Black, White and Round

2011 Pre-Season Worries

2011-03-13T09:59:00.000-07:00

What Me Worry?

DC's season is about to begin and, like last year, I thought I would make a list of things that are losing me sleep at night and giving me ulcers.

A bunch of young players who have never played together play like a bunch of young players who have never played together.
Charlie Davies isn't fully recovered and won't fully recover.
This might be United's last season in DC.
Players like Morsink, Ngwenya, and Brettschneider who have been on-form in pre-season lose that form.
Bumblebees.
The "competition at every position" unsettles some players.
Bill Hamid is athletically gifted, but unable to make himself into a keeper.
Coach Olsen equates "heart" with "talent" because he had both, but not all his players do.
I run out of money and miss a lot of games this season.
Losing at the beginning of the season becomes a habit again.
Pontius' form last year was a reflection of his abilities and not his injuries.
I can't find a way out of my dead-end job.
Injuries, particularly in defense.
Najar stagnates or succumbs to the pressure and regresses.
Unknown unknowns.
Key rookies can't hack it in the big leagues.
The new general admission policy in the Nest turns it into Barra-lite.
Speaking at my brother's wedding.
Losing players for the Gold Cup.
Simms and Morsink just aren't good enough anymore for MLS.
Where did this red spot come from? Is it cancerous?

That's all I've got for now. I haven't looked back to see how valid my concerns were last year. I know some were way off (Wallace and Pontius being too good to stay in MLS) and some were unfortunately prescient (Moreno good enough to play, but not good enough to be useful). We'll see how it goes this year.

The Season Begins

2011-03-13T09:55:00.001-07:00

We Win Pre-Season

DC won the Carolina Cup Challenge! We dominate pre-season!

That's not entirely fair; DC wins lots of games that don't matter, not just pre-season. Before any observers get too excited about United's undefeated pre-season, they should realize that DC was undefeated in pre-season last year and DC's competition this year were colleges and some of the worst teams in MLS last year (Chivas USA, Chicago, and Toronto). It's great for team morale to get those W's, but that's not what is really important. Nevertheless, I think DC did have a fair successful pre-season.

Goals

Last year, during the pre-season, all of DC's goals came from Jaime Moreno. Alright, maybe not all. But he was the only one to score in the Carolina Cup Challenge and that turned out to be a harbinger for the season - no one scored. This year, Ngwenya, Pontius, Davies, Brettschneider, and others have put the ball into the net. This is a very good thing. Also, Brettschneider looked quite competent during the pre-season and that looks good for DC's long term plans.

Defenders

DC looks to have a lot of good options in defense. The sole weak spot appears to be left back where the choices are Marc Burch or Woolard. Kitchen has looked quite good. I haven't seen much of Brasesco, but those who have have been quite pleased. Jakovic looks to have tossed off much of last season's lethargy. Jayner doesn't look too bad, although I think he is spending too much time on the ball. Ethan White and Chris Korb have also looked very decent as cover at the very least. Although, DC's defensive frailties last year were not particularly apparent in last year's pre-season, they rapidly became so during the season.

Starters

Coach Olsen has instituted competition for every spot on the field. Which is great in theory, but I also think that he has been fortunate to have the talent to do so. The strikers that DC acquired in the off-season have all shown fairly well, quite well in the case of Brettschneider. DC is loaded in the midfield, particularly on the wings with Najar, Quaranta, Pontius, Boskovic, Junior, and Fred all competing for playing time. That said, Dax McCarty seems to have a lock on the central "midfield engine" spot. Although Boskovic played in the position last season, Olsen has stated that he intends to play Boskovic on the outside. King is a central midfielder, but doesn't really appear to hold a candle to McCarty. Fred has also played in the creative central midfield role and may give McCarty some competition, although how much remains to be seen. The central midfield spot does appear to be up for grabs with Morsink playing well and challenging the ever-reliable Simms for the position.

What to Expect When You're Expecting

This line-up looks much stronger than last year, but what to expect from this season remains to be seen. It also raises the question of what to expect from the season opener against Columbus. I'm not certain - DC is a completely redone team. It is also a very young team. I believe it completely plausible that the first half of the season will be extremely rough for United and that they will drop points that they probably should not while the team learns to play with one another and gel and while some of the rookies and younger players gain confidence and experience. Columbus is not the team that they have been in years past. A number of the reliable players as well as their playermaker, Schelotto, have left in the off-season. In fact, they looked relatively weak against Real Salt Lake in the CONCACAF Champions' League games earlier in this pre-season. Under other circumstances, I would say that if DC is going to have a successful season, three points against Columbus at home should be expected. However, I have to allow some slack for all the new faces. Instead, if the first game is to be a harbinger of the season (and there are plenty of reasons for it not to be), I think the focus has to be on the creativity and the extent to which the players are on the same page. The extent to which DC appears to play coherently as a team may indicate whether DC fans will have to grind their teeth through July and hope for a strong finish and the following year or whether DC will be competitive for the whole season and really bounce back from last year's disastrous season.

CD9

2011-02-23T17:20:00.000-08:00

Honestly, I'm Not Trying to Be A Downer

Please don't misunderstand. The Charlie Davies signing is exciting. Where previously I had reconciled myself to not seeing a number of the D.C. United games, I am now trying to figure out how to wrangle the funds together to see them all. That said, Charlie Davies is not the answer.

What is "Leg?"

If "Charlie Davies is not the answer," then I should probably define the question. The problem is that D.C. United is rebuilding. The D.C. attack has suffered for the past three years as Jaime aged, Gomez left and aged, and Emilio. . . I don't know, discovered a love of hot dogs? Although D.C. is a young team, it has no returning strikers from last season. They have no homegrown or young strikers that are on-going projects that will yield returns in seasons to come. In every other position, D.C. has young and promising players and/or "project players" learning the in background, but D.C.'s projected starting strikers are has-beens, never-weres, and Charlie Davies (a might-be). McCarty and Najar are promising goal threats, but they both have historically played out of the midfield. A potent midfield offense is probably essential, but also insufficient.

Davies Could Be Big, Big, Big, Big Bugs

Yes, that's a They Might Be Giants reference up there; you can judge me, it's fine. Davies might be the real deal; he could be a giant in this league. The problem, as I see it, is if he is good, he's not going to want to stick around - he's had his foot into the European game and will want to return. If European teams don't want Davies, it will probably because he has not recovered from his injuries and is not the player that he was. It is possible that there may be a happy medium in which he is a decent-enough MLS striker, but isn't good enough for a European club. More likely, he will either be too good to stay or not good enough to do the same. So, the team should probably assume that he is not going to be around for the 2012 season and D.C. is back to be looking for a reliable scoring option at forward again.

Stanky Icing

I am not saying that D.C. should not have signed Davies. Not signing him would have been a mistake. But D.C. needs options behind him to rise through the ranks and try to fill his shoes in the next season. D.C. needs a striker to learn from Davies and to learn the trade while Davies shoulders the majority of the goal-scoring burden. Davies himself would be perfect if D.C. were still looking to advance in the CCL. Because he is most likely a one-year deal, Davies is a perk, a crowd pleaser, icing on D.C.'s rebuilt cake.

New Faces?

It may be that United will pick up another striker to fill the role I have described, but I see that as increasingly unlikely. Fear not, however, as there are pre-existing options. Rookie draft pick Blake Brettschneider is getting a look from Olsen and the staff. He scored a couple of times in the most recent pre-season game, but predicting future performance from pre-season games is something akin to Santeria. Nevertheless, he is a potential option. Also, D.C. has two young and promising players in Pontius and Najar who have, at times, played as forwards. While both have spent considerable time playing on the wings, D.C. has a relative surplus of talent on the wings and just signed another winger in Fred. To me, this indicates that one, if not both, of them will be considered a striker and spend most of their time on the pitch as a forward. If I am correct, then I my guess is that it will be at least Pontius. Whether a new signing or a young existing player, Wolff, Ngwenya, and Davies should not be accepted by the Black-and-Red faithful as D.C.'s primary strikers this year or D.C. is going to be back to square-one when it comes to scoring in 2012.

*An Aside - I am watching this Olimpique Marseille - Manchester United Champions' League game and I have to say - OM's third/Champions' League kits last year were absolutely bad ass. I know that the teams want their supporters to buy new merchandise every year (see: D.C. United's third jersey), but they really should have kept last year's jersey.

D.C. United Preseason

2011-02-20T12:04:00.000-08:00

Is There Such A Thing As A "Loud" Offseason?

So, D.C. United was horrible last year. If you missed that, then there is no real reason for you to be reading my posts. Not that there is otherwise. Anyway, DC United has not been quiet in the off-season, beginning with signing Ben Olsen as permanent head coach (a process that was handled poorly and was slightly embarrassing). I'm tempted to list all the changes because there are so many, but I want to talk/write about some of them. Let's jump in, shall we?

Vayacondios

United shed a number of players. Underperforming and highly-paid strikers, Pablo Hernandez and Danny Allsopp are gone. Not highly-paid, but still underperforming striker Adam Christman was sent packing as well. Jaime Moreno was rather ignominiously forced into retirement, a move that angered a number of the D.C. United faithful, particularly in the way it was handled. Maybe - he's looking for another team that will have him for one more season. At any rate, he is not on the team roster. So, of D.C.'s strikers from last year, none remain. Not surprising for a team that had record-breakingly bad offense.

Much of the midfield remained intact. Rodney Wallace (who wants to be a defender) was involved in a trade to Portland and Carlos Valera was waived. Neither was a large part of the team last year (Wallace was injured and Valera joined with much of the season elapsed). Boskovic, Najar, Tino, Pontius, Simms, King, Morsink, Shanosky are all still with the team.

In defense, Pena (yes, he played for D.C. United last year) is no longer with the team. Recently, Julius James was waived which surprised many who felt that he was D.C.'s best defender for the later part of the season (and was far cheaper than Dejan Jakovic, his partner in central defense).

Troy Perkins was sent to Portland. Although many expected Perkins' season to improve from his previous one, his massive salary was moved off D.C. United's books in exchange for another 'keeper.

To all of these players, I wish the best. They were part of a poor team that may have made everyone look worse than they were. I suspect all of them will have greater success elsewhere.

It's Either Cold or Hot, often Humid, the Infrastructure Is A Bad Joke, Traffic Is A Nightmare, and Housing Prices Are Ridiculous

"Welcome to D.C." to a number of players (for expectations, see the section heading above). Having no strikers at all, D.C. picked out two forwards in the "re-entry drafts" - Joseph Ngwenya and Josh Wolff. Neither of these strikers are jaw-dropping acquisitions. Wolff has been and probably will continue to be dangerous, but he is past his prime. Ngwenya was never able to convert his athletic prowess in goals - here's hoping he has a renaissance season, but I wouldn't bet on it.

The big acquisition in the attack (and overall) has been U.S. national team striker and Sochaux man, Charlie Davies. Long story short, the night before the final 2010 World Cup qualifier, Davies was involved in a horrific traffic accident in D.C. One of the other passengers lost her life and Davies was horribly injured. Horribly. The sort of injuries that most of us would use to stay on disability payments for a half-dozen years. Davies, however, is possessed of mutant healing powers and was mobile in time for the World Cup (although not fully fit by all estimates except his own). He feels that he was not being giving the opportunity to regain his starting spot at Sochaux and has come to D.C. to prove to the world (and Bob Bradley) that he is the blazingly fast and ruthless striker that he was before his injuries. He is a risky acquisition - he is possibly fragile or may not have and never will fully recover from his injuries. Ben Olsen took a long hard look and has decided he is worth risk. If Davies is fit and performs, he can almost single-handedly end D.C.'s scoring drought.

The midfield has had two big signings - the first being Perry Kitchen, who probably will not be playing in the midfield, but as a central defender. Nevertheless, he played as a defensive mid last year and I'm including him as a midfielder for now. Olsen and his counterparts in the DC brain-trust considered him to be the best overall player in the college draft and thought he would be picked before their number three pick. He wasn't and now D.C. has him.

The bigger signing, no offense to Mr. Kitchen, has been that of Dax McCarty. McCarty was involved in a trade for Rodney Wallace. McCarty is only slightly older than Wallace and was part of FC Dallas' drive to the MLS Cup last year. He recently captained the U.S. national team (it was a B/B- team of young players being examined by Bob Bradley) in a friendly. He also scored a sick bicycle-kick goal in U.S. team training camp which was captured on film and has D.C. fans salivating into their beer cups (don't look for bicycle kick goals from McCarty during the season; it is his creativity, youth, and skill that has us drooling).

D.C. also recently added Fred to the roster - not an exciting addition and one that has had a far-from-unified fan response. Personally, I don't have a big problem with it - he was overpaid when he was here last, but I assume that has been corrected and I do think he is an MLS-quality winger, lack of scoring notwithstanding.

D.C. has not made any dramatic moves in defense. A Uruguayan defender, Rodrigo Brasesco, lauded by those who follow South American football more closely than I do, has been added and is expected to easily earn a starting position. As I mentioned earlier, it appears that Kitchen will be competing for a spot in central defense as well. D.C. also acquired Chris Korb in the draft, but he is expected mainly to provide cover. Similarly, Daniel Woolard was added to the roster, but is not a projected starter. Home-grown defender Ethan White was also added to the roster; he too does not figure into the starting eleven picture at this point and is projected to be a reserve.

In goal, D.C. made two acquisitions while actually only attempting to make one. United acquired Steve Cronin from Portland in exchange for Troy Perkins. It seemed a reasonable trade as Perkins had been disappointing and D.C. had been attempt to acquire Cronin before Perkins became available. Unfortunately, Cronin has broken his wrist in pre-season and with Bill Hamid still recovering from shoulder surgery (he'll be back soon, but the first few games are questionable), the Black-and-Red were considering putting me in goal after my showing in our indoor league last year. Fortunately (unfortunately for me), D.C. had acquired recently-retired Pat Onstad, not as a keeper, but as a goalkeeping coach. He has agreed to come out of retirement for an unspecified period, I assume simply to kill my dreams of ever sharing the field at RFK with my heroes.

So Much for Closure

In conclusion, there is far too much left to write for this to be concluded properly and I hope to write more. Of course, since I haven't written since before Christmas, more frequent posting may be unlikely. Nevertheless, I have plenty of thoughts, comments, and concerns before the season really starts going. I have left off a couple of the other United acquisitions and releases, aiming mostly to hot the big ones. In terms of D.C.'s adding and dropping of players, I have to think that D.C. has done a pretty good job. There remains of the question of who will stick the ball in the net if Davies isn't 100%, but Olsen and company have added some exciting players and D.C.'s suddenly young team looks to have improved upon last season.

Stratford

2011-02-03T10:36:00.001-08:00

So. This is something I have been looking to write about, but i have held back because I don't feel like I have all the facts and I don't think anyone really does, but I have very strong opinions on the matter. Now let me start by being very clear that I am not from England, and I have no direct ties to Tottenham other than being a fan of the club for several years now. I have no family from the area and I certainly don't live there.

The Olympic Stadium debacle that has been brewing in England has been a very controversial issue over the past few months. Tottenham, West Ham and Leyton Orient are trying to get this stadium for use to play football in. I will state my opinion here, and I believe that the only club that I think has true rights to the stadium is Leyton Orient, and I get the impression that they don't really want it either, but simply want to make sure that Spurs and West Ham don't get it. I do not want my team to move from N17 to Newham. I am with Tottenham MP David Lammy in that I believe it would be wrong for Spurs to keep the name Tottenham if the leave the area. With this in mind, I am seriously opposed to Tottenham taking the stadium.

From a the angle of Tottenham, I think it would be a mistake on several points. First, I think it would put significant pressure on West Ham and Orient and would seriously put Leyton Orient's survival as a club at risk. This is wrong in itself. It also breaks rules of the Premier League and Football League. Daniel Levy has said Spurs will be leaving N17 no matter what. Why? What is keeping us from completing the Northumberland Development Project that has been developing for several years now? This is a point that has yet to be answered and really needs to be. The club does so much for a very downtrodden area and would most likely destroy that area by leaving.

From a fan standpoint, I think the move is unthinkable. First, one of Spurs major gripes against Arsenal is that they moved to our area of London and think they are something more than a South London club, and we do hold that against them. We would be no better, and as a club who tries to take the moral high ground and claim we are a better club, we would be just as bad if we moved. I also believe that White Hart Lane holds a great deal of history and it would be terrible to leave it all behind. The beauty of the NDP was that it would keep us at our home where we have been for a century. The other big thing is that the NDP would help to make N17 a much nicer place to be and would hopefully help to bring new transport links to an area which is somewhat isolated in a city with the best subway system on earth(when they aren't closing stations to repair everything).

I am a big supporter of the We are N17 group as it is doing things in a nonviolent and very rational and reasonable manner. The club has been ignoring the fans so far and I want more answers. Most Spurs and Hammers fans want nothing to do with the Olympic Stadium and I am in that group. So here it is. Say no to Stratford. We are N17.

We Are N17Visit and sign the petition

Tangerine dreams

2011-01-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

I feel awful that I so drastically underestimated Blackpool when I relegated them at the start of the season. The tangerines have not only been one of the most suprising teams, they have also been the most exciting. Ian Holloway has put together an amazing team with spirit to burn. They also shockingly play lovely, attacking football.

There have been a number of complaints that the Barclay's Premier League is not a quality league, but I think it is. With teams like Blackpool, West Brom, Spurs, and Chelsea, we are getting to witness the game as it should be played. The beautiful game exists somewhere other than Barcelona. I think the sad part is that teams like Manchester City can be at the top of the table when they can be seen playing such ugly and negative football. The same can be said of Manchester United as well. Since they haven't played particularly well as most would expect, they seem to play a bit negatively. I personally hope that one of the positive teams will win the league this year, and I hate to admit it, but I'd prefer Arsenal to Man City or Man United if those were my only choices.

I think another really positive sign that football is going in the right direction is that teams like Bolton, Wigan and Newcastle who are usually considered physical team, are all playing football to differing levels of success. But to see these teams trying to play the beautiful game as it was intended is a bright point. And it is good to see that there is only one player in those three teams that I really believe is a thug and a bit negative. Tiote for Newcastle is a walking red card and I was discussing him with someone and argued that I think he is a blight on what is a very positive side in Newcastle. Maybe I'm being a bit harsh, but even Joey Barton is doing well, when he's not punching his fellow professionals.

But back to the team that brought me to post today, Blackpool. With the transfer window open, it is a breath of fresh air to hear Holloway making sure that his squad stays together when he said that it was ridiculous to see the teams below Blackpool trying to buy his players. He's right. Why should Charlie Adam go to a team that might actually go down when his team is fighting for a top ten finish. It would be nice to see more players and managers have enough spirit to stick with their team and not simply chase money. Pride and glory will always be worth that bit more.

Go on you Tangerines! Just please be nice to my Spurs.... :)

End of Year : Vol. 3 - Team of the Year

2010-12-27T11:44:00.000-08:00

I want to give a huge thank you to anyone who reads here. I like writing about football, and I make a big effort to write something that is factually accurate and fun to read. I really believe that football is fun because it is a great game, but also because it is so easy to talk to people around the world about it. Sadly in a country like the US, it isn't as easy, so I write here or drone on and on to my co-writer and get some of this stuff out of my head. I try to be a bit original, and different rather than focusing on the same old stuff you can read at ESPN and Sky Sports. With that in mind, I am going to be a bit conventional and I want to give some individual dap to some of the best on the planet and name my team of the year.

Goal:Valdes
Defense:Lahm-Pique-Puyol-Baines
Midfield:Messi-Xavi-Sneijder-Bale
Forwards:Villa-Gyan
Manager:Mourinho

Subs:Hart, Van Der Vaart, Iniesta, Dzeko, Donovan, Schweinsteiger, Ibrahimovic

Goal
Valdes-I think he's the better keeper than Casillas. Call me crazy, but I think he is so important to the Barca team when they struggle to score, he always keeps them in it.
Defense
Lahm-German captain, and one of the great right backs in the game. Funny that he used to prefer to play left back. None the less, I think he is a great leader and a great defender.
Pique and Puyol-This is a pairing to end all pairings. When you watch Barca play, it is amazing the understanding they have and to see the shape of the defense when Abidal or Alves go tearing down their side is fantastic. Great defenders, and Pique can score with his feet. And I haven't even mentioned how important they are to the Spanish national team.
Baines-Yes. I mean Leighton Baines. He has been in great form this season, and he is one of the few proper left backs who can defend and come forward. He should have been in South Africa. Perhaps even instead of Ashley Cole.
Midfield
Messi-Best player on the planet. He will also be one of the all time greats when he finishes his career in about a decade or decade in a half.
Xavi-I'd be stupid to forget this man and you could argue that Iniesta could be here instead, but I think Xavi is the focal point of the offense for club and country and he is the best at what he does.
Sneijder-Scary coming forward and a great presence in any midfield. Made sucha difference to the treble winning side Inter, and to his national team, willing them to the final.
Bale-Breakout player of the year. He is the reason I became a Spurs fan several year ago. Now that he is the player he has become, I am so proud to have seen him then. He is fast, tricky, and is the reason Tottenham has gone where they have.
Forwards
Villa-He was the force that kept Valencia as high in La Liga as they were. He has been a big part in the national team since Euro 2008. He has been fantastic With Barca.
Gyan-The feel good player of the year. He was they key to Ghana going as far as they did without Essien. Now he is tearing up the premier League and gets the credit he deserves.
Manager
Mourinho-It's the Special one. And he keeps building that reputation every year.
Subs
Hart-Should have been the England number 1 in June. Deservedly, he is now. Was amazing at Birmingham City, and is doing the same for Manchester City now.
Van Der Vaart-Has been great for the national team, but now gets to show his ability at Club level. He has helped to will Spurs to victories and will be a big part as they go forward.
Iniesta-How can I say anything about this guy that hasn't been said. Crucial for club and country and scored the winning goal in the World Cup final.
Dzeko-Amazing player who is getting the respect he deserves. Hopefully he will get the chance to do it at the top level since Wolfsburg is falling off a bit.
Donovan-Spiritual leader of the US team. Deserves so much more, but he has been trapped by MLS.
Schweinsteiger-2nd best passer of the ball only to Xavi. He is one of my favorite players on the planet. His loyalty is amazing.
Ibrahimovic-He has brought AC Milan back to life. That is an amazing feat. Coming back to the national team has also been good for him and the team. He may be a bit of a nutter, but he's a spellbinding player.

End of Year : Vol. 2 - The EPL and CL

2010-12-23T10:58:00.001-08:00

if you've been reading here for a while, you'll know I love to give my opinion, and I make predictions with little worry about how often I'll be wrong. My collaborator here can attest to this. Here's a look back at my views on the EPL and CL.

The Barclay's Premier League
here's what I said before...

Predictions
Relegation:
17.Wolves
-----
18.Blackburn
19.Blackpool
20.West Brom

Top 6:
1.Man United
2.Chelsea
3.Tottenham
4.Man City
---
5.Arsenal
6.Liverpool

As for the relegation battle, I was really wrong. I still think Wolves will survive and Blackburn will probably go down, but I didn't think West Ham and Wigan would be quite as bad, not to mention Fulham. I think in the end, it'll be
17.Fulham
---------
18.Blackburn
19.Wigan
20.West Ham

As for the top 6, I think I am still pretty well on... But admittedly, shortly after the season started, I began telling my co-conspirator that Liverpool wouldn't finish the season in the top 10. As things go on, I think I was definitely on to something there. I still don't think they will be in the top 10 at the end of the season. I actually will keep my top 5 in tact. United still haven't lost, and the Chelsea slide won't last forever. It will take major loses to see Manchester United slide out of first at the end. I think Man City's loss on Monday does make me wonder whether they won't miss out for a second straight year, but at this point, I think I'll stick to my top five.

Champions League
So, looking over my predictions, I got 12 of 16 teams correct. Sadly, only 7 in the correct place in their group. I was reasonably confident Spurs would make it but I never really believed we would win the group. I was right that Arsenal would scrape through, but who thought it would be in second? I knew Bayern and Roma would get through as well as Chelsea and Marseille and United were always going to win their group. I will say this, I am proud to have gotten 12 of 16 right. That's better than I usually do. I took punts on Partizan, Ajax, Bursaspor and Rubin and was wrong. But now we look forward to the knockout stages. Here's how I think it will go...

Roma v Shakhtar Donetsk
Tough one to call in my opinion. This will come down to how Roma handle themselves in Donetsk. I think Shakhtar will pull through this one narrowly.
AC Milan v Tottenham
Tough one for me to call. All my thoughts say that Spurs go through. We have pace, youth, creativity and a will to prove everyone wrong. Milan has experience, and are top of Serie A. I think Spurs move on to the next round though.
Valencia v Schalke
This is going to be a fun tie to watch in my opinion. Schalke has been turning it on in the CL and struggling in the Bundesliga. Valencia are a very good team and I think they will go on as they should have a few players back from injury.
Inter Milan v Bayern Munich
This is the easiest to call. Bayern will get their revenge for May. Inter are awful and just sacked Benitez, and I don't see them turning it around.
Lyon v Real Madrid
This should be a Madrid romp, but Lyon did get the better of them last year. Lyon are a very good team and can handle themselves in defense. I think this will be the most interesting and I think Madrid will finally break the 6 year streak of going out in the first round of the knockouts.
Arsenal v Barcelona
Barca... This will be the most fun to watch as Barca are the best team on the planet right now. Arsenal will not have a chance.
Marseille v Manchester United
I think this will be the upset fixture. I think Marseille will beat United. It will be cagey, but I think Marseille were the worst match up for United as they are good defensively and very good attacking.
Copenhagen v Chelsea
Is this even a possibility? No, Chelsea will make their way to the next round.

End of Year : Vol. 1 - FIFA

2010-12-22T14:57:00.001-08:00

I'm back. This will begin a series of end of year posts.

Today, I want to talk about FIFA. FIFA has been one of the big stories in the ending this year. I think it has become even more clear that FIFA is one of the most corrupt organizations on the planet. The English media made light of the scandalous actions of many of the FIFA executive committee members over the past two decades.

First, I want to discuss the awarding of the 2018 and 2022 World cups to Russia and Qatar respectively. At first, I thought Russia was an awful choice. I wanted England because I knew that I would probably be able to go, and hopefully I'd already be living there and since I missed my chance when the Cup was held in the US in 1994 I really want the chance to go again. After some thought, I think Russia is a brilliant choice. I think the Russian FA will need to work diligently to fight racism and the government will have to work to make it a more hospitable locale for visiting fans, but it certainly can work. But with that said, I think the awarding of the 2022 World Cup to Qatar is absolutely ridiculous.

The 2022 bid was one that many people, including myself, was a lock to be either the US or Australia. I think there are so many problems with the bid and the actual possibility of running this event there. As for the bid, it seems that it was bought. I can't prove that, but there seemed to be a lot of funny business happening. The most damning point about the bid was that Qatar was the only country to get a negative technical bid. Even with 12 years to work on it, it is crazy to think that everything wrong in the technical bid could be addressed.

As for the post bid silliness, they want to hold the cup in January. Where was that in the bid book? I understand why, but we should have been made aware of that beforehand. I thought they were going to have air conditioned stadiums. Realistically, I could write all day about what is wrong with the Cup being awarded to Qatar now. Maybe in a few years time, I would change my tune, but now, no. Let me just quickly run through my issues with this(or at least the problems I can think of now). Homosexuality is illegal in Qatar. Not a problem for me, but this is a tournament which is supposed to be inclusive. Israel would have to be given special permission to get into the country if they qualify. And believe me. I hope like hell that they do. Alcohol is not allowed in Qatar, and they are going to have to make special amendments to the law to allow it during the World Cup. Women are still second class citizens in the Muslim world. Enough said there. The temperature is 50 degrees centigrade in the summer. This is dangerous not only to the players, but to fans traveling between games to and from their hotels and now they want to move a summer tournament to the winter. Doesn't tradition mean anything? The Cup would be held essentially in one city. Now they want to allow other countries to host some games. Where was that in the bid book? And how can we be sure that neighboring countries would be accepting of the changes that need to be made to run this in their country? The whole modular stadiums thing. It just screams safety hazard to me. I mean, I love and own Ikea furniture, but it is not the most sturdy stuff ever. I would hate to see 60,000 people piled on the contents of an Ikea. Doha has only like one stadium. It just seems silly. There's more, but I'm tired of complaining about this already.

Jack Warner. Seriously, he is one of the most corrupt and abhorrent human beings on the face of the planet. He is a liar, a cheat, and simply a bad person. He was caught selling world cup tickets. I mean, how ridiculous is that? My big worry is that he could get the FIFA presidency if Blatter is ousted. With the people who are in Warner's pockets, as well as those who don't dare oppose him now, imagine him with more power. He could ruin the game with his sin bins or something.

Blatter. I know you want to work on your legacy, but at least be honest about it then. You essentially let several countries(US, England, Spain, Korea, Japan, etc.) was millions of dollars preparing their bids which they had absolutely no chance of winning. You should be ashamed. With the economy in the state it is in everywhere, especially in Spain right now, this was just wrong to give false hope and waste finances. Hopefully we will see the back of you in six months.

Finally, I honestly believe we will see the back of Blatter soon in one way or another. I think that if Blatter remains in May, you will likely see a breakup of FIFA. This is going to be not only through the media and the Football associations, but through governmental action. The blase nature of FIFA which basically believes it is above the law will not stand much longer. FIFA has stepped in to block governments and hold back the game in parts of the world where the government should be at the forefront. This will not last much longer. I'll put my money on that.

More to come over the next couple of days. And with some luck, we'll see the first musings of our newest writer if I can coax him up to the keyboard.

World Cup Fail

2010-12-05T13:49:00.000-08:00

Set Honesty Aside When Dealing with FIFA

Anyone who pays any attention to the wheelings and dealings of FIFA is well aware that it is a cesspool of politics, corruption, and petty would-be dictators. Sure, CONCACAF is worse and even the USSF has had plenty of low moments, but FIFA is ridiculous. Only Sepp Blatter, Jack Warner, and the rest know just how much money they've managed to slide into their bank accounts throughout the bidding process. That said, I'm not certain that FIFA made the wrong choices when selecting the World Cup bids. The U.S. had a good bid, a safe bid that was guaranteed to make FIFA plenty of money with plenty of ready-to-go good venues, a relatively fan-friendly atmosphere, and good logistics. But there was simply no "wow"-factor. Perhaps bringing the World Cup to the U.S. would have helped solidify and accelerate the growth of soccer as a professional sport in one of the, if not the, most important markets in the world. But that is not FIFA's job - that is the USSF's job and MLS' job. Moreover, they are doing a fairly good job of it. MLS is expanding into new markets, DC United is about the closest to a team being "on the rocks" and that is not for lack of fans; ratings for the World Cup were quite good and traveling European teams continue to draw large crowds.

Let's Talk about Russia, That's Less Painful

The English bid, it could be said, was comparable to the U.S. bid. Safe and steady and an eventuality, really. That may piss off Jack Warner, but England is pretty much all set to hold a World Cup. The stadiums are there, the fans are there, and the logistics have been tested regularly by virtue of the EPL and their four slots into the Champions' League. The World Cup will come to England. However, that's partially the problem. There's nothing new or exciting. Many of the traveling fans will have already been to England. The World Cup isn't going to spur much new growth, it will create no new stunning stadiums and new signs of development.

Russia is regaining its strength, influence, and its wealth. Yes, it is ridiculously corrupt. Yes, it has invaded one of its neighbors recently. Yes, the press is under-pressure (unlike, say, England). But the World Cup will be bigger for Russia than it will be for England. The English love football, but for Russia and the Russians this will fit into the narrative of their re-emergence from the dark times of the 1980s and 90s. Russia will spend more money wastefully to make the World Cup a bigger event than England could - not by virtue of wealth but by virtue of an autocratic government combined with a populace that currently wants to show the world that they are back and need to be considered again.

Similarly, I will not complain in the slightest if China is awarded the World Cup in 2026. China, for all its problems, is an amazing country that is amassing wealth and influence. It will put on a hell of a show for the World Cup, FIFA and the rest of us know it (did you see the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics?).

Iran Will Not Attack the 2022 World Cup Final, Even If It Is the U.S. v. Israel

First of all, stop with the racist and Islamophobic garbage. Right. Now. It's goddamn embarrassing. Will Qatar have to be on alert for crazies? Sure. But keep in mind that Qatar's security forces have less compunction about repressing their own populace than a Western democracy and they will be less fettered by civil liberties when it comes their investigations and detentions. Qatar houses plenty of U.S. military personnel and there aren't car bombs going off every day in Doha.

Arrive by Water Taxi!

There are plenty of questions about the Qatar bid, but they have 12 years to plan and virtually unlimited money to throw at the issue. Because that is what Qatar has promised for the World Cup - an over-funded spectacle. Have you seen the stadiums? Yes, a stadium whose outer-skin appears to be made of plasma televisions is tremendously wasteful - but damn, if it won't create a memorable image. Qatar, like many of it's neighbors, is trying to build itself up as a tourist destination. The accommodations will be top notch. If anything, that should be the greatest fear. A friend in Doha tells me that she either stays in for the night or spends a tremendous amount of money because there are no available cheap options for non-natives and prices will be even higher around the World Cup. Nevertheless, outdoor, but cooled, drinking areas may sound weird and forced, but it also sounds like it could be a fairly impressive feat of engineering, much like the stadiums. FIFA will get to show off amazing visuals, beginning but not ending with the new architecture. It is a new an exciting locale for traveling fans in a country that will do everything that it can to show off for the visitors. Some fans may show some trepidation when it comes to traveling to the Middle East, but the same was said about Africa.

If You're Expecting Failure, Expect Disappointment

Both Russia and Qatar will have amazing World Cups. The countries may not have the most profitable World Cup. Those countries might be better served to spend their money elsewhere, but that is not FIFA's concern. My largest complaint is that FIFA has granted the World Cup to Qatar, one of the countries that refused to play against Israel and forced FIFA to move Israel into UEFA. FIFA slaps down any country whose government interferes with their domestic federation (supposedly), but has missed the opportunity to law down the law that any member nation must at least tacitly accept any other nation that FIFA has accepted into its membership. That annoys me. Sure, now that they have the World Cup, Qatar has said that it will accept the Israeli team, should they qualify, but FIFA had the opportunity to push Qatar for something more permanent. Israel-Palestine is not FIFA's responsibility, but they like to throw their weight around, bully governments, and to enforce their laws, but have chosen not to do so this time.

The U.S. put in a decent bid that may have been successful against Japan or Korea and maybe even Australia, but Qatar was always going to be a tough bid to beat. England probably had a better chance against its UEFA rivals, but could promise nothing other than success and profit and, from the other bids, FIFA can do better. If FIFA ever runs into financial difficulty, it will knocking down the door of the U.S. and England, but until that happens, the Anglos need to find a new way to pitch their countries that make them more appealing. Yes, FIFA is corrupt and the most corrupt countries won their bids, but it is not as outlandish as it sounds.

MLS Cup 2010

2010-11-21T09:59:00.000-08:00

All Four Dallas Fans Must Be Delighted

None of the marquee teams made the MLS Cup final and one of the teams will be sewing on their first MLS Cup star. It's incredibly hard to argue that FC Dallas do not deserve to be there. Well, not that hard. The on-going debate about MLS Cup vs. the Supporters' Shield rages on and thanks to their incredible start, L.A. has not gone home empty-handed. Nevertheless, the Gals collapsed late in the season and seemed incapable of bring their A-game against any opponent other than Seattle. FC Dallas had one hell of a run and has refused to lose games all season. Atiba Harris can go ***** ***** ***** his ***** *** **********ing ******* with a blue ****** *****; I'll still support them as I have to feel they deserve it more.

Speaking of Collapses

Colorado is there too, after squeaking into the playoffs and winning the East. Wow, wasn't the East terrible this year? Columbus collapsed and couldn't hang on to the top spot in the East. The RedBull New York Red Bulls of Harrison, New Jersey had a magnificent turn-around from being the worst team in the league last year (hopefully, DC can repeat the feat next year). Much has been made of RBNYRBHNJ purchase of three designated players. That said, their first, Angel, and a number of non-designated players like Ream and Lindpere were the ones who dragged them to the top. Rafa Marquez (I didn't think I could hate the Pink Cows anymore, but they've pulled it off. What a franchise!) has been fine, as has Henry, but New Jersey wasn't leaning heavily upon them. However, the MetroScum were inconsistent and I would not have predicted them to make it too far in a playoff format.

FCD FTW

For my prediction, I'm going to say FC Dallas 2-1. I also think it will be a good game. Both teams have reliable offenses and good strike partnerships - neither really plays on the counter. I expect attacking soccer from them both. Although the game is being played in the frozen tundra of Toronto and the game could slow down if the players become frozen to the turf. The cold may play to Colorado's advantage, but I don't expect it to be too large a factor. So there it is: my prediction. Let's see how much crow I have to eat tomorrow.

P.S.

"Sporting Kansas City?" Yeah, it's a stupid name. Yeah, it's another name that harkens back to the Old Country (and to Portugal? How obscure - maybe they're trying to appeal to indie kids.) instead of trying to manufacture a new club. But it's better than "the Kansas City Wizards" and certainly better than "the Wiz." I know I follow at team called "United," but I agree with those who argue attempting to link MLS clubs to European giants, if only in name, sells those clubs short. I freely admit that I don't have any great names to recommend, but I would like to see a club take the suffix "S.C." rather than "F.C." if only to be true to our culture and to begin to craft our own identity as a league. But before you go too critical on MLS team for the derivative names, let's not forget that "serious" soccer countries in South America are riddled with teams named the likes of "Everton."

I hate hearing the same old crap....

2010-11-09T18:07:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the Spurs v. Sunderland game, and as a Spurs fan, there are several things I am sick of hearing from the commentators.

Bale was Shutdown
Just because we don't score off of a Bale cross doesn't mean he was shutdown. Tonight, Bale was decent, but I'd argue that he wasn't taking people on because in the Prem, all he does is get kicked when he does that. Nedem Onuoha did not shut him down. He got some good crosses in, but since we gave up early on playing in the center of the park, he didn't have the space to run past them and Sunderland packed the box as soon as he got the ball, so we didn't score that way.

Bentley was from Arsenal
Bentley was at Arsenal at academy level. But he is a Spurs fan, his family are Spurs fans.... We don't care about his weak tie to Arsenal. The reason fans get on his back is because they don't like him because they don't think he's good enough. I am a rare exception, but that's why... not cuz he was a gooner.

Always bringing up Juande Ramos
Please, shut up about Ramos. We're over him, it was two years ago and we're in the Champions League. Don't have anything to say about him.

The only way we get back into the CL is by winning it
We are still right around fourth. Arsenal and City are struggling. Chelsea and United aren't looking great either. We still are in it in the race for fourth again.

Now, this is gonna come off as a bit mad, but why can't we win the Champions League? I don't honestly believe we will, but it's not impossible that we could win it. We beat the European Champions. We can beat Arsenal, Chelsea and City. We are a good team and can beat anyone on our day.

I know we have been a bit disappointing, but we've been Spurs. Consistently inconsistent. Beat a big team, lose to a small one. I honestly hope we can get on a run, but we're not out of either the race for fourth or the Champions League. Stop hating.

A Quick Thought

2010-10-12T18:38:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, I asked the rhetorical question who DC United's DP, Branko Boskovic, was. The question remains, but it's a bit more existential now. The day that I wrote this, Boskovic captained Montenegro to a nil-nil draw with England at Wembley in their Euro 2012 qualifier. By all accounts, Boskovic has been a valuable contributor to the relatively remarkable start that Montenegro has had to Euro qualifying. DC United supporters remain unconvinced. Any post on a United message board that mentions Boskovic is certain to start a debate: Is Boskovic an average level central midfielder, no more capable of adding to DC's attack than any other United attacker? Or is he a clever passer of the ball with good vision and quick feet who simply doesn't have any talent in front of him with whom to combine?

Boskovic is inexpensive as far as MLS Designated Players go. He may have neither the name nor the talent of the marquee DPs like Henry, Beckham, or Marquez, but he isn't paid as they are either. Nevertheless, he does make nearly double of the next player on the team, but he hasn't led DC to glory.

If his primary talents do lie in passing, then it can be expected that it will take time for him to adjust to the team as his teammates learn to read his passes and he learns to read their movements. Moreover, the attackers in front of him have struggled all year and, to a man, lack speed to really exploit through-balls into space.

Boskovic, for his part, however, has failed to adapt. He has still failed to adapt to the physicality of the league. He is, no doubt, being hacked. But that is an element of the game in MLS. Moreover, the same charge that I leveled against Gallardo, I level against Boskovic - he cannot play the game as he wants it to play in his head. The Austrian Bundesliga may have superior players to Major League Soccer; maybe they are tactically more aware. Boskovic is no longer playing in the Austrian Bundesliga, he's not even playing with a top MLS side. It could be simply that he is an above par player who doesn't have the right skill set for MLS. However, more often he passes to players who are well covered and that's when he doesn't pass it directly to the opposition. I would be less critical if he were getting the ball to his teammates who subsequently lost it. Often he looks par for the United course: he spends too much time of the ball, dribbles into the traffic, and then gives the ball away.

What about next year? A lot of fans seem to think the Boskovic is not worth the money that he is being paid, but it is unlikely that he will stay at a decreased salary. I am tempted to give him the benefit of the doubt; he was tossed into a horrible situation, it took him some time to get match fit, and given all the injuries, he has had no consistency in the starting eleven due to injuries, and frankly, DC does not have the type of talent necessary to be competitive in the league this year. So, I want to see what Boskovic looks like with a rebuilt team and with an offense that was actually designed to incorporate him. Frankly, I still don't know who he is because this year looks too much like an outlier.

Re: Who Needs This Kind of Trouble

2010-10-08T20:52:00.000-07:00

Lacking creativity, I thought I would throw in my opinions on the Liverpool debacle.

I believe the claims of xenophobia and terrorism are somewhat over-stated, but not totally out-of-line. But it should be noted that Liverpool are facing the 9 point deduction of a club entering administration, should the sale not go through by, I believe, Wednesday. That's a big deal. Liverpool FC should not be in such a position - it is one of the most well-known clubs in the world and it's eminence is for it's successes, not failures.

Gilette and Hicks, I would argue, have financially run the club into the ground. It was not with malice, neglect, or casual impertinence. Rather, they, and the Glazers, attempted to use accounting and financial techniques often referred to as the Anglo-Saxon model. While such leveraging was not uncommon in England in general, it was not in English sport. The Americans came in intending to make a profit whereas Abramovich and the various Asian billionaires expected to lose money on the venture. As we all know now, the risks of the model were massively under-estimated and relied upon a relatively loose monetary supply and large amounts of credit. That dried up and has spelled disaster for Liverpool and may yet do the same to Manchester United. The same argument can be made for the now infamous "spades in the ground" comment about Liverpool's new stadium. Who can say whether their statement was intended to deceive, but once the financial crisis hit, they (and many others) were simply unable to fund such an undertaking.

However, even before all of this happened there was resistance to Hicks and Gilette and the Glazers. "Xenophobia" may be too broad. There are a variety of foreign owners and they face varying levels of derision. The Americans, however, were a particular insult. That soccer is not our national sport is known far-and-wide in Europe, which led the supporters to doubt their new owners dedication to the club. Their suspicions were further inflamed when the Americans made it clear that they were interested in the profits they believed they could reap. In this case, the American Liberalism (profit is always better than not) came into conflict with the European liberalism (a wariness of companies, businessmen, and the profit-motive). The initial resistance was sheer anti-Americanism. It's ugly, to be sure, but Russians, South-East Asians, and Middle Easterners have all faced anti-Orientalism when they assumed ownership. The Americans, however, made their case poorly and made their situations worse. Hicks and Gilette said that they were unlikely to move money from their American sports teams to their Premiership club, in fact, it was more likely that the opposite would happen. Handling of supporters has been abysmal, replete with gaffes and unvetted comments. When the financial crisis exacerbated the situation and the supporters had legitimate complaints, the Americans were doomed.

But the Kop would be wrong to pin Liverpool's failures on the field on Hicks and Gilette. Rafa Benitez complained that he wasn't supportered financially in the transfer market, but in a time of frenzied buying, Liverpool had a roster that should have made it more than competitive. The fans united behind Benitez because he opposed Hicks and Gilette, but that was deal with the devil, or at least the manager who was, in my opinion, killing the team's performance on the pitch. I have no problem with Hicks and Gilette being ousted - they gambled, they lost. They don't deserve to make a profit on the club because the club really is in financial ruin and it's hard to see how that is anyone's fault but their own. However, that more Americans are lined up to purchase the club is worrying. Liverpool will not have the Aschenputtel effect that Chelsea and the Citizens had to engender support for the new owners. Liverpudlians have unrealistic expectations and will DEMAND their their club routinely contend for the Premier League title and will DEMAND that the club perform on the highest level of European soccer. But there is too much wealth and too many contenders now. As if Tottenham weren't a threat before, the new association with AEG and it's ridiculous levels of capital may move Tottenham to a more permanent place near the top of the table, where it is likely to remain crowded for the foreseeable future. The clock will not roll back and Liverpool's pre-eminence will be harder to maintain than ever.

Who needs this kind of trouble?

2010-10-07T12:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm back after being AWOL for like two and a half weeks. But here I am to give a quick thought on the biggest news story of the season so far that actually involves football(Sorry Wayne, your off the field antics don't bother me). The insane battle amongst the Liverpool board(including the owners) and the Spirit of Shankly and Hicks and Gillete are coming to an end. Or so it seemed early yesterday. New England Sports Ventures have come in with a bid to take the club from Hicks and Gilette. As of last night/this morning, Hicks is fighting to keep control of the Merseyside club.

I have two questions. First, why would Hick want to keep this club, even in the short term, when the Xenophobic fans are fighting to get rid of him? Second, why would another American want anything to do with a club that is in free fall with fans who have been chanting "Yanks out?" I am sure that most fans could care less about where the owners are from as long as they don't destroy the club, but to be so small minded as to chant xenophobically, is a problem in my mind. There is shared blame in this situation. I think Hicks and Gilette were not prepared for the task at hand with Liverpool, and I believe the fans have carried themselves in an improper fashion as it goes with Burning American flags and making more of a deal about where the owners are from.

I am in a small minority, but I see the Spirit of Shankly as a terrorist organization who has been attempting to intimidate the owners and their business partners into submission. Their internet campaigns against Hicks and Gilette amount to harrassment and their threats against Royal Bank of Scottland are unacceptable. I think everyone needs to step back and look at the overall situation. Hicks needs to find a way out which lets him leave without a ajor loss, but he should lose something from this since he handled this poorly from the start. Spirit of Shankly should make sure to apologize to the club and fans for their inappropriate behavior and look to carry themselves more positively and help the club. Perhaps even launch their own bid to run the club themselves as they see fit. I am a passionate fan, but I think their passion borders on fanaticism of a very negative nature. I don't like Liverpool, but I wish all involved good luck in moving this situation along because no supporter should be this unhappy with their club.

A Letter to Brendan: It's Good to Be Donkey-Punched

2010-09-19T07:28:00.000-07:00

I'm Probably a Cutter

I said that I probably wouldn't write about DC United again, but last night's loss to LA was a kick to the genitals. The loss to the Crew in the U.S. Open Cup was a kick to the genitals. When they lost again to the Crew a couple days later, it was a kick to the ol' rod-and-tackle. It's good to feel again.

Actually, I'm completely serious. Last night, Brendan sent me a text saying that he was "foolish" enough to believe that DC might actually pull off a win when leading 1-0 in the 80th minute. I respond that I was similarly foolish and we have been watching our team concede goals late all season. Actually, Brendan, that was the emotion talking. You were right to believe. Six weeks ago, you never would have fallen for it because there was no reason to believe it. This time, the team gave us a reason.

Why Brendan Was Right to Believe

What happened last night? Losing last night's game can be chalked up to bad chemistry between Jakovic and Simms. Simms is playing through an injury and has spent large chunks of the season on the bench - that his chemistry might be off is disappointing, but understandable.

Graye then proceeded to completely lose Landon Donovan, who made an excellent run and executed a perfect header that left Perkins with no chance. Wow, a rookie-defender lost the best player in the league who made us pay for it? Shocking.

But the game should have been out of reach for LA, Boskovic and Hernandez both squandered chances. That happens, it's not something to be proud of, but plenty of teams fail to maximize chances (see: Arsenal - Sunderland).

Go back seven weeks or longer. You can't point to "what went wrong" because the team played so poorly, it seemed more a result of inevitability than individual errors.

A lot went right last night. You didn't see the first half, did you? 0-0, but DC United absolutely out-classed LA. That's not to say that LA didn't have chances, but United's attack picked it's way through the LA defense with a lot of creative short passing triangles, good ball-skills, believe it or not, retention of possession, speed (from the wings), and a lot of imagination. Brendan, I'm telling you, there were parts that were positively sexy. LA's chances came from long balls over the top, hoping that Buddle would leave James or Jakovic in the dust, which he could not do. For 75 minutes of that game, DC were the better side and not by a small margin.

That's How We Should Be Losing

This was supposed to be a rebuilding year and we have waited 2/3rds of the season to see signs of life. We have the youngest squad in the league, as we should. Graye isn't in the running for rookie of the year, neither were King or Zayner in their rookie years. However, all of them look like they will be very solid MLS players. Najar is a phenomenon. Jakovic is already, last night's single play not withstanding, one of the best central defenders in the league. Julius James has found his legs, he marked Buddle out of the match last night and has taken good players out of the game all season. Hernandez is improving by leaps and bounds as he adjusts to the league. He needs to work on his strength and balance, but his skill is starting to shine through, he carved out a lot of space last night and he is starting to beat defenders. Tino's entire game has improved, save his shooting. Did you see him dribble through two defenders last night? I expected him to put his head down and try to beat the last one and shoot over the bar. Instead, he looked up and laid the ball off to Hernandez. Boskovic is improving, but the jury is still out on whether he's worth the DP money.

Regardless, that is a pretty good base on which to build and that leaves Pontius and Wallace who are out injured. Even Burch looked pretty good in his couple of games this season. I'm not saying that we're going to run the table next year, but playoffs? Very possible. The year after, if the young guys continue their development, DC will have a very good team. There are still spots that need to be filled, chiefly goal scorer. Still, it's a very good foundation that are finally starting to mesh.

If we had played like this all season, we'd probably have a couple more wins and a lot more ties.

Out of My League

2010-09-18T07:45:00.000-07:00

An Outsider's View

Spurs are not my territory, but I try to catch all their games that I can so that I can understand the things that BS is saying to me. I won't pretend to his expertise, but I thought an outsider's view might be interesting. Spurs are a great team to watch too, albeit a frustrating one as well. Spurs play attractive football and create a lot of chances, but they have been lacking any sort of efficiency in front of goal. Here are my early season thoughts.

Gareth Bale. Is. Terrifying.

I may have a man-crush on Gareth Bale. I have yet to see a back who can take Gareth Bale out of the match. The top national sides in the world can thank their gods that Bale was born a bit too far to the west, because Bale added to the English side might actually make England live up to the expectations that their fans set for them. Bale's pace on its own is absolutely excellent, but his acceleration absolutely leaves defenders behind. He also must have joints of steel because the pace at which he cuts is ridiculous. His crosses have amazing accuracy given the pace at which they come in and the pace at which Bale is usually moving. And that jaw-line!

Wait, no, what? The point I was actually making is that I think Tottenham may have the best midfield in the league - the only contenders are Chelsea, I feel, and Chelsea's midfield are just lethal in front of goal - they lack the dynamism and variety of play that Tottenham's midfield bring. The addition of van der Vaart has only added to Tottenham's midfield strength.

The Best and the Worst

Raphael van der Vaart may have been the best pick up in the off-season in the entire league. Certainly, I don't think he's playing at full speed yet, but he's playing in central midfield and that is going to take more adjustment time than, say, a striker. Van der Vaart has shown a few of the moments of skill that are expected from a big signing, but the real difference is that van der Vaart looks like he has come to play and to play for Tottenham. He tracks down the ball when he loses it, he fights for any errant passes that come in from his teammates and he has given opposing d-mids and central defenders fits. As he meshes with Spurs, I expect that he will truly start to look like one of the best Spurs players.

Gallas, on the other hand, has been a disaster. I don't share BS's animosity to Arsenal, though I'm not a fan. Gallas, however, may be too old to play with Spurs and their outside backs' tendency to move forward. Gallas has shown all the trademarks of a center back who can no longer hack it. He has been beaten and missed tackles that have resulted in goals, but the real signs are his constant shirt-tugging and rash challenges. These are symptoms of Gallas' fading pace and ability. Unlike John Terry, Gallas does not get the benefit of the doubt from referees. Moreover, Terry may be a horrendous fouler and "cheat," but he does so effectively - Gallas still fails to win the ball when he fouls a striker.

End-to-End

Which bring me to Spurs needs. The first has not changed. Tottenham need a world-class striker; their profligacy in front of goal screams for one. Defoe is streaky and it remains to be seen how he recovers from his injury. Keane and Crouch, unfortunately, are too unselfish. R.Pav's has the right nose for goal and propensity to shoot, but his particular skill set and preferences do not maximize the balls coming in from the wings (he did score as I wrote that though). I think that if Tottenham can start to score and carry a lead, they will start to truly dominate because the tendency of Bale, Lennon, and van der Vaart to leave defenders in their wake will be magnified when their opponents are over-committed and chasing the game.

Unfortunately, I think Ledley King's limitations are really hurting Spurs defense. King, when he plays, is truly a world-class defender. Unfortunately, I think he needs to spend more time on the bench. Assou-Ekotto, Hutton, Kaboul, and Bale (when he is used as an outside back) love to get forward and this adds to the pressure on the center backs. Spurs always need to have top quality in their central defense and, even before Dawson's injury, Gallas no longer has that quality. It will be difficult for Redknapp to recruit an excellent center back without being able to promise significant playing time; few young players are going to want to play second fiddle to Ledley King. Fortunately, Spurs will have plenty of matches this year and should be able to find a way to split playing time and truly I think they need additional depth at central defense.

I also wouldn't mind seeing Tottenham pick up an enforcer d-mid. I've never been the biggest fan of Huddlestone, but he does have a good shot from distance and is a good outlet and passer of the ball. However, when Tottenham do have the lead, their midfield is designed to go forward and they may not be able to kill off a game in the way a strong side should. An enforcer doesn't really fit Tottenham's style, but one may be a vital addition if they are to take advantage of leads.

The Team to Watch

Spurs are the EPL team to watch - unfortunately for BS. Their football is a lot of fun to watch, but their stuttering start also adds drama. They are never played out of a game, but they have struggled to play lesser sides away. Spurs have everything one could want from a football side and, fortunately for BS, that includes a strong possibility to beat any team they face. I know Redknapp doesn't think his team's best matches Barcelona's best, but I would simply love to see if even the "best" team in the world can shut down Gareth Bale.

This Weekend in England: Gameweek 4 Edition

2010-09-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Well, I realize I have been slacking, but I'm back to look at an interesting weekend in the EPL. So, like I said, it was an interesting weekend all over the premier league. Let's look at the good, the bad, and the rest.

The Good!
I saw some great things this weekend. I'll start in my club's game. Believe me, considering the result, they'll show up in the later categories too. But I was pleasantly shown a good display from a new player in England in Raphael Van der Vaart. He showed some great creativity and heart in a tough and new league, and considering his lack of playing time in Madrid, he really played well and has added himself to the line of players who have to be considered for every game for Spurs. In the slightly more surprising light, I have one word. Blackpool. What an amazing start for the tangerines. Two wins out of four and they sit proudly in the fourth spot for now. I honestly think it is hard to root against them in any game that is not against yours. They have an entertaining and clever manager, a team that one would imagine would struggle in a game played on paper and a fan base who can't be anything but happy to experience this season. They are playing very well, and I think they were disrespected coming into the season and their keeper Matt Gilks was fantastic against a reasonably good Newcastle side who deserved something from that match yesterday. Next up is Everton. From 3-1 down they managed to scrape a point from one of the two teams that are expected to win the title this year. This is a very talented team and their start is a suprise as I know atleast one pundit who picked Everton to finish third this season. I can't say enough positive things about Everton, and I do think they will pull up their socks and do well as the season goes on. Finally, I want to mention Michael Essien. I felt really bad for him as he has had some bad injury problems over the past few years, but he came out yesterday and showed how good he is and I was really happy to see him get a brace even if it was for Chelsea.I can only imagine how well HGhana could have done with him at the World Cup.

The Bad
I will start this part as I did the last, and talk about Spurs. It was embarassing how little the team seemed to care in the second half yesterday. Yes, they have to travel to Germany this week, but when you are on the field and the clock is ticking, you have to focus and get the three points. Just because we got into the Champions League this season, we are not guaranteed a spot next year. Talking of the Champions League, Manchester United were both sides of the coin yesterday. Good play to get to 3-1 going into injury time, but to give up two late goals that they did was poor. The question becomes whether this actually signals the fall of the Red devils. I'd be lying if I said that I hope not, but I really do think it would be bad for the league and the English game as it would really highlight the problems with the philosophy of English football which is probably facing a major revolution in the next few years. Speaking of problems with the English game, next up is Lee Cattermole. Seriously? First game back and you get sent off again? I have heard people blaming Steve Bruce for not controlling this kid, but I don't know if that's right. He was given the captains armband, I suspect, to get him to calm down, but it seems to have had the wrong effect. Hopefully he uses his brain and recognizes his mistakes, as I think he is a good player. Finally, I want to highlight Liverpool. I was watching this game and I was shocked at the continuing play acting, most notably Milan Jovanovic. I personally am sick of seeing diving in Football, and believe me, I hold Grudges. Gerrard, Busqets, Eduardo, Rooney, Ronaldo and Drogba. These guys have been busted by video. And in this matchup last season at Anfield was another example as David Ngog dived to get a penalty which lead to Birmingham City drawing a game they should have won. I have one thought on the matter. Come on FIFA, tell the FAs to start retroactively punishing the obvious ones. Let players know you want this to stop. Be strong. You make the rules for fuck's sake. Pardon my language, but it is something I really hate.

The Rest
I wasn't really sure how to enter into this conversation as it's a very difficult one to have. But, hard play. Yesterday saw one major injury and almost another. The tackle by Carl Henry on Bobby Zamora yesterday was fair. Let me be clear on my position. I think the tackle itself was good, but the result was poor. I hope Bobby comes back as soon as possible, but it was an accident not a bad tackle. I like the English league because it is more physical. This is a good thing in my opinion, but I hate hearing people cry about the physicality when a player gets hurt. I don't want anyone to get hurt, but in a game that requires players to be active and run, there will be injuries. I would have been distraught today if I read that Modric would be out for four months like Zamora, but I really wouldn't complain if it had been the case. I like the tough gritty nature of the league and as long as it's clean I support the continuance of this nature of play. I hope Fulham fans can agree considering their loss yesterday, but teams like Stoke, Wolves and West Brom are built on this traditional English play style, and I want to see it continue, just cleanly and with as few injuries as possible.

There's Always Next Year

2010-09-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

What Do You Mean There Are Two Months Left?

Well, this season has been somewhere between a disaster and a fiasco and there are still a couple months left. Before the season began, I wrote a post about what I feared might go wrong. Judging by that list, I clearly had no idea how bad D.C. was going to be.

A Disaster and a Fiasco

I honestly did not see D.C. competing for any trophies this year. However, while some D.C. United fans felt that D.C. had downgraded at every position, I did not, and still do not (precisely), agree with that premise. Losing Gomez as central playmaker, even with his reduced skills, was problematic since D.C. did not have an obvious replacement. Also losing Emilio without an obvious replacement meant trouble, but I had railed against Emilio in the previous seasons and thought a change in formation and a new striker would more than make up for his loss. I worried also that Moreno would no longer be productive, but would be skilled enough to earn a first team spot and that certainly happened. While those were among my concerns and they proved accurate, they were just the tip of the iceberg and we were the Titanic. Below is a list of what I did not see coming.

I Call It a "Diasco"

Bryan Namoff never recovered and was forced to retire.
Santino Quaranta's form did not recover from the end of last year and may have even dipped further.
Dejan Jakovic spent considerable time on the bench injured.
Rodney Wallace had a season ending injury early in the year.
I split my knuckles thrice on a tree outside of RFK.
Chris Pontius has been playing injured all season and is out for the rest of it.
Pontius and Wallace both suffered sophomore slumps when they did play.
Troy Perkins went from a national team consideration to a national joke staple.
Ronnie Raccoon took up residence in RFK, furthering its dilapidation.
The D.C. offense replaced the striker Luciano Emilio as target man with 16/17-year old rookie-winger Andy Najar, with predictable results.
The D.C. offense has been shutout as many times as any team in MLS history and there are still two months to go.
D.C. has to struggle not to have the worst league record in MLS history (they're not clear of that dubious honor yet and don't look on pace to do so).
D.C. United has generally refused to win on either the Christian or Jewish Sabbath.
Danny Allsopp and Adam Christman are the same striker and neither scores.
The team has moved closer than ever to a move to Baltimore.
The symmetry of Pompey wearing D.C. United jerseys during the friendly is not lost on me.

Who Am I Kidding?

Yes, D.C.'s season is "over." I will still continue to go to all the games and I will be sad to see the season end, if only because I enjoy live soccer. These are also the last few games for D.C. and MLS legend Jaime Moreno. My desire to see him hang up his boots should not be taken for disrespect. His number is on my jersey and I fully recognize that he has given this team and city a great deal, not the least of which is a career-record number of goals. I will be there on 23 October 2010 when Jaime puts on the red-and-black jersey for the last time.

Moreover, there are bright points to this season - Andy Najar is a phenomenal player and Bill Hamid has shown tremendous talent in goal. Tino appears to be gradually emerging from his slump and both Paulo Hernandez and Branko Boskovic have shown promise, if not results yet. Hopefully, there is quiet progress being made on the stadium front and 2011 will not be the last year in D.C. I'm just not sure there is much more to write about D.C. United until the off-season.

I'm in Europe, You're in MLS and You'll Always Be in MLS

2010-09-01T03:27:00.000-07:00

What A Wacky World We Live In

I'm not in Europe, that was lie. But then, neither is Landon Donovan and he won't be playing there. Armenia and Azerbaijan are also not in Europe, but they get to play in Euros. Weird.

The Silly Season Goes Red, White, and Blue

The transfer window is now shut; let's look at the big American moves this summer. Sacha Kljestan went to Anderlecht, though not via South Africa. Jonathan Bornstein, on the other hand, went to South Africa and somehow wound up in Mexico. Herc Gomez moved from Puebla to Pachuca, because apparently Pachuca wants to have more U.S. players than most MLS teams. Bocanegra too moved, but only in-country. It looks like Altidore will be playing for Villareal, although that isn't a move so much as not being loaned out this year. I think that about covers it.

Before and after the World Cup, any number of pundits said claimed that Donovan would be going to Spain or England, Michael Bradley probably would be picked up by an EPL club, Bob Bradley would be coaching a Championship side, and Clint Dempsey would not be starting for Fulham, instead following Roy Hodgson to Liverpool.

Well, Dempsey isn't starting at Fulham, but none of the rest of that happened. So what did happen?

No, No, Really, Fabergas Is Happy at Arsenal

First of all, there was surprisingly little movement during the European transfer window. The mass exodus never happened from Anfield and a number of other clubs were reluctant to let their stars go without seeing big bucks (See: Cesc Fabergas). Sure, Robinho and Balotelli moved, but they were all but kicked in the ass on the way out. Athletico Madrid was raided heavily by Barcelona and Manchester City, but those two clubs were virtually the only clubs spending big money this transfer window. Unfortunately, MLS was and is demanding big money for Landon Donovan, their marquee player.

It was not the case that no one wanted Donovan. David Moyes plainly said that he wanted Donovan back, but simply could not afford him. MLS has historically held on to its players for large transfer fees (US$ 10 million for Altidore?!?) and given the inflation in the transfer market, evidence suggests that they were waiting for a big offer for Donovan that never came. I can only assume that Joe Cole found work while Donovan didn't because Cole moved to Anfield on a free transfer. Moreover, as the most recognizable player in U.S. soccer, MLS is probably only looking at large European clubs. It does little for the prestige of the sport if the best U.S. player is plying his trade at West Brom, Malaga, or Lecce.

Michael Bradley's continuing German adventure is a surprise as well. Not only U.S. media outlets were impressed with him (although, I'd think Ives were his agent), but the London Times put him on their list of 10 players who would strike it big based on their World Cup performances. So why is Bradley still at Borussia Moechengladbach? Because he likes polysyllabic words? Treue und Widmung, vielleicht? I have no idea. I'm still trying to puzzle out how Joe Cole isn't in a soup line somewhere.

Joe Cole Should Be Eating a Can of Beans by a Trashcan Fire in London

I think a lot of it comes down to an imbalance in the transfer market as a whole. Spending as a whole dropped dramatically, 22% in the Prem alone and that was bolstered by the cash the Citizens were dropping. Many clubs have serious debt and thus are reducing spending and raising the prices on their marketable players. I still expect that Donovan and Bradley and perhaps some others to get European transfers during the winter or in the next 12 months, if the market calms and re-establishes values for players.

No Americans landed really big deals this summer, it is true. However, Holden secured a spot on Bolton, Altidore finally won a vote of confidence from Villreal, Onyewu. . . well, if nothing else, his offer to play a year for free after missing last year has impressed the Italians with his honesty and dedication (we'll see if he plays), Spector is somehow still playing for West Ham, even Kljestan is doing well at Anderlecht, and the list goes on. The "Americans Abroad" lists from Ives and Goff get longer every year. The U.S. still may not command the prestige or transfer fees that other nations do, but more and more coaches are willing to give Americans a chance and more and more Americans are seizing the opportunity.

We Want a More Viable Peace Partner In Charge of the USMNT

2010-08-31T03:18:00.000-07:00

Four More Years!

Well, B.B. has solidified his hold on the U.S. men's national team. Frankly, I didn't even know he was involved, but I think at some point, we need to have a U.S. citizen running the U.S. program. Plus, he's going to be awfully busy running Israel for the foreseeable future and those up-coming peace negotiations are going to be so time consuming that I just don't know that he'll have enough time to dedicate to our blossoming program. Also, I wasn't a fan of his book, Fighting Terrorism - I thought it was largely political posturing.

What? "Who am . . . ? " Well, Benjamin Netanyahu, of course. You know, "B.B." Who did you think I . . .

Oh. Ooooooh. "Bob Bradley," you say. Well, at least he and Landon Donovan can commiserate about their inability to get a job in England.

Great. Israeli political jokes in a soccer blog. Honestly, why didn't I just go with the more obvious 1984 references? Because I respect your intelligence and worldliness, that's why.

Ow! My Toe!

Do we really think that Bob Bradley is even possibly the biggest stumbling block in front of the the U.S. soccer program? Honestly, I think talent and pedigree are still the greatest impediments. Yes, that is a stumbling block/stubbed toe reference in the section header. This is why I shouldn't be allowed to blog in the morning.

Did anyone read the news about Bob's contract extension and honestly think, "Well, that's it: we're not taking the World Cup home in Brazil"? If so, I salute your optimism and faith in the players to think that he's the one holding them back, but I think you should probably be locked up.

Bob Bradley has plenty of detractors, but it's tough to argue that he hasn't been pretty good for this program. The U.S. program has reached new heights under his leadership, he is complimented by many other coaches - including the Swiss coach who credited Bradley with showing the world how to beat Spain, and the players all seem to like and respect Bradley. Bradley's critics tend to argue that Bradley has had a lot of luck: England was weak this year, as was our group; the U.S. victory over Spain was due to poor Spanish play; Mexico had a bad qualifying run. Maybe, but as the list gets longer it really seems like the team is making their luck. I would also argue that Bradley has helped soccer in the U.S. as a whole; with a team of moderately talented players, he has made them competitive against some of the top sides in the world. That may help "sell" soccer: Few Americans are really looking for the opportunity to see their country thrashed by Brazil, but plenty of sports fans love an underdog story - especially an underdog who makes victory look possible. Lots of fans and pundits like to criticize some of his decisions (I know I do) ranging from tactics to player selection, but in the end, I think his results this far have been pretty good.

The Emmanuel Goldstein Perspective

There's your Orwell joke. Happy? I do view Bob Bradley's contract extension as a missed opportunity for both the USSF and for Bradley himself. Bob Bradley is still reasonably young and, frankly, he is still quite inexperienced. He's coached in the U.S. and . . . that's it. That's great for his familiarity with the U.S. game and players, but if he is going to move on as a coach, he's going to need at least passing knowledge how the game is played, and coached, in the other parts of the world.
As for the USMNT, Bradley has done an excellent job making the U.S. competitive with teams better than the U.S., but has floundered when faced with teams that were weaker or more even with the U.S. team. The vibrant and often-lethal counter-attacking culture that Bradley has instilled in the U.S. team is not effective when opponents are content to draw at zero or refuse to commit too many players forward, fearing the U.S. attack. A new coach brings in fresh ideas and can perhaps teach a team that consistently defeats Mexico to dominate games the way that Mexico does. Such tactics are going to become more necessary as the U.S. talent pool is expanding at what appears to be nearly a geometric-rate. The U.S. isn't going to start thrashing the likes of Argentina or Germany any time soon, but more teams are going to start playing conservatively against the U.S. and that will weaken Bradley's tactics. All that aside, at some point, simply having a fresh perspective is necessary to advance the quality of the team.

Don't Blame Fabio Capello

The coach matters. Somewhat. Let's not exaggerate the impact of these guys though. Fabio Capello simply did not affect the English national team enough to make them play that poorly. The managers get to coach their players a couple of weeks per year. Yes, there can be poor substitutions and poor line-ups, but let us not forget that arguing that different player selection would have been better is counter-factual and should be viewed with healthy skepticism. Ultimately, a coach can be a multiplier at the end of the equation, but the quality of the players and their ability to play together is far more important than the coach, his substitutions, and tactical predispositions. Right now, the rising level of quality in the U.S. player pool is more important than the coach. Re-hiring Bradley is not an aggressive move, but it is a relatively stable one. While the U.S. is still trying to get it's soccer program organized and capable of fully harnessing advantageous demographic shifts and the rise of a domestic division-1 soccer league, a little stability in some part of the program isn't the worst idea. Really, it's a bigger shame that Bradley couldn't find a better job somewhere else.

The Blame Game

2010-08-29T07:45:00.000-07:00

Holy Crap, We Suck

D.C. United has had an abysmal season, no two ways about that. The coach has been sacked and United stalwart Ben Olsen placed in charge. While criticism of Onalfo may be justified, the fact reamins that United simply is not a good team. Benny Olsen recently celebrated his first win as coach, but the new team is hardly tearing up the league and the recent victory was hardly dominant or attractive.

I was inclined to think that firing Onalfo and promoting Olsen was a savvy move by United's front office. They "did something" about DCU's horrible record and perhaps sought to silence some of the criticism by promoting Ben Olsen. Olsen is in his first year of coaching, he's too green as a coach and everyone knows it, plus the love for Benny is such that if he didn't win a game the rest of the season, there were going to be no calls to put him up on a cross. Plus, there is the hope that Olsen will put a fire into the team that the players seemed to lack this year. However, upon reflection, the FO may have signed their own pink slips.

Players v. Front Office

Curt Onalfo may have been fired too soon. Not just in the sense that I don't really think he had a chance to craft his team, but also politically. The season was a wash already, certainly. However, there are still plenty of games left to lose to enrage the fans that still meander into RFK and Molly Malone's to watch the games. Without the coach to serve as a lightning rod, the fans will direct their anger at either the players or the front office and, at least on BigSoccer.com, the decision has been made to focus on the front office (truth be told, it's not a new decision; there were "Fire Payne and Kasper" threads right along with the "Fire Onalfo" threads). I question whether that is fair.

Slumps: the Case against the Players

Santino Quaranta and Chris Pontius are slumping terribly. Neither has looked particularly dangerous and both are giving away position far too often. Similarly, before his injury, Rodney Wallace was similarly playing poorly. Granted, he was in a different position, but he claimed that he prefers to play left back. Not slumping, but unexpected was injury-forced retirement of veteran defender and leader, Bryan Namoff. That's four of eleven starters from last year and they were some of the brightest spots of last year - the only other I can think of was Dejan Jakovic, who has been steady (injuries not withstanding). I accept as a given that MLS rosters lack the depth that four starters playing poorly is a pretty serious impediment, one cannot fault the front office for re-signing those players nor their lack of quality this year. There are other players I could point out as well, Simms hasn't had a terrible season, but he has not looked as good as he once did.

The trade for Perkins is more debatable. I was not one of those who said DC gave up too much to get Perkins back. They gave up a lot, certainly, and at the time I didn't understand why the team was so desperate to replace Wicks. I was unaware of Wicks' off-the-field problems and thought his moments of madness would fade as he matured as a player. Nevertheless, Perkins had been MLS goalkeeper of the year, he played well in Norway, and, at the time, was believed to be competing for the third spot goalkeeper spot on the U.S. national team. He seemed the solution to DCU's goalkeeping problems that had plagued the team since Perkins left for Europe. Perkins has been disappointing, however, and has been forced to battle with young academy star, Bill Hamid. I argue, however, that this must be seen as a slump. Giving up so much to Philadelphia was certainly a gamble, but looking at it, it was a relatively safe gamble that has gone freakishly bad; the FO could not have seen it coming.

So Many Shutouts, So Many Seasons: the Case against the Front Office

DC United's offense was in trouble last season and the fans all knew it. Statistically, this seemed untrue: the front office pointed to the relatively highly high ranking that DC held in the league in terms of goals scored. But Emilio was a microcosm of the problem - huge scoring droughts punctuated by multiple goal games kept him high on the scorers' sheet, but was unreflective of how many times he killed the attack. DC seemed unable to score when the games were close - consider all of DC's ties last year. Moreover, with Emilio on his way out and Moreno another year older, DC had no MLS-calibre strikers to look to for goals. The FO's answers were Danny Allsopp and MLS journeyman Adam Christman. Like so many of the acquisitions from the front office, both have been unsuccessful. This is symptom of the larger problem.

The front office hasn't found good offensive players since Emilio and Fred in 2007 and both those players had their best years in 2007. Bringing Gomez back to DC was unimaginative at best - he never regained his top form, but was never the worst player of the field. Franco Niell was a huge bust. Emilio was resigned as a designated player after his first few games of the 2008 season in which he was overweight and played with lackluster effort. Gallardo was a fantastic player, but just wrong for the team - a second year may have been better, but that was not to be. The flying Gonzalo brothers didn't turn out well. Then there was the famous Dyachenko fiasco, exposing him on the expansion draft and then trading a first round draft pick to get him back. An inefficient move for a good player, but Dyachenko never produced. Will Boskovic get better? Don't know, he's been called up for the Montenegrin national team which is probably a good sign, but thus far he hasn't really earned the designated player money that he is making.

But there have been good acquisitions as well. Jakovic stands out. Hernandez looks good, although whether he ever produces remains to be seen. Stephen King looks like a solid investment in the future. I don't know about Zayner; the Crew fans seemed upset that we had snagged him.

Conclusions

That DC is the worst team in the league this year is not necessarily the front office's fault. The player slumps have driven this team into the cellar. However, there is hardly evidence that this team would be top class even with the slumping players performing better. This has gone on for too many years to look at the players. The front office has been unable to acquire the quality of new players to make this team competitive. There have been some fairly huge gaffes and a stunning display of arrogance when questioned about those decisions. On top of all those things, DC United may not exist for much longer, without a stadium. That cannot be placed completely on the front office, but ultimately, it is their responsibility. A tough job to be certain, but it is their job and they have failed to do it.

Champions League is upon us...

2010-08-26T19:14:00.000-07:00

Oh to be the fan of a team in the Champions League. I am among an elite group of fans who support a club in the UEFA Champions league. And as my Spurs are the new boys, I don't really know how to be, but believe me, if I have learned anything from the Arsenal, Chelsea and United fans, I will be smug at some point. So it was an exciting day for football, as we now know the 32 teams in the group stage of this year's competition and how they are distributed. So here are the groups and how I see them working out at this point.

Group A
Inter Milan
Werder Bremen
Tottenham Hotspur
FC Twente
This is a solid group. Title holders, German top team, English top team, and Dutch champions. It may sound like a silly prediction, but I think this group will come down to how Benitez manages Inter Milan. If he keeps things the same and doesn't tinker too much, which he has been known to do, then they should walk the group. But if he does tinker and things get off kilter, then Inter could struggle through this group as I think any one of these teams could win the group and any could manage second. If I'm honest, I would also say that Werder will be the x-factor. If they can pull the defense together, then they can be a real threat, but if they keep up with their porous defense, then they will struggle worse then spurs through a game on astroturf. In the end, I think it will be Inter to win the group, and Spurs to sneak out in the second spot.

Group B
Lyon
Benfica
Schalke
Hapoel Tel-Aviv
I feel like this is a tougher group to call after first place. Lyon should walk this group especially after Lyon signed Yoaan Gourcuff this week. After my favorites, I think it is between Benfica and Schalke. I think I see it more likely that Schalke will be the ones to follow Lyon. With their addition of Raul to a very decent squad, I think they are going to be able to make it. And though I don't see them doing anything really, I am really pulling for Hapoel Tel-Aviv after the treatment they got in their qualifier against Red Bull Salzburg.

Group C
Manchester United
Valencia
Rangers
Bursaspor
This is one of two or three really compelling draws for the group stage. Manchester United should be first, but that assumes their form improves and Rooney gets going. Valencia is a decent team, but lost their two best players, so they could well struggle. Rangers are a good team, but after their struggles last year, and the poor quality of the league, I could see them falling again. Finally, Bursaspor are a real wild card. No one really wants to go play there as it will often be an ugly and hostile atmosphere, but that also assumes they can match the quality of the other teams and take advantage of their home matches. In my eyes, I think the best shot to go through would be Rangers, but I think Bursaspor will push through in second.

Group D
Barcelona
Panathinaikos
FC Copenhagen
Rubin Kazan
I think this is an easier group to call, but not the ones you may think. Barcelona will get first easily, but who else. I think Rubin Kazan will be second. After having experience against both Inter and Barca last year, including a draw at the Nou Camp, I think they can do better this year. Copenhagen and Panathinaikos are good clubs, but I don't think they will pull it off.

Group E
Bayern Munich
AS Roma
Basel
CFR Cluj
This is the rare straight forward group. I have no problems picking Bayern and Roma to go through in that order. Both teams are very good and will make short of the unfortunate Basel and Cluj. Congrats on getting this far, but this is the end of the line for those two.

Group F
Chelsea
Marseille
Spartak Moscow
Zilina
This is a group that I plan to try to watch the games for. Marsaille, Moscow and Zilina are good teams and I was impressed by Zilina in their qualifier. Chelsea will win this group and when asked, I have already tipped Chelsea and Barca to get to the final. The question here is who is second. I honestly think Marsaille should do it. They are a very good team and as champions they have proved they can win when it counts. I think they will probably make the knockout stage but that may be it for them.

Group G
AC Milan
Real Madrid
Ajax
Auxerre
I think this will be the trick group. History says Milan and Madrid go though, but I don't think that is true here. I don't think Milan are as good of a team as they think they are. They are aged, and not as skilled as they have been historically. I believe Madrid will get their knockout spot, where they will get knocked out as usual. But I see Ajax making it into the second spot over Milan.

Group H
Arsenal
Shakhtar Donetsk
Braga
Partizan Belgrade
Finally... I think we all know Arsenal will scrape through. But the final three are harder to call. All three have earned their spot here. But who makes it? I think I'd pick Partizan Belgrade. Shakhtar is a great team as is Braga, but despite the amazing win over Sevilla, I think these two will fall off and Partizan will make it. Partizan are a good attacking team and did well to beat Anderlecht to their spot and I could see them making that roll keep going.

This Weekend in England : Gameweek 2 edition

2010-08-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of doing my own game week best eleven feature, but I think I will simply do a best of the week and worst of instead. Lets start with the poor side of the weekend.

The Good

This weekend was full of goals and included three 6-0 results. I have a few players in mind but there will be an omission that many would not agree with. In my opinion, there were a couple of standout players. First was Gareth Bale. Two goals, yes. But his pace and ball skills gave such terror to the Stoke defense. And if you haven't seen the two goals, they were so different in that the first was comically hit off his face and the second was one of the most amazing goals I have ever seen. Honorable mention goes to Aaron Lennon as his passes into the goals were good which is fantastic to see since he has not been as scary for opponents as he was last season. Next for me is Didier Drogba. I can hear the cries about Kalou and Anelka, but since Drogba probably could have scored four or five of the six himself, but he selflessly made the killer passes in this match. His goal scoring threat made this so easy for him, but it was a masterclass in striker passing. A little noticed player is Seb Larsson from Birmingham City. He was all over the pitch and was providing some great passes. He is a talented player but I feel like he gets into his own head sometimes and he doesn't look as good in matches many times. But this weekend he looked great. Finally I want to mention the four goalies who stopped penalties this weekend. Jaaskelainen, Foster, Stockdale, and Harper. I just love seeing goalie make penalty saves since more often than not, they don't stop them. Honorable mention of the weekend was the young referee Michael Oliver who i thought was quite good and was strong, which is a major problem with some refs these days.

The Bad

I will start with the entire back four of Blackpool. It was a really poor display and it simply set out to give up six. Or atleast it really seemed like it. Next is the Backline of Wigan. They were disgraceful. I can't say much more there either. John Carew was not good and his penalty was worse this morning. Lastly I want to quickly rant against John Terry. He was por this weekend and I was really angry about his retribution fouls and his horrible posturing in the Chelsea v. Wigan game. He is a reprehensible human being, but I think he is almost as bad on the field. He has no pace, a short temper, and doesn't tackle particularly well. He is literally treading on his reputation from the past years where he was quite good but he is going down hill since the last season.

Boy, those Young Boys are dangerous

2010-08-18T10:44:00.000-07:00

Well, my planned posts were ruined by the horrid 28 minute display at the beginning of yesterdays Champions League qualifying playoff between Tottenham and Young Boys. The most obvious things from the game were that Spurs simply underestimated their opponents and the Astroturf pitch had a number of players playing very cautiously to avoid injuries. I applaud Michael Dawson for refusing to simply blame the pitch for the team's poor performance. But what can be done to prevent the disappointment from happening again on Wednesday next week?

I think the first thing is that Ledley King must play in the second leg. Neither Bassong or Dawson were particularly bad, but his experience and calming influence was definitely missed yesterday. Secondly, I think Harry Redknapp must not look to play cautiously. We are a team who needs to come out firing, not play cautiously. We do get burned playing this way from time to time, but we would never have had a chance against Chelsea and Arsenal last season if we didn't. Finally, the player need to step up and use this as a wake up call. Every squad member knows how important this tie is. When they walk out onto the pitch at the Lane, the crowd will give them one last reminder, but it is up to the players to make it happen. Come on you Spurs.

Hopeful lineup:
Gomes
Corluka-Dawson-King-Bale
Lennon-Huddlestone-Modric(if fit)-Dos Santos
Pavlyuchenko-Keane

Fantasy Football!

2010-08-13T13:39:00.000-07:00

The collaborators of this blog play ESPN's EPL Fantasy Soccer. Obviously, we're not sponsored because not many people (if any) read this blog, so I'm not trying to sell anyone on this particular brand. I just thought I should clarify incase someone reading this plays a different version. Having spent way too much time on my team this year (as opposed to last year when I threw a team together a month into the season), I figure it's worth a post.

Strategy

I am not as well versed in the Premiership as my partner. My only hope against him is that he over-thinks it or half-asses it. And injuries; a few key injuries could set him back. My point is, this is the strategy of someone who watches the EPL, reads the new stories, but reads very little analysis and does even less of his own. The strategies I'm going to talk about are what shaped my team as I began to remove and add players to fit into the salary cap.

Throw away players - With his knowledge, the owner of this blog may take extremely cheap players that he thinks are likely to play actually play and earn him a few points when they play. I was never going to bother with the research for that. I picked some of the main players that I wanted on the team and then picked a few "throw away" players for my subs. In most cases, I hope that these players actually don't play. Defenders are the cheapest players, but if I pick a Blackpool defender who starts, I may well earn -6 points every time Ashley Cole has a day off. I also picked Danny Shittu, because I have a puerile sense of humor.

Youth - Unlike MLS fantasy, I would run out of money very quickly if I took too many top players, but too many cheap players and my score would be negative. So, this year I decided to go a little lower with my mid-priced players. I selected young players who I think show promise and may earn starting spots this year. The Jacks Wilshere and Rodwell are in my midfield as well as Gareth Bale. I had Chico Hernandez, although I dropped him deciding that I don't want two Manchester United forwards (Rooney was too consistent last year to pass up). Of course, if these guys rarely start, their value is going to decrease and it may take a massive realignment of my team to start earning points.

Defense - I spent a lot on starting defenders, Vermaelen and the like. While I almost never captain any of the defenders, last year my defense formed a solid base and gave me consistent points even when I captained a striker who phoned it in that week. I still have Freidel in my net and Richard Dunne, although I worry about Villa without O'Neill. That's why I have Joe Hart as my back-up keeper. If I were to make one recommendation, he is it. Hart may earn the starting spot at Manchester City, but costs only 3.5 million.

Anyway, this strategy will probably last two or three weeks into the season and then I'll start fiddling. After all, I dropped Fabergas and Drogba because they won't play in the opening weeks, but I'll probably want at least one of them eventually. Oh well, even the best battle plan never survives first contact with the enemy.

Premier League in a nutshell

2010-08-11T18:29:00.000-07:00

This upcoming Saturday marks the beginning of the 2010/2011 season of the Barclay's Premier League in England. As you would probably imagine, I'm beside myself with excitement. I think I'll simply Summarize my thoughts on each club and give my predictions. I know it will ruin all the mystery of the season, but it'll be worth the read...

Arsenal
Simply said, as I am a Spurs fan, I hope they get relegated. As a person with a brain in the real world, I know just like everyone else they will atleast be in the top six. I honestly think this will be an interesting season for the Arsene Wenger Project. Will Cesc be up to snuff or will his head have been turned too far by Barca? Cesc will be himself probably, but will the changes in the back line be sufficient? Their weakness is the back five. They still, as of today, have Almunia. Gallas is gone and someone who's name I can't pronounce has been signed. I think this weakness could prove their downfall, and if I am completely honest, I see them in fourth place or right around it.

Aston Villa
What horrible timing for O'Neill to leave. I think the first game will tell the story of this season for them. We'll find out just how important Martin O'Neill was and if the players are good enough to step up and do it for the club and it's fans. They won't be relegated, but I am worried for them.

Birmingham City
I am really not sure about them this year. Based on the past season, they should do well. They have some very good players and a very good manager. My question lies with the overall squad. Cameron Jerome did well, but can he do it again, and where is the back up he needs. Larsson is good but will he keep his head on straight all season and keep his place in the team. I love him, but he is a little bit of a headcase with a short fuse. Who will be their goalkeeper? Hart won't be back and I think they owed about five or six places to his play for them. I am concerned that they could end up in the lower end of the table if only for Joe Hart not being there.

Blackburn
This is another team I don't have positive vibes from. They are a mish mash team managed by a mediocre manager who plays horrible football, which is a shame since they actually have some good players. I honestly haven't seen anything to make me think they will be anywhere near the top half of the table.

Blackpool
This team is the feel good story of the year, who is turning into a nightmare. They have been unable to secure the services of two important players from the promotion campaign and have made little noise in the transfer market to prepare for the season. This is even before we talk about the problems with Bloomfield Road which have lead to them having to change their opening match to an away fixture. I really want them to do well and I want to see Ian Holloway on Match of the day, but I am really concerned for them.

Bolton Wanderers
This is a team on the up. Europa League places? I doubt it. But Owen Coyle has made them a better squad. Chong Yong Lee is an exciting player, but Elmander is still a question mark. As long as they keep hold of Cahill and Jaaskelainen, I think they will stay stingy at the back and have a chance to do well.

Chelsea
I hate to say it, but you would imagine losing Deco, Ballack and Belletti would be like adding by subtraction. But losing Joe Cole as well hurts. I like Benayoun, but he is not the be all and end all solution. If it weren't for Essien being back, I would say they would slide a bit, but this is a team that will still occupy a top two spot.

Everton
One word. Injuries. If they can avoid them for a while, this will be a solid top half team all season long, but if they can't they may be doomed to suffer midtable mediocrity. I think they can fight for a Europa Leage Spot, but that's about it. great team to watch, but not a top four team yet.

Fulham
Was it all Hodgson? That is the question for their Season. Good team, but was the manager the one who pushed them to the Europa League final? I suspect yes. Mark Hughes will keep them in midtable. I doubt the cottagers can expect much more. They just need to hold on to Shwarzer and Hangeland and they should be fine

Liverpool
This is the wild card this season. Just like with Fulham, can Roy Hodgeson make a difference? I suspect yes. but is this team too far down the hole? This is a team who should be in the top four and on paper should be in the battle for the title. Do I see this happening? No. I think they will likely be in the top 6six, but not the top four.

Manchester City
What can you say for this team. My word... Trainwreck... I feel like this is the proper term to describe this club. Mark Hughes was getting some cohesion in the side last year and it was derailed by Mancini. The ridiculous spending is a problem as well. It brings in players with big egos, on too much money, who are not going to gel right away. It also shafts core players such as Bellamy and Ireland who look like they will leave. I think this team will be around fourth, but I am not convinced they'll get it.

Manchester United
Top two. enough said. Okay, I'll give you a bit more. I hope Javi Hernandez gets a lot of starts with Wayne Rooney, I think they will be fantastic together and will make this team really make it hard not to get the title. Other than that, I think the stability in the squad, is nothing but help to them and hopefully Cleverly, Gibson and the Da Silva twins will get first team time this year so they can prove themselves and develop.

Newcastle United
I hate to say it but this is a team who will right near the bottom. They are only improved from their last season in the Prem by the fact that they are not shackled by the big money players who were there like Michael Owen. I think they will stay up, but it is going to be an ugly year for the St. James Park faithful.

Stoke City
This is a team that will be midtable. Other than that, I don't have much to say about them. Kenwynne Jones will be a great addition but I don't know that he will bring them up a level.

Sunderland
This is a team I am on the fence about. They showed some class last season and looked a new contender to the European spots, but the loss of Jones makes me wonder which direction they will really be going in.

Tottenham Hotspur
I will keep this brief. I am concerned. I don't see us anywhere near the bottom three spots, but there has been nothing to make me truely think that four competitons won't be a problem by Christmas time. I think if the team manages to avoid injury we can compete on all fronts, but it also means the players have to step it up. Will they? The hell if I know.

West Bromwich Albion
Two words. Going down. The problem is that is what they plan for. They don't really try to come up and stay up. They are trying to be a yoyo team. I hate that the club doesn't seem to have the ambition to stay in the top division.

West Ham United
This club is a strange one. They are a talented side with a number of good players, but it seems like they live off the 66 World Cup win. The team needs to work hard and Avram Grant could be the one to get them back into the top half of the table. I'd hate to see them go down.

Wigan Athletic
Bipolar. I hopw Roberto Martinez fixes some of these problems and gets some consistancy out of these players because they are a good team.

Wolverhampton Wanderers
I hate to say it, but this is another team I am concerned for. There is obviously talent in the squad, but they are a bit of a whipping boy.hopefully they stay up so I can have a bit of banter with my cousin who is a Wolves fan, but Mick McCarthy looks to be holding them back.

Predictions
Relegation:
17.Wolves
-----
18.Blackburn
19.Blackpool
20.West Brom

Top 6:
1.Man United
2.Chelsea
3.Tottenham
4.Man City
---
5.Arsenal
6.Liverpool

Well, that was embarrassing

2010-08-11T18:28:00.000-07:00

Thank god, the US Men's National Team played; I have something to talk about other than D.C. United (and my inconsistent punctuation in this blog). I was really getting sick of having to write about a team being completely outclassed, toyed with, and ultimately embarrassed by their opposition. I was sick of writing about a team that can't find the back of the net with both hands and a map. I was sick of writing about a team that got fewer than five shots on frame. I was sick of writing about big defensive lapses and the inability to play the ball through the midfield. So, alright, Brazil - US; here's the recap:

Dammit. I think I covered most of the generalities in the above paragraph, so let's get down to the nitty gritty.

Donovan and Bradley played a level above the rest of their team, I think. They really lived up to their reputation as world class players. Good for them. Donovan disappeared for a little while and Bradley wasn't perfect, but they both looked like they belonged out there and inspired confidence when they had the ball.

Guzan looked good. He made some good saves and he was in a shooting gallery much of the match (I have more appreciation for that after my 5-a-side experience). Howard wasn't at fault for the goals. He played well, but didn't ever have the opportunity to come up huge like Guzan.

Bedoya and Gonzalez were far from perfect, but neither looked particularly outclassed or lost. Of the two, I think that Bedoya was shakier. He wasn't really impressive, but I liked his hunger.

Strikers continue to be a nightmare for the U.S. Altidore looked better than Buddle, Findley, and Gomez, but he looked stronger and more able to impose his physicality in the World Cup. He didn't come off as particularly dangerous on Tuesday night. Gomez and Findley both had flashes of good, in fact, I didn't mind Gomez out there at all (was he on the wing?). Buddle was totally outclassed and completely ineffective, but that may have been because he was cast as the lone striker. Donovan is great going forward, but he tracks back way too much to effectively pair with a single striker. That was a poor decision by Bob Bradley.

Kljestan needs to calm the hell down and not see the field until he does. Feilhaber, I don't want to see start again. Subbing one for the other makes me weep a little.

Boca was fine, but was hardly a rock in central defense. I just don't think Bornstein has it for this level. He had some good moments late in the game, most of them going forward, but his defending was below par and the Brazilians noticed very quickly. Spector, on the other hand, seems to have regressed somewhat. His defending wasn't atrocious, but he never got his rhythm going forward - a role in which he was stronger for Hammers in the Prem and for the U.S. in the Confederations' Cup.

So what to make of this? It was an embarrassment. Okay, no Dempsey or Gooch. Torres wasn't available either, though I don't know if I can say the US was "missing" a guy who usually can't crack the starting eleven (although, adding a possession-oriented central mid might have helped. Brazil maintained a lot of pressure on the midfielders and Torres maintaining possession could have helped. . . if he could maintain possession). Still no Davies, but we're all holding out hope. Moreover, 2 - 0 isn't the worst score ever, but it could have and probably should have been considerably worse. Considering the Brazilians brought a very young squad, this serves as a reminder that the U.S. is a much better team, but is still lacking anything remotely resembling depth and has significant weakness in the starting squad.

But did you think that we were going to beat Brazil?

P.S. After posting this, I realized the Edu was on the field as well. That I forgot entirely more-or-less sums up my opinion of his play.

Spurs are on their way to Switzerland!

2010-08-06T15:50:00.000-07:00

So we finally know who the fourth place team from England will be meeting to qualify for the Champions League group stages. Tottenham Hotspur will face Young Boys in the qualifying playoff and us Spurs fans are quite happy. Not only was the general opinion that Young Boys were the weakest team in the draw, I was quick to point out that it will be a less taxing journey travel wise. We managed to avoid having to travel all the way to the Ukraine and managed to avoid tough teams like Werder Bremen and Sampdoria. So what does this mean for the start of our season? It means that we can focus hard on Man City in our first league match and we should be able to handle them again as they are not gelling yet. If we can win that game, it sets up a great confidence to take to Bern to take on the Young Boys, and sets up well if we can do well in both games to go into the second match against Stoke City who has been a bit of a bogey team for us. Then we could enter the second leg at home in good nick then get Wigan after. So, I think it safe to say, we couldn't ask for a much better set of fixtures, only leaving us to do our business and win games.

What chance do we have to get through to the CL draw? And where should we be in the beginning of the Premier League season?

Ideally, we should make it to the group stage. Young Boys are a good team. These things are true, but with a fit first team and a good bit of depth, we should be able to do the business as we did against Benfica in a friendly. I feel like it would be a crushing result if we lose, but I don't think the Swiss team will turn us over despite beating Fenerbache.

As for the beginning of the league campaign, I would be surprised and disappointed if we can't say at the end of September that we won six game out of Six. Man City, Stoke, Wigan, West Brom, Wolves and West Ham are games which are very winnable games. If we can't manage atleast sixteen points in those fixtures we may be looking at a tough season. We need to hit the ground running this season to protect our position in the Champions League which we need.

I'd be lying if I said I didn't expect amazing things from this club this season, but I do qualify that with the reminder that we are often an unlucky team who can shoot ourselves in the foot regularly. However, the year ends in one and we could also see Spurs win the Treble. Who knows? But, Come on you Spurs!

Adios, Onalfo.

2010-08-04T08:26:00.000-07:00

Everything looks dismal for DC United.

Bottom of the table with only three wins isn't bad enough. More and more, it looks like DC United will become CSKA Baltimore or Maryland Wednesday or perhaps the DC-MD-NoVA Wanderers; there has been zero progress on a local stadium, while the Maryland Stadium Authority looks increasingly like it will come back positive on a new stadium near or in Baltimore. The sole ray of sunshine has been DC's 7-0-0 non-league record, including a (thus far) semi-final run in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Of course, if Seattle progresses as well as DC, I think it's pretty clear that the final will not be at RFK this year. Either way, DC looks a lot like the Pompey team that it just beat and that's not just because Portsmouth were wearing DC's jerseys.

So amidst all this murk and gloom was the clamor that "something must be done!"

After all, we signed a Montenegrin few outside of central Europe had heard of as our DP, while Seattle and New York just added guys who played for their national team in the World Cup. Chicago grabbed a promising, if temperamental and mouthy, Mexican and combined him with a big-name, if temperamental and worthless, Swede. Now, finally something has been done: Curt Onalfo was fired this morning; Ben Olsen has now been thrust into command.

Was this fair to Onalfo?

Not in the least. He was brought in late, after several key roster decisions had been made. His defense has been decimated by injuries, including the seeming career-ending injury to Bryan Namoff, the defensive captain. The loss of the services of Olsen, Gomez, and Emilio (degraded as they may have been) ripped the heart out of the DC offense and it has been unable to recover. Of the "big" signings that were made, Castillo is now gone and Allsopp spent most of his time on the bench. Onalfo inherited a disaster and was asked to heal this roadkill of a team while it was being dragged by a tractor-trailer. Moreover, the transfer window isn't even closed and the new signings haven't had a chance to make an impact.

Is this the worst decision ever made?

Hardly; Operation Barbarossa, the Great Leap Forward and the Native Americans trusting us to keep our word top the list of the "worst decisions ever made." This isn't that bad of a decision. Onalfo's team has been dreadful - it may not have been good when he got it, but we're worse than expansion Philadelphia now. Onalfo, given time, may have been able to build a competitive team, but there was certainly no sign of that. By firing Onalfo now, it sends a message to the players that their slate is now clean, for better or worse, and they need to start playing for their spots and contracts next year. Hopefully, DC will not dally in finding a new head coach (and hopefully, no one is stupid enough to give Olsen the position permanently, yet) and he (it's a sexist industry, sorry ladies) can start to shape DC into what he wants it to be and can actually see what he needs for next season.

Adios, Onalfo.

Despite being thrown under the bus and being clearly upset about it, Onalfo's reaction has been restrained and fairly classy, up to this point. I wish him luck in his future endeavors and believe that he deserves and will get another chance.

Bob Bradley?

I'm inclined to say "dream on," but who knows? For DC, I don't think it would be a bad decision. Bob Bradley tends not to coach teams with the attacking flair and style with which DC United has been associated. Not working right now though? DC's style. I am also aware that Bradley is known as "Cheatin' Bob" around these parts for his use of the former "fourth substitute" rule in the playoffs against us. I, however, say that this team and its fans need to stop living in the past. Yes, I'd like to see attractive attacking football too, but the first task is to collect the jetsam currently wearing the Red-and-Black and form them into a team. Then maybe we could ask Bob to make it prettier. I'm sorry Bob Bradley didn't obey the spirit of rules in the past, but DC United desperately needs some new thinking and Bradley might not be a bad place to start.

That said, Bradley is going to be expensive and I'm not sure DC would shell out the money for him, given the team and it's "horrible hemorrhaging of all things monetary."

The end of the road

2010-06-27T10:01:00.000-07:00

Today's beating of England by Germany was not unexpected. As I watched the England v. Slovenia game, I knew that as they were failing to get back into the group lead, Germany was going to make an example of them. There are quite a few factors here that led to this fall out of yet another World Cup.

The most obvious starting point after this game is the goal by Lampard which was not given. I could easily launch in to an indictment of FIFA and their refusal to even consider things such as goal line technology, but I think that there were bigger issues. First, it would have obviously tied the game at two, which would have brought spirts back up after going two down to a young and skillful German side. But I felt that the reaction of Lampard said it all. He was shocked and had the look of a child who was about to throw a hissy fit because he didn't get ehat he wanted. This is a talented team that can't afford to let things like this get to them. It seemed that the team did not recover from that disappointment and the offensive display they were starting to mount seemed to fizzle out as the half ended.

The next big problem is Capello. I don't really think he was ever the right manager for England. The most telling moment for him as manager was when he couldn't keep the qualification campaign focused and lost against Ukraine in fairly meek fashion. There were obviously divisions in the camp and it just was never going to work in the end as Capello wanted to exert his power and rather than listen to his team, felt it was more important to follow a more fascist direction and quash the uprising. I also look at Capello's stubbornness as a major problem as he refused to give uncapped players proper chances and relied on the 'old guard' much like another defeated Italian coach in this World Cup. As it goes for the manager situation, I believe there is only one person who could manage this nation to the next level, but I don't believe Sir Alex Ferguson would do it.

Another problem which I have mentioned here is the poor selection of the team. I say this not only referring to the selection of the starting 11, but also of the squad as a whole. There was a clear lack of width in this squad. You may say, "but Brian, he brought a bunch of wingers like Lennon and Wright Phillips and Joe Cole!" And I will simply tell you that you have named two RIGHT wingers and an attacking midfielder. There is no left side to this team. You may try again and say, "but what about Gerrard? He has been playing on the left." And I have to retort, he plays on the left for about 5 of 90 minutes. There is no width through Gerrard. Beyond the width problem, there is too much reliance on experience over class and form. I start with the most obvious example on the field. The Defense. I will say that Ashley Cole and Glen Johnson were the only choices for the fullback positions as they are by far the best English players in those spots. The central defenders are a different story. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry have had abysmal seasons. Rio played in less matches than Ledley King which I think says it all. John Terry was fortunate to have a good Partner at Chelsea and a great offense in front of him. I am biased, but I thought the winning formula was going to be King and Dawson. They are an experienced partnership with great chemistry, but in Capello's mind, Dawson was uncapped and thus too inexperienced. Jaime Carragher was a blunder as well, as he is obviously too old and slow to keep up with modern players like we saw in his performances at Liverpool, before Jozy Altidore made him his bitch in the first group game. Capello said that he would take players who are in good form and playing for their club side, but that was obviously not true as he brought Emile Heskey. And I will simply spare you from yet another rant about how poorly i think of Heskey.

England is also a weak team mentally. Surprising considering that the team is full of club captains. The team is shouldered with the most pressure to win of any team because they are considered the founders and history makers of the game as well as England having arguably the best league in the world. The team showed a great deal of inability to not only get up for games but to stay up if they have problems. They lost all of their motivation, it seemed, when Lampard's goal was not given in the dying moments of the first half. The added pressure of meeting the old enemy in Germany was too much to bear for this team and I felt that they never had a chance to win this match today.

The performance in this years cup emphasized the reason why England's bid to host the cup in 2018 is so important to the nation. Their only victory was in 1966 in England. Having the home crowd would probably actually help in England. But there are so many issues to address before the bid is even voted on at FIFA.

England Have so many great players, but now a real focus on the team is the next step. As they go into the qualifying for the European championship, I think a major overhaul needs to be made.

My squad for the future:
Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Joe Lewis
Defense: Michael Dawson, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Glen Johnson, Leighton Baines, Nedem Onouha, Micah Richards, Ryan Shawcross
Midfield: Aaron Lennon, Ashley Young, James Milner, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Joe Cole, Lee Cattermole, David Bentley
Strikers: Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney(Captain), Gabriel Agbonlahor

What the Hell Are You So Happy About?

2010-06-24T13:44:00.000-07:00

WOO! LANDY! Hey, no disrespect with the name. I'm not calling you, "Mandon" lest you sound like a gay porn star. You've definitely graduated from "Landycakes," although I may throw that one in affectionately every now-and-then. And not so affectionately if you come to D.C. in a Galaxy uniform. If the Germans can call Schweinsteiger, "Schweini," you can be "Landy."

Okay, I am euphoria-ed out. No, really, I was happy yesterday, giddy even. The result is fantastic, 1st in the group ahead of England with a chance for revenge against Ghana, who knocked us out of the tournament in Germany (Honestly, we lost that game more than Ghana "won" it). Moreover, the U.S., under a lot of pressure and giant spotlight, came through. I suppose the "end" justifies the "means," since there are no points for style and sports are results-based in the end. I just don't think the "means" that the U.S. has shown will get them as far as they can go.

Here's the crux of it: I think the U.S. still choked a good bit. That England game should have been a loss, if not for a goal-keeping error. Holding England 1-0 still wouldn't have been bad, except that England barely made it out of the group (that Slovenian keeper is awful at close range shots - I know he's "highly-rated," but I think a good keeper (Howard) saves both Donovan's and Defoe's strikes). England played really, really poorly. Not as poorly as, say, France or Italy (laughter ensues), but poorly enough. Maybe England is ranked too highly in general, but they should have been able to defeat Algeria and probably should have handled Slovenia more easily. Gave up an early goal against England, TWO first half goals to Slovenia (Algeria held them to one), and took until 90+ to score on Algeria. Sure, Algeria had a decent defense, but how many chances did the U.S. miss? We were fortunate that this tournament is crazy and that we had a weak group. I predicted that we wouldn't make it out of the group, true. I'm glad I was wrong. However, I don't believe that the U.S. can continue as it has. It has to show the team we saw at the end of the Confederations Cup. Make no mistake - we have not seen that team yet. We've seen the team the won the group in qualifying, but this has been far from the U.S. at their best.

Drawing England with a soft goal, coming back to draw Slovenia, squeaking out a win against Algeria - it's good that the U.S. got results while playing somewhere between good and mediocre. But they did so against weak teams, that's hardly convincing that we're ready for the big kids on the block. . Maybe Ghana will bring it out of them. However, that is another game that, by most analysis, the U.S. should win. I hope for a win. More than that, I hope for something to give me hope for an upset when we play a team that should be better than us.

Do we expect too much as fans?

2010-06-18T13:29:00.000-07:00

I wonder. Are we expecting too much?

Is it too much to expect good teams to play atleast decently? Is it too much to expect referees to call a good match? Is it too much to expect FIFA to look at video technology? Is it too much to expect Fabio Capello to pick his team by form rather than by names like he promised? Am I asking too many questions?

Today has seen three games with horrible results. Germany was robbed first thing this morning by a referee who was card happy and sent off Miroslav Klose in the first half. In the second game, the USA was robbed of three points by a ref who disallowed a goal wrongly and didn't see the Slovenian players hugging several Americans to the ground. In the third game the ref was not the problem. The players for England can't seem to get over themselves to actually try and Capello can't be bothered to make tactical changes when for the England v. USA game it was apparent that Heskey was useless. Gerrard gave up around the 65th minute today. Even Rooney gave up. Capello was just lucky that David James didn't manage to lose the game for him.

So we now stand at an interesting point. It is no longer a question of whether England or the US would finish first in the group, but more likely who of those two might actually get out of the group, but I'd even argue if either can get out of the group. Both England and the US could easily lose next week. I actually feel bad for US fans such as my partner in this blog, and English fans.

Who the hell is Branko Boskovic?

2010-06-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

D.C. United has picked up a designated player - Branko Boskovic, a 29 year-old former Montenegrin national team player. He won club titles and national cups with Red Star Belgrade and Rapid Wien (Vienna). He also had a stint with Paris Saint-Germain, but failed to lock down a first team spot at PSG.

Worried analysis:

I am not so great a soccer enthusiast that I follow the Austrian Bundesliga, so what I know only what I have read (Highlight reels can be taken with a grain of salt). First of all, it looks like Kasper and Co. went with what the fans have been clamoring and what many have interpreted as D.C. United's "tradition," a strong attacking center-mid. Which is good, provided that it was what Coach Onalfo wanted. Someone who knows Curt can ask him, I can't say for certain, but he has, in the beginning of the season, indicated a willingness to play without one. Boskovic sure looks like a pretty decent attacking mid, he scored more than his fair share of goals. That said, I'm not certain that he alone can be the answer. This team has the need of a prolific goal scorer - Boskovic is only prolific for a midfielder (30 in four years at Red Star Belgrade). It is possible that he will make D.C.'s strikers more effective and that has to be the hope, because a player with less than ten goals average per season is not going to drag this team out of it's funk.

Additionally, playing Boskovic as an attacking midfielder pulls a player away from D.C.'s leaky defense. Currently, some combination of Simms, Morsink, or King have been pitching in to the defense. James' form in his last game gives some hope that he can help shore up the back and the return of Jakovic helps a great deal, but that by no means gives D.C. one of the better defenses in the league. I assume that even if Bryan Namoff does recover (and we wish him the very best and do really want him back) tomorrow, I have to assume he will need time to get match fit and recover his form from last year.

Finally, Boskovic is not a high profile acquisition - not to be a total jerk, but Montenegro is a team that loses to the Caucasian powerhouses (read: UEFA jokes) of both Armenia and Azerbaijan. Jakovic has been a stellar acquisition from Red Star Belgrade, I make no bones about it. But Boskovic is older than Jakovic and no longer plays for Red Star (but hey, do we have some sort of burgeoning relationship with Red Star Belgrade? Because I would be more than okay with that).

Conclusions:

I have always said that I will give anyone a chance on the field. Team and league dynamics can alter a player's performance and a nobody in a lower league can be a key player in a better league if his team matches better his talents. I was hesitant to even write this post because I feel that most speculation at this point is useless, predictions made that come true are fortune rather than skilled analysis. There is reason to be hopeful for Boskovic, it seems like a good acquisition and, considering that he is a relatively low-priced designated player, he may be an intelligent acquisition in that other players can still be acquired. However, it think it is probably too much to hope for that he is an instant fix for DC's stagnant attack.

Here's the highlight reel provided by D.C. United. I'd apologize for the music, but I didn't make the video. Seriously, I know he's coming from Rapid Wien, but did we need the playlist from a Viennese disco?

The delusion is over

2010-06-13T12:28:00.000-07:00

The first thing I said to my co-conspirator on this blog when we were watching the game was "Capello's starting Green?!? Mistake." And all day long I was saying I saw a draw, 1-1 or 0-0, but I was leaning to the score draw. And as I saw the starting lineup I got more confident with my prediction.

There were huge errors in the starting lineup. I have been saying for weeks that I thought Crouch should start rather than Heskey. Capello has no left winger on the squad, and starting an unfit Milner was stupid. We all know that Gerrard and Lampard can't play together. And Robert Green should never been the number 1.

First let's start with the Defense. I thought the starting back four was rather decent. King and Terry seemed to work well together, and the full backs were nothing special but I felt like they didn't make any major mistakes. When Carragher came on in the second half, I just knew it would be ugly, and he was terrorized by the stronger and faster Jozy Altidore.

In the midfield, it was anarchy.I think it was clear that James Milner had not gotten over the 'bug' he had this week and was not fit to play. He was slow and out of position and all together, he never had a chance to show his quality. On the right, Lennon kept being double teamed as the US midfield and defense forced play to the left side where Shaun Wright-Phillips came on for Milner and was rather poor. Lennon never had a chance to play his game and as usual, England forced alot of play up the left because the US shut off the space for Lennon and Capello couldn't be bothered to bring a left-footed winger(like Adam Johnson) or play Joe Cole who can be quite handy over there. In the middle, I think there was a clear hole where there should have been a holding midfielder. Though I still argue bringing Gareth Barry was a mistake, I think that he would have been a big help. And as I mentioned already, Lampard and Gerrard should not play in the middle together. They are both playmakers and seemed to get in each other's way quite a few times. before the game I would have argued for benching Gerrard, but Isomeone brought up a good point that Lampard's record for England is poor while Gerrard's is very good. But in the end, Capello needs to grow some balls and bench one of the two and play a balanced team.

Up front, it was a similar story. Capello started Rooney and Heskey. I don't think there is anyone that wouldn't start Heskey, but in my opinion, Heskey should have not even made the final squad for the World Cup. Heskey did little to make me believe that I was wrong about him. He brought down a few balls and lost them, put out a poor pass which was lost, or put a horrid shot right into Tim Howard's Chest, and that was after putting his boot into Howard's chest which he must have thought would make him drop those shots. I thought when Crouch finally came on, the possession was cleaner and Crouch sharpened the attack again after the lovely build to the early goal. Rooney was not up to his game, which was surprising. Rooney could not get things going and he got frustrated and once that happened, he was never going to doing anything and Defoe should have been put on to try to sneak that winner that never came.

Finally, what can I say about the keeper? A simple "I told ya so." Or maybe a "DUH!" Or maybe to use some tact, "Bad Capello! Bad!" Of the 3 keepers he brought we have a relegated keeper (who has been amazing for the final few weeks for Pompey), a nearly relegated keeper(who was responsible for many of the goals given up by West Ham), and a midtable keeper(who was consistent all season long and was a huge factor in the team being as good as it was). Based on those kind of statements there should be two obvious conclusions. First, Robert Green is absolutely no better than third. Secondly, Joe Hart is probably first due to his consistency. And this is before we even consider that David James is known as Calamity James. I think it was a mistake to start Robert Green. Fact! But it also now makes more problems as He either has to put the arm around his shoulder and start Green again, or bench him at which point he might as well be sent home. So it's either put the team in danger for the final two group games or leave yourself with two keepers. I think unfortunately, it's time for Green to go home and Hart to begin his national team Career as he is the future for England.

So there are two more group games. Algeria and then Slovenia. I think considering that the Group D winner plays the runner up in group C, it is going to be important to win this group especially after seeing the Germans dismantle the Aussies. I think both England and the U.S. are in the same position and both know this. It is going to come down to goal difference as I think both teams will step up their games. I think considering this, i would have to conclude that the team that could score more goals is England considering the scorers that the team has. England has so much talent that the nation should be severely disappointed in the draw, although I told Skippy that I didn't think either team deserved a point from that game. The U.S. was poor but should have won with the vastly improved second half performance and England Should have scored 5 times in the first half hour. In the end, the group is wide open with Slovenia taking three points against Algeria. Time to be positive again...

Karma can bite us

2010-06-13T08:59:00.000-07:00

At the end of the match yesterday, Dupont Circle was filled with cheers like "U.S.A. ain't nothin' to %$#& with!" That's right, we will straight draw you, hard. But this tournament is far from over.

While the U.S. was fortunate to tie with a goalkeeping howler from Robert Green, I feel that the U.S. did enough to have earned that draw, especially with the English performing poorly. However, karma can be a real bitch sometimes - Algeria gifted Slovenia a 1-0 win this morning with a goalkeeping error of their own. That leaves Slovenia in good position in the group. Two draws, or possibly even just one, and they could make it through on tie-breakers, which makes the U.S. - Slovenia game very, very important. The U.S. did not play well enough against England to raise my confidence that they will not drop at least two of the remaining six points in the group.

The Good

The U.S. played to win. They did not fold after conceding early and, although there was a significant amount of bunkering in the second half, the U.S. still countered strongly on occasion and went for a second - nearly got it with a strong run from Jozy. Dempsey, Donovan, Gooch and Jozy all showed up in good form for this first highest-scrutiny, if not highest-pressure, game. None of them had an absolutely outstanding game, but there was no sign of nerves, poor decision-making, or under-performance. This is good from the U.S. "stars," as they are the ones with the most to "prove" and the most damaging should they choke.

The Bad

The back four were caught out of position a number of times. I'm not sure if Bob Bradley told them to concede wide areas, confident in our central defense to clear out crosses, but it was happening far too often and I shouldn't think "wide" includes inside the penalty area. Too often, overlapping or wide runs were left unchecked and the English were able to exploit this vulnerability, although never able to make a goal out of it (see: Heskey, Emile).

Additionally, the U.S. counter-attack looked predictable and both Donovan and Dempsey's propensity to come central left the U.S. attack narrow during long stretches of the game. Findley was only ineffective and he didn't get particularly good service - he certainly didn't look as outclassed as he did against Holland. I wouldn't want him as the second striker, but I half-expected worse.

The Ugly

My hope for Ricardo Clark was to see a solid performance without expecting any greatness. My hope was disappointed. Clark lost Gerrard on the first goal and continued to lose the men he was marking all night. His passing was adequate, but often telegraphed - I feel his lack of vision may have stunted the U.S. counter, but it was really only his defending that was pretty awful. Still, with both Edu and Torres on the roster, I think it might be time to replace Rico.

Slovenia and Algeria

Obviously, I wouldn't start Clark, but I wouldn't be shocked if he still makes the starting XI. After all, it's not like Torres and Edu have never disappointed in their own right. I would like to see more of Stu Holden or Torres if the attack is stagnant in either game; I feel that both those players inject a breath of fresh air and a different style to the U.S. attack. Fortunately for the U.S., both Slovenia and Algeria looked very sloppy in defense. Both Algeria and Slovenia may spend significant portions of the game attacking the U.S. because they are more likely to get a result against us than the English and that may provide some scoring chances. That said, the U.S. will probably still have to break down some defensive bunkering. The U.S. really needs to beat Slovenia on Friday to have their destiny in their own hands, a draw might not be sufficient, and a loss ends the U.S. run all but mathematically.

Ubiquitous World Cup predictions

2010-06-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

Apparently, every good blogger needs to make his or her predictions for the tournament and far be it from me to buck the trend. I assume his Truthiness doesn't want to get involved in something so pedestrian. But me? Hell, I ain't proud.

-----

Group A: Mexico, France - I know, right? France? Really? The funny thing is that a lot of good teams (see: Italy 2006) are forged in the fires of adversity. I think France will be one of them, if they can keep Ribery off the teen girls and Henry's hands in his pockets.

Group B: Argentina, South Korea - S. Korea by virtue of Nigeria and Greece imploding. I don't know why, neither team fills me with confidence.

Group C: England, Slovenia - The U.S. will not make it from this group. They could, but after losing to England, I think there will be a surprise defeat to Slovenia. Because that's how we roll.

Group D: Germany, Australia - Australia over Serbia by virtue of tenacity. Australia won't play pretty, but they'll win.

Group E: Holland, Cameroon - I don't think the Danes or Japanese have it in them to pull an upset.

Group F: Italy, Slovakia - It's a toss up for second between Paraguay and Slovakia, but I think Slovakia will get a draw where Paraguay gets a loss.

Group G: Brazil, Cote d'Ivoire - Portugal and Ivory Coast can duke this one out, but I think African support puts Ivory Coast over the top.

Group H: Spain, Honduras - No, not really Honduras, but second is up in the air in this group, so why not Honduras? It doesn't matter, none of them are beating Brazil next round.

-----

Mexico over South Korea - Yeah, I hate Mexico winning too, but that's what I see happening.

Argentina over France - Which team was more screwed up coming into the finals? That's debatable, but I think Argentina is a better team on the field.

England over Australia - Because the English are so distraught to be playing in a former colony that they have to take it out on their former colonies.

Germany over Slovenia - No real upsets so far and I don't think this one is the first.

Slovakia over Holland - There's the first upset. I just think the Dutch will trip over themselves.

Cameroon over Italy - Italy's overall age gets to them playing so many games in such succession.

Brazil over Honduras/Whomever - You're shocked, I know.

Spain over Cote d'Ivoire - Or over Portugal. Portugal might actually give them more a game, but Spain will triumph in any case.

------

England over Mexico - Closer than their friendly meeting, but I think England prevails.

Argentina over Germany - These are getting tougher to call, but I don't think Germany has performed well against strong opposition.

Brazil over Slovakia - Not even close, Slovakia will have nothing left after defeating the Dutch.

Spain over Cameroon - Sorry, gotta go with the odds on this one.

------

Brazil over England - England will play a game that they should win, but manage to blow it.

Spain over Argentina - This is where Maradona fails as a coach. Spain is an equal, if not superior, team and Maradona can't cope with that.

-----

Spain over Brazil - Spain scares the crap out of me. Spain has enough star power to light Johannesburg for a century, but what's really horrifying is that they play like a club team and combine exceptionally well. Brazil plays well as a team, but not with the attacking lethality of the Spanish.

-----

So those are my predictions. I don't know that they really are, to be honest. Take this as my take on the most interesting of the plausible scenarios in my brain. If I actually thought this game was close to predictable, I wouldn't bother watching.

A Shot Fired in Anger

2010-06-10T06:21:00.000-07:00

Ich liebe Deutschlands. Nicht wie so den USA, aber ich liebe noch Deutschlands. Yeah, depending on the breaks in the World Cup and should the U.S. go out earlier than I hope, Germany may well gain my support. I have also been a Michael Ballack fan for sometime and it is a pity that he is not playing in this World Cup. However, I now never want to see him in Black-and-Red or even in playing MLS.

Now, I never thought that Herr Ballack was suddenly going to show up stateside after being dropped by Chelsea; I assumed he'd be picked up by another top-flight European club or, at worst, a Bundesliga side. This has nothing to do with sour grapes. However, regarding his future, Ballack decided to let us all know that he thinks he still has a few good years left in him and he is "not yet ready to 'retire' by going to the United States or Dubai." Hey, Michael, I know my swearing in German isn't what it should be, but "verpiss dich." If that doesn't translate properly, you've been in England long enough that you should be familiar with the phrase, "get knotted." Sorry to be redundant, but I want to get my point across.

I know MLS isn't a top tier league. I know that players like Michael Ballack would never come to the U.S. in their prime. But the last thing I want is player who views it as retiring. That's a lie; the last thing I want is players who so unabashedly view it as retiring as to say it and not think it is burning bridges. If he wants to retire, he can buy a house in Dubrovnik or pretend to play in Dubai. If he wants to the come to the U.S., he needs to view it as "a new challenge," "the twilight of his career," or have an interest in "elevating the play of the game in the U.S." Something like that. If he wants to come here, half-ass it and collect an enormous paycheck, sorry, I'll take the considerably less-skilled Stephen King. At least he wants it.

The England Squad... For better or worse.

2010-06-03T11:09:00.000-07:00

I start by pointing out that while some good choices were made, I still don't think this is the right squad. I've been struggling to make assessments for the English team from the Japan game, but I just was so disgusted by that game that I had nothing to say, beyond "that was rubbish."

Let's start by looking at who ended up getting the phone calls telling them to unpack and get comfortable with the idea of watching the games on their couch. Capello sent home Dawson, Baines, Bent, Walcott, Adam Johnson, Huddlestone and Scotty Parker. When the 30 man squad was announced I made my picks for who should go home and I have gotten two right. I said Walcott and Huddlestone shouldn't make it, but I missed the other five. In the end, I still think Johnson, Bent, Baines and Dawson should be there. Huddlestone and Johnson are part of the next group you will be seeing in next few years at the Euros and in 2014.

Watching the England v. Japan game, I felt it was clear that Capello doesn't actually plan to play his reserves. He played Rio, JT, Lamps, Stevie G, and Rooney so much that it is hard to imagine seeing any of them missing any minutes in the tournament. It is sad to see that these players, several of whom are in bad form, are guaranteed. Rooney, and Lampard have been fantastic this season and will be keys to this years run to end 44 years of disappointment but I'd argue that run will not likely be ending this time around.

My biggest annoyance with this squad is that Gareth Barry has been given the opportunity to go even though we are all well aware that he will not be fit for the first game. You have to play seven games to win it, and if you know you don't have a player for atleast one and maybe more games, he isn't really worth bringing as I think it sets a bad precedent.

All this being said, this is the England squad... for better or worse.

Lightning always strikes twice

2010-05-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

There were a lot of twos yesterday: Both the U.S. and D.C. United won, the U.S. scored two goals, D.C. United won two in a row, and unexpectedly both teams at the bottom of the East (D.C. and Philadelphia) won leaving D.C. still the worst team in the league. Only one brace though, as far I know, was DeRo's in Toronto.

U.S. 2 - Turkey 1

After a thoroughly lackluster first half and yet another defensive lapse resulting in a goal against, the U.S. men picked up a scrappy win. Dempsey and Altidore walked away with the goals, but they were not who particularly impressed.

Donovan's first touch that rounded the keeper and subsequent pass on the first goal were excellent. The second goal was quite fortunate, Dempsey basically hip-checked Donovan's awkwardly placed pass roughly into both his and his defender's path, the ball took a deflection off the defender's ankle directly into Dempsey's feet and Dempsey's low shot squeezed between the keeper's arm and body. Not impressive, but it is the type of goal that the U.S. will need to be able to convert.

Bob Bradley's choice of Robbie Findley over Brian Ching was vindicated somewhat by this game. Findley still hung on to the ball for far too long, but Findley looked like a player who could actually use his speed to create, if not convert, opportunities. His play was a couple steps above what we have seen from him at previous national level games or at Real Salt Lake this year.

Jonathan Bornstein was amazing. . .ly bad. I lost count of the number of times he was caught out of position or just burned by the man he should have been marking. Maybe he was trying to make Heath Peace feel better.

Torres, '80s Charlie Sheen hair ("Drugs? You in here for drugs?") notwithstanding, looked good. Not as great as ESPN seems to think he is, but he certainly looked lively, aggressive, and adapted his play to Route 1 soccer. Also, his free kick everything we've been promised from him short of a goal. Donovan's free kicks are excellent as well, but it's nice to have an alternative.

On the whole, the team looked only slightly less worrying than they have since qualifying.

D.C. United 3 - 2 Chivas USA

We have more points than a triangle and karma is a bitch, ain't it Chivas?

Okay, D.C. still did not look good. Najar's goal was a free-header and possibly off-sides (I have seen no replays yet), Christman was in the right place at the right time, and D.C. can hardly rely upon injury-time penalties in which the keeper is sent off. D.C. has been looking better, but that's only a comment upon how poor they looked earlier in the season, and continued their improving trend this week. If they ever manage to direct their headers on corners, they might actually be threatening.

Tino hit the post twice and his free kicked looks more like last year's and less like this year's stratospheric blasts. As a forward, Tino didn't look as lost or desperate to create as he has in the midfield.

Najar took some knocks, looked good in general, but is still quite young and over-looked some passing opportunities. I also noticed that the young man has a very deft first touch and close control, but when called to dribble forward, the ball gets away from him quite a bit and defenders were easily clearing the ball off of him.

The jury is still out on King, but I'm leaning toward adequate to mediocre.

D.C.'s central defense still looks incredibly vulnerable to speed and the actual "defending" abilities of Jordan Graye and Rodney Wallace continue to look suspect as left and right backs. That is not to say that I don't like them in their positions, but I don't believe either is a natural defender and quite frankly their defensive lapses and tendency to get forward probably puts too much pressure on the center backs (both Pena and Jakovic are incredibly talented, but don't have the pace to provide too much additional coverage).

Unfortunately, I don't think this is the beginning of a turn around - Chivas was having a bad spell anyway and there problems with D.C.'s defense are too glaring. . . that and the fact that I still doubt this team's ability to score consistently. I'll take the win and be happy this Memorial Day weekend and that's about it.

Happy Winsday! DC United 3 - 2 AC Milan

2010-05-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

That's it, DC United needs to find a way to play all their games on Wednesday since they are 3-0-0 for midweek games and 0-0-8 on the weekend. Considering I didn't think that DC had a chance, I am delighted to eat a dish of crow. There's not too much to say about this game since it was a friendly. Pontius looked good and hopefully this will give him some confidence for Saturday's league match. For the love of god, can we let Tino take the set pieces? Sure, he gets ambitious and sends a few into the upper deck, but his delivery can be excellent and, unlike Castillo, he gets the ball past the first man. Pity about Barklage; he looked promising. Hopefully, this is a fast-healing ACL injury.

As for the U.S. National team, well, I was wrong there too. Bob Bradley decided to take Robbie Findley instead of Brian Ching, took Torres and not Bedoya, and he took both Gomez and Buddle. Way to not make a tough decision on that last one, Bob. So, I wanted Torres and he is coming, but what of Ching? That honestly confuses me. Most of the speculation is that Ching is not the right man to play next to Jozy. I'm not sure I disagree, I assumed Ching was coming in as cover should Jozy get injured or need rest. Moreover, I'm unclear why Bob Bradley invited Ching to camp - Ching played well and exactly the way he would be expected to play. We are, of course, totally screwed should Jozy Altidore go down injured. Any combination of Buddle - Findley - Gomez would be a less than intimidating line up. For his part, Findley must have had a great camp because he has not looked very good for Real Salt Lake and certainly under-impressed in Amsterdam. On the whole though, only the Findley decision really worries me. I have to feel like his is a wasted spot.

You hear that Robbie? Prove me wrong (goals are most convincing).

More 'Who needs What?'

2010-05-25T20:22:00.000-07:00

So I plan to work through as many teams as I can bring myself to analyze. Feel free to make requests if you don't see me cover your team.... and I am fighting the urge to cover DC United in this series. But we'll see.

Arsenal
What I think Arsenal should do is let Fabergas go, keep Almunia and keep counting on Walcott and Bendtner. However, IF I were to be objective I think there are two big things to do now. First and I'd even say more importantly is to get a new Keeper. Akinfeev, Neuer, Adler, Given/Hart. There are lots of good options and Wenger needs one of them. Almunia is a disgraceful keeper. Second and quite important as well is they need to keep Cesc. He is the one player in that team that holds them together. He is the only player of that team I would be lying if I said I wouldn't take him at Spurs. He is talented, young and a decent leader. Beyond that, Wenger needs to look to replace Gallas, because not only do I see him leaving, I think they can do better. And this is not even considering that he still has Silvestre who is rubbish. Period. And though most Arsenal fans were clamoring for Chamakh last summer, I don't think he is the be all end all answer. I still think they need to get rid of Bendtner and replace him with a big man type striker who isn't useless 90% of the time.

Aston Villa
This is a team that is hard to really assess for two reasons. They are good but something is wrong or missing and because Randy Lerner doesn't spend money. Last season, the club seemed to put together a back four that is worth something. The midfield got better and the problem seemed to be Striker. I believe that if O'Neill wants to play 4-5-1, Agbonlahor is plan A up top and Carew is his understudy. If he wants to go 4-4-2, then it's Agbonlahor and Carew. None of this Heskey nonsense. I think it would be good for them to dump heskey and get Keane from Spurs. I think he'd give the forward thinking and be a help to the development of Agbonlahor. I think in the midfield, there's no real problems other than getting Ashley Young to play rather than play-act. He dives a bit rather than taking people on when he is more than capable of beating just about anyone. If O'Neill can fix that problem, get the strikers right and keep hold of Brad Freidel and James Milner, there is no reason that they shouldn't be pushing hard for Europe again. Honestly, the team really only needs a little bit more depth.

U.S. 2 - 4 Czech Republic: Thoughts

2010-05-25T19:07:00.000-07:00

Well, losing is never good, but it's not the end of the world. Not promising, mind you. But not the end of the world. I'm not going to recap the game, but rather list some of my thoughts and impressions.

I have Torres' name and Kljestan's number on my U.S. jersey, apparently. Serves me right, but it should be okay: I don't think either of them is going. Kljestan was not bad, he was just a complete non-factor. Torres, I do not think will be selected. I still rate Torres quite highly, probably higher than most people think I should, and I thought he played well tonight. If the U.S. were playing with the squad they used tonight, I would keep Torres. However, he demonstrated neither the imagination nor the ambition going forward that are going to be necessary to the U.S. counter-attack. Dempsey and Donovan will be looking for long passes into space to try to disorient opposing defenses. Torres' short passing and maintenance-of-possession were quite good, however the U.S. is not a possession team.

If I had to guess between Buddle and Gomez, I think that Gomez is going. However, I don't think that he has a lock. Buddle was much more involved, whereas Gomez looked much more dangerous.

Demerit and Feilhaber didn't even dress? I don't like that at all. Neither of them should be a lock, in my book, to go to South Africa.

I want Brian Ching on the squad. There, I said it. Unlike Gomez, Buddle, and EJ, Ching showed some creativity and intelligence. The other three strikers were trying to use their physicality to force opportunities, but to little avail. Brian Ching's back-heels and short passes into space really opened up the Czech defense. In addition, he did what he was supposed to do, and that was to hang on to the ball.

Onyewu looked hesitant and not just on the first goal. There were a couple of challenges. Not all - he went in hard often and looked like his old self at times. Hopefully, the hesitance is due to it being his first game back, not due to a mental block.

Beasley looked acceptable, shockingly. I don't rate him very highly, normally. But he looked acceptable as cover.

Heath Pearce, EJ, you'll be watching the games from your couches or, at best, the stands. Nothing personal, but you didn't have it tonight. Bornstein, you might be going because Pearce blew it.

Edu or Bedoya. . . that's a tough one. Neither really impressed, but both showed the speed and aggression that Bradley will probably consider an asset in the midfield. Probably Bedoya, due to his promise. Edu has had numerous opportunities, but never managed to lock himself in.

Holden looked quite good, especially considering he's just back from a broken ankle (Nigel De Jong can burn in a lake of sulphur for all eternity as far as I am concerned).

Goodson appears to have secured himself a ticket to South Africa. He's not my first choice in central defense, but he's not Bob Bradley's either. He seems more than adequate as cover.

No Spector tonight; I'm not sure what to make of that. Bradley has made clear in the past that he has doubts about Spector, but it's tough to see benching, let alone not taking, a player who was first team on a side in the English Prem.

Last but not least, Guzan is now probably last and least. He didn't make any howlers, but he certainly didn't control his box and probably didn't come out as aggressively as he should have on the 3rd and 4th goals. That's not certain because we didn't see any of Hahnemann, but Bradley saw him play during the English season, unlike Guzan. Guzan, I think, is now the U.S.'s third keeper.

England v. Mexico: A Brief Rundown

2010-05-24T18:38:00.001-07:00

Well, just a few weeks until South Africa and about a week left to cut the England Squad down to the final 23. England took on Mexico in a warm up friendly at Wembley statdium, but their victory was not what the 3-1 scoreline would seem.

Mexico came out strong in the first half and had several decent chances and looked like they were controlling the game. It was actually worrying for the England team as Mexico looked the better team until the 17th minute when Ledley King sprayed a decent ball down the left which was slightly over hit and found by Leighton Baines before he lost it to the Mexican defender for a corner. The corner came in a and was put back in from the back post by Peter Crouch to King and the Tottenham captain put it away. From that point on, England seemed to be the better team. Mexico had a number of chances through the first half but Crouch got a lucky goal which came of his arm as it came down after being deflected high off the crossbar. Mexico again kept asking questions but couldn't score until a hobbling Guillermo Franco scored off a badly defended corner right at halftime. After the half, England came back out and Glen Johnson scored a great strike with is left foot from the top of the eighteen. From there, the Mexican fire seemed to be put out and the Mexican wave began to go around Wembley.

It was a good game for England overall, but I think there were a couple of issues. I think the England team came out at the beginning looking nervous due to the dodgy Wembley pitch which took another victim in the Championship Playoff Final on Saturday. It seemed to take Franco today as well, but hopefully he will be alright. After the initial nerves wore off, England looked fairly decent. They were inventive, played well as a team and looked the better squad. I do think that Walcott was poor once again as I think he only really had one cross which was worth anything. His pace was wasted as he doesn't seem to know how to go at people, and his vision was poor as he waited to long to notice and passed to Wayne Rooney late leaving him offside. I am not sure if Capello thinks Walcott is his starter on the right or if he is worried about Lennon getting hurt again. Hopefully he is trying to figure out who will be the backup on the right wing knowing Lennon is the man.

Joe Hart and Adam Johnson were fantastic to see tonight, and I was proud to see 5 of the 6 Tottenham players get a chance to play. I was disappointed that Michael Dawson didn't get a chance and that We didn't see Stephen Warnock and Matty Upson didn't get time either. I get the feeling Capello really is not sure who he is bringing yet.

Who needs what?

2010-05-23T19:38:00.000-07:00

With less than a month until the World Cup, I thought I would give myself something to write about by starting a series of posts looking to what my assessments of some of the premier league teams need. I figure, going into the silly season, we're going to hear lots of crazy rumors, but the trick for us fans is the same as the club. We need to figure out what our teams need to move forward, rather than what we can get to make news. I'd love Bastien Sweinsteiger at Spurs, but midfield is the least of our worries right now. So lets start looking...

Manchester United
It's hard to say that the team who won three straight league titles before this season where they only came in second need nothing. The results they have had this season certainly tell most people that there is some room from improvement. In my opinion, I feel there are two real needs and one thing to look at over the next year or so. In the future, United need to figure out who will succeed Edwin Van Der Sar. With Ben Foster moving to Birmingham, I think Fergie has finally come to terms with the fact that he is not the best English keeper. But now, the red devils have two real areas to concern. They need a right back or a center back. One of the two would do right now in my opinion. Rio is always hurt, Vidic seems to be always threatening to leave and I don't really rate Wes Brown who has been hurt much of this season as well. I think If the problems in central defense can finally allow Rafael da Silva to come through and get his chance. In front of the defense, United need a proper central midfield general. They need a Mikel Arteta type of player to guide the game and let Nani and Valencia be creative instead of having to do so much of the thinking. Nani has been known to make stupid decisions from time to time and fans can be heard complaining about him regularly on BBC's 606. The team is still certainly good enough to stay ahead of Arsenal and Tottenham in the table, but there is that bit of room for improvement, but it needs to keep Berbatov. He may not be what fans were expecting, but if you United fans give him a chance, he'll do a job for you.

Tottenham Hotspur
Prepare for a long one here... Oh wait. No, I think the priority of this offseason is to make sure the squad that got us to the Qualifying round of the champions League stay. But, to take us forward, I feel like two signings should do it. But several peripheral players should go. The two signings Spurs need are a top class center forward and a very good centerback. We need one more spot player to cover in central defense when King can't play or we have any of our others are inevitably hurt. I have a few ideas for who it could be, but the one I would be most interested in would be Kjaer from Palermo as he is young and would be suitable to use for years. As for the center forward, only two names come to mind. Edin Dzeko or Luis Fabiano. Those are the only realistic names that I think would be a proper improvement. Going out, I think the first name on that list should be Robbie Keane. I love the guy, and he has been great to Spurs, but he is not what he was and is not what we need. I also think Jenas should go. I am one of the Spurs fans who hates him. I'll leave it there. Hopefully we can sell him to DC United because he'd be good for us here. I think we need to make sure to keep depth players like Bentley, O'Hara, Gio, and Pavs. These are very good players who are not starters in this team but can be great for us especially with the extra games this year with Champions League if we qualify. Although like every year, we'll be linked to everyone. Here's to Zlatan, Sweinsteiger, Kaka and Joe Cole coming to N17...

Wherefor Not Charlie and Freddy?

2010-05-12T15:27:00.000-07:00

There were no real "shocks" named in the U.S. 30-man squad and, as I noted in the previous post, I'm not terribly dismayed by who is on it. But why were Charlie Davies and Freddy Adu "snubbed?"

Charlie Davies is the easier of the two. Clearly, Davies is not close to being ready. He was not cleared by his club to play and Bradley and the U.S., who claim to have been monitoring him closely, apparently agreed with that decision. The progress that Davies made has been fantastic and hopefully, this is not too great a setback for the young man because his career was all set to take off. Seeing the type of drive and determination of the past seven months coupled with the skills that we already know he has, I am more prepared than ever to predict very good things in Davies' future. BS has a respect, if dislike, for him as well since he scored against Malmo FF on BS' birthday when he was present at the game.

But Sacha Kljestan and Robbie Rogers over Freddy Adu? Seriously? I am not Bob Bradley and he knows more than I do and is a better coach, but the Kljestan choice in particular irks me. I consider Adu and Kljestan in the same category, players who have been brilliant, but generally underwhelm. Of the two, I think Adu is generally a superior player. Moreover, while both have performed better this year than in the past (okay, Freddy wasn't even playing the past few years), Freddy Adu has actually been quite successful at Aris. Eddie Johnson has been more successful, but the two have combined well and, in a non-starting role, Adu has registered a couple goals and several assists. So why pick Sacha?

Well, I am guessing. But I think two factors are involved. The first is my failing. I am a soccer spectator; I am not a coach. Freddy is certainly more flashy than Kljestan. Bob Bradley has typically been unimpressed by style. I might argue this is the same reason that U.S. fans want to see more of J.F. Torres while Bob Bradley regards him as as second-stringer or a sub. Bradley would probably point out to me that the footwork, jukes, and moves often accomplish nothing and FIFA does not award style points. We are not Brazil and the USSF is not Roman Abramovich - we are not about to castigate a team for failing to "win pretty." So where I see Adu as being a superior player for his flashy abilities, Bob Bradley may value other qualities far more.

The second is Freddy's perceived attitude problem. He's not Szetela. He's not even Drogba, who you definitely want on your team but suspect can be poison in the locker room. He's like a less obnoxious (and considerably less ugly and troll-like) Carlos Tevez. Word is, Adu isn't big on training. Maybe because he was exceptionally-gifted at a young age; maybe because of the hype. Who knows, but he seems to lack the discipline to take his game to the next level. Sacha Kljestan, on the other hand, has publicly taken steps to address his off-the-field short-comings. He stepped up and asked for a leadership role at Chivas USA and has asked for more responsibilities. That is probably more what of what Bradley wants to see out of him. I would point out that the Goats are still quite poor. Moreover, while Martin Vasquez lauded Kljestan for approaching him about captaincy, I have heard considerably less praise from Vasquez about Sacha's abilities or successes as a team leader.

The last is pure speculation, but perhaps Bob Bradley is trying to light a fire under Adu for the future. After all of his hype and skill, a spot on the USMNT has been treated as damn near a birthright for Adu. Knowing that neither player would probably make the final 23, Bob Bradley may have felt that Kljestan would be better served with a vote on confidence and Adu better served to be presented with a challenge. My reasoning for the last theory is, however, even more specious than my other arguments.

This is OUR year!

2010-05-12T07:34:00.000-07:00

Ow! Watch it, with the not-so-subtle prodding there, Mr. the Truth!

Well, the title says that "this is our year," but I'm not so confident. It just seems likely to the best year in a while. I've done a little basic math. The average age of the 27 outfield players named is 25.8, the median age is 25.6 years. The closest age to an outlier is Jozy Altidore, at twenty, two years younger than the next youngest player. Three players (Bocanegra, Cherundolo, and Ching) are 31 (or will be - you'd be shocked at how many of these players have birthdays in May). I'm not complaining about these numbers. I think that's great - we don't have any particularly young players to worry about becoming intimidated and no extremely old players to worry about tiring/resting. At least as far as general age and age distribution, we're primed to go THIS YEAR.

Looking at it in more specifics, the defense is a little older than I would like, but that's not looking too bad until the World Cup in Brazil - by then I hope new defenders have emerged because Bocanegra, DeMerit, Cherundolo and possibly Goodson all may be too old to play. I'm a little worried about the U.S. defense. Not too much may have changed since qualifying, but the Jonathans Spector and Bornstein have not impressed with their club play. That's unfair to Spector - I've liked the way he has bombed forward, but he's scored a distrubing number of own goals and been responsible for more than a few defensive lapses. Onyewu has barely begun to play after his injury and never with first team AC Milan. Demerit and Cherundolo have never inspired me with confidence, but that may be a personal issue. I would like to see Heath Pearce make the final 23, but I'm not sure it will happen.

By 2014, the U.S. will need more young strikers as well, but that's sort of been a given considering the crisis causd by Charlie Davies injuries. It's not surprising that the strikers have the widest age range spanning the full 20 - 31 years. Altidore is as much a shoe-in as anyone in this team and Ching has, though unspectacular, been consistent. The other strikers were pulled in as on-form players - Buddle and Gomez are incredibly inconsistent, but have shown the capability to score a lot of goals. Similarly, Johnson has shown a lot of promise and then disappointed - his coach at Aris seems to have some faith in him and he has played fairly well, hence the hope that he can shine in international competition. Findley. . . I can only assume is there to give the threat of a speed option. I don't expect Findley to make the final 23.

If Landon Donovan makes it to the next World Cup, he will be older than any outfield player on the team this tournament. As would Beasley. Dempsey and Ricardo Clark would be at the age peak, 31. That said, there is a lot of promising talent under age 25 in the U.S. midfield. Michael Bradley is the second youngest player on the team (22) and he has continued to show well in the Bundesliga, he could be quite a star in the making if he continues his solid improvement. Bedoya, Torres, Holden, Edu - hell, even Robbie Rogers, are all under 25. So is Sacha Kljestan. What the hell is he doing on this roster, by the way? The guy has talent, but he has failed to show anything close to it in more than 18 months (see the later post above). Kljestan and Rogers have the skills to make this team, but I don't think either of them has shown anything in the past year that I want in the final 23. Especially considering the strong midfield options that the U.S. has this year.

I expect the average age to increase when it comes down to the final 23, although the median will stay the same - Altidore and Bocanegra are unlikely to be cut. Let us all just thank our deities or Bob Bradley for not putting Frankie Hejduk on the list.

England's World Cup Squad Announced

2010-05-11T10:12:00.000-07:00

Today Fabio Capello announced his provisional 30 man squad which will be cut to 23 for the 2010 World Cup. The squad has a number of surprises. I think the biggest surprise is the inclusion of Jamie Carragher who retired from international football several years ago. It was pleasant surprise to see 6 Spurs players called up for the friendlies against Mexico and Japan this month. Then there are the omissions. Oh... So much to talk about and so little class time left to cover it all.

Jamie Carragher is actually a clever pick, even if a bit mad. The Liverpool man has had a rough season, but he is an experienced defender and someone who can provide cover at right back as Glen Johnson is the only RB picked. His experience will be key as players like David Beckham are injured and unavailable and players Like Rio and JT are bad influences. For England supporters, I hope Carra doesn't have to walk onto the pick in a game, but he should be a good personality for the locker room. That said, it is rumored that Capello had to beg him to come back, and there is speculation that part of his agreement promises that he makes the final squad of 23.

The 30 man squad carries the 6 Spurs starters in Dawson, King, Huddlestone, Lennon, Crouch and Defoe. The team has done well in the league this season and these 6 players have been crucial. It is fantastic to see Dawson and King in the squad because if I were asked, I would have to say the center of defense is the biggest Weakness for England right now. Rio has been injured the majority of the season and John Terry has been in poor form since his personal indiscretions were brought to light and of course brings that baggage along with him. I don't think it is likely that we will see Dawson and King play together at any point, but if called upon, I think they will do themselves proud and do great work for England. Huddlestone has been good all season and has been important in keeping the Spurs team going as he provides great passing and can make things happen with his rocket launcher right foot. Lennon is fast and has learned how to cross, and I am disappointed that Walcott is even in the 30 because as the crowd at White Hart lane will tell him, "Your just a shit Aaron Lennon." Defoe and Crouch are what they are. A poacher and a 80 foot tall hold up man with great footwork. Finally, I just want to point out how annoying it has been hearing commentators and pundits saying "I bet capello wishes Gareth Bale was English." I really doubt it. I will objectively say that Ashley Cole is a better left back and though Gareth is good, he has no place in the England Squad even if he was English.

Soon the 30 man squad will have to be cut to 23, and I think my person opinion for who should be cut from the squad will differ from Fabio Capello's. I think that Stephen Warnock, Matthew Upson, Michael Carrick ,Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips,Tom Huddlestone and Emile Heskey should be the seven sent home. Huddlestone and Heskey are players who I think can be useful, but do not fit into the team in a useful way other than filling spots. The other five, I think are simply filling spots in the 30. You don't need 3 left backs and I think Cole will play all the games and Baines is the best back up. You don't need 4 right wingers. Lennon will likely play most, but I think Adam Johnson is the second best of the bunch. Carrick doesn't do anything for me. Upson is overrated. I think more likely, Capello will send home Upson, Warnock, Huddlestone, Barry(injury), Bent, Wright-Phillips and probably Carrick.

I think a major surprise is also the ommissions from the 30. Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor are great players who deserve a chance. They also could use the experience for future World Cups as they could be in the running later. Also, Bobby Zamora should have been given a chance. The song goes, "If you're sat in row zed and the ball hits your head, that's Zamora." But this season he has played well and scored goals despite being in a worse team than Darren Bent. He has come a long way. Overall though, Capello has picked a fair 30 to start. We'll see how well he has selected June 12th against a team I'm sure we'll hear from Skippy about.

England's 30-man provisional squad for the World Cup finals:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Manchester City), David James (Portsmouth), Robert Green (West Ham).

Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton), Jamie Carragher (Liverpool), Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Michael Dawson (Tottenham), Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), Glen Johnson (Liverpool), Ledley King (Tottenham), John Terry (Chelsea), Matthew Upson (West Ham), Stephen Warnock (Aston Villa).

Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City), Michael Carrick (Manchester United), Joe Cole (Chelsea), Steven Gerrard (Liverpool), Tom Huddlestone (Tottenham), Adam Johnson (Manchester City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Aaron Lennon (Tottenham), James Milner (Aston Villa), Scott Parker (West Ham), Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Shaun Wright-Phillips (Manchester City).

Forwards: Darren Bent (Sunderland), Peter Crouch (Tottenham), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham), Emile Heskey (Aston Villa), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United).

An Exciting Week Leads to Summer Doldrums

2010-05-09T18:55:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day, Doc!

Chelsea are the English champions, good for them. Apparently, they needed to prove that they deserved it by thrashing poor Wigan 8-0. Wigan apparently wanted to prove that they are in contention for relegation next year. Tottenham proved that they deserved a spot in Europe earlier in the week by going mano-e-mano with Manchester City at Eastlands and destroying City's hopes in front of all their fans. DC United picked up their first league win on the same day and then proceeded to lose (and not score again) at Dallas on Saturday, proving that they are still poor. Perhaps they are trying to prove that the U.S. needs promotion/relegation.

So what am I supposed to do now? Sure, I've got DC, but remember the aforementioned suckitude. I still love going, but it's tough to view their play as "good football/soccer" right now. Okay, La Liga and Serie A are finishing up and they have close races for their top spot. Sorry, I'll check the results, but I am not going to be glued to the games. Same is true for the FA Cup final, mostly because I find it hard to believe that Chelsea will fail to win their first ever domestic double against the likes of Pompey. Champions' League final I'll watch, I'll try to see the Europa League final too. But after that, I guess I'll have to live off every rumor of where Jose Mourinho is headed and wait for the "excitement" of the summer transfer window.

Oh, yeah, and there's some off-season tournament taking place in Africa, but who really cares about that?

D.C. United Wins a Game!

2010-05-06T14:50:00.001-07:00

I have been lax in my posting. Partially because D.C. United is horrible. Posting about the games, which I should be doing, would depress me, but that's not why I didn't do it. I was completely disoriented. If this year's D.C. United is to enjoy any success, some players will really have to step up and the way the team plays the game will have to change. Which brings me to the subject of my post.

D.C. won last night! Huzzah! It sure as hell wasn't pretty. It was not the attractive D.C. United soccer about which some much has been said. Gottseidank. D.C. does not have the caliber players to play "the beautiful game." I am not sure any team in the MLS does. The MLS has gotten better, I'm not attacking the MLS or its teams. Rather, that the MLS has gotten better is what prevents attacking/possession style soccer. Defenses are better organized, midfielders are better at reading the game, and overall, the league is much quicker. Most of the forwards who are successful (I can't speak to Edson Buddle this season because I haven't seen L.A. play enough) have a great deal of speed or pounce upon loose balls, deflections, and rebounds (See, Casey, Emilio). Let's look at this another way, Kyle Beckerman was considered one of the best attacking midfielders last year. Not bashing him, but '06 Gomez, he was not. A number 10 to drive the offense, wingers with not just speed but good crossing, forwards with the capability not just to beat defenders, but also to keep the ball and pull additional defenders - these types of players are expensive and have opportunities outside the MLS. D.C. has had some great teams in the past and will in the future, but now, for the type of players needed and at an even higher level than before, it will cost an arm and a leg. These prices are well outside the salary cap range and even three Designated Players might not be enough.

Christian Gomez was a find in 2006, but if I have to predict, I think he will be the last great 10 for a while. D.C. has its traditions, but needs to give up on what doesn't work. The team is slow and lacks the technical ability (and vision and intelligent movement) for a quick passing game. We all want to see beautiful soccer, but when you have two work-horses like Alsopp and Christman who will physically pressure a defense until they crack, it's foolish to try to play like they're young Jaime Morenos.

P.S. Congrats to the Spurs; you're not my team, but you deserve it.

P.P.S. A belated congrats to Fulham - what a European run. Who'd've thought Fulham would be the English standard-bearers in Europe?

4th is the place to be

2010-05-02T13:34:00.001-07:00

The race for fourth place comes down to two teams and one game. Manchester City v. Tottenham Hotspur is being touted as the most important game of the season. Both teams are going into this game on good form and should present one hell of a show. The match itself is essentially worth sixty million pounds as the one to get into the Champions League will bring huge financial power to the victor. The big question left is who will end up claiming that important qualifying place in the Champions League?

Much of the British press is backing Manchester City to pip the 4th place finish from Spurs. The match is a home game for City which is a major advantage. City enter the game with four wins, a loss and a draw in their last six while Spurs come in with four wins and two losses, both teams losing to Manchester United. But are City really the favorites? Even the betting seems to favor City to win this Wednesday. But I think a number of factors are being ignored.

In City's favor is that it is uncertain whether Spurs keeper Gomes will play a factor. Gomes has been key to the victories against Arsenal and Chelsea and would have been tipped for another stellar performance against city. Additionally, Aaron Lennon may be back back, but may not start, and even if he does, there is no guarantee he will be on form.

For Spurs, The big positive is the addition of Gareth Bale. His pace is only bettered by Lennon in the Spurs squad and his ball control is nearly level with the right winger as well. Bale's true incentive is that though he is not the best defender, he adds a bit of defensive steel to the Spurs left side as he is a serviceable defender and allows Assou-Ekotto to remain more in defense. After the terror that Lennon caused in the first match, I think it is naive to ignore the return of Lennon in conjunction with Bale's inclusion on the Left. Also for Spurs, the victories over Chelsea and Arsenal, the confidence in the squad are incredibly high.

The goal keeper situations are going to be a point of interest on both sides. Manchester City are missing one of the top keepers in England in Shay Given. But in this past weekend Spurs' in form keeper Heurelho Gomes pulled up with a late groin injury. City have managed to get permission to bring Martin Fulop from Sunderland while if Gomes is unable to play this week, Harry Redknapp has already said he will not try to make an emergency signing. If Fulop is the man to win the game for City or Gomes misses the game and the keeper is at fault for a Spurs loss, there will be an uproar over the situation.

In the end, this should be an exciting game, but as a man with his Spurs shirt on, I think we'll be seeing another Spurs win. 2-0 Spurs.

Loyalty

2010-04-25T20:43:00.001-07:00

In the fickle world of football where managers are dumped at a moments notice and where players leave a team when they please, it was a great moment when Scott Parker scored for West Ham and ran away from his teammates to hug his manager. Gianfranco Zola has been under so much pressure over the past few months that he has been rumored to have already agreed to leave at the end of the season in two weeks. I am not a West Ham fan, but it is so hard to root against such a fine gentleman in the beautiful game. It is amazing the loyalty that has been displayed by both the players and Zola himself has been admirable. Zola has done nothing but back his players rather than blame them for some rather poor performances this season. But I have heard great interviews where West Ham players have pledged their support to their managers.

It is great to hear that many fans want Zola to stay now that it looks like West Ham will remain in the Premier League. It is an amazing contrast to the hordes of Arsenal and Liverpool fans calling for the heads of Wenger and Benitez. In the case of Rafa Benitiez, it is not particularly surprising considering how far Liverpool have fallen, but even I think the Gooners are insane to think Wenger should go. I do agree that his stubborn attitude has cost them over the past few years, but who else can you get that will better? I think that Arsenal have another year or two(or a bit more) before they pull themselves together and get some silverware, but to get rid of the one good piece in that club would be ridiculous.

Even at Tottenham, a number of our fans are calling for the head or 'ol 'Arry. I have argued that he can't go, and considering it looks as we may make the coveted fourth spot, it would be silly as well.

I think the coaching merry-go-round will be very interesting this summer. I think Benitez, Mancini, and Allardyce could likely be gone. But we come to the problem of who can replace them? Mark Hughes is one of the few properly good managers out there available.

What happened to loyalty?

Union Busting

2010-04-09T19:03:00.000-07:00

So the writers of this blog are headed to Philadelphia in hopes that DC United will make like the Pinkerton Detective Agency and bust up the Union. In case you missed it, Vice-President Joe Biden will also be in attendance and let's face it, that's "a big f---ing deal." Anyway, it seems to appropriate to post something in case events go pear-shaped and we don't make it back.

I didn't bother recapping DC United's performance against New England and, to be fair, my frustrated post about Kansas City wasn't fair or even particularly accurate. So I'm off to a great start.

New England Revolution Half-Assed Recap - DC looked quite a bit better against New England than they did against KC, but that is not saying much. They managed to actually hold the ball in the midfield a bit more and drive forward with numbers. The defense was far better organized. Although Pena lacks speed, as one expects from a 37 year old forward, DC seemed largely able to cope. Hopefully, as the defense recovers from its injuries, the back four can play a larger role in starting the attack.

Therein lies the elephant in the room - DC lacked any sort of creativity in final third. Well, it's the MLS; games can be won without a dynamic offense. Unfortunately, DC played like they had one and once again failed to score. No one was willing to pull the trigger from any sort of distance. They didn't crash the box in hopes of fortunate header or deflection when service came in from the wings. There was plenty of movement around the top of the 18 and passing was adequate, but only laterally - runs were lacking and balls slotted through lacked quality.

Castillo, for me, has not lived up to the hype. Tino has the speed and aggression to be an attacking midfielder, but not the vision or creativity. He's going to have to step up - the man has plenty of drive, but he's going to have to make a conscious effort to play smarter. Pontius needs to finish - he's shown the most effectiveness and creativity in the offense, but if the ball doesn't end up in the net, it's all for naught. Julius James was the goat of this game for ball-watching on the first goal. He's still got some credibility in my book for that goal he scored last year in KC, but having made two gaffes that cost goals in two games, he's burning through it quickly.

Philadelphia Union Preview - Hopefully, no one is underestimating Piotr Nowak. Maybe he's not Sigi, I'm not in the position to say, and maybe his team lacks the quality in depth that Seattle had/has, but the Union did not look bad playing against Seattle. Now, that was one-off but Philadelphia had a bye last week, as did most of the league, so it is all DC has to go on (and all I have to go on as well). I expect mid-field battles. I was shocked to see Philadelphia control the midfield so often against Seattle who have one of the best midfields in the league. Granted, the physical style of the Union's play may have neutralized Ljundberg's playmaking, red card not withstanding. DC's tendency to play through the midfield is likely to cause more than a few violent challenges. This will also be DC's first opportunity to play against Fred and to see if he is as ineffective as we argued he was. He may not be.

It's tough to predict DC's line-up. There are a number of injuries and semi-recoveries. Najar did not travel with the team. It will be interesting to see if Allsopp starts. With a deficient attack, many fans have complained that we have not seen much of him. Even Onalfo has explained why, a shake-up seem appropriate. Moreover, Pontius is carrying a knock. If Pontius starts tomorrow, I'm going to begin to question Allsopp's fitness. That last thing DC needs is another striker that cannot go 90 minutes. It's also possible that McTavish will play. We didn't see much of McTavish last year and what we did see wasn't particularly good. I think the young man wanted to be like Benny a little too much. If he calms down a bit, his bit of speed and tackling are huge assets to this relatively slow team. Last year, however, he didn't play very intelligently, gave up many fouls in bad locations, gave the ball away a lot, and was caught out of position more than a couple times. I actually might not mind seeing Boyzz as a striker. His finishing historically has been poor, but his seeming-desperation to get into the box and put shots on goal may shake up the stagnant offense and lead to some scoring from rebounds.

DC should win this game. They have shown some promise. But they will have to put the ball on frame more than once or twice and it probably won't be pretty.

P.S. The strict Philadelphia regulations on flares, smoke bombs, and fireworks are actually not due to Joe Biden's attendance - the truth is Danny Califf's hair is high combustible.

End of Season Predictions

2010-04-04T16:12:00.000-07:00

With the end of the European seasons coming up, I thought I would look at how I see things going. I want to take a quick look at the English Premier league, the FA Cup, and the Champions league.

First, The Champions League. Having watched three of the four first leg quarterfinal games, I think I have an idea of how it will all play out. The teams I think will progress are Bayern Munich, Lyon, Inter Milan, and Barcelona. This means that the semi-finals will be Lyon v. Bayern and Inter v. Barcelona. These should both be exciting ties, but in the end I see a final of Bayern Munich and Barcelona. Needless to say, at this point I am having a real difficult time seeing anyone but Barcelona raise the cup for the second consecutive year. I would like to see Lyon make it to the final, but I don't see them beating the holders either.

In the EPL, I used the BBC Sport predictor to find out how I see this season ending. I'll look at the race for the title, the relegation battle and the battle for fourth. First, in the relegation battle, it seems that Portsmouth have no way out. The only team in the bottom four I see getting any points in the last games is Hull, which will pick them out of the drop zone and will leave West Ham, Portsmouth, and Burnley to go down.

In the title race, It will be tight. I see both Chelsea and United finishing with 87 points and Arsenal finishing with 83. I think this one will come down to goal difference. I think the goal difference will likely favor Chelsea as they have Bolton and Wigan left, both of which can let goals flow like a river. Manchester United have some fixtures against teams who like to park the bus and I don't think they will be able to grab enough goals against them.

In the Race for fourth, I think the game which will decide it will be the penultimate game between Spurs and Manchester City. I honestly believe Spurs can win that game and will take the fourth spot with 71 points, but if Man City can pull that game out, they get 69 and Spurs miss out by a point. As I see it however, Spurs get 4th, Liverpool in 5th, Villa in 6th and City finishing in 7th.

Finally, in the FA cup, I see the final to be a repeat of the 2008 Carling Cup. Spurs will meet Chelsea at Wembley in May. And though many of the Spurs players have come out and said we can get fourth and the FA Cup, I don't see it working out. I think Chelsea will lift the cup for the second straight year.

One man can't do it all. Or can he?

2010-03-30T16:20:00.000-07:00

Annnnd. I'm back. But will Wayne Rooney be back next week? Considering the pictures from this evening of Rooney leaving the Allianz arena, on crutches with his foot in a protective boot, it's questionable. All season long, the question has been can Rooney carry the team on his own. And up until the past few weeks, the answer has been a resounding yes. "Wazza" has been in fine form since August and has done amazing things in keeping Manchester United at the top end of the table in the league and has brought the Carling Cup back to Old Trafford. Unfortunately a somewhat mysterious knee injury and tonight's ankle injury are leaving the Red Devil's title hopes in danger as they head into a big match against Chelsea.

Since Cristiano Ronaldo left for Madrid, there has been an obvious hole in the United squad, which Rooney has nearly filled on his own, but can he keep it together for the run-in to the end of the league season as well as the Champions League, not to mention the World Cup in which most fans and pundits are already saying that England have no chance without him. So who will help Rooney get United to the top? So far, Giggs, Valencia, Nani and Park have had roles, but no one is truely standing next to Rooney heading the lines. So their run in is going to come down, in my opinion, to whether Rooney can stay fit. The same goes for the Champions League. If he is not fit for the return leg after losing to Bayern Munich, it is hard to think that United will overturn the deficit especially considering Robben, Schweinsteiger and others should be back for Munich.

As for June, I can bet I know atleast one USA fan who couldn't be happier to see Rooney struggling with injuries at this point in the season. The fact that Rooney is so crucial to United, we are going to see him play more than Fabio Capello would like. Hopefully he will make it as it would be sad to see him miss any time in the World Cup as good as he has been this season.

Kansas City 4 - 0 D.C. United - Recap

2010-03-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

It's a good thing there was a beautiful woman waiting at home for me because the rest of that night was just ugly. I'm actually having a little trouble breaking this game down, not only because it was such a disaster, but because it was the first game of the year and the poor showings were incidents, not yet trends. Nevertheless, there are a few points I'd like to make.

3-Man Defense - This is one of the big obvious ones. It may be that Onalfo felt this was necessary. McTavish, Burch, and Namoff are all injured, while Pena was unavailable having just completed his visa. Maybe Onalfo felt that because he was playing on the ping-pong-table-that-passes-for-that-K.C.-field, he wouldn't need four players in defense. Whatever the reason, Talley joined the team a couple days ago and Wallace started in defense, what? Once last year? Julius James was available, but started on the bench. The disorganization was unbelievable back there and Jakovic did not look like the player from last year.

5-Man Midfield - Really? There were five in the midfield? It was hard to tell since D.C.'s midfield couldn't maintain possession to save its life. Morsink wasn't terrible, he was mostly invisible, but otherwise no worse than any other D.C. player on the pitch. Castillo did not impress me: he was okay, but high-profile signing? I saw little special. Najar is certainly young, but I thought he looked one of the better players out there. I don't think Tino has the skills or mind for central mid. It is too early to make this decision, but he missed a lot of open "wide" players. Not getting the ball out to the wings is impressive on that pitch, considering the lanes on I-395 are wider. Of course, Tino never really had a lot of good passes to make.

No Off-the-Ball Movement - D.C.'s best off-the-ball move came when Tino slapped Smith. Other than that, there was very little movement, few overlapping runs even. There's not a whole lot more to be said about this - without a natural goal-scorer, D.C. is going to have to rely on excellent movement so Tino and Moreno can slide passes through and pick apart the defense. After last night, that seems like a distant hope.

Pontius and Moreno - I have mixed feeling about this partnership. I would love to partner Pontius with a young Moreno - Pontius seems much more skilled and prone to pulling the ball back and looking to pass than to receiving one and immediately looking for an opening to shoot. Pontius did not shoot much last night (no one did, really). Whether they can make their offensive partnership work or not, both, but particularly Pontius, spent way too much time dropping back to defend. Given the defensive frailties, that might be understandable, but neither Moreno nor Pontius has explosive speed - they're going to need to stay further up the pitch if D.C. is going to have a viable counter-attack.

There's plenty more to be said. No one, including Perkins, had a particularly good showing. I'd like to say "There's no where to go but up," however NY/NJ last season has given the lie to that particular saying. The field was miniscule, the defensive roster was drained, and this was the first game of the season - these are the reasons not to despair. The only silver lining though was that the Metro didn't charge me for the trip down to Molly Malone's. And really, that's just another D.C. failure.

ESPN, Martin Tyler, and the World Cup

2010-03-26T18:06:00.001-07:00

Everyone has known for a while now that Martin Tyler was going to be doing the play-by-play for ESPN's coverage of the World Cup and if you missed it, there are commercials centering around the fact that he will be.

There has been consternation on the internet that American broadcasters will be limited to commenting from the studio during the breaks. Some bloggers and message boards have chalked ESPN's decision up to Eurocentrism. (No, that doesn't really work, although it is technically correct. Anglophilism. I don't even think that is a word. At any rate.) There is a belief or worry that ESPN put Martin Tyler on because of a prejudice that English soccer announcers are inherently better than U.S. announcers.

I have no idea what went into ESPN's decision, but, other than such a prejudice certainly exists, I see no reason to suspect that distaste for U.S. sportscasters was ESPN's motivation. Martin Tyler is, quite simply, one of the best, if not the best. He is well-respected and has considerable experience in World Cup play-by-play, not to mention soccer play-by-play in general. The U.S. does not have announcers with the experience, nor the quality, nor the eloquence of Martin Tyler. It is arguable whether England has any other announcers of his caliber. ESPN did not pick up a couple of Brits who normally cover the Championship League. ESPN picked, yes, a Brit, but a Brit who covers the biggest, most popular league in the English-speaking world. They picked him because virtually any English-language channel would love to have him cover the World Cup.

They aren't having him do play-by-play for the MLS from studio in London. I wouldn't want him, he's not an American. He doesn't know the cultures of the cities, supporters' groups, or history. There are American announcers for the MLS; they are improving and are not the worst soccer announcers that I have heard. Sometimes the Brits used by Fox Soccer Channel for the matches between weaker teams seem closer to Eugene Levy in Best in Show than they do to Martin Tyler, BBC accents or no. But ESPN's MLS play-by-play commentary is sloppy (As an aside, does Alexi Lalas need a female soccer star in the studio with him? He was ridiculously jittery for some reason). Last night, for the MLS's opening game for 2010, they made numerous references to Philadelphia's match against DC United next week (it is two weeks away), clearly had no idea who Andrew Jacobson was after he took a shot - waiting until they could see his number and name on his jersey, and misidentified players on numerous occasions. All these things happen. I am in no way saying that I would do better. I'm a DC United fan and I doubt that I could pick Andrew Jacobson out of line-up. They are sloppy though. Do British announcers make similar mistakes? Absolutely. The idea or hope is that Martin Tyler will make fewer, having seen so many of these players play previously and having considerable first hand-knowledge of World Cup tournaments past and that he will demonstrate the eloquence that he typically shows that will improve our game experience.

I admit, I am a sucker for some of the British expressions, Tommy Smyth's color commentary (before he jumped his own shark), and the generally more esoteric language used by many British announcers. It can add a sense of exo-cultural experience to watching a soccer game. Certainly, that can be mistaken for "authenticity," or superiority; maybe ESPN did make that mistake, but even if they did, I think they arrived at the right decision for the wrong reasons.

MLS Preseason Notes

2010-03-24T18:02:00.000-07:00

A new CBA has been agreed to and has been analyzed to death and I don't particularly want to add to the discussion; suffice it to say, I think it is an imperfect agreement for a bizarre league in a rare, if not unique, situation and it will suffice. For now. Now let's drop that line and pick up with the MLS season starting in less than a day.

I don't have the time to write a paragraph about each team even if I had done the research, which I haven't. So I'll go with my highlights.

Team to Watch: Seattle Sounders

Unfortunately, there is little reason to think that Seattle will not be a top team this season. The Sounders' inaugural season was impressive, but the quality in the team was not due to some intangible like "beginner's luck." Keller was solid in goal, Ljundberg was creative in the midfield and demonstrated his superior shooting ability when necessary, and Montero was a dynamo up top. Keller and Ljundberg are returning, as is Montero, although he may pick up a transfer to Europe in the summer. Added to these players is Nkufo, a 37 year-old Swiss international striker. Whether or not his age will be a factor and how he handles a transfer to Major League Soccer remains to be seen, but looking forward, he very well may be a considerable addition to the team. The rest of the team looks "acceptable;" the defense and the rest of midfield are unremarkable but are more than capable of handling the level of soccer in the MLS. To make matters worse, Seattle probably has the greatest home advantage in the league - Seattle has sold more season tickets to each game than most other venues will have in overall attendance and Qwest field will be the only turf stadium this year (Yes, Toronto switched to grass). I suggest that we may see a "Fortress Qwest" this year as Seattle will be harder to beat at home than ever and they more than have the quality to pick up plenty of away points.

Biggest Unknown: Philadelphia Union

Really? The expansion team that has never played together is an unknown? I'm a freakin' genius. Nevertheless, the quality, or lack there of, of this team is unclear. Philadelphia has a number of players who have shown promise, but never really matured into the great players that fans and observers thought they could be (Brazilian former-DC United player, Fred, is included, but there are others as well). The fans in Philadelphia have been organized for years and they will rally behind this team. Piotr Nowak is a damn fine coach and has won a trophy nearly every year that he has been a coach. However, this year may be another rarity. Union were not as fortunate as Seattle when it came to the rookie draft, this year was not nearly as deep as the previous. Although Philly got the pick of the litter, it is unlikely that it will have the bevy of young stars with which Seattle emerged. Moreover, I expect Nowak to get performances out of some of his high-potential players, but not all of them. Without significant depth, Union are unlikely to push past the middle of the overall table. That said, with the talent on this team and Nowak's history of cultivating talent, it could be one of the better teams... Both those things said, just looking at the players and their past performances, they could be horrible.

Team Not to Watch: Colorado Rapids

I watch every MLS game I can see and would never advocate, particularly to a potential Rapids fan, actually not watching their home team. I just don't think Colorado will do anything significant, good or bad, this year. Colorado was a mid-table team last year and I see little reason to expect any difference this year. Sure, Conner Casey keeps getting national team call-ups for some reason, but that is only because the U.S. is in the middle of a forward crisis. I should note that Brendan was once beaten by Colorado while playing FIFA 10 because Conner Casey won three straight 50-50 headers, the last one resulting in a goal. So clearly, the programers at EA Sports hold him in higher regard than I do. Nevertheless, he is not enough to drive a team on his own and the rest of the team looks "passable," much like Seattle (in quality only, not in style) without the stars and home environment. Colorado has never successfully connected with local community and, although I have no particular insight into Colorado's locker room, I don't see a natural leader on the team pushing them to be better. Colorado will play the least interesting soccer, with the possible exception of Kansas City, which, after comparing them to the Sounders earlier I should admit, is the complete opposite of Seattle's flowing aggressive style.

Buzz Word for the Year: Parity

Same as last year. I still expect there to be significant parity this year. The league is set up for it, in many ways. If parity is to be broken, I doubt it will be my beloved DC United to do it. More likely, it will be Seattle or the Gals (Galaxy made a couple interesting/Brazilian signings who could put the team above-and-beyond, they still have a tough backline, still have Donovan - at least until the summer, and may have Beckham - if his achilles sews itself back together properly).

Expect a more DC United-centric focus from me after this. The owner of this blog may be able to contain his myriad of opinions about Spurs, but I am less likely to be so constrained concerning the Black-and-Red. Let the games begin! Vamos United.

D.C. United Off Season Recap or How I Learned to Worry about Everything Simultaneously

2010-03-07T06:18:00.000-08:00

The MLS season is drawing near and D.C. United's off-season is coming to a close. It has been a busy time for the Black-and-Red. Numerous events and changes occurred both in the team and with the entity itself. I don't know if one could say that last years roster was "blown-up," but some of the highest paid players and mainstays of the 2009 team are no longer with D.C. Moreover, the environment around the team has changed as well. Because writing actual paragraphs and sentences of all these changes would be longer than my graduate thesis, I have decided to compile a list of my fears and worries which I have placed below:

Christian Castillo becomes the new Fred; all flash with disappointing substance.
MLS labor negotiations fail and there is no MLS season.
Spiders.
The team moves to Baltimore.
The team moves even further away.
Jaime turns out to be to old to be useful but too skilled to be obviously useless.
Fish/Sharks/Whales/some of the more aggressive corals.
Frustrated with his international career, Troy decides to "phone it in" in the MLS.
The Zombie Apocalypse.
Why has D.C. left (according to speculation) considerable room under the salary cap?
Why was Flo N'Galula released for monetary reasons if plenty of space under the cap exists?
A confident Germany.
United may intend to pick up a big signing after the World Cup, when prices have peaked.
Will Chang bought out his partners and then later went looking for new ones.
I am a disappointment to my parents.
Without a "10," D.C.'s tradition and style become MLS monotony.
My girlfriend is secretly less tolerant of my soccer obsession than she lets on.
A large piece of RFK falls on my head.
Tino's improvement stagnates.
Neither Pontius nor Allsopp prove threatening enough to drive an offense.
Strangers.
Curt Onalfo turns out to be a mediocre manager from a mediocre club with an affinity for mediocre players.
Pontius, Wallace, or Jakovic are picked up by European teams over the summer.
Namoff misses a large portion or all of the season, again leaving D.C. weak in defense.
The housecat in my lap is thinking about killing and eating me.
The Philadelphia Union are not the Red Bulls and D.C. might start losing derbies.
D.C. continues to descend into mediocrity.
Seattle gets better.
My perceived reality is really all a psychotic delusion.

Arsenal: Targets or Frail?

2010-03-04T20:55:00.001-08:00

I know what this sounds like. A Spurs fan going off about the Arsenal, but I had a chat with some Arsenal fans following the Stoke game to get their opinions and the ones I spoke with seemed to feel as I did. So here goes.

With the horrific injuries to Eduardo two years ago and Aaron Ramsey last weekend, are the Arsenal targeted as Arsene Wenger inferred, or are they simply a team of small and relatively frail players who are more at risk for serious injuries? It seems that after the horrendous discipline record of the early Wenger Arsenal teams, Arsenal are at minimum, the most obviously picked on team in the Premier League. However, is this because teams are actually out to bully them? Absolutely yes. However are they targeted to be injured? Absolutely not.

There are two reasons why teams go out to bully the Arsenal. One is that the easiest way to ruin Arsenal's flow and gameplay style is to be a bit rough with them. It disrupts their attack and ruins the rhythm which they prefer to play with. The second reason is because they are one of the physically smallest teams in the league. Other than Fabregas and Bendtner, I honestly wouldn't call anyone on that team imposing. Even Gallas and Vermaelen are by no means big. Simply put, they are not hard to push around, so why not do it if you can't match them in skill which most teams can't.

But why does Wenger seem to think that these injuries are happening on purpose? I honestly have no idea why he seems to believe this, but I think I know why it does keep happening to them. Since Arsenal are smaller and quicker, teams push them around and knock them down. Teams aren't trying to hurt them, but on occasion teams simply can't keep up with the pace. You see Aaronn Lennon and Theo Walcott on the ground alot because players can't keep up unless they aren't moving. Obviously I think Lennon is better, but the point stands. So in the case of the Shawcross tackle last weekend, the misfortune that befell Ramsey, is simply because he was a bit too quick and the speed was too much for Stoke City. As I remember, It was a similar issue for Eduardo, Although, I would have been too fast for Taylor, so that doesn't mean much.

So what can be done about this? Well, despite the fact that I in no way want to help the Wanderers from Woolich, there are a few answers. I think they need to bulk up the squad they have already. I know it will slow them down a bit, but I think it would keep them on their feet and give them more presence all over the pitch. Next, whether Wenger buys or grows him, he needs to find a physical striker and a physical midfielder to protect the back four and Fabregas. Add a little bit of physicality to the squad and watch them actually push for the title. So in summary, if you work for Arsenal, do exactly the opposite of what I just suggested.

Is the circus over?

2010-02-26T17:49:00.000-08:00

With a title like that these days, there are two things i could be referring to, but I can't bring myself to even register an opinion here on one of them. Portsmouth Football Club have finally gone into administration. So the big stories there are that the team should survive for the rest of the season at minimum and Peter Storrie will finally be leaving the south coast club. With administration comes a point deduction and inevitable relegation.

So why is this a big deal when football teams go into administration all the time? The first part is that this is the first time that a Premier League team to do so which begins to lead to questions of who else in the Premier League could be at risk. I'm not going to discuss this matter here as I would rather focus on Pompey and what they have done and what can be done to prevent it. The second issue relates specifically to England where it has been reported this week that English football holds around 56% of the debt in all of World football. This means that English clubs have taken on so much debt that the league could risk a major fall if some of the clubs aren't careful and worse yet, if the teams who are teetering on the brink lose the revenue from competitions like the Champions League(i.e. Liverpool).

I think the important place to start is to see how this happened. The case of Portsmouth comes down to a relatively simple situation of overspending and taking on to much debt. When the club won the 2008 FA Cup, the team began to build and repay their players for their success with larger contracts. Reports claim that goalkeeper David James gets 50000 pounds a week and John Utaka makes around 80000 pounds per week. this kind of spending has helped lead to debt levels which have been reported to be in the realm of 70 million pounds. The debt level is unbelievable because the fans and club have been complaining that they can't make enough money due to the fact that they are in the smallest stadium in the Premier League. With the problems surrounding the stadium, it is unclear who even owns the land around Fratton Park. The real question for how this happened is who is at fault. Most people leave the blame at the feet of executive Peter Storrie. There is atleast some blame to be had by Storrie. He takes more than 100000 pounds per month and he is responsible for the signings and contracts. The story has echos of the downfall of Leeds United where Leeds had borrowed against the TV revenues and spent too much and were forced to sell a great number of their players. This is almost identical to the situation at Pompey. The issue being, will they be following Leeds' path down to League One?

How can this kind of problem be prevented in the future? UEFA President Michel Platini has back a number of ideas which should help turn the tide to financial responsibility. He supports wage caps and caps on transfer spending either in absolute terms or in terms of a percentage of club turnover. Even his idea of the 6+5 rule I believe would be good for football finance. The rule would call for the a given teams side to be composed of atleast 6 home internationals. This would likely reduce transfer spending and hopefully help to bring wages under control by reducing scouting outside each country. I don't support the idea, but it could be a measure that gets true consideration. Finally, Platini has talked about barring teams who maintain high levels of debt from participating in European competition. It is a controversial idea, but would force teams to stop their reckless practices with debt. In addition to Platini's ideas, the transparency used on German and French clubs should be used worldwide, and would help to keep clubs accountable for their spending and financial practices.

So this is a sad day, because it will be the day where we either say, "that was the day that football learned to run itself properly," or we'll be saying "that was the day football fell apart." I really hope its the first one.

Money, the Big Four, and the Champions' League

2010-02-21T13:20:00.000-08:00

I was initially critical of BS' last post. "Big four? What big four? Surely, at least five and even that is slighting a number of other teams," I thought. Sure, Chelsea are at the top, followed by Manchester United and Arsenal, but fourth place is up for grabs, and not just between Liverpool and late-arrival Manchester City. Spurs and Villa want in, too. Everton looks like they're going to throw their hat in the ring (methinks, not in time, though). Moreover, had Fabergas not stepped up in a huge way, would the Gunners really be sitting so pretty? Who knows what happens if Rooney takes a knock?

But he's correct. Why, one might ask, are Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal still at the top? I would argue, their benches. A season is long, players get tired and they get injured or the take leaves for other reasons. Case in point, Drogba left for ACN and Chelsea still flourished, van Persie went down and Fabergas stepped up, Rooney. . . is an outlier. Many point to an over reliance on Wayne Rooney and fear for Manchester United should he be injured. Certainly, he is on-form and that should be a concern, but how big? Arshavin and maybe Michael Owen sit behind him waiting for a chance. If that's not enough of an argument, Manchester United lost Ronaldo, whom many felt was their best player and still, they are competing for the league title. The opposite end of this argument is easy to spot as well, Everton and Fulham. Since Saha and some other injuries have returned (plus the acquisition of Landon Donovan), Everton have been on a tear. Some of it is probably luck, but the return of injured starters and spending some cash Everton's weak bench, which, by themselves, were barely keeping the Merseyside team out of relegation. Fulham were playing ever-so-well, right up to the point when they lost Dempsey and Zamora. With neither on the pitch, Fulham looked truly toothless, they had no one even close to the caliber of Dempsey or Zamora to replace them.

So what of Liverpool? Not doing so hot, but still a very wealthy team. Benitez has complained time and again of not having money to spend. Noticeably, on a second striker. Torres can be a monster, but he has spent a lot of time injured this season. N'Gog has proven poor quality. Dirk Kuyt was pushed up front, with some effectiveness, but Liverpool then lost a mid-field work horse; Babel is a poor replacement. Gerrard too has been injured a number of times, Benayoun, who was on-form, also lost part of the season with busted ribs. For Liverpool, who were not functioning well as a team to begin with, these were too many injuries to bear. Liverpool has not gotten any breaks, they have had a poor season. Yet, they are still in contention and I expect a better season from them next year.

BS too is correct about the smaller clubs not doing well in the Champions' League, but I am less inclined to chalk it up to "experience." If Everton can beat Manchester United, then why not Barca? Because Everton cannot afford to rest their key players in the Prem and expect to get a result against any but the weakest of the Prem sides nor can they rest those players against any Champions' League side. Everton may be able to fashion a decent Champions' League run with healthy players and if they are well rested, but when that's over, they may find themselves in in the bottom half of the table, if not in a relegation battle, in the league. The only teams that can consistently succeed in both the Champions' League and the EPL are the big four, plus Manchester City (probably), because their money buys depth, not just starting-eleven stars.

DC United fans probably think this self-evident. We have seen what the lack of depth can do to a team engaged in multiple tournaments plus a league. It is not, however, an argument not to break up the big four's hold on the Champions' League. So what if the fourth place team doesn't excel every time? Honestly, it makes it that much more romantic and exciting when an Aston Villa or Tottenham do make it to the elimination stages (which would happen sometimes. It's a tournament: the effect of outlier outcomes is multiplied due to the small sample size). I just find changing the rules because you don't like the results to be dishonest when not completely daft. Besides, the "race for fourth" may seem silly (Who wants to be third loser? You wouldn't even get a medal at the Olympics), but it can be interesting. I certainly think it is this year.

Hey Brendan, "O-H!"

2010-02-21T12:10:00.000-08:00

"The crack of the bat and the roar of the crowds..." No, wait, that's baseball, a game played by men with big, steroid-supplemented arms, and occasionally, a pretty big gut as well. Instead, let's start with Kuper and Szymanski's assertion that "American soccer is alive and well and lying on the sofa watching Manchester United on Fox Soccer Channel."

As an MLS fan, I have blasted those in the U.S. that not only favor foreign soccer, but do so to the extent of shunning the lower-quality American version. My prejudices aside, let's consider the impact of what Kuper and Szymanski consider typical American soccer fandom, but expand it. Considering that for big leagues, like the NFL, MLB, and EPL, TV viewership economically trumps ticket sales, could a team conceivable exist that had no home fans? Can the big teams subsist off sales from abroad? Ceteris parabus, probably. However, would an empty stadium continue to draw viewers?

Hence my opening reference to baseball. I hear those things and it fills me with nostalgia for Reds games with my father. I do not watch, cannot watch, baseball anymore, but come summertime, when channel surfing the radio in my car, if I hear those things, I am instantly transported to the halcyon days of my youth. Then I keep flipping because I don't like the rest of baseball. I still like marching bands and the chants from Ohio State football games. The songs and chants too are part of soccer. For me. This is where I feel Kuper and Szymanski's assertion goes awry, soccer is not alive and well without chants and songs. Economically, I am wrong. Statistically, I am wrong. But culturally, I feel I am correct and soccer is a cultural event.

There is a reason that ESPN will televise far more home games at Qwest Field in Seattle than anywhere else in the MLS. The stadium is full and it is loud, even if it is filled with a bunch of Johnny-come-lately, arrogant, fair-weather friends. There is a reason that there are always camera crews and boom mics near the Barra Brava in DC and Section 8 in Chicago (and there are reasons that sometimes those feeds are cut and their volume muted, I like to call that "over-zealous support" but many soccer moms disagree). Aside from the fact that soccer crazies make damn fine television, the noise from these supporters groups are part of the sensory experience of the game. The strongest argument I have heard against the vuvuzela is that no matter what happens in the game, there is no roar from the crowd, no groans, or disappointed moans, it always sounds like a "swarm of angry bees" (Really, it's the "angry" part that bothers us, why not "happy" or "contented" bees?) and thus it detracts, not improves the game. We as humans are hardwired to respond to the noises of a crowd, the noises agitate or depress us. There are conformity pressures in both supporters' groups and crowds as a whole that increase fan retention. Fandom can offer the same sense of community that keeps other groups - ranging from religions to political parties - together through thick-and-thin. Shouting at the TV from my sofa doesn't improve the game or offer a sense of community (makes me feel better, though).

Now clearly, I and many others went to games held by the traveling European teams this summer, specifically AC Milan vs. Chelsea in Baltimore and DC United vs. Real Madrid, both of which were packed (I think the DC game was packed, I was much more focused on the game. Also, I was drunk and sunburned.). There was some good noise at the DC game and yeah, most of it was for Royal Madrid. At the AC - Chelsea game, you could hear a pin drop most of the game. There were supporters a-plenty and a couple supporters groups. But their chants were faint and in distinct in such a large venue. Now, this may be a function of soccer in America. I have been criticized for standing (or even just jumping up) by families in the non-supporters section. There are long periods of calm in baseball and football, so you can go to a game and discuss work and your stocks like the Seattle fans next to me when I sat in the non-supporter's section for the home DC United - Sounders game. Yet, the noise not present at soccer games in the U.S. is present in other U.S. sports.

Silent, half-empty venues seem to be an anathema to televised sports. Moreover, a couple of big games between big teams does not necessarily equate support for a team over the course of a season, plus various tournament games. I question whether you can claim American soccer is alive and well when it simply watches foreign soccer on TV (American Manchester United support might be alive and well, since there is no better option than FSC). It sounds more like soccer in the U.S. is kept alive by an outside source and I think that's called, "life-support."

The Champioooooons?

2010-02-20T18:46:00.001-08:00

This week has brought a new big idea from the Barclay's Premier League. Allegedly, the league is considering a playoff between the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh place teams for the fourth UEFA Champions league spot, which is a place which requires a qualifying game before the group stage. The possible proposal has sparked up a great deal of debate on the possibility. Many people, including Harry Redknapp, are interested in the idea because it would be a likely way to get someone else into the top four spots. The most notable critics are Rafa Benitez and Arsene Wenger, who manage the teams who seem to be in the most danger of losing out if the playoff is brought in. As a Spurs fan, I think most people would expect me to be in favor of this idea. The truth is I am not.

The biggest reason this idea is gaining some steam is that the majority of fans want to see the big four change. This is something I want as well. Yes, I dislike(being diplomatic) the Arsenal and Liverpool, but I have to agree that this is a silly idea. An example of the difficulties ingrained in this plan is when Everton qualified in fourth and went in to the Champions League and got knocked out quickly. Unfortunately, the non-established teams around that fourth spot do not have the experience, and squad depth to compete with second tier teams who make it into the champions league. This year alone, we saw Liverpool struggle only to be booted into the Europa league and Rangers were abysmal and were knocked out convincingly. Even Barcelona and Inter Milan had some struggles but made it through. Teams like Spurs, Aston Villa, and Manchester City are nowhere near ready for the step up.

Amongst the three teams I just mentioned, there are only a handful of players who have played in the champions league with the majority of them being on the Manchester City squad. All three of these teams are good, but will they make a proper showing in the Champions League? I think all could play well, but I don't think any of these teams can make a run for the finals without making a few major signings to make the squads really tough to defeat.

This leads to my next major point. Those major signings are not going to come cheap especially considering the money that Manchester City, Chelsea and Real Madrid can flash in the transfer market. Many teams can not afford making the signing to make that step without taking on major debt. Debt is a major portion of the danger of this idea. Portsmouth is the ideal example of a club biting off more than they can chew. When Pompey won the FA cup 2 seasons ago, they stepped up their expectations and brought together an expensive team with high wages which has brought their impending downfall upon them. Clubs with quality squads that just aren't quite in the higher echelons of the mythical "Big Four," can try to build a squad above their means which they believe can help them step up to a higher level and compete on a level that the fans begin to expect. Some teams who are near the proposed playoff spot may try to get that player that will get them to into the playoffs, but even this is a major financial risk as it could possibly damage the club financially if they make the playoffs and fail to make it into the Champions League.

Essentially, I think that there is far too much risk in the current financial philosophy. If we could trust clubs to live within their means and develop players, I think this could be a fun idea, but as trusting a football club to live within their means is like expecting to see Lady GaGa in a t-shirt and jeans with no makeup performing her album with a symphony, I don't think it is realistic. Although, now that I have put that idea out there, I want to be paid when she does it.

FA Cup or 4th Place?

2010-02-11T16:56:00.000-08:00

Spurred on(pun intended) by the mention of spurs in the latest post by my co-conspirator and a thread on a board where I argue with other spurs fans, I thought I would try to get all my Tottenham Hotspur based issues written down and ask some real questions about the club.

Lets start at the top. As we stand right now, we are in a good position to take the FA cup back to N17 where it belongs and we are within reach of the ever elusive fourth place in the Barclay's Premier League. Both prestigious prizes and something every team in England wants a taste of. Which should be the bigger priority to the club? It is a strange predicament as the obvious answer is BOTH! But when the question of getting fourth place or winning the FA Cup came up I had to think about it.

The FA Cup is an amazing achievement no matter what some clubs may think of it. It is a piece of silverware that some clubs would die for and some fans would kill to have their manager take it seriously for once. In Tottenham's case, it is a tradition. We were the first non-league side to hoist it back in 1901. We were the first team to do the double in the 20th century when we won it back in 1961. We created legends when we won it twice in a row in 1981 and 1982. In 1991 Gazza created a magic moment that will live for the club forever on the way to our eighth FA Cup win. These are the moments that fans of any team in any sport live for. And believe me, I've seen moments like this in all the sports I have watched over the years. I have a moment like that for each team I have loved. This cup would be a massive lift to a club that seems to underachieve almost every year. And in addition to the fact that we get silverware, it would be another that we win that the Arsenal don't, which is almost a prize in it's own right.

What about fourth place? It sounds like a nothing more than the third loser. But we as football fans know it is so much more. It is the ticket to a world where money is nothing. Where the best of the best go to figure out how good they really are and figure out what they have to do to get better so they can be the best next year. It is the holy land of the football world, the UEFA Champions League. I heard a spurs fan say on a podcast I listen to say that he would cry if he heard the Champions league theme played at White Hart Lane. I think I would too. It is one of those elusive dreams that has been just close enough for us not to lose hope but far enough away to break our hearts. Finishing this season in the fourth position in the league would be the biggest achievement in this clubs history. It would overshadow the double from 1961. It would be seen as the move to do it again for this club and its fans.

So the problem is, how likely are either scenario? Both are possible. Of the remaining 16 teams in the cup, one should expect that only four of them are any real threat to Spurs assuming we beat Bolton on Valentine's day. The question becomes how likely is it that we draw Chelsea, Birmingham, Villa or Man City in the next round? Assuming we get there and all of those four teams do as well, it's better than 50 percent. This is where we dive into the question of whether it is better to meet and beat a quality side early or to avoid them until the end. I'm not going into that question here. Either way, It is not unreasonable that we could make the final in May and that we could win it.

Again, What about fourth place? Is it realistic to think we can get there? I think it still is despite losses against the likes of Wolves and Stoke and all the draws this year alone. Spurs are one point outside of the top four and sit behind two teams they have beaten this season, and I do remember losing to Liverpool as well, but it means we are good enough. The answer to whether we can do it comes in April as we play United, Arsenal and Chelsea all in a row. If we can do alright, and preferably beat City again, we will be in a position to go at the three teams that will be battling for the league title and find our position in the table. Last year we saw that Spurs can hang with these teams, now we have to prove it once more. Is it likely? No. Is it possible? Yes.

Finally, I want to look at the manager. Is Harry Redknapp the man to take us to either one of these prizes? When he showed up last year I think you would have heard a resounding yes from every single Spurs fan on the planet. Now, the opinions are split somewhat. I don't think anyone would sack him, but can he get us where we should be. The results we have seen leave us unsure. Yes, we can stand up to the big boys. Yes we can beat the small frys. But can we do both and cement our status in this league? I suppose we'll only know in a few months. But in the mean time, "In 'Arry, we trust." Come on you Spurs!

What is Landon Donovan Worth and to Whom?

2010-02-11T16:10:00.000-08:00

After years of being blasted for not living up to his potential, multiple failed attempts to make it in Germany's Bundesliga, being called, at best, a sissy for playing in the MLS, and having a row with the fading soccer phenomenon that is David Beckham (nasty as that may have been for the two players, it probably helped Beckham stay in the spotlight), Landon Donovan has arrived. Mostly.

That "mostly" isn't a shot at Donovan. He was lethal this past summer at the Confederations' Cup, paired well with the aforementioned Beckham, Donovan and the Galaxy often showed their MLS counterparts what a creative offense looks like, was a constant force to be reckoned with in the qualifiers, and he is demonstrating that he can not only handle, but shine, in arguably the finest league in the world. It's just that this is less than 12 months.

Actually, that's not entirely fair. Donovan did not shine in his stint at as a substitute with Bayern Munich, but he stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the likes of Ribery, Schweinsteiger, and Klose and he never looked out-classed. There are those that look back now criticize that move, but I felt then, as I feel now, that he played with one of the finest and most storied teams in Europe, a team filled with superstars, and did "fine." He was solid. Not great. But before Onyewu's move to AC Milan, it was probably the biggest, most famous club with which an American had signed (I don't count keepers, the U.S. has had a string of good keepers. They are outliers.). He was not the team star, but he generally made the 18; he wasn't relegated to reserves. It wasn't embarrassing and were Donovan not a tremendous player, it would have been. Maybe I just like Bayern Munich and German football and want to see even more Americans in the Bundesliga. Could be.

Either way, he certainly did not attract the praise of the German press in the same manner that he has drawn praise (and some fear) from the English press. It isn't fair to say that he single-handedly pulled the Toffees clear of the relegation zone, there is truly some fine talent on Everton. They certainly weren't playing particularly well before his arrival though. I haven't seen as much of Donovan at Everton as I would like, but I can't fault him for that. He's starting and playing 90 minutes a lot of the time. It has more to do with my lack of Setanta and my computer being too crap to stream or even play video very well. Nevertheless, he drew startled but good reviews when he first arrived and my impression, backed by Ives and Everton manager David Moyes, is that he is improving.

Moyes has said that it is unlikely that Everton will be able to extend Donovan's loan. Ives has explained why that would be silly anyway. That is hardly the end of Donovan's European ambitions, or so I hope. While Everton may attempt to make a play for longer term loan in the summer, a successful World Cup may bring other suitors as well. Which (finally) brings me to the subject line of this post: What is Landon Donovan worth? Not that I have an answer.

The first question to ask is, "what is at stake?" For U.S. soccer and future U.S. stars, it is prestige. Donovan might not be "blazing a trail" into the EPL, after all, Dempsey has proven how valuable he is to Fulham by virtue of being injured (have you seen Fulham play recently? They haven't exactly been threatening defenses.) and a number of other U.S. players have played in the Prem (if not with quite the impact of Dempsey or McBride). I'm not even counting the keepers. He would, however, be blazing a trail as a real "star." Although, the "best" American players have played in the Premiership, Donovan's signing would be different. Reyna was a big step. McBride played and played well for Fulham; he was certainly missed when he left. However, U.S. soccer has grown and, rightly or wrongly, being the "star" U.S. player means more for Donovan. He would be brought in with a lot of hype and would have to live up to it, like a big signing from any other country (well, maybe not so big as some, but to an extent previously not experienced by the U.S.). If Donovan is unsuccessful, European clubs would continue to look with a jaundiced eye at the hype surrounding any future U.S. player. The opposite is true if he is successful; managers and owners who may hold U.S. soccer in low regard may re-evaluate their U.S. options. Not ending the mistrust and denigration of U.S. soccer, but perhaps changing a few minds and opening a few doors. Success also may assist the general quality of U.S. soccer, if more players stay in the game hoping that they can be the next Landon Donovan and earn a multi-million dollar contract.

Of course, Donovan has stakes in it as well, but how much is up to him. He has made it clear that he would like to play in England. If he wants a lengthy career in Europe, he will have to prove that he can hold up over the course of a season or more. His stay at Everton has piqued some interest, but still hasn't ruled out the "flash-in-the-pan" possibility. If he only wants to play in Europe for a couple of years before returning to the MLS, the stakes are lower and probably makes his calculus almost entirely about the money that he is offered. But again, how much is he worth?

I don't have a crystal ball. Alright, I do have a crystal ball, but it doesn't tell the future. Okay, it does tell the future, but I only ask it questions about the stock market. Those are all lies, all I have is a magic 8-ball and it's broken. The point is, it is unclear who would be interested in Donovan. Much will still depend upon his World Cup performance, but even if he has a disappointing World Cup, I don't believe all of the offers would dry up. So let's run the gamut.

Everton will probably be interested: Everton will stay in the Prem, short of a fiasco. However, European ambitions seem far-fetched and Everton are currently placed mid-table in the league. This is a path previously trodden, McBride and Dempsey most recently. A large part of me hopes that the best U.S. player can do better than a team that will really be aiming to Europa league at best. Indeed, as I have argued above, I believe Donovan may well want to aim for more. I may be dreaming.

What about Aston Villa, Spurs or a similar club? Villa has been in spitting distance of the big four and has gone on a couple runs to make it look like a contender. Villa does not, however, have the pocketbook or accompanying star power of the Manchesters or Chelsea. Villa or Spurs would probably be the lowest risk (risk being the difference between greatest and worst outcomes divided by probability. No, I did not bother assigning values and doing the math). While there would still be competition for a starting spot, it would probably be more manageable (although Spurs keep plenty of star power on the bench, that I'll leave that for the better half of this blog to lament). If Donovan plays well, he is still likely to be noticed by many other European clubs and his name and nationality would leave a positive impression for future U.S. players. He would probably get very decent money, particularly if his club made a successful European bid. I should probably note, though, that Everton is just a bit behind these clubs and, if they continue their run, and were last year, are comparable to any of the upper table clubs.

So what if Roman Abramovich makes a vodka-fueled call to Donovan and his agent (read, what if Donovan gets an unlikely offer from one of the heavy hitters)? Donovan playing well for one of the biggest teams in Europe, playing in the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions' League, speculations on his private life being front page material for big European papers would be awesome. Well, not the last bit, but the rest would be really cool. It's the playing that is the question. Big European stars like Ballack, Deco, and Valencia have all spent considerable time on the bench, and that's not even to mention promising players like Babel and Wright-Phillips. Getting a starting spot at any of those clubs would be difficult to achieve and to keep. I don't know that he is that good. I don't know that he isn't, but it is a risk. If he's just in Europe to make the big bucks before returning stateside, clearly, this is his best bet. But it probably wouldn't have the best results for U.S. soccer as whole, unless he really can wrangle a starting spot. But that's an ambitious and high-risk gamble for both U.S. soccer and for Donovan, if he intends to have an extended European career. Plus, it's highly unlikely that this would ever happen.

A nicer way to phrase this post would have been "how good is Landon Donovan?" But that would have missed the monetary aspects. Donovan's contract is not owned by the L.A. Galaxy, it is owned by the MLS. The MLS has been notorious about over-pricing its players and squeezing every last dime out of clubs seeking American talent. Which is understandable, but has it's drawbacks. Playing "hardball" with a good, but hesitant, option for Donovan could lead to the retraction of the offer. One would not hope that the MLS would put a premium on the money only, after all, they have stakes in increasing the "brand awareness" in the MLS and U.S. as well. However, as a fan of the MLS league, if not always the organization, I wouldn't put it past them. They may also opt for the best "general offer," that is the biggest club with the best money, without really considering how much Donovan would play for that club or whether it's really where he wants to play. Indeed, as a good friend said while criticizing my post (it's okay, I steal his jokes all the time), one of Donovan's great weaknesses appears to be his comfort zone: When pushed out of it, he does not adapt, he flounders. Donovan has some say and I assume has influence with the MLS (the last thing the MLS needs is its greatest national champion bashing them) and the MLS doesn't always operate like it's run by retarded hampsters, but having the MLS control his contract should be something of a concern, particularly if a faction of the MLS wants to keep Donovan's star power in the league. I'm not weighing in on the labour issue here in the U.S., I'm using a case-specific analysis for Donovan. An additional concern is whether Donovan's pricing may ward off any potential suitors, like Villa or Spurs or possibly even Everton, who if inclined to begin with, would not be interested in pay big money on a relatively unproven player (again, 12 months).

So, there is no real course emerged from this post. Merely a sample of the dragons and orcs and World of Warcraft nerds (perils and pitfalls, all) that still lurk in Donovan's career path. Donovan has done a lot of good soccer playing, but there is more to be done and (hopefully) many choices to be made.

Where have all the goals gone?

2010-02-10T20:29:00.001-08:00

The start of the season saw a flurry of goals. The first weekend of the Premiership season saw a 6-1 scoreline. So far this season, as a league, the premiership is averaging 3.01 goals per game. This sounds great until I point out that the average went down by .05 with this current midweek round of matches. The peak month this season was September when there was an average of 3.57 goals per game, but so far this month, and it was improved by this weeks matches, the league is averaging 1.91 goals per game. This has been an incredibly high scoring season so far, but where have all the goals gone?

Let me give you a bit more background information first. With games spanning seven months so far, 3 months averaged higher than 3.00 goals per game, five months have averaged more than 2.50 goals and of the two averaging less than 2.50, only one month averages less than 2. So again, where have all the goals gone?

I think the most obvious answer that I have heard is false. Many people blame the switch to winter as players would be slightly desensitized by the cold. I think this may be a very minor factor, but I see two obvious things where I feel we can lay the blame. The first is fixture congestion. As soon as we entered the new decade, we were stricken with rapid fire weekend and midweek fixtures each week. This is really exacerbated by the fact that due to this year's World Cup, the season has to end a bit earlier this year. This forced games to be stacked up before we got to the second problem with the fixtures which was the weather problems which caused a large number of matches to be postponed at the beginning of this year. This congestion is causing teams with smaller squads to become tired which may also explain why some of the teams in the lower end of the table are getting some upsets.

The second reason for the lower goal per game averages is Arsene Wenger. His inability to buy players in the transfer windows is why there are many fewer goals being scored. As a spurs fan, I couldn't be happier about this, but since Wenger refused to stump up the cash and buy a striker that Arsenal desperately need right now. Arsenal are averaging 2.40 goals per game but this average has been plummeting since they lost Robin Van Persie to injury. They have scored four or more goals in a game 7 times and only twice since the first week of November. Since the beginning of November, they have been held goalless six times.

This finally leads us to an important question. Will the goals come back? I would have to say yes. I think as the fixture congestion continues though may, player will become more tired and the ones who need to cement spots on their national teams will step up to do so. I don't expect that we will see another month with an average above 3.50, but I think we will see some more as the season winds down especially since this seems to be one of the tightest races for the title and for the Champions League places.

Euro 2012 Qualifying Draw

2010-02-08T17:34:00.000-08:00

Seems a bit early to be looking at Euro qualifying already but the time has come to see what the qualifying will look like. Just to clarify this is the qualifying for the finals tournament in 2012. The qualifying goes as follows: The 51 UEFA members are drawn into nine groups of either five or six nations. In the end of the group stages, 16 teams will make it to the finals. The Hosts, which are Poland and the Ukraine are given automatic births just like the host of the World Cup.

There are some great ties in this draw. Group B looks to be the most interesting group with World Cup 2010 attendees Slovakia being grouped with two teams who narrowly missed out in the European playoffs. Russia will likely be looking to rebound from their missed qualification much like the very unlucky Republic of Ireland. Russia nearly pushed Germany into the playoffs and Ireland probably should have knocked out France, but neither were quite so lucky.

The other particularly interesting groups are G, H, and I. Group G sees England matched up with home nations rival Wales as well as a struggling Bulgaria and an up and coming Switzerland who are going to this years World Cup. Group H sees Denmark and Portugal, two World Cup qualifiers who came from the same European qualifying group, meet again with an up and coming Norway team and Iceland. Finally Group I sees European holders Spain grouped with a weakened Czech Republic and a Scotland team who has a lot to prove as they have plummeted through the FIFA rankings and nearly made the Euro 2008 tournament only to be brushed aside convincingly in World Cup qualifying.

Though there are some interesting matchups in the other groups such as Turkey and Germany in group A, Serbia, Slovenia and Italy in Group C, Romania, France and World Cup qualifier Serbia in Group D, Sweden and Holland in Group E, and Croatia and Greece in Group F, these groups appear a bit more straight forward. Hopefully we get a set of 16 teams to build a final that is nearly as good as Euro 2008 was.

Euro 2012 qualifying draw:

GROUP A: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Belgium, Austria, Turkey, Germany
GROUP B: Andorra, Armenia, Macedonia, Republic of Ireland, Slovakia, Russia
GROUP C: Faroe Islands, Estonia, Slovenia, Northern Ireland, Serbia, Italy
GROUP D: Luxembourg, Albania, Belarus, Bosnia, Romania, France
GROUP E: San Marino, Moldova, Hungary, Finland, Sweden, Netherlands
GROUP F: Malta, Georgia, Latvia, Israel, Greece, Croatia
GROUP G: Montenegro,Wales, Bulgaria, Switzerland, England
GROUP H: Iceland, Cyprus, Norway, Denmark, Portugal
GROUP I: Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Scotland, Czech Republic, Spain

Derbies: What is wrong with these matches?

2010-02-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

What is it about Derby matches that have returned to chippy anti-football matches? Game like today's Liverpool v. Everton match made me think about this. When the schedules are announced, everyone looks forward to these matches, but they rarely please anyone but the victors and even then some of the supporters get annoyed at how chippy and ugly these games often become. Today really seemed more like a war that occasionally had a football rolling through it. So when you see the horrendous play in a match like this involving heated rivalry, why don't we see this as much in the other big ones? The closest thing on the pitch that I can think of is the Nottingham Forest v Derby County match last week which ended up with Derby County's manager allegedly kneeing Forest's Billy Davies. Most times when these derby and rivalry matches come around, though the game may not be great, the real talking points are in the stands. The most obvious example is from the West Ham v. Millwall League Cup match back in August. The violence outside Upton Park as well as the multiple pitch invasions.

What is it that ruins so many derby matches? I think it's a case of trying too hard. It's hard to believe that good teams in some of the best leagues around the world can have some rather ugly games. There is a common idiom about when things don't go your way in sport, you are likely trying too hard. I think this is the case and I believe that's where the ugliness usually comes from. There is hardly any reason to think that foreign players understand long riding animosity between these teams. Why the rivalry is there is not the point, but the players know that a great showing in one of these matches can make them legends.

The one big derby that I believe follows the trying too hard is the Old Firm. Celtic and Rangers, though the last several that I have been fortunate to watch were exciting, are often so frustrating because they do hate each other because these teams are heavily local(or atleast from Scotland). Often these games get relatively out of control and become ugly and chippy. And some of the Old Firm games I have seen make today's Merseyside Derby look like an actual game of football.

In the end, the Derby matches are what keep us excited. I just wish things like the horribly vile chants heard at some of them and the violence between fans stay out of the games. Remember it's still just a game. That means you Carragher. That "tackle" was an incitement.

U.S. Soccer and the World Cup (Part III - Expectations for U.S. Soccer and the MLS)

2010-01-30T19:17:00.000-08:00

It might be necessary for U.S. soccer fans to realize that soccer may never take the hallowed place in American sports that American football, baseball, and basketball possess. Many soccer fans in the U.S. believe that the U.S. will have to win the World Cup before soccer becomes major sport here. There is merit to that argument - having been a dominant player in global politics for at least sixty years, U.S. culture has also spread around the world increasing the popularity of American football, baseball, and basketball. When competing against the world in these sports, the U.S. tends to win, or at least have a very respectable showing. It may be that Americans have come to expect the winning and, when cast in the unfamiliar role of underdog, become uncomfortable when the U.S. is beaten by Ghana or the Czech Republic or possibly a country that U.S. fans may not be able to identify.

There is a case for that. But Americans can, in fact, deal with losing. Our club or university teams do it all the time. Here in the District, the Redskins and Nationals have fans and they don't win a damn thing. Actually, if you look at the district, the more successful teams are my beloved D.C. United (trading on past glories at this point, but still, lots of trophies for less than two decades) and the Capitals (hockey, for those of you unaware). These teams have fair followings. Certainly, there are people who watch the playoff games and finals and claim to be "huge fans," even if that fandom meant noticing the Caps score on the ESPN ticker or in the Post. But D.C. United does not sell out RFK, even for big games, like the Redskins did and continue to do at a much larger stadium. If you need illustration of the difference between baseball and soccer, the Nationals took the city to the cleaners and continue to do so over their stadium, whereas successive mayors have paid lip-service to a new home for D.C. United, but haven't been willing to waste political capital or one red cent on the project. I have digressed considerably, but I think my point is clear, we can handle our teams losing. Sure, a national team is somewhat different, but people didn't stop watching baseball when the U.S. lost the first baseball World Classic (or whatever that monstrosity was called), nor basketball when the U.S. "Dream Teams" finally stopped walking through their Olympic opponents.

Winning the World Cup would certainly help. Probably a lot. But U.S. soccer would have to make a sustained effort to maintain that interest and it is by no means guaranteed that they could maintain even that boost in interest. It certainly wouldn't silence the much defamed "Euro-snobs." (Lacking an Oxford definition, the term is used here to describe U.S. nationals or resident aliens who routinely mock the U.S. Soccer program, have never been to an MLS game, but feel confident to mock the league and generally argue that any "difference" in the American game from the European game is a "failure." The owner of this blog plainly prefers his Spurs to the Black-and-Red and prefers his Swedish ethnicity to his American nationality. The big difference is that he goes to D.C. United and U.S. MNT games because he enjoys the sport and enjoys watching it played more than he likes to tout the superiority of his national and club teams.) Euro-snobs claim that their love is of soccer, but really, it's more of an identity. It's about having arcane knowledge that few Americans possess, feeling cultured and unique for having an interest outside mainstream, and probably no small part is being able to bash U.S. culture which has been so unabashedly dominant globally (I'm no culture warrior; I would probably be stoned to death for my political views in the heart of the Mid-West, but having dealt with no small number of these fans, these are my views). U.S. Soccer would still be different, the best American players would still be playing for mid-level teams in Europe's top leagues or in mid-level European leagues. A U.S. victory would be easy to shrug aside; hell Uruguay has a couple World Cup trophies. As for the public at large, sure there would be an interest. But getting into soccer for one tournament is very different than following a club team through their season and tournaments. And the domestic game would still be the MLS.

Many proponents of the World Cup argument point to the huge boost that hockey got in the U.S. after the 1980 Winter Olympics. And rightly so. The NHL shot itself in the foot with its labor issues and subsequent strike, but the NHL remains one of the best, if not the best, professional hockey league in the world. That, however, is where it differs from soccer. Soccer is a far more popular sport globally. It has established leagues already in place awash with loads of talent and even more money. England, Spain, and Italy spend millions upon millions of Euros or pounds on their footballers. The top teams in Germany and France spend comparable amounts as well. Right now, the top-flight Mexican clubs far out-spend the MLS for their talent. The failure of the NASL (the old one) has justifiably spooked the MLS into controlling finances more rigorously. It might be holding the U.S. league back, but there's a pretty good argument that it's holding the league together. Regardless, it is difficult to believe that the MLS teams even without a salary cap could attract the big talent that Europe attracts - particularly right now. Many, many UEFA teams are posting monumental losses - while filling their stadiums every game and selling millions of ridiculously-priced jerseys worldwide. Even with a windfall attendance coming from a World Cup victory, it seems implausible that the MLS could sell every seat in the house. Qwest, okay. BMO and Crew stadiums, maybe but they're tiny. Not RFK, not Pizza Hut Park. The MLS would be even less able to support such spending, not to mention the inflation in salaries that would accompany adding another entire big-spending league. Plus, the U.S. is in CONCACAF; the CONCACAF Champions' League does not have the luster of the UEFA Champions' League. Certainly, tournaments could be developed or maybe the World Club Championship would actually matter, but the success of those tournaments are by no means guaranteed. The lack of regional rivals will be an impediment to the MLS ever reaching the quality of European leagues (Mexico currently has superior club teams, but it is tough to argue that U.S. teams could ever rival the big European teams without first surpassing UNAM, Guadalajara or Club America).

Of course, most reasonable proponents of the theory would say that it's not a "magic bullet." If the U.S. somehow manages to win the World Cup this summer, no one is really thinking that Messi or Ronaldo would be booking tickets to the U.S. to find a contract. Winning the World Cup would probably fall under the "necessary-but-insufficient" category for it's proponents.

I'm actually more optimistic. I argue that soccer in the U.S. is on the right track. More Americans follow the game locally and globally than ever before. Last summer, visiting European teams drew sell-out crowds at some of the largest stadiums in the U.S. The U.S. is becoming a regional power in CONCACAF; which means that the U.S. will generally qualify for the World Cup finals, which is new. The MLS is getting better. The MLS has been a starting point for many national team members, it attracts national team players (not many, but an increasing number) from other CONCACAF countries. The expansion, so far, seems good and having local professional soccer may encourage greater numbers of young Americans to get involved in the youth program. Speaking of expansion, okay many of the Seattle fans are douchebags, but sorry Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles, they're out-stripping us. I personally doubt it will last at its current levels and D.C. fan groups are far better organized and creative and rely less upon the largess of team owners, but Seattle sets the bar for attendance and I expect their fans will become better organized as their team ages. The fact that an MLS got a reception like that speaks strongly to the increasing popularity of the sport in the U.S. The fact that U.S. Soccer couldn't draw half the Sounders' number to a U.S. MNT Gold Cup game should be somewhat worrying though. I don't believe that the U.S. needs to win the World Cup. Getting close is enough. Right now, surviving the group phase is an acceptable goal. Moving forward in the knock-out phases should be the expectations for the future. But winning the World Cup? Only seven teams have done it and there are a dozens of countries where soccer is far and away the national pastime and far more popular than it is here and have never won it. If the U.S. has to wait to win the World Cup before soccer is accepted as a major sport in the U.S., well to paraphrase Mal Reynolds, "that may be a long wait for a train that don't come."

U.S. Soccer and the World Cup (Part II - Expectations redux, The England Game)

2010-01-19T09:23:00.000-08:00

So, the U.S. is playing England in their first game of the group stages. It may not be the first game of the tournament or even on the opening day, but the game has already attracted a great deal of attention in both countries (okay, soccer attracting attention in the U.S. is relative). I'll open with where I stand: I think the U.S. will draw or lose to England. All things considered, that's what I believe. Fabio Capello was quite polite, calling it "no easy game." I don't think it will be for England. And I don't just mean insofar as "there are no easy games in the World Cup." I'm sure there have been a few, first of all, and second, I think it will be the toughest game England can play without losing. In fact, I would almost think the odds were nearly even: slightly in favor of the Brits, but with a fair possibility of an upset. Unfortunately, the U.S. has tended to start slow and I see no reason to believe that won't be the case in this tournament as well. The fact that this is the first game for the U.S., I argue, weights the odds further toward the English. But seriously, why is this even a question?

No offense to my Yanks, but how many players on the English squad are going to be coming from Everton, Fulham or the Bundesliga (no disrespect intended toward any of those clubs or leagues either)? Maybe Zamora deserves a shot, but that's about it. The English squad, from strikers to defenders, has superior players in every position. Tim Howard is the only exception, which is why I stopped at defenders. Donovan is good. But if you think he's a Premiership-quality striker, I will argue, at the time of this post, that is yet unproven. I think he might be. Maybe he is, but even still, is he a Rooney or even a Defoe? So why would anyone think that the U.S. was even going to be in the game with England? I think there are two answers to this: 1) For the past decade or decade-and-a-half, the American team has been better than the sum of it's parts while the English have been precisely the opposite. 2) The Brits have a star problem.

I'm actually going to discuss England for a moment. Their stars are also their Achilles' heel. England's stars should be able to pretty much go out and thrash any opponent short of Spain. They did well in the World Cup qualifiers, or rather, they won a group that they should have won and lost only one game that they shouldn't have. Still, that should give the U.S. some pause. England may not collapse this World Cup. However, it should be noted that the sheer number of absolute luminaries of the international football world on the team makes it a difficult team to coach. Few, if any (Lampard, maybe) are arrogant enough to brush off the guidance of Fabio Capello. But they also may be less likely to take his advice to heart. They may be less willing to play the style of football that he wants to them to. After all, Rooney plays a pretty nice style of football that has worked out for him so far. Bob Bradley may not have the reputation of Fabio Capello, but the mentality of the U.S. team may be different. Without the large ego of England and other European or South American teams, Bradley has a better chance to make his squad play like a team, to get his players to play the roles that he wants or needs them to, rather than the way that has worked for them at their club teams.

The U.S. also may have an advantage when it comes to player selection. It's a bizarre thing to propose with the considerable depth that England has in its national team pool. That depth, however, may cause more rotation and may inhibit England's ability to function as a team. The U.S. certainly does have rotation and it does have positions that are competed for by two or more players. But not nearly to the extent of England. Think of all the U.S. players you think might play well as a center-midfielder for the U.S. Now think about England's players. Capello may not give all of those players a try-out, but many of them are going to get a chance. When Arrigo Sacchi has recently lamented that the depth of club squads may be inhibiting their ability to play "team" soccer, is there any reason to think things are different on the national level? England's team is stacked with talent, but no offense to Mr. Capello, I'm not convinced it is the right mix of talent. Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are two of the best midfielders in the world. It would be foolish not to play them both when you have them. Except that they are very similar players and fulfill similar roles on the field. They also have similar weaknesses, like they don't track back as much as they might. Which isn't a huge weakness, but then you really need to have a defensive midfielder. So either Capello has to put on a largely defensive midfielder who might be lower on the talent list than the rest of the team or the team isn't going to function well as a unit. Ultimately, Mr. Capello is a far better manager than I would ever be and one would be wise to go with his picks instead of mine. However, he is in the limelight and he knows that should England fail to win the entire World Cup, the English press is going to grill him (Abrahamic God, Buddha, the spirits of his ancestors, Brahma, and the pantheon of Greek gods help him if the team should do poorly and crash out at an early stage; he could be deported or killed). He knows that if he puts Lampard, but not Gerrard, or vice versa (or neglects any of England's stars in favor of a role-player), on the team and England do not succeed, that decision would be a lightning rod for controversy.

Of course, Bob Bradley would probably kill to have the talent depth of England (he might consider killing to halve the talent depth of England as well, but we don't advocate violence at this blog). The U.S. won CONCACAF, sure, it's a weak region (sorry, Mexico, it's true). If you're going to pick a weak region team to bet on, Cote d'Ivoire seems a better wager (or did, until their lackluster performance at the African Cup of Nations, thus far). The U.S. has plenty of problems, not the least of which is injuries and a total lack of depth. The U.S. squad has proven that it can do well with players without the star power of Messi, Rooney, or Torres. But having some of their finest players, Onyewu, Davies, and now Dempsey, injured and missing, at best, pre-World Cup training (at worst, the entire tournament) is not at all helpful. Especially, if the team's success is due in part to the players functioning well as a team. Injuries remove that chemistry and may force other team members to play in roles, if not positions, with which they are unfamiliar. I was going to have a whole section on Dempsey and how he seems to under-perform in a U.S. jersey, but now that he may miss the tournament, it seems more apt to point out that he has been one of the leading goal scorers for the U.S. and has drawn attention and defenders from U.S. opponents simply because he is known as one of the higher quality players on the U.S. squad. Should Dempsey miss the entire tournament, any rational individual should be downgrading their hopes of the U.S. performance in South Africa.

Considering Dempsey's injury, which took place after the majority of this post was written, I now expect the U.S. to lose to England. Quite simply, without Dempsey and Davies, I simply do not see enough of an attacking threat to score more than a goal, if that, and without a healthy, fit Onyewu, I do not believe the U.S. can shutout the attacking strength of the English.

As a fan, however, I expect the U.S. to try to go out and win.

Fourth Place

2010-01-16T20:51:00.000-08:00

This looks like a special season in the Barclay's Premier League. Only 16 teams have made it into the top four since the formation of the Premier League in 1992, who weren't Arsenal, Liverpool, Manchester United or Chelsea. And by looking at the tables from all these years, most of the 16 were early on around the time Blackburn won the league in 1995. Each of the last several seasons, the question is asked all season long, who can break the monopoly of the traditional "Big Four?" This year looks likely to be the breakthrough finally after spurs and Everton came in fifth several times and Aston Villa nearly held on last year. First, I'd like to make the point that I think only two of the "Big Four" are capable of falling out for an extended period. Those two are Liverpool and Manchester United. If you've been watching the league this year, you understand the Liverpool situation. Manchester United are in a very similar situation but they are winning right now. Financially, they are in a great deal of risk with a bond issue about to happen which will run their debt up to 1.1 billion pounds and a group of owners who are taking money out of the club. This is very dangerous ground to live on in the current financial climate let alone a booming one. If things don't go well, They run the risk of losing their last few valuable assets which could end their run of league titles, let alone their run of champions league runs.

What I want to discuss here is the so called "wannabe" teams. The three primary contenders for the fourth spot this season are Aston Villa, Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur. All three of these teams sit ahead of Liverpool, and with Liverpool's injury woes and lack of money available to strengthen the squad which they desperately need to do. But who actually has the ability to supplant Liverpool this year?

Manchester City have been the clear favorite this season. They have the money and the players now to make a good run. The team is good, but there are some glaring problems. I think the most obvious is Robinho. He obviously doesn't want to be there, and seems to have lost all of his ability. He is now a bench warmer and better yet, was substituted as a substitute today. He is dreadful and needs to be shed as soon as is possible. The other big problem is chemistry. With the squad available, it has seemed like they have not figured out a best 11 and have not been able to build team chemistry. I also think there is a air of arrogance because of the money the players are making. If the team can gather some chemistry and play seriously with the heart that Tevez shows, I think they can stay up in the realm of the top four, possibly for the foreseeable future.

Aston Villa are my head's pick to make it. The team has so much talent available to Martin O'Neil, they should have managed the feat last season. I think the failure to do so is the best lesson to help them make it over the line this year. The big problem I see for the Villains is their lack of Depth. I think they have one of the better starting 11's in the league, but beyond that they are weak. There's also the problem of Emile Heskey. He is not right for Villa, and I'd argue he isn't right for England. I think Villa will cross the line but I think it will be a narrow margin.

Finally are my beloved Spurs. I genuinely believe we will implode yet again this season. Tottenham have one of the best squads in the league with good depth, a good manager who seems able to deal with the egos at the club, and a fan base ready to fill the upcoming new 55,000 seat stadium that the club are building. On Paper, Tottenham should be winning titles. But when you see the bipolar nature of the team, it makes you wonder how they managed to be in 1st place in the league for the first month and a half this season. There are three major problems with the team right now. Robbie Keane, Ledley King and the lack of a Midfield presence. Robbie Keane is a shadow of the player that left for Liverpool 18 moths ago. He has not bedded back into the squad, he has played poorly, has not played the way he is needed to play. He has become a distraction as Captain as Redknapp has found it difficult to drop him. Ledley King has been a distraction who we have needed because we haven't been strong at the back. We are building our future centerback pairing and he needs to resign himself to the bench to cover for injuries. The problem with the midfield is slowly being solved. Both Luka Modric and Aaron Lennon are taking control of games and showing massive leadership qualities and hopefully will be the basis of that midfield for years to come. I think Realistically Tottenham are least likely to make it into the top four this year. The thing is, they are going to become stronger and stronger contenders for years to come.

So Who pulls it off this year? We'll see in May.

U.S. Soccer and the World Cup (Part I: Expectations and Advancing from the Group)

2010-01-07T11:38:00.000-08:00

I intend this to be a series about the U.S. and the World Cup examining, the various expectations of the U.S. performance, the impact on the sport in the U.S. and the impact on perceptions of U.S. soccer globally. That is, if time and the omni-benevolent owner of this blog allow.

In the U.S. both fans and the U.S. soccer establishment place a very high value on the World Cup and have similarly high expectations both for their team and what it will mean for the sport here should the U.S. meet those expectations. I say, “Don’t hold your breath.”

U.S. can expect to do well, but not really to advance past the first or second elimination stage. Frankly, if they are not going to match expectations, I expect them to fall short rather than exceed them. I could use the Confederations’ Cup final as a metaphor for my predictions of the U.S.'s performance, but I’d rather draw parallels between the Confederations’ Cup group stage and the previous World Cup group stage. The previous World Cup was a fiasco – massively over-hyped with an equally massive under-performance. Except, I hasten to point out that, the U.S. drew Italy. That is a feat only, at best, mirrored by France in the final. It wasn’t pretty, but the U.S. pulled it off and that cannot be taken away. Then they went on to lose to Ghana, whom they should have beaten. And lost badly to the Czech Republic previously, but that was "expected." "Expectations" aside, the Czech performance in their subsequent games suggests that they were a beatable team and the U.S. really should have done better, drawing or beating them, if the U.S. was ever going to be competitive.

So about the Confederations’ Cup: after beating Spain and forcing Brazil to comeback, we may have forgotten that the U.S. needed Brazilian and Egyptian help to even make it out of the group stages. The U.S. lost to Italy (Screw you, Guiseppe Rossi) and Brazil. Only by pounding Egypt (which they did) and hoping that Brazil pounded Italy (which they did) and, oh yeah, Egypt had to beat Italy (which they did, what the hell was that, Azzurri?) did the U.S. stand a chance of making out it out of the group. And then the U.S. did very well.

However, the group stages were hardly a resounding performance in either instance. The big difference between them was that the U.S. stepped up and beat Egypt in the Confederations' Cup when it was necessary, whereas they lost a must-win game to Ghana in the World Cup. The U.S. should make it out of their group, that bit of improvement makes me confident that they are capable of and should advance from the group stages. They are capable of beating any mid-level team decisively when it is necessary. They should be competitive with their opponents in the elimination stage, but lose in the first or second game, depending on their opponents. The U.S. are capable of beating any established football power when the U.S. is having a really good day, unless that football power is feeling its roots, and then it will get ugly. That is not new. The U.S., for various reasons, has been able to compete at a very high level from time-to-time. Now, they're slightly more consistent. However, the U.S. could just get flustered and collapse, like it did against the Czechs in the World Cup and the Italians in the Confederations’ Cup. Nothing about that has changed either. Given the U.S.'s track record, it’s almost as likely that they will fold against a UEFA or CONMEBOL power and get blown away in their first elimination game. The U.S. could fall badly to England and not recover enough to hold onto the second spot in the group, but that seems less a possibility than in years past. Of course, the U.S. could beat England then be absolutely destroyed by Slovenia and Algeria, because this is soccer and stranger things have happened. But that would be weird and I can't be held responsible for such craziness.

So maybe this is downer, no, I doubt the U.S. will win the World Cup or even make a particularly strong showing in the elimination stages. But look on the bright side! Now, as U.S. fans, we don’t have to be pleased just to have made the tournament. Now, we get to be like the Brits and make up excuses as to why we still have awkward losses to teams we can beat and “underperform” in every tournament. That’ll be my excuse if the U.S. gets thrashed by the Brits. “We get flustered when we face big teams in the first game. It’s a confidence, not skill, issue.” If you want to use my excuse as well, feel free; it’s a good narrative and I’m here to help.

FA Cup: Does it still matter?

2010-01-04T21:13:00.000-08:00

This past weekend, we got the chance here in the states to see a small selection of FA Cup games from England. This competition has long been considered one of the great sporting competitions in the world. The question keeps getting asked on the many podcasts I listen to. Does the FA cup still matter? From the view of a supporter of an English club from the US, I personally feel that it does. I think the "magic of the cup" is shown in the fact that despite no one wants to admit it, they do seem to care. Asking the question every time the competition comes around. In the same right, the unbelievable support of one of history's most hated clubs, Leeds United A.F.C., in their defeat of one of the clubs with the largest support bases worldwide in Manchester United shows that people are looking for the unlikeliest winners and the most interesting stories. The competition isn't what it was, but teams like Spurs, Man City and teams playing want that trophy to shove in the faces of their rivals. I absolutely want to remind every Arsenal fan that tries to make fun of me for being a Spurs fan that we have more trophies in the past 5 years. It's not the most fulfilling, but atleast I have something. Without the 2008 Carling Cup we Spurs fans would have little to be properly excited about. The question is repeated and answered by pundits all over the place, but the real important people in this is the players. Niko Krancjar has come out after the weekends fixtures and pointed out that he wants to win it again. If the players still want it, then it definitely still matters.

With a new year, January brings a Window...

2010-01-03T10:42:00.000-08:00

That's right. January is here with all of it's respective psychosis. The transfer window is now open and the ITK's are all spreading the most fantastic rumors they can. Who will be the big players to move? Who will be the most active teams? All the questions that everyone wants the answers to. The quickest to answer would probably jump up and say Manchester City will be most active. But I don't think they would be right. There are three major clubs who need to do something now. Logically, Liverpool, Arsenal and Chelsea need to do something. Arsenal are least likely to do anything, but if they plan to truly make a run at the title, they need a midfielder and striker at minimum. Chelsea are still at risk of not getting to make any moves in the summer and need to make sure the team can survive the next year with the players on their books. Liverpool is a special circumstance. They don't really need anyone on paper, but the form books say something different. The team is stricken with injuries and players simply not living up to their potentials. They are also struggling with the ego of a man who is looking more and more desperate by the day. They need a leader. Now, the problem for all these teams is that no big player is going to move before the World Cup. So how are these teams going to make these changes? They won't. I think you'll see the "Big Four" stay as they are. And for the same reason, Man City will do the same. The real action will be happening in positions eight through Twenty. The teams at the bottom need to strengthen to protect their status in the Premier league(and this is true of all leagues in Europe). The lower teams will buy a player or two who has no chance of going to the World Cup who is good enough to keep them up. The teams in the middle of the table will pick up a player or two to help keep them high in the tale and prepare for next years push upward. In the end, the busiest team in the window will be Portsmouth. Sadly they will be likely selling the left over talent that they have. It's sad but this is probably what you'll see this January, and in May you will see Pompey go down.

Premiership weekend roundup - Gameweek 15

2009-12-07T11:00:00.000-08:00

It was an exciting weekend in the premiership. I'll start at the bottom of the table. Portsmouth picked up three important points against Burnley. Pompey got a good performance to push them to a clean sheet and a victory despite a Dindane penalty miss, which was one of 4 missed penalties this weekend in England's top flight. This win brings Pompey within 4 points of safety, though still at the bottom of the table, and keeps Burnley in the relegation fight.
A relegation six pointer took place at Molineux. Wolves grabbed three points and jumped over their competition, Bolton, in the bottom three to move to 18th place with a dubious set-piece header that was offside according to the video replay and a stupendous strike from Nenad Milijas before Johan Elmander could pull o9ne back for Bolton. This drops Bolton to 19th and puts even more pressure on Gary Megson.
At the DW stadium, Wigan took on Birmingham. Birmingham pulled through it with a 2-3 victory on two goals from Swede Sebastian Larsson and Christian Benitez. Wigan got their two from N'Zogbia and Gomez, but were just not enough to beat the Blues.
Fullham hosted Sunderland at Craven Cottage. An early goal from Bobby Zamora was enough to hold off a currently impotent Sunderland attack and get three points for Fullham bringing them to eighth and allowing Sunderland to drop to 10th.
Everton Hosted 3rd place Tottenham and managed a thriller to grab a point from what was looking like a certain defeat. Spurs grabbed goals in the second half from Defoe and Dawson but gave up two in the last 15 to Saha and Cahill before Defoe missed a penalty which would have saved the day for Spurs. Tim Howard was the hero with that Penalty save and was good all day behind a back four consisting of all full backs once Joseph Yobo was forced off due to injury.
Arsenal hosted Stoke at the Emirates and eased to a victory over a Stoke team that did not look good in defense without Ryan Shawcross. It could have been much worse as Sorenson had another great game in goal for Stoke City including a penalty stop on a poorly taken penalty by Cesc Fabregas. Arshavin had one of the two and young Gunner Aaron Ramsey had the other.
Aston Villa hosted Hull City and came away with three points after three goals from Dunne, Milner and Carew. The news from this game was the injury of Jimmy Bullard. The man who has led the late resurgence for Hull landed awkwardly and hurt his knee and is waiting for the results of a scan today to see how bad it is.
Liverpool traveled to Blackburn for a nil nil draw in which Rafa Benitez again left Alberto Aquilani on the bench, leaving a large part of the Liverpool faithfuls asking why.
Manchester United went to West Ham and were very good, taking home a 4-0 victory. A late first half goal from Paul Scholes seemed to secure the game as United romped to three more in the second half from Gibson, Valencia and Rooney as United played with a makeshift back four with Ferdinand, Vidic, Evans, Neville, O'Shea and Rafael all out injured. Today it was announced that Evans and O'Shea are out until atleast January leaving United thin at the back.
Finally, Saturday saw an exciting match at the Eastlands as top four challanger Manchester City managed an exciting win against a poor looking Chelsea in horrible weather. All three of the games goals were scored by Man City as Adebayor accidently got an early own goal before making up for it by scoring at the other end a half an hour later. Tevez scored a great free kick goal on a needless foul from Carvalho just outside the Chelsea penalty area in the second half. Chelsea got a late penalty but Lampard stepped up and missed. The penalty has brought up a bit of questioning about keepers not staying on their line as Shay Given does not appear to stay on his line on the Penalty.

World Cup 2010 Groups set

2009-12-07T10:07:00.000-08:00

A few days late, but here is my look at the draw. First up, here's the groups:
* Group A
* South Africa
* Mexico
* Uruguay
* France

* Group B
* Argentina
* Nigeria
* South Korea
* Greece

* Group C
* England
* United States
* Algeria
* Slovenia

* Group D
* Germany
* Australia
* Serbia
* Ghana

* Group E
* Netherlands
* Denmark
* Japan
* Cameroon

* Group F
* Italy
* Paraguay
* New Zealand
* Slovakia

* Group G
* Brazil
* North Korea
* Ivory Coast
* Portugal

* Group H
* Spain
* Switzerland
* Honduras
* Chile

Let's start at the top. Group A is actually an interesting group. For the conspiracy theorist out there, one could argue, that Blatter and Platini helped put France in an "easy" group to pass through. But I think that is not the case. I think this will be a tough group. South Africa do not want to be the first host nation not to make it to the knockout rounds. Mexico is a very good team, small, but very skilled. Uruguay are a good team as well, and I think they will cause trouble for the teams in the group. Good story lines here to pay attention to. My expectation for this group will see Mexico win the group and South Africa to narrowly come in second.
Group B is a bit of a snooze in contrast. Though there are 4 good teams in this one, I don't think anyone should expect anything less than a win in this group for Argentina. I think the real question here is who will finish second. Looking at the schedule, I think Nigeria are most likely to get through this group in second. I think the team that drew Argentina in their first game are most able to get a draw or nick a win against them. In this case that is Nigeria. South Korea are good but I think any kind of result against Argentina will set up Nigeria to blow through South Korea and I personally don't think Greece will get more than one point.
Group C is the second most interesting group, and likely will be one of the most watched and talked about. I think everyone is picking England to win it. I think this is a good bet unless Rooney, Gerrard and Ferdinand are fit. I also think until we see a strong partnership up top the chance of England getting very far is in doubt. But as I see things England should be able to win this group. In second, most people will expect the US to pull through after their showing in the ConfedCup. Despite this I'd say even though, I would pick them to get through, without the partnership of Jozy Altidore and Charlie Davies up front they may struggle. Charlie Davies, is out long term due to a horrific traffic accident and Altidore, though in the team, has been having trouble to push into his club side's first team despite a great deal of talent. I do think Algeria and Slovenia will be trouble makers, but I don't see them getting through. I also think the fact that the US and England play in the first game favors the US to get through since they are a good bet to get a draw against England in the first game.
Group D sees perenial favorites Germany in a good position to win this group which leaves three strong teams to battle for second. Australia is my pick to make it through. I think the Socceroos are a very good team and they did well in Asian qualifying. Ghana would be my dark horse though. THey would not suprise me if they stole this group and even if they managed a draw or win against Germany allowing them to win the group. They are a strong and physical team and I never like to bet against Michael Essien. He is a player that when he wants to, can control any game. His defensive capabilities are amazing and his offensive prowess is solid. He is a complete player. I still think Germany should win this one with Australia to go through as well, but I just can't ignore Ghana.
Group E is my least interesting group. I think Holland should win it and Cameroon should be second. As I have seen Denmark in qualifying, I don't think they are a particularly good team, but they are good at stealing games against the run of play. If any team struggles to score against them, they will make them pay. And sorry to the Japanese, but I simply don't rate you. I think you are a good team, but nowhere in top 32 teams in the world.
Group F is another ugly group. I think it is a crime that Italy have such a good shot at going through. I think Slovakia will win this group. They are going to be buzzing from qualifying and I think they can put a hurting on New Zealand and Italy if they want to. I think that Paraguay will come in second, but don't be surprised if they nick the 1st spot in this group. They were third in a very tough South American qualifying campaign. I don't think Italy are good enough or deserving of getting through this group especially since Lippi refuses to give good players a chance(See Cassano).
Group G is the one everyone will be watching. Brazil should win this group and I expect them to have a very good chance of making it to the final as well. The question is who will be second? In my opinion, it will be Ivory Coast. Drogba is in the form of his life, and the Ivorians are an incredible team capable of magic. I think they are going to do the job over Portugal and keep them out. I just feel bad for the people of North Korea who are not going to get to see any of the games or highlights, as rumor has it that State television there will only show highlights of wins.
Finally Group H looks rather straight forward. Spain should win it and if I were to put money on it, I would take Chile to come in second. I don't think Honduras are quite good enough yet, but watch them in the next world cup as they are a good team though. Switzerland are not deep enough in my opinion and won't go through.

World Cup Pots announced

2009-12-02T11:24:00.000-08:00

The first real step towards this upcoming World cup has happened today. We now know how the pots are arranged for the draw. We have four pots with eight nations in each. The most important pot is the first, which is the seeded pot. It is comprised of South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, and England. There are some arguments possible here. I think Brazil, Spain, Germany, Holland and South Africa are reasonable and make sense(South Africa being the Host and the Host always being in pot 1, and will be in group A as to play in the first game to open the tournament). I think there are arguments to be had over the remaining three. Italy and Argentina though having a great deal of history, have been absolutely dreadful over the past year. Italy has not played well and are dependent on the old guard and have not been bringing on the talent like Giovinco and the publicly desired Antonio Cassano. I think they are not as good as defending champions should be, however i suppose being the holders does give you a sort of right to a seeding. As for Argentina, they are not the team they are being given credit for being. They have been awful. They won their first 3 in qualifying and their last two which qualified them very narrowly, but they have only won eight of eighteen games in qualifying. Also, with the unstable Diego Maradona leading them, it is impossible to know what the team will do since you never know who is going to play. Even Messi has been invisible in the last stretch of games which is impossible to believe when you see him play for Barcelona. Finally, there is England. I know that they have been amazing, and on form they should almost be ranked in the top three, but they haven't proven anything to me. They are weak at the back as the supposed best CB in the country, Rio Ferdinand, remains out with back problems and was in poor form when he played this season for Manchester United. I think there are major concerns in the midfield since there are too many good players for too few spots. It is hard to fit in Lampard, Gerrard, Barry, Lennon, Joe Cole, Milner and any number of other solid midfielders into four spots. This doesn't even think about the possibility of Owen Hargreaves making it to fitness before the end of the season. And these problems are before we even get to the farce that is the strike pairing. Wayne Rooney is a lock, and should be, as I would argue he is in the top three strikers in the world behind only David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic or Fernando Torres. The problem is that Capello keeps playing Emile Heskey. Though I understand his thinking, I don't agree with it. I think players like Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent should be up there with Rooney. This way, you get someone who will not only score goals, but give you a presence in the box as Rooney doesn't really play Striker, but he plays everything on the field but goalkeeper. Now I think in the end, looking at the other pots, I don't really see anyone to usurp England's place in the seeded group, however, I still, think there is at least an argument to be had with them. But who might fill the gaps left if these teams were pulled from pot one? Three teams come to mind. Ivory Coast, Ghana and the U.S. Now, please don't think I am a U.S. fan and that's where my thought comes from. I support Sweden and only Sweden. But in the case of the U.S., I think they are an underrated team. They are not quite top 10 in the world, but they are close. As for the two African teams i picked out, They are full of top players from the top leagues and who are very tough to beat even in African qualifying or in the African Cup of Nations. I think either one could be a contender to win the World Cup this time around. As for the rest of the teams in the draw, I think there are few weak teams in this cup this time as long as you ignore form(France, Italy, Argentina, and Portugal, I'm looking at you guys). But I think the teams that each country will be looking to draw in this tournament are North Korea, New Zealand and Honduras from pot 2, Algeria and Uruguay from pot 3, and Greece and Switzerland from pot 4. Not the weakest picks I've ever seen. This should at least tell us there will be an exciting tournament this summer.

The Pots as they are:

Pot 1 (seeds): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Netherlands, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England

Pot 2 (Asia, Oceania and North/Central America): Japan, South Korea, North Korea, Australia, New Zealand, United States, Mexico, Honduras

Pot 3 (Africa and South America): Ivory Coast, Ghana, Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, Paraguay, Chile, Uruguay

Pot 4 (Europe): France, Portugal, Slovenia, Switzerland, Greece, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia

Welcome

2009-12-02T11:11:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Black, White and Round. This is a US perspective on the beautiful game. I intend to post my opinions on the big news in the game and occasionally rant about my beloved Tottenham. Yes, I am a miserable Spurs fan, but that doesn't mean you can't read this. I watch the games too. Anyways, just read on and leave your feedback. This blog is intended as a jumping off point to a full blown site if the interest in my perspective on news as well as some reports. So enjoy!