I do not care for the guy with the hammer 'n power saw across the way. He very diligently gets started excruciatingly early in the morning. Damn him and his infernal saw, damn him to hell...#1 - Soccer Insider Steven Goff reports that Valencia are out and Villarreal may be in as the MLS All-Star Game opponent. And Jozy would be back from loan... I'm diggin' it.
#2 - Still in the mood to chuckle over the dire-ish straits of El Tri? Cue Luis Bueno over at Sports Illustrated.
#3 - New York Red Bulls draft pick Babajide Ogunbiyi has moved from Norwegian trials to one at Leeds United.
A few corrections on the article: it's MLS, he has yet to play in the league and (unless I'm mistaken) never played a competitive match for Nigeria's U-23 team.
#4 - The U.S. Under-20 National Team was drawn into Group C for this autumn's World Cup in Egypt. They will face (in order): Germany, Cameroon and South Korea
#5 - Revs striker (and St. Louis homeboy) Taylor Twellman is dealing with the major hassle that is a neck injury. It is not pleasant, I know. I sure hope he's back out there before too long.
#6 - Red Card ace Luis Arroyave talked with Eddie Johnson about being back in USMNT camp.
#7 - MLS Daily contributor Jason Davis with a very measured look at MLS insistence that they must play on FIFA dates... and apparently, at the same time as USMNT matches.
#8 - Adi Akinbiyi is coming soon to an MLS stadium near you.
What? I didn't say anything bad. Sheesh.
#9 - My WPS hometown side St. Louis Athletica dropped their franchise opener 1-0 at home to the Chicago Red Stars - and another I-55 rivalry is born.
(shakes fist at Lindsay Tarpley)
#10 - In the "if you missed it" file today: my feature bit on D.C. United thunderdome warrior Ben Olsen.
Also... and I can only imagine you'll find me a real stat/list geek for this... I looked up my recent World 2014 U.S. roster "projection" (is it even that this far ahead?) to see where all the players I listed are currently working their games.
Well, of the 106 players I pooled, MLS unsurprisingly leads the way. Over half, 56 to be exact, are now playing in the home league (or, at least, are on a roster competing for pitch time... you know what I mean).
Who was next? American college/youth clubs have 12 of those prospects and the top three flights of England have 11. Germany and Norway (!) came next with six, followed by Denmark (four), France, Italy, Scotland and Sweden (each with three).
In all, the players could be found in 17 countries on three continents... and not a single one playing in the Eredivisie. Erm, what the hell? How many integral USMNT World Cup players bloom in the Netherlands before we all catch on?
At the very least, we are no longer ignoring their levee expertise. Rant over.
#11 - Okay, time to drop a few MLS weekend thoughts (here are all the boxes and videos):
- Somehow, FC Dallas have managed to go 0-3 and rank dead last in MLS offense while leading the league in shots, running second in shots on goal and fourth on corner kicks and fourth on fouls suffered... crazy.
- I feel bad for Danny Cepero. Danny, Danny, Danny... were you trying to go back from whence you came? Oh, it was painful (media player link).
To be fair, I will note that he does currently lead the league in saves.
- I saw some really lame ejections in Europe this weekend, but I'm also left wondering how Revs forward Kenny Mansally managed to avoid a red card for his Cam Neely running the keeper impersonation. Yeesh.
- Two guys who were talked about as the possible top pick, eventual #1 Steve Zakuani and L.A. defender Omar Gonzalez, each scored their first MLS goals this week - as did Freddie Ljungberg. We also had two tricks, from Robbie Findley and Conor Casey.
- Why are the Crew being outworked? Especially after a 4-1 defeat? Hmmm, still winless through four.
- The Wizards finally broke their 2009 home duck in the third try. Fittingly, they won on a virtual pond.
The Distracter was doubly pleased because she loves the rain. Her exact reply on hearing the news was: 'Yay! Did they use magic?'.
- The L.A. Galaxy broadcast unit managed to mispell two Rapids names on their pre-game line-up card graphic. We had "Collin Clark" and "Connor Casey" (boy, that didn't work out so well).
C'mon, guys. Gotta spell the names right. It also grinds my gears every time I see "Corey Gibbs" or "DeMarcus Beasley" in print somewhere.
- Of course, poor spelling is the least of Bruce Arena's concerns after watching his defense play Marco Polo with Mr. Casey.
#13 - Speaking of bad red cards, did anyone see Pompey's Glenn Johnson receive his second yellow walking papers for... well... for being kicked (3:15 mark). Awful.
#14 - I nearly forgot; West Ham defender Jonathan Spector did suffer a concussion Saturday against Sunderland and is slated to miss a couple of games.
That's another rather unpleasant injury. I once lost my edge and swung around to crack my head on the boards of a hockey rink. And I do mean I hit it hard, Jack. Thump!
When I came to, I was informed that I had suffered a "minor concussion". I lost a lot of respect for that doctor as soon as the modifier came out of his mouth. I would have sneered at him, but I wasn't exactly controlling my face at that moment.
I did have the mental faculties to realize that I was not up for whatever concussion rated higher on the scale. The one I had unnerved me quite enough, thank you very much.
Anyway... feel better soon, Spec!
- Greg Seltzer
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6 comments:
Watching that Bruce Arena video makes me want to delete that game from my DVR. Hopefully Berhalter will bring some much needed experience to the Galaxy, so I can support them and not feel embarrassed. Good thing there is so much good European soccer watch these days.
I'm sure watching the Casey hat trick clip over at MLSNet will give you enough of an idea. It's as if they just simply did not see the big bald man man out there all day.
i dont know if this is the right place to ask, but all the mls notes got me overly excited. i know houston just signed a new striker, but have you heard anything new about felix garcia. i was kind of excited to see what he could bring. in know that he went back to finish hs, but have you heard/know anything new.
So many terrific links! So much information, it kept me busy for hours.
I was particularly involved in the one about the MLS and the international breaks. I did not know that MLS thought that they had no choice during those breaks.
Don't know if I really agree with that, but at least they think it will change in the future.
@ Evan: So far as I know, Garcia is not with the team right now - but don't take my word as gospel because I have not followed him closely since he had the change of heart.
As for Akinbiyi, I swore not to say anything bad until he misses a sitter, so I'll say this: he plays a physical game and works into great positions.
@ Steven: Glad you liked the reading load. Our alternate tagline was "NSC - Destroying office productivity since 2008".
'Keeping college kids occupied during class' would also be a tag line that would work -- at least in my case.
My favorite line to Arena's tirade after the game was 'We had the kickoff' (or something to that affect).
Amazing you can concede a goal 16 seconds into a game, when you start with the ball.
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