Jose Mourinho has signed a three-year deal to be manager of Inter Milan in Italy’s Serie A.
What does this mean? It means that the self proclaimed “special one” has finally landed at a club after his September 2007 exit from Chelsea. It means that Roman Abramovich and the Chelsea front office needs to worry about some player poaching. It’s no secret that the Chelsea players loved and respected Mourinho, they would have bled for him. Will they still is the question.
I have some ideas of what will happen: Didier Drogba will be the new starting striker for Inter, Ricardo Carvalho will most likely find his way to Jose. Frank Lampard? I wouldn’t count on Lampard staying at Chelsea if Mourinho really wants him; perhaps Chelsea should have started working out a deal before the end of the season to keep Lampard around?
Interesting transfers are sure to happen. Keep checking back for all the latest news!
David Beckham has been picked by England coach Fabio Capello to captain the team in their friendly against Trinidad & Tobago. This news comes almost 2 years after Beckham voluntarily relinquished the captaincy of the English national team.
I know some people might think I may be overly in support of Beckham, but in my opinion, David Beckham should never have lost his place as captain of England. After World Cup 2006 English head coach Sven Goran Eriksson stepped down from his post. With public scrutiny over England’s quarterfinal exit from the World Cup, and many reporters and fans calling for change, Beckham knew he was on the hot seat. Public opinion was saying that he was aging and losing his ability as a player and a captain, so Beckham did the most honorable thing he could do, relinquish the captaincy and leave it the hands of new head coach Steve McClaren. He did this so the team could avoid the public controversy that would erupt over who would captain the team under the new coaching regime. He did this so McClaren would have an easier time transitioning to head coach, to give him one less potential headache to worry about. What Beckham did must have been amazingly difficult, to achieve a dream and then give that dream up for benefit of the team. To me, that sounds like what a true leader, what a great captain would do.
Succumbing to public pressure for change, McClaren dropped Beckham completely from the England team, only later to bring him back when desperation to qualify for Euro 2008 had sunk in, and what did Beckham do on his return? Led England to victory, inspired England to victory, but his return came too late, England had already sunk low enough to be vulnerable, and qualification to Euro 2008 eluded the team.
McClaren was fired, and Capello was hired. Beckham never second guessed anyone’s decisions, he never criticized any of the coaches, players, press, or fans who had written him off. He went about his business as a professional, kept striving to be the best player he could be, and do all he could to provided for his family. He took the high road, and he’s better for it. His actions define what a good captain should be. His actions, not his salary or fame, led Landon Donovan to give up his captaincy of the LA Galaxy to Beckham just weeks after he arrived.
Yes, it’s true, David Beckham is aging, and while his absolute best may be behind him, what he still brings in better than most players’ best. But even so, being the captain doesn’t mean you are the best player on the team, it means you can lead, and most importantly, you can inspire.
And David Beckham may just be the best at that.
I am currently watching the La Galaxy vs Toronto FC game and I feel compelled to write a post about just how amazing the TFC fans really are. TFC is currently winning 2-0 in the 71st minute, but the signing, chanting, and screaming has been going on since kick-off. At the start of the second half TFC got their first goal, and the crowd roared. The rains came, and the crowds still roared. The second goal for TFC was great, good combination play, some Galaxy defense mistakes, and Jeff Cunningham shot it right into the corner. With the rains and noise the crowd made, it very much felt like I was watching a game in early February in the EPL.
Even on TV the crowd noise erupts. Turn the volume up just a bit, and you can almost believe you are there at the stadium. This is what the sport is all about. Passion.
US head coach Bob Bradley released his roster for the upcoming June 4th friendly in Spain.
GOALKEEPERS (3): Dominic Cervi (out of contract), Brad Guzan (Chivas USA), Tim Howard (Everton FC)
DEFENDERS (9): Carlos Bocanegra (out of contract), Dan Califf (FC Midtjylland), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96), Jay DeMerit (Watford FC), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege), Michael Orozco (San Luis), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock), Jonathan Spector (West Ham United)
MIDFIELDERS (7): Freddy Adu (SL Benfica), DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers), Michael Bradley (SC Heerenveen), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo), Maurice Edu (Toronto FC), Eddie Lewis (Derby County), Pablo Mastroeni (Colorado Rapids)
FORWARDS (5): Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy), Nate Jaqua (out of contract), Eddie Johnson (Fulham FC), Josh Wolff (out of contract)
Here is my assumption on what the starting line up will look like.
——–Dempsey——Johnson———
-Lewis——Bradley—-Edu——Beasley-
Pearce—Onyewu—Bocanegra—Cherundolo
——————–Howard——————
Noticing that Donovan is not there? I don’t think he will be ready. I think his groin injury is worse than previously thought, and since the Galaxy will be without Beckham this weekend, I see Donovan playing despite not being ready. This will prolong the injury and thus sideline him for the game against Spain.
I’m not sure I like that line up though. Again we see two defensive mid players in the center of the park. With that tandem, and no Donovan, I see it being very difficult for the US to transition into attack. Here is what I would like to see as the starting line up:
——–Dempsey——Johnson———-
-Lewis———Adu–——Beasley-
——–Bradley———-Edu———-
Pearce—–—Bocanegra——Cherundolo
——————–Howard——————–
I think this roster gives us at a least a chance in attack, but does leave us more exposed on defense. The only thing is, I would rather lose 4-2 or 5-2 and show that we can at least be dangerous against a top quality team than lose 2-0 or 3-0 and never have a quality chance on goal.
What about you? Thoughts?
Coming hot of the heels of an assist in the game between England and the USA, David Beckham may not be playing for the Galaxy this weekend against Toronto FC.
England coach Fabio Capello dropped 7 players from the roster that faced the United States for England’s next match, but David Beckham was not one of them. Considering England’s next game is in Trinidad this Sunday, I can’t see Beckham playing for the Galaxy, or even being in Toronto for the game.
To make matters worse for LA, Donovan still is a question mark with a groin injury that sidelined him near the end of the match against Kansas City last week and kept him from being on the field vs England.
Without Donovan and Beckham, the Galaxy could be in some serious trouble offensively. Yes, Alan Gordon has scored some, and Edson Buddle has been hot as of late, but without the play and service from both Becks and Donovan, I don’t think the Galaxy will be able to put forth much attack. Galaxy fans, hope that Ruiz will be healthy and fit enough to go a full 90 minutes.
Where do I begin? Disappointed. 2-0 loss to England.
England played well. The Americans played bad. I hate to say this, but it seems that England is still in a class above the US. Which isn’t that great considering even though England played well, they themselves haven’t been that great lately, and this performance hardly merits a discussion as to being one of the best in the world. Good yes, but their string of quarterfinal exits in recent World Cups seems about right. They played well enough to suggest maybe they did deserve a spot in Euro 2008, but not good enough to contend, and maybe not even good enough to get out of the group phase. In the end, England didn’t qualify for Euro 2008, and we still got outclassed; what does that say about the US?
The US showed no passion, no heart, no will. I’ll totally negate the first 15 minutes in this analysis considering both teams came out expecting the other to show some real signs of danger and both played quite tentatively; then England realized they could run circles around the Americans, and the game could have been called right at that moment. I’m hard pressed to find something good to say about their performance. Wait, Goalkeepers Tim Howard and Brad Guzan had fairly strong games, both allowing one goal each; both goals of which were virtually unstoppable.
Well, since I started at the back, I might as well just keep going. The outside backs, Cherundolo and Pierce, tried. They each had some moments that show why they play for teams in German Bundesliga, but they also had moments where they weren’t just beat, they were sent to school, and it was a little embarrassing. The center back tandem of Oneywu and Bocanegra was not even close to as solid as we have seen it in the past. Against a team with players that have some individual skill and speed, they were beaten, time and again. I had such high hopes for the Rooney-Onyewu match, and for the first 15 minutes it looked like it could be a good one, with Onyewu getting some early shots in, and then seeing Rooney shoulder Onyewu to the ground on a hard run in which the ball just got away from him for a goal kick. But by the time England scored their first goal, Onyewu was in panic mode, making stupid tackles and poor decisions, instead of being a lock down center back. Speaking of the first goal, I’m going to put a lot of blame on center midfielder Ricardo Clark, but that can wait. Bocanegra’s complete lack of marking on John Terry left the England captain with a clear header from a perfect David Beckham cross and he fired a bullet just inside the near post. Bocanegra looked a bit lost and timid almost the whole game, and he and Oneywu both got caught on England’s second goal.
The outside midfielders. Dempsey and Beasley. Where was the creativity we know these players have? I think they got the ball at their feet and ran at defenders only twice each. Without Donovan in the line up, these two have to be our go to guys for creating a spark on offense. Unfortunately no spark was created. Dempsey went to ground too easily. Beasley looked like he never wanted to get stuck in to match, perhaps timid about his recent return from a devastating knee injury. The center mids - Bradley and Clark. Ricardo Clark, the only starter who plays in MLS, is a complete liability on the field against quality opponents. The majority of his tackles are needless and reckless. One of his dumbest tackles gave the free kick that Beckham placed on Terry’s head for the first goal. There was absolutely no need to foul in that position, no need to even challenge, Clark needs to learn how to stand up players defensively and force the mistake. As a youth soccer coach, I ALWAYS teach my players that defense isn’t about winning the ball outright, it’s about forcing the other player to make the mistake. Clark MUST learn this if he is to be the regular starter for national team. Bradley was supposed to have an English coming out party in this game, and while he was one of the best players on the field for the US, a coming out party he did not have. I say he was one of the best, and that’s because he was unnoticeable. He made little impact on the game at all. He broke up some plays and made some decent passes, but Bradley is in a position where he must be a creative force in the midfield, he must make passes that jump start the attack, find the strikers’ feet, be able to play to wide players in space, force defenders to move out of position; Bradley accomplished none of these things.
I like Josh Wolff, I really do. He hasn’t scored for the red, white, and blue in a long time, but every time he has been on the field I have seen a tireless work rate, a willingness to try and take on defenders, good movement off the ball, a touch of pace, and a player who can win some free kicks in dangerous areas. Against England, Wolff showed none of that, period. Eddie Johnson was Eddie Johnson, the same thing we have been seeing for over 2 years now. He gets on the field and doesn’t do much, he doesn’t show the speed or strength that some people keep saying he has. And then! All of a sudden! He makes a play…he gets open in space and takes a defender on one v. one, or he cracks a great one touch strike that just goes wide or over the crossbar (hmm, I wonder which of those he did in this game - anyone remember his one touch left footed strike to start the 2nd half?). If he faded out of games completely and then had one moment of flash that regularly found the back of the net, I would love Eddie Johnson, but it just doesn’t happen. More and more I wonder why he keeps getting chances, but then I remember that we don’t have many other options at forward currently.
The subs. Frankie Hejduk showed his experience and some moxie in attack when he came on for Cherundolo in the back. Eddie Lewis came on and showed why he definitely shouldn’t be written off the national team because he is aging. Maurice Edu showed his inexperience, but performed adequately. Nate Jaqua wasn’t on the field long enough to do much of anything. And Freddy Adu, well I think he keeps making a case to get a start. I think he is far from a complete player, but he does bring an X-factor to the game, even at his young age; and to a team that severely lacks attacking creativity and kind of X-factor is good.
And so I am harsh on this young team USA, but I feel that I have to be. The US sports media won’t report on this, it won’t be in the faces of the players when they arrive back in the states. Tomorrow, or maybe the next day the American players will shrug this off, and go on to World Cup qualifying and easily push on through. Complacency will set in, and we will have a repeat of 2006. You might here the same, tired excuses: “we are a young team” “it’s a great learning experience for us” - I say, half our starters are veterans that should have already learned from World Cup 2006. Yes, our young players will continue to get better, and so too should our veterans. Yes, I think it is great that we finally are playing top quality opponents away from home, we must continue to do this to grow, to keep from becoming complacent.
The US will have two chances for redemption, away to Spain on June 4th and home to Argentina on June 8th. I don’t need the US to win, but if we are to lose, let’s lose with some class, some fight in our hearts, and some true soccer passion.
I definitely want to hear what everyone thought about this game! So Comment!
COACHES CORNER
I want to touch on two things of note from a coaching standpoint.
First off, Bob Bradley can not keep relying on Michael Bradley, Ricardo Clark, and Maurice Edu. Each are good, quality, young players who can contribute. But essentially by using 2 of the 3 in any combination Bob Bradley is sticking two defensive/holding mids on the field. These are players that are there to win the ball, to be that player that aids in the transition from the back line to forward line. In the England game, that player was Owen Hargreaves and he was subbed for Gareth Barry. Meanwhile the attacking force in the center of the park was left to Frank Lampard in the first half and Steven Gerrard in the second, and I think we all saw how dangerous Gerrard was in the 2nd half. Either one of these players must transition to be that attacking force in the center of the field. Bradley is the youngest and his skills are most suited for this transition; but until Bradley takes it upon himself to be that creative attacker in the center, the US team will be wasting a spot in midfield by playing essentially two of the exact same type of players. Other options would be to have Dempsey in that role, or Donovan, or maybe even Freddy Adu.
Second, if I watched England left back Ashley Cole show more creativity, flair, and skill on the ball while making our forwards and midfield players look like amateurs I was going to scream. If I remember correctly he faked out at least 2 of our players badly enough they slipped to the ground. Ashley Cole may very well be the best outside back in the world, yet it seemed that the only time our players were willing to take a defender on the dribble that defender was Ashley Cole, and he stuffed it out every time. While going over game tape, coaches must make players aware of individual player strengths, and the players must remember this and play accordingly. My advice for taking Ashley Cole one on one is to only try if you have and advantage, such as the high ground, or if Cole has dislocated his knee, or if you have players around you make quality off the ball runs that force Cole to give the space needed to attempt a one on one. I’m done.
Here is the line-up for the USA
——–Dempsey——Johnson———
-Beasley——Bradley—-Clark——Wolff-
Pearce—Onyewu—Bocanegra—Cherundolo
——————–Howard——————
It seems as though Donovan is not 100% from a groin strain he suffered in the Saturday’s LA Galaxy match against the Kansas City Wizards. I’m hearing he will not be playing in the game. That’s a huge blow for the US, and I may have to alter my 2-2 prediction to a 2-1 in favor of England. We’ll see how it goes!
My full recap will come tonight!
Brian McBride will be leaving EPL team Fulham. McBride is another American who will no longer be at the London club. He will soon be 36 years old, and I have to believe that his soon to be retirement is a deciding factor on this decision.
It’s been known that McBride has always had the desire to return home in the states. Not that he has been unhappy with life in England, quite the opposite really. He has enjoyed perhaps the most successful overseas career of an American field player. He is well respected and well liked by managers and players alike.
The thing is, McBride is still a top quality forward. In fact, I’d say he’s only gotten better since choosing to retire from international play. If he were still playing for the US National team, I have no doubt that he would still be the number 1 player at forward, and could, this very minute, call Bob Bradley and get a place on the team.
It has been speculated that McBride wants to play for the US in the Olympics. If that is true, there is no way that U-23 coach Peter Nowak could not take McBride as one of the three overage players. With McBride on the field there is always strong presence in attack, something the U-23 team needs. I certainly hope those rumors are true and that we see McBride in a US jersey come Olympics time.
So where does McBride end up? it’s obvious he is coming back to the United States, and he can still play at the highest level. His hometown is Chicago, the best team in MLS right now, the Chicago Fire would have a major coup should McBride play out his career there. It will take some shrewed transfers and allocation moving for Chicago to make this happen. His old MLS team, the Columbus Crew, could use a player like McBride, but again for the Crew to land McBride would also take some miraculous moves by the Crew front office. Right now, Toronto FC has the first chance of McBride, and he would be a huge asset to that team. But I don’t see McBride going to Toronto, he’s coming back to be back in his home country. Regardless, it will certainly be interesting to see how this shakes out.
Where do you want to see McBride end up? Where do you think he could help a team the most?
The interesting soccer fact of the week returns after it’s absence last week, so to make up for it, today we have TWO interesting soccer facts of the week!!!
1) Since FIFA (soccer’s governing body) began voting in 1991 on who is the best player in the world and awarding it’s FIFA World Player of the Year award to that player, two players have won the award a total of 3 times each. Those two players are France’s Zinedine Zidane in 1998, 2000, and 2003 and Brazil’s Ronaldo in 1996, 1997, and 2002 (not to be confused with current potential candidate Cristiano Ronaldo of Portuagal)
2) Who thinks Soccer isn’t popular in the United States? The highest attended World Cup ever was the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. Totaling 3,587,532 over 52 games for an average of 68,991, which also happens to be the highest per game attendance average ever.
On Wednesday, May 28th, the United States national team will face off against the England national team at Wembley Stadium in London.
I have to say, this is a game that I can not wait to see! The US, under coach Bob Bradley, has managed to string together a few victories on European soil (something that had been very elusive before). Wins at Poland and at Switzerland has helped instill a sense of belief in the American players that they can get a quality result on European soil. Poland and Switzerland obviously don’t compare to the traditional powerhouse of England, but they certainly aren’t small fry either.
England, on the other hand, may be having their worst run in quite some time. The English fan base and certainly the English media are still quite peeved about not qualifying for the upcoming Euro 2008 Championships. England also find themselves being perennial underachievers. With such big named star power on their roster success has been expected, yet elusive to the England squad.
The last time England and the US faced each other was in May 2005 where England came out on top 2-1. Of course, back then England brought a team that was hardly their “A” team, more like their “C-” team. The Americans didn’t have their “A” team either, more of a “B+” in my opinion. However, Wednesday’s match has “A” team rosters for both countries, and it will be a great test for the Americans to see how our level of play stacks up against one of the world’s soccer powerhouses.
I think the US can get a successful result in England. I’m going to predict at 2-2 tie, but I do think we are capable of getting the win. The central back tandem of Rio Ferdinand and John Terry will certainly be a handful for our strikers, Ashley Cole is an absolute terror of a marking back. I am really excited to see the hot headed Wayne Rooney go up against the equally hot headed brute of a center back Oguchi “Gooch” Oneywu. That will be fun to watch. I think this match will really come down to how the central midfield players match up. Obviously on paper, England has the edge, Steven Gerard, Gareth Barry, Owen Hargreaves, and even Frank Lampard if he sees some playing time. Ricardo Clark and Maurice Edu are young, and they will have the ultimate test against some of the best in world. Bob Bradley might go for the stalwart Pablo Mastroeni, his experience could be enough to handle the pressure. Most intriguing to me is 20 year old Michael Bradley, I definitely think this game could be a coming out party for the youngster. He spent last season tearing in up for Heerenveen, one of the top teams in the Dutch league, the Eredivisie. If Bradley can have as good of a game as he is capable of having, I can easily see some startled and worried English faces. There will be plenty of eyes on Bradley as well, EPL teams such as Everton have expressed interest, and they will be just as eager to see how he fares at Wembley as I am.
So here’s my starting line up for the US.
——–Dempsey——Donovan———
-Beasley——Bradley—-Clark——Wolff-
Pearce—Onyewu—Bocanegra—Cherundolo
——————–Howard——————
I also expect to see Freddy Adu come on as a super sub for the US at some point in the second half.
Watch the game LIVE! on ESPN Classic at 11:50AM EST on Wednesday, May 28th!!!!
So what do you think? Predictions? Starting line ups?
