Top 5, 07.12: No USOC for DC; Other USOC; Stadium Porn; Kreis...

...and I leave the ellipses because I like Jason Kreis well enough and couldn't think of an appropriate verb that wouldn't sound insulting.

Trying to make this quick today.

- As a (I think) Harrisburg, PA blog put it, DC became the latest Major League Soccer (MLS) team to "go poof" in the U.S. Open Cup (OK: the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup...by Wheaties). The Harrisburg Patriot-News did a good homer write-up...as well they should. I see this loss as part of an irksome trend I mentioned yesterday and what The Offside Rules wrote today.

- Speaking of the Open Cup, Bill Urban forwarded a swell idea on USSoccerplayers.com: reserving a spot in the Superliga for the Open Cup champion (and how cool would it be if, say, the Harrisburg City Islanders lifted the Cup?). I wholly endorse Mr. Urban's recommendation - but would modestly propose adding the structural adjustments I mentioned yesterday (see the "yesterday" link above).

- I held off on this yesterday, but won't be able to ignore it till I post it and get the urge out of my system. The computer-drawn mock-ups of DC's potential stadium look delightfully space age. The image fourth from the left is my personal favorite...very tech.

- Jason Kreis' open letter to RSL fans is....is....I don't know. Painful? Mildly embarrassing, yet simultaneously appropriate? All I know is, the man deserved a better situation.

- As a fan of MLS trying to use cheapness - and I don't care what they discount: tickets, beer, parking; just something - I just wish a team other than Chivas USA was the one to give it a real-world test. Turning things over to Chivas USA co-owner, Antonio Cue:

"We have not changed our ticket prices because we are trying to be just with the people and give them the best benefit with the soccer we are giving."

Um...solidarity?

Ah, finally got the length of a Top 5 post to where I want it.

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Kreis: Doomed or Determined?

Steve Davis framed this question pretty well in a piece for ESPN, but a couple things occur to me as I watch Jason Kreis' young foray into professional coaching.

To begin, and in his favor, he certainly sounds like he's up for it. Put another way, Kreis speaks about the game with a fair amount of intelligence. For example, this comes out of ESPN preview for tonight's Rapids v. RSL encounter:

"If I were to go back and analyze all of the goals that were scored against us, most of them were down to individual mental errors," Kreis said. "So for me, the entire first week has been about changing that mentality, getting players to react quicker in situations, transitioning from offense to defense."

So far I've found the substance of the above pretty representative and remain surprised that he's never sounded outright stupid (came close here, but the tone rather charmed me), never mind cliched, in his post-game commentary. Against that, though, sounding smart and capable is always easier than being smart and capable.

And, as Davis points out, Kreis needs to be both given the team and situation he inherited. One rarely noted facet to this part of the equation comes with Kreis' closeness with the team he's leading. With the speed of the media making this change feel weeks rather than days old, that gets a little lost, but a quote from Carey Talley in the Deseret News' preview of tonight's game brings home the connections Kreis retains with RSL's players:

"'Jason is a friend to a lot of us, and you don't want to let your friend down,' said Talley."

It's possible that will help more than hurt - but I doubt it. The first game forced everyone to just get on with business, but, if things keep going South as most expect, will the same apply down the line? Or will Kreis' charges question not just his credentials, but his basic competence, if the team falls off the playoff pace? The risk is that Kreis will lose this team faster than a more experienced coach every would.

For all that, Kreis sounds both happy and not a little wise as he embarks on his coaching career; so his head is in the right place. However it pans out, the man deserves a fairer shake than he's getting.

Goals, DC, Columbus, Kreis: Week 5 Q & A...

...in which I ask the questions and you provide the answers...if you're so inclined. Or we can just leave 'em hanging till Major League Soccer's (MLS) teams and front office provide answers. Anyway, as part of the ongoing effort of organizing the commentary in this space, I’m trying on a “talking points” feature after each weekend - just a list of questions, reactions to results, happenings, etc. from the previous weekend’s games. Naturally, I won’t mention, let alone think about, every issue and angle. As such, I’m encouraging anyone with the time and web-access to drop in a point that occurs to him or her. Enjoy.

To begin, there’s the goal of the week to sort out and, thanks, as always to Climbing the Ladder, the list of candidates appears below. Personally, I’m hung up between Dwayne DeRosario’s bomb against Colorado and Chris Brown’s late (tarnished?) equalizer against Red Bull.



Moving on....

- What will become of RSL? (On an obviously related note, I’m less interested in the flipside to that question - e.g. what did this weekend’s draw mean to Red Bull New York? I can’t say why.) I mention this less because of that gutsy draw, but because I like what I’m reading from Jason Kreis in terms of tactics, not to mention what I’m seeing in terms of Luis Tejada-terminating moxie. He's got guts, but is guts enough?

- Are 1-0 games going one way or the other and a bunch of goalless draws all there is for Columbus this year? The problems with scoring are evident enough, but, as Steve Davis mused in his column (and as I mused elsewhere), what was the foul heavy response? Aggression provides an equalizer against skill, of sorts anyway. (Again, if you’re wondering about the flipside to this, it’s fair to note that, as part of my ongoing campaign to ignore/dismiss the Kansas City Wizards, I’m continuing my effort to pin their success on failures in the opposition. As such, I’m viewing this week’s win over Columbus through the Crew’s problems with scoring and, possibly, frustration arising from that.)

- Will there be fallout to the ugly, ugly knock Houston defender Eddie Robinson laid on Colorado’s Roberto Brown? (Due to stupid, stupid beer) I forgot the unappetizing sequence that featured Robinson laying out Brown and ended with two yellow cards to Colorado players - Pablo Mastroeni for dissent and Brown for retaliating shortly thereafter. A bad sequence for the ref all-round.

- Is DC United on the road to recovery? Put another way, did DC beat Chivas USA or did Chivas just lose to Houston? Are they even on the road to recovery or did Chivas flatter them due to lousy, firing-offense quality coaching, bang-up ‘keeping from Troy Perkins, or did they just catch Chivas in a misfiring transition?

All for now. Hopefully, future editions will come earlier and read better.

If I Was Kreis

As everyone now knows, Jason Kreis has now retired and taken up the coaching reins on the wayward stagecoach that is Real Salt Lake (which is still, presumably, rushing toward a cliff). Commentary is pretty easy to come by (random sample, and one I like), but there's not a lot out there yet about the changes Kreis could make to the starting line-up. The Salt Lake Tribune finally stirred themselves and did well to start this effort, even if they left it with a question.

After a quick look at RSL's roster, here's what I'd do:

GK: Nick Rimando....kidding! Chris Seitz. Go with Seitz.
D: Chris Lancos, Daniel Torres, Eddie Pope, Willis Forko (gulp.)
M: Mehdi Ballouchy, Freddy Adu, Carey Talley, Chris Klein
F: Jeff Cunningham...Jeff Cunningham...are any of the other guys either fit (Andy Williams) or not fat (Luis Tejada)? Hell with it, re-try the Atiba Harris experiment.

Anyway, the key piece here is Freddy Adu; throw him out there and say, "Awright, golden boy, get out there and win the damn game. You've got central midfield."

In all seriousness, I'm cracking on Adu for fun. He's got a hard road and it just got harder; cobbling a starting XI out of this bunch proved harder than I figured. Adu will be lucky to retain half his value before this trade plays out. Between that team and a first-year coach I'm thinking Toronto FC will have someone to fight for the distinction of living in the league's basement.

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The Other Thing: Kreis Retires

Maybe this only happened to me, but the one thing I somewhat missed in the whole "John-Ellinger-resigns" freakout (which, as I see it, neither Salt Lake City paper I frequent has handled this all that well: the Deseret News only mentions Kreis' hiring, while the Salt Lake Tribune is, at time of writing, silent):

Jason Kreis retired.

Setting aside, for a moment, Kreis' coaching resume and qualifications (do they even exist?), Kreis was not only a starting player for his club, but he remains the all-time leading scorer in league history. That bears repeating: Major League Soccer's all-time leading scorer just retired. In the blinking of an eye, it's over. No "Cobi Jones Year of Celebration and Magic." It's just...finito.

We're talking about a guy whose playing years go back far enough that he was featured in a (I believe) Year Two advertising spot in which he battled a tank (a clip that, sadly, predates Youtube). He was the face of two franchises: the Dallas Burn (a time I'm happily reliving with an old edition of FIFA; he's my leading scorer) and Real Salt Lake. And who could forget that fantastic two-footed tackle he laid on some poor schlub in a U.S. Men's friendly mere seconds after coming on? Yeah, I don't remember the year, the opposition - none of that - but, that tackle? Burned in my memory and, yes, it still makes me laugh.

Obviously, I've always liked Kreis. He had a cannon of a shot and he simply carried himself as a "pro's pro." That's worth remembering before he embarks on what will in all likelihood be a wrenchingly painful coaching tenure with a seriously screwed up franchise (though as I said earlier, they're really, really interesting to watch). It will be a bit of shame if a bad run as a coach tarnishes what Kreis accomplished as one of MLS's all-time greats.

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Ellinger Canned? KREIS?!

If you go to the front page of MLSnet.com, the lead image reads "RSL to introduce new coach today." I take that to mean John Ellinger is gone?

That didn't take long, but is anyone surprised? The only surprise for me: it flew under the radar a bit. I swear I checked the site an hour ago and, nothing.

Wow.

UPDATE: DOUBLE WOW. Check out what Sports Illustrated reported this morning:

"Another awful start is a leading to a shakeup in Salt Lake. General manager Steve Pastorino and head coach John Ellinger are out, and MLS' all-time leading scorer Jason Kreis is retiring to take over the coaching reigns. The good news is, things can't get much worse."

I've been to Soccer Blogs now and, having read only headlines, realize I might be a bit behind on this....but, DAMN!

Love 'em, hate 'em, think they're the dumbest organization in the league (and Lord knows Dave Checketts tries), but RSL never fails to intrigue.

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