The Snob is Not Dead
Well, I'm sure many of you are upset that I haven't been helping you lose your money with my pics for the week, so I'll throw out this one.
Crew over United - Take the surprising Crew to ambush a confused United squad at RFK.
Full scale Snob blogs will return in the near term. Thanks for checking in.
Showing posts with label DC United. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC United. Show all posts
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Friday, October 12, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 10/12/07
TOP STORIES
Next week: Denilson and the state of the FIRE
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (3-3)
SEASON (49-79)
Saturday
FIRE v. United – FIRE pay for their midweek foolishness with a devastating loss.
Crew v. Revs – Not the place to get on track. Revs roll.
Wizards v. Flagship – Two teams looking for some mo’ heading to the playoffs. Sounds like a tie to me.
Dynamo v. RSL – Dynamo take out frustration on RSL players just happy to see the end is in sight!
UFC v. Gals – The Galaxy continue to make it interesting down the stretch.
Next week: Denilson and the state of the FIRE
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (3-3)
SEASON (49-79)
Saturday
FIRE v. United – FIRE pay for their midweek foolishness with a devastating loss.
Crew v. Revs – Not the place to get on track. Revs roll.
Wizards v. Flagship – Two teams looking for some mo’ heading to the playoffs. Sounds like a tie to me.
Dynamo v. RSL – Dynamo take out frustration on RSL players just happy to see the end is in sight!
UFC v. Gals – The Galaxy continue to make it interesting down the stretch.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 08/08/07
TOP STORIES
SuperLiga
Well, well well. Look who isn’t so damn superior after all. Chivas, America and Morelia went crashing out of Superliga leaving Pachuca as the only remaining Mexican side to face the three surviving MLS teams (LA, Houston, and DC). Pre-season was never recognized as an excuse during CONCACAF Champions Cup and I don’t want to hear it now, either. The Mexican teams didn’t even contribute to the most entertaining game, leaving that to Dallas and LA Galaxy.
Let’s call it like it is now. The Mexican and American football are on even footing in the quality department at the league and international levels. Luckily that is due to a rise in quality here, rather than a decline south of the border.
Shame on MLS
Add Beckham’s Ankle-gate to the list of MLS contradictions, right behind wanting passionate fans, but also wanting the fans to tone it down for the soccer moms and their young-ins. On one hand you have Alexi Lalas telling everybody that when you buy a ticket to see the LA Galaxy you are paying to see a team. The other hand put together a back loaded road schedule, a gala press conference and a player-centric portion of mlsgear.com. The MLS brass is not fooling anybody! Alexi, is the Galaxy’s schedule back loaded due to the high demand of seeing the Galaxy post July? I’ll agree with brass that no refunds should be issued, because no one can guarantee that a player will not be injured or suspended, but let’s not BS about why record crowds are showing up in the first place.
Speaking of the foolishness of the league, believe it or not, they sure have a blind spot in their Beckham marketing. Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen David Beckham play in a short sleeve jersey in the past five years. I’m not seeing any hands at this time. Now raise your hand if you’ve seen any long-sleeve Beckham jerseys for sale in the Beckham Collection online. I’m still not seeing any hands. Wake up MLS!!! With Becks sidelined indefinitely, you can’t afford to drop these many balls!
Shame on the Commentators
All week, commentators have been weighing in on Freddy Adu’s transfer to Benfica. While most of the pundit chatter has been accurate (right time, good price, correct style of play), I’m shocked at the amount of people that have spoken about him NOW having to earn his playing time. Didn’t he transfer to RSL because he was having to earn his playing time? Wasn’t he put out on the wing because Christian Gomez and Mhedi Ballouchy were in his natural position? Didn’t Pitor Nowak make this kid earn a spot in the DC United line-up from day one breaking the ground for Beckham’s high priced cameos? Freddy and the pundits should be praising Nowak for teaching him the lesson about earning his place in the starting line-up. That experience alone will keep Adu from becoming Cletus II. As for the other major question about Freddy: “Why does he perform so well with the national teams, but not in MLS.” I’ve got an answer for that too! Ready…….
HE WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO PLAY HIS NATURAL POSITION IN MLS.
This isn’t rocket science people.
For the second time in a year, Adu has transferred to a side that plans to play him at his natural position. We’ll see if those promises ring as hollow as they did on this side of the pond.
Shame on the Rapids
I don’t care how MLS or the Rapids want to dress up their 5-0 trashing at the hands of A-League side Seattle Sounders, that result is an absolute disgrace for a team that was vying for their first Cup. It could be a blessing in disguise for Rapids fans who can’t wait to see Fernando Clavijo axed.
MLS Week 17 – Goal Seekers
Thursday
KC v. Revs – An entertaining showdown resulted in the Revs staking their sole claim to first place and KC wondering where their second half offense went. Perhaps they should ask some of the bruised members of The Fort who were no doubt clipped by wild shot from Yura Movsisyian and Kerry Zavagnain. While he didn’t get much PT, Adam Christman showed how to stoke a counter attack with a brilliant (and I don’t throw that term around like they do in Jolly Olde) pass to Steve Ralston in the closing minutes of the match. Christman then turned around and sprinted down the field. He was rewarded with a perfect pass from Ralston (expect the best) and calmly slotted past Kevin Hartman to seal the deal at 2-0.
MOTM: Matt Reis – Kept KC off the scoreboard and was huge in the first half.
Saturday
Crew v. FIRE – Blanco, Wanchope and Rolfe on the pitch at the same time. Here come the fireworks! This is exactly what a sell-out crowd on a gloomy Chicago night was expecting. However, the Trident of Death failed to skewer the Columbus defense nor change the complexion of a dull match. After the match the Crew’s Frankie Hedjuk whined about the all the fouls that Cuauhtemoc Blanco drew (6). However, he didn’t mention the amount of times that the referee waved the “get up” signal at the new Chicago star without blowing the whistle (6).
MOTM: Matt Pickens for an amazing, game saving stop in the 87th minutes.
Rapids v. Dallas – Dallas shut out the anemic Rapids offensive and Drew Moor decided to help out my weak fantasy team with a goal. Dallas did what the needed to do despite coming off a brutal Superliga campaign.
MOTM: Drew Moor scored the games only goal and contributed to the Dallas shutout.
Dynamo v. RSL – The Superliga did claim the spirit of the Dynamo who got dropped by another timely Robbie Findlay goal. Despite the Dynamo’s weariness, this is certainly one of the shock results of the year. Combined with the Dallas win, it certainly makes things more interesting out west.
MOTM: Robbie Findlay – To send the deserving RSL fans home with a smile for once.
Sunday
United v. Revs – Speaking of shock results, who saw this DC demolition coming. The Revs simply did not show up to play. From Matt Reis, lax play that led to the first goal to an “attack” that failed to have any good ideas all afternoon, the Revs got outclassed when everything was in their favor. The Revs had home field advantage. Fred was suspended for DC. Jamie Moreno and Christian Gomez started on the bench and only Moreno made an appearance. Apparently the Revs defense though Luciano Emelio was on the bench too, because no one bothered to mark him. The result? A brace and a 3-0 beat down administered by the wobbly, but dangerous United.
MOTM: Luciano Emelio for two quality goals.
Galaxy v. UFC – The World Greatest Sideline show traveled to Toronto and Hugo Boss suits got some nice press from Becks, Alexi Lalas and Frankie Yallop. Beck’s decided against the stylish LA Galaxy lapel pin, but did manage to scowl the entire match. ESPN again decided to broadcast a long block of a bench player, but also had the good sense to make the Toronto crowd its second biggest star of the evening. The Galaxy reverted to the non-Superliga form and tried to make all watchers believe that the six goal outburst earlier in the week was a mirage. Toronto really pushed any attack in this match and looked the more likely to score, but was continually thwarted by Joe Cannon.
MOTM: Maurice Edu pushed the Toronto game and played with emotion all match.
Fair and Balanced Journalism
This article is a fair take on soccer’s misfires from a casual fan perspective and this is the type of article that journalists of the future will write in the country. It is good to see that after the bashers had their fun, that the soccer-open journalists are still following the Beckham story even if all the press does not reflect well on MLS. It is great to see the “Well, show me” articles rather than the typical “I don’t care” ones. Of course, there are still the Euro Snobs which Bill Simmons falls directly into the category of with his continual MLS bashing and recent jibe at the Beckham situation. Anyone still harping on the, “Why Soccer Won’t Work Here” train of though, have really missed the boat. Soccer is already working here and is well on its way to passing the NHL in the national consciousness, if it hasn’t already. And for the record, I don’t judge the national consciousness by what ESPN shows. They managed to avoid most Gold Cup highlights despite some NFL level crowds.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (1-5) (much like RSL, I’m just focusing on getting back to .500%)
SEASON (37-66)
Thursday
LA vs. United – After watching that game in New England, you’d be afraid to pick against United too! I’d be shocked if Becks isn’t dressed for this one on natural turf.
Saturday
UFC vs. The Flagship – The Arena Bulls crush a spirited, but clunky Canadian team.
Crew vs. Dallas – In what should be the most entertaining match of the weekend, the Crew and Dallas fight to a draw.
Dynamo vs. Rapids – I would not want to be in the Rapids shoes now. The only worse place to be would be Fernando Clavijo’s shoes. A loss and he’s gone.
Sunday
LA vs. Revs – Becks sees more than 12 minutes, but LA still can’t handle a motivated Revolution.
Quote of the Week (source USA Today)
Bruce Arena on the State of the RedBulls when he arrived last season:
"You'd sit around every day and wait around for the Giants to say if you can use the field, and it's generally, 'No.' And then you got in the vans to go to a high school field or another field. I was shocked. ... There's no reason why anyone should expect this franchise to be any better than it is today. Frankly, it's overachieved."
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
SuperLiga
Well, well well. Look who isn’t so damn superior after all. Chivas, America and Morelia went crashing out of Superliga leaving Pachuca as the only remaining Mexican side to face the three surviving MLS teams (LA, Houston, and DC). Pre-season was never recognized as an excuse during CONCACAF Champions Cup and I don’t want to hear it now, either. The Mexican teams didn’t even contribute to the most entertaining game, leaving that to Dallas and LA Galaxy.
Let’s call it like it is now. The Mexican and American football are on even footing in the quality department at the league and international levels. Luckily that is due to a rise in quality here, rather than a decline south of the border.
Shame on MLS
Add Beckham’s Ankle-gate to the list of MLS contradictions, right behind wanting passionate fans, but also wanting the fans to tone it down for the soccer moms and their young-ins. On one hand you have Alexi Lalas telling everybody that when you buy a ticket to see the LA Galaxy you are paying to see a team. The other hand put together a back loaded road schedule, a gala press conference and a player-centric portion of mlsgear.com. The MLS brass is not fooling anybody! Alexi, is the Galaxy’s schedule back loaded due to the high demand of seeing the Galaxy post July? I’ll agree with brass that no refunds should be issued, because no one can guarantee that a player will not be injured or suspended, but let’s not BS about why record crowds are showing up in the first place.
Speaking of the foolishness of the league, believe it or not, they sure have a blind spot in their Beckham marketing. Raise your hand if you’ve ever seen David Beckham play in a short sleeve jersey in the past five years. I’m not seeing any hands at this time. Now raise your hand if you’ve seen any long-sleeve Beckham jerseys for sale in the Beckham Collection online. I’m still not seeing any hands. Wake up MLS!!! With Becks sidelined indefinitely, you can’t afford to drop these many balls!
Shame on the Commentators
All week, commentators have been weighing in on Freddy Adu’s transfer to Benfica. While most of the pundit chatter has been accurate (right time, good price, correct style of play), I’m shocked at the amount of people that have spoken about him NOW having to earn his playing time. Didn’t he transfer to RSL because he was having to earn his playing time? Wasn’t he put out on the wing because Christian Gomez and Mhedi Ballouchy were in his natural position? Didn’t Pitor Nowak make this kid earn a spot in the DC United line-up from day one breaking the ground for Beckham’s high priced cameos? Freddy and the pundits should be praising Nowak for teaching him the lesson about earning his place in the starting line-up. That experience alone will keep Adu from becoming Cletus II. As for the other major question about Freddy: “Why does he perform so well with the national teams, but not in MLS.” I’ve got an answer for that too! Ready…….
HE WAS NEVER ALLOWED TO PLAY HIS NATURAL POSITION IN MLS.
This isn’t rocket science people.
For the second time in a year, Adu has transferred to a side that plans to play him at his natural position. We’ll see if those promises ring as hollow as they did on this side of the pond.
Shame on the Rapids
I don’t care how MLS or the Rapids want to dress up their 5-0 trashing at the hands of A-League side Seattle Sounders, that result is an absolute disgrace for a team that was vying for their first Cup. It could be a blessing in disguise for Rapids fans who can’t wait to see Fernando Clavijo axed.
MLS Week 17 – Goal Seekers
Thursday
KC v. Revs – An entertaining showdown resulted in the Revs staking their sole claim to first place and KC wondering where their second half offense went. Perhaps they should ask some of the bruised members of The Fort who were no doubt clipped by wild shot from Yura Movsisyian and Kerry Zavagnain. While he didn’t get much PT, Adam Christman showed how to stoke a counter attack with a brilliant (and I don’t throw that term around like they do in Jolly Olde) pass to Steve Ralston in the closing minutes of the match. Christman then turned around and sprinted down the field. He was rewarded with a perfect pass from Ralston (expect the best) and calmly slotted past Kevin Hartman to seal the deal at 2-0.
MOTM: Matt Reis – Kept KC off the scoreboard and was huge in the first half.
Saturday
Crew v. FIRE – Blanco, Wanchope and Rolfe on the pitch at the same time. Here come the fireworks! This is exactly what a sell-out crowd on a gloomy Chicago night was expecting. However, the Trident of Death failed to skewer the Columbus defense nor change the complexion of a dull match. After the match the Crew’s Frankie Hedjuk whined about the all the fouls that Cuauhtemoc Blanco drew (6). However, he didn’t mention the amount of times that the referee waved the “get up” signal at the new Chicago star without blowing the whistle (6).
MOTM: Matt Pickens for an amazing, game saving stop in the 87th minutes.
Rapids v. Dallas – Dallas shut out the anemic Rapids offensive and Drew Moor decided to help out my weak fantasy team with a goal. Dallas did what the needed to do despite coming off a brutal Superliga campaign.
MOTM: Drew Moor scored the games only goal and contributed to the Dallas shutout.
Dynamo v. RSL – The Superliga did claim the spirit of the Dynamo who got dropped by another timely Robbie Findlay goal. Despite the Dynamo’s weariness, this is certainly one of the shock results of the year. Combined with the Dallas win, it certainly makes things more interesting out west.
MOTM: Robbie Findlay – To send the deserving RSL fans home with a smile for once.
Sunday
United v. Revs – Speaking of shock results, who saw this DC demolition coming. The Revs simply did not show up to play. From Matt Reis, lax play that led to the first goal to an “attack” that failed to have any good ideas all afternoon, the Revs got outclassed when everything was in their favor. The Revs had home field advantage. Fred was suspended for DC. Jamie Moreno and Christian Gomez started on the bench and only Moreno made an appearance. Apparently the Revs defense though Luciano Emelio was on the bench too, because no one bothered to mark him. The result? A brace and a 3-0 beat down administered by the wobbly, but dangerous United.
MOTM: Luciano Emelio for two quality goals.
Galaxy v. UFC – The World Greatest Sideline show traveled to Toronto and Hugo Boss suits got some nice press from Becks, Alexi Lalas and Frankie Yallop. Beck’s decided against the stylish LA Galaxy lapel pin, but did manage to scowl the entire match. ESPN again decided to broadcast a long block of a bench player, but also had the good sense to make the Toronto crowd its second biggest star of the evening. The Galaxy reverted to the non-Superliga form and tried to make all watchers believe that the six goal outburst earlier in the week was a mirage. Toronto really pushed any attack in this match and looked the more likely to score, but was continually thwarted by Joe Cannon.
MOTM: Maurice Edu pushed the Toronto game and played with emotion all match.
Fair and Balanced Journalism
This article is a fair take on soccer’s misfires from a casual fan perspective and this is the type of article that journalists of the future will write in the country. It is good to see that after the bashers had their fun, that the soccer-open journalists are still following the Beckham story even if all the press does not reflect well on MLS. It is great to see the “Well, show me” articles rather than the typical “I don’t care” ones. Of course, there are still the Euro Snobs which Bill Simmons falls directly into the category of with his continual MLS bashing and recent jibe at the Beckham situation. Anyone still harping on the, “Why Soccer Won’t Work Here” train of though, have really missed the boat. Soccer is already working here and is well on its way to passing the NHL in the national consciousness, if it hasn’t already. And for the record, I don’t judge the national consciousness by what ESPN shows. They managed to avoid most Gold Cup highlights despite some NFL level crowds.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (1-5) (much like RSL, I’m just focusing on getting back to .500%)
SEASON (37-66)
Thursday
LA vs. United – After watching that game in New England, you’d be afraid to pick against United too! I’d be shocked if Becks isn’t dressed for this one on natural turf.
Saturday
UFC vs. The Flagship – The Arena Bulls crush a spirited, but clunky Canadian team.
Crew vs. Dallas – In what should be the most entertaining match of the weekend, the Crew and Dallas fight to a draw.
Dynamo vs. Rapids – I would not want to be in the Rapids shoes now. The only worse place to be would be Fernando Clavijo’s shoes. A loss and he’s gone.
Sunday
LA vs. Revs – Becks sees more than 12 minutes, but LA still can’t handle a motivated Revolution.
Quote of the Week (source USA Today)
Bruce Arena on the State of the RedBulls when he arrived last season:
"You'd sit around every day and wait around for the Giants to say if you can use the field, and it's generally, 'No.' And then you got in the vans to go to a high school field or another field. I was shocked. ... There's no reason why anyone should expect this franchise to be any better than it is today. Frankly, it's overachieved."
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
Thursday, May 3, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s Bi-Weekly US Soccer Update – 5/3/07
MLS Week 4 – Questions, Answers and More Questions
The first question that went through my mind during the opening shots of Bee-Mo field was, “Are they just giving away scarves there?” While the answer to that was “Yes” for season ticket holders, the Toronto FC fans immediately cemented their position amongst the best in the league and their organized fan clubs are right near the top too. There was a great difference between the first franchise game for a Houston or RSL and then the first game we witnessed on Saturday. This crowd was not out for curiosity’s sake! Nay! They were out for the blood that their team has yet to draw. While TFC couldn’t reward their fans with any points, they did have their top performance of the year! Danny Diccio showed why Connor Casey got to go home to Denver as his physical presence asked questions of KC all game. That is a tremendous statement given that Jimmy Conrad and Nick Garcia are amongst the roughest defenders in the league! Perhaps following the advice in my TFC related entry, Mo replaced Marco Reda in the starting eleven in favor of Andrew Boyens and the result was a far more competent defense. Jim Brennan also elevated his game from previous outings. Despite having most of the run of play, TFC conceded a late near post Eddie Johnson tally. EJ was rewarded for his score by the Canuck fans with a dousing of Molsen. KC did well considering the early loss of superstar in the making, Argentine, Carlos Marinelli to a hamstring injury.
The Crew entertained DC United and continued the visitors woes by shutting out the side that most predicted to dominate the league this year. Columbus will become far more dangerous in the attacking end when Guillermo Barros Schelotto arrives, however an overall solid performance from the Crew helped them retain their unbeaten status. A real stand out this season has been the play of Joseph Ngwenya who caused DC headaches and probably bruises all night.
Saturday wrapped up with a Superclassico in the sold out Home Depot Center, where the Gals put two early goals on the other home team. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the rest of the match due to technical difficulties, but it was nice to see Cobi hit the scoresheet.
Sunday was Texas Football matches which were amongst the most spiritless of the entire season. First the Revs topped an out of gas FC Dallas 1-0 under the midday sun at PHP. The Rev’s got their goal off the hands down goal of the week winning strike by Taylor Twellman. Twellman’s volley into the far side netting cam off a great pass from Steve Ralston, who is likely to top Carlos Valderrama’s all time MLS assist record this season. He is unlikely to adopt El Pibe’s hairstyle, although I think everybody would love to see that!
The Fire got the better of Houston at Robertson stadium for the second consecutive year as Chris Rolfe and company put together another solid, but unspectacular win. The lone goal in the match started with a long ball from Gonzalo Segares into the right hand corner that Rolfe tracked down. Rolfe then streaked to the corner of the box before faking a shot, then cooly taking it after the fake to beat Pat Onstad to the near post. The Fire immediately went into an even greater defensive shell and managed to hold on to the lead. While the 3-5-2 formation will not show it, the Fire have actually been starting five defenders, two defensive midfielders, two attacking mids and a lone forward. The absence of Justin Mapp was felt as his replacement Thiago again failed to show any of the spark that has been missing for well over a year. The stadium fell very quiet in the second half as the Dynamo supporters groups El Batillion and The Texian Army walked out of the stadium after a dispute with security. When will MLS front offices educate their security about soccer fans? This has happened in just about every city in the league with any sort of sizable support group. These groups are part of the attraction for (North) American fans now. Support the supporters and give them a long leash!
RSL unnecessarily dropped three points on its home pitch to rivals Colorado Rapids on Monday despite dominating possession and clearly having the better of the play all evening. A couple of mental breakdowns in the span of four minutes doomed the home team. The first goal came as RSL defender Daniel Torres tracked down a long lofted ball to the edge of his own box. Deciding to play the ball back to the keeper Torres turned to the left and was absolutely shocked to see the Rapid’s Roberto Brown in his face. Brown took the ball into the box and put a move on Torres that sent the RSL defender sliding to the ground. Brown easily converted past a deserted Chris Seitz to mark the occasion of Seitz’ first MLS start. Seitz added to his woes minutes later as he handled a ball that may or may not have been a pass back. I guess he never heard the “when in doubt” addage. This wrinkle was unfortunate for Seitz because he had played a great match up until that point. Overall, this match was a great viewing experience, because despite these lapses, high quality football was on display at Rice-Eccles and the crowd let it be know that there was no love for the visitors.
Let’s face it Coach John Ellinger is on borrowed time in Salt Lake. We know owner Dave Checketts recognizes that RSL is in the spotlight out there. He recognizes the need to show the fans that they are trying to improve. Freddy’s signing was a first step, now Ellinger needs to go. The Coach has gotten everything he’s asked for and has just been unable to make this talent line-up click, he couldn’t get anything out of Mathis, now he gets Freddy and despite all the trumpeting about Adu returning to his natural position, where do we find him? On the wing playing second creative fiddle to Mehdi Ballouchy! They flipped sides at the half, but Ballouchy was responsible for most of the attacking midfield responsibilities. To make matters worse, most of Ballouchy’s first touches were criminally bad, showing all the ball had to offer to the defense again and again. RSL needs to relegate Ellinger to the Rongren Pile and hire a proven winner.
MLS Prediction Central:
Season Record (5-9)
Last Week (3-5)
Thursday
DC – Revs – The hot Revs keep DCU scratching their head and head out of RFK with another win.
KC – Crew – The Crew remain undefeated with a draw at Arrowhead.
RSL – NYRB – With Torres on the bench, RSL draws at home versus the Flagship.
Colorado – Houston – The Rapids got it going on and put on a showcase for their fans.
Sunday
DC – Chivas – Finally DC’s breakout performance and a big W for the preseason darlings. In doing so, DC bucks the trend of Thursday Night teams underperforming.
Revs – FIRE – The Fire cool the exhausted revs and leap to the top of the table.
PODCAST :
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
The first question that went through my mind during the opening shots of Bee-Mo field was, “Are they just giving away scarves there?” While the answer to that was “Yes” for season ticket holders, the Toronto FC fans immediately cemented their position amongst the best in the league and their organized fan clubs are right near the top too. There was a great difference between the first franchise game for a Houston or RSL and then the first game we witnessed on Saturday. This crowd was not out for curiosity’s sake! Nay! They were out for the blood that their team has yet to draw. While TFC couldn’t reward their fans with any points, they did have their top performance of the year! Danny Diccio showed why Connor Casey got to go home to Denver as his physical presence asked questions of KC all game. That is a tremendous statement given that Jimmy Conrad and Nick Garcia are amongst the roughest defenders in the league! Perhaps following the advice in my TFC related entry, Mo replaced Marco Reda in the starting eleven in favor of Andrew Boyens and the result was a far more competent defense. Jim Brennan also elevated his game from previous outings. Despite having most of the run of play, TFC conceded a late near post Eddie Johnson tally. EJ was rewarded for his score by the Canuck fans with a dousing of Molsen. KC did well considering the early loss of superstar in the making, Argentine, Carlos Marinelli to a hamstring injury.
The Crew entertained DC United and continued the visitors woes by shutting out the side that most predicted to dominate the league this year. Columbus will become far more dangerous in the attacking end when Guillermo Barros Schelotto arrives, however an overall solid performance from the Crew helped them retain their unbeaten status. A real stand out this season has been the play of Joseph Ngwenya who caused DC headaches and probably bruises all night.
Saturday wrapped up with a Superclassico in the sold out Home Depot Center, where the Gals put two early goals on the other home team. Unfortunately, I was unable to watch the rest of the match due to technical difficulties, but it was nice to see Cobi hit the scoresheet.
Sunday was Texas Football matches which were amongst the most spiritless of the entire season. First the Revs topped an out of gas FC Dallas 1-0 under the midday sun at PHP. The Rev’s got their goal off the hands down goal of the week winning strike by Taylor Twellman. Twellman’s volley into the far side netting cam off a great pass from Steve Ralston, who is likely to top Carlos Valderrama’s all time MLS assist record this season. He is unlikely to adopt El Pibe’s hairstyle, although I think everybody would love to see that!
The Fire got the better of Houston at Robertson stadium for the second consecutive year as Chris Rolfe and company put together another solid, but unspectacular win. The lone goal in the match started with a long ball from Gonzalo Segares into the right hand corner that Rolfe tracked down. Rolfe then streaked to the corner of the box before faking a shot, then cooly taking it after the fake to beat Pat Onstad to the near post. The Fire immediately went into an even greater defensive shell and managed to hold on to the lead. While the 3-5-2 formation will not show it, the Fire have actually been starting five defenders, two defensive midfielders, two attacking mids and a lone forward. The absence of Justin Mapp was felt as his replacement Thiago again failed to show any of the spark that has been missing for well over a year. The stadium fell very quiet in the second half as the Dynamo supporters groups El Batillion and The Texian Army walked out of the stadium after a dispute with security. When will MLS front offices educate their security about soccer fans? This has happened in just about every city in the league with any sort of sizable support group. These groups are part of the attraction for (North) American fans now. Support the supporters and give them a long leash!
RSL unnecessarily dropped three points on its home pitch to rivals Colorado Rapids on Monday despite dominating possession and clearly having the better of the play all evening. A couple of mental breakdowns in the span of four minutes doomed the home team. The first goal came as RSL defender Daniel Torres tracked down a long lofted ball to the edge of his own box. Deciding to play the ball back to the keeper Torres turned to the left and was absolutely shocked to see the Rapid’s Roberto Brown in his face. Brown took the ball into the box and put a move on Torres that sent the RSL defender sliding to the ground. Brown easily converted past a deserted Chris Seitz to mark the occasion of Seitz’ first MLS start. Seitz added to his woes minutes later as he handled a ball that may or may not have been a pass back. I guess he never heard the “when in doubt” addage. This wrinkle was unfortunate for Seitz because he had played a great match up until that point. Overall, this match was a great viewing experience, because despite these lapses, high quality football was on display at Rice-Eccles and the crowd let it be know that there was no love for the visitors.
Let’s face it Coach John Ellinger is on borrowed time in Salt Lake. We know owner Dave Checketts recognizes that RSL is in the spotlight out there. He recognizes the need to show the fans that they are trying to improve. Freddy’s signing was a first step, now Ellinger needs to go. The Coach has gotten everything he’s asked for and has just been unable to make this talent line-up click, he couldn’t get anything out of Mathis, now he gets Freddy and despite all the trumpeting about Adu returning to his natural position, where do we find him? On the wing playing second creative fiddle to Mehdi Ballouchy! They flipped sides at the half, but Ballouchy was responsible for most of the attacking midfield responsibilities. To make matters worse, most of Ballouchy’s first touches were criminally bad, showing all the ball had to offer to the defense again and again. RSL needs to relegate Ellinger to the Rongren Pile and hire a proven winner.
MLS Prediction Central:
Season Record (5-9)
Last Week (3-5)
Thursday
DC – Revs – The hot Revs keep DCU scratching their head and head out of RFK with another win.
KC – Crew – The Crew remain undefeated with a draw at Arrowhead.
RSL – NYRB – With Torres on the bench, RSL draws at home versus the Flagship.
Colorado – Houston – The Rapids got it going on and put on a showcase for their fans.
Sunday
DC – Chivas – Finally DC’s breakout performance and a big W for the preseason darlings. In doing so, DC bucks the trend of Thursday Night teams underperforming.
Revs – FIRE – The Fire cool the exhausted revs and leap to the top of the table.
PODCAST :
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
US Soccer Snob's Bi-Weekly Update - 4/18
MLS Week 2
Spectacular entertainment burst from RFK stadium as the KC Wizards started the season in grand fashion and everybody’s championship pick, DC United, again was doubled up by their opposition again. Although the great crowd of 22K plus didn’t go home happy they were treated to high quality soccer by two very talented teams. The train wreck that is Facundo Erpen proved his worth to the opposition getting torched throughout the match. I really think Erpen went downhill after the All-Star game last year where he was a Man of the Match candidate. His play in CONCACAF was horrific and now is approaching hackish levels during the early season. The flip side of United is the continued great play of Luciano Emilio. This guy is going to be torching nets all season and based on United’s backline play, they are going to need all the goals they can get.
From a presentation and fan comfort standpoint, the RBNY home opener lived up to what we’ve come to expect from a NY franchise: Massive embarrassment on some sort of scale. A Nor’easter that blew through the upper Atlantic states and cancelled every baseball game scheduled, did nothing to deter the Telemundo game of the week from kicking off on time. Next time someone want to rip on soccer just show them a video of this match and let them know that while the baseball players were warming their feet by the fire, MLS players were out earning a living at the expense of their health. That’s right, Ronald Watterus and Clarence Goodson had to be subbed out due to experiencing hypothermia type symptoms! All that to entertain perhaps the 2,000 or so fans that showed up. Anyone who was in that building should be commended!
In other game related news, who had Claudio Reyna and Marvelle Wynne (more on this later) out for the RBNY’s home opener? Reyna was almost a given, but Wynne made that an exacta that was hard to pick! Although all went well for the Flagship on the pitch as they plastered (K)FCD 3-0. The colonel’s men looked depleted from their road odyssey and bewildered by the weather. Almost as shocking as the weather was the performance delivered by Clint Mathis. Mathis was the lynchpin of the RBNY offense, setting up the first goal with at wicked corner kick that was well finished by Josemer Altidore. Shortly after that, Mathis was the recipient of a lovely backheel from Altidore, which he slammed in to the back of the net to put the Flagship up 2-0. Dane Richards and Hunter Freeman filled the shoes of Reyna and Wynne quite admirably by flying up and down the field, RBNY ran a tired KFCD into the ground. Too bad for RBNY that once, Reyna plays, he’ll slow up that attack and play some of that possession that his proponent seem to love so much.
Then there was the Fire in windy Colorado. The Fire are handed a great opportunity early in the match and then proceed to do their best to squander that opportunity throughout the rest of the game. The Fire were again anemic when the offense was being run by Chris Armas. I’m convinced that something has to give with Armas and Diego Gutierrez in the midfield. I can’t see the Fire offense generating more than one goal with both of these defensive minded midst in the game. Following his red card, Colorado’s Roberto Brown found himself locked out of the home locker room and had to wait for a team rep to buzz him in. Mad ups to the Fire fans who made it out to DSG park. I think they each brought a ten foot banner with them! There has been a great trend this year in decent road support for visiting teams, however, it will be hard to top the Houston 12 that represented their team and the league in Pachuca.
Only in MLS Observation of the Week
The Designated Player Rule is passed! Beckham is signed! Captain America is coming home! Arriba Blanco! Hype, love, hysteria!! Major League Soccer has finally arrived! Exactly ZERO DP signees played in their home opener. Viva la Revolution!
Other DP News: Send me an Angel
Sorry about the title, but at least I didn’t use something with the term “gets wings” like every other media outlet in the world.
The Flagship signed Juan Pablo Angel for and undisclosed sum that was immediately disclosed through sources. Strange to see a signing in NY that might actually have a positive effect on the box office. During Angel’s press conference he sounded very confident and seemed to know more about the league than Becks did at his presser. RBNY needed an established striker and they got one. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Columbian too. The drawback is that Angel had trouble making the Aston Villa bench during the new year and has not been in form for quite a while.
Meanwhile Guillermo Barros Schelotto, signed a two year pact with the Columbus Crew. Can he fill the shoes of Sebastian Rosenthal? I’m trying not to laugh too. Somebody get the Discovery Channel on the line, because this will be a hell of a more interesting geographical switch story than what the Beckham’s have going. From Buenos Aries to Columbus! How long until Schelotto tries to order a Malbec and gets a Becks? Nice to see a flood of passionate futbol players from south of our borders continue make their way over here. There really has been a great tradition being established from Valderrama to Etch to Moreno to Gomez.
Anybody else notice that the most maligned DP signing, Cuauctemoc Blanco, is the only DP that has been consistently in his former/current club’s starting line-up over the past year?
Under the Radar
Il Bruce has been a busy man! In the fog of all these DP signings, star-to-be, Wynne, was shipped to Toronto to help them shore up a defense that has given up six goals in two games. Funny that both the pre-season champion and surprise team picks have given up six goals in two games, while C-Bus has yet to be scored upon. The defending champs have one goal, Colorado, Chicago, KC, and NYRB are undefeated, and a team that has never played a home game leads the league in season tickets sold.
COMING UP: It will be the “Two for the Money” MLS style. I’ll start embarrassing myself on a weekly basis with result predictions!
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Spectacular entertainment burst from RFK stadium as the KC Wizards started the season in grand fashion and everybody’s championship pick, DC United, again was doubled up by their opposition again. Although the great crowd of 22K plus didn’t go home happy they were treated to high quality soccer by two very talented teams. The train wreck that is Facundo Erpen proved his worth to the opposition getting torched throughout the match. I really think Erpen went downhill after the All-Star game last year where he was a Man of the Match candidate. His play in CONCACAF was horrific and now is approaching hackish levels during the early season. The flip side of United is the continued great play of Luciano Emilio. This guy is going to be torching nets all season and based on United’s backline play, they are going to need all the goals they can get.
From a presentation and fan comfort standpoint, the RBNY home opener lived up to what we’ve come to expect from a NY franchise: Massive embarrassment on some sort of scale. A Nor’easter that blew through the upper Atlantic states and cancelled every baseball game scheduled, did nothing to deter the Telemundo game of the week from kicking off on time. Next time someone want to rip on soccer just show them a video of this match and let them know that while the baseball players were warming their feet by the fire, MLS players were out earning a living at the expense of their health. That’s right, Ronald Watterus and Clarence Goodson had to be subbed out due to experiencing hypothermia type symptoms! All that to entertain perhaps the 2,000 or so fans that showed up. Anyone who was in that building should be commended!
In other game related news, who had Claudio Reyna and Marvelle Wynne (more on this later) out for the RBNY’s home opener? Reyna was almost a given, but Wynne made that an exacta that was hard to pick! Although all went well for the Flagship on the pitch as they plastered (K)FCD 3-0. The colonel’s men looked depleted from their road odyssey and bewildered by the weather. Almost as shocking as the weather was the performance delivered by Clint Mathis. Mathis was the lynchpin of the RBNY offense, setting up the first goal with at wicked corner kick that was well finished by Josemer Altidore. Shortly after that, Mathis was the recipient of a lovely backheel from Altidore, which he slammed in to the back of the net to put the Flagship up 2-0. Dane Richards and Hunter Freeman filled the shoes of Reyna and Wynne quite admirably by flying up and down the field, RBNY ran a tired KFCD into the ground. Too bad for RBNY that once, Reyna plays, he’ll slow up that attack and play some of that possession that his proponent seem to love so much.
Then there was the Fire in windy Colorado. The Fire are handed a great opportunity early in the match and then proceed to do their best to squander that opportunity throughout the rest of the game. The Fire were again anemic when the offense was being run by Chris Armas. I’m convinced that something has to give with Armas and Diego Gutierrez in the midfield. I can’t see the Fire offense generating more than one goal with both of these defensive minded midst in the game. Following his red card, Colorado’s Roberto Brown found himself locked out of the home locker room and had to wait for a team rep to buzz him in. Mad ups to the Fire fans who made it out to DSG park. I think they each brought a ten foot banner with them! There has been a great trend this year in decent road support for visiting teams, however, it will be hard to top the Houston 12 that represented their team and the league in Pachuca.
Only in MLS Observation of the Week
The Designated Player Rule is passed! Beckham is signed! Captain America is coming home! Arriba Blanco! Hype, love, hysteria!! Major League Soccer has finally arrived! Exactly ZERO DP signees played in their home opener. Viva la Revolution!
Other DP News: Send me an Angel
Sorry about the title, but at least I didn’t use something with the term “gets wings” like every other media outlet in the world.
The Flagship signed Juan Pablo Angel for and undisclosed sum that was immediately disclosed through sources. Strange to see a signing in NY that might actually have a positive effect on the box office. During Angel’s press conference he sounded very confident and seemed to know more about the league than Becks did at his presser. RBNY needed an established striker and they got one. It doesn’t hurt that he’s Columbian too. The drawback is that Angel had trouble making the Aston Villa bench during the new year and has not been in form for quite a while.
Meanwhile Guillermo Barros Schelotto, signed a two year pact with the Columbus Crew. Can he fill the shoes of Sebastian Rosenthal? I’m trying not to laugh too. Somebody get the Discovery Channel on the line, because this will be a hell of a more interesting geographical switch story than what the Beckham’s have going. From Buenos Aries to Columbus! How long until Schelotto tries to order a Malbec and gets a Becks? Nice to see a flood of passionate futbol players from south of our borders continue make their way over here. There really has been a great tradition being established from Valderrama to Etch to Moreno to Gomez.
Anybody else notice that the most maligned DP signing, Cuauctemoc Blanco, is the only DP that has been consistently in his former/current club’s starting line-up over the past year?
Under the Radar
Il Bruce has been a busy man! In the fog of all these DP signings, star-to-be, Wynne, was shipped to Toronto to help them shore up a defense that has given up six goals in two games. Funny that both the pre-season champion and surprise team picks have given up six goals in two games, while C-Bus has yet to be scored upon. The defending champs have one goal, Colorado, Chicago, KC, and NYRB are undefeated, and a team that has never played a home game leads the league in season tickets sold.
COMING UP: It will be the “Two for the Money” MLS style. I’ll start embarrassing myself on a weekly basis with result predictions!
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Saturday, April 14, 2007
US Soccer Snob's Bi-Weekly Update
MLS Opening Weekend
Colorado Rapids opened their great new facility in grand fashion scoring two first half goal, both by newcomers, and holding on for a 2-1 win over last years Supporters Cup (yes I know it is actually a “Shield”) winners, DC United. Colorado fielded five new starters and was rewarded with Herculez Gomez delivering a goal and a man of the match performance. He also appeared to chair the Fred MLS welcoming committee by delivering some shoves, taunts and bruises to the Brazilian debutante. This also marked the first ESPN/ABC telecast for the year. With Honest Eric suspended for being honest, Julie Foudy’s voice managed to suck most of the life out of the TV broadcast. My favorite color commentary was when she reacted to a play with “Wow” followed by a long silence as pro broadcaster Dave O’Brien was expecting a bit more color. The broadcast was also dragged down by the corny “Famous Freds” montage. Nothing will convince the so-called red-blooded American’s that soccer is a pansy sports like a segment that features the music of Right Said Fred. Last on my list of broadcast no-no’s experienced was the incessant invocation of the word “sell-out”. I don’t think the producer realized that they were doing a TV broadcast, where every viewer could see the sparsely populated corners. I could understand if there were many no-shows because of the weather. I’d expect that, however when you see that all the areas that are sparsely populated were the last areas that are sold, it is clear that it isn’t a sell out. For a league that has come under fire for it’s past inflation of attendance figures, touting that so called “sell out” did nothing to make any one think the old days are gone!
Yes, there were things I did like about the broadcast. The half hour intro was very nice. Stoner did a good job as always, and the segments were well put together. Although, I am already getting sick of it, Dick’s Sporting Goods put together a heck of a nice commercial. The lettering on the seats of the stadium looked great. Why has it taken so long for an MLS team to get this done? I don’t want to hear any excuses about stadium ownership, leases, etc. MLS teams are the primary tenants, if they want to paint the seats with their names or logos they can do it. This should be a “Game First” Initiative. The entrance of the teams down the stairs was, if nothing else, interesting. I prefer the middle tunnel at Toyota Park, but the stairs look cool too. Colorado did a great job of having room for a stage, but not, explicitly having a stage as part of the stadium. ABC/ESPN did a solid job of micing the fans. The fans and the supporters group were in good voice all game, despite the noticeable departure of fans at halftime. The re-vamped halftime show was great too, with the MLS stats and even EPL action focusing on the league leaders and teams with American rooting interest.
I was unable to catch much of the FSC broadcast so I’ll have to chip in on that at another time. The LA-Houston tilt was marred by some camera troubles, however, I think that late Sunday afternoon time slot is great! Pre-HBO, post most baseball, not much sports competition. In addition, Chicago and many other cities with big Hispanic populations will have this broadcast on free TV. Quite a coup (or re-coup) for the league. Unfortunately the premier broadcast ended a 0-0, but the first half featured highly skilled football that had a definite attacking flair to it. What was also evident was the respect the announcers had for Donovan. Most players were referred to by their first and last names; however Donovan was routinely called “Capitan Landon”. It reminded me of the emphasis; the Mexican announcers would put on Hristo Stoitchkov’s name in the past. That sort of emphasis is not offered with out a great deal of respect.
MLS Thursday Night Football
Great to see the league in Primetime. This is a major upgrade from Saturday afternoons (AKA – the MLS Player June-August Bake-a-thon.) While it is good to see some pressure being put on an MLS side by its home fans, it is still the home opener. LA controlled the bookends of this match, but strangely the FCD O didn’t get kicking until their DM Marcelo Saragosa was injured in the 29th and replaced in favor of Aaron Pitchokolan (much to my fantasy joy). While Pitchkolan didn’t have much involvement in the attack, Saragosa absence seemed to move Dallas’ emphasis to the offense. The Hoops owned middle of the match, but their domination in that timeframe meant they deserved the victory in my book. Coopers goal off a wicked Nunez cross was top shelf stuff. What an upgrade from Foudy to Wynalda. I actually listened to the entire broadcast! Honest Eric for the most part was great, but he didn't do his homework on Jaqua last night. I certainly didn't feel like Yallop was scolding him by moving Nate to right mid in the second half. This was arguably Jaqua's most effective position for the Fire last year. While it was great to see LA's first round draft pick, Robbie Findlay, get a goal last night (due for a raise?), LA fans certainly weren't happy that it took nearly 180 minutes for the Gals to open their season account. The nice crowd of 23K+ let the Gals have it at the end of the 90.
Make sure you know what you are talking about
An April 11 column "Style over Substance" in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle an unnamed writer refers to so called "MLS journo" Wendell Brown as a "hack" for stating that “Players here need a style icon and Beckham is the perfect size to wear Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Prada and Gucci." Ironically, the Newcastle writer proves to be a hack as a simple Google search reveals Wendell Brown to be Fashion Editor for Esquire magazine! Not surprising given Newcastle's standing amongst fashion epicenters (about three clicks south of Detroit.) Yet again, the UK press proves its lack of knowledge about MLS football at the expense of a cheap joke.
FSC and CBC step up to the plate
Props to the FSC for sticking with the USL through a three year agreement signed this week. Hopefully this and the strengthened MLS coverage will lead to additional coverage of Open Cup. I know this is a bit of a stretch, but any US soccer coverage is good promotion for the other two contracts. Toronto FC signed a strong 14 game pact with the CBC.
Developmental Player’s Salaries
I was involved in a spirited discussion this week with some of my soccer pals about this topic. As many of you know, MLS developmental players aren’t exactly tracking down Goldman Sachs money managers to handle their assets. Most, probably can’t even open bank accounts! During the conversation I came across as a cold hearted prick. Which is probably true, but hey someone has to or else we would have a league. Where I was coming from was two fold:
1. Market Forces - the lawsuit (backed by the NFLPA) against single entity was defeated because MLS said, "You don't like it, there are hundreds of other leagues in the world to go play in." The problem for young players is that unless a US player heads to a top tier foreign league, they've largely been forgotten by the National Team and MLS is leveraging this. I'm sure Michael Bradley's recent USMNT performance sent shivers down MLS’ spine.
2. Pay for performance - these developmental players have not shown anything yet, so why narrow the gap between them and proven performers who are also being pays relatively low salaries. There have been plenty of players that have stepped up to the plate and have been rewarded by the league. I think this provides massive incentive for these players to perform well. And who in MLS, aside from maybe the top ten players, are really being paid their worth? Mapp? Mastroeni? Cooper? Ruiz? Nary a player in MLS is being paid what they are worth on the world market.(See point 1)
In summary, would I like to see Developmental Players get paid more or get more benefits, sure. Will they get paid more in time, no doubt. However, there are really no great incentives for the league to do this now. As more and more drafted MLS players opt out of the league, the MLS minimum will be pushed higher. This issue has become a major issue in recent years, with players opting to play for some European based squads that would have a tough time with MLS reserve sides.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Colorado Rapids opened their great new facility in grand fashion scoring two first half goal, both by newcomers, and holding on for a 2-1 win over last years Supporters Cup (yes I know it is actually a “Shield”) winners, DC United. Colorado fielded five new starters and was rewarded with Herculez Gomez delivering a goal and a man of the match performance. He also appeared to chair the Fred MLS welcoming committee by delivering some shoves, taunts and bruises to the Brazilian debutante. This also marked the first ESPN/ABC telecast for the year. With Honest Eric suspended for being honest, Julie Foudy’s voice managed to suck most of the life out of the TV broadcast. My favorite color commentary was when she reacted to a play with “Wow” followed by a long silence as pro broadcaster Dave O’Brien was expecting a bit more color. The broadcast was also dragged down by the corny “Famous Freds” montage. Nothing will convince the so-called red-blooded American’s that soccer is a pansy sports like a segment that features the music of Right Said Fred. Last on my list of broadcast no-no’s experienced was the incessant invocation of the word “sell-out”. I don’t think the producer realized that they were doing a TV broadcast, where every viewer could see the sparsely populated corners. I could understand if there were many no-shows because of the weather. I’d expect that, however when you see that all the areas that are sparsely populated were the last areas that are sold, it is clear that it isn’t a sell out. For a league that has come under fire for it’s past inflation of attendance figures, touting that so called “sell out” did nothing to make any one think the old days are gone!
Yes, there were things I did like about the broadcast. The half hour intro was very nice. Stoner did a good job as always, and the segments were well put together. Although, I am already getting sick of it, Dick’s Sporting Goods put together a heck of a nice commercial. The lettering on the seats of the stadium looked great. Why has it taken so long for an MLS team to get this done? I don’t want to hear any excuses about stadium ownership, leases, etc. MLS teams are the primary tenants, if they want to paint the seats with their names or logos they can do it. This should be a “Game First” Initiative. The entrance of the teams down the stairs was, if nothing else, interesting. I prefer the middle tunnel at Toyota Park, but the stairs look cool too. Colorado did a great job of having room for a stage, but not, explicitly having a stage as part of the stadium. ABC/ESPN did a solid job of micing the fans. The fans and the supporters group were in good voice all game, despite the noticeable departure of fans at halftime. The re-vamped halftime show was great too, with the MLS stats and even EPL action focusing on the league leaders and teams with American rooting interest.
I was unable to catch much of the FSC broadcast so I’ll have to chip in on that at another time. The LA-Houston tilt was marred by some camera troubles, however, I think that late Sunday afternoon time slot is great! Pre-HBO, post most baseball, not much sports competition. In addition, Chicago and many other cities with big Hispanic populations will have this broadcast on free TV. Quite a coup (or re-coup) for the league. Unfortunately the premier broadcast ended a 0-0, but the first half featured highly skilled football that had a definite attacking flair to it. What was also evident was the respect the announcers had for Donovan. Most players were referred to by their first and last names; however Donovan was routinely called “Capitan Landon”. It reminded me of the emphasis; the Mexican announcers would put on Hristo Stoitchkov’s name in the past. That sort of emphasis is not offered with out a great deal of respect.
MLS Thursday Night Football
Great to see the league in Primetime. This is a major upgrade from Saturday afternoons (AKA – the MLS Player June-August Bake-a-thon.) While it is good to see some pressure being put on an MLS side by its home fans, it is still the home opener. LA controlled the bookends of this match, but strangely the FCD O didn’t get kicking until their DM Marcelo Saragosa was injured in the 29th and replaced in favor of Aaron Pitchokolan (much to my fantasy joy). While Pitchkolan didn’t have much involvement in the attack, Saragosa absence seemed to move Dallas’ emphasis to the offense. The Hoops owned middle of the match, but their domination in that timeframe meant they deserved the victory in my book. Coopers goal off a wicked Nunez cross was top shelf stuff. What an upgrade from Foudy to Wynalda. I actually listened to the entire broadcast! Honest Eric for the most part was great, but he didn't do his homework on Jaqua last night. I certainly didn't feel like Yallop was scolding him by moving Nate to right mid in the second half. This was arguably Jaqua's most effective position for the Fire last year. While it was great to see LA's first round draft pick, Robbie Findlay, get a goal last night (due for a raise?), LA fans certainly weren't happy that it took nearly 180 minutes for the Gals to open their season account. The nice crowd of 23K+ let the Gals have it at the end of the 90.
Make sure you know what you are talking about
An April 11 column "Style over Substance" in the Newcastle Evening Chronicle an unnamed writer refers to so called "MLS journo" Wendell Brown as a "hack" for stating that “Players here need a style icon and Beckham is the perfect size to wear Dolce and Gabbana, Versace, Prada and Gucci." Ironically, the Newcastle writer proves to be a hack as a simple Google search reveals Wendell Brown to be Fashion Editor for Esquire magazine! Not surprising given Newcastle's standing amongst fashion epicenters (about three clicks south of Detroit.) Yet again, the UK press proves its lack of knowledge about MLS football at the expense of a cheap joke.
FSC and CBC step up to the plate
Props to the FSC for sticking with the USL through a three year agreement signed this week. Hopefully this and the strengthened MLS coverage will lead to additional coverage of Open Cup. I know this is a bit of a stretch, but any US soccer coverage is good promotion for the other two contracts. Toronto FC signed a strong 14 game pact with the CBC.
Developmental Player’s Salaries
I was involved in a spirited discussion this week with some of my soccer pals about this topic. As many of you know, MLS developmental players aren’t exactly tracking down Goldman Sachs money managers to handle their assets. Most, probably can’t even open bank accounts! During the conversation I came across as a cold hearted prick. Which is probably true, but hey someone has to or else we would have a league. Where I was coming from was two fold:
1. Market Forces - the lawsuit (backed by the NFLPA) against single entity was defeated because MLS said, "You don't like it, there are hundreds of other leagues in the world to go play in." The problem for young players is that unless a US player heads to a top tier foreign league, they've largely been forgotten by the National Team and MLS is leveraging this. I'm sure Michael Bradley's recent USMNT performance sent shivers down MLS’ spine.
2. Pay for performance - these developmental players have not shown anything yet, so why narrow the gap between them and proven performers who are also being pays relatively low salaries. There have been plenty of players that have stepped up to the plate and have been rewarded by the league. I think this provides massive incentive for these players to perform well. And who in MLS, aside from maybe the top ten players, are really being paid their worth? Mapp? Mastroeni? Cooper? Ruiz? Nary a player in MLS is being paid what they are worth on the world market.(See point 1)
In summary, would I like to see Developmental Players get paid more or get more benefits, sure. Will they get paid more in time, no doubt. However, there are really no great incentives for the league to do this now. As more and more drafted MLS players opt out of the league, the MLS minimum will be pushed higher. This issue has become a major issue in recent years, with players opting to play for some European based squads that would have a tough time with MLS reserve sides.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Saturday, April 7, 2007
US Soccer Snob's Weekly Update
MLS Predictions:
Order of Finish:East: DC United*, Revs*, Columbus*, Toronto*, Chicago Fire, KC, NYRB
West: Houston*, RSL*, LA Galaxy*, Dallas*, Colorado, Chivas
* - Playoff teams
Supporters Shield: DC United
Again, United builds an early lead and then starts going through a rough patch dealing with injuries and general from the extended season and extensive competitions. Tommy Soehn and company right the ship and start to cruise again before the playoffs. Houston looks to and almost closes the gap after signing Omar Bravo in the summer transfer window, but loses him for much of the season after Blanco breaks his leg in their MLS debuts at Toyota Park.
MLS Cup: United over RSL
Adu’s storybook season is denied its end by an overpowering DCU offense in front of a sellout hometown crowd. Huge Beckham poster hung in the south end is knocked from it’s mooring by an attempted volley by Ben Olsen. Addias is not pleased.
Open Cup: LA Galaxy
A-league teams are asked to foot the bill for “security charges” and forfeit the first two rounds to the Gals. LA plays all its remaining games at home to sell as many Beckham tickets as possible. Christopher Sullivan reminds us again that when he played in South America, they referred a home game as “en casa”.
All Star Game: MLS 2 - Celtic 1
In an amazing move, the entire MLS roster is populated by field players that have yet to make their MLS regular season debut. Claudio Reyna (injured since the first step he took on the Giant’s field turf coming out of the locker room), makes his MLS debut in a wheel chair and feeds a streaking David Beckham for the first goal in the 15th minute. Celtic fans react by drinking more beer. Halftime arrives and Tommy Soehn is forced to sub Reyna as his wheelchair suffered extensive damange heading into the locker room as it rolled over a piece of astroturf on the sidelines. Celtic tie immediately in the second half as a confused Maciej Zurawski (recently inked by RBNY) puts one in for his former teammates. Celtic fans miss the goal as the halftime beer and bathroom lines set North American records. The MLS all-stars win in stunning fashion as 85th minute sub, Zinadine Zidane (signed at halftime by Kansas City) charges, head first, through the Celtic defense and walks the ball into the back of the net. After the final whistle, Don Garber decrees that the entire MLS All-star team be transferred to RBNY via an special “Allstar Disburement Allocation”. Deposed US national team coach Bruce Arena, guides the re-named RedBull Gallacticos to exactly one point the rest of the season. At his firing, he notifies the nation that they just don’t understand the top level of football in this country, expectations were set too high and that Claudio Reyna’s wheelchair is now available via MLS Auctions. The wheelchair is eventually purchased by the Claudio Reyna Museum Foundation and added the it’s extensive collection which is currently located in Bruce Arena’s fourth bedroom.
MVP: Dwayne DeRosario
Mr. Excitement outshines all others and has a season for the ages. After the season new mega-star DeRosario is often seen hangin’ out with Dave Chappelle and Cypress Hill.ROTY: Robbie Rogers (if eligible)
Seriously, who the hell can tell what players are and are not eligible for this award.
CONCACAF Champions Cup
Disappointment follows US based squads on Mexican soil again. Despite having leads, both DC United and the Dynamo failed to protect their advantages on the road. United came into their match with Chivas level on aggregate(1-1). United jumped to a surprising lead on a spectacular goal by Jaime Moreno. As defenders began to close on Luciano Emilio in the Chivas box, Emilio poked a pass to Moreno who had his back to the goal. Moreno vertically one-touched the ball then bicycle kicked a lofting shot into the back of the net. The loft of the show was absolutely physics defying! Unfortunately the lead withered shortly after that as Aldofo Bautista put home a cross just before the half. Throughout the match Facundo Erpen again proved his worthlessness in defense getting torched by every available Chivas attacker. Chivas jumped ahead for good as some nice build-up in United area lead to a strong shot by Gonzalo Pineda right at Troy Perkins. The MLS goalkeeper of the year decided to attempt to catch the shot, but seemed to rethink that approach and opted to push it over the bar. The only problem with that is half way through Perkins’ though process his indecisive hand touched enough ball to slow it and allow it to hit the back of the net. United had other opportunities, but those too fell by the wayside and another American team slunk back from Mexico dejected. Certainly Houston and their 2-0 aggregate lead gave our league a taste of the glory you say!
Where do I begin?
The referee for this match was Mauricio Navarro. Mauricio Navarro was born in Santiago Chile on April 7th 1966. His hometown is Vancouver, Canada. The reason I’m telling you this is that Mr. Navarro made sure that he was a part of every single story about this match. Mr. Navarro and his crew missed an easy offside call in the third minute and allowed Pachuca to cut into Houston’s lead. Apparently seeking approval from the freeloading crowd, Mr. Navarro saw it fit to award the home team a penalty kick ten minutes later. This call was at the very least, debatable. Dynamo defender, Craig Waibel made an ill advised lunge at the ball as a Pachuca attacker was attempting to navigate a maze of defenders and then easily fell when Waibel caught some leg with the ball. Twenty minutes after the penalty, Houston keeper Zach Wells was given a yellow card by Navarro. Here's the laughable part:In the thirty fifth minute, the keeper for a team that is even was awarded a yellow card for time wasting. Please! Somehow, Houston got out of the half level on aggregate, although Navarro did ask the stadium staff to place all available balls in the Houston’s net during halftime for karma’s sake. Again, Houston coach Dominick Kinner seemed to make all the right halftime moves as a fired up Dynamo squad retook the aggregate lead off a goal by Brian Mullan in the 52nd minute. Enter Navarro, who took the next opportunity to blow the whistle. This time it was as a Pachucan attacker attempted to go around Brad Davis where the box meets the endline. Having been shut down, the attacker dives and Navarro promptly points to the spot, Christian Giminez converts and the tilt is level again. After this point, the teams were allowed to decided the match. Undeterred Houston again put themselves ahead on aggregate off a free kick that found the head of an unmarked Brian Ching in the 79th minute. Had there been six minutes left in the match, Houston would have advanced, however seven minutes later Pachuca’s Gabriel Caballero scored on a magical header goal to draw the series even again. High in the mountains of Mexico, the two sides headed to overtime. Late in the overtime’s first half , Giminez completed his hat trick for the home side by unleashing a vicious bending shot that started right and then tailed back left into the top left corner of the net. Stunned Houston keeper Zach Wells could only watch and admire Giminez’s piece of artistry. In the second overtime frame Houston had an opportunity to draw even again, but Ching’s head refused to come to Houston’s rescue again. A great cross was squandered as the ball eluded Ching’s head and connected with his shoulder. Five minutes later, Navarro blew his cruel whistle on the match.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Order of Finish:East: DC United*, Revs*, Columbus*, Toronto*, Chicago Fire, KC, NYRB
West: Houston*, RSL*, LA Galaxy*, Dallas*, Colorado, Chivas
* - Playoff teams
Supporters Shield: DC United
Again, United builds an early lead and then starts going through a rough patch dealing with injuries and general from the extended season and extensive competitions. Tommy Soehn and company right the ship and start to cruise again before the playoffs. Houston looks to and almost closes the gap after signing Omar Bravo in the summer transfer window, but loses him for much of the season after Blanco breaks his leg in their MLS debuts at Toyota Park.
MLS Cup: United over RSL
Adu’s storybook season is denied its end by an overpowering DCU offense in front of a sellout hometown crowd. Huge Beckham poster hung in the south end is knocked from it’s mooring by an attempted volley by Ben Olsen. Addias is not pleased.
Open Cup: LA Galaxy
A-league teams are asked to foot the bill for “security charges” and forfeit the first two rounds to the Gals. LA plays all its remaining games at home to sell as many Beckham tickets as possible. Christopher Sullivan reminds us again that when he played in South America, they referred a home game as “en casa”.
All Star Game: MLS 2 - Celtic 1
In an amazing move, the entire MLS roster is populated by field players that have yet to make their MLS regular season debut. Claudio Reyna (injured since the first step he took on the Giant’s field turf coming out of the locker room), makes his MLS debut in a wheel chair and feeds a streaking David Beckham for the first goal in the 15th minute. Celtic fans react by drinking more beer. Halftime arrives and Tommy Soehn is forced to sub Reyna as his wheelchair suffered extensive damange heading into the locker room as it rolled over a piece of astroturf on the sidelines. Celtic tie immediately in the second half as a confused Maciej Zurawski (recently inked by RBNY) puts one in for his former teammates. Celtic fans miss the goal as the halftime beer and bathroom lines set North American records. The MLS all-stars win in stunning fashion as 85th minute sub, Zinadine Zidane (signed at halftime by Kansas City) charges, head first, through the Celtic defense and walks the ball into the back of the net. After the final whistle, Don Garber decrees that the entire MLS All-star team be transferred to RBNY via an special “Allstar Disburement Allocation”. Deposed US national team coach Bruce Arena, guides the re-named RedBull Gallacticos to exactly one point the rest of the season. At his firing, he notifies the nation that they just don’t understand the top level of football in this country, expectations were set too high and that Claudio Reyna’s wheelchair is now available via MLS Auctions. The wheelchair is eventually purchased by the Claudio Reyna Museum Foundation and added the it’s extensive collection which is currently located in Bruce Arena’s fourth bedroom.
MVP: Dwayne DeRosario
Mr. Excitement outshines all others and has a season for the ages. After the season new mega-star DeRosario is often seen hangin’ out with Dave Chappelle and Cypress Hill.ROTY: Robbie Rogers (if eligible)
Seriously, who the hell can tell what players are and are not eligible for this award.
CONCACAF Champions Cup
Disappointment follows US based squads on Mexican soil again. Despite having leads, both DC United and the Dynamo failed to protect their advantages on the road. United came into their match with Chivas level on aggregate(1-1). United jumped to a surprising lead on a spectacular goal by Jaime Moreno. As defenders began to close on Luciano Emilio in the Chivas box, Emilio poked a pass to Moreno who had his back to the goal. Moreno vertically one-touched the ball then bicycle kicked a lofting shot into the back of the net. The loft of the show was absolutely physics defying! Unfortunately the lead withered shortly after that as Aldofo Bautista put home a cross just before the half. Throughout the match Facundo Erpen again proved his worthlessness in defense getting torched by every available Chivas attacker. Chivas jumped ahead for good as some nice build-up in United area lead to a strong shot by Gonzalo Pineda right at Troy Perkins. The MLS goalkeeper of the year decided to attempt to catch the shot, but seemed to rethink that approach and opted to push it over the bar. The only problem with that is half way through Perkins’ though process his indecisive hand touched enough ball to slow it and allow it to hit the back of the net. United had other opportunities, but those too fell by the wayside and another American team slunk back from Mexico dejected. Certainly Houston and their 2-0 aggregate lead gave our league a taste of the glory you say!
Where do I begin?
The referee for this match was Mauricio Navarro. Mauricio Navarro was born in Santiago Chile on April 7th 1966. His hometown is Vancouver, Canada. The reason I’m telling you this is that Mr. Navarro made sure that he was a part of every single story about this match. Mr. Navarro and his crew missed an easy offside call in the third minute and allowed Pachuca to cut into Houston’s lead. Apparently seeking approval from the freeloading crowd, Mr. Navarro saw it fit to award the home team a penalty kick ten minutes later. This call was at the very least, debatable. Dynamo defender, Craig Waibel made an ill advised lunge at the ball as a Pachuca attacker was attempting to navigate a maze of defenders and then easily fell when Waibel caught some leg with the ball. Twenty minutes after the penalty, Houston keeper Zach Wells was given a yellow card by Navarro. Here's the laughable part:In the thirty fifth minute, the keeper for a team that is even was awarded a yellow card for time wasting. Please! Somehow, Houston got out of the half level on aggregate, although Navarro did ask the stadium staff to place all available balls in the Houston’s net during halftime for karma’s sake. Again, Houston coach Dominick Kinner seemed to make all the right halftime moves as a fired up Dynamo squad retook the aggregate lead off a goal by Brian Mullan in the 52nd minute. Enter Navarro, who took the next opportunity to blow the whistle. This time it was as a Pachucan attacker attempted to go around Brad Davis where the box meets the endline. Having been shut down, the attacker dives and Navarro promptly points to the spot, Christian Giminez converts and the tilt is level again. After this point, the teams were allowed to decided the match. Undeterred Houston again put themselves ahead on aggregate off a free kick that found the head of an unmarked Brian Ching in the 79th minute. Had there been six minutes left in the match, Houston would have advanced, however seven minutes later Pachuca’s Gabriel Caballero scored on a magical header goal to draw the series even again. High in the mountains of Mexico, the two sides headed to overtime. Late in the overtime’s first half , Giminez completed his hat trick for the home side by unleashing a vicious bending shot that started right and then tailed back left into the top left corner of the net. Stunned Houston keeper Zach Wells could only watch and admire Giminez’s piece of artistry. In the second overtime frame Houston had an opportunity to draw even again, but Ching’s head refused to come to Houston’s rescue again. A great cross was squandered as the ball eluded Ching’s head and connected with his shoulder. Five minutes later, Navarro blew his cruel whistle on the match.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Sunday, March 18, 2007
US Soccer Update - 3/17/07
CONCACAF Semifinals Leg 1
Dynamo sizzle while United fizzle in leg one of the CONCACAF Champions cup. The Dynamo took full advantage of their home field advantage, tallying a 2-0 victory over Pachuca. The game was nearly 3-0 when Alejandro Moreno enacted his patented sitter miss. That may be a bit harsh, but a third goal was there for the taking. Mr. Clutch, Brian Ching (the guy who sat on the bench in favor of Ben Olsen in Germany while the US desperately needed a goal last summer) headed home the game winner during the mid second half. The Dynamo were very impressive throughout second half stringing passes together and looking very sharp. The insertion of subs Dwayne Derosario and Chris Wondolowski paid near instant dividends as DeRo’s clairvoyant pass into open space was met by a streaking Brad Davis who promptly centered to Wondo for the spectacular capper. It looks like Dom Kinnear has smacked the innocence out of Kelly Grey, because he is playing with a very nasty edge to his game these days. Aside from the scoreline, the biggest shocker of this match was the near absence of Pachuca fans! The same was not true for DC United as 15,000+ east coast Chivas supporters helped turn RFK into friendly territory for the visitors. While Mexican fans dominated the crowd, the DC fans were very loud and it resulted in a great atmosphere in terrible weather. I don’t understand why MLS teams in the CONCACAF tournament don't tie early season ticket subscriptions to free Champions Cup tickets. Chivas dominated the entire match and deserved their go-ahead goal from Omar Bravo, United suffered some bad luck in that it was deflected past 2006 MLS Keeper of the Year, Troy Perkins by defender Bryan Namoff. The situation was desperate when MLS 2007 Newcomer of the Year runner-up Luciano Emilio tied the match in the 91st minute off a header. The goal salvages some hope for United, however, they now have to get a positive result on Mexican soil to advance, a feat that has never been accomplished by a MLS side. Overall some very good results for the MLS teams considering that they are still in preseason. These matches will really raise both teams mentally above their competition from the onset of the MLS season.
RBNY Loses $14M in Year One
The kicking soft drink team amid high hopes and much pizzaz dropped $14 million into a hole in year one. Disclosed by Ives Galarcep on NorthJersey.com, the article states that a combination of poor opening day attendance and inexperience in the Managing Director spot led to an abysimal year that has left the team’s 2008 TV contract hanging in the balance. Despite the Arena hire, the Reyna pick-up and an overall stronger team in 2008, marketing in the NY/NJ area has been noticably absent. Are RBNY waiting out the new stadium? Is there true confusion amid the team ownership? How is this going down with MLS HQ and Donny? While $14m may be a drop in the bucket to the RB promotion department, are they seeing any sort of return on their investment? They should feel lucky that no one pays attention or the team might be causing damage to the brand!
Blanco Chicago Bound?
Papers are buzzing with the possibility of the Fire signing Mexican National Team star Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I am no Blanco fan, but I am becoming interested in seeing him on the field with Rolfe, Mapp and Thiago. That might be the most creative line-up the Fire have ever fielded. I can’t see Blanco coming to the US and dogging it. He might be frustrated by MLS defenses the way some of the other El Tri stars have been, but I just don’t think he is the type of guy to turn his competitiveness off, similar to Stoitichkov. I think the biggest downside to this whole transaction is the release of Tony Sanneh to make way for a signing. Anyone trying to convince themselves that the Fire would have won the USOC or been part of the MLS Playoffs without him is loco! Look what is left in defense, first full year keeper Pickens guiding a clearly aging Brown, off an injury Curtain, inconsistent Segares and Robinson. There is no "rock" in this D in the back.
Toronto Sells Out
Prior to setting foot on the pitch in real competition, Toronto FC has sold 14,000 regular season tickets. You are allowed to drop your jaw! From day one this franchise will not only play in its own facuilty, have some of the best press in the league, field a very competent looking team (on paper), but TFC will play to near sell outs for the majority of the year! This is further proof that MLS is being treated as major league all its new markets it heads into (Toronto, Houston, Salt Lake). This is also testament to the power of a stong organization backing the club. I’m already excited to take my first road trip there.
Bradley Names New Camp Invitees
Apparently BB the King has been listening to all the chatter, because the Euro’s are on their way! Among the fresh faces in the national team camp congregating for the March 25th and March 28th matches are first time invitees Watford’s Jay DeMeritt, Sheffield Wednesday’s Frankie Simek and Hamburger’s Benny Feilhaber. Jimmy Conrad is the lone MLS defender on the squad. As Euro dominated the defense is, the attackers are all MLS based with Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe and Eddie Johnson under the microscope. Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu and Kasey Keller help bring this side the closest to a first team that we’ve witnessed under the reign of Bradley. I think BB’s doing a great job of getting looks at players that are deserving, not just "his guys". A welcome departure from the prior era where just about every eligible player from Il Bruces United tenure got at least a token cap.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Dynamo sizzle while United fizzle in leg one of the CONCACAF Champions cup. The Dynamo took full advantage of their home field advantage, tallying a 2-0 victory over Pachuca. The game was nearly 3-0 when Alejandro Moreno enacted his patented sitter miss. That may be a bit harsh, but a third goal was there for the taking. Mr. Clutch, Brian Ching (the guy who sat on the bench in favor of Ben Olsen in Germany while the US desperately needed a goal last summer) headed home the game winner during the mid second half. The Dynamo were very impressive throughout second half stringing passes together and looking very sharp. The insertion of subs Dwayne Derosario and Chris Wondolowski paid near instant dividends as DeRo’s clairvoyant pass into open space was met by a streaking Brad Davis who promptly centered to Wondo for the spectacular capper. It looks like Dom Kinnear has smacked the innocence out of Kelly Grey, because he is playing with a very nasty edge to his game these days. Aside from the scoreline, the biggest shocker of this match was the near absence of Pachuca fans! The same was not true for DC United as 15,000+ east coast Chivas supporters helped turn RFK into friendly territory for the visitors. While Mexican fans dominated the crowd, the DC fans were very loud and it resulted in a great atmosphere in terrible weather. I don’t understand why MLS teams in the CONCACAF tournament don't tie early season ticket subscriptions to free Champions Cup tickets. Chivas dominated the entire match and deserved their go-ahead goal from Omar Bravo, United suffered some bad luck in that it was deflected past 2006 MLS Keeper of the Year, Troy Perkins by defender Bryan Namoff. The situation was desperate when MLS 2007 Newcomer of the Year runner-up Luciano Emilio tied the match in the 91st minute off a header. The goal salvages some hope for United, however, they now have to get a positive result on Mexican soil to advance, a feat that has never been accomplished by a MLS side. Overall some very good results for the MLS teams considering that they are still in preseason. These matches will really raise both teams mentally above their competition from the onset of the MLS season.
RBNY Loses $14M in Year One
The kicking soft drink team amid high hopes and much pizzaz dropped $14 million into a hole in year one. Disclosed by Ives Galarcep on NorthJersey.com, the article states that a combination of poor opening day attendance and inexperience in the Managing Director spot led to an abysimal year that has left the team’s 2008 TV contract hanging in the balance. Despite the Arena hire, the Reyna pick-up and an overall stronger team in 2008, marketing in the NY/NJ area has been noticably absent. Are RBNY waiting out the new stadium? Is there true confusion amid the team ownership? How is this going down with MLS HQ and Donny? While $14m may be a drop in the bucket to the RB promotion department, are they seeing any sort of return on their investment? They should feel lucky that no one pays attention or the team might be causing damage to the brand!
Blanco Chicago Bound?
Papers are buzzing with the possibility of the Fire signing Mexican National Team star Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I am no Blanco fan, but I am becoming interested in seeing him on the field with Rolfe, Mapp and Thiago. That might be the most creative line-up the Fire have ever fielded. I can’t see Blanco coming to the US and dogging it. He might be frustrated by MLS defenses the way some of the other El Tri stars have been, but I just don’t think he is the type of guy to turn his competitiveness off, similar to Stoitichkov. I think the biggest downside to this whole transaction is the release of Tony Sanneh to make way for a signing. Anyone trying to convince themselves that the Fire would have won the USOC or been part of the MLS Playoffs without him is loco! Look what is left in defense, first full year keeper Pickens guiding a clearly aging Brown, off an injury Curtain, inconsistent Segares and Robinson. There is no "rock" in this D in the back.
Toronto Sells Out
Prior to setting foot on the pitch in real competition, Toronto FC has sold 14,000 regular season tickets. You are allowed to drop your jaw! From day one this franchise will not only play in its own facuilty, have some of the best press in the league, field a very competent looking team (on paper), but TFC will play to near sell outs for the majority of the year! This is further proof that MLS is being treated as major league all its new markets it heads into (Toronto, Houston, Salt Lake). This is also testament to the power of a stong organization backing the club. I’m already excited to take my first road trip there.
Bradley Names New Camp Invitees
Apparently BB the King has been listening to all the chatter, because the Euro’s are on their way! Among the fresh faces in the national team camp congregating for the March 25th and March 28th matches are first time invitees Watford’s Jay DeMeritt, Sheffield Wednesday’s Frankie Simek and Hamburger’s Benny Feilhaber. Jimmy Conrad is the lone MLS defender on the squad. As Euro dominated the defense is, the attackers are all MLS based with Kenny Cooper, Chris Rolfe and Eddie Johnson under the microscope. Landon Donovan, Oguchi Onyewu and Kasey Keller help bring this side the closest to a first team that we’ve witnessed under the reign of Bradley. I think BB’s doing a great job of getting looks at players that are deserving, not just "his guys". A welcome departure from the prior era where just about every eligible player from Il Bruces United tenure got at least a token cap.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
Monday, March 5, 2007
US Soccer Update - 3/5/07
CONCACAF Champions Cup Leg 2
DC United continued their romp over CD Olympia and Houston Dynamo rebounded from their first leg loss as both MLS teams move on to face top Mexican sides Chivas and Pachuca. Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez each had hat tricks during the tie as DC United’s new look front three appeared lethal against the out matched Olympia back line. Certainly some rust was being shaken off of the DC machine, however the team form was well beyond their form in last years competion. At the other end of the country, Dynamo fans were again out in force, all things considered, to root their team onto a 2-0 victory that allowed the team to advance 2-1 on aggregate. The referee had no problem with vicious tackles and other forms of violence, but had a short fuse for naughty language. Apparently his day job is with the FCC. A few times this fixture looked to spiral out of control, but cooler heads prevailed. The night wasn’t all celebration for MLS as Dwayne DeRosario, Troy Perkins and Pat Onstad will head into the next leg of the competition nursing injuries that may prevent them from taking part.
Response to Paul Gardner in The NY Sun
Always one to ignite controversy, NY Sun reporter lumped former Fire player Hristo Stoitchkov in with other MLS “disappointments” such as Lothar Matthaeus, Walter Zenga, Andreas Herzog, Richard Gough, Anders Limpar, Branco, and Hugo Sanchez. Of course this comment raised my ire and I had to respond.
Paul,
While I am a regular reader and big fan of your column, I was a bit dismayed at your classification of Hristo Stoitchkov in your recent ‘Beckham Rule” column. To lump Mr. Stoitchkov in with your group of MLS no-shows indicates an unexpected lack of knowledge about the man’s MLS career. Certainly Stoitchkov will never go down as one of the top foreign signings in league history, however, he was a key player in the Fire’s 2000 run to the championship and a major force in the development of DaMarcus Beasley and Dema Kovalenko as well as other young players on the Fire at that time. One thing you could always count on from him that you couldn’t from Branco, Matthaeus or Luis Hernandez was passion. Long after he left the Fire he would return to watch matches because of his passion for the team.Everytime Stoitchikov stepped on the field you could tell that he would slit the throat of every opposition player in order to win. That quality is difficult to find in any player or coach in MLS’ history.
I did not receive a response.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
DC United continued their romp over CD Olympia and Houston Dynamo rebounded from their first leg loss as both MLS teams move on to face top Mexican sides Chivas and Pachuca. Luciano Emilio and Christian Gomez each had hat tricks during the tie as DC United’s new look front three appeared lethal against the out matched Olympia back line. Certainly some rust was being shaken off of the DC machine, however the team form was well beyond their form in last years competion. At the other end of the country, Dynamo fans were again out in force, all things considered, to root their team onto a 2-0 victory that allowed the team to advance 2-1 on aggregate. The referee had no problem with vicious tackles and other forms of violence, but had a short fuse for naughty language. Apparently his day job is with the FCC. A few times this fixture looked to spiral out of control, but cooler heads prevailed. The night wasn’t all celebration for MLS as Dwayne DeRosario, Troy Perkins and Pat Onstad will head into the next leg of the competition nursing injuries that may prevent them from taking part.
Response to Paul Gardner in The NY Sun
Always one to ignite controversy, NY Sun reporter lumped former Fire player Hristo Stoitchkov in with other MLS “disappointments” such as Lothar Matthaeus, Walter Zenga, Andreas Herzog, Richard Gough, Anders Limpar, Branco, and Hugo Sanchez. Of course this comment raised my ire and I had to respond.
Paul,
While I am a regular reader and big fan of your column, I was a bit dismayed at your classification of Hristo Stoitchkov in your recent ‘Beckham Rule” column. To lump Mr. Stoitchkov in with your group of MLS no-shows indicates an unexpected lack of knowledge about the man’s MLS career. Certainly Stoitchkov will never go down as one of the top foreign signings in league history, however, he was a key player in the Fire’s 2000 run to the championship and a major force in the development of DaMarcus Beasley and Dema Kovalenko as well as other young players on the Fire at that time. One thing you could always count on from him that you couldn’t from Branco, Matthaeus or Luis Hernandez was passion. Long after he left the Fire he would return to watch matches because of his passion for the team.Everytime Stoitchikov stepped on the field you could tell that he would slit the throat of every opposition player in order to win. That quality is difficult to find in any player or coach in MLS’ history.
I did not receive a response.
PODCAST:
The Soccer Hour with Glenn Davis
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