What a busy time. In case you are the 2 visitors I get to this blog that aren’t my mom, I just moved again. Ok, it was only cross town but with everything that’s taken place the last few weeks, it may as well have been a much longer move. Anyway, between that, school and work (can’t forget to pay the bills) I’ve just not had the time to really post lately. So, I’m gonna share a few thoughts though I’ll probably forget half of what I wanted to say.
LA fans who pushed the panic button after the Colorado game should knock better. LA fans excited after beating SJ need to get a grip. We still have no clue how good LA will be this season…though without the Trio of Becks, Fish and Landon they won’t be as good…at least we know that.
Seattle will more or less keep the Sounders name when the MLS team forms. My only question is, why this need to add “FC” everywhere. C’mon now. At first though had a little giggle when I’d read reports referring to teams as “The FC” but now it’s just annoying.
Speaking of expansion, what’s the bet that MLS will keep growing as long as investors are willing to pay the Expansion Fee and build a new stadium? It’s obvious there’s money to be made with the current structure of things.
Anyone who has ever read this blog around the MLS All-Star break know how much I hate the event. However, the league has sunk to an all-time low by putting the leagues best up against a pile of Wet Spam. Huh? Oh, my bad. It’s West Ham. Well, maybe I’d watch if Iron Maiden were the half-time show. *
Ipswich Town have just about managed to choke away their chance at promotion this season. Personally, I think another go-around with out the need to sell off their best talent will put them in a better spot for both promotion and relegation avoidance once they go do up.
Glad to see Cardiff make the FA Cup Final. Wish West Brom would have made it as well (Tony Mowbrey was a class player) but ya can’t have everything. A few weeks ago that call-in show on FSC was asking if we would pay the $25 for PPV to watch the Cup Final if it didn’t feature one of the ‘Big four’. Well, my personal opinion is that it’s going to be a much better final without any of them. If it’s not Ipswich (about to hit 30 years since the day) then I’d rather it be a team of players who probably aren’t going to seem many chances at major silverware. As for this UEFA Cup stuff, well, Cardiff should have some way (either through Wales or England) where it’s possible for them to reach Europe. What’s fair, well, that I don’t know.
Guaranteed, if (and it’s looking more like when) Amando Guevara joins the squad in Toronto, they’ll be lucky to do as well this season as they did last. You heard it here first…well maybe.
Was it just me or was having back-to-back MLS games on FSC and ESPN2 last week pretty sweet? Granted, it helped (well, for me) that LA was involved (thanks Becks) but still. four solid hours (plus pre/post shows on FSC) was just awesome. Perhaps that’s something we may see on a more regular basis down the road.
Nope, haven’t had time to spring for the MLS PPV package yet. I should but, well, almost all the LA games are going to be on TV anyway. I dunno.
Hey, does anyone know of a good source for games you can play with a 3-year old to introduce soccer skills? My boy is able to pass the ball back and forth with me (and he enjoys it) but he needs something more to keep him going longer. I’m just doing my bit to insure success in 2026.
Does anyone else have their DVR set to record “I’m on Setanta Sports”? Besides Lost, it’s the best show on TV.
Oh yeah, Becks got his 100th Cap for England a few weeks ago. While it’s a great (and well deserved honor) for him, I can’t help but wonder just how bad England have become. First, they can’t qualify for Euro ‘08, and now one of their best players plays for a club in a Mickey Mouse league.
Actually, now that I think about it, his goal the other night hardly registered with the anti-soccer media over here. All those article critical of his injury plagued season last year are staying quiet for now.
The MLS Players Association released the MLS salaries last week. Was there anything in there we didn’t know? I missed it if there was. I’m sure everyone will agree that the players at the bottom aren’t making enough. Now, I’m a firm believer that a team is only as good as it’s weakest link. If good mid-salary range players are being cast off to make cap space, you are weakening the team…especally in a league that plays matches on FIFA International dates. Many of those players are ending up in the USL, Europe or following a different career path. I hate to see this. My one hope is that the new CBA which will become an issue soon will help this situation.
If you haven’t already, spare a thought for Gretna. Talk about greed gone wrong. Dumping millions into a small club in the hope of rewards once the top-flight is reached. The thing is, will anyone really miss them? Even the Dream Team writers couldn’t have come up with a plot this good.
Hey, Santino Quaranta can really perform when he’s motivated. Took him long enough. Is it too late for Memo Gonzalez?
Is it me or do the MLS stadiums have better atmosphere this season? KC actually doesn’t seem dead. Granted, there’s only 10k there but there’s more energy in the stadium.
Ok, enough for now. I’m sure there’s lots I forgot though. Hopefully, I’ll have some time to post more soon.
* In case you didn’t get the attempt at a joke. Iron Maiden bassist Steve Harris is a huge West Ham fan and was even on their books as a youth player.
Forget all this Beckham-mania. How ’bout Fish? Not only did he score all 3 in the win the other night…look at the run he made to be there to finish the third one. That’s not the Fish we’ve seen the last couple of seasons.
OK, it was a preseason friendly against a make-shift team from China…but I still love the effort Fish gave on that goal.
After Wednesday’s Pan Pacific matches in Hawaii, every report and commentary, weather traditional media or blogger, wrote off LA and were ready to give Houston the title. I can’t wait to see what they are writing today.
You can’t judge a team my only one match. Comparing the over all results, LA were the second best team on the islands…they only lost by one goal to Osaka while Houston were stuffed 6-1!!! Of course, there’s a long way to go this season. Who knows what the heck is gonna happen.
Bottom line for me is that Becks on the right is head and shoulders better than any other player in the league. Those kids in the middle spent the two recent matches figuring out how to get on the end of those crosses and put them away. The one kid (got the second goal) isn’t every going to forget how sweetly that strike came off his foot.
Like I Twitted (I think that’s the correct word…see the widget on the right) the other night, I’m not worried about Wednesdays performance. It was the first preseason game. Look how much improvement there was in just a couple of days.
I can’t wait for the season to start…and for LA to be at full strength. LA will be better this season…I’m just not gonna predict how much better.
I won’t bore you with the details cuz it’s blogged and published everywhere else.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m excited or not about this. Yeah, it’s another opportunity for MLS Clubs to show how competitive they are. Yes, another. Is the SuperLiga still part of the mix? Houston and NE still have the Champions Cup (the old version to play this Spring as well. Another question, which two MLS Clubs get the other two spots? It should be Chivas and DC….but will LA somehow slid into the mix? Will Toronto get a back door in every year?
Why am I so negative? Which Mexican Clubs participate? Will the best two still go to the Copa Libratadoras? Or will this be a second (third?) International Competition for them.
I do like the idea of dumping the rest of the competitions and making this the premier competition for our region, but until my questions are answered, it won’t be. We keep hearing comments about fixture congestion yet we continue to see more matches…though I will say that at least this isn’t some “made to make money” meaningless friendly against some big Euro Club.
Also, what about TV coverage? Will we even get to see the games? I’m thinking this is yet another idea from the CONCACAF Brain-trust which hasn’t been completely thought through.
Well, it seems a few things have happened in the last few days. Guess I should catch up a bit.
The big news, for LA fans, is that Fish will be returning. LA fans are split by this move. They either love or hate it.I’m in the camp that believes no one is going to want to face the three-headed monster of Becks, Donovan and Fish. Of course, that assumes they aren’t injured and Fish doesn’t keep tripping over the lines marking the penalty area. My biggest beef is that with so much cap space being filled by just a few players, what’s left for the rest of the squad?
Chicago now has a shirt sponsor. To be honest, I’m surprised Best Buy didn’t insist their yellow tag logo be put on the shirt.
The MLS SuperduperDraft is tomorrow.I have a tough time getting interested. I don’t follow college ball at all.No one really knows that much about the players except from the combines. MLS teams really don’t scout players outside of their local area. If quality player in a non-MLS area is a stud, who would know? Baseball has scouts combing every tiny High School for talent.MLS doesn’t even come close.To prove my point, of the players in MLS who were drafted out of college in the last few years, ok, I don’t have the numbers but it seems to me that they are just as likely to come from the later rounds as they do from the early rounds. Someone put the numbers together and prove me wrong.Until a quality scouting system is put in place, I’ll worry about those guys when they come in off the bench for their MLS debut.
Speaking of the draft, Nick Garcia is worth a #1 pick. I’m still trying to figure out what that tells us.
We are starting to see more Americans heading to Europe….even England. Fulham (Eddie Johnson) may soon have five (yes, 5) American’s on their squad.As always, keepers are popular—Matt Pickens on trial at that scummy team in Green And Yellow.
One thing I’ve been thinking about lately is management giving teams time to jell. I said it a bunch last season when LA made a million moves to try and get the right combination. One area which seems to be overlooked in this area is coaches (managers). What’s bringing this up is the recent changes in Newcastle…but the same could be said about New York. The guy in charge needs time to get things right and if you keep changing things all the time, there’s never any time for the team to come together. Of course, this doesn’t explain what’s going on in Colorado, but there are always exceptions to rules.
Ok, enough for now.If I keep rambling and don’t post this, it’ll never happen. I’ll post again when I have the chance.
I’ve kept my mouth shut on this whole Figo thing thinking–hoping(?)–it would just go away. But it isn’t. So, I’m posting to voice my opinion.
BTW, I hope everyone reading this had a great holiday season. I haven’t posted much cuz, well, I was busy with the family and I was working on some stuff for ITFC-NASC in the little time I’ve had….besides, not much has really happened.
Now, this Figo nonsense. Anyone who knows me…or has read my blog…knows I’ve followed LA since Day 1. I’ve seen all the different ups and downs over the years. Beckham coming to LA, in my opinion, was a good move on many levels. However, from that time on, every agent in Europe has used LA and AEG as a pawn to get a better deal for their clients. I have every reason to believe this is the case with all these Figo stories.
OK, so what if the stories are true? God, I really hope they aren’t. But if they are true and he arrives in LA in a couple of months. This would be awful for the team. We’d have 3 massive players (Donovan, Beckham and Figo) taking up almost all the salary cap and pocket change left over for Ruud to build the rest of the squad.
What about Cannon or Xavier? That would probably empty the remaining space. No, I haven’t done the math but….
We’ll have the most expensive 5-a-side team in the world. Too bad we’ll be playing teams with 11 on the pitch. LA need depth in their squad if they are going to succeed. There’s no way to do with with a few guys (albeit quality guys) taking up most of the salary cap. I don’t care how good a job Ruud will do, he’s got to have the right squad…and adding Figo isn’t what he needs.
Ok, rant over. Back to other stuff. Thanks for listening.
I’ve been saying for over four years now that LA Galaxy should have bring Mauricio Cienfuegos should have been brought into the organization after he retired as a player and groomed to become the Head Coach in LA. Well, someone agree’s with me that he’ll do a good job as boss.
Nah, they waited for Cobi to retire before they brought a former player into the coaching staff.
It’s been an interesting week on the MLS Coaching front. Of course, LA now have a Dutch coach….a coach who I idolized as a player. The guy was awesome. My hope is that he can introduce Total Football to the HDC.
I was fortunate enough to group up in the Total Football heyday. While I lived on the other side of the North Sea, Bobby Robson had brought a taste of Total Football to Suffolk in the late 80’s when he signed Arnold Murhen and Franz Thijssen. The think of love about the style isn’t the obvious, ball movement, it’s the player movement. Players off the ball finding and creating space so the player with the ball can use them. That’s what gave me goosebumps when done well.
How will it work in LA? I don’t know. I do remember (fuzzy memory again here) back in the Rose Bowl days when LA were getting pretty close there. I don’t remember if Zambrano or Schmid were in charge at the time. It may have been ’98. Anyway, I hope he can bring some of it to LA. Sampson killed anything entertaining and Yallop was never given the chance to develop it.
Pele has been getting in the news while watching Ipswich go down to Sheffield Utd. He claims that MLS sold Becks as a goal scorer. Um, I know I’m getting old (another birthday this week) but I honestly don’t recall anyone saying that. In fact, I seem to recall everyone explaining to those who aren’t as familiar with the sport that he is a midfielder and is a great passer and freekick taker. Nothing about goals. Granted, there were many who made comments about his productivity in terms of stats when assessing his impact on the field this season. But then again, I’m not sure the average American sports writer can write anything without citing some type of stats. For me, I saw a different team when he was on the field. LA were much more organized and seemed to have more direction and flow when Beckham was getting touches. But what do I know? I’m sure Pele saw all the matches he played for LA and is more an expert on those things than I. Beckham, for his part, only said great things about Pele when asked to respond. What a class act.
Speaking of Ipswich, I loved this result.
Is it me, or are things in NY (ok, NJ) at a standstill? (Insert 60-90 day’s joke here.) Is Red Bull going to pull something amazing out of the hat? Firing Arena (yeah, I read the statement) just seems a bit drastic. Now they are making changes to the stadium plan…well, according to Ives who is one of the more reliable reporters–ad the stadium probably won’t be ready until 2010!!! Now, I’ve sat on this for a few hours and given it some thought. My conclusion is, this may not be a bad thing. Granted, there are things in Red Bull Land which need to be addressed. However, I think this shows a long-term commitment to the team and the league. Also, I’ve a feeling that Red Bull–who don’t do things half-way–are going to create one heck of a sweet stadium. I just wonder how much longer the Red Bull loyal can wait?
So, Seattle will have an MLS team sometime in the future–possibly before Red Bull moves outta the Meadowlands. Drew Carey will probably now get grief from my buddies in LARS but I guess I don’t really blame him. What’s interesting is where I read something along the lines of the team having fans buy shares of the club and allow them to vote on things. With Red Bull in NY, Chivas in…err, Chivas, Toronto doing something no other MLS team can–like selling 16,000 season tickets before the previous season is finished. Back to my point, there’s more investment from people who arefamiliar with how the game is run in other countries coming into the league. The league isn’t anything like it was in ‘96–and I’m not just talking quality of play. I’m just surprised it’s taken so long for the owners to realize things things. Maybe I’m not seeing the right picture but things do seem to be headed in that direction. I just wonder how much longer we’ll have to put up with matches on FIFA International dates?
Anyway, enough rambling for today. I’ve not been good about writing much lately…I’m blaming school. However, if you are interested in random comments and the occasional live match comments, check out my Twitter.
Honestly, I’m not sure if I’m excited or not about this. Yeah, it’s another opportunity for MLS Clubs to show how competitive they are. Yes, another. Is the SuperLiga still part of the mix? Houston and NE still have the Champions Cup (the old version to play this Spring as well. Another question, which two MLS Clubs get the other two spots? It should be Chivas and DC….but will LA somehow slid into the mix? Will Toronto get a back door in every year?
