None Too Cautious

Episode 2: Revenge of He Who Sits

2008-10-26T21:33:00.003-04:00

Just a heads up with live links to come a little later. I've decided to house the podcast in "real-time" over at Ourmedia/the Internet Archive. The downside to this is that you'll have to stream the episode as I don't believe you can jump around in it.

However, and not to be overly confusing, episodes will later get archived over to Podomatic where you *should* be able to surf the episode for parts pertinent to your interests.

Anyway, so there you have it, 2 locations and styles for whatever best suits your interests. I'll have the links to each as soon as they become available.

Update: Episode 2 is live and you can listen to it here. I'll have the Podomatic link as soon as it is uploaded over there as well.

In soccer,
BF

Absurdities, playoffs and bears, oh my!

2008-10-22T18:49:00.003-04:00

First and foremost, apologies to anyone who has not been able to check out the podcast. I had been led to believe the link was live prior to yesterday but that had not been the case. Needless to say, I'm going to try to work around this kind of delay/lag or just find a faster way to get things posted.

At any rate, let's have a quick look around: the MLS playoff race is nearly done with the post-season just around the corner. At this moment, FCD, the Gals, TFC, and the Quakes are out. Ives has a great bit about this on his blog. I won't get too deep in repeating his points but I'd say pay special attention to what he had to say about TFC and the Quakes looking ahead to next year. I'll expound a little on this and the futures of the other teams who are soon to be knocked out of the race as well in the next show.

On the national team front, I'm keeping a close watch on any info that comes out about yet another potential MFL "defection" to MLS. I am also looking for info on the Cuban players who left their team in D.C. I'll have a look at how some guys are doing abroad and maybe talk a bit about guys on the fringe that should take action to get more PT either at their clubs or with El Bobbo's squad.

Now for West Ham, a crashing defeat at Hull on the weekend? Not so much. They're playing out of their minds right now. Still, not a good time to be coming up on a game against the Arse. Meanwhile, in Europe, there's another rumor flying about that Becks is off to Milan to play for AC. If this happens and I'm Phil Anschutz, Berlusconi is going to caugh up quite a bit of money to cover the wages doled out to the England midfielder.

At any rate, this is just a small look at some of the things I'm going to talk about in the next episode alongside some content on the USL and WPS. I promise!

Radio edit: From Goff's blog - "Oft-injured Ben Olsen looked good on the sideline as an assistant coach. Hmmm....." speaking on United's game against Cruz Azul this week. This is something I've been quietly contemplating for some time but now that Goff's put it out there I'll feel a little less "aluminum foil hat" about talking it up on the show.

in soccer,
Bill

expansion bids announced

2008-10-15T17:14:00.003-04:00

and the bids are in from... Atlanta, Miami, Montreal, Ottawa, Portland, St. Louis, and Vancouver.

So, no real surprises besides no Aquilini involvement at this time with the Vancouver bid. Apologies to the folks in St. Louis for not discussing them in the podcast. There's not really much to note here except for maybe a bit of dissection on Abbott's body language and some of the things he both did and did not say but I'll leave that to the Big Soccer types for now.

I'll just say he did look quite animated when they discussed the ticket sales in Seattle and any potential corollary for Portland. I'm still not sold on Atlanta, either but more on that later. There you have it folks.

none too cautious

2008-10-15T15:00:00.001-04:00

Great? news

2008-10-15T14:27:00.004-04:00

Hi everybody, great news. I finally got the podcast recorded and am uploading it right now. It was all done in one, unedited take. I figured I would give you the rawest version possible and we can only go onwards and upwards from here. Be sure to let me know about technical issues, content issues, whatever. If all you're going to say is "you're an idiot, you suck" been there, done that don't waste either of our time. Now, if you have a reason why behind it, then fire away. Here's the cheat sheet for the show since it turned into a mammoth hour:

minute 1:00-15:00 US National Team

15:00-28:00 MLS Playoffs and such

29:00-40:00 potential affect on USL by MLS expansion

40:00-50:00 USL1 Final commentary

50:00-end West Ham/Euro commentary PLUS scores from Euro Qualifiers during the last 3ish minutes, so beware if you've taped any of the Euro games from today.

One correction to make from the cast - Francesco Aquilini is, of course, the owner of the NHL's Canucks.

In the next couple of hours I'll be posting the info from the MLS Announcement on expansion applicants which comes out at 5ET. After that I will try to post some pertinent links from the show.

And finally, the link to the show. It should be active shortly. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

In soccer,
Bill

Good grief....

2008-10-15T00:03:00.002-04:00

Okay, I'm going to spare EVERYONE the lengthy laundry list of real life reason why there has been no blog or podcast out of me as promised. Suffice to say the overwhelming majority of it is highly personal. For those who are friends of the blog/myself you guys can fire away. You know where to reach me.

Onwards and upwards. Tonight I will be doing some audio testing and getting things online to see if I can "demo" my set-up. In the meantime, here's a taster of what I'm going to talk about:

Torres for the USA! How about this kid? Yeah, it was mop up duty but I was really thoroughly impressed and i seems like others were as well. Hopefully he starts tomorrow/tonight against T & T. I'm also hoping to see some sort of Szetela, Torres, Adu combination from the get go but that's probably too much for El Bobbo. We shall see.

MLS Expansion. I have to be honest, I've been keeping tabs on this much more closely than the playoffs, although, I will admit to rooting for an RSL-Crew final. I'd settle for Chivas against the Crew as well for the sake of having a home team in it. Otherwise, Chicago would be intriguing for the McBride, Blanco, Hamlett storylines. I just really don't want to see NE-Houston again and if one of them has to be there, how about it be the Revs FINALLY getting over the hump? That would be nice... to put it mildly.

USL schtuff - particularly the attempted "defections" of the ATL, Montreal, Vancouver, Miami, Ottawa, Portland... oh hell, pretty much everyone besides the Islanders, Battery and Railhawks. Okay, Rochester, too, but you get my point. Hopefully I can get some comments from people in the know about these situations particularly with the Silverbacks in mind. I know I'd be smashing a few things tonight if I worked in their front office. What I really want to know is, has there been any contact or offer from Blank and co. to work with the 'Backs who have been working so hard on this whole futbol things down South? Of course, I still believe MLS really wants to get St. Louis in and barring that, the Vancouver and Montreal deals look potentially massive. Miami's now got Barca going to bat for them? Yeah, I wonder if this isn't a bit of a, pardon the pun, hail mary from the NFL's Falcons owner? I will say this, the notion of the following expansion sequence would intrigue me:

2011: St Louis, Vancouver

2014-15: Montreal, Portland

2017-18: Atlanta, Miami

There are a whole lot of dilemmas wrapped up in this thing which I plan to spend a lot of time discussing in the podcast, especially how to keep interest stoked for those left out of upcoming rounds and what about NY2, as we know it's another pet project of Garber's, does the USL become a full-on MLS expansion incubator? Moving along...

Over in England, my Hammers have been... tumultuous to say the least, in regards to their front office. This disguises the fact that they have actually been fairly consistent in the season so far. It's beginning to look, however, like new manager Gianfranco Zola will have to make due with budget signings like this week's free transfer signing, former Depor great, Diego Tristan. Many will quickly remind you, though, that "great" is hardly a term that springs to mind from the last couple of seasons for the striker.

Aside from these topics, I'd like to see if I can get some talk in about WPS and maybe some added Euro leagues and WC Qualifying discussion but we'll have to see how the voice holds up and how much time I really want to yak for in the premiere.

At any rate, hopefully many of you will actually be hearing me instead of just reading me soon.

In soccer,
Bill

USA-Cuba live commentary

2008-09-06T20:09:00.036-04:00

Tonight, NTC will be doing it's first and best effort to provide a live blog on the match in Havana between the US and Cuba...

I'll have the lineups for you as quickly as possible... in the meantime Cuba is off to a flying start. Looks like it could be another long night for the Red, White and Blue.

Ok, those lineups for you...

	Odelin Molina	(G)
2	Silvio Pedro Minoso	(D)
3	Jeniel Marquez	(D)
13	Carlos Domingo	(D)
5	Jorge Luis Clavelo	(D)
16	Reysander Fernandez	(D)
10	Roberto Linares	(M)
11	Hensy Munoz	(M)
14	Jaine Colome	(M)
7	Luis Hermilo Villegas	(F)
18	Heriel Cordoves	(F)

United States
No.	NAME	POS
1	Tim Howard	(G)
2	Frankie Hejduk	(D)
5	Oguchi Onyewu	(D)
3	Carlos Bocanegra	(D)
15	Heath Pearce	(D)
17	DaMarcus Beasley	(M)
12	Michael Bradley	(M)
13	Maurice Edu	(M)
8	Clint Dempsey	(F)
10	Landon Donovan	(F)
11	Brian Ching

Sadly, no real surprises from the Bob.

Minute 9:
Looks like the US is struggling mightily with this surface. I wonder how long it may take for them to settle in and whether Cuba can take advantage?

11th minute:
The Cuban support sounds awesome. Nice to see in a country where futbol comes 3rd... or 4th.... or 5th in the popularity race. Meanwhile, the US is playing a little better in short combinations which begs the question why they are lumping so many balls forward? The guys seem a little jumpy.

14th minute:
Dempsey has a scintillating bullish run that ultimately ends in some strange pseudo-cross/shot. Positive play, though, as it looks like the US is getting the hang of how to attack the Cuban defense especially as it seems their opponents may still be a little over exuberant from the energy in this place. I've gotta wonder if it's as electric in the ground as it sounds on Mexican tv?

16th minute:
Cuba's Linares makes a nice move but is unceremoniously dumped by Gooch. That'll be a fun battle to watch tonight.

20th minute:
Linares and Villegas providing some danger. The US needs to assert itself in midfield.... Yes, Young Michael, I'm looking at you.

23rd:
Hmmmmmm... 50/50 ball between US attackers and the keeper, raise your hand if you're surprised a foul was called.

Yeah, that's what I figured.

24th minute:
CONCACAF reffing, Ladies and Gentlemen.

27th minute:
The longer this match continues in this pattern the more I think it is tailor made for one of those semi-patented Freddy Adu lateral dribbling runs across the top of the 18. Anyone with me on this?

30th minute:
Gooch saves Bradley's bacon... time for the first NTC beer break, courtesy of some Belhaven yumminess.

32nd minute:
The US could really use some extended possession and build-up play for a goal here. The crowd's back in this in a big way and it probably won't be long before it gives a real lift to the home side.

36th minute:
The US looks like they're in 2nd gear right now and struggling to get out of it yet somehow they just managed to have arguably the most dangerous scramble of the match so far. This may be why it's often so frustrating to watch our play in these kinds of qualifiers.

and OH HEY, look at that, a dangerous challenge by Baby Bradley. cue much *facepalming* all over Big Soccer.

40th minute:
GOOOOOOOOOOOOL Estados Unidos. Clint gets his first of the night off of some nice combinations in the box. It's always great to get a goal and lead in an away qualifier but even better if you can nearly mortally wound Big Mo before he gets on the side of the underdog just before the half.

45th + minute:
Some really ticky tack fouls being whistled here as the half draws to a close. Dempsey took a nasty looking spill there at the end. Hopefully he'll be able to continue.

Ok, HT - I'll be back in a few minutes with some thoughts on the 1st half overall. Our score from the Big Cigar: USA 1 Cuba 0

For the half I'd have to give everyone adequate marks. I was particularly fond of the performances by Edu, Dempsey and Gooch. Overall, it's been a workman-like effort with some flashes of flair on the ground. Seems to me we need to see much MUCH more of that.

50th minute:
Here come the Cubans again. There's an intense ebb and flow to this match moreso than some of the more grueling hack-fests we usually engage in during qualifiers. High marks to Cuba for the style of play and their attempts at an freely attacking style. It's a far cry from the cynical approach we saw from Guatemala last time out.

55th minute:
Beasley into the pits for a tire change, record time on the stop by his crew on that one... whoops, wrong channel.

57th minute:
Really getting tired of long balls from the defense going straight to the Cubans or into touch. It's negating a lot of the good work being done in tight quarters by the midfield.

And there's Cuba nearly with the equalizer. Frankie's a-makin' me NERVOUS!

59th minute:
WHOA! Lovely work there culminates in a blast from Edu. I like the initiative there and eventually he'll start getting those on target. Keep it up, young fella!

61st minute:
Corner goes for naught...

63rd minute:
I... don't.... Yeah. Hmmm. Beasley made a mess of that didn't he? Moving right along...

65th minute:
Looks like they agreed to take a 30 second breather. Guess that means it's time for beer break #2 brought to you by Lazy Mutt Farmhouse Ale. Hello, Wisconsin.

ARGH! And this time DMB is just barely off... ok, he was off by a fair margin AND he wasted the shot. I'm starting to have flashbacks to Germany... somebody get my Prozac.

70th minute:
So... Bob, I'll buy you a beer if you put Sacha on and take your son off. Deal?

73rd minute:
*Capt. Obvious alert*

Might be a good idea to get Dempsey some touches again since, ya know, he was kinda good during the first half. Just a thought...

By your powers combined...

75th minute:
HOW?! How?!!? Oh. CONCACAF, that's right.... sheesh.

And, is that Sascha? I bet he takes off Dempsey...

77th minute:
Oh, Bob.

78th minute:
Oooooooooooooooh, lookie! A Landon Donovan sighting!!!!

82nd minute:
Brian Ching = Indiana Jones or John McClane of US Soccer? Anyone else with me on this one?

And stray free-kick from Landon. His Cakes aren't bringing anyone to the yard tonight.

85th minute:
Looks like Edu could use a sub, he's getting a little lackadaisical in his tracking back. Hey Bob, got Rico?

86th minute:
Edu proves he's superhuman by knocking the lights out so he can get a breather.

88th minute:
Oh my. The lights almost went down on the US there after another close shave that the Cubans just couldn't squeeze by Timmy.

And yes, I am going for as many bad one-liners as I can. I've gotta set the bar hiiiiiiiiiiiiigh since this is only the beginning of qualifying.

90+ minute:
Well, just about done... and there it is. I've got to say that the score doesn't quite give justice to what I thought was a fairly dominant match for the US. This one easily could have been something in the realm of 5-2 if both teams had some kind of inkling about how to "clinically" finish their chances. Oh well. Maximum points from two road tests, mission done in rather milquetoast fashion but this was an improvement from the last game, IMHO.

And a quick shout-out to what looked to be some of the American Outlaws in the stands. Good job of getting past the wire. Get home safe.

I'm out.

fear and loathing in Guatemala City

2008-08-24T11:35:00.005-04:00

I have to admit a certain level of disappointment with the US performance against the Chapines last week. Many have focused on criticisms leveled at Bob Bradley's player selections while still other take issue with the tactics employed. My main concern was with the mentality with which it appeared the US players and staff seemed to come out in this match.

Looking over the rosters for these two teams and the most recent history of the US program, I find it a bit disconcerting that while we assert that we are on par with, and some even suggest above, Mexico we would still look utterly timid in a match of this ilk. On paper, and yes, I know how faulty it is to even base a sporting opinion on that all-too-often used phrase, the US 11 at the beginning of this match should have had advantages in experience and talent to outpace their opponents. This is where I think a question over the level of motivation for the US team comes in handy. I'm well aware of the old adage "win at home, draw on the road" but in our region, has it not become a little disingenuous to feed into that mentality anywhere outside of Saprissa and Azteca?

To that end, I wonder if el Bob has the capability to truly fire up the troops in the ways that great coaches do when they know their players could come out complacent or overconfident? Is it possible or even probable that he did more in his team talk to make our players more on edge and nervous about the game as opposed to convincing them they could, should and would win if they played to their strengths and obviously talents?

In contrast, look at the Women's win in Beijing. I don't know how many out there seriously thought the ladies would win this one especially after the 2-0 loss to Norway in the opener and Brazil's subsequent shellacking of ze Germans. One constant, however, in all of the coverage and comments out of the US camp at the Olympics was Pia Sundhage and her persistence that she knew what the team was capable of and that they would accomplish it. She was critical of her charges at times but also proved a capable motivator.

So I ask, is Bob not the type of coach to kick our guys in the rear to get them up for bigger games? Is he just a man with a plan to keep the US from losing winnable games? I don't know the answer but qualifying is a very harsh magnifying glass and mirror for all of your faults. I think the US has a great opportunity as well with the upcoming qualifier in Havana to face what should be an extremely intense environment with confidence instead of timidity.

What do you think? E-mail me (fcfetty [at] yahoo [dot] com) or comment with your thoughts and I'll cover them in this week's podcast.

back in the swing

2008-08-24T11:21:00.002-04:00

I suddenly find myself in a shiny world of newness since last we spoke. I've long since relocated to the lovely environs of Madison, WI and have found myself with quite a bit more free time of late. So, with that in mind, I will be slowly but surely be returning to the world of pseudo-soccer journalism. As always has been the intention of this blog, I will be bringing you my opinions on the world of soccer as I see it. This will also soon entail a weekly podcast.

Now, I wish I could say my coverage will be bias-free but if there's one thing I will quickly admit to it's that I have my biases. For those new to this corner of the soccer webs, that means I will always be keeping a closer on the US scene, particularly the National teams, as well as my personal favorite clubs; in this case DC United, the Charleston Battery, and in England - West Ham United. Also, it's not entirely unlikely that clubs I follow to varying degrees will be mentioned such as Saturn in Moscow, Inter Milan, 1.FC Koln, and any number of clubs where Americans are plying their trade.

I am currently still putting together my thoughts on the Men's match in Guatemala this past week as well as the state of US Women's soccer after a rather surprising gold medal win in Beijing. In addition, I'll have something to say soon on the US Open Cup Final between DC and Charleston, as well as the stretch run in USL 1. I won't claim this as the re-birth of my former coverage on uslfans.com (formerly a-league.com) but I do hope to provide some of the entertainment for value that some of you may have come to expect over the years.

If you have questions of comments that you'd like me to address "on air" with the podcast send them over to fcfetty [at] yahoo [dot] com

something witty about tectonic plates shifting

2007-07-19T09:11:00.000-04:00

Late Tuesday afternoon Jonah Freedman broke the news that the San Jose Earthquakes would be back in MLS next season. Don Garber confirmed it at Wednesday's State of the League address in Denver ahead of tonight's All-Star game against Celtic. This is tremendous news for the folks out there, whom I know a few that were left in the wake of AEG's move to Houston. I couldn't be happier for them and soccer fans in the Bay Area in general.

My take on it? Well, if they are going to go nomadic for the first season or two they'll need to do a lot of marketing (and market research), choose appropriate venues and do an amazing job of mobilizing their fanbase. Of course, the first season will be gratis with room for mistakes, error, bad signings and low attendances. Anything beyond that, performance-wise, has to be considered some sort of victory... and no, I don't mean the USL1 team (more on them to come in this week's impending uslfans.com piece). Either way, I think Lew Wolff and co. saw the writing on the wall and wanted to bring the team in sooner rather than later for any number of reasons. I would imagine those to include thoughts about getting in on the Beckham craze that should last well into his first full MLS season in 2008 and the idea that, with the team in existence, it would be easier to go to marketing partners and city councils to get their cooperation on a stadium. I still believe in SJ and couldn't be happier for those fans and the folks involved with SSV to get their team back.

US tournament stuff

2007-07-18T14:39:00.001-04:00

I'll probably continuously roll this post and re-edit as I gather my thoughts on the US performances at Copa America and the U-20 World Cup. Suffice to say, one gets no glowing reviews for the performances and another gets no happy appraisals of the coaching staff. I'll let you guys figure out each one for the time being. That said, yes, I am still a bit pissed with the results and I hope the people involved are as well.

An Exercise in Inanity?

2007-07-18T13:52:00.000-04:00

This week I ran across the latest bit by "the Limey" over on CNN/SI and one of his readers posed an interesting question, one which I've asked myself from time to time when trying on new teams in Championship Manager or FIFA: "which leagues... are the leading 10 in the world?"

Well, it's a tough call to make but I figured I would give it a shot anyway because... well, just because so here you are, my top 10 league sin the world.

1. England

2. Spain

3. Italy

4. Germany

5. Holland

6. France

7. Brazil

8. Argentina

9. Mexico

10. USA

Close but not quite: Colombia, Scotland, Turkey, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Belgium, Denmark, Russia, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Ukraine, Croatia, Uruguay, Paraguay

Let’s face it, the US national team would have its difficulties with the national sides from those who missed the cut and win maybe just half the time but if you look at these league from top to bottom, none have the parity of MLS. You can’t just rate a Grasshoppers, Basel, Rangers, Celtic, Lokomotiv, Dynamo, Olympiakos, Rosenborg, etc. You have to look at the entirety of the leagues for ranking purposes. Essentially the same clubs qualify for the European Champions League year after year with little hope for the teams beneath them. Meanwhile, in MLS it’s become increasingly rare to see repeat champions and we have seen, in our brief 11 going on 12 years, terrible teams improve to put together a nice 3 year or so run of respectability before someone else rises up and goes on a tear. At the same time, the increasing revenue and rising profile of MLS give it just that much of an edge over the Euro leagues that have to compete with the Big 4 (see #1-4 on the list) in terms of television deals and media exposure and that’s before we start talking about how quickly their best players are plucked from their leagues to head to the Big 4.

The solid infrastructure and increasing presence of Latin and South American players in MLS shade things slightly in favor of the American league over the better second tier South American leagues, but only just. There is some incredible talent in Colombia, Uruguay, and Paraguay but it often is quickly raided and farmed out by Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico with the rare exception of a player heading directly to Europe. MLS is even beginning to farm talent in the region as well which points to a possibility that as more of the experienced (and influential) hands from South America come here and recognize the attributes of the league it could and likely will help to attract more players.

Keep in mind, as well, that MLS is only 12 years old. To show this much growth in this short of a time is truly an amazing thing. Take a walk down memory lane if you can't quite grasp it. Back in 1989 the US National Team needed the most awkward miracle shot in our history just to qualify for the 1990 World Cup in Italy. Did I mention that the game was against Trinidad and Tobago? Read that again, folks, we were lucky to win at Port au Prince not because we played a poor game or didn't play up to our talent but because they were a better team than we were. These days if we escape T&T with a close win it's largely thought to be due to that age old sports idea of "playing down to the opposition" and on that day it could be argued that the Soca Warriors played down to our level. And remember, Mexico were disqualified from the qualifying process providing even less of an obstacle for the US team. I'm really not even going to debate this.

That appearance at the 1990 World Cup, depending on who you believe, essentially granted us the hosting rights to 1994. In 1994, we had some pro talent but not a whole lot and we played Bora-ball, which was essentially "go into a shell and pray to counterattack". That team had it's moments and probably showed the first real glimpses of what was to come. Even still, in 1997, it took a combination of a miraculous 0-0 draw at the Azteca and an ensuing loss by Costa Rica to guarantee the Americans passage to France. Granted, the US finished in second in that qualifying phase by finishing strong winning 3-0 against Canada and 3-2 against El Salvador. Even in 2000-2001 things got dicey during qualifying but the actual performance in Asia made many forget all that. The last time around was more like a walk in the park compared to that.

What I'm getting at here, is that the United States has gone from "lucky to be a blip" on soccer's radar to a recognized up and comer on the World's stage. This didn't just happen because everyone else turned to crap around us and if you look at the exponential gains since 1996 I think it's readily apparent that we are getting there. We're getting there even faster than some would think or believe, just compare the landscape of the league in year 1 to year 12:

# of stadiums specifically built for MLS teams
1996: 0
2007: 6

television contract
1996: MLS paid for airtime
2007: multiple channels now pay MLS for programming

top players
1996: Jorge Campos, Carlos Valderrama, Marco Etcheverry
2007: Josimer Altidore, Landon Donovan, Juan Pablo Angel... Becks doesn't count, yet

What's the most striking thing about the above to you? For me, it's the fact that now more than ever MLS is being lead by it's American players. Every season since 1996 has essentially been geared towards developing American talent and now that there's a process and stable system in place the League has once again looked to bring in quality foreign signings except this time they're able to bring in star players who might not still light up the EPL but have plenty of firepower left and, some might argue, are of a slightly better pedigree than MLS' first class of foreign stars.

So, what I'm saying is that, sure you can make your arguments about the leagues just below the cut list but facts are facts and MLS is coming on stronger than many more traditional commentators would like to admit. A lot of people don't like to buy into hokey gimmicks and slogans but in hindsight I think MLS got it right with the "New Soccer Nation" thing. We still haven't fully realized that vision but we'll get there.

PS Incidentally, if you want to argue spots 5-8 I don't care because it's an easy case to make to boost Argentina or Brazil (or both) above Holland and France but at the same time, those two leagues can hold their own with the Big 4. Either way, potato or potato.

Randomosity

2007-06-13T10:20:00.000-04:00

Good game, US, good game. It was nice to see the guys get out there and realize that maybe their strengths aren't crossing the ball into the box but instead quick passes in tight space on the ground. It's beginning to look like Bradley's and Nowak's plan is starting to come together.

PS After you click the linky to ESPN's story, figure out what I don't like about their soccer coverage.

In other news, the US Open Cup! Yeah, there were some games played. I failed to mention here yesterday that you could watch some of the games via a freebie from USLlive.com last night. However, I imagine they will be doing something similar for the next round. Anyway, the USL teams are starting to get involved so we get our first chance to see some upsets now... right Cincinnati?

Over in England, tribalfootball, whom I trust about as far as one could chuck an "interweb", are reporting that Blackburn Rovers' John Williams has said there has been some interest from a foreign consortium to buy the club. The wonderful "journalists" over at tribal took that to mean that obviously this consortium is made up of Premiership hungry Americans. There's nothing yet to corroborate it yet, but we shall see.

Meanwhile, West Ham are supposedly chasing Darren Bent with renewed vigor with an 18 million GBP fee being bandied about once again with 80k/week wages being offered. Of course, this is from the Mirror so it's about as useful as newspaper from the bottom of an overzealous bird's cage. Other rumors closer to WHU are saying the fee would be around 10 million and include sending someone among Carlton Cole, Marlon Harewood and/or Hayden Mullins the other way. So, really, who knows?

Also, the longstanding takeover at Manchester City seems to be close to an end, just not the kind of end most on the blue side of the city thought they'd get.

Pre-El Sal

2007-06-12T12:58:00.000-04:00

Jonah Freedman's got an interesting take on the US performance in the Gold Cup so far in his blog today. After some thought and consultation with Greg Lalas, he figures it's similar in nature to the way Italy plays down to their opposition at times. I'm inclined to agree with the idea but I still think a lot of it has to do with a lack of familiarity with their actual game plan and one another. It's a fairly new cast that is being called upon to win every game in this tournament. We shall see around 7pm EST tonight.

Transfers, transfers, transfers

2007-06-12T09:38:00.000-04:00

As many of you will know there is an interesting saga surrounding West Ham United and Carlos Tevez. Well, it looks like his agent is dead set on coming up with a price only a Championship Manager player could come up with: 4o million pounds. Needless to say, if that's how much it's going to take to keep him a Hammer then I highly doubt it's going to happen.

Time to start looking at other targets:
Darren Bent - 18 million
Jermain Defoe - 12 million
Craig Bellamy - 9 million
David Nugent - 7 million

These are the names most often bandied about at this point but many think Bent is bound for Spurs, if anywhere, and Defoe isn't all that keen on returning to a place where some refer to him as "Mini Judas" (Paul Ince being the grown up version). Meanwhile, adding Craig Bellamy to a squad that already has Lee Bowyer... well, the headlines kind of write themselves don't they? That brings us to Nugent, the young goal-scorer for Preston and England youth international. At the moment he seems like a younger version of Dean Ashton which would almost eliminate him, but then wouldn't most teams kill to have two players of Ashton-like skill and ability? Still, if you're looking for a fast attacking mid/forward type of player who can play well off of a target man, well, I think the Americans in the audience know where and who I'm getting at here. Landon Donovan, step right up.

It has about an ice cube's chance in hell of happening but I'm just saying, he fits the bill for what fans of the Hammers are asking for should Tevez indeed be leaving.

MLS Smackdown TM

2007-06-11T11:52:00.000-04:00

I think it's safe to say that I am sick of some of the behavior I've seen in MLS not to mention some things that guys have been getting away with for years. Considering I support D.C. first and foremost in the League it's been difficult at best trying to figure out just how to avoid cheering for Dema Kovelenko when he was with United and now with Ben Olsen having turned into one of the chirpiest and most annoying players around. I blame Nottingham Forest for blowing up his ankles, Ben for not being smart enough to get out of that situation and Olsen again for changing his game so much so to the point of being a general nuisance, hat-tricks against New York not withstanding. The Kovalenko saga has been talked about elsewhere with much more flavorful vitriol than I ever could come up with.

Then there's Daniel Hernandez, he of the generally salty disposition, poorly timed tackle and general inability to take back in equal measure that which he enjoys handing out. As a player, he's (as well as Joe Franchino and Rusty Pierce) always come off to me as someone who wanted to be Pablo Mastroeni but lacked the skills. This resulted in clumsy, ill-tempered challenges and generally being a not fun guy to be around.

Next up, my favorite of favoritest bad guys in all of MLS. You know him, you love to hate him... Tyrone Marshall. He may be arguably the most annoying of the "black hats" in this League who always manages to have a handful of fouls before a ball is even kicked. He eggs on opposing fans wherever he goes so much so that sometimes I really wonder if he thinks he's Kurt Angle in disguise or something. If there's ever been one player in the League that I've felt should start every match with an automatic yellow card it's him. He has Carlos Ruiz's annoyance factor, Dema's penchant for injuring people, Ben Olsen's chirpiness and Daniel Hernandez's villainous streak. You could argue that he is MLS's perfect villain and he's just done it again for a number of fans who hoped to see Kenny Cooper play in Copa America in a few weeks.

Speaking of which, what's in the water in Dallas that always leads players like this to do bodily harm to FCD's promising offensive talent?

Still, with these kind of guys running around in this league and MLS's penchant for promotion (but not the relegation variety) I say we come up with the perfect teaser event for this year's MLS Cup or All-Star Game: the Fatal Field Player Four-Way featuring Dema, Daniel, Ben and Tyrone going at it on PPV for the diehard MLS fans to see which one of these players would survive or alternatively hope for all four to explode into cloud of dust particles. There's only one guy I can think of to officiate this thing, too: Matt Reis. While we're at it, someone get Ray Hudson on the phone and convince him to call it. This is gonna be big! I can feel it!

Blanco's going to have a lot to live up to this summer.

PS You know you've made it as a league when there's at least a handful of players everyone can agree on to despise. MLS Fever, CATCH IT!

Gold Cup pt. 1

2007-06-11T09:08:00.000-04:00

This morning I find myself trying to adequately describe what I saw Thursday and Saturday during the US men's team's first two matches against Guatemala and Trinidad & Tobago, respectively. Part of me is elated with the 6 points we've picked up and the invaluable experience gained by some of our newcomers. On the other hand, I'm a little disappointed by the margins of victory. After all, considering where we were last summer, having 6 points in the bag after two matches in a summer tournament is a nice feeling but considering that 12 short months ago we stood toe-to-toe with some of the world's best and only gained a point after thinking we could have been contenders. Winning by fairly razor thin margins against two of our World Cup qualifying opponents would lead fairly to some criticisms.

Sure, the theory of continual gains in developing talent being relative to the gains made by other nations and teams lends a little more luster to the overall dominant performances we had against Los Chapines and the Soca Warriors. However, despite controlling these matches in nearly every statistical category we still fell short of putting away the chances handed to us. Guatemala showed signs of an overall improvement with Hernan Dario Gomez at the helm but reverted to the kind of futbol not seen in these parts since Bora Milutinovic was in charge of our team. T & T played the very best selection at their disposal... from their domestic league. If not for some luck and solid, if not spectacular, saves from Tim Howard and Kasey Keller then the US would be looking at a must win against El Salvador tomorrow.

So if the glass is half full we say, "Exactly! These are games that, in the past, we would have given up an equalizer to Guatemala and allowed Trinidad back into that match with silly or "unlucky" goals. Plus, these are guys who haven't played together much, if at all, AND we started an essentially completely new lineup against T & T. Survive and advance, survive and advance."

Half empty and we say, "This just shows how much more work we need to do. We're disjointed in the final third, a bit shaky in the defensive third and some of our midfield challenges are a little too iffy which exposes our defenders and breaks our link to the forwards. Our talent alone should predicate better results than this."

Where do my thoughts lie at the moment? Somewhere in between and I imagine Nowak and Bradley are thinking along similar lines. This is an important learning and bonding process for the new guys and the World Cup veterans. They all understand that we feel we NEED to win this tournament with any other result being a letdown. At the same time, this is preparation, preparation that will prove to be invaluable down the line when guys like Ricardo Clark, Justin Mapp, Jay Demerit or Michael Parkhurst have to face these same teams in Guatemala City, Tegucigalpa or San Pedro Sula, Port au Prince, or in those most desperate of environs, Saprissa and Azteca.

On paper, there's no reason we shouldn't walk this thing. Let's be honest. There's one major difference, though, and that is that on game day you can't account for nerves, being off your game, strange officiating or just plain missing chances that have been presented to you on a silver platter. It happens. Still, it sounds like a load of crap and poor excuses when you look at your overall performance and know you could have, should have been better on the day. Still, I'm sure Mexico and their fans thought the same thing going into yesterday.

Which brings me to another point. Are the US fans who have been around long enough to become jaded at the point of becoming little more than the same fans of other countries whom we used to mock? The English fan that wants to sack the manager for a poor 3-0 result against tiny Andorra? The Mexican fan that wants to get rid of LaVolpe because he brought in players fans didn't like and then crashed out against Argentina in the World Cup? The German fan stoic in the thought that they should be doing better than they are? Really, isn't that the worldwide feeling of soccer/futbol/voetbal fans? "Our team is better than this, why do they play so badly against clearly inferior opposition?!" Are we forgetting the fact that time and again, as the world has proved, as one thing may evolve, change and improve, so do those things that would seek to become better than that one? Is it a matter of who can improve the fastest and at the most exponential rate?

Well, the US has some improving to do and, luckily, they'll have a few more games yet in the Gold Cup in which to do it.

Roots

2007-06-07T14:10:00.000-04:00

One of the things I love about the sport of soccer here in the United States is that almost everyone has a unique story about how they got interested in it. The stories range from seeing the World Cup in 199_ or 200_ or a friend dragged them to a game or their kids played and so on and so forth. For me, it shared an oddly similar parallel with how I grew up as a fan of MLB's Chicago Cubs.

Back in the dark ages, when I was a school kid in South Carolina, after relocating from the Washington, D.C. area, around the age of 10 I was able to come home directly from school, turn on the television, pull out the baseball card collection and let the less than dulcet tones of Harry Caray and Steve Stone wash over the living room it seemed like every afternoon on WGN, cable's glorious gift to non-Chicagoans everywhere.

This was the 1987 season when the Cubs stunk, once again, yet good-to-great players like Ryne Sandberg and eventual league MVP, Andre Dawson, played for the team. I remember being excited whenever they'd take to the field. For some reason, despite their craptacular performance I came back to them in Spring of 1988 and at the same time rekindled my childhood liking for the Baltimore Orioles. Luckily, both teams were in opposite leagues so I didn't have to choose one or the other so I could maintain my admiration for O's legend, Cal Ripken, Jr. while enjoying my loyalty to the hapless Cubbies. Eventually, after a trip with the family to Fulton County Stadium that summer (a 5-2 loss to the Eric Davis(!) led Cincinnati Reds), I took Dale Murphy, Ron Gant and the seemingly equally hapless Braves into my baseball fandom. This was also the season Baltimore lost 21 straight games to start the year. The Braves never did catch up though they tried valiantly. That year, the Braves were the second worst team in baseball by only a half game with the Orioles taking the honor of dead last in all of baseball. The Cubs finished a fantastic 77-85 relative to the combined 108-213 mark by the other two.

So where does the long-winded baseball bit fit into my soccer fandom? Well, it is quite revealing that when it came to soccer, I'd eventually settle on a team in England that most fans would easily say parallel the efforts of the Cubs in baseball. A club that annually raised and dashed hopes with equal verve. A club that had a trio of players whose names live on in their country, practically in the folklore but have done sweet FA ever since. Moore to Peters to Hurst meet Tinker to Evers to Chance. West Ham United were introduced to me during the 1996-97 campaign, eerily 10 years since the affair with Chicago began. Ironically enough, the Hammers would finish in 14th that season just above the relegation zone. My fondness for the club was thanks in large part to the gents from a band called the Business whom I met during my stint in a punk band that had the privilege to open for them when they came through S.C. So it began, that a sport that had long since waned in my interests was completely and utterly subsumed with soccer.

By this time, domestically, I had thrown my lot in with D.C. United in MLS, the Men's National Team since 1994 (despite having watched the US matches in 1990, I had no idea what I was seeing then) and to some small extent the Women's National Team after staying up way too late and catching the beam back from China of the 1991 Women's World Cup. I believe I said at the time of that event, "Now there's a novel idea. It sure would be funny if it turns out that our women are world powers especially considering how pathetic our men must seem." Or something along those lines.

Oddly enough, though, my enjoyment of soccer actually started around the time things were really gearing up for the 1994 World Cup. It was probably the 1992-93 European season. This would have been back when ESPN lacked for afternoon programming and decided to air Dutch Eredivisie matches so much in the same manner as I had learned to enjoy the Cubs just 5 or so years earlier, I began to watch soccer after walking in the door home from school. At that time, I chose to follow Ajax simply because they managed to win almost every time I watched them and I enjoyed their style of play. However, I couldn't have named a single player in that side and really had no idea who they played. I remember AZ Alkmaar, PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord sticking out to me but beyond that I hadn't a clue. I no longer follow Ajax (or the Eredivisie for that matter), though, I do feel indebted to them somehow.

At any rate, by this point I began to become more aware of the sport and actually worked up the guts to quit American football for the rest of the World's football during the ensuing summer. After joining the high school soccer team I remember watching taped matches from the Champions League, Serie A, England and the 1986/1990 World Cups. By the time 1994 rolled around my appetite for soccer was growing so much so that I distinctly remember joining with my friends in watching every single match of the World Cup that year and in between matches playing video game soccer. We simply couldn't get enough.

Then, 1995 hit and there was a gaping void. What had happened to soccer in America? Where did the futbol feast go? It wasn't until 1996 that MLS began and fans were slow to find it on ESPN2 despite some very real and very impressive attendances in Year One. The malaise towards the League that seemed to surround those of us who weren't in MLS cities made us feel alone out there in a way. There was no getting together for games on television, no parties or cookouts to watch the Wiz play the Burn and yet it seemed like it was just there, in the background, waiting for something bigger to happen... at least for me.

MLS Cup #1 in rain soaked Foxboro stadium, LA who had looked certain to be champions all season long were up on D.C. United, a club that had suffered a nearly disastrous start under nearly legendary University of Virginia coach, Bruce Arena, and it seemed a formality. Then a comeback was on that people would wax poetic about for years to come replete with a defender, Eddie Pope, who would rise above the crowd and win United their first of many honors. I was hooked on MLS after that but the lure towards the rest of the world hadn't sunk in just yet.

It took a few pints, a debate explaining MLS and why the U.S. wasn't just going to be making up the numbers in France in 1998 and a few good jokes in the direction of some guy named Glen Hoddle (the joke kind of writes itself, doesn't it?) with some very real, very passionate football, beer and punk rock loving English "blokes" before I began looking at things in a more global context. Then... well, 3-6-1, yeah? Now, here I am worrying about Tom Soehn's tactics, Bob Bradley's selections and whether or not Carlos Tevez will stay with the supporters who adore him or follow the money he so richly deserves elsewhere. All this after going deeply into debt to get to Germany last summer. It's a funny old game.

PS If anyone has the 1996 MLS Cup Final on dvd or knows where to get one, I'd love to have it.

Heads Up

2007-06-07T12:46:00.000-04:00

Welcome to my semi-new digs. A lot of what you're going to see here will be my rants on US Soccer and MLS, the odd observations of an American West Ham supporter (and incidental fan of Inter in Italy, long story), and maybe the random story about my actual non-soccer life but there are a lot of places I write about that stuff to people I already consider my friends. You people will have to earn it. Good luck!

Anyhow, if you're curious, this place is where I've been covering the USL in some form since 2000. I've always wanted to write more about the other soccer I pay attention to as well as my other random observations - plug only sort of intended. This also gives me the chance to generally vent my spleen or post completely rubbish rumors that may have no merit at all.

Don't be surprised by anything you see posted here because it could be anything at any time. We're talking interviews with people I find insanely interesting, rants about things I find insanely irritating, or even mildly insane ramblings that appear in the form of prose or poetry (egads!). This is also me giving up that ill conceived notion of ever becoming an actual paid member of the media, so congrats to those guys that got into the game. You won!