Tuesday, March 16, 2010

The MLS Labor Strike: USA Soccer now in Team USA's hands

I am sitting here, typing this article not only as a disgruntled, would-be fan of the Philadelphia Union, but as a disgruntled fan of USA Soccer. On March 11, just 5 days ago, the MLS players voted in favor of going on strike if a new labor deal isn't reached by March 22, 3 days before the beginning of the MLS season.
Of course, hearing this as a Philadelphia Union season ticket holder, my first reaction was anger, but not anger at the players who voted to strike, anger at USA Soccer. The MLS is already a league with limited support, New York, a city which normally has maximum support for its many sports teams, only puts up an average of 12,229 fans per Red Bulls game, and who knows how many of those are visiting fans capitalizing on the abysmal Red Bull support? I'm aware that the Red Bulls are getting a new stadium this year, I'm just using them as an example of the minimal respect and support the MLS receives.
Now let's put this into perspective. It could be worse, it could be way worse. Imagine if the year was 2011, and not 2010, and imagine that the US hadn't advanced past the group stage in South Africa. Answer me this question: who would care about USA Soccer? You have a failing league that treats its players in a less than favorable way, and you have a failing team that seemingly cannot win when it matters. What would be the inspiration for upcoming kids playing soccer and upcoming MLS and USA Soccer fans to care? Luckily for us, the World Cup is just about 3 months away. If Team USA does well, it's going to make people care about soccer in this country. However, if Team USA does poorly, and the MLS still hasn't reached a deal with its players yet, what would be the point of watching soccer for many Americans? This being said, the fate of USA Soccer right now rests in Team USA's hands, hopefully they won't disappoint.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

The Donovan Experiment

Back in 2007, Major League Soccer would sign soccer star David Beckham for a 5 year deal to the Los Angles Galaxy. The league would create new rules as to how players of Beckham's caliber could be signed by any team, and not greatly impact the team's salary cap. Some would say the " Beckham Experiment" has failed because the club has failed to win a championship, and even missed the playoffs in Beckham's first season with the Galaxy.

There would also be a ton of controversy when Beckham said he would like to remain with AC Milan after being loaned to them. Landon Donovon even questioned Beckham's commitment to the Galaxy, MLS, and even soccer in America.

Flash-forward in winter of 2009/2010. Donovan signs a $1,000,000+ contract with the LA Galaxy. Everton FC, one of the most successful clubs in England, suffers many injuries to its roster, and at one point, some feared, the club that has played the most top-flight soccer games in the country, could be relegated. Manager David Moyes would turn to the American Star to help his club in the January transfer window, where they would agree to a loan until mid March.

The "Donovan Experiment" at Everton has been incredibly successful. Since joining the club, the team has won 6 games, lost 3, and tied 1. The club, fans, manager, Donovan, even Americans want to see him stay at Everton, but it appears he will return to Los Angeles unless there is a work stoppage in MLS.

If you were able to watch the match vs Hull City, Landon would come on at about the 70th minute with a 3-1 lead and the entire stadium chanting USA USA USA!. Landon would make a cross to Yakubu, only to see Yakubu's shot go into the stands. Landon would then score a beautiful goal with teammate Phil Neville saying USA USA USA meanwhile the fans chanting "Sign him up!"

Donovan's work in under 20 minutes was not done. What could have been his second goal, Landon would instead pass it to his teammate Rodwell, where the ball would go in the back of the net. Rodwell then picked Landon and carried him to the stands.

I never would have guessed England should be the place the USA team should play its home games because you don't here that passion in the states.

While Beckham must be thinking "what goes around, comes around" everyone is on Donovan's side. Either way, The Beckham-Donovan feud and experiments will be continued in the very near future either in MLS, or the USA/England World Cup Match on June 12.

Either way, expect Donovan to return to Everton, even if he should play in Los Angeles this season, because the Donovan Experiment has worked for the toffees.

Saturday, March 6, 2010

Bob Bradley and the Yanks

After watching the United States take on the Netherlands, Bob Bradley has some  issues with the Yanks. There were some positive moments in the game, but I don't know if Bradley is willing to change his coaching philosophy because of them.

The negatives are that if we do not have our A-team healthy and match fit, the United States is probably not going to make it past the group stage. We just don't have the depth on the roster that can comfortably fill some spots in the top 11. The good news is most should be ready with the big question mark on Charlie Davies return. If Charlie cannot make it back, it could be very hard for us to score. My solution would be to place Clint Dempsey up top along with Jozy Altidore, and have Brian Ching on the bench. The yanks (and Bob Bradley) like to play a 4-5-1, which I cannot stand. I fear this is what Bradley will use unless Davies can return, because it fits right into Bob Bradley's bunker mentality. Don't let them score, and pray the one good chance we get in 90 minutes will go in the back of the net. Unfortunately, while our defense isn't horrible, it can't stop many teams outside of CONCACAF for the entire match.

There were some positives coming from the game vs the Dutch. When the U.S. was down 0-2, with about 15 minutes left to play, we actually started to go on the offensive. When we did, we had the #3 team in the World playing on their heels and backpedaling. We would score one goal, and had two other fantastic opportunities. The U.S. could have won the game in the last 15 minutes. If we played like that for the entire 90 minutes, winning would have been within our grasp. We can play good offensive soccer against ANY team in the world, and the Confederations Cup proved that against Egypt and Brazil.

Unfortunately, attacking is not in Bob Bradley's philosophy, and he probably wants to use the 4-5-1, the exact formation Bruce Arena used in 2006, and it did not get us into the round of 16. If Charlie Davies can play, we will use the 4-4-2, which gives me much more hope this team will play with some offense in their mind. The United States is very dangerous on the attack, and if they can play like that before and during the World Cup, I like our chances making the quarter-finals, which is not an easy task.

Christian N.
Christian is a Philadelphia native, and political and sports columnist for several newspapers across North America. He is also a Philadelphia Union Season Ticket Holder and can be followed on Twitter and his Website.