Monday, March 31, 2008

All He Does is Score Goals

Jason Kreis on Cuahtemoc Blanco: "[Besides the goal,] I don't think he did anything else but run around and whine." (after Blanco scored a game-tying goal for the Chicago Fire against Kreis' Real Salt Lake).
http://media.www.dailyutahchronicle.com/media/storage/paper244/news/2008/03/31/Sports/Mls-New.Rules.Allow.For.Rougher.Play-3292094.shtml

Reminds me a little of Buddy Ryan explaining why he cut Cris Carter: "All he does is catch touchdowns."

Yes, Cuah whines a lot. My ex-girlfriend thinks he's a travesty to the game of soccer (but that was not the dealbreaker, for what it's worth-- the dealbreaker was when she questioned whether Michael Bradley deserved a spot on the national team. I mean, really, do you want your children raised by someone who thinks that?)

Me, I'm just glad that the Blanco circus is in MLS. I can't say I always enjoy his antics (especially not against the US national team), but here's a guy that makes you feel passionate about futbol. And once in a while, he scores a goal, just to break up the monotony of running around and whining.

Sunday, March 30, 2008

The Road to MLS Cup XIII, Week 1: FCD vs Chivas USA

Early season MLS matches have a bad reputation. And for years, it wasn't just talk: they were low-scoring, scrappy, sloppy affairs. They were tough to watch. And even tougher to care about when you knew that almost all of the teams would be making it to the post-season.

So MLS began doing a few things to improve the season: changing the playoff format, restructuring compensation to reward victories more and, of course, expanding the league, which made playoff spots more valuable. And, oh yes, beginning to spend just a tiny bit more on the players.

Last season, it appeared that the early season quality of play had indeed benefitted from these changes.

After seeing the week one games in the new MLS season, I'm pleased to say it was not all a mirage. There were some real highlights.

1. Great goals. If great goals have a way of redeeming even ugly games, then Cuahtemoc Blanco's late equalizer against Real Salt Lake put the proverbial lipstick on the proverbial pig.

2. The more things change... I didn't expect Houston to go down three goals to the New England Revolution. I didn't get to see that match, but what happened? Weren't the Revs supposed to miss Pat Noonan and Andy Dorman?

3. the more they stay the same.Some players, like Juan Toja, Mikel Galindo and Luciano Emilio (despite not scoring a goal) picked right up where they left off. Toja, who faded briefly from the FCD-Chivas match was everywhere. He made one highlight reel run through half of the Chivas team, reminding everyone that he's got moves to go with his great motor.

And the Galaxy still are struggling. They resemble the Madrid Galacticos of the middle half of the decade in a couple of ways. For one, both teams had David Beckham. For another, both teams were woefully unbalanced. Madrid, because it was foolish enough to let Makalele go off to England. The Galaxy because... well... if you went through a list of good players the Galaxy discarded on their way to becoming Galacticos, I wonder if you wouldn't end up having a decent MLS team? Despite predictions of a high powered attack, the Galaxy may find it's awfully hard to play offense in soccer without the ball.

4. But anyway... back to the quality of play. I really enjoyed the FCD-Chivas match. Dallas looks a little like a work in progress-- and despite the signing of a major international defender, Duilio "Can I Buy a Vowel?" Davino, their defense looked a little lost at times. But what do they do? They quickly realize they can't keep up with Chivas and respond by playing really compactly. They had 10 men behind the ball for much of the match, but guess what? I loved it. MLS teams haven't been great at reading situations and changing in response, but Dallas did just that. Chivas striker Ante Razov was reduced to firing his shots into the shins of FCD players instead of the usual "over the crossbar" as a result.

But I still really how Chivas played the game, especially how they played out of the back. The defenders really tried to build the attack from deep in the field. They weren't reckless-- they were just surprisingly comfortable on the ball. And this is not a particularly talented group of defenders without Claudio Suarez:Shavar Thomas and Jim Curtin are, in their own ways, journeymen: players who have floated around the league despite good potential. Lawson Vaughn, a Chivas lifer, isn't really on the radar of many. But they put a solid, attractive defensive game together. And this, despite the quiet game that Chivas USA's key midfielder, Panchito Mendoza, had.

So kudos to the no-name defenders at Chivas-- they made the game for me.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Only in CONCACAF...

would a team lose three players to red cards... and still win the game.

Powerhouse Antigua and Barbuda took on Aruba in CONCACAF qualifying and lost a man to red cards on each side of half-time. Even two men up, Aruba couldn't find a way through the resolute defense of A&B. And fate, cruel fate doomed Aruba to a loss when Antigua and Barbuda scored a short-handed goal in the 87th minute, only to lose yet another man to a red card two minutes later.

I wonder if A&B will be able to field a full team for the next round of qualifying, or, like Cuba at Olympic qualifying, will it be forced to start the game with ten men? That was another "only in CONCACAF" moment (and the Olympic qualifying tournament was full of them...)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Benny Feilhaber: C'mon Bob, tell us how you really fell.

Benny Feilhaber's mother must have told him there would be seasons like this.

His big move to the Premiership has fizzled, with him failing to find a way even to the bench of the English top flight's worst team, Derby. And then Feilhaber wasn't fit enough to be included on the US Olympic qualifying roster, which had to face fairly low-level CONCACAF opposition on its way to Beijing.

Now, there's no reason to be alarmist about any of this: players go through rough patches. Most of them learn and get on track. But while Bob Bradley called Feilhaber into the national team camp for tomorrow's game against Poland, he also had a stunningly frank assesment of where Feilhaber's gone off track:
"He has to grow up. [...] He has to mature as a player. He has to understand, day in and day out, how to earn the respect of the people he plays with. [...] You never want to take away anything from a player at a moment when he's achieved something or when the team has achieved something, but it is incredibly important that the bigger picture is still there. In that regard, the growing process for Benny needs to include all of this."
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=519558&root=us&cc=5901

So basically, Bob's saying that Feilhaber got too high on himself because of his wondergoal against Mexico to win the Gold Cup and that he then forgot he still had a lot to prove. I don't think you usually hear coaches air their opinions quite so openly. That's not necessarily a criticism of Bradley-- just recognition of the fact that this is a monumental public pimp slap on one of the US's formerly brightest rising stars.