TOP STORIES
Beckham Enters
I’m not sure what you expected on those Beckham long passes and his one free kick. On the free kick, Carlos Pavon met it at the near post was completely covered and did fairly well getting the ball anywhere near the goal. Long pass number one, was easily dealt with by Troy Perkins, while his long pass to Donovan should have resulted in a PK. It’s not like every time Beckham passed in EPL or La Liga it lead to a goal. I sometimes wonder whether the MLS critics watch anything other than highlights from other leagues.
LA is a better team than they’ve showed this year, but they need time in training with Beckham. I thought their biggest error is playing Donovan as a forward. He is always more effective when he get more touches as an attacking mid. The problem for LA is that they have Beckham, Donovan and Kyle Martino with Attacking Mid as their best position. I say leave hothead Martino on the bench and play Becks right in the center, with Donovan just in front of him and Buddle/Pavon up top.
To the dismay of a great Revs crowd, Becks sat out against the Revolution a couple of days after his United debut due to his arch nemesis Field Turf coating the field. Just as Becks and the Gals get people on board the flying and ankles and swelling and swamp gas excuse, word comes out that by apparently flying the plane backwards to LA, Beckham is suddenly “78%” ready to play in Thursday’s Superliga fixture. Here’s the bottom line: Becks isn’t going to play on Field Turf unless he’s 100%. Sorry New York, but you still might get a token appearance, after all the game is on national TV.
Here’s a quick Becks PT equation:
National TV:
ABC (+6), ESPN (+4), Fox Soccer (+2), All Other Channels (0)
Field:
Grass (+2), Field Turf (-2)
Flight:
Eastbound (-2), Westbound (+2), No flight (+1)
Advance Ticket Sales:
36,000+ (+4), 22,000 – 36,000 (0), 0 – 22,000 (-2)
Scoring
Negative – Hugo Boss Suited Becks
0-4 – Warm-up bench Becks
4-8 – Limited Minutes Becks
8+ - Full 90 Becks
Enough ankle gate for now……..
SuperLiga
The Dynamo/Pachuca rematch lived up to the hype and became an instant Superliga classic. This game had everything ugly in it, but made for a thrilling evening for 21,000+ at Robertson Stadium. Playing a role in the match; a face volley, three ejections, a shootout, last minute heroics. The Dynamo took a lead thanks to some great right side work by Brian Mullan who smoked his defender on the way to the endline. At the endline, he sends in a low cross to the feet of an open DeRo who takes a crack at it. The ball ricochets off of his face and into the back of the net from 10 yards out! Not a goal of the year candidate, but the crowd didn’t seem to mind. The Dynamo topped this feat by poorly heading a ball back to the keeper from near midfield ten minutes later. It fell to the feet of a Pachuca forward who was brought down by Patrick Ianni who was given a straight red card. While the ensuing free kick from just outside the box amounted to nothing, Pachuca did manage to tie the game before the half. The second half saw more excellent ball possession by Pachuca and eventually a great goal from Andres Chitiva. The outmanned Dynamo seemed headed toward the inevitable until the 83rd minute when Eddie Robinson powered home the tying goal, setting off wild celebration throughout the majority of fans in Robertson. The game was headed toward overtime, but not before Chitiva was awarded his second yellow for diving of all things. Back on level terms, the Dynamo found some decent offense in the first extra frame until substitute Cory Ashe was sent into the midfield camera stand by a Pachuca defender. While still on the ground, a dazed Ashe then attempted to cleat a nearby Pachuca player earning him a dismissal as well. Both team’s defenses held and off to the shoot out we go. Neither keeper could stop the first three chances. The first miss came courtesy of US national team striker Brian Ching, who had keeper Miguel Calero leaning the wrong way and still managed to hit the post. Houston keeper Pat Onstad rescued the moment by saving the next Pachuca attempt. Joseph Ngwenya tried to really put the pressure on the Mexican side by rolling the limpest penalty kick taken by an MLS side since Ante Razov’s MLS Cup 2003 attempt. Calero stood his ground and used his groin to stop the shot since he didn’t even need his hands, while wagging a finger at Ngwenya. Rafael Marquez Lugo finished over a diving Onstad to seal Pachuca’s place in the Superliga final. This game was a tribute to the potential of this new tournament and the equality of the top teams in CONCACAF.
Stars and Stripes Swap Sides
Due to irreconcilable contractual differences ($), the Red, White and Blue (nicknames for our national team are welcome in feedback), will not get the pleasure of visiting Azteca Stadium on September 9th. Our boys have to settle for Brazil at Solider Field. Drat! I mean, now I get to see the Yanks give the Samba boys a shot within walking distance of my house. Oh, cruel fate! I have seen a quality for quality swap like this since Deep Purple replaced legendary guitarist Ritchie Blackmore mid-tour with legendary guitarist Joe Satriani. I guess that makes it three victories we’ve scored over Mexico this year.
MLS Week 19 –
Thursday
LA vs. United – With Becks clearly ready to take his MLS bow serial idiot, Kyle Martino foolishly dives in on Fred’s ankle and gets sent off, sending his team to certain doom. In the UK they would call it a “horror tackle” here we just call it dumb! Few in the crowd likely saw the tackle given that it coincided with Becks removing his warm-up shirt. I’m surprised that any of the ESPN cameras even were trained on the action. I’m mean, there was a man running back and forth on the sideline for 20 minutes! Landon Donovan did a good disappearing job for 60 minutes. Shocking that this would happen when he was playing up top. The good news is that the home team won and everybody when home happy. Except for LA. Hey went to New England frustrated.
Saturday
Crew vs. Dallas – This might be Fox’s match of the year. A rather anemic first half gave way to a wild finish at PHP. Dallas had to shelve Juan “The Revelation” Toja due to a Superliga injury. Oft injured Adrian Serioux started the match but was shockingly injured in the first half and was replaced. Only Columbus could score in the first half that saw each team taking control of the action. The second half began with a great deal of Columbus pressure, but it was Dallas that scored off a nice bit of opportunism from a Arturo Alvarez who finished in a classy manner when the ball deflected to his feet in the box. The score wasn’t tied for long as Columbus converted a penalty kick after Chris Gbandi dragged down Wild Man Hedjuk just near the end line. Andy Herron handled the PK with ease. The goal of the game began at the foot of goat in waiting Marcelo Saragosa. Who finished Oddly, the crowd seemed to steadily grow from minute 0 to 70.
MOTM: Dax McCarty
Dynamo vs. Rapids – It was Bouna time and is still Clavejo time at DSG Park, however, all this result got him was a stay of execution. I only managed to see highlights of this game due to the HDNet Blackout, but it didn’t appear that I missed much.
MOTM: No Position to Judge
Sunday
UFC vs. The Flagship – What do we do when you are being marked closely and Mo Johnston I your coach? You punch the defender in the gut and get away with it! I wouldn’t expect to see Andrea Lombardo for a bit UFC fans. He can visit the rest of the team in the ER this week. This match also gave us the great National Post headline “Toronto FC Crushed by New York Teenager.”
MOTM: Jozy Altidore – His second goal may have sealed his transfer to Euroland.
LA vs. Revs – Yallop pulled his head out of his butt for one game to start a line-up that has a modest chance at success. Two forwards up top backed by Landon Donovan at attacking mid. Crazy, I know! However, it was the same old result for the Galaxy who were without Abel Xavier who would have prevented the Revolution goal. What was also made clear in this match is that Ty Harden is not improving. Only the play of Joe Cannon and some Revolution misfires kept this match from getting ugly. The Galaxy had some moments, but it would be nice if they could ever field the same team twice. If LA manages the playoffs this year, it will make Real Madrid’s 2007 feats seem small by comparison. Frank Yallop knows Alexi Lalas has fired managers for less, but Yallop is not a miracle worker. A combination of rash front office moves, key injuries and media whirlwind have combined to turn the Galaxy into the most publicized soap opera on grass and Yallop it’s all too weak adhesive.
MOTM: Shalrie Joseph for being everywhere all evening.
MLS Commentators
Much has been made about ESPN and Fox Soccer Channel. While four commentators jammed into a booth can get annoying, particularly if one is Michael Wilbon, it is still far more preferable to the single announcer format. That form of commentating is dreadfully boring, despite being filed under “traditional” by footie-philes. The optimal format would be the classic American play-by-play guy with a knowledgeable and opinionated color guy, a role that Eric Wynalda perfectly fills. His ideal compatriot would be the terrific Glenn Davis or the highly knowledgeable Max Brentos, however, you’ll have plenty that “can’t stand” Brentos either. I could take or leave the sideline report, but the interviewing coaches in the middle of matches has to go!
A Friend in the MediaYesterday morning, I was watching C-Span2's Book Symposium (I dig deep for you people!) featuring Dave Zirin. Zirin is a non-conformist American sports writer who was discussing his latest book, "Welcome to the Terrordome: The Pain, Politics and Promise of Sports" The title alone made me think about soccer of course. Although the audience didn't touch on our favorite sport, I did manage to find quite a bit about Zirin online. As part of an interview, he had this interesting observation that many of us can relate to:
“You know, when you talk about liking soccer in the U.S., people act like you're taking French lessons at the local Muslim school. You might as well burn the flag in your backyard. The fact is, it's the most popular youth sport in the United States. Whether people want to admit it or not, soccer is a major sport in this country.”
At his website, he did have this must read article about a life changing event at a soccer match.
Quote of the Week (source ESPN Soccernet)
Sigi Schmidt on David Beckham: "When you look at his face, he's not here for retirement. He's not here for a paycheck. He's here to step on the field to win games. That's not something you can hide or disguise."
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (3-2)
SEASON (40-68)
Thursday
Revs vs Rapids – poetic that the Revolution will be the team to send Clavijo out to the unemployment line again.
Saturday
Chivas vs. UFC - the woes continue for Mo’s Street Fighting team as rested Chivas blasts a broken team.
United vs. Crew – A classic match-up that finally means something again. Look for the Crew to rebound from last weeks let down and score a big win over the Eastern Conference foes.
Galaxy vs. The Flagship – 15 minutes of Becks isn’t enough to save the Gals from their third consecutive league defeat.
FIRE vs. RSL – These two struggling, but rising sides battle to a well played draw. The point earned does little to inspire playoff dreams amongst their fans.
Sunday
Dallas vs. Dynamo – Fear the Fish! Dallas is a very dangerous team now and should dump the Dynamo on their home turf.
Revs vs. Wizards – This is one to Tivo! I believe in the Wizards at home.
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.)
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Soccer. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 07/18/07
TOP STORIES
Quakes to Return
According to press reports out of the Bay Area, Don Garber will announce during the State of the League Address that the Quakes will return to the Bay Area despite not having a place to play next season. “Understandings” have been met between the Lew Wolff ownership group and the City of San Jose, just don’t ask Wolff for an address. Congratulations to the loyal Quakes fans and to Soccer Silicon Valley. Let this be a lesson to the groups across the country that are acting to save or bring soccer to their city (Philadelphia!).
Blanco Reports to FIRE
Most FIRE fans were worried about Blanco’s impact on the locker room when he signed for the FIRE, now those same fans can’t wait for him to arriving and start slamming slackers like Calen Carr and Chad Barrett against lockers! After watching this team mope its way through the last three months, it is clear that someone is needed to fight FIRE with fire! The no-BS injection of Coach Osorio and Temo will have underperforming players fearing for their lives after games. Can you imagine what will happen when Brian Hall makes the next terrible call against the FIRE while Temo is on the pitch? While, I don’t relish the though of the FIRE’s most high priced talent sitting out games due to suspension, it would be nice to see someone in a FIRE jersey look like they care about the team’s form. However, Luis reports that he did see the Houston game. Watch out!!
FIREsale part Three
All reports say the Fire are as good as sold to the family that brought you the Son of the better half of 7 and 7’s (potential Jimmy Buffett song?) will be the new owner of the FIRE. Andell Holdings will be taking over the fledgling FIRE in 30 to 45 day (crafted by a former Metrostar front office guy?). The only drawback is that this does not include the implicit ouster of GM John Guppy. Of course, it may be the wrong time to boot the surging Gupster after his hiring of Osorio, easily his most savvy move to date, despite the events of the past week.
Records go down in MLS
Three important records fell this week:
1. Houston Dynamo broke the league shutout record. The previous holders, walked away with the MLS cup the year they broke the record.
2. Steve Ralston broke the league assist record. The previous holder, walked away from the league with the biggest blond afro in history.
3. LA Galaxy shattered the MLS record for press passes given out for a player announcement. The previous record was 8.
MLS Week 15 – Can’t Stop Addicted to the Shindig
Thursday
Dynamo vs. FIRE – This game was sadder than sad and unfortunately for us FIRE fans, a 4-0 spanking on the alleged night of hope (sell out, new coach, Mapp’s return) wasn’t the low point of the week (see: Cup, Open). At least Juan Carlos Osorio learned a great deal about his team during this debacle and now may have a clear view of just how far he has to bring this team to get to the promised land.
MOTM: Joseph Ngwenya – for his hard work and sublime skills on the third goal against the FIRE.
Saturday
Hoops vs. United – United buries Dallas and the Hoops rise back to life thanks to the reappearance of Carlos Ruiz and the continued timeliness of Juan Toja. Tommy Soehn was rightly livid after this one that United had in the bag.
MOTM: Juan Toja – for sweeping the dust of the Dallas grave and pulling the rest of the team out of the ground.
Revs. vs. The Flagship – The Flagship has done rather well at home and you can’t expect to keep Angel off the score sheet forever.
RSL vs. Wizards – This one went almost according to plan by the 19th minute with EJ doing what he does (in league play), but RSL shut down the KC offensive juggernaut the rest of the match. Defense has not been a problem under the Kreis regime. The comical mistakes in the back that cost the team early on have, for the most part, gone away.
MOTM: No position to judge
Crew vs. LA Goats – Chivas USA is making Beckham’s home their own! This was a big win for Chivas and stay well situated in the playoff race ladder, just above Columbus thanks to the three points. This is the type of win that teams can point to as a reason they made the playoffs.
MOTM: No position to judge.
Sunday
UFC vs. Dynamo – Here’s the deal. No team in the league is better prepared than UFC to handle red card situations. I’ve got to believe that this squad practices 10 on 11 more often than even strength. It is almost becoming inevitable and now number one draft pick Maurice Edu has been indoctrinated into the culture of violence! However, Houston did have every opportunity in the world to put this thing away, but couldn’t managed to put their shots on frame. A shocking development given the events of Thursday night.
MOTM: Carl Robinson – Directing traffic and shutting down attacks, Robinson was everywhere for UFC and helped salvage a point for his side.
Quotes of the Week
FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow on the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup:
"It's a big cup competition. I want to win and get my bonus."
Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas on English press potshots on MLS quality:
"It irritates me so much I want to put my fist through a wall--or through a television set playing Benny Hill,"
Beckham Update
OK, there is much to unearth here that hasn’t been reported 1,000 times over in every paper, but was nice to see that the LA Galaxy have sold in excess of 250,000 jerseys prior to their unveiling and that upon meeting some of his teammates, one of them introduced themselves, then asked Becks, “Nice to meet you. What’s your name?” Victoria’s show was quite entertaining and could be worth picking up for NBC (ratings dependent). We’ll know the Beckham’s are having if everyone starts saying “major”.
“Major” Inroad of the Week
This one is a bit dated, but HBO’s “Entourage” featured entourage leader Vince falling ass backwards into a betting syndicate led by Dennis Hopper. Vince was on the edge of losing big money on Manchester United until Hopper’s pal noted that he hadn’t called in the bets. Hopper then convinced Vince to bet on the next game featuring Brazil. No word on FIFA on if these back-to-back matches were on a official FIFA international match day.
MLS Trade of the Week
Jason Kreis and RSL fleeced the Rapids and obtained rising US National Team force Kyle Beckerman for inconsistent Mhedi Ballouchy. Each side had a clear motivation for the trade, with Colorado already having a Beckerman in Pablo Mastroeni and RSL already having a Ballouchy in Adu. Perhaps Freddy’s play in center at the U-20’s was the final straw in proving to RSL that he needs to play in the middle, this making Ballouchy expendable.
U-20 World Cup
They gave us some thrills and hope against Poland and Brazil, but ultimately reverted to their form against South Korea. They managed to salvage an extra time win against the poorest sports in the tournament Uruguay, but couldn’t manage to come from behind against a very good Austria side. At least we learned that Adu and Altidore are not flukes. The Crew has to be encouraged by the play of Danny Szetela.
US Open Cup
While this remains my favorite competition, it is disappointing to see the early ouster of some MLS sides who trotted out B teams and paid the price as the USL teams have proven more than up to the task! D.C. United was dispatched in farm country by the Harrisburg City Islanders. Richmond Kickers ousted the LA Galaxy, while the Charleston Battery ended Houston’s double hopes. Perhaps, Houston and LA were looking at their schedule and decided that it was crowded enough, but FC Dallas was also on the brink of elimination at the feet of the Atlanta Silverbacks before finally topping the USL side in a penalty kick shootout. Houston’s ouster prevented another meeting between the Texas in-state rivals. These results alone warrant expanded Fox Soccer Channel coverage of these matches.
On the other hand, New England and Colorado topped Rochester and California Victory by two goal margins. Both the Revs and Rapids fielded close to full strength sides, but the Revs needed two goals in extra time to dispatch the underlings.
Then there was the Chicago FIRE marking their franchise low point by dropping a 1-0 match to the Carolina Railhawks. The FIRE fielded a full strength team and was blanked by an A-league club that started a keeper that had yet to play a league match. That is as low as you can go folks!
Quote of the Week II:
Fox Soccer Channel’s David Steinberg to Multichannel news on if he was surprised about the Gold Cup final ratings topping the Stanley Cup finals average rating by 40%:
“Not at all. Soccer is definitely poised to supplant hockey as the No. 4 major team sport in this country. You can already see some indications of that happening. One is TV ratings and another is live attendance. MLS attendance is either on a par or slightly above average NHL attendance. If you look at the country as a whole as opposed to specific regions where hockey may be strong, you just don’t see the same level of awareness of that sport as you do with soccer. Those are all signs of soccer growing more popular.”
Soccer Hater of the Week
A perfect follow-up to our quote of the week II. Every time Joe American sports fan feels threatened by soccer (which should be all the time this week), the ignorant haters come out of the woodwork don’t they? I know that the entities vying to bring MLS to St. Louis can’t be happy after reading this joke of a column in the St. Louis Post-Distpatch by Bryan Burwell. I mean, there is poor research and then there is just straight-up denial. How do you define denial? I’d start by writing this sentence: “Even in a soccer hotbed like St. Louis, is there anyone who believes it will ever rise above the NHL or even the WNBA, and become a core American sporting pastime?” Hasn’t soccer (not just MLS, but all levels of soccer in this country) supplanted these sports already? The NHL is a close call, but if you think about national team games of all countries, friendlies and minor league soccer, even the NHL may trail attendance-wise. I guess this is the mindset developed by only watching Sportscenter (until recently).
Soccer Lover of the Week
Here is an all too rare knowledgeable soccer ink from a major sports mainstream sports columnist. Mike Downey joined the Chicago Tribune a number of years ago and wrote a column about how excited he was to be part of the Chicago sports scene. He mentioned the FIRE and his love of soccer. Unfortunately, as many of us know, the Chicago Tribune, historically has been reticent to provide space in their sports pages to the FIRE of any kind. I would rate their coverage, as far as space devoted to soccer, the worst in the United State among cities with MLS teams. Yes this includes Kansas City and the New York papers. Being immersed in this culture, Mike certainly was never encouraged to write about soccer, more than once every World Cup, where his great column would be offset by a typical “Who Care?” article from one of the other columnists. Although this trend is clearly changing on the heels of the construction of Toyota Park and the successful Gold Cup at Solider Field, it is all to rare that we see columns like this in either of the Chicago papers.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (2-4)
SEASON (32-56)
MLS All-Stars vs. Celtic FC – The off season Celtic are no match for a group of in-form players playing for potential European vacations. Oops, I broke soccer writer code. Players only come over to the US for vacations and semi-retirements. I forgot… Either way lifelong Rangers fan Stevie Nichol has a stacked squad to pick from and will be starting a three man back line. Should be a crac’…um’ exciting game. Sorry, I’ll get used to that.
Soccer Sunday?
Dynamo v. Revs – The Dynamo come into the Big Razor a manage a draw.
United v. The Flagship – The Flagship starts taking on water due to the big Angel hole up top. United over their rivals here.
UFC v. Crew – UFC bookends their road odyssey with losses as the Crew rebound from California disappointment.
Rapids v. Wizards – Shock! Ballouchy is not the answer. Wizards reclaim pole position in the east with a pretty win against the Rapids.
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour – Glenn couldn’t keep up with me this week, so you’ll have to settle for archives.
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
Quakes to Return
According to press reports out of the Bay Area, Don Garber will announce during the State of the League Address that the Quakes will return to the Bay Area despite not having a place to play next season. “Understandings” have been met between the Lew Wolff ownership group and the City of San Jose, just don’t ask Wolff for an address. Congratulations to the loyal Quakes fans and to Soccer Silicon Valley. Let this be a lesson to the groups across the country that are acting to save or bring soccer to their city (Philadelphia!).
Blanco Reports to FIRE
Most FIRE fans were worried about Blanco’s impact on the locker room when he signed for the FIRE, now those same fans can’t wait for him to arriving and start slamming slackers like Calen Carr and Chad Barrett against lockers! After watching this team mope its way through the last three months, it is clear that someone is needed to fight FIRE with fire! The no-BS injection of Coach Osorio and Temo will have underperforming players fearing for their lives after games. Can you imagine what will happen when Brian Hall makes the next terrible call against the FIRE while Temo is on the pitch? While, I don’t relish the though of the FIRE’s most high priced talent sitting out games due to suspension, it would be nice to see someone in a FIRE jersey look like they care about the team’s form. However, Luis reports that he did see the Houston game. Watch out!!
FIREsale part Three
All reports say the Fire are as good as sold to the family that brought you the Son of the better half of 7 and 7’s (potential Jimmy Buffett song?) will be the new owner of the FIRE. Andell Holdings will be taking over the fledgling FIRE in 30 to 45 day (crafted by a former Metrostar front office guy?). The only drawback is that this does not include the implicit ouster of GM John Guppy. Of course, it may be the wrong time to boot the surging Gupster after his hiring of Osorio, easily his most savvy move to date, despite the events of the past week.
Records go down in MLS
Three important records fell this week:
1. Houston Dynamo broke the league shutout record. The previous holders, walked away with the MLS cup the year they broke the record.
2. Steve Ralston broke the league assist record. The previous holder, walked away from the league with the biggest blond afro in history.
3. LA Galaxy shattered the MLS record for press passes given out for a player announcement. The previous record was 8.
MLS Week 15 – Can’t Stop Addicted to the Shindig
Thursday
Dynamo vs. FIRE – This game was sadder than sad and unfortunately for us FIRE fans, a 4-0 spanking on the alleged night of hope (sell out, new coach, Mapp’s return) wasn’t the low point of the week (see: Cup, Open). At least Juan Carlos Osorio learned a great deal about his team during this debacle and now may have a clear view of just how far he has to bring this team to get to the promised land.
MOTM: Joseph Ngwenya – for his hard work and sublime skills on the third goal against the FIRE.
Saturday
Hoops vs. United – United buries Dallas and the Hoops rise back to life thanks to the reappearance of Carlos Ruiz and the continued timeliness of Juan Toja. Tommy Soehn was rightly livid after this one that United had in the bag.
MOTM: Juan Toja – for sweeping the dust of the Dallas grave and pulling the rest of the team out of the ground.
Revs. vs. The Flagship – The Flagship has done rather well at home and you can’t expect to keep Angel off the score sheet forever.
RSL vs. Wizards – This one went almost according to plan by the 19th minute with EJ doing what he does (in league play), but RSL shut down the KC offensive juggernaut the rest of the match. Defense has not been a problem under the Kreis regime. The comical mistakes in the back that cost the team early on have, for the most part, gone away.
MOTM: No position to judge
Crew vs. LA Goats – Chivas USA is making Beckham’s home their own! This was a big win for Chivas and stay well situated in the playoff race ladder, just above Columbus thanks to the three points. This is the type of win that teams can point to as a reason they made the playoffs.
MOTM: No position to judge.
Sunday
UFC vs. Dynamo – Here’s the deal. No team in the league is better prepared than UFC to handle red card situations. I’ve got to believe that this squad practices 10 on 11 more often than even strength. It is almost becoming inevitable and now number one draft pick Maurice Edu has been indoctrinated into the culture of violence! However, Houston did have every opportunity in the world to put this thing away, but couldn’t managed to put their shots on frame. A shocking development given the events of Thursday night.
MOTM: Carl Robinson – Directing traffic and shutting down attacks, Robinson was everywhere for UFC and helped salvage a point for his side.
Quotes of the Week
FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow on the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup:
"It's a big cup competition. I want to win and get my bonus."
Galaxy GM Alexi Lalas on English press potshots on MLS quality:
"It irritates me so much I want to put my fist through a wall--or through a television set playing Benny Hill,"
Beckham Update
OK, there is much to unearth here that hasn’t been reported 1,000 times over in every paper, but was nice to see that the LA Galaxy have sold in excess of 250,000 jerseys prior to their unveiling and that upon meeting some of his teammates, one of them introduced themselves, then asked Becks, “Nice to meet you. What’s your name?” Victoria’s show was quite entertaining and could be worth picking up for NBC (ratings dependent). We’ll know the Beckham’s are having if everyone starts saying “major”.
“Major” Inroad of the Week
This one is a bit dated, but HBO’s “Entourage” featured entourage leader Vince falling ass backwards into a betting syndicate led by Dennis Hopper. Vince was on the edge of losing big money on Manchester United until Hopper’s pal noted that he hadn’t called in the bets. Hopper then convinced Vince to bet on the next game featuring Brazil. No word on FIFA on if these back-to-back matches were on a official FIFA international match day.
MLS Trade of the Week
Jason Kreis and RSL fleeced the Rapids and obtained rising US National Team force Kyle Beckerman for inconsistent Mhedi Ballouchy. Each side had a clear motivation for the trade, with Colorado already having a Beckerman in Pablo Mastroeni and RSL already having a Ballouchy in Adu. Perhaps Freddy’s play in center at the U-20’s was the final straw in proving to RSL that he needs to play in the middle, this making Ballouchy expendable.
U-20 World Cup
They gave us some thrills and hope against Poland and Brazil, but ultimately reverted to their form against South Korea. They managed to salvage an extra time win against the poorest sports in the tournament Uruguay, but couldn’t manage to come from behind against a very good Austria side. At least we learned that Adu and Altidore are not flukes. The Crew has to be encouraged by the play of Danny Szetela.
US Open Cup
While this remains my favorite competition, it is disappointing to see the early ouster of some MLS sides who trotted out B teams and paid the price as the USL teams have proven more than up to the task! D.C. United was dispatched in farm country by the Harrisburg City Islanders. Richmond Kickers ousted the LA Galaxy, while the Charleston Battery ended Houston’s double hopes. Perhaps, Houston and LA were looking at their schedule and decided that it was crowded enough, but FC Dallas was also on the brink of elimination at the feet of the Atlanta Silverbacks before finally topping the USL side in a penalty kick shootout. Houston’s ouster prevented another meeting between the Texas in-state rivals. These results alone warrant expanded Fox Soccer Channel coverage of these matches.
On the other hand, New England and Colorado topped Rochester and California Victory by two goal margins. Both the Revs and Rapids fielded close to full strength sides, but the Revs needed two goals in extra time to dispatch the underlings.
Then there was the Chicago FIRE marking their franchise low point by dropping a 1-0 match to the Carolina Railhawks. The FIRE fielded a full strength team and was blanked by an A-league club that started a keeper that had yet to play a league match. That is as low as you can go folks!
Quote of the Week II:
Fox Soccer Channel’s David Steinberg to Multichannel news on if he was surprised about the Gold Cup final ratings topping the Stanley Cup finals average rating by 40%:
“Not at all. Soccer is definitely poised to supplant hockey as the No. 4 major team sport in this country. You can already see some indications of that happening. One is TV ratings and another is live attendance. MLS attendance is either on a par or slightly above average NHL attendance. If you look at the country as a whole as opposed to specific regions where hockey may be strong, you just don’t see the same level of awareness of that sport as you do with soccer. Those are all signs of soccer growing more popular.”
Soccer Hater of the Week
A perfect follow-up to our quote of the week II. Every time Joe American sports fan feels threatened by soccer (which should be all the time this week), the ignorant haters come out of the woodwork don’t they? I know that the entities vying to bring MLS to St. Louis can’t be happy after reading this joke of a column in the St. Louis Post-Distpatch by Bryan Burwell. I mean, there is poor research and then there is just straight-up denial. How do you define denial? I’d start by writing this sentence: “Even in a soccer hotbed like St. Louis, is there anyone who believes it will ever rise above the NHL or even the WNBA, and become a core American sporting pastime?” Hasn’t soccer (not just MLS, but all levels of soccer in this country) supplanted these sports already? The NHL is a close call, but if you think about national team games of all countries, friendlies and minor league soccer, even the NHL may trail attendance-wise. I guess this is the mindset developed by only watching Sportscenter (until recently).
Soccer Lover of the Week
Here is an all too rare knowledgeable soccer ink from a major sports mainstream sports columnist. Mike Downey joined the Chicago Tribune a number of years ago and wrote a column about how excited he was to be part of the Chicago sports scene. He mentioned the FIRE and his love of soccer. Unfortunately, as many of us know, the Chicago Tribune, historically has been reticent to provide space in their sports pages to the FIRE of any kind. I would rate their coverage, as far as space devoted to soccer, the worst in the United State among cities with MLS teams. Yes this includes Kansas City and the New York papers. Being immersed in this culture, Mike certainly was never encouraged to write about soccer, more than once every World Cup, where his great column would be offset by a typical “Who Care?” article from one of the other columnists. Although this trend is clearly changing on the heels of the construction of Toyota Park and the successful Gold Cup at Solider Field, it is all to rare that we see columns like this in either of the Chicago papers.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (2-4)
SEASON (32-56)
MLS All-Stars vs. Celtic FC – The off season Celtic are no match for a group of in-form players playing for potential European vacations. Oops, I broke soccer writer code. Players only come over to the US for vacations and semi-retirements. I forgot… Either way lifelong Rangers fan Stevie Nichol has a stacked squad to pick from and will be starting a three man back line. Should be a crac’…um’ exciting game. Sorry, I’ll get used to that.
Soccer Sunday?
Dynamo v. Revs – The Dynamo come into the Big Razor a manage a draw.
United v. The Flagship – The Flagship starts taking on water due to the big Angel hole up top. United over their rivals here.
UFC v. Crew – UFC bookends their road odyssey with losses as the Crew rebound from California disappointment.
Rapids v. Wizards – Shock! Ballouchy is not the answer. Wizards reclaim pole position in the east with a pretty win against the Rapids.
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour – Glenn couldn’t keep up with me this week, so you’ll have to settle for archives.
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 07/10/07
MLS Week 14 – Fireworks
Wednesday
D.C. United at Kansas City Wizards – There are few sure things in life, but the Wizards will be at the airport to greet the return of Eddie Johnson. Much like the USA’s Copa America effort, the Wizards have had a great deal of difficulty finding the back of the net. You can blame it on some spectacular keeping in the last two matches, but too often they are holding onto the ball far too long and getting dispossessed. The chief culprit of this is Yura Movsisyian who is quite adept that putting himself in great attacking positions, but rarely has a clue about what to do from there except shoot in the direction of the net. Some crisper passing and better awareness of his teammates might have nailed down a starting spot for him once EJ returns. The Wizards attack is so potent that regardless of the caliber of defense in front of them, they will get looks at the goal. It is no surprise that the mid-week addition of Greg Vanney for Facundo Erpen had a lot to do with United’s poise in back. If Erpen had been back there he would have made at least one typically foolish error against the swarming Wizard offense.
MOTM: Troy Perkins - showed the form that won him the MLS goalkeeper of the year award last season and commanded the area giving him a rare clean sheet.
Chivas USA at FC Dallas – Chivas USA looked a bit slow all match and didn’t get the type of performance out of Maykel Galindo that Goats fans wanted. Laurent Merlin had a great game, but failed to convert his chances. Also, Chivas USA fans were conspicuously absent from the PHP, at least they weren’t show on TV at all. Dallas put forth an effort strong enough to top the visitors, and applied some icing late in the game.
MOTM: Ramon Nunez – for what surely should have been the goal of the week. His twenty yard blast left Preston Burpo a spectator.
Columbus Crew at Colorado Rapids – Due to the overlap in matches on DirectKick, I wasn’t able to bear witness to much of this match, however I think both sides privately will be happy with this result. The exponentially improving Crew are still not solid enough to expect a point on the road, while the depleted Rapids, just need to prevent losses until Beckerman and Gomez return from Venezuela.
MOTM: No Position to Judge
UFC at Real Salt Lake – When Robbie Findlay’s sixth minute shot dinged off the post, RSL fans though it might be a night to remember. Jeff Cunningham made them remember ten minutes later, when he converted an opportunity nearly identical to Findlays. Esky added a PK for the home side before the half, but RSL conceded yet another late goal and fell again at home. Sadly, UFC’s wonder goalie Sam Reynold’s who was in the midst of another solid match
MOTM: Jeff Cunningham – under pressure to perform infront of his former fans, Cunningham’s gorgeous first half strike reminded the RSL faithful of a month ago.
FIRE at Los Angeles Galaxy – OK, the Fire did not deserve to win this match. Their forward movements could hardly be called attacks and their only two shots of the evening were generated by CJ Brown. However, the Galaxy didn’t deserve to win it either, but they still managed to walk out with three points. Due to the typically poor refereeing of Brian Hall who awarded TWO penalty kicks to the Galaxy on “fouls” that did not even warrant yellow cards. Both poor calls were spurred by the considerable thespian skills of Kyle Martino. The first came as he approached the box and felt Chris Armas’ had near his, immediately he spun around and went to ground. The second came as he drove in the box toward Ivan Guerrero. Before, Guerrero could even get a foot in, Martino was two flying through the air grabbing his ankle. Again Hall pointed to the spot, then awarded yellow cards to Thiago and Brown, when they questioned the appropriateness of the relationship between Hall and Martino, or something to that effect. Hall showed why no MLS ref deserved to be in World Cup last year. The only other items to take out of this match were Abel Xavier having his best MLS match, Jon Busch looking like the smartest pick-up of the John Guppy era and the FIRE defense solidifying.
MOTM: Kyle Martino – sure I think his play was disgusting, cynical and immature. He likely should have been sent off before the half, but when it comes down to it, his two flops that Hall bought led to an LA victory.
Thursday
The Flagship at Houston Dynamo – Is this about the time the Red Bulls are supposed to look old? NewYork didn’t even show up for this match and got blow off the pitch by a short handed Dynamo. Without, Rico Clark or the injured Brad Davis and Eddie Robinson the Dynamo made it an easy day for Pat Onstad and held NY without a shot on goal. On a positive note, Claudio Reyna has played in ten games this year, shattering my predicted over/under by 6 games and counting.
MOTM: Stuart Holden – he’s stepped it up when the Dynamo have needed him and may have cemented his place in the starting eleven with a goal and two assists in this one.
Saturday
Chivas USA at New England Revolution – El Emporador strikes early while Andy Dorman continues to answer his critics, and cementing his title as the most underpaid player in the league.
MOTM: Preston Burpo – His eight saves allowed the Northern Goats to leave with a point.
Real Salt Lake at Columbus Crew – OK, RSL fans. This is rock bottom. After a few encouraging games at home RSL goes to Columbus and completely implodes. While Freddy and Nathan Sturgis were covering themselves in glory, directly north, their club was showing in shame capped by an ugly tackle on Schelotto, by a clearly frustrated Esky. The fact is, beyond Eddie Pope, Andy Williams (when completely healthy) and Nick Rimando, RSL just doesn’t have many players that are ready to be full time starters in this league. Jean-Martial Kipre and Atiba Harris are complete roving disasters waiting to happen. Daniel Torres managed to make it through this game without a major error, but you have to believe that Sturgis will start immediately. Hopefully, Kaptain Kreis will take a coaching lesson from Thomas Rongren and play Freddy in the middle. For the Crew, Jakob Thomas continues his return from injury and put together a Hedjuk-like effort. Also, the Columbus fans in the north end zone should write a letter to FIFA thanking them for mandating nets be put on goals. If that wasn’t the case, Schelotto’s blast from the spot might have destroyed the entire north stand with it’s sheer power. Sigi has once again, figured things out, and is beginning to reward the fans and front office for their patience.
MOTM: Alejandro Moreno – His hold up work and great possession and layoff paced the Crew to another victory.
UFC at FIRE – I went to this game with my buddy Kurt and appropriately lowered his expectations during the drive out there. Kurt, don’t look for much from the FIRE. This team is offensively challenged. Fifteen minutes into the match, he though I hadn’t watched a FIRE match all year. The FIRE, perhaps trying to win one for Denis Hamlett during his last interim game, came out firing on all cylinders. I’m not sure what the difference could have been, but the FIRE’s performance left fans with optimism for the first time in months. Some slick passing between Bakary Soumare (who was everywhere) and Chad Barrett led to the FIRE’s first goal since Peter Wilt was axed. Toronto rewarded their sizable road support with a great hustle goal by number one draft pick Maurice Edu. There is hope FIRE fans!
MOTM – Bakary Soumare – After being suspended for a match Soumare played the most solid game of his career in a sweeper role for the Fire. His height and athleticism blunted any Toronto attack for the vast majority of the match. He still needs some polish, but he is beginning to justify his lofty draft slot.
Kansas City Wizards at Los Angeles Galaxy – The Keystone LA defense did make a shambles of two plays and paid for them, on a couple of goals that will likely be cynically replayed around the world as an example of the “quality” of the team that Becks is heading. Chris Klein had a rough touch that Yura Movsisyan took and deposited in the back of the net. Four minutes later, Ante Jazic poorly and ill-advisedly headed the ball back to his keeper, Joe Cannon, but cannon bobbled the pass. KC’s Davey Arnaud pounced on it and headed into the virtually open net. For most of the match the Jimmy Conrad bolstered KC defense was doing a great job blunting the talents of Landon Donovan and Carlos Pavon. However, the insertion of veteran Cobi Jones was all LA needed to get back in the game. Six minutes after Cobi entered the match, Pavon blasted a shot past Kevin Hartman. Pavon’s slammed off the far post and fell into Cobi’s path. He made no mistake and drilled shot into the back of the net. Then in the 75th minute Donovan curled a low cross around a defender and found Jones on a near post run. Cobi’s clinical one-touch finishing left Hartman without a prayer.
MOTM: Cobi Jones – Off the bench Cobi was in the right place twice to pull the Galaxy level against the stingy KC defense.
Sunday
The Flagship at Colorado Rapids – Despite a near superhuman effort from Jacob Peterson, who surely cemented his spot in the starting line-up, the Rapids fell again to a rare period of lax defending. Without any Rapids pressure, a rebounded shot was calmly put away by the grey haired and well traveled John Wolyniec. The Flagship held on for the rest of the match against a Rapids attach that was gaining steam by the second. Another five minutes in this one and the Rapids would have likely pulled out a draw, however, the Commerce City squad will have to look back at post shot and a crossbar rattler for signs that their offense is improving.
MOTM – John Wolyniec – Another veteran puts on a good show! Woly’s strike is all the Flagship needed to top the flaccid Rapids.
D.C. United at Houston Dynamo – The predicted shoot our never occurred, but tempers were flaring at this match-up of the two hottest teams in MLS (apologies to Columbus). As per usual, a poorly refereed match by Brian Hall led to the game nearly getting out of control, with pushing and shoving becoming a major feature of the match. Both teams had decent opportunities, but Houston’s poise and possession saved the day for the home side. The Dynamo got all they would need when Brian Ching’s foot when all hockey-style and redirected a Richard Mulrooney shot past a hockey keeper posed Troy Perkins. This game was a showcase for the league and featured some wide-open attacking play at times. These are clearly the top two teams to fear in the league.
MOTM – Brian Ching – He was a handful for DC’s defense all night and made the most of his positioning on the goal.
Discipline Committees Time to Shine
This week the MLS Discipline Committee was handed two golden opportunities to make examples to players who committed nasty frustration fouls on “star” players. I believe the league should seize this chance and hand long suspensions to Aleko Eskandarian and Nick Garcia for their very dangerous challenges on Schelotto and Donovan respectively. On the eve, of Lord Beckham’s arrival a clear message needs to be sent to all the players that these challenges will not be tolerated. Sure it is unfair to hand down stiffer penalties, because the fouls occurred on high priced players, but the league has to protect their big investments and there were no excuses for these terrible fouls.
FIRE Hire Juan Carlos Osorio
I’ll confess that I don’t know much about Osorio. He has experience in MLS with the then Metrostars and has also been the Bridesmaid in DC, Chivas USA and other open posts throughout the league. The fact that he was a fitness coach at Man City should help a team like the FIRE which has been crippled by injuries over the past two seasons. His short, but successful stint at Bogata’s Millionarios, points to good things to come. This could be the defining positive stamp of the John Guppy era. I’d expect Osorio to keep Denis Hamlett on board for the remainder of the season, but certainly Hamlett will be looking to spread his wings after whetting his beak.
FIREsale part Three
If you are looking for great info on the fire Luis Arroyave’s blog has been priceless these last few weeks digging up some great tidbits on the FIREsale. A number of items have been widely misreported. First, Frankie Klopas’ group is not a group. He’s frontin for the Greco family which owns a food production company. And the competing is not a European Soccer club, but rather the Seagram’s’ company that peddles wares familiar to most my readers.
Beckham Update
As expected ESPN is throwing down the big-time coverage for what is widely expected to be Becks debut in a Galaxy uniform against Chelsea at the HDC on July 21. 19 cameras will be in place for the match. ESPN will carry three hours (or half hour depending on how you read the press release) of pre-game coverage, which only the Super Bowl can top! There will also be an extended SportsCenter (because they still can’t find time for soccer in the regular SportsCenter) and a hour-long documentary on Becks. Anyone still think he isn’t worth the money?
Copa America
Let’s throw some dirt on this American campaign right away! Despite completing the mission of blooding players, BB the King and the rest of us, didn’t really learn much about our young players. A couple took a step down, but will still remain firmly in the mix. Jonathan Bornstein and Justin Mapp come to mind. A number, such as Sasha Klejestan and Eddie Gaven showed that they don’t belong on international pitches at this moment. Aside from the teams first ten minutes of the tournament EJ was a massive disappointment. Rico Clark looked solid until the Columbia game, where he was determined to set up as many dangerous free kicks for the opposition as possible. Kasey Keller looked like he was collecting social security already, while El Guzano inched closer to that #2 keeper slot. Benny Feilhaber came of followed up his epic Gold Cup final with a couple off and on performances. Only Ben Olsen emerged from this tournament looking like he could challenge for a starting spot, unfortunately is awash in better than average defensive midfielders. What BB and the fans were looking for was someone to that the attacking midfield reigns. That savior never materialized in Venezuela. Maybe that player was in Montréal?
U-20 World Cup
Man, did we all need this after Copa America! Even ESPN seized the moment, as the US was ready to take on Brazil, the US sports taste maker announced it was pre-empting the Hot Dog Eating Challenge to broadcast the USA vs. Brazil match-up. This unheard of move is yet another positive sign that ESPN has surely changed its mind about soccer in the last few years and is finally waking up to the true popularity of the sport with in our borders. The USA didn’t disappoint as two of MLS’ brightest young names, Adu and Jozy Altidore put on a show and helped team USA top Brazil 2-1. Altidore broke the tie and the Brazilians spirit with a goal minutes after the Brazilians equalized. The Americans effectively shut down the Samba Kings for the rest of the match after Jozy’s third goal of the tournament. From all MLS fans to Danny, Freddy, and Jozy: Have fun in Europe, we hardly knew you. That is unless MLS is ready to pony up for their brightest.
Soccer Basher of the Week
As expected, Beckham’s LA arrival this week once again brought out the knives from the “traditional” sports columnists like this widely syndicated columnist Tim Dahlberg. Dahlberg who you can contact at tdahlberg@ap.org take wrote this pile of trash. So I responded with this pile of trash:
Tim,
So you start writing about soccer the second you hear something about Mr. Beckham coming here, and suddenly you judge yourself worthy of a soccer taste monger? Someone qualified to call the Los Angeles Galaxy “something of a minor league team.” That statement clear that your objective was not objectivity, but rather ignorant bashing. Why should we soccer fans expect anything less? God forbid a serious discourse about the boost that Mr. Beckham will provide to an already thriving league. Sure it may play to your traditional big-four audience, but soccer aficionados do not look across the LA line-up and see a minor league soccer team, with or without Beckham. I know you it is probably in your blood as an American sports columnist to downplay soccer at every turn (at least that is what all your articles suggest), but your tired argument are more suited for the 1970’s than the modern age. How did the Gold Cup final this year out draw the Stanley Cup final by 40% on TV? Did you know that the 2006 World Cup final had more viewers than the average World Series game? Soccer needs a savior? The only thing that is in jeopardy of expiration is your credibility as a sports writer in a changing American sports landscape.
Regards,
Mark
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (5-7)
SEASON (30-52)
Thursday
Dynamo vs. FIRE – It looks like Coach Osorio will get a rude awakening on Thursday. The FIRE in current form are no match for sizzling Houston.
Saturday
Hoops vs. United – United sends the Barra and the Eagles into a tizzy with a performance showcasing the South American flair up top unlocking a shaky Dallas backline.
Revs. vs. The Flagship – The Flagship has done rather well at home and you can’t expect to keep Angel off the score sheet forever.
RSL vs. Wizards – KC will look to take last weeks disappointment on someone, something, anything! Oh, look it’s RSL! RSL just doesn’t have a prayer in this one, but does manage to put up a good fight.
Crew vs. LA Goats – The hot Crew should be able to salvage a draw from the Goats who always seem to shine at home.
Sunday
UFC vs. Dynamo – Mo and the new bhoys take on the Dynamo, but to no avail. Even with a hectic schedule, the depth that the Dynamo built during the last month will overwhelm the road weary UFC.
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour – Glenn Interviews Shep Messing and Oliver Luck
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
Wednesday
D.C. United at Kansas City Wizards – There are few sure things in life, but the Wizards will be at the airport to greet the return of Eddie Johnson. Much like the USA’s Copa America effort, the Wizards have had a great deal of difficulty finding the back of the net. You can blame it on some spectacular keeping in the last two matches, but too often they are holding onto the ball far too long and getting dispossessed. The chief culprit of this is Yura Movsisyian who is quite adept that putting himself in great attacking positions, but rarely has a clue about what to do from there except shoot in the direction of the net. Some crisper passing and better awareness of his teammates might have nailed down a starting spot for him once EJ returns. The Wizards attack is so potent that regardless of the caliber of defense in front of them, they will get looks at the goal. It is no surprise that the mid-week addition of Greg Vanney for Facundo Erpen had a lot to do with United’s poise in back. If Erpen had been back there he would have made at least one typically foolish error against the swarming Wizard offense.
MOTM: Troy Perkins - showed the form that won him the MLS goalkeeper of the year award last season and commanded the area giving him a rare clean sheet.
Chivas USA at FC Dallas – Chivas USA looked a bit slow all match and didn’t get the type of performance out of Maykel Galindo that Goats fans wanted. Laurent Merlin had a great game, but failed to convert his chances. Also, Chivas USA fans were conspicuously absent from the PHP, at least they weren’t show on TV at all. Dallas put forth an effort strong enough to top the visitors, and applied some icing late in the game.
MOTM: Ramon Nunez – for what surely should have been the goal of the week. His twenty yard blast left Preston Burpo a spectator.
Columbus Crew at Colorado Rapids – Due to the overlap in matches on DirectKick, I wasn’t able to bear witness to much of this match, however I think both sides privately will be happy with this result. The exponentially improving Crew are still not solid enough to expect a point on the road, while the depleted Rapids, just need to prevent losses until Beckerman and Gomez return from Venezuela.
MOTM: No Position to Judge
UFC at Real Salt Lake – When Robbie Findlay’s sixth minute shot dinged off the post, RSL fans though it might be a night to remember. Jeff Cunningham made them remember ten minutes later, when he converted an opportunity nearly identical to Findlays. Esky added a PK for the home side before the half, but RSL conceded yet another late goal and fell again at home. Sadly, UFC’s wonder goalie Sam Reynold’s who was in the midst of another solid match
MOTM: Jeff Cunningham – under pressure to perform infront of his former fans, Cunningham’s gorgeous first half strike reminded the RSL faithful of a month ago.
FIRE at Los Angeles Galaxy – OK, the Fire did not deserve to win this match. Their forward movements could hardly be called attacks and their only two shots of the evening were generated by CJ Brown. However, the Galaxy didn’t deserve to win it either, but they still managed to walk out with three points. Due to the typically poor refereeing of Brian Hall who awarded TWO penalty kicks to the Galaxy on “fouls” that did not even warrant yellow cards. Both poor calls were spurred by the considerable thespian skills of Kyle Martino. The first came as he approached the box and felt Chris Armas’ had near his, immediately he spun around and went to ground. The second came as he drove in the box toward Ivan Guerrero. Before, Guerrero could even get a foot in, Martino was two flying through the air grabbing his ankle. Again Hall pointed to the spot, then awarded yellow cards to Thiago and Brown, when they questioned the appropriateness of the relationship between Hall and Martino, or something to that effect. Hall showed why no MLS ref deserved to be in World Cup last year. The only other items to take out of this match were Abel Xavier having his best MLS match, Jon Busch looking like the smartest pick-up of the John Guppy era and the FIRE defense solidifying.
MOTM: Kyle Martino – sure I think his play was disgusting, cynical and immature. He likely should have been sent off before the half, but when it comes down to it, his two flops that Hall bought led to an LA victory.
Thursday
The Flagship at Houston Dynamo – Is this about the time the Red Bulls are supposed to look old? NewYork didn’t even show up for this match and got blow off the pitch by a short handed Dynamo. Without, Rico Clark or the injured Brad Davis and Eddie Robinson the Dynamo made it an easy day for Pat Onstad and held NY without a shot on goal. On a positive note, Claudio Reyna has played in ten games this year, shattering my predicted over/under by 6 games and counting.
MOTM: Stuart Holden – he’s stepped it up when the Dynamo have needed him and may have cemented his place in the starting eleven with a goal and two assists in this one.
Saturday
Chivas USA at New England Revolution – El Emporador strikes early while Andy Dorman continues to answer his critics, and cementing his title as the most underpaid player in the league.
MOTM: Preston Burpo – His eight saves allowed the Northern Goats to leave with a point.
Real Salt Lake at Columbus Crew – OK, RSL fans. This is rock bottom. After a few encouraging games at home RSL goes to Columbus and completely implodes. While Freddy and Nathan Sturgis were covering themselves in glory, directly north, their club was showing in shame capped by an ugly tackle on Schelotto, by a clearly frustrated Esky. The fact is, beyond Eddie Pope, Andy Williams (when completely healthy) and Nick Rimando, RSL just doesn’t have many players that are ready to be full time starters in this league. Jean-Martial Kipre and Atiba Harris are complete roving disasters waiting to happen. Daniel Torres managed to make it through this game without a major error, but you have to believe that Sturgis will start immediately. Hopefully, Kaptain Kreis will take a coaching lesson from Thomas Rongren and play Freddy in the middle. For the Crew, Jakob Thomas continues his return from injury and put together a Hedjuk-like effort. Also, the Columbus fans in the north end zone should write a letter to FIFA thanking them for mandating nets be put on goals. If that wasn’t the case, Schelotto’s blast from the spot might have destroyed the entire north stand with it’s sheer power. Sigi has once again, figured things out, and is beginning to reward the fans and front office for their patience.
MOTM: Alejandro Moreno – His hold up work and great possession and layoff paced the Crew to another victory.
UFC at FIRE – I went to this game with my buddy Kurt and appropriately lowered his expectations during the drive out there. Kurt, don’t look for much from the FIRE. This team is offensively challenged. Fifteen minutes into the match, he though I hadn’t watched a FIRE match all year. The FIRE, perhaps trying to win one for Denis Hamlett during his last interim game, came out firing on all cylinders. I’m not sure what the difference could have been, but the FIRE’s performance left fans with optimism for the first time in months. Some slick passing between Bakary Soumare (who was everywhere) and Chad Barrett led to the FIRE’s first goal since Peter Wilt was axed. Toronto rewarded their sizable road support with a great hustle goal by number one draft pick Maurice Edu. There is hope FIRE fans!
MOTM – Bakary Soumare – After being suspended for a match Soumare played the most solid game of his career in a sweeper role for the Fire. His height and athleticism blunted any Toronto attack for the vast majority of the match. He still needs some polish, but he is beginning to justify his lofty draft slot.
Kansas City Wizards at Los Angeles Galaxy – The Keystone LA defense did make a shambles of two plays and paid for them, on a couple of goals that will likely be cynically replayed around the world as an example of the “quality” of the team that Becks is heading. Chris Klein had a rough touch that Yura Movsisyan took and deposited in the back of the net. Four minutes later, Ante Jazic poorly and ill-advisedly headed the ball back to his keeper, Joe Cannon, but cannon bobbled the pass. KC’s Davey Arnaud pounced on it and headed into the virtually open net. For most of the match the Jimmy Conrad bolstered KC defense was doing a great job blunting the talents of Landon Donovan and Carlos Pavon. However, the insertion of veteran Cobi Jones was all LA needed to get back in the game. Six minutes after Cobi entered the match, Pavon blasted a shot past Kevin Hartman. Pavon’s slammed off the far post and fell into Cobi’s path. He made no mistake and drilled shot into the back of the net. Then in the 75th minute Donovan curled a low cross around a defender and found Jones on a near post run. Cobi’s clinical one-touch finishing left Hartman without a prayer.
MOTM: Cobi Jones – Off the bench Cobi was in the right place twice to pull the Galaxy level against the stingy KC defense.
Sunday
The Flagship at Colorado Rapids – Despite a near superhuman effort from Jacob Peterson, who surely cemented his spot in the starting line-up, the Rapids fell again to a rare period of lax defending. Without any Rapids pressure, a rebounded shot was calmly put away by the grey haired and well traveled John Wolyniec. The Flagship held on for the rest of the match against a Rapids attach that was gaining steam by the second. Another five minutes in this one and the Rapids would have likely pulled out a draw, however, the Commerce City squad will have to look back at post shot and a crossbar rattler for signs that their offense is improving.
MOTM – John Wolyniec – Another veteran puts on a good show! Woly’s strike is all the Flagship needed to top the flaccid Rapids.
D.C. United at Houston Dynamo – The predicted shoot our never occurred, but tempers were flaring at this match-up of the two hottest teams in MLS (apologies to Columbus). As per usual, a poorly refereed match by Brian Hall led to the game nearly getting out of control, with pushing and shoving becoming a major feature of the match. Both teams had decent opportunities, but Houston’s poise and possession saved the day for the home side. The Dynamo got all they would need when Brian Ching’s foot when all hockey-style and redirected a Richard Mulrooney shot past a hockey keeper posed Troy Perkins. This game was a showcase for the league and featured some wide-open attacking play at times. These are clearly the top two teams to fear in the league.
MOTM – Brian Ching – He was a handful for DC’s defense all night and made the most of his positioning on the goal.
Discipline Committees Time to Shine
This week the MLS Discipline Committee was handed two golden opportunities to make examples to players who committed nasty frustration fouls on “star” players. I believe the league should seize this chance and hand long suspensions to Aleko Eskandarian and Nick Garcia for their very dangerous challenges on Schelotto and Donovan respectively. On the eve, of Lord Beckham’s arrival a clear message needs to be sent to all the players that these challenges will not be tolerated. Sure it is unfair to hand down stiffer penalties, because the fouls occurred on high priced players, but the league has to protect their big investments and there were no excuses for these terrible fouls.
FIRE Hire Juan Carlos Osorio
I’ll confess that I don’t know much about Osorio. He has experience in MLS with the then Metrostars and has also been the Bridesmaid in DC, Chivas USA and other open posts throughout the league. The fact that he was a fitness coach at Man City should help a team like the FIRE which has been crippled by injuries over the past two seasons. His short, but successful stint at Bogata’s Millionarios, points to good things to come. This could be the defining positive stamp of the John Guppy era. I’d expect Osorio to keep Denis Hamlett on board for the remainder of the season, but certainly Hamlett will be looking to spread his wings after whetting his beak.
FIREsale part Three
If you are looking for great info on the fire Luis Arroyave’s blog has been priceless these last few weeks digging up some great tidbits on the FIREsale. A number of items have been widely misreported. First, Frankie Klopas’ group is not a group. He’s frontin for the Greco family which owns a food production company. And the competing is not a European Soccer club, but rather the Seagram’s’ company that peddles wares familiar to most my readers.
Beckham Update
As expected ESPN is throwing down the big-time coverage for what is widely expected to be Becks debut in a Galaxy uniform against Chelsea at the HDC on July 21. 19 cameras will be in place for the match. ESPN will carry three hours (or half hour depending on how you read the press release) of pre-game coverage, which only the Super Bowl can top! There will also be an extended SportsCenter (because they still can’t find time for soccer in the regular SportsCenter) and a hour-long documentary on Becks. Anyone still think he isn’t worth the money?
Copa America
Let’s throw some dirt on this American campaign right away! Despite completing the mission of blooding players, BB the King and the rest of us, didn’t really learn much about our young players. A couple took a step down, but will still remain firmly in the mix. Jonathan Bornstein and Justin Mapp come to mind. A number, such as Sasha Klejestan and Eddie Gaven showed that they don’t belong on international pitches at this moment. Aside from the teams first ten minutes of the tournament EJ was a massive disappointment. Rico Clark looked solid until the Columbia game, where he was determined to set up as many dangerous free kicks for the opposition as possible. Kasey Keller looked like he was collecting social security already, while El Guzano inched closer to that #2 keeper slot. Benny Feilhaber came of followed up his epic Gold Cup final with a couple off and on performances. Only Ben Olsen emerged from this tournament looking like he could challenge for a starting spot, unfortunately is awash in better than average defensive midfielders. What BB and the fans were looking for was someone to that the attacking midfield reigns. That savior never materialized in Venezuela. Maybe that player was in Montréal?
U-20 World Cup
Man, did we all need this after Copa America! Even ESPN seized the moment, as the US was ready to take on Brazil, the US sports taste maker announced it was pre-empting the Hot Dog Eating Challenge to broadcast the USA vs. Brazil match-up. This unheard of move is yet another positive sign that ESPN has surely changed its mind about soccer in the last few years and is finally waking up to the true popularity of the sport with in our borders. The USA didn’t disappoint as two of MLS’ brightest young names, Adu and Jozy Altidore put on a show and helped team USA top Brazil 2-1. Altidore broke the tie and the Brazilians spirit with a goal minutes after the Brazilians equalized. The Americans effectively shut down the Samba Kings for the rest of the match after Jozy’s third goal of the tournament. From all MLS fans to Danny, Freddy, and Jozy: Have fun in Europe, we hardly knew you. That is unless MLS is ready to pony up for their brightest.
Soccer Basher of the Week
As expected, Beckham’s LA arrival this week once again brought out the knives from the “traditional” sports columnists like this widely syndicated columnist Tim Dahlberg. Dahlberg who you can contact at tdahlberg@ap.org take wrote this pile of trash. So I responded with this pile of trash:
Tim,
So you start writing about soccer the second you hear something about Mr. Beckham coming here, and suddenly you judge yourself worthy of a soccer taste monger? Someone qualified to call the Los Angeles Galaxy “something of a minor league team.” That statement clear that your objective was not objectivity, but rather ignorant bashing. Why should we soccer fans expect anything less? God forbid a serious discourse about the boost that Mr. Beckham will provide to an already thriving league. Sure it may play to your traditional big-four audience, but soccer aficionados do not look across the LA line-up and see a minor league soccer team, with or without Beckham. I know you it is probably in your blood as an American sports columnist to downplay soccer at every turn (at least that is what all your articles suggest), but your tired argument are more suited for the 1970’s than the modern age. How did the Gold Cup final this year out draw the Stanley Cup final by 40% on TV? Did you know that the 2006 World Cup final had more viewers than the average World Series game? Soccer needs a savior? The only thing that is in jeopardy of expiration is your credibility as a sports writer in a changing American sports landscape.
Regards,
Mark
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (5-7)
SEASON (30-52)
Thursday
Dynamo vs. FIRE – It looks like Coach Osorio will get a rude awakening on Thursday. The FIRE in current form are no match for sizzling Houston.
Saturday
Hoops vs. United – United sends the Barra and the Eagles into a tizzy with a performance showcasing the South American flair up top unlocking a shaky Dallas backline.
Revs. vs. The Flagship – The Flagship has done rather well at home and you can’t expect to keep Angel off the score sheet forever.
RSL vs. Wizards – KC will look to take last weeks disappointment on someone, something, anything! Oh, look it’s RSL! RSL just doesn’t have a prayer in this one, but does manage to put up a good fight.
Crew vs. LA Goats – The hot Crew should be able to salvage a draw from the Goats who always seem to shine at home.
Sunday
UFC vs. Dynamo – Mo and the new bhoys take on the Dynamo, but to no avail. Even with a hectic schedule, the depth that the Dynamo built during the last month will overwhelm the road weary UFC.
Podcast:
The Soccer/Dynamo Power Hour – Glenn Interviews Shep Messing and Oliver Luck
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link.)
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 06/27/07
MLS Week 12 – Parity and Clarity
Wednesday
KC vs. Crew –KC was missing EJ, but still had a team more than capable of producing results. What KC didn’t have was an answer for Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The midfield maestro, sprayed passed throughout the pitch and assisted on the game winner. The happy fans were stuffed with dollar brats and the Crew responded in kind by stuffing KC’s still potent attack until late in the game yielding a late goal to KC runner-up funnyman Jack Jewsbury. Wil Hesmer replaced Andy Gruenebaum in the Crew nets and made Sigi look smart for the first time in months.
MOTM: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Thursday
Chivas USA vs. Dynamo – Every week for the last month on Glenn Davis’ tremendous Dynamo Power Hour, the topic of “who will step into the Gold Cup void” was brought up. Houston was arguably the hardest hit squad by the call-ups and needed a knight! That man was Brad Davis as he torched the Dynamo’s rivals for a hat trick. A good crowd was on hand despite the terrible scheduling of the match opposite the Gold Cup semi-finals.
MOTM: Brad Davis
Saturday
UFC vs. Revs – With Toronto fresh off a tremendous thumping of Dallas and the gutted Revs looking shaky versus the lowly Crew, you’d think UFC would finally put the smack down on the road. Wrong! Kevin Goldthwaite gifted a goal to Andy Dorman early on and the Revs never looked back. The next two Rev’s goals were things of beauty as Noonan’s flick to the far post beat UFC keeper Srdjan Djekanovic. The third and final Revs goal was a marvel of team passing (and UFC) ball watching. Ronnie O’Brien fired some blistering shots on goal, but failed to put any past the formidable Matt Reis.
MOTM: Andy Dorman
Hoops vs. Rapids – Didn’t catch too much of this one, because I had to watch one of the most over hyped fights since DeLaHoya vs. Mayweather. That Juan Toja always seems to be in the right place doesn’t he? Dallas gets Richetti back and pitches another shutout. Now if only Morrow could find some consistency in this squad.
MOTM: No position to judge
United vs. RSL – OK, how many of you though that the MLS website was wrong when you saw this score? Kreis is looking like a genius for the moment, and really hasn’t done all that poorly since he took over the reigns at RSL. Robbie Findlay goes for the brace and shows some finishing variety from distance. On nearly identically set-ups, Findlay put one in the far post and one in the near post past ex-RSL keeper Jay Nolly. Whodathunk it that RSL’s first win of the season would come without Adu, Klein, Kreis or Cunningham. Despite the shutout, Kreis will need Nathan Sturgis to play a huge role in this team to get them back in the playoff race.
MOTM: Robbie Findlay
Crew vs. Galaxy – Speaking of Lazarus-like skeelz! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you your resurgent Columbus Crew! Vying for team of the month right now, the Crew looks reborn! It is almost as if Guillermo took the team in to the locker room and explained to them exactly where and how he expects everybody to play. He is the unquestioned driving force of this team. This match had some interesting footnotes in it as it featured a first half red card, two unsuccessful penalty kicks, and two goals by a undermanned team. Frank Yallop’s seat might be getting a little hot as we all know Alexi has fired coaches for far less.
MOTM: Wil Hesmer
Sunday
Dynamo vs. KC – A steamy afternoon leads to a blistering finish! Patrick Ianni’s first in MLS is one to remember as his header beats Hartman & Co. to the near post to take three in KC.
MOTM: Patrick Ianni
Sarachanned
Last week, the Chicago FIRE unceremoniously dumped embattled coach Dave Sarachan following the FIRE recording only one win in the last eight matches. This streak came on the heels of the best start in franchise history. Saddled with injuries and national team call-ups an inexperienced FIRE squad’s 3-1 loss turned into Sarachan’s last game at the helm. The firing immediately drew criticism from FIRE captain Chris Armas, who felt the firing was poorly timed and not warranted based on the available player obstacles that Sarachan faced over the last month. Like most player and organization moves under the dark tenure of John Guppy, you can file this one into the PR cabinet as well. FIRE fans have been looking for the head of Sarachan for the past three years. Guppy saw his opportunity to raise his stock amongst the FIRE faithful and made a rash decision. Sarachan, not even a year removed from a US Open Cup championship deserved better. There were plenty of times over his tenure that would have warranted an ax, but this was not one of them. Look for Guppy to further pander to Chicago’s Mexican community by naming a bi-lingual and likely Latino coach based on comments he made to the Tribune’s Luis Arroyave.
FIREsale?
Rumor around the bigsoccer board (via Shep Messing comments), is that the FIRE are to be sold. No word on who the suitor is just yet, but any team name/color change would be a disaster for already dwindling FIRE fan base. In the span of five years, AEG and MLS could betray almost all the fans upon who’s backs and dollars this formerly proud franchise was built.
Kreis Continues to Clean RSL’s Camp
RSL dealt starter Chris Klein to the Gals for Findlay and Nathan Sturgis. Ironically it was Buddle’s arrival in LA that made Findlay expendable. Buddle only arrived in LA after UFC secured Jeff Cunningham from RSL. Dizzy yet? This is a really great pick-up for the Wasatch Brigade. Both Findlay and Sturgis have shown an ability to compete at the MLS level, so from that perspective they are not much of a gamble. Sturgis can solidify the massive backline crater that is the Jack Stewart-Daniel Torres mess and learn from the retiring Eddie Pope. (Please believe me that I wrote these comments prior to Findlay’s brace against United) Amazing that July is not even here and Jeff Cunningham, Chris Klein and Jason Kreis are no longer RSL players. Eddie Pope will be gone at the end of the year. Let’s hope that the RSL scouting staff has been working overtime because RSL has a ton of cap space. The Klein trade is interesting from LA’s perspective. Aren’t they supposed to be getting a fairly decent right sided midfielder soon? Hmm… which leads us right into the weekly….
Quaranta heads back East
With Santino Quaranta clearly not in Frank Yallop’s plans, the Galaxy dealt the one-time player of the future for the US for a second Superdraft Pick. Quaranta should find more success in KC with its dynamic attack and will provide some much needed depth on the Wizards thin bench. Almost as importantly, Quaranta will easily have the best hair on the team, a position he lost recently in LA even before the addition of David Beckham, thanks to defender Abel Xavier.
UFC Transaction of the Week
As rumored for the past three years, Mo finally inked former Dundee United striker Collin Samuel. The T&T striker is only 25 and could be the long awaited heir to Stern John’s MLS throne.
Beckham Update
The man himself kept a very low profile this week, but there was some news surrounding him this week. Addias is kicking off their “Futbol vs. Football” ad campaign in the US this week featuring Becks and Reggie Bush swapping gear. DC United announced that they expect the LA Galaxy match to be a sellout at RFK. (Garber smiles) And most importantly, rumors are circulating that Beckham will see his first MLS action at the All-Star game, which is just as fitting as a glorified friendly against Chelsea.
Copa Oro – Round-up
Didn’t everything just stay the same until Sunday? Thursdays Gold Cup semi-finals witnessed underwhelming performances from the regional giants, USA and Mexico. The refereeing continued to be controversial with a line judge whistling a late Canadian equalizer off sides, when replays showed, it clearly was not. The call incensed the (for the moment) pro-Canadian crowd, and drew the expected Mexican fan beer tossing. At $7 a pop, those are some expensive missiles! At the end of the action Thursday, the matchup everyone (and seemingly both teams) was waiting for materialized: USA vs. Mexico for the Gold Cup. Come Sunday, Soldier Field became Azteca Norte. Despite the overwhelming majority of Mexican Fans, the American has a decent turn out of fans. All of which had to know what they would be walking into. Let’s face it, USA vs. Mexico in Chicago is not a family event. The drama of the match and the high temperatures produced as much sweating in the stands as there was on the pitch. The Americans and Mexicans shed their poor form and broke out their A-game for this Final which was a Classic(o). Both teams left everything on the pitch and played a classy game of football. The game was a coming out party for young players on both sides of the ball. The Mexican youth struck first with Nery Castillo torching the clumsy Gooch to cross to a wide open Andres Guardado at the back post. Buoyed by the insertion of Ricardo Clark for the volatile and already yellow carded Pablo Mastroeni, the Americans took the game to El Tri in the second half. An underrated pass from Jonathan Spector to Brian Ching and Ching’s subsequent sublime turn led to him being taken down in the box by the Mexican defender. Surrounded by 60,000 of his biggest detractor (supporting both teams), Landon Donovan calmly slotted home the PK to equalize. The Copa was settled on a world class strike from a rising force on the American team. Rafa Marquez cleared a corner to the top of the box, but before it reached the ground Benny Feilhaber volleyed the ball into the far netting, setting of wild celebration amongst the vast minority of USA fans. So confident that their work was done, the US muffed two easy scoring chances hitting the post and crossbar respectively. The US had to rely on a point blank save from Tim Howard on Bofo Bautista to preserve the win and retain the massive Copa Oro.
Major Annoyance
As classless as some of the Mexican fan chants and behavior could be (flying beers and nachos anyone?), it was matched by the cluelessness of some of the American fans I bumped into this extended weekend. Most seemed to have built their entire pedigree on top of being in Germany last summer or owning a Man U scarf. Many of those occasionally rooting for the Americans showed up in every jersey in the world except a US jersey or even MLS jerseys. That would be heresy for the true euro-snob contingent. Regardless of their performance on the field, every Euro-based player was “spectacular”, while Donovan and Hedjuk “totally sucked”. Gooch was a “beast” despite getting toasted over and over, while repeatedly forgetting his field position. After getting beaten by DeRo on a free kick (only to have his ass saved by the post) then covering a ball that could have been blown his way by the wind, rather than shot, Shakey Kasey Keller, was showered with name chants from these buffoons. I guess when you are only used to watching pro soccer on TV, you have no idea what to root for when you are at the games in person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for every US fan that walked into the steamy cauldron of Solider Field this past week. I just wish some of them would wake up to what it takes to truly support your national side and start following all the national team players regardless of what side of the pond they ply their club trade.. The majority of Mexican fans in attendance issued a pretty good lesson in fan support.
A quick comment on Sam’s Army:
These patriots are really up against it because of:
Infrequency of US games (particularly in Chicago)
The breeding of US Sports Fans (sit on hands until prompted by scoreboards or organ.) Great shots of the stands on Sunday with all the US fans sitting in the first few rows and the legion of Mexicans standing behind them.
Aversion to singing by US Sports fans.
Lack of organization.
Geographic inconsistency of games.
Lack of understanding by stadium personnel about cheering/supporting soccer teams. (Flags good, etc.)
These things being said, it is NO excuse for Sam’s Army not singing and chanting all game long. There are normally very long breaks between chants/songs from this group. Can’t Sam’s Army collude with the local team fan bases (at least in Chicago, Houston and DC) and get some folks in there that know how to lead cheers for 90+ minutes straight?
My All Oro Squad:
Goalkeeper:
Franck Grandel (Guadeloupe)
Defense:
Richard Hastings (Canada)
Carlos Salcido (Mexico)
Samuel Cabellero (Honduras)
Carlos Bocanegra (USA)
Midfield:
Benny Feilhaber (USA)
Juan DeGuzman (Canada)
Pavel Pardo (Mexico)
Landon Donovan (USA)
Forwards:
Nery Castillo (Mexico)
Carlos Pavon (Honduras)
Copa America
Sadly, if you are reading this you know that Team USA that landed in Venezuela is not exactly the A-team. I’m not sure if it is even the C team! BB the King is sticking to his plan of using Copa as a blooding (or blood letting) for the yutes in the pool. I think some hope is there given the experience available up the middle from Kasey Keller, to Jimmy Conrad to Ben Olsen. Up top, a Johnson/Twellman front can be dangerous, but the likes of Justin Mapp, Feilhaber, Rico Clark and Eddie Gaven are going to have to figure out ways to get the ball to these strikers. The though of which makes me shudder. Just read it again. We are depending on two of the biggest question marks in MLS history, in Mapp and Gaven, to unlock the likes of Argentina, Paraguay and Columbia. Jay Demerit will also get every opportunity to prove his worth after spending most of his time on the Gold Cup bench.
During the opening round, Jamie Moreno acquitted himself well, by setting up an own-goal. Moreno drove into the Venezuelan box, juked a defender and fired a shot toward the back post, which was redirected into the net by another defender. In fairness, a goal likely would have been regardless, because another Bolivian player was charging the backpost and would have tapped in the Moreno ball.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (0-6)
(NOTE: If you ever want to make a tremendous ass of yourself, just try predicting MLS matches. What happens when we fall of the horse?)
SEASON (23-42)
Colorado vs. United – United will be looking to rebound from their disappointment in Salt Lake and should be able to manage versus a limp Colorado attack.
Dynamo vs. Dallas – El Capitan is at stake again and the Dynamo are primed to disappoint the home crowd.
Flagship vs. Crew – Ok, I’m going to make a mistake again, but I’ll take a draw in this Eastern Conference showdown.
Revs vs. Chivas – The Revs manage a draw in a Copa America depleted match up.
Rapids vs. FIRE – FIRE finally get another win as a road weary Rapids can’t keep pace with the FIRE youngsters.
UFC vs. Wizards- Off the top corner, its UFC with a draw in Cowtown. The slumping Wizards start praying for an early end to the Americans Copa America adventure.
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.)
Wednesday
KC vs. Crew –KC was missing EJ, but still had a team more than capable of producing results. What KC didn’t have was an answer for Guillermo Barros Schelotto. The midfield maestro, sprayed passed throughout the pitch and assisted on the game winner. The happy fans were stuffed with dollar brats and the Crew responded in kind by stuffing KC’s still potent attack until late in the game yielding a late goal to KC runner-up funnyman Jack Jewsbury. Wil Hesmer replaced Andy Gruenebaum in the Crew nets and made Sigi look smart for the first time in months.
MOTM: Guillermo Barros Schelotto
Thursday
Chivas USA vs. Dynamo – Every week for the last month on Glenn Davis’ tremendous Dynamo Power Hour, the topic of “who will step into the Gold Cup void” was brought up. Houston was arguably the hardest hit squad by the call-ups and needed a knight! That man was Brad Davis as he torched the Dynamo’s rivals for a hat trick. A good crowd was on hand despite the terrible scheduling of the match opposite the Gold Cup semi-finals.
MOTM: Brad Davis
Saturday
UFC vs. Revs – With Toronto fresh off a tremendous thumping of Dallas and the gutted Revs looking shaky versus the lowly Crew, you’d think UFC would finally put the smack down on the road. Wrong! Kevin Goldthwaite gifted a goal to Andy Dorman early on and the Revs never looked back. The next two Rev’s goals were things of beauty as Noonan’s flick to the far post beat UFC keeper Srdjan Djekanovic. The third and final Revs goal was a marvel of team passing (and UFC) ball watching. Ronnie O’Brien fired some blistering shots on goal, but failed to put any past the formidable Matt Reis.
MOTM: Andy Dorman
Hoops vs. Rapids – Didn’t catch too much of this one, because I had to watch one of the most over hyped fights since DeLaHoya vs. Mayweather. That Juan Toja always seems to be in the right place doesn’t he? Dallas gets Richetti back and pitches another shutout. Now if only Morrow could find some consistency in this squad.
MOTM: No position to judge
United vs. RSL – OK, how many of you though that the MLS website was wrong when you saw this score? Kreis is looking like a genius for the moment, and really hasn’t done all that poorly since he took over the reigns at RSL. Robbie Findlay goes for the brace and shows some finishing variety from distance. On nearly identically set-ups, Findlay put one in the far post and one in the near post past ex-RSL keeper Jay Nolly. Whodathunk it that RSL’s first win of the season would come without Adu, Klein, Kreis or Cunningham. Despite the shutout, Kreis will need Nathan Sturgis to play a huge role in this team to get them back in the playoff race.
MOTM: Robbie Findlay
Crew vs. Galaxy – Speaking of Lazarus-like skeelz! Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you your resurgent Columbus Crew! Vying for team of the month right now, the Crew looks reborn! It is almost as if Guillermo took the team in to the locker room and explained to them exactly where and how he expects everybody to play. He is the unquestioned driving force of this team. This match had some interesting footnotes in it as it featured a first half red card, two unsuccessful penalty kicks, and two goals by a undermanned team. Frank Yallop’s seat might be getting a little hot as we all know Alexi has fired coaches for far less.
MOTM: Wil Hesmer
Sunday
Dynamo vs. KC – A steamy afternoon leads to a blistering finish! Patrick Ianni’s first in MLS is one to remember as his header beats Hartman & Co. to the near post to take three in KC.
MOTM: Patrick Ianni
Sarachanned
Last week, the Chicago FIRE unceremoniously dumped embattled coach Dave Sarachan following the FIRE recording only one win in the last eight matches. This streak came on the heels of the best start in franchise history. Saddled with injuries and national team call-ups an inexperienced FIRE squad’s 3-1 loss turned into Sarachan’s last game at the helm. The firing immediately drew criticism from FIRE captain Chris Armas, who felt the firing was poorly timed and not warranted based on the available player obstacles that Sarachan faced over the last month. Like most player and organization moves under the dark tenure of John Guppy, you can file this one into the PR cabinet as well. FIRE fans have been looking for the head of Sarachan for the past three years. Guppy saw his opportunity to raise his stock amongst the FIRE faithful and made a rash decision. Sarachan, not even a year removed from a US Open Cup championship deserved better. There were plenty of times over his tenure that would have warranted an ax, but this was not one of them. Look for Guppy to further pander to Chicago’s Mexican community by naming a bi-lingual and likely Latino coach based on comments he made to the Tribune’s Luis Arroyave.
FIREsale?
Rumor around the bigsoccer board (via Shep Messing comments), is that the FIRE are to be sold. No word on who the suitor is just yet, but any team name/color change would be a disaster for already dwindling FIRE fan base. In the span of five years, AEG and MLS could betray almost all the fans upon who’s backs and dollars this formerly proud franchise was built.
Kreis Continues to Clean RSL’s Camp
RSL dealt starter Chris Klein to the Gals for Findlay and Nathan Sturgis. Ironically it was Buddle’s arrival in LA that made Findlay expendable. Buddle only arrived in LA after UFC secured Jeff Cunningham from RSL. Dizzy yet? This is a really great pick-up for the Wasatch Brigade. Both Findlay and Sturgis have shown an ability to compete at the MLS level, so from that perspective they are not much of a gamble. Sturgis can solidify the massive backline crater that is the Jack Stewart-Daniel Torres mess and learn from the retiring Eddie Pope. (Please believe me that I wrote these comments prior to Findlay’s brace against United) Amazing that July is not even here and Jeff Cunningham, Chris Klein and Jason Kreis are no longer RSL players. Eddie Pope will be gone at the end of the year. Let’s hope that the RSL scouting staff has been working overtime because RSL has a ton of cap space. The Klein trade is interesting from LA’s perspective. Aren’t they supposed to be getting a fairly decent right sided midfielder soon? Hmm… which leads us right into the weekly….
Quaranta heads back East
With Santino Quaranta clearly not in Frank Yallop’s plans, the Galaxy dealt the one-time player of the future for the US for a second Superdraft Pick. Quaranta should find more success in KC with its dynamic attack and will provide some much needed depth on the Wizards thin bench. Almost as importantly, Quaranta will easily have the best hair on the team, a position he lost recently in LA even before the addition of David Beckham, thanks to defender Abel Xavier.
UFC Transaction of the Week
As rumored for the past three years, Mo finally inked former Dundee United striker Collin Samuel. The T&T striker is only 25 and could be the long awaited heir to Stern John’s MLS throne.
Beckham Update
The man himself kept a very low profile this week, but there was some news surrounding him this week. Addias is kicking off their “Futbol vs. Football” ad campaign in the US this week featuring Becks and Reggie Bush swapping gear. DC United announced that they expect the LA Galaxy match to be a sellout at RFK. (Garber smiles) And most importantly, rumors are circulating that Beckham will see his first MLS action at the All-Star game, which is just as fitting as a glorified friendly against Chelsea.
Copa Oro – Round-up
Didn’t everything just stay the same until Sunday? Thursdays Gold Cup semi-finals witnessed underwhelming performances from the regional giants, USA and Mexico. The refereeing continued to be controversial with a line judge whistling a late Canadian equalizer off sides, when replays showed, it clearly was not. The call incensed the (for the moment) pro-Canadian crowd, and drew the expected Mexican fan beer tossing. At $7 a pop, those are some expensive missiles! At the end of the action Thursday, the matchup everyone (and seemingly both teams) was waiting for materialized: USA vs. Mexico for the Gold Cup. Come Sunday, Soldier Field became Azteca Norte. Despite the overwhelming majority of Mexican Fans, the American has a decent turn out of fans. All of which had to know what they would be walking into. Let’s face it, USA vs. Mexico in Chicago is not a family event. The drama of the match and the high temperatures produced as much sweating in the stands as there was on the pitch. The Americans and Mexicans shed their poor form and broke out their A-game for this Final which was a Classic(o). Both teams left everything on the pitch and played a classy game of football. The game was a coming out party for young players on both sides of the ball. The Mexican youth struck first with Nery Castillo torching the clumsy Gooch to cross to a wide open Andres Guardado at the back post. Buoyed by the insertion of Ricardo Clark for the volatile and already yellow carded Pablo Mastroeni, the Americans took the game to El Tri in the second half. An underrated pass from Jonathan Spector to Brian Ching and Ching’s subsequent sublime turn led to him being taken down in the box by the Mexican defender. Surrounded by 60,000 of his biggest detractor (supporting both teams), Landon Donovan calmly slotted home the PK to equalize. The Copa was settled on a world class strike from a rising force on the American team. Rafa Marquez cleared a corner to the top of the box, but before it reached the ground Benny Feilhaber volleyed the ball into the far netting, setting of wild celebration amongst the vast minority of USA fans. So confident that their work was done, the US muffed two easy scoring chances hitting the post and crossbar respectively. The US had to rely on a point blank save from Tim Howard on Bofo Bautista to preserve the win and retain the massive Copa Oro.
Major Annoyance
As classless as some of the Mexican fan chants and behavior could be (flying beers and nachos anyone?), it was matched by the cluelessness of some of the American fans I bumped into this extended weekend. Most seemed to have built their entire pedigree on top of being in Germany last summer or owning a Man U scarf. Many of those occasionally rooting for the Americans showed up in every jersey in the world except a US jersey or even MLS jerseys. That would be heresy for the true euro-snob contingent. Regardless of their performance on the field, every Euro-based player was “spectacular”, while Donovan and Hedjuk “totally sucked”. Gooch was a “beast” despite getting toasted over and over, while repeatedly forgetting his field position. After getting beaten by DeRo on a free kick (only to have his ass saved by the post) then covering a ball that could have been blown his way by the wind, rather than shot, Shakey Kasey Keller, was showered with name chants from these buffoons. I guess when you are only used to watching pro soccer on TV, you have no idea what to root for when you are at the games in person. Don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for every US fan that walked into the steamy cauldron of Solider Field this past week. I just wish some of them would wake up to what it takes to truly support your national side and start following all the national team players regardless of what side of the pond they ply their club trade.. The majority of Mexican fans in attendance issued a pretty good lesson in fan support.
A quick comment on Sam’s Army:
These patriots are really up against it because of:
Infrequency of US games (particularly in Chicago)
The breeding of US Sports Fans (sit on hands until prompted by scoreboards or organ.) Great shots of the stands on Sunday with all the US fans sitting in the first few rows and the legion of Mexicans standing behind them.
Aversion to singing by US Sports fans.
Lack of organization.
Geographic inconsistency of games.
Lack of understanding by stadium personnel about cheering/supporting soccer teams. (Flags good, etc.)
These things being said, it is NO excuse for Sam’s Army not singing and chanting all game long. There are normally very long breaks between chants/songs from this group. Can’t Sam’s Army collude with the local team fan bases (at least in Chicago, Houston and DC) and get some folks in there that know how to lead cheers for 90+ minutes straight?
My All Oro Squad:
Goalkeeper:
Franck Grandel (Guadeloupe)
Defense:
Richard Hastings (Canada)
Carlos Salcido (Mexico)
Samuel Cabellero (Honduras)
Carlos Bocanegra (USA)
Midfield:
Benny Feilhaber (USA)
Juan DeGuzman (Canada)
Pavel Pardo (Mexico)
Landon Donovan (USA)
Forwards:
Nery Castillo (Mexico)
Carlos Pavon (Honduras)
Copa America
Sadly, if you are reading this you know that Team USA that landed in Venezuela is not exactly the A-team. I’m not sure if it is even the C team! BB the King is sticking to his plan of using Copa as a blooding (or blood letting) for the yutes in the pool. I think some hope is there given the experience available up the middle from Kasey Keller, to Jimmy Conrad to Ben Olsen. Up top, a Johnson/Twellman front can be dangerous, but the likes of Justin Mapp, Feilhaber, Rico Clark and Eddie Gaven are going to have to figure out ways to get the ball to these strikers. The though of which makes me shudder. Just read it again. We are depending on two of the biggest question marks in MLS history, in Mapp and Gaven, to unlock the likes of Argentina, Paraguay and Columbia. Jay Demerit will also get every opportunity to prove his worth after spending most of his time on the Gold Cup bench.
During the opening round, Jamie Moreno acquitted himself well, by setting up an own-goal. Moreno drove into the Venezuelan box, juked a defender and fired a shot toward the back post, which was redirected into the net by another defender. In fairness, a goal likely would have been regardless, because another Bolivian player was charging the backpost and would have tapped in the Moreno ball.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (0-6)
(NOTE: If you ever want to make a tremendous ass of yourself, just try predicting MLS matches. What happens when we fall of the horse?)
SEASON (23-42)
Colorado vs. United – United will be looking to rebound from their disappointment in Salt Lake and should be able to manage versus a limp Colorado attack.
Dynamo vs. Dallas – El Capitan is at stake again and the Dynamo are primed to disappoint the home crowd.
Flagship vs. Crew – Ok, I’m going to make a mistake again, but I’ll take a draw in this Eastern Conference showdown.
Revs vs. Chivas – The Revs manage a draw in a Copa America depleted match up.
Rapids vs. FIRE – FIRE finally get another win as a road weary Rapids can’t keep pace with the FIRE youngsters.
UFC vs. Wizards- Off the top corner, its UFC with a draw in Cowtown. The slumping Wizards start praying for an early end to the Americans Copa America adventure.
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 31, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 5/31/07
Welcome to my supersized update.
MLS Week 8 – Rebound
Thursday
FIRE vs. RBNY – In what hopefully will be the low point of the Chicago season as The Flagship scored their fastest goal in franchise history when Jozy Altidore put one past Matt Pickens with only 0:55 coming off the clock. The second RBNY goal set a MLS record for the fastest two goals scored to begin a game in league history. Let’s look at goal number two as key Chicago defensive weaknesses were exploited: lack of pace and poor central defending. To begin the play, Gonzalo Segares got absolutely smoked by Dan Richards on the right flank. I think Sega is still spinning around in the turf given the pace he was passed with. Richards send a nice, but not deadly cross into the middle of the Chicago box that was met by CJ Brown’s head. Not only was Brown’s clearance poor, but it looped over poorly positioned Jim Curtain, who left his mark to also attempt to clear the ball. That man was Juan Pablo Angel. The ball is about to fall to JPA’s feet when he takes a one touch to settle the ball in the air then hammered home his own volley. A lovely strike and the nail in the coffin for a team that can’t put away more than one than one goal a match. And with Chris Rolfe out of the line-up, this goal a match average is heading south.
Saturday
Wizards vs. Revs – What a showcase for the league, following a glamour friendly featuring the Irish national team. Unfortunately, the Irish team was rounded up from local Boston pubs by Kevin Kilbane a week earlier and more fans were on hand to see the MLS match than the International friendly. I’m not sure but that might be a first! EJ netted his first MLS hat trick while showing a wide range of attacking skills.
TFC vs. Crew – Welcome back Andy! Another thrilling match played between Eastern Conference rivals saw the teams sharing the spoils. Fresh of a suspension for a vicious elbow, which Mo Johnston and Danny “it’s a mans game” saw nothing wrong with, Andy Herron put two in the back of the net before going down to injury all in the first half. Attacking soccer was on display all evening with Jeff Cunningham back in his old ground and set up pro-wrestler turned soccer player Danny Dichio for the first goal of the match. Toronto tied the game for good of a spectacular Jim Brennan free kick that took goal of the week with a heavy assist from the Toronto faithful In the stands, Toronto’s Red Patch Boys showed Columbus that a group other than Section 8 can take over their stadium at will. Crew fans, if any of you are reading: Why the hell does your team have three separate cheering sections? There the thinning one behind the net, the new seemingly Argie one to the left of that group and now this new one on the sidelines! Do your team, the league and us viewers a favor and consolidate your efforts.
Dynamo vs. DCU – HDNet Blackout warning. Only got to see highlights of this one, but DC United seems to have recovered from its Champions Cup hangover.
Galaxy vs. Rapids – Will this evening go down as the top nights of football in Denver? Huge crowd turns out for MLS and for once isn’t disappointed by the home team! It didn’t hurt that Kyle Martino was rightly sent off in the 25th minute. Herculez Gomez’ snap header off a picturesque Terry Cooke cross to beat Joe Cannon in the second half was all the Rapids needed to finish off a short handed LA team.
FCD vs. Chivas – And then like that Dallas is flat again. Galindo’s brilliance and determination proved the decisive blow to the Hoops, but Chivas quick one touch passing kept the visitors chasing the game all night. Dallas will be the head scratching team of the season and certainly not a team to bet the mortgage on.
Sunday
RSL vs. FIRE – The FIRE’s effort was far more respectable in this match than their effort earlier in the match week. However, bottom feeder RSL still blanked them on the back of a stellar goalkeeping exhibition from Nick Rimando. The changing of the Curtins was well overdue because the old one was dusty as hell! With the exception of the haircut they look almost identical, except that Jeff, in his first MLS start, looked crisper than his bro has all year.
According to the Chicago Tribune when asked if the FIRE’s recent struggles led to the trial of Marcelo Salas, GM John Guppy said, "It's fair to say that. We need more quality on offense. Obviously, our recent challenges raised our attention to the matter.”
Maybe trading away the vast majority of 2006 goal scorers in the off-season should have raised your attention to that you bumbling fool! FIRE fan’s worst fears of the FIRE becoming Metrostars West with Guppy’s appointment have been quickly realized. We got all the hallmarks of the Metroscum now: underachieving team, attendance worries and worthless management. Thanks those responsible! It’s as if Guppy’s game plan for the season was: Sign Blanco not matter the cost, get revenue, do nothing else other than open the doors to Toyota Park.
Unlike many of the FIRE faithful, I’m not quite ready to throw the gauntlet down on Dave Sarachan yet. Whether it was Steve McClerran-esque desperation or simple injury problems (which most calling for Sarachan’s head seem to be oblivious to) his blooding of the young players against RSL at home was a great move. At least there was a glimmer of light on Sunday for the FIRE. Will Dave’s great drafting/scouting save him again? Tune in next Sunday.
Early Season MLS Awards (one award per player/team)
MVP – (tie) Eddie Johnson (KC Wizards) and Taylor Twellman (NE Revolution) – While asking myself, “Who is the first player I would build a team on the back for the first part of this season?” it always came down to these two players whose teams would be nowhere close to their current standing without them. As lame as it is to: 1) have a tie and 2) it be between the two top goal scorers, I can’t see it any other way. Each player requires the attention of nearly the entire back line. Neither’s team has another player even close to their capabilities and opens doors for their teammates that would only be open with their presence. Isn’t that what an MVP is all about?
Runner-up: Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire) - Win with him, lose without. That is also the definition of Value.
Comeback Player of the 1/3 Year - Clint Mathis (The Flagship) – Who else? Why couldn’t Bruce do this with Cletus on the National Team? Whatever it is, Clint Mathis is the lynchpin to RBNY’s suddenly explosive offense. I’m not discounting the significant upgrades that this team has made, but this seemingly insignificant move to the alleged junk heap has really blossomed for the Bruce. Match after match Cletus’ presence in the middle of the Flagship’s O has been dangerous and effective. Mathis’ strong free kick and dead ball abilities are almost just a bonus this season as his passion and competitiveness continues to drive this team forward.
Runner-up: Herculez Gomez (Colorado Rapids) – Gomez has been a demon on the pitch for opposing defenses and his revenge header this weekend to lift the Rapids over the Gals was a nice bonus for this MLS good guy.
Rookie of the Year (acquired in 2007 Superdraft) – Dane Richards (The Flagship) – Just give him the trophy now! Richards has locked
Runner-up: Michael Harrington (KC Wizards) – Fastest goal by a rookie in league history and a dangerous defender who can push up ala Frankie Hedjuk
Best Designated Player Pick-up – Juan Pablo Angel (The Flagship) -
Runner-up: Claudio Reyna (The Flagship) – Well he’s the only other one to have played in the league and he has yet to justify the money or allocation space.
Newcomer of the Year – Maykel Galindo (Chivas USA) – Robbed of this week’s Goal of the Week away by UFC’s fanbase, Galindo has show some extraordinary pace and acclimation to MLS. His physical presence as a striker is a revelation that hasn’t been seen in LA since Pescadito flopped into town. Do you think his success will convince any other Cuban national teamers to defect during Gold Cup this simmer?
Runner-up: Juan Toja (FC Dallas) – An added dimension. That is what this kid brings to the pitch.
Franchise of the Year – Toronto FC (UFC) – Between the ticket sales, the reaching out to the community, the fan support, the stadium from day one and the assembly of a competitive team, UFC simply has buried the rest of the league off the pitch.
Runner-up: FC Dallas – The Hoops seem to slowly be hooking into a solid fanbase in their new digs. The team hired a coach that is not afraid to shake things up in Steve Morrow. I mean the guy give the armband to Ruiz then benches him once he starts to fade. That will get you the respect of your team and it sends a great message that you have to work hard every week to stay on the pitch. The Richetti and Toja signings are also amongst the tops in the league.
Biggest Disappointment – The Amado Guevara Situation – OK, trade a DP allocation for a career mercurial player, then cut him from the team when he plays the way he always has. There are gutsy moves by coaches or front offices and then there are monumentally idiotic moves and this one qualifies as the latter, particularly for a club such as Chivas USA which could score some seriously bank on a designated player. Was I alone in thinking that they would be one of the first clubs to us this new toy? Now, the club has no true star and no DP allocation until 2010.
Runner-up: Houston Dynamo – If there was one team that spit in the face of the designated player rule it was the Dynamo. The one saving grace for this team has been the announcement of “going exclusive” with downtown Houston for a stadium. Let’s hope this happens because, it would be an instant front runner for best ground in the league.
Biggest Surprise – Quality of Play – Wasn’t there a talent diluting expansion draft this past year, which Mo turned into his personal swap meet? Note: Not one of the players selected in the expansion draft ever stepped foot on the pitch for Toronto in an MLS match. Instead of talent dilution, MLS countered the effect with the passage of the designated player rule that did exactly what everyone hoped it would do. Get David Beckham! Just kidding, but not really. The acquisition of Becks paved the way for talented players such as Andy Welsh, Carl Robinson, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Carlos Marinelli and many others who may have not considered MLS without his presence. The additional spotlight created by this and the new TV contracts has created and great incentive for players who typically regard the regular season as next to worthless.
Runner-up: KC Wizards – While Carlos Marinelli is no small addition, Curt Onolfo has been the difference maker and has embrace entertaining soccer at all costs.
MLS creates YouTube Channel
Following in the footsteps of the NHL and MLB, not much else to say. I guess it can’t hurt.
Team to Know
Making it to the final 16 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: Lynch’s Irish Pub. The boy’s from Jacksonville’s finest tap travel to Charlotte to take on USL-2’s Eagles on June 12th.
Quote of the Week:
“I tend to not concentrate the whole 90 minutes” – Jeff Cunningham to The Globe and Mail this week.
FIFA Says Getting High is Bad
Last week FIFA has banned international matches in stadiums above 8,200 feet sea level for health related reasons. Unfortunately, nemesis to the US national team, Stadio Azteca, sits at 7,800 feet above sea level. Amazingly that is over 2,800 feet above Denver's Mile High Field. No mention of any minimum air quality standards. A FIFA sanctioned air quality rule might do more to save the earth than 50 Al Gores!
Beckham’s Recall and MLS
David Beckham has been recalled by skittish England skipper Steve McClarren onto a desperate side for an upcoming Euro 2008 qualifier again opening the door for the uninformed MLS boo-bird from across the pond continue to trash the league. I just have to ask, where the hell to these fools get off bashing MLS? Their team is worried about a match with Estonia!!! Is that what the “supremacy” of the EPL gets you? This from the league where Teddy Sherringham continues to play? Players that are expected to struggle against Estonia? I watched “The Miracle Match” (a.k.a. The Game of their Lives” this weekend and it contained the perfect line about the British. “Just because they invented the game they believe it is their God given right to be the best at it.” Now, the entire island can’t see that their best day of their national team are well behind them. Only in betting parlours across the UK did anyone realistically think that the team that showed up for World Cup 2006 had a chance in hell in taking home the trophy.
Last week, Becks correctly stated that his conditioning will be better that it currently is after his first Galaxy tour due to the demands of playing in MLS in heat and style of play. This statement was met with dismissals from the likes of Sir Bobby and current teammate Ruud Van Nistelroy lamenting the summer move of Becks. The same papers that wrote Beckham off six months ago are now crying over his eminent departure from so-called “top flight football.” Certainly any football fan can see that there is a gap in the quality of play between the top American level and the top leagues in Europe, but while the sensationalists will describe this gap to be roughly the distance of Los Angeles and the last recognized planet in our galaxy, reality would place it much closer than that. Witness that every player that has made the leap from England or other top flight areas express surprise at the level of play in MLS. UFC’s Robinson continues to play for Wales as his manager made the astounding statement that he would make his decision on Robinson based on his current form rather than geography. What a novel concept! This policy paid off as Robinson rated above the likes of Ryan Giggs and Simon Davies in the most recent friendly with New Zealand according to the Daily Post. Luckily for MLS fans and Becks, McClerran has affirmed that despite playing in MLS, Beckham will be counted on, depending on form, throughout the Euro 2008 campaign.
For MLS this is a double edged sword. Thousands of tickets have been sold on the promise of the global superstar being on the pitch for the Gals. And man do they need him! The Galaxy currently sit in last place in the combined MLS table. Another challenge for the Galaxy and other MLS front offices is the lack of understanding about international duties among the casual American sports fans expected to turnout in droves for Becks. At the same time, MLS could have the good fortune of having a current England national team player on their league. If he continues to play for her Majesty’s team after while plying his trade with the Galaxy, the profile of MLS will be raised beyond its wildest expectations and may help shatter this retirement/semi-pro league moniker that the league has been saddled with overseas. However, MLS believes it can consistently attract this level of player it will have to begin to adhere to the international calendar. This summer the depth of MLS rosters will be tested like never before and while the growing reserve system helps offset this problem, nothing makes up for losing all the top players for league matches.
Here is a list of affected matches that and FIFA dates that may cause a problem with Lalas and Becks:
Aug 10 DC United (a)
Aug 13 New England (a)
Aug 15 Friendly v Germany (h)
Sep 2 Real Salt Lake (h)
Sept 8 Euro qual v Israel (h)
Sep 9 Colorado (h)
Sept 12 Euro qual v Russia (h)
Sep 14 Chivas (a)
Oct 13 Euro qual v Estonia (h)
Oct 14 Toronto (h)
Oct 17 Euro qual v Russia (a)
Oct 19 New York (h)
Nov 21 Euro qual v Croatia (h)
Dynamo meet the Prez
Dero and the boys got to press the flesh with George W. Bush Tuesday as he congratulated the team for their MLS Cup victory. Thanks to the efforts of Houston retailer, Lucho, the reigning champs will be stylin! Lucho tailored 26 custom suits complete with orange and gold ties for free. Maybe they could get some tips from him and Karl Rove on how to steal a victory or two. It might help them out on their current campaign.
Euro-Snob of the Week
This goes out to new soccer “fan” ESPN’s Bill Simmons who pledged his allegiance to Spurs after loving the World Cup so much. So first the former-Boston Sports Guy disses his local team for a foreign club based on reader suggestions, which is about as low as one can get in my book. Then in his recent continuing series of why he loves sports, he finds the MLS DirectKick commercial offering every MLS game for $74.95 guffaw worthy. Bill, if you need some guffaws or just straight laughter look at how much ink, money and time you’ve devoted to the Celtics over the last year. That is something to laugh or more likely cry at! The NBA lottery was just deserts for you buddy.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (3-4)
SEASON (15-27)
Colorado v. Toronto – Toronto was always going to be amongst the teams most hurt by International callup. Take the Rapids here.
RSL v. Revs – Another depleted team, the Revs, will fall as a full strength RSL gets their first win on the road.
RBNY v. KC – The Wizards made the first part of the statement last week, now they make the second part of that statement topping The Flagship.
DC v. LA – One of the hottest teams in the league against one of the coldest. DC over the languishing Gals. Boo birds come out at the HDC.
Hoops v. Dynamo – The I-41 rivalry and “El Capitan” is on the line. Without DeRo on the pitch the Dynamo focus more on the flanks. Brad Davis and Brian Mullan start targeting Brian Ching and the Dynamo get a much needed win.
Crew v. FIRE – Was there ever a match that had more of a draw feel around it? Oh, that was last week’s game vs. RSL that I picked wrong. Two teams looking distinguish themselves.
Podcast:
The Dynamo Power Hour with Glenn Davis
These broadcasts are taking on a bit of a funeral type feel these days aren’t they?
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link)
MLS Week 8 – Rebound
Thursday
FIRE vs. RBNY – In what hopefully will be the low point of the Chicago season as The Flagship scored their fastest goal in franchise history when Jozy Altidore put one past Matt Pickens with only 0:55 coming off the clock. The second RBNY goal set a MLS record for the fastest two goals scored to begin a game in league history. Let’s look at goal number two as key Chicago defensive weaknesses were exploited: lack of pace and poor central defending. To begin the play, Gonzalo Segares got absolutely smoked by Dan Richards on the right flank. I think Sega is still spinning around in the turf given the pace he was passed with. Richards send a nice, but not deadly cross into the middle of the Chicago box that was met by CJ Brown’s head. Not only was Brown’s clearance poor, but it looped over poorly positioned Jim Curtain, who left his mark to also attempt to clear the ball. That man was Juan Pablo Angel. The ball is about to fall to JPA’s feet when he takes a one touch to settle the ball in the air then hammered home his own volley. A lovely strike and the nail in the coffin for a team that can’t put away more than one than one goal a match. And with Chris Rolfe out of the line-up, this goal a match average is heading south.
Saturday
Wizards vs. Revs – What a showcase for the league, following a glamour friendly featuring the Irish national team. Unfortunately, the Irish team was rounded up from local Boston pubs by Kevin Kilbane a week earlier and more fans were on hand to see the MLS match than the International friendly. I’m not sure but that might be a first! EJ netted his first MLS hat trick while showing a wide range of attacking skills.
TFC vs. Crew – Welcome back Andy! Another thrilling match played between Eastern Conference rivals saw the teams sharing the spoils. Fresh of a suspension for a vicious elbow, which Mo Johnston and Danny “it’s a mans game” saw nothing wrong with, Andy Herron put two in the back of the net before going down to injury all in the first half. Attacking soccer was on display all evening with Jeff Cunningham back in his old ground and set up pro-wrestler turned soccer player Danny Dichio for the first goal of the match. Toronto tied the game for good of a spectacular Jim Brennan free kick that took goal of the week with a heavy assist from the Toronto faithful In the stands, Toronto’s Red Patch Boys showed Columbus that a group other than Section 8 can take over their stadium at will. Crew fans, if any of you are reading: Why the hell does your team have three separate cheering sections? There the thinning one behind the net, the new seemingly Argie one to the left of that group and now this new one on the sidelines! Do your team, the league and us viewers a favor and consolidate your efforts.
Dynamo vs. DCU – HDNet Blackout warning. Only got to see highlights of this one, but DC United seems to have recovered from its Champions Cup hangover.
Galaxy vs. Rapids – Will this evening go down as the top nights of football in Denver? Huge crowd turns out for MLS and for once isn’t disappointed by the home team! It didn’t hurt that Kyle Martino was rightly sent off in the 25th minute. Herculez Gomez’ snap header off a picturesque Terry Cooke cross to beat Joe Cannon in the second half was all the Rapids needed to finish off a short handed LA team.
FCD vs. Chivas – And then like that Dallas is flat again. Galindo’s brilliance and determination proved the decisive blow to the Hoops, but Chivas quick one touch passing kept the visitors chasing the game all night. Dallas will be the head scratching team of the season and certainly not a team to bet the mortgage on.
Sunday
RSL vs. FIRE – The FIRE’s effort was far more respectable in this match than their effort earlier in the match week. However, bottom feeder RSL still blanked them on the back of a stellar goalkeeping exhibition from Nick Rimando. The changing of the Curtins was well overdue because the old one was dusty as hell! With the exception of the haircut they look almost identical, except that Jeff, in his first MLS start, looked crisper than his bro has all year.
According to the Chicago Tribune when asked if the FIRE’s recent struggles led to the trial of Marcelo Salas, GM John Guppy said, "It's fair to say that. We need more quality on offense. Obviously, our recent challenges raised our attention to the matter.”
Maybe trading away the vast majority of 2006 goal scorers in the off-season should have raised your attention to that you bumbling fool! FIRE fan’s worst fears of the FIRE becoming Metrostars West with Guppy’s appointment have been quickly realized. We got all the hallmarks of the Metroscum now: underachieving team, attendance worries and worthless management. Thanks those responsible! It’s as if Guppy’s game plan for the season was: Sign Blanco not matter the cost, get revenue, do nothing else other than open the doors to Toyota Park.
Unlike many of the FIRE faithful, I’m not quite ready to throw the gauntlet down on Dave Sarachan yet. Whether it was Steve McClerran-esque desperation or simple injury problems (which most calling for Sarachan’s head seem to be oblivious to) his blooding of the young players against RSL at home was a great move. At least there was a glimmer of light on Sunday for the FIRE. Will Dave’s great drafting/scouting save him again? Tune in next Sunday.
Early Season MLS Awards (one award per player/team)
MVP – (tie) Eddie Johnson (KC Wizards) and Taylor Twellman (NE Revolution) – While asking myself, “Who is the first player I would build a team on the back for the first part of this season?” it always came down to these two players whose teams would be nowhere close to their current standing without them. As lame as it is to: 1) have a tie and 2) it be between the two top goal scorers, I can’t see it any other way. Each player requires the attention of nearly the entire back line. Neither’s team has another player even close to their capabilities and opens doors for their teammates that would only be open with their presence. Isn’t that what an MVP is all about?
Runner-up: Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire) - Win with him, lose without. That is also the definition of Value.
Comeback Player of the 1/3 Year - Clint Mathis (The Flagship) – Who else? Why couldn’t Bruce do this with Cletus on the National Team? Whatever it is, Clint Mathis is the lynchpin to RBNY’s suddenly explosive offense. I’m not discounting the significant upgrades that this team has made, but this seemingly insignificant move to the alleged junk heap has really blossomed for the Bruce. Match after match Cletus’ presence in the middle of the Flagship’s O has been dangerous and effective. Mathis’ strong free kick and dead ball abilities are almost just a bonus this season as his passion and competitiveness continues to drive this team forward.
Runner-up: Herculez Gomez (Colorado Rapids) – Gomez has been a demon on the pitch for opposing defenses and his revenge header this weekend to lift the Rapids over the Gals was a nice bonus for this MLS good guy.
Rookie of the Year (acquired in 2007 Superdraft) – Dane Richards (The Flagship) – Just give him the trophy now! Richards has locked
Runner-up: Michael Harrington (KC Wizards) – Fastest goal by a rookie in league history and a dangerous defender who can push up ala Frankie Hedjuk
Best Designated Player Pick-up – Juan Pablo Angel (The Flagship) -
Runner-up: Claudio Reyna (The Flagship) – Well he’s the only other one to have played in the league and he has yet to justify the money or allocation space.
Newcomer of the Year – Maykel Galindo (Chivas USA) – Robbed of this week’s Goal of the Week away by UFC’s fanbase, Galindo has show some extraordinary pace and acclimation to MLS. His physical presence as a striker is a revelation that hasn’t been seen in LA since Pescadito flopped into town. Do you think his success will convince any other Cuban national teamers to defect during Gold Cup this simmer?
Runner-up: Juan Toja (FC Dallas) – An added dimension. That is what this kid brings to the pitch.
Franchise of the Year – Toronto FC (UFC) – Between the ticket sales, the reaching out to the community, the fan support, the stadium from day one and the assembly of a competitive team, UFC simply has buried the rest of the league off the pitch.
Runner-up: FC Dallas – The Hoops seem to slowly be hooking into a solid fanbase in their new digs. The team hired a coach that is not afraid to shake things up in Steve Morrow. I mean the guy give the armband to Ruiz then benches him once he starts to fade. That will get you the respect of your team and it sends a great message that you have to work hard every week to stay on the pitch. The Richetti and Toja signings are also amongst the tops in the league.
Biggest Disappointment – The Amado Guevara Situation – OK, trade a DP allocation for a career mercurial player, then cut him from the team when he plays the way he always has. There are gutsy moves by coaches or front offices and then there are monumentally idiotic moves and this one qualifies as the latter, particularly for a club such as Chivas USA which could score some seriously bank on a designated player. Was I alone in thinking that they would be one of the first clubs to us this new toy? Now, the club has no true star and no DP allocation until 2010.
Runner-up: Houston Dynamo – If there was one team that spit in the face of the designated player rule it was the Dynamo. The one saving grace for this team has been the announcement of “going exclusive” with downtown Houston for a stadium. Let’s hope this happens because, it would be an instant front runner for best ground in the league.
Biggest Surprise – Quality of Play – Wasn’t there a talent diluting expansion draft this past year, which Mo turned into his personal swap meet? Note: Not one of the players selected in the expansion draft ever stepped foot on the pitch for Toronto in an MLS match. Instead of talent dilution, MLS countered the effect with the passage of the designated player rule that did exactly what everyone hoped it would do. Get David Beckham! Just kidding, but not really. The acquisition of Becks paved the way for talented players such as Andy Welsh, Carl Robinson, Guillermo Barros Schelotto, Carlos Marinelli and many others who may have not considered MLS without his presence. The additional spotlight created by this and the new TV contracts has created and great incentive for players who typically regard the regular season as next to worthless.
Runner-up: KC Wizards – While Carlos Marinelli is no small addition, Curt Onolfo has been the difference maker and has embrace entertaining soccer at all costs.
MLS creates YouTube Channel
Following in the footsteps of the NHL and MLB, not much else to say. I guess it can’t hurt.
Team to Know
Making it to the final 16 of the Lamar Hunt US Open Cup: Lynch’s Irish Pub. The boy’s from Jacksonville’s finest tap travel to Charlotte to take on USL-2’s Eagles on June 12th.
Quote of the Week:
“I tend to not concentrate the whole 90 minutes” – Jeff Cunningham to The Globe and Mail this week.
FIFA Says Getting High is Bad
Last week FIFA has banned international matches in stadiums above 8,200 feet sea level for health related reasons. Unfortunately, nemesis to the US national team, Stadio Azteca, sits at 7,800 feet above sea level. Amazingly that is over 2,800 feet above Denver's Mile High Field. No mention of any minimum air quality standards. A FIFA sanctioned air quality rule might do more to save the earth than 50 Al Gores!
Beckham’s Recall and MLS
David Beckham has been recalled by skittish England skipper Steve McClarren onto a desperate side for an upcoming Euro 2008 qualifier again opening the door for the uninformed MLS boo-bird from across the pond continue to trash the league. I just have to ask, where the hell to these fools get off bashing MLS? Their team is worried about a match with Estonia!!! Is that what the “supremacy” of the EPL gets you? This from the league where Teddy Sherringham continues to play? Players that are expected to struggle against Estonia? I watched “The Miracle Match” (a.k.a. The Game of their Lives” this weekend and it contained the perfect line about the British. “Just because they invented the game they believe it is their God given right to be the best at it.” Now, the entire island can’t see that their best day of their national team are well behind them. Only in betting parlours across the UK did anyone realistically think that the team that showed up for World Cup 2006 had a chance in hell in taking home the trophy.
Last week, Becks correctly stated that his conditioning will be better that it currently is after his first Galaxy tour due to the demands of playing in MLS in heat and style of play. This statement was met with dismissals from the likes of Sir Bobby and current teammate Ruud Van Nistelroy lamenting the summer move of Becks. The same papers that wrote Beckham off six months ago are now crying over his eminent departure from so-called “top flight football.” Certainly any football fan can see that there is a gap in the quality of play between the top American level and the top leagues in Europe, but while the sensationalists will describe this gap to be roughly the distance of Los Angeles and the last recognized planet in our galaxy, reality would place it much closer than that. Witness that every player that has made the leap from England or other top flight areas express surprise at the level of play in MLS. UFC’s Robinson continues to play for Wales as his manager made the astounding statement that he would make his decision on Robinson based on his current form rather than geography. What a novel concept! This policy paid off as Robinson rated above the likes of Ryan Giggs and Simon Davies in the most recent friendly with New Zealand according to the Daily Post. Luckily for MLS fans and Becks, McClerran has affirmed that despite playing in MLS, Beckham will be counted on, depending on form, throughout the Euro 2008 campaign.
For MLS this is a double edged sword. Thousands of tickets have been sold on the promise of the global superstar being on the pitch for the Gals. And man do they need him! The Galaxy currently sit in last place in the combined MLS table. Another challenge for the Galaxy and other MLS front offices is the lack of understanding about international duties among the casual American sports fans expected to turnout in droves for Becks. At the same time, MLS could have the good fortune of having a current England national team player on their league. If he continues to play for her Majesty’s team after while plying his trade with the Galaxy, the profile of MLS will be raised beyond its wildest expectations and may help shatter this retirement/semi-pro league moniker that the league has been saddled with overseas. However, MLS believes it can consistently attract this level of player it will have to begin to adhere to the international calendar. This summer the depth of MLS rosters will be tested like never before and while the growing reserve system helps offset this problem, nothing makes up for losing all the top players for league matches.
Here is a list of affected matches that and FIFA dates that may cause a problem with Lalas and Becks:
Aug 10 DC United (a)
Aug 13 New England (a)
Aug 15 Friendly v Germany (h)
Sep 2 Real Salt Lake (h)
Sept 8 Euro qual v Israel (h)
Sep 9 Colorado (h)
Sept 12 Euro qual v Russia (h)
Sep 14 Chivas (a)
Oct 13 Euro qual v Estonia (h)
Oct 14 Toronto (h)
Oct 17 Euro qual v Russia (a)
Oct 19 New York (h)
Nov 21 Euro qual v Croatia (h)
Dynamo meet the Prez
Dero and the boys got to press the flesh with George W. Bush Tuesday as he congratulated the team for their MLS Cup victory. Thanks to the efforts of Houston retailer, Lucho, the reigning champs will be stylin! Lucho tailored 26 custom suits complete with orange and gold ties for free. Maybe they could get some tips from him and Karl Rove on how to steal a victory or two. It might help them out on their current campaign.
Euro-Snob of the Week
This goes out to new soccer “fan” ESPN’s Bill Simmons who pledged his allegiance to Spurs after loving the World Cup so much. So first the former-Boston Sports Guy disses his local team for a foreign club based on reader suggestions, which is about as low as one can get in my book. Then in his recent continuing series of why he loves sports, he finds the MLS DirectKick commercial offering every MLS game for $74.95 guffaw worthy. Bill, if you need some guffaws or just straight laughter look at how much ink, money and time you’ve devoted to the Celtics over the last year. That is something to laugh or more likely cry at! The NBA lottery was just deserts for you buddy.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (3-4)
SEASON (15-27)
Colorado v. Toronto – Toronto was always going to be amongst the teams most hurt by International callup. Take the Rapids here.
RSL v. Revs – Another depleted team, the Revs, will fall as a full strength RSL gets their first win on the road.
RBNY v. KC – The Wizards made the first part of the statement last week, now they make the second part of that statement topping The Flagship.
DC v. LA – One of the hottest teams in the league against one of the coldest. DC over the languishing Gals. Boo birds come out at the HDC.
Hoops v. Dynamo – The I-41 rivalry and “El Capitan” is on the line. Without DeRo on the pitch the Dynamo focus more on the flanks. Brad Davis and Brian Mullan start targeting Brian Ching and the Dynamo get a much needed win.
Crew v. FIRE – Was there ever a match that had more of a draw feel around it? Oh, that was last week’s game vs. RSL that I picked wrong. Two teams looking distinguish themselves.
Podcast:
The Dynamo Power Hour with Glenn Davis
These broadcasts are taking on a bit of a funeral type feel these days aren’t they?
(NOTE: If you know a Podcast that needs to be added please let me know and post a link)
Thursday, May 24, 2007
US Soccer Snob’s US Soccer Update – 5/24/07
MLS Week 7 – A step backwards
This weekend we were treated to some terrible soccer (and weather) almost across the board. Luckily there were a few moments of brilliance sprinkled between the hacking and incomplete passes.
Wednesday
Toronto v. Dynamo - Nothing can keep these fans away from the madhouse on the lake. Can 2,000 DeRo supporters be wrong? They were last Wednesday and Houston got outplayed and new acquisition Joseph Ngenyna made like his predecessor, Alejandro Moreno and squandered a couple of prime scoring opportunities. Andy Welsh slammed home a Ronnie O’Brien free kick to send the Torontonians into a frenzy. Most amazing stat of the day: Complaints by Mo: 0. More on this later.
Thursday
FIRE v. Dallas – Another Brimstone Cup match, another Dallas win. Dallas outclasses the FIRE for 65 minutes and then managed to hang on for a 2-1 victory over the home team. Juan Toja was the man of the match in my book. His dominance across the field kept the 32 FIRE defenders fielded by mini-Coach “Defensive” Dave scrambling all evening. After Kenny Cooper almost broke the stage side Toyota Park crossbar in the 54th minute with a screamer from well outside the box, Toja doubled the Dallas advantage in the 60th with a rocket that would have scored without the slight deflection by Logan Pause. The FIRE with the fresh injection of Brian Plotkin, Thiago, and Chad Barrett besieged the Dallas goal for the remainder of the match and converted in the 73rd minute after Thiago won a ball from two Dallas defenders, split two more with a pass to Barrett, which was crossed to an on rushing Calen Carr. Carr poked the ball past Sala to halve the lead. The FIRE almost leveled in the match when Thiago slammed a Justin Mapp corner into the near post. This match revealed that the FIRE can no longer afford to play converted defenders such as Gonzalo Segares, Ivan Guererro and Robinson as midfielders and expect them to cover for an aging central defensive tandem of CJ Brown and Chris Armas. Armas in particular looks like he aged ten years in the off season.
Saturday
Toronto v. DC United – Now here’s a game brought to you by Mo Johnston! UGLY! The first half lacked any cohesion whatsoever, but did bring the interesting footnote of Aleko Eskandarian scoring his first non-DC United goal vs. DC United. Aside from that, there was little to take away from the first half aside from the foul festival that is becoming commonplace at BMO field. I mean, we are talking about a team that is coached by a man who thought a red card was too harsh when one of his players tried to bite an opponent. DC was flat until the insertion of Guy-Roland Kpene in the 56th minute for walking yellow card Facundo Erpen who was on the verge of earning his second of the match. Shortly thereafter, DC tied the match off a Bobcat Goldthwaite own goal and continued pressing. In the 79th minute a great over the top ball found Luciano Emilio who was subsequently dragged down in the box by TFC’s Marvell Wynne. You guessed it, Mo didn’t agree with the call. That made no difference to Jamie Moreno, who tied Jason Kreis’ MLS all time goal record with a well struck penalty kick. Moreno who has only been able to score via the spot this season may well be running on fumes, despite his recent call-up to the Bolivian national side.
RBNY vs. Crew – I didn’t get to see too much of this game, but I did witness Dane Richards ROY campaign take another step forward with a great cross to ageless journeyman John Wolyniec for the opener. After that, Columbus pretty much got hammered into the ground by a merciless Red Bull side. The Red Bulls did very well considering they had to deal with the shock of Claudio Reyna not on the roster due to injury. Ronny Waterrus and Young Jozy were not on the pitch either with Waterrus nursing an injury and Jozy going to a Prom. Props to Bruce for letting Altidore attend an important event. There will be plenty of more games for him to take part in. I think Arena knows what he has on his hands in NYC and it should scare the hell out of anyone who loves MLS. I mean anyone, because it is clear to tell from attendance that no one in NY/NJ loves MLS.
Dynamo v. Revs – Shalrie Joseph fires a low liner past Pat Onstad early on to give the Revs all they needed against a tepid Dynamo attack. The Dynamo look very lost at the moment and might start to think about some serious changes. Rarely this year have Brian Ching, DeRo, Brad Davis and Joelajandro Dagrenya look close to being on the same page.
Colorado v. Wizards – Thank God for HDNet! That is so exclusive no one except Mark Cuban can watch the games! The draw here saw Carlos Marinelli back on the pitch, which is good news for KC’s fans. The fan base that has the distinction of putting up a “no rating” on their local TV game broadcasts according to the KC Star. That is sub 0.1 territory which means that less than 900 or so TV’s were tuned to the match. That’s got to hurt more than Jimmy Conrad’s jaw!
Sunday
Chivas v. Galaxy – Superclassico and another “sell out”! Ever watch a match with no connection between either teams midfielders and their strikers? Watch this on MLS replay and you’ll be able to claim that distinction. Tough match for spectators and that includes those lying down on blanket on Lalas hill.
Dallas v. RSL – A great Sunday afternoon crowd witnessed yet another droll first half , which gave way to a RSL showcase (and Jeff Cunningham swan song) in the second half. But the RSL Williams/Adu show was stolen by Dallas’ finishing, including the no-look Goal of the Week stunner launched by Chris Gbandi in the 82nd minute. I was shocked to see that eight cautions were issued in this match. What is this? Toronto?
Friendly Notes:
This week LA fell to Rangers 1-0 at the Home Depot Center while Toronto held Benefica to a scoreless draw. Not to bad all things considered. What other conclusions are there to draw from this?
Sheva open to America
According to the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle, Chelsea striker came away from last summers MLS All Star game impressed enough to move him to the following statements about the league. Shevchenko said: "I would like to play there, actually. Soccer is growing in the US and I'd like to be a part of that. I played there last summer against the MLS All-Stars and I saw myself that it's definitely improving.” Upon reading this, Alexi Lalas picked up the phone.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (2-6)
SEASON (12-23)
Thursday
FIRE vs. RBNY – As much as it hurts, I’ve got to go with the Red Bulls on this one. Bruce has got the whole team playing up to (Richards) and beyond (Mathis) their potential. With Angel getting familiar with his surrounding, the FIRE’s terrible (there I said it) central defense will look stupid all night.
Saturday
Wizards vs. Revs – The Revs keep winning, but something tells me that Marinelli and the Wizards will be able to get a draw out of this one.
TFC vs. Crew – The TFC UFC takes on the Crew (who’s logo is probably more appropriate for the visitors given their style of brawl ball). Toronto gets their first road win here in a shoot out.
Dynamo vs. DCU – Tommy’s boys are back on track as Dominic continues to look for answers and Saturday night at RFK is no place to search for those answers. I’ll take DCU comfortably.
Galaxy vs. Rapids – All Rapids all the way here. Jacob Peterson and Connor Casey got some much needed time in the Rapids mid-week Open Cup victory over RSL. Look for these players to have a role in this match.
FCD vs. Chivas – Steve Morrow figured something out over the last month and it is going to be trouble for any team in FCD’s path. Chivas’ midfield is having some difficulty in connecting to its attacking players and Pablo Ricchetti will ensure that remains the case.
Sunday
RSL vs. FIRE – Woe is RSL. This team is too good to continue to struggle the way they are, but alas, their struggles will not end on the road. The FIRE win their first in four and Carr begins to make a name for himself.
New Soccer Basher Enemy: Norman Chad – It’s great when a nationally syndicated writer uses every opportunity to bash MLS. Find his articles your own! I mean this stuff is hold over anti-soccer junk from days begone.
Euro-Snobs of the Week
The AP ran an article about two twenty year old American college students, Dan Dahlin and Ian Smith, who won tickets to the Champions League final via a UEFA lottery. Good for them, until the last quote of the page came up. When asked about David Beckham’s move to the Galaxy Smith quipped, "He's obviously shifting away from soccer to the movies." Obviously!!! Bite me Ian!
Writer of the Week:
Brian Dohn for this nice piece.
Podcast:
The Dynamo Power Hour with Glenn Davis special guest Marcus Hahnemann.
(P.S. – Is Thomas Rongren the spokes person for Danish Inspirations?)
NEXT WEEK: Early Season MLS Awards
This weekend we were treated to some terrible soccer (and weather) almost across the board. Luckily there were a few moments of brilliance sprinkled between the hacking and incomplete passes.
Wednesday
Toronto v. Dynamo - Nothing can keep these fans away from the madhouse on the lake. Can 2,000 DeRo supporters be wrong? They were last Wednesday and Houston got outplayed and new acquisition Joseph Ngenyna made like his predecessor, Alejandro Moreno and squandered a couple of prime scoring opportunities. Andy Welsh slammed home a Ronnie O’Brien free kick to send the Torontonians into a frenzy. Most amazing stat of the day: Complaints by Mo: 0. More on this later.
Thursday
FIRE v. Dallas – Another Brimstone Cup match, another Dallas win. Dallas outclasses the FIRE for 65 minutes and then managed to hang on for a 2-1 victory over the home team. Juan Toja was the man of the match in my book. His dominance across the field kept the 32 FIRE defenders fielded by mini-Coach “Defensive” Dave scrambling all evening. After Kenny Cooper almost broke the stage side Toyota Park crossbar in the 54th minute with a screamer from well outside the box, Toja doubled the Dallas advantage in the 60th with a rocket that would have scored without the slight deflection by Logan Pause. The FIRE with the fresh injection of Brian Plotkin, Thiago, and Chad Barrett besieged the Dallas goal for the remainder of the match and converted in the 73rd minute after Thiago won a ball from two Dallas defenders, split two more with a pass to Barrett, which was crossed to an on rushing Calen Carr. Carr poked the ball past Sala to halve the lead. The FIRE almost leveled in the match when Thiago slammed a Justin Mapp corner into the near post. This match revealed that the FIRE can no longer afford to play converted defenders such as Gonzalo Segares, Ivan Guererro and Robinson as midfielders and expect them to cover for an aging central defensive tandem of CJ Brown and Chris Armas. Armas in particular looks like he aged ten years in the off season.
Saturday
Toronto v. DC United – Now here’s a game brought to you by Mo Johnston! UGLY! The first half lacked any cohesion whatsoever, but did bring the interesting footnote of Aleko Eskandarian scoring his first non-DC United goal vs. DC United. Aside from that, there was little to take away from the first half aside from the foul festival that is becoming commonplace at BMO field. I mean, we are talking about a team that is coached by a man who thought a red card was too harsh when one of his players tried to bite an opponent. DC was flat until the insertion of Guy-Roland Kpene in the 56th minute for walking yellow card Facundo Erpen who was on the verge of earning his second of the match. Shortly thereafter, DC tied the match off a Bobcat Goldthwaite own goal and continued pressing. In the 79th minute a great over the top ball found Luciano Emilio who was subsequently dragged down in the box by TFC’s Marvell Wynne. You guessed it, Mo didn’t agree with the call. That made no difference to Jamie Moreno, who tied Jason Kreis’ MLS all time goal record with a well struck penalty kick. Moreno who has only been able to score via the spot this season may well be running on fumes, despite his recent call-up to the Bolivian national side.
RBNY vs. Crew – I didn’t get to see too much of this game, but I did witness Dane Richards ROY campaign take another step forward with a great cross to ageless journeyman John Wolyniec for the opener. After that, Columbus pretty much got hammered into the ground by a merciless Red Bull side. The Red Bulls did very well considering they had to deal with the shock of Claudio Reyna not on the roster due to injury. Ronny Waterrus and Young Jozy were not on the pitch either with Waterrus nursing an injury and Jozy going to a Prom. Props to Bruce for letting Altidore attend an important event. There will be plenty of more games for him to take part in. I think Arena knows what he has on his hands in NYC and it should scare the hell out of anyone who loves MLS. I mean anyone, because it is clear to tell from attendance that no one in NY/NJ loves MLS.
Dynamo v. Revs – Shalrie Joseph fires a low liner past Pat Onstad early on to give the Revs all they needed against a tepid Dynamo attack. The Dynamo look very lost at the moment and might start to think about some serious changes. Rarely this year have Brian Ching, DeRo, Brad Davis and Joelajandro Dagrenya look close to being on the same page.
Colorado v. Wizards – Thank God for HDNet! That is so exclusive no one except Mark Cuban can watch the games! The draw here saw Carlos Marinelli back on the pitch, which is good news for KC’s fans. The fan base that has the distinction of putting up a “no rating” on their local TV game broadcasts according to the KC Star. That is sub 0.1 territory which means that less than 900 or so TV’s were tuned to the match. That’s got to hurt more than Jimmy Conrad’s jaw!
Sunday
Chivas v. Galaxy – Superclassico and another “sell out”! Ever watch a match with no connection between either teams midfielders and their strikers? Watch this on MLS replay and you’ll be able to claim that distinction. Tough match for spectators and that includes those lying down on blanket on Lalas hill.
Dallas v. RSL – A great Sunday afternoon crowd witnessed yet another droll first half , which gave way to a RSL showcase (and Jeff Cunningham swan song) in the second half. But the RSL Williams/Adu show was stolen by Dallas’ finishing, including the no-look Goal of the Week stunner launched by Chris Gbandi in the 82nd minute. I was shocked to see that eight cautions were issued in this match. What is this? Toronto?
Friendly Notes:
This week LA fell to Rangers 1-0 at the Home Depot Center while Toronto held Benefica to a scoreless draw. Not to bad all things considered. What other conclusions are there to draw from this?
Sheva open to America
According to the Evening Chronicle in Newcastle, Chelsea striker came away from last summers MLS All Star game impressed enough to move him to the following statements about the league. Shevchenko said: "I would like to play there, actually. Soccer is growing in the US and I'd like to be a part of that. I played there last summer against the MLS All-Stars and I saw myself that it's definitely improving.” Upon reading this, Alexi Lalas picked up the phone.
MLS Prediction Central
Last Week (2-6)
SEASON (12-23)
Thursday
FIRE vs. RBNY – As much as it hurts, I’ve got to go with the Red Bulls on this one. Bruce has got the whole team playing up to (Richards) and beyond (Mathis) their potential. With Angel getting familiar with his surrounding, the FIRE’s terrible (there I said it) central defense will look stupid all night.
Saturday
Wizards vs. Revs – The Revs keep winning, but something tells me that Marinelli and the Wizards will be able to get a draw out of this one.
TFC vs. Crew – The TFC UFC takes on the Crew (who’s logo is probably more appropriate for the visitors given their style of brawl ball). Toronto gets their first road win here in a shoot out.
Dynamo vs. DCU – Tommy’s boys are back on track as Dominic continues to look for answers and Saturday night at RFK is no place to search for those answers. I’ll take DCU comfortably.
Galaxy vs. Rapids – All Rapids all the way here. Jacob Peterson and Connor Casey got some much needed time in the Rapids mid-week Open Cup victory over RSL. Look for these players to have a role in this match.
FCD vs. Chivas – Steve Morrow figured something out over the last month and it is going to be trouble for any team in FCD’s path. Chivas’ midfield is having some difficulty in connecting to its attacking players and Pablo Ricchetti will ensure that remains the case.
Sunday
RSL vs. FIRE – Woe is RSL. This team is too good to continue to struggle the way they are, but alas, their struggles will not end on the road. The FIRE win their first in four and Carr begins to make a name for himself.
New Soccer Basher Enemy: Norman Chad – It’s great when a nationally syndicated writer uses every opportunity to bash MLS. Find his articles your own! I mean this stuff is hold over anti-soccer junk from days begone.
Euro-Snobs of the Week
The AP ran an article about two twenty year old American college students, Dan Dahlin and Ian Smith, who won tickets to the Champions League final via a UEFA lottery. Good for them, until the last quote of the page came up. When asked about David Beckham’s move to the Galaxy Smith quipped, "He's obviously shifting away from soccer to the movies." Obviously!!! Bite me Ian!
Writer of the Week:
Brian Dohn for this nice piece.
Podcast:
The Dynamo Power Hour with Glenn Davis special guest Marcus Hahnemann.
(P.S. – Is Thomas Rongren the spokes person for Danish Inspirations?)
NEXT WEEK: Early Season MLS Awards
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
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
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