(Another Saturday bonus post)
"You take the good, you take the bad, you mix them up...and then you have? A Bob Bradley national team roster."
Actually in the case of the Nov. 17 friendly against 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa in Jo-berg, there's not all that bad to get upset about.
Instead, let's start with the good, dare I say great -- the dawn of the Jozy Altidore era for the USMNT. Not to put to much pressure on the kid, but I'm excited.
Real excited.
Naturally, it's unfair to heap unrealistic expectations on a kid that's barely 18 years of age, but every other footballing nation does it, so why can't us Yanks? And, hell, how often have we had reason to smile aside from the Gold Cup in recent memory?
It's not very often a kid comes along with size, strength and pace, not to mention a touch for goal.
Some would be quick to compare Altidore to the last so-called 'savior' Eddie Johnson (and no, it's not just because they are of African descent). It's because they're both young strikers around six-feet tall with good touch and pace.
The difference is that Johnson made his major impact first with the USMNT, albeit against some of the CONCACAF minnows. Altidore, meanwhile came on the scene first through MLS, then through the U-20 World Cup.
Not that it's a great comparison, Johnson played in bits and pieces for the then Dallas Burn from 2001-2003, scoring five goals. In the winter of 2003 he fared well at the FIFA Youth Championships with four goals. In 2004 he burst onto the scene, scoring in his first international against El Salvador, following that with a hat trick against Panama. He also finished tied for the MLS lead that season with 12 goals, this at 20/21 years of age.
Meanwhile, Alitdore has played two seasons in MLS, tallying 12 goals before his first senior cap.
It just seems he's a little more 'established' at the age of 18 than Johnson was at 20.
Then again, who knows?
Now the bad.
Not that I feel like getting into in depth, but I think I speak for most American supporters that we've all gotten our fill of Jon Bornstein this calendar year. Heath Pearce and Frank Simek must really be hate-filled, raging assholes. How else to explain their lack of inclusion in the last few USMNT camps?
While at least Bornstein has youth on his side, Eddie Lewis does not. Perhaps it's behind-the-scenes, leadership stuff I'm not privy to, but what exactly did the 33-year-old do in Basel against the Swiss that merits his inclusion in the side? It's not Lewis' fault, but he is playing for the worst team in the Premier League, after all.
I'll do a full preview in the midweek, so I don't want to exhaust my options.
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Dan Califf (Aalborg, Denmark), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium)
Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England)
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Forwards: Jozy Altidore (New York), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles)
________________
Aside from the fact that I have a soft spot for the Portland Timbers, the MLS deciding to expand into Seattle seems like a great thing if only for the involvement of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. He's not the majority owner, but at least the league has another guy with deep pockets on board.
Hopefully MLS simply incorporates the USL Sounders into the league, not that it's a major deal. You'd also have to think Seattle will get behind the new team considering the Sonics are about to fly the coop.
The only other downside, having another team playing its home games in a football stadium on artificial turf.
Still, at least the league is pointed in the right direction and will get enough teams so that the regular season and playoffs aren't a joke with more than 50 percent of the franchises making it to the second season.
Judging by reader comments from the Seattle Times, it should be positive. Hardly any 'soccer sucks' posts.
___________________________
One final MLS point.
There is some scuttlebutt that Taylor Twellman's game-winning bicycle kick in the Eastern Conference Final against Chicago was a dangerous play.
Basically this is a letter of the law vs. spirit of the law debate.
While technically it might have been a "dangerous play" (a pretty lame call most of the time), it was a moment of individual brilliance rarely seen in MLS.
For everyone that thinks its a dangerous play and should have been waved off, would you have rather the game ended 0-0 and was decided in penalty kicks?
Watch and judge for yourself. (You may want to turn the sound down on your speakers.)
"You take the good, you take the bad, you mix them up...and then you have? A Bob Bradley national team roster."
Actually in the case of the Nov. 17 friendly against 2010 World Cup hosts South Africa in Jo-berg, there's not all that bad to get upset about.
Instead, let's start with the good, dare I say great -- the dawn of the Jozy Altidore era for the USMNT. Not to put to much pressure on the kid, but I'm excited.
Real excited.
Naturally, it's unfair to heap unrealistic expectations on a kid that's barely 18 years of age, but every other footballing nation does it, so why can't us Yanks? And, hell, how often have we had reason to smile aside from the Gold Cup in recent memory?
It's not very often a kid comes along with size, strength and pace, not to mention a touch for goal.
Some would be quick to compare Altidore to the last so-called 'savior' Eddie Johnson (and no, it's not just because they are of African descent). It's because they're both young strikers around six-feet tall with good touch and pace.
The difference is that Johnson made his major impact first with the USMNT, albeit against some of the CONCACAF minnows. Altidore, meanwhile came on the scene first through MLS, then through the U-20 World Cup.
Not that it's a great comparison, Johnson played in bits and pieces for the then Dallas Burn from 2001-2003, scoring five goals. In the winter of 2003 he fared well at the FIFA Youth Championships with four goals. In 2004 he burst onto the scene, scoring in his first international against El Salvador, following that with a hat trick against Panama. He also finished tied for the MLS lead that season with 12 goals, this at 20/21 years of age.
Meanwhile, Alitdore has played two seasons in MLS, tallying 12 goals before his first senior cap.
It just seems he's a little more 'established' at the age of 18 than Johnson was at 20.
Then again, who knows?
Now the bad.
Not that I feel like getting into in depth, but I think I speak for most American supporters that we've all gotten our fill of Jon Bornstein this calendar year. Heath Pearce and Frank Simek must really be hate-filled, raging assholes. How else to explain their lack of inclusion in the last few USMNT camps?
While at least Bornstein has youth on his side, Eddie Lewis does not. Perhaps it's behind-the-scenes, leadership stuff I'm not privy to, but what exactly did the 33-year-old do in Basel against the Swiss that merits his inclusion in the side? It's not Lewis' fault, but he is playing for the worst team in the Premier League, after all.
I'll do a full preview in the midweek, so I don't want to exhaust my options.
Goalkeepers: Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton, England)
Defenders: Carlos Bocanegra (Fulham, England), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover, Germany), Dan Califf (Aalborg, Denmark), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard Liege, Belgium)
Midfielders: Freddy Adu (Benfica, Portugal), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers, Scotland), Michael Bradley (Heerenveen, Netherlands), Maurice Edu (Toronto), Benny Feilhaber (Derby, England), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA), Eddie Lewis (Derby, England)
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Forwards: Jozy Altidore (New York), Clint Dempsey (Fulham, England), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles)
Aside from the fact that I have a soft spot for the Portland Timbers, the MLS deciding to expand into Seattle seems like a great thing if only for the involvement of Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen. He's not the majority owner, but at least the league has another guy with deep pockets on board.
Hopefully MLS simply incorporates the USL Sounders into the league, not that it's a major deal. You'd also have to think Seattle will get behind the new team considering the Sonics are about to fly the coop.
The only other downside, having another team playing its home games in a football stadium on artificial turf.
Still, at least the league is pointed in the right direction and will get enough teams so that the regular season and playoffs aren't a joke with more than 50 percent of the franchises making it to the second season.
Judging by reader comments from the Seattle Times, it should be positive. Hardly any 'soccer sucks' posts.
One final MLS point.
There is some scuttlebutt that Taylor Twellman's game-winning bicycle kick in the Eastern Conference Final against Chicago was a dangerous play.
Basically this is a letter of the law vs. spirit of the law debate.
While technically it might have been a "dangerous play" (a pretty lame call most of the time), it was a moment of individual brilliance rarely seen in MLS.
For everyone that thinks its a dangerous play and should have been waved off, would you have rather the game ended 0-0 and was decided in penalty kicks?
Watch and judge for yourself. (You may want to turn the sound down on your speakers.)
Labels: bob bradley, Jozy Altidore, Soccer, USMNT
Continuing my bizarre need to post any and all soccer references made by non-soccer announcers Marv Albert just amazingly and properly used the term "own goal" during the Nets-Celtics game. The context? Nenad Kristic and Richard Jefferson tipped the ball into their own basket. Marv responded with a "in soccer that's what they call an own goal".
Why I feel a need to post this I have no idea. Perhaps it is just a sad commentary on the availability of mainstream network announcers talking soccer.
A) Am I the only one who thinks Ben Olsen should be getting more looks with the USMNT? Well, besides Olsen himself?
Probably.
2) I want to see the Haitian Sensation and Dempsey get starts up top while Landon "I Don't Want to Play In Europe" Donovan cultivates a nice splinter collection in his ass.
3) Re: The lack of competent and consistent coverage in the MSSportsM. Eh, I think about it in terms of NASCAR. It had been marginalized for years as a bunch of rednecks watching people make left hand turns for 3 hours. Who cares, right? Well, turns out it was such an unstoppable ratings monster that the Networks had no choice but to get on board.
How that applies to fútbol? Just keep writing about it, keep watching it, keep promoting it, keep dragging your friends to bars at 7:30 in the morning to watch Man U v. Arsenal matches and smirk to yourself as they get into it. Just the difference in the number of people I see going to pubs to watch matches on weekend mornings is pretty pronounced (it has maybe doubled in the last two years). Eventually it will get to the point where the networks can't ignore it. It might take a decade, but it's a tremendous game. Bitching that ESPN doesn't cover it enough doesn't help (although it is kind of fun). Bringing more people to the game does.