mysoccer blog

Galaxy exposed by Rapids’ breath-taking rout

March 30, 2008 – 1:00 pm
As I look back on my past blog entries, I may have given an impression that I go out of my way to drop at least one or two wise cracks aimed at David Beckham with every post. It 's not that I dislike the biggest name in American soccer either as a player or a person. This is also not to say that I know him personally. My only basis for judging Mr. Beckham would be from what I read in magazines or from what I see when he is interviewed on TV. Certainly, it would be unfair to judge Becks the person on that myopic point of view. Make no mistake; I would love to see him in a Fire uniform. Yes, without question, I would prefer David Beckham to Mr. Blanco. I grow weary watching the Mexican star play out his soap opera act every time he is ...

Posted in Major League Soccer | No Comments »

Poor execution in final third could spoil US men’s Olympic bid

March 16, 2008 – 9:58 am
After missing the first two USA matches, I finally remembered to tune in my TV in time to see our US men's Olympic team play in the CONCACAF qualifying tournament going on in Florida this weekend. USA defeated Honduras on Saturday to win the group. Unfortunately, I did not see the best team the USA could put on the pitch. Playing their third game in five days, US coach (and my all-time favorite MLS player) Peter Nowak rested starters Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Dax McCarty, Nathan Sturgis and Maurice Edu. Both sides playing last night rested key players knowing they had already assured themselves of advancing into the semifinal, knockout round the tournament. Only the finishing order of Group A was at stake, which determines the seeding going into the semifinal round. In the 2004 qualifying tournament, USA finished second in their group, setting them up to face regional nemesis Mexico ...

Posted in US National Teams | No Comments »

Something to cherish - THE BALL!

March 2, 2008 – 8:43 am
Here is another blast from the past. It was first published on this site in 1999. I've updated the introduction a bit. I'll start with a confession. I rarely watch high school or youth soccer. This is partly due to my youngest child being 24 years old. For a few years after my son stopped playing, I stayed with it. But I found it to be too frustrating for me. In spite of all the progress we've made in terms of participation, the level of play was - how can I say this diplomatically - less than engaging. Being proprietor of a soccer website, I've been credentialed for many MLS and US National Team matches over the last decade. With the aid of a satellite dish, I've been able to see still more international, top flight, soccer games on TV. Certainly it would be unfair to compare first division professional soccer ...

Posted in Coaches Corner | 1 Comment »

Which MLS side is getting the biggest bang for their buck?

February 18, 2008 – 4:23 pm
In a previous post, I talked about the loss of Major League Soccer talent caused by the league's expansion and the many players who have left the MLS nest and taken flight to Europe. The question now becomes, which teams are best equipped to get the most from the remaining talent pool? Perhaps a good indicator would measure success on the field (i.e. points earned in the regular season) in comparison to the amount of money being spent on players. The thought here is that the teams that can earn points while keeping salaries low, are pretty good at developing young and inexpensive talent. Of course, the Beckham rule and the relatively few teams that have used it, tends to significantly impact a cost per point-earned performance measure. Not surprisingly, the Galaxy finish a distant last when compared to the rest of MLS using this benchmark. As proven by Los Angeles in ...

Posted in Major League Soccer | No Comments »

On the shrinking MLS talent pool

February 3, 2008 – 11:26 am
What do Andy Dorman, Nate Jaqua, Clint Mathis, Joseph Ngwenya, Pat Noonan, Troy Perkins and Eddie Johnson have in common? They have recently transferred from Major League Soccer to another league in Europe. Many top prospects out of college, including Joseph Lapira of Notre Dame, aren't even putting on the MLS training wheels. Lapira has signed with UND men's soccer coach Bobby Clark's old side Aberdeen. Good for them. Bad for us - the fans of MLS. With little doubt, the eyes of Europe are on the USA. Not only are there a number of competent players available at rock-bottom prices, the dollar's collapse against the Euro makes our red, white and blue-light specials that much more enticing. The impact of this MLS talent out-flow is made more significant in light of recent and near-future plans for league expansion. The Earthquake's resurrection in San Jose begins this year. With new teams in ...

Posted in Major League Soccer | 1 Comment »

Like Rodney Dangerfield, MLS gets no respect

January 20, 2008 – 10:57 am
Google the "International Federation of Football History and Statistics" and you can find numerous lists ranking the top this and the top that. For example, someone with a great deal of time on their hands can browse through the ranks of: The World's best Referee The World's best National Coach The World's best Club Coach The World's best Goalkeeper The World's best Playmaker The World's Top Goal Scorer (World Goalgetter) The World's best Top Division Goal Scorer The strongest National League in the World The Universal Genius of World Football The Century's Best Footballer for the 6 Continents and of the World The IFFHS's biased view of the footballing world is evident in the way points are allocated when determining the world's top clubs: UEFA: Champions League: 14 - 7 - 0 points for win - draw - defeat UEFA Cup: 12 - 6 - 0 points for win - draw ...

Posted in Major League Soccer | 1 Comment »

Wonder how Freddy is doing?

January 19, 2008 – 11:26 am
I found this very intesting video clip of Freddy Adu and how things have gone for him at Benfica. What seems clear from this excellent interview is that MLS soccer has still so much farther to go in its role as a league that develops world class players. Our players do improve thanks to MLS, but the world-class level of play is unreachable for those playing domestically. Are you listening Landon? I think young Mr. Adu also echoes a theme of mine found in a recent post here - that our coaches add too much structure to the game and players need to be more empowered.

Posted in General Soccer | 1 Comment »

A lesson on improving performance

January 12, 2008 – 9:09 am
This past Friday, I had the distinct pleasure to hear a brief motivational speech by St. Joseph High School head football coach Elliott Uzelac. His presentation came after a couple of hours of a corporate power point slide show that was starting to weigh heavily on my eye lids. The coach woke everyone up with a very animated and sometimes hilarious talk about his experiences turning the St. Joe Bears football program around and the fundamental principals he used in his approach. For those not familiar with the Southwest Michigan sportscape, one should know that coach Uzelac is a former division I college head coach (Navy, Western Michigan). In just two years, he took a Bears team that had gone winless in 2005 to an undefeated regular season in 2007. The Bears lost to the eventual champions in the semifinal round of the state tournament. His major theme was familiar to ...

Posted in Coaches Corner | No Comments »

Top stories of 2007

December 31, 2007 – 12:00 pm
After all the time spent creating the mysoccer blog, now comes the daunting task of providing regular posts. I'll start with a look back at what I thought were the top soccer stories of 2007. There is no question that the top story in soccer, from a North American perspective at least, was Major League Soccer's signing of David Beckham. Never before has the league received this level of main-stream media interest. Now that the novelty has worn off, it is unlikely to ever happen again. Based on the amount of time he actually spent on the pitch (252 minutes of league play for 2007), they could have accomplished essentially the same by signing his wife. Clearly showing that the designated player rule can produce results where it counts, the signing of Cuauhtemoc Blanco was huge for Chicago. Blanco proved to be a key figure in turning the Chicago Fire's ...

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Coaches - do you empower your players?

December 28, 2007 – 11:13 am
Editor's note: This piece was originally written and posted to mysoccer back in 1996. It's posted here primarily for me to test out the new blog software, but I think the message still rings true and is worth revisiting. From my days as a rookie, recreational league coach a decade ago to the present, I've been climbing a coach's learning curve that shows no signs of flattening out. I've been on a similar learning curve in my professional life. At work, my experience has taught me a lot about managerial styles -- some good, some bad, and others in between. I'm still climbing that curve too. I've found an interesting similarity between soccer and the work place when it comes to managerial styles. At work, without question, the best management style is participative -- workers are empowered to make decisions and participate in the design of work processes and products. The best decisions are the ones made closest to the work ...

Posted in Coaches Corner | 1 Comment »