That's Why He's Here

When It Rains...

2007-08-17T10:11:00.000-07:00

American Soccer Daily is reporting that former U.S. international Eddie Lewis will be joining fellow American Benny Feilhaber at Premiership club Derby County. This news comes only hours after the club announced that Feilhaber had received international clearance from the German and English FAs. It appears now that for some English clubs, when it rains, it pours. Derby County now joins the likes of Reading and Fulham as Premier League clubs with two or more American internationals on the books.

This is a rather bizarre trend if I might say so myself, but I certainly can't complain. What's even stranger is that Derby had also earlier attempted to purchase Eddie Johnson from MLS' Kansas City Wizards (Johnson nixed the deal). America is now seen by many clubs as a bargain basement for solid talent. Whether this is a legitimate reflection of the talent of these American players is debateable, but it certainly indicates both a growing respect for American soccer as well as the continued ignorance of the technical skill and value of many of our best internationals. Change will still be a long time coming.

Jersey Sponsors in MLS

2007-08-16T09:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, MLS club Houston Dynamo announced a new jersey sponsorship with Houston-based energy firm Amigo Energy. Reputedly, the deal is worth around $7.5 million through 2010, numbers which would net the club around $2 million per year. While some might criticze the look of the jersey (personally, nothing is as bad as the old Galaxy - Herbalife jerseys, and let's not even talk about some foreign sponsors like Doritos, Ty (yeah, the Beanie Baby people), and Bimbo), no one can criticize their club for hauling in a few extra million dollars a year in revenue (even I'd wear a Ty-sponsored jersey if they were giving my club major money). While MLS' structure is such that this money won't necessarily translate to player acquisition, it does mean that already financially fledling franchises can make things much, much easier on themselves.

Sponsorships are themselves always a hit-or-miss situation. Look at the Herbalife situation in LA. If it weren't bad enough that the logo looks ugly (although the Galaxy's new jerseys have improved the look dramatically), the company itself is a dubious pyramid scheme. However, Chivas are sponsored by Mexican paint company Comex, and their jerseys look perfectly acceptable. Likewise, Toronto is sponsored by Canadian-based BMO (Bank of Montreal). The team not only sports a classy organization but they also sport some of the classiest jerseys in the league.

San Jose Returns

2007-07-17T15:42:00.001-07:00

While there were plenty of other news-worthy items I could have picked up today, this is what I'm posting:

The San Jose Earthquakes are returning to the MLS fold, says Sports Illustrated and the San Jose Business Journal. Even the MLS Jobs Listing page seems to indicate as much.

I have nothing to say except that I'm going to be drinking several beers tonight in celebrationl. If any of you ever wondered why the old In Limbo blog disappeared off the face of the earth, AEG's decision to move the Earthquakes was the dagger in the heart that spurred its demise. While I never stopped following MLS or loving soccer, my interest waned enough that I called blogging quits. Well, fret no longer, it looks like I and the Earthquakes are here to stay.

Five Beckham Truths

2007-07-14T09:09:00.000-07:00

You may have already noticed that many of the articles about David Beckham have been decidedly negative. However, it's important to point out that they're written by an older breed of sports journalist who tend to know literally nothing about the sport. ESPN talking heads (I'm looking at your Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless) attempt to pass off heated opinions as actual intelligence and insight (Jim Rome has made a lot of money doing this over the years) when in reality they really know nothing (Skip Bayless' argument that LeBron James has accomplished more over his career than David Beckham speaks to an ignorance comparable only with everyone's favorite Iraqi information minister, Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf). Here are five truths to help educate them:

Truth #1 - America is not "indifferent" to soccer.

I'm quoting Gene Wojciechowski above, who wrote in his most recent article that July 13, 2007 may be remembered as "the latest example of this country's indifference to a sport the rest of the world adores." He's right about one thing, the world does adore soccer (or football as they all call it), but he's wrong that this country is indifferent. Perhaps Gene would have had a point after the collapse of the NASL in the early eighties, but certainly not now. Not when the Gold Cup Final is drawing TV ratings 41 percent higher than the Stanley Cup Final. Not when the World Cup Final is drawing a bigger audience in American households than the much-revered World Series. Not when millions of American children are playing the game in parks across the country every day. Not when the U.S.'s predominantly soccer-loving Hispanic population adds sixty-seven million more members by 2050. This country is about as indifferent to soccer as I am to beautiful women, that is to say, not at all.

Truth #2 - Soccer is more popular in the United States now than it ever has been before.

A recent poll on ESPN.com asks its readers "Will soccer ever achieve the popularity it once had in the United States again?" This of course presumes that it's not currently as popular as it once was (when do they mean?), and this is not true. The great myth being pedalled here is that the NASL was the height of soccer's popularity in America. This speaks to a New York bias prevalent both in the political and the sports arenas that tends to ignore the opinions of the rest of the country. One could argue that New Yorkers were more interested in American league soccer in the 1970s than they are today, but to argue that it was more popular in all of America is simply not true. The NASL folded in part because of spending beyond its modest means, but it also folded because it was just not profitable in enough markets nationwide. However, as the television ratings mentioned above indicate, Americans (of which Hispanics actually comprise a part, contrary to Wojciechowski's xenophobic exclusion thereof) do tend to watch and enjoy soccer. Such ratings would have been unfathomable even ten years ago. Couple these ratings with steadily rising MLS attendance numbers, more television contracts, more profitability, and continued success on the international level, American soccer has never been more popular, ESPN's protestations to the contrary.

Truth #3 - Beckham is an accomplished player.

Earlier I mentioned Skip Bayless on Cold Pizza suggesting that LeBron James had already accomplished more in his career than Beckham ever has in his. Maybe I'm wrong here, but it's my understanding that James has never won an NBA title. Compare that with David Beckham, a player who has scored goals in three World Cups, won the Champions League, the English Premier League, and now La Liga, and I fail to see the comparison. In fact, the only American athlete who has made as many comparable achievements is Tiger Woods, an athlete who has won nearly all the most important titles in his respective sport. Beckham hasn't won the World Cup but he has won just about every major European club trophy that matters in his career. What is left for him to accomplish other than winning the World Cup or the Euro Cup?

Truth #4 - Beckham is still a great player.

Gene Wojciechowski's (by now I can write this name without even having to look up its spelling, how sad) first article quoted a "soccer expert" who claimed that "Beckham is past his prime." Nothing could be further from the truth. Beckham is coming off a complete rejuvenation of his career, having inspired Real Madrid to its first La Liga title in four years and having won himself a starting spot with the English National Team only a half-year after coach Steve McClaren declared that Beckham no longer had a place in his plans. Perhaps Wojciechowski's so-called "expert" may have had a case back in January when Beckham was riding the pine in Madrid and desperate to leave, but her case looks absolutely foolish now. Couple this with the renown in which Beckham is still held in international circles for his crossing ability and his strength on a dead ball, and you have a player who is still among the very best at his position in the world.

Truth #5 - Newsflash: Major League Soccer is the highest level of professional soccer in America!

I've never understood the need to call MLS "minor league," but c'est la vie. Certainly, it's had its unprofessional elements (the San Jose Earthquakes used to practice at a community college and change behind a shed), but with over half the teams now playing in soccer specific stadia, the facilities are no longer the culprit. While the salary disparity between Beckham and Jeff Curtin (who I recently interviewed) is vast, this is an area that MLS will improve because of the money that David Beckham will be bringing to the league. Ultimately, while MLS is no English Premier League or even La Primera División del Futbol Mexicano, it's still the premier league in the United States and its getting better every year. Beckham will only help raise the standard of the league even further.

So you don't like soccer? Tough. But millions of us do (interestingly, the ESPN poll above shows that over 50% of the respondents actually watch soccer on a regular basis, a pretty sizeable margin in the grand scheme of the cluttered American sports market). So get over it already.

The Rebranding and Return of In Limbo

2007-07-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

In Limbo is back...sort of.

I'll be posting longer articles on Scaryice's Climbing the Ladder every Thursday (oh geez, I did this today...It's A Hard Knock Life (For Them)). Here I'll be contributing pithy thoughts and any other information I can muster.

I'd also like to thank Chris Bailey with the Chicago Fire Media Relations for setting up my interviews with Curtin and Russolillo. He mentioned to me that Osorio's position is to remind the players that while they might not make much by American standards, it's even more difficult to be in their position in other countries, particularly South America. Once again, thanks Chris!

So look for posts every now and then, and you can bet I'll be linking to my articles every Thursday.

BIG UPDATE: NEW MOVE!

2006-07-26T21:43:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone, I'm really sorry that I haven't posted in so long. I was dying during the World Cup, but my duties at work have prevented me from blogging. Well, our friend at Climbing the Ladder, has given me the opportunity to post an article on his site every Thursday. So check it out beginning tomorrow, and every Thursday.

Ownage

2006-05-26T08:51:00.000-07:00

Guess who's back? No, not me, although it has been too long, but your San Jose Earthquakes of course! It all started Tuesday when it was announced on MLSnet that there was going to be a special expansion-related announcement made by Commissioner Garber on Wednesday afternoon. Later that night, it surfaced, somewhat obscurely, on Major League Baseball's official website that on Wednesday there was going to be an announcement about a venture between Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff and Major League Soccer. This was confirmed definitively later that evening when the always-reliable Matchnight reported that Major League Soccer was going to announce a return to the Bay Area in a press conference on Wednesday. Naturally, on Wednesday it was indeed confirmed that Wolff and his associate, John Fisher, had made a deal with MLS giving them three years in which they are given priority as an expansion franchise.

This news came only a day after news that San Jose State University, in a move of crushing humility, announced that they were hiring an outside managing firm for the now tenant-less Spartan Stadium. It should come as no surprise that without the Earthquakes as a primary tenant, Spartan becomes practically useless and costly for those other eight, non-football months. It's unclear whether the officials at SJSU believed that AEG was bluffing, but from what we know of the negotiations, it's obvious they thought that they could get a sweetheart deal. That of course didn't happen and now their former tenants are playing at Robertson Stadium in Houston, Texas. The timing of both this article and the expansion announcement is funny, if not also a little ironic. Whether Spartan is in Wolff's plans, whether as a permanent solution or as a temporary option, remains to be seen, but you can't help but think it has to warm Don Kassing's heart just a little.

Of course, this three year deal does not mean that San Jose will be receiving an expansion franchise anytime soon, or even at all, this is all still contingent on a soccer specific stadium. However, the only thing that Wolff wants is the land and transportation access. According to the San Jose Mercury News: "If San Jose or another Bay Area city is willing to donate the land and pay for related road improvements, Oakland A's owner Lew Wolff will build a stadium and deliver a Major League Soccer team to replace the departed Earthquakes." Or, in Wolff's own words: "We think we have a concept of financing that's a little bit hybrid between public financing and private financing." If Santa Clara is an option, either at the Fairgrounds property, or near the Great America amusement park, a stadium plan would not require a public vote like it would in San Jose. Either way, what the public needs to be aware of is that this will cost them almost nothing.

What's most important about this move though, not only for the team, but for MLS as well, is the public visibility of the owners involved. Indeed, just as Dave Checketts is a huge name in Salt Lake City sports, Wolff and his associates are big in the Bay Area and owners of a successful Major League Baseball franchise. Already articles from sports journalists who typically ignored the Earthquakes, such as Ray Ratto, have begun appearing in Bay Area newspapers. This is the kind of publicity you can't buy, and it's all because of the local visibility of the owners. However, this move is equally as important for MLS, since it means getting an ownership group that is already committed and experienced with another franchise in another league. Certainly, AEG owns other sporting franchises, but Wolff is not a faceless conglomerate, nor does he want to create an entertainment center (like stadia in Dallas, Chicago, and Colorado demonstrate), but a true soccer home for the San Jose Earthquakes.

This is a step in the right direction, not only for the Earthquakes and their fans, but also for MLS. By getting a committment from the ownership group, MLS has sent a signal to all other potential expansion cities that says: "Step up, front the fee, and promise a stadium, and you can get a team." Not only that, but it puts MLS right back where they wanted it, in one of America's largest television markets. This is a win-win move for the league.

Power Rankings (What week is this?)

2006-05-05T08:49:00.000-07:00

1. D.C. United - They were held to a draw against Dallas, but not because they weren't trying. Had Dario Sala not decided to play the best game of his short MLS career, D.C. wins. Freddy Adu stepped up big time, burning Greg Vanney time after time. Another solid from Ben Olsen as well. One must wonder how this team's going to do when Olsen is gone. Can Clyde Simms play well in that defensive midfielder spot alongside Brian Carroll?

2. FC Dallas - Dallas got a huge road point against a tough United team. Yes, as mentioned above, Sala bailed them out. However, this team's fighting for one another, something we didn't see last year. They're the best team in the West currently but Houston is nipping at their heels.

3. Kansas City Wizards - Phew! That was close! I almost thought we were seeing a completely different Wizards team then, bang! Reality! A 1-0 victory just one week after a pathetic 2-1 loss to Dallas. All those goals this team was pouring on earlier this season, that dynamic offense everyone spoke of, yeah...what happened to that? It'll be interesting to see what Gansler does now that Wolff and Johnson are gone. However, where most teams would struggle with their two primary strikers out, Kansas City should be fine (if lacking depth) with Scott Sealy and Davy Arnaud.

4. Houston Dynamo - The Chinger will be gone for two months, what's Houston's reaction? What else is new? Kinnear dealt with Ching's lengthy absences last season and guided the team onto a record setting season. This team will be fine as long as Dwayne DeRosario is playing. The question is whether Ronald Cerritos still has it left in him. If he does, watch out.

5. LA Galaxy - What in the world is this team going to look like without Chris Albright and Landon Donovan? Most importantly, Landon. I shudder at the thought.

6. Chicago Fire - This has been a weird season. Teams that looked good one week will look terrible the next. Outside of the top four teams, clubs have been sliding all over the power rankings. Chicago goes from eleventh place just a few weeks ago to six this week. Huh? Well, the Fire played a solid (if unspectacular and boring) game against the Revolution, grinding out a well-earned victory. Sarachan has to be pretty happy with the results so far this season. The Fire have tied two and won one in four road games. Only five more to go. (And was that Thiago goal pretty or what?)

7. New England Revolution - Ugly, ugly loss. At home no less. However, instead of losing both Twellman and Dempsey to the World Cup, they'll only be losing Dempsey (Dorman should fill in admirably). I wonder though, how well Twellman will cope with the World Cup slight.

8. Chivas USA - A draw at home against the weak New York Red Bulls shouldn't be very encouraging to Bob Bradley after a promising start. Losing O'Brien and potentially Suarez until July does not look good either. However, this team should be able to cope, but last week it took some Herculean goalkeeping from Brad Guzan to preserve their 0-0 tie. Bradley needs to motivate his troops quickly, and if he couldn't do it against his old club, what should make us think he can do it against anyone else?

9. New York Red Bulls - They played tough against Chivas and nearly won were it not for Brad Guzan. However, this team still has serious issues and still hasn't won a game this season. Fortunately for them, no one from their squad will be travelling to the World Cup, but their form this season has been seriously troubling. Solid play from Mike Magee is encouraging though.

10. Colorado Rapids - Sigh. Another loss to Houston. Another Brian Ching goal. Can we just say that Colorado is single-handedly responsible for Ching's appearance on Arena's 23 man roster? (I kid, I kid).

11. Columbus Crew - Another loss, both in the standings and on the roster. Hejduk, who they thought was going to be out for the World Cup (which seemed bad enough) tore his ACL and is now gone for the entire season. This team just can't catch a break.

12. Real Salt Lake - At least they scored a couple of goals and it made it tough on the Galaxy, but conceding three goals at home? Now they'll be without Pope and Sequiera because of the World Cup. Ellinger needs to start worrying about his job security, and Steve Pastorino needs to really start looking for a replacement.

The List is Life

2006-05-03T10:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, US National Team coach Bruce Arena announced his 23 man roster for the World Cup. Were there surprises? A few, yes, but for the most part, this list was very predictable. Here are my thoughts by position:

Goalkeepers: Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann

Thoughts: There are no surprises here. For a few weeks, people were throwing Tony Meola's name out there as a possible third goalkeeper, but that would have been a tremendous disservice to Hahnemann, who has played marvelously for club side Reading FC all year. It's interesting that Howard takes the two spot while still languishing on the bench at Manchester United. What's been lost in all of this is still how wonderfully talented Howard actually is. Yes, he's struggled to assert himself at United, but he's still young (27), and he's still a very good back-up and the heir apparent to Keller. While I don't know if I'd want Howard or Hahnemann starting World Cup matches for us at this stage, they'd still be solid.

Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra, Steve Cherundolo, Jimmy Conrad, Cory Gibbs, Frankie Hejduk, Eddie Lewis, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope

Thoughts: The biggest surprise here is Conrad, but even Bocanegra is, for me anyway, a bit of a mild surprise. With his health in doubt and having not seen first team action with Fulham for some time, I did not expect Bocanegra to be as much of a shoe-in as some pundits have suggested. Until an untimely injury, I actually thought Jonathan Spector had a legitimate shot at a roster spot given his first team status with Charlton in the English Premier League as well as his positional versatility. Nevertheless, here's Bocanegra, and here's also Jimmy Conrad who looked doomed after the Germany match over a month ago. Not only were he and Berhalter culpable on all of Germany's goals, but Conrad injured himself shortly thereafter. Jeff Carlisle suggests that Conrad was selected because he'll provide a strong locker-room presence will always being clear of his role within the team. There may be something to that suggestion, but it's still a slightly puzzling move. However, what bothers me most is the lack of outside depth. Only Frankie Hejduk (and Gibbs in a pinch) can provide any depth on the outside apart from starters Steve Cherundolo and Eddie Lewis. Don't be surprised to see the 3-5-2 come June.

Midfielders: DaMarcus Beasley, Bobby Convey, Clint Dempsey, Landon Donovan, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Ben Olsen, Claudio Reyna

Thoughts: There are two question marks here. One is John O'Brien's health. Can he get healthy and be productive before the World Cup begins in June? The other big question mark seems to be Ben Olsen. Some dispute his selection as simply Olsen's being one of Arena's "old boys" (a player from his days with D.C. United). This may be true, but anyone who believes this is the reason why he made the 23 man squad hasn't been paying attention the last few months. Not only has Ben Olsen contributed solid performances to the full national team, but he's also been in fine form with club team D.C. United. He'll also be a positive presence in the locker-room, the kind of player who understands his role within Arena's system and who will be simply happy to be in Germany with the boys. O'Brien is a bigger question mark, but it's difficult at this stage to say anything other than that a healthy John O'Brien will be integral to this team's success.

Forwards: Brian Ching, Eddie Johnson, Brian McBride, Josh Wolff

Thoughts: Brian Ching is the big surprise here. Most pundits expected Twellman to get the nod, but it appears that experience in big-game situations, strength on the ball, and a player in the McBride role were traits that Arena wanted. Sure, Twellman finally got over his scoring hump while Ching struggled in earlier friendlies. However, if you've watched Ching closely in his national team career, including in the recent friendly with Germany, you see a very strong ability to hold onto the ball under pressure. He's also scored in big pressure situations (twice in qualifying), while Twellman has never shown that kind of ability in a national team uniform. I can't disagree with this choice as some others have. Ching's produced when it counts, he's currently been hot in MLS, and he'll make a fine late game sub if we need to kill off games or score off a set piece, especially in as physical a group as the U.S.' The other choices shouldn't surprise at all, but our success is contingent on Johnson regaining form and a healthy McBride.

Interesting note: It's very interesting that Chris Rolfe is one of Arena's alternates. Even Freddy Adu has more caps than Rolfe. It's clear that Arena sees what many of us see in him, a very talented, very skilfull young player that offers a lot of intangibles. Here's to hoping he gets his chance after this cycle.

Salaries Galore!

2006-04-27T10:07:00.000-07:00

Today, Steven Goff, in an article in the Washington Post (see also this article), listed the salaries of every team and player in MLS. Rather than write a detailed article about this, I'm going to list some of my general comments:

There is a significant gap between the highest and lowest paid players on each team. It's fortunate that this hasn't caused significant amounts of resentment towards the league and towards some of the players with the higher echelon salaries. It's disappointing when 14 of D.C. United's 28 players are earning less than 36,500 USD a year, but the team is shelling out over 100,000 USD a year so Argentine forward Lucio Filomeno can sit on the bench. Even more disgusting is the Chicago Fire, where ace forward Chris Rolfe is making 50,000 USD a year while oft-injured, never-playing Tony Sanneh is the team's highest paid player at over 385,000 USD. Sweet gig for him, no?
It should come as no surprise that Chivas USA is the highest paid team in the league, and that Paco Palencia is the league's highest paid player. In terms of cost for production, Palencia's salary of over 1 million USD is completely ridiculous. However, bear in mind that Palencia lends a sort of legitimacy to a club that sorely needs it among its Latin-American fans. Is it worth the cost? I don't know. Ask Antonio Cue.
What is disgusting about Chivas' exorbitant payroll is that one of its eleven starters, defender Lawson Vaughn, is making the league minimum, a paltry 11,000 USD. Yes, he is listed as a developmental player, but the minute he starts more than one game, he should instantly get moved to the senior roster and given a starter's salary. If that means getting rid of Orlando Perez or Ezra Hendrickson and their 70,000 USD plus salaries, so be it.
What qualifies some rookies for more money than others? Why is Patrick Ianni making more money than Ryan Cochrane or even Craig Waibel, when Ianni has never played any minutes in a senior match for the Houston Dynamo? Why is Marvell Wynne already the third highest player on the Red Bulls? I can understand that Wynne is a dynamic player, but 150,000 USD a year? Really?
If I were Bobby Boswell I'd be pretty pissed that I was making less than David f-ing Stokes.
Of Chicago's top three players, two don't even start (Tony Sanneh and Andy Herron). Are their salaries guaranteed to the point that the Fire can't even off-load them without a trade? (Oh, and John Thorrington's salary is also a joke. This team surely didn't do their cost-benefit analyses right, did they?)
Dempsey is gone after this season unless he gets a massive pay raise. A player of his profile and caliber making only 80,000 USD a year makes the league look like a massive joke. Especially when he's making less than Jay Heaps and Joey Franchino.
Look at the payrolls of the best teams in the league. Look at the efficiency of teams like the Houston Dynamo and New England (both clubs where no player makes over 200,000 USD a year). They also foster excellent values (players like Andy Dorman, James Riley, Brad Davis, and Kenny Cooper come to mind).
Pete Vagenas makes 125,000 USD a year. No wonder Sampson starts him. He probably has orders from the front office. Because if he wasn't a starter, he'd be the most ridiculous waste of money ever (which he already is anyway).
So much for New York being the subject of money conspiracies.
The biggest thing that MLS needs to address before they get behind a "big player acqusition" agreement is the base salary. Players should not be making salaries almost below minimum wage in a league that pretends to be "major." Neither should rookies have to work two jobs just to get by. While I respect the league immensely for their financial sense, this just stinks. That's not an eloquent comment, but it's apt. The current salary structure is just unfair and the MLS Player's Union ought to do something about it.

United They Stand

2006-04-24T08:36:00.000-07:00

Power Rankings:

1. D.C. United - United thoroughly dominated the New York Red Bulls even without stellar performances from Jaime Moreno and Christian Gomez. Brian Carroll and Ben Olsen completely controlled the center of midfield, while Alecko Eskandarian scored a brace. Big games from the supporting players has been the cornerstone of D.C.'s success in the Nowak era, and this was exemplified in Saturday's game. As our friends over at DCenters noted, it was their adjustments to the wet field that helped United play like the home team (a large contingent of travelling fans also helped).

2. FC Dallas - How familiar is this? Houston Dynamo (formerly the San Jose Earthquakes) struggles through the first few weeks, while Dallas leads the West. Dallas has looked class so far, coming back in stoppage time to beat Kansas City at home, while leading the Western Conference with ten points. However, it'll be interesting to see how long this will last. However, it should be encouraging that Kenny Cooper has been a revelation, Mina looks fit and is playing well, while Mulrooney should soon be returning from his ACL injury. If this team can stay healthy and play as strong as it has, it'll be a tight race between Dallas and Houston in the West.

3. Kansas City Wizards - Kansas City was everyone's top team after their home victory over New England a week ago. Gone was talk of "Bunker Bob [Gansler]." But the Kansas City team I watched yesterday was nothing like this supposed offensive juggernaut. Perhaps that's because they have zero midfield creativity? Whatever the problem, you know you've got one when your goal is scored by a defensive sub and your only other shot on goal is taken by MLS' all-time leader in minutes played without a goal (Nick Garcia). Welcome back to reality, Kansas City fans.

4. Houston Dynamo - With their creative midfield engine back (the early MVP front-runner Dwayne DeRosario) and with the return of their best defender, Eddie Robinson, the Earthquakes had their way with Real Salt Lake. Certainly, Real made it close, nearly scoring a go-ahead goal off of a Jason Kreis free kick, but that score would not be indicative of the run of play. Houston dominated, and the scoreline reflects that. But the result certainly proves what we've thought all along: DeRosario is that good, and this is his team. Without him, San Jose, excuse me, Houston, struggles.

5. New England Revolution - They didn't play last weekend, so they couldn't really lower their ranking too much. Even without having played, they're still a better club than the ones that'll be listed below. No, they're not playing well, but the Revolution's worst play is still better than Salt Lake's best.

6. Chivas USA - Yeah, Chivas still has one win. Yeah, they didn't play last weekend. Yeah, they're in fifth place in the West. Whatever. Chivas still plays prettier, more attractive, more dynamic soccer than any other team in the West minus Dallas and Houston. And they also happen to be the best team in LA right now.

7. Colorado Rapids - As much as I despise the way that Clavijo's boys play, they at least didn't play last weekend. That is, they couldn't possibly have made their case worse, like a certain team in Los Angeles.

8. Columbus Crew - The Crew didn't play that well last weekend, but they won, which is the most important thing. Sigi's Crew is a young team and one that desperately need a confidence boost in the form of three points. They went to LA (a tough place to play) and won against an anemic Galaxy squad. If they had some seasoned attacking players, this team might actually be challenging for a playoff spot in the Eastern Conference, and they still might depending on how Sarachan navigates Chicago's perilously long road trip.

9. Chicago Fire - Like Colorado, they didn't play so they couldn't possibly have made their case worse. I'm still interested to see how this club survives a nine game long road trip. There are only a few teams in MLS with the leadership and comraderie to survive a road trip like that, and I'm not sure Chicago is one of them. If Sarachan can't get three wins out of this road trip, it'll be a complete failure. Quite frankly, nine games in nearly a third of the season. No matter how much of a home-field advantage they'll have at Bridgeview (and even that much isn't certain), they still need to win now.

10. LA Galaxy - What was that? Losing in extra time to one of MLS' worst teams at home? Two weeks ago, Landon was complaining about the way this club was playing, but it seems that no one took his advice. What their Kevin Stott-induced victory against Chivas covered up was the fact that this team has no creativity in the midfield, and no bite up top. Their defense is solid, so that much should be encouraging, but whether it's personnel, or Sampson's stupid insistence to start Pete Vagenas (and make him captain), this team is in need of a serious makeover. With Lalas now the general manager, expect some heads to roll.

11. New York Red Bulls - This team does not deserve Youri Djorkaeff. He plays with heart and leads by example on the field, which is something I can't say for Armado Guevara or anyone else on this club. Where's the fire? The desire to preserve their coach's job? They played like a road team on Saturday and did nothing when Alecko Eskandarian disrespected their club and their owner (pictured above). It was one hell of a disgusting display. Management won't put with that for long.

12. Real Salt Lake - How much longer will Checketts put up with Ellinger? There are some signs of life, and it's great to see Kreis playing again, but this team needs help, fast.

Red Bull: Good or Evil

2006-04-20T13:19:00.000-07:00

Again, I apologize to my readers for the infrequency of posts this week, but there are other reasons why, besides apathy, I didn't post for over four months. That said, let's look at today's topic: The abrupt change in MLS' fans perspective of the Red Bull takeover of the team formerly known as the Metrostars.

It all started yesterday when a certain Jack Bell article from the New York Times began making its rounds around the internet. In that article, Bell says that, among other things, the team's name could be changing to "Red Bull Cosmos," the Harrison stadium project (the announcement of which was only the second post on this humble blog) could be scuttled in favor of staying at the Meadowlands, and none other than Giorgio Chinaglia could be given a top position within the club. Of course, when the story was posted, BigSoccer went nuts, some even taking back every good thing they ever said about the Red Bull sale. My title of the aforementioned second post was "Signs the Apocalypse is near," and you'd think that was the case now. But is all of this really serious?

Let's look closely at the claims Bell makes in the article, starting with the statement "the departure of Alexi Lalas as president and general manager of the New York Red Bulls of Major League Soccer will hasten change." This alone should set off a few alarm bells. For all we know, Lalas left of his own volition, and the Galaxy move was rumored as soon as Doug Hamilton passed away. Lalas seems to be a favorite son of the AEG corporation and has moved quickly up the corporate ladder. To say that his departure from the club was mutual is pure speculation, as is the idea that his departure will "hasten change." Perhaps Bell is more in the know than I (which I'd hope would be the case), but I have a hard time understanding how changes would hasten with Lalas' departure. Was he a force preventing change behind the scenes?

After this, the article delves into even more overt speculation. He makes a connection between Beckenbauer's involvement with the club (the extent to which Beckenbauer is involved is not known) and a practical Cosmos reunion. The "changes" that Bell expects, he ties to this quote of Red Bulls assistant general manager Chris Canetti, that the club was "working on plans for the restructuring of this organization, and that those plans will be available to us within the near future, possibly within the next seven days." But shouldn't we expect the restructuring of an organization that was run with practically no strategy for the last several years? Shouldn't we be happy that Red Bull is looking to restructure what was one of the most inefficient and incompetent organizations in MLS?

At this point, Bell goes off the deep end. He suggests that it's "likely" that Giorgio Chinaglia will be promoted to a position within the organization. Unless Bell is privy to some insider information, how is this likely? And why would any organization, especially one with as smart a business model as Red Bull, bring in a man with as poor of business credentials and experience as Chinaglia, a man who drove his own organization into the ground. Dare I suggest that Chinaglia helped Bell think this whole article up? At one point, Bell even quotes Chinaglia as saying: ""I don't think they need much time to think about this. It could be a week, it could be 10 days," regarding these supposed imminent changes which include splashing down money for new players. That, of course, would be in violation of the league's single-entity policy and would have to be approved by a majority of the league's owners. The fiscally conservative AEG and Hunt Sports Group would doubtless reject any idea to put down the kind of money that Red Bull wants to spend.

Finally, there is very little evidence to suggest that a name change is even "possible," nor is there much evidence suggesting that Red Bull is pulling out of the stadium deal. Bell writes: "It is possible the team name could again be changed — to Red Bull Cosmos — because G. Peppe Pinton, who holds the Cosmos trademark rights, said in a telephone interview that he was willing 'to give Franz whatever he wants.'" There is no evidence to suggest that the team is actually considering the name change, just that Pinton is willing to sell them to the club. Likewise, it's understandable that Red Bull would be willing to stay in the Meadowlands given its history with the New York Cosmos. However, according to an article in Big Apple Soccer, everyone's favorite former Metros GM, Nick Sakiewicz, said that this rumor of re-evaluation of the Harrison deal was "completely 100 percent untrue." For now, these wild rumors should be laid to rest, and we should all give Red Bull the benefit of the doubt. For now.

Update: According to USA Today, Mo Johnston expects to be fired tomorrow. I wonder if this has more to do with Red Bull's impatience with his results or confirmation of these supposed "imminent changes?"

Update 2: Apparently, Johnston will not be fired.

Power Rankings

2006-04-18T16:08:00.000-07:00

This has been a pretty weird MLS season so far. While quality of play seems to have gone up a little bit from last year (although at this stage it's still difficult to judge), refereeing is as bad as ever as evidenced by an awful display from Kevin Stott, robbing Chivas of a deserved point (or three), as well as a terrible penalty call that gifted Columbus a point against the Fire. Well, without further adu, here are the rankings:

1. Kansas City Wizards - Three games, nine points. Kansas City has proved their quality, already having beaten two of the toughest teams in the league, Houston Dynamo (away) and the New England Revolution. If Conrad is fully healthy (he scored last weekend), this team will be absolutely fearsome. However, it's also difficult to say how long this'll last.

2. D.C. United - United have looked good this season, but they didn't quite look authoritative until last weekend in their victory against Houston (sans DeRosario, out due to suspension). Since the beginning of the Nowak era, United have been the most consistent team in MLS, and they look primed for another MLS Cup run again this year.

3. New England Revolution - They didn't look like the fearsome Eastern Conference champions of 2005, but New England is still one of the most talented, intelligent sides in MLS. This team should just be getting better with Parkhurst returning from injury. But they'll need Dempsey, Noonan, and Twellman to hit form soon though because the lack of goals is troubling.

4. FC Dallas - Dallas has won two games so far this season, better than New England sure, but they haven't quite looked truly in synch yet. The defense still seems to be solidifying, the midfield is almost non-existent, but they're set at forward, especially as Kenny Cooper's emerged as a true revelation. If Alvarez and Nunez can continue to develop well in their midfield roles, if Ronnie O'Brien plays like he did last season, and if Richard Mulrooney can return from his 2005 season-ending ACL injury, then Dallas will be a fearsome presence in the west.

5. New York Red Bull - Yeah, the ties are troubling, but New York are still playing better soccer than any team in the Western Conference so they'll stay here for now.

6. Houston Dynamo - Now I know what you're thinking: "Houston only has one win and two losses! How are they ahead of __________?" The answer is, Houston still plays better soccer on a bad day then any other team in the West. But we sure learned who the true MVP of MLS is Saturday didn't we? His name? Dwayne DeRosario.

7. LA Galaxy - The Galaxy have struggled mightily this season, and were definitely gifted a victory against Chivas on Saturday night (anyone still wondering why Kevin Stott wasn't selected to referee at the World Cup?). Donovan's move to midfield certainly helped, but Glenn, despite his two goals, just is not the answer up top. He should have bagged four or five with some of the service he was given.

8. Chivas USA - Chivas was the better team Saturday and more than held their own a week before in D.C. If John O'Brien can start getting consistent minutes, they'll be fearsome (The Kljestan - Marsch midfield pairing has only been a partial success). Oh, and was Tim Regan a monster out there or what?

9. Colorado Rapids - Yeah, they have more points than Chivas, but what does that even mean? Have you watched these guys? After getting plastered by Houston, they went home and beat a tired Columbus side (that high altitude does provide an advantage after all), and drew with Dallas thanks to a Clarence Goodson own goal. The only thing more depressing than the way Clavijo's side plays is the team's complete lack of local support thanks to the team's decision to not market until the new Commerce City stadium is finished. Brilliant.

10. Chicago Fire - The Fire have not looked bad this season, but the nine game road trip is going to take a tremendous toll on this team. They were robbed of three points in Columbus, stole a point in LA, and lost valiantly to a pumped-up Dallas squad opening weekend. This isn't a bad side, but Sarachan will need to work extra-hard to keep these guys focused on this long road trip.

11. Columbus Crew - They're not that bad, but any team that's starting a player who played most recently in the German third division is in for a long season. Rozenthal, the Chilean import, didn't impress much, and being gifted a point against the Fire must've felt like a win for this team desperate for points.

12. Real Salt Lake - When will this team live up to their grandiose name?

There's been a lot going on in MLS this week and I hope I'll get a chance to talk about it all this week. I should apologize for not posting yesterday but I've been pretty busy.

The Roster, What?

2006-04-14T08:56:00.000-07:00

I promised earlier this week that I would examine the possibilites for Arena's thirty-five man roster. So here it is:

US National Team coach Bruce Arena was supposed to announce his tentative thirty-five man World Cup roster this Wednesday. However, it looks like this decision will now be postponed until May 2 when Arena will announce his complete twenty-three man roster. Since that's the case, let's just look at thirty-five players who are locks, likely, and on the bubble for this World Cup squad.

Locks:

Goalkeeper

Kasey Keller - Keller is the undisputed top choice keeper for the US. With a plethora of national team experience, no competition with the retirement of Blackburn keeper Brad Friedel, and in top form with club team Borussia Monchengladbach, Keller will, barring injury, be starting in net for the United States in Germany.

Marcus Hahnemann - Some may be surprised that I consider Hahnemann an absolute lock, but his form with Reading has been excellent, he hasn't completely squandered his national team chances, and he's been as much a part of Reading's promotion to the Premiership as anyone else in their starting eleven. He's the solid, but not spectacular, number two choice now.

Defender

Oguchi Onyewu - Onyewu, only a little more than a year ago, was just being run out with the national team. Now, with only twelve international caps to his name, is the US' biggest defensive asset, an absolute rock in central defense that brings size, skill, pace, and most importantly, youth to what is essentially a patchwork backline. While he struggled in Azteca against Mexico, he booked his trip to Germany in the second leg of that series, effectively shutting down the Mexican attack in Columbus.

Steve Cherundolo - Cherundolo is the US' most talented right sided player, and will be the US' most important right sided asset in the World Cup with the ability to play in both defense and in midfield. What he lacks in size, he makes up for with pace, technical skill, and defensive smarts. He always provides the US with a talented crosser of the ball from the right side, making him a last-minute for Arena in right midfield as well as a dangerous threat to make deep runs from the defense. Already a starter for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga, he should feel right at home in Germany in June.

Eddie Pope - Pope's position was looking rather tenuous a year ago when he struggled against England in Chicago. However, since this fall, he's demonstrated exactly why Arena trusts and appreciates him so much, demonstrating calm, excellent positioning, and leadership to the American backline. I don't expect Pope to be starting against the Czech Republic, but I wouldn't be surprised either. He'll bring veteran leadership to a defense with little or no World Cup experience.

Eddie Lewis - The US apparently has no solid left-sided defender. Sure, there are great talents like Dunivant, Burciaga, and Pearce, but so far, only two of these three have received chances this year (Dunivant and Pearce), and both remain bubble players. Lewis, a converted midfielder, lacks good pace and has little defensive experience, but he does have tremendous soccer smarts, a wicked left foot, and is one of the few US players dangerous on free kicks. He and Cherundolo provide fearsome offensive talent from the back that should prove useful in Germany.

Cory Gibbs - That Cory Gibbs is a "lock" is a slightly controversial statement, I know. After getting injured in 2005, he spent most of the first few months of 2006 sidelined with injury. When he was finally healthy, his club, Feyenoord, released him. He finally settled with John O'Brien's old club, ADO Den Haag, but even there, he only recently has had a chance with the first team. Now it looks like he's aggravated his hamstring again. However, when healthy, Gibbs is one of the best man-markers in the US pool. For evidence, look no further then the US friendly with the Netherlands two years ago, in which Gibbs single-handedly shut down Ruud van Nistelroy. Not only is he a strong central pairing with Onyewu, but Gibbs can also play on the left in a pinch. This type of versatility means that if he's healthy, Gibbs will be on Arena's 23 man roster.

Midfielder

Claudio Reyna - Reyna was a big reason for the US' unprecedented success in World Cup 2002, and the US needs him now more than ever. What Reyna brings to the US team is an incomparable soccer mind, intelligent passing, and possession. Without him, the US is too predictable, resorting to long balls or to the counter-attack. With him, they're capable of a much more varied, nuanced attack. Without him, there's no way the US makes it out of the first round.

Landon Donovan - It'll be interesting to see where Arena plays Landon since he seems to work better up top with Brian McBride (especially considering the weakness of the forward talent pool) than he does pulling the strings in midfield. I expect there'll be games with Landon controlling the offensive tempo in central midfield, but against the Czechs I suspect he'll be starting up top with McBride. Regardless, he's still the most talented player in the entire pool, and is a lock no matter what.

DaMarcus Beasley - While he's hit a poor run of form both with club (PSV Eindhoven) and country in recent months, Beasley is still one of the most unpredictable and talented players in the US pool. He brings pace and quickness to the attack, and can be an absolute terror around the goal (just ask Jaap Stam). Regardless of this run of poor form, Beasley is a lock no matter what, but he needs to bring that speed and quickness with ball to Germany if the US is going to beat either the Czech Republic or Italy.

Pablo Mastroeni - The only true defensive midfielder that's healthy and has played well for the national team is Pablo Mastroeni, and it looks like he'll be the only true defensive midfielder that Arena takes to Germany. This may or may not be the same Pablo Mastroeni that so totally dominated the Mexicans in 2002, but he's been huge for the US in big games and he has the experience. It was never really a question of whether Mastroeni would go to the World Cup, but whether another defensive midfielder would be going with him. Armas is injured and Zavagnin played himself out of a spot, leaving only Pablo.

Bobby Convey - Convey has been a big part of Reading's massively successful 2005-2006 season, and he's earned his spot to Germany. He was one of the few bright spots against Germany in Dortmund, and has looked confident and creative, one of the few players willing to challenge the German defense one v. one. His presence with the squad means that Lewis can concentrate solely on playing left back and it also means that Beasley can slide into a different position, or take a rest without any major drop-off in quality.

Forward

Brian McBride - Old reliable, Brian McBride, will be making his third World Cup appearance for the US. Without him up top, the US loses balls in the box, it loses a big target, and it loses a reliable finisher. With McBride, even at age 33, the US has a player who can hold the ball in traffic, win balls in the air, and finish confidently and reliably. No matter who starts alongside him, he'll make that other player that much better. He was a lock from the beginning.

Eddie Johnson - Johnson, for all his faults, is still a strong, lighning fast poacher, even after his injury. If he can return to form in the next two months, he may even earn himself a start in the opening match against the Czech Republic. Until then, he remains a solid player who offers enough intangibles (like his speed) to ensure his spot with the squad.

Likely:

Goalkeeper

Tim Howard - Howard has more national team experience than most of the other goalkeeping options, and he certainly has the talent, but his only game experience this year has been in meaningless cup games. He needs to find a starting job (with any team) if he wants to start in 2010.

Defender

Frankie Hedjuk - Surfer Dude played terribly against Jamaica and probably deserved a red card, there are no questions about that. But if there's one player who has been one of the US' most solid big-game performers its Frankie. Arena loves him and that's all that matters, regardless of how you might feel about him. He'll be there in Germany, if only because he's versatile and he's been there before, through the highs and the lows.

Gregg Berhalter - Berhalter played appallingly against Germany, and was responsible for at least two of Germany's four goals. But he's played well with Onyewu, he's played in the World Cup before, and he's solid when not matched against teams with incredibly fast forwards. He'll provide depth in central defense and he understands his role with the team. To Arena, that's all that matters.

Midfielder

John O'Brien - O'Brien's just getting first team action again after recently signing with Chivas USA. He looked fine against Jamaica but the rust was evident. If he can get some playing time in the next three weeks and not get hurt, he'll make Arena's squad for sure. We're a far weaker team in central midfield without him.

Clint Dempsey - The on again, off again star of the US National team, Clint Dempsey looked likely to make the squad a year ago, then hit a rough patch and looked like he'd played himself out of the picture. Now some fans are saying he's the type of intangible player that we'll need in Germany to stretch defenses and keep opponents honest. It's hard to tell yet whether Dempsey's the type of player who'll raise his game when it counts the most, but he's the US' best option on the right, and a great substitution option.

Forward

Josh Wolff - Wolff certainly has the talent, but it's been a rough year with the National Team. That said, he's an Arena player through and through, and that'll mean everything when it's time to select his twenty-three man roster.

On the Bubble (in order of most likely):

Goalkeeper

Matt Reis
Tony Meola
Kevin Hartman

Defender

Jimmy Conrad
Carlos Bocanegra
Chris Albright
Jonathan Spector
Todd Dunivant
Heath Pearce

Midfielder

Ben Olsen
Kerry Zavagnin
Pat Noonan
Steve Ralston
Chris Klein

Forward

Taylor Twellman
Brian Ching
Conor Casey

This is only speculation of course. There may still be some surprises yet, but with Arena, that's probably unlikely. The starting line-up is strong, but if there are any injuries this team lacks the depth to go far in the Cup. The group stage will test the true talents of Bruce Arena to mix and match his line-ups to go toe to toe with the Czech Republic, Italy, and Ghana. We shall see.

Landon Mouths Off

2006-04-13T10:18:00.000-07:00

In a recent article in Soccer Capital News, Ian Plenderleith chides Landon Donovan for mouthing off against his LA Galaxy teammates. The question is: was Landon justified in castigating his teammates? Plenderleith doesn't think so. What particularly irritates him is that Donovan singles out a particular teammate, Ugo Ihemelu. Here's what Landon said:

"You don't go sliding into a tackle on the edge of the box against Justin Mapp. It's just stupid. You get away with that in college. You get away with that in high school because guys aren't good enough.... We were able to hide things a lot last year because we put together four good games at the end of the year, but it doesn't hide the fact that we have some issues."

Landon, of course, is smart enough to not single out Ihemelu by name, and perhaps it was wrong of him to call the action "stupid," but that doesn't take away the fact that Landon is doing something we've rarely seen him do, which is expressing his feelings about his situation with the Galaxy in such an impassioned and serious way. Whether it was right of him to do this in such a public format is irregardless to the fact that he did it, which is the most important thing. Certainly, Landon could've been wiser in his choice of words, but simply in the act of publically chastising his teammates for their performance, Landon displays a leadership quality we have rarely seen from him in his time in MLS.

Plenderleith interprets Landon's comments as a frustration with the quality of play in MLS. Plenderleith writes: "The third issue that comes out of Donovan's comment is: what the hell else did he expect when he came back to Major League Soccer from Europe? Did no one tell him about the college draft, and about how players go straight from the college game to the professional game and still have a lot to learn? Did he think they were all Champions League standard, like the teammates he left behind so soon at Bayer Leverkusen?" This is hyperbole (or sarcasm), because of course Landon understood all this when he came back from Leverkusen. Landon wants to raise the play of his teammates, win, and have fun. He's frustrated, not with playing with these young players, but with how they've been playing, an important distinction. He cares more about raising the game here than he does about his own image as a soccer player, or status as a "superstar" (which Plenderleith apparently thinks is very important to Landon). Plenderleith is right to criticize Landon for not showing enough tact in his comments, but he's wrong to get all over him over the nature of what was said. He should be commending him for showing a little more bite and a little more passion than we've seen from him since his return from Germany.

No, Plenderleith is just another fan angry with Landon for not challenging himself enough by staying with Leverkusen in Germany. That's his opinion, and that's fine. Certainly, I hoped that Landon would stay there and fight for a starting spot. However, I realize that it's Landon's life to live and if he's happier playing at home in California near his girlfriend, while also trying to raise the image of the game here in the United States, that's fine with me. A happier Landon means a more productive Landon when it counts the most. To see him so impassioned about so apparently meaningless thing as the second game of the apparently meaningless MLS regular season is exciting. Rather than chastize Landon Plenderleith, perhaps you should be commending him.

Real Real

2006-04-12T09:49:00.000-07:00

Well, let's not talk about last night's 1-1 tie between the US Men's National Team and Jamaica. Some have called it useless, but I don't think so at all. However, I'll post a much more in-depth look at the locks and possibilities for Arena's 23 and 35 man rosters sometime later this week. That said, let's take a look at some news stories:

Earlier, Deseret News announced that Real Salt Lake would play a high profile match with a major European club. That club, however, was not announced in that article. Later, KUTV news reported that the club in question is storied European giant Real Madrid (Salt Lake's illustrious namesake). Yes, there's a very good possibility that Madrid will completely dismantle MLS' worst team, but the result probably won't matter. Last year, the MLS "All Stars" bombed against Real in Madrid, and it registered hardly a blip on the media radar here (fortunately). Likewise, if Salt Lake gets killed by Real Madrid, it'll still have been a great experience for the club, and should do wonders for expanding the Madrid brand in the United States (which is the whole reason why these European clubs play these games in the first place).

If the Real Madrid news wasn't enough, FC Barcelona will be playing in Houston this summer. The key word though is "in," since they apparently won't be playing against the Dynamo. It's a shame MLS' most exciting attacking club (yeah, I said it) won't get the chance to match up with what is arguably Europe's best club (yeah, I said it). I had grand visions of watching Ricardo Clark mark Ronaldinho, Eddie Robinson defending against Eto'o, and DeRosario making runs at the Barcelona defense. Oh well. Barcelona will be playing an "unnamed Mexican club." It doesn't matter who as long as the fans show up and get a glimpse at the Dynamo product. I don't think they'll be disappointed.

The Boston Globe has a fascinating little article on New York's business plan, their relationship with Pele and Beckenbauer, and the aim for foreign club relationships. If the big numbers (to the tune of $100 million) weren't enough to convince you that Red Bull is serious about their investment then Beckenbauer and Pele's participation should seal the deal. This is what Beckenbauer had to say about the current state of the game in the United States: "The difference is night and day. In 1975, when Pelé came here, nobody played the game. We were like pioneers. Now they play the game and the standard is unbelievable." Red Bull is very serious about this investment and particularly about bringing in high profile stars a la the NASL. Whether this is an effective business model remains to be seen, especially since most of the other league owners don't seem to keen on the idea. However, Red Bull is very serious about spending money and if they can expand the team's brand to New York City itself, they will have accomplished something that the Metrostars never did in ten years.

As for partnerships with foreign clubs, this can only be beneficial for the teams and the league. It allows European, South American, and Mexican clubs a chance to easily expand their brand, while also giving MLS teams a little extra money (through friendlies) and a chance to extend their own brand recognition to South American, Mexican, and European club fans in the area. A deal with Benfica would go a long way towards embracing the Portugese community in the Boston area. This can only be a positive for the league.

Steve Cherundolo tries his hand at writing

Great Onyewu article from the Washington Post

O'Brien's returned

Guess Who's Back

2006-04-11T10:03:00.000-07:00

Now that my biterness has completely worn off, I'm back and ready to start blogging again (if only a few times a week). I realized at some point that no matter how angry I was at AEG (and even MLS) for moving the Earthquakes to Houston, I love the sport, the league, and the players way too much to stop caring. As much as I didn't want to watch MLS on opening day, I was inexplicably drawn to every match I could lay my eyes on. I also contemplated changing the name of the blog (which originally was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the Earthquakes' tenuous status as a franchise), but decided that the franchise actually is still in limbo.

Now onto the news:

According to Brad Rock of the Deseret News, LA is the most profitable team in the league followed perhaps surprisingly by Bob Kraft's New England Revolution. Of course, this naturally devolved into a debate over whether SSS really helped make teams profitable over at the typically volatile Bigsoccer. As some posters there alluded to (smartly), Garber never mentioned that other teams like Columbus and Dallas weren't being profitable, but in not mentioning them, we can only imply that they haven't quite neared profitability yet. No one should be taking this as a sign that Soccer Specific Stadia aren't essential for the profitability of MLS.

A day after some Bigsoccer fans freaked out after Don Garber failed to mention Cleveland in a list of expansion candidates, the Salt Lake Tribune reports that either Cleveland or St. Louis (!) will be granted an expansion franchise in 2008. This raises some important questions. First, does it imply that Toronto will be the only expansion franchise in 2007? Garber had this to say about St. Louis in his Q & A with fans from Monday:

"St. Louis: Another great soccer market ... we continue to have discussions with a few potential owners for an expansion team in St. Louis, and each prospective owner realizes that a soccer-specific stadium is needed to bring an MLS team to the area."

So the natural question is: Are these potential owners working on a soccer-specific stadium behind the scenes? Or is this a smoke-and-mirrors job from Garber?

What is clear though is that this statement from Garber is a very clear acknowledgment that Cleveland is indeed a very serious expansion candidate. So for all of you freaking out over the Q & A session, rest assured, Cleveland is still very much on Don Garber's mind.

In other "news," Beckham says that he'd like to end his career in the United States (Soccernet, BBC). If I had a take on this I'd let you know, but since I'm so tired of these "X player would like to come to MLS" stories after this Ronaldo affair that this story doesn't interest me in the slightest.

Coming soon:

MLS Power Rankings
Weekly Predictions

It's been a very long while...

2005-11-04T12:18:00.000-08:00

To those who still read: I really apologize for how long it's been since I last wrote on this blog. Hopefully you'll forgive me. The demands and rigors of university life have been very time consuming.

According to the San Jose Mercury News, odds are now 50-50 that AEG will move the San Jose Earthquakes this offseason. Tim Leiweke, president of AEG (who, for those of you who don't know, currently own the Earthquakes), continues his policy of saying a lot but really saying nothing when he says, "At the end of the day, we can't be the owner. We're going to sell San Jose, one way or the other.'' Thanks Tim for telling us something we haven't know for the past two seasons!

More Leiweke gems:

"We've been doing this for four years. We put $20 million into it. I know people like to kick us and say we haven't treated the city well, but the reality is we saved the franchise here and we've stuck by it.''
"We've been the savior of the league. We've saved San Jose.''
"If Landon was coming back from Germany, he was going to L.A. That's where he lives. It has nothing to do with San Jose one way or the other. And Alexi is a free spirit who wanted to be in New York and we gave him that opportunity.''
"We are just as committed to try and work through the issues in San Jose as we were a year ago."
"The only difference today is we've made it clear we can't continue to operate the team. It's not in the best interest of the league or the city.''

Point-by-point:

1. I appreciate that AEG's actually allowed San Jose to exist for the last few seasons, but in all honesty, have they really treated this team and the city well? It's well known among Earthquakes fans that the practice facilities (or lack thereof) that the team uses are in terrible shape. The team, which practices at a local college, does not even have changing rooms or a bathroom on site. Marketing in the San Jose community has been negligible. Spartan is an absolute mess of a stadium (as delightful as it can be). It's a wonder that the team still averages over 13,000 fans a season without any double-headers.

2. Don't get too big of a head there Tim. Again, I appreciate what AEG's done, but it disturbs me how fiercely loyal some MLS fans are to AEG's business model. Yes, they've effectively saved MLS and have poured in millions of dollars, but we also need to ask serious questions such as, "What do we want the business model of this league to be?" and "What comes first in MLS, the quality on the field or the money that it generates?"

3. At least we're clear on this now Tim. So much for history and loyalty. Oh, and it's good to know that you promoted Alexi Lalas in New York because he's a "free spirit."

4. "Weeks, not months." Ring a bell Tim?

5. Well right you are Tim! The city needs owners who actually market the team, appreciate the loyal fan base, and care about soccer, not concerts.

To summarize: What did we learn from this article? Nothing we didn't really know before. Except that now we know, officially, that Houston is the relocation destination, and that there are potential local owners. Why does this article strangely ring hollow?

It's Been a While

2005-09-30T13:47:00.000-07:00

Some Earthquakes News (from this Mercury News article):

Four Earthquakes players have been called up to U.S. National Team Camp, Ricardo Clark, Danny Califf (why not Eddie Robinson?), Wade Barrett, and Brian Ching (thankfully). If Bruce keeps these players in camp they would miss the home finale against Real Salt Lake.
One Earthquake player has been called up also, with Venezuela calling-up striker Alejandro Moreno.
Mark Chung has been given the weekend off for the Earthquakes' much-anticipated match against the New England Revolution. Chung is 35 years old and has played very well since his move from the Colorado Rapids, he deserves a break, even if it means dropping three points in New England this weekend.
Brad Davis is still out with a strained groin, but he will not need season-ending surgery as feared and could be back running by next week. His absence though means that either Chris Wondolowski or Ian Russell will start on the left this weekend (Russell starting is a scary thought for Quake fans).

In other news, I'm willing to begrudgingly congratulate the Los Angeles Galaxy for winning the U.S. Open Cup with a 1-0 victory over FC Dallas in the Home Depot Center on Wednesday night. Herculez Gomez scored the lone goal for the Gals. (highlights here).

Weekend Preview:

Metrostars v. D.C. United - Historically, United have gotten the better of the Metrostars in this hated rivalry. To keep their playoff hopes alive, the Metrostars will need to win this weekend, and to do so they'll need Djorkaeff and Guevara to take the team on their shoulders. Whether Djorkaeff is up to the task is not in question, but whether Guevara is is another question. Expect United to rebound well from their Sudamerica exit with a big win over the Metros. Prediction: Metrostars 1:2 United

New England Revolution v. San Jose Earthquakes - With San Jose slumping a bit lately (but not dropping serious points) and with winger Mark Chung being given a rest, expect the scoreline to favor New England. However, Brian Ching seems to have returned successfully from injury, notching two goals in his first three starts. If DeRosario and Mullan can get him the ball, San Jose will make things tough on the Revolution's occasionally suspect backline. Prediction: Revolution 1:1 Earthquakes

Columbus Crew v. CD Chivas USA - Word is that Sigi is being brought in and current head coach Robert Warzycha will stay on as assistant coach. It's a clever move that means that the Crew still have something to play for, their jobs. If Warzycha will be around next season, he'll still have his own say over personnel moves. Expect another Chivas loss (after I picked them to win at home against Colorado last week). Prediction: Crew 2:0 Chivas

Kansas City Wizards v. Chicago Fire - Chicago needs to rebound from a tough road loss against San Jose. If they could steal three points in Kansas City they'll have survived the season's second toughest road schedule with a decent number of points. In San Jose, they possessed the ball for the majority of the second half but their attack was toothless. The return of striker Chris Rolfe should help immensely, but it's the Wizard's sinking form that could prove the difference. Prediction: Wizards 2:2 Fire

Colorado Rapids v. Real Salt Lake - Will Colorado catch up with Los Angeles? Probably not. But recent additions Jovan Kirovski and David (Dedi) Ben Dayan have scored critical goals and the team has even been solid defensively in Joe Cannon's absence. Real Salt Lake hasn't won away from home all season, I don't suspect that that will suddenly change. Prediction: Rapids 2:0 Real

Los Angeles Galaxy v. FC Dallas - Revenge? No, probably not, but Dallas might actually score against LA this time. Both teams will probably be tired from mid-week's match, and who knows what that game will ultimately mean for either of these teams. Prediction: Galaxy 1:1 Hoops

Last week: 1-4

Season: 15-17

Power Rankings

2005-09-26T13:40:00.000-07:00

MLS Power Rankings

1. New England Revolution - Fickle? Yes, but I never claimed otherwise. The Earthquakes couldn't muster more than a point against a resting FC Dallas squad, while New England shut down the Metrostars defensively, taking three critical points in a 1-0 victory. However, the Galaxy's victory over the Wizards buys the Metrostars more time, still three points back in the East.

2. San Jose Earthquakes - As mentioned above, the Earthquakes could only draw a point against Dallas at home this weekend. Eddie Robinson was sent off, but Brian Ching came through with an absolutely clutch goal to secure the point. San Jose's play has looked tepid lately and unless Dominic Kinnear begins mixing things up, this team might be headed for trouble (read, the 2002 San Jose Earthquakes). A healthy Brad Davis would be a start though.

3. D.C. United - A valiant effort in Sudamerica play in midweek wasn't enough to advance. On the one hand, it might give the club some confidence and focus, but it could also hurt team morale. If United play the game like we all know they can though, there are very few teams in the league that can actually stop them.

4. FC Dallas - A point (nearly three) on the road at hostile Spartan Stadium? Yes, and without their big guns, that's impressive.

5. Chicago Fire - A team whose primary scoring threat is a rookie can't possibly be that good can it? Well, I don't want to draw comparisons to the 2003 Fire because this team isn't nearly as good or cohesive, but Chris Rolfe is integral to this team's success. They looked toothless against San Jose on Wednesday night as San Jose gifted them possession throughout most of the second half, yet the Fire could do little with it. Still unsecure for the playoffs.

6. LA Galaxy - A win is a win, however unconvincing. The big test is the Open Cup Final Wednesday night which it's clear both teams are taking very seriously. How Steve Sampson coaches that one game will determine the Galaxy's future this season.

7. Metrostars - Oh how the mighty have fallen, but this team is still very much in the playoff picture, still only three points behind the Kansas City Wizards.

8. Kansas City Wizards - This is a team that's fading fast. The defense has looked porous (what was all this about Jimmy Conrad for Defender of the Year?) and the offense seems to have shut down (along with Chris Klein and Scott Sealy's offensive production, coincidence?) which bodes ill for not only Kansas City's playoff run but for their hopes of making the playoffs at all.

9. Colorado Rapids - They got a big win over Chivas, with Jovan Kirovski making an immediate impact on the side. However, things have gotten rough between coach Fernando Clavijo and striker Jeff Cuningham. If things get worse, not only will Cunningham be putting his World Cup hopes on the line, but he'll be putting the entire team's postseason hopes on the line as well. On the bright side, they proved that they can win without Joe Cannon.

10. Columbus Crew - Still winning and getting points for their interim head coach when they've been practically eliminated from playoff contention. It's wonderful to see Edson Buddle back scoring goals, which should do wonders for the young man's confidence, on and off the field.

11. Real Salt Lake - From bad to worse.

12. CD Chivas USA - (See above).

Sudamerica Tragedy; the State of the MLS Goalkeeper; Weekend Preview

2005-09-23T12:47:00.000-07:00

They fought valiantly, but it wasn't enough, D.C. United was knocked out of the Copa Sudamerica by losing 3-2 to CD Universidad Catolica in Santiago, Chile last night. After the sixtieth minute, a loss seemed almost inevitable even though United had a 2-1 lead at the time. Untimely substitutions, fatigue, and a sketchy defense came back to haunt them. Hopefully, D.C.'s performance in this series impressed enough to ensure MLS' particpation again next season. I won't claim that this was a moral victory, it wasn't, and I'm upset with the way the game was coached down the stretch, but as long as it ensures future participation I'm thrilled.

The State of MLS Goalkeeping

Just a few years ago, many MLS fans were claiming that the league had an incredibly deep pool of goalkeeping talent. I've always been rather skeptical of that claim, and I think the quality of goalkeeping in MLS this season has borne out that skepticism. Let's take a team-by-team look at this seasons' performances and a look to the future as well.

CD Chivas USA

2005: A turbulent year in goal for Chivas, having started three different players in goal just this season. Rookie Brad Guzan, who's started twenty-two of Chivas' twenty-seven games has shown best, with an astonishingly decent GAA of 1.95. While that looks terrible, think for a minute about the defenses that have started in front of him, many of which were anchored by the likes of Douglas Sequiera and Ezra Hendrickson. Sergio Garcia and Martin Zuniga were the other two goalkeepers. Zuniga has since retired, and Garcia, while having shown flashes, hasn't been the answer to Chivas' defensive woes either.

2006: If Antonio Cue is smart, he'll keep Guzan. He can keep Garcia if he wants, but Guzan ought to be the franchise goalkeeper at this point. While still raw, Guzan has amazing athletic ability and a very astute understand of the game and the goalkeeping position, often single-handedly keeping Chivas in games they had no business staying in. The fact that Guzan hasn't started every game for Chivas is a testament to how seriously this franchise has underestimated the strength of MLS.

Colorado Rapids

2005: Joe Cannon. The anchor of the Rapids' defense and for my money the best goalkeeper in MLS. He's recently been sidelined with a nagging abdominal strain. Watch and see how vital Cannon is to this team in coming weeks.

2006: It's Joe Cannon's to lose.

FC Dallas

2005: It looked like head coach Colin Clarke had finally solved his goalkeeper situation early this season. Scott Garlick was starting in goal and the Hoops were winning games with style, flair, and defensive organization. Then Richard Mulrooney got hurt, and slowly, very slowly, the wheels began falling off. Just a few weeks after the All Star game, Garlick was on the bench again and in came Jeff Cassar. Cassar of course didn't stop Dallas' defense from hemorrhagging goals. Cassar separated his shoulder and back game Scott Garlick. Dallas continued to lose but in recent weeks Clarke seems to have righted the ship. Were Dallas' defensive woes the result of bad goalkeeping? No. But a younger, more capable goalkeeper would've helped.

2006: I suspect that one of Cassar or Garlick will be kept around for cover next season, but GM Alper will be mighty foolish to not bring in a younger goalkeeper. Johnny Walker might be available from Columbus as might Dallas Burn alumnus Matt Jordan.

Los Angeles Galaxy

2005: The Galaxy's defense has been piss poor this season through no fault of goalkeeper Kevin Hartman. Two weeks ago, in an important game against the Kansas City Wizards, coach Steve Sampson actually had the audacity to bench Hartman, replacing him with Earthquakes cast-off, and former U-20 goalkeeper, Steve Cronin. Perhaps in spite of and not because of him, the Wizards scored two goals in the last ten minutes to tie the match. Despite that, the benching seemed to really affect Hartman, who played probably the worst game of his career Wednesday night in Dallas. He looked completely out of sorts, misplaying a Troy Roberts back-pass which promptly went into his own goal.

2006: Sampson might not have much love for Hartman, but Hartman has been around too long to be simply cast off. It probably won't matter anyway because Sampson will assuredly be fried at season's end.

Salt Lake

2005: Sketpics laughed when coach John Ellinger proclaimed D.J. Countess his starter before the season. However, early in the season it looked like Countess would prove the doubters wrong, pulling off some incredible saves and looking comfortable in goal. As Salt Lake's defensive woes worsened, so did Ellinger's confidence in Countess. Why he ever benched Countess in favor of mediocre rookie goalkeeper Jay Nolly is beyond me. Perhaps Ellinger wanted a scapegoat for Real Salt Lake's defensive gaps, and Countess was an easy target. But goalkeeping in Salt Lake, while not always brilliant, is the least of its problems. Defensive organization and the lack of a true defensive midfielder are much bigger problems that Ellinger will have to deal with in the offseason.

2006: My advice for John Ellinger, keep Countess and focus your efforts on other positions, like finding an organizer for your defense, a true right back, and a destroyer midfielder to compliment Andy Williams, hold possession, and win balls in the midfield. If GM Steve Pastorino expects Kasey Keller to come calling too, think again. Keller seems to have really settled down in Germany and was recently voted Kicker's Bundesliga player of the week.

San Jose Earthquakes

2005: It looks like Pat Onstad will win yet another Goalkeeper of the Year award. Just two months ago, it looked like Matt Reis' award to lose. Well, since then San Jose has allowed the fewest goals in MLS, thanks in some part to Onstad's command of his goal. Never flashy or spectacular, Onstad makes key saves when called upon (and also made probably the save(s) of the year against the Galaxy in June).

2006: The hitch though is that Pat is not getting any younger (he's 37), and he might not be around again next season. If he's not, the Earthquakes will assuredly have to sign a new goalkeeper, since longtime back-up Jon Conway just hasn't shown much in Reserve matches and secondary back-up Robbie Fulton just is not ready.

Next Week: Eastern Conference Goalkeepers

Weekend Predictions

New England Revolution v. Metrostars - After last week's 5-4 classic, what will this week bring? Ives Galarcep seems to think that suddenly the Metrostars have become a better defensive team and that New England has nothing to play for. Or something. The Revolution are not only seeing the Supporter's Shield slip away (currently 4 points behind leader San Jose) but their lead in the Eastern conference (5 points up on United) as well. There's plenty to play for tomorrow night. Prediciton: Revolution 3:2 Metrostars

Real Salt Lake v. Columbus Crew - For Salt Lake, at least they're playing at home. For Columbus, Wednesday's tie against the Revolution, in which they gave up a stoppage time goal to Taylor Twellman, must've stung. Both teams will be playing for respect, but while Salt Lake looks like a team in complete disarray, Columbus has posted very respectable results against difficult opponents lately. Prediction: Real 1:1 Crew

CD Chivas USA v. Colorado Rapids - Will the Rapids pull out all the stops and attack? Yeah, I didn't think so. They'll also be missing goalkeeper Joe Cannon. Call me crazy, but I actually think Chivas can do this. Prediction: Chivas 2:1 Rapids

San Jose Earthquakes v. FC Dallas - Don't be fooled, the Hoops' 4-1 Wednesday night victory over the Galaxy does not mean they're returning to early season form. However, they are beginning to turn their season around when it looked certain that Clarke's team was going to crash out of the playoffs. On Saturday, they'll be revisiting the home of nightmares where it all began where Richard Mulrooney tore his ACL, Spartan Stadium. The Earthquakes took their foot off the gas Wednesday night, no doubt to rest for Saturday's match-up. A win guarantees the Earthquakes home field acvantage for the Western Conference final. Prediction: Earthquakes 2:1 Hoops

Los Angeles Galaxy v. Kansas City Wizards - The Galaxy looked awful Wednesday night, and it'll be interesting to see if Sampson rests key players in preparation for the U.S. Open Cup final next Wednesday. If he does, it'll be another long night for the Galaxy. If he doesn't, it'll still be tough, even at home, against a Wizards team that needs points to keep the Metrostars off their backs. Prediction: Galaxy 1:2 Wizards

Last week: 3-3
Season: 14-13

Note: Beginning next week, it'll be much more difficult for me to update this blog daily. I'll do my best for you loyal readers, but don't be surprised if I'm not able to post a new entry every day.

Oh To Be a Fly On the Wall...

2005-09-22T16:57:00.000-07:00

With a comfortable fourteen point cushion over their nearest conference competitor, and a four point cushion over the New England Revolution in the race for the MLS Supporter's Shield, the San Jose Earthquakes are now riding in cruise control. Last night's 2-0 victory over the Chicago Fire was not very flashy, as the Earthquakes conceded possession to the Fire in the second half (perhaps to avoid fatigue going into Saturday's match against FC Dallas), but a typically organized San Jose performance. A brace from midfield engine Dwayne De Rosario should also give momentum to the "DeRo for MVP" crowd.

However, there is possible bad news for the Earthquakes, as an MRI revealed that midfielder Brad Davis has a severely strained groin. Team trainer Bruce Morgan says that if the condition does not improve in 7-10 days, Davis will have to undergo season-ending surgery. Davis gives the Earthquakes an added element, not only providing much-needed midfield depth, but he can deliver a wicked left-footed cross, and makes the Earthquakes a much more dangerous team on set-pieces. Without him, the Earthquakes are still a very dangerous team, but they do lack occasional width as left midfielder Mark Chung loves to pinch into the center. With the transfer window now closed, there's not much left the Earthquakes can do but hope that rookie Chris Wondolowski can step up and contribute in first-team matches.

*****

If you didn't see the highlights, the Los Angeles Galaxy lost to FC Dallas 4-1 last night. No, Dallas wasn't that good, the Galaxy were just that bad. What was Kevin Hartman doing when Troy Roberts played that back-pass? It reminded me of an own-goal former Aston Villa goalkeeper Peter Enckelman scored in a derby with Birmingham City a few years ago. Just horrendous, as was the rest of the Galaxy's performance. What's clear from this game is that Steve Sampson has lost this team. They look unmotivated, tired, uninspired, and flat. Their only goal last night was an own-goal by Dallas defender Bobby Rhine.

Galaxy fans love to point out that this team has MLS Cup quality talent that Steve Sampson is squandering. While Los Angeles is a talented squad, it's certainly not without its flaws, lacking defensive bite, a true offensive midfielder, and real midfield width. But it is Sampson's job to find players to plug these holes. He did try to do that, signing several defenders in the off-season (Umana, Ihemelu, Dunivant, Chinchilla, etc.), and an offensive midfielder (Pando Ramirez). Yet these players, with the exception of Dunivant, have never really panned out for Sampson, and his team is now struggling to truly play creative, tactically disciplined soccer. You cannot expect Landon Donovan to lead a team. He was only a very talented, important cog of a well-oiled winnning machine that featured veteran leadership all across the field (Agoos, Dayak, Onstad, Ekelund, Mulrooney, and Lagos in 2003). General Manager Doug Hamilton will have to take a long look at the situation this off-season (that is, if he still has a job).

*****

Is Clint Mathis done in Salt Lake? Rumors have been flying for weeks now that he's been fuming with teammates, skipping practices, and disrupting team morale (what little there is left). He only played 71 minutes in last night's loss to Colorado, and his production has been weak all season. Perhaps he would have been helped by a true defensive midfielder playing behind him (something I wrote about a few weeks ago, something I believe will be key to Real's success next season), but regardless, wasn't he supposed to start producing for friend John Ellinger? Really, if Mathis can't succeed under Ellinger than what haope is really left for the guy? It'll be interesting to see what happens in the next few weeks as the 2005 season nears to a close.

MLS News and Notes - Midweek

2005-09-21T11:29:00.000-07:00

News:

Jamie Trecker's back, and this time he discusses attendance with Galaxy GM Doug Hamilton and former Fire GM Peter Wilt.

My take: Yes, I've been very critical of Trecker's column in the past, but this is a good one. Personally, I think the problems with these mid-week cup games is that there is simply a lack of national exposure. Most of these games aren't televised (thank you FSC for broadcasting United v. Catolica), and as one Bigsoccer poster put it, in the U.S., "if you're not televised, you don't exist."

Bad news for United: Quaranta and Walker questionable for tomorrow's away-leg against Universidad Catolica.

My take: Bad news for a team that will need to score goals on Thursday. United could survive without Jamil Walker, who's a competent bench player at best, but the loss of Quaranta may hurt. This will be a huge opportunity for Freddy Adu to make an impression, but it'll also mean that a number of players will have to go the full ninety minutes, including Christian Gomez. A very difficult game just got a whole lot more difficult for United.

Nagging abdominal injury sidelines Rapids goalkeeper Joe Cannon.

My take: Serioiusly bad news for Colorado, who, with a win tonight, can bury Real Salt Lake's hopes of a playoff spot. But if Cannon's injury proves to be long-term, it could spell serious trouble for Colorado's playoff hopes (that is, their advancing int he playoffs, getting there is a given).

The trials and tribulations of Bobby Rhine's move to right back.

My take: Rhine's actually been quite good on the right wing offensively this season, but he hasn't looked very good defensively. He often has compensated for bad positioning by fouling his opponent. If he can solidify his defensive game, he could become a very serviceable MLS right back, much like Chris Albright has, but he needs to make that effort. Otherwise, he'll be just a decent offensive threat that can't cover defensively for a team that's all too familiar with defensive lapses and mistakes.

Brian Dunseth suspended for tonight's key match against the Colorado Rapids.

My take: It's great to hear that MLS took action for an off-the-ball incident, but what about Ezra Hendrickson? A foot to the face of Danny Califf doesn't warrant action from the front office? How about Kyle Beckerman, who assuredly should have been sent off for a nasty, dangerous, lunging, studs-up tackle against United this weekend? If the league's going to do this, they at least ought to be consistent.

Brian Ching getting the start tonight for the San Jose Earthquakes

My take: Great news for Earthquakes fans, and you've gotta love Ching's perspective on this: "The team was playing so well, I didn't know if I would get a chance. I'm looking at this as a chance. I'm not back in the starting lineup, guaranteed. I have to go out there and prove that I belong.'' Bad news for Quakes fans though: Brad Davis may have a torn groin, pending an MRI today. Davis is essential to midfield depth. Without him, the only player the Quakes have of any use is rookie Chris Wondolowski.

Big games tonight for the Columbus Crew and Real Salt Lake, both of whom need to win to keep their playoff hopes alive. The Crew have the tougher of the two matches, playing the New England Revolution, who are no doubt a little angry after their 5-4 loss to the Metrostars last Saturday. Should be a good night of games tonight.

In Limbo Gets Pimped, and Other News

2005-09-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

In his latest online article for Sports Illustrated, Grant Wahl lists his "Best Eleven" of American soccer blogs. None other than yours truly made that list. A big thanks to Grant for the positive publicity. Now to soccer. From the same article:

"MLS officials have contacted members of the media to clarify that commissioner Don Garber makes an annual salary of $1.25 million, not the $250,000 that was reported in a New York magazine article this week. (That's great for the commish, but it's hard not to laugh when MLS HQ starts contacting the media with salary information after we spent years trying to crack the single-entity salary list in New York.) "

The article referred to is this one, which has since corrected the mistake (some of the numbers in there are fascinating, but this is a soccer blog, so I'll refrain from the tangent). It's easy to say that Garber is overpaid, so I'll just go ahead and say it, Don Garber is overpaid. A $250,000 salary, as initially reported, makes perfect sense for the commissioner of a league that's still bleeding money. It also makes sense for a league that's currently paying some players as low as $11,000 a year on developmental contracts. But a $1.25 million contract ($1 million more than initially reported) is more money per year than any single player in the league. In fact, that salary is more than the entire San Jose Earthquakes team makes combined. That is disgusting. Yes, Garber has done an excellent job (although he's really bungling the San Jose and Kansas City situations), but until this league begins operating in the black, nobody, neither staff nor players, should be making more than $1 million a year, especially not you Commissioner Garber.

Galarcep: Don't Fire Bob!

Last week's 5-4 victory over the New England Revolution put the Metrostars right back in the playoff picture, currently sitting only three points behind the slumping Kansas City Wziards. However, when the Metrostars squandered a 3-1 lead, falling behind 4-3 after a brilliant Taylor Twellman strike, I thought for sure that Alexi Lalas was already preparing Bradley's pink slip. But lo and behold, the Metros began playing inspired soccer, pulling off one of the most stunning and dramatic victories this season. Bradley's players fought for his job, and they won the first battle.

But the question remains: Will Lalas fire Bradley even if the Metrostars make the playoffs (and presumably lose)? That question doesn't much bother some Metrostars fans, many of whom hope that the answer is "yes". But how much is Bradley to blame for the Metrostars' woes this season (and past seasons) and what are the ramifications if Lalas fires him?

Bradley, for all the trouble that he's had with the Metrostars franchise is still one of America's most talented and intelligent soccer minds. His defensive gambles have hurt the Metros in recent years. First it was the signing of American defender Eddie Pope. Pope, who had a storied career with D.C. United that included three MLS Cup titles, was supposed to bring leadership and stability to a young Metrostars backline. But Pope, who was already on the downslide of his career, was never the player to vocally lead a backline. Bradley realized that this past off-season, shipping Pope to Real Salt Lake, and trading with San Jose for another aging veteran, Jeff Agoos. But Agoos, while a far more vocal leader who has won five MLS Cups (3 with United, 2 with the Earthquaes), is just too slow now to anchor an MLS defense, and Bradley has inexplicably been playing Jeff on the left, a position that requires far more pace than Agoos possesses. This season alone, Bradley has made other confusing defensive decisions, including starting Zach Wells in goal and trading for Ryan Suarez from Chivas USA. Last week's 5-4 victory did nothing to convince doubters about the effectiveness of his defense.

But that offense. Youri Djorkaeff, Amado Guevara, and Ante Razov provide a triple threat that is difficult for MLS defenses to contain. If Eddie Gaven can return to the form that saw him become one of MLS' most promising young players, the Metrostars will have four offensive threats that few MLS teams will want to face should the Metros actually make the playoffs.

However, Bradley has come under heavy criticism, not just for playing favorites, but also for his untimely substitutions and roster moves. If starting his own son in defensive midfield wasn't enough to irritate die-hard Metrostars fans, continuing to stat him there, Bradley has also continued to start players like goalkeeper Zach Wells (before the Meola trade), Mark Lisi, and Mike Magee. These criticisms are apt. Young Bradley, for all his improvement over the course of the season, still is not getting it done as the defensive midfielder. Bob Bradley ought to take serious heat for the trade of Ricardo Clark who has proved to be a revelation with the San Jose Earthquakes. But Wells has since been benched, as has Lisi, and Magee came up big last week scoring two goals. Even Bradley's biggest failure, striker Sergio Galvan-Rey, has only been coming off the bench. Until the young Bradley is benched, most Metrostars fans will remain understandably vocal, especially with the recent signing of Argentinian defensive midfielder Daniel Garipe. However, Bradley need only point to this season's signing of Youri Djorkaeff, who has since become the Metrostars' captain and a huge inspiration to the team, to prove the hard work he's done. And as Galarcep wrote, if Bradley goes, will Djorkaeff, Razov, and Guevara follow? That would be a huge blow to the team's hope next season.

The Birth of the Cool

2005-09-19T11:33:00.000-07:00

Last weekend was a good one in MLS, featuring three come-from-behind games, one of which was one of the most entertaining in MLS this season. That game, between the New England Revolution and the Metrostars, promised to be a barn-burner before the game even started. The Metrostars needed three points to keep pace with Kansas City and Chicago in the Eastern Conference. Currently, they're still on the outside looking in on the playoffs, but a win over the Revolution would assuredly secure Bradley's job (at least for another week), motivate the team, and keep them in the playoff picture.

Fortunately, the Revolution are an equally motivated team, finally at full strength again after an entire season filled with international call-ups and untimely injuries. From the outset it was clear that they were not going to roll over and die for the Metrostars. On the contrary, the Revolution still have plenty to play for with home-field advantage throughout the playoffs still not secured, and a tight Supporter's Shield race with the San Jose Earthquakes. Both teams came into the game with the intention of winning and it showed.

The lead changed on three separate occasions, with the Revolution at one point scoring three goals in a span of seventeen minutes. It was after the Metrostars blew their 3-1 lead that I began thinking that Bradley's career with the team had to be over if the Metrostars didn't secure the three points. I was wrong, again. The Metrostars stormed back, tying the play on a Guevara goal and, in the final ten minutes, Yori Djorkaeff (the ageless wonder) scored a wonderful goal by taking advantage of a Matt Reis positioning error. There was end-to-end action, plenty of goals, and a fight, not much more than you can ask for from a soccer game. The win now leaves the Metrostars only three points back of Kansas City in the Eastern Conference playoff race with five games to play. An exciting end of the season for the league's most exciting conference.

Highlights can be found here.

MLS Power Rankings:

1. San Jose Earhquakes - After a not-so-convincing win over Chivas, San Jose finds itself back on top thanks to a Revolution loss. While that win was not convincing, San Jose did whatveer it took to win, sacrificing their bodies (see Califf, Danny) to get two late game goals to snatch victory from a tired, wounded Chivas side.

2. New England Revolution - The fact that the Revolution still battled for three points after going 3-1 down was a sign that the Revolution, for all their defensive lapses on Saturday, is, along with San Jose, the hungriest team in the league. Even when they don't need three points, they went on the road and fought the Metrostars with everything they had. This is a championship team folks.

3. D.C. United - In Saturday's most predictable game, United took it to the Colorado Rapids. Nowak called it D.C.'s best game of the season. Perhaps that Catolica game has given United some much needed confidence going into the stretch run. Regardless, they same to be firing on all cylinders offensively. If they can secure their back-line, they will be serious contenders for MLS Cup in the Eastern Conference.

4. Chicago Fire - A big win on the road moves Chicago into third place in the East before two rough games ahead in San Jose and Kansas City. If Chicago can survive those matches with three or four points, they will have done very well during the league's most unenviable road trip.

5. Metrostars - A huge win over the Revolution means that the Metrostars are now only three points behind Kansas City in the race for the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. The defense is still worrisome, but if the offense (the triumvirate of Djorkaeff, Guevara, and Razov) can continue to generate goals, the Metrostars should have no problem winning games. That Djorkaeff signing (and his move to captain) is not looking so dumb now.

6. Kansas City Wizards - While the 2-2 home tie against the Galaxy on Saturday may not look terrible, it's a troubling result for Gansler's boys. Not only where they seriously outplayed at home for the first hour of the match, but they only pulled out a tie in the last ten minutes against a tired and inexperienced Galaxy defense. Until Gansler can get this team back into motion, they'll have serious trouble fending off the Metrostars.

7. LA Galaxy - What was Steve Sampson thinking? If you want to find out why the Galaxy didn't win Saturday's road match against the Wizards, look no further than at the substitutions list. Sampson's poor substitions cost the Galaxy three points, and their second away win outside Los Angeles this season. A troubling and disappointing result for Galaxy fans.

8. FC Dallas - Yesterday's victory over Real Salt Lake means that Dallas and Los Angeles have now qualified for the playoffs. It also means that Los Angeles is now mathematically eliminated from winning first place in the West. A big regular season home win for Dallas at the right part of the season. While not always convincing in victory, Dallas may just be beginning to turn their season back around.

9. Columbus Crew - Ahead of the Rapids because at least they don't play the most negative soccer I've ever seen in MLS.

10. Colorado Rapids - The most digusting, thuggish road tactics in all of MLS. Clavijo's squad takes to the road with the intention of fouling and hurting their opponents until they're completely off their game. It worked against San Jose, but it didn't work against D.C., despite the refs inability to control the match.

11. Real Salt Lake - Still losing.

12. CD Chivas USA - Is this the worst team in MLS history?

All the News That's Fit to Print

2005-09-16T09:34:00.000-07:00

Today's biggest MLS news items:

Eddie Johnson out for four-six weeks.

My take: this is bad news for Eddie, bad news for the US National Team, and bad news for FC Dallas. It's going to be a long rest of the season for Hoops fans.

As if United didn't already have a monopoly on Argentinians, they've just completed the signing of a third, currently unnamed, Argentinian player.

My take: Probably a striker or a wing player, this Argentinian, if he's even half as good as Christian Gomez will prove an invaluable signing down the stretch run. The rich just get richer, and their bench just gets deeper.

San Antonio owes MLS a "thank you"?

My take: Thanks to MLS, San Antonio's Alamodome is NFL ready. The most fascinating thing in this article is that San Antonio took out three million dollars in bonds that were spent on repairing the stadium in the hopes of luring an MLS franchise. I guess Garza really was serious after all.

Ives Galarcep examines which MLS coaches are on solid ground and which are "in limbo".

My take: I think he's got it about right, but even by his own admission, it seems like Bob Bradley is more "out the door" than he is "on shaky ground." Nothing short of an MLS Cup or Eastern Conference final appearance will secure Bradley's job. Ellinger will get at least one more year to turn things around in Salt Lake. Also, unless his team makes it to MLS Cup, Clarke is going to get the boot in Dallas.

MLS Weekend Preview:

Metrostars v. New England Revolution - The Revolution looked good last week, but the Metrostars also got a confidence-boosting road victory in Kansas City and are unbeaten in their last ten home matches. The Metrostars have nothing left to lose and will throw everything they've got at New England's stellar defense. This game will be a matter of New England's late season resolve and how the Metrostars react in the face of adversity. Prediction: Metrostars 2:2 Revolution

D.C. United v. Colorado Rapids - Colorado is probably reeling after that miserable road performance in Los Angeles last weekend. United no doubt is looking to bounce back after a mixed match against CD Universidad Catolica on Tuesday night, not to mention a disappointing road loss in Colorado two weeks ago. This will be revenge. Prediction: United 2:0 Rapids

Columbus Crew v. Chicago Fire - Chicago needs the points, not only to keep pace with United and Kansas City, but to keep the Metrostars off their back. Their miserable road schedule is coming to a close in a few weeks, but these are points that Chicago should win with upcoming matches at San Jose and at Kansas City. Columbus had showed some inspired form in past weeks, but suffered a horrible setback in a 3-1 loss in New England last weekend. Look for some inspired play from both teams. Prediction: Crew 1:1 Fire

Kansas City Wizards v. Los Angeles Galaxy - The Galaxy have won one game outside of Los Angeles this season. Yes, they demolished the Rapids last weekend, but let's not forget that that game was played in the Home Depot Center and Nat Borchers was sent off after 20 minutes when the score was only 1-0. This is a big test for LA and a bigger test for Kansas City, who has hit a rough patch of form recently and who needs to win to keep pace with United and the Revolution in the tight Eastern Conference. Prediction: Wizards 2:1 Galaxy

CD Chivas USA v. San Jose Earthquakes - Do I really need to talk about this one? Prediction: Earthquakes 2:0 Chivas

FC Dallas v. Real Salt Lake - The battle of the Euro-poser team names. Even with Eddie Johnson out to injury, Dallas should win this match, having seemingly excised the voodo hex on Pizza Hut Park with a 1-0 Open Cup victory over the Chicago Fire in midweek. Real Salt Lake had a week off to meditate on their transgressions, but I don't think it'll do them much good. Prediction: Hoops 2:0 Real

Last week: 3-3
Season: 11-10

The Transfer Window is Closed!

2005-09-15T10:31:00.000-07:00

The MLS transfer window is closed. Here are the last-minute signings made across the league:

Metrostars finally sign defensive midfielder Daniel Garpipe

Wizards sign trialist Antti Sumiala, waive Earthquakes playoff killer Khari Stephenson

Revolution sign New Zealand international defender Tony Lochhead

The biggest of these of course is the Garipe signing. Garipe is yet another Argentine (to go along with United's Erpen and Gomez), who said something that I hope is indicative of MLS' ability to attract international talent from CONCACAF and CONMENBOL:

"I also like the life here and would love to bring my family here to live."

There is security (both physical and financial) that America can provide that other countries' can't. Perhaps MLS and its clubs are finally beginning to capitalize on that.

In the U.S. Open Cup semifinals, the Los Angeles Galaxy knocked out the battling Minnesota Thunder 5-2, while Dallas advanced on the back of a Ronnie O'Brien goal against the Chicago Fire. This sets up an interesting final, pairing two completely under-achieving teams. Jeff Carlisle tries to figure out what's wrong with FC Dallas, and whether the Open Cup victory last night can propel them into a good run of form after a protracted slump.

The more I learn about what Dominic Kinnear has had to deal with in San Jose, the more astonished I am that this team is as good as it is. In Greg Lalas' most recent Cheap Seats article, he quotes Kinnear as saying:

"On the day before the expansion draft," he started, "we were sitting in the locker room and we put up a potential starting lineup for opening day. I don't think we had 11 players contracted. We had a lot of work to do."

Holy cow. He doesn't think the team "had 11 players contracted." Remarkable. Praise for Kinnear continued in an article by Ann Killion in today's San Jose Mercury News. She writes:

"And he's a pretty darn good coach. Coach of the year, in fact, unless the team's operator, the Anschutz Entertainment Group, buys off some voters in an effort to not make the corporation look bad."

Ouch. Way to stick it to AEG, Ann. But her article echoes what I and other Earthquakes fans have felt all season, awe. This team is impossible not to like (unless you're a Galaxy fan) and their passion for the sport, for the team, for each other, and for winning is infectious.

Things Are Happening

2005-09-14T10:22:00.000-07:00

Hold the phone everybody, there was a transfer window move in MLS yesterday. Granted, it wasn't a very interesting transfer move, but it was a transfer move nonetheless, as defensive midfielder Marcelo Saragosa returns to the Los Angeles Galaxy. Also yesterday, the Galaxy traded midfielder/forward Jovan Kirovski to the Colorado Rapids, who in turn also signed former Galaxy/Miami Fusion forward Diego Serna. By moving Kirovski, the Galaxy will now likely move forward Herculez Gomez to the senior roster, a nice reward for a player who has contributed considerably to the Galaxy this season. This is what Galaxy coach Steve Sampson had to say about the Kirovski move:

"We're sorry to see him go. Jovan goes to a club that will place a high importance on his play. Not that we haven't or wouldn't, but I could not commit to any consistent starting time for him given the level of competition on the team right now."

The level of competition Steve? What level of competition? Joseph Ngwenya? Are you serious? Not that I don't think Sampson was right to trade Kirovski, but his comments are a bit perplexing, but not nearly as perplexing as the signing of Saragosa. The Galaxy already possess two starting defensive midfielders in Pablo Nagamura and sometimes-team-captain Pete Vagenas. The team could have used a quality central defender or a true left midfielder, but instead they sign Saragosa. One Bigsoccer poster made the best conjecture that I've seen, hypothesizing that Nagamura will be recalled at the end of the season and Saragosa is his long-term replacement. Still, the timing is curious.

In the Copa Sudamerica match last night, D.C. United tied CD Universidad Catolica 1-1 at RFK stadium in Washington. It's a disappointing result, especially since away goals are the aggregate tie-breaker. That said, United played well for long stretches, but their defense let them down. Does this mean that Bobby Boswell will be back in the starting eleven? Probably not. But shifting Erpen to the left and moving Boswell back into central defense would be a very wise move in my opinion. Boswell just is a threat on set pieces and has a presence in the back that without him, D.C. just doesn't possess. The second leg in Santiago will be an interesting one. But regardless of the series outcome, these matches can only be positive for D.C. and for MLS.

The September FIFA rankings came out today, and to some peoples' surprise, the U.S. fell one spot to seventh. To those who it did surprise, you probably need to step away from your computer, and get back into the real world. The only disappointment in all of this is that it'll make it practically impossible for the United States to be seeeded before the next World Cup. Oh well. (Oh, and England fell out of the top ten).

Other tidbits:

Steve Sampson reflects on World Cup 98:

"'One thing I would have changed (in my tenure) was I would not have brought in David Regis,' Sampson told The Star-Ledger. 'It set back the process. Him coming into the team at that late stage was a disruption and I take personal responsibility for that.'"

and (about "captain for life" John Harkes)

"Sampson, now the Galaxy coach, said he made the move because Harkes wouldn't switch from midfield to left back, a position the team was weak in."

There's also U.S. Open Cup action tonight with the USL's Minnesota Thunder facing the Galaxy in Los Angeles, and the Chicago Fire travelling down to so-far cursed Pizza Hut Park to face FC Dallas. Should make for some interesting chatter tomorrow.

"It's a learning process. We just want to make it better for everyone, better for our league and better for our team."

2005-09-13T10:07:00.000-07:00

Today features the most important MLS match of the week. This match however, only features one MLS team. Is it another European friendly? No. Today is the first leg of D.C. United's Copa Sudamerica match with Universidad Catolica of Chile. This home and away series may well be the two most important matches in MLS this season. This has nothing to do with winning "respect," but everything to do with making money. According to this article in today's Washington Post, the reward for reaching the finals of the Copa Sudamerica are extraordinary by MLS standards, $795,000 and $695,000 for the two finalists respectively. The CONCACAF Champion's Cup, in which MLS teams have tradtitionally performed poorly, offers a financial reward that pales in comparison.

I don't think that D.C. United will advance that far into the tournament. However, the matches should serve as a lesson to the MLS front office that they ought to take their own domestic competitions, the aforementioned Champion's Cup, and the U.S. Open Cup more seriously by offering serious financial rewards to the winner. MLS and MFL, along with other smaller CONCACAF teams, should pledge some money to the winner and runner-up of the Champion's Cup, and MLS should also make it a priority to offer financial rewards for the winner of the Open Cup. With more and more MLS teams moving into their own soccer specific stadiums, it will become increasingly more viable to host more soccer fixtures, and these events will prove, with the right marketing, to be important sources of revenue.

These games are always valuable to MLS from an actual soccer viewpoint. Not only do they offer a realistic guage of the quality of MLS soccer (unlike the much over-hyped European friendlies), but they provide valuable soccer experiences for younger players and veterans alike by introducing them to hostile environments in century old soccer cultures. It also encourages cooperation between foreign clubs and fans. These games however, are also not without their disadvantages, which mostly include the exhaustion extra games will naturally effect on MLS' small rosters. Hopefully, with the inclusion of the reserve teams, in future years MLS will be more equipped to deal with longer seasons and extra-MLS matches.

Good luck to D.C. United tonight, I hope they do MLS and their fans proud, marking the beginning of what I hope is a future in inter-American club competition.

No Repeats of the 1998 Galaxy or 2001 Fusion Please

2005-09-12T10:05:00.000-07:00

I really do hope that New England and San Jose meet in MLS Cup 2005, not just because I'm a selfish Earthquakes fan, nor because it would be a highly entertaining match, but because these two teams deserve to be there. So did the 1998 Galaxy and the 2001 Fusion (RIP), but we know what happened to them. However, the playoff system has changed since then, and since its implementation during the 2003 season, it has yielded positive results:

MLS Cup 2003: Fire v. Earthquakes (#1 seeds in their respective conferences)
MLS Cup 2004: United v. Wizards (#2 and #1 seeds in their conferences respectively)

MLS Power Rankings:

1. New England Revolution - Yes, they're back in first in my power rankings, but not without reason. On Saturday night, they absolutely demolished the Columbus Crew, not only looking as confident as they did in June, but with all of their star players back. Taylor Twellman and Shalrie Joseph are having MVP seasons, with Twellman making his case by scoring a hat-trick Saturday night. The move he made on Chad Marshall was absolutely sick. Matt Reis needs to keep that temper in check though.

2. San Jose Earthquakes - If they hadn't looked so sluggish for big stretches of the first half and parts of the second, San Jose would have easily remained in first place. That said, for a team that was passing so poorly at times, San Jose looked awfully strong on the counter, and they completely punished the Chivas defense for its mistakes. Good teams win these games 1-0, or even tie, but San Jose won 3-0. Oh, and who was that who scored San Jose's third goal? Brian Ching? Scary thought.

3. D.C. United - There's San Jose and New England and then there's everyone else, except when United are on their game. They beat Dallas in Dallas (apparently not as difficult a feat these days), securing vital points in that wild Eastern Conference playoff race, and leaping ahead of Chicago and Kansas City. Erpen has looked solid in the back, and if this team can get rested and healthy (that means not being drained after their Copa Sudamerica match in Chile) before the playoffs, watch out.

4. Kansas City Wizards - Kansas City is beginning to slump at the worst possible juncture in the season. They'll have to turn it around real quick after an ugly 1-0 loss to the Metrostars at home.

5. Chicago Fire - Still in the hunt for playoff positioning in the East, Chicago has to be looking over its shoulder at the Metrostars with their brutal road schedule still in full swing. That win over LA in LA was huge last week, but it's a rough road ahead.

6. Los Angeles Galaxy - Los Angeles absolutely drubbed (used with credit to Jack Edwards) Colorado on Saturday night 4-1. Yes, Colorado was a man down, but the Rapids had been playing considerably better soccer of late. Perhaps LA is beginning to turn things around, or perhaps they're simply continuing Steve Sampson's policy of beating the team's they have to, and blowing points against quality sides. However, the more San Jose wins, the smaller that magic number becomes for them to clinch first place in the West.

7. Metrostars - It's a shame that the Metrostars might miss the playoffs. No, they're by no means a great team, they possess a pretty scary (in a bad way) defense, but they've been getting points lately and have a ten game unbeaten streak at home (although it's more of a 2004 Columbus Crew type unbeaten streak). Can't say the same for teams in the West, like Los Angeles, Dallas, and Colorado, all of whom will make the playoffs.

8. FC Dallas - I was really tempted to put this team on the bottom, but the sad thing is, the teams below them are actually worse. Regardless, Dallas still hasn't won a game in their new home, Pizza Hut Park, and haven't won a league match since June. This team is quickly falling apart at the seams, and Colin Clarke doesn't appear to have the coaching savvy to make this team work. Ruiz looks like he doesn't care. Eddie Johnson still isn't in peak form (and it also doesn't look like he much cares either). Poor Ronnie O'Brien is still trying to do everything, but everything apparently isn't enough. At least Ramon Nunez has started to show flashes this season.

9. Colorado Rapids - What was that? A team that some pundits were beginning to think would be serious challengers in the playoffs sure looked like a total joke on Saturday night.

10. Columbus Crew - Just when the Crew were beginning to look like they were going to make a late season run at the playoffs, they completely bombed against New England. That loss makes such a run look extremely unlikely now.

11. Real Salt Lake - So do you think Real used their week off to gel as team and shore up their defensive problems? And as if things couldn't get any worse, word on the street is that Jason Kreis tore his ACL. Is Gustavo Cabrera the defensive answer? John Ellinger and Real fans better hope so.

12. CD Chivas USA - How can Westerhoff not start Brad Guzan? Seriously. And that defense is nothing short of atrocious. San Jose made Douglas Sequiera, Ezra Hendrickson, and company, look horrendous out there. At least Vergara learned that it ain't gonna be as easy as he thought.

Nostradamus

2005-09-09T09:30:00.000-07:00

Grant Wahl recently made his predictions of Bruce Arena's World Cup roster. Several of my fellow American soccer bloggers have weighed in with their lists, while the illustrious posters of BigSoccer weighed in with their own. I figured it's about time that I take a crack at this as well, I only wish that there was some price given out to the winner.

Goalkeeper(s): Kasey Keller, Tim Howard, Marcus Hahnemann
Possibilities? The only open spot is that third one, which may also go to an MLS keeper like Cannon or Reis, but it's unlikely.

No one will question Kasey Keller's status. Barring injury, he's an absolute lock for the World Cup. While many have questioned Tim Howard's Manchester United status, Bruce Arena still sees a future for Tim with the national team (and why not? Tim is still in his twenties), and bringing him along to Germany would be a great experience for a player who may yet become the United States' No. 1 keeper. As for the third spot, I think it's Hahnemann's to lose at this point. He played well against Guatemala on Wednesday night, and will probably continue to get time with the national team throughout the rest of qualifying.

Defenders: Steve Cherundolo, Frankie Hedjuk, Oguchi Onyewu, Cory Gibbs, Carlos Bocanegra, Greg Berhalter, Eddie Lewis, Albright
Possibilities? There are several. If Jonathan Spector gets considerable playing time with Charlton this season he could be a possibility. Eddie Pope might still be in the mix, as are Chad Marshall, Jimmy Conrad, etc.

Most of the defenders are now locked in. Our first choice backline is made up of Cherundolo on the right, two of Onyewu, Gibbs, or Bocanegra in the middle, and Eddie Lewis on the left. I have a very strong feeling that Hedjuk will be with us in Germany, not only because of his veteran experience and versatility, but also because he fits Bruce's system to the T and has a habit of showing up in big games. Albright backs up Cherundolo on the right. Greg Berhalter has surprisingly played himself back into the picture in the last few months of qualifying. With Pope in the twilight of his international career, it's looking more and more likely that the veteran centerback won't be brought to Germany. As I mentioned above, Spector is still a possibility but that's contingent on several factors, so the jury's still out on him.

Midfielders: Claudio Reyna, Pablo Mastroeni, John O'Brien, Chris Armas, DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan, Bobby Convey, Steve Ralston
Possibilities: Again, several, including Steve Ralston, Santino Quaranta, and Clint Dempsey, not to mention a number of players that could still be capped/called up, including Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp, Pat Noonan, Eddie Gaven (!) and Chris Klein.

I first put question marks where Steve Ralston is, but I think the question marks are a better approximation of what's going through Bruce Arena's head. Quaranta looked terrible Wednesday night and Ralston has struggled against faster, better competition, and would doubtless be in over his head in the World Cup. Our first choice midfield is probably a box with Reyna and O'Brien sharing the defensive duties, and Landon and Beasley free to attack. However, in a true diamond midfield (Bruce's preferred formation), we have no right midfielder. That's troubling. We'll probably see Chris Klein again, as well as a lot more Quaranta, and maybe other players we haven't even yet thought of. It's still possible that Bruce will start Cherundolo at right midfield and put Albright or Hedjuk behind him defensively. The left side of midfield is secure with Convey and Beasley, and Lewis in a pinch. The one player other than Ralston whose position on the roster isn't secure is Armas. It's still possible that Bruce opts for another winger, or brings along a younger player like Ricardo Clark. We'll find all that out in the next few months as well.

Forwards: Brian McBride, Eddie Johnson, Josh Wolff, Brian Ching
Possibilities: Taylor Twellman, Jeff Cunningham, Conor Casey, Chris Rolfe (!), and Freddy Adu (!)

McBride and Johnson are likely locks for the World Cup. It's after these two that things get a bit fuzzy. Twellman and Cunningham will probably get at least one more chance to prove they belong, but those two are quickly playing themselves out of the picture. Ching is really the only heir apparent to McBride and he has scored in World Cup qualifying. Wolff has had a bad year internationally, but Arena still feels he has something to offer the team, and with our dearth of quality forwards I'm sure that Wolff will be brought along to Germany. Casey's injury hurt in a myriad of ways, but most importantly it seems to have taken him off Bruce's radar, at least for the time being. This leaves a bunch of young guys (Rolfe and Adu were sort of my humorous homage to Bigsoccer), who probably won't get called up in the next year, let alone put on the World Cup roster, but more surprising things have happened.

MLS Weekend Preview:

New England Revolution v. Columbus Crew: New England is coming off a gritty victory over Real Salt Lake while Columbus has been on a torrid winning streak, destroying Chivas last week 3-0. With many of their players returning from national team duty, New England might have its first full roster in months. Prediction - Revolution 2:1 Crew

Kansas City Wizards v. Metrostars: These teams played to a 2-2 tie in the Meadowlands last weekend (I didn't see that one coming or anything), and I would suspect a similar result this time around were it not for the return of Diego Gutierrez and Jimmy Conrad to the starting eleven. Prediction - Wizards 2:1 Metrostars

FC Dallas v. D.C. United: Ah, there's nothing like watching two slumping teams face off against one another. However, Dallas will be as close to full strength (sans Mulrooney) as they've been in months. Will it solve their defensive problems? Probably not, but they need to start getting three points at home, and no better time to start than against a team that lost to Colorado in Colorado last weekend. United might have something to say about the matter though. Prediction - Dallas 2:2 United

Los Angeles Galaxy v. Colorado Rapids: Landon's back, but Landon doesn't play defense. Watching Justin Mapp absolutely shred the Galaxy's defense last week left me pretty giddy, but they won't have to face anyone even close to possessing Mapp's skill on the ball this week. But the Rapids have been playing good soccer lately and have been very tight in defense. Prediction - Galaxy 1:1 Rapids

San Jose Earthquakes v. CD Chivas USA: Chivas, just when you thought they were turning things around, they drop three points at home against Columbus. They could've used those three points, because they'll be travelling to San Jose this weekend. If people think San Jose have become complacent since wrapping up a playoff berth, think again. Prediction - Earthquakes 2:0 Chivas

Last week: 3-3
Season: 8-7

Completely Anorexic, and No, I'm Not Talking About the Olsen Twins

2005-09-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

The United States' "C" team really stunk up the field last night in Guatemala City in a 0-0 draw. Arena put together a relatively talented squad, but the tactics his team employed, and the positions Arena put these players in, were seriously detrimental to any type of attacking soccer. The problems, as far as I saw them:

Greg Vanney on the left: How many times has Bruce Arena played Greg Vanney on the left side of defense, and how many times has Vanney disappointed? I didn't understand this selection. Hasn't Bruce seen enough of Vanney to know he's no longer a serviceable left back? He doesn't even play the position for his club team. Why not go with a younger player like a Todd Dunivant or a Jose Burciaga, Jr. Even if they didn't pan out, Arena can at least say he tried.
Clint Dempsey, attacking midfielder: I understand why Arena played Clint in central midfield, but Bruce must realize that Clint plays the position far differently than Landon Donovan does. Donovan likes to play the ball forward, Clint likes to play the ball to the wings and then make a run. His role with the Revolution is almost that of a withdrawn forward, spreading the ball out, and then making a run. On New England, he's freed from defensive duties by the league's best two-way midfielder Shalrie Joseph, and is freed from his creative offensive duties by Jose Cancela. That means that Clint's free to do what he likes, which means taking players on the dribble, and making smart runs into the offensive third. The U.S. needs a player who can create and get the ball to the forwards, not a player who can make attacking runs, that's what the forwards are for.
Long ball: Not to say that I blame the players for resorting to long ball for long stretches of the match, especially when the team can't control much possession, and its attacking midfielder isn't getting touches and spreading the ball around. However, my biggest gripe with the long ball was that it didn't give an opportunity for anyone to demonstrate anything to Bruce Arena. The only player who really took his opponents on the dribble and tried to make the smart pass was Bobby Convey.
Subbing out Jeff Cunningham: Cunningham is the kind of player who could possibly be useful late in games, taking tired defenders on the dribble, and making quick runs into the box. Last night, Jeff wasn't given an opportunity to do much of everything. Playing in the long ball is not a style of offensive creation well-suited for a smallish, quick forward. Had Landon been in the game to make short passes that a quick player like Cunningham could run onto, Jeff might've been more effective. Yet Bruce subbed out Jeff before he subbed on Landon, a bit of a head-scratching move if you ask me.
Moving Clint to the right: Clint Dempsey is not a right midfielder, and really isn't much of a winger to begin with. Perhaps it would've been best for Arena to exchange Clint for Landon, but either way, Dempsey was completely ineffective on the right side of midfield. The Clint Dempsey experiment may be over for this cycle.

Player Ratings:

Marcus Hahnemann - 7 (MOTM): Well, the "man" of the match was probably the near post, but Hahnemann made several crucial saves, and looked comfortable in goal the entire match. His distribution was terrible (except for a beatiful goal kick straight to Clint Dempsey), but he was solid enough in goal to make a case for that third goalkeeper spot.

Chris Albright - 6: Chris made a good case for himself last night. He played solid (if unspectacular) defense, rarely was caught out of position, and played decent offense (his cross that Twellman should have finished was a thing of beauty). He definitely earned himself a few more looks, but he's competing with Frankie Hejduk for that back-up right back slot, and given Frankie's versatility and experience it'll be very tough competition.

Jimmy Conrad - 5: It was not a terrible outing for Jimmy but he practically fell asleep near the end of the match, nearly costing the team a point. But given his effort in the Gold Cup and again last night, Jimmy might've earned himself a spot on the alternates roster for the World Cup.

Chad Marshall - 6: Chad is a big boy and last night, he used his height to his advantage, latching onto a great ball (and forcing a nice save from the Guatemalan keeper) in front of goal, and winning most (if not all) of his aerial challenges. He still plays the unfortunate center back position, a position which is one of the United States' deepest. However, he might've also earned himself an alternate spot, and he certainly earned himself more looks from Arena.

Greg Vanney - 4: As the Doors once sang, "This is the end," and if it isn't, it ought to be. Vanney is too slow, doesn't offer nearly enough offensive output for Arena's system, and is simply not talented enough to play that left back spot internationally. It also doesn't help that he's a center back with his club team, FC Dallas. It's time to move on Bruce. Now, do you cap Jose Burciaga? Todd Dunivant?

Santino Quaranta - 5: Santino was given his chance to start and didn't seize the opportunity. This team desperately needs a natural right midfielder (Donovan can play that role in a box midfield), and Steve Ralston is just too slow for the World Cup. Santino will probably be given another chance, but last night his passes weren't crisp, his defense was suspect, and his forays into the attacking third, ineffective. Perhaps it's time to give Chris Klein another shot. Brian Mullan? Eddie Gaven?

Pablo Mastroeni - 6: A solid performance from Pablo, but he didn't combine well with Clint Dempsey, and was often invisible in the attacking third (in his defense, that's not necessarily what Arena wanted him to do). Pablo has nothing to worry about though, as he's clearly the second-choice defensive/holding midfielder, behind John O'Brien, and with O'Brien's health always a question mark, Mastroeni will be an essential part of the United States' World Cup run.

Clint Dempsey - 5: Clint still hasn't found his place with the U.S. squad, and he probably won't this cycle. That's a shame, because Clint is a very talented player with a keen nose for goal. But he does not fit in with Bruce Arena's idea of a central midfielder, he isn't great on the wings, and he's not quite a forward. If the U.S. used a 4-3-3, with Clint as a withdrawn forward, he might actually find a spot, but unfortunately for him, that isn't going to happen. Time to move on until the next cycle.

Bobby Convey - 7: A fine game again for Bobby, but it's obvious he plays at his best with the U.S. "A" team talent. He wasn't able to put the ball in and make a run, and he just didn't seem to gel right with his teammates. However, he's obviously a much-improved player, and has become a force on set pieces. With Lewis moving to left back, Bobby's probably secured his ticket to Germany as DaMarcus Beasley's back-up.

Taylor Twellman - 5: Sorry Taylor, you worked hard, but you didn't finish and that's all we needed you to do. I'm certain that Taylor will get one more look (at least) from Arena, but last night's performance was a bad omen, and no doubt had Arena wishing for the good health and quick return of Brian Ching.

Jeff Cuningham - 5: Jeff is not a player suited for long ball, which was what the United States was playing for long stretches of the first half last night. He was subbed out before he was given a chance to latch onto a through ball. His one chance on goal was deflected off of his teammate, perhaps a sign of things to come, and indicative of Jeff's career with the Nats.

Subs:

Eddie Johnson - 6: Eddie did some very nice things on the ball, worked hard, and showed flashes of the pre-injury Eddie. However, he needed to bury that header, and he tried to get cute. It was great seeing him back with the Nats though.

Landon Donovan - 6: Landon helped the U.S. play more possession-oriented soccer, and put in some nice through (as opposed to long) balls. I would have liked to see what he could have done with Cunningham on the field, but Bruce thought differently.

Steve Ralston - N/A

Oh Shit! England Loses; World Ends.

2005-09-07T14:26:00.000-07:00

If you're an England fan, please excuse the following: Thank God England finally lost. I don't know how much longer I could put up with smug arrogance from English fans. Whether it was bemoaning the FIFA World Rankings, belittling CONCACAF (at least we don't lose to the teams we have to beat), or just plain old talkin' smack, I put up with it all, and with surprising restraint. No more. Please excuse me while I have a laugh at England's expense before I post some hillarious nuggets from the BBC boards:

"He is only in the job to line his own pocket and ruin another great nations football team. Catch the first plane from belfast sven, dont stop at england just carry on to sweden. AND DONT COME BACK!"

"FIRE HIM [Sven].........out of a cannon into the sun!"

"iv [sic] always been fairly tollerent [sic] of sven, but i agree SVEN OUT why on earth bring on a defensive midfeilder when 1-0 down with 10 minutes to go what a a**hole"

"Rooney is a disgrace."

"For the first time EVER, I was embarresed to be English. Sack Sven."

"I'm not saying Sven was without blame, but the real reason Enlgand lost tonight and also, why they fare so poorly in International competition is that they simply do not care. Englands players are no longer proud to be representing their conutry, they take their ineternational status as a given. A bunch of blokes from the local park could have played better today because they would give their all for thier country, as Northern Ireland did. Their lack of patriotism was shown by the fact that maybe six players were half-heartedly singing the national anthem, if they cared about their country, they would have been singing at the top of their voices."

"IKEA England, woeful against Wales and Worse against Northern Ireland 116th in the world rankings."

"Ah at least it will give 'The Sun' something to write about."

"why are we so shite??"

"5 points behind Poland with 2 games left for Us, Poland must be pissing their pants with laughter"

"England can be as good as Brazil!! What is Sven smoking?????? He really needs to go to Specsavers"

Carry on mates.

Qualifiers Pt. II

2005-09-07T09:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight, the United States faces Guatemala (in Guatemala) in the first of three remaining World Cup Qualifiers (ESPN2 10 pm EST). Having already qualified, the United States will be sending several uncapped or inexperienced players. Here is the roster for tonight's game:

Goalkeepers (2) – Marcus Hahnemann (Reading FC), Matt Reis (New England Revolution)

Defenders (6) – Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Jimmy Conrad (Kansas City Wizards), Nick Garcia (Kansas City Wizards), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew), Greg Vanney (FC Dallas)

Midfielders (6) – Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Bobby Convey (Reading FC), Clint Dempsey (New England Revolution), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids), Santino Quaranta (D.C. United), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution)

Forwards (4) – Jeff Cunningham (Colorado Rapids), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Eddie Johnson (FC Dallas), Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution)

I have no idea who Bruce Arena will start, but I'm willing to guess it might look something like this:

Goalkeeper: Marcus Hahnemann
Defenders: Chris Albright, Jimmy Conrad, Chad Marshall (Greg Vanney?), Frankie Hedjuk
Midfielders: Santino Quaranto, Pablo Mastroeni, Landon Donovan, Bobby Convey
Forwards: Taylor Twellman, Eddie Johnson

This is going to be a very difficult match for the United States. Historically, their record in Guatemala is not sensational, Guatemala has everything to play for, and of course, this is not a first team squad. That said, I also don't think the U.S. will lose this match, a tie seems the most likely outcome.

Some soccer articles:

Nice Galarcep article on the importance of Claudio Reyna

The New York Times sheds some light on that disastrous Uzbekistan - Bahrain qualifier

Galarcep again, this time on the Guatemala match

"I didn't think he'd cry as much as he did today"

2005-09-06T09:17:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night, the United States defeated Mexico 2-0 and consequently qualified for its fifth straight World Cup. United States defender Oguchi Onyewu (pictured above) had this to say about Mexican forward Jared Borgetti (also pictured):

"I didn't think he'd cry as much as he did today. I think he cussed me out a couple times in Spanish, but whatever. You just laugh at that. When you're up, 2-0, it can't really hurt you."

Player ratings:

Kasey Keller - 7: Keller made the few saves that he needed to, but other than one quality chance near the end of the first half of play, Mexico never really troubled Kasey in goal.

Frankie Hedjuk - 5: Frankie defended well and as always, he left everything he had on the field. However, he was very fortunate not to get a yellow card, and was caught too far forward on a few occasions, leaving the already weakened right side exposed. But he continues to demonstrate why he's an Arena favorite and why he'll likely be Cherundolo's back-up in Germany, workrate and heart.

Greg Berhalter - 6: Greg played solid, if not unspectacular, defense on Saturday. His solid play of late might mean that he's at most the fourth choice center back behind Gibbs, Onyewu, and Bocanegra.

Oguchi Onyewu - 9 (MOTM): Onyewu learned from the mistakes he made against Mexico in Azteca. Never intimidated, he used his size and strength to his advantage, completely marking Jared Borgetti out of the game. While he had a few suspect back-passes early on, his defense was consistent throughout, and it was his initial header that led to Steve Ralston's goal, the first of the game.

Eddie Lewis - 7: Eddie looked comfortable out on the left, and played a beautiful ball into the box on the first goal. He was good on set pieces, defended well, made smart forays into the offensive third, and combined very well with DaMarcus Beasley. Bruce is looking like a genius now with this move.

Steve Ralston - 5: Yes, Ralston scored the United States' first goal, but any U.S. player not named Jimmy Conrad (sorry Jimmy, loved your celebration outfit post-game) scores that goal. He played decent defense, but he contributed little or nothing offensively. Hopefully, Bruce will use the next few qualifiers to bleed in Santino Quaranta, and perhaps call-ups for Brian Mullan, Chris Klein (again), and Eddie Gaven are in order. This team needs speed and youth on the wings.

Claudio Reyna - 7: Even after the unjustified yellow card, Claudio never stopped playing his game. He controlled central midfield, playing intelligent balls forward and controlling the run of play. It's no coincidence that Mexico could do nothing in the center of the pitch. A great game for Claudio, who should probably get a rest now that we've wrapped up qualification.

Chris Armas - 5: Chris Armas probably gets something of an unfair rap. Too many people expect Chris to play a Reyna-like game. He doesn't. His job is to disrupt central midfield, win balls, and shadow players. He did a decent job of that Saturday night, but where Armas fails is offensively. His passing is suspect and he has a bad tendency to play the ball back. I'll give him some credit for our defensive success Saturday, but our offense suffered as a consequence of his inclusion in the starting eleven.

DaMarcus Beasley - 8: Ah, DaMarcus. He used his speed to his advantage, took defenders on the dribble, and finished one hell of a shot. Sure, he should have buried that chip late in the game, but DaMarcus was the main reason for our success. He drew yellow cards (how does he survive all those hits?), drew fouls in dangerous areas, and was integral to the U.S. attack. If it weren't for Gooch's monster game, Beasley would have easily been MOTM.

Landon Donovan - 5: A very poor outing from the U.S. player that talked the most pre-game smack. Perhaps he should have realized that there's a reason why no other U.S. player said anything bad about Mexico before the game. You know what they say, "If you can't walk the walk..." He needed to finish that one v. one with Oswaldo Sanchez. The relief was visible on his face when Beasley scored that second goal, but Landon didn't finish his one big chance of the game, and on other days it might've cost us.

Brian McBride - 6: A quiet game from Brian, but he won the aerial challenges that he needed to, and worked hard the entire game. It also wasn't as though Landon was giving him a lot of help. I'm sure he wants Eddie Johnson back just as much as we do.

MLS Power Rankings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes: A huge road win over Dallas means that San Jose currently has an eleven point lead over the Hoops in the West and a twelve point lead over the Galaxy. Oh yeah, and they beat Dallas without Dwayne DeRosario, and who was that who came in as a second-half substitute? Oh, Brian Ching? Scary.

2. New England Revolution: Not nearly as convincing a win as San Jose's, but New England always finds a way to win. Once Ricardo Phillips joins the team, as well as the return of players like Twellman and Ralston, this team should really start to pick up steam heading into the offseason.

3. Kansas City Wizards: One measley point against the Metrostars, but they did it without a plethora of their starters including Gutierrez, Conrad, and Sealy. That's a big road point, not only making it that much harder for the Metrostars to qualify for the playoffs, but keeping them in the hunt for second place in the East.

4. D.C. United: Another tought loss against a Colorado team that was missing it's top goal-scorer and a key defensive player. Perhaps that champion talk was a bit premature now, eh?

5. Chicago Fire: Did you see Justin Mapp's slalom run through the Galaxy defense? How can one player be so great one minute and so pedestrian the next? Either way, it was a huge road win for the Fire, who were starting to fade out of the playoff picture in the East. All of a suddent they're tied on points for second place and are coming off of a road victory.

6. Colorado Rapids: Another big win, this time against United. Slowly, Colorado has been creeping its way up in the West. They're now only four points out of third place.

7. Columbus Crew: The Crew just keep winning and are refusing to die quietly. I was shocked to see that they completely dominated Chivas. Goalkeeper Johnny Walker has been putting in great performances and the team is finally starting to play together. Perhaps they're not dead after all.

8. Metrostars: Still in the playoff hunt in the East, but they're fading fast. They can't afford to be losing two points at home week after week. "Mother of mercy, is this the end of Bob Bradley?"

9. FC Dallas: No wins at Pizza Hut Park. Ray Hudson said it best, "They may be in Pizza Hut Park, but right now this team is dominoes, falling dominoes." Except for Ronnie O'Brien, and perhaps Eddie Johnson (in flashes), this team looked weak, tired, and totally un-inspired.

10. LA Galaxy: Now they're dropping points at home. If it wasn't embarrasing enough that Justin Mapp made everyone in the LA defense look like David Stokes, he did it in stoppage time, in LA, for a team that hadn't exactly been playing good ball of late. Help us Landon Donovan, you're our only hope.

11. Real Salt Lake: Played tough against New England, but Khano Smith (!) made the Real Salt Lake defense look pititful again. Gustavo Cabrera can't join this team soon enough.

12. CD Chivas USA: Ugh. 3-0 loss at home against the Crew. Next week's assignment is at San Jose. Double ugh. Everyone behind Paco Palecia and Juan Pablo Garcia is terrible. You can have the two greatest strikers in the world, but it won't do you any good if there's no one who can get them the ball.

Oh Shit, I Almost Forgot...

2005-09-02T16:08:00.000-07:00

...that there are six MLS matches this weekend, because we're Americans dammit, and we'll play through our World Cup Qualifiers and we don't care what the rest of the world does.

That said, I forgot to make my weekend predictions, so I'll make this quick:

Metrostars v. Wizards: This is a must-win game for the Metrostars but I don't know if their defense will hold up against (gasp!) Kansas City's resurgent offense. If we see a stinker from Kansas City like last Friday's tilt with Columbus, then Kansas City will lose. I see the best (worst?) of both worlds. Prediction - Metrostars 2:2 Kansas City

Dallas v. San Jose: Dallas has been looking worse and worse, but Richard Mulrooney's optimism should give the team hope, as should the long-awaited arrival of Mark Wilson. But, in the absence of Ruiz and Johnson, I don't see how Dallas has the fire power to beat San Jose, even a San Jose squad sans Dwayne DeRosario. Prediction - FC Dallas 1:2 Earthquakes

Colorado v. D.C.: D.C. probably hopes it got out of its recent funk after absolutely crushing Real Salt Lake on Wednesday 5-1. Of course, probably three of their goals (or more) were the consequence of completely inept defending, something that won't happen against Colorado. However, Colorado will be lacking the firepower of Jeff Cunningham and that could have serious ramifications for the outcome. Prediction - Rapids 1:2 United

Salt Lake v. New England: Salt Lake hopefully worked on its offside trap this weekend (among other things), but it'll take everything they've got to get a win against New England, with or without Ralston and Twellman. New England will still have Dempsey, Joseph, and Noonan, all three are equally as dangerous as the two aforementioned players. It might be a long weekend for Ellinger's boys. Prediction - Real 0:2 New England

CD Chivas USA v. Columbus: Columbus may be playing better ball of late, defeating Dallas and Kansas City in successive weeks, but Chivas is playing at home in front of what looks to be a big, raucus crowd. This is not to mention that Chivas hasn't been looking too shabby lately either (although their defense is still the pits). Prediction - Chivas 2:1 Columbus

Los Angeles v. Chicago: Phew! Justin Mapp was released by Bruce Arena to play in the Fire's critical road match this weekend. Unfortunately for the Galaxy, Arena didn't release Landon Donovan. If last weekend proved anything it's that Landon is indispensable to the Galaxy (even if he's only active for half the game). But Chicago's looked like crap lately so who knows? Prediction - Galaxy 1:1 Fire

Last week: 2-2 (almost 3-1, with the scores right too, were it not for Taylor Twellman!)
On the season: 5-4

"They are jealous of us, because we have a life and they have nothing."

2005-09-02T09:57:00.000-07:00

Landon Donovan lays the smackdown on El Tri (in Spanish). Whether this is true or not is anybody's guess, but if it is, bravo Landon! Here are some gems (translated courtesy of Nutmeg on Bigsoccer):

(About pissing on the Jalisco field): "I have no regrets, and I am not sorry. You gotta do what you gotta do, and in that moment that's what I did."

"I don't like how they treat us, how they conduct themselves with us. They intend to humiliate us, and want to do so at whatever cost. But the people who will be doing the humiliating is us, and in the most painful way of being humiliated, inside the field, winning the game and beating them."

"They want to make us feel miserable, and we'll make them miserable by beating them in this game."

"We want to qualify for the World Cup, which is the most important thing, but if you were to ask me right now what I would value most, what do we most want, what we would enjoy more: beating Mexico or winning the right to go to the World Cup, I'll tell you. Beating Mexico."

"Outside of Mexico, in any other stadium, in any other city, in any other country, we are always going to beat Mexico, because we're the better team."

"They are jealous of us, the Mexican players, because we've got a life and they have nothing. Because of that they despise us. Because of that they want to show us no respect."

Wow. Just wow. Only one day away.

Here's an article (registration required) criticizing the U.S. for playing in Columbus to avoid a partisan Mexican crowd. Here's a quote:

"Critics in the Hispanic community, however, say U.S. Soccer's strategy of playing World Cup qualifiers primarily in minor-league markets in hopes of avoiding Hispanic fans passionately supporting U.S. opponents is short-sighted and exclusionary.

'To exclude a group because of a fear you're not going to win is ridiculous,' said Jose Alamillo, a professor of comparative ethic studies at Washington State University."

Uh...whatever. And here's a nice counterpoint article to the one above.

Finally, if you're a US Men's National Team fan and want to read something highly amusing, check out this thread on Bigsoccer. Page 2 is probably my favorite, but that's comedy gold right there.

Bombs Away!

2005-09-01T09:46:00.000-07:00

In MLS action last night, Real Salt Lake was absolutely annihilated by D.C. United, 5-1. The scoreline isn't quite an accurate reflection of the game, but it is an accurate reflection of Salt Lake's defensive woes. If you take a look at the highlights, you'll notice that Salt Lake does not have a cohesive defensive unit (the Adu and Walker goals were appalling defensively), and were it not for some heroics by Eddie Pope, this game could have easily been 7-1 (although, it must be said that were it not for Pope's inability to miss a sitter early on, it might've been a completely different game).

Salt Lake's problems though, aren't as deep as many may think, and there is some silver lining to all of this (although coach John Ellinger might not think so right now, just look at his reaction after Kenny Cutler was sent off last night). First, if Gustavo Cabrera is a first-rate central defender, as Ellinger seems to think he is, it'll help considerably. However, it would be more helpful if Cabrera is a vocal organizer. I don't know if he speaks any English, but he needs to be a vocal leader, because teams that rely on Eddie Pope to do that have found out the hard way that that's not Eddie's strong suit (see, Metrostars). Second, this team needs a destroyer in central midfield. As of now, the team seems to be playing around their central midfield, but they should be maximizing Clint Mathis' touches. Instead, they're losing balls all over the midfield. Besagno, Salt Lake's first-round draft pick, is supposed to be this player, but he's still too young and too raw. Perhaps a trade for a Mastroeni or Armas is in order (next year)?

A line-up featuring a destroyer and a vocal central defender (assuming that that player is Cabrera), could be far more effective. Melvin Tarley proved last night that he's a great addition, and Real Salt Lake should make sure that his move becomes permanent at the end of the season. They might also want to look for a quality right back. Here's what their line-up would look like:

Goalkeeper: D.J. Countess
Right Back: New addition
Central Defenders: Gustavo Cabrera, Eddie Pope
Left Back: Paul Broome
Destroyer: New addition (Besagno?)
Attacking Midfielder: Clint Mathis
Right Midfielder: Andy Williams
Left Midfielder: Robert Scarlett
Forwards: Jason Kreis, Melvin Tarley

That could actually be an effective line-up with only two new additions. I don't suspect that Real Salt Lake will be highly competitive next year (not as much as Chivas will be anyway), but in two years, with the right additions next season and the year after, they could be a very potent line-up. Ellinger may have actually put this team on the right track, despite all the signs to the contrary now.

With the Salt Lake loss last night, the San Jose Earthquakes became the first team in MLS to clinch a berth in the MLS Cup playoffs.

Bruce Arena delivers a message to the Euro-Snob US Men's National Team fans: It's time to "put up or shut up". Either support MLS and the US Men's National Team or don't support either, because, according to Arena, the two are intricately linked together. From the article:

"I think it's critical. If we want this sport to grow, if we want to truly position ourselves to one day win a World Cup, we need support from the people that follow soccer in the United States.''

Right on.

It's also nice to see that Eddie Johnson's ready to get back into action, even if he hasn't looked all that great with Dallas lately, he's critical to our success, not only on Saturday, but in the 2006 World Cup as well.

MVP = MLS Vexes People

2005-08-31T09:45:00.000-07:00

Ah, Jamie Trecker strikes again. This time, he argues that "In 2002, Arena was lucky to have young players pushing veterans for slots, raising everyone's game in the process. This time around, there isn't that pressure — most of the youngsters remain a good length behind and you get the feeling that a number of players feel that they've already locked up a roster spot." Huh? Let's take a rational look at who's locked up a roster spot:

Goalkeeper(s): Kasey Keller
Defender(s): Steve Cherundolo, Carlos Bocanegra, Cory Gibbs, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Pope (?)
Midfielder(s): Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien, Pablo Mastroeni, DaMarcus Beasley, Eddie Lewis, Bobby Convey
Forward(s): Eddie Johnson, Landon Donovan, Brian McBride

That leaves five, perhaps six slots open. There's still healthy competition for defensive positions (especially left and right back), right midfield, and forward.

As for complacency, what about thumping Panama 3-0 in Panama, a place where Mexico could only manage a draw? It seems to me that Trecker's once again grasping at straws. He even had the audacity to write this (regarding last week's article), "Your mail was overwhelmingly in agreement with much of what I wrote. To date only 37 letters out of that bunch disagreed with what I had to say (by my math that's about 2.76% of all respondents)." Oh please. He obviously missed the discussion over on Bigsoccer, where Trecker would have hardly found himself among the majority opinion. He must not have included some four e-mails sent to him by our friend over at Climbing the Ladder. And speaking of Bigsoccer, they more or less have once again taken Trecker's article apart.

Per the title of today's blog post, MLS has begun its 2005 Awards Tracker. Going along with the purpose of this feature, which is to create discussion and argument about MLS players, I'm going to go through each of the award categories and weigh in on my choices and their choices:

Most Valuable Player:

MLS:

1. Taylor Twellman --
2. Landon Donovan --
3. Dwayne DeRosario +
4. Ronnie O'Brien -
5. Christian Gomez --

My List:

1. Shalrie Joseph --
2. Dwayne DeRosario --
3. Taylor Twellman +
4. Jaime Moreno -
5. Ronnie O'Brien -
Moving up: Jeff Cunningham

I don't understand how MLS can leave Shalrie Joseph off a list of MVPs. Donovan's inclusion is something of a joke. Yes, he's the Galaxy's MVP, but I wrote to MLS calling this the "Alex Rodriguez" syndrome. Can you win league MVP if, despite how good a player you are, your team still finishes in the middle or bottom of the pack. Now, there's still a lot of time left, and clearly Landon makes the Galaxy a better team, but he's not an MVP yet in my book.

Rookie of the Year:

MLS:

1. Scott Sealy +
2. Michael Parkhurst -
3. Brad Guzan +
4. Chris Rolfe --
5. Bobby Boswell -

My List:

1. Michael Parkhurst --
2. Scott Sealy +
3. Bobby Boswell -
4. Brad Guzan +
5. Chris Rolfe --
Going nowhere: Gonzalo Segares

MLS has an infatuation with goal-scoring, that much is clear. Sealy could still wrap up the award in the next few months, especially if he continues to score at a rapid pace. However, Parkhurst has been the anchor of MLS' best defense this season, making few rookie mistakes, and making his teammates better. Until the last two weeks, Boswell and Parkhurst were neck-and-neck for this award. Boswell's fortunes have sunk recently, but there's still 1 1/2 months left in the MLS season.

Goalkeeper of the Year:

MLS:

1. Pat Onstad --
2. Matt Reis --
3. Nick Rimando --

My List:

1. Pat Onstad +
2. Matt Reis -
3. Nick Rimando --
4. Joe Cannon --
5. Brad Guzan +
Making me laugh: Tony Meola

Reis has been a big part of New England's success this year, don't get me wrong, but he's also been a liability at times, making rash challenges, and injuring two players this season as a consequence. Onstad has been a model of stability in the back. He doesn't make flashy saves all that often, but he can do it (see his save(s) of the year against LA in June) if he needs to. Guzan has bailed out Chivas so many times, it's become routine for him. Cannon and Rimando need to keep up their good work to move up the list.

Defender of the Year:

MLS:

1. Jimmy Conrad --
2. Wade Barrett +
3. Greg Vanney --
4. Michael Parkhurst -
5. Tyrone Marshall +

My List:

1. Eddie Robinson +
2. Michael Parkhurst --
3. Jimmy Conrad --
4. Bobby Boswell -
5. Greg Vanney --
Moving up: Danny Califf

I don't understand how MLS can neglect the success of the anchor of MLS' best defense, while also leaving off the anchor of the league's second-best defense. Scoff if you will at my inclusion of Boswell and Parkhurst but they belong, and their teams' successes are indicative of that. One could easily flip Robinson and Califf, but since Califf's inclusion in San Jose's starting eleven, Robinson has been an absolute rock in the back, helping a defense that has been key number one to San Jose's sucess.

Coach of the Year:

MLS:

1. Dominic Kinnear --
2. Steve Nicol --
3. Dave Sarachan -

My List:

1. Dominic Kinnear +
2. Steve Nicol --
3. Peter Nowak -
4. Bob Gansler --
5. Colin Clarke -
Feeling the heat: Dave Sarachan

Kinnear is easily the front-runner right now, and even if his team doesn't win the Supporter's Shield, he still deserves the award. He's taken a team that everyone left for dead before the season, filled it with MLS cast-offs, and is second only to the Revolution in points with 44. Why Sarachan's on MLS' list I don't know. He has tons of defensive talent yet has one of the worst defenses in the league. In fact, he has talent all over the field (except at right mid), but his team is in a worrying slump with a terrible road trip ahead.

Finally today, Jimmy Conrad finally has weighed in on his Madrid experience, and it was worth the wait. Best quote:

"I told [Beckham] that despite any effort I use to beautify myself, he's much better looking than I am."

You Got a Lot of Splainin' to Do

2005-08-30T09:39:00.000-07:00

Until US Men's National Team coach Bruce Arena releases his roster for the Mexico Game, we can't do much expect speculate who will play. However, with several key players returning from injury, including Pablo Mastroeni, DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, and Eddie Johnson, we'll see a slightly different line-up than what we saw against Trinidad and Tobago. From the list of players known to be in camp, it would seem that Saturday's line-up might look as follows:

Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller
Defenders: Chris Albright, Carlos Bocanegra, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Lewis
Midfielders: Steve Ralston, Claudio Reyna, Pablo Mastroeni, DaMarcus Beasley
Forwards: Landon Donovan, Brian McBride

That's a very weak right side, but barring a major philosophy shift, I don't see Arena starting Santino Quaranta out at right mid. Without Steve Cherundolo (and without a proper right midfielder), our offensive output (and defensive prowess) suffers mightily on the right.

Speaking of right midfielders though, Kansas City Wizards midfielder Chris Klein is aiming to get himself back into the National Team picture. While Klein never impressed me in his previous chances, his career has been set-back numerous times with injury, and he's a stand-up player enjoying a tremendous season (7 goals, 8 assists so far). At the very least, Klein's earned himself another call-up.

Dallas shows where it's priorities are: ticket sales. It seems more clear than ever that previous Dallas GM Greg Elliott was forced out to make room for a more business-savvy (but apparently still soccer-friendly) GM in John Alper.

For my money, Shalrie Joseph has been the MLS MVP so far this season, and barring a major catastrophe for the New England Revolution, he'll stay my choice for the rest of the year. Today, there was a great article on Joseph. Here are some quotes:

"I support the US team and my heart is with them."

"Some days I regret my decision, but my roots are in Grenada and I decided to play for them."

''You are not just winning balls but also distributing. Some guys can win balls but can't distribute and others can distribute but are not so good at winning balls. My strength is that I can win the ball, I can organize the midfield, and I can convert to attack."

Finally, Real Salt Lake has acquired Minnesota Thunder forward Melvin Tarley. The weird thing about this is that Tarley will be able to play for the Thunder in their semi-final Open Cup match (and the Open Cup final should Minnesota advance). Is a player that has been "acquired" allowed to return to his team to play? I know that it's not unprecedented for a loan player to sit against the team that loaned him (per the stipulations of the loan deal), but the language used here is "acquired" and yet Tarley will be able to play for the Thunder. Anyone well-versed in the FIFA laws of the game able to puzzle this out?

What a Weekend!

2005-08-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

It was a great weekend for American soccer fans, both for MLS and for our Yanks abroad. Hopefully, next week will be another great weekend, a win over Mexico in Columbus will ensure the United States makes its fifth consecutive trip to the World Cup.

In MLS action over the weekend, fans witnessed a pitifully refereed match between the Kansas City Wizards and the Columbus Crew. Over on BigSoccer, some fans were absolutely indignant. However, while some found Friday's match indicative of the quality of refereeing in the league, at least two solidly refereed matches on Saturday quieted the mob. In the weekend's biggest match (Galaxy v. Earthquakes), referee Abbe Okulaja did a very good job containing two very spirited sides, and allowing play to flow freely and effectively. While fans on both sides questioned a few calls, none could really complain as Okulaja had neither an adverse impact on the game nor was he an impediment to the flow of play.

I was thrilled to have been at Spartan Stadium for the aforementioned Galaxy v. Earthquakes match. I was at the LA game earlier this season, and this game was just as, if not more passionate, rowdy, and fun. It's always great to heckle and I was pleased to get a rise out of hot-head Tyrone Marshall.

The situation: LA has just come out for pre-game warm-ups. Marshall is walking over to the bench. I yell out, "Tyrone Marshall!" I pause, and Marshall looks up to see who could be yelling out his name. He spots me. "Tyrone," I continue, "Thanks for scoring for us!" He gives me a long look, then a double-take in an attempt to stare me down. I keep staring at him, as though to say, "That's right Tyrone, I'm looking right at you, what are you gonna do about it?" He walks over to Cobi Jones and says something. Jones glances up and glares. I flash both a big smile.

Still doesn't quite compare with making faces at Chris Carrieri, making Bob Bradley smile, or so utterly confusing Tim Hankinson with insults that he didn't know what to do about it but smile and nod, but it's always great to get opponents mad (even if my insult was as simple, and disarming, as they come).

I was also happy to see that Landon has embraced his role as local villain. His finger-to-lips and logo-patting routine after the goal was a delight to see. The crowd just keep on booing, but I'll give credit where credit's due: His goal was a quality strike, the likes of which I haven't seen from Landon in a while (see his goal and all other game highlights here).

Power Rankings:

1. San Jose Earthquakes - It wasn't just a big win over LA, it was a convincing win. LA worked hard to shut down Dwayne DeRosario, but it wasn't enough. Inspired play from Mullan, Chung, and the two forwards, Alejandro Moreno and Ronald Cerritos, gave San Jose the deserved victory. Brian Ching's return from injury also seems imminent and should give an even greater boost to a team already firing on all cylinders.

2. New England Revolution - Yes, New England leads the league in points, but of late they have not been entirely convincing. However, New England is a team that finds ways to win late, but they have to stop relying on such late-game heroics and start winning games earlier if they want to advance to MLS Cup.

3. Kansas City Wizards - Is their confidence shaken after losing to Minnesota in the Open Cup? Was it just a bad week? Perhaps Kansas City was screwed by the referee, but even if that were true, it doesn't take away the fact that they looked uninspired and flat Friday night against a Crew team that didn't look much better.

4. D.C. United - The Dema ejection might be a blessing-in-disguise for D.C., likely forcing Nowak to start Freddy Adu. Adu has played his way into the starting eleven this season, and he should infuse much-needed energy and creative flair to a side that has looked tired and one that is lacking in sharpness. This team also needs Bobby Boswell to find his form quickly; two own goals in two weeks?

5. Chicago Fire - They weren't able to hurt themselves by playing this weekend, so I'll give them a pass. They have a tough road game in LA ahead of them this week, but their Eastern Conference rivals really helped them out this week by losing.

6. FC Dallas - A point is a point, but at home? More troubling still is that they are yet to win at new home Pizza Hut Park. They are now eight points out of first place in the West, and have a huge home game against San Jose this week. While San Jose will be without midfield general Dwayne DeRosario, Dallas will be missing Greg Vanney, Carlos Ruiz, and Eddie Johnson (World Cup Qualifiers), and Clarence Goodsen (yellow card accumulation). It's going to be a long rest of the season.

7. LA Galaxy - Inspired play from Landon was not enough. Missing Nagamura hurt, but not nearly as much as another away loss. However, LA should be encouraged from their recent road form, nearly drawing points against Chicago, beating United, and battling tough against a superior San Jose side.

8. Colorado Rapids - While they may find themselves down the pecking order this week, a weekend off should do the Rapids a lot of good as they try to move their way up the Western Conference standings.

9. Columbus Crew - Another win, this time against a surging Kansas City side. Say what you want about the referee, but Columbus actually did look dangerous for stretches of the game, displaying a bite that's really been lacking all season.

10. Metrostars - Bob Bradley may not have much time left to turn around this team. A defensive midfield signing should help, but it won't solve all of the Metrostars' defensive woes. They still need to keep looking for defensive help before the transfer window closes, or they'll find that they're playoff window will close right along with it.

11. Chivas - Rising, rising.

12. Real Salt Lake - It's going to be tough the rest of the season, and now Chivas is nipping at their heals. Clint Mathis needs to step up now more than ever.

Soccer News and the Weekend MLS Preview

2005-08-26T09:36:00.000-07:00

The biggest MLS story today is the resignation of FC Dallas General Manager Greg Elliott. He will be replaced by John Alper, who has been a longtime executive within the FC Dallas organization. Word on Bigsoccer is that Elliott is getting the can after the problems and delays related to the opening of Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. According to one Bigsoccer poster, "The 4+ month delay in opening PHP cost Hunt Sports Group an extra $15 million." Ouch.

The Metrostars are hoping to sign Argentine defensive midfielder Daniel Garipe. Ives Galarcep writes, "Garipe is a central midfielder expected to battle with Michael Bradley and Mark Lisi for one of the team's defensive midfield slots." Hopefully, if this Garipe is at all worth bringing in, he won't have to battle for his spot. Michael Bradley (who, as it happens, is the son of head coach Bob Bradley) is not an MLS caliber defensive midfielder, and Lisi isn't a defensive midfielder at all. If Garipe can't beat out those two, I don't suspect that the team would pick up his option for the 2006 season.

In an article in today's Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle Sounders General Manager Adrian Hanauer talks about his hope of bringing the Sounders into MLS. Of course, he needs an investor and a viable stadium plan to do it, but he is one of the few USL executives who thinks it would be more beneficial to join MLS than to remain in the USL. Hanauer had this to say about the gap in talent between MLS and the USL:

"The difference right now is about three players. If we could add three top-end players to our roster we could play with any MLS team," Hanauer said. "The MLS and USL are very similar, other than those two or three special players that are making big money that the USL just can't afford."

I'm not so sure that three top-end players would be enough to allow the Sounders to compete over an entire MLS season. That said, it would certainly be one of the deeper squads in MLS.

Weekend MLS preview:

Kansas City v. Columbus - Kansas City was knocked out of the US Open Cup by USL side Minnesota Thunder on Wednesday. That loss though should not be indicative of the club's recent success in MLS competition. I expect that to continue at home against a Columbus side that has struggled with consistent form this season. Prediction: Wizards 2:0 Columbus

New England v. D.C. - What two weeks ago would have been a cracker of a match-up, now may be a much less exciting affair. New England will be without keeper Matt Reis or midfield engine Clint Dempsey. However, Pat Noonan should be available for his first MLS match since the end of the Concacaf Gold Cup. D.C. will be without Brian Namoff (suspension) and likely Jaime Moreno (injury sustained in the Real Madrid "friendly"), but should have both Freddy Adu and Ben Olsen available for this match. Prediction: Revolution 1:1 United

Dallas v. Chivas - Three weeks ago, it would have been laughable to suggest a Chivas victory, away from Los Angeles no less. However, with Chivas' new additions and Dallas' struggling form it isn't outside the realm of possibility. While I don't see victory in Chivas' horizon, unless new signing Mark Wilson is ready to play the full 90, I don't see a victory in Dallas' either. Prediction: FC Dallas 2:2 CD Chivas USA

San Jose v. Los Angeles - Ah, the true "Super Classico" of MLS. San Jose expects a crowd of over 20,000 fans for this nationally televised match (8:00 PST, ESPN2), and expect a good majority of them to come out swinging at Landon Donovan (again). However, LA's road form, once laughable, seems to have improved (a road victory in D.C. last week, and an Open Cup victory against San Jose in Spartan on Wednesday), and San Jose's form seems to have hit a brief snag. That said, Ricardo Clark will be available for this match (although Brad Davis will be out), which should boost San Jose's fortunes immensely. Prediction: Earthquakes 2:1 Galaxy

Last week: 3-2

New Kids on the Block

2005-08-25T09:13:00.000-07:00

In US Open Cup action last night, eight teams were whittled down to two. The remaining teams will match up on September 14:

LA Galaxy v. Minnesota Thunder
Chicago Fire v. FC Dallas

The Galaxy's victory demonstrated a few very valuable lessons for Earthquakes head coach Dominic Kinnear. First, he now knows that he has no depth, anywhere. In Brian Ching's absence, his only real option up top other than Alejandro Moreno and Ronald Cerritos is Brian Mullan. In the midfield, he was very wise to pick up Mark Chung, but with Davis battling injury (he re-injured his groin last night), he has no one who can come off the bench for either Chung or Mullan. He has very little depth in defense outside of Kevin Goldwaithe, Ryan Cochrane, and Chris Aloisi, and backup goalkeeper Jon Conway gifted LA with one goal last night and was beaten badly on the second. Second, Kinnear realized how vital Ricardo Clark is to this team's success. Not only is Clark proving he's matured into an excellent defensive midfielder, but without him in center midfield, DeRosario's game falls off considerably. Clark outlets the ball to Dwayne and vice versa. When O'Rourke was in midfield last night, this just wasn't happening, and as a consequence, DeRosario had little impact on the game.

The Earthquakes need to pick up another forward or midfielder to add depth. This player doesn't even have to be a starter, but this individual would have to be speedy and a definite improvement (skill-wise) over the likes of Julian Nash and Ian Russell. In addition, Kelly Gray's production has fallen off. If Davis was available for Saturday, it would be expedient and possible to bench Gray (he may just need a rest), but with Davis now out, that's unlikely. However, if Davis were healthy, I'd love to see Chung move to right mid and Mullan move to the right fullback position. The move would not be unprecedented, as Mullan has played right back with the Earthquakes before.

The Minnesota Thunder of USL-1 pulled off yet another big victory over an MLS club in Open Cup competition last night, defeating the Kansas City Wizards (away!) 3-1. This team, which has been a borderline playoff club in the USL all season, seems incredibly hungry. I would not be surprised if they made it to the Open Cup final.

Other soccer news:

Colorado going back to green?

Chelsea and Liverpool to rematch in group stage of the Champions League

Collina screws Everton against Villarreal

MLS Officials to blame for Madrid "debacle"

5-0

2005-08-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Yes, an MLS Select Team lost to internationally renowned Spanish club Real Madrid 5-0. Yes, that's a terrible scoreline, even against Real Madrid, even in a meaningless friendly. But the hysterical overraction, not only from MLS fans on Bigsoccer (here, here, and here, among others), but from none other than Jamie Trecker. He's (mostly) right about the game itself. Indeed it was "an embarrassing loss, another missed opportunity for a still-young American league that maddeningly manages to blow chances with abandon." But his outlook on the future of American soccer is maddening.

Trecker has every right to bring up contraction, wasted money, declining attendances, and sparse media coverage, but it is missing the point. I'm glad that Trecker is willing to bring up troubling issues, but he paints a picture of the league that is only half right. On the other side there are new investors (Kroenke, Checketts, Vergara, Payne), new stadiums (six soccer specific stadiums for 2007 by my count), and steadily improving quality of play. Yet, it is this last issue that is most contentious for Trecker. He argues that "[MLS] will have to stop pretending that international no-names like Donovan, Taylor Twellman, Tony Sanneh and Ante Razov (to name just a handful) are 'stars'." However, Trecker fails to offer any solutions to MLS' marketing conundrum. Must MLS run ads telling potential fans to "come see the continent's most average talents"?

I must give Trecker credit for generating a lot of healthy discussion about the league and about what exactly this match means in the grand scheme of things. However, this doesn't make his article any less of an overreaction. Frank Dell'Apa has written a much more balanced story, but he is wrong when he writes, "instead of inviting clubs on exhibition tours during the summer, the MLS could revive the NASL's Trans Atlantic Challenge Cup, offering big-money incentives." No Frank, what MLS ought to do is negotiate with MFL and other Concacaf leagues to put more money and time into the Concacaf Champions Cup. The other step is to support D.C. United in the Copa Sudamerica next month.

Oh, and Jamie, where were you when D.C. United lost to Pumas 5-0? Just asking.

Last night, a journalist from the Orlando area, posted a story that linked Ajax Orlando (the Dutch club's American affiliate) with potential minority investment in San Jose or Kansas City. This was confirmed today in the San Jose Mercury News, and by Soccer Silicon Valley. This confirms several things:

1. San Jose has local investors working to keep the team in the area.
2. A sale is probably still contingent upon a stadium plan.
3. AEG lied.

Today also features quarterfinal matches of the U.S. Open Cup:

LA Galaxy at San Jose Earthquakes
Kansas City Wizards at Minnesota Thunder
Chicago Fire at Rochester Raging Rhinos
FC Dallas at D.C. United

Other soccer stories:

Adu is back!

Youri is for real

The Orlando take on the Ajax announcement

"Come hug me or the referee isn't going to allow it."

2005-08-23T09:44:00.000-07:00

Last week, I posted a link to a BBC article about Diego Maradona's new Argentinian talk show. Well, this week he finally addressed his infamous "hand of God" goal", explaining "I was waiting for my teammates to embrace me and no one came. I told them, 'come hug me or the referee isn't going to allow it.'"

Ives Galarcep has written a great piece on US International Bobby Convey. It is almost inevitable that comparisons are drawn up between Convey and fellow US International Landon Donovan, who gave up on Bayer Leverkusen in Germany after only a few months. Whether this is a fair comparison or not, I don't know (it's being discussed on Bigsoccer, here), but it is very clear how Landon and Bobby view their soccer careers, and they really couldn't be more different. Landon sees his job (rightly or wrongly) as growing soccer in the United States. He does not feel that this could be done abroad, but that he could better achieve this aim by playing with MLS. Some may see this as an excuse for Landon's home-sickness, but whatever his reasoning, it's hard to dispute his importance to the American game. Bobby on the other hand, only wants to become a better player. Yes, it'd be great if he could help grow American soccer, but Bobby, like DaMarcus Beasley, is an ambitious young player. He wants to succeed in Europe, something that was complete ancillary to Donovan's ambitions.

Finally, the Trofeo Santiago Bernabeu match between an MLS Select Team and Real Madrid, is today, live on Fox Soccer Channel (and maybe available online at MLSnet.com) at 3:30 EST. Landon Donovan said of the game:

"At the end of the day it doesn't matter. It's not like we're battling to get a 0-0 draw. We're going to go play and make the game fun."

I sure hope so.

Want To Get Mad?

2005-08-22T14:18:00.000-07:00

Note: As always, today's soccer post can be found below.

This week's Economist featured an article about a Supreme Court decision handed down last October in a case called Kelo v. City of New London. Amendment 5 to the U.S. Consitution states that:

"[Nor] shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."

When most people think of taking private property for public use, they think of houses being bull-dozed to build a highway. They certainly don't imagine that their homes (or property) would be destroyed so that a private developer could build on that sight. However, that's exactly what happened in this instance and what was at stake in Kelo v. City of New London. (The court ruling can be read in its entirety here).

In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the City of New London was justified because
"in addition to creating jobs, generating tax revenue, and helping to build momentum for the revitalization of downtown New London,. id., at 92, the plan was also designed to make the City more attractive and to create leisure and recreational opportunities on the waterfront and in the park." This of course has nothing to do with "slums or roads" (as the Economist writes), but it does massively expand the government's power of eminent domain. Indeed, what's to stop them from removing any private property that gets in the way of property development?

Justice John Paul Stevens, defending the majority opinion of the court, cited a 1954 Supreme Court Case (Berman v. Parker) in which, "this Court upheld a redevelopment plan targeting a blighted area of Washington, D. C., in which most of the housing for the areas 5,000 inhabitants was beyond repair." But the residents in the case in question certainly did not live in a blighted area of New London. This ruling gives a power to the government that it shouldn't have. Market forces will naturally take care of private development projects. Now the government has the power to take matters into its own hands regards eminent domain.

Show your support for organizations like the Libertarian Institute for Justice which opposes the right to eminent domain. Certainly, I don't believe that the government's going to come bulldoze my house, but that won't stop them from bulldozing some else's.

Signs of the End Times: Chivas Is Geting Better

2005-08-22T09:31:00.000-07:00

Is Michael Kennedy not the absolute worst referree in MLS? After last week's debacle in San Jose, a game in which the Colorado Rapids' sole tactic for defeating the Earthquakes was to persistently foul them, Kennedy returned this week to screw over yet another MLS club, this time CD Chivas USA. Now, I don't have much love (or hate) for Chivas, but they were absolutely screwed by an abomination of a referreeing performance (highlights available here). While I honestly don't much care about the result, I do feel that the quality of referreeing in MLS is particularly poor. I've written about this before, but after this weekend's games I've really begun to lose faith in the ability of an MLS referree to call a fair and balanced soccer match. During the off-season, whoever is in charge of referree oversight really needs to take a long, hard look at the situation.

Power Rankings:

1. Kansas City: You may be wondering, "why not New England or San Jose?" My answer is simple. Kansas City did not lose to Colorado in the middle of the week (like New England), they've maintained their winning ways (unlike D.C.), and they play in the East (a vastly more difficult conference than San Jose's West). Oh yeah, and they're playing great ball.

2. San Jose: It certainly wasn't a convincing victory over Real Salt Lake, but a win's a win.

3. New England: A loss to Colorado means this club is still in a bit of a funk. Better now though than in September/October. Just ask the 2002 Earthquakes or the 2004 Metrostars and Columbus Crew.

4. D.C. United: A miserable loss to an LA team that hadn't won a road match outside of Los Angeles this season. Nowak may have shouldered the blame for the loss, and D.C. may have been the victim of some bad breaks and poor calls, they still played poor and uninspired soccer.

5. Colorado: Think I'm crazy? Of course you do. This team doesn't even have a winning record. But what they have done is played winning soccer lately, drawing San Jose in San Jose last week was tough, but on Wednesday they won a valuable three points against a (somewhat) depleted New England side. These aren't called power rankings because they're based on who has the most points.

6. Los Angeles: The Galaxy won on the road (and they actually looked like a quality side). Enough said.

7. FC Dallas: The Hoops are sinking fast, and unlike New England, there's no easy solution to right this ship. They lack wingplay, they lack a healthy Eddie Johnson, and their defense is making costly errors. Colin Clarke has been able to coast this season with smoke and mirrors. Now we get to see whether he's as good a coach as we've been led to believe up to this point.

8. Chicago: Chicago's fading fast, and their ghastly road schedule must be causing Dave Sarachan fits right now.

9. Metrostars: Very lucky not to lose to Chivas yesterday. Very lucky.

10. Columbus: They played a very gritty game to get three points against a slumping FC Dallas this weekend. It was a must-win game, but with Kansas City, D.C., and New England so far away, it'll be very tough for Columbus to make the playoffs. Now it's just about winning back some self-respect.

11. Chivas: Robbed against the Metrostars, Chivas' offense is looking absolutely explosive with Palencia and Juan Pablo Garcia. Their defense...that's another matter entirely.

12. Real Salt Lake: They played San Jose tough, but it wasn't good enough. They may have improved their defense, but their offense is still a total mess.

No Tino Palace, You're Wrong.

2005-08-20T14:44:00.000-07:00

In this week's The Clean Sheet, MLSNet.com writer Tino Palace wrote:

"Ridge Mahoney in Soccer America brought up a good point: Frank Yallop being reunited with Alexi Lalas as head coach of the Mutts. Makes sense."

So I wrote him an e-mail that reads as follows:

"Regarding your quote: "Ridge Mahoney in Soccer Americabrought up a good point: Frank Yallop being reunitedwith Alexi Lalas as head coach of the Mutts. Makessense."News flash: This does not make sense, at least not inthe way you're thinking, because Yallop and Lalas were never united in the first place. Yallop left San Jose for the Canada gig after the 2003 season. FormerEarthquakes GM Johnny Moore left the organization (inprotest) before the 2004 season. Thus, Lalas andYallop never worked together."

I got this note back from Tino (read, sarcastic):

"Couldnt you have emailed me before I wrote that? Thanks for nothing.
TP"

Hey Tino, if you need an editor, I'm your man.

In other MLS news, yesterday they announced the roster they'll be sending to Spain to take on Real Madrid on Tuesday. I don't quite understand why, but MLS apparently didn't follow their own plan to send two players from teams no longer in the U.S. Open Cup, and one from teams in it (both Kansas City and D.C. United are sending two players each). Ives Galarceps absolutely threw a fit over on ESPN Soccernet. I couldn't agree more. MLS has become absolutely obssessed with these international friendlies of late, and while I had no problem with the Madrid, Milan, and Chelsea matchups here in the States, MLS' agreement to play this game is the equivalent of saying that they don't care about the U.S. Open Cup.

Today has been a great day for Yanks Abroad. Today's biggest story though has been Bobby Convey's play for Reading. Convey scored two goals against Milwall in a 5-0 Reading win. The announcer said of Bobby's first goal: "And what a goal it was, he rode a challenge,, no more than 30 yards from his own goal, sped from there past the defense and slotted home." Amazing. And, as expected, Bigsoccer is primed to explode.

The Stanford Theatre

2005-08-19T10:48:00.000-07:00

Today's Soccer blog can be found below.

On Monday, I wrote about Palo Alto's Stanford Theatre. Indeed, the place is a landmark of the Bay Area film community. I wanted to share some pictures now:

Recently, much has been said about declining movie ticket sales. There has been even more furor recently over Disney's alleged plan to simultaneously release their films in theatres and on DVD. It's sad that the public no longer wants to see films on the big screen (half the experience of seeing a film in my opinion), but it's also understandable. Home entertainment and DVD quality have improved exponentially in the last ten years. Couple this with terrible theatre experiences (obnoxious audiences, tiny screens, and less than stellar service), and what you have are declining ticket sales. I don't buy the argument that films have been bad either. The fact that audiences gravitated towards movies like "The Dukes of Hazzard" and "The Fantastic Four" this summer (even with competition from above-average summer films like "Revenge of the Sith," "Batman Begins," and "War of the Worlds") is proof that the Hollywood formula is more successful than ever.

No, the problem can only be resolved by reclaiming the theatre experience. Loews is bringing back the double feature, and other theatre chains are working effortlessly to ensure that they install digital visual and audio equipment, as well as providing new and various ammenities to film-goers. These are steps in the right direction. To understand what Hollywood and the movie-theatre once was, you need look no further than the Stanford Theatre. That is a real movie experience.

"Don't worry; this man just needs some football."

2005-08-19T09:43:00.000-07:00

A friend of mine sent me a fascinating article today about a tiny Swiss club on the verge of Champions League qualification. There's a great quote in the article which neatly sums up the success of MLS' San Jose Earthquakes the last five seasons: "Gerber, a hard-working midfielder who spent three seasons at both Grasshoppers and Young Boys Bern, is a good example of Thun's ability to get the best out of other clubs' cast-offs." That's exactly what San Jose has done. They won by trading for proven commodities and for players unhappy with their current situations, placing them with a club that emphasized creativity and teamwork above all else. Good luck to Thun on Tuesday.

Yanks-Abroad strikes again, with a tremendous DaMarcus Beasley interview. The passion, committment, and fire in this young man is incredible. Biggest regret last season?

"'Basically, the penalty kick I missed in the quarterfinal (against Lyon),' Beasley replies, disregarding the fact that his miss did not stop the club from advancing past the four-time reigning French kings."

"'But at the same time... if that chance came again, I'd definitely go again.'"

DaMarcus does not back down from any challenge, and that included taking the leap of faith and making the move to Europe. His improvement whilst at PSV has been nothing short of astonishing, and he should no doubt improve even more this season (once healthy). He also makes an interesting comment regarding who should become the next US Men's National Team coach:

"'If he [PSV coach Gus Hiddink] ever did decide in the future that he wanted to coach the US, I think it would be a good move for our federation to consider,' he suggested. 'He's a great coach and he demands a lot.'"

MLS really wants to piss off its fans. Check out their idiotic MLS Cup ticket lottery for proof.

Now, time to preview this weekend's MLS match-ups:

Kansas City v. Chicago: While Chicago has been slumping (they desperately miss Ivan Guerrero and Nate Jacqua), Kansas City has been absolutely resurgent, coming back to defeat Chicago in Chicago last Wednesday. Unless Chicago's defense improves, I don't see them getting any points out of Kansas City tonight. Prediction: Wizards 2: 0 Fire

Columbus v. Dallas: Both teams have found themselves in a rut of late. Unfortunately for Dallas, new signing Mark Wilson still hasn't finished his paperwork and won't be with the squad for this game. Dallas is a team in desperate need of a spark, and until that spark comes, I don't suspect that they'll get the three away points that they'll want Saturday night. Prediction: Crew 1: 1 FC Dallas

D.C. v. Los Angeles: Los Angeles the team that can't win on the road, facing D.C. United, the hottest team in MLS currently. D.C. United will have new Argentine defender Facundo Erpen available. LA have no such new signings available. Prediction: United 3: 1 Galaxy

Salt Lake v. San Jose: Real Salt Lake signed three defenders this week to help shore up MLS' second worst defense. However, I'm not certain that all of them will be available this weekend, and even if they are, it's doubtful how effective they'll be against the Earthquakes, who have been one of MLS' best over the last two months. San Jose will no doubt come hungry after a disappointing home draw against Colorado last week. Expect fireworks. Prediction: Earthquakes 2: 1 Real Salt Lake

Metrostars v. CD Chivas USA: The Metrostars have been playing well lately. Unfortunately for them, the fourth playoff team in the East (currently Kansas City) have the same number of points as the best team in the West (currently, San Jose). However, if they can get a home win against the theoretically much improved Chivas, they'll still be in the hunt for a playoff spot. Prediction: Metrostars 2: 2 Chivas

News on the March

2005-08-18T12:01:00.000-07:00

Note: Again, for soccer blog readers, my soccer post for today can be found below.

In the news:

"I'm mad at Coach Snoop. He was so cool; he told me to play my heart out and to play everything I've got. But now I just want to ask him, why did he take all our players?" [I think this is pretty self-explanatory]

I better knock that heroin addiction, quick!

Confirms what we've known all along: Fox News is biased and really, it doesn't matter.

An American safari? This group of scientists seems to think it'd be a great idea.

The correct response to this article: Does anyone still give a shit?

National Geographic goes photoless. Meanwhile, my parents cancel their nearly thirty year subscription.

Sri Lankan government in talks with Tamil Tigers.

This last one is noteworthy, because several months ago I read War, Evil, and the End of History by Frenchman Bernard Henri-Levy, wherein there is a fascinating tale of brainwashing and manipulation concerning the Tamil Tigers. The book's sort of a big, fat, existentialist mess, but some of the anecdotes that Henri-Levy provides are fascinating, and the story described is one of the highlights.

Bobby Convey: International Man of Mystery

2005-08-18T09:35:00.000-07:00

Last night in Concacaf World Cup qualifying, the United States defeated Trinidad and Tobago 1-0. The result, not at all indicative of the United States' utter dominance, moves the United States within a win of booking themselves a spot to Germany next summer. However, with their 2-0 win over Costa-Rica, Mexico is still atop the qualifying standings before their match against the United States in Columbus on September 3 (congratulations to Jared Borghetti, who became Mexico's all-time top goal-scorer last night).

The standings:

1. Mexico - 16 points (5-0-1)
2. United States - 15 points (5-1-0)
3. Guatemala - 7 points (2-3-1)
4. Costa Rica - 7 points (2-3-1)
5. Trinidad and Tobago - 4 points (1-4-1)
6. Panama - 2 points (0-4-2)

The U.S. got off to a roaring start, scoring in only the second minute of play. The goal was the result of a series of brilliant plays. The first was the brilliant run that Bobby Convey made across the box, using his speed to blow by his defender and get to the ball. The second was the adept play made by midfielder John O'Brien to spot the streaking Convey and get him the ball. The third was the excellent ball played by Convey across the goalmouth. Fourth and finally was the sublime finish by forward Brian McBride. The whole sequence must have taken no more than ten seconds, and it was a beautiful sight to behold; certainly more beautiful than any of the soccer played in the Gold Cup.

However, all the positives of this game, including some excellent defense, crisp passes, a few excellent runs, was marred by the team's complete inability to finish their chances. Both Convey and Donovan had between them at least five quality chances on goal that should have been put away. This is something that needs to be addressed before the Mexico match, before it returns to hurt the squad. The U.S. lost to England in a friendly in May because they couldn't finish, but they haven't been punished in a crucial match...yet.

Player ratings:

Kasey Keller - 6: I don't recall Keller having to do anything all evening.

Chris Albright - 6: A solid, if unspectacular game for the converted right back. Against a team like Trinidad, Albright needs to play more of a two-way game, moving forward into the attack more often. He has too good of a cross to be sitting back against a 10 man Trinidad team, especially when we needed a second goal so badly.

Greg Berhalter - 6: With Berhalter getting the start, it's clear that Arena is still not sold on Conrad, but it also indicates that Greg may still be in the mix for 2006, at the very least as an alternate. He played a solid game, which saw him struggle a bit early, but he made a crucial tackle in the second half that helped ensure U.S. victory.

Oguchi Onyewu - 8: A marvelous performance from rising star Onyewu. He made big time tackles, bailing out Berhalter (twice), and nearly scoring on a brilliant header. Had he scored that goal, he would have been a clear MOTM.

Eddie Lewis - 6: Eddie did very well defensively in his first performance as a left back, but he, like Albright, was too tentative going forward, and we desperately needed his left foot in the second half.

Steve Ralston - 4: A very weak match for Steve. With every game now he seems to be playing his way out of the National Team picture. He contributed nothing of note last night, and was turned around more than once defensively. It's a wonder that he wasn't subbed out sooner.

John O'Brien - 5: It's wonderful to see O'Brien back, and he sprung Convey with a brilliant pass leading to the game's only goal. However, his night was cut short by a hip pointer, which clearly seemed to have taken him off of his game.

Claudio Reyna - 7: Claudio proved that he's still very valuable to this team (although I'd love to see him tried out on the right wing) in the center of the pitch. He played an excellent (perhaps even dominant) first half last night, but he was much less active when O'Brien left the pitch. Coincidence? I don't think so.

Bobby Convey (MOTM) - 6: I must say, I've been impressed with Convey of late. He has played well for Reading so far this year, and his play last night was exceptionally good. He made great runs, set up the McBride goal, and should have had a goal or two of his own. However, he marred his good play with a reckless challenge that saw him sent off (it was his second yellow of the night). Say what you will about the first yellow, but the second was a dangerous tackle. This may be a blessing in disguise for Bobby though, as it means he can concentrate on solidifying his spot in the Reading starting eleven.

Brian McBride - 7: While Brian didn't do all that much in this game, he instantly earned himself a "7" by actually finishing his one chance of the game.

Landon Doovan - 6: Donovan played some exceptional passes last night, and it seemed like everytime I began to think, "where's Landon disappeared to now?" he would appear almost out of nowhere, latching onto the end of a pass or making one himself. Unfortunately, Landon should have had two goals which he just could not finish. That must improve.

Subs:

Chris Armas - 5: Played a typical Armas game, and made a great saving tackle, but the U.S. attack fell off when he entered the pitch, as did Reyna's game. I hope Armas isn't in Arena's long term plans, but I appreciate some of the work he's done for us in the short term.

Taylor Twellman - 6: Should have had the second goal of the night, but we all know that Twellman can't catch a break. Great finish on a goal called back for offside, but it should have impressed Arena enough to give him another look.

Santino Quaranta - 6: Got the assist on the Twellman almost-goal, and contributed, which is what a substitution should do. Why we wasn't subbed in for Ralston earlier is a wonder, but he might prove to be valuable for World Cup 2006 at a position (right mid) where we have absolutely zero depth.

Coach:

Bruce Arena - 7: You can't blame Arena for the fact that his team couldn't finish tonight. He put out a great line-up given the team's rash of injuries, and nearly saw his team absolutely demolish Trinidad. While I don't understand why he didn't sub in Quaranta earlier, and while I disagree with his decision to sub in Armas for O'Brien, if the Twellman goal had stood, few people would be criticizing his substitutions.

"Oh My Goochness!"

2005-08-17T09:49:00.000-07:00

Today witnessed an absolute spate of articles about American soccer players:

The first is an absolutely wonderful article about rising U.S. National Team star Oguchi Onyewu. It's a nice, factual fluff piece, but in it, "his London-based agent Will Sterling says the move [to Manchester United] is unlikely at this time, and no offer has been tendered." He'll get plenty more offers after the World Cup I'm sure, and now he can focus his energy on his upcoming season with Standard.

There was also a great piece in today's New York Times about U.S. captain Claudio Reyna. Reyna, who has missed the U.S.'s last three World Cup qualifiers, speaks out about taking time off, and ensuring his fitness for club and country. Landon Donovan spells out why Reyna is so important to the team:

"We're athletic, we're fast, we're just physically a good team and we like to go, go, go. Sometimes we wear ourselves out and sometimes we need to know when to stop, and that's what Claudio does. He knows how to mix from let's go, let's counter, let's get at them, to let's keep the ball. He just completely settles our team."

But wait. There's more. Ives Galarceps interviews goalkeeper Tim Howard, who says, "would I have signed a four-year contract if I wasn't happy there [Manchester United]?" More shockingly, Howard makes some pretty edgy comments about his playing time and his future with the National Team:

"I think all things being equal, Kasey would play. If I played every game for Manchester United this year and Kasey played every game for his team in Germany, and we were both on form, tell me who you think would play? I think we both know who would play, but what can you do?"

Then this:

"We can go head to head anytime you want. I could go to Reading and play every game. Does that make me better? Does that make somebody better than me? I don't think so."

Unusually combative stuff from the normally docile and media savvy Howard. But you just have to admire his toughness and tenacity:

"It's about being a big boy. I could leave there and come home and be labeled a hero," said Howard with a chuckle. "I could have, but I stuck it out. It's not easy in Europe and I hear so many people complaining and whining, for what? It's not easy and it never was going to be easy. Do I just pack up and leave and go somewhere where it's easier? I could, a lot of people would and do. I chose not to do that. I choose to fight it out."

Still one more, believe it or not, a a chronicle of Santino Quaranta's dramatic comeback at the ripe old age of 20.

Also, on the US Soccer homepage you can find a number of new videos, including video footage of Paul Caliguiri's "shot heard round the world" against Trinidad and Tobago in 1989.

In MLS news, the LA Galaxy may be looking to sign former River Plate standout Claudio Hussain. I don't what's more novel, the Galaxy looking desperate, or an American club signing a player whose last name is Hussain (spelled differently, I know).

Grant Wahl published his MLS Power Rankings this week, and there was one glaring error, "Are you like me? Are you starting to envision MLS Cup X ... as a rematch of MLS Cup IX?" (which has since been edited out). I guess Grant forgot that Kansas City had moved to the Eastern Conference. Well, he performed his mea culpa over on Bigsoccer not to long after its publication on SI.com. Classy as always Grant; don't worry, we forgive you.

Other news:

Remember that Brazilian guy that was accidentally killed by the police in London? Well, the story got even worse...

"Doh!"

Great. Let's give men even more reasons to act pretentious and dress like emo rockers.

A radioactive water spill? Sweet!

"...one of the biggest stories of our age." No, he's not exaggerating or anything.

Wow...just...wow.

The Whacked Out Story of My Whacked Out Sony Vaio

2005-08-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Note: For those of you who read my blog for soccer news and comments, see below for today's latest.

Last Monday, I came home from work and was ready to crank out some music from iTunes on my laptop. Putting on the third movement of Shostakovich's 8th symphony, Vivaldi's "Summer," "Dance of the Knights" from Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, or something similarly pulse-pouding is really the highlight of my day (that, or taking off my tie). So imagine my dismay when I turn on my computer and get a blue screen of death with the message, "Fatal system error, something, something [insert random number sequence here]." I was grief stricken. Then angry. Angry as hell. Hadn't I purchased this damn laptop less than a year before? Can the damn thing really crap out so quickly?

Well, I figured it might've been a glitch. You know, the sort of thing you can go online and solve yourself pretty quickly. Well, screw me if that was the case. Microsoft's troubleshooting involved loosing everything I'd ever saved onto my hard drive. Shit. "Well," I thought, "Fuck microsoft. But if that's what I have to do..." Then I realized, I didn't even have my reboot software with me. Damn again. So then I hoped that the problem would solve itself. Dumb. Of course it wouldn't solve itself.

Now the weird thing about the whole situation was that, according to Microsoft, the problem stems from newly installed hardware/software. I hadn't installed anything. Quite frankly, the problem still baffles me. I went to work, computer was working fine. I come home, it's dead. Maybe martians came down and screwed with it in the interim, but I doubt it. Even after "solving" the problem, I still don't really understand what the hell went wrong. Maybe I rub my laptop the wrong way, I don't know.

Back to the story. So, a week after the problem surfaces, I finally drag my ass over to Circuit City where I purchased it. They told me they couldn't service it themselves because my warranty was with Sony, not them. But they did refer me to these geeky-looking tech kids. Now the kid they referred me to was your typical computer geek: lanky, pimply, and slightly-awkward (like the teenager that works everywhere on The Simpsons). But I have to hand it to him, he knew what he was talking about (unlike say, me). He started talking all sorts of jargon. His plan of advice was as follows:

1. Do what Microsoft says. (My reaction: "Damn.")
2. Make sure everything is in Safe Mode when you do this (My reaction: "Still damn, but alright, whatever you say.")
3. If that doesn't work, send it to Sony (My reaction: "Double damn.")

But then he said something about taking out the memory and putting it back in place. Since that solution sounded completely ludicrous I almost ignored him, but I asked him how to do that anyway.

So I went home a little dejected. I was hoping I could just take the thing in, they would say, "Alright, we'll just take this in and you can come back tomorrow and it'll be as good as new" (as though all customer service representatives act like characters from "Leave it to Beaver"), and I could leave with a fat smile on my face. But I decided to do that stupid crap with the memory anyway, what the hell! So I take out the screws, pop the memory out of place, and then pop it back in. "Preposterous," I'm thinking, "Why in hell would this do anything?" But mother of mercy, I turn on my computer (fingers tightly crossed), and I'll be damned if that thing didn't work as if nothing had ever happened. I felt like Dr. Frankenstein, "It's alive! Alive!" And it was all thanks to that awkward kid at Circuit City, who gave me the most ridiculous solution I'd ever heard (and something I wouldn't have thought of in a million years) and saved me a bunch of money in the process. I'm thinking of going back there just to give him a big fat man-hug.

"Life is now being lived according to women's rules"

2005-08-16T09:29:00.000-07:00

The rumors about Eddie Lewis moving to left back on the US Mens National Team may be true after all. He said this in an ESPN chat yesterday:

Mac, Traverse City, Michigan: Eddie, congratulations on your excellent play during qualification, and thank you for your service to the team. Fan boards are always talking about our weakness at left-back, and your name comes up often. So let's cut to the chase - any interest on your part in playing there, now or in the future?! Where do you see your best position in terms of the USMNT?

Eddie Lewis: (2:14 PM ET ) First of all, that's a great question. Wednesday night might provide some interesting answers. In general, I would like to have a spell at leftback although I haven't had a lot of experience there, I think it's a natural progression for me. Considering it can keep both players like myself and Beasley on the field at the same time, I think it can be a real advantage.

There's an excellent discussion of this move and what it might mean for Lewis and the National Team over on Bigsoccer. If Lewis is run out at left back here's the line-up we'll probably see tomorrow night against Trinidad and Tobago in Hartford:

Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller
Left back: Eddie Lewis
Right back: Chris Albright
Center backs: Jimmy Conrad, Oguchi Onyewu
Left mid: Bobby Convey
Right mid: Steve Ralston (Santino Quaranta?)
Center mids: Claudio Reyna, John O'Brien
Forwards: Brian McBride, Landon Donovan

With Albright and Lewis making runs from the back, it would instantly add to our attack, utilizing each's crossing ability, and allowing Lewis to overlap with the speedier Bobby Convey. For a team decimated by injuries (Gibbs, Bocanegra, Cherundolo, Johnson, Beasley, Mastroeni), this is an excellent line-up (and one that doesn't feature Frankie Hedjuk!). Personally, I'd rather see Quaranta get a run at right mid., but Arena will probably stick with Ralston until we've wrapped up qualification.

MLS transfer wrap (so far)

Watch as Galaxy fan taco_jones completely fools a group of his fellow fans into believing that AEG was going to try and purchase Michael Owen

Other News:

More air tragedy: When it rains, it pours

Bird Flu is for real

"Cut spending," my ass

"My mother says I was the better player, and Pele's mother says it was him"

Have men been reduced to sperm donors? BBC news anchor thinks so

More positive HIV news, but crocodile blood?

"I ain't threatening nobody, and I ain't pointing a gun at nobody. This is Texas."

2005-08-15T09:05:00.000-07:00

The Stanford Theatre is a Bay Area treasure and a Palo Alto landmark. If you live in the Bay Area and you've never been there, go. If you're visiting the Bay Area and want something to do (as if there's a shortage of things for a tourist to see), go. It's a magical place, reminiscent of a bygone era in which going to the movies was itself an experience. Adorned with a massive big screen, a Wurlitzer organ that rises from below the floor, "Persian" art, two floors of seats, and plenty of vintage movie posters (including an original Japanese poster for Hitchcock's North by Northwest), the Stanford Theatre is a beautiful relic, a fitting tribute to Hollywood's Golden Era, that makes me giggle like a kid in a candy store everytime I go. After re-opening only a week ago, this summer's line-up is a good one, having recently featured The Philadelphia Story and The African Queen. Coming up is Nosferatu, All About Eve, Citizen Kane, Bride of Frankenstein, Sunset Boulevard, and many other greats.

Onto soccer...

MLS' Eastern Conference is beginning to heat up. Four teams are all within four points of one another (New England, Chicago, D.C., Kansas City), with one team still fighting desperately for a playoff spot (Metrostars). In the West, things are beginning to cool down. The Colorado Rapids slowed down the surging San Jose Earthquakes, tying, leaving the Earthquakes with a three point cushion on top of the West, as F.C. Dallas failed to get three points at home for the second straight week, losing to New England 2-1. LA lost again, and the bottom two teams aren't even contending for playoff spots. Fortunately, for the bottom five, help may be on the way, as the summer transfer window opened today.

Help should be on the way for F.C. Dallas who will soon announce the signing of former Middlesborough midfielder Mark Wilson. Wilson should definitely give Dallas a much needed boost in the form of consistency on the left side of midfield. For the last two months, Dallas has continued to run out a 4-3-3 formation, using all sorts of spare parts in the midfield and at forward. With the exception of Mulrooney, Dallas is now mostly healthy (although Johnson still does not seem fully fit), and would perhaps be best served by running a 4-4-2. This should lend their defense a little more help, and should give the line-up some consistency.

New England is on the verge of signing Panamanian international forward Ricardo "Paton" Phillips. Speedy with a nice touch, Phillips should give the team much needed depth at forward and in the midfield. Along with the signing of Daniel Hernandez last week, New England is making the moves to be a contender down the stretch run.

MLS Power Rankings:

1. New England Revolution: Leads the league in points (42) and played a very solid game against Dallas on Saturday, and absolutely dismantled Real Salt Lake in the mid-week fixture.
2. D.C. United: United has found their form of late (they won on Saturday without Freddy Adu, Jaime Moreno, and Alecko Eskandarian), and should only improve with the signing of Argentian defender Facundo Erpen.
3. San Jose Earthquakes: While they may have hit a snag playing uninspired soccer Saturday night, they have opened up a three point lead on Dallas in the West, and seem well poised for the stretch run.
4. Kansas City Wizards: The Wizards have been shocking opponents lately, coming back from 2-0 on the road in Chicago to win last Wednesday, and destroying Real Salt Lake 4-2 on Saturday night. They may even had Jamaican international Jermaine Hue to add some flair and creativity to their midfield.
5. Chicago Fire: Chicago won against a suprisingly aggressive LA Galaxy on Saturday, but they dropped a precious three points against the Wizards in midweek.
6. FC Dallas: After a tremendous start, Dallas has hit a bad spell of form at the wrong time. Hopefully, the addition of midfielder Mark Wilson should give them a much-needed spark. Ruiz is also returning to fine form.
7. Metrostars: They've started getting much-needed points, but unless they purchase a defensive midfielder and a strong central defender, they won't have the tools necessary to win a playoff spot.
8. Colorado Rapids: They did get a point on the road in San Jose on Saturday night, but Clavijo's strategy was a disgracefully violent and thuggish one. They committed 25 fouls (and many more that weren't called), disrupting the flow of play, and making it an impossibly ugly game to watch. 9. LA Galaxy: Sure they beat Chivas on Wednesday, but they've lost on the road again. How long now before Sampson is gone?
10. Columbus Crew: No more playoff hope with Kansas City and D.C. United surging. Now the question is: Do we stick with the status quo next year?
11. Real Salt Lake: At least they've been apart of two MLS milestones in one week (5000th goal, Kreis' 100th goal).
12. CD Chivas USA: Help is on the way!

Other news:

Today's blog title was taken from this article

We have the audacity to complain about gas prices? Check out this table

More fun with Howard Dean

It's either fear mongering or this is seriously an "Oh shit" moment

Tragedy in the air

Gaza pullout

Soccer News and Real News

2005-08-12T09:13:00.000-07:00

It looks like DaMarcus Beasley will not be playing with the US National Team against Trinidad and Tobago. The question this raises is who Bruce Arena will call in to replace him? Likely candidates are Clint Dempsey, Brad Davis, Josh Wolff, and perhaps even the Grown-Ass Man himself, Eddie Johnson.

US National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu is being targeted by Manchester United among other teams. If his contract was purchased, I have little doubt that he would get playing time, but would he get the amount of playing time he needs in preparation for the 2006 World Cup? For once a big player move actually has one US fan hoping he doesn't make the move until after the '06 World Cup. Either way, this is great news for the American player.

Ives Galarcep writes that both Guevara and Ruiz want out of MLS. I mentioned yesterday how Guevara had pulled a Livan Hernandez and talked about quitting the league. However, it appears that Ruiz has done the same. I personally can't blame Ruiz for complaining about the marketing and treatment of foreign players in MLS. Ruiz, while a nuisance, is a great player, yet he makes only $70k a year. While he still makes money from his former club because of a shared-loan deal, that's still an appalling figure for arguably the best striker in MLS.

It's official: D.C. United have signed Argentine defender Facundo Erpen. The 22 year-old should only strengthen a D.C. United defense that is second in MLS in goals allowed. United will probably retain their three-man backline, keeping Brian Namoff on the right, rookie sensation Bobby Boswell in the middle, and sliding Erpen out left. D.C. United is hitting its stride now and Eastern Conference teams need to be very careful, D.C. is only going to get better. What's most surprising about the goals against statistic though is that the top two defenses in the league use a three man backline anchored by a rookie defender. Go figure.

In other news:

Lula speaks up: Brazilian President apologizes for corruption scandal

"Domestic terrorism": British airport staff strike strands 73,000 passengers at Heathrow Airport

Breakthrough in HIV treatment?

Howard Dean opens his mouth; comedy ensues

Can Kiir replace Garang and bring peace to Sudan?

Physics holds the key to understanding relationships? What?

How could I forget this: Mangal Pandey opens in India and the UK. I don't know if I'll get a chance to see it in theatres, but it's got Aamir Khan in it, and if the music is by A.R. Rehman than it must be good.

Refereeing in MLS, Winning Hispanic Fans, and Speaking of Hispanics...

2005-08-11T10:02:00.000-07:00

If you follow discussions on Bigsoccer, you may have read today that the problems with MLS referees have reached "critical mass". As with many things on Bigsoccer, don't believe the hype. In fact, if you do follow discussions on Bigsoccer you must be aware by now that 90% of posts are hysterical, bloated diatribes bemoaning [fill in the blank]. However, to say that there is a "probelm" with MLS referees is an understatement of the highest order. MLS referees are bad, moreso than many referees around the world. Indeed, refereeing is a problem in leagues all over the globe, but MLS referees are bad, and to miss that is to miss the point. Talk all you want about how bad refereeing is in other leagues, but it doesn't matter because I don't really care about other leagues, I care about MLS, and refereeing in MLS is bad. However, while the quality of refereeing in last night's fixtures was atrocious, fans, players, and coaches have overreacted. Amado Guevara, pulled a Livan Hernandez and talked of quitting the league after being sent off against D.C. United last night. He said this about the refereeing in MLS:

"'What can I say, that the referees are a disaster,' said Guevara. 'I can't say anything because the league fines you, which is a rule that I don't agree with, and since I don't agree with the rules and I'm not going to change the rules or the referees, I'm going to say it right now, publicly, that next year I don't want to be in this league.'"

Even normally mild-mannered Steve Nicol, coach of the New England Revolution, spouted off against the referee of last night's victory over Real Salt Lake 4-1:

"Early on, he referred to the foul that led to Kreis' free kick goal as 'awful,' and he later said, 'There was a bad call that led to their goal - just one of many.'"

However, to say that the "problem with MLS referees has reached critical mass" would be incorrect. All the red cards given out last night were deserved. Guevara was given a second yellow for barrelling into Ben Olsen, but he wouldn't have been sent off if he hadn't gone off on referee Terry Vaughn earlier in the match, earning his first yellow for dissent. Jaime Moreno deservedly received straight red after pushing down Eddie Gaven, denying a clear goal scoring opportunity. Yes, replays showed that Gaven may have embellished and their legs may have tangled, but it doesn't deny the fact that there was contact and that Jaime was the last defender. Big Zach Thornton was justly sent off against the Kansas City Wizards for going off on the referee, twice! Maybe the refs were bad, but they do have the right to card for dissent.

Yes, refereeing is a problem, one that MLS needs to take a long look at. However, knee-jerk reactions like those displayed by fans, players, and coaches need to quit. Frustrations should be submitted to the league, not the press.

In other soccer news, Chivas USA and the LA Galaxy played another uneventful "super-classico" last night. The catch? It was in front of 80,00+ fans at the Rose Bowl. These fans, most of whom came to watch Chivas de Guadelajara face Mexican rival Club America, probably didn't leave the stadium singing the praises of MLS. This has made some fans wonder: "How come MLS always seems to lay an egg? Indeed, almost everytime MLS has the chance to impress new fans, the teams involved play like crap. Winning the Hispanic soccer fans has been MLS' stated goal since its inception, and Chivas USA was supposed to be a step forward in that regard, but Chivas' poor results on the field this season haven't been exactly drawing in the fans like the team was supposed to. I have no doubt that once Chivas begins to improve, their attendance will as well. However, that being said, MLS still has a long way to go to win Hispanic fans, but playing attractive soccer is probably the easiest (not to mention the cheapest) way of doing it.

Finally, speaking of Hispanic Americans, Texas has now become the fourth state with a non-white majority. America has been slow to adapt to these rapid changes, with protectionists on both the left and right decrying either the loss of American jobs (on the left) or the loss of our "way of life" (on the right). William Frey, a demographer quoted in the article gets it right though when he says:

"'Immigration is good for the United States ... it's important for us to keep our doors open, but we need to keep an eye on the people coming in,' Frey said. 'While initially it will be a state problem, eventually it will be a national issue, and education is the best way to deal with it.'

The last part's the most important, "...education is the best way to deal with it." Yes, finally, someone gets it!

John Roberts Update: "TVAd Attacking Court Nominee Provokes Furor"

Falling In Love With Futbol...and Other News

2005-08-10T09:10:00.000-07:00

My fascination with a sport that we Americans call soccer, began during the 2002 World Cup, and has developed from that fascination into all-out obsession. I knew I had become a fan when I woke up at 4 a.m. while on my summer vacation, just so I could watch the U.S. play Poland in what I thought would be a meaningless match. I was wrong. But the near heartbreak that game cost me proved to me what kind of a fan I'd developed into. I wrote about that game here. This sums up my thoughts about that game: "That morning, when I trudged back to bed at six, I was unable to sleep; the very thought that we were so close to elimination kept me awake for hours. The Poland game was a disaster, it was gut-wrenching. A game the U.S. only had to tie and they conceded three goals (to a team that had not scored any in the tournament) and lost by two. To think, the U.S. was a goal-post away from World Cup elimination." I had become a fan.

From then on out, it was difficult to keep me away from the damn sport. I obsessively took in MLS games, and could hardly contain my excitement when the 2002-2003 EPL (English Premier League) season started. In those days, I actually had Fox Sports World (now Fox Soccer Channel) on my cable and was able to watch EPL games on Saturday. A friend of mine told me I should pick an English team to support. I foolishly looked at history instead of at the current team and picked Liverpool. Well, I picked a bad time to be a Liverpool fan. Within a year I was so sick of Gerard Houllier and El-Hadji Diouf that I stopped watching the team altogether and was already looking for a new team to follow. After some deliberation I came up with Middlesborough, don't ask me why. However, like Liverpool that too was short lived. Finally, I latched onto Everton, Liverpool's cross-town rival. I began to live and die with their results and knew that I'd made a good choice. Their stunning finish in fourth-place last season only confirmed that sentiment.

Yesterday, Everton played the first leg of their Champions League qualifier at home against Spanish side Villareal. Unfortunately, they lost 2-1, and, barring a miracle away leg, will likely find themselves confined to the UEFA Cup. It's the "luck of the draw" (or, in Everton's case, the "unluck") I suppose. It still pisses me off that Liverpool was allowed to play in this year's Champions League tournament despite not finishing in a position that would allow them to do so. Their victory over AC Milan last spring was amazing, I'll admit, but winning the Champions League doesn't equal instant qualification. Maybe it's justice that the team I refused to support takes away the glory from their cross-town rivals who had fought so hard just to be there and then were forced to face a quality Spanish side. Fate can really suck.

In other soccer news, Bruce Arena, head coach of the US Mens National Team, today released his 20 man roster for the August 17 World Cup qualifier against Trinidad and Tobago. The most notable absence on this roster is center back Carlos Bocanegra. It's made all the more curious when one thinks about who's out due to injury, including Cory Gibbs and Eddie Pope. The only explanation is that Bocanegra is now fighting for a spot at his club, EPL side Fulham FC, and Arena told him to stay and win his spot. What starting line-up do I expect to see (not that it's necessarily the line-up I'd like to see)?

4-4-2
Goalkeeper: Kasey Keller
Defenders: Chris Albright, Oguchi Onyewu, Jimmy Conrad, Greg Vanney
Midfielders: Steve Ralston, Claudio Reyna, Chris Armas, DaMarcus Beasley
Forwards: Landon Donovan, Brian McBride

Finally, in other extraneous news, Bob Woodward expects a 2008 Presidential race between Dick Cheney and Hillary Clinton. While I respect Woodward as a journalist and think him one of the best in the business, I find this particularly laughable. While Clinton's a possiblity (although not a shoe-in), the idea of Cheney winning his party's nomination is almost comical. I can't even imagine him trying, let alone winning. He'd have about as good a chance of winning his party's nomination as Gary Bauer or Alan Keyes.

Looking For a Message; German Gangsta Rap

2005-08-09T09:13:00.000-07:00

It's official, the Democrats currently don't have a plan or a message. Well, that's not entirely true, they do have a plan, but the plan is to have a message, which they don't have. Make sense? Howard Dean says he wants the Democratic Party to be a party "of change," yet how can a party of change promote protectionism and isolationism? Isn't that a conflict of interest? Believe me, I want the Democrats to re-assert themselves as a "party of change," and challenge the Republicans. As a moderate, a strong Democratic Party keeps the Republicans honest, and provides a valuable voting alternative. The Republicans have become the party of big-spending and big-government. But to succeed, the Democrats must fundamentally alter the values that they represented in the 1960s and embrace a politics of small-government, efficient spending, economic environmentalism, civil liberties, and free trade. That's a party of change, a party that will reflect the diversity of 2050 and save a waning political institution.

In other news, the New York Times has run a story on German gangsta rap. Sound like an oxymoron? Strangely, it's not. In fact, the article suggests that gangsta rap is booming, even in a language as unsuitable for rhymes as guttural, polysyllabic German. What's most fascinating though, is not that gangsta rap is thriving in Germany, but the racial tension that all of this evokes. Indeed, Europe is now facing a major crisis of racial tension that has not been seen since World War II. In Germany, there is a conflict between immigrant Turks and native Germans resentful of these immigrants that take their jobs at lower wages (sound familiar?), making Turkish entry into the European Union a political hot potato that new party wants to touch. In France, conflict exists between the French and Algerian and Moroccan Muslims, many of whom live in isolated ghettos. In the Netherlands, indigenous Dutch struggle with the fanaticism of a small percentage of its Muslim minority. And the recent London bombings is a more than self-explanatory explanation of the United Kingdom's problems. These are the growing pains of a society that is just now adapting itself to a quickly changing world. Open borders and globalization have made human movement as possible as ever. Rather than see this racial tension as a bad sign, we should be heralding it as a sign of a more diverse and open society. Hopefully gangsta rap can serve as a positive, creative bridge between German Turks and native Germans.

"Condoleeza Rice? Sounds like a Mexican dish."

2005-08-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

A few interesting tid-bits from the news:

A fascinating look at the inner-workings of the State Department under Rice, by TIME Magazine of all publications

Can we just leave John Roberts alone already and wait for his confirmation hearing?

Dubai wants to build the world's tallest building for nothing more than honor

More Oil-for-Food scandal? Gee, why am I not surprised?

John Garang is dead. What now in Sudan?

"Is our children learning" from videogames?

San Jose Earthquakes: Kicking Ass Since 2001

2005-08-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

This weekend featured a spate of MLS games that were incredibly entertaining. The day began with a nationally televised match featuring MLS' two worst teams playing one another in 100 degree heat. The quality of play, not surprisingly, sucked. But the best part of the game occured in the seventeenth minute. After embellishing after a light foul, Clint Mathis was hit by a ball that was kicked at him by the mostly classless Chivas forward Isaac Romo. Forgetting that he had just been feigning injury, Clint "Cletus" Mathis rose like a man possessed and ran after Romo. Insanity ensued, causing players from both sides to engage in a melee not usually seen this side of the NHL. Mathis was ejected as was another Chivas player, but curiously, Romo was not. As Mathis began his slow trot off the field, he walked back up to Romo. The two stood tete-a-tete when suddenly Romo fell to the ground in a great heap and curled up in a fetal position, grasping his groin as though Mathis had punched. Replays clearly and repeatedly showed that Mathis initiated zero contact and that Romo is an idiot. Of course, this little event nearly sent Bigsoccer's servers crashing, with one, two, three threads devoted to Isaac Romo alone. I have to hand it to both Chivas USA and Real Salt Lake for taking a terrible game and turning it into a news-worthy event.

Where Chivas-Real Salt Lake lacked in quality, the FC Dallas-Metrostars matchup made up for in quality. What a cracker of a game to open up FC Dallas' brand new Soccer Specific Stadium Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. While it has one of the most terrible corporate sponsors imaginable, the stadium is an absolute gem. The game wasn't bad either, featuring end-to-end action and some beautiful goals by Carlos Ruiz and Youri Djorkaeff. Unfortunately for FC Dallas and its fans, the result was an unfavorable one, a 2-2 tie. However, for my San Jose Earthquakes, the result (along with defeats of both the New England Revolution and the Chicago Fire) was a blessing.

In the final game of the evening, my beloved Earthquakes defeated the Columbus Crew 2-1. San Jose dominated Columbus for eighty minutes before running out of gas and nearly blowing the game. However, passing was crisp and the goals were absolute class. More importantly, with the win San Jose moves into sole possession of first place in the Western Conference, and leads the entire league in points (37). If that weren't enough, according to ESPN's power rankings, the Earthquakes are quickly catching up with New England for the honor of being ranked the best team in the league. While the threat of moving the team looms ominously over fan joy, we've all taken pride in what this team has accomplished and hope for greater and better things to come.

Taking BART and Buying Hats

2005-08-06T20:16:00.000-07:00

Without a hat, a man is naked. It is the essential piece that completes any man's ensemble. Panamas, Fedoras, Stetsons; these are the hats of lore. A hat not only keeps the sun out of your eyes, and shades you from the summer heat, but keeps your head warm during those windy, snowy, rainy winter months. Upon the heads of such classic screen icons as Bogart and Cagney, the Fedora became the stuff of legend (or as Bogey might have said, "the stuff that dreams are made of") and a cultural icon. I went in pursuit of my own legendary fedora today with my "style expert" Joe. We travelled to The Hat Guys in Oakland where I found my own Fedora, finally "covering my nakedness" and completing my ensemble.

To get to Oakland, Joe and I took BART. Now, I've taken BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) a number of times before, but as great as BART can be, it's for the most part an inconvenient and poorly designed rail transit system. Granted, I'm spoiled. I spend most of my year in Chicago where I get to use the El (Elevated Train), an ugly, but extremely efficient and cost-effective transit system. The El is cheap (you can travel all across Chicago for $2), BART is not. In fact, BART (watch me as I refer to BART as though it were a person) charges you more money the farther you travel. I will admit that BART is much cleaner than the El, and anyone who has used both will certainly attest to that. Yet I can't help but shake the feeling that I'm geting ripped-off everytime I use BART.

Right now I'm smiling. I'm watching my San Jose Earthquakes taking it to the Columbus Crew. A win will put them in sole possession of first place in the MLS Western Conference, as FC Dallas tied tonight. Besides, I got my hat.

Bob Novak: Comedy Gold

2005-08-05T09:39:00.000-07:00

If you haven't heard, Bob Novak said "bullshit," live on CNN. That right there is comedy gold. Now, for those of you who don't know who Bob Novak is, let me fill you in. If you've never seen Bob Novak, you've really been missing out. I mean, if you crossed the DNA of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Princeton historian Bernard Lewis, and literary critic Harold Bloom, you'd probably end up with good old Bob. Yeah, yeah, he's a conservative pundit on CNN's Crossfire (well, maybe not anymore), but he's been in the news recently because of the Valerie Plame controversy, a controversy that's extended its tendrils all the way to the White House and landed New York Times journalist Judith Miller in jail for refusing to name a source. Yet good old Bob, who originated the whole damn story, hasn't said anything, except teasing us all by suggesting that maybe he took the name from a book. Huh? Bob Novak's a comedian, he just doesn't know it yet.

On an entirely unrelated note, the entire John Roberts nomination has been an absolute fiasco for the Democrats. Under party chairman Howard Dean, the party's modus operandi has been to stall, fuss, and cry foul as much as possible. For a party realing from successive losing Presidential campaigns, this tactic will be particularly scarring especially if they expect to win Congressional seats in 2006. Instead of waiting until the confirmation hearings to begin their attacks on Robert's (limited) judicial record, they began from the moment of his nomination. Pointing to a case he argued while a lawyer as proof of his "threat" to Roe v. Wade has looked amazingly stupid after news yesterday that he lent his judicial expertise to a group lobbying for gay rights in Colorado. Proof positive that the Democrats should have just waited until his confirmation hearing before opening up the floodgates of criticism. The act has gotten tired, and while it may be impressive to legions of Democrats on the coasts, the very voters they need to win, those living in the blooming suburbias of the Southeast and Midwest, would care for more a little more substance than the Democrats have been giving them.

There's still time for the Democrats to turn things around. However, instead of finding positive labor solutions during a conference that saw a massive rift develop between the AFL-CIO, the best and brightest of the Democratic Party, including such heavies as Nancy Pelosi, Johnathan Edwards, and Barack Obama, found nothing better to do than bemoan the decline of labor and speak of the evils of free trade. The Democratic Party has embraced a policy of isolationism at a time when America needs fresh ideas, not backwards ones. This is the party of Franklin D. Roosevelt, who himself defeated the last great isolationist, Herbert Hoover, and began the most celebrated of all Democratic economic policies, the New Deal. There's still time, but it's running out quickly. Rather than worrying about who'll run in 2008 (and if either Rudy Giulianni or John McCain win their party's nomination, it'll be damn tough to win), they should be keeping their gaze firmly fixed on the 2006 mid-term elections.

P.S. Novak's this is bullshit is eerily reminiscent of Peter Finch's epic meltdown in the classic film Network, when he declares (and urges us to do the same), "I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take this anymore!" Well, apparently Bob was mad as hell and he wasn't going to take James Carville's shtick any longer.

Signs the Apocalypse is Near

2005-08-04T09:21:00.000-07:00

The rumors are true. Pack your things and head for the hills. The apocalypse is coming. The end is near. The Metrostars are finally building themselves a stadium. For people who aren't fans of MLS, I'll fill you in on the history of this moribund sporting franchise.

A few years ago, ESPN created a giant list of the best and worst run sporting franchises in the United States. The Chicago Blackhawks of the NHL were dead last. However, had ESPN included MLS franchises, no doubt the Metrostars would have fallen even behind the lowly Blackhawks. You see, the Metrostars, who have been around since the inception of MLS, 1996, have never won any hardware. They've never won the U.S. Open Cup (although they at least advanced as far as the Final in 2003), they've never even advanced to the MLS Cup final (the only original MLS team, along with the Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, and the now-defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny to have not done so, but at least Columbus and Dallas have won the Open Cup), and the only piece of hardware they have won (I lied earlier) is the La Manga Cup, against such competition as Odd Greenland and Viking FK. Here is a team that's been maligned for years for such marketing campaigns as "Metro Playoff Fever" (as ridiculous as it sounds I assure you), and most recently Faith and Family Night. Now they have a stadium.

The Metrostars are an organization that have been in decline for years. Often criticized by some MLS fans for being "league darlings," their on-the-field results seem to indicate anything but, whether those allegations are true or not. They're on the outside-looking-in on a playoff spot right now and have a difficult schedule ahead of them. They've been drawing terrible crowds in the Meadowlands. Famed soccer commentator and former MLS coach Ray Hudson once said, "the devil lives in the Meadowlands." Perhaps that explains why the Metrostars are so bad. Now they have a stadium.

The scariest thing about all of this though isn't that the Metrostars will finally have their own stadium but that the entire $100 million bill is being financed by AEG itself. AEG, who currently own the Earthquakes (now the only AEG-owned franchise without a so-called Soccer Specific Stadium on the horizon) and have been trying to sell them, now can focus all their energy on precisely that task. It's up to Soccer Silicon Valley to now come up with an investor or local stadium plan or the Earthquakes are likely as good as gone.

However, on a happier note, and speaking of the U.S. Open Cup. Last night, in the round of sixteen, the Earthquakes defeated the Portland Timbers of USL-1 2-0. Now, the Earthquakes advance to the quarterfinals and will play rivals Los Angeles Galaxy at home on August 24. (Actually, the aforementioned Metrostars lost to the Rochester Rhinos of USL-1 3-1, ouch). If this team does end up moving, I hope they stick it to AEG and give the fans something to cheer for by trying to win the MLS Supporters Shield, the U.S. Open Cup, and MLS Cup.

P.S. That Zoffinger guy sounds like a total dick (see first article).

And so it begins...

2005-08-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

After languishing in boredom on Xanga, I've decided to give this a go.

In the past few weeks, various MLS (Major League Soccer) clubs have faced off against huge European clubs in what amount to meaningless friendlies. Well, they weren't always friendly and definitely not meaningless for MLS. While not much should be taken from the results, MLS did fare very respectably:

LA Galaxy 0: 2 Real Madrid
Chicago Fire 1: 3 AC Milan
D.C. United 1: Chelsea 2

Grahame Jones discusses the lessons the Galaxy ought to take from opponent Real Madrid

"It was a great game. We were in front of a team that had a lot of rhythm, was very fast and played a great soccer match. We came from a little more experience and even with a little bit of luck."

A.C. Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti had only praise for a Chicago Fire team that very nearly dismantled the Champions League finalist.

Chelsea, with a payroll over one hundred times greater, edges D.C. United

While the Galaxy-Madrid game was somewhat forgettable (apparently the party afterwards was not) , the Chicago-Milan game was some of the most entertaining football I have ever seen played in the United States, and Chelsea-United fit somewhere in between the two. I was damn proud of MLS as I watched Samuel Caballero slide a silky smooth pass to Chad Barrett who nearly scored another goal for the Fire. Nothing made me prouder though than Bobby Boswell's (who makes around $30,000/year) header goal against $200 million Chelsea. It was the first goal of the game, but it spoke volumes about the determination of MLS players and how far the game has come in this country. (Highlight of all the games can be found here).

However, my passion for U.S. soccer and my love of MLS has been somewhat tempered this year by rumors of the relocation of my beloved San Jose Earthquakes. Conspiracy theories about over on BigSoccer, and fans have been left agonizing over the big questions: Is Soccer Silicon Valley going to come through for us? Is Televisa (Mexican television giant) still trying to buy our club? Would AEG (the company that currently owns and operates the Earthquakes) move us even if there is no new owner or stadium? It's a torturous wait, and one I hope no fans in the league ever have to go through again (although similar threats of relocation have hung over the heads of Kansas City Wizards fans). While I'm a fan of American soccer, and particularly of MLS, this has really made me question my allegiance to the league. No doubt I'll continue to watch the product and players that I love even if my team is moved, but it'll be damn hard for me to support a league that stood by while so many fans had to see their team move out.