these, there are about a score of players I'd watch more or less because I'm curious about how they work - or don't as the case may be (I'm done throwing out links, so I'll just list a few of them - alphabetically, for the record): Freddie Adu, Mehdi Ballouchy, Edson Buddle, Ricardo Clark, Terry Cooke, Eddie Gaven, Ivan Guerrero, Daniel Hernandez, Mike Magee, Kyle Martino, Pat Noonan (hey, my first Rev), Ramon Nunez, Michael Parkhurst, Ante Razov, Chris Rolfe, Danny Szetela, and Ricardo Virtuoso - to, um, name a few.
With this second set of guys, I don't know that I'd try as hard to get to the park, but I'd like to see how they play live where I can pay attention not only to what they do with the ball and how well, but to their movement off-the-ball as well, how they create space, provide support, etc.
Anyway, I've gone on plenty long enough. Any thoughts on this out there?
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"I don't know if you can put a dollar value on [David Beckham's arrival], but you are going to see a net result value in terms of visibility. If you talk to people around the league, they are selling tickets. People are calling and asking about when they are playing the Galaxy and trying to buy tickets for that. That's a new event for MLS. Other than Freddy (Adu) there really wasn't anybody who drove ticket sales — maybe Landon (Donovan) a little bit. It really is a unique event for MLS, and the telltale sign is in soccer ticket sales and coverage during the season."
This got me thinking about a more specific question: what MLS players - current ones, mind you - would prompt you to make that little bit of extra effort to get to the local stadium to see them play?
This is probably an odd question for most full-time soccer fans. I mean, watching the game is borderline Pavlovian: you watch it because it's on TV or at the local stadium and you have no idea how that beer got in your hand...must be magic of some sort. (And, yeah, I watched The Office last night.)
Since I don't live in an MLS market, the question is somewhat hypothetical to me. But, that doesn't mean I'm not seeing anyone's name jump out on the long, long list of current MLS players. And some I don't even need to look for: without looking I'd name Dwayne DeRosario because I think he's that good. The same applies to a guys like Ronnie O'Brien or Brad Davis; I just like their respective games, I guess. Jeff Cunningham gets my vote on the "crazy factor" alone, but I also think he's worth watching for his game. Ditto with Amado Guevara - on both counts. And I still think Clint Mathis, weight, attitude, and all, sees the game on a different level than any American player; the brain is willing, but the body...
After these, there are about a score of players I'd watch more or less because I'm curious about how they work - or don't as the case may be (I'm done throwing out links, so I'll just list a few of them - alphabetically, for the record): Freddie Adu, Mehdi Ballouchy, Edson Buddle, Ricardo Clark, Terry Cooke, Eddie Gaven, Ivan Guerrero, Daniel Hernandez, Mike Magee, Kyle Martino, Pat Noonan (hey, my first Rev), Ramon Nunez, Michael Parkhurst, Ante Razov, Chris Rolfe, Danny Szetela, and Ricardo Virtuoso - to, um, name a few.
With this second set of guys, I don't know that I'd try as hard to get to the park, but I'd like to see how they play live where I can pay attention not only to what they do with the ball and how well, but to their movement off-the-ball as well, how they create space, provide support, etc.
Anyway, I've gone on plenty long enough. Any thoughts on this out there?
(########)
In an attempt to get my finger still closer to the pulse of the Revs' Nation, I'm making an effort to visit Big Soccer more often. As it happens, I struck lucky on my first visit by finding a thread devoted to kvetching about the offseason stagnation. On message boards, as in life, some people just have a better capacity for putting things bluntly and without a lot of fuss. One poster, who goes under the handle Patsfan1, hit on just about every angle of what has New England Revolution fans feeling anxiously blue about 2007 (I'm quoting him in full and hope he doesn't mind):
There's nothing in there with which I disagree. Depressing, yes. In the best case, the Revs starting eleven, which is competitive enough, will remain healthy throughout the season....hey...stop laughing back there. But, realistically, that's a hell of a lot of luck to ride and I don't think anyone assumes this will happen (see: Noonan, Pat - love him to death, but he's got a vicious injury bug chewing on him).
For all the grumbling (13 BigSoccer pages' worth at time of posting), other BigSoccer participants countered with an optimist's thread. But there's a good deal of stretches and barely-veiled sarcasm in there...and it's not nearly as long...so far...I suppose I should give it time to "take off."
To paraphrase Clubber Lang: "My prediction? Pain."
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"OK so yet another look as of today, with training camp starting soon:
* No shirt sponsor announced
* Unused 2005 Allocation (that trade looks better and better everyday!)
* Unused Dempsey allocation
* No announcement on a DP
* Field turf
* No players signed that actually have professional experience
* Question mark at LM (do we know if have a solid starter?)
* Question mark at RM (Ralston's age)
* Question mark at AM (can Dorman handle that spot every game?)
* Attendance dropping (if we get 1st place in lowest attendance, do you get a trophy for that?)
* Schedule that will be changed a few times after it comes out
* Question mark at striker (other than Twellman)
There's nothing in there with which I disagree. Depressing, yes. In the best case, the Revs starting eleven, which is competitive enough, will remain healthy throughout the season....hey...stop laughing back there. But, realistically, that's a hell of a lot of luck to ride and I don't think anyone assumes this will happen (see: Noonan, Pat - love him to death, but he's got a vicious injury bug chewing on him).
For all the grumbling (13 BigSoccer pages' worth at time of posting), other BigSoccer participants countered with an optimist's thread. But there's a good deal of stretches and barely-veiled sarcasm in there...and it's not nearly as long...so far...I suppose I should give it time to "take off."
To paraphrase Clubber Lang: "My prediction? Pain."
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Sure the article is about Real Salt Lake (RSL) coming up clovers by picking Chris Lancos in the 2006 Superdraft in spite of the high probability he'd go overseas, but that's not the best part - or what most concerns fans of Major League Soccer.
That comes down at the bottom:
That settles it. Jeff Cunningham is a full-time fucking genius of the Intergalactic Space-Pilot sort. Regular human beings do not make these kinds of statements, at least not publicly or without having ingested incredible quantities of mind-altering drugs. Beautiful. Just cook up an add campaign, but him in a stretch suit with aluminum foil appointments with a gigantic #110 pasted across his back...the ad writes itself.
Dang. Cunningham is seriously pushing for favorite player status.
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That comes down at the bottom:
"RSL striker Jeff Cunningham hopes the league lets him wear No. 110 this year, but he knows it's highly unlikely, that's why he's prepared to switch to No. 90."
That settles it. Jeff Cunningham is a full-time fucking genius of the Intergalactic Space-Pilot sort. Regular human beings do not make these kinds of statements, at least not publicly or without having ingested incredible quantities of mind-altering drugs. Beautiful. Just cook up an add campaign, but him in a stretch suit with aluminum foil appointments with a gigantic #110 pasted across his back...the ad writes itself.
Dang. Cunningham is seriously pushing for favorite player status.
(#######)
We all know by now that Real Salt Lake is "once and for all" sticking around Salt Lake City.
But what happens with St. Louis? Given the deadlines getting kicked around - e.g. you've got to the end of the week or else - it seems like they're halfway to getting a team of their own.
And, that's pretty close to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this morning. Better still, I love what one of the key figures in bringing a Major League Soccer (MLS) team to St. Louis had to say about where things ended:
All I can say, gentlemen, is give this man his team. Love the attitude.
And, according to the article, they're still gunning to have a team in St. Louis by 2008. If they were as close as it appeared, I'd like to think they'll get one.
(#######)
But what happens with St. Louis? Given the deadlines getting kicked around - e.g. you've got to the end of the week or else - it seems like they're halfway to getting a team of their own.
And, that's pretty close to what the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported this morning. Better still, I love what one of the key figures in bringing a Major League Soccer (MLS) team to St. Louis had to say about where things ended:
"It's not a good day for the effort to bring a team to St. Louis, but in the long run, it's probably a good day for MLS and for soccer in America."
All I can say, gentlemen, is give this man his team. Love the attitude.
And, according to the article, they're still gunning to have a team in St. Louis by 2008. If they were as close as it appeared, I'd like to think they'll get one.
(#######)
I just had to note this one: so, so wrong.
Ain't that just the shit in yer Wheaties? Seriously, that's just such a screw job. I rate Williams as a decent enough player and can't believe no one else wanted to pick him up, even if not for $110,000. Lord knows New England coulda, woulda, shoulda picked him up for cover.
Right. That's it. I picked that up from USSoccerplayers.com's February 7 round-up of MLS news.
(#########)
"The paper said that before being waived [midfielder, long-time quality performer, and, I'm guessing, all-around swell guy, Andy Williams] was rumored to be on $110,000 a year. Under the new deal, that figure is between $30-40,000."
Ain't that just the shit in yer Wheaties? Seriously, that's just such a screw job. I rate Williams as a decent enough player and can't believe no one else wanted to pick him up, even if not for $110,000. Lord knows New England coulda, woulda, shoulda picked him up for cover.
Right. That's it. I picked that up from USSoccerplayers.com's February 7 round-up of MLS news.
(#########)
There's too much plainly wonderful material in Frank Dell'Appa's latest offering in the Boston Globe, a piece in which Daniel Hernandez waxes grumpy about the dearth of opportunities he's been given with the U.S. Men's National Team (USMNT). I don't think I've ever disguised my affection for Hernandez and this piece only deepened my appreciation. Excerpts can't do his comments justice, so you'll have to read the whole thing.
RevsNet pulled together a servicably (whoa...spelling?) thorough report from the New England Revolution's first training camp. It's all there from who's there, to who's not, to Tony Lochhead's new do. The best news in there is that Pat Noonan is healthy and training....my word, what a difference that would make to the gloomy mood out New England way (at least in the Big Soccer universe). Between Noonan's improvement and Hernandez's swagger, I'm optimistic the Revs can at least field a solid starting 11. After that....mmmmm...best not say.
I've already linked to Marc Connolly's "happy" five points about the U.S. win, but there was one passage in there of interest to Revs' fans: Michael Parkhurst's chances with the USMNT. Connolly figures that between Cory Gibbs (if healthy...ever), Oguchi Onyewu, Jimmy Conrad, and Carlos Bocanegra, Parkhurst, along with DC's Bobby Boswell, and Houston's Eddie Robinson, are going to have a hell of a time cracking the USMNT central defense (if you want to see the argument in full, check out Point #2) For the record, I'm OK with that. All those guys are pretty good.
OK, one last thing: in the sidebar to the RevsNet training camp report, there was a poll posing the question of whether the team should can head coach Steve Nicol or not. The results so far:
For the record, I did the one more year thing. My second choice was, "Yes, We Can't Win the Big One." I also mulled "Yes, We're boring to watch
You've got one year, Nicol. One year.
(#########)
RevsNet pulled together a servicably (whoa...spelling?) thorough report from the New England Revolution's first training camp. It's all there from who's there, to who's not, to Tony Lochhead's new do. The best news in there is that Pat Noonan is healthy and training....my word, what a difference that would make to the gloomy mood out New England way (at least in the Big Soccer universe). Between Noonan's improvement and Hernandez's swagger, I'm optimistic the Revs can at least field a solid starting 11. After that....mmmmm...best not say.
I've already linked to Marc Connolly's "happy" five points about the U.S. win, but there was one passage in there of interest to Revs' fans: Michael Parkhurst's chances with the USMNT. Connolly figures that between Cory Gibbs (if healthy...ever), Oguchi Onyewu, Jimmy Conrad, and Carlos Bocanegra, Parkhurst, along with DC's Bobby Boswell, and Houston's Eddie Robinson, are going to have a hell of a time cracking the USMNT central defense (if you want to see the argument in full, check out Point #2) For the record, I'm OK with that. All those guys are pretty good.
OK, one last thing: in the sidebar to the RevsNet training camp report, there was a poll posing the question of whether the team should can head coach Steve Nicol or not. The results so far:
"59% NO, we made it to MLS Cup
10% YES, We can't win the big one
6%, NO, we overachieved
4% YES, we're boring to watch
20% let's give him one more year"
For the record, I did the one more year thing. My second choice was, "Yes, We Can't Win the Big One." I also mulled "Yes, We're boring to watch
You've got one year, Nicol. One year.
(#########)
In truth, I spent my morning kick around the idea that last night's win against Mexico showed a lot of what Major League Soccer (MLS) does in terms of developing players
For long time fans and observers, I don't think there's much that's new in there; the main thesis is that MLS produces players better suited to playing not to lose as opposed to winning. In other words, we can play and play well enough, but there's a thin margin aspect to our game that's keeping us out of the world elite. I think I got closest to putting this idea correctly in the conclusion (yeah, quoting yourself is tacky, but...):
I do think there's a solution to that problem, but it's based on a learning curve and is therefore somewhat evolutionary; hence it's also a bit unsatisfying. We try to accelerate this trend by encouraging American players to go to Europe, but I still question the extent to which this can bring the U.S. program to some kind of promised land. In basic terms, it's just going to take time. The good news is, we're moving closer these days, something that couldn't really be said till MLS came along.
There's a lot of other stuff in there about individual performances - and I think the MLS-based players genuinely did us proud last night. But, no, they ain't world-beaters.
Anyway, read the whole thing if you like.
For long time fans and observers, I don't think there's much that's new in there; the main thesis is that MLS produces players better suited to playing not to lose as opposed to winning. In other words, we can play and play well enough, but there's a thin margin aspect to our game that's keeping us out of the world elite. I think I got closest to putting this idea correctly in the conclusion (yeah, quoting yourself is tacky, but...):
"This is the subtle difference between scoring a goal and making one; they both count the same, but your team better controls their fate when they can make them without relying on the opposition to screw up."
I do think there's a solution to that problem, but it's based on a learning curve and is therefore somewhat evolutionary; hence it's also a bit unsatisfying. We try to accelerate this trend by encouraging American players to go to Europe, but I still question the extent to which this can bring the U.S. program to some kind of promised land. In basic terms, it's just going to take time. The good news is, we're moving closer these days, something that couldn't really be said till MLS came along.
There's a lot of other stuff in there about individual performances - and I think the MLS-based players genuinely did us proud last night. But, no, they ain't world-beaters.
Anyway, read the whole thing if you like.
Given a late yesterday night, today was always going to be hard enough. Then my kid came in the room at 3:30 a.m. coughing her head off, so I moved to the couch, etc. Let's just say concentrating is so hard today, I'm lucky I didn't miss the toilet when I sat down to business this morning.
But my semi-vegetative state did allow my the strength to read what everyone else had to say about last night's 2-0 U.S. win. So, I'll just post those, note the good stuff and crawl back in my hole. Starting with the pros:
Because I made Soccer Blogs my first stop, I started my day with Soccer by Ives, who noted a lack of sportsmanship out of the Mexican team. Between walking off the field without shaking hands and Oswaldo Sanchez's swipe at Eddie Johnson, yeah (all of which I missed...good one), it was pretty bad, bad enough to creep up in article after article as well as producing a stand-alone piece or two.
Andrea Canales actually improved on this general concept with a piece on Mexico's state of denial; they've got this weird gripe that we don't play the game "correctly," though it never seems to dawn on them that we probably don't see any reason to with Plan A working so well. Canales' partner as LA Soccer News, Luis Bueno, explored this team from the Mexican side on Sports Illustrated.
Turning to the U.S. performance now, there's a fair breadth of thinking as to how we did. On the "we won, but" side of the scales are pieces like Ken Pendleton's offering on USSoccerplayers.com, who raised some concerns about how much we rely on set plays and flukes to win. But the prize for dubious ardor as Jamie Trecker's mysterious assertion that "unlike England, who fielded a below full-strength side"...um...yeah, there's nothing to say about that really. Another person moderately underwhelmed by the U.S. performance was ESPN's Jeff Carlisle, who took the psychological route to explain the win: we're just that far inside Mexico's head that they don't know how to beat us anymore. Against that, the "nice guys" of American soccer punditry - Grant Wahl and Marc Connolly - did their silver lining thing; for the record, I admire the hell out of both of them, but, dang, seems they could find the sunshine in Tartarus.
Moreover, what right do I have to quibble after the "6 Good, 2 Bad" post I banged out last night?
Moving on, I liked Grahame Jones' write-up for the LA Times. I think it's fair to say no one went as easy on Chris Rolfe as Luis Arroyave over on the Red Card; that's not to say he thinks Rolfe had a great game, but he's more generous than the flock, the majority of whom figured Rolfe looked pretty aimless out there. Also, there's plenty of other good stuff in his post. Another pro, the Washington Post's Steve Goff, did a fine wrap of his own; I think he was fairer on the players than Carlisle, but also noted that he was the only observer I've so far seen who kind of liked ESPN2's coverage last night.
Well, that ought to be enough...for now.
But my semi-vegetative state did allow my the strength to read what everyone else had to say about last night's 2-0 U.S. win. So, I'll just post those, note the good stuff and crawl back in my hole. Starting with the pros:
Because I made Soccer Blogs my first stop, I started my day with Soccer by Ives, who noted a lack of sportsmanship out of the Mexican team. Between walking off the field without shaking hands and Oswaldo Sanchez's swipe at Eddie Johnson, yeah (all of which I missed...good one), it was pretty bad, bad enough to creep up in article after article as well as producing a stand-alone piece or two.
Andrea Canales actually improved on this general concept with a piece on Mexico's state of denial; they've got this weird gripe that we don't play the game "correctly," though it never seems to dawn on them that we probably don't see any reason to with Plan A working so well. Canales' partner as LA Soccer News, Luis Bueno, explored this team from the Mexican side on Sports Illustrated.
Turning to the U.S. performance now, there's a fair breadth of thinking as to how we did. On the "we won, but" side of the scales are pieces like Ken Pendleton's offering on USSoccerplayers.com, who raised some concerns about how much we rely on set plays and flukes to win. But the prize for dubious ardor as Jamie Trecker's mysterious assertion that "unlike England, who fielded a below full-strength side"...um...yeah, there's nothing to say about that really. Another person moderately underwhelmed by the U.S. performance was ESPN's Jeff Carlisle, who took the psychological route to explain the win: we're just that far inside Mexico's head that they don't know how to beat us anymore. Against that, the "nice guys" of American soccer punditry - Grant Wahl and Marc Connolly - did their silver lining thing; for the record, I admire the hell out of both of them, but, dang, seems they could find the sunshine in Tartarus.
Moreover, what right do I have to quibble after the "6 Good, 2 Bad" post I banged out last night?
Moving on, I liked Grahame Jones' write-up for the LA Times. I think it's fair to say no one went as easy on Chris Rolfe as Luis Arroyave over on the Red Card; that's not to say he thinks Rolfe had a great game, but he's more generous than the flock, the majority of whom figured Rolfe looked pretty aimless out there. Also, there's plenty of other good stuff in his post. Another pro, the Washington Post's Steve Goff, did a fine wrap of his own; I think he was fairer on the players than Carlisle, but also noted that he was the only observer I've so far seen who kind of liked ESPN2's coverage last night.
Well, that ought to be enough...for now.
Holy shit.
If you've visited this blog in the past two, three days, you've read the thoughts of a man miles down on the U.S. Men's chances. And maybe it's the Pabst, maybe it's a fever borne of low expectation, but, damn, am I optimistic about the future. What comes below should get at why:
The Good
Conrad/Bocanegra: While I don't think this pairing is the future of the American defense, they played well enough together to tell me we've got some depth. Conrad's was the more high-profile performance - a winning goal will do that - but he was also rock-solid at the back. So was Bocanegra. It's undeniable there were a pair of gaffes in there - the two of them contesting the same ball, a move that momentarily hobbled Bocanegra and that big, soft whiff Conrad put on an early cross - but, overall, they held up well against decent competition.
Jonathan Bornstein: I was just blown away by the kid's performance. He looked ragged here and there, but there wasn't enough of it to concern me. He looked good going forward, he looked good defending...I'm not sure what else there is.
Ricardo Clark: Possibly the most encouraging performance of the bunch. It wasn't so much that he was perfect - he wasn't - but, on the few occasions he got beat, he busted ass to get the ball back and, often as not, he did. He looked composed, he looked confident - more to the point, he looked like he belonged out there.
Ball Movement: Until we got to the offensive third, we did pretty well. Yes, there tons of balls out of the back that landed at Mexican feet, especially during the rough patch that followed Conrad's goal. But when we calmed down and played possession, we did all right.
Bob Bradley: The highest compliment we can pay to Bob is that, 10-15 painful minutes aside - those decisive minutes after Conrad's goal - we never looked flustered. That's enough for me for now. He's also got some young players believing they can play at this level; one of them is named Bornstein.
Landon Donovan: He goes here not because he scored a goal, but because he tried the same move that opened up the space for the goal at least one other time. Good to see the former Golden Boy of American Soccer fight to regain the crown.
The Bad
The Offensive Third: The weirdest thing: when Eddie Johnson came on, Clint Dempsey suddenly seemed to pick up his game; while it's true that only wayward passes followed, those were some of our best, general moments on offense. Apart from those flashes, we looked damn near clueless. A total lack of size, of physical muscle may have been the problem; who knows what Taylor Twellman could have brought to the game? But we got seriously dizzy as we approached the Mexican defensive third.
Those Ten, Fifteen Minutes: It seems the Mexicans simply can't score against us - and that's the key thing that salvaged this game. Those several minutes - plus a few plays against the run of play besides - opened up some clear chances for the Mexicans; that they failed to capitalize doesn't excuse the fact that those chances were there and, on occasion, glaring.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Overall, I'm just giddy. We exceeded my expectations by country miles. The main thing was the basic organization, how hard we were to break down. Yeah, the Mexicans got their chances, but they were rarely wide-open. Good night, good game...good rum.
(#########)
If you've visited this blog in the past two, three days, you've read the thoughts of a man miles down on the U.S. Men's chances. And maybe it's the Pabst, maybe it's a fever borne of low expectation, but, damn, am I optimistic about the future. What comes below should get at why:
The Good
Conrad/Bocanegra: While I don't think this pairing is the future of the American defense, they played well enough together to tell me we've got some depth. Conrad's was the more high-profile performance - a winning goal will do that - but he was also rock-solid at the back. So was Bocanegra. It's undeniable there were a pair of gaffes in there - the two of them contesting the same ball, a move that momentarily hobbled Bocanegra and that big, soft whiff Conrad put on an early cross - but, overall, they held up well against decent competition.
Jonathan Bornstein: I was just blown away by the kid's performance. He looked ragged here and there, but there wasn't enough of it to concern me. He looked good going forward, he looked good defending...I'm not sure what else there is.
Ricardo Clark: Possibly the most encouraging performance of the bunch. It wasn't so much that he was perfect - he wasn't - but, on the few occasions he got beat, he busted ass to get the ball back and, often as not, he did. He looked composed, he looked confident - more to the point, he looked like he belonged out there.
Ball Movement: Until we got to the offensive third, we did pretty well. Yes, there tons of balls out of the back that landed at Mexican feet, especially during the rough patch that followed Conrad's goal. But when we calmed down and played possession, we did all right.
Bob Bradley: The highest compliment we can pay to Bob is that, 10-15 painful minutes aside - those decisive minutes after Conrad's goal - we never looked flustered. That's enough for me for now. He's also got some young players believing they can play at this level; one of them is named Bornstein.
Landon Donovan: He goes here not because he scored a goal, but because he tried the same move that opened up the space for the goal at least one other time. Good to see the former Golden Boy of American Soccer fight to regain the crown.
The Bad
The Offensive Third: The weirdest thing: when Eddie Johnson came on, Clint Dempsey suddenly seemed to pick up his game; while it's true that only wayward passes followed, those were some of our best, general moments on offense. Apart from those flashes, we looked damn near clueless. A total lack of size, of physical muscle may have been the problem; who knows what Taylor Twellman could have brought to the game? But we got seriously dizzy as we approached the Mexican defensive third.
Those Ten, Fifteen Minutes: It seems the Mexicans simply can't score against us - and that's the key thing that salvaged this game. Those several minutes - plus a few plays against the run of play besides - opened up some clear chances for the Mexicans; that they failed to capitalize doesn't excuse the fact that those chances were there and, on occasion, glaring.
Anyway, that's all I've got for now. Overall, I'm just giddy. We exceeded my expectations by country miles. The main thing was the basic organization, how hard we were to break down. Yeah, the Mexicans got their chances, but they were rarely wide-open. Good night, good game...good rum.
(#########)
One of the first contributions I've seen from the Boston Herald this preseason, New England Revolution Head Coach Steve Nicol says something that makes me think he's the right coach for a Kraft family operation:
He cites his days playing for Liverpool as an inspiration for this line of thinking...though it's also fair (but only just) to note that his old Liverpool teams managed to actually win a thing or two.
The same article, by the way, contains some good copy on the Revs' mental state going into the 2007 season. Unlike a fair number of fans - including me - the players and staff view the widespread continuity as a plus.
Lazy mug that I am, I didn't look at the Revs' 2007 schedule closely enough to notice that six of their first eight games will be on the road. Hey, waitaminute. That sucks! Then again, it's familiar from previous years, so we may as well get used to it. And, like everyone else, the local media took time to note the dates when Beckham will likely be in town. Happy as I am for all that free interest, another part of me finds it kinda pathetic.
If you want really pathetic, however, ask me what I'll do if the Portland Timbers played a Beckham-packing LA Galaxy in the U.S. Open Cup (NOTE: Given the match dates, Beckham's ETD, not to mention Portland's history in the tournament, this probably can't happen. Still....)
In other news, Frank Dell'Appa wrote a good-sized article on Taylor Twellman's unlucky past with the U.S. Men's team. It contains a lot of interesting numbers and details, many of which are new to me (i.e. it's worth the gander), but it also didn't move me one way or the other on Twellman's fitness for the U.S. team. Because I love Twellman as a player - and he seems a decent sort besides - I'd love to see him make the team and take the trip to South Africa in 2010. But that's kind of a personal thing. I can't really blame people for not seeing him as national-team caliber; he simply hasn't produced. Anyway, here's to hoping he does tonight; that'd do him a world of good.
Finally, file this under "Oh God. He didn't say that," but Revs' defender Jay Heaps dished this whopper to the following whopper to the Boston Globe's Frank Dell'Appa:
Dude. This time doesn't matter. We needed you to "make it" last time.
Anyway, in case Heaps reads this for any reason, I'm just yanking his chain. I have all the respect in the world for his willingness to steps up when called. Still, disastrous quote.
"“We got the core group, and they start to get the stuff done. But if we can bring in a couple (new guys) in at a time, and people start pushing somebody else, and then just keep it flowing, then that’s ideal. I don’t think it’s an ideal situation when you bring tons of new faces in.”
He cites his days playing for Liverpool as an inspiration for this line of thinking...though it's also fair (but only just) to note that his old Liverpool teams managed to actually win a thing or two.
The same article, by the way, contains some good copy on the Revs' mental state going into the 2007 season. Unlike a fair number of fans - including me - the players and staff view the widespread continuity as a plus.
Lazy mug that I am, I didn't look at the Revs' 2007 schedule closely enough to notice that six of their first eight games will be on the road. Hey, waitaminute. That sucks! Then again, it's familiar from previous years, so we may as well get used to it. And, like everyone else, the local media took time to note the dates when Beckham will likely be in town. Happy as I am for all that free interest, another part of me finds it kinda pathetic.
If you want really pathetic, however, ask me what I'll do if the Portland Timbers played a Beckham-packing LA Galaxy in the U.S. Open Cup (NOTE: Given the match dates, Beckham's ETD, not to mention Portland's history in the tournament, this probably can't happen. Still....)
In other news, Frank Dell'Appa wrote a good-sized article on Taylor Twellman's unlucky past with the U.S. Men's team. It contains a lot of interesting numbers and details, many of which are new to me (i.e. it's worth the gander), but it also didn't move me one way or the other on Twellman's fitness for the U.S. team. Because I love Twellman as a player - and he seems a decent sort besides - I'd love to see him make the team and take the trip to South Africa in 2010. But that's kind of a personal thing. I can't really blame people for not seeing him as national-team caliber; he simply hasn't produced. Anyway, here's to hoping he does tonight; that'd do him a world of good.
Finally, file this under "Oh God. He didn't say that," but Revs' defender Jay Heaps dished this whopper to the following whopper to the Boston Globe's Frank Dell'Appa:
"Obviously, for the first couple weeks, it was a tough pill to swallow because I take pride in being able to step up. If I had to do it all over again, I would, but this time I would make it."
Dude. This time doesn't matter. We needed you to "make it" last time.
Anyway, in case Heaps reads this for any reason, I'm just yanking his chain. I have all the respect in the world for his willingness to steps up when called. Still, disastrous quote.
"The evidence of leadership that needs to be seen against Mexico cannot be distilled into as simple a formula as a win. If the U.S. squad appears directionless and tentative (as it did against Denmark at times), but scores due to a lucky penalty call (arguably, this also happened with the Danes) and hangs on desperately for the win against a dominant Mexican team that just can't quite find the equalizer, that might not aid Bradley's cause much."
-Andrea Canales, ESPN (LINK), 02.05.07
I don't know how U.S. fans can help but kick around the thought of what tonight's result will mean. I don't know if I'm where Canales is - to state my quibble clearly, I think, with our squad early in a flag-flying transition, any kind of win against this Mexican squad should impress anyone. But I also take her point well enough to accept she could very well be right.
But the bigger question is what happens if we get shellacked. What if the U.S. squad looks "directionless and tentative" and we get our heads handed to us with an ass chaser? I certainly view a 3-0, even a 4-0 U.S. loss, as well within the realm of possibilities, especially with the Mexican squad and coach amped as they appear to be. Then there's that wonder-quote from Cuauhtemoc Blanco making the rounds (here, for example):
"I don't have friendly matches. Much less against them."
I guess there's nothing to do but offer this as a question and see who bites: would an aimless, 3-0 loss be enough, from your perspective, to turn Bradley's "interim" title to "caretaker"?
Just to play fair, here's my answer: No. This will be only his second game in charge and, with so many familiar faces giving way to new ones, it's asking a lot of Bradley and the team that they go out and beat a very good Mexican team. Returning to Canales' earlier point, though, about helping Bradley's cause: a loss, particularly a bad one, absolutely should go in his permanent file and weigh heavily in discussions about his future with the team; in simple terms, it would take great performances in the Gold Cup and the Copa America to erase a bad loss - and that assumes Bradely even gets the chance. A respectable loss, not so much; good performances in the March friendlies should buy Bradley a shot at hosting the summer tournaments at the very least; whatever he gets for results, I'd argue Bradley is doing well enough getting rebuilding underway.
If we do manage a win tonight, two things should happen: 1) I strongly suspect I'll stay up way too late and drink far too much; 2) Bradley should be awarded stewardship over the summer tournaments, no questions asked. A win here tells me we should see what the man can really do.
(########)
"I've always dreamed of playing in front of friends and family. I couldn't have asked for a better match."
- Pablo Mastroeni, The Arizona Republic (LINK), 02.06.07
I'm of the view that any excitement only makes it more likely that U.S. defensive midfielder Pablo Mastroeni will dish out red-blooded fouls. I don't think I'd find any takers on a bet that Mastroeni will leave tonight's game against Mexico without a caution without raising the odds to ruinous heights.
Any takers on a red card bet? Damn. I need PayPal so's I can swing that kind of thing...or is that illegal?
(########)
Word from around Major League Soccer as it comes to me:
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Chronicle, whose preseason coverage is just bully, ran a story today about the balance between roster depth and Houston's busy 2007. This one's a prettty good road-map for their year to come. The more I think about it, the more I think Houston is going to be hard to unseat in '07. They just look strong...again.
LA Galaxy/Chivas USA
It seems cheap on some levels, but I can't fault the Daily Breeze for squeezing preseason chatter for both Los Angeles teams into the same article. It looks like Chivas USA's preseason is well under way with Preki demanding effort from all concerned, while LA still seems preoccupied with mooning over Beckham.
Toronto FC
Looks like the squad is coming together, even if a number of key players are taking a pass on the earlier portions of training camp. It's going to be fun checking out the new kids this year.
FC Dallas
This turned out to be one of the better of today's preseason check-ups. There's a good deal of talk about a new, positive attitude in Dallas, talk can be fairly readily interpreted as pointing fingers at departed coaches and teammates (see: Clarke, Colin; O'Brien, Robbie; Vanney, Greg). But the more interesting talk revolves around continuing search for new blood:
Real Salt Lake
Even if USSoccerplayers.com ran one of the tidiest wraps on the Salt Lake City stadium situation/debacle, anything you read directly concerned with the team reveals a squad determined to stay focused on the field. A lot of this stuff talks about Freddie Adu and how he's fitting in (answer: pretty well), but there's also a good deal of optimism about the Salt Lake team - and it's not unjustified, either. It's hard not to get excited about your chances when you've got Jeff Cunningham and Jason Kreis supported by Chris Klein, Freddie Adu, and Mehdi Ballouchy; the only concern there is depth.
Another interesting piece of trivia was some fitness drill called the "beep test." Here's the passage on that:
Based on that description, I don't even think this exercise is possible. How does a human being increase his pace "ever so slightly" every 10 seconds for 10 minutes? Sounds like hokum.
All for now.
(########)
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Chronicle, whose preseason coverage is just bully, ran a story today about the balance between roster depth and Houston's busy 2007. This one's a prettty good road-map for their year to come. The more I think about it, the more I think Houston is going to be hard to unseat in '07. They just look strong...again.
LA Galaxy/Chivas USA
It seems cheap on some levels, but I can't fault the Daily Breeze for squeezing preseason chatter for both Los Angeles teams into the same article. It looks like Chivas USA's preseason is well under way with Preki demanding effort from all concerned, while LA still seems preoccupied with mooning over Beckham.
Toronto FC
Looks like the squad is coming together, even if a number of key players are taking a pass on the earlier portions of training camp. It's going to be fun checking out the new kids this year.
FC Dallas
This turned out to be one of the better of today's preseason check-ups. There's a good deal of talk about a new, positive attitude in Dallas, talk can be fairly readily interpreted as pointing fingers at departed coaches and teammates (see: Clarke, Colin; O'Brien, Robbie; Vanney, Greg). But the more interesting talk revolves around continuing search for new blood:
" Morrow said FC Dallas is in talks to bring in a South American player, whom he wouldn't identify, and is also targeting another piece to the puzzle after failing to land Dutch forward Edgar Davids."
Real Salt Lake
Even if USSoccerplayers.com ran one of the tidiest wraps on the Salt Lake City stadium situation/debacle, anything you read directly concerned with the team reveals a squad determined to stay focused on the field. A lot of this stuff talks about Freddie Adu and how he's fitting in (answer: pretty well), but there's also a good deal of optimism about the Salt Lake team - and it's not unjustified, either. It's hard not to get excited about your chances when you've got Jeff Cunningham and Jason Kreis supported by Chris Klein, Freddie Adu, and Mehdi Ballouchy; the only concern there is depth.
Another interesting piece of trivia was some fitness drill called the "beep test." Here's the passage on that:
"For every player, the most dreaded part of the first day of training camp is the beep test. It's a fitness drill in which the players are required to run for upwards of 10 minutes, increasing their pace ever so slightly every 10 seconds. The players push themselves as long as they can and then stop."
Based on that description, I don't even think this exercise is possible. How does a human being increase his pace "ever so slightly" every 10 seconds for 10 minutes? Sounds like hokum.
All for now.
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Obviously, this being a New England Revolution site, I must give prominent place to their 2007 schedule. But, honestly, it's not like I'm going to make it to any games, living out here in Portland, Oregon and barely able to make Portland Timbers' games as it is.
The more important thing to us folks who live outside Major League Soccer towns is the national television schedule. And - holy shit! - what a year it's going to be. So many, many games...so little time. But I'll make time, by God. And a quick (possibly sloppy) count tells me I'll get to see my Revs eight happy times this 2007. Yippee!!
OK, got to run. Got to put a rush on that drool cup I ordered for the season once I got wind of the TV deal last summer.
(########)
The more important thing to us folks who live outside Major League Soccer towns is the national television schedule. And - holy shit! - what a year it's going to be. So many, many games...so little time. But I'll make time, by God. And a quick (possibly sloppy) count tells me I'll get to see my Revs eight happy times this 2007. Yippee!!
OK, got to run. Got to put a rush on that drool cup I ordered for the season once I got wind of the TV deal last summer.
(########)
Now, I know U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT) Head Coach Bob Bradley won’t read this post (but I would squeal like a teenager at a Duran Duran concert if he commented; NOTE: anonymous commenters should feel free to post posing as Bradley), but I can’t resist one last stab at the “roster games” that have been so popular over on Ives (that’s EYE-vis, apparently; didn’t know that) Galarcep’s blog.
And, yes, I do visit other sites.
Anyway, Galarcep posted his most recent stab at who he thinks will take the field for the USMNT and where they’ll play; he has since added some details in a more recent post, but I’ll leave it to interested parties to check out his thoughts.
Like many of you, I’ve continued to fret over the line-up (can’t say “obsess” ‘cause I’m still eating and showering) since the game-day roster came out. I posted a fairly safe first stab of my own, but a new-game day lineup came out of all that fretting and it includes one shift I haven’t seen elsewhere. So, given the roster we’ve got, here’s how I’d line them up (4-3-1-2):
------------------- Howard -------------------------
-- Albright -- Conrad -- Bocanegra -- Bornstein --
-- Mapp --------- Mastroeni -------- Convey ------
------------------- Donovan ------------------------
----- Dempsey ------------ Twellman/Johnson ---------
Now, here’s the thinking behind it - which really only amounted to figuring a way to get Dempsey in at forward. Since that was the priority, may as well start with that.
A modest, yet healthy collection of diving, headed goals demonstrates Dempsey’s willingness to put his head where he shouldn’t; he’s definitely willing to mix it up. But what makes me view him as a good candidate at forward are those dribbling moves for which so many American fans admire him. The trick is making that little bit of space in the box, just that little half-step opening that lets you get off a clean shot. That’s something I believe Dempsey does as well as any American player, which combines with the absence of suitable alternatives to make him a good choice up top in my mind.
The Twellman/Johnson split continues to serve as the big question mark: is Twellman fit enough to go 60 minutes? If so, he should be a nearly automatic first choice. As much as I’ve griped about Johnson, I still think I’d tip him over Rolfe, mainly to have a more physical presence available.
No matter who comes on as forwards, however, Donovan is the key player in my little set-up. His focus will be on supporting the forwards, just buzzing around and making sure they’ve got an option, while also keeping a sharp eye for openings of his own. Not to put to fine a point on it, this is Donovan’s time to shine - or he might discover that “interim” tag applies to more bodies than Bradley.
All in all, I’m comfortable with “the top” of this formation - e.g. the attacking options - but feel a little queasy about everything else. And, on the day, I’d have this set-up play very conservatively, which makes sense in light of who Mexico is bringing. The top three would have near-total freedom to probe for openings, but, unless we’re playing from behind, Mapp and Convey would take turns pushing up their side - e.g. one would hang back a bit, while the other pushes into the attack. The defense, including Mastroeni, would play to contain; the back four would, more or less, stay at home, while Mastroeni’s role would be “killing” and distributing quickly.
Some final considerations:
- I flirted with a left-side set-up of Bobby Convey behind Justin Mapp, mainly to mellow concerns about Bornstein getting burned, but couldn’t sell myself on Mapp’s defensive work-rate. If we’re lucky, Mapp will one day push Donovan for that starting “playmaker’s” role.
- I paired Bocanegra and Conrad in the middle on experience alone with the idea being that’s the part of the field you’re most eager to protect. Like a fair number of people, I’m pretty anxious about the Albright/Bornstein outside-back situation. But because I also don’t (quite) trust Boswell (I’m relenting, given the options), Robinson (worry about fouls), I’m not seeing much for alternatives. Maybe some DC fans can make me better understand the merits of Namoff or Carroll - to give an example, I’d have Namoff replace Albright without batting an eye - but I’m not sufficiently familiar with these players to play them with confidence.
- I’d start Mastroeni solely to have a veteran head in the middle and in spite of earlier opinions. If/When the game settles down, I’d give Clark as much time on the field as I can.
Whew. That’s all I’ve got. Have fun ripping it apart.
And, yes, I do visit other sites.
Anyway, Galarcep posted his most recent stab at who he thinks will take the field for the USMNT and where they’ll play; he has since added some details in a more recent post, but I’ll leave it to interested parties to check out his thoughts.
Like many of you, I’ve continued to fret over the line-up (can’t say “obsess” ‘cause I’m still eating and showering) since the game-day roster came out. I posted a fairly safe first stab of my own, but a new-game day lineup came out of all that fretting and it includes one shift I haven’t seen elsewhere. So, given the roster we’ve got, here’s how I’d line them up (4-3-1-2):
------------------- Howard -------------------------
-- Albright -- Conrad -- Bocanegra -- Bornstein --
-- Mapp --------- Mastroeni -------- Convey ------
------------------- Donovan ------------------------
----- Dempsey ------------ Twellman/Johnson ---------
Now, here’s the thinking behind it - which really only amounted to figuring a way to get Dempsey in at forward. Since that was the priority, may as well start with that.
A modest, yet healthy collection of diving, headed goals demonstrates Dempsey’s willingness to put his head where he shouldn’t; he’s definitely willing to mix it up. But what makes me view him as a good candidate at forward are those dribbling moves for which so many American fans admire him. The trick is making that little bit of space in the box, just that little half-step opening that lets you get off a clean shot. That’s something I believe Dempsey does as well as any American player, which combines with the absence of suitable alternatives to make him a good choice up top in my mind.
The Twellman/Johnson split continues to serve as the big question mark: is Twellman fit enough to go 60 minutes? If so, he should be a nearly automatic first choice. As much as I’ve griped about Johnson, I still think I’d tip him over Rolfe, mainly to have a more physical presence available.
No matter who comes on as forwards, however, Donovan is the key player in my little set-up. His focus will be on supporting the forwards, just buzzing around and making sure they’ve got an option, while also keeping a sharp eye for openings of his own. Not to put to fine a point on it, this is Donovan’s time to shine - or he might discover that “interim” tag applies to more bodies than Bradley.
All in all, I’m comfortable with “the top” of this formation - e.g. the attacking options - but feel a little queasy about everything else. And, on the day, I’d have this set-up play very conservatively, which makes sense in light of who Mexico is bringing. The top three would have near-total freedom to probe for openings, but, unless we’re playing from behind, Mapp and Convey would take turns pushing up their side - e.g. one would hang back a bit, while the other pushes into the attack. The defense, including Mastroeni, would play to contain; the back four would, more or less, stay at home, while Mastroeni’s role would be “killing” and distributing quickly.
Some final considerations:
- I flirted with a left-side set-up of Bobby Convey behind Justin Mapp, mainly to mellow concerns about Bornstein getting burned, but couldn’t sell myself on Mapp’s defensive work-rate. If we’re lucky, Mapp will one day push Donovan for that starting “playmaker’s” role.
- I paired Bocanegra and Conrad in the middle on experience alone with the idea being that’s the part of the field you’re most eager to protect. Like a fair number of people, I’m pretty anxious about the Albright/Bornstein outside-back situation. But because I also don’t (quite) trust Boswell (I’m relenting, given the options), Robinson (worry about fouls), I’m not seeing much for alternatives. Maybe some DC fans can make me better understand the merits of Namoff or Carroll - to give an example, I’d have Namoff replace Albright without batting an eye - but I’m not sufficiently familiar with these players to play them with confidence.
- I’d start Mastroeni solely to have a veteran head in the middle and in spite of earlier opinions. If/When the game settles down, I’d give Clark as much time on the field as I can.
Whew. That’s all I’ve got. Have fun ripping it apart.
It was buried beneath miles of other content in an article in which U.S. Men's head coach Bob Bradley proclaimed himself "excited," but it was there all the same:
Twellman can certainly do worse than to pick up a thing or two from Nowak. Let's hope we see it this year. And, by the way, the rest of that article isn't too shabby either.
OK. I've stared at the TV schedule for a while now and can now confirm that the Revs will be on my TV eight times (I don't have HDNet, but I might have Telefutura...that would add three games...glee). I am a bit concerned about their TV appearances drying up around the middle of August (or September 9th if I get Telefutura/Galavision....must check this....soon...there's some good stuff on Galavision these days), right as the playoff stretch warms to hot. Hopefully, Major League Soccer will hold onto that Quick Kicks feature. Damn, I fell in love with that service last year. Any word on that?
Finally, an article discussing Revs' coach Steve Nicol's contentment at the players he's got back for 2007 tells me that three of the 2007 draftees have signed contracts with the club: Wells Thompson, Ryan Solle, and Amaechi Igwe. Welcome to the club boys - and good luck. Maybe I'll pick around their pasts while I'm trying to keep myself from obsessing over the Mexico game.
(##########)
"We continue to talk to Taylor every day about the fact that the games go a little bit faster, his ability to see things a little bit quicker and his ability to polish up in certain areas will be key. In those ways he seems incredibly receptive. Peter Nowak has really taken time with him in this camp and I think those two have hit it off in that regard and we're excited to try to push him forward a little bit more."
Twellman can certainly do worse than to pick up a thing or two from Nowak. Let's hope we see it this year. And, by the way, the rest of that article isn't too shabby either.
OK. I've stared at the TV schedule for a while now and can now confirm that the Revs will be on my TV eight times (I don't have HDNet, but I might have Telefutura...that would add three games...glee). I am a bit concerned about their TV appearances drying up around the middle of August (or September 9th if I get Telefutura/Galavision....must check this....soon...there's some good stuff on Galavision these days), right as the playoff stretch warms to hot. Hopefully, Major League Soccer will hold onto that Quick Kicks feature. Damn, I fell in love with that service last year. Any word on that?
Finally, an article discussing Revs' coach Steve Nicol's contentment at the players he's got back for 2007 tells me that three of the 2007 draftees have signed contracts with the club: Wells Thompson, Ryan Solle, and Amaechi Igwe. Welcome to the club boys - and good luck. Maybe I'll pick around their pasts while I'm trying to keep myself from obsessing over the Mexico game.
(##########)
The guilt kicked in shortly after getting this scolding on Ives Galarcep’s blog:
That came on February 5th and, for the record, interested parties can find the lineup mentioned in an earlier post, though it’s worth mentioning that Galarcep continues the passage quoted above by noting his version of the roster was speculation.
Returning to the guilt, I have to own up to being one of the “inordinate amount of Americans” who doesn’t really know jack about the Mexican team. As with most of you (I’m guessing here), I see the Mexicans whenever we play them and....and...well, there is no “and.” In spite of its ready availability, I don’t watch Mexican club ball; and living in a one-TV household means I don’t get to a lot of the European stuff either, a recent requirement for in following the Mexican team these days (see, Marquez, Rafael; Pardo, Pavel). Thus, it’s fair to call me ignorant. Moreover, I know there’s no way I can reasonably drag myself up to speed between today and tomorrow...
....not that that stopped me from trying. And, as it turns out, I have at least seen a good chunk of this Mexico team function at a decent level, something anyone who caught Mexico during the World Cup can claim. That’s a funny thing. In spite of repeatedly reading that Mexico will bring its starters, I never made the mental leap to grokking that this meant the Mexican team we face tomorrow night would - or could, at least - look a lot like the team Mexico took the World Cup (that link will take you to a wealth of player profiles, histories, etc.). But the staggering thing is how much. Nine players listed on Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez’ roster started against Argentina in the Tricolores epic Round of 16 loss to Argentina: Oswaldo Sanchez, Carlos Salcido, Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Osorio, Pavel Pardo, Ramon Morales, Andres Guardado, Jared Borghetti, Francisco Fonseca.
Cue the “holy crap!!” moment.
Yes, I read “A Team,” but that didn’t compute. Think back to that Mexico v. Argentina game: remember how hard the Mexicans pushed, how fluid and quick they could be in possession against a team that had been, to that point, one of the hottest in the tournament. (Here’s the match report in case your memory fails you.) Now picture Jonathan Bornstein, Chris Albright, and Bobby Boswell trying to stop them (NOTE: I've encountered recurring pre-game panic about Albright and Bornstein). Now dig out that rosary you chucked upon going agnostic. Pray. Keep praying.
In all seriousness, this personal realization of mine has me feeling fairly pessimistic about tomorrow night’s game. Someone, somewhere suggested that, for once, the U.S. team has the luxury of saying we didn’t bring our “A Team,” which we can use to calm our fears and hide some embarrassment in the event of a loss. That’s a silly suggestion on so many levels - and it’s one I’m almost certain to use if things break against us. But it’s hard to like our odds with so many young players suiting up for the U.S. (that and the reasonable possibility of Mastroeni compensating with hard, risky fouls).
That’s not to say there’s no hope. A while back, former Chivas USA player Juan Francisco Palencia offered some thoughts on the level of play and style in Major League Soccer (MLS):
That’s the little crack of daylight for this U.S. squad. I doubt I’m alone in believing that the U.S. men built their recent domination of Mexican squads on the back of a maniacal work-rate. I expect this same mentality will be in evidence Wednesday. The decisive question will be the extent to which our quality of play will complement the anticipated energy. I believe that it can pull us through to a good result. Who knows? We may even pull out a win. But more on that later.
But, seriously, I’m not expecting a win, or even a tie really. If Mexico can reproduce half of what they put into the game against Argentina we’ve got several miles of our work cut out.
“Part of this has to do with an inordinate amount of Americans just not knowing much about Mexico. These fans need to subscribe to the ‘know thy enemy’ thinking. I posted a projected Mexico lineup and formation on Friday.”
That came on February 5th and, for the record, interested parties can find the lineup mentioned in an earlier post, though it’s worth mentioning that Galarcep continues the passage quoted above by noting his version of the roster was speculation.
Returning to the guilt, I have to own up to being one of the “inordinate amount of Americans” who doesn’t really know jack about the Mexican team. As with most of you (I’m guessing here), I see the Mexicans whenever we play them and....and...well, there is no “and.” In spite of its ready availability, I don’t watch Mexican club ball; and living in a one-TV household means I don’t get to a lot of the European stuff either, a recent requirement for in following the Mexican team these days (see, Marquez, Rafael; Pardo, Pavel). Thus, it’s fair to call me ignorant. Moreover, I know there’s no way I can reasonably drag myself up to speed between today and tomorrow...
....not that that stopped me from trying. And, as it turns out, I have at least seen a good chunk of this Mexico team function at a decent level, something anyone who caught Mexico during the World Cup can claim. That’s a funny thing. In spite of repeatedly reading that Mexico will bring its starters, I never made the mental leap to grokking that this meant the Mexican team we face tomorrow night would - or could, at least - look a lot like the team Mexico took the World Cup (that link will take you to a wealth of player profiles, histories, etc.). But the staggering thing is how much. Nine players listed on Mexican coach Hugo Sanchez’ roster started against Argentina in the Tricolores epic Round of 16 loss to Argentina: Oswaldo Sanchez, Carlos Salcido, Rafael Marquez, Ricardo Osorio, Pavel Pardo, Ramon Morales, Andres Guardado, Jared Borghetti, Francisco Fonseca.
Cue the “holy crap!!” moment.
Yes, I read “A Team,” but that didn’t compute. Think back to that Mexico v. Argentina game: remember how hard the Mexicans pushed, how fluid and quick they could be in possession against a team that had been, to that point, one of the hottest in the tournament. (Here’s the match report in case your memory fails you.) Now picture Jonathan Bornstein, Chris Albright, and Bobby Boswell trying to stop them (NOTE: I've encountered recurring pre-game panic about Albright and Bornstein). Now dig out that rosary you chucked upon going agnostic. Pray. Keep praying.
In all seriousness, this personal realization of mine has me feeling fairly pessimistic about tomorrow night’s game. Someone, somewhere suggested that, for once, the U.S. team has the luxury of saying we didn’t bring our “A Team,” which we can use to calm our fears and hide some embarrassment in the event of a loss. That’s a silly suggestion on so many levels - and it’s one I’m almost certain to use if things break against us. But it’s hard to like our odds with so many young players suiting up for the U.S. (that and the reasonable possibility of Mastroeni compensating with hard, risky fouls).
That’s not to say there’s no hope. A while back, former Chivas USA player Juan Francisco Palencia offered some thoughts on the level of play and style in Major League Soccer (MLS):
"...I disagree with those who say it's an elephant cemetery, because that's where I would've buried myself. But I'm in great shape physically, because that's how you have to be there, above all else; and mentally, because you have to think much faster there than here. It's harder to keep the ball at your feet; they pressure you very quickly."
That’s the little crack of daylight for this U.S. squad. I doubt I’m alone in believing that the U.S. men built their recent domination of Mexican squads on the back of a maniacal work-rate. I expect this same mentality will be in evidence Wednesday. The decisive question will be the extent to which our quality of play will complement the anticipated energy. I believe that it can pull us through to a good result. Who knows? We may even pull out a win. But more on that later.
But, seriously, I’m not expecting a win, or even a tie really. If Mexico can reproduce half of what they put into the game against Argentina we’ve got several miles of our work cut out.
"At the same time, though, I wonder if there's a plan in place, or is DC essentially being reactive at this point? I leave for a week, but I've come back worried. Yes, I'm worried my friends."
- D, DCenters, (LINK), 02.05.07
DC United's decision to re-acquire Rod Dyachenko after letting him go in the expansion draft that welcomed Toronto FC into the league somewhat naturally had me thinking of Real Salt Lake's similar "spaz manuever" with Jason Kreis (ah, screw it; I've been trying to find one of the many "freakout posts" that followed this episode, but it's not easy enough and I'm done fighting archived blogs, etc.). But with the stakes so much smaller - i.e. the difference in salary and reputation between Kreis and Dyachenko - it seemed no more than a case of DC's front office catching a little of that pie that flew at RSL's front office after the Kreis thing.
Today, though, when reading up on the goalkeeping situation in DC, one gets to this bit of news:
"Coach Tom Soehn did not rule out reacquiring Nick Rimando, who was traded to Real Salt Lake in December as part of the Freddy Adu trade. Rimando, who did not return a telephone message yesterday, hasn't been able to reach contract terms with his new club."
"'We're always interested in Nick, but Nick has got to do what's best for him and he has to figure out what his situation is with Salt Lake,' Soehn said. 'Everything is possible.'"
That's when I got to thinking, "Oh...my..." Or, rather, that this has reached a point where the situation bears noting. What is going on in DC? I'd say watch this space, but you'd be a lot better off keeping up with DCenters and An American's View.
OK....that and it suddenly looks like New England's off-season paralysis isn't the worst that could happen. Then again, that only lasts till I remind myself that, 1) DC is still active, and 2) at least they picked up a forward.
(########)
A RevsNet story that ran on February 4, 2007 reports on the scene from the New England Revolution's invite-only tryouts; I'm not totally sure as to when the tryout took place, but Soccer New England's report carries a February 3, 2007 dateline.
Apart from noting that the RevsNet item compares more favorably courtesy of its tribute to men who dream big (e.g. those people who showed up for the long-shot attempt at making a professional soccer team), the more significant piece comes with which players showed well. Let the record show that RevsNet took time to name defender Dana Leary, goalkeeper Brad Knighton, and forward Dale Weiler; for their part, Soccer New England noted midfielders Ralph Meier and David Tuesta, right-back Christian Figueroa, and, again, Leary.
Now...we'll see if we hear any of these names again....
All in all, though, it appears no one stood out enough to get coach Steve Nicol excited. Still, he's taking some back for another look.
In other Revs' news, a Boston Globe piece fleshed out some details from the now-dead Celtic FC bid for Shalrie Joseph; turns out that reached a $2 million bid. Dang. And with Celtic continuing deeper into the Champions League, one still has to wonder how the big Grenadian is taking all this. Oh, and there's a bit in the article that says "Joseph, who has two years remaining on an MLS contract worth about $150,000 annually, has been in negotiations with the league to extend the deal."
The tricky thing is, that follows a paragraph in which only the deal with Celtic was discussed. But that language, specifically the word "extend" makes me think the discussion is about Joseph's MLS contract. I don't know. Maybe I'm making this harder than it needs to be. All I know is, wherever Joseph goes, they really ought to be paying him more than $150K annually.
Finally, it sounds like Michael Parkhurst's first run with the U.S. National Team is over for now. He's not on the roster against Mexico, anyway. But the interesting part of the article are Parkhurst's musings about the differences between playing in a three-man versus a four-man defense.
Apart from noting that the RevsNet item compares more favorably courtesy of its tribute to men who dream big (e.g. those people who showed up for the long-shot attempt at making a professional soccer team), the more significant piece comes with which players showed well. Let the record show that RevsNet took time to name defender Dana Leary, goalkeeper Brad Knighton, and forward Dale Weiler; for their part, Soccer New England noted midfielders Ralph Meier and David Tuesta, right-back Christian Figueroa, and, again, Leary.
Now...we'll see if we hear any of these names again....
All in all, though, it appears no one stood out enough to get coach Steve Nicol excited. Still, he's taking some back for another look.
In other Revs' news, a Boston Globe piece fleshed out some details from the now-dead Celtic FC bid for Shalrie Joseph; turns out that reached a $2 million bid. Dang. And with Celtic continuing deeper into the Champions League, one still has to wonder how the big Grenadian is taking all this. Oh, and there's a bit in the article that says "Joseph, who has two years remaining on an MLS contract worth about $150,000 annually, has been in negotiations with the league to extend the deal."
The tricky thing is, that follows a paragraph in which only the deal with Celtic was discussed. But that language, specifically the word "extend" makes me think the discussion is about Joseph's MLS contract. I don't know. Maybe I'm making this harder than it needs to be. All I know is, wherever Joseph goes, they really ought to be paying him more than $150K annually.
Finally, it sounds like Michael Parkhurst's first run with the U.S. National Team is over for now. He's not on the roster against Mexico, anyway. But the interesting part of the article are Parkhurst's musings about the differences between playing in a three-man versus a four-man defense.
I think I'll lead with the anxiety:
Last time I checked, Mastroeni knows only one way to "put a stamp" on a game and it usually involves his cleats and some other guy's leg. So, how long do folks think Pablo'll last out there? If this is where his head is, I'm thinking we'll be playing with 10 men by the end of the first half.
Turning now to roster talk, it's fair to say the squad Bradley named wasn't uncontroversial, leaving some frustrated, and others confused and - even if he didn't admit it - a bit uneasy. In what reads like something of a response to the confusion, Allen Hopkins wrote a piece for ESPN that addresses some of the surprises:
I can't say whether this makes anyone feel better, or only confirms their worst fears, but that's an answer anyway.
For further reading, Jeff Carlisle did some line-up prognostication as well, though of a more general sort, while Ives Galarcep chatted a bit about the USMNT in his most recent Q & A with readers. I think Galarcep had some good things to say, like he always does, but was particularly pleased by the bit about Bobby Boswell; like Galarcep, I don't think he's ready for this level.
(########)
""It's critical in this game that the veterans step up and make sure they put a stamp on the game."
- Pablo Mastroeni, on the Mexico game, Houston Chronicle (LINK), 02.04.07
Last time I checked, Mastroeni knows only one way to "put a stamp" on a game and it usually involves his cleats and some other guy's leg. So, how long do folks think Pablo'll last out there? If this is where his head is, I'm thinking we'll be playing with 10 men by the end of the first half.
Turning now to roster talk, it's fair to say the squad Bradley named wasn't uncontroversial, leaving some frustrated, and others confused and - even if he didn't admit it - a bit uneasy. In what reads like something of a response to the confusion, Allen Hopkins wrote a piece for ESPN that addresses some of the surprises:
"In camp, a group has emerged over the last month as the preferred first team: Jonathan Bornstein, Bobby Boswell, Jimmy Conrad and Chris Albright in defense, Clark, Pablo Mastroeni, Justin Mapp in midfield, with Chris Rolfe and Landon Donovan up top."
"Bradley spent the last couple of days last week training the defense, specifically the back six (as opposed to four) working with Bornstein, Boswell, Conrad, Albright with Clark and Mastroeni in front. The staff emphasized getting out of the back quickly and not playing so deep when Mexico has the ball. The center back pairing of Conrad and Boswell looks as if it is beginning to gel."
I can't say whether this makes anyone feel better, or only confirms their worst fears, but that's an answer anyway.
For further reading, Jeff Carlisle did some line-up prognostication as well, though of a more general sort, while Ives Galarcep chatted a bit about the USMNT in his most recent Q & A with readers. I think Galarcep had some good things to say, like he always does, but was particularly pleased by the bit about Bobby Boswell; like Galarcep, I don't think he's ready for this level.
(########)
Well, it looks like Real Salt Lake's (RSL) stadium fight is finally coming together - at least on the political side. It looks as if there will be something concrete for the team to say yes or no to by the end of the week in any case - though I can't quite tell if the ball is in RSL's court exclusively (normally, I'd answer that question but my synapses have a lot of gunk blocking them today).
Like everyone else, I'm just wanting this damn saga to end - almost, but not quite, to the point where I don't care what happens.
But there's another developing wrinkle in this story - namely, what will come of St. Louis' hard-press courtship of the team? An excerpt from a Saturday article in the Deseret News points in an interesting direction:
So, what happens if/when St. Louis gets their stadium situation sorted out just when the Utahns get theirs approved and RSL decides to stay put? With St. Louis that far along - and with the right people interested - wouldn't St. Louis look really good for an expansion town? Put another way, reading that passage, wouldn't you think St. Louis will go ahead and build even with an available team out of the picture?
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Like everyone else, I'm just wanting this damn saga to end - almost, but not quite, to the point where I don't care what happens.
But there's another developing wrinkle in this story - namely, what will come of St. Louis' hard-press courtship of the team? An excerpt from a Saturday article in the Deseret News points in an interesting direction:
"But three cities around St. Louis are anxious to play host to a Major League Soccer team in their town."
"Jeff Cooper, a lawyer who is the managing partner of Simmons Cooper in St. Louis, is negotiating a deal for his group to own the team. He said they are "very, very close to a stadium deal," and he's expecting to come to a resolution sometime next week."
"Stadium plans, he said, would be much like the one proposed in Sandy, with a public-private partnership. The difference, he said, is that these public leaders are willing to put "their money where their mouth is."
So, what happens if/when St. Louis gets their stadium situation sorted out just when the Utahns get theirs approved and RSL decides to stay put? With St. Louis that far along - and with the right people interested - wouldn't St. Louis look really good for an expansion town? Put another way, reading that passage, wouldn't you think St. Louis will go ahead and build even with an available team out of the picture?
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Every so often, a story comes around that compels me to notice the soccer world outside the U.S. The recent riots in Italy definitely fit the bill; I mean, a dead cop, games banned for the weekend, talk about barring clubs with inadequate security from hosting matches next season - all very serious stuff.
In a word, yikes. Glad this doesn't happen over here. And let's hope it never does. Who wants to deal with the hassle of seeing games under those conditions?
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In a word, yikes. Glad this doesn't happen over here. And let's hope it never does. Who wants to deal with the hassle of seeing games under those conditions?
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I found this one somewhat accidentally, but it's soccer-related so I figured I'd post it.
Anyway, this is what happens when a Boca Juniors fan tries to get a Boca Juniors tattoo from a River Plate supporter.
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Anyway, this is what happens when a Boca Juniors fan tries to get a Boca Juniors tattoo from a River Plate supporter.
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* When I said I couldn't deal with hashing this stuff out a couple hours back, though that was probably a function of not having a concrete roster available.
But the more immediate inspiration for this post came from reading the rant posted on An American's View by Brian Garrison, who vigorously took issue good-sized chunks of U.S. Coach Bob Bradley's roster. Being the low-temperature type, I'm not as amped as Brian; the fact that this is a friendly - yeah, a friendly against Mexico, but a friendly all the same - also takes the edge off a bit.
Still....there are decisions to answer for on the roster, which, as posted on the USSoccerplayers.com site, looks something like this:
By and large, I agree with Brian. There are, however, some minor points of departure; let's list these in order of significance:
The "Gooch Call" or lack thereof: I agree we'd probably be better with Gooch, but this is a friendly. He just joined his club last week, so let the man settle into his new digs. That's his job over there; we're the confection - at least till we're playing in competitive matches.
Mapp over Beasley: While I'm equally baffled at Beasley's absence, call this a chance to see how Mapp does as a two-way player. The argument for Mapp is the same as Cooper; let's see how he does in a competitive setting.
Mastroeni/Clark: I don't mind this central pairing. I also think/hope it's not what we'll see - more on that later.
Twellman's Feet: I think they're mediocre. I've seen TT give away too many layoffs while playing as a target forward. Don't get me wrong - I love the guy as a player and can see him charging like a thick-bottomed top - but he's best as a "poor man's Robbie Fowler, e.g. a pure poacher. He can score with his feet just fine, but passing? Not so much.
I think that's it...well, almost. Brian did something I kind of liked when assessing the roster: he took a stab at what he thinks Bradley will do. I see value in that exercise - it's playing with "the team you have" in a sense; call it the "Rumsfeld Option" - even if I hope he's wrong about the line-up. More to the point, my Evan Williams pickled brain can't handle that level of thought today. Here's the team I think Bradley will field, which, curiously, matches the team I'd field out of these players (now this is probably pointless, but we'll compare notes after Wednesday):
Goal: Tim Howard 1st half; Joe Cannon 2nd half
-- Albright -- Boswell -- Conrad -- Bocanegra --
-- Dempsey ------ Mastroeni ------- Mapp ---
-------------- Donovan -------------------
----- Johnson(1) ----------- Twellman/Rolfe* ----
* I split this one because I think Rolfe will get the nod if Twellman's even feeling moderately off.
I think Bradley's going to start the game conservatively, in defense especially, which is why I'm seeing Bocanegra; Boswell is the big question mark to me. In fact, while I'm at it, here are the player calls I'm not seeing: Eddie Robinson (too thuggish*), Bryan Namoff, Brian Carroll (not high on either player), Joshua Gros (except perhaps at right back...gawd, I don't mean for a DCU bias to come through, but, Lord, it's hard to avoid the impression, isn't it? Let's put Franchino in there....kidding! I'm kidding!), Rolfe (I'm not sold on this guy yet), and, with a big, cross-country "you-are-so-totally-correct-Bob-Bradley-owes-you-an-apology," Eddie Johnson. Brian's thoughts on Eddie Johnson mirror mine; he needs a year of good club ball at a minimum before coming back into the fold.
Finally, here are places we (almost) agree:
Where's Coop? Seriously, unless his grandmother died or something* I don't see any reason to "rest" Cooper. Let's see what this (big) cat can do in a tough game. One last detail: it's undeniable Cooper played very well for Dallas in 2006 and he looked decent against Denmark - but that was only one game and not against the strongest opposition. He had an encouraging outing, but that's not enough to dub him our best option at forward. For the rest, though, hell yes, we should see how he handles the next step. Calling this "bullshit" is exactly right.
Mastroeni v. Clark: As noted below, play Clark. I don't think this will happen and agree Pablo's a risk; I can't, and won't, deny that. But it also only takes a trip back to the 2002 World Cup to suggest Pablo's not a bad starter; I remember him getting so deep under the Mexicans' skins that he had them ripping their hair out on the way to picking up cards. He's a good player for this scenario. But, like Brian, I'd rather see Clark...we need to see how he plays against a team like Mexico, not least because he's a better player - i.e. he's got a better game beyond destroying.
Holy Crap. I've written enough today.
Hat tip to Brian for getting the ball rolling. Have a good weekend, all y'all.
UPDATE (1): As I walked to the train, it occurred to me I've got a bit of a disconnect in this post. That I say Eddie Johnson shouldn't have been invited on one hand, while listing him as a starter on the other doesn't really add up. It's Twellman's status that allows it to do so - though I won't insult anyone's intelligence by claiming this occurred to me when I wrote the original. If Twellman were healthy, I would have gone with a Twellman/Rolfe front line; it's not quite "big/small," but it would be similar in practice. With Twellman recovering from a hernia situation, I would think the Revolution wouldn't be all that keen on him going a full 90. That's where Johnson starting makes sense. It's not that I think, or think that Bradley thinks, he'll light it up against the Tricolores. It's more a matter of, with the chosen roster, what other alternative is left? And don't answer Donovan....
But the more immediate inspiration for this post came from reading the rant posted on An American's View by Brian Garrison, who vigorously took issue good-sized chunks of U.S. Coach Bob Bradley's roster. Being the low-temperature type, I'm not as amped as Brian; the fact that this is a friendly - yeah, a friendly against Mexico, but a friendly all the same - also takes the edge off a bit.
Still....there are decisions to answer for on the roster, which, as posted on the USSoccerplayers.com site, looks something like this:
Goalkeepers: Joe Cannon (Los Angeles Galaxy), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
Defenders: Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham FC), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Bobby Boswell (D.C. United), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Bryan Namoff (D.C. United), Eddie Robinson (Houston Dynamo)
Midfielders: Brian Carroll (D.C. United), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Joshua Gros (D.C. United), Justin Mapp (Chicago Fire), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)
Forwards: Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (Kansas Cit y Wizards), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)
By and large, I agree with Brian. There are, however, some minor points of departure; let's list these in order of significance:
The "Gooch Call" or lack thereof: I agree we'd probably be better with Gooch, but this is a friendly. He just joined his club last week, so let the man settle into his new digs. That's his job over there; we're the confection - at least till we're playing in competitive matches.
Mapp over Beasley: While I'm equally baffled at Beasley's absence, call this a chance to see how Mapp does as a two-way player. The argument for Mapp is the same as Cooper; let's see how he does in a competitive setting.
Mastroeni/Clark: I don't mind this central pairing. I also think/hope it's not what we'll see - more on that later.
Twellman's Feet: I think they're mediocre. I've seen TT give away too many layoffs while playing as a target forward. Don't get me wrong - I love the guy as a player and can see him charging like a thick-bottomed top - but he's best as a "poor man's Robbie Fowler, e.g. a pure poacher. He can score with his feet just fine, but passing? Not so much.
I think that's it...well, almost. Brian did something I kind of liked when assessing the roster: he took a stab at what he thinks Bradley will do. I see value in that exercise - it's playing with "the team you have" in a sense; call it the "Rumsfeld Option" - even if I hope he's wrong about the line-up. More to the point, my Evan Williams pickled brain can't handle that level of thought today. Here's the team I think Bradley will field, which, curiously, matches the team I'd field out of these players (now this is probably pointless, but we'll compare notes after Wednesday):
Goal: Tim Howard 1st half; Joe Cannon 2nd half
-- Albright -- Boswell -- Conrad -- Bocanegra --
-- Dempsey ------ Mastroeni ------- Mapp ---
-------------- Donovan -------------------
----- Johnson(1) ----------- Twellman/Rolfe* ----
* I split this one because I think Rolfe will get the nod if Twellman's even feeling moderately off.
I think Bradley's going to start the game conservatively, in defense especially, which is why I'm seeing Bocanegra; Boswell is the big question mark to me. In fact, while I'm at it, here are the player calls I'm not seeing: Eddie Robinson (too thuggish*), Bryan Namoff, Brian Carroll (not high on either player), Joshua Gros (except perhaps at right back...gawd, I don't mean for a DCU bias to come through, but, Lord, it's hard to avoid the impression, isn't it? Let's put Franchino in there....kidding! I'm kidding!), Rolfe (I'm not sold on this guy yet), and, with a big, cross-country "you-are-so-totally-correct-Bob-Bradley-owes-you-an-apology," Eddie Johnson. Brian's thoughts on Eddie Johnson mirror mine; he needs a year of good club ball at a minimum before coming back into the fold.
Finally, here are places we (almost) agree:
Where's Coop? Seriously, unless his grandmother died or something* I don't see any reason to "rest" Cooper. Let's see what this (big) cat can do in a tough game. One last detail: it's undeniable Cooper played very well for Dallas in 2006 and he looked decent against Denmark - but that was only one game and not against the strongest opposition. He had an encouraging outing, but that's not enough to dub him our best option at forward. For the rest, though, hell yes, we should see how he handles the next step. Calling this "bullshit" is exactly right.
Mastroeni v. Clark: As noted below, play Clark. I don't think this will happen and agree Pablo's a risk; I can't, and won't, deny that. But it also only takes a trip back to the 2002 World Cup to suggest Pablo's not a bad starter; I remember him getting so deep under the Mexicans' skins that he had them ripping their hair out on the way to picking up cards. He's a good player for this scenario. But, like Brian, I'd rather see Clark...we need to see how he plays against a team like Mexico, not least because he's a better player - i.e. he's got a better game beyond destroying.
Holy Crap. I've written enough today.
Hat tip to Brian for getting the ball rolling. Have a good weekend, all y'all.
UPDATE (1): As I walked to the train, it occurred to me I've got a bit of a disconnect in this post. That I say Eddie Johnson shouldn't have been invited on one hand, while listing him as a starter on the other doesn't really add up. It's Twellman's status that allows it to do so - though I won't insult anyone's intelligence by claiming this occurred to me when I wrote the original. If Twellman were healthy, I would have gone with a Twellman/Rolfe front line; it's not quite "big/small," but it would be similar in practice. With Twellman recovering from a hernia situation, I would think the Revolution wouldn't be all that keen on him going a full 90. That's where Johnson starting makes sense. It's not that I think, or think that Bradley thinks, he'll light it up against the Tricolores. It's more a matter of, with the chosen roster, what other alternative is left? And don't answer Donovan....
(TESTING Again: Yep, if you go to Soccer Blogs and scroll way down the page, you'll see my posts showing as if I posted them at 5:30 a.m. or so EST. Well, I know I only that time on the clock once a day and it sure as hell ain't in the A.M. It's against what religion I have to get up that early. I'll be doing some exploring this weekend about switching services; I've tolerated too many annoyances with Blogger since getting into blogging and this - this switching to an improved format that turns out to be totally ass - might be the killer. Anyway...)
Ives Galarcep had some fun with guessing the roster for next Wednesday's friendly against Mexico; that link will actually take you to the results of his "fun," which took the form of a survey of commenters. You can check Galarcep's post to see the line-up laid out.
Personally, I'm not ready for this yet; I'll be spazzing all over this next week, but, for now, have only one thing to add. There's a mini-debate going on regarding whether the U.S. Men should start Pablo Mastroeni or Ricardo Clark in the "destroyer/holdling midfield" role. As the title reads, I'm plumping for Clark. It's a friendly, right? I want to see what Clark can handle before it matters. More to the point, I think he's up for it.
By next week, I'll be ready to monkey around with the rest of it. But, today, I'm pretty firm in thinking we should start Clark.
Ives Galarcep had some fun with guessing the roster for next Wednesday's friendly against Mexico; that link will actually take you to the results of his "fun," which took the form of a survey of commenters. You can check Galarcep's post to see the line-up laid out.
Personally, I'm not ready for this yet; I'll be spazzing all over this next week, but, for now, have only one thing to add. There's a mini-debate going on regarding whether the U.S. Men should start Pablo Mastroeni or Ricardo Clark in the "destroyer/holdling midfield" role. As the title reads, I'm plumping for Clark. It's a friendly, right? I want to see what Clark can handle before it matters. More to the point, I think he's up for it.
By next week, I'll be ready to monkey around with the rest of it. But, today, I'm pretty firm in thinking we should start Clark.
(NOTE: I've been having trouble with my posts showing up on Soccer Blogs as if they've been published five to six hours earlier than I actually did post them. In an attempt to remedy this in the near-term, I'm going to change post times and see what that does. The next step is kicking "New Blogger" to the curb and trying Typepad.)
Not much more to say here, than let the record show that Dwayne DeRosario was selected the Canadian soccer player of the year for the second year running. This got me thinking about who would count as Canada's greatest all-time player. Any thoughts out there?
A second point of curiosity: how would it feel to be that guy? Or how does it feel for DeRosario right now, being the best current Canadian player, if not of all time?
Suppose I'll never know. But I do think DeRo is good for it.
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Not much more to say here, than let the record show that Dwayne DeRosario was selected the Canadian soccer player of the year for the second year running. This got me thinking about who would count as Canada's greatest all-time player. Any thoughts out there?
A second point of curiosity: how would it feel to be that guy? Or how does it feel for DeRosario right now, being the best current Canadian player, if not of all time?
Suppose I'll never know. But I do think DeRo is good for it.
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I'm still working on a title for my weekly feature on the Portland Timbers. I think I like this one well enough to run with it for now.
I'm still catching up on Timbers' news, though I'm smacking my forehead this morning for not considering that Bigsoccer.com might - just might - have some threads devoted to the Timbers. Sure enough, they do. And there's good chatter on some of the new signings, even if it's a bit thin. For instance, that Chris Bagley guy sounds like he'll be all right.
And there's always the wunder-bar Timbers' Log, which turned in a good piece on the aging turf at the Timbers' PGE Park home ground. The best part of that post comes with this insight:
I'm trying to get interested parties to check out the Timbers' Blog because the author, Bob Kellet, does good work; he expands on that argument in a very compelling way. It is a shame, though.
There are other sources out there that I haven't visited for a while, with the Timber Log being the first that comes to me. And, wow, that one hasn't been updated for half a year now (assuming I found the right place). There look to be another few available through this portal....though they're kind of a mixed bag as well. Ah, I'll keep trying.
Returning to the whole turf-and-being-run-by-the-local-government thing, I'm still trying to figure how to find some rich Portlanders to buy out the city's lease to PGE Park, so's we can convert that into a soccer-only stadium and get MLS to come to town. I'm sure there's a report out there somewhere, though, explaining why Portland can't or won't support a first division professional soccer team. Sigh.
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I'm still catching up on Timbers' news, though I'm smacking my forehead this morning for not considering that Bigsoccer.com might - just might - have some threads devoted to the Timbers. Sure enough, they do. And there's good chatter on some of the new signings, even if it's a bit thin. For instance, that Chris Bagley guy sounds like he'll be all right.
And there's always the wunder-bar Timbers' Log, which turned in a good piece on the aging turf at the Timbers' PGE Park home ground. The best part of that post comes with this insight:
"Kerry Eggers is right. [Eggers is a columnist who writes for a local biweekly paper called the Portland Tribune.] It is time for a new surface, but as long as the city is in charge of the facility operations it isn't going to happen until the last possible moment."
I'm trying to get interested parties to check out the Timbers' Blog because the author, Bob Kellet, does good work; he expands on that argument in a very compelling way. It is a shame, though.
There are other sources out there that I haven't visited for a while, with the Timber Log being the first that comes to me. And, wow, that one hasn't been updated for half a year now (assuming I found the right place). There look to be another few available through this portal....though they're kind of a mixed bag as well. Ah, I'll keep trying.
Returning to the whole turf-and-being-run-by-the-local-government thing, I'm still trying to figure how to find some rich Portlanders to buy out the city's lease to PGE Park, so's we can convert that into a soccer-only stadium and get MLS to come to town. I'm sure there's a report out there somewhere, though, explaining why Portland can't or won't support a first division professional soccer team. Sigh.
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The article itself came from the Los Angeles Times and it's about players try-outs for the Los Angeles Galaxy in the Beckham Era (hereafter, B.E.) but I couldn't help but smirk at this quote from Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas:
(Extended NOTE: Honestly, I am not an Alexi hater. I actually admire the guy for his verbal idiocies - they have their uses - and respect what he did as a player well enough; I'll never forget seeing him run up that slope of ivy after scoring the winning goal in the Galaxy's U.S. Open Cup victory a couple years back. And there's that whole Italy thing. But Alexi is a tool - even if I'm not sure what that word means. It's kind of like that old phrase about porn: I know a tool when I see one. Still, a hard-and-fast definition seems like a good idea, so, turning to the Urban Dictionary, I found several options. I think #5 best describes how I think of Lalas and, I suppose on one level, I'd prefer it if Alexi got lost; I find him annoying - though, again, believe he's conscious of what he is doing. It's this last piece - the self-awareness - that makes definition #1 kind of iffy. Then again, is the Galaxy using Lalas? Possibly. Even if they are, though, he's clearly smart enough to play along on terms close to his own.)
"'There's been an incredible response domestically and internationally. It's been phenomenal, but it's not surprising,' [Lalas] said. 'While there are many folks out there who are delusional about their singing skills that we routinely laugh at, there are also plenty of people who are delusional about their ability on the soccer field.'"
(Extended NOTE: Honestly, I am not an Alexi hater. I actually admire the guy for his verbal idiocies - they have their uses - and respect what he did as a player well enough; I'll never forget seeing him run up that slope of ivy after scoring the winning goal in the Galaxy's U.S. Open Cup victory a couple years back. And there's that whole Italy thing. But Alexi is a tool - even if I'm not sure what that word means. It's kind of like that old phrase about porn: I know a tool when I see one. Still, a hard-and-fast definition seems like a good idea, so, turning to the Urban Dictionary, I found several options. I think #5 best describes how I think of Lalas and, I suppose on one level, I'd prefer it if Alexi got lost; I find him annoying - though, again, believe he's conscious of what he is doing. It's this last piece - the self-awareness - that makes definition #1 kind of iffy. Then again, is the Galaxy using Lalas? Possibly. Even if they are, though, he's clearly smart enough to play along on terms close to his own.)
Crap. It just occurred to me: is preseason one word, or is it hypenated? Mmm...the on-screen dictionary provided by Apple tells me it's one word. Hmmm....I have been having trouble with inserting hyphens where they don't belong lately.
Anyway, here's the latest pre-season - dammit - preseason stuff I saw out there.
Houston Dynamo
I'm only going to note that the Soccer y Futbol blog looks like they'll be covering the Dynamo's preseason pretty thoroughly. Good for them, kudos, etc.
Chivas USA
There's a fair bit of activity in Chivas Land, though most of it involves player status and movement as opposed to actual training camp news. LA Soccer News reports that a pair of Mexican players from the Chivas mothership will try out: forward Edwin Borboa and defender Jorge Barrera. In other news, John O'Brien's Barbaro-esque existence continues, though I don't think we'll have to go so far as putting him down; the same article reports that Ramon Ramirez will return to help marshall the Chivas midfield in 2007.
Los Angeles Galaxy
Waivers, waivers, waivers. The Daily Breeze reports the Galaxy waived a few players, the most surprsing of them being forward Cornell Glen; I'm also a bit surprised about Guillermo "Memo" Gonzalez as well. Another waiver, Josh Saunders, will come up later...
Toronto FC
The Toronto Star ran a story that focuses on new signing Carl Robinson, who, I have to confess, looks nothing like what I thought he would. That doesn't mean I know what I expected, only that what I'm seeing in the photo attached to the article wasn't it. Some other useful details: coach Mo Johnston is trying to acquire an international forward, as well as some other players - he thinks he's close on the striker; Maurice Edu, the #1 pick in this year's Superdraft, expects to learn a lot from Robinson, so that's an interesting wrinkle - and Edu is also carrying a minor knock.
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Anyway, here's the latest pre-season - dammit - preseason stuff I saw out there.
Houston Dynamo
I'm only going to note that the Soccer y Futbol blog looks like they'll be covering the Dynamo's preseason pretty thoroughly. Good for them, kudos, etc.
Chivas USA
There's a fair bit of activity in Chivas Land, though most of it involves player status and movement as opposed to actual training camp news. LA Soccer News reports that a pair of Mexican players from the Chivas mothership will try out: forward Edwin Borboa and defender Jorge Barrera. In other news, John O'Brien's Barbaro-esque existence continues, though I don't think we'll have to go so far as putting him down; the same article reports that Ramon Ramirez will return to help marshall the Chivas midfield in 2007.
Los Angeles Galaxy
Waivers, waivers, waivers. The Daily Breeze reports the Galaxy waived a few players, the most surprsing of them being forward Cornell Glen; I'm also a bit surprised about Guillermo "Memo" Gonzalez as well. Another waiver, Josh Saunders, will come up later...
Toronto FC
The Toronto Star ran a story that focuses on new signing Carl Robinson, who, I have to confess, looks nothing like what I thought he would. That doesn't mean I know what I expected, only that what I'm seeing in the photo attached to the article wasn't it. Some other useful details: coach Mo Johnston is trying to acquire an international forward, as well as some other players - he thinks he's close on the striker; Maurice Edu, the #1 pick in this year's Superdraft, expects to learn a lot from Robinson, so that's an interesting wrinkle - and Edu is also carrying a minor knock.
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Not a lot going on today. The only piece that excited me enough to pass it on was Andrew Hush's article for Soccer New England that kind of neatly framed where the New England Revolution stand as they begin preseason training.
Even there, the main motivation arose from word that Pat Noonan's body continues to hate. Worse, he's rocking injuries Brian McBride style these days; nothing like a cyst in the knee to recall the infamous blood clot (or whatever the hell it was) McBride had in his armpit (or wherever the hell it was) (Yup).
Other points of interest include the latest list of draftees - though half of 'em will be gone before long, so what's the point of remembering their names, right?
In all seriousness, I must be feeling a bit negative today (curse you, green-label Evan Williams!) because the one that stuck - after Noonan's freak injury, that is - is this:
You know? Maybe we will hold onto the youngsters; there are holes to fill....
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Even there, the main motivation arose from word that Pat Noonan's body continues to hate. Worse, he's rocking injuries Brian McBride style these days; nothing like a cyst in the knee to recall the infamous blood clot (or whatever the hell it was) McBride had in his armpit (or wherever the hell it was) (Yup).
Other points of interest include the latest list of draftees - though half of 'em will be gone before long, so what's the point of remembering their names, right?
In all seriousness, I must be feeling a bit negative today (curse you, green-label Evan Williams!) because the one that stuck - after Noonan's freak injury, that is - is this:
"Beyond draft picks, the Revolution have not brought in any additional players during the off-season to supplement a squad that has lost the services of Clint Dempsey and Jose Cancela. The blow of losing the side’s two most creative midfielders has been softened somewhat by the re-signing of Daniel Hernandez and the retention, despite interest from foreign clubs, of Shalrie Joseph."
You know? Maybe we will hold onto the youngsters; there are holes to fill....
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So....I'm read about the Pioneer Cup today, a tribute game intended to honor the late, great Lamar Hunt; the first match in its history will be played on March 11 between FC Dallas and the Columbus Crew.
Some time earlier this week, I got wind of the Carolina Challenge Cup, a tournament hosted by the Charleston Battery that will feature several MLS clubs in preseason action. This year's edition will include Red Bull New York, Toronto FC, and the Houston Dynamo. It also looks like the Challenge Cup already has something of a tradition behind it (hat tip to Wikipedia and don't skip the Coffee Pot Cup angle - that's just superb).
So...I'm thinking that if we have to endure things like the NFL's Hall of Fame Bowl and other sundry stupid preseason games, let's get this shit on TV, Major League Soccer. There are fans jonesin' hard out here. Shop this to Fox Soccer Channel, the Outdoor Network - hell, put it on Lifetime for all I care. If you can only swing a single camera slapped on the center stripe, let's do it.
Some time earlier this week, I got wind of the Carolina Challenge Cup, a tournament hosted by the Charleston Battery that will feature several MLS clubs in preseason action. This year's edition will include Red Bull New York, Toronto FC, and the Houston Dynamo. It also looks like the Challenge Cup already has something of a tradition behind it (hat tip to Wikipedia and don't skip the Coffee Pot Cup angle - that's just superb).
So...I'm thinking that if we have to endure things like the NFL's Hall of Fame Bowl and other sundry stupid preseason games, let's get this shit on TV, Major League Soccer. There are fans jonesin' hard out here. Shop this to Fox Soccer Channel, the Outdoor Network - hell, put it on Lifetime for all I care. If you can only swing a single camera slapped on the center stripe, let's do it.
The tease that headlined MLSnet.com this morning has finally become the announcement that Toronto FC has signed Welsh midfielder Carl Robinson from England's Norwich City. As often seems to happen, another outlet, the Toronto Star in this case, broke word of the signing before the official announcement.
Because I had never heard of Robinson, I did a quick check on his name (very quick; we're talking Wikipedia (LINK), where I tend to go if I don't want to think hard), where I discovered something:
To quote Scooby-Doo, "Rut-roh." One doesn't get the best and brightest feeling from this signing. Though, as always, I'd be delighted to eat my words. Prove me wrong, Mr. Robinson. Prove me wrong.
One final point: will Robinson be the first Welshman ever in MLS? Now that would be kind of cool. Maybe he can get Simon Davies over here.
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Because I had never heard of Robinson, I did a quick check on his name (very quick; we're talking Wikipedia (LINK), where I tend to go if I don't want to think hard), where I discovered something:
"After a loan spell with Norwich City, he signed for The Canaries permanently for £50,000 on a 2½-year deal in January 2006. It was the first time in his career that a transfer fee had been paid for his services."
To quote Scooby-Doo, "Rut-roh." One doesn't get the best and brightest feeling from this signing. Though, as always, I'd be delighted to eat my words. Prove me wrong, Mr. Robinson. Prove me wrong.
One final point: will Robinson be the first Welshman ever in MLS? Now that would be kind of cool. Maybe he can get Simon Davies over here.
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Since these all strike me as points of interest, and since I don't want to post them separately, I thought I'd ball up the business-side news out of Salt Lake City/St. Louis, Kansas City, and San Jose all in one go.
The latter two can be dispatched with fairly quickly: the news out of both San Jose and Kansas City read quite positively.
To begin with the one that surprised me most, Sports Illustrated reports that money-men in San Jose are very close to clearing the way to build a stadium that would bring MLS back to San Jose.
The word from Kansas City is just as swell. While we'd all likely be best served by ignoring the taller talk coming from the new owners for the Kansas City Wizards, On Goal LLC - "Our vision was to not just be a pro sport in Kansas City, but be the pro sport in Kansas City." - they're at least taking the operations to a new, and more serious level by spending what it takes to get there. Another item appeared today on a $2 million training facility On Goal is building for the Wizards. Good stuff.
It's probably a good thing that the news in both those locales is so cheery, because things still look like dogshit run through a blender in Salt Lake City, where officials on the state level and across several municipalities are scrambling to keep Real Salt Lake from leaving Utah (and another one). With all those people rowing in the same direction, one would think things will pan out. But a wager on the optimist position seems the height of folly given how long this ugly wrangle has taken. Still, I wish the RSL fans and players tons of luck; I know I'd like to see them playing in Salt Lake City by 2010....
...though, if I'm being totally honest, I'd be just as happy to see them in St. Louis. It's the native Midwesterner in me, I suppose. And, judging from a report in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, things are coming together quickly over there. So, RSL people and Utah pols better get their asses in gear if they want to keep RSL local.
All things being equal, I'd rather both cities have MLS franchises, of course. And, for some reason I can't explain, I think they might.
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The latter two can be dispatched with fairly quickly: the news out of both San Jose and Kansas City read quite positively.
To begin with the one that surprised me most, Sports Illustrated reports that money-men in San Jose are very close to clearing the way to build a stadium that would bring MLS back to San Jose.
The word from Kansas City is just as swell. While we'd all likely be best served by ignoring the taller talk coming from the new owners for the Kansas City Wizards, On Goal LLC - "Our vision was to not just be a pro sport in Kansas City, but be the pro sport in Kansas City." - they're at least taking the operations to a new, and more serious level by spending what it takes to get there. Another item appeared today on a $2 million training facility On Goal is building for the Wizards. Good stuff.
It's probably a good thing that the news in both those locales is so cheery, because things still look like dogshit run through a blender in Salt Lake City, where officials on the state level and across several municipalities are scrambling to keep Real Salt Lake from leaving Utah (and another one). With all those people rowing in the same direction, one would think things will pan out. But a wager on the optimist position seems the height of folly given how long this ugly wrangle has taken. Still, I wish the RSL fans and players tons of luck; I know I'd like to see them playing in Salt Lake City by 2010....
...though, if I'm being totally honest, I'd be just as happy to see them in St. Louis. It's the native Midwesterner in me, I suppose. And, judging from a report in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch, things are coming together quickly over there. So, RSL people and Utah pols better get their asses in gear if they want to keep RSL local.
All things being equal, I'd rather both cities have MLS franchises, of course. And, for some reason I can't explain, I think they might.
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For the record, I'm hoping to make this a regular feature till the season starts. And, by the way, I'd love it if people who run other fan sites - or if fans of any teams - stop by to add news on what they're guys are up to. That'd be swell by me, as would corrections to what I've got here. I'll be going team-by-team on a catch-as-catch-can basis.
So, let's get to it.
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Chronicle team reports that forward Brian Ching is still taking it easy on his way back to full fitness; the same article mentions that midfielder Brian Mullan has an ankle issue.
Real Salt Lake
While RSL players, with one eye on their stadium situation, weigh the wisdom of renting over buying, word crept out regarding how they plan to line up this season (LINK):
That sounds delectable on paper. Can't wait to see it live.
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So, let's get to it.
Houston Dynamo
The Houston Chronicle team reports that forward Brian Ching is still taking it easy on his way back to full fitness; the same article mentions that midfielder Brian Mullan has an ankle issue.
Real Salt Lake
While RSL players, with one eye on their stadium situation, weigh the wisdom of renting over buying, word crept out regarding how they plan to line up this season (LINK):
"Ellinger plans to play [newly-signed player, Chris] Lancos at right back if he goes with a four-man defense but says he can play wide in a five-man midfield. Carey Talley will anchor the midfield, Adu will be given the chance to run the attack, and Mehdi Ballouchy has first call on the left side. 'Right now, you know Carey's going to be in the middle and Freddy's going to be in the middle and the other two spots are open,' says Ellinger. 'We'll try things in preseason and hopefully we can figure it out.'"
That sounds delectable on paper. Can't wait to see it live.
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A look at the date on Andrea Canales' Soccer365.com feature on Eddie "EJ" Johnson tells me I'm only a few days late on this one. The thrust of her article, which gets reinforced by a kind of refrain, is that, poorly as things have gone for EJ over the past two years, he's young.
And that's a fair point. It's undeniable that Johnson hasn't looked like much, and for some time now, but, barring severe injury, it's simply not possible to be "past it" at the age of 22. Psychologically? Well, that's something else.
Still, I stand by what I wrote immediately after the Denmark friendly: Johnson needs to show us - that is the fans, the coaches, his teammates - something before he gets back into the U.S. Men's picture. At this point, he doesn't belong there. He's got a season ahead of him with the Kansas City Wizards, so here's to hoping he makes good on it. If he can pull it (back) together, I can think of worse forward pairings than Scott Sealy and a fit and effective EJ.
So, go on EJ, make us all proud - and make us eat crow, dammit.
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And that's a fair point. It's undeniable that Johnson hasn't looked like much, and for some time now, but, barring severe injury, it's simply not possible to be "past it" at the age of 22. Psychologically? Well, that's something else.
Still, I stand by what I wrote immediately after the Denmark friendly: Johnson needs to show us - that is the fans, the coaches, his teammates - something before he gets back into the U.S. Men's picture. At this point, he doesn't belong there. He's got a season ahead of him with the Kansas City Wizards, so here's to hoping he makes good on it. If he can pull it (back) together, I can think of worse forward pairings than Scott Sealy and a fit and effective EJ.
So, go on EJ, make us all proud - and make us eat crow, dammit.
(#########)
Well, lookie here. I scooped Major League Soccer's site in posting the latest on the New England Revolution's 2007 preseason schedule - and I got a corner of the Los Angeles Galaxy's preseason plans in the mix as well. As you can see from their preseason round-up, the Galaxy's schedule remains TBD while the Revs only seem to have vague plans about going to Bermuda (which, when I lived in Boston, seemed to obsess the locals).
Unknown to MLS's interns (or whoever organizes that corner of their site), the Galaxy and Revolution have arranged a preseason tryst during what a Bermudan papers states will be the Rev's third preseason tour of the island. A date hasn't been firmed up (that I see), but it should take place somewhere between February 19 and 24, when the team will be on the island. in a nice added touch, the Royal Gazette, the Bermuda paper responsible for both articles, the report on LA's visit cares the headline, "Beckham's LA Galaxy Heading to the Island" - though Beckham won't likely be there for this one. Awesome.
During the same Bermudan swing, the Revs will also play the local USL Division II expansion franchise, the Bermuda Hogges (the what now?), a side coached by the one and only Shaun "Kite Ears" Goater.
In other Revolution news, it looks like their home opener, which will be against league new boys Toronto FC, will be the second part of a double-header with the U.S. Women's National team. Good stuff. I hope the place is crawling with people.
Finally, and this one I stumbled across, right about the middle of Jeff Bradley's latest First XI column, this one about Mexican connections to MLS, there's this Revs-relevant entry:
I don't remember this trade, but, Jesus, does it ring painfully familiar. We traded Oscar friggin' Pareja? So the tradition of snubbing talented, more-creative-than-average players didn't start with current coach Steve Nicol? Crap. Maybe it's something in the water....
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Unknown to MLS's interns (or whoever organizes that corner of their site), the Galaxy and Revolution have arranged a preseason tryst during what a Bermudan papers states will be the Rev's third preseason tour of the island. A date hasn't been firmed up (that I see), but it should take place somewhere between February 19 and 24, when the team will be on the island. in a nice added touch, the Royal Gazette, the Bermuda paper responsible for both articles, the report on LA's visit cares the headline, "Beckham's LA Galaxy Heading to the Island" - though Beckham won't likely be there for this one. Awesome.
During the same Bermudan swing, the Revs will also play the local USL Division II expansion franchise, the Bermuda Hogges (the what now?), a side coached by the one and only Shaun "Kite Ears" Goater.
In other Revolution news, it looks like their home opener, which will be against league new boys Toronto FC, will be the second part of a double-header with the U.S. Women's National team. Good stuff. I hope the place is crawling with people.
Finally, and this one I stumbled across, right about the middle of Jeff Bradley's latest First XI column, this one about Mexican connections to MLS, there's this Revs-relevant entry:
"9. Fantastic debut. Hopes were sky high for young Mexican striker Damian "Don't call me Damian Alvarez" Alvarez. He burst onto the scene in 1997 with 11 goals in 19 games, added one in the playoffs and a big one in an Open Cup semifinal victory against the MetroStars at Columbia University. A year later, however, Damian was on the outs. After just four games, Dave Dir shipped him to New England for Oscar Pareja, who would go on to legendary status in Dallas. As for Damian, he was soon on his way back to Mexico.
I don't remember this trade, but, Jesus, does it ring painfully familiar. We traded Oscar friggin' Pareja? So the tradition of snubbing talented, more-creative-than-average players didn't start with current coach Steve Nicol? Crap. Maybe it's something in the water....
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Hey, just wanted to pass on word that Carnival of Soccer 7 has been posted on College to Pros. The topic was what Major League Soccer can do to hold onto young talent.
I contributed - and that's down below - even if the author of College to Pros got the name of this site wrong (he cited Kin of Fish as the site). He got my name right, though, and 50/50 attachment to your work is better than no attachment at all.
Anyway, good topic and good reads so far. Enjoy.
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I contributed - and that's down below - even if the author of College to Pros got the name of this site wrong (he cited Kin of Fish as the site). He got my name right, though, and 50/50 attachment to your work is better than no attachment at all.
Anyway, good topic and good reads so far. Enjoy.
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