Summer & lazy

I've been lazy. But there's some interesting stuff going on:

EPL is under way and *Chelsea* is on top - Man U is not!

American soccer is gaining world power. Feilhaber is in Germany, Danny Szetela to Newcastle, Adu to Benfica, the boys at Fulham, etc.

Blanco is the "designated player" hero - two goals, five assists, renwed Chicago's playoff hopes. Blanco also says players have been asking him about his stint in the MLS with interest.

Becks is out for the rest of the season (knee). Shit.

The U.S. take on Brazil Sept. 9th and will announce the roster Monday - they want to give a couple fringe players a look (Feilhaber, Adu, other players settling into their team) but most have been selected already.

Lamps is out for England

I'm back!

Tomorrow = Becks

Well, the fun starts tomorrow at 4:30 PT with a special on becks, which will be followed immediately by his debut game, although his appearance will mst likely be short becuase of an injured ankle. Thats ok though, its still cool, sort of. Now that I think about it, the MLS may not be ready for it. But, if we keep our net export talent ratio balanced, we should be ok. Young American talent needs to be exported to EU while we bring a couple legends back to tout the beautiful game. Will soccer succeed in America? if it does, it will not be becuase of David Beckham, but Posh might have something to do with it. The image of soccer needs to change from a social sport for suburbanites that fill shared stadium parking lots with mini-vans to a cut-throat competitive athletic showcase in 50,000 capacity stadiums near public transportation and drinking establishments.

The best day of my life...

I was feeling tired and bored today, but then I saw the news. The Earthquakes are coming back to The Bay!!!!! I honestly thought it'd be a few more years till I saw the colors again, but Garger (The MLS Comissioner) announced the news today. I can't wait, I'll be one of the first season tickets, no doubt.

Lew Wolff, managing partner of the Oakland Athletics (Go Giants!), bought the rights to the team colors, name, and frnachise when they moved to Houston and has been trying to get a team back ever since. He originally planned to build a new stadium for the San Jose State Spartans, but they couldn't agree on a revenue sharing scheme. He now will have the team play in "temporary" venues 'till a stadium is built right by my house (!) in 2010. Wow.

The American Dream

So I guess its not so bad having a terrible league afterall. If we had a world class league, world class clubs wouldn't come to play off-season friendly's, like the Chelsea vs. Club America game I attended yesterday. It wasn't the most exciting game, like one you'd hope would be equivalent to a UEFA game, but the atmosphere was great. If they can pack nearly 50,oo0 into Stanford then why can't we have a MLS club in nor cal? Beckham won't change it either. He could ruin it, if the caliber of play doesn't significantly increase. More on that later.

sorry...

no new posts becuase of vacation. Sorry!

CONMEBOL muy mad

The CONMEBOL, the South American soccer federation that puts on the Copa America, has stated its frustration with the U.S. becuase of their sending of a second rate team. CONMEBOL feels the U.S. didn't show the tournament the respect it deserves, and used Argentina as an example of a team that hasn't left one star of the roster. Here's the article.

So why did the U.S. disrespect the tournament? I don't think they did. They saw this as a chance to give their youth some playing time against the best in the world - a rare chance for the young MLS player. They also let the MLS stars return to their teams, as they would have missed nearly two months with their club team (the MLS needs to change the season schedule begin and end dates, or have an international summer break). But our stars need to play against the best in the world too, and I think its part of Bradley's master plan to make this happen. Had the U.S. not won the Gold Cup, they wouldn't have qualified for the Confederations Cup (the tournament for all the winners of the regional tournaments like Copa America and the Gold cup), and he most likely would have sent the studs.

Speechless

USA 1 ~ Paraguay 3
The U.S never found their groove, but it could have easily been the reverse scoreline. More of the same inexperience, but its good for them and the MLS. I can't wait to see guys like Feilhaber, Clark, and Donovan in the midfield dominating those socialist sympathizing Europeans.

The the youth of the U.S. look promising, as long as Eddie Johnson starts finishing - but when? He's 23 and has spent a good chunk of time in the mediocrity that is the MLS - when will he bloom. He's big, athletic, and fast with good technique, but I haven't seen a thirst for goals and a win at all cost attitude. That's what the U.S. lacks in general as well: a win at all costs attitude. It's OK to do a little spitting, a little clashing, a little tugging and a lot of shit talking, but the "everyone plays, fairly" attitude of the AYSO turns our boys into little suburban sissies! Send them overseas our Central America, better yet, and let them see how it's done. I'm sorry, but the NCAA Division 1 (go broncos) is not anything comparable to a youth academy. I'm going to start ranting, so I'll stop there. Cheers.

More experience

Well, the U.S. takes on Paraguay today. I'm not exactly sure what to expect, but you can most likely count on the South Americans to be the more technically skilled team. I haven't seen the Americans score a non-PK goal in a couple games, and I expect the non-threatening offensive trend to continue. I think a 1-1 draw would be a reasonable prediction, with a goal coming from Eddie Johnson. But keep an eye out for a break-out performance from Johnson - it's gotta happen one of these days!

Its not as bad as it looks...

Whew...what a game! Although the score was 4-1 in Argentina's favor, I'm still proud of our boys. They are a very young and inexperienced team that has been given only a couple days to gel, but they found a way to overcome and put up a very good fight - taking an early lead and holding the tie until into the second half - and looked pretty good. They strung some nice balls together, Eddie Johnson looked dangerous, and the defense held up for a lot of the game under the pressure of guys like Riquelme, Messi, Crespo, and Tevez. Christ that's a stacked team! I was never expecting a victory from the guys (if you refer to the previous post, you would see that I predicted a 3-1 defeat to the Argentines with a goal from a Donovan PK - the final score was 4-1 with a goal coming from a Johnson PK that would've been taken by Donovan [I should have checked the roster before hand] had he played - not to bad!) and when I saw the roster and asked myself "who are these guys," I wouldn't have predicted them holding their ground and playing quality soccer - but they did it!
These players are learning valuable lessons on the international stage early so it doesn't have to happen in a World Cup.

When the 4th of July starts getting close, I sometimes start to think about why we celebrate ourselves - what about America is worth celebrating? And there's nothing more patriotic than watching your country's top 11 throwing some beat down on those social "democratic" Latin American countries. And I realised that only a couple of the Argentine players actually play in Argentina while most of our squad plays in the U.S. Why? Interesting hypothesis: the quality of life of the said league's country has a major effect on the said player's decision making process. If, as the 4th of July makes us ponder, the U.S. provides a unique way of life that is superior to others, then why would our players want to leave? I'm not saying the Argentinian way life is inferior - ok I am (but only to CALI) - because there are obviously many other factors involved (i.e. money, family, prestige), but it's still an interesting thought! What do you think?

Link to FSC story here.

Its been almost a month since the last post, I've been finishing up school and didn't get a chance to update it. Update: the USA Men's National Team won the Gold Cup (the regional international tournament of the CONCACAF - North & Central America + Carribean) , a mostly meaningless tournament, save for the fact that the winner gets a birth in the Confederation's Cup (the tournament for all the winners of the regional tournaments like the Gold Cup). They didn't play all that well, up until the second half of the final against Mexico (who beat Brazil 2-0 yesterday), but they looked good for a half - and Feilhaber's goal was unbelievable!

The U.S. now eye's Copa America, the South American regional tournament (they invite others to join which is how the U.S. are participating), but they will be facing much stiffer competition. The first game for the U.S. is tonight (6/28) against Argentina. I predict a 3-1 loss, with the goal coming from a Donovan penalty kick. I also predict Argentina to win the tourney, they've got their full squad, including Riquelme (the Brazilians are missing Kaka and Ronaldinho - they won't be miss them on the field), and they're looking for blood after the disapointing showing in Germany. We'll see how it pans out.

Congrats Bob Bradley

The U.S. Soccer Federation has announced the hiring of Bob Bradley as the full-time coach of the US MNT. I think its a great move, but maybe a little pre-mature; I was hoping they'd wait until after the Copa America to give him some incentive in a non-friendly environment to win. But, this may also give him and the squad a sort of vote of confidence heading into it. Either way, I think he's the ball buster we need to get Landon into gear.

L.A. Liga title for Becks?

It seems that the never-ending season of the Spanish Primera has helped Los Galacticos, as they lead Barca in head-to-head wins, and it should be interesting. If Real happens to pull it off, Becks will be able to add a Spanish League title to his list of silverware. He has conquered Eruope, and now he's heading stateside! Article

The Gang of Four..

The results are in and West Ham are here to stay. And because Carlos Tevez pretty much single handedly kept them up, the other teams at the bottom of the table are seriously lobby the FA to penalize West Ham over the controversial signing and third-party salary payment of their star. Don't let this let take your mind off of the cheating of the team that shall never be mentioned. Here's the link to a short article about the Tevez deal, where he might be getting a very large amount of money to go to Inter - I hope he stays and conquers the EPL, personally.

I Knew It!!!!

It turns out that Manchester United (I'll only mention the name if it's a slander post) really are a bunch of lying cheaters. Tim Howard, the American star goalkeeper, was on loan to Everton from Man U, so Man U was still paying him. This creates conflicting interests when Man U plays Everton, as Tim Howard's opponent is paying him, so the FA has a rule that a player can not play against the team he is on loan from, so when Man U plays Everton, Tim Howard can't play. However, Everton bought Tim Howard to keep him for good, so Everton started paying his wages, but Man U made a gentleman's agreement with Everton where Man U got Everton to not play Tim Howard if they were still in the title race. In other words, they cheated. No worries for Sir Alex though, Man u can divert the attention away from their obvious cheating and turn it to the almost harmless transfers of Argentines Tevez and Mascherano to West Ham. Disgusting - and no better than the shenanigans of Italy. This article touches on both topics.

Wow...

Allegedly, Thierry Henry will be heading to Barcelona this summer. Wow. Eto'o is supposedly on his way out (to the team that shall not be mentioned) and might provide the financial balancing the team needs to another star. Ronaldinho to Messi to Henry - crazy. Full article here.

Shit...

All I can think right now is: shit - no major trophies for Chelsea. Do not fire Mourinho, the man that brought the club out of a fifty year crapness spell. Congrats, I guess, to the team that will never be named in this blog. Here's an article about the wrapping up of the prem. title.

Why the EPL Never Gets Old

Even though the team that shall never be mentioned in this blog pretty much has the prem. title locked, there is still a dirty, scrappy, passionate fight going on for relegation safety. That's right, as is often the case, the fight for fourth-to-last place is better than the fight for first place. Check out this article from FSC. West Ham will forever be blowin bubbles!

West Ham got into trouble with the Premier League when it was revealed that Tevez and Mascherano, who moved from Brazilian club Corinthians, had their contracts owned by a third party.

Who did that goofy looking Icelandic West Ham owner piss off to bring this story out?

I have a confession to make: I didn't post on this blog for a week. It's not you, it's me. I knew that to make a new post, I'd have to look at my old one. You know, the one about Chelsea hopefully winning their next game at Anfield in the Champions League Semi's and heading to the finals. I had to take a breather after being crushed in penalty kicks (it was a draw on aggregate after 180 mins) by two brilliant saves by the Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.

Well, now that I'm back and have officially had 1 reader, I'd thought I'd satisfy that reader with some MLS gossip. The article has a list of the top paid MLS players and there salaries. Becks is of course on the top of the list, but Blanco is second, and that is a great thing.

David Beckham will receive more than double what any other player in MLS is getting this year and more than 50 times the average salary, according to data released by the league's players' union on Friday.

They're bringing in talent but, with the exception of Becks, not huge global stars; like those that helped ruin the financial system of the NASL (although it would've been something to see Pele and Beckenbauer on the same side against George Best!) - not that they ever really had their shit together. As long as the teams can afford it, I'm all for importing talent. This is one of many problems I have/had with the MLS, and I will rant about many, many more.

Good to see the MLS stop trying to be a crap league and start throwing some dough around!

Champions League Update

Chelsea and Manchester Untied both won their games by one goal, giving both of them the advantage as the travel to next week's away return leg. Manchester united gave up two goals, which gives them a slight disadvantage if it ends in a draw, as away goals are the aggregate tie-breaker. C'mon Blues!

Champion's League on ESPN and ESPN Classic

This week the Champions League semi-final first leg will take place, and ESPN will be showing both games live!!! Very exciting time for soccer, as well as England, since three of the four teams are from the prem. and it looks like it will be an all English-final. Maybe now they'll shut up about the one World Cup victory in '66. Well, here's the schedule and the link to the full ESPN TV schedule.

Tuesday, April 23 (tomorrow) - Manchester United :( vs. AC Milan
@ 11:30 on ESPN 2
Wednesday, April 24 - Chelsea FC vs.
Liverpool FC @11:30 on ESPN
2
The games will also
be aired immediately following the
conclusion on ESPN Classic

More American Influence in England

The Vice-Chairman of Arsenal FC has resigned from his position citing "irreconcilable differences" as his reason. But there is more to it than just a disagreement, the VC David Dein was backing the takeover of the club by an American investor, Stan Kroenke. Stan made his money developing shopping centers and apartment buildings, and since his wife is a Wal-mart heir, he has built many of the plazas that Wal-Marts are in. He's also the co-owner of the St. Louis Rams and the full owner of the Denver Nuggets, the Colorado Avalanche, the Denver based professional lacrosse team, and more interestingly, the Colorado Rapids of the MLS (I understand that the teams, Arsenal and the Rapids, already are linked through some-sort of talent and playing agreement). Will Henry be coming to Denver, or will Wal-Mart be heading to Emirates Stadium (Arsenal's brand-spanking new stadium). Hmmm. More American influence in England can only be good for an American fan - more exposure and possibly more air-time. Tasty. Here's a quote and the full article:

Speculation that the Gunners are set to be the next target for heavy
investment from the United States has continued after Kroenke Sports Enterprises
upped their stake to 12.19%.

La Liga (Spanish Primera) Update

The latest from La Liga: Barcelona not the powerhouse once thought. Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit - they’re still one of the best in the world, but after winning the Champions League last year, one thought that Barcelona would be killing everybody, but not so. They were struggling to gain a hold on the La Liga tables, with Sevilla leading for a while, and then they got knocked out of European play (Champs. League) early, leaving them playing in only one tournament. They should have a large lead, considering Sevilla are still playing in Europe, but they failed to pull away. They only have one point with a few games left. It should get real interesting. Here’s the scoop:

Barcelona's defeat at El Madrigal stadium left it with just one win from its
past nine away games and dented its hopes of a third straight title.

Congrats to Inter-Milan!

It seems that the Italian league, Serie A, is all wrapped up. This years winner is Inter-Milan, the blue-and-black powerhouse that has really benefitted from the referee paying (also ex-chelsea striker Hernan Crespo) scandal last year. With the top two teams, Juventus being sent down to Serie B (the equivalent of AAA baseball except that in European soccer the teams can move up and down between the leagues – the top three from the lower league come up and the bottom three of the upper league go down) and AC Milan (still in Champions League) getting a point reduction, along with two other top class teams, Inter was left standing with the cash on hand to buy some of Juventus and AC’s stars. But AC, with the help of Ronaldo (that’s a joke – he’s fat now) have still shown that they are top class. Here’s the story on the win from ESPN’s soccernet:

Marco Materazzi scored twice, once from the penalty spot, as Inter Milan won 2-1
at Siena to clinch their second successive Serie A title with five games to
spare.

The First Had To Be For the Blues

Since the birth of this blog has come as the seasons are winding down, although the title races are heating up and the MLS is just getting rolling, I had to start by acknowledging the unprecedented success and opportunity for glory of the one and only, Chelsea FC. With the Carling Cup trophy already in the case, trailing the premiership title race (which would be the third straight) by only three points, in the FA cup finals, and gearing up for their UEFA Champion’s League semi-final clash with Liverpool, they seem to be poised for the treble, and maybe if by chance, the QUADRUPLE!! For those that don’t know, clubs, depending on their strength, compete in more than just one tournament at the same time with many different clubs (some from another country possibly), unlike American sports where there is one season followed by play-offs with teams all out of the same league. Winning two trophies is a double, three a treble, and four the quadruple. So, in Chelsea’s case, a team can win four trophies (two very prestigious, one prestigious, and one not so much) in one season, although none have ever done so, in recent history at least. Again using Chelsea as an example, they are playing in three domestic tournaments, league, which is decided on a points system and no playoff, the FA Cup, which is a tournament of all English professional sides including the lower divisions (it would be like the MLB having a tournament with all minor-league teams, the majors, and any random club team if they so choose), the Carling Cup (a less prestigious version of the FA cup with only the minors and majors playing – no outside teams), and one international tournament, the UEFA Champions League. The Champions League is put on by European soccer governing body, UEFA - a member of FIFA, the world’s soccer governing body known for the World Cup – which is made up of all the European country’s domestic leagues, like the Premiership. This is a very special tournament that teams must qualify for by doing well in their domestic league the previous season. Different countries, depending on league strength, are given a different number of “births,” ranging from a chance to enter the qualifying round by playoff for the winner of the domestic league, to one automatic “birth” to the tournament and three automatic qualifying round entries, as with England. So it’s sort of the competition to see who is the best in Europe, which in turn, because Europe is obviously the world’s regional power-house, is the best in the world. Confusing, huh? Anyways, I just wanted to explain that from the start because I’ll refer to it a lot. Here’s a quote from an article from Fox Soccer Channel talking about the coach and his chances – full article here.

Jose Mourinho is able to focus all his energy on completing
an unprecedented Quadruple at Chelsea
after learning he will not be sacked.

A Declaration of Americaneyes

I hereby declare this blog the European Football to American sports fans translator. I will be providing discourse and commentary on the Beautiful Game translated to American. I also must declare my allegiance to the Blues, Chelsea FC of the English Premier League, and my allegiance to primarily objective translation. Stay Posted.