Just a quick update from the past two weeks of Mean Machine soccer:
Two weekends ago we had an intense match up against Peruvian Power, whom yes, you guessed it, are from Peru. Moral of the story: They entered the game with more cards than the whole league, and left the game with two more yellow cards and another red. We probably had our best offensive performance with some truly beautiful goals in a 9-3 thrashing to improve to 3-0.
This past Sunday I had the privilege of playing two matches. The first of those was in the field as a sub on my manager's Co-ed team and as I quickly learned, I am out of shape. I did score a great header on an early corner kick, but it was all downhill from there and my poor effort was aided by the fact that we had only one sub. We fought bravely however and managed a 6-4 loss to the top team in the league.
The second match of the day found me back between the posts and back to my true form.We were facing some adversity without our top goal scorer but we benefited from a great team effort, especially on the defensive side of the ball. After going down 1-0 in the first half we stormed back with four unanswered goals and sweet victory was ours. We currently sit just shy of the top of the table only lacking in goal differential to the other undefeated team.
Mean Machine: 4-0
Goals Against: 7
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Should I Stay or Should I Go? (The ongoing saga of where America's best should play)
Sorry for the long break in posts. I hope to have another one up with observations included from tonight's USA vs. Columbia friendly. Enjoy.
With the transfer window slammed shut and relatively no movement on behalf of American internationals I thought now would be as good as time as any to discuss the career limbo that seems to linger around any player who dons the Stars and Stripes (Or beauty pageant sash).
The basic argument on this matter normally has two sides.
The first being this. "American internationals should be playing at the highest levels in Europe so that they can return to the national team after playing against the best players in the world."
The second can also be paraphrased like this: "American internationals should promote the game in the United States by playing in the MLS and become stars of the American game."
Both of these offer valid points, but for starters let's look deeper into each argument.
Argument 1: USMNT players should be playing in Europe's top leagues. The first glaring question that needs to be asked is, are USMNT players really good enough to be playing on a regular basis in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A or German Bundesliga? Sure Landon Donovan played well in a 10 week loan with the EPL's Everton, and Clint Dempsey seems to have found a niche with Fulham who more than any team in Europe seem to give American's a chance. Obviously Tim Howard is one of the finest keepers in the world but American goalies have long standing success at the continental level. Another bright light appears to be Stuart Holden who is having a breakout year with Bolton.What is scary is the number of Americans who have watched their careers stumble by sitting on the bench. Jose Altidore is our starting striker and yet he doesn't play regular football. Freddy Adu was the wunderkind of our generation and yet has little to prove for it aside from a great run of form at the U-20 World Cup a few years ago. And before Donovan had his success he was labeled a failure after a poor showing in the Bundesliga.
But enough with the negative. Here are the positives of playing across the pond. I think the first can be summed up in the statement "you want to be the best? You got to beat the best." Or at the very least train, play regularly and contribute with the best. There is no cradle of soccer talent greater than can be found in western civilized Europe from August to May and if a player truly wants to prove their worth I can't think of a better place to do so. Secondly, the USMNT is notorious for awful showings at World Cups on European soil. What better way to gain experience than playing at Old Trafford, San Siro or the Bernabeua on a regular basis.
I think the greatest benefit that comes from playing in Europe is the sample of playing styles that our players get to be apart of and face off against. The uniqueness of the World Cup is that from each game you may face a completely different style of play. From long ball, to possession, to pack it in, to free flowing. Our players have an opportunity to see these vibrant variances on a regular basis when playing overseas. This is something that I believe can only help our players as we attempt to fill our need for creativity on the pitch.
Here is my basic support for playing domestically for MLS. Obviously the players on our national team are supposed to be the best players in our country. Therefore, they are going to be generally the best players in our home league. Even with the new designated player rule that has come into effect the past few years there are few great foreign players running around the MLS. I would love to see some big name USMNT players get splurged on with some DP tags and be given the money they are seeking overseas. Secondly, I think playing for an MLS team could bring a face to our domestic league. Right now Landon Donovan is probably the only player a casual observer could name in the MLS and that's greatly in thanks to his great World Cup summer. If fans were able to go watch their favorite heroes from World Cup summers every four years just down the road, rather than on satellite TV we might create a larger die hard fan base than currently exists.
The downfall to play domestically is essentially the flip side to the positives of playing overseas. The talent level, while improving, still isn't up to the consistent standards that can be found in many of the leagues abroad. Unless a player is given a DP tag, there isn't a lot of money in the US version of the sport. The travel is rigorous and often humbling for could-be stars. I'm afraid these reason are probably sited all to often when it comes convincing America's best to stay home.
If you're looking for a direct verdict on this issue I'm not sure I have one. On one side I think the more players we have in Europe's top league can only make us better. However, on the other side, the idea of having our players become the top play makers and goal scorers and shot stoppers back home is appealing in its own right. I think my dream situation would be seeing more of our young players develop in the MLS and then be sought out and purchased by European teams to actually play. This would give fans an opportunity to see the future of American soccer as well as let MLS reap the financial benefits of selling developed stars.
With the transfer window slammed shut and relatively no movement on behalf of American internationals I thought now would be as good as time as any to discuss the career limbo that seems to linger around any player who dons the Stars and Stripes (Or beauty pageant sash).
The basic argument on this matter normally has two sides.
The first being this. "American internationals should be playing at the highest levels in Europe so that they can return to the national team after playing against the best players in the world."
The second can also be paraphrased like this: "American internationals should promote the game in the United States by playing in the MLS and become stars of the American game."
Both of these offer valid points, but for starters let's look deeper into each argument.
Argument 1: USMNT players should be playing in Europe's top leagues. The first glaring question that needs to be asked is, are USMNT players really good enough to be playing on a regular basis in the English Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A or German Bundesliga? Sure Landon Donovan played well in a 10 week loan with the EPL's Everton, and Clint Dempsey seems to have found a niche with Fulham who more than any team in Europe seem to give American's a chance. Obviously Tim Howard is one of the finest keepers in the world but American goalies have long standing success at the continental level. Another bright light appears to be Stuart Holden who is having a breakout year with Bolton.What is scary is the number of Americans who have watched their careers stumble by sitting on the bench. Jose Altidore is our starting striker and yet he doesn't play regular football. Freddy Adu was the wunderkind of our generation and yet has little to prove for it aside from a great run of form at the U-20 World Cup a few years ago. And before Donovan had his success he was labeled a failure after a poor showing in the Bundesliga.
But enough with the negative. Here are the positives of playing across the pond. I think the first can be summed up in the statement "you want to be the best? You got to beat the best." Or at the very least train, play regularly and contribute with the best. There is no cradle of soccer talent greater than can be found in western civilized Europe from August to May and if a player truly wants to prove their worth I can't think of a better place to do so. Secondly, the USMNT is notorious for awful showings at World Cups on European soil. What better way to gain experience than playing at Old Trafford, San Siro or the Bernabeua on a regular basis.
I think the greatest benefit that comes from playing in Europe is the sample of playing styles that our players get to be apart of and face off against. The uniqueness of the World Cup is that from each game you may face a completely different style of play. From long ball, to possession, to pack it in, to free flowing. Our players have an opportunity to see these vibrant variances on a regular basis when playing overseas. This is something that I believe can only help our players as we attempt to fill our need for creativity on the pitch.
Here is my basic support for playing domestically for MLS. Obviously the players on our national team are supposed to be the best players in our country. Therefore, they are going to be generally the best players in our home league. Even with the new designated player rule that has come into effect the past few years there are few great foreign players running around the MLS. I would love to see some big name USMNT players get splurged on with some DP tags and be given the money they are seeking overseas. Secondly, I think playing for an MLS team could bring a face to our domestic league. Right now Landon Donovan is probably the only player a casual observer could name in the MLS and that's greatly in thanks to his great World Cup summer. If fans were able to go watch their favorite heroes from World Cup summers every four years just down the road, rather than on satellite TV we might create a larger die hard fan base than currently exists.
The downfall to play domestically is essentially the flip side to the positives of playing overseas. The talent level, while improving, still isn't up to the consistent standards that can be found in many of the leagues abroad. Unless a player is given a DP tag, there isn't a lot of money in the US version of the sport. The travel is rigorous and often humbling for could-be stars. I'm afraid these reason are probably sited all to often when it comes convincing America's best to stay home.
If you're looking for a direct verdict on this issue I'm not sure I have one. On one side I think the more players we have in Europe's top league can only make us better. However, on the other side, the idea of having our players become the top play makers and goal scorers and shot stoppers back home is appealing in its own right. I think my dream situation would be seeing more of our young players develop in the MLS and then be sought out and purchased by European teams to actually play. This would give fans an opportunity to see the future of American soccer as well as let MLS reap the financial benefits of selling developed stars.
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