Cafe Kick

Mexico. Five-time Gold Cup Champions.

2009-07-27T07:00:00.000-07:00

The US men's team was absolutely demolished in the second half of a cup final this year, for the second time.

One soft penalty and the US team went to pieces. After Jay Heaps tugged at Giovanni Dos Santos' shirt, Gio went tumbling down into Heaps. The call was questionable, but the US team had plenty of chances in the first half to score and put the Mexicans on their heels.

But even worse was what happened after the penalty: the US looked like it was committing every man forward, leaving the inexperienced backline at the mercy of Dos Santos and Carlos Vela. The US lost discipline, shape, the match, and, eventually, dignity by a 5-0 scoreline. That's the kind of score we haven't seen in about 25 years.

Some fans will say that this doesn't mean anything. After all Coach Bob Bradley brought an inexperienced roster and decided to stick with them to see how they handled the pressure. And that's fair enough: there are lessons to be learned in defeat. And Bradley should be commended for sticking with his young team, when he could have brought in more experienced reinforcements.

But here's what should never happen: if you are a weaker, less talented, less experienced team, you must never be beaten on heart or organization. And this young US team was beaten on both accounts. Sure, they showed me more than enough in the first half of the game: this young team had the potential to beat this Mexico. If they played with the same discipline and marksmanship of US team's past, they would have put away one of their decent chances in the first half and known how to manage the result. It's fair to say that the US sometimes got lucky against Mexico during its near decade-long home unbeaten streak, but you'd also have to admit that the hard work those US team did made its own share of "luck". I saw none of that yesterday at Giant's Stadium.

Soccer's a funny game (as most sports are) with near overnight comebacks. But it will take more than a good US performance in Azteca on August 12 to convince me that Bob Bradley knows how to organize this team. For once, the US team has talent. How ironic, then, that its heart has seemed to fade away almost in tandem with the growth of the American's skill.

You're almost always wrong if...

2009-07-07T13:43:00.000-07:00

You're almost always wrong if you write "If X doesn't happen, there's no way the US team can be successful at the next World Cup." (unless, of course, X is "score more goals than their opponents...)

This week's entry is Jamie Trecker's assertion that "It's been clear for some time that Adu needs to be a part of the 2010 effort for the USA to have a real chance."
Jamie's latest

So we're all clear on one thing: Freddy Adu can do things with the ball that no other US player can do. But the US had a good run in 2002 without anyone remotely resembling Adu. Not to mention the US's recent run in the Confederations Cup, in which Freddy didn't play a second...

So... no... Adu doesn't need to be part of the 2010 effort for the US to have a chance.

But here's hoping that Adu gets more playing time in the Gold Cup and shows that he can play against tighter defenses. Just because the American path to success need not be trod solely behind Adu's little footprints doesn't mean the team can't use him.

It's an OUTRAGE that Torres/Adu/Whoever Didn't Play Because They Were Out of Form!

2009-07-06T08:07:00.000-07:00

The anger starts from somewhere deep within.

Some fans of the US men's soccer team are outraged when Coach Bob Bradley keeps talents like Freddy Adu on the bench, obstensibly because Freddy's "out of form," yet still has the audacity to play Sacha Kljestan, who is also "out of form." These fans ask: "Why can Bradley play Altidore, who also hasn't played for his club team, and then sit Adu BECAUSE he's not playing for his club team? It just doesn't make sense!"

Of course it does.

Part of the problem is that we don't always mean the same thing when we say a player is "out of form." It could be the player is injured. It could be the player simply hasn't seem much action. Or maybe the player is just not performing. Sometimes, it's all of the above (consider poor DaMarcus Beasley).

But a bigger part of the problem is that different players will react... wait for it... differently to being out of form.

Remember John O'Brien? One of the US's most talented midfielders, he was also always one wrong foot away from an ambulance. As a result of his many injuries, he didn't always see much time with his club team. But if he was healthy, you had to play him. He was that good: he got healthy just in time for the 2002 World Cup and put in a great tournament.

Similarly, Jozy Altidore played a decent Confederations Cup, despite not playing a minute for his second division club in Spain. Granted, he looked gassed at times later in matches. He likely would have been even better if he was getting serious playing time in Spain. But you could count on him to play his way into form.

Coach Bradley decided that guys like Adu couldn't play their way into shape but bet that Klejstan could. He clearly made a mistake with Beasley, who had taken advantage of past experiences with the national team to regain his form. But overall, I'm inclined to give some deference to the coach: he sees what's going on in practice. If he decides that Jose Francisco Torres is too tired to play, then he's making the decision based on information that you and I don't have.

So what's the bottom line? It doens't make sense to expect Bradley to be "consistent" in his decisions about playing guys who are out of form. Consistency for consistency's sake is almost worthless: all we really care about is who performs. We can criticize Bradley for not recognizing the depth of Beasley's problems and wonder what else he got wrong, but criticizing him for his inconsistency doesn't make any sense.

US-Brazil-- The Sad, Sad Aftermath

2009-06-19T08:18:00.000-07:00

Danny Karbassiyoon.

That's who I thought about watching Brazil completely dismantle the US men's soccer team, 3-0.

After the 2002 World Cup, where the young Americans shone brightly, US soccer fans were optimistic. Young MLS players, Landon Donovan and DaMarcus Beasley, had acquitted themselves well under the spotlights in Korea. The US had been, for many years, tough to beat. But now the team had young talent! And Donovan and Beasley were just the start of it: Bobby Convey would soon join them! Kyle Martino was amazing. Eddie Johnson looked like he could become the superstar forward that the US sorely needed. MLS was producing real talent.

And we had an amazing overseas contingent of young Americans at top flight European teams: Danny Karbassiyoon, Zak Whitbread, Frank Simek, Kenny Cooper, Jonathan Spector, Cory Gibbs... The list was long.

We understood that not all of these players would pan out-- but they were playing with first tier European teams! At least a few of them would be great players by 2006. And, if not 2006, then just imagine 2010!

But here we are in 2009, looking dismally back at our demolition by Brazil. The embarassment of riches has given way to simple embarassment. The post-2002 generation of young Americans has not produced. Danny Karbassiyoon is retired. The other young Americans have, so far, had disappointing careers. Sure, some players came out of nowhere: Clint Dempsey has a productive career in the English Premiership. Jozy Altidore might become the superstar forward that the US sorely needs. There are still many names that give US fans hope.

But there is a fundamental fact we have to face: the US has not progressed. Much of our talent has not panned out, whether it's in Europe or MLS. The national team now looks unprepared for big games, soemthing for which coach Bob Bradley surely must take responsibility. But for whatever the coach's faults may be, I go back to talent and professionalism: would you rather have Claudio Reyna and Brian McBride or Michael Bradley, Benny Feilhaber and Jozy Altidore? I have high hopes for the young Americans, but I know what my answer would have to be today.

US-Brazil Preview, or "You're An Idiot If You Think the US Has Any Chance of a Result"

2009-06-17T13:44:00.001-07:00

No Chance? In the wake of the United States' loss against Italy in the Confederations Cup, I was struck by how many fans from outside the US thought it was ludicrous to suggest that US might get a result from Italy. They explained that the US has no futbol tradition and vastly inferior talent. They noted that the US coach was tactically naive and had no experience outside of the United States.

All true. But the conclusion that the US never had a "chance" is just stupid. Unforgivably stupid, really. The US got a result against Italy just three years ago, in the biggest stage possible: the World Cup. Would a rational human being expect a US win or even a tie? Of course not. But you'd have to be truly slow to say that a US result is "impossible" when they earned a hard-fought point so recently. Unfortunately, a lot of fans don't seem to understand the difference between "unlikely" and "impossible".

So what's this mean for the up-coming US-Brazil match tomorrow? I expect a competitive game. I think the US has typically done well against possession teams, so I don't think a positive result is out of the question. Is there also a decent chance the scoreline could get ugly? Certainly. The recent debacle in Costa Rica shows that this US team may not be quite as tight defensively as in year's past. Just don't discount either possibility entirely.

Was that a red? The international take. Was Ricardo Clark's tackle on Gattuso in the Italy match worthy of a red card? Some, like the master of false controversy Jamie Trecker, seem to think the tackle was clearly a red. The Italian press was rather more equivocal, with Gazzetta dello Sport noting that the tackle was more "theatrical than aggressive". Rossi, for his part, thought it was a yellow. The BBC thought it was harsh. But the Spanish press? Almost universal in deeming Rico's expulsion justified.

What do I take away from this? I think it's anecdotal evidence that countries see fouls differently-- it would be no surprise if the Italians and English saw the same tackles as innocuous while the Spanish viewed them as harsh.

And Trecker? His writing seems to lack internal consistency-- his opinions seem to shift as needed so that he can write the most inflammatory piece possible. But kudos to him: his boneheaded style keeps me reading his columns.

That never stopped anyone before...

2008-05-22T14:40:00.000-07:00

Keith Costigan had an interesting thought in his power rankings this week.
He, like many (including me), isn't entirely convinced that Columbus is for real. But his argument is the following: "The Crew still lack a striker who can score 15 to 20 goals and that may ultimately be their downfall in the quest for MLS Cup."

Hmmm. I thought back about some of the most dominant performances by strikers in MLS (I'm thinking Stern John, Mamadou Diallo, Luciano Emilio and JPA last year). How many MLS Cups did those guys win? Do you really need a 15 goal scorer to win MLS Cup?

It turns out you'd be better off not having a 15 goal scorer on the team: 8 of 12 MLS Cup winners didn't. And of the 24 MLS Cup finalists, 14 teams didn't have a 15 goal scorer.

So, no, Keith, having a 15-20 goal scorer isn't a pre-requisite for winning MLS Cup. And given that Columbus is third in the league with 14 goals scored, I'm not sure the forward tandem of Robbie Rogers and Alejandro Moreno is a problem. In fact, given that Alejandro Moreno was a starter on an MLS Cup winning team, despite never scoring more than 8 goals in his career, I'd say he definitely isn't the problem.

MLS Power and Form Rankings, Week 8

2008-05-19T07:55:00.000-07:00

I'd call it a quiet week, except for LA crushing Dallas. Who called that one?

1. Columbus Crew (Last week: #2, tied #6 Toronto away)

So it was ugly. I'm still not sold on the Crew, and Toronto put them under serious pressure, but right now, picking up points at BMO is an accomplishment.

2. New England (Last week: #3, beat #13 San Jose at home)

Beating up on the Earthquakes at home isn't much of an accomplishment, but the Revs got it done. Sadly, though, with Twellman's latest injury, it's back to the drawing board for the Revs' front line. Since this is a Steve Nichol team, you never know who the hero will be. This time it was Kheli Dube, scoring the go-ahead goal. I hesitate to rank them too highly without Twellman, but all of the teams are vulnerable these days.

3. Houston (Last week: #5, beat #8 Colorado at home)

For the second week in a row, Houston benefitted from a somewhat flukey goal-- who knows how many times Dwayne DeRosario's goal deflected before reaching the net (incidentally, it's hard to see how Rico Clark can really be credited with an assist on that pinball strike). Still, I have a feeling Houston was due a little more luck after a tough-luck start to the season.

4. Chicago Fire (Last week: #1, lost to #4 Houston at home)

A week after everyone was talking about this team fought for each other, we saw a performance without much fight. And how must Thomasz Frankowski feel about being behind Chad Barrett in the starting spot pecking order?

5. Toronto (Last week: #6, tied #2 Crew at home)

John Carver got apparently his first exposure to Latin American soccer the other day as the Crew came to town looking for a point. Guillermo Barros Schelotto spent an awful lot of time on the ground. Carver wasn't too pleased by the diving: "If that was back in England, everybody would be up in arms screaming and shouting it's bad for the image of the game. I'll have to be honest, I certainly agree with it."

And it's true: in England, they don't have much tolerance for diving. But it's always seemed to me that "back in England", they tolerate fouls that aren't acceptable in the international game. Carver needs to shut up and learn a little bit about how the game is played here, as opposed to how he thinks it ought to be played. Is that fair or right? No. I'm sympathetic to how the guy feels, but until he figures it out, his team will continue to drop points at home because its opponents will bunker. This is the by-product of now being a tough team to play. Toronto needs to kick it up a notch if they really want to join the elite.

6. New York Red Bulls (Last week: #7, tied #10 KC at home)

New York needs to do better. They put Kansas City under serious pressure but were still waiting for an equalizer when Danleigh Borman struck in the 81st minute. They shouldn't be dropping points to Kansas City, which is still struggling to fit together as a team.

And Danleigh Borman's goal celebration-- A mixture of an athletic cartwheel with a grade school tumbling class move? Everyone assumed that it was a mistake last week, but he went and did it again this week, claiming that he was just trying to emulate his father. I'm not sure-- I suspect he felt so stupid about it last week that he's just making up stuff this week. See for yourself from SBI.

7. Colorado (Last week: #8, beat #14 RSL at home)

Omar Cummings does it again. The whole team looks good. But it was only RSL.

8. Dallas (Last week: #5, lost to #12 LA Galaxy at home)

What a disaster: a 5-1 defeat to the Galaxy at home. The Gals lined up in a 4-5-1 and FCD's D didn't know what to do about it. Looking at the scoresheet, you'd say that Donovan and Beckham didn't have as much influence on this game, but I don't think that's true. The freedom and space they had in midfield left FCD completely disoriented, opening up the field for the Galaxy's lesser stars to have career days.

But what's most disappointing about the game? Dallas's offense. Despite a four goal deficit at half-time, the Hoops created enough chances to make it a competitive game. They just didn't show up.

9. Kansas City (Last week: #10, tied #7 NYRB away)

So Jimmy Conrad is now their leading scorer? Yes, this team needs work.

10. Los Angeles Galaxy (Last week: #10, beat #5 Dallas away)

What a surprising match. Not because the Gals scored 5 goals, but because their defense only gave up one goal. It wasn't for lack of trying to be predictably sieve-like.

And Edson Buddle scored a hattrick. As the MLSnet write-up reminded us, he once scored four goals for Columbus. Buddle does this sort of thing periodically. The only problem is that he likely won't score again until 2010, which made his celebration of his hattrick a little bittersweet.

11. Chivas USA (Last week: #11, beat #9 DCU at home)

Here was Chivas USA's backline: Marsch, Burling and Curtin. Yikes. And they still won... I'm not sure the Goats' injury situation is going to improve much over the coming weeks, though. Can they keep pulling this off? It's still a paper thin squad and, with the exception of Kljestan, none of their offensive studs have really got their seasons started.

12. DC United (Last week: #9, lost to #11 Chivas away)

Gallardo scores a wonder goal-- United's first away goal since *October 2007*. DCU loses due to a monumental late collapse. They don't have the horses.

13. San Jose (Last week: #13, lost to #3 Revs away)

The E-quakes have had a rough schedule. Yes, they aren't generating anything against the league's top teams. And it doesn't get any better with Houston on deck. I'm circling my calendar for the next RSL-SJ game.

14. Real Salt Lake (Last week: #14, lost to #8 Colorado away)

Yes, they showed flashes of being capable of doing something constructive against Colorado. But they need to start getting results...

Next week
TOR-DC-- Toronto win
SJ-HOU-- Houston win (but what an event, right? The first vist of the Dynamo back to the community that lost them...)
CBUS-REV-- Columbus win (that's what the rankings say, but I have a hunch that the Revs' big game experience might help them get a result)
DCU-TOR-- tie
FCD-RSL-- FCD win
COL-CUSA-- Colorado win
LAG-KC-- Galaxy win
NYRB-CHI-- NYRB win

So maybe Omar Cummings IS that guy after all...

2008-05-16T10:11:00.000-07:00

I called out the Rapids for thinking that someone was just going to step up and become Juan Pablo Angel. You don't get JPAs off of the practice squad.

And I'll stand by that reasoning. But I'm also a professed admirer of Omar Cummings. With the passing and running that the Rapids are capable of, Cummings could really benefit, as he did last night scoring against Real Salt Lake.

Christian Gomez had a good game. Cummings had a good game. Colin Clark had a good game. Even Herculez Gomez had a good game. The Rapids are first place in the West (yes, I know, it's like being the toughest kid in first grade, but first is first).

And Real? Well, they faltered badly in the second half. Espindola looks capable. We know Beckerman and Kovalenko will work. Borchers looked overall ok. Andy Williams even ran a few times. So, really, another case of RSL looking much improved but still getting the same results. Tony Beltran, however, must have better nights ahead. I expected him to get skinned by Colin Clark. But when Herculez was putting moves on him, sending Beltran to the turf, I knew it was going to be a tough night for him. RSL still seems to have gaps in the team appropriate for an expansion team, not a fourth year club.

And That Says Everything About What's Wrong with the Rapids

2008-05-14T07:25:00.000-07:00

The Rapids have scored a boatload of goals, but only one of their players has scored more than one. As a result, you can't really say that the Rapids have a go-to guy.

Jeff Carlisle quoted Colorado Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo on this problem: "We haven't had that one player who is stepping up and being that Juan Pablo Angel. That's a luxury we don't have, and because of that, we have to do a lot more work as a group."

Does Clavijo and Rapids owner Kroenke really think a player from the Rapids reserve or bench is going to "step up" and be JPA? That's like expecting a bench player for the worst team in a Division Three basketball program to become Lebron James just by shooting a few extra free throws after practice.

The truth is, the Rapids haven't had a go-to guy since 2005 with Jeff Cunningham and his 12 goals. The last two seasons, the leading scorer on the Rapids has had 6 and 7 goals respectively (Kirovski last year, Hernandez and Beckerman the year before). I think you really have to go back to John Spencer to really find a true go-to guy, though. Relying on Jovan Kirovski to suddenly realize his potential at 32 isn't going to cut it.

MLS Power and Form Rankings, Week 7

2008-05-11T14:12:00.001-07:00

The field in MLS is starting to take shape a little. Although my predictions aren't getting any better, the higher ranked team won in five of six games. The early season trend of home teams dominating faded somewhat: away teams went 4-2.

1. Chicago Fire (Last week: #1, beat #7 United away)

The Fire might not always look good, but they seem to win. The first 30 minutes against DC, they looked vulnerable. But they started to control match and never looked back.

2. Columbus Crew (Last week: #2, beat #13 San Jose away)

Robbie Rogers is now second in the league with five goals. Alejandro Moreno is right behind him with four. They're looking like a team with multiple weapons. The last time you could say that, McBride and Brian West were still wearing yellow.

The only knock on the Crew? They've had a surprisingly easy schedule, given how some former powers have crumbled. Not their fault and they're racking up points now.

3. New England Revolution (Last week: #4, beat #9 Chivas away)

Twellman scores, Ralston assists, Revs win. The Revs have a great starting 11 and they have good depth (albeit not enough to carry them through the injuries unscathed). The Revs are good.

4. Houston (Last week: #5, beat #8 Colorado at home)

It might have been a flukey performance, but you got the feeling that the Dynamo were building up some serious soccer karma during their long winless streak to start the season. Unlike fellow strugglers United, the Dynamo kept their heads up and benefitted from Bouna Condoul's goalkeeping clinic (as in a clinic on how not to clear a ball). Houston is, by far, the team with the least points among the MLS elite, but I'm sticking with them at #4.

5. Dallas (Last week: #3, lost to #14 Real Salt Lake away)

Kenny Cooper is unstoppable, but you can't say the same for Dallas. They might have done just enough to tie it up in Salt Lake, but the ball didn't go in. I've got to think that Juan Toja will get his season going soon-- he shows enough quality from game to game to suggest good things to come, even if it's not coming right now.

6. Toronto (Last week: #6, did not play)

Should Toronto be ranked higher? Maybe, but let's see how they take the Guevara show on the road and have to deal with a few more calls going against them.

7. New York Red Bulls (Last week: #10, beat #12 Galaxy away)

Juan Pablo Angel still isn't quite fit, but managed to score against the Galaxy (who wisely decided to sit accident-prone "defender" Abel Xavier). The Red Bulls are geting dynamic players back from injury (Richards and Freeman) at the same time they've lost players who impose structure on the game-- Reyna and Stammler. What will they look like when everyone's healthy? Hard to say: the teams currently in the middle of the pack-- #7-#11-- are tough teams to read.

8. Colorado (Last week: #8, lost to Houston away)

A loss to Houston away, on a disputed penalty kick, is not the worst thing that could happen, so the Rapids stay at #8. Gomez to Cummings is a great combo that I hope will produce a few more goals this season.

9. DC United (Last week: #7, lost to #1 Chicago at home)

When United turned it on late in the game against Chicago, they looked like a juggernaut. They only problem was that they were already down 2-0. Another poor performance from United that led GM and noted political essayist Thomas Paine to call out players for taking plays off. But I'll hesitate to punish them more for Thursday's performance: they may not play with heart, but I'd expect them to still beat lower ranked teams on pure talent. Definitely the year's most disappointing team so far.

10. Kansas City (Last week: #11, Did Not Play)

They move up based on Chivas' loss against the Revs.

11. Chivas USA (Last week: #9, lost to #4 Revolution at home)

Sure, they had a couple of key losses: Claudio Suarez to suspension and Bornstein to a long injury. But this team has NO depth. Look at their bench for this game:
1 - Dan Kennedy (GK)
17 - Justin Braun 59
22 - Keith Savage
24 - Atiba Harris 71
31 - Daniel Paladini 68
32 - Anthony Hamilton
34 - Gerson Mayen
With the exception of Atiba Harris, who is established (even if he's a red card waiting to happen every match), these are untested players. And Chivas was starting Eric Ebert and Bobby Burling. They've got some nice pieces, but it doesn't add up to a team right now.

12. Los Angeles Galaxy (Last week: #12, lost to #10 NY at home)

The Gals shouldn't be dropping home points to New York, but it's just a fact of life with this defense. If Becks and Donovan are covered and not contributing, the Gals have precious little other resources. I'm sure that the Big Two will continue to win games and the Gals may move up a little in the rankings, but what's really the best case scenario?

13. San Jose (Last week: #13, lost to #2 Columbus at home)

The Quakes scored. The right guys-- O'Brien, Corrales and Grabavoy-- are contributing. But they didn't get the win at home against a quality opponent, whereas...

14. Real Salt Lake (Last week: #14, beat #3 Dallas at home)

Real Salt Lake did. They played ugly and got some points. Players are talking about it being a turning point. Javier Morales added a goal to his four assists. They're unbeaten at home. And yes, they're a point out of first in the to-date dreadful Western Conference.

But really, who would you expect RSL to beat consistently? They'll have a chance to move out of the opinion basement with a result in Colorado this coming Thursday.

Next week
(Predictions last week: 2-4...)
Rapids-RSL-- Rapids win
Toronto-Cbus-- Toronto win
NYRB-KC-- Red Bulls win
Revs-SJ-- Revs win
Fire-Houston-- Fire win (but if I had to pick an upset...)
Chivas-DCU-- Chivas win
FCD-LAG-- Dallas win

An Historic Event

2008-05-09T12:28:00.000-07:00

Last night, over eighteen thousand spectators witnessed history at RFK. No, I'm not talking about DC's sponsorship deal with Volkswagen. I'm talking about the presence of three players with the first name Gonzalo being on the field at the same time (Martinez, Peralta, and Segares).

Unfortunately for DC, one Gonzalo was better than two in this case.

United had another miserable night. You might say that the head-scratching continues, but that wouldn't be quite right: I think we know what's wrong with United. Kevin Payne started to call out players for taking plays off. Coach Soehn called out Santino Quaranta for not marking Justin Mapp on the first Fire goal. Personally, I thought Quaranta's effort has been decent. Instead, I've been noticing more how Clyde Simms isn't controlling the midfield for United. He's a good player, so I first wondered whether it was because turnover on other parts of the field were leading to breakdowns that Simms had to clean up. That might be true to a point, but it looks like he's letting the game get away from him too-- his inability to close down Gomez (a tough task, no doubt) against Colorado definitely contributed to DC's loss.

In short, I think United needs a couple upgrades in the middle.

In other news
Have you ever noticed how worthless the fantasy player picks are in Kevin Costigan's weekly power rankings for Fox Sports? Ezra Hendrickson? Jesse Marsch? Shea Salinas? I'm not sure Costigan gets how fantasy sports work...

No, I'm pretty sure that's not the worst thing...

2008-05-07T14:30:00.000-07:00

Primitive man feared nature, and thus needed to make up stories about it in order to make sense of the scary world.

I feel that Jamie Trecker has much the same reaction to "hype"-- unable to trust his own senses, and let down repeatedly by over-hyped players, he somehow believes hype is the biggest problem facing American soccer.

More "logic" from Jamie Trecker

He goes so far as to write the following: "We all want American soccer stars. But we have to be patient. The worst thing that can happen is for fans and the media to try and create them."

No, Jamie. That's not the worst thing. The worst thing that could happen is if a plane full of young American players went down like Busby's babes. The dim media glare fixed on Jozy Altidore doesn't really rank up there with true tragedy.

Like any Trecker piece, he's occasionally got a point: it would be nice if we could let kids be kids and not jump to conclusions too soon.

Hey, fair enough.

But at the same time, like any Trecker piece, it also doesn't make sense. He writes: "Our homegrown soccer players still do not face the rigid public scrutiny as they develop that our other athletes do, to their detriment. It's no shock that these men then have difficulties handling sudden attention."

Ok. So they have difficulties handling sudden attention, but you're advocating the Altidore receive less attention now? Because receiving no attention as a member of an MLS side will help prepare him for receiving a ton of attention in a foreign league?

Dumb, dumb, dumb.

MLS Power and Form Rankings, Week 6

2008-05-04T13:57:00.000-07:00

Wow.

For a week that I thought would shake up the league, there are still more questions. We're now 1/5 of the way done with the season, but it's hard to pick out clear trends. The league has to be ecstatic that Beckham scored two goals in Salt Lake, but it's been a tougher road for other key players. On to the rankings...

1. Chicago (Last week: #5; beat #1 Revs away)

Winning 3-0 away is hard enough. Winning 3-0 away against a good team that you beat 4-0, partly on the back of a very early red card, takes it to another level. Chicago went to the Revs and had a game plan-- defend in numbers and play hard counter-attacking soccer. Having Chris Rolfe back on the field helped, and Blanco, although he didn't score or assist, has got to be one of the best players for counter-attacks because of his vision.

But is the Fire the best team in the league? Some of the things that make them a good team on the counter can make them look pretty awful when they have to control possession, and they are fortunate to have the points they do. But if John Thorington is back for good, Rolfe is healthy and old man Blanco stays on the field, the Fire have got to be looking at their rivals and asking "Why not us?"

2. Columbus (Last week: #6; beat #8 KC at home)

The Crew top the league tables. They won the battle of the sleeper teams against KC fairly comfortably. Robbie Rogers looks like he's fulfilling his promise. And Alejandro Moreno is on the goal leaderboard.

So why aren't the Crew #1? Partly, it's because they've amassed their record against teams in precisely the right moment. It looked like a brutal schedule ahead of the season, with early season tilts against Houston, DC and Chivas. But all three of those teams have yet to get going. Their win against Toronto occurred before the Reds added a couple of studs to the roster. I have a feeling that they are paper tigers.

But there's another side to winning against teams in difficult moments: up to a point, it just doesn't matter as long as you get the points. The 2000 KC Wizards weren't necessarily the best team in the league despite a record winning streak, but they were winners and eventually champions. I could see the Crew doing something similar.

3. FC Dallas (Last week: #2; tied #13 San Jose away)

I expect better from Dallas than an away tie against an expansion team. But it wasn't just a case of balls not falling-- Dallas just didn't get going, despite having a high-powered offense. So we'll call it an off week. Besides, who's clearly better?

4. New England Revolution (Last week: #1; lost to #5 Fire at home)

New England was miserable, apparently more motivated by revenge than soccer sense.

But Twellman is back soon, Ralston played as a sub and the Revs aren't a bad team.

5. Houston (Last week: #4; tied #9 Chivas at home)

Good teams win at home. Houston again dictated terms in its home match against Chivas, but couldn't find its way to goal. They need to do better, but I'm not going to rank them lower until they start playing really poorly.

The risk is that, just as the 2000 KC Wizards turned winning into a habit just by playing uninspiring but absolutely consistent soccer, Houston can turn losing into a habit, despite having the horses to ride so much harder.

6. Toronto (Last week: #7; tied #11 New York)
Now that Toronto's playing with the big boys, it's not enough to put in a decent effort. And they were fortunate Laurent Robert caught the NY D napping. I am wondering why Jeff Cunningham isn't getting more chances. Dichio is useful, but if Cunningham still has it, he's far superior.

7. DC United (Last week: #3; lost to #12 Colorado)
DC hasn't won in Colorado in 8 years, but I though they were superior enough to Colorado to pull it out. But United was not up to the task. They were lucky to go down only by two goals. That said, I wouldn't penalize a team too much for an away loss, especially in such a tough place to play.

So United's not dropping four places because of the loss. They're dropping three places because of this:
Ben Olsen Is Not Coming Back Soon.

United is famous for its great foreign players, like Etch, Moreno, Gomez, Emilio and now Gallardo. But much of their recent success has come from more humble names: Gros, Carroll, Namoff and most of all Ben Olsen. These guys provided bite and energy. Only Namoff remains. The replacements for these players may, in fact, be superior players, but there is no replacement for their work rate.

But the loss of Olsen is the hardest hit. United simply is not as good a team without him.

8. Colorado (Last week: #12; beat #3 United at home)
Colorado absolutely dominated DC. Yes, they did give up more than a few chances, but they also could have scored more. LaBrocca, Cummings and Jacobsen created more than the United defense could handle. When Jacobsen finally scored his wonder goal, you couldn't call yourself surprised.

9. Chivas USA (Last week: #9; tied #4 Houston away)
Yes, they got a point away. But yes, they got dominated and their shambolic defense will lose Claudio Suarez to a red card suspension. This might be what you can expect from the Goats this year.

10. New York (Last week: #11; tied #7 Toronto away)
A few thoughts: the team looked better with Reyna than Ubiparovich in the middle... Dane Richards' speed also changed the game (for the better). Angel and Altidore were relatively quiet. I think NY has weapons, but they're just not an inspiring team at this point.

11. Kansas City (Last week: #8; lost to #6 Columbus away)
The pieces aren't there for this team to take advantage of Lopez.

12. LA Galaxy (Last week: #10; ties #14 Real Salt Lake away)
It took the Gals a half to figure out Salt Lake's turf, and then Beckham scores twice. Don Garber rejoices.

They probably don't deserve to drop two places, but are they better than any of the teams above them?

13. San Jose (Last week: #13; ties #2 Dallas at home)
Ronnie O'Brien and Ivan Guerrero are actually good players. Who knew? Judging by some reports, it's breaking news.

San Jose is capable of controlling play. The forwards still aren't good enough. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

14. Real Salt Lake (Last week: #14; ties #10 Galaxy at home)
The optimist says "Hey RSL got a point!" The pessimist notes that they were up by two goals. Despite all the talk about their improvement, does anyone really think they'll make the playoffs?

In other news, Javier Morales has 4 assists already. Is he the secret hero for the Gulls?

Next week
DCU-CHI: Tie
HOU-COL: Houston win
RSL-DAL: Dallas win
SJ-CLB: Cbus win
LA-NY: LA win
Chivas-NE: Chivas win

MLS Power and Form Rankings, Week 5

2008-04-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

This week's rankings also serve as a soapbox about the foolishness of "results-ism". The Galaxy crushed the Goats this weekend 5-2 in the Superclasico. But yet, here they are, ranked a place below Chivas USA in the rankings. You don't get ranked higher than another team just by beating them, especially in front of your home fans.

That said, there's a new #1...

#1. New England. (Last week: #2, beat #1 FCD)

Winning 1-0 away is exactly the kind of result that Revs coach Steve Nichol built his career on. It's easy to forget that, before the Revs became an offensive powerhouse, they were a brutally ugly but efficient team.

#2. Dallas. (Last week: #1, lost to #2 Revs)

Last week, Dallas was in first by default. This week, they're in second because they couldn't extend their unbeaten run against New England. They had their chances against the Revs, but got punished by a cohesive, efficient team.

#3. DC United. (Last week: #5, beat #14 RSL)

The crushing win against league lapdogs Real Salt Lake was expected, so they barely deserve this ranking. Their first half against RSL was bad. Emilio still hasn't gotten back on track. And Fred, perhaps United's brightest player this season, went out with injury. But who would you pick over them in a cage match? And how about Gallardo's goal?

#4. Houston Dynamo (Last week: #2, lost to #8 Crew).

I might just cut and paste the following: "Houston looked good at times and will certainly get back on track at some point."

That said, Pat Onstad made a couple of uncharacteristic mistakes in goal. Reports of his demise have been, not only exagerated, but premature by years, but this team is only a couple of backup Tony Caig horror shows from digging itself into a very deep hole.

#5. Chicago Fire. (Last week: #6, beat #10 Colorado).

Well, the Fire should beat the Rapids in Chicago, so this isn't a game that will answer many questions about them (plus, I couldn't watch the game on HDNet...) But isn't it nice to see John Thorrington score a brace?

#6. Columbus. (Last week: #8, beat #3 Houston).
Is Alejandro Moreno ready for a career year? I'm still not sold on the Crew, but I've always thought that all they needed was a little more seasoning. Maybe they're there.

#7 Toronto. (Last week: #9, beat #4 KC).
Last week I said, "At some point, you add enough good players, you become a good team, right? I think TFC has added enough good players." Amado Guevara puts on a great show and wins the game for the Reds.

The bad news? The fact that Guevara is on fire now can only mean one thing: he'll go nuts in a few weeks.

The other bad news? Just because Rohan Ricketts spent time in the premiership doesn't mean he got the better of KC's Harrington. I feel like each of Toronto's new signings and key players is like a character in a Greek tragedy, blessed with specific talents that will lead them to great success, but also each stricken with a fatal flaw. Robert can give incredible service, but seems to drift out of games. Ricketts is fast but might need a few tricks, as well as better distribution to be truly effective. Guevara is a star, but he's nuttier than squirrel doo.

#8. Kansas City. (Last week #4, lost to #9 TFC)
I think people need to get used to this: good teams will drop points in Toronto. So, despite the loss by KC, I feel like I got a better sense of who they are. Chance Myers and Michael Harrington did a lot of constructive things. Roger Espinoza needs some work. As commentator Bruce Arena pointed out, KC would play some good D before coughing up the ball needlessly. And the vaunted attack never quite got going.

#9. Chivas USA. (Last week #7, lost to #12 LAG)
The good: the Goats come back twice in 60 minutes. The bad: the Goats go down by three goals in the last 30 minutes, including two strikes from former leper Alan Gordon. Chivas looks like they're still trying to get into the season and injuries haven't helped. But I think they're a playoff team that can count themselves lucky that they don't have to play against an enraged Landon Donovan every week. That has a tendency to make things seem worse than they really are, which is how I'm going to view this past week's result.

#10. LA Galaxy. (Last week: #12, beat #7 CUSA)
Donovan leads the league in goals by a mile. Beckham leads the league in assists. And the Galaxy are a .500 team. Part of that is that the Galaxy are still great at making me smile: Xavier is good for at least one moment of comedy each game. I thought it was instructive that Gullit singled out young defender Sean Franklin for praise after the game. If the Gals are to be anything more than a .500 team, even with Donovan crushing the league, they need more contributions from players like Franklin.

Scary bad question for Gullit: Will the return of Carlos Ruiz help or hurt this team?

Scary good question for the league and its fans: How awesome would it be if the Gals and Chivas USA were fighting it out for the last playoff spot? It's early and midseason acquisitions can completely change teams, but both teams look to be on the fringe right now.

#11. New York. (Last week: #11, beat #13 SJ)
It's good that they managed to win without Angel, but they still look like a team that's missing something.

#12. Colorado. (Last week: #10, lost to #6 Chicago)
I didn't expect the kids to get it done away to Chicago-- that's asking for a lot.

#13. San Jose. (Last week: #13, lost to #11 NY)
They'll be in more games than they're out of. And if Peguero is able to recover the form he had in his first MLS stay, I woudln't be shocked to see the Quakes climb a little in the west.

#14. Real Salt Lake. (Last week: #14, lost to #5 DCU)
After crushing DCU at home, you kind of expected the Gulls to get crushed when they visited the District. And so it was.

Their next game against the Galaxy could be fascinating. If RSL cant' get anything positive out of that, is it too early to think about moves they need to make?

Next week (Last week: 3-4)
The next week looks awesome. We're going to learn alot. The two most enigmatic teams, KC and Cbus, face off. The Revs face a supposedly tough Chicago team.

Thursday
Toronto-NYRB- Toronto win
Revs-Chicago- Revs win
Crew-KC- Crew win
Dynamo-CUSA- Dynamo win
RSL-LAG- RSL win
SJ-FCD- FCD win
Rapids-DCU- DCU win

MLS Power and Form Rankings, Week Four

2008-04-21T08:39:00.000-07:00

So, I've always wanted to try this, even though it seems like an impossible task.

It's one of those things that people argue about, mostly because they don't agree on what rankings should mean: do they mean the best team at this moment? Should they rank teams by their potential to reach the highest peak? Or should they reward consistency over the season?

For me, the answer is both. These attempted rankings combine both my assessment of a team's potential (which is why United isn't near the bottom) and their current form (which is why KC and Dallas do well).

To see if these rankings have any predictive power, I'm also going to test them against next week's results. Home teams will be considered favorites to win, unless a team is three spots above them in the rankings. In that case, a draw is predicted, unless the team is a total of six spots above their opponent in the rankings. We'll see...

1. FC Dallas. D looked shakey in the first couple of matches, but they might be settling down. Cooper is in form. That said, Dallas is first by default.

2. New England. I loved how they played in the face of adversity against Chicago and again against New York this past week. But ask yourself why they're always putting themselves into adverse situations?

3. Houston. A point on the road is good. Yes, they are in last place in the West. And I still don't know if Houston will be able to score, but I like the team otherwise. If Houston only has one problem, I expect that it will get fixed by Kinnear.

4. Kansas City. They are here because of results. I haven't watched enough games to get comfortable with the idea that Michael Harrington, Chance Myers, Kurt Morsink, Jack Jewsbury, Roger Espinoza and Tyson Wahl form the no-name backbone of an elite MLS team the same way that Brian Carrol, Brian Namoff and Josh Gros did with DC United. You underrate lesser known guys in MLS at your peril, so I'm not trying to do that here.

5. DC United. Gallardo might be an upgrade over Christian Gomez, but he doesn't give the team precisely what it needs, which is what Gomez did so well. The team also needs Ben Olsen's bite and leadership-- but Benny might not be returning soon. And Jaime Moreno is, indeed, a year older. The reworked defense has been both bad and unlucky. So why is United so high? C'mon. The team constructed to win the Champions Cup ought to be able to show a little professionalism in MLS and start winning games.

6. Chicago. I think they're underachievers. Justin Mapp had a good game yesterday against KC. Blanco was dangerous. Chad Barrett, when he wasn't imitating Shea Salinas, showed that he is useful. Frankowski does little things that MLS forwards don't do. But when you put it all together, they frequently look terrible.

7. Chivas USA. Something seems off in Goatland. Mendoza needs to develop into a true 10. Razov needs to stay healthy. Klejstan needs to stay on the field. Maybe the defeat against Dallas is because none of those things happened. But I'm not sure this year's Chivas is a #1 seed.

8. Columbus. They're 3-1-0, so it's probably harsh to rank them here, but I guess I just don't believe it. Then I look at their roster against DC:

1 - Will Hesmer (GK)
2 - Frankie Hejduk
4 - Gino Padula
5 - Danny O'Rourke
7 - Guillermo Barros Schelotto
10 - Alejandro Moreno
12 - Eddie Gaven 63
14 - Chad Marshall
16 - Brian Carroll
19 - Robbie Rogers 90
22 - Adam Moffat 85

To me, that looks like a good MLS roster, full of potential MLS superstars. That said, the Crew has been full of potential superstars for a couple of years now, and it hasn't worked out well.

9. Toronto FC. I might be ranking them too high here, but I'm impressed by Robert's efficiency. Guevara is an MLS superstar. Jeff Cunningham can score goals. Edu is awesome. At some point, you add enough good players, you become a good team, right? I think TFC has added enough good players.

10. Colorado. I know the kids are supposed to be budding superstars, all. Colin Clark, indeed, looks like the real deal, but I haven't watched enough of DiRaimundo and LaBrocca to say for sure. But I do know that young players hit walls and that Colorado's defense includes both Erpen and Burciaga. I think they're heading for a fall.

11. New York. I want to rank them highly. I really do. When Angel returns from injury (permanently), they'll do better. But I think we've seen the league pass this team by. They've got a lot of question marks all over the field (even up top: can Wolyniec still be spark plug off the bench?)

12. LA. They just look like a deeply flawed team. Some of the problems might be easier to fix (surely, somewhere in the world, there's got to be a better forward who will take the $70,000 that Alan Gordon is getting). But there's just too much non-descript talent on this team right now. That said, if any tandem in the league can put a team into the playoffs on pure talent and willpower, it is LD and Beckham.

13. SJ. LA pretty comprehensively handled SJ, but I think the California Derby should be good stuff this year. SJ really took it to Chicago and finally got their deserved points at Colorado. They are dangerous, but probably need a little more seasoning before they'll convert regularly.

14. RSL. Another team I'd like to rank more highly. I like Kreis's team-first philosophy. But outside of Kovalenko and Beckerman, is there anyone on the roster that isn't an enigma?

So, going by these rankings, here are the predictions for the week...

Thursday:
FCD-Revs: FCD win
Saturday:
TFC-KC: draw
Crew-Dynamo: draw
DCU-RSL: DCU win
Fire-Rapids: Fire win
Sunday:
LAG-CUSA: draw
NY-SJ: NY win

The Road to MLS Cup XIII, Week Four

2008-04-21T06:18:00.000-07:00

1. LA-Houston
LA forward Alan Gordon was removed at halftime for the defensive-minded new acquisition Joey Franchino when the Galaxy was down a goal. Not a typical move for a team that's chasing a game, but in this case, it gave the Galaxy the possession they needed and they go on to score two goals.

The Galaxy are a weird team, huh? As much as I don't like the Gals geriatric movement where they essentially traded away all of their young prospects to make cap space for Xavier, Klein and Vanney, I do like the move for Franchino. His cap number is low (only $50,000) but he's a bulldog. Rumored personal issues probably contributed to his exit from New England, but the guy has bite-- something that the lackadaisical Galaxy frequently lack.

So where does this leave Gordon? I'll be curious to see whether he starts the next game on the bench.

But if David Beckham hasn't turned Gordon into a 10 goal striker, it looks like he might perform an even better trick with Landon Donovan. LD's got 5 goals in four games. Donovan continues to be a frustrating player-- when he gets mad, he starts playing at a level far above any other field player in MLS. The problem is that you never know when Donovan's going to respond that way. But Beckham's incisive passing makes it a little easier for Donvoan to be The Man. There's a lot to like about this partnership. Beckham probably won't challenge the all-time mark for most assists (26)in a season set by Carlos Valderrama (with a fair amount of help from Mamadou Diallo), but both he and Donovan are off to a fast start.

2. The Fire are who we thought they were.
Ironically, the first time the Fire control the run of play for a good chunk of a match, they lose, 1-0 at home to the Wizards. But while the Fire dominated for large periods, they showed their other side, too: for the first 15 minutes or so, the Fire simply boomed long balls forward from the defenders. The strategy makes no sense when you've got Cuahtemoc Blanco in the midfield. They looked terrible. Only the much-maligned Justin Mapp did anything constructive.

But then Blanco starts seeing more of the ball and the show starts. Blanco always looks like he's running in knee-deep mud, but somehow the ball just eludes defenders. And then he always makes the pass between two defenders with a Chicago player making a slight diagonal run. While some MLS teams seem to be able to pass effectively without creating danger (DC United, so far), the Fire frequently create maximum danger out of only one or two good passes. But whatever they gained from their penetrating passing, they lost through incoherence in front of goal. Chad Barrett pulled a Shea Salinas and sent a point blank shot in front of goal straight up. Gonzalo Segares and Andy Herron were sent in on goal but then couldn't decide who should shoot. And when Kansas dropped back to defend their lead, Chicago lacked aggression.

Early Season Players to Watch

2008-04-15T13:10:00.000-07:00

A few players have caught my eye, for reasons both good and bad, early in this MLS season.

(1) Dominic Oduro. When he entered late in the Houston-FC Dallas match, I remember thinking "man, this guy is great. Look at that speed. Houston's clearly got no answer for that. Wow... look at this run. Great run. Now all he's got to do is pass the ball to the left and the on-rushing attacker will definitely socre. Yeah. Great run. Now just pass the ball. Just. Pass. The. Ball. Ugh."

Oduro's selfishness almost certainly cost FCD three points there.

He sat on the bench next week against New York.

(2) Laurent Robert. You know, for being a guy who was "playing" in the Premiership months ago, I really haven't noticed him much in the two games I've watched. That is, until he creates a chance out of nothing, like he did with a strange-looking dipping service against DC United, or as he did a couple of times against the Galaxy. What's the story with him? I think it's funny that opinions diverge quite a bit. See this sample:
"Laurent Robert, one of Toronto FC's recent acquisitions, looks past it. Many of his crosses sailed harmlessly out of bounds (ala Landon Donovan at the 2006 World Cup). Even worse, he’s either not fit or not trying."
--Grahame Frasier, MLS Outsider
Link

"Lauren Robert's free kick finds the rookie Jarrod Smith's head."
"Jeff Cunningham, who has not been a fan favorite early, finds his way in alone—off another nice ball from Robert, it should be noted—and suddenly, unexpectedly, unbelievably the Reds are poised to win." Toronto fan and SBI correspondent Duane G. Rollins
Link

So who's right? I think they both probably are. Players who are "past it" in England aren't necessarily past it in slower-paced leagues, like MLS. This is entirely separate from the question of quality (which is something I'd like to bring up to Frasier). A slow guy with good vision and great passing ability will have a job in MLS long, even after the league's quality has improved, simply because playing in the heat means that everyone is playing more slowly.

So, nothing about Robert impresses me. But then... boom... he creates a goal.

3. Alvaro Pires. This guy is made of lead, from head to toe. Lead feet, lead body, lead brains, lead gut (he could probably stand to drop a few pounds of lead). It's good to see someone with bite on the Galaxy, but he becomes a bit of a blackhole for both friend and foe: he'll disrupt attacks, but for both teams, unfortunately. Plus, he seems to spend an awful lot of time on the ground jawing at officials. He might be a useful MLS player but is so not the player that the Galaxy needs.

During the Toronto game, you just kept on waiting for LA's midfield to show a little dynamism outside of the Big Two. But there was no one making late runs into the box to slot home loose balls. There really weren't enough players making runs in general. It may partly be because Gullit doesn't want his defense-challenged team to commit too many resources forward. As it was, it appeared to be the DonoBecks show against Toronto. Ely Allen, at least, appeared willing to contribute, but he's clearly still learning.

The Road to MLS Cup XIII, Week Three

2008-04-13T14:45:00.001-07:00

(1)Whose League Is It Anyway?
So the Revs crush champions Houston 3-0 in their first game, setting themselves up as the league's best. But they have some injury issues, give up an early goal and red card in Chicago and lose to the Fire 4-0. Pretty bad, right? But the Revs stuck with that game as much as they could and then they have to travel to Kansas City's odd little ballpark, which looks like it's going to be a real fortress because the Wizards had won their first two there. And what do the Revs do? They beat KC 3-1 with goals from their teenage attacking substitutes, Nyassi and Mansally. So now, you've got to be thinking: wow, the Revs are for real and coach Steve Nichol's a genius.

So what did Saturday have for us? Steve Nichol is out-coached by Fernando Clavijo, who no one thinks is a genius, and the Revs lose 1-0 at home to the Rapids. Nyassi and Mansally are contained when Colorado clogs the midfield, and the Revs waste a ton of chances, making you wonder just how quickly Taylor Twellman can get healthy. So, it's not the Revs' league.

KC? Ives Galarcep thinks they might just be the best team in the league, but the loss to the Revs makes me think twice.

DC? After a 4-1 victory over Toronto FC, I was ready to forgive their week one loss to the Wizards. But then they get crushed-- 4-0-- by Real Salt Lake. It's not their league either.

Chivas USA? I think they've got the pieces to be the best, but those pieces are unfortunately injury-prone or older than the spoken word.

Dallas deserves some love: a pair of ties against good teams and a win over New York. Kenny Cooper is one fire. This backline-- Drew Moor, Duilio Davino, Adrian Serioux, Dax McCarty-- ought to be pretty good in MLS. Juan Toja is threatening to be the best player in the league. But then you think about how they were bossed around the field by Houston. You think about how disjointed the defense looked.

And Chicago? Along with Dallas, the other unbeaten team, but man, they looked awful against a supposedly toothless San Jose team. And they looked awful against Real Salt Lake, despite earning a point. And they looked about as bad as you can look when you win 4-0 against a 10 man New England.

So whose league is it? For now, I'm going with (1) Dallas, (2) Kansas City and (3) Chivas USA, but every team has a lot of question marks right now.

(2) The Weekend's Most Shocking Result?
There are a few strong contenders.
(A) Chad Barrett scores again. The graphics people on Fox Soccer Channel didn't believe it either: their graphic indicated that it was his first of the season.
(B) Real Salt Lake beating DC United 4-0. I mean, seriously? 4-0? When does Real ever beat anyone, let alone Supporters Shield winner DC, by four goals? (for what it's worth, the answer turns out to be: never-- the 4-0 victory was RSL's largest margin ever).
(C) Tony Caig kept a clean sheet. I didn't see the Houston-KC game, but I honestly wasn't expecting Caig to get another start after giving up 3 goals in his two previous games, with a solid majority being his fault. Then I looked to see who Houston's backup GK was. A kid named Corbin Waller. Here's an excerpt from his biogarphy on Yahoo Sports:
" "
That's right. THere's nothing on him. But you know what? I'd rather put Corbin Waller out there, with his empty bio, than Tony Caig with his stint in the premiership.

But Tony Caig got his clean sheet, so maybe there's a reason Dom Kinnear is a coach and I work in a cubicle.

3. Most embarassing performances?
If DC fans had recovered enough after drinking grain alchohol chased with vodka to help them forget their loss to Real Salt Lake, they had to be chuckling to themselves watching the LA Galaxy game, where Greg Vanney falls down instead of bodying up to Danny Dichio and allowing a goal, and then repeating the same trick half a game later to give up the game winning goal to Jeff Cunningham.

But United fans still shouldn't laugh too hard: I think we found out a little bit more about the pieces of United's reconstructed backline. Gonzalo "I'm not Peralta" Martinez has got range, some pace, helps distribute the ball cleanly out of the back and generally cleans up messes. Unforutnately, he wasn't playing Saturday night. Gonzalo "I'm not Martinez" Peralta was, and he had a disasterous night, before finally gifting the fourth goal to Real Salt Lake when heading the ball back to DC's keeper. It could have just been an off game for Peralta-- RSL's turf apparently is not easy to play on. But I'm beginning to feel like, if United is to have success this year, it will depend greatly on Martinez staying healthy and on the field.

I had to feel bad for Chivas USA's Eric Ebert, who did his best Greg Vanney impersonation by gifting Columbus with two goals after entering the match in the 64th minute. My guess is that the rookie doesn't start next week.

4. San Jose-Chicago
Here's the thing about the Quakes: they do have guys who can pass. Ronnie O'Briem followed up a completely anonymous performance against DC with a solid, unpredictable (in a good way) showing against Chicago. Ned Grabavoy may be the league's less-heralded #10, but I bet you he puts together a decent season. You might think Ramiro Corrales is garbage because you last remember him at the US national team level, but he's pretty good at the MLS level.

So how did San Jose lose?

Kei Kamara and Gavin Glinton seem to have developed a great, consistent partnership. The problem is that, while Kamara consistently whipped balls in, Glinton consistently missed the shot. San Jose put Chicago under tremendous pressure and really ought to have tied. But in the clutch, slow-motion moment when a ball is floating up invitingly, who is the Earthquake player to strike the ball from just feet in front of the Chicago goal?

Enter young Shea Salinas, who manages to shoot the ball at an approximately 89 degree angle so that it goes out harmlessly. Tough moment for a rookie, but ideally San Jose would have a late game finisher to handle stuff like that. They just don't, and it's really going to hurt this otherwise carefully constructed team.

5. LA-Toronto
This was the kind of game that gives equal amounts of fuel to Donovan haters and lovers. He and David Beckham have developed good rapport and Donovan's one of the few MLS players with the speed and intelligence to take advantage of some of Beckham's passes. Time and time again, Donovan went racing off with the ball, with three or four Toronto defenders trailing after him like tin cans on a Just Married car. Donovan fails each time. Now, these aren't necessarily easy chances-- he's running top speed with the ball with defenders closing in. But then Donovan, with a look of determination on his face, takes the ball, does a step over, leaves his defender stumbling like an outtake from NBA Ankle Breakers and shoots a hard, clean shot from distance. Goal.

But, as his teammates mob him, Donovan doesn't celebrate-- instead, he's got a furrowed brow. It's like he knows that he should have had 3 or 4 goals by that point so he needed to decide to play up to his potential for a brief moment in time to make up for it.

My take? The guy's by far the best American player. If he chokes a few chances here and there, keep in mind that other guys wouldn't have had the skill to even have those chances to choke. I'd pick him first on my sandlot team anytime.

But what about the rest of his team? I am no fan of Ruud Gullitt, but I liked how the Galaxy midfield defended as a unit, adjusting their positions to clog passing lanes. LA is a hard-working team, even on a day when temperatures on the field were above 100 degrees. But I'm not sure they're up to it. Beckham seems like a luxury. The rookies (and there were three of them starting) seem earnest, but they're not able to take advantage of the players created by Donovan and the Englishman. Galaxy forward Alan Gordon just isn't getting it done.

And so the Galaxy, despite creating so much more than their Canadian rivals, fall 3-2 at home. It doesn't seem fair. And yet... when David Beckham ends up being your last man on defense against Jeff Cunningham, one of the leagues speediest and deadliest forwards, something's wrong with the team. Cunningham didn't score that time, but what does it say about the Galaxy's defense that it happened at all? Of course, given Greg Vanney's performance, you wonder if the years he spent in France hadn't rubbed off on in, such was his insistence on surrender to the foreigners.

Does MLS know what it's doing with money?

2008-04-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

The answer, according to Andrew Hush, is "no".
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=524551&root=mls&cc=5901

He notes a few of the most ridiculous salaries (e.g. Nik Besagno's salary) and notes "Is it possible to reliably put such varying price tags on unproven players? According to the figures, plus what we have seen with our own eyes, no."

Well Andrew, I think the answer actually depends on what you mean by "reliable". His belief seems to be that MLS overpays based on "potential" (e.g. Project 40/Gen Addidas players) but that "the question of how much money an individual can make from a career in the league is pretty much answered as soon as he puts pen to paper on his first contract." So, the league isn't rewarding those who prove how well they play on the field.

I think Hush is a little guilty of arguing by anecdote, selecting some of the worst offenders (and he's done yeoman's work in sorting through those). So, I decided to look at Nik Besagno's draft and see if, in fact, MLS got it completely wrong in determining what to pay its players.

In the 2005 draft, there were 17 players that were put on developmental roster spots, earning a salary of $16,500 or less. They've had MLS careers of 1307 minutes, each. However, 11 of them (65%) are no longer in the league. The 6 who remain earn an average of $44,000 (only one is still a developmental player-- Amir Lowery).

There were 22 senior roster players out of the 2005 draft who played in 2005 (Tony Lochhead of New England would eventually play in 2006). They've had MLS careers averaging 2803 minutes. 9 (41%) are no longer in the league. Those that remain in the league have an average salary of $88,000.

We can break down the senior roster players into two categories: "high" salary (i.e. more than $40,000) and "medium salary (i.e. between $33,000 and $40,000) players. There were 9 high salary players, who have gone on to have careers averaging 3,111 minutes. 2 (22%) are no longer in the league. In contrast, the 13 medium salary players averaged 2590 minutes and 6 (46%) no longer ply their trade in MLS.

At first glance, it appears that MLS was, in fact, wise to pay the developmental players little and the senior roster players more. What's striking is that, even among the senior roster players, you've still got a very high rate of failure: MLS teams pick guys that don't stick in the league over 40% of the time. This could be impacted by guys that decide to play overseas (Will John, for example), but that's not a huge factor.

So, when Hush asks if there's a reliable way to put price tags on paper, I again go back to the question: what do you mean by reliable, especially when even the "good" players fail 40% of the time? Talent identification is a tough game, but it looks like, overall, the salaries paid do recognize who contributes on the field. Of course, that leaves completely open the question of whether MLS couldn't be doing a better job here.

But what about Hush's assertion that players' salaries are essentially set for life when they sign their first contract?

I'd consider 3000 minutes to be a pretty decent career for a fourth year MLS player, so I looked at each group of players to see if the 2005 developmental players who went on to log 3000 or more minutes were making substantially less in 2008 than their 2005 senior roster counterparts. Here's what I found:

Average 2008 Salary of 2005 High Earner who Played 3000 Minutes: $92,000
Average 2008 Salary of 2005 High Earner who Did Not Play 3000 Minutes: $110,000

Average 2008 Salary of 2005 Medium Earner who Played 3000 Minutes: $65,000
Average 2008 Salary of 2005 Medium Earner who Did Not Play 3000 Minutes: $55,000.

Average 2008 Salary of 2005 Developmental Player who Played 3000 Minutes: $74,000
Average 2008 Salary of 2005 Developmental Player who Did Not Play 3000 Minutes: $29,000.

A couple of things stick out: the 2005 high earners who have stuck around MLS but not had great careers are doing well-- this is largely the effect of Besagno and Kirk. But the other effect at work is that Besagno and Kirk are clearly still in the first contracts. To know if Hush is really right, we'd probably need to look at a few more years-- AND see what happens with Kirk and Besagno after their deals end this year. You want to tell them not to get too used to high life...

CONCACAF Champions Cup Failure-- Is It the Salary Cap?

2008-04-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Jeff Carlisle has a few ideas about how to make MLS sides more competitive in the CONCACAF Champions Cup after yet another semi-final failure.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=524521&root=mls&cc=5901

He notes that the salary cap puts MLS teams at a disadvantage. Well, that's definitely true with the Mexican clubs. But what about Saprissa? I imagine they've got a good salary budget but also that it's not ridiculously out of line with MLS. But MLS teams still haven't done well against Costa Rican squads.

If we can afford better players, why aren't we doing better? Costa Rican squads even pull off upsets of Mexican teams, something that MLS teams have only done once since the current home and away format was implemented in the 2002 tournament. In fact, the Costa Rican teams have done SIX times in that same time period.

So what's up? I can think of a few reasons:
(1) MLS players aren't used to the refs. Latin American refs aren't as likely to let the same challenges go as MLS refs do. You can also make the argument that CONCACAF refs simply suck, but frankly that's another question. MLS defenders need to be aware that the games will be called tightly and that home teams will generally get good calls. And... they need to adjust their games accordingly.

(2) MLS players aren't used to the playing style. I remember DC United going down to Mexico City in 2005 with a fairly good squad. They got their rears handed to them 5-0. The much-maligned David Stokes had clearly never seen anything like it. And Mike Petke, who might have, still got himself sent off. This is one of those things that I expected would be better with DC United this year. They've got guys who have played in Libertadores. They've got a healthy South American contingent. And, to their credit, I thought it looked like they knew what they were doing down at Pachuca. But it still wasn't quite enough.

(3) MLS players aren't used to the environment. Playing at Pachuca is hard. Playing at Saprissa is hard. Even Toronto's BMO Field isn't going to compare to the hostility of the crowds. But again, I thought MLS was moving in the right direction by getting more players who are accustomed to these environments. There's just one problem...

(4) Fitness does matter. Last summer's Superliga games between MLS and Mexican opposition may have been glorified friendlies, but they didn't feel that way. If you can draw anything from them, it's that fitness does matter. At this point, some idiot usually says "That's just an excuse." No, it's called an explanation and if you don't understand the different intentions behind excuses and explanations, nothing written in a blog is going to help you.

So, I do wonder if MLS teams wouldn't have better results if they were fit. For that reason, I think Carlisle's suggestion that MLS give CCC teams a few more bye weeks a little self-defeating. The teams would probably prefer not to play on Sunday and then have to fly to Costa Rica, but the fact is that they need more games ahead of the Cup matches-- not fewer. But yes, MLS might want to try to schedule a bit more with Cup ties in mind...

(5) Dollars go further in Central America. I read somewhere that the top salaries in Costa Rica were around $15,000 a month. There are tons of MLS players who make more than that. But if that's the case, then why aren't our guys better than their guys? There's no doubt that if pure dollar amounts were the only thing that mattered, a lot more of the Costa Rican (and dare I say Mexican) stars would be here. But I'm willing to bet than $225,000 goes a lot further in San Jose (Costa Rica) than it does in San Jose (California). As much as the American dream may be attractive to soccer players, living like a prince in your home country also has to be worth something. Macroeconomic factors do have an effect on how attractive players are (as the recent exodus of American players illustrates-- nothing like a cheap dollar to make Nate Jacqua a hot transfer target....)

The Caig Diet

2008-04-10T08:41:00.000-07:00

A quick look at last night's MLS action:
(1) Don't Be Fooled. Yes, DC United won last night against the best Mexico team of the last decade, pushing their record against Mexican teams to 5-0-4 at home. But DC only scored after Pachuca stopped caring. It's a pattern we've seen again and again-- MLS teams might get on the board when the Mexican teams let up a bit, but don't read anything more into those goals. Sure, there are upsets. Chivas definitely didn't want to lose to United in last year's Copa Sudamericana (especially not after having played nearly half the match with a man advantage). But at the end of the day, DC United could have all of the possession they wanted, but they weren't able to make Pachuca pay until it no longer mattered. Last night was an awful performance, perhaps further hindered by the ref, but United's got no one else to blame for their ponderous, disjointed attack.

Instead of the quicker attack that we saw in Mexico, DC United played slowly. Gallardo wasn't able to make as much use of his ability to distribute quickly. And Emilio hadn't put his shooting boots on when DC's string-pullers did get him the ball. And for a team with a real free kick threat in Gallardo, it was disappointing to see Burch waste a decent free kick late in the game. But it was just one of many.

(2) Don't Be Fooled, part two. Despite a 3-0 scoreline and some fairly negative commentating from Brian Dunseth on Fox Soccer Channel, Houston put together a decent first half of soccer against Saprissa. Houston's passing is incisive just outside the box (especially when compared to United's more intricate midfield play) but they did, as Dunseth pointed out, lack the final pass. However, while Dunsenth attributed this to the field, Houston suffered the same problem in its home match last week. I'm not sure quite what it is-- Houston is putting together some great, truly great sequences, but hasn't been putting them away enough.

But what really caught my eye was Tony Caig's poor play. His distribution was distractingly bad. It's tough to fault a goalkeeper for a deflection, but it looked to me like Caig got down fast enough. He simply didn't make the play. Caig's a great example of why "being on the books of Newcastle [or insert big European team here]" doesn't matter. Big teams make mistakes too. Probably more often than their successes, if youth rosters are any indication. But Caig has been terrible, a few reflex saves notwithstanding. I wonder how much longer he has a job with the Dynamo?

Then the Houston we saw in the second half was a shadow of its first half self. The game was over from the 46th minute, despite what the scoreline said.

3. Don't Be Fooled by last week. I didn't see the KC-Revs match, but it confirmed something for me: yes, the Revs are fine despite their shortmanned shellacking by the Fire last week and, in fact, are going to be a good team. Can their young Gambians (who each contributed a goal) keep it up? I think the odds are going up rapidly. And if they do, when the Revs get Twellman and Ralston back, coach Nichol is either going to have a headache or the best team in the league.

I don't really have any opinion on KC but dropping three at home isn't good. I found it interesting that new signing Trujillo didn't even enter the match.

There's just one problem with the plan.

2008-04-08T19:06:00.000-07:00

DC United coach Tom Soehn has the perfect plan to come back from 2-0 down against Pachuca in tomorrow night's Champions Cup tie:

"If you let them have control of possession, [Pachuca star midfielder Giménez] is a big problem," said Soehn. "If you can dictate the terms a little bit more and have control of the ball, I think that in some ways he becomes a liability because his first thought isn't always defending."
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=523916&root=mls&cc=5901

I think Soehn's certainly right. If DC can dictate the terms to Pachuca and have control of the ball, they might just have a chance.

There's just a small problem with that scenario. MLS teams, so far, haven't shown that they know what to do with possession. It's a flaw that stretches from the MLS dregs all the way to the US national team: if you let American teams have possession, they don't know what to do with it and you can counter them mercilessly. By and large, you can even foul American teams pretty hard and be safe because you know they haven't traditionally been all that strong on set pieces.

I've seen evidence that this is changing. Witness the US crushing Poland on set pieces. Or even look at DC's first half in Mexico. And, with all of DC United's new additions, does it even make sense to compare them with MLS clubs of the past?

I'm optimistic that United is capable of a stronger, more dangerous possession game than we've ever seen from American teams. But if they do succeed in dictating the game to Pachuca instead of just racking up garbage possession, make no mistake: it will be a first for the league. Yes, the Mexican league is still stronger than MLS, but isn't it time for an upset? I'll be at the match tomorrow, undoubtedly standing on my chair yelling if it is so.

The Road to MLS Cup XIII, Week Two

2008-04-07T07:49:00.000-07:00

1. Lots of goals. The average was four goals a game. In fact, this has been a pretty fast start for goals-- the league is averaging 3.3 goals a game over the first two weeks. Compare that to the period from 2002-2004 when the league averaged around 2.2 goals a game over the fist couple of weeks. Those years are rightly seen as tough years for MLS from a quality of play perspective.

So is this recent jump in goals a result of bringing in high-priced attackers without bringing in comparably excellent defenders? Maybe. MLS newbies have done pretty well. But last year, when some of the best newbies joined, the scoring average was actually down for the first couple of weeks (JP Angel, of course, arrived a few more games into the season). But the big jump in goals scored from 2.2 of the 2002-2004 era to around 3 goals a game actually first occured in 2005-- an expansion year. So I think the number of goals we're seeing is due to two things: (1) great scoring talent and (2) diluted defending. A number of teams look fairly disjointed defensively, including the Fire, DC United, Toronto, San Jose, LA, Houston, Dallas, Real Salt Lake, KC... Wait-- I could probably just name the entire league.

2. Speaking of defending. I said it last year, but the imports are going to show MLS defenders a little bit about free kicks. Free kicks are much more dangerous than they've ever been in this league. Case in point: Toronto's big signing, Laurent Robert, sent a long (40 yards or so) free kick towards the end line-- it looks like it's hit way too far. The United defenders gave up on it. But Jeff Cunningham didn't and suddenly the ball stops arching and just drops to him. He heads the ball across the goal and it hits the cross bar. You could see the players and the fans sort of looking at each other and saying "WTF just happened?"

Bizarro World (Continued)

2008-04-04T11:22:00.000-07:00

The Revs crush the Dynamo and, in turn, are crushed by the Fire.

The Galaxy are crushed by the Rapids and, in turn, crush the San Jose Earthquakes.

None of these results are, by themselves, really all that surprising, but put together, they sure make a decent case for the existence of karma. Or at least an ESPN Primetime Curse.

Each game was interesting, although truth be told, the Fire-Revs matchup was a much better match. Even when the Revs lost Jeff Larentowicz to a soft red card in the 7th minute, the Revs continued to threaten Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch. For a team that lost 4-0, New England looked pretty good. Their young additions Nyassi and Mansally created problems for the Fire-- Mansally's skill created a few of New England's 11 corner kicks. The Revs have always had a fairly sticky midfield with Shalrie Joseph, with the ball always landing at his feet, but the young players, in addition to offseason addition Mauricio Castro, seem to give New England an element of surprise that they lacked, even with since-departed better players like Dempsey, Noonan and Dorman. It's hard to take much out of a match with an early ejection, but in bizarro world MLS, I found myself thinking that New England established themselves as an excellent team, even in a disasterous defeat. With Taylor Twellman in the lineup, you just know they would have finished at least a couple of their 11 corners.

The Fire, on the other hand, still look flawed. The Fire defense looked vulnerable and I have to think they'll be punished in the future. The attack looked, I suppose, better. New Polish attacker Thomasz Frankowski scored a pair of goals that I'm not sure Chad Barrett would have finished, but Chad Barrett scored a decent goal himself. Blanco got involved and showed his ability to hold onto the ball and kill the game. But despite the offensive fireworks, I found myself unconvinced by the Chicago attack. They've got an absolutely loaded midfield with Blanco, Mapp and Rolfe, but it didn't quite seem to click. I'm especially curious if Frankowski is going to continue to score goals. On the plus side, Barrett had a couple of nice runs and showed better decision-making.

But then again, I've got a soft spot for guys who suck. I want to believe that Chad Barrett is going to be a star, and, no, not just because he looks vaguely like Wayne Rooney. I remember feeling similarly about Matt Taylor of Chivas USA. Formerly of Chivas USA, at least.

Speaking of guys who aren't very good, how about Alan Gordon? On the same day Chad Barrett scores, Alan Gordon of the LA Galaxy gets a secondary assist in the Gal's win over the San Jose Earthquakes. But the predictions of those who said that Gordon would become a 10 goal scorer on the back of David Beckham's crosses look to be off by about 8 or 9 goals. I really want to see Gordon succeed-- I just have doubts about whether it will happen.

But his Galaxy got a much-needed win against the expansion Earthquakes. It was a poor match. The Earthquakes looked completely disjointed: their was no midfield to speak of, so defenders took to launching balls towards the relatively weak Quake forwards. Ronnie O'Brien, at times one of the best players in the league, was curiously absent. For a team that was supposed to have a solid core defensively, the Quakes seemed to lack a little nastiness. I know they're probably looking for a marquee attacker, but I half wonder if they wouldn't do better going after Pablo Mastroeni, or at least someone like him...

The Galaxy deserve some credit, too: both goals were scored because David Beckham can pass a ball and Landon DOnovan is quick with great vision. In other words, they were scored for reasons that make sense given how the team was constructed. Donovan's speed was, in particular, necessary for both goals-- he was simply doing what he does best. Beckham did fine, although some with high expectations of him may still claim to be disappointed.

Pretty Futbol and Efficiency-- Bizarro World Edition

2008-04-03T07:35:00.000-07:00

In a reversal of roles of sorts, an American team danced with the ball, moved effortlessly around the field and put on a dazzling attacking display, yet failed to score a goal.

The Houston Dynamo couldn't find a way to take advantage of their possession last night against Costa Rican champion Saprissa. Houston looked good. At the end of the 0-0 draw, I thought that Houston must have had nearly 20 shots. A look at the box score this morning confirmed it: Houston had 17 shots.

Part of the problem was that few of them were on goal: only 4 of 17. But not every dangerous opportunity that Houston created ended in a shot on goal (especially Ching's late header just over the bar), so the bigger problem is that none of them went in.

There was a lot to like about how the Dynamo played: DeRosario looked dangerous. New striker Franco Caraccio looked decent. In fact, about the only Houston player who looked bad was newcomer Geoff Cameron. It turns out that playing for the University of Rhode Island is not good preparation for playing the Costa Rican champions. He wasted a couple of possessions for Houston late in the game, when they most needed to press. It wasn't really Cameron's fault: he's a young player fresh out of the completely different college game. Houston's lost a little attacking depth this year and injuries to Stuart Holden and Brad Davis made it even more apparent. But Houston needed a late game changer, and it didn't have one.

The real question is how surprised we should be by all of this. Houston can be fairly said to be unlucky that at least one of its close calls didn't go in, but Saprissa, despite conceding possession entirely to Houston, had a couple of equally dangerous chances (Saprissa actually put more shots on frame-- 7 to Houston's 4).

But the simple fact is that MLS teams aren't better than Costa Rican teams yet. MLS teams have struggled mightily, compiling a record of three wins, three ties and six losses against Tico teams. Series victories against Costa Rican clubs in the Champions Cup are uncommon, although Houston beat Costa Rica's Puntarenas last year. Simply put, MLS teams are still underdogs. And when Houston goes to Costa Rica, it's fair to say they'll be heavy underdogs. That's why it was a real shame that Houston, for all their pretty futbol, just couldn't get the goals last night.

Pachuca! Gezunteit!

2008-04-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

So DC United went down to Mexico, played at Pachuca and lost 2-0 to Mexico's super club.

The time for talking about moral victories for MLS teams in Mexico is long over. DC may not have even registered a single shot on frame.

With that as a backdrop, how can I have anything positive to say about the game? But actually, there was quite a bit.

1) United didn't panic. I've seen looks of terror in MLS teams' faces in the first 15 minutes, when they realize just how fast, just how controlled and just how... good Mexican club teams really are. United actually held its shape extremely well. They tried to build from the back. United made the Tuzos much less dangerous than their dominating possession deserved. The DC defenders tracked the quick diagonal movements of Pachuca's attackers. In fact, they played better team defense against a Mexican team than I've seen in a while. If there was a major weakness, it was defending runs out to or from the flanks. United protected the box well, but didn't track runners to the flanks and was powerless to stop the Pachuca players from whipping in cross after cross.

2. United didn't lose their cool. There was a time when every MLS club trip to Mexico ended in a least one expulsion. MLS fans typically attributed this to biased refereeing-- and that's probably true to a point. But MLS players didn't do themselves any favors by not realizing that tackles that are "ok" in MLS aren't necessarily ok in international play. You just can't give a CONCACAF ref a reason to call something for the home team.

Now, it seemed like Pachuca got every 50-50 call, including a number of phantom calls in dangerous positions. And the TV replays (obviously off of a Mexican feed) emphasized every challenged by a United player by lingering on the Pachuca players, even as DC was moving the ball upfield in the opposite direction. But we also have to recognize that United's players frequently were just a touch slower. How many times did a DC and Pachuca player tangle for a ball and the Pachuca player, seemingly against longer odds than Ron Paul, came up with the ball? MLS fans just need to admit that Mexican clubs are still significantly better at tight possession.

But that's beside the point here: United players took the calls without too much jawing and generally escaped further sanctions. That's a huge positive.

3. It turns out having experienced international players can help you compete in games internationally. Gallardo is able to distribute the ball in ways that we just don't see much in MLS, redirecting hip level passes to an overlapping runner with an upturned heel. And he did the same trick four or five times, convincing me that, yes, it was on purpose. Fred showed more than good footwork-- he showed an impressive workrate that helped United maintain possession. And Martinez? This is the kind of guy that the team thought they were getting with Facundo Erpen-- a defender with good feet, good instincts and the ability to play the ball forward constructively. In fact, he and Peralta looked very solid and made it more difficult for Pachuca to simply attack through the center with rotating runners (a tactic that MLS teams haven't been able to grasp before). Of course, someone in the middle may have lost their man on the second goal, but I thought it was, overall, a fairly solid performance.

Overall, I think United's got a chance (albeit a small one) to tie this up in the second leg. They were beaten soundly, but not without some constructive play of their own.

I wonder, though, if strangely, United might not be good enough for MLS. Is Gallardo going to see as wide open a field when he plays San Jose in Buckshaw, not to mention the traditional MLS defensive powerhouses?

April's Fool

2008-04-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

You can't expect people not to make a joke of it when an interview with Alexi Lalas appeared on espn.com on April Fool's Day.
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=521758&root=mls&cc=5901

The fact is that Lalas appears to have whatever the opposite of the Midas Touch is when it comes to MLS clubs. One club he GM'd was relocated, another went from barely respectable to mediocre and yet another went from simply boring to completely awful. Either that's a run of bad luck to equal Job or Lalas isn't very good at creating the stability needed for competitive teams.

And frankly, that makes me a little sad. Despite his awful record as a GM, Lalas does "get" a lot of things about the sport. I read the interview hoping to find more ridiculous statements, but instead found a lot of things I agree with.

Lalas wants to be a leader and understands that being a leader sometimes means failing: "Yes. While others prefer to wait and see how things play out, we prefer to lead the charge. Of course when you're out front you expose yourself, but that's the difference between leaders and followers."

Or how about the following: "There's nothing wrong with the circus. To be honest, the alternative is a boring situation where nobody cares one way or the other. We will continue to be provocative and progressive. Winning is always the fundamental part of the equation, but I make no apologies for the circus and I'm proud to be the ringmaster."

Indeed, I'd rather have a league that's a circus as opposed to one that no one cares about.

But if I agree completely with what Alexi's saying, I can't say I think he's doing a good job. The difference between leaders and followers may be the willingness to expose yourself, but the difference between wise men and fools is knowing your strengths.

All He Does is Score Goals

2008-03-31T17:21:00.000-07:00

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.

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

2008-03-30T13:58:00.000-07:00

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.

Only in CONCACAF...

2008-03-26T21:10:00.000-07:00

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...)

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

2008-03-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

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.

US-Mexico: Efficiency, Effectivity and Pretty Futbol, part II

2008-02-08T12:30:00.000-08:00

Wednesday night's US-Mexico was one of the more attractive match-ups-- the game featured plenty of attacking soccer (much of it from Mexico) in a high-speed, back and forth contest. The US extended its unbeaten streak against Mexico on American soil. So why are US fans so upset by it?

Because we saw glimpses of the future of Mexico and it was frighteningly good. Young studs Gio Dos Santos and Carlos Vela completely torched the US defenders. And another pair of young standouts were out for Mexico: Guardado and Nery Castillo. But still, Landon Donovan noted just how much faster the Mexicans were willing to play. They were willing to play a more uptempo brand of football. If Mexico is a team that has relied too much on pretty soccer in the past and not enough on simply being effective, perhaps this brand of soccer marks a change.

That said, the US looked better than it sometimes does against Mexico. Frankly, they usually look awful, but are grimly effective. This time, the Americans carried the play from time to time. Yes, they didn't maintain possession as much as the Mexicans, but it generally wasn't ugly.

As far as individual performances, a couple stood out: first off, Bobby Convey had a rough game. Coach Bob Bradley attributed it to coming off of injuries. I hope so-- Convey really wasn't effective whenever he did have the ball.

While the midfield tandem of Rico Clark and Michael Bradley wasn't a success, they both showed their abilities. In the first half, Bradley really was everywhere and frequently controlled (but did not necessarily contribute to) the play. He slowed down considerably in the second half, but I found it to be an encouraging development. Since Claudio Reyna's retirement, there hasn't been anyone to control play in the middle. Bradley might be the guy. Especially if Benny Feilhaber can't get some minutes with his club...

While outside backs Ramiro Corrales and Drew Moor had especially tough nights, I thought the US generally did a better job of tracking Mexico's runs towards the box. Frequently, when Mexican attackers change the point of attack quickly, US defenders struggle to adjust. I thought Onyewu and Bocanegra did a good job of not biting (at least not as much as in the past).

The result is a disappointment: the US should be favorites on home soil. But I watch the games to be entertained-- and this game fit the bill.

Ball on a Budget (aka Lazio's struggles)

2008-01-22T16:42:00.001-08:00

In case you missed it (I had), Lazio is struggling.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-7244347,00.html

What I think is interesting about this article is the idea that Lazio's attempt to play football on a budget has failed. Club President Claudio Lotito sounded vaguely like a Moneyball-style baseball manager when he annouced a new strategy: "The theory that who spends most wins is no longer valid. The winner is the one who carries out a proper project, based on values."

And he put a salary cap on players: a maximum salary of 500,000 euros. That's not really too far off of MLS salaries...

And how did they do?

Their first two years, they finished in European positions, which I think shows that President Lotito is right. You can compete in Europe on a budget. At the same time, they've struggled mightily this year and might be relegated, which shows the limitations of a strategy like this without debunking it entirely.

Osorio doesn't love the SuperDraft...

2008-01-18T07:20:00.000-08:00

But he should.

Here's Coach Osorio's quote:

""If I am honest with you without criticizing or hurting anybody, I don't think there will be enough players to wait around for the second round," said New York Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio, whose first pick isn't until the second round (16th overall). "We're analyzing all our options and will decide if we should move up."

Osorio said he felt that there were five players at the adidas MLS Player Combine in Fort Lauderdale that were good enough to compete for a starting position and not more than 10 players who could make a team.

"I'm not just speaking on behalf of my own opinion but on behalf of the all the coaches as part of a general consensus," he said. "This time around doesn't have as many players as previous ones."
http://web.mlsnet.com/mls/events/superdraft/2008/article.jsp?ymd=20080117&content_id=135597&vkey=draft2008&fext=.jsp

Now, this might just be posturing, but unless this draft is the absolute worst ever (a distinction I think is held by the 1997 College Draft), you can be
certain that there will be between 6 and 12 guys that will not just make the team but have decent careers in the league. You can also be certain that one or two players from rounds three and four will make teams and perhaps even excell. How do I know? Well, I don't. No one knows about these players, which is how they get picked low. But these are players like Adam Christman (2007), Jonathan Bornstein (2006, which also featured Dyachenko and Veris, who aren't stars but could help a team like Osorio's-- whatever happened to Matt Groenwald? He looked good the few times I saw him in 2006), Chris Rolfe and Gonzalo Segares (2005), Michael Bradley, Josh Gros, David Wagenfuhr, Jeff Parke and Andy Dorman (2004), Logan Pause and Jamil Walker (2003), Alejandro Moreno and Davy Arnaud (2002), Edson Buddle, Craig Zadie, Jim Curtin, and Craig Waibel (2001).

The point here isn't that Craig Ziadie was a great player. He wasn't. But he was useful enough to contribute in MLS for four seasons. You need players like that-- and you're basically getting him for free. I wonder if Osorio really knows what he's seeing? I thought he did a great job with the Fire, but is the SuperDraft where we find out that he can't recognize the very raw talent of college youngsters?

Draft Days Steals

2008-01-14T15:24:00.000-08:00

As the 2008 SuperDraft approaches, Steve Davis had this interesting article about the best draft day steals.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=498263&root=mls&cc=5901

As his list suggests, there are some real gems even deep in the SuperDrafts (of course, there are a few dogs in every first round too...) Davis' list is interesting, but he could have gone further:

37th overall, 2006: Johnathan Bornstein. Geez. The guy's left-footed-- sometimes it seems like a one-legged man could play in MLS, as long as he's left-footed. What took people so long to see the potential in the US National Team defender?

35th overall, 2005: Gonzalo Segares. A starting defender for the Fire almost since he was drafted, a finalist for Rookie of the Year, and a fringe Costa Rican national teamer.

34th overall, 2004: Josh Gros. Though sadly taking a year off from DC United due to effects from a possibly serious head injury, Gros is one of those guys you'd love to have on any team. He works hard, his skill is underrated and he's got a great understanding of the game. He's a workhorse, but even so, earned himself a cap with the US national team against Mexico.

36th overall, 2004: Michael Bradley. The kid who's now a near-lock starter for the national team and who's scored 7 goals from d-mid for his team in Holland was by no means a sure-thing in MLS. Although some fans didn't want to believe it, Bradley started to become an important player in MLS. Still, his game didn't take off until he left for Holland.

21st in the supplemental draft, 1997: Kerry Zavagnin. Another guy who might not be flashy, but who's proved himself in this league. To this day, he'd still start for most teams, and was an occasional national teamer.

Not a bad list for guys who didn't even make Davis' list, right? And this isn't even including guys like Corey Gibbs, who were picked late because they were likely headed overseas (LA in 2002 and Miami in 2001 both took late round fliers on him). It seems a little odd for Davis to include Arnaud and Christman-- both players I like, but who aren't quite on the level of Bradley or Bornstein.

A side note: one of the things that struck me while going down the lists is how much deeper the draft seems to be now. But is that the result of college soccer producing better players (unlikely), the improvement of scouting (definitely possible) or the fact that younger, talented players view MLS as a stable possibility and forego years of college (or simply skip it altogether)? I think all three are all somewhat true, but the latter two probably contribute most the depth of the draft. I'd love to take a look at whether players in the draft are getting younger (I think they are). Of course, the fact that so many decent players have been picked in the third or fourth round in recent years also suggests that, while scouting may have improved, it's still got a ways to go...

When the next big thing isn't

2008-01-04T15:03:00.000-08:00

Spare a thought for Santino Quaranta, who was waived by the Red Bulls the other day. He was among the most promising players when he made his MLS debut at age 16. While it's tempting to think that Quaranta's struggles (and bogus All-Star selection in his first year as a commissioner's pick) foreshadowed some of Freddy Adu's issues, the truth is that Quaranta managed to fight back from adversity to reach a higher level in MLS that Adu only achieved after he left. Quaranta's still young, so who knows what will happen, but he could have been a star. I hope he finds a way to make a soccer a career, even if it's not at the MLS level.

But Quaranta is also a cautionary tale for reactionary fans who are always ready to annoit the next big thing. Because fans hate failure, they irrationally despise former heroes who have failed them once. A young player, never touched by failure, becomes an appropriate object onto which unrealistic expectations can be placed. Then, when this player fails, as all players must, the fan then looks to the next big thing, conveniently forgetting that he went through the same process years earlier.

It turns out Bruce Arena wasn't an idiot for playing Brian McBride instead of Mike Magee. It turns out that Eddie Gaven wasn't a surefire replacement for Claudio Reyna. Or that Benny Feilhaber had made Landon Donovan expendable. Instead of discarding people when they fail, why not instead see what they do about it?

The MLS Playoff System, Post Mortem, Ad Naseum, Et Cetera-- Where the Critics have a point...

2007-11-26T13:22:00.000-08:00

Now that the dust has settled on the MLS playoffs, it's as decent a time as any to take another look at the MLS playoff format.

Taking the 2007 playoffs into account, the higher seeds advance 70% in the first round. In the second round (single game elimination), the higher seeds advance 80% of the time (as both New England and Houston did this time around).

#2 seed Houston, of course, won the whole thing against fellow #2 seed New England.

So why was everyone complaining? I think there's a few arguments.

1. Quality of Play. Other formats might create more attractive games.

2. Creating incentives for intense play in the regular season. Rewarding higher seeds more (or differently) might make the regular season more meaningul.

3. Rewarding strong regular season performance. #3 is sort of the flip side to #2-- central to #3 is the idea that a team that does well in the regular season ought to have an easier road to the championship. The playoffs ought to reduce the number of fluke results for such teams.

As I've stated before, #2 and #3 appear to be dealt with pretty well by the current system. MLS high seeds already advance at a very rate. Making the rate even higher might have the perverse effect of making the playoffs seem less compelling if fans think the playoffs are just a rubber stamp affair.

But, even with a 70% advancement rate with higher seeds, the MLS playoff critics still have a few points.
1. Higher seeds win because they are better teams-- not because of the playoff format. This argument is 50% brilliance and 50% not-so-brilliance. First, the not-so-brilliant part: the higher seeds are only playing against teams that that they are better than because... wait for it... playing weak teams is part of the format's reward for being a higher seed. And the stats have shown that it's a pretty hefty advantage indeed.

But here's a more nuanced take: higher seeds aren't given much other advantage in the two-leg format. If a higher seed is hit by inopportune injuries (like Razov and Galindo's injuries for #1 Chivas USA, or Emilio and Moreno's injuries for #1 DC United), then their "better team" advantage evaporates because of bad timing. Injuries are a fact of life in sports, but this doesn't seem entirely "fair" that the playoff advantage gained from an entire season of work could be destroyed because of injuries at precisely the wrong moment. This is precisely the case where you'd want a higher seed to get a more concrete advantage, such as playing an extra game at home.

Then there's also this developing problem: Right now, MLS playoff teams include a few teams below 0.500. The worst MLS playoff teams are frequently pretty bad teams. However, when the league expands to 16 teams, gone will be the days when the 8 seed is a below 0.500 team. The 8 seed will be a progressively better team with each expansion of the league. What's this mean? It means that the advantage for high seeds in the current format will be correspondingly diminished. If, in five years, we start to see 1 and 2 seeds start to fall regularly to their lower seeded opponents, we'll need to revisit the playoff format.

2. The playoff format doesn't reward regular season prowess. Obviously, the stats show that the regular season is rewarded in the post-season with advancement about 70% of the time. But what if, as I suggested previously, no onr believes that the format is rewarding, even though the stats show that it positively is? Fans won't believe the regular season to be meaningful and players won't play like it is.

There are a couple of reasons why this might actually be the case.
A. Playing weaker teams only gives you a bonus if you actually play hard and are better. So your reward for playing hard and being better all season is... two more games of needing to play harder and be better in the playoffs. People like getting perks: having home field advantage is a little like getting a perk-- if a home team plays a visitor even, they'll likely win.

B. The MLS playoff format isn't an intuitively obvious reward as it is in other US leagues. The rewards might not be concrete enough or be compelling in small increments (i.e. would you rather play the Fire as a #1 seed or the Wizards as a #2 seed). Economists are frequently confounded by evidence that people frequently make irrational decisions because of little presnetational differences. If that's the case in MLS, maybe we need to re-think how the playoff format is presented to the players.

Why UEFA World Cup Qualification is Silly

2007-11-25T19:59:00.000-08:00

Some folks are celebrating England's failure to qualify for the 2008 European Championship. I'll admit to joining in, just a little bit. Teams like Croatia can't be toyed with. While England may, in fact, be a superior team, Croatia had played consistently well and already shown it was capable of beating in England in Zagreb.

But do I really and truly believe England shouldn't be at the Euros? No. I think they're definitely stronger than either of the hosts. They're probably stronger than Greece and Turkey. Come to think of it, I think they'd be favorites against half the teams that did make it to the tournament.

So, while it's only fair to call out England's manager and players for a thouroughly uninspiring campaign, the UEFA qualifying system is absolute garbage. Depending on the strength of the group, a team might play only four meaningful matches. And the top teams will never play each other. We know Turkey can beat Greece and Norway, but that's an entirely different task than beating Italy and Germany.

So while there are almost always great teams among the failed contenders in UEFA, there are almost always terrible teams among the survivors-- teams that are almost guaranteed to be flops at the World Cup. We're left with the counter-intuitive situation where some are clamoring for more World Cup spots for UEFA based on the quality of teams that UEFA leaves behind, while others rightly point out that the continent also qualified the worst team in the 2006 World Cup (Serbia) and a couple of the monumental failures in 2002.

Of course, there will always be teams that underperform. And I believe UEFA has the deepest pool of talent of any confederation. But it's their responsibility to get the right teams to the big tournaments.

And frankly, the 2010 qualification draw for UEFA looks to set an all-time record for terrible. The Czech Republic may need to play precisely one meaningful match (against Poland on the road) to advance. On the plus side, Israel's in a very tight, competitive group and has its best shot at advancing to the World Cup in recent years. But the down side is that their toughest matches (against Greece and Switzerland) will not tell us much about their quality against top opponents. Do we really want to see the Netherlands beat Norway and Scotland to go the World Cup?

Now, of course, there will be upsets. There will always be upsets. But there are upsets on one hand, and flukes on the other. You don't want to determine participation in the WOrld Cup based on a couple of fluke results. But that's precisely what's guaranteed to happen yet again.

World Cup 2010...

2007-11-25T19:31:00.000-08:00

So the qualification draw for the 2010 World Cup is already done.

The bad news is that I won't get to make any trips to pleasant Carribean islands in February to support the U.S. national team.

The good news is that the draw for the U.S. looks no better or worse than past draws.

The U.S. needs to beat the winner of Dominica-Barbados in June and then it would move on to a group of four, with two teams advancing. If the results pan out as expected (and generally, it would require a fairly big upset for them not to), the groups would be as follows:

Group 1
U.S.
Guatemala
Cuba
Trinidad and Tobago

These are each potentially tricky teams for the U.S. Each of the road trips will be difficult as each team is capable of taking points off the U.S. And who knows what playing in Havana will be like? If the U.S. starts off the campaign with a couple of games on the road, I wouldn't be shocked to see them with 2 points from 2 matches. But the U.S. should dominate at home, which will be enough to ensure their qualification for the final round.

Group 2
Mexico
Honduras
Canada
Jamaica

Whoa Nelly. I feel awfully bad for Canada. It seems like they're trying pretty hard north of the border to get their backwards soccer federation in order. And Canada sends a good number of players out to decent leagues (at least by CONCACAF standards), so there is talent. But this is a tough, tough group. Mexico, with its massive home field advatange and superior talent, ought to go through. But this is as tough a group as you can have at this stage.

Group 3

Costa Rica
El Salvador/Panama
Suriname/Montserrat/Guyana
Nicaragua/Haiti

I'd call this the weakest group. I expect Costa Rica to cruise. It's tough to call the winner of three of the pre-qualifying matches. Panama is no pushover, and El Salvador has fallen far, but you never know what you're going to get with the Central American sides. Haiti should beat Nicaragua, but, again, you really don't know what you're going to get with these teams.

Which means that Costa Rica is the clear winner here. Whoever else advances will just be making up numbers in the final round of qualification.

Why do so many people think Ruud Gullit is an "awesome" choice?

2007-11-09T06:43:00.001-08:00

A big name does not a big manager make.

Otherwise, why not hire Lindsay Lohan?

Don't get me wrong: it is perfectly acceptable for the Galaxy to decide they need a "sexy" coach. And new Galaxy coach Ruud Gullit is, apparently, a sexy man.

But why would anyone think he's a great choice, an awesome choice, a new frontier for the league?

We've had coaches that have coached World Cup teams (even some good ones) and we've had coaches that have won the World Cup. So the idea that Gullit, with a coaching win in the FA Cup with Chelsea, breaks new ground smacks of a pointless fixation on the English premiership.

Gullit was a great player. But as a manager, the results were mixed. He hasn't coached in a couple of years and his last strint, one fourth place finish during a year at Feyenoord in Holland, was considered disappointing. Before that, you have to go back to the 90s for his last job. What we're left with is an FA Cup, which Ruud backers never fail to remind you "happened back when Chelsea never won anything." And Gullit never seems to stick around anywhere-- both his managerial and playing career are marked by frequent disagreements and marching off into the sunsent in a huff. If any manager came to MLS with Ruud's credentials, he'd be politely shown the door. But because we are remember Gullit as an awesome player and a good man (raising awareness against Apartheid when Europe wasn't really focused on it), we want him to be a good coach.

And he may yet turn into one. But let's not confuse hope with reality.

Nice goal, good game

2007-11-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

And so the Revs beat the Fire and are now heading to MLS Cup, where most folks are expecting a rematch of last year's final with the Houston Dynamo.

The Revs weren't quite as awesome this year as in year's past. Andy Dorman stepped up his game and was a capable replacement for Clint Dempsey, who's now knocking on real stardom at Fulham. But Dorman's fine play only lasted half a season. The additional contributions of Ralston and Wells Thompson don't really compensate for losing a guy like Dempsey. But the Revs still had Taylor Twellman and Pat Noonan. They still have Defender of the Year Michael Parkhurst.

And the Chicago Fire know that they have Shalrie Joseph.

It was funny how many 50-50 balls ended up on Joseph's feet. The Fire had to feel frustrated-- they played well enough but seemed to come up just short in every important moment. Ironically, Fire coach Osorio, who correctly noted the lack of tactical variance in the league, found his team unable to break down a compact New England defense. And the Fire goal, announced by waves of attacks and crosses, never came to be.

Don't Call It an Upset

2007-11-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

The first round of MLS playoffs saw the two teams with the best records (number 1 seed, DC United and number 2 seed Chivas USA) go crashing out to the 7 and 8 seeds, Chicago and Kansas City.

And a number of people are upset about the "upsets". These folks believe that the playoff format (home and away in round one) doesn't give enough of an advantage to the higher seeds. Generally, they'd like to see MLS move to a best of three or single elimination.

Personally, I like single elimination, but I think the dissenters are off-base here. I don't think Chicago's triumph over United is really an upset at all: Chicago's been among the best teams in MLS since midseason, which coincidentally was when they added an experienced coach, a superstar midfielder and a talented and versitile defender. Their mediocre 10-10-10 record reflects the first half struggles of an almost entirely different team. And United, for their part, were hit by injuries to two key players right before the series started. An upset? Not really.

Kansas City's win over Chivas USA is, indeed, a bit more of an upset. But again, what do you expect? Chivas USA was missing its two leading scorers. The Goats were lucky during the regular season that their depth was never tested, but who was surprised to see them fall in Kansas City when they started Laurent Merlin and Jon Cunliffe up top? Kansas City earned their win, but Chivas USA lost because the dropoff from their starters to their bench was simply too large.

So if these aren't real upsets, what does this mean for the playoff format? It means you can't use these results as evidence that the playoff format isn't giving enough of an advantage to higher seeds. In theory, the advantage posed by having the Western Conference Champion facing a below .500 team ought to be more than enough. Do you really need more reward than facing Kansas City instead of, say, Houston? And the results since the playoff format was adopted in 2003 seem to bear this out: about 65-70% of the higher seeds have made it through the first round....

"Irrelevant" is such a strong word

2007-10-30T11:35:00.000-07:00

And I'm not entirely sure everyone knows what it means.

A couple of ESPN columnists have stated that seedings in MLS playoffs are "irrelevant" because none of the higher seeds won the first game in the two leg series.

To which I have to ask: for higher seeds to be meaningful, must they win the road game? No-- why on earth would anyone expect teams, even very good teams, to win on the road in MLS? United, the best team in the regular season, was barely .500 on the road at 6-5-4. Chivas USA, the next best team was below .500 and was outscored 20 to 18.

So, the only way to judge if the seeds are meaningful is to wait and see who actually advances. In the past, the higher seed has advanted 75% of the time, despite frequently losing or tying the first game. So, why exactly Jen Chang and Steve Davis at ESPN are calling seeding irrelevant, I don't know.

There is, of course, a more subtle point to be made: you expect the higher seeds to do well-- they're higher seeds becuase they're better teams. So it would be a shock if they didn't win most of the time.

But precisely how often do you need your higher seeds to win? I took a look at the regular season records of the higher seeds to try and set a baseline. From 2003-2006 (the period during which the current playoff setup has been in effect), the higher seeds earned 1.58 points a game during the regular season (which equates to a solid, 50 point regular season). During the first round of the playoffs, the higher seeds earned 1.69 points a game. So, the higher seeds are getting more points (off of better opposition) than they got during the regular season. So the best guess is that, yes, seeding means something.

But is 1/10th of a goal enough for teams to want to be a 2 seed instead of a 3 seed? That's a tougher call.

I thought I'd take a quick look at a league where home field advantage is indeed supposed to mean something: MLB over the past five years. But the results weren't quite what I expected. Overall, only half of the higher seeds advanced from the first round of the playoffs. And the higher seeds, which had combined for a .594 winning percentage during the regular season, combined for only .519 during the first round of the postseason. Against this backdrop, I'm starting to wonder why MLS's playoffs aren't even more random.

So... what does it all mean? I'm still not sure. I know that seeding is worth something, but I don't think players or fans believe it. Until more people start to believe, like the Polar Express, the playoff system isn't going to be viewed as attractive.

Danny Dichio: The Beautiful Game Embodied?

2007-10-25T08:10:00.000-07:00

Toronto FC has received great coverage in the local press to go along with stellar support in the stands. Along with great coverage, however, they also have columnist Cathal Kelly, who seems genetically predisposed to nonsense.

In this latest article http://www.thestar.com/Sports/article/270316, Kelly writes:

"[Beckham] was here to lend [soccer] glamour, to attract coverage and to serve as its spokesmodel.

It was the job of other, hungrier, more-reasonably-paid players to prove the game's worth with the ball at their feet.

Witness what Danny Dichio's done in Toronto. The English journeyman is already a cult hero because he is exactly the sort of player Beckham never could be – hard-charging, camera shy and occasionally brutal. The powerful striker arrived an unknown, but made his name through his play."

There are a couple of ideas here that are just completely wrong. First, while Dichio deserves his cult hero status in Toronto, does he really get the adulation because he's "camera shy"? Or is it because he scored the club's first ever goal and led them in scoring? Second, the idea that Beckham could never be "hard charging... and occasionally brutal" shows that Kelly hasn't watched much Beckham. Becks is a workhorse midfielder, relying on an impressive workrate. No, he can't tackle to save a baby seal, but that doesn't stop him from trying. Becks isn't a dirty player but he earns his red cards.

But finally, and most importantly, if guys like Dichio are our best hope to "prove the game's worth", then we're sunk. Surely guys like Cuahtemoc Blanco, Landon Donovan or even Canuck midfield De Rosario are better suited to that task-- I just get the sense that Kelly hasn't really watched enough of the league to know that they-- the real purveyors of the beautiful game-- rather than hard-worker scrappers like Dichio are what make the game wonderful.

In any event, I'd like to propose a cage match between Paul Gardner, whose motto is "If it ain't latin, then it's shit", and Kelly, whose motto is "If it's not Toronto, I don't know about it." That should be more entertaining than a season of Toronto FC games.

Fare thee well

2007-10-22T09:05:00.000-07:00

And so David Beckham's Galaxy exit before the MLS playoffs begin.

The Fire-Galaxy game put an exclamation point on what many were saying all along: the Fire have turned into a great team, whose level of play is not reflected by their 7th place finish. The Galaxy, on the other hand, played just about well enough to sneak into the playoffs. There would have been no injustice had the Galaxy been the 8 seed-- they are no worse than many 8 seeds in years past. The true injustice would have been that they needed to knock off a vastly superior Fire team. The Fire created and created chance upon chance. The Gals were really on their heels.

Of course, as we go into the playoffs, we should also note that the Fire squandered and squandered. Their finishing was profligate to the extreme. While Chad Barrett has had a career year, the 7 goals he scored this year in nearly 2000 minutes do not compare well to his 5 in 800 minutes last year. This year was not the great leap forward expected of him. In the playoffs, I can't help but think that the Fire will be punished for not actually putting the ball in the net against DC United.

But spare a thought for the Galaxy: their end of season run made for great theater. Sure, they benefitted from more than a few lucky bounces and calls. Still, they played more cohesively in the stretch run. Credit Donovan for making everyone remember that he's still a great player. Credit Chris Klein for finally displaying the veteran savvy that Alexi Lalas brought him in for. Credit Joe Cannon for not completely losing his shit after some of the awful defense he saw played in front of him. And the younger players finally started to get it too. This year's Galaxy were a limited team that never got full use of their superstar signing, but they were no punchline.

Fire-Galaxy: the awesomeist game ever?

2007-10-19T08:54:00.000-07:00

The LA Galaxy's tie with the New York Red Bulls sets up what many are calling the "awesomeist game ever": a match-up between Fire and Ice, yin and yang, Hall and Oates, Watson and Crick, Blanco and Beckham. Winner take all.

Some might even say that MLS couldn't have scripted it better, but that's clearly not quite right because it looks increasingly unlikely that both Hall and Oates will be going to the playoffs this year (no bonus points for guessing whether Blanco is more like Hall or more like Oates). As I understand (and given the byzantine nature of the tiebreaks, I may not understand at all), the Fire and the Galaxy can still both make the playoffs but they will need some help from the other playoff chasers.

Here's a quick run down, with goal differential (GD):
Chicago 37 points, GD -6, plays LA
Kansas City 37 points GD -2, plays FC Dallas
Colorado 35 points GD -4, plays Real Salt Lake
Los Angeles 34 points, GD -9, plays Chicago

With the possible exception of Chicago (and trust me-- you don't want to get into the tiebreakers) each team needs a win, but a win will not guarantee a spot for LA or Colorado.

Here are the relevant matchups:
Dallas-Wizards (at Pizza Hut Park): it feels like an awfully long time since either side put in a convincing performance. Dallas won the first meeting between the teams and is getting healthier, which means Dallas's all-time best signing ever, Brazilian stepover superstar Denilson probably won't take the field. And Dallas hasn't exactly been unbeatable at the Pizza Box, going 7-4-3, but with only a plus 2 goal differential.

So what's going to happen? Will Eddie Johnson show up? This one's going to come down to which team cares less, which, judging by the way both teams have played recently, suggests that they probably won't bother playing the game and Dallas will give KC a 2-0 decision by forfeit.

Colorado-Salt Lake (at Dick's Sporting Goods Park): despite the fact that Real Salt Lake is now like the kid in 5th grade that tries really hard but still ends up at the bottom of the class, games between the Rapids and RSL have been pretty competitive. In Colorado, the Rapids hold an edge, winning 3 and losing only 1, but most of those games have been tight. In short, this is an honest to goodness rivalry game.

We've been told that RSL is "desperate" to avoid being the last placed team in the league, which is nice, but as far as I know, 12th place in MLS doesn't come with a big bonus. I think RSL will play reasonably hard for the rivalry (and can still win the rivalry trophy, the Rocky Mountain Cup, with a win), but they are a pretty limited team.

The Rapids really aren't so much better and were looking forward to the offseason until they became the first team to beat Chivas USA at home last week.

What do I think will happen? I don't know, but the thought the of the Rapids in the playoffs gives me shivers. And not good shivers. More like shivers after an acute bout of dysentery.

The Awesomeist Game (in Chicago): with MLS's luck, this will be a dull 0-0 draw, eliminating both teams, and Blanco will accidentally decapitate Beckham while hurting his own back in the process. Beckham will, however, continue to run around the field, headless, which is pretty much what he did on Thursday against the Red Bulls.

I really, really hope that results on Saturday go LA's way. I'd rather see them in the playoffs than either the Wizards or the Rapids and, frankly, purely because I like seeing Beckham and Donovan. But LA is not a great team-- Donovan can only do so much by himself. Beckham's probably capable of being that guy too, but we haven't really seen enough from him to judge.

If it really is winner-take-all, I love the Galaxy's luck, but I think the Fire are actually a good team-- maybe one of the better sub-.500 teams in MLS history. Fire 1-0.

It's not what you say...

2007-10-16T13:28:00.000-07:00

I've got a few favorite soccer journos and bloggers-- Ives, Arroyave, Goff spring immediately to mind, but the list could go on.

One of the guys I confess that I just don't get is Jamie Trecker. It's not because he never makes good points-- even a blind squirrel finds a nut once in a while. It's because I just don't like how the guy thinks. He believes that it takes guts to do what he does-- to stand up to the incompetent USSF, to lambast MLS and to generally show US soccer journalists how real independent media really is.

Those are noble goals, but the guy just doesn't have the horses to pull the carriage.

He starts are recent blog with the following observation "We never know as much as we think we do", which pretty much renders most blogs useless, including his and mine.
http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/JamieTrecker/2007/10/10/Unable_to_learn#comments

But what he's going for is to show that US soccer keeps on making bad calls-- but only Trecker is capable of making the right calls. The following list are what he calls "bad calls", coupled with the lesson in basic rhetoric that I wish Jamie would learn:

1. "Top of the list has to be the handling of David Beckham. The only conclusion one can draw from the events of this summer is that MLS grossly mismanaged the handling of the star and turned what had been rapturous mainstream attention into recriminations and the disappearance of too much coverage for the sport."

What hyperbolic crap. Becks came to MLS injured. The only question is "how much worse did MLS make a bad situation?" Even before the mismanagement, MLS was dealing with a public relations nightmare-- Becks wasn't ready to play and people had bought tickets.

So this brings up something that Trecker always fails to do: "consider what else could have been done?" Trecker never does that, because he's a talker and not a doer. Should MLS have told fans Beckham wasn't going to play for the rest of the season when that wasn't true? What if MLS had attempted to capitalize on Becks less and Beckham had gotten healthy? Wouldn't that have been a missed opportunity? Of course.

Lesson 1: Consider the other possibilities.

MLS has brought in millions because of Beckham. The media coverage was good. Galaxy coach Frank Yallop isn't free from blame for playing Beckham, but frankly, the negative coverage was coming regardless of what happened.

2. "MLS insists that its low-cost model is the only way to ensure the sport’s survival and stability. It’s funny how, then, that the teams who have signed big names have experienced upticks in attendance and press coverage while the ones that haven’t continue to wither. It’s also funny how the best American players ditch the league as soon as they can."

Lesson 2: In articles about the limits of knowledge, please display some.
The team that has experienced, by farm the biggest uptick in attendance: the New England Revolution. The teams that have experienced the 3rd and 4th greatest increases? DC United and the Colorado Rapids-- two teams that also don't have any of the big name players.

And one team that did bring in a big name: Dallas, with Denilson, actually has fewer people in the stands than last year.

But, I'm willing to grant that the big names have been good for MLS, but that brings us to Lesson Three and Lesson Four:
Lesson Three: Be Consistent Didn't Trecker just make a big deal about how mismanaged Beckham was? Now he's saying that the teams with big names had better media coverage and better attendance? Either it worked or it didn't, Jamie, which is it?

Lesson Four: Talking business is easier than knowing business
Jamie acts like everyone's surprised that David Beckham sold lots of Galaxy jerseys and that Cuahtemoc Blanco is bringing in Mexican and Mexican-American fans everywhere. As far as I was concerned, we knew that would happen based on our experiences with Freddy Adu and Luis Hernandez.

The question instead was: "Is it worth it?" Merely increaing revenue isn't enough, especially if (a) you don't actually receive all of that revenue and (b) you have to spend too much to generate the increase. Buying David Beckham didn't make sense when the Galaxy were in the Rose Bowl because the economics were different. It makes sense now. It would seem that MLS bigwigs actually have learned a lot over the years. So bringing up how MLS decided to try out hiring Big Names doesn't exactly support Jamie's thesis, does it? No. In fact, it was a terrible example.

3. "The truth is that many players are being flat-out exploited by contracts that don’t crack $20,000. New England’s Adam Cristman has toiled away this season for $11,000. Due to some MLS legerdemain, until recently, he was not a “senior” roster player. That allowed New England to pay him even less than the pathethic $17K minimum. What an example this league sets for kids, huh?"

No. Christman actually made $17,700, which is a developmental salary and not, as Jamie indicates, the minimum salary for senior players. The minimum for senior players is still only $30,000, but Trecker's got to get this stuff right.
Lesson Five: Check your facts.

4. "MLS sticks to a summer calendar, making the argument that soccer families are the target audience.

It’s funny how, then, at the games I go to, the crowds are filled with young people on dates and that horrifying “ethnic” crowd. It’s also funny how attendances are awful at the start of the season, increase at the back end of the year… until the playoffs, when things drop off the ledge."
Lesson Six: Don't mistake your local situation for the situation everywhere
The funny thing is, when I attend MLS games, I see plenty of kids. IN fact, that's a complaint of MLS fans everywhere: that there are too many kids. I don't know what games Trecker is going to, but he needs to get out to other MLS cities.

Trecker really ought to note, too, that the reason that attendance increases in the fall is generally because the kids are back from vacation and ready to go to games. From what MLS GMs have said, this is largely due to group sales to youth soccer. Which also explains why attendance plummets in the playoffs: there's no time for group sales (in addition to the fact that marketing time is shorter in general and that playoff tickets aren't included in season ticket packages).

5. "The new women’s league has been pushed back from 2008 to 2009? Why? That’s an excellent question, because it’s a repeat of the same stagger-start that doomed WUSA I. The truth might be that there is no good reason beyond the fact that this league doesn’t have the financial legs."
Lesson Seven: Have a point.
Seriously, what is Trecker's point here? That it's big news that the women's league needs another year to attract investment if it's going to succeed?

An addition bonus point is that Trecker's assertion that the "stagger-start" is what doomed the original league is just moronic. The league failed because it didn't start up in 2000? How about the league failed because it blew through five years of financing in one year, despite meeting attendance projections?

After reading yet anothed botched Trecker article, I just have to ask "Is this guy ever going to learn?"

Westward Hos

2007-10-15T13:47:00.000-07:00

I'm embarrased to admit that I get awfully tired of fans in MLS expansion cities.

Yes, I know-- I should be happy they care. But they just seem to think that nothing that's gone before in MLS has anything to do with what their city is doing now. We saw it this year with Toronto: best atmosphere in MLS? Almost without a doubt. Unprecedented fan support? Erm... no.

That said, Toronto appeared to have set the standard for MLS expansion by selling out nearly every game this year and by having a true soccer-knowledgeable public. The recipe for success appeared pretty clear: open up the team in a soccer-specific stadium, sell the game to true soccer supporters and get them to build a solid season ticket base.

But now MLS is contemplating expansion to Seattle, and the model, so far, can't be any more different. Seattle MLS will be playing in Qwest Field, a "cavernous" NFL stadium (note: the use of the adjective "cavernous" is required in any post about MLS in NFL stadiums).

Seattle fans like to point out that Qwest was designed for soccer and approved by Seattle taxpayers on that basis. Let's unpack that a little.

First, Seattle is not the first NFL stadium "designed" with soccer in mind. I'm reminded that some described Gillette Stadium the same way, so let's not pretend that "designed for soccer" means anything in the abstract. I'm perfectly willing to defer to fans who have been to Qwest and say that it's actually pretty good for soccer-- but no combination of curtains, tarps and sightlines will be able to make every fan forget that the upper deck is empty for MLS matches.

As for the "approved by taxpayers" bit-- I'm not quite sure it's relevant. Besides, if Seattle taxpayers were swayed by the "also designed for soccer" bit, it's because they were already 90% convinced by the "NFL stadium" bit.

Even accepting, as I do, Seattle fans' contention that Qwest has a great atmosphere for games of the lower division soccer team, the Seattle Sounders, even when there are only 10,000 in the stadium, is the game day experience as good as it would be in a soccer-specific stadium (SSS)? Seattle fans might point to games at Crew Stadium, where a somnolent crowd chews on brats and engages in drinking games revolving around how many crosses Frankie Hejduk will mishit. That's a great point: an SSS is no guarantee of a great crowd. From what I've heard, Seattle fans will put Columbus to shame. But all things being equal, wouldn't the same crowd of Seattle fans be better in an SSS than in Qwest? Of course it would.

And then there's the economic side of things. Seattle fans are quick to point out that gazillionaire Paul Allen is involved in the ownership group-- and may be allowing MLS Seattle to play rent-free in Qwest. Their logic goes something like this: Paul Allen has made lots of money. Therefore, he doesn't make any mistakes, and this team will make money.

Frankly, that's an idiotic argument made only by people who don't understand business. Rich men make "mistakes" all of the time-- they underestimate the importance of certain factors or over-emphasize others. You don't think rich guys were buying subprime mortgages? Frequently, the rich will take huge, but calculated, risks precisely because they are rich. Investing in soccer in the US certainly falls into that category.

So, while I'll defer to any guy as successful as Allen, that doesn't mean his actions shouldn't be scrutinized. It is harder for MLS teams to make money in an NFL stadium than a soccer-specific stadium. Even rent free, an MLS team will forego certain revenue streams, like concessions, parking and merchandising. Even if the Qwest contract gives MLS Seattle 100% of those revenue streams, certain other revenue streams simply won't be available, like stadium naming rights. It's conceivable that playing rent free in Seattle will actually cost MLS more in terms of lost revenue. And it's certainly going to be harder to build a season ticket base when capacity in Qwest won't be meaningfully limited. This summer, you couldn't score a ticket to Toronto's BMO Field, even though the team stopped scoring sometime in March. For all but the highest demand games, anyone in Seattle will be able to walk up to Qwest on game day and buy a ticket. I'm sure they'll sell a decent number of season tickets because Seattle is a good market, but will they sell as many as they would have in an SSS? Of course not.

Finally, we have the old cannard that Seattle is going to be a great MLS market because the NASL was popular in Seattle. Can't we put this one to rest yet? There simply isn't any correlation between NASL success and MLS success. Times have changed, the product has changed, and, even if that weren't true, the metrics of success have changed.

None of the above means Seattle MLS won't be successful. There are a number of factors that point to success: I like the ownership group, I like the downtown location of Qwest and I like the fans' obvious, if shrill, passion for the sport. I am conscious of the quote from Voltaire: "Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien"... the best is the enemy of the good. In other words, striving for perfection can undermine real progress. So, let's not oppose Seattle on the basis that there are, theoretically, better approaches to building a team. But, at the same time, let's not sweep 12 years of experience under the rug.

Stupid Conspiracy Theories

2007-10-13T20:52:00.000-07:00

Some folks would have you believe that the Freemasons, the Knights Templar and Don Garber are fixing MLS to make sure that David Beckham makes it into the playoffs.

In Saturday's MLS nightcap, a red card and penalty against the Galaxy's opponent, Toronto, would seem to provde some evidence for this. But Marco Reda's grab on Gavin Glinton on a breakaway seemed pretty clear (at least on the replay). It looked like a good call. But LA, despite a man advantage, continued to look bad and let Toronto tie up the game. Only a late surge by LA got them a barely earned victory.

I'm not one of those who will bag on LA if they make the playoffs after being terrible for so long. But these wins are, by and large, not particularly convincing. The Galaxy's unbeaten streak has featured 3 ejections and 3 penalty kicks. I mention this not because I think the league is rigged but because it suggests to me that LA still hasn't really righted the ship.

This is what an 8 seed looks like in 13 team MLS. They're really not that good. Compare them to Chicago, which is the odds on favorite to be the 8 seed, but are an example of a team that has turned the tide. They had a bad middle of the season, but, as they're playing right now, they can hang with the best. I can see them pulling an upset in the playoffs. The Gals, should they make the playoffs, look like odd's on favorites to bow out in the first round.

Their roster still looks like Lalas was attempting to build a First XI out of the most disappointing players in the league. Between Buddle, Martino, Gordon, Glinton and, good lord, Carlos Pavon, the Gals have more reclamation projects than the EPA. How bad is Carlos Pavon? I get that the guy's not as mobile as he used to be. But why does his touch suck so bad? In the first few minutes of the Toronto-LA game, we watched him fail to win a corner by accidentally nutmegging the Toronto defender when he needed to smack the Red in the legs with the ball and then lose balls in ever more creative ways, such as trapping it by kicking it into his face and then watching it bounce out of bounds.

One final thought on FSC's presentation of the LA-Toronto game: I liked how they were talking about how rookie Josh Tudela's play was going to make things really difficult for coach Frank Yallop in deciding the starting lineup, which has got to be the stupidest of many odd comments during the broadcast. Josh Tudela's "backup" is David Beckham-- somehow I don't think the rookie for Evansville is going to keep an England international on the bench.

Problem Solved!

2007-10-13T20:28:00.000-07:00

When Jeff Cunningham joined Toronto, he had scored 93 goals in his MLS career. Because Jeff likes to remind people of this fact, he chose the number 93 for his jersey.

At the start of the season, Cunny noted that, next year, he was going to need to ask the league for special permission to to wear a number greater than 100.

It now looks certain that Cunningham won't need to ask the league's permission after all. That's the good news.

The bad news is that it's because Cunningham has scored only 3 goals since joining the offense-challenged Red Brigade. Unless he explodes for 4 more goals, Cunny will be stuck on 96...

Other Thoughts
1. Cuahtemoc Blanco is the most exciting player in MLS. Even when he messes up, like against DC United. As two United defenders closed in, Blanco attempted his signature move: trapping the ball between his feet and bunnyhopping between the two defenders. This time, however, his momentum carried him backwards and he fell on his rear and the ball trickled away. But as if you needed an example of how, even when he's bad, he's good, the ball still made it to the Fire's Wilman Conde in the box.

2. Sadly, the Fire's finishing is not on par with Blanco's creation. Wanchope has been a disappointment, but he's still a useful player. Chris Rolfe is a badass. Even Chad Barrett should be lauded for his awarenesxs and work effort. But the Fire needs a finisher. That said, I think they can now play with any of the league's best teams.

3. We have a race. DC's Emilio is stuck on league-leading 20 goals. NY's Juan Pablo Angel hit two against Kansas City for 19. The scoring race will go down to the last game.

Why hate on KC?

2007-10-08T11:56:00.000-07:00

It seems like more than a few people are excited about the still remote possibility that LA will make it to the playoffs. I admit-- I am too. Especially the prospect of a Blanco-Becks showdown at Toyota Park to close out the season with a playoff berth on the line. MLS really couldn't script a better ending. There's just one problem-- it means that either the Fire or LA (i.e. Blanco or Becks) won't be in the postseason.

But, just as Obi-Wan says in Return of the Jedi, there is another. Creative commentators, like Ives Galarcep (http://njmg.typepad.com/sbi/2007/10/monday-mornin-1.html) picks KC to crash out of the playoffs, which opens up dream matchups between Team Beckham and Chivas, as well as DC United and Team Blanco.

And I get it: the Wizards are in free fall and apparently had to resort to (http://blog.washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider/2007/10/kc_aftermath_and_the_weekend.html ) putting iocane powder
in United's breakfast in order to try to get something out of their Friday night showdown. But after years of equalling the Colorado Rapids in sleep-inducing futbol, this year's Wizards are actually pretty decent to watch. And they need a playoff spot. Really really need one.

So while the Galaxy have stitched together a winning streak using nothing more than heart and an improbable run of form by Gavin Glinton, who's now been released from a Thai prison, KC's probably the more entertaining team... It's just that they're not very good...

Rico Duro-- Clark gets NINE games of suspension...

2007-10-05T07:03:00.000-07:00

And a fine of $10,000...

Some folks are calling this suspension "unjust", "cruel" and "absurd", which makes me wonder whether those words mean the same thing in different parts of the country.

Personally, I expected six games, like the suspensions of Sala and Herron. Personally, I think Sala, who had a few moments to cool down before doing his best Bruce Lee imitation with three Rapids players, did the worst thing. But I can see how Rico's Danny Bonaduce act might seem even more out of control. Reasonable minds can differ, and I don't think the league is being unreasonable here.

I do wonder, however, how suspensions and fines stop people from losing their heads. If someone goes nuts, they're clearly not acting or thinking rationally and wondering how a potential fine might cut into their spending cash...

Crime, Punishment and the Little Fish

2007-10-04T07:35:00.001-07:00

It was like in Face/Off where evil Nicholas Cage stole good John Travolta's face, implanted it on his own, and started doing really bad deeds to Ms. Travolta.

But this was just as much science fiction. I couldn't believe my eyes: Houston d-mid Rico Clark, about as nice a midfield destroyer as you could ever hope to meet, was kicking Dallas cheapshot and scoring machine Carlos Ruiz on the ground late in the game in 3-0 Houston victory... While we shouldn't go overboard on the St. Rico stuff (he has been ejected before), it was the kind of ugly scene that you expect Ruiz-- and not Clark-- to be involved in. It was even more mysterious because Houston was absolutely dominating the match-- why would Clark go nuts when he's on the winning side of a rout?

Most commentators have wondered what punishment Clark would get for Fish abuse. I think that's actually an easy question: six games. That's the mark that's been set for really bad behavior, like going after a ref (like Andy Herron) or clocking Hunter Freeman (like Dario Sala). By my count, that means Clark misses the rest of the season unless Houston makes it to MLS Cup.

The more interesting question, in my mind, is what to do with Carlos Ruiz. A few more details emerged about Clark's kick: it turns out that Ruiz had punched Clark in the back almost immediately before Rico's reaction. We shouldn't equate the two actions though- Rico Suave kicking a guy while he's down is pretty awful. A punch in the back while going for a ball is not as serious.

But I still think Ruiz needs to sit out the rest of the season (and for Dallas, a five game suspension should do it). Why? Because the guy's got a history. For some, you shouldn't take a player's history into account when meting out suspensions and fines. Why not?? As a society, we implicitly take bad behavior into account because it shows that people just aren't learning. This is the idea behind Three Strikes and You're Out. I'm not suggesting that MLS adhere to such rigid standards and send Jean Valjean to prison for stealing bread. And I'm not suggesting that hardnosed defenders be suspended for multiple games because it's their job to foul... a lot. But if you've got a history of smacking people around, then yes, the league needs to keep giving longer and longer suspensions for that kind of behavior.

And Carlos Ruiz's record ain't great-- he racks up cards and fouls as if he were paid to defend instead of score goals. His bad deed isn't as bad a Rico's, but given his history, perhaps his punishment should be.

US-Mexico: Efficiency, Effectivity and Pretty Futbol

2007-06-25T07:09:00.000-07:00

The US would kill to have a player like Nery Castillo. The US would love to field Andres Guardado. And, boy, would the US like to have Barcelona's Mexican starlets. The US would also like to have Mexico's history of playing up to its opponents: remarkable runs in the World Cup and Copa America against quality opponents. The US would love to have even an ounce of Mexico's technical flair. And, yeah, the US would love to have great club teams that can compete in Libertadores.

The Mexican National Team, however, isn't smart enough to realize that they should want a few things that the US has: level-headedness, teamwork and, above all, efficiency.

When I say efficiency, I don't mean that the US finishes its chances (although it certainly did so in February in its friendly 2-0 over Mexico). In the Gold Cup, US finishing was pretty bad. What the US does particularly well is play an ugly game but still manage to create opportunities. It does that with assembly line efficiency that would make Eli Whitney proud. Contrast this to Mexico: the seleccion Azteca is unable to generate real offense that would seem to be merited by its promiscuous show of fine football maneuvers. Guys like Guardado and Castillo should be absolutely lethal to the shakey US defense, but they seemed to think that you get points just by beating their man. You don't. They need to make final passes to men making runs in the box. Apart from Guardado's goal, where were those? Indeed, Mexico got so intoxicated with their pretty futbol that they largely forgot that the US was, despite playing pretty ugly soccer, creating dangerous chances. So when Mexico decided to open up in the second half in an attempt to pile on the US, you could feel a goal coming. Whether or not it would be from the US or from Mexico was up in the air. But all Mexico had to do was give the ball to the US and let the US try to pass out of triple teams-- something the technically challenged Yanks simply cannot do.

Instead, the Mexican team bought their own hype, once again. What's the saying? Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. What about "fool me nine times?"

A post scripts:
Is the US the best team in the region? Well, as repeating regional champions, you'd have to say that they are. But if you had your mortgage on the line and needed to bet for a CONCACAF opponent against Brazil, would you pick the US or Mexico? I think Mexico is a better team against the world's best, but a wholly impractical one against the second tier.

How much should we make of the US's record against Mexico on American soil? I'm not sure, but how many victories do you think the US would have if the Yanks played Mexico in Azteca 10 times? I'm thinking of a whole number between zero and 0.5.

Don't get me wrong: when these two teams meet, the US should be favored to get a result. But Mexico deserves respect: their technique and talent are superior to the US, which is what makes them perennial second rounders at the World Cup. The US still can't match that.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 11

2007-06-25T07:01:00.000-07:00

1. Just when I was getting ready to annoint Chivas USA as "best of the West" (which is akin to saying they're the prettiest girl on the naval base), an undermanned Dynamo puts 4 on them. Dallas wins against Colorado in Denver (where the Rapids have really underperformed--- think of how bad they'd be if it weren't for the altitude advantage!). And then the (still) undermanned Dynamo beat Kansas City on the road. For my money, Dallas is still a paper tiger. Houston's clawed their way back to be the Team to Beat in the West.

2. Didn't I say last week how Real Salt Lake was dangerous? Although I seriously wondered if RSL was going to be able to get through the season without a single victory (the MLS equivalent of shooting the moon), I figured they had enough spark to beat United, which, even during its recent nice run, seems strangely subdued.

3. Don't look now, but the Crew have a WINNING STREAK. LA is now the team most in need of a win. Hopefully Donovan is not skipping Copa America for nothing and can go back to the Home Depot Center and lead his team.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 10

2007-06-17T10:28:00.001-07:00

1. United looks like they're back on track. But I've still got a feeling that there might be struggles ahead: yes, they demolished both the Red Bulls and Chicago, but both teams are absolutely devastated right now by injuries and/or call-ups. Chicago started a number of players who probably will not make in MLS.

But you've got to give United credit. They can only play the teams with the players available, and it wasn't like United was missing any players either-- Boswell and Moreno are "stars". But I wonder if Moreno will be starting for United when he returns from Copa America. United's next game is against RSL, who are winless but not playing horribly. In my mind, that makes them a terribly dangerous team-- let's see how United does against a (Freddy-less) Real Salt Lake.

2. Will Fire Coach Dave Sarachan last long enough to see Cuahtemoc Blanco save Chicago's season? He can't be blamed for the injuries and the call-ups, but he's been using those same reasons for underperformance for a couple of seasons now. I think we can blame Chicago's lack of depth on the coach. The thing is, and I realize that most Chicago fans disagree, Sarachan teams can actually play good soccer. I'm just not sure that Coach Dave knows how to put together a team.

3. The top of the table clash between the Kansas City Wizards and the Red Bulls ended in a draw. Apparently the question "Who will fill Eddie Johnson's shoes?" has been answered by Yura Movsysian. Who? He wasn't as unlikely a hero as you might think: the KC sub really had shown some nice flashes here and there and was a first round draft pick (trust me: that does mean something in this league).

4. So Juan Pablo Angel has scored 8 goals in his first 7 matches. Insane. That's got to be a record. Some folks are going to be bummed that a premiership sub is tearing it up in MLS. (a) Don't be. The prem is still a world better than MLS; (b) I really think players without tons of speed but with great soccer brains can succeed in MLS (or other warm weather leagues) when they can't succeed in the prem. Even if MLS had unlimited money, I think we'd still find some very good players on the benches of the prem who were no longer able to get the job done in the hurly burly of England's top flight.

5. FC Dallas: the paper tigers of the west? Seriously, we've all figured out that the Toronto FCers weren't as bad as they first seemed. But you'd expect Dallas to handle them on the road. Instead, they get their tails handed to them by the FCers. Incidentally, Maurice Edu has really impressed me.

6. Abel Xavier's first major contribution to LA? Ball-watching while Chris Brown (!) marches in on Joe Cannon's goal and scores. Xavier later gets an assist on Edson Buddle's goal, but man, the guy is paid to defend. Incidentally, Chris Brown doesn't score many goals, but he's got to have some of the best goals from a career sub. He and John Wolyniec could put together the All-Journeyman Highlight Reel and it wouldn't look bad at all.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 9

2007-06-10T17:42:00.001-07:00

I was out of the country this weekend, so I didn't see any of the games. But the results confirm a couple of trends...

(1) Chicago needs Chris Rolfe and Justin Mapp. Love how they pass. Hate how they finish.

(2) Is Fred going to actually work out on the flank for DC? Pundits assumed that Fred, who prefers the center of the midfield, would slot in seemlessly out wide. He didn't. While his play isn't really the cause of United's slow start, their lack of width has allowed other teams to neutralize Moreno, Emilio and Gomez. But in DC's 4-2 victory against the Red Bulls, Fred got on the score sheet, as did Emilio. I'm assuming this means United actually opened up the field.

(3) Will Dallas drop like a rock without Cooper, who's out for two months due to injury? They are in first place in the west, but haven't convinced.

(4) And New York? Who we all decided was the real deal? They've put in a few ugly performances in a row. The team is really struggling with injuries, but I like their depth. Frankly, I think they should be doing better.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 8

2007-06-03T06:52:00.000-07:00

1. Don't be a hater. China didn't do too well against the US's European B team, but don't assume they're not improving. Yes, I know. They lost to Thailand. Some folks think they're worse than in 2002. Just remember that many of the same reasons that US fans like to think the US team has a great future (e.g. large population, commitment to sports, great sports infrastructure) apply equally, if not more, to China.

2. Clint Mathis is back to his old self. That means he's both scoring and getting red cards. He simply demands scrutiny from the ref. I didn't see his red card for throwing an elbow but heard that it was at least somewhat soft. But regardless, Mathis still hasn't learnt that jawing at refs is a good way to make sure that these kinds of calls will always go against him.

3. EJ is really back. Back to back hat tricks? Are you kidding? This is the guy we all left for dead months ago.

4. Two nil-nil draws on the same day. I didn't watch more than a few minutes of RSL's latest draw, but I tried to watch the late show between LA and DC. DC looked more like a real team (and should have been given all of the absences from LA's first team). LA, however, had supremely dangerous changes (that's what happens when Donovan is on your team). But overall? I fell asleep at the half. Did I miss anything?

5. Back to the US v China: I always like to remind people that, just because someone is playing on a reserve side in Europe, that's no reason to believe that they're national team material. Watching US v China, though, I could be forgiven for wanting to back away a little bit from that statement. Feilhaber's goal was sweet. And you had to like those few moments when Charlie Davies opened up. And that one sweet run from Lee Nyguyen... Just don't get too enamored of them-- they do need more work. Fans irrationally deplore failure, so they even more irrationally love new players who they haven't yet seen fail.

6. Nate Jacqua is really snakebit right now. I actually count myself as a fan and think that he's underrated. No, his skills aren't the best, but they're good enough given his size. But man, it's hard to keep on supporting the guy when he gets open in the box about six yards to the left of the goal and decided to shoot... straight ahead. Man, Nate, it doesn't look good.

7. Chad Barrett's goal against Columbus. Ok-- so little bulldog Chad Barrett pounces on a botched Columbus kick at midfield and realizes he's got nothing between him at the goal but about 50 yards of grass. The Crew's recent substitute, the lithe Kei Kamara, is presumably a lot faster than the stubby little Fire player and races after him. But Barrett pulls a Formula 1 move and somehow positions himself between Kamara and the ball for the entire sprint. The result? A cool finish for the game-winning goal. You've got to think that Kamara could have done a little better here somehow because I'm still scratching my head as to how Barrett pulled it off.

8. Hope he doesn't get paid by the hour. RSL's Ritchie Kotschau comes into the Revs-Real game in the 81st minutes. And gets red carded in the 82nd. The guy's been out of the league for a couple of years-- you wonder if he's wondering if he made the wrong decision to come back...

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 7

2007-05-28T19:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I missed most of the weekend's games for the holiday weekend. Instead, I went to the Indy 500. But still, a few soccer-related thoughts came to me: while a number of soccer fans feel like they have to denigrate motorsports (and especially NASCAR) in part because NASCAR's made the kind of gains that soccer would love to make in the US, racing afficionados face many of the same challenges. The Indy 500 wasn't even televised live (well, at least not in Indianapolis according to one of my many servers this past weekend). Can you imagine that? Your signature event doesn't even make it on live tv?

I did see a couple of MLS highlights.
(1) Just when everyone's ready to annoint the Revolution as the best team in MLS, they trip up and lose 4-3 at home to the enigmatic KC Wizards. Eddie Johnson scores a hat trick and now leads the league in goals with six in eight games. Remember, his career best is only 12... He's on the Gold Cup roster, but we already know he can put three past Panama. We need to see Eddie at the Copa America to see whether he's an international player or not. I was unsure whether to declare the Wiz the real deal a couple of weeks ago, but I'm starting to form an opinion: I just want to see Marinelli fit enough to play 90 before passing judgment.

(2) Free kicks. Man, there were a couple of doozies. Too bad the replay of Christian Gomez's kick doesn't include him, you know, kicking the ball. But I can hardly blame the cameraman: the shot's from about 40 or so yards out. And then Jim Brennan in Toronto scores from about the same distance. Angel has already shown that he's a deep threat. My bottom line (and I've said it before): the foreign imports are going to teach MLS defenders not to foul needlessly anywhere in the vicinity of the goal. That's just one example of how even individual players can improve the standard of play all across the field.

(3) What moves does Chicago make? If they are going to be this bad until Blanco arrives, it may be too late. I don't share coach Dave Sarachan's assessment that they haven't been outplayed this season. In fact, I'd say they've been uniformly outplayed in almost every game but have put together such good moments sporadically that you might be inclined to forget. The team needs Rolfe and Mapp (who's now nursing a hamstring injury) in order to compete. Yes, I think the early season optimism that Jacqua and Herron wouldn't be missed was completely unfounded. The Fire need a goalscorer. And boy do they need some size on the field.

(4) What moves does LA make? When Becks arrives, LA will have two of the best players in the league. Will anyone around them be up to the task though? I don't think the roster looks too bad, so I'm a little surprised they're stuggling this much... Obviously, since their schedule is back-loaded, if there's any team that will have time to recover from a slow start, it's the LA Galaxy.

A Cure for What Ails You

2007-05-25T08:14:00.000-07:00

So how bad were the Fire in last night's 3-0 pasting by New York?

Not really all that bad. They again showed themselves to be a good possession team that just doesn't have much of an idea about what to do with that possession. The tv pundits kept noting that Chicago "lacked the final pass". I agree, but it's not just that: sometimes Mapp would give Calen Carr or Barrett a good ball only for the young strikers to muck it up.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week 6

2007-05-21T05:19:00.000-07:00

1. Teams that need a steering wheel: the Red Bulls and Chivas USA. The Red Rulls, with their loaded lineup, still need a linchpin. When healthy, that's going to be Claudio Reyna, who's been better than advertised. Without Reyna, the Bulls can look quite pedestrian, as they did last week in a 0-1 home loss to the Rapids(!) But it doesn't need to be Reyna: Bruce Arena moved forward Juan Pablo Angel back a few meters into the midfield and the result was that journeyman striker (and personal favorite) John Wolyniec looked great. Angel bossed the field and the Red Bulls destroyed the Crew 4-0. The Bulls can get all the great wing play they want from their wide players (and does anyone have a better mix than the Arby's, with Schopp, Van Den Bergh, Richards, and Freeman?), but they need someone in the center of the park to put order to it.

And that's what Chivas USA is finding out. I love the look of Chivas USA when they're on-- a bunch of guys who like possessing the ball. But Amado Guevara was going to be the linchpin of that offense and they look a little lost without him. Right now, Chivas USA seems to rely on two things: Panchito Mendoza's ability to clear up space elsewhere on the field with his slashing runs (with or without the ball at his feet) and passing combinations to confuse the defense. And they really do that well (the Telefutura announcer wasn't too far off when he said that Chivas was "asphyxiating the Galaxy"). So why did Chivas tie the Galaxy this weekend? Because they don't have a single person who can make that final pass. Ante Razov might be the best passer up front from the Goats, but the fact is that you want him to be taking (many) shots at goal. Kljesten, Bornstein and Mendoza are fantastic players who will key components on any offense, but you need someone to put it all together. Right now, no one's getting balls to Cuban speedster Maykel Galindo and the Goats are suffering because of it.

The Gals, for their part, looked pretty pedestrian, but... the "veteranisimo" Cobi Jones showed a couple of times why having a soccer brain is so important. On at least two occasions, he played insightful balls forward that Donovan was able to take advantage of. That just further underscores why Chivas USA needs a playmaker (and, incidentally, why the Galaxy need a supporting cast for Lando): during the first half, Cobi freaking Jones looked the most like a pure Number 10 on the field.

2. All This and Nothing: the Chicago Fire. Tongues were wagging when coach Dave Sarachan left volatile Wayne Rooney-think-alike Chad Barrett on the bench on Thursday against Dallas. But Barrett's replacement, Calen Carr, had done enough in spot duty to warrant a start (although he clearly needs more seasoning in front of goal). The real problem is that Chicago doesn't have any ideas. The Fire are still, for my money, the team that loves the ball the most, but damn if they don't have any ideas about what to do with it. Justin Mapp might be a metaphor for the entire team: he may be at turns the best player in the league, but sometimes you wonder if anything will come of it.

I think Dave Sarachan's plan follows the underwear gnome school of coaching: Step 1 Get the ball to Mapp or Rolfe, Step 2 ???, Step 3 GOAL!!! With Rolfe out against FC Burn, the Fire looked like they had even fewer ideas. Sure, they possessed the ball and had some gorgeous sequences. But what did it come to? A 1-2 home defeat to their Brimstone Cup rivals. The best thing you can say about first-time Fire starter Pascal Bedrossian? I hear he played in Europe. Maybe the guy needs more time to settle in, but right now it's not clear why he's starting in MLS (or getting paid decent bank to do so).

Incidentally, Big D's D deserves a lot of credit for their away win: they really worked as a unit to contain an impressive Justin Mapp.

3. All Quiet on the Wasatch Front. Ok-- so they dropped one to FC Dallas, but Jason Kreis's Real Salt Lake is a much better team than John Ellinger's Real Salt Lake. They still need help on defense-- and the loss of Carey Talley in the 10th minute against Dallas didn't help-- but this team is defending better. And as a result, their luxury attacking team is doing better as well, led by none other than Freddy Adu. When your team is not in total crisis, Adu is a nice guy to have around. He seems to do just enough things very well to make people keep saying "Just wait til he develops." I hope Adu keeps pushing himself, but I wonder if we won't all be better off when he realizes that he's a great role player. I mean, the guy draws defenders away, he wins corners-- he's a nice guy to have on the field. But he might never be a star. And that would be ok-- he could probably still be a national teamer if he learned to do a little more dirty work.

4. Karma has paid the Revs back. The Revs deserved better than their season-opening loss to Chicago after only letting in one goal in a first half that the Fire absolutely dominated. The Revs have looked much better since then and you could say that they hadn't been outplayed since. Until their match against Houston. The Revs looked pretty rough (with Andy "We Don't Need Dempsey" Dorman taken off at the half), but they still were able to grind out a win against a frustrated Dynamo team. Call it a mulligan-- the Revs are the best team in MLS. I'm circling July 14th against the Red Bulls-- I think both teams will still be in the elite.

5. The Elite. A couple weeks back, we didn't know who the elite was. Now, I think it's pretty clear that at least two teams are there: the Arby's and the Revs. I'm not ready to anoint FC Dallas just yet, but Juan Toja is a monster pickup who may have launched them into the elite. I think the Wiz still have a ways to go.

6. Guile Monster. Schelotto has yet to turn Cbus around. The result this weekend (a demoralizing 4-0 demolition at the hands of the Red Bulls) would get many coaches fired. Still, Guile showed why everyone was so excited about him: he lined up for one free kick about 40 yards out and... hit the crossbar. He'll make a couple of those eventually. That's just not a threat most MLS teams have. But Guile and (obviously) Beckham will teach MLS defenders to take more care even far from goal. I couldn't help but recall Tim Howard's first game for Man U against Arsenal in the Charity Shield. Thierry Henry was lining up for long-distance free kick. Howard casually set up a three man wall despite Roy Keane's angry insistence that the wall be comprised of at least four. And... Henry hits a perfect shot, the likes of which Howard had never seen in MLS. Here's hoping our next European goalkeeper exports get a little more exposure to dead ball experts.

The Outlaw Jozy Altidore

2007-05-17T18:08:00.000-07:00

By now, everyone's seen teen phenom Jozy Altidore's "IMpossible is nothing" Adidas spot. In it, he starts out by saying that, when he was 5, he kicked the ball so hard that parents were worried he'd hurt the other kids. So, he had to play with older kids.

But you wonder how the parents of the 8 year olds felt when Jozy shoots his ball through their children's sternum-- definitely a mortal blow: in the commercial, a cartoon Altidore kicks the ball through three cartoon defenders to score a goal.

At least there was no Doom-style splatter.

Toronto FC-- Every Dog has its Day

2007-05-13T08:04:00.000-07:00

The top story this week is easy: Toronto FC 3: Chicago Fire 1.

The expansion team gets its first goal, first red card and first win. Naturally, everyone had picked the Fire to dominate this game. But I think this ending was as foreshadowed as Macbeth killing the king:

First, I had asked earlier if the Fire were a paper tiger. Despite compiling an impressive record against the league's best teams, the Fire have been outplayed in large stretches of every match except against Kansas City. They are capable of playing the best soccer in the league on the backs of Justin Mapp and Chris Rolfe, but they are a supremely fragile team that has had a few breaks go their way.

Second, Toronto really weren't as bad as they seemed. Initially, a number of good soccer writers thought that FC would be a decent expansion side. Probably no one expected struggles to rival Real Salt Lake: Toronto had a pretty impressive array of talent-- Eskandarian and Buddle are both [i]capable[/i] of 10 goal seasons. Ronnie O'Brien and Richard Mulrooney are perhaps the best in MLS at their positions. And Mo Johnston had put together a roster full of guys on defense who had played in EUROPE! This team was going to be pretty good. AND they had Conor Casey, who had also played in EUROPE!

So how did this team go 0-4 without any goals to start the season-- and how did they put together this win at home?
(1) Mo Johnston went out and got some MLS defenders. Marvell Wynne and Kevin "Bobcat" Goldthwaite aren't exactly MLS Best XI defenders, but they've both played in this league. In contrast, Marco Reda came from Songdal in Norway. I think the Norwegian league is probably equivalent to MLS. BUT success there is absolutely no guarantee of success in MLS. Trotting out English first division players and Scandinavian top flight veterans is not a recipe for an MLS Championship.

Goldthwaite instantly repaid Mo Jo's decision to bring him in by having a career game against Chicago and even scoring a goal. There should a rule-- let's call MLS Expansion Rule No. 1-- If you want to be successful in MLS, build from the back. MLS defenders don't cost much money, but you need a few solid veterans if you want to make a run. Salt Lake is the perfect example of how to screw this up: John Ellinger never learned Rule No.1, but I bet Kreis is smarter and will spend some of the money RSL is getting from the league (ironically, to compensate for Kreis's retirement as a player...) on defensive-minded veterans.

(2) Settling things in the back really helped out Toronto's midfield. Andy Welsh, in particular, looked like he figured out to play in MLS, but a lot of that had to do with just getting the ball in better positions.

(3) The acquisition of Dichio looms large. Danny Dichio has the potential to be a major MLS scorer. Forget his and Mo Jo's hype about how MLS defenders have never seen anything like him (part of the whole massive Canadian and European tendency to want to "educate" us about soccer). It's hardly the first time that MLS defenders have faced an imposing target forward (geez-- remember Mamadou Diallo?). But Dichio will cause trouble-- and he certainly did for Chicago. It's fitting that he'd score FC's first ever goal.

(4) Ronnie O'Brien is a bad ass. Simply put, some of Toronto's problems just come down to the fact that O'Brien, the best player on their roster, was injured. O'Brien, with his leg so wrapped in tape that he looked like the Michelin Man, was massively influential. He didn't get on the board, but his vicious long range blasts made defenders step up-- which created space in the box.

(5) No. 1 draft pick Maurice Edu is solid. He too was injured for the first couple of games. He played well enough in the first two, but against Chicago, he had his coming out party.

(6) The fans. No, Toronto's not the first MLS town to have passionate fans. But the fans created an imposing atmosphere, throwing approximately all 20,000 seat cushions that had been given away at the gates. When the TV announcers mentioned at the half that Chicago had requested a covered bench, you kind of wondered if it was all over for the Fire. Sure enough, they came out of the break tentatively and were rightly punished by FC.

Put it all together: Mo Jo's biggest mistake was not putting together an MLS-ready defense. FC suffered a few key injuries. And that was a recipe for a terrible starts. But with the addition of two MLS defenders, one bull of a center forward, and the return from injury of O'Brien and Edu, Toronto should be much better from here out.

MLS Salaries: Some Folks Just Don't Get It

2007-05-08T15:19:00.001-07:00

http://www.latimes.com/sports/soccer/galaxy/la-sp-soccer8may08,1,1603115.story?coll=la-headlines-sports-soccer-gal

More than a few commentators have blasted MLS as a "low cost league" by pointing out that developmental players on MLS squads can make as little $12,900 a year.

Ah, such short memories.

MLS didn't always pay so little but that's because the developmental player positions did not exist. Teams were limited to 18 players-- their depth was severely challenged on a regular basis. And if MLS teams did have any reserve players, they would have had few chances to play-- the reserve league wasn't even a glimmer in the league's eye. The league brass made the decision, with the full agreement of the players' union, that they were going to expand the rosters-- they made the decision to employ more soccer players-- these players were expected to be marginal players-- they wouldn't have made the old 18 man roster for any MLS teams. As such, they were going to be classified as "developmental" players and be paid quasi-internship wages. Critics of the program didn't balk at the low wages-- instead, they just assumed that any players uncovered by the program would be low-quality and wouldn't have any impact.

But a funny thing happened: some of these developmental players started banging in goals, like Herculez Gomez. Others started on their teams, and soon became league stars, like Bobby Boswell. Then the argument about the developmental players shifted: how could MLS actually be paying starters peanuts? Sure, Boswell and Gomez both renegotiated their deals, but it did take some time-- and not everyone is so lucky. But does this mean that we should pay all developmental players more?

NO.

I don't ever want to see the day when MLS doesn't have a few players on the payroll making $12,000. Let me explain: I'm not opposed to the players negotiating for whatever they can get. If we gave all current developmental players a 100% increase, that would be great, but only if we then expanded rosters to include a few more young players who only make $12k. Why? Because some players are so risky that they are only worth 12k. But, as we've seen with the developmental player program, some of those guys WILL develop into stars. If you eliminate 12k developmental slots on teams, those guys simply won't get picked up at all.

Some folks will say that paying players so little is automatically a black-eye for the league. Hardly: as Ivan Gazidis of MLS points out, developmental player salaries are equivalent to minor league baseball player salaries. Of course, Gazidis neglects to mention that if a minor leaguer gets called to the bigs, he automatically gets paid a Major League salary. Maybe some mechanism like that is the way forward for MLS: if a developmental player plays in a league game, he should be paid a pro-rated share of the senior roster minimum of $30,000. But for godsakes, don't eliminate the "minor league" ballplayers from the MLS pool-- just expand the opportunities in front of them.

The Road to MLS Cup, Week 4

2007-05-07T07:56:00.000-07:00

Some early season questions have been answered-- there were some players who could really go either way this year, but the following guys now must be considered to be impact players:

1. Clint Mathis. I almost don't want to write about this guy because so much ink's already been spilled. I, like almost everyone, had written the guy off. But then we caught a glimpse of the old Cleetus in last year's playoffs, and despite your better judgment, you start to think maybe Mathis still has it. The start to the season, with 3 goals and 2 assists (and only one ejection so far!), couldn't be better. Can he keep going? In a way, that's the wrong question. With the shining exception of the 2000 season, when he was the most explosive US player of the modern era, Mathis has always been inconsistent, so I won't be shocked if there are more outbursts and more trouble ahead. So true consistency is really too much to ask: instead, be happy that the mercurial talent is producing at all.

2. Khano Smith. The Revs' Bermudan winger is a great example of something MLS does well: the league is the best platform for Carribean players. I think Smith is poised for a breakout year-- defenses are constantly shifting to try to contain him (witness Chicago moving Dasan Robinson to try to get someone who could at least slow Smith-- it worked-- sort of-- Chicago ended up losing track of players and losing 3-1). And when you consider that the Revs have Steve Ralston, MLS's all-time best crosser, banging in balls from the other side of the field, it's a true compliment to Smith's abilities.

3. Chris Rolfe. There's something off about Chicago's Chris Rolfe. After Rolfe had some rookie success after joining the league as a supremely unheralded rookie, I read an interview with him. He basically said that he lacked confidence and wasn't at all sure of his abilities. Stunning admissions from a professional athlete-- never mind a budding star and national team member who can dazzle with his trickery. But sometimes, you can see the uncertainty eat at Rolfe-- he seems to take failure hard. But so far this year (and to be fair, every year), Rolfe has been The Man for the Fire.

4. Maykel Galindo. His goal-scoring for Chivas USA has definitely taken some of the load off of Ante Razov.

5. Roberto Brown. Another Latin American goal-scorer-- these guys are great acquisitions for any team that puts in the time to scout them. It really makes you wonder why more MLS teams haven't benefited.

I want his agent!

2007-05-04T08:30:00.000-07:00

The list of MLS player salaries is out today here:
http://www.mlsplayers.org/files/5_2_07_salary_info_club.pdf

As always, you can scan the list and find great players still stuck on their first or second contracts (e.g. 2006 MLS Defender of the Year Bobby Boswell makes $30,000... At least he has his good looks to fall back on, and can probably get some sort of sugar momma action. Chad Barrett doesn't make much more money and looks like a slightly less attractive Wayne Rooney.) However, this year's most underpaid player is possibly New England's Andy Dorman at less than $31,000. He's had to step into Clint Dempsey's Texas-sized shoes and has done a pretty good job so far-- Revs head coach Little Steven sures know how to find some bargains.

But I've got to say it works both ways-- there are a few players that have done well for themselves. Example 1: Not 2006 MLS Defender of the Year Patrick Ianni. His MLS career, which began last year consists of TWO minutes. His salary: guaranteed $103,000, or more that 3 times Mr. Boswell's. According to his MLS bio (here: http://houston.mlsnet.com/players/bio.jsp?team=t200&player=ianni_p&playerId=ian432955&statType=current), his hobbies include "reading, studying God’s Word", so maybe there's something to this religion thing.

The Second Coming of Kreis

2007-05-03T11:47:00.000-07:00

I was confused on Tuesday morning, which is nothing out of the ordinary. But I was scratching my head with particular vigor because I couldn't quite understand how head coach John Ellinger still had a job after an ugly defeat on Monday night for his Real Salt Lake team against the rival Colorado Rapids. And the Rapids weren't just rivals: one of their players, Pablo Mastroeni, had even gotten into a screaming match with Dave Checketts, Real's owner following a match last season.

In other words, it was a must-win game.

But Tuesday morning came and went. No word from Salt Lake. Chelsea and Man U came and went. Still no word from Salt Lake.

But today, we got a bombshell: Jason Kreis, the Real capitan and all-time MLS leading goalscorer, was retiring as a player to take over as head coach.

It's a decision I have a tough time understanding. Yes, it was time for Ellinger to go-- he made too many mistakes in his MLS career (from taking talented, but not ready for Primetime Nik Basagno with his first pick in 2005, to trading away all-important allocations, to... not protecting key player Jason Kreis in the expansion draft this year and needing to use a partial allocation to get him back) and his team this year seemed to perform well below the collective level of its luxurious pieces.

But I have a feeling that success for RSL needs to consist of more than a resolution to "make fewer mistakes": I think they need an experienced, tactically adept coach who can actually make something of the disparate pieces. Is Kreis that guy? He seems like a smart guy-- and always was a smart player, but you wonder if he's going to have the tools to do this job.

And I'm also disappointed to see one of the league's all-time greats go out this way. Critics will point out that Kreis never really made it with the US national team as proof that he really wasn't that great in the first place (although his supporters might also point out that he didn't really have too many chances...) I'd sidestep that debate: Kreis's skillset was ideal for hot days in Dallas: not fast, but quick-thinking, with a good eye for players making precious runs and a cannon shot when tired defenders hesitated on closing him down. He could be absolutely deadly-- and I'm a little sad that he won't add to his 108 goals. An exciting, if unusual, race was developing: two slowing down MLS stars, Jaime Moreno and Kreis battling for the all-time goal lead. They were racing not just each other, but the end of their playing careers. With guys like Razov and Cunningham not far behind (not too mention younger guys like Twellman and Ruiz), it's possible the any victory in this battle would have been purely Pyrrhic. But definitely, a part of me wanted to see Moreno and Kreis duke it out for at least one more year.

Kreis deserves credit for a great MLS career-- and for being an American goalscorer during a period when all of the leaders were imported. It's a shame RSL couldn't send him off with a victory, but perhaps inevitable, considering the circumstances of his retirement. All you can do is wish this true class act all the best, as he starts work on the Sisyphean task of making RSL less sucky.

Soccer Etiquette, by A Canadian

2007-05-03T07:44:00.000-07:00

On a fundamental level, I am wary of cross-cultural attempts to "educate" people. From British attempts to teach me dental hygiene to the well-intentioned efforts of Peace Corps volunteers to teach New Guinea tribes how to farm which ended in the near total destruction of the tribes' eco-system, the education is often worse than ignorance.

So now that Toronto FC is in the league, we've got Canadians lecturing us on soccer etiquette, which is vaguely like William Shatner giving singing lessons.

http://www.thestar.com/columnists/article/209992

First, I've got to give respect to the Toronto Star for great soccer coverage. Second, I've got to give a ridiculous amount of respect to the footie fans in Toronto: their support of their truly godawful team IS inspiring. The 14,000 season tickets sold is a league record, by a large margin.

But here's what Toronto is not: the first city to get real "European-style" support for its MLS team. Cathal Kelly, the Toronto Star columnist, is new to the league and can be forgiven for not knowing this. Kelly can also be forgiven for being excited about the team: these are heady moments in Toronto soccer history.

Kelly was writing about the first MLS goal scored in Beemo Field during Toronto's home opener: despite an organized effort by Toronto, Kansas City's Eddie Johnson broke free and scored the game winner. He proceded to make "a beeline for the fans in the rowdy south end. Once there, he spread his legs, threw up his arms and presented himself like Liza Minnelli finishing up the closing number in Cabaret."

But here's where Kelly goes wrong: "In most other cities in Major League Soccer, the fans would have stared mutely. In most other countries, they would have poured out of the stands to kill him. Toronto struck the happy medium. One fan launched what appeared to be the contents of his beer mug at Johnson, striking a direct hit. More beer followed. Someone tossed an empty plastic water bottle."

Kelly reminds us then of the "international rule" of goal celebrations: you don't include the fans, unless they're your own. Finally, Kelly remarks "Now that MLS has arrived in Toronto, visiting teams must realize that north of the border there are new rules. Taunting will have repercussions."

Nice writing. But it's just not true. The article would be more convincing if Jozy Altidore hadn't just gotten a beer shower from Houston fans after scoring a goal. It would be more convincing if Clint Mathis hadn't actually gotten a beer shower from his own fans in 2003 after another poor performance (Clint, in a truly classy move, went after the fans in the stands). I don't even want to imagine what Chivas USA fans would do if Landon decided to shimmy shimmy shake in front of their hard-core support.

But while we're on the subject, it's not like MLS is the only place that such celebrations... Yes, even in Europe, once in a while, some player will cup his hand to his ear after scoring an away goal. As such, there's no need to lecture Johnson on the "international" rules...

Quote of the Day: Kyle Beckerman

2007-05-01T09:35:00.000-07:00

So the Colorado Rapids and Real Salt Lake have a little bit of a rivalry-- they even have a nice-looking trophy to commemorate the winner of each season's series: the Rocky Mountain Cup, which Colorado has taken for the past two years. But as is so often the case, it's really the off-field antics that make the rivalry fun. Last year, after another Rapids victory, Colorado midfielder Pablo Mastroeni took off his shirt, stuffed it down his shorts and pointed to his crotch, which is universal sign language for "suck a fat one".

But Pablo proved equally adept at verbal communication and managed to get into an argument with Real's owner, Dave Checketts about his behavior in front of the fans.

So, with yesterday's game, when the Rapids score a couple of soft goals against a determined, but hardly inspired Real in Salt Lake, what do they do? They celebrate like they liberated Europe. Which leads to more boos and anger from both the crowd and players in Salt Lake.

Kyle Beckerman's response? "They run their mouth the whole game. If their team is mad when we celebrate (a win), tell them to win the game."
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_5789426

Exactly right. You don't want Colorado Rapids players to act like 16 year old passing a driving test? Win the game.

It's got to be tough for the Real fans: they were committed and deserve special mention for being riled up for a Monday night game. But the bottom line is that they've got to start winning. Frankly, I'm shocked that head coach John Ellinger still has his job.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week Three

2007-04-28T21:17:00.000-07:00

(1) Sell-out crowds: how great was it to see sell-out crowds in LA and Toronto? And not just paper sell-outs, but real standing room only crowds with a ton of passion. And the Chivas USA
"away" fans also deserve mention: unfurling a massive, section-wide Chivas banner, provoking loud boos from the Galaxy's home crowd.

(2) Not sell-out crowds... The FC Dallas-Revs game was a little sparse, signalling that the regular season has really begun after the initial burst of energy in most markets. This isn't really a criticism (10k in a soccer stadium is better for the league in every way than 15k in an NFL stadium), more of an observation. The game seemed to be played at a leisurely pace, to fit the lazy Sunday afternoon schedule and crowd. That's ok-- MLS can withstand a few low-energy dates, but it does suggest that many of the offseason changes to the competition format (e.g. changes to how win bonuses are paid and playoff spots) might still need further tweaking.

(3) I love him. I love him not. It's as easy to forget how great Donovan really is as it is to over-hype him. Donovan's one of those players that create a weird sort of sword of Damocles effect: he is so much better than the average US player that you want to compare him to the world's greatest players. But projecting how he stands compared to Ronaldinho and Kaka is certainly a Golden Gate-sized bridge too far. So we hear constantly how overrated he is, leading us to forget what a singular talent he is. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Donovan is the best US player. Donovan is a bee-yatch. Donovan could probably make most teams in Europe. Donovan is, however, lightyears away from starring on any of the best teams. Pretty much any opinion on Donovan that doesn't acknowledge both his talent and his weakness is simply wrong.

(4) Most improved performer. How about the production crew at Fox Soccer Channel. After a dismal broadcast during week 1 (in which Chris Sullivan and Max Bretos both looked stoned, for what it's worth), the FSC production unit had a truly great game during the LA-Chivas super clasico. The best TV moment? They showed the buildup to Donovan's excellent assist on the Galaxy's third goal: only on the replay was it clear just how much Donovan was looking around at the field while he was bobbing and weaving through players at full speed. The replay gave viewers insight into just how good Donovan's vision is-- and exactly what he was doing while running. Further kudos to FSC for catching a little bit of Donovan's bizarre pre-kick off ritual, which apparently involves pointing at the ground, and numerous hail Marys.

(5) Don't Discriminate. When the UNited Nations drafted the Declaration of Human RIghts' prohibition on discrimination, were they really thinking about not picking the small kid during pickup soccer? That seems to be what MLS's "Don't Discriminate" spots seem to suggest.

(6) Panchito Mendoza could be an MLS superstar. When Chivas USA began their first season, their roster was loaded with youth players from the Chivas B team. And these guys were awful-- it's hard to imagine that Chivas USA could take anything of value from that very frustrating season. But Mendoza was a steady contributor and, finally, last season, really started showing his stuff. He's one of the slipperier players in the league-- and maybe the most fun to watch. I find myself asking: could it really be true that the Mexican National Team can't use a guy like this?

(7) The Year of Living Dangerously. Chicago seems equally likely to play a free-flowing attacking style as they do a nasty, slow-down defensive style. When their attack gets going, on the back of a confident Chris Rolfe, they can't be stopped. But against Houston in the first half, they were hanging on by the skin of their teeth. Offensively, they looked out of ideas, although to be fair, they kept shape defensively and didn't allow Houston to take full advantage of their complete domination. And then what happens? Chris Rolfe gets the ball, makes a nice run and scores. And then Chicago does something we don't seen enough of out of MLS teams: they change tactics. They move to a pure counter-attacking style with NBA-worthy fast breaks and start racking up chances on goal. Houston still could have scored, but Chicago was giving them a completely different look to contend with. It was the kind of tactical shift that made me hopeful that MLS coaching was catching up to the rest of the world too.

But I'm also wondering if Chicago isn't a bit of a paper tiger: in at least 3 of their 4 games, they've been outplayed for long stretches. You can't quite call them "lucky" because their goals have really been a product of hard, hard work, but hard work doesn't always pay off nearly as consistently like it has been for Chicago. I love the talent on this team; I love the style they are able to play, but I am not so sure they are really one of the elite teams. Of course, that begs the question: if not them, with their 10 points, then who?

(8) Yes, who are the elite teams? Beats me. I still scratch my head at how United has struggled in MLS, despite tying Chivas and scoring on them in Guadalajara. This season, "too early to tell" is going to be a phrase heard far too often and far too long, as we wait well into the summer to see how MLS teams deal with new designated player acquisitions and fixture congestion. The first and second halves of the season could both see completely different elite teams.

All Hat and No Horse

2007-04-25T08:24:00.000-07:00

I like Freddy Adu. Really. I think he's a wonderful player who could have a spot on any MLS team. I don't agree with the people who have labelled him a failure (like Darren Rovell here:(http://www.cnbc.com/id/18276686 ) but I understand their frustration.

Freddy draws defenders, has great technique and is a very useful player to have on your team. He probably costs too much (his salary is upwards of 500k-- a lot by MLS standards), but he's still a nice player. He's still a teenager.

But I roll my eyes every time I see a few quotes from Adu: "My role had always been being the guy, scoring the goals, and I got away from that."

"Now I'm trying to get it all back. It's weird. How did I get so far away from doing all that? I'm a completely different player now. Now, I might be overdoing it on the field sometimes, but I'm trying to get back to where I was." (from Arroyave's excellent blog here: http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/soccer_redcard/2007/04/adu_trying_to_g.html )

Get back to where you were? Where was that? What was the last time Freddy was really THE go-to guy on a team? On the U-17s? Adu is nostalgic for a past that never really existed. Adu doesn't need to "get back"-- he needs to "move ahead". The fact that he doesn't understand that suggests a fundamental reason why he hasn't improved as much as we all thought he would.

He's already a very good player-- he'll have a long career **somewhere** even if he never improves on what he's already got. But his problem isn't that coaches have played him out of position-- it's that he's not in that upper echelon of players from whom we'll tolerate various antics. He's not good enough to play central mid over the league MVP Christian Gomez (which was the problem he ran into at DC United). He's not good enough to justify not ever playing defense (which is one of the problems at Real Salt Lake). He's not good enough to be the go-to guy. Maybe he'll respond to more responsibility, but I think responsibility starts at home. Freddy's got to understand that.

Why Do Yanks Call It the "EPL"...

2007-04-23T20:15:00.000-07:00

...if no one in England calls it that?

A few English acquaintances of mine always ask this. I actually think it's a stupid question. We call it the English Premier League so people know we're not talking about, for example, the Scottish Premiership. Obviously, in England, there's no need to make clear that it's the English Premier League because no one there gives a shit about Scotland (they've even got a line in their national anthem about smiting rebellious Scots or something like that). So it makes perfect sense that, in the US, where our tastes in soccer are a little more cosmopolitan, we need to make clear which premier league we're talking about.

It's just another illustration that there's no need to assume everyone else is an idiot if they do things slightly different than you do. Calling the "EPL" the premiership makes sense in England, but it's not quite good enough in the US.

On a similar note, the most tired observation by non-Americans is that, yes, we call it soccer. Some especially ambitious wags will even attempt a phonetic version of the word with an American accent: "sawker". Trust me: this was pretty funny the first time, but, like the various plays on the word "Adu", it long ago lost any trace of cleverness. Every time you note that Americans call it "sawker", an English child is forced to drink fluoridated water while eating fresh fruit instead of meat pies. Don't let that terrible fate happen-- simply drop the tired observations about Americans and sawker.

Andy Herron doesn't like the New England Revolution

2007-04-19T16:56:00.000-07:00

I think Luis Arroyave (the Chicago Tribune's excellent soccer columnist) had a piece before the Fire-Revs match talking about how the rivalry had died down a little because so many players had moved on. One of the them was Andy Herron, who probably lost a spot on the 2006 Costa Rican World Cup team because of his eight game suspension following a temper tantrum in the Fire's playoff ending loss to the Revs in 2005. The Tico forward has since moved to Columbus, but Andy hasn't forgotten-- after a physical foul by Jay Heaps denied Herron a goal-scoring opportunity, Herron decided to smack Heaps in the nose with his elbow. The refs didn't catch it, but Herron is guaranteed a multiple game suspension.

Other thoughts from the game:
(1) Speaking of Heaps, he's really developed into a solid defender, relatively late in life. It was only a couple of years ago that a small contingent of Revs fans were jeering his every move. I haven't been back to the Razor since then, but I doubt they're doing it now. Incidentally, doesn't former pretty boy Heaps now look a lot like Bruce Cambell of Evil Dead and Bubba Ho-Tep "fame"? After seeing the vicious look the former Duke baller shot Herron following the foul, I can believe that Heaps would cut off his own hand if it had been possessed by demons.

(2) Do Hejduk and Ngwenya form the fastest right tandem in MLS? Watching Ngewnya torch Avery "only slightly less rash than Anand" John was fun too.

(3) Folks often focus on Twellman's ability to win headers and knock down balls, but what really stood out for me in this match was his ability to poke the ball around the ground in tight spots. There are a bunch of reasons why Twellman scores goals-- but I think this aspect of his game is relatively unnoticed.

(4) How fitting was it that (a) Grabavoy scored Cbus's first goal of the year given his absolutely fantastic form so far and (b) that the first goal was off of a deflection, which also sums up Columbus's finishing woes so far.

(5) It's also the second game where the Crew started brightly, but was largely bottled up by tactical changes in the second half. Yes, they did tie it up, but they looked like world beaters in the first halves against RSL and the Revs and then... nothing. Maybe the lack of depth on the bench has something to do with it. That's not to say that the Revs looked great in the second half-- what happened to Dorman?

20 Questions

2007-04-17T19:49:00.000-07:00

The title refers to the Red Bulls' roster. On one hand, the team is absolutely loaded. I'm not sure any MLS team has ever had this much potential (note that I started writing this before the Wynne trade-- more on that later). But along with potential comes uncertainty-- no MLS team has ever faced so many questions at nearly every position on the field.

You can start with the Headline News questions that almost everyone is asking:

1. Will Reyna stay healthy?

2. Will Juan Pablo Angel fit in MLS? Ironically, since he got bad service in Villa during at least part of his time in the prem, you wonder if getting balls from Schopp, Mathis, Reyna and van den Bergh is actually going to be an improvement.

3. Is Altidore the next Eddie Johnson (circa 2005) or is he the next Eddie Johnson (circa 2006)? Apart from Johnson, I can't remember any US player being built up so much so quickly. Scoring against Dallas is the first step toward proving the naysayers wrong-- and Josy will definitely benefit when Angel takes away the glare of the spotlight. But expectations for the kid are still probably higher than he can realistically fulfill right now.

4. Cleetus. Pretty much everyone agrees-- Mathis still has it. But he hasn't been able to show it consistently since he mentally checked out of MLS months before he left for Hamburg. His devastating showing against Dallas might be his only dominating performance of the year.

But the questions don't end there-- who are the known quantities on the roster? You won't find them among the European imports:

5. It says a lot when the most can't-miss player on the roster was a late season addition to another team: the only real question about Dave van den Bergh is whether he's going to be an MLS star along the lines of Christian Gomez. The guy's got one of the best shots in the league and seems to put the ball in good spots for others.

6. Who is Markus Schopp? We didn't see much of him at all. He's been pencilled in as a starter when he returns from injury, but the fact is that the guy's MLS career is less than 200 minutes old.

7. I am the Walrus? Jamie Trecker wondered if Waterreus is an improvement over Tony Meola. I have a tough time with that one: Waterreus had one bobble in game 1 and left early in game 2 due to feeling a little chilly, but the guy looks great to me. But he is old...

And what about the Bulls' defense?
8. Question 8 would have been what Arena was going to do with Captain Marvell-- last year's attacking back of the future. The thing about the Bulls' backline is that, while they're considered pretty thin, they've actually got a ton of decent players-- any of which could do well on any MLS team. But they don't seem to have that one steadying force-- Wynne might really excel at a team like that where his technical limitations won't be as important. Unfortunately for him, Toronto is not that place. Incidentally, some people feel like getting a second-rounder and a partial allocation isn't enough value for a former #1 pick. Taj Jakins was a #1 pick. Leo Cullen was a #1 pick. Jason Moore was a #1 pick. Steve Shak was a #1 pick. Chris Carrieri was a #1 pick. Nik Basagno was a #1 pick. Wynne is probably better than each of those guys-- but getting a little bit of allocation play money, cap space and a near first round pick sounds like a good deal to me. I get why Metro fans are upset: Wynne is an exciting player with real potential, but the Bulls will be fine without him.

9. Can Dunivant stay injury-free and be the force he could be?

10. Is Jeff Parke's Cinderella run coming to an end? The guy went from being Mister Irrelevant (the last player picked in the draft) to being a solid starter. Some fans were envisioning a national team career. While Parke hasn't been consistently bad, no one's looking at him as anything more than a useful player with a little bit of size. Arena doesn't seem real high on him either.

11. Can Carlos Mendes put together another great season?

12. Is Hunter Freeman all that?

And what about some of the forgotten men on the roster?

13. Can Woly ever put together another 2004? The guy looks funny, has limited skill and has more white hair than the abominable snowman. I love him-- his work ethic is second to none and he consistently scores goals. He just doesn't score many of them.

14. Whenever fanboys on BigSoccer start talking about how certain players absolutely NEED to get capped NOW, I always think about Mike Magee. He's never matched his rookie season when he had everyone thinking that the US national team's scoring woes were done (see also Kyle Martino, Eddie Gaven and, oh yeah, even Josh Wolff, who's obviously done fine but could never live up to his early hype).

15. Can Dema stay on the field? I always think Kovalenko's grossly underrated-- here's a guy that played in the Bundesliga (granted, only briefly and for a very bad team) but who consistently plays on good teams-- there's a reason for that. He doesn't score like he used to in Chicago, but the Bulls have real depth with him.

And what about the kids?
16. Dane Richards--damn. He's pretty fast. Can he do it again?

17. Sinisa Notgonnaplaymuch. I'm excited to see- he sounds like a great talent, but he's probably not going to get on the field much given the talent ahead of him.

The Road to MLS Cup XII Week Two

2007-04-16T13:05:00.000-07:00

A few thoughts from the weekend:

1. Chicago is unbeaten, but...
Chicago played about 20 minutes of fantasy football during their match against New England, then they never really got into the game against Colorado, even going down a goal after Colorado had been playing a man down for nearly the entire match. Yes, they eventually got a late equalizer and Chicago is unbeaten. But based on their on-field performances, they can't get too confident. This team could go either way this year.

2. What's good for Freddy is good for Real?
Freddy Adu was apparently pretty happy that, even though he's stuck out on the wing, he wasn't going to be saddled with defensive responsibilities like he was with United. We watched what happens when your winger doesn't play any defense against a speedy attacking back: Frankie Hejduk absolutely ruled the roost on the wing during the RSL-Crew match. Hejduk probably needs ten crosses to get one on target, but it looked like RSL was determined to let him try and get them. The Crew didn't score, but you wonder how RSL will do against a team with a little more firepower if they're basically going to concede the wing so as not to trouble Adu.

3. It's easy to beat up on DC's defense, but what's different this year?
After a few disasterous games, a number of fans are asking whether DC should play with only three men in the back. And, sure, Erpen has been terribly erratic, but I think one of the major problems have been breakdowns in the midfield. United's simply not as good at holding onto the ball as they were last year. A number of people have pointed to Brian Carroll, which is fair, but even Gomez and Moreno seem to be coughing up the ball more. I think switching the a four man backline might mask the problem a little but not if the midfield continues to struggle.

4. Toronto's defense...
Combined MLS experience: 0 minutes. Some of the guys are rookies, some of the guys were playing in Europe in decent leagues, but none of them have played in MLS. I honestly didn't think they looked so bad in the first game, but letting in four goals? Brutal.

5. Officiating standards
The game is called different ways in different countries. For example, the England national team always seems to suffer when playing with international referees who don't let quite as much go as the premiership refs. But smart players should know how to adjust their game accordingly. In MLS, the slightly peculiar standard is that you need to caution players for challenges that look bad (think Shalrie Joseph in the 2006 series against Chicago). Roberto Brown found out the hard way with his early challenge in Colo-Fire. Although Brown says he didn't intend to injure, he still received his walking papers-- he should take notes from Carlos Ruiz about how to foul without drawing the ref's attention. Ruiz gets a lot of flack for his diving, but his ability to create space seems to have a lot to do with little pushes and elbows thrown.

The Road to MLS Cup XII, Week One

2007-04-09T06:08:00.000-07:00

With the benefit of one week of results, here are some initial thoughts about the off-season moves by MLS teams.

(1) Goals? A number of writers fretted about Chicago's septagenarian defense. I wonder how they'll score goals after losing Jacqua and Herron. Rolfe and Mapp are two of my favorite players in the league, but Rolfe seems to wilt in the spotlight despite his obvious talent. And Mapp? Bless the boy-- I think he might already be an elite US player-- but with his finishing, you don't want to rely on him to score goals. Maybe Blanco will be the answer-- I don't think you can count on Logan Pause to score every week...

(2) Goals? Part II I was also wondering how Chivas USA would do without the Loco and Paco Show. I mean, Palencia's a legend in Mexico, right? And Loco Garcia's a fringe national teamer. These guys were good in MLS-- Palencia, in particular, had a great rapport with Ante Razov, helping the moody US striker have a banner year. Why doesn't anyone seem too concerned about losing them? I got one hint from Jesse Marsch: "We'll be better with the ball [without Loco Garcia]. Loco was dynamic in terms of creating some decent [scoring] opportunities, but his turnover rate was much higher than Amado's is going to be." http://www.latimes.com/sports/printedition/la-sp-chivas7apr07,1,4863834.story?coll=la-headlines-pe-sports

Interesting, right? The MLS guy-- Guevara-- is better with the ball than the Mexican league guy...

Still, it remains to be seen if Razov and Galindo will partner consistently well-- but the first Chivas goal, created with Galindo's speed, has got to be a good sign for the Goats.

(3) Who needs Dempsey when you've got Dorman? Seriously. Dempsey was the best player in the league for large stretches last year. Dorman looked good last year, especially when Dempsey went down, but his performance at the Fire has got to make Revs' fans hopeful of another chance at MLS Cup.

(4) RSL might not be so bad after all. Yes, the last minute goal was horrendous (is Rimando ever going to get his mojo back?), but I think Adu and Ballouchy are going to create some great opportunities and Jeff Cunningham is going to finish them. Some folks might find it funny that Adu got traded from a Supporters Shield team to a non-playoff team and still isn't good enough to start in the middle. I think it's probably more a question of Ellinger getting his best 11 on the field. Yes, you would always want Christian Gomez and Jaime Moreno with the ball over Adu, but I think the early returns show that Adu will do fine with the extra responsbility.

(5) This guy must be good-- he played in Australia! I watched the A-League Championship (what's the official name again? The Grand Final?) and was impressed with Fred. But I'm not sure why everyone assumed he'd be the answer for DC United. MLS is simply a different league (note, I didn't say it's better-- these things are tough to judge from a distance and nothing annoys me more than MLS fans bitching about not getting enough respect, while at the same time spouting off things like "Saprissa? Who the **** are they?") Some players simply are better fits in certain leagues (Diego Forlan anyone?) It's too early to tell with Fred, but he hasn't been a game changer so far. Let's try to save the hype next time.

(6) Claudio ******* Reyna. I've been waiting for Reyna to play in MLS for years so that his detractors could see him compared to MLS talent. Reyna's vision and passing stood out for the Red Bulls in the first half- he was clearly the best player on the field, true to form. Of course, also true to form, he picked up a knock and was limited in the second half...

(7) Speaking of European talent... Waterrreus was pretty good. Some folks have said that the Red Bulls got rid of one aging keeper only to go out and get another one. That's true, but Waterreus looks like a huge upgrade over a struggling Tony Meola. MLS has always been deep with goalkeepers, but watching Waterreus's positioning, I got the sense that European keepers still might bring an added dimension. Or maybe it was just the hair.

Waldo had it right the first time.

2007-04-05T11:45:00.000-07:00

Eric Wynalda, the all-time leading scorer for the US national team (at least until the next time the US plays a true CONCACAF minnow and Donovan scores 5), is an asshole.

And I say that in the best sense of the word.

He's full of hot air and half-baked ideas, but he at least speaks his mind. Although he was sometimes a dominant player, more often he was a malcontent-- a locker room cancer. Which makes him a great pundit, regardless of whether he's right or wrong.

But once in a while, he gets something just right:
"Jim Rome can suck my dick. And he should be very afraid, because I'm the kind of guy, if I get too many drinks in me, I will club his ass."

Bravo, Waldo.

Unfortunately, Waldo decided this was a little over the top and apologized to Jim Rome. Rome, a soccer "hater" (in quotes because I assume Rome really just enjoys the attention he gets from hyperventilating soccer fans), is a brash, over-the-top, personality. In other words, the kind of guy that would, in the real world, merit a beat-down.

Of course, Waldo wouldn't really club Jim Rome's ass. And Jim probably wouldn't suck Waldo's dick either. Wynalda's simply responding to Rome in a manner appropriate to Rome's own tone. To me, that deserves applause rather than an apology.

The Soft Bigotry of High Expectations

2007-04-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

It always shocks English soccer supporters when they find out that they are perceived as "arrogant".

"How can we be arrogant," they ask "when we think our team is complete shit?"

And indeed, they're telling the truth: they hate their own national team with vim, vigor and a shot of vinegar. Their managers are inept. Their heroes are overrated. Indeed, it wouldn't appear that they would have much to be arrogant about.

But their disappointment in their team is a product of one thing: sky-high expectations that betray their true feelings about their team. They expect to win every game-- even games against superior opponents. And when it doesn't happen, it's always someone's fault. David Beckham. David Seaman. That slut Sven (or Rooney-- take your pick). They expect to win games away, when no other team has won in the past six. That was the case when England travelled to the outskirts of Tel Aviv to take on Israel. While England are undoubtedly far superior, player by player, to the Israelis, Israel is hardly a minnow. For years, they've played reasonably compact football-- and have earned some very good results. A great team like England should play for a win in Israel, but no one should have been shocked when Israel, as they often do, pulled out a result.

I repeat: no one should have been shocked. But as soon as the match ended, I knew the hate and recriminations would begin. Yes, it was a bad performance by England-- they were profligate with their chances. But ultimately only arrogance- an unwarranted assumption of superiority given the circumstances- can explain why expectations were so high in the first place.

I expect futbol fans to love their teams. I expect them to want their teams to win. And if they display hubris and talk shit, well, it comes with the territory. But what do we do with the English who hate their own team and, frequently it seems, want them to fail? Yes, they think England is awful, which would be comical if they didn't believe the rest of us are even worse. To me, this dishonest arrogance is a greater insult that anything the rest of us can come up with.