So ... the U.S. roster was released for this ultra-important, must-see friendlies in October with Colombia and Poland late Thursday afternoon.
Initial reaction?
Not much to see here, exit through the gift shop.
Last week I wrote a bigger thought-piece about the roster future/flexibility of the U.S. If you haven't already, that's worth reading since there's not a ton to dissect here. To put it frankly, in light of Grant Wahl's must-read explanation of how CONCACAF is killing the U.S./Mexico rivalry (*) the 20 players Bob Bradley selected aren't exactly going to usher in a new phase of unbridled enthusiasm for where the USMNT stands as the calendar creeps toward 2011.
(*) Chuck Blazer ... really? REALLY? This is the man pulling the strings as CONCACAF general secretary? Is it rule to work in an administrative role for FIFA you have to look and or act like a rejected Peter Sellers character from "Dr. Strangelove"?
Anyone with a U.S.-themed blog is probably going to devote the majority of their roster post to three names: Jermaine Jones (yay! arm tats!); Eric Lichaj and Brek Shea. To a lesser extent guys like Heath Pearce (have eft foot, will travel) and Michael Parkhurst being recalled will likely get some attention, too.
We've all waited so long on Jones, it's probably not even worth speculating any more since we might actually see him on the field. Granted, it might be a shock to the system on par with seeing Sasquatch, but all signs point to Jones putting on the U.S. shirt for the first time allowing us to get some actual information instead of seemingly 12+ months of speculation.
Then there's Eddie Johnson.
...
No doubt Johnson's recall was aided by the fact Charlie Davies still hasn't seem the team for the senior team at Sochaux, nearing the one-year anniversary of his horrific near-fatal car crash. At least he's got plenty of time to play "Call of Duty" so it's not a total washout. The fact MLS is still in season, keeping players like Edson Buddle and Justin Braun also played a role.
Guess that's how desperate the U.S. is to find anyone who might be able to put the ball into the back of the net. What is this now, Johnson's fifth-try to emerge as that hypothetical would-be world-class dominant American forward? Or is he realistically just filling out a roster spot since he is in fact getting minutes at Fulham if only due to the Cottagers injury crisis.
However you want to slice it, here we are, again stuck in that gray, limbo-like area for the USMNT.
Games that don't count and a roster that's stuck between stations.
It's not a total wash. The U.S. can show it can play without needing to run the offense through Landon Donovan, allowing either Michael Bradley or Stuart Holden to drive the offensive engine and to a much lesser extent Jones.
There's some reason for optimism, too, since the young-ish, athletic and somewhat skilled midfield do present plenty of options, so long as Bradley the Elder isn't locked into playing two hard-and-fast defensive midfielders. All seven players Bradley recalled: Bedoya, the Younger, Edu, Jones, Holden, Feilhaber and Shea all present possibilities, with the chance to create some interesting on-field combinations. (Would anyone have been excited for Sacha Kljestan again?)
If you want to stay positive keep remind yourself of those players, plus Clint Dempsey since the rest of the field is a definite work in progress. The U.S., with its defense beginning a major transition which still lacks consistent wide players plus the gaping holes up top, sets up like a reverse donut team. There's talent in the middle and not much around it.
Let's hope in his second act as U.S. coach Bradley the Elder cuts loose and feels free to tinker a little bit, yet why do I think Bradley letting loose is like Fred Willard's Air Force lieutenant in "This is Spinal Tap." Sticking out a standard U.S.-styled 4-4-2 with matches that don't matter? Not much to get excited about.
Hey, on the plus side these friendlies might usher in the return of the esoteric comedy duo of Ian Darke and John Harkes.
Silver linings.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)
FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)
Initial reaction?
Not much to see here, exit through the gift shop.
Last week I wrote a bigger thought-piece about the roster future/flexibility of the U.S. If you haven't already, that's worth reading since there's not a ton to dissect here. To put it frankly, in light of Grant Wahl's must-read explanation of how CONCACAF is killing the U.S./Mexico rivalry (*) the 20 players Bob Bradley selected aren't exactly going to usher in a new phase of unbridled enthusiasm for where the USMNT stands as the calendar creeps toward 2011.
(*) Chuck Blazer ... really? REALLY? This is the man pulling the strings as CONCACAF general secretary? Is it rule to work in an administrative role for FIFA you have to look and or act like a rejected Peter Sellers character from "Dr. Strangelove"?
Anyone with a U.S.-themed blog is probably going to devote the majority of their roster post to three names: Jermaine Jones (yay! arm tats!); Eric Lichaj and Brek Shea. To a lesser extent guys like Heath Pearce (have eft foot, will travel) and Michael Parkhurst being recalled will likely get some attention, too.
We've all waited so long on Jones, it's probably not even worth speculating any more since we might actually see him on the field. Granted, it might be a shock to the system on par with seeing Sasquatch, but all signs point to Jones putting on the U.S. shirt for the first time allowing us to get some actual information instead of seemingly 12+ months of speculation.
Then there's Eddie Johnson.
...
No doubt Johnson's recall was aided by the fact Charlie Davies still hasn't seem the team for the senior team at Sochaux, nearing the one-year anniversary of his horrific near-fatal car crash. At least he's got plenty of time to play "Call of Duty" so it's not a total washout. The fact MLS is still in season, keeping players like Edson Buddle and Justin Braun also played a role.
Guess that's how desperate the U.S. is to find anyone who might be able to put the ball into the back of the net. What is this now, Johnson's fifth-try to emerge as that hypothetical would-be world-class dominant American forward? Or is he realistically just filling out a roster spot since he is in fact getting minutes at Fulham if only due to the Cottagers injury crisis.
However you want to slice it, here we are, again stuck in that gray, limbo-like area for the USMNT.
Games that don't count and a roster that's stuck between stations.
It's not a total wash. The U.S. can show it can play without needing to run the offense through Landon Donovan, allowing either Michael Bradley or Stuart Holden to drive the offensive engine and to a much lesser extent Jones.
There's some reason for optimism, too, since the young-ish, athletic and somewhat skilled midfield do present plenty of options, so long as Bradley the Elder isn't locked into playing two hard-and-fast defensive midfielders. All seven players Bradley recalled: Bedoya, the Younger, Edu, Jones, Holden, Feilhaber and Shea all present possibilities, with the chance to create some interesting on-field combinations. (Would anyone have been excited for Sacha Kljestan again?)
If you want to stay positive keep remind yourself of those players, plus Clint Dempsey since the rest of the field is a definite work in progress. The U.S., with its defense beginning a major transition which still lacks consistent wide players plus the gaping holes up top, sets up like a reverse donut team. There's talent in the middle and not much around it.
Let's hope in his second act as U.S. coach Bradley the Elder cuts loose and feels free to tinker a little bit, yet why do I think Bradley letting loose is like Fred Willard's Air Force lieutenant in "This is Spinal Tap." Sticking out a standard U.S.-styled 4-4-2 with matches that don't matter? Not much to get excited about.
Hey, on the plus side these friendlies might usher in the return of the esoteric comedy duo of Ian Darke and John Harkes.
Silver linings.
GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa), Tim Howard (Everton)
DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Saint-Étienne), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover), Clarence Goodson (IK Start), Eric Lichaj (Aston Villa), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan), Michael Parkhurst (FC Nordsjaelland), Heath Pearce (FC Dallas), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Alejandro Bedoya (Örebro), Michael Bradley (Borussia Moenchengladbach), Maurice Edu (Rangers), Benny Feilhaber (Aarhus), Stuart Holden (Bolton Wanderers), Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke), Brek Shea (FC Dallas)
FORWARDS (3): Jozy Altidore (Villarreal), Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Eddie Johnson (Fulham)
Labels: bob bradley, Friendlies, Soccer, USMNT
No idea why this dawned on me driving to work last Friday afternoon -- although the news ESPN hired Ian Darke as it's main soccer voice proably got my soccer neural synapses firing.
There seems to be about three distinct English-speaking camps of U.S. soccer fans:
1. If it's no English (or European or less likely Central/South American) it's crap.
2. If you don't support all things MLS you're a snooty, snobby jerk.
3. If the ball is round, I'm all about it.
Can't we all just get along?
Then again, that's the underlying reason why soccer is art and most other American sports are science. If you like (gridiron) football then make no mistake the NFL is the creme-de-la-creme. Yeah, some might argue back and forth about preferring college football, but it's a minor squabble. Put it this way, there aren't too many NCAA football fans who scorn the NFL, or vice versa.
By the same token, not too many people this side of Bobby Valentine would argue the Japanese baseball league -- Go Ham Fighters! -- is better than MLB, nor would anyone say the Euroleague trumps the NBA. The accepted reality is that in the four major U.S. sports, the American version is the best professional league that's out there.
Soccer, of course, is played everywhere, with a slightly different spin on the game depending on the region. Sure there are plenty of folks who'll gobble up everything from the Colombian League on GolTV to the Premier League on FSC to MLS game on their local affiliate.
Yet those happy-go-lucky all-inclusive fans -- think Dan from "Free Beer Movement" -- seem few and far between like a quality network pilot this fall. Or maybe it's just they're so-level headed and grounded they don't find it necessary to rail on the Internet about how they're right and everyone else is wrong. (Man, I envy these types.)
Where there are definitely plenty of "he-said/she-said" arguments across the Inter-nets are betwixt the first two groups. Why? Easy answer, the mathematical composition of the Internet is 88-percent porn, 3-percent Far East spammers, 3-percent Justin Beiber/Jonas Bros./Glee, 2-percent illegal downloads, 1-percent sports streams, 1-percent fantasy sports, 1-percent kittens and 1-percent people arguing/debating just about everything.(*)
(*) Quick tangent. Remember Prodigy Internet? Back around 1993 a friend and I were on some music group/forum, where a guy posted how The Moody Blues were the best band ever. Being 13 we went after him, countering with, I want to say Cyprus Hill. See, nothing ever really changes.
Now you know where I stand. In theory I want to watch and support MLS, yet the bulk of my writing is on the EPL, or European leagues. Here's my best reason why that's the case:
The Pizza Parlor Analogy:
Imagine on your way home from work or school every day you drive past a pizzeria. Let's call it for the sake of this analogy, "Don's House of Pizza."
You've stopped by Don's plenty of times. You like Don personally, hell you went to high school with him. You want to spend some of your money there to help his business grow so he doesn't lose his shop and his children have to spend the winter hunting wharf rats. When you're waiting for a pie, the atmosphere inside of Don's is fun and inviting. The place mats have mazes and jumblesfor the kids to scribble all over. The jukebox is absolutely killer. The bathroom even has that tragically hilarious Chris Berman "Berminator" poster hanging above a urinal.
The problem is, despite all the niceties, the pizza at Don's isn't all that fantastic.
Sure Don's keeps the cost of a large pie reasonable. Yeah, he's imported some expensive toppings, like the best aged-sausages from France and Mexico. It hasn't helped much, the main recipe he's using for his pizza doesn't taste good. Don keeps trying, and occasionally you'll go back there, but process is slow.
Every now and then you get a killer chicken parm, but the next time you order a calzone and you walk away feeling bloated, greasy and sleepy.
Making matter worse for Don is he's stuck being compared to a pizza place that's a 45-minute drive away -- "Premieros," which costs more, takes over an hour to arrive, it's sometimes hard to understand the person working behind the counter and has baffling hours. Where it counts, though, Premieros makes the best tasting pizza in town.
You kept holding out hope for Don's. You want it to succeed. You want to make it your first stop for pizza.
Right now, though, it just isn't the case.
Taste buds don't lie.
Of course, as my buddy Suppe has be fond of saying, "there's no such thing as bad sex or bad pizza."
There seems to be about three distinct English-speaking camps of U.S. soccer fans:
1. If it's no English (or European or less likely Central/South American) it's crap.
2. If you don't support all things MLS you're a snooty, snobby jerk.
3. If the ball is round, I'm all about it.
Can't we all just get along?
Then again, that's the underlying reason why soccer is art and most other American sports are science. If you like (gridiron) football then make no mistake the NFL is the creme-de-la-creme. Yeah, some might argue back and forth about preferring college football, but it's a minor squabble. Put it this way, there aren't too many NCAA football fans who scorn the NFL, or vice versa.
By the same token, not too many people this side of Bobby Valentine would argue the Japanese baseball league -- Go Ham Fighters! -- is better than MLB, nor would anyone say the Euroleague trumps the NBA. The accepted reality is that in the four major U.S. sports, the American version is the best professional league that's out there.
Soccer, of course, is played everywhere, with a slightly different spin on the game depending on the region. Sure there are plenty of folks who'll gobble up everything from the Colombian League on GolTV to the Premier League on FSC to MLS game on their local affiliate.
Yet those happy-go-lucky all-inclusive fans -- think Dan from "Free Beer Movement" -- seem few and far between like a quality network pilot this fall. Or maybe it's just they're so-level headed and grounded they don't find it necessary to rail on the Internet about how they're right and everyone else is wrong. (Man, I envy these types.)
Where there are definitely plenty of "he-said/she-said" arguments across the Inter-nets are betwixt the first two groups. Why? Easy answer, the mathematical composition of the Internet is 88-percent porn, 3-percent Far East spammers, 3-percent Justin Beiber/Jonas Bros./Glee, 2-percent illegal downloads, 1-percent sports streams, 1-percent fantasy sports, 1-percent kittens and 1-percent people arguing/debating just about everything.(*)
(*) Quick tangent. Remember Prodigy Internet? Back around 1993 a friend and I were on some music group/forum, where a guy posted how The Moody Blues were the best band ever. Being 13 we went after him, countering with, I want to say Cyprus Hill. See, nothing ever really changes.
Now you know where I stand. In theory I want to watch and support MLS, yet the bulk of my writing is on the EPL, or European leagues. Here's my best reason why that's the case:
The Pizza Parlor Analogy:
Imagine on your way home from work or school every day you drive past a pizzeria. Let's call it for the sake of this analogy, "Don's House of Pizza."
You've stopped by Don's plenty of times. You like Don personally, hell you went to high school with him. You want to spend some of your money there to help his business grow so he doesn't lose his shop and his children have to spend the winter hunting wharf rats. When you're waiting for a pie, the atmosphere inside of Don's is fun and inviting. The place mats have mazes and jumblesfor the kids to scribble all over. The jukebox is absolutely killer. The bathroom even has that tragically hilarious Chris Berman "Berminator" poster hanging above a urinal.
The problem is, despite all the niceties, the pizza at Don's isn't all that fantastic.
Sure Don's keeps the cost of a large pie reasonable. Yeah, he's imported some expensive toppings, like the best aged-sausages from France and Mexico. It hasn't helped much, the main recipe he's using for his pizza doesn't taste good. Don keeps trying, and occasionally you'll go back there, but process is slow.
Every now and then you get a killer chicken parm, but the next time you order a calzone and you walk away feeling bloated, greasy and sleepy.
Making matter worse for Don is he's stuck being compared to a pizza place that's a 45-minute drive away -- "Premieros," which costs more, takes over an hour to arrive, it's sometimes hard to understand the person working behind the counter and has baffling hours. Where it counts, though, Premieros makes the best tasting pizza in town.
You kept holding out hope for Don's. You want it to succeed. You want to make it your first stop for pizza.
Right now, though, it just isn't the case.
Taste buds don't lie.
Of course, as my buddy Suppe has be fond of saying, "there's no such thing as bad sex or bad pizza."
Labels: Don Garber, English Premier League, EPL, MLS, Soccer
Cribbing a page from late-90s Lilith Fair-style rock, "Where have all the good soccer clubs gone?"
Does anyone know when the last time in the same weekend Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United(*) failed to win in the Premier League era? Couple that with Liverpool drawing Sunderland and Tottenham losing to West Ham -- the Irons first win of the season no less -- and either it's a massive statistical quirk, aided by the fact Chelsea played Manchester City, (which we might have to include in the "New Big Four" until Liverpool gets its act together) or the sign of things to come.
(*) Was Sir Alex Ferguson able to sleep Saturday night with what was likely raging, old Scottish stiffy in light of Chelsea and Arsenal losing. Naturally, Manchester United has to rally late to draw at Bolton the next day.
You almost have to wonder, are the EPL and NFL crossing over a little too much?
The NFL is certainly trying to take a page from across the Atlantic, as it attempts to market itself across the globe despite the fact few people outside the States actually play Futbol Americano.
The Premier League, if the first six rounds of the 2010-11 campaign mean anything, must have been drinking some of the Roger Goodell/Paul Taglibue parity-flavored Kool Aid. Remarkably, it's come with any artificially imposed salary caps, too.
It's only six games, but 11 of the league's 20 clubs are sitting between 7 to 10 points. Chelsea, even with the limp loss at City, still appear the cream of the league and are the only club with more than three wins. The best manifestation of this muddled start might be Fulham, which has scored seven goals and allowed six on its way to a 1-5-0, eight-point start. Oddly enough, at the bottom we've yet to pinpoint a three-point ATM, such as the Derby County/Portsmouth/Watford types. Everton is last on three points, but are the Toffees really going to spend the either year as relegation fodder?
Better question, are people across the globe ready to accept a Premier League where anyone can beat anybody, well not at Stamford Bridge at least, on any given Saturday (or Sunday)? It's open for debate. Some people love a level playing field like we see in the NFL -- though in England we're still years away from anyone breaking up the Chelsea/Manchester United/Arsenal cabal. Others prefer dominant teams, who produce sublime quality on the field/court, more like where the NBA is heading with four or five power teams.
Maybe the EPL is actually trending more like Major League Baseball, as in the new century teams have been wiser about spending money resulting in teams like the Phillies, Rays, Tigers, Rockies and Astros all reaching the World Series. You'll always have a Yankees/Chelsea/Man City team, but an endless bankroll hasn't automatically meant results like it used to do.
Either way, it's probably easy to pinpoint the big reason for the EPL's evolution toward a more parity-like state -- money.
Manchester United and Liverpool have ownership issues and aren't spending big. Arsenal doesn't want to open up the change purse for a big-time forward, defender or goalie.
Meanwhile, the rest of the league is spending wisely. The days of a club like Newcastle breaking the bank to spend on guys like Albert Luque appear over.
As a result Birmingham, Stoke, Sunderland, Wolves, Fulham, Bolton and West Brom all seem to be fairly solid teams, or at least have a mentality with 10-15 committed guys on the same page. Teams that believe their XI can hold their own against anyone else in the league.
More than that though, perhaps teams are realizing that you're better off trying to stand up to the assumed better teams and going for a win, rather than playing defensively and eventually being overwhelmed. One point isn't all that much better than zero, so you're better off shooting for three. With the league so evenly bunch, wins not draws, will break up that early-season congestion.
Sure we have shock results every season, but West Brom winning 3-2 at the Emirates against Arsenal, a game the Baggies lead 3-0?
Let that sink in for a little bit.
And the way the game was played, it wasn't an unfair or fluke result. Roberto di Matteo's club thoroughly deserved what it got, even with the Manuel Almunia Traveling Comedy show in full effect.
For whatever reason Saturday, for me, was a total veg-out day and without a noon Premier League match, I became a little more cultured, watching some continental soccer offerings.
What did I see?
How about unheralded Mainz beating Bayern 2-1 at the Allainz Arena, maintaining its 6-0-0 first place first in the Bundesliga. Here's a clip of game-winner from Adam Szalai. (Also love that Mainz's full name is the Teuton-eriffic 1.FSV Mainz 05, so not to be confused with 2.FSV Mainz 05.) One more link, Raphael Honigstein's always hilarious Guardian Bundesliga recap.
What about in Spain, where promoted Levante held mighty Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw in La Liga.
And the shock result of it all, AS Saint-Etienne shocking blood rival Lyon 1-0 at the Stade Gerland, to move to the top of Ligue 1. (Enjoy the winner by Dmitri Payet. Class.) Les Verts, who added Carlos Bocanegra in the summer, were 17th last season.
In Serie A Roma even beat defending champion Inter 1-0.
For what it's worth, to gauge how wacky the 2010-11 seasons have begun around Europe, let's look at the major leagues and it's current representatives in the Champions League.
Bundesliga -- Leader: Mainz (18 points); Bayern Munich 9th place, 8 points; Werder Bremen 12th, 7; Schalke 17th, 4 points.
Ligue 1 -- Leader: Saint-Etienne (16 points); Olympique Marseille 5th place 11 points; Auxurre 17th place five points; Lyon 19th place, five points. (OL broke the French transfer record buying Yohann Gourcouff from Bourdeaux this summer, too.)
La Liga -- Leader: Valencia (13 points); Barcelona 2nd 12 points; Real Madrid 3rd 11 points. (Status quo, except Valencia did sell David Villa and David Silva in the offseason, as you'd expect Real and Barca to run away from the rest of the league already.)
Serie A -- Leaders: Inter/Lazio (10 points); AC Milan 5th eight points, Roma 17th 5 points. Also note: Juventus (the Liverpool of Italy) is 19th.
Also worth pointing out, last year's Portuguese champions -- Benfica -- are fifth in the Portuguese Liga, sharing a Champions League group with Schalke and Lyon.
* * *
About that Manchester City/Chelsea game -- Strange, isn't it that City seem better suited tactically to play against the heavyweights than the also-rans? The troika of Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure left Chelsea with little room to operate. Didn't help either that Didier Drogba picked the wrong week to stop sniffing the proverbial glue.
There wasn't a lot of room for either team, but Carlos Tevez -- and his shockingly normal-looking shoe polish infused new haircut -- took the one glimmer of daylight he got all day and made Chelsea pay, catching Petr Cech in quicksand. His post-game interviews still leave a little bit to be desired as it's frankly amazing he's been in England over five years and still doesn't speak English. Even Kenny Powers picked up Spanish during Odyssey to Mexico quicker. (Anyone else notice Kenny rocking some Tevez-esque "Hulk Hair" during the end of "Chapter 7"?)
Chelsea's best chances were headers by Alex and Branislav Ivanovic on corner kicks, which about sums up the day for the Blues. Chelsea get Arsenal next week in the late Sunday match, which I'm guessing might be a pretty important showdown.
Nice win for City. A setback for Chelsea that was mitigated by the rest of the weekend. If you want a declarative statement from it, based on City's prowess against the top tier clubs, it has no excuse to finish lower than fourth, where the team Roberto Mancini is putting together would be well-suited for the Champions League. Yet as unexplainable as Tevez's failure to grasp the English language, City still remains super shaky when it has the onus to take it to the rest of the league.
About that Arsenal/WBA game -- Not too much to say about the Baggies. Why? I'm guessing the ration of Arsenal fans to West Brom fans in the United States might hover around 1,000-to-1, if not higher.
Hand it to di Matteo from plucking Peter Odemwingie off the Russian scrap heap, the Uzbek-born Nigerian has already scored three goals.
Now it's easy from an Arsenal standpoint to blame the loss totally on Almunia. It's probably easier than looking at the lineup that Arsene Wenger fielded and realize it wasn't all that fierce. Setting aside the defense, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin and Maroune Chamakh are a hell of a Carling Cup lineup, but not exactly an automatic win against a Premier League opponent "up" for the match.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Arshavin, the one player Wenger paid big money for recently, and the Russian hasn't exactly be a dominant force. A nice, solid pro, but not a game changer on a consistent basis. At least Nasri appears he could be that kind of player if he stays healthy.
The way Arsenal lost, yes, was stunning. Perhaps judging by who was out there, it shouldn't have been coupled with the fact nearly every Arsenal fan on the planet was realized in the summer that Almunia the defense Wenger assembled were going to have failures like the one put forth Saturday afternoon.
Four thoughts on Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Anfield -- 1. The Dirk Kuyt backpass goal was karmatic justice for the beachball goal last year. 2. With Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Raul Meireles, the Reds lead the Prem in guys rocking full-arm sleeve tattoos. It's something. 3. Christian Poulsen has replaced Lucas as the target of Anfield vitriol. 4. Fortunately Titus Bramble didn't rape Fernando Torres.
Otherwise, my sympathies are with you.
About that Bolton/Manchester United game -- Missed the 7 a.m. kickoff. Called up a reader, Colin Sebastian, to fill me in. Here's his thoughts. Good stuff here about the 2-2 draw at the Reebok. He just started a blog, so give him some traffic love.
Emile Heskey? Really? For all the drama at Villa Park, Aston Villa is sitting fifth. ... Using my scientific powers of deduction, I've determined the best crude, third-grade level analogy for Everton's woes is that the Toffees, "couldn't score in a monkey whorehouse with a banana hanging out their pocket." ... Good news U.S. fans, Eddie Johnson isn't a total disaster for Fulham. In fact he looks to have evolved into Brian Ching 2.0, as in he does everything you'd want a forward to do except score. With Fulham in a striking crisis, Johnson can't afford to be so deferential. ... So John Obi Mikel just wants to be called "Mikel" now? Nice for him. Ironic this news came during a match with Toure Yaya/Yaya Toure. ... Good, not great, job by Ian Darke Saturday morning. Enjoy the impromptu geography lesson of where Manchester is located in England. Maybe some U.S. viewers wanted a "Go-Go/Gold Goal U-S-A" moment, but to Darke's credit unlike, say, Kevin Harlan or Thom Brennaman, he doesn't force it. Did enjoy ESPN using a UK-based pregame show with Steve McManaman. No offense, but I can take or leave Robbie Mustoe in Bristol. ESPN catches a break, ditching Saturday's early Wigan/Wolves match for Sunderland/Manchester United on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. ... James Perch is a yellow-card machine for Newcastle, and now an own-goal to give Stoke a late win at St. James Park. Oof. ... Tottenham never got much going vs. West Ham with Robert Green, yes, that Robert Green making two great first-half saves.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Matt Mangriotis's "Mango Madness" -- rooted on the third page of the league standings -- put up a huge 78 points thanks to captaining Nani, Darren Bent, Tim Howard and Breda Hangeland. Great job!
Basically all the top teams suffered with Didier Drogba and Flourent Malouda laying eggs at Eastlands.
One other thing:
How many readers broke their DVRs last night trying to simultaneously watch the Jets/Dolphins game then trying to record "Boardwalk Empire," "Mad Men" and the return of "Eastbound & Down"? What a night of television.
For all the universal hipster-ish praise for "Eastbound" is receiving -- has anyone read one negative review? -- it's worth revisiting Jody Hill's second feature film, "Observe & Report." I've praised it plenty on this site, but if you're endlessly quoting Kenny Powers give Ronnie Barnhardt another look.
It's hard to exactly put a finger on Hill's comedic point-of-view. Calling it "dark" doesn't do it justice. It's not warm-and-fuzzy with happy endings, that's for sure.
Finally, how's this for juxaposition in the year 2010:
Michael Vick is back in a star role for the Philadelphia Eagles leading to a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and later on the same night we're getting laughs from two roosters clawing each other-- fairly graphically -- to death in a cockfight on "Eastbound."
Adios.
Does anyone know when the last time in the same weekend Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United(*) failed to win in the Premier League era? Couple that with Liverpool drawing Sunderland and Tottenham losing to West Ham -- the Irons first win of the season no less -- and either it's a massive statistical quirk, aided by the fact Chelsea played Manchester City, (which we might have to include in the "New Big Four" until Liverpool gets its act together) or the sign of things to come.
(*) Was Sir Alex Ferguson able to sleep Saturday night with what was likely raging, old Scottish stiffy in light of Chelsea and Arsenal losing. Naturally, Manchester United has to rally late to draw at Bolton the next day.
You almost have to wonder, are the EPL and NFL crossing over a little too much?
The NFL is certainly trying to take a page from across the Atlantic, as it attempts to market itself across the globe despite the fact few people outside the States actually play Futbol Americano.
The Premier League, if the first six rounds of the 2010-11 campaign mean anything, must have been drinking some of the Roger Goodell/Paul Taglibue parity-flavored Kool Aid. Remarkably, it's come with any artificially imposed salary caps, too.
It's only six games, but 11 of the league's 20 clubs are sitting between 7 to 10 points. Chelsea, even with the limp loss at City, still appear the cream of the league and are the only club with more than three wins. The best manifestation of this muddled start might be Fulham, which has scored seven goals and allowed six on its way to a 1-5-0, eight-point start. Oddly enough, at the bottom we've yet to pinpoint a three-point ATM, such as the Derby County/Portsmouth/Watford types. Everton is last on three points, but are the Toffees really going to spend the either year as relegation fodder?
Better question, are people across the globe ready to accept a Premier League where anyone can beat anybody, well not at Stamford Bridge at least, on any given Saturday (or Sunday)? It's open for debate. Some people love a level playing field like we see in the NFL -- though in England we're still years away from anyone breaking up the Chelsea/Manchester United/Arsenal cabal. Others prefer dominant teams, who produce sublime quality on the field/court, more like where the NBA is heading with four or five power teams.
Maybe the EPL is actually trending more like Major League Baseball, as in the new century teams have been wiser about spending money resulting in teams like the Phillies, Rays, Tigers, Rockies and Astros all reaching the World Series. You'll always have a Yankees/Chelsea/Man City team, but an endless bankroll hasn't automatically meant results like it used to do.
Either way, it's probably easy to pinpoint the big reason for the EPL's evolution toward a more parity-like state -- money.
Manchester United and Liverpool have ownership issues and aren't spending big. Arsenal doesn't want to open up the change purse for a big-time forward, defender or goalie.
Meanwhile, the rest of the league is spending wisely. The days of a club like Newcastle breaking the bank to spend on guys like Albert Luque appear over.
As a result Birmingham, Stoke, Sunderland, Wolves, Fulham, Bolton and West Brom all seem to be fairly solid teams, or at least have a mentality with 10-15 committed guys on the same page. Teams that believe their XI can hold their own against anyone else in the league.
More than that though, perhaps teams are realizing that you're better off trying to stand up to the assumed better teams and going for a win, rather than playing defensively and eventually being overwhelmed. One point isn't all that much better than zero, so you're better off shooting for three. With the league so evenly bunch, wins not draws, will break up that early-season congestion.
Sure we have shock results every season, but West Brom winning 3-2 at the Emirates against Arsenal, a game the Baggies lead 3-0?
Let that sink in for a little bit.
And the way the game was played, it wasn't an unfair or fluke result. Roberto di Matteo's club thoroughly deserved what it got, even with the Manuel Almunia Traveling Comedy show in full effect.
For whatever reason Saturday, for me, was a total veg-out day and without a noon Premier League match, I became a little more cultured, watching some continental soccer offerings.
What did I see?
How about unheralded Mainz beating Bayern 2-1 at the Allainz Arena, maintaining its 6-0-0 first place first in the Bundesliga. Here's a clip of game-winner from Adam Szalai. (Also love that Mainz's full name is the Teuton-eriffic 1.FSV Mainz 05, so not to be confused with 2.FSV Mainz 05.) One more link, Raphael Honigstein's always hilarious Guardian Bundesliga recap.
What about in Spain, where promoted Levante held mighty Real Madrid to a 0-0 draw in La Liga.
And the shock result of it all, AS Saint-Etienne shocking blood rival Lyon 1-0 at the Stade Gerland, to move to the top of Ligue 1. (Enjoy the winner by Dmitri Payet. Class.) Les Verts, who added Carlos Bocanegra in the summer, were 17th last season.
In Serie A Roma even beat defending champion Inter 1-0.
For what it's worth, to gauge how wacky the 2010-11 seasons have begun around Europe, let's look at the major leagues and it's current representatives in the Champions League.
Bundesliga -- Leader: Mainz (18 points); Bayern Munich 9th place, 8 points; Werder Bremen 12th, 7; Schalke 17th, 4 points.
Ligue 1 -- Leader: Saint-Etienne (16 points); Olympique Marseille 5th place 11 points; Auxurre 17th place five points; Lyon 19th place, five points. (OL broke the French transfer record buying Yohann Gourcouff from Bourdeaux this summer, too.)
La Liga -- Leader: Valencia (13 points); Barcelona 2nd 12 points; Real Madrid 3rd 11 points. (Status quo, except Valencia did sell David Villa and David Silva in the offseason, as you'd expect Real and Barca to run away from the rest of the league already.)
Serie A -- Leaders: Inter/Lazio (10 points); AC Milan 5th eight points, Roma 17th 5 points. Also note: Juventus (the Liverpool of Italy) is 19th.
Also worth pointing out, last year's Portuguese champions -- Benfica -- are fifth in the Portuguese Liga, sharing a Champions League group with Schalke and Lyon.
About that Manchester City/Chelsea game -- Strange, isn't it that City seem better suited tactically to play against the heavyweights than the also-rans? The troika of Gareth Barry, Nigel de Jong and Yaya Toure left Chelsea with little room to operate. Didn't help either that Didier Drogba picked the wrong week to stop sniffing the proverbial glue.
There wasn't a lot of room for either team, but Carlos Tevez -- and his shockingly normal-looking shoe polish infused new haircut -- took the one glimmer of daylight he got all day and made Chelsea pay, catching Petr Cech in quicksand. His post-game interviews still leave a little bit to be desired as it's frankly amazing he's been in England over five years and still doesn't speak English. Even Kenny Powers picked up Spanish during Odyssey to Mexico quicker. (Anyone else notice Kenny rocking some Tevez-esque "Hulk Hair" during the end of "Chapter 7"?)
Chelsea's best chances were headers by Alex and Branislav Ivanovic on corner kicks, which about sums up the day for the Blues. Chelsea get Arsenal next week in the late Sunday match, which I'm guessing might be a pretty important showdown.
Nice win for City. A setback for Chelsea that was mitigated by the rest of the weekend. If you want a declarative statement from it, based on City's prowess against the top tier clubs, it has no excuse to finish lower than fourth, where the team Roberto Mancini is putting together would be well-suited for the Champions League. Yet as unexplainable as Tevez's failure to grasp the English language, City still remains super shaky when it has the onus to take it to the rest of the league.
About that Arsenal/WBA game -- Not too much to say about the Baggies. Why? I'm guessing the ration of Arsenal fans to West Brom fans in the United States might hover around 1,000-to-1, if not higher.
Hand it to di Matteo from plucking Peter Odemwingie off the Russian scrap heap, the Uzbek-born Nigerian has already scored three goals.
Now it's easy from an Arsenal standpoint to blame the loss totally on Almunia. It's probably easier than looking at the lineup that Arsene Wenger fielded and realize it wasn't all that fierce. Setting aside the defense, Alex Song, Abou Diaby, Emmanuel Eboue, Samir Nasri, Andrey Arshavin and Maroune Chamakh are a hell of a Carling Cup lineup, but not exactly an automatic win against a Premier League opponent "up" for the match.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is Arshavin, the one player Wenger paid big money for recently, and the Russian hasn't exactly be a dominant force. A nice, solid pro, but not a game changer on a consistent basis. At least Nasri appears he could be that kind of player if he stays healthy.
The way Arsenal lost, yes, was stunning. Perhaps judging by who was out there, it shouldn't have been coupled with the fact nearly every Arsenal fan on the planet was realized in the summer that Almunia the defense Wenger assembled were going to have failures like the one put forth Saturday afternoon.
Four thoughts on Liverpool's 2-2 draw with Sunderland at Anfield -- 1. The Dirk Kuyt backpass goal was karmatic justice for the beachball goal last year. 2. With Daniel Agger, Martin Skrtel and Raul Meireles, the Reds lead the Prem in guys rocking full-arm sleeve tattoos. It's something. 3. Christian Poulsen has replaced Lucas as the target of Anfield vitriol. 4. Fortunately Titus Bramble didn't rape Fernando Torres.
Otherwise, my sympathies are with you.
About that Bolton/Manchester United game -- Missed the 7 a.m. kickoff. Called up a reader, Colin Sebastian, to fill me in. Here's his thoughts. Good stuff here about the 2-2 draw at the Reebok. He just started a blog, so give him some traffic love.
From a United perspective, the defensive fragilities are worrying. United are allowing a half goal more, per game, this year as opposed to last. Johnny Evans and once superb Patrice Evra are struggling mightily at the moment and everyone knows it. Look at the Guardian Chalkboard of clearances by Johnny Evans as compared to those by Nemanja Vidic yesterday.Around the League:Almost double the attempts to Evans’ left side – 15 to 8. Stating the obvious here, but Rio Ferdinand’s seemingly impending return could mean big news for United’s title challenge.
For United, Michael Owen once again proved his worth – despite what you’ll read in the press. 90 minutes in the League Cup, 19 minutes today, but a total of three goals (36 minutes per goal). However, the return of Anderson and Michael Carrick (and Owen Hargreaves?) can’t come soon enough. United’s central midfield are looking worn down already and there’s a daunting mid-week trip to Valencia in the cards.
Between them, Nani and Dimitar Berbatov have scored or assisted 12 of United’s 16 goals this season. Not bad for two players United fans had doubt about coming into the season.
In the end, the result isn’t horrible, but after saying that following the Fulham and Everton draws, how long ‘till United are out of the race based on missed opportunities?
While Bolton are holding true to their age-old abrasiveness, albeit with a bit more flair under Owen Coyle, a trip to the Reebok nonetheless continues to present many physical tests of a defender's mettle, mainly from Kevin Davies. However, their play should be applauded. They started in 4-4-2 with the promising and developing central partnership of Stu Holden and Fabrice Muamba and they grew into the game after United started brightly. However, Johan Elmander, the seemingly rejuvenated striker, was Man of the Match. He linked up well with Kevin Davies and ran at the United defense (mainly Evans) endlessly.
Emile Heskey? Really? For all the drama at Villa Park, Aston Villa is sitting fifth. ... Using my scientific powers of deduction, I've determined the best crude, third-grade level analogy for Everton's woes is that the Toffees, "couldn't score in a monkey whorehouse with a banana hanging out their pocket." ... Good news U.S. fans, Eddie Johnson isn't a total disaster for Fulham. In fact he looks to have evolved into Brian Ching 2.0, as in he does everything you'd want a forward to do except score. With Fulham in a striking crisis, Johnson can't afford to be so deferential. ... So John Obi Mikel just wants to be called "Mikel" now? Nice for him. Ironic this news came during a match with Toure Yaya/Yaya Toure. ... Good, not great, job by Ian Darke Saturday morning. Enjoy the impromptu geography lesson of where Manchester is located in England. Maybe some U.S. viewers wanted a "Go-Go/Gold Goal U-S-A" moment, but to Darke's credit unlike, say, Kevin Harlan or Thom Brennaman, he doesn't force it. Did enjoy ESPN using a UK-based pregame show with Steve McManaman. No offense, but I can take or leave Robbie Mustoe in Bristol. ESPN catches a break, ditching Saturday's early Wigan/Wolves match for Sunderland/Manchester United on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. ... James Perch is a yellow-card machine for Newcastle, and now an own-goal to give Stoke a late win at St. James Park. Oof. ... Tottenham never got much going vs. West Ham with Robert Green, yes, that Robert Green making two great first-half saves.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Matt Mangriotis's "Mango Madness" -- rooted on the third page of the league standings -- put up a huge 78 points thanks to captaining Nani, Darren Bent, Tim Howard and Breda Hangeland. Great job!
Basically all the top teams suffered with Didier Drogba and Flourent Malouda laying eggs at Eastlands.
One other thing:
How many readers broke their DVRs last night trying to simultaneously watch the Jets/Dolphins game then trying to record "Boardwalk Empire," "Mad Men" and the return of "Eastbound & Down"? What a night of television.
For all the universal hipster-ish praise for "Eastbound" is receiving -- has anyone read one negative review? -- it's worth revisiting Jody Hill's second feature film, "Observe & Report." I've praised it plenty on this site, but if you're endlessly quoting Kenny Powers give Ronnie Barnhardt another look.
It's hard to exactly put a finger on Hill's comedic point-of-view. Calling it "dark" doesn't do it justice. It's not warm-and-fuzzy with happy endings, that's for sure.
Finally, how's this for juxaposition in the year 2010:
Michael Vick is back in a star role for the Philadelphia Eagles leading to a win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, and later on the same night we're getting laughs from two roosters clawing each other-- fairly graphically -- to death in a cockfight on "Eastbound."
Adios.
Labels: Arsenal, arsene wenger, Chelsea, EPL, manchester city, manchester United, Monday recaps, Soccer
"Eeeeeeee-toooooooo!!! Eeeeeeeee-tooooooo!!! In yo face!" -- The Cardillo family living room circa 1998.
My brother Pete doesn't like sports. Never has, probably never will.
In ways, I respect him for that since his general daily demeanor doesn't ebb-and-flow with what transpires on a field or diamond or court hundreds of miles away, of which he has absolutely zero control over. If you take the cold, analytical approach, there's probably nothing as irrational as rooting for sports teams, but chances are if you're reading these words your heart tells you otherwise.
For some odd reason, though, my brother doesn't totally hate a few things in the sporting arena. Notably, circa-2003 version Ben Wallace fascinated him.
Soccer, too, has avoided his scorn, which sets up the opening to this post when he and I logged countless hours playing the "World Cup 98" FIFA game by Electronic Arts on Playstation. The matches were always me selecting Cameroon, while he's opt for (the Republic of) Ireland and it's confusing Robbie Keane/Roy Keane lineup.
Nearly anyone who's fired up a "FIFA" game has probably had a moment like that, where you run around your living room screaming either, "Goooooooal" or the name of some player you've never heard of, most likely mispronouncing the name in the process.
I'm sure some astute readers have been doing this since the first "FIFA" game rolled over to America around the time of the 1994 World Cup when guys like Roberto Baggio and Dennis Bergkamp were simply guys in blue or orange shirts wearing No. 10 running up-and-down a field titled at a 45-degree angle.
And for me, these simple moments behind the controller have probably done as much to spread the gospel of soccer in America than anything the minds of Don Garber or Sunil Gulati has concocted.
Laughing?
You shouldn't.
This might be a tenuous comparison, but hear me out.
During the World Cup the world's most famous collegiate 13th man -- Mark "the Shark" Titus (Mr. Rainmaker) -- posted a link on his Twitter feed to a picture of something like a 122-0 scored he'd posted in "FIFA 10" with Real Madrid. Here's a guy, your traditional "big four" sport athlete getting his FIFA on. In turn, throughout the World Cup he was all wrapped up in the U.S.
Twelve years ago, would the 1998 World Cup have triggered similar emotions from a guy like Titus? Probably not, though Chad Deering might've had something to do with that, or that fact the last man on the bench for a Big Ten basketball program likely didn't have an email address, let alone a popular blog.
That's merely one example and doesn't proof a theory correct, yet all summer at a friends house we were playing the latest FIFA World Cup game. Strangers would mosey on through, grab a controller and about 20 minutes later want to go out and buy a copy of the game.
Hell, this week I've seen ads for "FIFA 11" (coming out Tuesday) airing during "Sons of Anarchy" and "Tosh.0."
Soccer might still have the stigma of being boring for most Americans, yet it's not in video game form.
Not that it's adversely affecting the NFL's popularity, but it seems the public has reached "Madden" fatigue. There's only so much you can do with 32 NFL teams from a gameplay standpoint. For all the bells and whistles EA tries to add to each version of the game, it seems they haven't programmed any new plays since 1997. The same "money" plays then, still work now. (Has anyone ever run a successful draw in "Madden"?)
Fortunately in recent game engines, "FIFA" has moved beyond where if you had, say, 2001-version Thierry Henry you could run into any player and steal the ball or the designated sweet spots on the field, or how it was so easy to score on crosses. Nowadays there's a genuine 360-feel with real-life physics and weight to the game.
As an unrepentant "gamer" soccer somehow translates the best into digital form. After years of boring, repetitive gameplay, repetitive goals which was overall uninspiring, EA finally mastered the perfect system with "FIFA 09." The combination is perfect where you have enough control over the player and the ball movement that if you're using a player rated highly enough, you can basically do whatever you want, in other words the actuality Arsene Wenger's, "he is a Playstation."(*) Granted excelling at video games are inherently the truest form "you're a winner and a loser," but there are few things in the medium as lining up and scoring a sick goal in "FIFA."
(*) Odd, quick, tangent. Do games like "FIFA" or even "PES" help real-life players get a better feel for positioning and space on the field? Vladimir Guerrero famously learned about real-life pitchers as an Expos rookie via a baseball video game. Figure actual pros playing "FIFA" would have to help them in some manner on the field, right?
Beyond being downright fun, it's my firm believe "FIFA" has done as much to enlighten Americans about the world of soccer as anything else.
You're learning the names of players. The colors and badges of teams. A little bit of the structure of European and worldwide leagues.
Call it a psychology association test. Your brain is subconsciously learning, simply by looking at pictures and colors on the screen. Better yet, you're forging positive connotations between soccer and your neural synapses, so that when you hear an ESPN talking head reading a highlight featuring, "AC Roma" you know something is amiss. (Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is certainly up for debate.)
Granted, like all good things, there's a downside to "FIFA." It's not a lot of fun when seemingly 95 percent of online players pick to play as either: Real Madrid, Barcelona or Chelsea. And it does help contribute to the "know-it-all" aspects of American soccer fandom.
In the end, if you've played "FIFA" you're probably silently nodding along with all this, knowing it's helped enhance your soccer experience. If not, like always, you're probably thinking I forget to take my medication.
All I can say is that "FIFA" definitely pushed soccer's needle in the States. Hard to see a world where Fox Soccer Channel or GolTV or ESPN airing hundreds of hours of soccer content (online at least) without the groundwork laid by "FIFA" in the mid-to-late 1990s.
Like most people, these days Michael Cera equals automatic cinematic no-fly zone. Sorry George Michael.
Again like most folks this summer, I avoided "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" despite the fact it was directed by Edgar Wright. Even without seeing the actual movie, I saw the trailer and have the general premise.
So, my challenge to people with better photo-shopping or digital editing skills would be to insert Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger into the movie/comic's basic trope and have him battle a string of villains named Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis and Alex McLeish, all with the goal of winning the heart of wantaway Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Half-surprised the Guardian and it's sometimes brilliant user-submitted photoshop-of-the-weeks haven't already tried this. Could be fun.
Too bad a real life fight featuring Wenger probably would be worse than the time Screech fought Horshack on "Celebrity Boxing."
* * *
Round Six Picks:
Best game of the weekend comes first, which I always find odd in the fact the NFL tries to build its weekend schedule to a crescendo with the best games either in the late afternoon or on Sunday night. Also note the earlier than usual Sunday a.m. kickoff for Manchester United.
Saturday:
* Manchester City v. Chelsea -- (Live ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) Take a bow Roberto Mancini. You might have more money at your disposal than your cross-city rival, Sir Alex Ferguson, but you still have a long way to go to catch up in the "Mind Games" department. Conceding the title to Chelsea? That's supposed to accomplish what exactly?
Everyone this week has tried to poke some mini-holes in Chelsea for it's toilet-paper soft first five matches, but complaining about that is on par with complaining that the members of Arcade Fire are too pretentious. It might be true, but it doesn't take away from the fact both Chelsea and Arcade Fire are talented and at the top of their respective games.
For the game itself? Chelsea won't have Frank Lampard, but a reinvigorated Michael Essien roaming the midfield moving into a more advanced position with Jon Obi Mikel and Ramires behind him. Saloman Kalou and Yossi Benayoun are dinged up, too, but they've been coming on late adding goals when games were already out of reach. Still, it's could mean Carlo Ancelotti has to play one of the young kids. City is in more trouble with it's defense even more of a mess due to injuries. City might have to play Gareth Barry at left back. How they'll cope without three holding midfielders?
City swept the two Premier League meeting with Chelsea last season, including pumping in four goals at Stamford Bridge.
If you're anti-Chelsea, you're hoping the Blues come out soft and rusty like Rocky after he beat Apollo Creed in the first Clubber Lang fight. (Not the loss to Newcastle in the Carling Cup.) However City don't seem to be nearly as cool (or as trash-talkingly awesome) as Mr. T, but without dipping too par into the Bill Simmons handy bag of Internet-approved tropes, you get the point. Will Chelsea crumble at the first sight of an opponent which approaches their level?
What it boils down to me is you have to like the Chelsea's 4-3-3 attack with Didier Drogba, Flourent Malouda and Nic Anelka finding a way through the patchwork City defense, instead of Carlos Tevez doing his Tasmanian devil impression all by himself. The one positive for City, is that since it got all the money from its rich benefactors, the club has been "up" for big matches, while saving its clunkers for the also-rans of the league. If City have a chance, they'll need to score early and make Chelse chase them. It's an unpredictable season, but I'll ride the Blue wave until it capsizes me. ... Manchester City 0, Chelsea 2
* Birmingham City v. Wigan Athletic -- I was about thiiiiis close to begin waxing how Birmingham was actually most the third or fourth best side in England, then Lee Bowyer insults a granny and it all turned to crap at the Hawthornes. Birmingham is good, but not so good that it can put matches on autopilot once it attains a 1-0 lead like the Chelseas of the world. That's simply the case when you get by on effort and grit, not natural ability. Don't scoff at that, however, Birmingham hasn't lost in 18-consecutive home matches extending past a calendar year. ... Birmingham City 2, Wigan 1
* West Ham United v. Tottenham -- Two. That's the number of matches West Ham has won in its last 17 -- nearly a half-season's worth of games. Avram Grant grabbed the flight stick and hasn't been able to pull the Irons out of the tailspin. A draw last weekend and a win in the Carling Cup are a start. Spurs being schizophrenic Spurs does give West Ham a glimmer of hope. Would a tie count as hope? Tottenham does have a Champions League match on Wednesday, but it's at White Hart Lane vs. FC Twente, so you'd think Harry Redknapp can get the squad to focus on West Ham. ... West Ham 1, Tottenham 1
* Liverpool v. Sunderland -- Cheer up Liverpool fans. Sure Los Reds lost to some team called Northampton in the Carling Cup. Sure, at Anfield when it rains it pours. Relax. It could be worse. Not a lot worse, but it could be worse ... maybe. Getting mad at Roy Hodsgon or the board or the terrible American owners? It's not going to help. The malaise Rafa left hasn't helped. No way. Michael Brown is probably more warmly received in New Orleans than Tom Hicks is on Merseyside. Fans, though, have to stay positive. Once the unrest starts again in the Kop it trickles down to the players. Saying all that, the team needs to get a result this weekend. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have to find a way to convey to the rest of the dressing room how important wearing that shirt is. It's cliche, but the Reds have to dig deep and find a way this weekend. What must be the most frustrating thing for fans is that there is talent on the field. There's nothing worse than theoretically "good" players not clicking or producing results. Fretting over tactics and strategy is one thing, it's another for the players to stand up and account for themselves. They won't have any beach balls to blame on Saturday. Will be a fascinating watch, especially if Steve Bruce can get across to his players how fun it would be to heap onto Liverpool's crisis. ... Liverpool 1, Sunderland 0
* Fulham v. Everton -- Which club had a worse Carling Cup on Tuesday? Fulham lost Mousa Dembele to an Andy Wilkinson challenge, meaning Eddie Johnson could quite possibly get his first Premier League start (unless I'm mistaken). For certain, Clint Dempsey takes on a more advanced role for the Cottagers, who basically only have Johnson and Swede David Elm as true forwards healthy enough to play. Meanwhile Everton's malaise continued, getting knocked out by Brentford, adding more pressure to David Moyes team. Perhaps this will be a landmark match, the first when two club teams in England began the day fielding matching 4-6-0s. ... Fulham 1, Everton 1
* Arsenal v. West Brom -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Better wash behind those ears before stepping onto the field at the Emirates, West Brom, or else you might risk upsetting Monsieur Wenger. No pledge pins on the uniform, either. Now just go out there, bend over and take your beating like a good away club, ok. Wait, what's that? You actually want to stand up and fight for yourself, instead of letting the Gunner's ballerina show pass you to death? The gall. The gall. Probably won't matter much. Arsenal is thrashing the weak sisters of the Prem at home, regardless of how many horrific slide tackles take place. ... Arsenal 3, West Brom 1
* Blackpool v. Blackburn Rovers -- I think I set the over/under on total season wins for Blackpool at three back in August. They could match that here. I actually like their chances. ... Blackpool 2, Blackburn 1
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC+ 7 a.m.) Good litmus test to see if Manchester United is still Manchester United, meaning the Red Devils are on a 12-1-1 run vs. Bolton. This is one of those matches Ferguson pencils in three points before it starts. Wayne Rooney, too, owns all things Bolton stealing their proverbial lunch money with ease. Even with the win vs. Liverpool I'm not totally sold on United. Bolton's physical forward line of Kevin Davies and Johan Ellmander could give them fits. ... Bolton 1, Manchester United 3
* Wolves v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC+, 9:05 a.m.) Testy little derby match here. Not that huge a gap between the two clubs, aside from the fact Villa have a little more skill with guys like Ashley Young. ... Wolves 1, Aston Villa 1
* Newcastle United v. Stoke City -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) If Stoke City was ever going to break through with a bevvy of Rory Delap throw-in goals, it's here as Newcastle is fielding young untested Dutch keeper Tim Krul. Otherwise the Magpies should be feeling good about themselves after winning at Everton then beating Chelsea in the Carling Cup. Wonder if Hatem Ben Arfa was a one-week flash in the pan, or if he'll bring it every week? ... Newcastle United 2, Stoke City 1
Last round: 5-5
Season: 19-31
My brother Pete doesn't like sports. Never has, probably never will.
In ways, I respect him for that since his general daily demeanor doesn't ebb-and-flow with what transpires on a field or diamond or court hundreds of miles away, of which he has absolutely zero control over. If you take the cold, analytical approach, there's probably nothing as irrational as rooting for sports teams, but chances are if you're reading these words your heart tells you otherwise.
For some odd reason, though, my brother doesn't totally hate a few things in the sporting arena. Notably, circa-2003 version Ben Wallace fascinated him.
Soccer, too, has avoided his scorn, which sets up the opening to this post when he and I logged countless hours playing the "World Cup 98" FIFA game by Electronic Arts on Playstation. The matches were always me selecting Cameroon, while he's opt for (the Republic of) Ireland and it's confusing Robbie Keane/Roy Keane lineup.
Nearly anyone who's fired up a "FIFA" game has probably had a moment like that, where you run around your living room screaming either, "Goooooooal" or the name of some player you've never heard of, most likely mispronouncing the name in the process.
I'm sure some astute readers have been doing this since the first "FIFA" game rolled over to America around the time of the 1994 World Cup when guys like Roberto Baggio and Dennis Bergkamp were simply guys in blue or orange shirts wearing No. 10 running up-and-down a field titled at a 45-degree angle.And for me, these simple moments behind the controller have probably done as much to spread the gospel of soccer in America than anything the minds of Don Garber or Sunil Gulati has concocted.
Laughing?
You shouldn't.
This might be a tenuous comparison, but hear me out.
During the World Cup the world's most famous collegiate 13th man -- Mark "the Shark" Titus (Mr. Rainmaker) -- posted a link on his Twitter feed to a picture of something like a 122-0 scored he'd posted in "FIFA 10" with Real Madrid. Here's a guy, your traditional "big four" sport athlete getting his FIFA on. In turn, throughout the World Cup he was all wrapped up in the U.S.
Twelve years ago, would the 1998 World Cup have triggered similar emotions from a guy like Titus? Probably not, though Chad Deering might've had something to do with that, or that fact the last man on the bench for a Big Ten basketball program likely didn't have an email address, let alone a popular blog.
That's merely one example and doesn't proof a theory correct, yet all summer at a friends house we were playing the latest FIFA World Cup game. Strangers would mosey on through, grab a controller and about 20 minutes later want to go out and buy a copy of the game.
Hell, this week I've seen ads for "FIFA 11" (coming out Tuesday) airing during "Sons of Anarchy" and "Tosh.0."
Soccer might still have the stigma of being boring for most Americans, yet it's not in video game form.
Not that it's adversely affecting the NFL's popularity, but it seems the public has reached "Madden" fatigue. There's only so much you can do with 32 NFL teams from a gameplay standpoint. For all the bells and whistles EA tries to add to each version of the game, it seems they haven't programmed any new plays since 1997. The same "money" plays then, still work now. (Has anyone ever run a successful draw in "Madden"?)
Fortunately in recent game engines, "FIFA" has moved beyond where if you had, say, 2001-version Thierry Henry you could run into any player and steal the ball or the designated sweet spots on the field, or how it was so easy to score on crosses. Nowadays there's a genuine 360-feel with real-life physics and weight to the game.
As an unrepentant "gamer" soccer somehow translates the best into digital form. After years of boring, repetitive gameplay, repetitive goals which was overall uninspiring, EA finally mastered the perfect system with "FIFA 09." The combination is perfect where you have enough control over the player and the ball movement that if you're using a player rated highly enough, you can basically do whatever you want, in other words the actuality Arsene Wenger's, "he is a Playstation."(*) Granted excelling at video games are inherently the truest form "you're a winner and a loser," but there are few things in the medium as lining up and scoring a sick goal in "FIFA."
(*) Odd, quick, tangent. Do games like "FIFA" or even "PES" help real-life players get a better feel for positioning and space on the field? Vladimir Guerrero famously learned about real-life pitchers as an Expos rookie via a baseball video game. Figure actual pros playing "FIFA" would have to help them in some manner on the field, right?
Beyond being downright fun, it's my firm believe "FIFA" has done as much to enlighten Americans about the world of soccer as anything else.
You're learning the names of players. The colors and badges of teams. A little bit of the structure of European and worldwide leagues.
Call it a psychology association test. Your brain is subconsciously learning, simply by looking at pictures and colors on the screen. Better yet, you're forging positive connotations between soccer and your neural synapses, so that when you hear an ESPN talking head reading a highlight featuring, "AC Roma" you know something is amiss. (Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is certainly up for debate.)
Granted, like all good things, there's a downside to "FIFA." It's not a lot of fun when seemingly 95 percent of online players pick to play as either: Real Madrid, Barcelona or Chelsea. And it does help contribute to the "know-it-all" aspects of American soccer fandom.
In the end, if you've played "FIFA" you're probably silently nodding along with all this, knowing it's helped enhance your soccer experience. If not, like always, you're probably thinking I forget to take my medication.
All I can say is that "FIFA" definitely pushed soccer's needle in the States. Hard to see a world where Fox Soccer Channel or GolTV or ESPN airing hundreds of hours of soccer content (online at least) without the groundwork laid by "FIFA" in the mid-to-late 1990s.
* * *
Arsene Wenger vs. the WorldLike most people, these days Michael Cera equals automatic cinematic no-fly zone. Sorry George Michael.
Again like most folks this summer, I avoided "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" despite the fact it was directed by Edgar Wright. Even without seeing the actual movie, I saw the trailer and have the general premise.
So, my challenge to people with better photo-shopping or digital editing skills would be to insert Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger into the movie/comic's basic trope and have him battle a string of villains named Sam Allardyce, Tony Pulis and Alex McLeish, all with the goal of winning the heart of wantaway Spanish midfielder Cesc Fabregas.
Half-surprised the Guardian and it's sometimes brilliant user-submitted photoshop-of-the-weeks haven't already tried this. Could be fun.
Too bad a real life fight featuring Wenger probably would be worse than the time Screech fought Horshack on "Celebrity Boxing."
Round Six Picks:
Best game of the weekend comes first, which I always find odd in the fact the NFL tries to build its weekend schedule to a crescendo with the best games either in the late afternoon or on Sunday night. Also note the earlier than usual Sunday a.m. kickoff for Manchester United.
Saturday:
* Manchester City v. Chelsea -- (Live ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) Take a bow Roberto Mancini. You might have more money at your disposal than your cross-city rival, Sir Alex Ferguson, but you still have a long way to go to catch up in the "Mind Games" department. Conceding the title to Chelsea? That's supposed to accomplish what exactly?
Everyone this week has tried to poke some mini-holes in Chelsea for it's toilet-paper soft first five matches, but complaining about that is on par with complaining that the members of Arcade Fire are too pretentious. It might be true, but it doesn't take away from the fact both Chelsea and Arcade Fire are talented and at the top of their respective games.
For the game itself? Chelsea won't have Frank Lampard, but a reinvigorated Michael Essien roaming the midfield moving into a more advanced position with Jon Obi Mikel and Ramires behind him. Saloman Kalou and Yossi Benayoun are dinged up, too, but they've been coming on late adding goals when games were already out of reach. Still, it's could mean Carlo Ancelotti has to play one of the young kids. City is in more trouble with it's defense even more of a mess due to injuries. City might have to play Gareth Barry at left back. How they'll cope without three holding midfielders?
City swept the two Premier League meeting with Chelsea last season, including pumping in four goals at Stamford Bridge.
If you're anti-Chelsea, you're hoping the Blues come out soft and rusty like Rocky after he beat Apollo Creed in the first Clubber Lang fight. (Not the loss to Newcastle in the Carling Cup.) However City don't seem to be nearly as cool (or as trash-talkingly awesome) as Mr. T, but without dipping too par into the Bill Simmons handy bag of Internet-approved tropes, you get the point. Will Chelsea crumble at the first sight of an opponent which approaches their level?
What it boils down to me is you have to like the Chelsea's 4-3-3 attack with Didier Drogba, Flourent Malouda and Nic Anelka finding a way through the patchwork City defense, instead of Carlos Tevez doing his Tasmanian devil impression all by himself. The one positive for City, is that since it got all the money from its rich benefactors, the club has been "up" for big matches, while saving its clunkers for the also-rans of the league. If City have a chance, they'll need to score early and make Chelse chase them. It's an unpredictable season, but I'll ride the Blue wave until it capsizes me. ... Manchester City 0, Chelsea 2
* Birmingham City v. Wigan Athletic -- I was about thiiiiis close to begin waxing how Birmingham was actually most the third or fourth best side in England, then Lee Bowyer insults a granny and it all turned to crap at the Hawthornes. Birmingham is good, but not so good that it can put matches on autopilot once it attains a 1-0 lead like the Chelseas of the world. That's simply the case when you get by on effort and grit, not natural ability. Don't scoff at that, however, Birmingham hasn't lost in 18-consecutive home matches extending past a calendar year. ... Birmingham City 2, Wigan 1
* West Ham United v. Tottenham -- Two. That's the number of matches West Ham has won in its last 17 -- nearly a half-season's worth of games. Avram Grant grabbed the flight stick and hasn't been able to pull the Irons out of the tailspin. A draw last weekend and a win in the Carling Cup are a start. Spurs being schizophrenic Spurs does give West Ham a glimmer of hope. Would a tie count as hope? Tottenham does have a Champions League match on Wednesday, but it's at White Hart Lane vs. FC Twente, so you'd think Harry Redknapp can get the squad to focus on West Ham. ... West Ham 1, Tottenham 1
* Liverpool v. Sunderland -- Cheer up Liverpool fans. Sure Los Reds lost to some team called Northampton in the Carling Cup. Sure, at Anfield when it rains it pours. Relax. It could be worse. Not a lot worse, but it could be worse ... maybe. Getting mad at Roy Hodsgon or the board or the terrible American owners? It's not going to help. The malaise Rafa left hasn't helped. No way. Michael Brown is probably more warmly received in New Orleans than Tom Hicks is on Merseyside. Fans, though, have to stay positive. Once the unrest starts again in the Kop it trickles down to the players. Saying all that, the team needs to get a result this weekend. Steven Gerrard and Jamie Carragher have to find a way to convey to the rest of the dressing room how important wearing that shirt is. It's cliche, but the Reds have to dig deep and find a way this weekend. What must be the most frustrating thing for fans is that there is talent on the field. There's nothing worse than theoretically "good" players not clicking or producing results. Fretting over tactics and strategy is one thing, it's another for the players to stand up and account for themselves. They won't have any beach balls to blame on Saturday. Will be a fascinating watch, especially if Steve Bruce can get across to his players how fun it would be to heap onto Liverpool's crisis. ... Liverpool 1, Sunderland 0
* Fulham v. Everton -- Which club had a worse Carling Cup on Tuesday? Fulham lost Mousa Dembele to an Andy Wilkinson challenge, meaning Eddie Johnson could quite possibly get his first Premier League start (unless I'm mistaken). For certain, Clint Dempsey takes on a more advanced role for the Cottagers, who basically only have Johnson and Swede David Elm as true forwards healthy enough to play. Meanwhile Everton's malaise continued, getting knocked out by Brentford, adding more pressure to David Moyes team. Perhaps this will be a landmark match, the first when two club teams in England began the day fielding matching 4-6-0s. ... Fulham 1, Everton 1
* Arsenal v. West Brom -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Better wash behind those ears before stepping onto the field at the Emirates, West Brom, or else you might risk upsetting Monsieur Wenger. No pledge pins on the uniform, either. Now just go out there, bend over and take your beating like a good away club, ok. Wait, what's that? You actually want to stand up and fight for yourself, instead of letting the Gunner's ballerina show pass you to death? The gall. The gall. Probably won't matter much. Arsenal is thrashing the weak sisters of the Prem at home, regardless of how many horrific slide tackles take place. ... Arsenal 3, West Brom 1
* Blackpool v. Blackburn Rovers -- I think I set the over/under on total season wins for Blackpool at three back in August. They could match that here. I actually like their chances. ... Blackpool 2, Blackburn 1
Sunday:
* Bolton v. Manchester United -- (Live, FSC+ 7 a.m.) Good litmus test to see if Manchester United is still Manchester United, meaning the Red Devils are on a 12-1-1 run vs. Bolton. This is one of those matches Ferguson pencils in three points before it starts. Wayne Rooney, too, owns all things Bolton stealing their proverbial lunch money with ease. Even with the win vs. Liverpool I'm not totally sold on United. Bolton's physical forward line of Kevin Davies and Johan Ellmander could give them fits. ... Bolton 1, Manchester United 3
* Wolves v. Aston Villa -- (Live, FSC+, 9:05 a.m.) Testy little derby match here. Not that huge a gap between the two clubs, aside from the fact Villa have a little more skill with guys like Ashley Young. ... Wolves 1, Aston Villa 1
* Newcastle United v. Stoke City -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) If Stoke City was ever going to break through with a bevvy of Rory Delap throw-in goals, it's here as Newcastle is fielding young untested Dutch keeper Tim Krul. Otherwise the Magpies should be feeling good about themselves after winning at Everton then beating Chelsea in the Carling Cup. Wonder if Hatem Ben Arfa was a one-week flash in the pan, or if he'll bring it every week? ... Newcastle United 2, Stoke City 1
Last round: 5-5
Season: 19-31
Labels: arsene wenger, Chelsea, EPL, EPL picks, fifa 11, manchester city, Soccer
Choose Your Own (Tracksuit) Adventure
6 Comments Published by Cardillo on September 22, 2010 at 2:35 PM.
There are obviously people around the globe that stay awake twisting and turning in their beds about real problems. Scientists fret if they'll ever discover a cure for cancer. Working middle class folks wonder if they'll still have a job in the morning. Unfortunate people in impoverished areas hope tomorrow will bring them a meal.
You know, real issues.
For me?
The huge social dilemma that kept me from meeting up with Mr. Sandman last week was: if there was a game the next morning, who would be the starting XI for the U.S. National Team?
But let's not get ahead of things. Tuck away that thought for the comments section.
Perhaps the real root cause of the underlying angst that plagues so many USMNT supporters is the utter lacking of compelling games that matter on the calendar. For every World Cup showdown with England, there are about 10 other forgettable games against over-matched CONCACAF foes or disinterested Scandinavian 'B' teams.
It's a mild surprise the U.S. hasn't been duped into playing the fake Togo squad.
Falling in the latter category are the upcoming matches in October with Poland and Columbia and November in South Africa. Yeah, it's nice to see the U.S. out there on the field, but with nothing at stake it's hard to enjoy them at face value. Instead, we need to break them down and obsess over them like Jim Garrison over the Zapbruder Film.
Now since we know Bob Bradley is coaching, there is are two routes these friendlies can take:
1. Call in the full squad, get some nice wins to gussy up the overall team's winning percentage for 2010. In essence, putting a cherry on top of the memorable year.
2. Call in an experimental/new squad,. evaluate them in training then give them some international experience. Think guys like Chivas USA striker Justin Braun getting a look.
Granted there are other factors at work. Bradley has to dance around MLS and its playoffs. He has to value if it's worth subjecting Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, etc. to another trans-Atlantic flight for games where nothing is truly at stake. Or does Bradley figure that he'll have an extended camp in January for MLSers and guys playing in Scandinavia (ie. Alejandro Bedoya) during those leagues winter breaks, so the only chance to intergrate the fringe/new players with the established core for a couple training sessions is October ahead of next summer's Gold Cup?
In light of not knowing which way Bradley decides to go, here are a few roster-type issues that could come into question heading into 2011. It's not a huge year for the U.S., but Bradley does need to find a squad that can (probably) best Mexico in the Gold Cup and earn a ticket to the 2013 Confederations Cup. Is this a be-all, end-all situation? Not really, but once again, it's not like the U.S. gets a ton of non-World Cup opportunities to flex its muscles against the world's best teams. If the U.S. fails to win the Gold Cup, between July 2011 and June 2014 all we'll have is the long-and-winding (and possibly changing) road of CONCACAF qualifiers.
Heeeellloooo Antigua.
Issue No. 1, Formation -- Bradley seems a slave to 4-4-2, or more specifically the dual holding/defensive midfield spots. This isn't a terrible idea for playing against better opponents in the World Cup. Against the majority of lesser CONCACAF teams, a tad wasteful.
The formation de riguer internationally is the 4-2-3-1 or some variant. Rare are top-level club teams fielding the traditional strike partnership, which Bradley seems to prefer. Bradley does utilize the holders/shielders/disruptors, yet none of the players in those slots are the greatest distributors, aside from Jose Torres who doesn't seem to have the requisite defensive commitment to earn Bradley's full trust.
For what its worth, I looked at the formations used last weekend in MLS. Only two teams (New England, DC) fielded straight 4-4-2s. The most usual lineup was a 4-1-3-2. Only FC Dallas, the Red Bulls and Columbus played lone striker systems. MLS, like it or not, does hold a bearing over the National Team, as at least most of the player pool passes through its doors at one point or another.
Remember at the moment Jozy Altidore seems like the only established, healthy striker for the U.S. that you can reasonably pencil in for a place in 2014.(*) Villareal appears to be fluctuating between a lone-striker system on the road and a two striker (Gio Rossi/Nilmar) at home. Bears watching. It's doubtful Villareal is isolating Altidore by himself for extended road stretches in the Europa League.
(*) Kind of silly trying to project this far down the line. Players will emerge.
Oh, and Charlie Davies has yet to play a competitive match with the Sochaux first team. I'll personally hold off on projecting where he figures into the mix once we actually see him play a match.
It's worth noting too, that the current MLS-leading scorer Edson Buddle is 29 years old.
If anything, Bradley should use these three matches on the docket to toy around and try some different things. The problem, as you'll see later on is that he's probably limited in what he can do.
Issue No. 2, Best Players in Same Spot -- Without factoring in goalies, where is the U.S. strong on the field?
Perhaps the best quartet of players for the U.S. is Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden and Benny Feilhaber (even if he's currently mired in the Danish second division), who when they suit up under Bradley all seem to play in the same position.
Is there a way to get all four on the field at once? Is that too-offensive dominated?
If we learned something from the last couple World Cups, teams that try to shoehorn all their best offensive players onto the field at once are going to run into trouble. The Dutch made the World Cup final barely using Rafael van der Vaart, as an example. Hell, by the end Fernando Torres (mainly due to his health) was a bit of an albatross on the field for champion Spain.
Consider this: Why couldn't Holden team up in the midfield with Michael Bradley? Holden is playing in the center of the park for Bolton in the Premier League. Sure he's a little small and not exactly a guy that breaks up plays and clogs passing lanes. Holden is holding his own against guys like Cesc Fabregas, so why not given him 90 minutes in the middle of the field against the Guatemalas of the world?
We saw how well Bob Bradley's commitment to pairing his son with a Ricardo Clark-type player worked. If the U.S.'s strength is speed and athleticism, why not focus on those attributes? Why be afraid to take the game to opponents from the opening whistle.
Issue No. 3, No defense -- Kind of contradicting myself here, but Bradley is probably going to stick to his conservative guns and play two holders, though I'm not sure Michael Bradley is exactly a holding player. He's most effective with darting runs up the field to cap off movements. Either way, the real crisis brewing in the U.S. backline.
Oguchi Onyewu can't get a match for AC Milan. Jay DeMerit, despite all the rumors, remains unemployed and on the wrong side of 30. Carlos Bocanegra isn't getting any younger, nor is Steve Cherundolo.
It's crazy to think, but the one consistency in the back might be Jonathan Bornstein.
It's more than nine months away, but are people confident with guys like Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson (who's actually 28) or maybe even Tim Ream playing a major role in the defense in a tournament that counts? How soon until the MLS-fanacticos start banging the drum to naturalize Columbus defender Andy Iro? (Or has it happened already?)
One guy that seems to be the next great American hope is Gale Agbossoumonde, who's only 18 and playing at Braga. If there's even a glimmer of hope for him actually playing a role in the next World Cup, Bradley is going to have to start integrating him now, which seems unlikely.
Quick tangent -- all these guys, Agbossoumonde, Sebastian Lletget, Luis Gil, Charles Renken, etc. To me? There's like minor league baseball players. If you're scouting for Fantasy or reading Baseball America, they're all touted to be great, sure-fire All-Stars. How many pan out? It's an easy trap to fall into, as the potential unknown does a lot more than the staid reality. Yes, it's easy for an ESPN 30-second pregame clip to tout the U-20s winning the Milk Cup and by transitive properties assume that it translate to the senior team. If the full senior team gets contributions from two or three players from that team it'll be a lot. Remember, for every teenage sensation like Wayne Rooney or Neymar, there are hundreds who flame out before they're 20. Don't believe me? Who's that kid that used to play for DC United ... ?
But back to the defensive issues, are international tactics changing off some of the World Cup experimentation? Could the U.S. ever switch to a three-man back line? Problem here is that the U.S. is lacking any wide players to slot into wingback roles, a position that just doesn't exist in American soccer.
My unconventional thought here is to consider Maurice Edu in a central defensive role. True, he plays in the midfield for Rangers. Yet the central midfield area is a place where the U.S. does have options. Edu has played defense in the past. It's a thought. Maybe you slot Jonathan Spector inside going forward, too.
Of all the places on the field, defense will undergo the biggest transition from 2010 to 2014, especially with the declining status of Onyewu, who himself is 28.
Issue No. 4, Schalke it to me -- Maybe it's just because I'm a jerk by nature, but I'm overly gaga about the Jermaine Jones Experience. The time he probably could have actually helped the USMNT the most was last June, not June 2014.
Nothing against the guy personally, but he'll be 29 in November. (See the pattern developing.) It's going to take some time to integrate him into the lineup, or simply how Bradley goes about business.
Better yet, is Jones that much of an upgrade over what Clark was bringing to the table? Take away the Bundesliga pedigree and I'll bet the margin of difference between the two isn't all that much. Don't forget, until his denouncement vs. Ghana, Clark wasn't that bad a player. Limited, yes, but useful in a way.
The one way Jones could work out is if he can man the defensive midfield all by his lonesome, allowing Michael Bradley to free up and join the attack on a more consistent basis.
Again, until he suits up in the U.S. kit, Jones' potential remains about as grounded in reality as Greek mythology.
Issue No. 5, Where Have All the Wide Players Gone? -- Not exactly true. The U.S. isn't exactly Chile or France when it comes to producing tricky wingers.
Problem is, the U.S. has one world-class outside player -- Donovan -- and he's proven capable of playing basically anywhere on the field.
Maybe a guy like Bedoya emerge. Maybe Bobby Convey gets another look. Maybe Bradley gives an underratedly talented crosser like Houston's Brad Davis a chance.
However you slice it, the lack of width limits anything the U.S. can do from a creative standpoint going forwad.
The good thing here for the U.S., there's time. Bradley has proven he'll look at a lot of players, even if he ends up forming a lot of unpopular favorites. The U.S. has talent, the problem is it comes in mostly similar pockets on the field.
As the U.S. transitions to 2011, there seems to be about four distinct pools of players forming: 1. the Pontential Starlets who might not be ready until the cusp of the Cup (think Agbossoumonde); 2. Young MLS-types (think Braun); 3. Journeyman MLSers (think Convey or Eddie Gaven/Robbie Rogers) 4. European travelers (ranging the gambit from Adu to Eddie Johnson to Kenny Cooper) and 5. the old, proven hands. (Donovan, Dempsey, etc.)
The problem is, it's going to be hard to ignore what Jurgen Klinsmann said in that interview with Sasha Victorine. How many U.S. soccer fans were nodding along as the German talked about the U.S. needing to develop a style of play?
Maybe Klinsmann is a blond-haired version of Sven-Goran Eriksson and just full of crap. Who knows. Maybe he would have brought in a new set of ideas and a fresh outlook. Or maybe he's saying stuff the fans want to hear and he saw the tricky roster dilemmas brewing and found an out.
Either way, U.S. fans are going wonder for the next four years if Bradley will be flexible enough to find the right lineup and system that works. Of course, if I'd written this post four years ago would anyone have expected Herculez Gomez would have made the 2010 World Cup roster.
Pick Your XI:
Simple question. Love to see what readers think.
If the U.S. had a match tomorrow with something at stake, who are you throwing out there?
Here's my selection. Doubt more than four or five guys would start in 2014, but here goes anyway.
Call it that 4-1-4-1
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Spector -- Bocanegra -- Edu --Bornstein
DEF MID -- Jones
MID -- Dempsey, Bradley, Holden, Donovan
FOR -- Altidore
Though I said I'm not crazy about Jones, I'd have to throw him out there since he's the only player out there that gives me enough confidence to field that attack-minded midfield. Altidore probably works best with a partner, but who is that guy right now? This formation allows either Dempsey or Donovan to drift forward into the more tradition diamond.
The main purpose of this post, however, is finding out what you gives think. So be sure to fire up your hypothetical XI in the comments.
One personal note:
Don't want to get sappy, but my father had to go to the hospital early Tuesday for (hopefully) a minor abdominal problem. He could be there a few days and as everyone knows, being bed-ridden is no fun whatsover. My hope is that reading this post occupies his time for a few minutes more than "Judge Judy" re-runs.
If it wasn't for my dad's love of the game and his passion for sitting through those brutal Univision feeds the USMNT was stuck on in the early 1990s, there's no chance this blog ever exists.
Get well soon.
You know, real issues.
For me?
The huge social dilemma that kept me from meeting up with Mr. Sandman last week was: if there was a game the next morning, who would be the starting XI for the U.S. National Team?
But let's not get ahead of things. Tuck away that thought for the comments section.
Perhaps the real root cause of the underlying angst that plagues so many USMNT supporters is the utter lacking of compelling games that matter on the calendar. For every World Cup showdown with England, there are about 10 other forgettable games against over-matched CONCACAF foes or disinterested Scandinavian 'B' teams.
It's a mild surprise the U.S. hasn't been duped into playing the fake Togo squad.
Falling in the latter category are the upcoming matches in October with Poland and Columbia and November in South Africa. Yeah, it's nice to see the U.S. out there on the field, but with nothing at stake it's hard to enjoy them at face value. Instead, we need to break them down and obsess over them like Jim Garrison over the Zapbruder Film.
Now since we know Bob Bradley is coaching, there is are two routes these friendlies can take:
1. Call in the full squad, get some nice wins to gussy up the overall team's winning percentage for 2010. In essence, putting a cherry on top of the memorable year.
2. Call in an experimental/new squad,. evaluate them in training then give them some international experience. Think guys like Chivas USA striker Justin Braun getting a look.
Granted there are other factors at work. Bradley has to dance around MLS and its playoffs. He has to value if it's worth subjecting Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, etc. to another trans-Atlantic flight for games where nothing is truly at stake. Or does Bradley figure that he'll have an extended camp in January for MLSers and guys playing in Scandinavia (ie. Alejandro Bedoya) during those leagues winter breaks, so the only chance to intergrate the fringe/new players with the established core for a couple training sessions is October ahead of next summer's Gold Cup?
In light of not knowing which way Bradley decides to go, here are a few roster-type issues that could come into question heading into 2011. It's not a huge year for the U.S., but Bradley does need to find a squad that can (probably) best Mexico in the Gold Cup and earn a ticket to the 2013 Confederations Cup. Is this a be-all, end-all situation? Not really, but once again, it's not like the U.S. gets a ton of non-World Cup opportunities to flex its muscles against the world's best teams. If the U.S. fails to win the Gold Cup, between July 2011 and June 2014 all we'll have is the long-and-winding (and possibly changing) road of CONCACAF qualifiers.
Heeeellloooo Antigua.
Issue No. 1, Formation -- Bradley seems a slave to 4-4-2, or more specifically the dual holding/defensive midfield spots. This isn't a terrible idea for playing against better opponents in the World Cup. Against the majority of lesser CONCACAF teams, a tad wasteful.
The formation de riguer internationally is the 4-2-3-1 or some variant. Rare are top-level club teams fielding the traditional strike partnership, which Bradley seems to prefer. Bradley does utilize the holders/shielders/disruptors, yet none of the players in those slots are the greatest distributors, aside from Jose Torres who doesn't seem to have the requisite defensive commitment to earn Bradley's full trust.
For what its worth, I looked at the formations used last weekend in MLS. Only two teams (New England, DC) fielded straight 4-4-2s. The most usual lineup was a 4-1-3-2. Only FC Dallas, the Red Bulls and Columbus played lone striker systems. MLS, like it or not, does hold a bearing over the National Team, as at least most of the player pool passes through its doors at one point or another.
Remember at the moment Jozy Altidore seems like the only established, healthy striker for the U.S. that you can reasonably pencil in for a place in 2014.(*) Villareal appears to be fluctuating between a lone-striker system on the road and a two striker (Gio Rossi/Nilmar) at home. Bears watching. It's doubtful Villareal is isolating Altidore by himself for extended road stretches in the Europa League.
(*) Kind of silly trying to project this far down the line. Players will emerge.
Oh, and Charlie Davies has yet to play a competitive match with the Sochaux first team. I'll personally hold off on projecting where he figures into the mix once we actually see him play a match.
It's worth noting too, that the current MLS-leading scorer Edson Buddle is 29 years old.
If anything, Bradley should use these three matches on the docket to toy around and try some different things. The problem, as you'll see later on is that he's probably limited in what he can do.
Issue No. 2, Best Players in Same Spot -- Without factoring in goalies, where is the U.S. strong on the field?
Perhaps the best quartet of players for the U.S. is Landon Donovan, Clint Dempsey, Stuart Holden and Benny Feilhaber (even if he's currently mired in the Danish second division), who when they suit up under Bradley all seem to play in the same position.
Is there a way to get all four on the field at once? Is that too-offensive dominated?
If we learned something from the last couple World Cups, teams that try to shoehorn all their best offensive players onto the field at once are going to run into trouble. The Dutch made the World Cup final barely using Rafael van der Vaart, as an example. Hell, by the end Fernando Torres (mainly due to his health) was a bit of an albatross on the field for champion Spain.
Consider this: Why couldn't Holden team up in the midfield with Michael Bradley? Holden is playing in the center of the park for Bolton in the Premier League. Sure he's a little small and not exactly a guy that breaks up plays and clogs passing lanes. Holden is holding his own against guys like Cesc Fabregas, so why not given him 90 minutes in the middle of the field against the Guatemalas of the world?
We saw how well Bob Bradley's commitment to pairing his son with a Ricardo Clark-type player worked. If the U.S.'s strength is speed and athleticism, why not focus on those attributes? Why be afraid to take the game to opponents from the opening whistle.
Issue No. 3, No defense -- Kind of contradicting myself here, but Bradley is probably going to stick to his conservative guns and play two holders, though I'm not sure Michael Bradley is exactly a holding player. He's most effective with darting runs up the field to cap off movements. Either way, the real crisis brewing in the U.S. backline.
Oguchi Onyewu can't get a match for AC Milan. Jay DeMerit, despite all the rumors, remains unemployed and on the wrong side of 30. Carlos Bocanegra isn't getting any younger, nor is Steve Cherundolo.
It's crazy to think, but the one consistency in the back might be Jonathan Bornstein.
It's more than nine months away, but are people confident with guys like Omar Gonzalez, Clarence Goodson (who's actually 28) or maybe even Tim Ream playing a major role in the defense in a tournament that counts? How soon until the MLS-fanacticos start banging the drum to naturalize Columbus defender Andy Iro? (Or has it happened already?)
One guy that seems to be the next great American hope is Gale Agbossoumonde, who's only 18 and playing at Braga. If there's even a glimmer of hope for him actually playing a role in the next World Cup, Bradley is going to have to start integrating him now, which seems unlikely.
Quick tangent -- all these guys, Agbossoumonde, Sebastian Lletget, Luis Gil, Charles Renken, etc. To me? There's like minor league baseball players. If you're scouting for Fantasy or reading Baseball America, they're all touted to be great, sure-fire All-Stars. How many pan out? It's an easy trap to fall into, as the potential unknown does a lot more than the staid reality. Yes, it's easy for an ESPN 30-second pregame clip to tout the U-20s winning the Milk Cup and by transitive properties assume that it translate to the senior team. If the full senior team gets contributions from two or three players from that team it'll be a lot. Remember, for every teenage sensation like Wayne Rooney or Neymar, there are hundreds who flame out before they're 20. Don't believe me? Who's that kid that used to play for DC United ... ?
But back to the defensive issues, are international tactics changing off some of the World Cup experimentation? Could the U.S. ever switch to a three-man back line? Problem here is that the U.S. is lacking any wide players to slot into wingback roles, a position that just doesn't exist in American soccer.
My unconventional thought here is to consider Maurice Edu in a central defensive role. True, he plays in the midfield for Rangers. Yet the central midfield area is a place where the U.S. does have options. Edu has played defense in the past. It's a thought. Maybe you slot Jonathan Spector inside going forward, too.
Of all the places on the field, defense will undergo the biggest transition from 2010 to 2014, especially with the declining status of Onyewu, who himself is 28.
Issue No. 4, Schalke it to me -- Maybe it's just because I'm a jerk by nature, but I'm overly gaga about the Jermaine Jones Experience. The time he probably could have actually helped the USMNT the most was last June, not June 2014.
Nothing against the guy personally, but he'll be 29 in November. (See the pattern developing.) It's going to take some time to integrate him into the lineup, or simply how Bradley goes about business.
Better yet, is Jones that much of an upgrade over what Clark was bringing to the table? Take away the Bundesliga pedigree and I'll bet the margin of difference between the two isn't all that much. Don't forget, until his denouncement vs. Ghana, Clark wasn't that bad a player. Limited, yes, but useful in a way.
The one way Jones could work out is if he can man the defensive midfield all by his lonesome, allowing Michael Bradley to free up and join the attack on a more consistent basis.
Again, until he suits up in the U.S. kit, Jones' potential remains about as grounded in reality as Greek mythology.
Issue No. 5, Where Have All the Wide Players Gone? -- Not exactly true. The U.S. isn't exactly Chile or France when it comes to producing tricky wingers.
Problem is, the U.S. has one world-class outside player -- Donovan -- and he's proven capable of playing basically anywhere on the field.
Maybe a guy like Bedoya emerge. Maybe Bobby Convey gets another look. Maybe Bradley gives an underratedly talented crosser like Houston's Brad Davis a chance.
However you slice it, the lack of width limits anything the U.S. can do from a creative standpoint going forwad.
* * *
The good thing here for the U.S., there's time. Bradley has proven he'll look at a lot of players, even if he ends up forming a lot of unpopular favorites. The U.S. has talent, the problem is it comes in mostly similar pockets on the field.
As the U.S. transitions to 2011, there seems to be about four distinct pools of players forming: 1. the Pontential Starlets who might not be ready until the cusp of the Cup (think Agbossoumonde); 2. Young MLS-types (think Braun); 3. Journeyman MLSers (think Convey or Eddie Gaven/Robbie Rogers) 4. European travelers (ranging the gambit from Adu to Eddie Johnson to Kenny Cooper) and 5. the old, proven hands. (Donovan, Dempsey, etc.)
The problem is, it's going to be hard to ignore what Jurgen Klinsmann said in that interview with Sasha Victorine. How many U.S. soccer fans were nodding along as the German talked about the U.S. needing to develop a style of play?
Maybe Klinsmann is a blond-haired version of Sven-Goran Eriksson and just full of crap. Who knows. Maybe he would have brought in a new set of ideas and a fresh outlook. Or maybe he's saying stuff the fans want to hear and he saw the tricky roster dilemmas brewing and found an out.
Either way, U.S. fans are going wonder for the next four years if Bradley will be flexible enough to find the right lineup and system that works. Of course, if I'd written this post four years ago would anyone have expected Herculez Gomez would have made the 2010 World Cup roster.
Pick Your XI:
Simple question. Love to see what readers think.
If the U.S. had a match tomorrow with something at stake, who are you throwing out there?
Here's my selection. Doubt more than four or five guys would start in 2014, but here goes anyway.
Call it that 4-1-4-1
GK -- Howard
DEF -- Spector -- Bocanegra -- Edu --Bornstein
DEF MID -- Jones
MID -- Dempsey, Bradley, Holden, Donovan
FOR -- Altidore
Though I said I'm not crazy about Jones, I'd have to throw him out there since he's the only player out there that gives me enough confidence to field that attack-minded midfield. Altidore probably works best with a partner, but who is that guy right now? This formation allows either Dempsey or Donovan to drift forward into the more tradition diamond.
The main purpose of this post, however, is finding out what you gives think. So be sure to fire up your hypothetical XI in the comments.
One personal note:
Don't want to get sappy, but my father had to go to the hospital early Tuesday for (hopefully) a minor abdominal problem. He could be there a few days and as everyone knows, being bed-ridden is no fun whatsover. My hope is that reading this post occupies his time for a few minutes more than "Judge Judy" re-runs.
If it wasn't for my dad's love of the game and his passion for sitting through those brutal Univision feeds the USMNT was stuck on in the early 1990s, there's no chance this blog ever exists.
Get well soon.
Labels: bob bradley, charlie davies, clint dempsey, Jozy Altidore, Landon Donovan, oguchi onyewu, Soccer, USMNT
EPL Monday: Better Living Through Technology
2 Comments Published by Cardillo on September 20, 2010 at 11:30 AM.
Remember that early-era "Seinfeld" episode where one of the main Jerry plots was his attempts to avoid finding out the score of a Mets game he'd taped. Call it the perfect 1991 time capsule. Someone wanting to record the Mets? VCRs? (And VCR programming jokes.) Though it was only 19 years ago there are times it feels like a "Seinfeld" rerun is sepia-toned nostalgia with plots revolving around George renting a Ford Model T.
Think about? How, in the year 2010, could you actively last an entire night in a major metropolitan city without finding out a live update? Granted the DVR is infinitely easier to use than old VHS tapes, yet with cell phones and ESPN's crawl you basically have to sequester yourself in the west wing of Jeffrey Lebowski's estate to avoid being spoiled.
Hell the term "Spoiler Alert" is one of the cornerstones of Internet culture.
Long story short trying here was my Sunday morning in a nutshell, which involved advancements in how we watch, follow and consume sports.
Woke up on four hours sleep after a Saturday night stag party, fired up my laptop to watch about 35-odd minutes of Manchester United hosting Liverpool. That's crazy enough as it is, live sports streaming through you're computer, yet by now it's old hat. In fact there's probably a fantastic magazine piece waiting to be written about people watching live sports streamed (legally and illegally) via the Internet and the people who actually host the streams themselves.
Then, since I play on in a Sunday morning softball league, I checked out to hit the diamond. Missed Fernando Torres forgetting how to mark. Missed Dimitar Berbatov's first goal.
But I didn't really miss it. Following through Twitter was the next-best thing. Granted, Twitter via its 140 characters can't properly express Berbatov's museum-piece goal, but judging by the amount of exclamation points there was a sense it was something that needed to been seen by human eyes, post haste.
I'm not going to lie, the vicarious thrills of following Liverpool fans experience the highs of a comeback through the wonder of Steven Gerard, only for Berbatov to "put his name on it", and complete his hat trick in the 3-2 thriller, told the tale of what transpired on the turf at Old Trafford almost as good as the commentary of Jon Champion.
Still, pictures were necessary for this one. So within 25 minutes of the final out of my second softball game, the laptop came back out and the wonder of what happened over the final 65 minutes across the Atlantic Ocean were a "tube site" away.
Ah, Bartleby.
Ah, Technology.
At the rate it's going, just sign me up for the neural implant. Then I can watch Berbatov's game-winner while I'm legging possibly the world's slowest triple.
About that Manchester United/Liverpool game itself:
Hard to get a gauge, as you could guess. Obviously a tremendous result for United. Berbatov's impressive early-season form masked over Wayne Rooney's struggles, albeit in a languid (™), sullen-eyed manner.
If Berbatov maintains his current goal-scoring prowess (six goals, six games + one in the Community Shield) that gives United two mega-scorers (guys with 20-goal potential) alongside Rooney. Throw in what the Red Devils will likely receive from Nani (6-7 goals), Ryan Giggs (2-4), Paul Scholes (3-5), Darren Fletcher (2-3), Nemanja Vidic (2-4 on set pieces) and they'll be able to punch their weight offensively. Point is, unlike at times last season, if Berbatov maintains his Jean Reno-esque professionalism inside the box, Rooney won't have to be a bald, angry, stubby-armed Superman every weekend.
It's not as much across-the-board power as Chelsea, but it should serve United well enough.
Perhaps too early to gauge but United's season likely comes down the 12 points available vs. Arsenal and Chelsea. United, as we've seen, aren't invincible so maximizing points against the two other legitimate title contenders likely will decide it.
As for Liverpool? Let's turn to Ace Cowboy, who was one of the Tweeters that kept me up to date.
Liverpool now have amassed just five points and sit in 16th place. That speaks for itself. Since I'm actually in a good mood, I'll just leave it at that. At least the Reds are still above Everton in the table.
Deja vu all over again:
As I've said plenty times before. Arsene Wenger is almost too easy to make jokes about.
That said, this weekend I agreed with the Frenchman. Saturday's game at Sunderland probably should have been whistled dead before Darren Bent scored on the last kick of the match to tie it 1-1. Stoppage time appeared long over by nearly 20 seconds. Yet that's one of those splitting hairs moments. Sometimes stoppage time eats you, sometimes you eat it.
By the same token: 1. The Cesc Fabregas goal was as 100-percent fluky as humanly possible without Jose Cancesco's involvement. 2. Tomas Rosicky missed a late penalty (shades of Nani vs. Fulham). 3. Gael Clichy's clearance attempt was shanked worse than a Charles Barkley tee-shot.
The bigger irony is it's usually Arsenal who's stealing points at the last second, not vice versa. It didn't help either, the Gunners looked fine playing most of the match with 10 men.
And as usual, Wenger wasn't exactly gracious in defeat.
Coughing up two points at the death obviously taste much worse when Fabregas pulls his hamstring. Arsenal are still better than about 80 percent of the Prem without the Spanish midfielder. However the club isn't winning any silverware with Cesc on the shelf.
That's Baseball, Suze:
Okay, that title reference only people with knowledge of New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling would understand. However, I've co-opted it for everyday life to explain the unexplainable, particularly in sporting situations.
Things, happen ... that's baseball.
As was the case Saturday at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham must've had about eight solid chances from crosses and free kicks in the first half vs. Wolves -- the irony is Peter Crouch is tall, but not exactly the world's best header of the ball. Almost on cue, Wolves have one chance early in the second half and the surprisingly heavily-tatted up Stephen Fletcher bungles it into the net.
Perfect. Isn't that soccer? One team dominates possession, yet the other gets a glimmer of opportunity and puts the ball into the back of the net?
Spurs, though, found a way to pull it out of the fire thanks to a Rafael van der Vaart penalty kick and then a fortunate bounce to tee up Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The one takeaway from Spurs is that they're actually a team who finds its best offensive chances by putting the ball into space where players can run onto it, not the high-ball game. No matter, Spurs won a game after playing in Europe during the week and van der Vaart looks right at home pulling the streams and assuming that much-needed alpha-dog role in the squad.
Other games of Note:
* Blackburn 1, Fulham 1 -- Clint Dempsey got the equalizer on a header for Fulham on an all-around frisky day for the Texan. Bobby Zamora's ankle injury opened the door for Dempsey to get off the bench, where he'd been under Mark Hughes management. Dempsey made the most of it. Seems like I mention him every week, but Christopher Samba is playing with as much heart-and-hustle as any defender in England. Oh and Eddie Johnson's No. 1 attribute seems to be a Jozy-like ability to go to ground at the slightest contact. Fulham have yet to lose this year and host Everton next weekend.
* Everton 0, Newcastle United 1 -- Everton sleepwalked through the match and went down on Hatem Ben Arfa's terrific opposite direction shot. Ben Ar(rrrrrr)fa was no doubt inspired by Sunday's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" festivities. Everton had some chances late, but Yakubu hit the post and Maroune Felaini saw a last second would-be tap it deflected over the goal. Newcastle lost starting keeping Steven Harper to a shoulder injury on a collision with Jermaine Beckford. Dutch youngster Tim Krul took over. The second-best moment of this match came late when an elderly Evertonian angrily waved his cane in the direction of Kevin Nolan. Priceless.
Around the League:
Thanks to reader Jared Dunn's creativity spawned on a Twitter "hashtag" of "footballerbands" it was fun to see Peter Odemwingie score twice in West Brom's come-from-behind 3-1 win over rival Birmingham City. I'll never be able to differentiate the Nigerian-cum-Uzbek striker from his fake band, "Odemwingie Malmsteen." ... Chelsea, in a televised game, once again blow away a team in a game lacking any drama whatsoever. At least Chelsea have Manchester City and Arsenal on the horizon. Then we'll get a grasp if Chelsea is toying with everyone else, or if its guady 5-0-0 record is inflated by playing: West Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool. ... Stuart Holden played a role in Bolton's equalizer against Aston Villa, a movement which was finished from close range by Kevin Davies, who of course I'd cut from my fantasy EPL team this week. Ashley Young had given Villa the lead on a nice bending freekick as Gerard Houllier watched from the stands. He's now on track to actually start coaching in October. ... Not sure why watching Steven Ireland in an Aston Villa shirt made me think he should be wearing an orange New York Yankees fitted cap and slinging with White Mike and Frog from season two of "The Wire." ... West Ham have a point. Cue the celebration. ... After five rounds 13 of the league's 20 teams are between eight and five points.
Why Does My Brain Make These Associations Dept.?:
Why this was the first thing written atop my Prem notes Saturday morning, we'll never know. All I know is it happened, akin to the apple falling on Newtown's head.
Ryan Shawcross: Breaker of Legs, Shatterer of Dreams.
Justin Bieber(*): Pop Star, potential starter on the Canadian National basketball team.
Why do I think they lookalike? And does it mean Shawcross is the toughest lesbian on the planet? Be thankful you're not me.
(*) My birthday is in a couple weeks. It's the day of the Kennedy Assassination. Look it up. I'll be 30. At the gym this week I caught the final 30-odd minutes of the MTV Video Awards. Call it a "get off my lawn" moment, since I'd never felt older and more culturally out of touch.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Jeremy Swarbrick's FC Woodcrest put up 79 points with big weeks from Flourent Malouda, Berbatov, Dider Drogba, Clint Dempsey and Nani. That's a lot of goals.
Quick USMNT Hmmmm?:
So Jurgen Klinsmann finally speaks? And it's on the Kansas City Wizards pregame show? Huh?
The more information that comes out about the process for hiring the U.S. National Team coach, the worse USSF president Sunil Gulati looks. He talks about wanting a foreign coach, then won't give a guy with a decent, stress decent resume -- albeit a respected figure in the game internationally -- a chance to pick his technical staff?
Best point Klinsmann makes it building an identity in style of play for both the USMNT and for MLS teams. Not sure if Klinsmann would have been a success, but at least he was bringing some different ideas and different approach. That way we'd have an "A" sample, i.e. the U.S.-centric approach and then "B" the Euro/foreign approach and see which worked better.
More than that, at this point can we take anything Gulati officially says to the press on-record at face value? Should anyone have done so in the first place?
Well, if Gulati ever wanted to make Bob Bradley look like a sympathetic figure this is how to do it. Maybe Gulati's been taking management advice from Tom Hicks.
One Other Thing:
"Mad Men" might be one of my favorite shows, but it doesn't diminish my disdain for advertising. Dodge's new commercial that insinuates George Washington won the American Revolution against the British by driving a Charger is flatly insulting and almost an affront to history.
At least Sunday's are now a true powerhouse for quality television the next couple weeks with "Mad Men," "Boardwalk Empire," and "Venture Bros." all airing within a three-hour window.
Think about? How, in the year 2010, could you actively last an entire night in a major metropolitan city without finding out a live update? Granted the DVR is infinitely easier to use than old VHS tapes, yet with cell phones and ESPN's crawl you basically have to sequester yourself in the west wing of Jeffrey Lebowski's estate to avoid being spoiled.
Hell the term "Spoiler Alert" is one of the cornerstones of Internet culture.
Long story short trying here was my Sunday morning in a nutshell, which involved advancements in how we watch, follow and consume sports.
Woke up on four hours sleep after a Saturday night stag party, fired up my laptop to watch about 35-odd minutes of Manchester United hosting Liverpool. That's crazy enough as it is, live sports streaming through you're computer, yet by now it's old hat. In fact there's probably a fantastic magazine piece waiting to be written about people watching live sports streamed (legally and illegally) via the Internet and the people who actually host the streams themselves.
Then, since I play on in a Sunday morning softball league, I checked out to hit the diamond. Missed Fernando Torres forgetting how to mark. Missed Dimitar Berbatov's first goal.
But I didn't really miss it. Following through Twitter was the next-best thing. Granted, Twitter via its 140 characters can't properly express Berbatov's museum-piece goal, but judging by the amount of exclamation points there was a sense it was something that needed to been seen by human eyes, post haste.
I'm not going to lie, the vicarious thrills of following Liverpool fans experience the highs of a comeback through the wonder of Steven Gerard, only for Berbatov to "put his name on it", and complete his hat trick in the 3-2 thriller, told the tale of what transpired on the turf at Old Trafford almost as good as the commentary of Jon Champion.
Still, pictures were necessary for this one. So within 25 minutes of the final out of my second softball game, the laptop came back out and the wonder of what happened over the final 65 minutes across the Atlantic Ocean were a "tube site" away.
Ah, Bartleby.
Ah, Technology.
At the rate it's going, just sign me up for the neural implant. Then I can watch Berbatov's game-winner while I'm legging possibly the world's slowest triple.
About that Manchester United/Liverpool game itself:
Hard to get a gauge, as you could guess. Obviously a tremendous result for United. Berbatov's impressive early-season form masked over Wayne Rooney's struggles, albeit in a languid (™), sullen-eyed manner.
If Berbatov maintains his current goal-scoring prowess (six goals, six games + one in the Community Shield) that gives United two mega-scorers (guys with 20-goal potential) alongside Rooney. Throw in what the Red Devils will likely receive from Nani (6-7 goals), Ryan Giggs (2-4), Paul Scholes (3-5), Darren Fletcher (2-3), Nemanja Vidic (2-4 on set pieces) and they'll be able to punch their weight offensively. Point is, unlike at times last season, if Berbatov maintains his Jean Reno-esque professionalism inside the box, Rooney won't have to be a bald, angry, stubby-armed Superman every weekend.
It's not as much across-the-board power as Chelsea, but it should serve United well enough.
Perhaps too early to gauge but United's season likely comes down the 12 points available vs. Arsenal and Chelsea. United, as we've seen, aren't invincible so maximizing points against the two other legitimate title contenders likely will decide it.
As for Liverpool? Let's turn to Ace Cowboy, who was one of the Tweeters that kept me up to date.
For United, the story's all about The Draculan Emergence. Dimitar Berbatov finally justified his transfer fee and top billing by dominating the opposing Scouse defense, flashing pieces of individual brilliance and completely sucking the blood out of Liverpool's supporters. Berbatov alone deserved those three points. His second may stand up as goal of the year when all is said and done.
For Liverpool, the story's not as clear. Could it have been due to Fernando Torres' only giving a fuck for 15 of the 90 minutes (not coincidentally, the only 15 minutes in which Liverpool formed any semblance of an attack)? Could it have been due to a stunning lack of width, Joe Cole's ineptitude and Dirk Kuyt's absence? Could it have been to Uncle Roy's decision to play Gerrard in a role far too deep from where he should be playing? Or could it have been due to a fantastic cross from John O'Shea after the Irishman should've been sent off for his last-man tackle of temporarily less-indolent Torres? Any. All.
Liverpool now have amassed just five points and sit in 16th place. That speaks for itself. Since I'm actually in a good mood, I'll just leave it at that. At least the Reds are still above Everton in the table.
Deja vu all over again:
As I've said plenty times before. Arsene Wenger is almost too easy to make jokes about.
That said, this weekend I agreed with the Frenchman. Saturday's game at Sunderland probably should have been whistled dead before Darren Bent scored on the last kick of the match to tie it 1-1. Stoppage time appeared long over by nearly 20 seconds. Yet that's one of those splitting hairs moments. Sometimes stoppage time eats you, sometimes you eat it.
By the same token: 1. The Cesc Fabregas goal was as 100-percent fluky as humanly possible without Jose Cancesco's involvement. 2. Tomas Rosicky missed a late penalty (shades of Nani vs. Fulham). 3. Gael Clichy's clearance attempt was shanked worse than a Charles Barkley tee-shot.
The bigger irony is it's usually Arsenal who's stealing points at the last second, not vice versa. It didn't help either, the Gunners looked fine playing most of the match with 10 men.
And as usual, Wenger wasn't exactly gracious in defeat.
Coughing up two points at the death obviously taste much worse when Fabregas pulls his hamstring. Arsenal are still better than about 80 percent of the Prem without the Spanish midfielder. However the club isn't winning any silverware with Cesc on the shelf.
That's Baseball, Suze:
Okay, that title reference only people with knowledge of New York Yankees radio announcer John Sterling would understand. However, I've co-opted it for everyday life to explain the unexplainable, particularly in sporting situations.
Things, happen ... that's baseball.
As was the case Saturday at White Hart Lane.
Tottenham must've had about eight solid chances from crosses and free kicks in the first half vs. Wolves -- the irony is Peter Crouch is tall, but not exactly the world's best header of the ball. Almost on cue, Wolves have one chance early in the second half and the surprisingly heavily-tatted up Stephen Fletcher bungles it into the net.
Perfect. Isn't that soccer? One team dominates possession, yet the other gets a glimmer of opportunity and puts the ball into the back of the net?
Spurs, though, found a way to pull it out of the fire thanks to a Rafael van der Vaart penalty kick and then a fortunate bounce to tee up Roman Pavlyuchenko.
The one takeaway from Spurs is that they're actually a team who finds its best offensive chances by putting the ball into space where players can run onto it, not the high-ball game. No matter, Spurs won a game after playing in Europe during the week and van der Vaart looks right at home pulling the streams and assuming that much-needed alpha-dog role in the squad.
Other games of Note:
* Blackburn 1, Fulham 1 -- Clint Dempsey got the equalizer on a header for Fulham on an all-around frisky day for the Texan. Bobby Zamora's ankle injury opened the door for Dempsey to get off the bench, where he'd been under Mark Hughes management. Dempsey made the most of it. Seems like I mention him every week, but Christopher Samba is playing with as much heart-and-hustle as any defender in England. Oh and Eddie Johnson's No. 1 attribute seems to be a Jozy-like ability to go to ground at the slightest contact. Fulham have yet to lose this year and host Everton next weekend.
* Everton 0, Newcastle United 1 -- Everton sleepwalked through the match and went down on Hatem Ben Arfa's terrific opposite direction shot. Ben Ar(rrrrrr)fa was no doubt inspired by Sunday's "Talk Like a Pirate Day" festivities. Everton had some chances late, but Yakubu hit the post and Maroune Felaini saw a last second would-be tap it deflected over the goal. Newcastle lost starting keeping Steven Harper to a shoulder injury on a collision with Jermaine Beckford. Dutch youngster Tim Krul took over. The second-best moment of this match came late when an elderly Evertonian angrily waved his cane in the direction of Kevin Nolan. Priceless.
Around the League:
Thanks to reader Jared Dunn's creativity spawned on a Twitter "hashtag" of "footballerbands" it was fun to see Peter Odemwingie score twice in West Brom's come-from-behind 3-1 win over rival Birmingham City. I'll never be able to differentiate the Nigerian-cum-Uzbek striker from his fake band, "Odemwingie Malmsteen." ... Chelsea, in a televised game, once again blow away a team in a game lacking any drama whatsoever. At least Chelsea have Manchester City and Arsenal on the horizon. Then we'll get a grasp if Chelsea is toying with everyone else, or if its guady 5-0-0 record is inflated by playing: West Brom, Wigan, Stoke, West Ham and Blackpool. ... Stuart Holden played a role in Bolton's equalizer against Aston Villa, a movement which was finished from close range by Kevin Davies, who of course I'd cut from my fantasy EPL team this week. Ashley Young had given Villa the lead on a nice bending freekick as Gerard Houllier watched from the stands. He's now on track to actually start coaching in October. ... Not sure why watching Steven Ireland in an Aston Villa shirt made me think he should be wearing an orange New York Yankees fitted cap and slinging with White Mike and Frog from season two of "The Wire." ... West Ham have a point. Cue the celebration. ... After five rounds 13 of the league's 20 teams are between eight and five points.
Why Does My Brain Make These Associations Dept.?:
Why this was the first thing written atop my Prem notes Saturday morning, we'll never know. All I know is it happened, akin to the apple falling on Newtown's head.
Ryan Shawcross: Breaker of Legs, Shatterer of Dreams.
Justin Bieber(*): Pop Star, potential starter on the Canadian National basketball team.
Why do I think they lookalike? And does it mean Shawcross is the toughest lesbian on the planet? Be thankful you're not me.
(*) My birthday is in a couple weeks. It's the day of the Kennedy Assassination. Look it up. I'll be 30. At the gym this week I caught the final 30-odd minutes of the MTV Video Awards. Call it a "get off my lawn" moment, since I'd never felt older and more culturally out of touch.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Jeremy Swarbrick's FC Woodcrest put up 79 points with big weeks from Flourent Malouda, Berbatov, Dider Drogba, Clint Dempsey and Nani. That's a lot of goals.
Quick USMNT Hmmmm?:
So Jurgen Klinsmann finally speaks? And it's on the Kansas City Wizards pregame show? Huh?
The more information that comes out about the process for hiring the U.S. National Team coach, the worse USSF president Sunil Gulati looks. He talks about wanting a foreign coach, then won't give a guy with a decent, stress decent resume -- albeit a respected figure in the game internationally -- a chance to pick his technical staff?
Best point Klinsmann makes it building an identity in style of play for both the USMNT and for MLS teams. Not sure if Klinsmann would have been a success, but at least he was bringing some different ideas and different approach. That way we'd have an "A" sample, i.e. the U.S.-centric approach and then "B" the Euro/foreign approach and see which worked better.
More than that, at this point can we take anything Gulati officially says to the press on-record at face value? Should anyone have done so in the first place?
Well, if Gulati ever wanted to make Bob Bradley look like a sympathetic figure this is how to do it. Maybe Gulati's been taking management advice from Tom Hicks.
One Other Thing:
"Mad Men" might be one of my favorite shows, but it doesn't diminish my disdain for advertising. Dodge's new commercial that insinuates George Washington won the American Revolution against the British by driving a Charger is flatly insulting and almost an affront to history.
At least Sunday's are now a true powerhouse for quality television the next couple weeks with "Mad Men," "Boardwalk Empire," and "Venture Bros." all airing within a three-hour window.
Labels: Arsenal, dimitar berbatov, English Premier League, EPL, fernando torres, Liverpool, manchester United, Soccer, tottenham hotspur
Are you ready for some football?
5 Comments Published by Cardillo on September 17, 2010 at 11:30 AM.
If you're a soccer fan living in North America, Fox Soccer Channel should be cradled and caressed like a veritable gift from the gods. Think about it, an American cable channel devoted full-time to soccer? Are you smoking crack? No, 1999 version of myself, I assure you it exists.
Anyone who's watched FSC for a significant amount of time, however, must wonder if the channel is being produced out of a broom closet and run by some random AV Club in Winnipeg. (By that token, GolTV appears to be beaming from a rebel Sandinista communications shed in the jungles of Nicaragua.)
In a way, the FSC's continual goofs, graphical mistakes and overall community-access vibe make you wonder when Jeremy St. Louis is accidentally going to slip a completely un-ironic, unintentional "boom goes the dynamite" whilst reading a highlight.
Maybe that's part of FSC's charm. It's not slick though that's probably an impossibility with the amount of Canadian accents involved with the "Fox Soccer Report."
Even when FSC tries to be cool, it comes off like a stereotypical 1980s movie nerd buying a fancy tuxedo and trying to impress the cool kids at the prom, only to be dumped in the punch bowl.
And let's not even talk about the sub-"Wayne's World" vibe that exudes from "Soccer Talk Live," which is mildly vexing considering that show is produced in Los Angeles, not the wilds of Manitoba. It's hard, too, not to snicker at the faux-English pub set crafted for "Super Sunday Plus."
ESPN it ain't.
At least there's Bobby McMahon, who stands above the rest of the FSC fray like an ancient Babylonian Ziggurat. Is there a better, more knowledgeable, shtick-free sports analyst for any sport on any channel? God bless him, Bobby just sits behind the desk and spits knowledge without any agendas or false-hype.
The thing of it is, for all it's warts and clunkiness there's something sweet and endearing about FSC. The network, despite being part of the Fox empire seems to be "with" the American soccer fan. Again, the mere fact it exists should be good enough.
FSC's minimalist-cum-amateur production style rang even more relevant last weekend with the kickoff of the 2010-11 NFL season.
As I've written about many times, part of the appeal of televised soccer is you can flip on the channel and two hours later the match is over. There aren't and endless parade of commercials breaks highlighting American male stupidity, wherein people like myself are reverted to their lowest base form to secure a lite beer. There are no smarmy insurance agents imploring me to sign up for their coverage. Sure, I might feel like less of an American, but almost all soccer telecasts are devoid of pick-up truck ads, too.
The constant commercial breaks (and repetitive ads) make it very difficult to enjoy watching the NFL, at times.
Put it this way, by the end of last NFL weekend that annoying piano riff from the iPad ad(*) was running on a loop inside my skull.
(*) All-and-all, I'm fairly certain I prefer my products to offer "magical" abilities over "historical" abilities. But that's just me.
That's obviously a quirk soccer will hold over most American sports, the merciful lack of commercial breaks. In fact, ads seem so foreign that FSC seems to alternate that Sylvania ad with Andy Gray screaming, "Ohhhhh yaaaaa beauty"(*) every other break.
(*) Question I posed to Liverpool fan Ace Cowboy the other day. Is there an opposite to "Oh you beauty." Reds fans must've coined something by now.
More than the lack of ads, watching foreign soccer games re-packaged in America holds these added bonuses: no sideline reports, no annoying promos for new shows staring Jim Belushi, no analysts who think they are paid by the word and best of all ... no Joe Buck. Those are huge wins.
So too are the lack of tedious pregame NFL shows, which consist of roughly half a dozen beefy, ex-Jocks in suits screaming at each other about wide receivers with VH1 reality shows.
Let's not forget, the on-screen jumble of graphics during NFL games is probably as big a reason for the growth in ADD in America as anything else, right?
For me, these basic presentation issues truly pushed me more toward soccer once it became so readily available on cable. It's truly refreshing as a sports fan to be able to watch a game without any manufactured hype or hoopla and form your own opinions.
It doesn't hurt that Ian Darke's voice makes me feel happy, like walking into a room with the smell of freshly baked cookies. (ESPN, hire this man.)
The irony here, judging from Guardian match play-by-plays and Zonal Marking's twitter, the same things that annoy intelligent American sports fans when they watch the NFL plague people in England (or elsewhere) even worse. The Sky Reporters/Analysts all seem to be an unholy amalgamation of Mike Ditka, Stephen A. Smith, Sean Salisbury and Stuart Scott all rolled into one.
Factor in that the English media has far less access to the players and managers than the media in America, and it's probably all hype and non-sourced conjecture with the added bonus of wrapping every possible story in the Cross of St. George.
There's always the mute button.
Round 5 Picks:
I've never claimed to be an expert, but I'm off to a rougher start than than Joaquin Phoenix' rap career. If you're actually wagering on the EPL, there's only one safe bet -- Chelsea.
If we really break it down, there's one unbeatable team -- Chelsea -- and one totally inept squad -- West Ham. The other 18, throw into a hat and they can conceivably beat (or draw) each other every weekend. The major tiered separation in the table: Title challengers, European fighters, Middle of the Pack and Relegation Scrappers has yet to unravel.
Put it this way, last weekend only two of the 10 home sides walked away with all three points.
You've been warned.
Saturday:
* Stoke City v. West Ham United -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) The big debate, wake up early on Saturday for this match? Part of me thinks if you do, a group of doctors in white coats are going to crash through the window of your bedroom and whisk you away to a re-programming facility in Idaho. Call it a game-time decision. On a more relevant note, Rory Delap might have saved Stoke's season on Monday, not with his hands believe it or not, but his head. Late in the match vs. Aston Villa he make a diving header to keep a ball alive at the top of the penalty area, which eventually found Mathew Etherington to set up Kenwyne Jones' equalizer. The Potters got off to a slow start. They'll be okay with upcoming matches with Newcastle, Blackburn and Bolton. There's enough talent on the team to finish in the 10-13 range. On the other hand, West Ham are a mess. A total mess, in fact. Avram Grant won't be around to watch this one for the Jewish Holidays, can't blame him. It's amazing it took up until this week for the first rumor linking unemployed U.S. defender Jay DeMerit to the Irons. You'd think this team would be scouting nearby pub teams for live bodies to plug into the defense considering Mathew Upson's start to the season, which earns him the unfortunate honors of best "Impersonation of a Zombie by an EPL Player." ... Stoke City 2, West Ham 0.
* West Brom v. Birmingham City -- Aside from opening day at Chelsea, the Baggies haven't been overmatched, losing 1-0 to Liverpool, drawing Tottenham 1-1 and beating Sunderland 1-0. Not bad. Not great. Respectable. The key for Roberto di Matteo is keeping the defense tight because this team doesn't have the guns to win back-and-forth shootouts. That'll come to roost at the Hawthorns on Saturday with Birmingham coming to town. The Brum, until Sunday's 0-0 draw with Liverpool, had scored two goals in every League match, oddly enough none from a player designated as a "forward/striker." Unheralded Craig Gardner leads the way with three. If somebody can emerge from the group of Cameron Jerome, Nikola Zigic, Matt Derbyshire or James McFadden, Birmingham might be able to push for the Europa League. Queitly Alex McLeish has built a super sturdy, solid squad. ... West Brom 0, Birmingham City 1
* Tottenham v. Wolves -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Are "Dutch Aces" required to make a modern-day Faustian deal with the Devil? Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt are all sidelined for a couple weeks. Add to the list Rafael van der Vaart who left Spurs' 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen at the half with an injury. Wesley Sneijder ... watch your back. Another tricky match for Tottenham, since even if Redknapp's boys go up 1-0 or 2-0, Wolves are a team that keeps working and won't just roll over, grab their ankles and take what's coming to them. Wolves aren't pretty -- some are calling them dirty -- but they fight until the whistle blows. At this point in this particular season, any of the three possible outcomes of this match wouldn't surprise me. Seems like a game Peter Crouch bails out Spurs late. Tottenham will probably be without: Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe Gomes, Luka Modric and van der Vaart. Gareth Bale better drink two glasses of milk before this one. Oh, one other thing, if you're watching Wovles for the first time this season, note George Elokobi. A lot of footballers are mocked for being "fat." Elokobi is wiiiiiiiiiide. ... Tottenham 2, Wolves 1
* Everton v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Halftime entertainment for this match is a jumping-header contest between Tim Cahill and Andy Carroll. Conventional wisdom is the Toffees get a bump from their frantic 3-3 draw with Manchester United. The way this season is going, we might expect the total opposite. ... Everton 1, Newcastle 1
* Aston Villa v. Bolton -- Impossible to get a gauge on Aston Villa right now with the managerial flux. The team is loaded with solid, professionals like Richard Dunne, Stiliyan Petrov and (yes), Emile Heskey, etc. You know these guys are giving honest accounts regardless of manager. Then there's the club's best player -- Ashley Young. Will he get on board quick with Gerard Houllier or are his eyes already focused on White Hart Lane or Anfield or wherever elese in January? Either way, Villa is pretty much Villa. Great in spurts, pedestrian most other times. Bolton are still finding an identity under Owen Coyle. From what I've seen the biggest trouble might be Kevin Davies, who wears the captain's armband. Sure Davies scores, but when he's your water-carrier, how high up the table can the club finish? With Johan Ellmander getting more acclimated to English football, Bolton might be better served mixing around with 4-3-3/4-5-1 with Ellmander in the middle, not Davies and his combative, sloppy nature.Coyle, though, can't just drop his captain without some blowback, now can he? Davies hasn't trained all week. File that away. Perhaps Coyle can call up Eagles' coach Andy Reid for how to deal with this. ... Aston Villa 0, Bolton 0
* Blackburn Rovers v. Fulham -- Woah, Fulham are actually fifth in the table? Who knew? Good luck Cottagers. With Bobby Zamora on ice until next year you're going to be counting on Eddie Johnson getting minutes and producing. Have fun with that, really. If Mark Schwarzer is sloppy with the ball, Niko Kalanic is going to pounce. Be warned. ... Blackburn 2, Fulham 1
* Sunderland v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Good thing that Lee Cattermole is suspended for another red card, unless Arsene Wenger might have rushed onto the Stadium of Light field with handcuffs in a gendarme outfit, declaring a citizen's arrest. Call this a good test for Arsenal, which is Tupac-style rolling after its destruction of Braga in the midweek. Sunderland do have the horses -- Darren Bent/AsamaohGyan -- to expose Arsenal's defensive shortcomings. Jordan Henderson in the midfield, though, is not the man to slow down a revived Cesc Fabregas. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 2
Sunday:
* Manchester United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 p.m.) Crazier Liverpool stat? That the club has scored as many league goals as West Brom? Or that David Ngog is making Fernando Torres look like Andriy Voronin? Liverpool are in that weird place where any result it lodges takes momentum effort, forcing their supporters into 90 minutes of life-or-death observing. You really have to wonder if Roy Hodgson would have the guts to sit Torres and start Ngog on Sunday. If it wasn't Manchester United at Old Trafford, he might. It might be what's best for the game, but worse for the fragile confidence of the Spaniard. Mull it over 'Pool fans. Manchester United? The bad vibes from blowing the game vs. Everton carried into Tuesday's Champions League game with Rangers, where it was a lot of guys in red shirts walking around and trying to tee up Darron Gibson for 30-yard shots. Then again, Sir Alex treated that match like the Carling Cup. Throw in the brutal broken leg suffered by Antonio Valencia, plus the lingering Rooney garbage and it's mini-crisis time for United. One the bright side, Rio Ferdinand returned. (Does he still "punk" teammates?) Dimitar Berbatov's form is the most encouraging nugget for the Red Devils. Is it too cynical to think that the Red Devils get bailed out by either Mr. Penalty or Mr. Own Goal? Above all for this match, will either team actually have the gumption to stand up and snatch the game or will they both play in fear of the other shoe dropping? (If you feel short-changed by this, a Liverpool perspective at "OYB" ... Manchester United 1, Liverpool 0
* Wigan v. Manchester City -- Not a slam dunk for City, which despite buying as many midfielders as humanly possible are turning to Jo at forward with Emmanuel Adebayor sidelined by a crippling case of "dead leg." As long as Wigan don't concede a goal in the first 15 minutes, City will probably have to work in this match. To borrow an analogy from "The Wire" City still needs to grind it out in the Pit before it's got what it takes to work a tower. Better yet, the words of Clay Davis: crawl, walk run. City's expectations on running as high as possible despite the fact the side Roberto Mancini has barely figured out how to crawl. All that said, hard to see Joe Hart making a blunder in back-to-back weeks, so Wigan won't score. It won't be pretty but City finds a way. ... Wigan 0, City 2
* Chelsea v. Blackpool -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) First time I think since I've been doing this where 10-0 wouldn't be impossible. This is a true litmus test. If Chelsea don't mash Blackpool at Stamford Bridge, then the (Premier League) sky is no longer blue, no pun intended. It'll be in the words of Dr. Peter Venkman, "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!" For our own collective sanity, form holds. ... Chelsea 5, Blackpool 0
Last round: 3-7
Season: 14-26
Anyone who's watched FSC for a significant amount of time, however, must wonder if the channel is being produced out of a broom closet and run by some random AV Club in Winnipeg. (By that token, GolTV appears to be beaming from a rebel Sandinista communications shed in the jungles of Nicaragua.)
In a way, the FSC's continual goofs, graphical mistakes and overall community-access vibe make you wonder when Jeremy St. Louis is accidentally going to slip a completely un-ironic, unintentional "boom goes the dynamite" whilst reading a highlight.
Maybe that's part of FSC's charm. It's not slick though that's probably an impossibility with the amount of Canadian accents involved with the "Fox Soccer Report."
Even when FSC tries to be cool, it comes off like a stereotypical 1980s movie nerd buying a fancy tuxedo and trying to impress the cool kids at the prom, only to be dumped in the punch bowl.
And let's not even talk about the sub-"Wayne's World" vibe that exudes from "Soccer Talk Live," which is mildly vexing considering that show is produced in Los Angeles, not the wilds of Manitoba. It's hard, too, not to snicker at the faux-English pub set crafted for "Super Sunday Plus."
ESPN it ain't.
At least there's Bobby McMahon, who stands above the rest of the FSC fray like an ancient Babylonian Ziggurat. Is there a better, more knowledgeable, shtick-free sports analyst for any sport on any channel? God bless him, Bobby just sits behind the desk and spits knowledge without any agendas or false-hype.
The thing of it is, for all it's warts and clunkiness there's something sweet and endearing about FSC. The network, despite being part of the Fox empire seems to be "with" the American soccer fan. Again, the mere fact it exists should be good enough.
FSC's minimalist-cum-amateur production style rang even more relevant last weekend with the kickoff of the 2010-11 NFL season.
As I've written about many times, part of the appeal of televised soccer is you can flip on the channel and two hours later the match is over. There aren't and endless parade of commercials breaks highlighting American male stupidity, wherein people like myself are reverted to their lowest base form to secure a lite beer. There are no smarmy insurance agents imploring me to sign up for their coverage. Sure, I might feel like less of an American, but almost all soccer telecasts are devoid of pick-up truck ads, too.
The constant commercial breaks (and repetitive ads) make it very difficult to enjoy watching the NFL, at times.
Put it this way, by the end of last NFL weekend that annoying piano riff from the iPad ad(*) was running on a loop inside my skull.
(*) All-and-all, I'm fairly certain I prefer my products to offer "magical" abilities over "historical" abilities. But that's just me.
That's obviously a quirk soccer will hold over most American sports, the merciful lack of commercial breaks. In fact, ads seem so foreign that FSC seems to alternate that Sylvania ad with Andy Gray screaming, "Ohhhhh yaaaaa beauty"(*) every other break.
(*) Question I posed to Liverpool fan Ace Cowboy the other day. Is there an opposite to "Oh you beauty." Reds fans must've coined something by now.
More than the lack of ads, watching foreign soccer games re-packaged in America holds these added bonuses: no sideline reports, no annoying promos for new shows staring Jim Belushi, no analysts who think they are paid by the word and best of all ... no Joe Buck. Those are huge wins.
So too are the lack of tedious pregame NFL shows, which consist of roughly half a dozen beefy, ex-Jocks in suits screaming at each other about wide receivers with VH1 reality shows.
Let's not forget, the on-screen jumble of graphics during NFL games is probably as big a reason for the growth in ADD in America as anything else, right?
For me, these basic presentation issues truly pushed me more toward soccer once it became so readily available on cable. It's truly refreshing as a sports fan to be able to watch a game without any manufactured hype or hoopla and form your own opinions.
It doesn't hurt that Ian Darke's voice makes me feel happy, like walking into a room with the smell of freshly baked cookies. (ESPN, hire this man.)
The irony here, judging from Guardian match play-by-plays and Zonal Marking's twitter, the same things that annoy intelligent American sports fans when they watch the NFL plague people in England (or elsewhere) even worse. The Sky Reporters/Analysts all seem to be an unholy amalgamation of Mike Ditka, Stephen A. Smith, Sean Salisbury and Stuart Scott all rolled into one.
Factor in that the English media has far less access to the players and managers than the media in America, and it's probably all hype and non-sourced conjecture with the added bonus of wrapping every possible story in the Cross of St. George.
There's always the mute button.
***
Round 5 Picks:
I've never claimed to be an expert, but I'm off to a rougher start than than Joaquin Phoenix' rap career. If you're actually wagering on the EPL, there's only one safe bet -- Chelsea.
If we really break it down, there's one unbeatable team -- Chelsea -- and one totally inept squad -- West Ham. The other 18, throw into a hat and they can conceivably beat (or draw) each other every weekend. The major tiered separation in the table: Title challengers, European fighters, Middle of the Pack and Relegation Scrappers has yet to unravel.
Put it this way, last weekend only two of the 10 home sides walked away with all three points.
You've been warned.
Saturday:
* Stoke City v. West Ham United -- (Live, ESPN2, 7:45 a.m.) The big debate, wake up early on Saturday for this match? Part of me thinks if you do, a group of doctors in white coats are going to crash through the window of your bedroom and whisk you away to a re-programming facility in Idaho. Call it a game-time decision. On a more relevant note, Rory Delap might have saved Stoke's season on Monday, not with his hands believe it or not, but his head. Late in the match vs. Aston Villa he make a diving header to keep a ball alive at the top of the penalty area, which eventually found Mathew Etherington to set up Kenwyne Jones' equalizer. The Potters got off to a slow start. They'll be okay with upcoming matches with Newcastle, Blackburn and Bolton. There's enough talent on the team to finish in the 10-13 range. On the other hand, West Ham are a mess. A total mess, in fact. Avram Grant won't be around to watch this one for the Jewish Holidays, can't blame him. It's amazing it took up until this week for the first rumor linking unemployed U.S. defender Jay DeMerit to the Irons. You'd think this team would be scouting nearby pub teams for live bodies to plug into the defense considering Mathew Upson's start to the season, which earns him the unfortunate honors of best "Impersonation of a Zombie by an EPL Player." ... Stoke City 2, West Ham 0.
* West Brom v. Birmingham City -- Aside from opening day at Chelsea, the Baggies haven't been overmatched, losing 1-0 to Liverpool, drawing Tottenham 1-1 and beating Sunderland 1-0. Not bad. Not great. Respectable. The key for Roberto di Matteo is keeping the defense tight because this team doesn't have the guns to win back-and-forth shootouts. That'll come to roost at the Hawthorns on Saturday with Birmingham coming to town. The Brum, until Sunday's 0-0 draw with Liverpool, had scored two goals in every League match, oddly enough none from a player designated as a "forward/striker." Unheralded Craig Gardner leads the way with three. If somebody can emerge from the group of Cameron Jerome, Nikola Zigic, Matt Derbyshire or James McFadden, Birmingham might be able to push for the Europa League. Queitly Alex McLeish has built a super sturdy, solid squad. ... West Brom 0, Birmingham City 1
* Tottenham v. Wolves -- (Live, FSC, 10 a.m.) Are "Dutch Aces" required to make a modern-day Faustian deal with the Devil? Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie and Dirk Kuyt are all sidelined for a couple weeks. Add to the list Rafael van der Vaart who left Spurs' 2-2 draw at Werder Bremen at the half with an injury. Wesley Sneijder ... watch your back. Another tricky match for Tottenham, since even if Redknapp's boys go up 1-0 or 2-0, Wolves are a team that keeps working and won't just roll over, grab their ankles and take what's coming to them. Wolves aren't pretty -- some are calling them dirty -- but they fight until the whistle blows. At this point in this particular season, any of the three possible outcomes of this match wouldn't surprise me. Seems like a game Peter Crouch bails out Spurs late. Tottenham will probably be without: Michael Dawson, Jermain Defoe Gomes, Luka Modric and van der Vaart. Gareth Bale better drink two glasses of milk before this one. Oh, one other thing, if you're watching Wovles for the first time this season, note George Elokobi. A lot of footballers are mocked for being "fat." Elokobi is wiiiiiiiiiide. ... Tottenham 2, Wolves 1
* Everton v. Newcastle United -- (Live, FSC+, 10 a.m.) Halftime entertainment for this match is a jumping-header contest between Tim Cahill and Andy Carroll. Conventional wisdom is the Toffees get a bump from their frantic 3-3 draw with Manchester United. The way this season is going, we might expect the total opposite. ... Everton 1, Newcastle 1
* Aston Villa v. Bolton -- Impossible to get a gauge on Aston Villa right now with the managerial flux. The team is loaded with solid, professionals like Richard Dunne, Stiliyan Petrov and (yes), Emile Heskey, etc. You know these guys are giving honest accounts regardless of manager. Then there's the club's best player -- Ashley Young. Will he get on board quick with Gerard Houllier or are his eyes already focused on White Hart Lane or Anfield or wherever elese in January? Either way, Villa is pretty much Villa. Great in spurts, pedestrian most other times. Bolton are still finding an identity under Owen Coyle. From what I've seen the biggest trouble might be Kevin Davies, who wears the captain's armband. Sure Davies scores, but when he's your water-carrier, how high up the table can the club finish? With Johan Ellmander getting more acclimated to English football, Bolton might be better served mixing around with 4-3-3/4-5-1 with Ellmander in the middle, not Davies and his combative, sloppy nature.Coyle, though, can't just drop his captain without some blowback, now can he? Davies hasn't trained all week. File that away. Perhaps Coyle can call up Eagles' coach Andy Reid for how to deal with this. ... Aston Villa 0, Bolton 0
* Blackburn Rovers v. Fulham -- Woah, Fulham are actually fifth in the table? Who knew? Good luck Cottagers. With Bobby Zamora on ice until next year you're going to be counting on Eddie Johnson getting minutes and producing. Have fun with that, really. If Mark Schwarzer is sloppy with the ball, Niko Kalanic is going to pounce. Be warned. ... Blackburn 2, Fulham 1
* Sunderland v. Arsenal -- (Live, FSC, 12:30 p.m.) Good thing that Lee Cattermole is suspended for another red card, unless Arsene Wenger might have rushed onto the Stadium of Light field with handcuffs in a gendarme outfit, declaring a citizen's arrest. Call this a good test for Arsenal, which is Tupac-style rolling after its destruction of Braga in the midweek. Sunderland do have the horses -- Darren Bent/AsamaohGyan -- to expose Arsenal's defensive shortcomings. Jordan Henderson in the midfield, though, is not the man to slow down a revived Cesc Fabregas. ... Sunderland 1, Arsenal 2
Sunday:
* Manchester United v. Liverpool -- (Live, FSC+, 8:30 p.m.) Crazier Liverpool stat? That the club has scored as many league goals as West Brom? Or that David Ngog is making Fernando Torres look like Andriy Voronin? Liverpool are in that weird place where any result it lodges takes momentum effort, forcing their supporters into 90 minutes of life-or-death observing. You really have to wonder if Roy Hodgson would have the guts to sit Torres and start Ngog on Sunday. If it wasn't Manchester United at Old Trafford, he might. It might be what's best for the game, but worse for the fragile confidence of the Spaniard. Mull it over 'Pool fans. Manchester United? The bad vibes from blowing the game vs. Everton carried into Tuesday's Champions League game with Rangers, where it was a lot of guys in red shirts walking around and trying to tee up Darron Gibson for 30-yard shots. Then again, Sir Alex treated that match like the Carling Cup. Throw in the brutal broken leg suffered by Antonio Valencia, plus the lingering Rooney garbage and it's mini-crisis time for United. One the bright side, Rio Ferdinand returned. (Does he still "punk" teammates?) Dimitar Berbatov's form is the most encouraging nugget for the Red Devils. Is it too cynical to think that the Red Devils get bailed out by either Mr. Penalty or Mr. Own Goal? Above all for this match, will either team actually have the gumption to stand up and snatch the game or will they both play in fear of the other shoe dropping? (If you feel short-changed by this, a Liverpool perspective at "OYB" ... Manchester United 1, Liverpool 0
* Wigan v. Manchester City -- Not a slam dunk for City, which despite buying as many midfielders as humanly possible are turning to Jo at forward with Emmanuel Adebayor sidelined by a crippling case of "dead leg." As long as Wigan don't concede a goal in the first 15 minutes, City will probably have to work in this match. To borrow an analogy from "The Wire" City still needs to grind it out in the Pit before it's got what it takes to work a tower. Better yet, the words of Clay Davis: crawl, walk run. City's expectations on running as high as possible despite the fact the side Roberto Mancini has barely figured out how to crawl. All that said, hard to see Joe Hart making a blunder in back-to-back weeks, so Wigan won't score. It won't be pretty but City finds a way. ... Wigan 0, City 2
* Chelsea v. Blackpool -- (Live, FSC, 11 a.m.) First time I think since I've been doing this where 10-0 wouldn't be impossible. This is a true litmus test. If Chelsea don't mash Blackpool at Stamford Bridge, then the (Premier League) sky is no longer blue, no pun intended. It'll be in the words of Dr. Peter Venkman, "Human sacrifice, dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!" For our own collective sanity, form holds. ... Chelsea 5, Blackpool 0
Last round: 3-7
Season: 14-26
Labels: English Premier League, EPL, EPL picks, Soccer
You guys know me. I'm not one for "lazy posts" where I just post a video or chop up somebody else's words and play them off as my own in an attempt for pageviews. Not my style.
That said, Tuesday night I was about to leave the office right before midnight to finally dive into "Halo: Reach", 24 hours -- an eternity for gamers -- after its release.
One more cursory check of Twitter and it was Start --> Shutdown.
Then I stumbled across a tweet from sometime TOP contributor Erik C. Kriebel, with this utter gem. The best USMNT compilation I've stumbled across since the heady days of "Go Go USA" oh these many weeks ago. Sure there were almost countless reactions to Landon Donovan's famous goal, but this video, as you'll see below has a sense of history to it. No, it doesn't go back beyond the 2002 World Cup, but that's quite okay as you'll see in a second.
Wish I knew who the author/editor of the following video was more than his tag, "EliteStr1ker" because it's tremendous. TREMENDOUS ... even if it re-opens old wounds a few months after the fact. Pure quality.
Okay, thanks to my junior detective's license, I quickly noticed the video was edited by a high school student who graduates in 2011, Nick Butler.
Enough of my yapping. Enjoy the video, which I'm honored to embed below.
If there is a God, Ian Darke is hired by ESPN full-time for it's EPL and other soccer matches. Hell, better yet, somebody in Bristol better be paying attention and give young Mr. Butler a shot. Oh wait, the WWL confused Stoke City with "Stroke City" on Monday.
Sigh.
That said, Tuesday night I was about to leave the office right before midnight to finally dive into "Halo: Reach", 24 hours -- an eternity for gamers -- after its release.
One more cursory check of Twitter and it was Start --> Shutdown.
Then I stumbled across a tweet from sometime TOP contributor Erik C. Kriebel, with this utter gem. The best USMNT compilation I've stumbled across since the heady days of "Go Go USA" oh these many weeks ago. Sure there were almost countless reactions to Landon Donovan's famous goal, but this video, as you'll see below has a sense of history to it. No, it doesn't go back beyond the 2002 World Cup, but that's quite okay as you'll see in a second.
Wish I knew who the author/editor of the following video was more than his tag, "EliteStr1ker" because it's tremendous. TREMENDOUS ... even if it re-opens old wounds a few months after the fact. Pure quality.
Okay, thanks to my junior detective's license, I quickly noticed the video was edited by a high school student who graduates in 2011, Nick Butler.
Enough of my yapping. Enjoy the video, which I'm honored to embed below.
If there is a God, Ian Darke is hired by ESPN full-time for it's EPL and other soccer matches. Hell, better yet, somebody in Bristol better be paying attention and give young Mr. Butler a shot. Oh wait, the WWL confused Stoke City with "Stroke City" on Monday.
Sigh.
Labels: 2010 world cup, bob bradley, Landon Donovan, lazy posts, Soccer, USMNT, world cup, youtube
EPL Monday: Wither Predictability
2 Comments Published by Cardillo on September 13, 2010 at 11:20 AM.
Good golly, where to start a Monday morning English Premier League wrap-up-o-rama after what transpired Saturday?
Actually, after giving it a little thought, there's a easy place to go.
Tim Howard.
As an American, you have to feel good for the USMNT No. 1 after his involvement Saturday morning in Everton's -- frankly unbelievable -- 3-3 draw at Goodison Park vs. Manchester United. Howard made two patently ridiculous saves in the first half, one a diving, overhead cartwheel kick-save and later a point blank denial, keeping the Toffees close. Too bad shoddy marking allowed Manchester United to pull back a 2-1 lead through Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic. (As per usual, Zonal Marking does a fine job breaking down the tactics of a game that featured 10 defenders and just one natural striker at opening whistle.)
United's third, a beautiful long pass from Paul Scholes to Dimitar Berbatov(*)? Not much Howard -- or any keeper -- could do to stop that piece of fried gold.
(*) For those scoring at home, Peter Drury did indeed call him "languid" upon the Bulgarian's first touch, keeping that Cal Ripken-like streak alive by English announcers.
As for the specifics of Everton's thrilling comeback after the 91st minute?
What words can do it justice? Two goals in stoppage time against a team like Manchester United? Guess we'll never see anything like that again, though I'm sure a few fans across Bavaria poured themselves a tall cold one watching Sir Alex Ferguson's reaction.
That's twice in two road games this season where United couldn't hold its nerve to see out a game. And that has nothing to do with whether or not Wayne Rooney was sex-iled to the bench by Ferguson. Maybe it's bad luck. Maybe it's quirks. Maybe it's years of comeuppance all paying due at once.
United are still United. The team still expects to win and as long as Scholes pretends he's 2009 Brett Favre, the Red Devils will be hard to beat. Soccer, though, is always weird. Once these fluky defeats start happening, it creates a bad vibe and sticks with teams mentally. United's nerves a usually rock solid. United fans should start jumping out of windows quite yet, but the way the team gagged vs. Fulham and Everton would raise the threat assessment up a peg.
It's not too far out of line to say those four dropped points vs. Everton(*) and Fulham -- recall Nani's missed penalty -- have already put United up against in the title chase vs. Chelsea, which shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.
(*) Not to be Debbie Downer, but let's not let the last two minutes mask over Everton's glaring issues, namely a laissez-faire defensive level and it's Herculean struggle to score goals from anything other than Tim Cahill's kangaroo jumps to knock down balls in the box. Everton is sitting on two points because, against type, its players are being out-worked.
However it plays out, it's fitting that this thrilling game was relegated to Fox Soccer Plus/.tv.
ESPN2 has been showing the early Saturday EPL kickoff since last season, but had West Ham v. Chelsea at 10 a.m. This weekend, for whatever the reason (rights-related, I'm sure) the WWL shows its traditional outdoor programming and misses the wildest finish the Prem probably will ever offer this year. Meanwhile two hours later, inside of two minutes Michael Essien is heading in for Chelsea, rendering the next 88 minutes at Upton Park a mere formality on ESPN2.
I'd imagine even Chelsea diehards had trouble sticking around for that one with all the other 10 a.m. sporting options.
Perhaps this is jumping to a major conclusion, yet if any team is going to apply pressure to Chelsea, it might be Arsenal. Yeah, the same Gunners who I poke more holes in than a spaghetti strainer on a given week. The same Arsenal who's back four and keeper inspires as much confidence as an undrafted rookie NFL quarterback taking snaps in a regular season game.
Yep, that Arsenal.
Even without Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott, the Gunners didn't miss a beat, out-slugging a game Bolton team 4-1 at the Emirates.
Sure there are holes in the squad. The consistent injuries. The inconsistency of Ardrey Arshavin. Manuel Almunia's Iberian Comedy Show, which you never know when is going to pop out and spook you. Throw in Arsene Wenger finding something or someone to bitch about every weekend and Arsenal'a hopwa seem about as fail safe as Michael Cera's ability of opening a would-be summer blockbuster.
Yet we saw Saturday how good Arsenal still can be when Cesc Fabregas is running across the field, pinging balls all over the place. If he is indeed Barcelona-bound, Fabregas seems to have enough loyalty to the red-and-white to give it his best effort in an Emirates would-be swan-song. So long as he's doing his best Jeff Lebowski rug impression and tying the Gunners together, they'll nipping at Chelsea's heels.
One stat you have to like about Arsenal is it doesn't give up games, at least against, the non-Big Four/Five/Six. In 2009-10 26 percent of it's league goals came in the final 15 minutes. Arsenal have that knack.
There's nothing scientific about it, but with the whole Rooney situation(*) casting a shadow over Manchester United, coupled with its defensive issues it might not be the Red Devils season. Same thing for Manchester City, which doesn't have a call girl scandal, but the same glaring inabilies to grind out results with consistency.
(*) United are better without Rooney? Really? ... Really? Are English writers sure they want these columns on their C.V.s? Funny how the English media picked up Moyes' hints it was Ferguson sending Rooney as message and ran with them.
If it's not Arsenal putting up a chase to Chelsea, who else can it be?
It's only four games, sure, but Chelsea know how to crush and demoralize their oppositon. Without Frank Lampard or the red-hot Flourent Malouda starting on the bench (yep, added him and captained him in fantasy), Chelsea brushed West Ham aside like a gnat. Unless Carlo Ancelotti goes insane or Roman Abramovich makes a shock move to reacquire Andriy Schevchenko in January, how is anyone going to slow down the Blue machine?
Chelsea might run away with it, though with my positively Derby County 2007-esque start to prognosticating this EPL season, take that with a grain of salt.
Other Match quickees:
Watched nearly everything for a bit on Saturday -- thanks FSC.tv, aside from when West Brom/Tottenham's signal transformed into Sky News for five minutes.
* West Brom 1, Tottenham 1 -- Rafael van dar Vaart started and took a key role for Spurs, who should have maybe won the game, except for another terrible gaffe from Carlo Cudicini. Shouldn't rag on the guy after his horrific motorcycle crash, but his missed flap gifted the Baggies a point. West Brom started Paul Scharner, winning the "You're a winner and a loser" honors of the weekend.
* Newcastle 0, Blackpool 2 -- How to read this game? Blackpool scored on a late first half penalty kick and off a break after Newcastle sent everything forward? The Mapgies had plenty of chances and couldn't convert. Blackpool, for all it lacks, has a team that plays on the same page and can pass the ball very well on the ground. Oh, the Tangerines play Chelsea this weekend. Fascinating match all of a sudden.
* Manchester City 1, Blackburn 1 -- A totally unforced communication error between Kolo Toure and Joe Hart gifted Rovers a goal, as Niko Kalanic capitalized on another keeping gaffe, like Round 1 vs. Everton. Man of the Match was Blackburn's Christopher Samba, was was immense all game and blocked a certain tap-in by Jo late on the goal line. City have better personell for the counter-attack as opposed to when they have to take the game to a packed-in defense. Carlos Tevez does have weeks where he's merely Bruce Banner.
* Fulham 2, Wolves 1 -- Four games in, the best transfer I've seen play is Fulham's Moussa Dembele. Right now he's carrying the Cottagers, both scoring and creating goals. He'll never get as gifted a free-kick as the one that beat Wolves late Saturday, when the either defensive wall jumped out of the way, leaving Marcus Hahnemann helpless. Weird quirk, all three goals were scored by Beligans with Dembele's double and Oguchi Onyewu-antagonizer Jelle Van Damme for Wolves.
* Birmingham City 0, Liverpool 0 -- Missed this all but the final 15 minutes for my softball doubleheader loss. Seems like I didn't miss much. Raul Meireles came on later and pushed Steven Gerard further back on the field. Strange. ... If you need a little more meet, fellow "Venture Bros." aficionado Nate over at Oh You Beauty breaks down Liverpool's ineptitude.
When Injuries Attack(non-Arsenal section):
Plenty of good men went down this weekend.
Of note, Luka Modric limped off on crutches, but X-Rays Sunday were encouraging. Blackburn captain Ryan Nelson left at halftime. Bobby Zamora figures to miss most of the rest of the season with a broken ankle, opening the door for Eddie Johnson to see some extended minutes at Craven Cottage. My buddy Ahmed El Mohamady left in the first half for Sunderland, too.
Around the League:
Asamoah Gyan scored. Lee Cattermole got a red card. All-and-all, your typical 2010-11 Sunderland match, drawing at Wigan 1-1. ... Scott Carson borrowed Chris Kirkland's baseball cap. ... Not sure why, but I'm convinced Gary Neville and Joey Barton trade their shitty goatees back-and-forth between games. Oh, we can probably throw Rafael van dar Vaart into the Snidely Whiplash equation. ... Watching a lot of games at once, did Stuart Holden do much for Bolton? Didn't seem like it, though the Trotters royal blue away kits looked nice.
On Track for Worst "FIFA 11" rating vis-a-vis real life:
Adam Johnson, Manchester City.
When he's played as an "opposite winger" on the right, cutting inside to use his left foot, he's like a slightly sturdier, well, massively sturdier Arjen Robben with a little less pace. Figure "FIFA 11" rates him in the 75-78 range, when his current form should push him closer to an 83-85. Fortunately if you don't mind paying for the weekly league updates, Johnson's form will be adjusted.
Wonder if he'll look like that dude from "Big Bang Theory" in digital form?
He's still alive awards:
Dusting off a couple here, Pascal Chimbonda came on at halftime for Blackburn as I'd simply forgotten of his existence.
Next, the aforementioned Patrick Vieira brought his creaky old bones into the Manchester City midfield, to give Gareth Barry a respite after dual-England duties.
Andrew "Don't Call Me Andy" Johnson was briefly shown on the Fulham bench Saturday. Again, forget he was still amongst the living.
Lastly, Luis Boa Morte played and started for West Ham. No offense, but he seemed washed up five years ago at Fulham. The Portuguese winger isn't the sole reason West Ham in 0-0-4, but the fact he's seeing minutes against the best team in the league doesn't bode well for Los Irons.
Tweet of the Week:
From @xtiandc ...
"FSC's insistence that concurrent games are being played "later" is so very lame. Just give us ht scores & highlights please."
So true. Yes, there are probably people that will wait to watch a game, but it's much easier for those trying to avoid spoilers to leave the room at halftime or change the channel than to deny 95 percent of the viewers an update. Maybe it's some byzantine rights issue. Always seems to be that way.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Aaron Rushin's New Orleans Gooners put up 66 points in an overall low-scoring weekend. Captaining Michael Essien for 30 points (another guy I had and dropped), plus Johan Ellmander and Mikel Arteta did the work for him. Good job.
One other thing:
Rambled on long enough. Hope everyone enjoyed the start of the NFL ... even for its increasing bloated television presentation.
Actually, after giving it a little thought, there's a easy place to go.
Tim Howard.
As an American, you have to feel good for the USMNT No. 1 after his involvement Saturday morning in Everton's -- frankly unbelievable -- 3-3 draw at Goodison Park vs. Manchester United. Howard made two patently ridiculous saves in the first half, one a diving, overhead cartwheel kick-save and later a point blank denial, keeping the Toffees close. Too bad shoddy marking allowed Manchester United to pull back a 2-1 lead through Darren Fletcher and Nemanja Vidic. (As per usual, Zonal Marking does a fine job breaking down the tactics of a game that featured 10 defenders and just one natural striker at opening whistle.)
United's third, a beautiful long pass from Paul Scholes to Dimitar Berbatov(*)? Not much Howard -- or any keeper -- could do to stop that piece of fried gold.
(*) For those scoring at home, Peter Drury did indeed call him "languid" upon the Bulgarian's first touch, keeping that Cal Ripken-like streak alive by English announcers.
As for the specifics of Everton's thrilling comeback after the 91st minute?
What words can do it justice? Two goals in stoppage time against a team like Manchester United? Guess we'll never see anything like that again, though I'm sure a few fans across Bavaria poured themselves a tall cold one watching Sir Alex Ferguson's reaction.
That's twice in two road games this season where United couldn't hold its nerve to see out a game. And that has nothing to do with whether or not Wayne Rooney was sex-iled to the bench by Ferguson. Maybe it's bad luck. Maybe it's quirks. Maybe it's years of comeuppance all paying due at once.
United are still United. The team still expects to win and as long as Scholes pretends he's 2009 Brett Favre, the Red Devils will be hard to beat. Soccer, though, is always weird. Once these fluky defeats start happening, it creates a bad vibe and sticks with teams mentally. United's nerves a usually rock solid. United fans should start jumping out of windows quite yet, but the way the team gagged vs. Fulham and Everton would raise the threat assessment up a peg.
It's not too far out of line to say those four dropped points vs. Everton(*) and Fulham -- recall Nani's missed penalty -- have already put United up against in the title chase vs. Chelsea, which shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.
(*) Not to be Debbie Downer, but let's not let the last two minutes mask over Everton's glaring issues, namely a laissez-faire defensive level and it's Herculean struggle to score goals from anything other than Tim Cahill's kangaroo jumps to knock down balls in the box. Everton is sitting on two points because, against type, its players are being out-worked.
However it plays out, it's fitting that this thrilling game was relegated to Fox Soccer Plus/.tv.
ESPN2 has been showing the early Saturday EPL kickoff since last season, but had West Ham v. Chelsea at 10 a.m. This weekend, for whatever the reason (rights-related, I'm sure) the WWL shows its traditional outdoor programming and misses the wildest finish the Prem probably will ever offer this year. Meanwhile two hours later, inside of two minutes Michael Essien is heading in for Chelsea, rendering the next 88 minutes at Upton Park a mere formality on ESPN2.
I'd imagine even Chelsea diehards had trouble sticking around for that one with all the other 10 a.m. sporting options.
Perhaps this is jumping to a major conclusion, yet if any team is going to apply pressure to Chelsea, it might be Arsenal. Yeah, the same Gunners who I poke more holes in than a spaghetti strainer on a given week. The same Arsenal who's back four and keeper inspires as much confidence as an undrafted rookie NFL quarterback taking snaps in a regular season game.
Yep, that Arsenal.
Even without Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott, the Gunners didn't miss a beat, out-slugging a game Bolton team 4-1 at the Emirates.
Sure there are holes in the squad. The consistent injuries. The inconsistency of Ardrey Arshavin. Manuel Almunia's Iberian Comedy Show, which you never know when is going to pop out and spook you. Throw in Arsene Wenger finding something or someone to bitch about every weekend and Arsenal'a hopwa seem about as fail safe as Michael Cera's ability of opening a would-be summer blockbuster.
Yet we saw Saturday how good Arsenal still can be when Cesc Fabregas is running across the field, pinging balls all over the place. If he is indeed Barcelona-bound, Fabregas seems to have enough loyalty to the red-and-white to give it his best effort in an Emirates would-be swan-song. So long as he's doing his best Jeff Lebowski rug impression and tying the Gunners together, they'll nipping at Chelsea's heels.
One stat you have to like about Arsenal is it doesn't give up games, at least against, the non-Big Four/Five/Six. In 2009-10 26 percent of it's league goals came in the final 15 minutes. Arsenal have that knack.
There's nothing scientific about it, but with the whole Rooney situation(*) casting a shadow over Manchester United, coupled with its defensive issues it might not be the Red Devils season. Same thing for Manchester City, which doesn't have a call girl scandal, but the same glaring inabilies to grind out results with consistency.
(*) United are better without Rooney? Really? ... Really? Are English writers sure they want these columns on their C.V.s? Funny how the English media picked up Moyes' hints it was Ferguson sending Rooney as message and ran with them.
If it's not Arsenal putting up a chase to Chelsea, who else can it be?
It's only four games, sure, but Chelsea know how to crush and demoralize their oppositon. Without Frank Lampard or the red-hot Flourent Malouda starting on the bench (yep, added him and captained him in fantasy), Chelsea brushed West Ham aside like a gnat. Unless Carlo Ancelotti goes insane or Roman Abramovich makes a shock move to reacquire Andriy Schevchenko in January, how is anyone going to slow down the Blue machine?
Chelsea might run away with it, though with my positively Derby County 2007-esque start to prognosticating this EPL season, take that with a grain of salt.
Other Match quickees:
Watched nearly everything for a bit on Saturday -- thanks FSC.tv, aside from when West Brom/Tottenham's signal transformed into Sky News for five minutes.
* West Brom 1, Tottenham 1 -- Rafael van dar Vaart started and took a key role for Spurs, who should have maybe won the game, except for another terrible gaffe from Carlo Cudicini. Shouldn't rag on the guy after his horrific motorcycle crash, but his missed flap gifted the Baggies a point. West Brom started Paul Scharner, winning the "You're a winner and a loser" honors of the weekend.
* Newcastle 0, Blackpool 2 -- How to read this game? Blackpool scored on a late first half penalty kick and off a break after Newcastle sent everything forward? The Mapgies had plenty of chances and couldn't convert. Blackpool, for all it lacks, has a team that plays on the same page and can pass the ball very well on the ground. Oh, the Tangerines play Chelsea this weekend. Fascinating match all of a sudden.
* Manchester City 1, Blackburn 1 -- A totally unforced communication error between Kolo Toure and Joe Hart gifted Rovers a goal, as Niko Kalanic capitalized on another keeping gaffe, like Round 1 vs. Everton. Man of the Match was Blackburn's Christopher Samba, was was immense all game and blocked a certain tap-in by Jo late on the goal line. City have better personell for the counter-attack as opposed to when they have to take the game to a packed-in defense. Carlos Tevez does have weeks where he's merely Bruce Banner.
* Fulham 2, Wolves 1 -- Four games in, the best transfer I've seen play is Fulham's Moussa Dembele. Right now he's carrying the Cottagers, both scoring and creating goals. He'll never get as gifted a free-kick as the one that beat Wolves late Saturday, when the either defensive wall jumped out of the way, leaving Marcus Hahnemann helpless. Weird quirk, all three goals were scored by Beligans with Dembele's double and Oguchi Onyewu-antagonizer Jelle Van Damme for Wolves.
* Birmingham City 0, Liverpool 0 -- Missed this all but the final 15 minutes for my softball doubleheader loss. Seems like I didn't miss much. Raul Meireles came on later and pushed Steven Gerard further back on the field. Strange. ... If you need a little more meet, fellow "Venture Bros." aficionado Nate over at Oh You Beauty breaks down Liverpool's ineptitude.
When Injuries Attack(non-Arsenal section):
Plenty of good men went down this weekend.
Of note, Luka Modric limped off on crutches, but X-Rays Sunday were encouraging. Blackburn captain Ryan Nelson left at halftime. Bobby Zamora figures to miss most of the rest of the season with a broken ankle, opening the door for Eddie Johnson to see some extended minutes at Craven Cottage. My buddy Ahmed El Mohamady left in the first half for Sunderland, too.
Around the League:
Asamoah Gyan scored. Lee Cattermole got a red card. All-and-all, your typical 2010-11 Sunderland match, drawing at Wigan 1-1. ... Scott Carson borrowed Chris Kirkland's baseball cap. ... Not sure why, but I'm convinced Gary Neville and Joey Barton trade their shitty goatees back-and-forth between games. Oh, we can probably throw Rafael van dar Vaart into the Snidely Whiplash equation. ... Watching a lot of games at once, did Stuart Holden do much for Bolton? Didn't seem like it, though the Trotters royal blue away kits looked nice.
On Track for Worst "FIFA 11" rating vis-a-vis real life:
Adam Johnson, Manchester City.
When he's played as an "opposite winger" on the right, cutting inside to use his left foot, he's like a slightly sturdier, well, massively sturdier Arjen Robben with a little less pace. Figure "FIFA 11" rates him in the 75-78 range, when his current form should push him closer to an 83-85. Fortunately if you don't mind paying for the weekly league updates, Johnson's form will be adjusted.
Wonder if he'll look like that dude from "Big Bang Theory" in digital form?
He's still alive awards:
Dusting off a couple here, Pascal Chimbonda came on at halftime for Blackburn as I'd simply forgotten of his existence.
Next, the aforementioned Patrick Vieira brought his creaky old bones into the Manchester City midfield, to give Gareth Barry a respite after dual-England duties.
Andrew "Don't Call Me Andy" Johnson was briefly shown on the Fulham bench Saturday. Again, forget he was still amongst the living.
Lastly, Luis Boa Morte played and started for West Ham. No offense, but he seemed washed up five years ago at Fulham. The Portuguese winger isn't the sole reason West Ham in 0-0-4, but the fact he's seeing minutes against the best team in the league doesn't bode well for Los Irons.
Tweet of the Week:
From @xtiandc ...
"FSC's insistence that concurrent games are being played "later" is so very lame. Just give us ht scores & highlights please."
So true. Yes, there are probably people that will wait to watch a game, but it's much easier for those trying to avoid spoilers to leave the room at halftime or change the channel than to deny 95 percent of the viewers an update. Maybe it's some byzantine rights issue. Always seems to be that way.
Fantasy Team O' the Week:
Aaron Rushin's New Orleans Gooners put up 66 points in an overall low-scoring weekend. Captaining Michael Essien for 30 points (another guy I had and dropped), plus Johan Ellmander and Mikel Arteta did the work for him. Good job.
One other thing:
Rambled on long enough. Hope everyone enjoyed the start of the NFL ... even for its increasing bloated television presentation.
Labels: Arsenal, English Premier League, EPL, everton, Fulham, manchester city, manchester United, Monday recaps, Soccer, Wayne Rooney, west ham
