Maybe you've got a problem, or are too overly committed to a sports team when you're thinking in your mind, "you know, maybe he'll sail one of those intentional balls to the backstop and let the runner score from third. We're due a fluky run"
That's the way I am about the Detroit Tigers at the moment.
I've never met Nick Punto. He might read the bible everyday and have pictures of his kid on his desk. Frankly right now want to take a Mag-Lite to Punto's eye socket.
Living and dying with each pitch. Shouldn't be a problem, but it's been this way since June.
If you follow Major League Baseball with even a passing interest, you're aware that the Tigers have coughed up a major lead in the American League Central to the Minnesota Twins. It's heart murmurs, upon upset stomach.
So in light of Monday's Premier League wrap-up post, it was nice to see so many intelligent and well-written responses to my theory/corollary/quackery about the Pittsburgh Pirates and how it relates to the also-rans in England in the comments section. I'm glad I could stir something.
I hope people didn't misconstrue my point. I think it is out-and-out amazing that a person living in America would randomly route for a club in England that isn't Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool.
But hey, I salute going against the grain, even if it doesn't result in too much silverware. Agreed, rooting for a club that isn't a "global brand" is a nice challenge.
Sports, or at least following sports, doesn't always have to be about winning.
Sticking with Pittsburgh, if you're a Steelers fan how much did last year's Super Bowl win mean? I suppose that game itself counts, due to the last-minute comeback drive. Yet it's six Super Bowls, the second in recent history. How can it possibly mean that much?
As a Tigers fan, I just want to see one. One World Series is really all it takes. I'm simple.
I don't fear dying. I fear dying without out at least one title in my lifetime. (I was four in 1984, the last Tigers World Series. Didn't mean much to me then. Wish it did.)
Not sure if this logic would apply to a club like Blackburn Rovers, which won the 'wait, that happened?' Premier League title in 1994-95. (Look it up, it honestly happened.)
Therein lies the big difference between American sports like baseball and pro soccer. I've read a lot about the history of baseball's grown in American and a decent bit on soccer's spread in England. The business model was always there, though soccer teams started off as athletic clubs. Where the thread splits is that in America many baseball leagues were played all over the county, but only the National League counted as "Major" and those team's owners were very protective of that status. Instead of incorporating strong teams and dumping the weak ones, it remained relatively static, unlike the relegation system in England.
To this day, clubs in England that aren't blessed with worldwide riches -- and even that can be fleeting (Leeds United) -- staving off relegation is almost more important that actually winning. Compounding this issue, unlike American pro leagues, there isn't a safety net waiting for English clubs that fall on hard times. Instead, when teams enter "administration" they are usually docked points, which only makes a bad situation worse.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to suck. They will also continue to exist, barring something radical like a new owner or contraction. (Unlikely, Bud Selig is too sentimental.)
In the Premier League, if a club stinks or overspends in this day and age it face Armageddon. For whatever the reason, the cruel British financiers don't much care that a club's been around over a century, or is the part of a community.
That said, my point was this is more of an issue for the clubs themselves, not the fans. Well, of course it's an issue for the fans, but what can they do to change it? As a casual observer, it doesn't seem like too many smart people are pulling the strings at soccer clubs. Then again, unlike American sports like the NFL and NBA it's not a "level" playing field with salary caps, either.
Everything I wrote Monday doesn't apply to diehards. There with the team through thick and thin, but to truly be successful financially you need the casual fans and frontrunners.
Anyway, this blog was a good distraction during the second half of a day-night Tigers/Twins doubleheader that had me wearing a track on my floor because of all my pacing.
Hope reading it will be worth something, like the day the Tigers (I pray) finally win the World Series.
That's the way I am about the Detroit Tigers at the moment.
I've never met Nick Punto. He might read the bible everyday and have pictures of his kid on his desk. Frankly right now want to take a Mag-Lite to Punto's eye socket.
Living and dying with each pitch. Shouldn't be a problem, but it's been this way since June.
If you follow Major League Baseball with even a passing interest, you're aware that the Tigers have coughed up a major lead in the American League Central to the Minnesota Twins. It's heart murmurs, upon upset stomach.
So in light of Monday's Premier League wrap-up post, it was nice to see so many intelligent and well-written responses to my theory/corollary/quackery about the Pittsburgh Pirates and how it relates to the also-rans in England in the comments section. I'm glad I could stir something.
I hope people didn't misconstrue my point. I think it is out-and-out amazing that a person living in America would randomly route for a club in England that isn't Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal, Liverpool.
But hey, I salute going against the grain, even if it doesn't result in too much silverware. Agreed, rooting for a club that isn't a "global brand" is a nice challenge.
Sports, or at least following sports, doesn't always have to be about winning.
Sticking with Pittsburgh, if you're a Steelers fan how much did last year's Super Bowl win mean? I suppose that game itself counts, due to the last-minute comeback drive. Yet it's six Super Bowls, the second in recent history. How can it possibly mean that much?
As a Tigers fan, I just want to see one. One World Series is really all it takes. I'm simple.
I don't fear dying. I fear dying without out at least one title in my lifetime. (I was four in 1984, the last Tigers World Series. Didn't mean much to me then. Wish it did.)
Not sure if this logic would apply to a club like Blackburn Rovers, which won the 'wait, that happened?' Premier League title in 1994-95. (Look it up, it honestly happened.)
Therein lies the big difference between American sports like baseball and pro soccer. I've read a lot about the history of baseball's grown in American and a decent bit on soccer's spread in England. The business model was always there, though soccer teams started off as athletic clubs. Where the thread splits is that in America many baseball leagues were played all over the county, but only the National League counted as "Major" and those team's owners were very protective of that status. Instead of incorporating strong teams and dumping the weak ones, it remained relatively static, unlike the relegation system in England.
To this day, clubs in England that aren't blessed with worldwide riches -- and even that can be fleeting (Leeds United) -- staving off relegation is almost more important that actually winning. Compounding this issue, unlike American pro leagues, there isn't a safety net waiting for English clubs that fall on hard times. Instead, when teams enter "administration" they are usually docked points, which only makes a bad situation worse.
The Pittsburgh Pirates will continue to suck. They will also continue to exist, barring something radical like a new owner or contraction. (Unlikely, Bud Selig is too sentimental.)
In the Premier League, if a club stinks or overspends in this day and age it face Armageddon. For whatever the reason, the cruel British financiers don't much care that a club's been around over a century, or is the part of a community.
That said, my point was this is more of an issue for the clubs themselves, not the fans. Well, of course it's an issue for the fans, but what can they do to change it? As a casual observer, it doesn't seem like too many smart people are pulling the strings at soccer clubs. Then again, unlike American sports like the NFL and NBA it's not a "level" playing field with salary caps, either.
Everything I wrote Monday doesn't apply to diehards. There with the team through thick and thin, but to truly be successful financially you need the casual fans and frontrunners.
Anyway, this blog was a good distraction during the second half of a day-night Tigers/Twins doubleheader that had me wearing a track on my floor because of all my pacing.
Hope reading it will be worth something, like the day the Tigers (I pray) finally win the World Series.
The other day I was reading something about the historic 19-year ineptitude of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The once proud Bucs, who can recall a rich history dating back to the 1800s and fielding such all-time greats like Honus Wagner, Roberto Clemente and Mike Lavalliere, aka Spanky, are now the undisputed laughingstock of North American pro sports, especially since the Detroit Lions snapped their 19-game losing streak Sunday.
It dawned on me, what good reason would anyone in Pittsburgh have to support the Pirates?
On the one hand you've got the Pittsburgh Steelers, with an NFL record six Super Bowl titles, so the city isn't exactly starved for winning.
And why would you want to spend you hard-earned money on a franchise that's been "rebuilding" ever since it lost in the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla aren't walking back through that door. Throw in the wholly terrible ownership under the McClatchy family and why in their right mind would any Pittsburgian care about the Pirates?
About the only check in the positive column is the consensus nicest stadium in the big -- PNC Bank Park.
At this point, judging by Pirates' crowds, they've lost a generation of fans to other teams or other sports.
If you're a 14 year old kid, why waste your time with the Pirates when you could just as easily with a satellite dish dial up the Yankees or any other team and support them. Unless your father was a diehard from the Pops Stargell 'We Are Family' era, there's a good chance you wouldn't even know the Pirates exist.
Faced with choices, why would anyone in their right mind throw their support behind a perpetually losing team? In the year 2009, the word local doesn't mean what it once did.
And here's where we tie this all into the English Premier League.
If you're Joe England, why would you bother to support any other team outside the proverbial 'Big Four' of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool? Hell this probably counts double or triple for worldwide fans, such as people reading this blog. Why, if you live in San Diego or Singapore, would you throw your lot in with the likes of Fulham, Blackburn, West Ham, etc? Unless you like going to the grounds and watching matches, what's the incentive?
This isn't the way I think, in fact the opposite, but people love winners and spraining their ankles jumping on bandwagons. (Suffice to say, it pains me when I see any 'ManU' fans.)
All you're setting yourself up for is -- at best -- a run in the Europa League, perhaps a deep forray into one of the Cups and staving off the lingering pains of the 'R' word (relegation).
It's not as if foreign fans, or even younger English fans, have the local loyalty ties which make the English game so compelling.
This all came to me during Fulham's 1-0 loss to Arsenal.
Look at the strides made by Fulham since Clint Dempsey's million-dollar/pound goal against Liverpool toward the end of the 2006-07 season, which saved the club from relegation.
Fulham replaced the disastrously incompetent Lawrie Sanchez with the sneaky-brilliant Roy Hodgson and slowly assembled a fairly solid, competent and composed team. Most importantly under Hodgson Fulham established a regular set of players and an identity, eventually leading the club to its best-ever seventh-place finish last season.
And now, where or more specifically, what is Fulham?
Where can it go from here?
It's clearly hit its ceiling, which I suppose Fulham fans would be delighted, but after a while the thrill of finishing in the upper half of the table fades.
Wisely, it had a ton of signage on its electronic boards for American things and U.S. Airways. Savvy. Chelsea, too, has highly banked its future as a "brand" by using its recent Roman Abramovich-backed success to tap into the American sports fan, including Kevin Garnett. To a certain segment of U.S. sports fans, Chelsea is cool and classy.
Another smart move by Fulham is signing South African international Kagisho Dikgacoi in the year lead-up to the World Cup. Sure, he'll likely only play sparingly, but will certainly have the Fulham name represented when the African nation hosts the world's premier sporting event -- any way to sell the brand.
Think on it, how is Fulham realistically going to attract fans in London, compared to its neighbors Chelsea or other London clubs like Arsenal and Spurs? (For a counterweight, people like myself will always chose the alternative to the easy, popular team/movie/band/etc.)
Or another question, how can a small regional team like Burnley (population 60,000) compete with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United?
Apply this logic to any number of teams. Unless you love to suffer, why chose Everton over Liverpool? Or any team in the Northwest of England over Manchester United? Etc.?
Premier League officials love to talk the amount of people watching the league every weekend and the money its generating. Even with the television money trickle down, the small clubs are swimming as frantically as they can against the tide, until some rich oil-rich tycoon can come in an inject club with cash.
Not exactly a sound overall business plan for growth. It's a big reason the league was so hell-bent on playing Premier League matches in America, the Middle East and Asia. Eventually, it's not unreasonable to think, "superclubs" might spring up in this places and compete in the league, whatever its called. Cities like New York and Los Angeles have the population and financial wherewithal to compete on equal pegging with the 'Big Four' unlike the smaller regional clubs in England.
There's minimal sentimentality to this line of thinking, it's simply the cruel and unflinching wheels of progress turning.
As the global game of soccer becomes more and more elite and money-rich, there will be almost no way for the 16 other Premier League teams to have even a sniff of competing unless they expand their names around the world. The quaint idea of fathers passing along their favorite teams down to their sons doesn't apply in 2009.
The charm of Craven Cottage, like PNC Park, can only go so far.
Reverse jinxed?:
* For everybody around the globe flying the Blue flag, believe me I didn't mean to talk up Chelsea's long-term title prospects with the hope of putting a jinx on them.
That said, how in the world did the Blues lose to Wigan? Was it karmic balancing from four years ago when Hernan Crespo's late strike sunk the Latics in their first-ever Premier League match?
Even a team like Chelsea is due a hiccup, but this one hurts -- the red card suspension of Petr Cech for next week against Liverpool and Ashley Cole pulling up lame don't help matters.
Since the game wasn't on live does anyone out there know exactly what went wrong for Ancelotti's crew? What was this, Chelsea's first loss since Obama took office?
Suffice to say with Manchester United's ho-hum win at Stoke, the race for first got a lot more interesting.
D'Oh
* Was it crazy to run out at halftime of the Sunderland/Wolves match to run some Sunday errands? It was a dreary, 1-0 Black Cats lead and with the must-watch Detroit Tigers game later in the afternoon, my window to do things wasn't much.
How was I supposed to know it would turn into a wild six-goal second half?
Somewhere the marketing aces at Premier League HQ quietly smiled.
Announcing quibble of the week:
* Maybe this shouldn't go in the pro-English file since Bobby Zamora declared for Trinidad & Tobago, but here goes anyway.
In the second half of Fulham/Arsenal Zamora had a half-chance in the box that William Gallas perfectly timed to knock away lunging at full stretch. To me, this was a pretty amazing play by the French defender, but the announcer didn't praise Gallas, instead chastised Zamora for missing.
Go figure.
Lookalikes?:
* Arsenal's new keeper of the moment Vito Mannone and ex-journeyman quarterback/Jersey native Vinny Testaverde. Maybe?
Either way, Manuel Almunia better wrap up filming those porno flicks or whatever is causing him to miss time because as far as shot-stopping goes, Mannone was top rate at Craven Cottage Saturday. Obviously making reaction saves is only one part of keeping and for a team like Arsenal, ball distribution and decision making is likely more important long term. Still, with a still occasionally shaky defense, Mannone could develop into a Iker Casillas-type. (No, he won't be sainted, but he will see a lot of shots.)
Other stuff:
* Damien Duff got hurt? Who'd have thunk it? ... Wayne Hennessey, sound more like the name for a shooting guard in the SEC than a Premier League keeper. ... That was one fine shoulder shoulder save by Tim Howard vs. Portsmouth. ... And on the American tip, Clint Dempsey looked relatively frisky vs. Arsenal with a couple decent goal chances. ... How is Ryan Giggs still so important to Manchester United? ... In light of the shellacking at Anfield by Liverpool, would anyone argue that Hull is the leagues worst? At least Portsmouth is somewhat competitive. ... At times when he's at front of goal Fernando Torres is like a video game avatar. Could you be any better inside the box. (No double entendres, honest.) ... Steven Gerard, take a half-bow, hell of a goal but it was against a dead team. ... Did anyone else notice the early-stages Roberto Baggio-esque rat tail on Keiran Richardson? ... Four goals for Robbie Keane that's pretty good, pretty pretty good. I'd wager, though, Spurs fans would trade the four-spot vs. Burnley for a little more consistent production. ... Not sure anyone can conjure a goal out of the narrowest of half-chances quite like Robin van Persie. All he needs is an inch or two of space to fire a missle.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
* Blair Manwell's Lawn Wranglers posted 84 points thanks to Darren Bent and John O'Shea.
Looking ahead:
* Decent game Monday afternoon with Manchester City hosting West Ham on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. Next Sunday is Chelsea/Liverpool ... kind of a big one.
It dawned on me, what good reason would anyone in Pittsburgh have to support the Pirates?
On the one hand you've got the Pittsburgh Steelers, with an NFL record six Super Bowl titles, so the city isn't exactly starved for winning.
And why would you want to spend you hard-earned money on a franchise that's been "rebuilding" ever since it lost in the NLCS to the Atlanta Braves in 1991. Barry Bonds and Bobby Bonilla aren't walking back through that door. Throw in the wholly terrible ownership under the McClatchy family and why in their right mind would any Pittsburgian care about the Pirates?
About the only check in the positive column is the consensus nicest stadium in the big -- PNC Bank Park.
At this point, judging by Pirates' crowds, they've lost a generation of fans to other teams or other sports.
If you're a 14 year old kid, why waste your time with the Pirates when you could just as easily with a satellite dish dial up the Yankees or any other team and support them. Unless your father was a diehard from the Pops Stargell 'We Are Family' era, there's a good chance you wouldn't even know the Pirates exist.
Faced with choices, why would anyone in their right mind throw their support behind a perpetually losing team? In the year 2009, the word local doesn't mean what it once did.
And here's where we tie this all into the English Premier League.
If you're Joe England, why would you bother to support any other team outside the proverbial 'Big Four' of Chelsea, Manchester United, Arsenal and Liverpool? Hell this probably counts double or triple for worldwide fans, such as people reading this blog. Why, if you live in San Diego or Singapore, would you throw your lot in with the likes of Fulham, Blackburn, West Ham, etc? Unless you like going to the grounds and watching matches, what's the incentive?
This isn't the way I think, in fact the opposite, but people love winners and spraining their ankles jumping on bandwagons. (Suffice to say, it pains me when I see any 'ManU' fans.)
All you're setting yourself up for is -- at best -- a run in the Europa League, perhaps a deep forray into one of the Cups and staving off the lingering pains of the 'R' word (relegation).
It's not as if foreign fans, or even younger English fans, have the local loyalty ties which make the English game so compelling.
This all came to me during Fulham's 1-0 loss to Arsenal.
Look at the strides made by Fulham since Clint Dempsey's million-dollar/pound goal against Liverpool toward the end of the 2006-07 season, which saved the club from relegation.
Fulham replaced the disastrously incompetent Lawrie Sanchez with the sneaky-brilliant Roy Hodgson and slowly assembled a fairly solid, competent and composed team. Most importantly under Hodgson Fulham established a regular set of players and an identity, eventually leading the club to its best-ever seventh-place finish last season.
And now, where or more specifically, what is Fulham?
Where can it go from here?
It's clearly hit its ceiling, which I suppose Fulham fans would be delighted, but after a while the thrill of finishing in the upper half of the table fades.
Wisely, it had a ton of signage on its electronic boards for American things and U.S. Airways. Savvy. Chelsea, too, has highly banked its future as a "brand" by using its recent Roman Abramovich-backed success to tap into the American sports fan, including Kevin Garnett. To a certain segment of U.S. sports fans, Chelsea is cool and classy.
Another smart move by Fulham is signing South African international Kagisho Dikgacoi in the year lead-up to the World Cup. Sure, he'll likely only play sparingly, but will certainly have the Fulham name represented when the African nation hosts the world's premier sporting event -- any way to sell the brand.
Think on it, how is Fulham realistically going to attract fans in London, compared to its neighbors Chelsea or other London clubs like Arsenal and Spurs? (For a counterweight, people like myself will always chose the alternative to the easy, popular team/movie/band/etc.)
Or another question, how can a small regional team like Burnley (population 60,000) compete with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester United?
Apply this logic to any number of teams. Unless you love to suffer, why chose Everton over Liverpool? Or any team in the Northwest of England over Manchester United? Etc.?
Premier League officials love to talk the amount of people watching the league every weekend and the money its generating. Even with the television money trickle down, the small clubs are swimming as frantically as they can against the tide, until some rich oil-rich tycoon can come in an inject club with cash.
Not exactly a sound overall business plan for growth. It's a big reason the league was so hell-bent on playing Premier League matches in America, the Middle East and Asia. Eventually, it's not unreasonable to think, "superclubs" might spring up in this places and compete in the league, whatever its called. Cities like New York and Los Angeles have the population and financial wherewithal to compete on equal pegging with the 'Big Four' unlike the smaller regional clubs in England.
There's minimal sentimentality to this line of thinking, it's simply the cruel and unflinching wheels of progress turning.
As the global game of soccer becomes more and more elite and money-rich, there will be almost no way for the 16 other Premier League teams to have even a sniff of competing unless they expand their names around the world. The quaint idea of fathers passing along their favorite teams down to their sons doesn't apply in 2009.
The charm of Craven Cottage, like PNC Park, can only go so far.
Reverse jinxed?:
* For everybody around the globe flying the Blue flag, believe me I didn't mean to talk up Chelsea's long-term title prospects with the hope of putting a jinx on them.
That said, how in the world did the Blues lose to Wigan? Was it karmic balancing from four years ago when Hernan Crespo's late strike sunk the Latics in their first-ever Premier League match?
Even a team like Chelsea is due a hiccup, but this one hurts -- the red card suspension of Petr Cech for next week against Liverpool and Ashley Cole pulling up lame don't help matters.
Since the game wasn't on live does anyone out there know exactly what went wrong for Ancelotti's crew? What was this, Chelsea's first loss since Obama took office?
Suffice to say with Manchester United's ho-hum win at Stoke, the race for first got a lot more interesting.
D'Oh
* Was it crazy to run out at halftime of the Sunderland/Wolves match to run some Sunday errands? It was a dreary, 1-0 Black Cats lead and with the must-watch Detroit Tigers game later in the afternoon, my window to do things wasn't much.
How was I supposed to know it would turn into a wild six-goal second half?
Somewhere the marketing aces at Premier League HQ quietly smiled.
Announcing quibble of the week:
* Maybe this shouldn't go in the pro-English file since Bobby Zamora declared for Trinidad & Tobago, but here goes anyway.
In the second half of Fulham/Arsenal Zamora had a half-chance in the box that William Gallas perfectly timed to knock away lunging at full stretch. To me, this was a pretty amazing play by the French defender, but the announcer didn't praise Gallas, instead chastised Zamora for missing.
Go figure.
Lookalikes?:
* Arsenal's new keeper of the moment Vito Mannone and ex-journeyman quarterback/Jersey native Vinny Testaverde. Maybe?
Either way, Manuel Almunia better wrap up filming those porno flicks or whatever is causing him to miss time because as far as shot-stopping goes, Mannone was top rate at Craven Cottage Saturday. Obviously making reaction saves is only one part of keeping and for a team like Arsenal, ball distribution and decision making is likely more important long term. Still, with a still occasionally shaky defense, Mannone could develop into a Iker Casillas-type. (No, he won't be sainted, but he will see a lot of shots.)
Other stuff:
* Damien Duff got hurt? Who'd have thunk it? ... Wayne Hennessey, sound more like the name for a shooting guard in the SEC than a Premier League keeper. ... That was one fine shoulder shoulder save by Tim Howard vs. Portsmouth. ... And on the American tip, Clint Dempsey looked relatively frisky vs. Arsenal with a couple decent goal chances. ... How is Ryan Giggs still so important to Manchester United? ... In light of the shellacking at Anfield by Liverpool, would anyone argue that Hull is the leagues worst? At least Portsmouth is somewhat competitive. ... At times when he's at front of goal Fernando Torres is like a video game avatar. Could you be any better inside the box. (No double entendres, honest.) ... Steven Gerard, take a half-bow, hell of a goal but it was against a dead team. ... Did anyone else notice the early-stages Roberto Baggio-esque rat tail on Keiran Richardson? ... Four goals for Robbie Keane that's pretty good, pretty pretty good. I'd wager, though, Spurs fans would trade the four-spot vs. Burnley for a little more consistent production. ... Not sure anyone can conjure a goal out of the narrowest of half-chances quite like Robin van Persie. All he needs is an inch or two of space to fire a missle.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
* Blair Manwell's Lawn Wranglers posted 84 points thanks to Darren Bent and John O'Shea.
Looking ahead:
* Decent game Monday afternoon with Manchester City hosting West Ham on ESPN2 at 3 p.m. Next Sunday is Chelsea/Liverpool ... kind of a big one.
Labels: Chelsea, English Premier League, fernando torres, Liverpool, Monday recaps, Soccer
Well, folks, it was bound to happen.
It only took about seven weeks, but we've finally hit a truly dud weekend in the Premier League.
No matches contested between the 'Big Four' or 'Fringe Two' (City/Spurs). No really big derby matches, unless you want to count Fulham hosting Arsenal, but that's more of a one-way rivalry.
In a lot of ways, this weekend is like those god-awful weeks of Interleague play in Major League Baseball, except its not the Cubs playing the White Sox or Mets hosting the Yankees, instead think of the times when the Marlins play the Mariners or some other figment of Bud Selig's imagination.
Instead of lamenting the lack of quality match-ups for neutrals, why not take a measuring stick at roughly the 15 percent mark of the season, or at least identify some trends. (Or, just call this, 'Mike Has Fun With Numbers.')
* There have only been four draws, with Stoke City the only team with one than one.
* Spurs are one of three teams to fail to keep a cleansheet (Portsmouth, Bolton), yet sit in the top six of the table.
* By my calculations 159 goals have been scored in 56 matches, good for a 2.8 average per game.
* Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool are the only clubs to score in every match.
* Portsmouth and Birmingham City have just three goals each, while Fulham, Blackburn and Wigan only have four. Egads.
* According to the near mythical Actim Ratings, Didier Drogba has been the best player in the league -- by a nearly 30-point margin over Wayne Rooney. (Form your own conclusions.)
Okay, those are some stat nuggets to chew on. Here are some other general impressions:
* Chelsea, could, stress could, have the title wrapped up by Christmas. Hear me out. The Blues play Liverpool and Aston Villa in back-to-back weeks to start October, then get Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in mid-November, followed with back-to-back matches at Arsenal and at Manchester City. If the Blue take 12 or more points from those five games, who is going to be able to keep up with them and or slow them down?
* Assuming they don't self-combust, (see Bellamy, Craig; Adebayor, Emmanuel) Manchester City has the better chance to break into the top four than Tottenham, which remains too fragile mentality and won't be able to adequately replace Luka Modric. The one thing worth watching for City is its mental resolve, too. So far they've seen to be a team that plays up or down to its competition far too much. It's one thing to fly high vs. Arsenal at home and at Old Trafford on a derby day, but can they grind out points in the dreary winter months at places like the Reebok and St. Andrews?
* Liverpool is stagnant. I feel like I've written this 1,000 times if once, but it all boils down to Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. How long can two players carry a team in the toughest league in the world? Yes, Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun have been useful recently and Glenn Johnson a revelation, but what happens when the fixtures start to build up and the legs get tired?
On the plus side, the Reds have smacked Stoke City and Burnley 4-0 at Anfield, yet there seems to be too many matches like last week's 3-2 win at West Ham. It's never easy for Liverpool, like it is for Chelsea.
Liverpool's season will choose a course, soon, when it plays Chelsea, Manchester United and at Fulham, plus a Champions League match vs. Lyon for good measure.
* At this point the teams with "no juice" are: Portsmouth, Hull, Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton. At best these guys are fighting for 17th place. Burnley, depending on home form, and Birmingham City can easily join them. Maybe I should crib from the Bill Simmons playbook and label this the Alain Perrin Division. (We'll revisit this idea soon.)
* It's just not going to happen for Everton this season.
* Gap? What gap? Oh right, the big one. Here's your 'Big Four', so far. Chelsea hasn't dropped a point. United lost a fluky game at Burnley for its only blemish. Liverpool has lost to Aston Villa and Tottenham, which sit fourth and fifth in the table. Arsenal's two losses are to Manchester City and Manchester United.
Whatever PL Chief Richard Scudamore wants to say, there is a massive, repeat, massive gap between the haves and have nots.
It would be stunning if the aforementioned teams don't finish 1-7, in some order, come May.
Good thing? Bad thing? It simply is what it is at this point.
Saturday:
* Portsmouth v. Everton -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) Oh wouldn't both sets of supporters like to turn back the clock to 2007? This should at least be a good judge on the future of Pompey. Will the fans turn their backs on this collection of cast-offs? Or will it be "Play up Pompey" for 90 minutes? Everton and David Moyes likely won't care too much if they win it likely costs Paul Hart his job. ... Portsmouth 1, Everton 2
* Birmingham City v. Bolton -- I couldn't think of a better advertisement for the merits of the Premier League than this match. Joking aside, it'll be sad to see Carson Yueng take over Birmingham City because anytime you lose a porn magnate as owner (David Gold) the whole world weeps. ... Birmingham City 1, Bolton 0
* Blackburn Rovers v. Aston Villa -- Four-straight wins have Villa in the same place as Manchester City in the table -- with the game goal differential to boot! The reason for Villa's rise from the opening-day dead? Set pieces, as they lead the league with six so far. Rovers manager Sam Allardyce must be jealous. Also, Gabby Agbonlahor has netted in three straight, it seems how he goes, Villa goes. So fans of the claret and blue best hope he can continue this past September. On a side note, most fans of the Cleveland Browns probably wish Randy Lerner would banish coach Eric Mangini to some abandoned factory in Birmingham right about now. ... Blackburn 1, Aston Villa 2
* Liverpool v. Hull City -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) It pains me to do this to my boy Jozy, but Hull City might be the worst team in the league. They've allowed 13 goals -- worst in the league -- and only committed the most fouls for good measure. The Tigers haven't scored more than one goal in a game and have basically lived off their great start from 2008 for the last 13 months. So long story short, this is a nice match for the embattled Liverpool defense to catch a breather. ... Liverpool 3, Hull City 0
* Stoke City v. Manchester United -- (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) On paper this looks like a classic letdown game for Manchester United, right? Then again, the Red Devils did just skate by in the midweek in the Carling Cup, so maybe that offsets that. Either way, it won't be easy for Sir Alex to coax three points out at the Britianna Stadium. This should be a good test of United's suddenly suspect defense, especially Ben Foster in goal. Something tells me the combo of Rory Delap's long tosses and Foster is like throwing a match on a canister of gasoline, or in this case, petrol. Still, United have a little too much quality to fall short here. ... Stoke City 1, Manchester United 2
* Tottenham v. Burnley -- This would appear like a perfect match for Spurs to figure out their identity without Luka Modric since Burnley aren't exactly dynamos away from Turf Moor. For Spurs to be taken seriously, three points are must here. Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon should be good enough for a pair, right? ... Spurs 2, Burnley 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Chelsea -- If you're a team like Wigan, do you like having back-to-back matches vs. 'Big Four' opposition and take your lumps and move on, or do you prefer a more frequent and balanced beating schedule? Realistically, other than planting some land mines around the JJB (or whatever its called this weekend) is the Latics only shot against the Blue Machine. ... Wigan 0, Chelsea 3
* Fulham v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Roy Hodgson's men could should signs of life here that they're a team to reckon with, at least at Craven Cottage. Through the first month of the season, Fulham has been decidedly 'meh'-worthy. Arsenal, on the other hand, seem to be gaining steam. Odd Arsenal stat, the Gunner's central defensive starters (Gallas/Vermaelen) have more goals (5) than the starting forward rotation of Robin van Persie, Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner (2). So there's concrete proof right there that Arsene Wenger made the right call not to pry Brede Hangeland away from Fulham. ... Fulham 1, Arsenal 3
Sunday:
* Sunderland v. Wolves -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Since I don't have much to offer here, a couple stats. The first, Sunderland has played six games with keeper Craig Gordon and Martin Fulop splitting the starts. Each have made seven saves, Gordon allowing four goals; Fulop three. And three is the number of players who've scored this season for Sunderland (Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones, Andy Reid). Wolves, admittedly, are the one team in the division I haven't really seen play extensively. ... Sunderland 2, Wolves 0
Monday:
* Manchester City v. West Ham United -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) Let's see if this one can live up to the inaugural ESPN Monday afternoon-er, when Aston Villa won at Anfield. Let;s hope both sides feel like putting on a show. ... Manchester City 3, West Ham 1
Last week: 7-3
Season: 33-23
It only took about seven weeks, but we've finally hit a truly dud weekend in the Premier League.
No matches contested between the 'Big Four' or 'Fringe Two' (City/Spurs). No really big derby matches, unless you want to count Fulham hosting Arsenal, but that's more of a one-way rivalry.
In a lot of ways, this weekend is like those god-awful weeks of Interleague play in Major League Baseball, except its not the Cubs playing the White Sox or Mets hosting the Yankees, instead think of the times when the Marlins play the Mariners or some other figment of Bud Selig's imagination.
Instead of lamenting the lack of quality match-ups for neutrals, why not take a measuring stick at roughly the 15 percent mark of the season, or at least identify some trends. (Or, just call this, 'Mike Has Fun With Numbers.')
* There have only been four draws, with Stoke City the only team with one than one.
* Spurs are one of three teams to fail to keep a cleansheet (Portsmouth, Bolton), yet sit in the top six of the table.
* By my calculations 159 goals have been scored in 56 matches, good for a 2.8 average per game.
* Chelsea, Aston Villa, Manchester City and Liverpool are the only clubs to score in every match.
* Portsmouth and Birmingham City have just three goals each, while Fulham, Blackburn and Wigan only have four. Egads.
* According to the near mythical Actim Ratings, Didier Drogba has been the best player in the league -- by a nearly 30-point margin over Wayne Rooney. (Form your own conclusions.)
Okay, those are some stat nuggets to chew on. Here are some other general impressions:
* Chelsea, could, stress could, have the title wrapped up by Christmas. Hear me out. The Blues play Liverpool and Aston Villa in back-to-back weeks to start October, then get Manchester United at Stamford Bridge in mid-November, followed with back-to-back matches at Arsenal and at Manchester City. If the Blue take 12 or more points from those five games, who is going to be able to keep up with them and or slow them down?
* Assuming they don't self-combust, (see Bellamy, Craig; Adebayor, Emmanuel) Manchester City has the better chance to break into the top four than Tottenham, which remains too fragile mentality and won't be able to adequately replace Luka Modric. The one thing worth watching for City is its mental resolve, too. So far they've seen to be a team that plays up or down to its competition far too much. It's one thing to fly high vs. Arsenal at home and at Old Trafford on a derby day, but can they grind out points in the dreary winter months at places like the Reebok and St. Andrews?
* Liverpool is stagnant. I feel like I've written this 1,000 times if once, but it all boils down to Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. How long can two players carry a team in the toughest league in the world? Yes, Dirk Kuyt and Yossi Benayoun have been useful recently and Glenn Johnson a revelation, but what happens when the fixtures start to build up and the legs get tired?
On the plus side, the Reds have smacked Stoke City and Burnley 4-0 at Anfield, yet there seems to be too many matches like last week's 3-2 win at West Ham. It's never easy for Liverpool, like it is for Chelsea.
Liverpool's season will choose a course, soon, when it plays Chelsea, Manchester United and at Fulham, plus a Champions League match vs. Lyon for good measure.
* At this point the teams with "no juice" are: Portsmouth, Hull, Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton. At best these guys are fighting for 17th place. Burnley, depending on home form, and Birmingham City can easily join them. Maybe I should crib from the Bill Simmons playbook and label this the Alain Perrin Division. (We'll revisit this idea soon.)
* It's just not going to happen for Everton this season.
* Gap? What gap? Oh right, the big one. Here's your 'Big Four', so far. Chelsea hasn't dropped a point. United lost a fluky game at Burnley for its only blemish. Liverpool has lost to Aston Villa and Tottenham, which sit fourth and fifth in the table. Arsenal's two losses are to Manchester City and Manchester United.
Whatever PL Chief Richard Scudamore wants to say, there is a massive, repeat, massive gap between the haves and have nots.
It would be stunning if the aforementioned teams don't finish 1-7, in some order, come May.
Good thing? Bad thing? It simply is what it is at this point.
Saturday:
* Portsmouth v. Everton -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:30 a.m.) Oh wouldn't both sets of supporters like to turn back the clock to 2007? This should at least be a good judge on the future of Pompey. Will the fans turn their backs on this collection of cast-offs? Or will it be "Play up Pompey" for 90 minutes? Everton and David Moyes likely won't care too much if they win it likely costs Paul Hart his job. ... Portsmouth 1, Everton 2
* Birmingham City v. Bolton -- I couldn't think of a better advertisement for the merits of the Premier League than this match. Joking aside, it'll be sad to see Carson Yueng take over Birmingham City because anytime you lose a porn magnate as owner (David Gold) the whole world weeps. ... Birmingham City 1, Bolton 0
* Blackburn Rovers v. Aston Villa -- Four-straight wins have Villa in the same place as Manchester City in the table -- with the game goal differential to boot! The reason for Villa's rise from the opening-day dead? Set pieces, as they lead the league with six so far. Rovers manager Sam Allardyce must be jealous. Also, Gabby Agbonlahor has netted in three straight, it seems how he goes, Villa goes. So fans of the claret and blue best hope he can continue this past September. On a side note, most fans of the Cleveland Browns probably wish Randy Lerner would banish coach Eric Mangini to some abandoned factory in Birmingham right about now. ... Blackburn 1, Aston Villa 2
* Liverpool v. Hull City -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) It pains me to do this to my boy Jozy, but Hull City might be the worst team in the league. They've allowed 13 goals -- worst in the league -- and only committed the most fouls for good measure. The Tigers haven't scored more than one goal in a game and have basically lived off their great start from 2008 for the last 13 months. So long story short, this is a nice match for the embattled Liverpool defense to catch a breather. ... Liverpool 3, Hull City 0
* Stoke City v. Manchester United -- (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) On paper this looks like a classic letdown game for Manchester United, right? Then again, the Red Devils did just skate by in the midweek in the Carling Cup, so maybe that offsets that. Either way, it won't be easy for Sir Alex to coax three points out at the Britianna Stadium. This should be a good test of United's suddenly suspect defense, especially Ben Foster in goal. Something tells me the combo of Rory Delap's long tosses and Foster is like throwing a match on a canister of gasoline, or in this case, petrol. Still, United have a little too much quality to fall short here. ... Stoke City 1, Manchester United 2
* Tottenham v. Burnley -- This would appear like a perfect match for Spurs to figure out their identity without Luka Modric since Burnley aren't exactly dynamos away from Turf Moor. For Spurs to be taken seriously, three points are must here. Jermain Defoe and Aaron Lennon should be good enough for a pair, right? ... Spurs 2, Burnley 0
* Wigan Athletic v. Chelsea -- If you're a team like Wigan, do you like having back-to-back matches vs. 'Big Four' opposition and take your lumps and move on, or do you prefer a more frequent and balanced beating schedule? Realistically, other than planting some land mines around the JJB (or whatever its called this weekend) is the Latics only shot against the Blue Machine. ... Wigan 0, Chelsea 3
* Fulham v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Roy Hodgson's men could should signs of life here that they're a team to reckon with, at least at Craven Cottage. Through the first month of the season, Fulham has been decidedly 'meh'-worthy. Arsenal, on the other hand, seem to be gaining steam. Odd Arsenal stat, the Gunner's central defensive starters (Gallas/Vermaelen) have more goals (5) than the starting forward rotation of Robin van Persie, Eduardo and Nicklas Bendtner (2). So there's concrete proof right there that Arsene Wenger made the right call not to pry Brede Hangeland away from Fulham. ... Fulham 1, Arsenal 3
Sunday:
* Sunderland v. Wolves -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Since I don't have much to offer here, a couple stats. The first, Sunderland has played six games with keeper Craig Gordon and Martin Fulop splitting the starts. Each have made seven saves, Gordon allowing four goals; Fulop three. And three is the number of players who've scored this season for Sunderland (Darren Bent, Kenwyne Jones, Andy Reid). Wolves, admittedly, are the one team in the division I haven't really seen play extensively. ... Sunderland 2, Wolves 0
Monday:
* Manchester City v. West Ham United -- (Live, ESPN2, 3 p.m.) Let's see if this one can live up to the inaugural ESPN Monday afternoon-er, when Aston Villa won at Anfield. Let;s hope both sides feel like putting on a show. ... Manchester City 3, West Ham 1
Last week: 7-3
Season: 33-23
Labels: English Premier League, Prem Picks, Soccer
"It's always been a shortcoming of football that it only last 90 minutes." -- Martin Tyler.
Or, if you're Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United 96 minutes.
Before delving into the grassy knoll at Old Trafford, let me make a point of contrast. As I type this I'm watching the New England Patriots/New York Jets NFL game and feel my brain power slowly being sapped by the constant drone of analyst Dan Dierdorf. So if me spelling get worse than it usually be, you have reason why.
Okay, obviously my lousy grade-10 level syntax isn't the byproduct of an aging, beefy, blowhard, but his continual employment rankles me, though not nearly as much as Manchester United conspiracy theorists in light of the 'Godfather II-esque' running length of stoppage time Sunday vs. Manchester City.
As a counterweight to that argument, referee Martin Atkinson did need to add time for Craig Bellamy's injury time equalizer and Sir Alex's savvy sub of Michael Carrick for Anderson which added another 30 seconds. Granted, those two incidents make it a five minute stoppage time, not six.
And by the same token, it took an amazing pass from "Sir" Ryan Giggs, threading the needle to Michael Owen and Owen had to pretend it was the 1990s again and slot it past Shay Given. Even if it should never have transpired, it was a 1 in 100 shot. (But probably a shot only Manchester United would have the chance to attempt.)
Either way you want to look at it, this was an amazingly insane match.
Here are some things to consider:
* Wayne Rooney is pretty much unstoppable right now, even with his patchy beard.
* Carlos Tevez might look like the Hulk, but Craig Bellamy plays like him, since you don't like him while he's angry. Just ask this fan who he appeared to striker. He and John Arne Riise ought to form a support group.
* Premier League stadiums must be required to have a tattoo artist/parlour on the premises.
* Rio Ferdinand is officially back to Mr. Casual status.
* What happened to Ben Foster? Wasn't he fairly spry at Watford? That "play" that allowed the first City goal from Big Book of Gaffes co-written by Mr. James & Gomes.
* Add the previous two statements and it spells trouble long term for United, at least until the Dutch Giant returns.
* Darren Fletcher ... once, nay, twice? The "Really?" moment of the weekend, for certain.
For a long time in my mind, at least, I've equated Manchester City with the New York Mets. It's not the greatest comparison in the world, especially since the Mets ownership group got taken by Bernie Madoff, while City has more oil-bucks than it knows what to do with.
This result, with its stunning finish, reminded me of that game earlier this season when Luis Castillo dropped a routine pop fly hit by Alex Rodriguez allowing the Yankees to win.
You can spend all the money on earth, but Manchester City is Manchester City for a reason.
A Modest Proposal:
* It goes against the ethos of everything soccer is about, but in light of the United/City finish and then the bizarre injury timeouts at Stamford Bridge when Tottenham's Sebestien Bassong and later Chelsea's Didier Drogba needed to be carted off, shouldn't the officials have the discretion to blow the whistle and stop the clock? You had over 10 minutes of dead time while guys were being strapped to gurneys, yet the clock keeps ticking. This is 2009. It shouldn't be that difficult to stop the clock, guys like Jackie Milburn and Alf Ramsey wouldn't roll over in their graves if this happens.
Einsteinian Statement of the week:
* Chelsea is good. Scary good. Spurs looked completely overmatched and when the Robbie Keane/Ricardo Carvalho penalty didn't go in their favor, they seemingly gave up.
The only blemish -- and it could be a big one -- is the status of Drogba. It's doubtful too many will miss it if the Ivorian is sidelined a few weeks, not that the Blues ever suffer for goals.
Goal of the week:
* No arguments here, Thomas Vermaelan's second goal was a cracker.
Other stuff:
* Welcome back to the land of the living David Nugent.
* Unwelcome back to the ESPN desk to Tommy Smyth. Guess it was only a matter of time. Luckily they cram in a ton of commercials, so there's not much time for the wee Irishman to add his "insight."
* Lot of empty seats at the Emirates, or maybe just a lack of Wigan fans in London, or anywhere for that matter.
* Not to rely on bad stereotypes, but my god, Alessandro Diamanti looked like the guy that Christopher shot up heroin with when Tony and the Crew travled to Italy for "business" in season two of 'The Sopranos.'
* That double-tap penalty? Not sure what to make of that assertion, other than Jamie Carragher didn't have his best game.
* Is it too early for a team to checkout on its season, because Portsmouth seems to be trying. Then again, when you construct a team by a) selling your best players and b) acquiring a cast of misfit toys, it's a recipe for disaster. Harry Redknapp isn't walking back through that door again to perform another second-half miracle.
Really sucks for Pompey fans, at least you'll always have that FA Cup.
* Aston Villa is little better than I thought at the beginning of the season. Richard Dunne and James Collins seem like savvy pickups at the end of the transfer window.
* Important wins for Birmingham City and Wolves.
* Burnley clocking in with a healthy -5 goal differential, but are 3-for-3 at home. So there you go.
Fantasy team o' the week:
* The Cyrically themed Черноморец of Michael Goldenberg put up 96 points through Ashley Cole, Darren Fletcher and captain Torres. (Nice goals.)
Looking ahead:
Not a great weekend on the horizon, best of the bunch is Fulham hosting Arsenal at Craven Cottage in the late Saturday game.
One last thing:
* If you're a gamer or specifically a soccer gamer, the demo for "FIFA 10" is out on XBox Live. You get a 3-minute half option at Wembley Stadium using either Chelsea, Bayern, Marseille, Chelsea, Juventus or the Chicago Fire. Honestly, for all the improvements they've talked about, I wasn't blown away by the gameplay. It was FIFA. You still can run into guys and steal the ball with ease and can't shoot from anywhere outside the box and expect to score.
I'm curious to see if the manager mode is much better, or realistic.
In the upset of the weekend, the "PES 10" demo was also out, and I found myself having more fun with it than FIFA. (Teams are Liverpool, Barca, Spain, France, Germany and England.)
I wish we could get an alliance and merge the two games and take the presentation of "FIFA" and the on-field graphics and gameplay of "PES." (The PES presentation is still on 8-bit levels.)
Oh well, Electronic Arts wants to give us the Polish and Czech leagues instead of varying up the gameplay so different teams actually play with different styles.
Or, if you're Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United 96 minutes.
Before delving into the grassy knoll at Old Trafford, let me make a point of contrast. As I type this I'm watching the New England Patriots/New York Jets NFL game and feel my brain power slowly being sapped by the constant drone of analyst Dan Dierdorf. So if me spelling get worse than it usually be, you have reason why.
Okay, obviously my lousy grade-10 level syntax isn't the byproduct of an aging, beefy, blowhard, but his continual employment rankles me, though not nearly as much as Manchester United conspiracy theorists in light of the 'Godfather II-esque' running length of stoppage time Sunday vs. Manchester City.
As a counterweight to that argument, referee Martin Atkinson did need to add time for Craig Bellamy's injury time equalizer and Sir Alex's savvy sub of Michael Carrick for Anderson which added another 30 seconds. Granted, those two incidents make it a five minute stoppage time, not six.
And by the same token, it took an amazing pass from "Sir" Ryan Giggs, threading the needle to Michael Owen and Owen had to pretend it was the 1990s again and slot it past Shay Given. Even if it should never have transpired, it was a 1 in 100 shot. (But probably a shot only Manchester United would have the chance to attempt.)
Either way you want to look at it, this was an amazingly insane match.
Here are some things to consider:
* Wayne Rooney is pretty much unstoppable right now, even with his patchy beard.
* Carlos Tevez might look like the Hulk, but Craig Bellamy plays like him, since you don't like him while he's angry. Just ask this fan who he appeared to striker. He and John Arne Riise ought to form a support group.
* Premier League stadiums must be required to have a tattoo artist/parlour on the premises.
* Rio Ferdinand is officially back to Mr. Casual status.
* What happened to Ben Foster? Wasn't he fairly spry at Watford? That "play" that allowed the first City goal from Big Book of Gaffes co-written by Mr. James & Gomes.
* Add the previous two statements and it spells trouble long term for United, at least until the Dutch Giant returns.
* Darren Fletcher ... once, nay, twice? The "Really?" moment of the weekend, for certain.
For a long time in my mind, at least, I've equated Manchester City with the New York Mets. It's not the greatest comparison in the world, especially since the Mets ownership group got taken by Bernie Madoff, while City has more oil-bucks than it knows what to do with.
This result, with its stunning finish, reminded me of that game earlier this season when Luis Castillo dropped a routine pop fly hit by Alex Rodriguez allowing the Yankees to win.
You can spend all the money on earth, but Manchester City is Manchester City for a reason.
A Modest Proposal:
* It goes against the ethos of everything soccer is about, but in light of the United/City finish and then the bizarre injury timeouts at Stamford Bridge when Tottenham's Sebestien Bassong and later Chelsea's Didier Drogba needed to be carted off, shouldn't the officials have the discretion to blow the whistle and stop the clock? You had over 10 minutes of dead time while guys were being strapped to gurneys, yet the clock keeps ticking. This is 2009. It shouldn't be that difficult to stop the clock, guys like Jackie Milburn and Alf Ramsey wouldn't roll over in their graves if this happens.
Einsteinian Statement of the week:
* Chelsea is good. Scary good. Spurs looked completely overmatched and when the Robbie Keane/Ricardo Carvalho penalty didn't go in their favor, they seemingly gave up.
The only blemish -- and it could be a big one -- is the status of Drogba. It's doubtful too many will miss it if the Ivorian is sidelined a few weeks, not that the Blues ever suffer for goals.
Goal of the week:
* No arguments here, Thomas Vermaelan's second goal was a cracker.
Other stuff:
* Welcome back to the land of the living David Nugent.
* Unwelcome back to the ESPN desk to Tommy Smyth. Guess it was only a matter of time. Luckily they cram in a ton of commercials, so there's not much time for the wee Irishman to add his "insight."
* Lot of empty seats at the Emirates, or maybe just a lack of Wigan fans in London, or anywhere for that matter.
* Not to rely on bad stereotypes, but my god, Alessandro Diamanti looked like the guy that Christopher shot up heroin with when Tony and the Crew travled to Italy for "business" in season two of 'The Sopranos.'
* That double-tap penalty? Not sure what to make of that assertion, other than Jamie Carragher didn't have his best game.
* Is it too early for a team to checkout on its season, because Portsmouth seems to be trying. Then again, when you construct a team by a) selling your best players and b) acquiring a cast of misfit toys, it's a recipe for disaster. Harry Redknapp isn't walking back through that door again to perform another second-half miracle.
Really sucks for Pompey fans, at least you'll always have that FA Cup.
* Aston Villa is little better than I thought at the beginning of the season. Richard Dunne and James Collins seem like savvy pickups at the end of the transfer window.
* Important wins for Birmingham City and Wolves.
* Burnley clocking in with a healthy -5 goal differential, but are 3-for-3 at home. So there you go.
Fantasy team o' the week:
* The Cyrically themed Черноморец of Michael Goldenberg put up 96 points through Ashley Cole, Darren Fletcher and captain Torres. (Nice goals.)
Looking ahead:
Not a great weekend on the horizon, best of the bunch is Fulham hosting Arsenal at Craven Cottage in the late Saturday game.
One last thing:
* If you're a gamer or specifically a soccer gamer, the demo for "FIFA 10" is out on XBox Live. You get a 3-minute half option at Wembley Stadium using either Chelsea, Bayern, Marseille, Chelsea, Juventus or the Chicago Fire. Honestly, for all the improvements they've talked about, I wasn't blown away by the gameplay. It was FIFA. You still can run into guys and steal the ball with ease and can't shoot from anywhere outside the box and expect to score.
I'm curious to see if the manager mode is much better, or realistic.
In the upset of the weekend, the "PES 10" demo was also out, and I found myself having more fun with it than FIFA. (Teams are Liverpool, Barca, Spain, France, Germany and England.)
I wish we could get an alliance and merge the two games and take the presentation of "FIFA" and the on-field graphics and gameplay of "PES." (The PES presentation is still on 8-bit levels.)
Oh well, Electronic Arts wants to give us the Polish and Czech leagues instead of varying up the gameplay so different teams actually play with different styles.
Labels: Chelsea, manchester city, manchester United, Monday recaps, Premier League, Soccer, Wayne Rooney
Life without a home computer isn't as bad as you might think. Life, does in fact, move on without minute-by-minute status updates, viral videos and Yahoo! top news.
Thankfully, while Dell computers and customer support are lacking, at least they sent a technician to my home to replace my faulty motherboard and processor within a couple days of its failure.
And so ended my mini trip back to 1991. (No, I'm not about to swap my iPhone for a beeper, maybe if said pager came with a free box-fade haircut included.)
So, let's play a little catch up, why not?
* In light of the base-brawl in the Bronx the other night between the Yankees and Blue Jays, does it seem fair that Emmanuel Adebayor received a three-match ban for stomping on Robin van Persie's face?
Did the FA take into account that the Togolese giant nearly incited a riot straight out of 1987 with his full-length of the field gloating in from of the Arsenal fans?
Three MLB games vs. three matches in England? That's a huge variance.
Again, inciting a good ol' fashioned English soccer riot, might be worth the games. It's not like the City cupboard is bear.
(Long story short, I'm beginning to reconsider my apathy toward the Gunners in light of the last three weeks.)
* Is the Champions League on Fox/Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports En Espanol too much of a good thing? Hear me out.
First off, the nightly Max Bretos-narrated highlight show is top drawer stuff. Unfortunately in the group stages, that's about all that's necessary until at least November when the games get into the nitty gritty.
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice luxury to watch Marseille/Milan on one channel and flip over to Besiktas/Manchester United on the other. Yet the sheer number of games at this point make it a tad be overwhelming for me on a personal level.
Granted, strike these sentiments from the record once the knockout stages rolls around.
* On the Champions League note, the upside of it moving to Fox is better access to all the games than when it was on ESPN, plus the natural advantages of Bobby McMahon breaking it down opposed to Tommy Smyth. The downside, big picture, is that the competition gets minimal recognition on ESPN. Just think to last season when they treated the Barca/United final like it was a October NCAA football game. (That's sarcasm, or a dig at the over-importance of the college game.)
* Nice goal by Real Madrid, but to pull out the old 'Pulp Fiction' line from the Wolf, "Let's not go suck each other's ..." five goals vs. FC Zurich doesn't win you the trophy with the big ears.
* And what was with Madrid and Milan's Bwin.com sponsorships absent from each club's jersey during the UCL? Actually, I probably could answer my own question, since UEFA has about a 10,000 page rule book about all the minutia such as sponsorships and the like. I severly doubt it has anything to do with a weariness toward promoting gambling.
* Looks like Jose Mourinho made a quick flight back to London to grab the proverbial "bus" to park in front of the goal Wednesday vs. Barcelona.
* If we learned anything from the first group matches, Group A will be the trickest with either Juventus, Bordeaux or Bayern Munich getting knocked out. Everything else went to form, aside from Atletico Madrid drawing APOEL 0-0 at home.
* If you have an iPhone, UEFA released an app to track Champions League and Europa League scores. It's free, but nothing all that special. The ESPN scoretracker app is superior since it provides in-app commentary.
* Buy this book -- Trust me, I don't net a red cent for this endorsement. If you've got a spare $25 from gambling winnings lying around, why not order 'The Soccer Book' from DK Publishing.
Perfect coffee table book. A little bit of everything, perhaps too much on the tactics, but plenty of pictures, graphics, bar graphs, charts, insets and a dot-matrix representation of Steven Gerrard.
* Not exactly a great mid-week for Americans in Europe, aside from Tim Howard playing in Everton's 4-0 win at home to AEK in Europa League action. Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson weren't even in the Fulham team for its 1-1 draw to CSKA Sofia, DaMarcus Beasley sat the bench for Rangers while Maurice Edu was M.I.A., same for Oguchi Onyewu at AC Milan. (Anyone forgotten?)
* Semi-funny article on Goal.com, that seems to be directly targeted at people like yours truly who don't fawn over the intellectualism of Bob Bradley and the recent mediocrity of the USMNT. Results are results, but should fans be pleased with the live-and-death struggle at home to El Salvador and a listless 1-0 win at Trinidad?
The mainstream media doesn't care about the team. The soccer press seem content with the status quo. I'll agree with author Allen Ramsey's assessment that there's a little too much knee-jerk reaction by fans like myself, but compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. team has it easy. If anything, this article outlines, how unfortunately, U.S. national team fans have taken on the inflated sense of entitlement of their English counterparts.
By the same token, it doesn't seem outlandish for fans to have one expectation for a team, which is almost always going to be more aggressive than the institution running it.
Guess we'll find out who's right in South Africa. Too bad answering the question of whether Bob Bradley is the man to lead the U.S. out of the group stage will be the ultimate pass/fail test.
Bottom line, we're fans. We're not beholden to any interests other than wanting to see the team play its best, which really isn't asking much.
Saturday:
* Burnley v. Sunderland -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) If nothing else, Burnley is officially "Team ESPN". Wonder if Turf Moor is equipped with HD capability? ... Burnley 0, Sunderland 1
* Arsenal v. Wigan Athletic -- (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) Roberto Martinez & Co., please report behind the woodshed post haste. ... Arsenal 4, Wigan 0
* Aston Villa v. Portsmouth -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Portsmouth is due to show some signs of life at some point. This will not be that week. ... Aston Villa 2, Portsmouth 0
* Bolton v. Stoke City -- Are Stoke the new Bolton? One thing's for certain, Sam Allardyce never would have been caught wearing Tony Pulis' trademark ball cap. (Somewhere we need a breakdown of the coaching records of managers wearing shirt-and-tie vs. warmup/track suit.) ... Bolton 1, Stoke City 1
* Hull City v. Birmingham City -- As much as I love the Jozy Altidore move by Phil Brown, coupling that by letting Steve Bruce pry away Michael Turner doesn't make a lick of sense. The Tigers have already allowed a league-worst 12 goals in five matches. That's not a recipe for success, in fact it leads to a lot of cardiac arrest from your supporters. That said, this should be a good litmus test for Hull since it welcomes in The Brum -- the lowest scoring team in the league with just two goals to its name. Perhaps we can get one of those weird club-mergers here -- Hullmingham City? It might finish in 14th place! Hurrah! ... Hull City 2, Birmingham City 1
* West Ham United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) This will not be one of those matches were Liverpool can show up and expect for the opponent to hand them the three points, double that statement coming off a tough midweek European win. West Ham, Guille Franco? Really? ... West Ham 1, Liverpool 2
Sundee:
* Manchester United v. Manchester City -- (Live, Setanta, 8:30 a.m.) Old money vs. the nouveau riche in the template of a ages-old soccer rivalry, with a side order of a scarred up 5-foot-5 Argentine dynamo. Worth shaking off an early Sunday hangover and watching what unfurls at Old Trafford.
Honestly, anything and everything is in play.
For all the intrigue in this one, losing Adebayor to suspension hurts City, since it typically gives Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand fits. (Give the Premier League marketers credit, there are always storylines ahead of matches like these.)
It also bears watching how the new-look City respond in this match. The normal line of thinking is they'll be flying after last week's 4-2 demolition of Arsenal. Me? I'm banking on the over-confidence card, since winning at Old Trafford is like tightrope walking or building a ship in a bottle -- not very easy to do.
From a talent and form perspective, City are the pick, but after last week's win on the road at Tottenham, I'm not going against United. The specter of Sir Alex Ferguson coupled with the one-track mind of Wayne Rooney could be enough. Think of United as a crafty pitcher that doesn't have his fastball any more, but can still get hits out with 89 mph junk. If City wins here, all bets are officially off. ... United 1, City 0
* Wolves v. Fulham -- If Wolves have a realistic chance of staying up, these are the matches at home they have to win. ... Wolves 1, Fulham 1
* Everton v. Blackburn -- Everton are apparently taking a page from last year's Tottenham script. No Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Yakubu and now Phil Neville. Piling on top of that I'm sure the overall structural integrity of Goodison Park is nearing an end, too. If David Moyes weren't such a stand-up coach, he could heap all the blame on the pressures of carrying the MLS banner in the Premier League after winning the MLS All-Star game this summer. At lest Lucas Neill is on his way to Goodison Park, just in time to play his former team. The least he could do is cut a 'shoot' promo about Don Garber. ... Everton 1, Blackburn 0
* Chelsea v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Without question the must-watch match of the weekend, based on the last few times these two have played. If you're a Spurs fan here's the stat you want to chew on -- they've unbeaten in the last four matches in all competitions against Chelsea. Everything else? Best avoid, such as failing to win a road league game in September since 2001, or how about a 63-match winless streak on the road against the 'Big Four' that dates back to 1993?
All that said, this is just a big a test of Chelsea, which sits atop the league table with a perfect 5-for-5 start, but look at the Blues opponents -- Hull City, Sunderland, Fulham, Burnley and Stoke City. Not a total cakewalk, but none of the four have the firepower that Harry Redknapp can throw out for Spurs.
The key for this match is how well the Spurs' midfield can cope with the power and possession of Chelsea. If Little Luca Modric were still around, it'd be a lot better proposition for Spurs. So in that regard, Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios better tape some phonebooks under their jerseys and shin guards and be ready to go toe-to-toe with Essien and Co.
In the end, if Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe keep up their current form, Spurs will score a goal or two, but even if they do, can they make those stand up under the relentless charge of Chelsea? We saw last week Spurs don't yet have the strong mental fortitude to hold off Chelsea as the clock ticks toward 90? ... Chelsea 3, Spurs 2
Last week: 4-6 (In my haste I didn't pick Hull City/Sunderland)
Season: 26-20
Thankfully, while Dell computers and customer support are lacking, at least they sent a technician to my home to replace my faulty motherboard and processor within a couple days of its failure.
And so ended my mini trip back to 1991. (No, I'm not about to swap my iPhone for a beeper, maybe if said pager came with a free box-fade haircut included.)
So, let's play a little catch up, why not?
* In light of the base-brawl in the Bronx the other night between the Yankees and Blue Jays, does it seem fair that Emmanuel Adebayor received a three-match ban for stomping on Robin van Persie's face?
Did the FA take into account that the Togolese giant nearly incited a riot straight out of 1987 with his full-length of the field gloating in from of the Arsenal fans?
Three MLB games vs. three matches in England? That's a huge variance.
Again, inciting a good ol' fashioned English soccer riot, might be worth the games. It's not like the City cupboard is bear.
(Long story short, I'm beginning to reconsider my apathy toward the Gunners in light of the last three weeks.)
* Is the Champions League on Fox/Fox Soccer Channel/Fox Sports En Espanol too much of a good thing? Hear me out.
First off, the nightly Max Bretos-narrated highlight show is top drawer stuff. Unfortunately in the group stages, that's about all that's necessary until at least November when the games get into the nitty gritty.
Don't get me wrong, it's a nice luxury to watch Marseille/Milan on one channel and flip over to Besiktas/Manchester United on the other. Yet the sheer number of games at this point make it a tad be overwhelming for me on a personal level.
Granted, strike these sentiments from the record once the knockout stages rolls around.
* On the Champions League note, the upside of it moving to Fox is better access to all the games than when it was on ESPN, plus the natural advantages of Bobby McMahon breaking it down opposed to Tommy Smyth. The downside, big picture, is that the competition gets minimal recognition on ESPN. Just think to last season when they treated the Barca/United final like it was a October NCAA football game. (That's sarcasm, or a dig at the over-importance of the college game.)
* Nice goal by Real Madrid, but to pull out the old 'Pulp Fiction' line from the Wolf, "Let's not go suck each other's ..." five goals vs. FC Zurich doesn't win you the trophy with the big ears.
* And what was with Madrid and Milan's Bwin.com sponsorships absent from each club's jersey during the UCL? Actually, I probably could answer my own question, since UEFA has about a 10,000 page rule book about all the minutia such as sponsorships and the like. I severly doubt it has anything to do with a weariness toward promoting gambling.
* Looks like Jose Mourinho made a quick flight back to London to grab the proverbial "bus" to park in front of the goal Wednesday vs. Barcelona.
* If we learned anything from the first group matches, Group A will be the trickest with either Juventus, Bordeaux or Bayern Munich getting knocked out. Everything else went to form, aside from Atletico Madrid drawing APOEL 0-0 at home.
* If you have an iPhone, UEFA released an app to track Champions League and Europa League scores. It's free, but nothing all that special. The ESPN scoretracker app is superior since it provides in-app commentary.
* Buy this book -- Trust me, I don't net a red cent for this endorsement. If you've got a spare $25 from gambling winnings lying around, why not order 'The Soccer Book' from DK Publishing.
Perfect coffee table book. A little bit of everything, perhaps too much on the tactics, but plenty of pictures, graphics, bar graphs, charts, insets and a dot-matrix representation of Steven Gerrard.
* Not exactly a great mid-week for Americans in Europe, aside from Tim Howard playing in Everton's 4-0 win at home to AEK in Europa League action. Clint Dempsey and Eddie Johnson weren't even in the Fulham team for its 1-1 draw to CSKA Sofia, DaMarcus Beasley sat the bench for Rangers while Maurice Edu was M.I.A., same for Oguchi Onyewu at AC Milan. (Anyone forgotten?)
* Semi-funny article on Goal.com, that seems to be directly targeted at people like yours truly who don't fawn over the intellectualism of Bob Bradley and the recent mediocrity of the USMNT. Results are results, but should fans be pleased with the live-and-death struggle at home to El Salvador and a listless 1-0 win at Trinidad?
The mainstream media doesn't care about the team. The soccer press seem content with the status quo. I'll agree with author Allen Ramsey's assessment that there's a little too much knee-jerk reaction by fans like myself, but compared to the rest of the world, the U.S. team has it easy. If anything, this article outlines, how unfortunately, U.S. national team fans have taken on the inflated sense of entitlement of their English counterparts.
By the same token, it doesn't seem outlandish for fans to have one expectation for a team, which is almost always going to be more aggressive than the institution running it.
Guess we'll find out who's right in South Africa. Too bad answering the question of whether Bob Bradley is the man to lead the U.S. out of the group stage will be the ultimate pass/fail test.
Bottom line, we're fans. We're not beholden to any interests other than wanting to see the team play its best, which really isn't asking much.
Saturday:
* Burnley v. Sunderland -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) If nothing else, Burnley is officially "Team ESPN". Wonder if Turf Moor is equipped with HD capability? ... Burnley 0, Sunderland 1
* Arsenal v. Wigan Athletic -- (Live, Setanta, 10 a.m.) Roberto Martinez & Co., please report behind the woodshed post haste. ... Arsenal 4, Wigan 0
* Aston Villa v. Portsmouth -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Portsmouth is due to show some signs of life at some point. This will not be that week. ... Aston Villa 2, Portsmouth 0
* Bolton v. Stoke City -- Are Stoke the new Bolton? One thing's for certain, Sam Allardyce never would have been caught wearing Tony Pulis' trademark ball cap. (Somewhere we need a breakdown of the coaching records of managers wearing shirt-and-tie vs. warmup/track suit.) ... Bolton 1, Stoke City 1
* Hull City v. Birmingham City -- As much as I love the Jozy Altidore move by Phil Brown, coupling that by letting Steve Bruce pry away Michael Turner doesn't make a lick of sense. The Tigers have already allowed a league-worst 12 goals in five matches. That's not a recipe for success, in fact it leads to a lot of cardiac arrest from your supporters. That said, this should be a good litmus test for Hull since it welcomes in The Brum -- the lowest scoring team in the league with just two goals to its name. Perhaps we can get one of those weird club-mergers here -- Hullmingham City? It might finish in 14th place! Hurrah! ... Hull City 2, Birmingham City 1
* West Ham United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) This will not be one of those matches were Liverpool can show up and expect for the opponent to hand them the three points, double that statement coming off a tough midweek European win. West Ham, Guille Franco? Really? ... West Ham 1, Liverpool 2
Sundee:
* Manchester United v. Manchester City -- (Live, Setanta, 8:30 a.m.) Old money vs. the nouveau riche in the template of a ages-old soccer rivalry, with a side order of a scarred up 5-foot-5 Argentine dynamo. Worth shaking off an early Sunday hangover and watching what unfurls at Old Trafford.
Honestly, anything and everything is in play.
For all the intrigue in this one, losing Adebayor to suspension hurts City, since it typically gives Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand fits. (Give the Premier League marketers credit, there are always storylines ahead of matches like these.)
It also bears watching how the new-look City respond in this match. The normal line of thinking is they'll be flying after last week's 4-2 demolition of Arsenal. Me? I'm banking on the over-confidence card, since winning at Old Trafford is like tightrope walking or building a ship in a bottle -- not very easy to do.
From a talent and form perspective, City are the pick, but after last week's win on the road at Tottenham, I'm not going against United. The specter of Sir Alex Ferguson coupled with the one-track mind of Wayne Rooney could be enough. Think of United as a crafty pitcher that doesn't have his fastball any more, but can still get hits out with 89 mph junk. If City wins here, all bets are officially off. ... United 1, City 0
* Wolves v. Fulham -- If Wolves have a realistic chance of staying up, these are the matches at home they have to win. ... Wolves 1, Fulham 1
* Everton v. Blackburn -- Everton are apparently taking a page from last year's Tottenham script. No Mikel Arteta, Phil Jagielka, Yakubu and now Phil Neville. Piling on top of that I'm sure the overall structural integrity of Goodison Park is nearing an end, too. If David Moyes weren't such a stand-up coach, he could heap all the blame on the pressures of carrying the MLS banner in the Premier League after winning the MLS All-Star game this summer. At lest Lucas Neill is on his way to Goodison Park, just in time to play his former team. The least he could do is cut a 'shoot' promo about Don Garber. ... Everton 1, Blackburn 0
* Chelsea v. Tottenham -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) Without question the must-watch match of the weekend, based on the last few times these two have played. If you're a Spurs fan here's the stat you want to chew on -- they've unbeaten in the last four matches in all competitions against Chelsea. Everything else? Best avoid, such as failing to win a road league game in September since 2001, or how about a 63-match winless streak on the road against the 'Big Four' that dates back to 1993?
All that said, this is just a big a test of Chelsea, which sits atop the league table with a perfect 5-for-5 start, but look at the Blues opponents -- Hull City, Sunderland, Fulham, Burnley and Stoke City. Not a total cakewalk, but none of the four have the firepower that Harry Redknapp can throw out for Spurs.
The key for this match is how well the Spurs' midfield can cope with the power and possession of Chelsea. If Little Luca Modric were still around, it'd be a lot better proposition for Spurs. So in that regard, Tom Huddlestone and Wilson Palacios better tape some phonebooks under their jerseys and shin guards and be ready to go toe-to-toe with Essien and Co.
In the end, if Aaron Lennon and Jermain Defoe keep up their current form, Spurs will score a goal or two, but even if they do, can they make those stand up under the relentless charge of Chelsea? We saw last week Spurs don't yet have the strong mental fortitude to hold off Chelsea as the clock ticks toward 90? ... Chelsea 3, Spurs 2
Last week: 4-6 (In my haste I didn't pick Hull City/Sunderland)
Season: 26-20
Labels: English Premier League, fox soccer, friday posts, odds and ends, Prem Picks, premier league picks, Soccer
Dude, don't get a Dell.
Saturday morning was primed to be a bellwether test of trying to successfully cycle three different concurrently airing Premier League matches. Instead, it quickly morphed into an exercise in erring when my laptop wouldn't turn on.
So goodbye Manchester City/Arsenal via my Setanta-I subscription.
Fan-friggin-tastic.
Instead of enjoying the on-again, off-again HD feed from Anfield or Stoke City fighting valiantly against Anton Chigurah, err, Chelsea for 94 minutes I spent a good chunk of the much-anticipated morning on the phone with "Baby" from Dell Tech Support. Yep, Baby.
Oh right, this was after the first guy -- "Phil" -- put me on hold and disconnected me after I waited a solid 25 minutes in the first place.
Would I be so mad if I didn't fry my older, reliable Dell Laptop with a cup of tea over the keyboard? Probably not. But is it unreasonable to expect a laptop to last more than six months without either the processor or motherboard failing?
Suffice to say, my next purchase will be an Apple. Sorry PC. (Luckily I stole some time at my parent's house and used their computer to type this.)
At least by the time the Tottenham/Manchester United match rolled around by 12:30 p.m., my anger and ire had subsided enough to actually sit and enjoy the match.
And what a match it could have been, starting with Jermain Defoe's 'Gone in 60 Seconds' overhead/bicycle kick.
Then, well, Spurs mysteriously decided to crib a couple notes from the Bob Bradley playbook. (Ironically, I had planned to write a U.S. redux/"are we too hard on the team?" post Saturday. Maybe this week.)
Man-for-man, the lineups were pretty even so you can't use the excuse the Manchester United has tons or money/players at its disposal (cough, cough Bill Simmons), especially considering the last couple transfer windows.
What set the clubs apart, for lack of a better word, is grit.
Manchester United didn't play exceedingly well offensively, yet threatened since Wayne Rooney makes danger with every touch. The United defense seems like its back on track with the Nemanja Vidic/Rio Ferdinand pairing back, which masks the overall shakiness of Ben Foster.
United took advantage of chances -- a Ryan Giggs freekick to even it and Anderson being in the right place at the right time at the top of the box to slot it past Carlo Cudicini right before the half.
And that was pretty much it. If these teams played 10 matches, the final result would be pretty even, except even with all the departures and questions Sir Alex Ferguson's refuse-to-lose attitude still counts for something.
So yeah, I was pretty much ready to write United off as serious title contenders, but they'll hang around. Do they have the horses to run with Chelsea and now maybe even Manchester City? Probably not, but regardless they continue to cast a long shadow.
We'll get a better gauge of this shadow next Sunday when City comes to Old Trafford, followed by Chelsea hosting Spurs.
My computer better be fixed by then.
Quickfire other stuff:
* Arsenal, for all its talent, remains snake-bitten. How else to explain Manuel Almunia pulling his best Jose Cancesco impression leading to the first City goal in their eventual 4-2 win at Eastlands.
Is there a French equivalent for the "Really?" trope? That's what Arsene Wenger had to be saying to himself. Craig Bellamy? Really?
Man, that 6-1 win at Goodison seems like ages ago, since Arsenal is already chasing nine points on Chelsea, granted the Gunners have a game-in-hand, but still it's a lot to make up.
* Wow, an English announcer calling out an English legend, when the color guy on the Spurs/United match claimed Paul Scholes "can't tackle" when he earned his second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Tom Huddlestone. The analyst should have added he "can't stay out in the sun for more than 15 minutes", to add insult to injury.
* Speaking of insult to injury, Emmanuel Adebayor's goal and subsequent cross-field celebration might be the textbook definition of such an act.
* Credit Carlo Ancelotti for actually having a player try to block Rory Delap's long-bomb throw-ins. Oddly, Soloman Kalou was booked for trying jump in the way of the throw. (His other smart move, lining up Jose Bosingwa in a more advanced role, actually giving Chelsea width for a change.)
* Even with the late, extra-time loss, Stoke City has a little mojo going. How else to explain the booty-shaking celebration between Abdoulaye Faye and Ricardo Fuller after the Potters goal int he first half? NFL commish Roger Goodell would have fined them each a week's pay. (Gotta love Faye using the A.D. Faye abbreviation on his shirt.)
* Did anyone think once the fourth official showed five minutes of stoppage time that Chelsea wouldn't score? The only surprise that it was Flourent Malouda, not Frankie Lampard.
Right now the only thing that might stop the Blues is if Didier Drogba AND Nic Anelka both pick up injuries.
* Liverpool 4, Burnley 0. ... Yossi, Yossi, Yossi. That about sums it up.
* Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Warren Barton (or maybe it was Robbie Mustoe) claimed if Portsmouth lost to Bolton they'd be relegated. I like the balls in a statement like that, especially after Pompey goes down 3-2 at home.
* Hey, whaddaya know? Damien Duff is alive.
* And Clint Dempsey might have a pulse, too.
* Aston Villa 1, Birmingham City 0 ... Anyone see this one?
* Maybe it's the red-and-white stripes, but Sunderland suddenly looks like a live team, too. Steve Bruce knows what he's doing. The Michael Turner move was a steal.
Fantasy Team O'the Week:
* Phong Huynh's Pants FC takes top honors with 68 points, thanks to Tim and Gary Cahill, Steven Gerrard and Darren Bent's brace.
Saturday morning was primed to be a bellwether test of trying to successfully cycle three different concurrently airing Premier League matches. Instead, it quickly morphed into an exercise in erring when my laptop wouldn't turn on.
So goodbye Manchester City/Arsenal via my Setanta-I subscription.
Fan-friggin-tastic.
Instead of enjoying the on-again, off-again HD feed from Anfield or Stoke City fighting valiantly against Anton Chigurah, err, Chelsea for 94 minutes I spent a good chunk of the much-anticipated morning on the phone with "Baby" from Dell Tech Support. Yep, Baby.
Oh right, this was after the first guy -- "Phil" -- put me on hold and disconnected me after I waited a solid 25 minutes in the first place.
Would I be so mad if I didn't fry my older, reliable Dell Laptop with a cup of tea over the keyboard? Probably not. But is it unreasonable to expect a laptop to last more than six months without either the processor or motherboard failing?
Suffice to say, my next purchase will be an Apple. Sorry PC. (Luckily I stole some time at my parent's house and used their computer to type this.)
At least by the time the Tottenham/Manchester United match rolled around by 12:30 p.m., my anger and ire had subsided enough to actually sit and enjoy the match.
And what a match it could have been, starting with Jermain Defoe's 'Gone in 60 Seconds' overhead/bicycle kick.
Then, well, Spurs mysteriously decided to crib a couple notes from the Bob Bradley playbook. (Ironically, I had planned to write a U.S. redux/"are we too hard on the team?" post Saturday. Maybe this week.)
Man-for-man, the lineups were pretty even so you can't use the excuse the Manchester United has tons or money/players at its disposal (cough, cough Bill Simmons), especially considering the last couple transfer windows.
What set the clubs apart, for lack of a better word, is grit.
Manchester United didn't play exceedingly well offensively, yet threatened since Wayne Rooney makes danger with every touch. The United defense seems like its back on track with the Nemanja Vidic/Rio Ferdinand pairing back, which masks the overall shakiness of Ben Foster.
United took advantage of chances -- a Ryan Giggs freekick to even it and Anderson being in the right place at the right time at the top of the box to slot it past Carlo Cudicini right before the half.
And that was pretty much it. If these teams played 10 matches, the final result would be pretty even, except even with all the departures and questions Sir Alex Ferguson's refuse-to-lose attitude still counts for something.
So yeah, I was pretty much ready to write United off as serious title contenders, but they'll hang around. Do they have the horses to run with Chelsea and now maybe even Manchester City? Probably not, but regardless they continue to cast a long shadow.
We'll get a better gauge of this shadow next Sunday when City comes to Old Trafford, followed by Chelsea hosting Spurs.
My computer better be fixed by then.
Quickfire other stuff:
* Arsenal, for all its talent, remains snake-bitten. How else to explain Manuel Almunia pulling his best Jose Cancesco impression leading to the first City goal in their eventual 4-2 win at Eastlands.
Is there a French equivalent for the "Really?" trope? That's what Arsene Wenger had to be saying to himself. Craig Bellamy? Really?
Man, that 6-1 win at Goodison seems like ages ago, since Arsenal is already chasing nine points on Chelsea, granted the Gunners have a game-in-hand, but still it's a lot to make up.
* Wow, an English announcer calling out an English legend, when the color guy on the Spurs/United match claimed Paul Scholes "can't tackle" when he earned his second yellow card for a clumsy foul on Tom Huddlestone. The analyst should have added he "can't stay out in the sun for more than 15 minutes", to add insult to injury.
* Speaking of insult to injury, Emmanuel Adebayor's goal and subsequent cross-field celebration might be the textbook definition of such an act.
* Credit Carlo Ancelotti for actually having a player try to block Rory Delap's long-bomb throw-ins. Oddly, Soloman Kalou was booked for trying jump in the way of the throw. (His other smart move, lining up Jose Bosingwa in a more advanced role, actually giving Chelsea width for a change.)
* Even with the late, extra-time loss, Stoke City has a little mojo going. How else to explain the booty-shaking celebration between Abdoulaye Faye and Ricardo Fuller after the Potters goal int he first half? NFL commish Roger Goodell would have fined them each a week's pay. (Gotta love Faye using the A.D. Faye abbreviation on his shirt.)
* Did anyone think once the fourth official showed five minutes of stoppage time that Chelsea wouldn't score? The only surprise that it was Flourent Malouda, not Frankie Lampard.
Right now the only thing that might stop the Blues is if Didier Drogba AND Nic Anelka both pick up injuries.
* Liverpool 4, Burnley 0. ... Yossi, Yossi, Yossi. That about sums it up.
* Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think Warren Barton (or maybe it was Robbie Mustoe) claimed if Portsmouth lost to Bolton they'd be relegated. I like the balls in a statement like that, especially after Pompey goes down 3-2 at home.
* Hey, whaddaya know? Damien Duff is alive.
* And Clint Dempsey might have a pulse, too.
* Aston Villa 1, Birmingham City 0 ... Anyone see this one?
* Maybe it's the red-and-white stripes, but Sunderland suddenly looks like a live team, too. Steve Bruce knows what he's doing. The Michael Turner move was a steal.
Fantasy Team O'the Week:
* Phong Huynh's Pants FC takes top honors with 68 points, thanks to Tim and Gary Cahill, Steven Gerrard and Darren Bent's brace.
Labels: Monday recaps, Premier League, Premier League on ESPN, Soccer
Sorry for the cop-out this weekend, which is the best slate of games the Premier League has to offer so far. I just wrote what felt like a 5,000 word preview for my paying gig and my brain feels like ice cream that was left out in the sun.
Let me say this, this is the going to be a fun weekend if you subscribe to ESPN, Fox Soccer and Setanta. At 10 a.m. you're getting three quality matchups, followed by Spurs hosting Manchester United in the late game. You're getting everyone in the top six facing off against each other. (Stoke is a sneaky fifth.)
In my book, I'd rank the 10 a.m. matches thusly:
1) Manchester City/Arsenal (Storylines o'plenty)
2) Stoke City/Chelsea (Admittedly, I'm oddly giddy about this one.)
3) Liverpool/Burnley (Anfield in HD, enough for me.)
Honestly, you can't lose this weekend ... unless you wanted to see Portsmouth/Bolton.
Saturday:
* Portsmouth v. Bolton -- Here's your latest amazing David James look. Joking aside, we somehow get two of the three winless teams in the Premier League fighting in a key early season relegation six-pointer. (Never too early for one of those.)
This match could set a record for different nationalities involved in a match with Portsmouth featuring 15 different countries on its first team roster, while Bolton clocks in at 18.
Both teams also made some sneaky transfer deadline day loan signings with Portsmouth grabbing Cote D'Ivorie international Aruna Didane and Bolton grabbing Croatian Ivan Klasnic. All that said. ... Portsmouth 1, Bolton 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. Wolves -- Hey! Two Original Football League teams! Too bad it wasn't 1889, right? ... Blackburn 2, Wolves 1
* Wigan Athletic v. West Ham United -- That Wigan win over Aston Villa seems like a couple years ago. ... Wigan 1, West Ham 1
* Liverpool v. Burnley -- (Live, ESPN2, 10 a.m.) Broken record alert! Liverpool, if it wants to be taken seriously, can't afford to drop any points in this scenario. It's really that simple. And if it doesn't go the Reds way, please don't scream or scowl at the refs. Thanks. ... Liverpool 2, Burnley 0
* Stoke City v. Chelsea -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Guess I'm officially on the Potters bandwagon. Can they find a way to get a result against mighty Chelsea? At home, I'll give them a shot, but it's not very likely. ... Stoke City 1, Chelsea 2
* Manchester City v. Arsenal -- (Live, Setanta USA 10 a.m.) Too bad Andrey Arshavin won't be around for this one, because this has the chance to be the most fun game to watch of the season. Arsenal probably should have gotten the result last time out against United, so it says here they take it out on City. ... City 1, Arsenal 2
* Tottenham v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) For all his warts, not literally the ones on his face, Harry Redknapp doesn't seem too intimidated by the specter of Sir Alex Ferguson. Tottenham supporters on the other hand? They'll be ready from the opening whistle for the other shoe to drop. From the talent and form standpoint, Spurs should win, but United have the knack to pull out results in these type of games. Still, I like Spurs. ... Tottenham 3, United 1
Sunday:
* Birmingham City v. Aston Villa -- (Live, Setanta, 7:15 a.m.) Nice, angry derby here. This one feels like a late winner. Maybe James McFadden carries his Scotland form into this match. ... Birmingham City 1, Aston Villa 0
* Fulham v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) -- Wouldn't this match have been a lot more fun last season? ... Fulham 2, Everton 1
Last week: 8-2
Season: 22-14
Let me say this, this is the going to be a fun weekend if you subscribe to ESPN, Fox Soccer and Setanta. At 10 a.m. you're getting three quality matchups, followed by Spurs hosting Manchester United in the late game. You're getting everyone in the top six facing off against each other. (Stoke is a sneaky fifth.)
In my book, I'd rank the 10 a.m. matches thusly:
1) Manchester City/Arsenal (Storylines o'plenty)
2) Stoke City/Chelsea (Admittedly, I'm oddly giddy about this one.)
3) Liverpool/Burnley (Anfield in HD, enough for me.)
Honestly, you can't lose this weekend ... unless you wanted to see Portsmouth/Bolton.
Saturday:
* Portsmouth v. Bolton -- Here's your latest amazing David James look. Joking aside, we somehow get two of the three winless teams in the Premier League fighting in a key early season relegation six-pointer. (Never too early for one of those.)
This match could set a record for different nationalities involved in a match with Portsmouth featuring 15 different countries on its first team roster, while Bolton clocks in at 18.
Both teams also made some sneaky transfer deadline day loan signings with Portsmouth grabbing Cote D'Ivorie international Aruna Didane and Bolton grabbing Croatian Ivan Klasnic. All that said. ... Portsmouth 1, Bolton 1
* Blackburn Rovers v. Wolves -- Hey! Two Original Football League teams! Too bad it wasn't 1889, right? ... Blackburn 2, Wolves 1
* Wigan Athletic v. West Ham United -- That Wigan win over Aston Villa seems like a couple years ago. ... Wigan 1, West Ham 1
* Liverpool v. Burnley -- (Live, ESPN2, 10 a.m.) Broken record alert! Liverpool, if it wants to be taken seriously, can't afford to drop any points in this scenario. It's really that simple. And if it doesn't go the Reds way, please don't scream or scowl at the refs. Thanks. ... Liverpool 2, Burnley 0
* Stoke City v. Chelsea -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Guess I'm officially on the Potters bandwagon. Can they find a way to get a result against mighty Chelsea? At home, I'll give them a shot, but it's not very likely. ... Stoke City 1, Chelsea 2
* Manchester City v. Arsenal -- (Live, Setanta USA 10 a.m.) Too bad Andrey Arshavin won't be around for this one, because this has the chance to be the most fun game to watch of the season. Arsenal probably should have gotten the result last time out against United, so it says here they take it out on City. ... City 1, Arsenal 2
* Tottenham v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) For all his warts, not literally the ones on his face, Harry Redknapp doesn't seem too intimidated by the specter of Sir Alex Ferguson. Tottenham supporters on the other hand? They'll be ready from the opening whistle for the other shoe to drop. From the talent and form standpoint, Spurs should win, but United have the knack to pull out results in these type of games. Still, I like Spurs. ... Tottenham 3, United 1
Sunday:
* Birmingham City v. Aston Villa -- (Live, Setanta, 7:15 a.m.) Nice, angry derby here. This one feels like a late winner. Maybe James McFadden carries his Scotland form into this match. ... Birmingham City 1, Aston Villa 0
* Fulham v. Everton -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) -- Wouldn't this match have been a lot more fun last season? ... Fulham 2, Everton 1
Last week: 8-2
Season: 22-14
Labels: English Premier League, Prem Picks, Premier League, Premier League on ESPN, Soccer
U.S. 1, Trinidad and Tobago 0.
Three points in the bank, 'nuff said.
* * *
If I didn't feel like I owned all you guys some golden kernels of Internets goodness, those two sentences would have been the beginning, middle and end of my post-game post for an utterly forgettable 90 minutes.
Yes, I realize that Paul Caligiuri's wonderstrike in Port-of-Spain in 1989 ushered in the current era of the U.S. National Team, but did the current incarnation of the team decided it had to play like it was the 1980s? Simple things like stringing together one or two passes seemed to beyond the team's ability. All that was missing were some mullets. (Overboard?)
Of course, as is the case more often than not, one moment of inspiration is all it takes in international soccer. Ricardo Clark's 62nd boomeranging shot from just outside the box turned out to be the perfect cologne to mask a stinker by the U.S.
But hey, it's the team's first road win this qualifying stage, so everything is forgiven, right? It's not like this match will be remembered once South Africa rolls around. Thanks to this win, the U.S. will have the next eight months or so to tweak and fix.
One thing that always interests me is after U.S. matches is reading the varying "Player Ratings" from a couple different sites. It never ceases to amaze me what kind of varying numbers these writers can come up with from the same match. Wednesday's game ought to be fairly easy, nobody other than Landon Donovan and perhaps Tim Howard get high marks. Oguchi Onyewu and Jonathan Spector seemed to be in the right spot at the right time, too.
Everybody else?
As high as I was on the Charlie Davies/Jozy Altidore pairing after Saturday, they showed their youth and inexperience Wednesday. In his first real clunker this summer, Davies didn't do anything of note expect jump offside a few times. Meanwhile, Altidore was completely out of sorts and had next to zero impact on the match. His lack of match fitness clearly seemed an issue.
The entire U.S. midfield was listless and shapeless that its almost not even worth discussing.
Well ... let's do it anyway.
Clark scored, which does a lot to mask over any other inadequacies the Houston Dynamo player might have displayed. His tally tonight does a little bit to put all the Jermaine Jones talk on the back burner, no?
Let's instead turn our ire toward Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley.
Dempsey, again, I just give up.
Did anyone else notice him trotting up the sideline with his socks halfway down his ankles midway through the first half? We've all seen him as an impact player with the New England Revolution and now Fulham, but lately in the U.S. shirt unless he's scoring goals he's ineffective on the right midfield. How many times will we have to continue reading and writing about what a mystery Dempsey is between now and next June?
Bob Bradley needs to start considering a Plan B -- namely Stuart Holden, who seems more suited to play the position in the 4-4-2.
Look at it this way, remember when Bob Bradley was trying to shoehorn Landon Donovan and Dempsey between the secondary striker spot and right midfield. Eventually Bradley moved Donovan to the left side of midfield, and the Los Angles Galaxy star took a page straight out of Wayne Rooney's book and thrived. Meanwhile with the emergence of Davies and Altidore, Dempsey is almost by default forced to the right, which isn't exactly working.
I hate to play armchair psychiatrist, but Dempsey pre-2006 seemed to play with a wild look in his eye. He was dangerous at every touch. Now we only see that look after he scores.
To say it again, the U.S. has to figure out the Dempsey question ahead of the World Cup.
Now for Bradley the Younger. Admittedly, it's a tricky spot since his father is the coach. Suffice to say, it's time to stop using the term "holding midfield" in regard to the Borussia Mönchengladbach man.
Maybe it's the last two matches clouding my judgment, but the U.S. midfield looks about as organized as a 10-year-old AYSO Sunday league match. Is this all Bradley the Younger's fault? No, but he's playing in a central role, which should facilitate the U.S. attack.
Not to repeat myself, but Bradley, too, is a guy who's at his best when he's rushing forward toward the goal. That's not to say he's not apt on defense, but his best asset would be throwing his big frame around and breaking stuff up. You can get away with this when you have a midfield partnership that plays off each other like say, vintage Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso at Milan, but when you have an enigma in Dempsey and a limited hard-worker in Clark, it doesn't exactly bode that well.
To be a successful offensive team in soccer, a lot of times -- no surprise -- it comes down to chemistry or feeding off one another and finding little combinations that work. Right now not a lot is clicking for the U.S. The only successful clicking back-and-forth seems to between Donovan and to whomever he is passing the ball.
Unless there's a change in philosophy (or a bunch of other players are naturalized) the U.S. won't excel in a possession game. This isn't the worst thing in the world, since we've seen the U.S. at its most dangerous offensively on the counter-attack.
After writing all this, it's going to sound crazy, but maybe this uninspired 1-0 road win might not be the worst thing in the world for the U.S. Reading that Princeton Intro to Soccer 101 interview of Bradley the Elder, it made me think might actually see some of these things and change the tactics before the match at Honduras on Oct. 10, assuming he's not locked in to playing certain players regardless of current form.
Then again, Bradley the Elder stubbornly decided to play Jonathan Bornstein after his horror show against El Salvador almost as a personal eff-you to the Internet nerds like us.
So yeah, what I'm trying to say is, once again who the hell knows what we're going to get whenever the U.S. steps on the field against a team ranked in the FIFA top 100.
Perhaps we can pool our efforts to hire David Stern to pull the U.S. ball out of the pot in Geneva when the 2010 draw is held in December, because I'm finally convinced despite everything we've talked about it might come down to the random draw.
At least Bahrain and or New Zealand will be available.
Miscellany:
* The ink on the math isn't dry yet, but the U.S. needs a win in its final two matches to automatically qualify. Two draws might even work.
* Jonathan Bornstein's birth certificate must really read "Michael Bradley III", how else to explain his start Wednesday? Did Steve Cherundolo make fun of Princeton in practice?
In fairness, other than his 93rd minute deflection back to Tim Howard, Bornstein wasn't that terrible. Credit Trinidad coach Russell Latapy for watching some game tape and having his team constantly attack and probe that side of the U.S. defense.
* The ESPN cameras caught Bradley the Elder complimenting Latapy after the match. That's two straight matches that the U.S. walked away sending platitudes to the opponents. Not sure how this makes me feel.
* Normally I'm fine with JP Dellacamera, but was Sunil Gulati holding a knife at him to keep repeating, "How difficult it is to win in CONCACAF on the road."?
That argument loses a lot of its luster when you're playing at a half-abandoned stadium filled with fans playing steel drums. (I half expected Eugene Levy to wander onto the field at halftime with a garbage bag full of pot. "Club Paradise", anybody? Anybody?)
* Speaking of steel drums, maybe I'm in the minority but I liked using them for the "Star Spangled Banner." Nice touch.
* Why whenever I look at Pedro Gomez do I think he just showed up at the field after directing an television spot for Patio?
* Alexis Lalas' beard? The one positive of Wednesday's game being non-HD.
* Here's the book on Tim Howard -- try to catch him off his line. (Howard did make some nice saves, but the best came courtesy of the woodwork in the first half.)
* Spector definitely got away with a full-fledged armbar on a Trinidad player in the first half but didn't get the whistle for the penalty. Overall the officiating was much improved from the other night, with the only U.S. gripe a handball that wasn't called on a sliding Trinidad defender in the 10th minute.
* About that time machine, the U.S. wasn't the only one to hit 88 m.p.h. Wednesday night as Cuauhtémoc Blanco dialed it back to 1999, looking at his vintage best leading Mexico to a critical 1-0 over Honduras at Azteca.
* Wow...what happened to the Ticos? El Salvador pulled out an extra time winner vs. Costa Rica. Looks like the U.S. can coast to South Africa after all.
Final thought:
Actually, to go back to the top, if I was going to take the lazy, eff-you approach to this post it would have simply read -- "The U.S. won another game with Jonathan Bornstein at Left Back."
Then I thought better of it, because like saying the movie 'Gigli' is terrible, it's just too easy. It's too bad that Bornstein personifies the frustration U.S. fans sometimes have with the team, but that's the way it is.
Three points. Three more precious points.
(Maybe we're just all too negative by nature.)
Three points in the bank, 'nuff said.
If I didn't feel like I owned all you guys some golden kernels of Internets goodness, those two sentences would have been the beginning, middle and end of my post-game post for an utterly forgettable 90 minutes.
Yes, I realize that Paul Caligiuri's wonderstrike in Port-of-Spain in 1989 ushered in the current era of the U.S. National Team, but did the current incarnation of the team decided it had to play like it was the 1980s? Simple things like stringing together one or two passes seemed to beyond the team's ability. All that was missing were some mullets. (Overboard?)
Of course, as is the case more often than not, one moment of inspiration is all it takes in international soccer. Ricardo Clark's 62nd boomeranging shot from just outside the box turned out to be the perfect cologne to mask a stinker by the U.S.
But hey, it's the team's first road win this qualifying stage, so everything is forgiven, right? It's not like this match will be remembered once South Africa rolls around. Thanks to this win, the U.S. will have the next eight months or so to tweak and fix.
One thing that always interests me is after U.S. matches is reading the varying "Player Ratings" from a couple different sites. It never ceases to amaze me what kind of varying numbers these writers can come up with from the same match. Wednesday's game ought to be fairly easy, nobody other than Landon Donovan and perhaps Tim Howard get high marks. Oguchi Onyewu and Jonathan Spector seemed to be in the right spot at the right time, too.
Everybody else?
As high as I was on the Charlie Davies/Jozy Altidore pairing after Saturday, they showed their youth and inexperience Wednesday. In his first real clunker this summer, Davies didn't do anything of note expect jump offside a few times. Meanwhile, Altidore was completely out of sorts and had next to zero impact on the match. His lack of match fitness clearly seemed an issue.
The entire U.S. midfield was listless and shapeless that its almost not even worth discussing.
Well ... let's do it anyway.
Clark scored, which does a lot to mask over any other inadequacies the Houston Dynamo player might have displayed. His tally tonight does a little bit to put all the Jermaine Jones talk on the back burner, no?
Let's instead turn our ire toward Clint Dempsey and Michael Bradley.
Dempsey, again, I just give up.
Did anyone else notice him trotting up the sideline with his socks halfway down his ankles midway through the first half? We've all seen him as an impact player with the New England Revolution and now Fulham, but lately in the U.S. shirt unless he's scoring goals he's ineffective on the right midfield. How many times will we have to continue reading and writing about what a mystery Dempsey is between now and next June?
Bob Bradley needs to start considering a Plan B -- namely Stuart Holden, who seems more suited to play the position in the 4-4-2.
Look at it this way, remember when Bob Bradley was trying to shoehorn Landon Donovan and Dempsey between the secondary striker spot and right midfield. Eventually Bradley moved Donovan to the left side of midfield, and the Los Angles Galaxy star took a page straight out of Wayne Rooney's book and thrived. Meanwhile with the emergence of Davies and Altidore, Dempsey is almost by default forced to the right, which isn't exactly working.
I hate to play armchair psychiatrist, but Dempsey pre-2006 seemed to play with a wild look in his eye. He was dangerous at every touch. Now we only see that look after he scores.
To say it again, the U.S. has to figure out the Dempsey question ahead of the World Cup.
Now for Bradley the Younger. Admittedly, it's a tricky spot since his father is the coach. Suffice to say, it's time to stop using the term "holding midfield" in regard to the Borussia Mönchengladbach man.
Maybe it's the last two matches clouding my judgment, but the U.S. midfield looks about as organized as a 10-year-old AYSO Sunday league match. Is this all Bradley the Younger's fault? No, but he's playing in a central role, which should facilitate the U.S. attack.
Not to repeat myself, but Bradley, too, is a guy who's at his best when he's rushing forward toward the goal. That's not to say he's not apt on defense, but his best asset would be throwing his big frame around and breaking stuff up. You can get away with this when you have a midfield partnership that plays off each other like say, vintage Andrea Pirlo and Gennaro Gattuso at Milan, but when you have an enigma in Dempsey and a limited hard-worker in Clark, it doesn't exactly bode that well.
To be a successful offensive team in soccer, a lot of times -- no surprise -- it comes down to chemistry or feeding off one another and finding little combinations that work. Right now not a lot is clicking for the U.S. The only successful clicking back-and-forth seems to between Donovan and to whomever he is passing the ball.
Unless there's a change in philosophy (or a bunch of other players are naturalized) the U.S. won't excel in a possession game. This isn't the worst thing in the world, since we've seen the U.S. at its most dangerous offensively on the counter-attack.
After writing all this, it's going to sound crazy, but maybe this uninspired 1-0 road win might not be the worst thing in the world for the U.S. Reading that Princeton Intro to Soccer 101 interview of Bradley the Elder, it made me think might actually see some of these things and change the tactics before the match at Honduras on Oct. 10, assuming he's not locked in to playing certain players regardless of current form.
Then again, Bradley the Elder stubbornly decided to play Jonathan Bornstein after his horror show against El Salvador almost as a personal eff-you to the Internet nerds like us.
So yeah, what I'm trying to say is, once again who the hell knows what we're going to get whenever the U.S. steps on the field against a team ranked in the FIFA top 100.
Perhaps we can pool our efforts to hire David Stern to pull the U.S. ball out of the pot in Geneva when the 2010 draw is held in December, because I'm finally convinced despite everything we've talked about it might come down to the random draw.
At least Bahrain and or New Zealand will be available.
Miscellany:
* The ink on the math isn't dry yet, but the U.S. needs a win in its final two matches to automatically qualify. Two draws might even work.
* Jonathan Bornstein's birth certificate must really read "Michael Bradley III", how else to explain his start Wednesday? Did Steve Cherundolo make fun of Princeton in practice?
In fairness, other than his 93rd minute deflection back to Tim Howard, Bornstein wasn't that terrible. Credit Trinidad coach Russell Latapy for watching some game tape and having his team constantly attack and probe that side of the U.S. defense.
* The ESPN cameras caught Bradley the Elder complimenting Latapy after the match. That's two straight matches that the U.S. walked away sending platitudes to the opponents. Not sure how this makes me feel.
* Normally I'm fine with JP Dellacamera, but was Sunil Gulati holding a knife at him to keep repeating, "How difficult it is to win in CONCACAF on the road."?
That argument loses a lot of its luster when you're playing at a half-abandoned stadium filled with fans playing steel drums. (I half expected Eugene Levy to wander onto the field at halftime with a garbage bag full of pot. "Club Paradise", anybody? Anybody?)
* Speaking of steel drums, maybe I'm in the minority but I liked using them for the "Star Spangled Banner." Nice touch.
* Why whenever I look at Pedro Gomez do I think he just showed up at the field after directing an television spot for Patio?
* Alexis Lalas' beard? The one positive of Wednesday's game being non-HD.
* Here's the book on Tim Howard -- try to catch him off his line. (Howard did make some nice saves, but the best came courtesy of the woodwork in the first half.)
* Spector definitely got away with a full-fledged armbar on a Trinidad player in the first half but didn't get the whistle for the penalty. Overall the officiating was much improved from the other night, with the only U.S. gripe a handball that wasn't called on a sliding Trinidad defender in the 10th minute.
* About that time machine, the U.S. wasn't the only one to hit 88 m.p.h. Wednesday night as Cuauhtémoc Blanco dialed it back to 1999, looking at his vintage best leading Mexico to a critical 1-0 over Honduras at Azteca.
* Wow...what happened to the Ticos? El Salvador pulled out an extra time winner vs. Costa Rica. Looks like the U.S. can coast to South Africa after all.
Final thought:
Actually, to go back to the top, if I was going to take the lazy, eff-you approach to this post it would have simply read -- "The U.S. won another game with Jonathan Bornstein at Left Back."
Then I thought better of it, because like saying the movie 'Gigli' is terrible, it's just too easy. It's too bad that Bornstein personifies the frustration U.S. fans sometimes have with the team, but that's the way it is.
Three points. Three more precious points.
(Maybe we're just all too negative by nature.)
Labels: bob bradley, concacaf, ESPN, Landon Donovan, Soccer, USMNT, world cup qualifying
Hey Prilosec, you need somebody to film a new ad for your little purple pill?
Right now my stomach is so rocky it might be able to smelt down gold.
Wednesday night's U.S. must-win 2010 qualifier at Trinidad & Tobago isn't helping matters. Hopefully after the 90 minutes are up, Jozy and the boys will have sliced through Gordian Knot at put me at ease.
Right now its a nervy time to follow the U.S. squad.
We have all sorts of qualifying permutations fluttering through our heads, speaking nothing of goal differential. We're fretting out worst-case scenarios should the team fail to take all three points Wednesday. We're worrying why this team continually is playing from behind or how it can't protect leads.
Admittedly, until Jozy Altidore scored the go-ahead goal vs. El Salvador Saturday night in first half stoppage time I truly worried that the U.S. would possibly fail to punch its ticket to South Africa. (And that worry lasted until the final whistle.)
The thing of it is, as worried as I am I sincerely doubt the actual U.S. players feel that way.
Why?
The most tried-and-true motivation technique in American sports -- "The nobody believes/respects us card."
I've seen just about every high school team I've ever written about break this out ... even if they're the supposed best team in the state. Every Monday I get to hear New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce tell WFAN host Mike Francesa how nobody believes in his team. We even saw the U.S. play the card at the Confederations Cup, first against Egypt and then a few days later vs. Spain.
In this age of blogs, Twitter and 24-hour-discussion, there's no doubt in my mind some of the players on the U.S. team have caught wind about its underwhelming display against El Salvador in Utah Saturday. For some reason I'm picturing Michael Bradley reading his laptop in the airport before flying down to Trinidad and quietly steaming about what was written about the U.S. team. (Chalk this up to Bradley dropping an f-bomb in Sports Illustrated during the Confederations Cup.)
This is a weird trend, not just with the USMNT, for whatever the reason some teams either can't find the motivation or can't function unless they perceive to be disrespected or written off entirely. With their backs against the wall, we've seen the best come out from this current U.S. roster.
Look at Landon Donovan. For the last year or so it seems he's been super-humanly fueled by the years of Haterade throw on him by the bulk of U.S. 'Net fans.
Call it yet another enigma swirling around U.S. soccer. In atypical American fashion, they're terrible as favorites in pressure spots, but thrive as the underdog.
That's why everything in my mind says the U.S. goes to down to Port-of-Spain as tight as a drum in a situation fraught with danger and maybe salvages a draw by the skin of its teeth, but in reality they'll probably do down there and take care of business.
Nobody believes in them, right?
About that U.S. defense:
* Well, looks like Edgar Castillo is throwing his hat into the ring as the latest, greatest savior to man the black-hole that is left-back for the U.S. File this away and save that talk for another day. Let's just say I'm more intrigued by what Castillo has to offer the team compared to Jermaine Jones.
Something that's been startling in the last two U.S. matches (loss to Mexico, win vs. El Salvador) is the amount of space the U.S. defense gives opponents in the attacking third of the field. When an opponent is coming at them with the ball, it seems the U.S. defenders are caught between stepping up and closing him off or dropping back to cut down a lane. It's the indecision that kills me.
What makes this all the more stranger is the U.S. showed it has the capacity to be a strong defensive squad, though it seems the defenders are more apt at playing the ball than playing a man with the ball at his feet. If I were an opposing coach I'd never try to go up the flanks and cross it into the box if Oguchi Onyewu is patrolling the middle. By the same token, I'd tell my guys to go right up the gut and if they don't close down on you, fire away.
Wednesday we'll likely see a more representative U.S. backline with Onyewu back from his one-game suspension and Carlos Bocanegra likely shifting back inside with Jay DeMerti not even making the trip to the Caribbean.
I wish there was a more scientific way to say this, but the defense needs to simply step up and play better. Guys seem to be caught out of position or getting split far too often for a high-level international team.
A thought on Trinidad:
* You've got to hand it to Trinidad & Tobago for keeping the 'C' in CONCACAF alive, at least the Caribbean part.
For whatever its worth, Trinidad seems like a bit of an outlier since unlike most of the region, its ties lay with England, not the U.S. Nine players on the current roster play in Great Britain including forwards Jason Scotland and Kenwyne Jones.
The reason I bring this up, unlike the majority of CONCACAF opposition I don't think there's a real hostility when the U.S. travels to Port-of-Spain. It's simply not the cauldron those Central American homefields turn out to be. The antagonistic superpower status the U.S. holds over most of Central America isn't an issue in Trinidad, since it history and loyalties lie with the Queen.
If someone had the time to break it down, it would be an eye-opening stat to see the breakdown for U.S. results on the road broken up between Central America and the Caribbean. (My guess, the U.S. is it would turn up quite lopsided since the only legit Caribbean countries are Jamaica and Trinidad.)
So that said, the U.S. really doesn't have built-in excuse about how hard it is to win on the road. At the very least, I doubt too many bags of urine are in circulation at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Other stuff:
* Russell Latapy is really coaching Trinidad? Really? Guess you have to throw some respect at a guy who was a player/coach at Falkirk in the SPL.
* Fulham ace Bobby Zamora was hurt in pre-match training ahead of the Saturday game vs. Honduras, so who knows if he'll play Wednesday. (Trinidad has a lot more "name" guys than El Salvador, but sometimes its the unknown grinders that worry me more.)
* Again, via Twitter, Charlie Davies thinks he'll be okay to play after limping off Saturday. If Davies isn't 100 percent, does Bob Bradley go Clint Dempsey up front with Altidore or dust off the old war horse Brian Ching?
* I think this goes for just about every U.S. fan, we'd rather see Jonathon Spector slightly out of position at left back as opposed to Jonathan Bornstein anywhere on the field.
* Right now I'm not sure what worries me more, the U.S. scoring early then trying to figure out how to play with a one-goal lead or the U.S. allowing a goal against the run of play and having to fight back?
* Trinidad is officially eliminated with a loss. To me this isn't a motivating factor because they're super longshots as it stands even with a win over the U.S. Yeah, it's a home game but it's human nature for some of the players to have checked off mentally.
* Open question to FIFA. I once had a stopover in Ireland for about two hours. Does that make me eligible to play for the Republic?
* If there's one question for Bradley the Elder it's who pairs with his son in the center of midfield. The candidates are Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber and Jose Torres. If you gave me truth serum, there's not a lot to separate these three, though Torres would be a gamble, he offers plenty of upside. You just wonder, Torres biggest asset is passing around and holding possession. Does that click with the rest of the team, which is far too careless with the ball?
* The bigger question for Bradley, which ties into midfield selection, is how to play this match? Come out as the aggressor? Absorb pressure and play off the counter? A combination of both?
* That Grant Wahl interview with Bob Bradley? Well, I'll say this, it was one of the longest pieces I've read without the interview subject revealing anything juicy. It was like reading a college essay on coaching soccer.
* You all know I'm fully on the Altidore bandwagon. On the flip side, what does he bring to the table if he doesn't find the back of the net? It's a valid concern, but not enough to play Ching over him.
* To borrow another line from a white rapper, "Can the real Clint Dempsey please stand up?"
Lineup guess:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Onyewu -- Bocanegra -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Clark -- Bradley -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Davies
Closing thought:
Much like Saturday night, the U.S. has to dig deep and find a way.
This is it in terms of margin of error for the U.S. Take three points and we can all let out a sigh of relief. A draw or worse? That means a lot of second guessing and number crunching between now and Oct. 10 at Honduras.
For all the unflattering things I've written about Bradley the Elder the last couple years, I'll respect his intelligence. I'm sure he knows the ramifications if the U.S. stumbles Wednesday on the island.
Let's hope he passes that along to his charges and they realize their backs are against the wall if they fly back to the States without three points stashed safely away in the overhead compartments.
Right now my stomach is so rocky it might be able to smelt down gold.
Wednesday night's U.S. must-win 2010 qualifier at Trinidad & Tobago isn't helping matters. Hopefully after the 90 minutes are up, Jozy and the boys will have sliced through Gordian Knot at put me at ease.
Right now its a nervy time to follow the U.S. squad.
We have all sorts of qualifying permutations fluttering through our heads, speaking nothing of goal differential. We're fretting out worst-case scenarios should the team fail to take all three points Wednesday. We're worrying why this team continually is playing from behind or how it can't protect leads.
Admittedly, until Jozy Altidore scored the go-ahead goal vs. El Salvador Saturday night in first half stoppage time I truly worried that the U.S. would possibly fail to punch its ticket to South Africa. (And that worry lasted until the final whistle.)
The thing of it is, as worried as I am I sincerely doubt the actual U.S. players feel that way.
Why?
The most tried-and-true motivation technique in American sports -- "The nobody believes/respects us card."
I've seen just about every high school team I've ever written about break this out ... even if they're the supposed best team in the state. Every Monday I get to hear New York Giants linebacker Antonio Pierce tell WFAN host Mike Francesa how nobody believes in his team. We even saw the U.S. play the card at the Confederations Cup, first against Egypt and then a few days later vs. Spain.
In this age of blogs, Twitter and 24-hour-discussion, there's no doubt in my mind some of the players on the U.S. team have caught wind about its underwhelming display against El Salvador in Utah Saturday. For some reason I'm picturing Michael Bradley reading his laptop in the airport before flying down to Trinidad and quietly steaming about what was written about the U.S. team. (Chalk this up to Bradley dropping an f-bomb in Sports Illustrated during the Confederations Cup.)
This is a weird trend, not just with the USMNT, for whatever the reason some teams either can't find the motivation or can't function unless they perceive to be disrespected or written off entirely. With their backs against the wall, we've seen the best come out from this current U.S. roster.
Look at Landon Donovan. For the last year or so it seems he's been super-humanly fueled by the years of Haterade throw on him by the bulk of U.S. 'Net fans.
Call it yet another enigma swirling around U.S. soccer. In atypical American fashion, they're terrible as favorites in pressure spots, but thrive as the underdog.
That's why everything in my mind says the U.S. goes to down to Port-of-Spain as tight as a drum in a situation fraught with danger and maybe salvages a draw by the skin of its teeth, but in reality they'll probably do down there and take care of business.
Nobody believes in them, right?
About that U.S. defense:
* Well, looks like Edgar Castillo is throwing his hat into the ring as the latest, greatest savior to man the black-hole that is left-back for the U.S. File this away and save that talk for another day. Let's just say I'm more intrigued by what Castillo has to offer the team compared to Jermaine Jones.
Something that's been startling in the last two U.S. matches (loss to Mexico, win vs. El Salvador) is the amount of space the U.S. defense gives opponents in the attacking third of the field. When an opponent is coming at them with the ball, it seems the U.S. defenders are caught between stepping up and closing him off or dropping back to cut down a lane. It's the indecision that kills me.
What makes this all the more stranger is the U.S. showed it has the capacity to be a strong defensive squad, though it seems the defenders are more apt at playing the ball than playing a man with the ball at his feet. If I were an opposing coach I'd never try to go up the flanks and cross it into the box if Oguchi Onyewu is patrolling the middle. By the same token, I'd tell my guys to go right up the gut and if they don't close down on you, fire away.
Wednesday we'll likely see a more representative U.S. backline with Onyewu back from his one-game suspension and Carlos Bocanegra likely shifting back inside with Jay DeMerti not even making the trip to the Caribbean.
I wish there was a more scientific way to say this, but the defense needs to simply step up and play better. Guys seem to be caught out of position or getting split far too often for a high-level international team.
A thought on Trinidad:
* You've got to hand it to Trinidad & Tobago for keeping the 'C' in CONCACAF alive, at least the Caribbean part.
For whatever its worth, Trinidad seems like a bit of an outlier since unlike most of the region, its ties lay with England, not the U.S. Nine players on the current roster play in Great Britain including forwards Jason Scotland and Kenwyne Jones.
The reason I bring this up, unlike the majority of CONCACAF opposition I don't think there's a real hostility when the U.S. travels to Port-of-Spain. It's simply not the cauldron those Central American homefields turn out to be. The antagonistic superpower status the U.S. holds over most of Central America isn't an issue in Trinidad, since it history and loyalties lie with the Queen.
If someone had the time to break it down, it would be an eye-opening stat to see the breakdown for U.S. results on the road broken up between Central America and the Caribbean. (My guess, the U.S. is it would turn up quite lopsided since the only legit Caribbean countries are Jamaica and Trinidad.)
So that said, the U.S. really doesn't have built-in excuse about how hard it is to win on the road. At the very least, I doubt too many bags of urine are in circulation at Hasely Crawford Stadium.
Other stuff:
* Russell Latapy is really coaching Trinidad? Really? Guess you have to throw some respect at a guy who was a player/coach at Falkirk in the SPL.
* Fulham ace Bobby Zamora was hurt in pre-match training ahead of the Saturday game vs. Honduras, so who knows if he'll play Wednesday. (Trinidad has a lot more "name" guys than El Salvador, but sometimes its the unknown grinders that worry me more.)
* Again, via Twitter, Charlie Davies thinks he'll be okay to play after limping off Saturday. If Davies isn't 100 percent, does Bob Bradley go Clint Dempsey up front with Altidore or dust off the old war horse Brian Ching?
* I think this goes for just about every U.S. fan, we'd rather see Jonathon Spector slightly out of position at left back as opposed to Jonathan Bornstein anywhere on the field.
* Right now I'm not sure what worries me more, the U.S. scoring early then trying to figure out how to play with a one-goal lead or the U.S. allowing a goal against the run of play and having to fight back?
* Trinidad is officially eliminated with a loss. To me this isn't a motivating factor because they're super longshots as it stands even with a win over the U.S. Yeah, it's a home game but it's human nature for some of the players to have checked off mentally.
* Open question to FIFA. I once had a stopover in Ireland for about two hours. Does that make me eligible to play for the Republic?
* If there's one question for Bradley the Elder it's who pairs with his son in the center of midfield. The candidates are Ricardo Clark, Benny Feilhaber and Jose Torres. If you gave me truth serum, there's not a lot to separate these three, though Torres would be a gamble, he offers plenty of upside. You just wonder, Torres biggest asset is passing around and holding possession. Does that click with the rest of the team, which is far too careless with the ball?
* The bigger question for Bradley, which ties into midfield selection, is how to play this match? Come out as the aggressor? Absorb pressure and play off the counter? A combination of both?
* That Grant Wahl interview with Bob Bradley? Well, I'll say this, it was one of the longest pieces I've read without the interview subject revealing anything juicy. It was like reading a college essay on coaching soccer.
* You all know I'm fully on the Altidore bandwagon. On the flip side, what does he bring to the table if he doesn't find the back of the net? It's a valid concern, but not enough to play Ching over him.
* To borrow another line from a white rapper, "Can the real Clint Dempsey please stand up?"
Lineup guess:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo -- Onyewu -- Bocanegra -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Clark -- Bradley -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Davies
Closing thought:
Much like Saturday night, the U.S. has to dig deep and find a way.
This is it in terms of margin of error for the U.S. Take three points and we can all let out a sigh of relief. A draw or worse? That means a lot of second guessing and number crunching between now and Oct. 10 at Honduras.
For all the unflattering things I've written about Bradley the Elder the last couple years, I'll respect his intelligence. I'm sure he knows the ramifications if the U.S. stumbles Wednesday on the island.
Let's hope he passes that along to his charges and they realize their backs are against the wall if they fly back to the States without three points stashed safely away in the overhead compartments.
Labels: bob bradley, charlie davies, clint dempsey, concacaf, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Soccer, world cup qualifying
"It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times?!?" -- Mr. Burns, "Last Exit to Springfield."
No lie, right now I feel like one of those monkey's chained to Mr. Burns'typewriter tasked to write the greatest novel ever written. My mind is going a mile a minute following the U.S. National Team's heart-attack-inducing 2-1 win over El Salvador Saturday night in CONCACAF 2010 qualifying in Sandy, Utah.
So many little things to discuss, dissect and gripe over from this outcome. And of course, big things too, namely new ground broken in the pitiful and pathetic institution that is CONCACAF officiating.
Let's not bury the lead. The big story Saturday is CONCACAF qualifying, in the parlance of Ricky from 'Trailer Park Boys' is "fucked." (Yes, another TPB plug. Netflix it and thank me later.)
The reason this post is going up a little later than usual is I decided that the Mexico/Costa Rica match from Saprissa was a must-watch.
And as it turned out, for El Tri it was a must-win, with Gio Dos Santos telling me, 'Arry, the other haters and the rest of the region to bow down, as he essentially took Mexico off life support by himself in the 3-0 win. (Seriously, this goal was los huevos, right before the half and changed the match and the qualifying scenario for an entire region.)
In short, with three matches left there is everything left on the table for Honduras (13 points), the U.S. (13), Mexico (12) and Costa Rica (12).
There are so many different things that could happen right now, but in short, the U.S. will at worst finish fourth in the CONEMBOL playoff with a win at Trinidad on Wednesday.
Let's, for the sake of time, discuss this after Wednesday. As it stands, it's nothing more than a real-life soccer lottery. (Circle Oct. 10 at Honduras, regardless.)
Moving on.
Let's get the good out of the way first for the U.S.
Admittedly, I fall squarely in the anti-Twitter camp. Yet, I've kept track ... okay, "followed" the exploits of one Jozy Altidore and by defacto "his boy" Charlie Davies. They've been obsessed with their "stanky leg" post game celebration. Google tells me this is what the "Stanky Leg" is, naturally a hip-hop reference. (And where the title of this post originates.)
At this point, it doesn't matter what the details of the one-time 'Unsolved Mystery' are. The combination of Altidore and Davies is something the U.S. can hang its hat on. Other teams have to fear it.
This summer I've truly grown to love the game of Davies.
He has one tangible asset -- speed -- and he's not afraid to use it and make stuff happen on the field. Is the most technical or complete player? No. Again, he always seems to be doing something positive and creating. Moreso, he doesn't play with a blank stare or a fear. He knows he's got the goods and will make other teams pay if they don't respect him. Davies didn't score Saturday night, but he threatened when at times nobody else on the U.S. would.
Gazing into my crystal ball, Davies is going to be a long-time First Division player across Europe. You're telling me a mid-table team in La Liga couldn't utilize Davies at the top of their offense?
And what can you say about Altidore?
He's played all of one full game for Hull City and scores twice in a must-win match for the U.S. Yeah, I'll count that phantom disallowed goal.
On top of that, if you noticed, El Salvador had two guys draped on his back the entire match. Still, he found a way to wriggle free and knock a form header into the net to give the U.S. a much-needed 2-1 lead at the half.
As it stands, Altidore is the one U.S. player with the potential to enter the mythical realm of "beast mode". How well and how fresh his legs are after the Premier League season is anyone's guess, right now though, that's a long time away.
This match cemented the sky is the limit potential of these two guys. (Sadly, after limping off it looks like Davies is a serious doubt for Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed.)
Okay, that was the good.
Well, not so fast, as my father made sure to call and tell me, the lightning rod of U.S. soccer Landon Donovan once again proved why he is the best player in CONCACAF on a consistent basis. Whether it was his much-maligned delivery to set up each U.S. goal, or just his general ability to dribble in and out of trouble, Donovan never should be questioned again.
Suffice to say, has done the subtle face/heel turn in regard to going from overrated to underrated, or more specifically under appreciated.
All right, all right ... At this point you've probably had enough of the warm and happy, USSF "Kumbaya" version of this post, right?
Let's bullet point the bad.
Jack Warner Please Pick Up the White Courtesy Phone:
This is being written before you skim money off next summer's World Cup tickets. (Rimshot!)
If Jose Pineda and the rest of this crew ever work another U.S. game, Bob Bradley or Sunil Gulati ought to pull the team off the field. Let the guy stick to his mid-level bureaucrat cubicle in Tegucigalpa. (Michael Scott called, he wants his Season 1 hair back.)
Utterly, truly, mind-numbingly horrible.
I felt just as in the dark as "Coach" John Harkes and J.P. Dellacamra as to why Altidore's second goal was waved off. Did we ever get a reason? Was it offside? A foul by Clint Dempsey at midfield after he made the pass to spring Jozy? Martians landing in Rio Tinto Stadium that were only visible to Pineda?
Before typing this and I didn't find an explanation, nor did it seem to be an issue? Or was I the one seeing the Martians?
If anyone knows the deal, please feel free to educate me.
Until then, can we get a ref from non-Quebec Canada to officiate the next U.S. match? Thanks.
The utterly ironic thing about this, somehow in stunning fashion, the refs didn't disallow Dempsey's equalizer for offside when it looked to everyone like it was, when actually Dempsey was the only U.S. player involved in the play that wasn't offside. Amazing. (Hey, El Salvador, friendly suggestion, perhaps your defense on a free kick shouldn't be rushing away and leaving every player unmarked.)
The little girl with the curl:
To borrow yet again from my guru and master, Mike Francesa, Clint Dempsey is that proverbial little girl for the U.S.
When he's good, he's good, but when he's bad he's bad.
In a nutshell of Dempsey's game, in the 64th he broke away from the entire El Salvador defense and had a dream 1-v-1 with the keeper and what's he do? Shoot it right at him. (For the anti-Dempsey finish on a breakaway, how about James McFadden's dream goal at rain-soaked Hampden in Scotland's key 2-0 win over FYR Macedonia. Top drawer.)
Dempsey is a amazingly useful player when he's rushing into the box attempting to finish off movements. He's got an absolute knack for getting goals inside the area -- see his equalizer set up by Donovan's free kick.
When he's stuck out in right midfield he fails to make any impact or gives the ball away or simply fades into the background.
Looking how Wednesday is shaping up, Bradley ought to consider starting him at forward and Stuart Holden on the right side. It seems a more natural fit in this team for both guys. Soup-to-nuts, Dempsey is a better player than Holden, but Holden offers the U.S. a more balanced team.
I know I might get slayed for this comparison, but Dempsey really is to the U.S. what Zlatan Ibrahimovic is to the Sweden national team. Granted, they're nowhere near on the same technical skill level, but both remain total enigma's for their respective countries. And for the U.S. or Sweden to be really dangerous, they need to show up and play -- Saturday both scored massively important goals.
Frankly, I just don't know any more about Dempsey. Guess Bradley has to roll the dice and hope he rolls the good Deuce.
American? No Swiss:
* I'll admit it, I eat at Subway waaaaaay more often than I should. What can I do? I literally drive past one about three times a day back-and-forth during my day-to-day toutines.
I never, I mean never opt for anything other than the American cheese. No Swiss here.
That said, what's up with the U.S. defense?
If you had the over in how many times Tim Howard will scream at this defense -- you win.
The El Salvador goal gifted to Christian Castillo was a textbook version of what not to do. Can we close down, please? The shank by Jonathan Bornstein gave me flashbacks to Oguchi Onyewu's ball that set up Tomas Rosicky's dagger in Gelsenkirchen. Ugh.
Granted Onyewu and Jay DeMerit were out, so the effort to hang on was commendable and valiant to some degree by Carlos Bocanegra and Chad Marshall. Let's just hope this was like Jay-Z sitting in with Phish -- a one-night only engagement.
You'd think the one thing American defenders would have ingrained inside them is hoofing the ball away as hard as they can, right? I was definitely in the dreaded Sir Alex Ferguson "sticky bum time" for the final 20 minutes of this match.
Other stuff:
* El Salvador, I'll hand it to you guys, better than I expected. If El Salvador possesed a natural goal-scoring poacher or a player with any finishing touch, they'd be a lot more dangerous. Think a vintage Paulo Wanchope for Costa Rica back in the day.
* That said, coach Carlos de los Cobos looks like he's be more at home in the product-placement kitchen of 'Top Chef' than the soccer coaching box.
* According to the esteemed Pedro Gomez, los Cobos was pissed off with the extra time in the first half where Altidore scored what proved to be the winner. Well, news flash buddy, don't have your keeper fake an injury (my cynical take) a minute after you score to go ahead. Just a thought.
* I made it this far without writing anything about Brian Ching. Hooray!
* Minor miracle of the night, as bad as the officiating was, the U.S. didn't get any yellow cards and nobody will be suspended for Wednesday. The night's big upset, in my book.
* Benny Feilhaber ... very positive tonight. Not an all-timer Saturday, but filled a role competently.
* Sorry, the same can't be said about Michael Bradley III, err, Jonathan Bornstein. Long story short, nice little MLSer, not nearly on the international caliber.
* On the subject of Howard, he was really caught out of place on the El Salvador goal. At least he redeemed himself with a crucial save in the 87th.
* Bringing in Jose Torres in the the 85th for Altidore made me scratch my head. He hadn't played for the U.S. since June. Wouldn't you know it, he came within an amazing save of scoring on a rocket header?
Torres ought to listen to the chorus of 'The Wicker Man' by Iron Maiden, because your time will cooooooome. It probably won't be until 2014, so hang in there.
* One of the hallmarks hailed by analysts of the U.S. at the Confederations Cup was its fitness levels through the entire 90 minutes. Maybe it was me, but the U.S. was dragging at the end of this. Altitude?
* Davies, give Wayne Rooney a ring and see if his oxygen tent is available for the next days. We're gonna need you, buddy.
* Painting your chest like the U.S. flag before attending the match? A little too much pre-production for my likings. Just show up and yell at the other team and its fans. We all don't need to be David Putty.
Closing thought:
Three points, must keep telling myself three points. ... Three points the hard way.
You can say the U.S. looked shaky defensively yet again, and fell behind early, yet again and now face a tricky match with fatigued legs in Port-of-Spain.
Or, you can be happy the team showed enough resiliency and guts to rally back with two quick answers and then hang on by the short and curlies in the final 20 minutes of the match.
Me? Why do I have this burning feeling in my stomach about Wednesday night? I thought the kings of the one-run game -- my Detroit Tigers -- would kill me this summer with stress, not the U.S. qualifying for the World Cup. (Then again, other than Brazil, making a World Cup is nobody's birthright.)
Wonder if ESPN will find it worthy to show any of the highlights or drag Alexi Lalas out to talk about the importance of what went down in the region Saturday? Oh wait, its the opening weekend of NCAA football, so everything else must take a back seat while Michigan beats up on some chump school looking for a paycheck.
Well, ESPN, we'll always have June.
No lie, right now I feel like one of those monkey's chained to Mr. Burns'typewriter tasked to write the greatest novel ever written. My mind is going a mile a minute following the U.S. National Team's heart-attack-inducing 2-1 win over El Salvador Saturday night in CONCACAF 2010 qualifying in Sandy, Utah.
So many little things to discuss, dissect and gripe over from this outcome. And of course, big things too, namely new ground broken in the pitiful and pathetic institution that is CONCACAF officiating.
Let's not bury the lead. The big story Saturday is CONCACAF qualifying, in the parlance of Ricky from 'Trailer Park Boys' is "fucked." (Yes, another TPB plug. Netflix it and thank me later.)
The reason this post is going up a little later than usual is I decided that the Mexico/Costa Rica match from Saprissa was a must-watch.
And as it turned out, for El Tri it was a must-win, with Gio Dos Santos telling me, 'Arry, the other haters and the rest of the region to bow down, as he essentially took Mexico off life support by himself in the 3-0 win. (Seriously, this goal was los huevos, right before the half and changed the match and the qualifying scenario for an entire region.)
In short, with three matches left there is everything left on the table for Honduras (13 points), the U.S. (13), Mexico (12) and Costa Rica (12).
There are so many different things that could happen right now, but in short, the U.S. will at worst finish fourth in the CONEMBOL playoff with a win at Trinidad on Wednesday.
Let's, for the sake of time, discuss this after Wednesday. As it stands, it's nothing more than a real-life soccer lottery. (Circle Oct. 10 at Honduras, regardless.)
Moving on.
Let's get the good out of the way first for the U.S.
Admittedly, I fall squarely in the anti-Twitter camp. Yet, I've kept track ... okay, "followed" the exploits of one Jozy Altidore and by defacto "his boy" Charlie Davies. They've been obsessed with their "stanky leg" post game celebration. Google tells me this is what the "Stanky Leg" is, naturally a hip-hop reference. (And where the title of this post originates.)
At this point, it doesn't matter what the details of the one-time 'Unsolved Mystery' are. The combination of Altidore and Davies is something the U.S. can hang its hat on. Other teams have to fear it.
This summer I've truly grown to love the game of Davies.
He has one tangible asset -- speed -- and he's not afraid to use it and make stuff happen on the field. Is the most technical or complete player? No. Again, he always seems to be doing something positive and creating. Moreso, he doesn't play with a blank stare or a fear. He knows he's got the goods and will make other teams pay if they don't respect him. Davies didn't score Saturday night, but he threatened when at times nobody else on the U.S. would.
Gazing into my crystal ball, Davies is going to be a long-time First Division player across Europe. You're telling me a mid-table team in La Liga couldn't utilize Davies at the top of their offense?
And what can you say about Altidore?
He's played all of one full game for Hull City and scores twice in a must-win match for the U.S. Yeah, I'll count that phantom disallowed goal.
On top of that, if you noticed, El Salvador had two guys draped on his back the entire match. Still, he found a way to wriggle free and knock a form header into the net to give the U.S. a much-needed 2-1 lead at the half.
As it stands, Altidore is the one U.S. player with the potential to enter the mythical realm of "beast mode". How well and how fresh his legs are after the Premier League season is anyone's guess, right now though, that's a long time away.
This match cemented the sky is the limit potential of these two guys. (Sadly, after limping off it looks like Davies is a serious doubt for Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed.)
Okay, that was the good.
Well, not so fast, as my father made sure to call and tell me, the lightning rod of U.S. soccer Landon Donovan once again proved why he is the best player in CONCACAF on a consistent basis. Whether it was his much-maligned delivery to set up each U.S. goal, or just his general ability to dribble in and out of trouble, Donovan never should be questioned again.
Suffice to say, has done the subtle face/heel turn in regard to going from overrated to underrated, or more specifically under appreciated.
All right, all right ... At this point you've probably had enough of the warm and happy, USSF "Kumbaya" version of this post, right?
Let's bullet point the bad.
Jack Warner Please Pick Up the White Courtesy Phone:
This is being written before you skim money off next summer's World Cup tickets. (Rimshot!)
If Jose Pineda and the rest of this crew ever work another U.S. game, Bob Bradley or Sunil Gulati ought to pull the team off the field. Let the guy stick to his mid-level bureaucrat cubicle in Tegucigalpa. (Michael Scott called, he wants his Season 1 hair back.)
Utterly, truly, mind-numbingly horrible.
I felt just as in the dark as "Coach" John Harkes and J.P. Dellacamra as to why Altidore's second goal was waved off. Did we ever get a reason? Was it offside? A foul by Clint Dempsey at midfield after he made the pass to spring Jozy? Martians landing in Rio Tinto Stadium that were only visible to Pineda?
Before typing this and I didn't find an explanation, nor did it seem to be an issue? Or was I the one seeing the Martians?
If anyone knows the deal, please feel free to educate me.
Until then, can we get a ref from non-Quebec Canada to officiate the next U.S. match? Thanks.
The utterly ironic thing about this, somehow in stunning fashion, the refs didn't disallow Dempsey's equalizer for offside when it looked to everyone like it was, when actually Dempsey was the only U.S. player involved in the play that wasn't offside. Amazing. (Hey, El Salvador, friendly suggestion, perhaps your defense on a free kick shouldn't be rushing away and leaving every player unmarked.)
The little girl with the curl:
To borrow yet again from my guru and master, Mike Francesa, Clint Dempsey is that proverbial little girl for the U.S.
When he's good, he's good, but when he's bad he's bad.
In a nutshell of Dempsey's game, in the 64th he broke away from the entire El Salvador defense and had a dream 1-v-1 with the keeper and what's he do? Shoot it right at him. (For the anti-Dempsey finish on a breakaway, how about James McFadden's dream goal at rain-soaked Hampden in Scotland's key 2-0 win over FYR Macedonia. Top drawer.)
Dempsey is a amazingly useful player when he's rushing into the box attempting to finish off movements. He's got an absolute knack for getting goals inside the area -- see his equalizer set up by Donovan's free kick.
When he's stuck out in right midfield he fails to make any impact or gives the ball away or simply fades into the background.
Looking how Wednesday is shaping up, Bradley ought to consider starting him at forward and Stuart Holden on the right side. It seems a more natural fit in this team for both guys. Soup-to-nuts, Dempsey is a better player than Holden, but Holden offers the U.S. a more balanced team.
I know I might get slayed for this comparison, but Dempsey really is to the U.S. what Zlatan Ibrahimovic is to the Sweden national team. Granted, they're nowhere near on the same technical skill level, but both remain total enigma's for their respective countries. And for the U.S. or Sweden to be really dangerous, they need to show up and play -- Saturday both scored massively important goals.
Frankly, I just don't know any more about Dempsey. Guess Bradley has to roll the dice and hope he rolls the good Deuce.
American? No Swiss:
* I'll admit it, I eat at Subway waaaaaay more often than I should. What can I do? I literally drive past one about three times a day back-and-forth during my day-to-day toutines.
I never, I mean never opt for anything other than the American cheese. No Swiss here.
That said, what's up with the U.S. defense?
If you had the over in how many times Tim Howard will scream at this defense -- you win.
The El Salvador goal gifted to Christian Castillo was a textbook version of what not to do. Can we close down, please? The shank by Jonathan Bornstein gave me flashbacks to Oguchi Onyewu's ball that set up Tomas Rosicky's dagger in Gelsenkirchen. Ugh.
Granted Onyewu and Jay DeMerit were out, so the effort to hang on was commendable and valiant to some degree by Carlos Bocanegra and Chad Marshall. Let's just hope this was like Jay-Z sitting in with Phish -- a one-night only engagement.
You'd think the one thing American defenders would have ingrained inside them is hoofing the ball away as hard as they can, right? I was definitely in the dreaded Sir Alex Ferguson "sticky bum time" for the final 20 minutes of this match.
Other stuff:
* El Salvador, I'll hand it to you guys, better than I expected. If El Salvador possesed a natural goal-scoring poacher or a player with any finishing touch, they'd be a lot more dangerous. Think a vintage Paulo Wanchope for Costa Rica back in the day.
* That said, coach Carlos de los Cobos looks like he's be more at home in the product-placement kitchen of 'Top Chef' than the soccer coaching box.
* According to the esteemed Pedro Gomez, los Cobos was pissed off with the extra time in the first half where Altidore scored what proved to be the winner. Well, news flash buddy, don't have your keeper fake an injury (my cynical take) a minute after you score to go ahead. Just a thought.
* I made it this far without writing anything about Brian Ching. Hooray!
* Minor miracle of the night, as bad as the officiating was, the U.S. didn't get any yellow cards and nobody will be suspended for Wednesday. The night's big upset, in my book.
* Benny Feilhaber ... very positive tonight. Not an all-timer Saturday, but filled a role competently.
* Sorry, the same can't be said about Michael Bradley III, err, Jonathan Bornstein. Long story short, nice little MLSer, not nearly on the international caliber.
* On the subject of Howard, he was really caught out of place on the El Salvador goal. At least he redeemed himself with a crucial save in the 87th.
* Bringing in Jose Torres in the the 85th for Altidore made me scratch my head. He hadn't played for the U.S. since June. Wouldn't you know it, he came within an amazing save of scoring on a rocket header?
Torres ought to listen to the chorus of 'The Wicker Man' by Iron Maiden, because your time will cooooooome. It probably won't be until 2014, so hang in there.
* One of the hallmarks hailed by analysts of the U.S. at the Confederations Cup was its fitness levels through the entire 90 minutes. Maybe it was me, but the U.S. was dragging at the end of this. Altitude?
* Davies, give Wayne Rooney a ring and see if his oxygen tent is available for the next days. We're gonna need you, buddy.
* Painting your chest like the U.S. flag before attending the match? A little too much pre-production for my likings. Just show up and yell at the other team and its fans. We all don't need to be David Putty.
Closing thought:
Three points, must keep telling myself three points. ... Three points the hard way.
You can say the U.S. looked shaky defensively yet again, and fell behind early, yet again and now face a tricky match with fatigued legs in Port-of-Spain.
Or, you can be happy the team showed enough resiliency and guts to rally back with two quick answers and then hang on by the short and curlies in the final 20 minutes of the match.
Me? Why do I have this burning feeling in my stomach about Wednesday night? I thought the kings of the one-run game -- my Detroit Tigers -- would kill me this summer with stress, not the U.S. qualifying for the World Cup. (Then again, other than Brazil, making a World Cup is nobody's birthright.)
Wonder if ESPN will find it worthy to show any of the highlights or drag Alexi Lalas out to talk about the importance of what went down in the region Saturday? Oh wait, its the opening weekend of NCAA football, so everything else must take a back seat while Michigan beats up on some chump school looking for a paycheck.
Well, ESPN, we'll always have June.
Labels: 2010 world cup, bob bradley, charlie davies, clint dempsey, concacaf, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, Soccer, world cup qualifying
My buddy Suppe is a fan of the Oakland Raiders. Well, a fan isn't the right word. Perhaps unhealthily obsessed with the triumphs and sadly, many many setbacks in recent seasons of the famed Silver and Black.
Laugh at the Raiders, if you must. When a head coach is punching an assistant in the face and the owner makes Mr. Burns look spry enough to have dated Amelia Earhardt? Well, sir in the 2009-verse of Twitter, social networking, 1,001 sports blogs, talk radio and generally everything that's killing old media at least the Raiders although an easy punchline, at least stand for something.
The Raiders aren't simply some soulless corporate entity aimed at printing money from the NFL's insanely lucrative television contract, paid for with those oh-so-hilarious lite beer ads. They're outsiders, rebels, relics of a bygone era when the AFL challenged the NFL for football superiority.
The Raiders are to some an extent an idea as much as they are a pro sport's team.
This isn't the place to debate those merits, but it always reminds me of the best slogan in sports, "Just win Baby!"
Al Davis summed it all up about professional sports.
This isn't suburban activity-sport where everyone gets a trophy or at least a ribbon.
And that brings us to the U.S. National Team and its do-or-die CONCACAF qualifiers starting Saturday night against El Salvador (8 p.m., ESPN Classic) and Wednesday at Trinidad & Tobago.
So for once, the subplot for a match by the U.S. National Team isn't about other things.
This is about a must have three-points in the bank.
This is about Jozy Altidore actually finishing scoring chances, not the idea that he can create scoring chances in June 2010.
This is about Bob Bradley finding the right XI guys to toss on the Rio Tinto Stadium grass to beat El Salvador, not experimenting with guys who one day might help the team.
This is about the U.S. showing they can break down a defensively compact team through it's passing and possession.
There aren't any excuses, no mitigating factors for Saturday night. The U.S. is currently tied with 10 points with Honduras, two behind first-place Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Hex. A trip to Honduras looms on Oct. 10, followed by a match with the Ticos at RJK four days later. (The U.S. might be able to leapfrog into first place after this set of games if they take six points and Mexico wins at the Saprissa and beats Honduras at home.)
At this point in the U.S. program somehow slipping to fourth place and participating in that two-leg playoff with a South American team, which could conceivably be Argentina, would be a disaster.
The U.S. is better, stronger and faster than El Salvador.
The U.S. is playing on home soil in what hopefully is a pro-America crowd.
No excuses.
Just win, baby.
Where's Frankie?
One thing it is mildly surprising is that in crucial qualifiers, Bradley elected to leave stalwart Frankie Hejduk off the roster.
Look, we all know the surfer dude's warts.
Yet this is what Bradley and a lot of coaches miss. Yes, 90 minutes seem like a long time in a soccer game. Yet some many times superior teams are beaten when they step on the field and don't treat every minute like its the 90th of a losing match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have to pace yourself and it's a long time.
You don't want to be the U.S. walking into the Utah night Saturday wondering what the hell just happened? There are no do-overs in soccer, double that for World Cup qualifying.
A crafty, cagey veteran like Hedjuk? There is something to be said for intangibles. How many times have we seen in a big international a guy nobody figured would score, find a way onto the scoresheet or make a major impact? (See Euro 2004 Final.)
Hedjuk has been through the wars. He knows that every second of this match is precious and can't be wasted. Unless you're Brazil 70 or Spain 08, you need some type of veteran guile.
He did, after all, steal that point down in El Salvador back in March with his late header, which started this qualifying campaign on the wrong track.
Put it this way, wouldn't you feel more comfortable with Hejduk over a guy like Clarence Goodson?
[Update, to quote Mike Francesa, "I have taken a beating here" in regard to Frankie. I'll stand by his veteran professionalism would have been good in the locker room, although I guess he was injured, therefore not a viable option. My bad.]
Miscellany:
* Once again, Bradley's management skills will be put under the microscope. Do we yet have any confidence he'll pick the right XI to breakdown El Salvador? Will his devotion to the Brian Chings and Conor Casey's of the world continue to haunt him? Again, Bradley needs to put the best players out there, namely Charlie Davies and Altidore, and turn them loose.
* On that note, Bradley for this match at least, needs to shake up the holding midfield tandem of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark. The pair were out-matched and out-worked last month at Azteca. This won't be a replay of this match. The U.S. should have the ball most of the time in the El Salvador half of the field. A midfield facilitator like Benny Feilhaber or even Jose Torres (who's lack of playing time over the summer looks all the more galling) to keep the ball moving around and peck apart the Salvadorian defense.
If El Salvador it's going to come by catching the U.S. out of position and advanced up the field, or maybe on a set play. You simply don't need two midfielders to shield the central defense in a match like this.
* Not to beat a dead horse, but an enormous aspect of coaching internationals is having the tactical acumen to expose and exploit the opponent. Has Bradley ever shown that he's a good Xs and Os guy? We'll find out Saturday in Utah.
* It would seem unlikely, but Clint Dempsey in a more central role either as a forward or playing just behind that line wouldn't be the worst thing. The U.S., as is its wont, tends to attack up the flanks and Stuart Holden's service on the right with Dempsey trying to get onto the end seems like a more prudent strategy.
* The defense, with Oguchi Onyewu suspended should be interesting. By necessity you probably have to play Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit inside with Steve Cherundolo and Jonathon Spector outside. Spector's deep delivery from the defense might be too much to overlook in this type of match.
* We'll get into this more next week, but Trinidad is using Bobby Zamora and Jlloyd Samuel for its qualifiers. I'm not exactly shaking in my boots, but Zamora and Kenwyne Jones could cause some problems, making Saturday's game all the more important.
* At the very least, there's no Marcelo Balboa involved, which is always a good thing.
Lineup guess:
My ideal XI:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo-- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Spector
MID -- Holden -- Bradley -- Feilhaber -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Davies
My guess on Bradley:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo-- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Bradley -- Clark -- Donovan
FOR -- Ching -- Davies
Closing thoughts:
Three points. 'Nuff said.
Laugh at the Raiders, if you must. When a head coach is punching an assistant in the face and the owner makes Mr. Burns look spry enough to have dated Amelia Earhardt? Well, sir in the 2009-verse of Twitter, social networking, 1,001 sports blogs, talk radio and generally everything that's killing old media at least the Raiders although an easy punchline, at least stand for something.
The Raiders aren't simply some soulless corporate entity aimed at printing money from the NFL's insanely lucrative television contract, paid for with those oh-so-hilarious lite beer ads. They're outsiders, rebels, relics of a bygone era when the AFL challenged the NFL for football superiority.
The Raiders are to some an extent an idea as much as they are a pro sport's team.
This isn't the place to debate those merits, but it always reminds me of the best slogan in sports, "Just win Baby!"
Al Davis summed it all up about professional sports.
This isn't suburban activity-sport where everyone gets a trophy or at least a ribbon.
And that brings us to the U.S. National Team and its do-or-die CONCACAF qualifiers starting Saturday night against El Salvador (8 p.m., ESPN Classic) and Wednesday at Trinidad & Tobago.
So for once, the subplot for a match by the U.S. National Team isn't about other things.
This is about a must have three-points in the bank.
This is about Jozy Altidore actually finishing scoring chances, not the idea that he can create scoring chances in June 2010.
This is about Bob Bradley finding the right XI guys to toss on the Rio Tinto Stadium grass to beat El Salvador, not experimenting with guys who one day might help the team.
This is about the U.S. showing they can break down a defensively compact team through it's passing and possession.
There aren't any excuses, no mitigating factors for Saturday night. The U.S. is currently tied with 10 points with Honduras, two behind first-place Costa Rica in the CONCACAF Hex. A trip to Honduras looms on Oct. 10, followed by a match with the Ticos at RJK four days later. (The U.S. might be able to leapfrog into first place after this set of games if they take six points and Mexico wins at the Saprissa and beats Honduras at home.)
At this point in the U.S. program somehow slipping to fourth place and participating in that two-leg playoff with a South American team, which could conceivably be Argentina, would be a disaster.
The U.S. is better, stronger and faster than El Salvador.
The U.S. is playing on home soil in what hopefully is a pro-America crowd.
No excuses.
Just win, baby.
Where's Frankie?
One thing it is mildly surprising is that in crucial qualifiers, Bradley elected to leave stalwart Frankie Hejduk off the roster.
Look, we all know the surfer dude's warts.
Yet this is what Bradley and a lot of coaches miss. Yes, 90 minutes seem like a long time in a soccer game. Yet some many times superior teams are beaten when they step on the field and don't treat every minute like its the 90th of a losing match. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you have to pace yourself and it's a long time.
You don't want to be the U.S. walking into the Utah night Saturday wondering what the hell just happened? There are no do-overs in soccer, double that for World Cup qualifying.
A crafty, cagey veteran like Hedjuk? There is something to be said for intangibles. How many times have we seen in a big international a guy nobody figured would score, find a way onto the scoresheet or make a major impact? (See Euro 2004 Final.)
Hedjuk has been through the wars. He knows that every second of this match is precious and can't be wasted. Unless you're Brazil 70 or Spain 08, you need some type of veteran guile.
He did, after all, steal that point down in El Salvador back in March with his late header, which started this qualifying campaign on the wrong track.
Put it this way, wouldn't you feel more comfortable with Hejduk over a guy like Clarence Goodson?
[Update, to quote Mike Francesa, "I have taken a beating here" in regard to Frankie. I'll stand by his veteran professionalism would have been good in the locker room, although I guess he was injured, therefore not a viable option. My bad.]
Miscellany:
* Once again, Bradley's management skills will be put under the microscope. Do we yet have any confidence he'll pick the right XI to breakdown El Salvador? Will his devotion to the Brian Chings and Conor Casey's of the world continue to haunt him? Again, Bradley needs to put the best players out there, namely Charlie Davies and Altidore, and turn them loose.
* On that note, Bradley for this match at least, needs to shake up the holding midfield tandem of Michael Bradley and Ricardo Clark. The pair were out-matched and out-worked last month at Azteca. This won't be a replay of this match. The U.S. should have the ball most of the time in the El Salvador half of the field. A midfield facilitator like Benny Feilhaber or even Jose Torres (who's lack of playing time over the summer looks all the more galling) to keep the ball moving around and peck apart the Salvadorian defense.
If El Salvador it's going to come by catching the U.S. out of position and advanced up the field, or maybe on a set play. You simply don't need two midfielders to shield the central defense in a match like this.
* Not to beat a dead horse, but an enormous aspect of coaching internationals is having the tactical acumen to expose and exploit the opponent. Has Bradley ever shown that he's a good Xs and Os guy? We'll find out Saturday in Utah.
* It would seem unlikely, but Clint Dempsey in a more central role either as a forward or playing just behind that line wouldn't be the worst thing. The U.S., as is its wont, tends to attack up the flanks and Stuart Holden's service on the right with Dempsey trying to get onto the end seems like a more prudent strategy.
* The defense, with Oguchi Onyewu suspended should be interesting. By necessity you probably have to play Carlos Bocanegra and Jay DeMerit inside with Steve Cherundolo and Jonathon Spector outside. Spector's deep delivery from the defense might be too much to overlook in this type of match.
* We'll get into this more next week, but Trinidad is using Bobby Zamora and Jlloyd Samuel for its qualifiers. I'm not exactly shaking in my boots, but Zamora and Kenwyne Jones could cause some problems, making Saturday's game all the more important.
* At the very least, there's no Marcelo Balboa involved, which is always a good thing.
Lineup guess:
My ideal XI:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo-- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Spector
MID -- Holden -- Bradley -- Feilhaber -- Donovan
FOR -- Altidore -- Davies
My guess on Bradley:
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Cherundolo-- Bocanegra -- DeMerit -- Spector
MID -- Dempsey -- Bradley -- Clark -- Donovan
FOR -- Ching -- Davies
Closing thoughts:
Three points. 'Nuff said.
Labels: bob bradley, concacaf, Jozy Altidore, Soccer, USMNT, world cup qualifying
