Tuesday, March 30, 2010

News and Views from Tuesday Mar 30

MLS

You've heard it by now, MLS Cup 2010 in Toronto. I don't have a problem with the match being held outside of the US, but having lived in Toronto, the weather could be dicey.

Player Moves

Before all of those short on patience start wailing on the Philadelphia Union about selecting David Myrie, keep in mind that Seattle took three players in the expansion draft that never saw opening day, Jeff Parke, who ironically may join the Sounders after an aborted European excursion, Jarrod Smith and Khano Smith.
But just for fun, other young defenders that could have been taken by the Union from the teams they didn't take other players from: Aaron Hohlbein, Raushawn McKenzie, Blake Wagner or Mike Banner, though none are quite as young as Myrie.

MLS Youth
Interesting Reads
Club Tournaments
The Business of Soccer
Around the World

Monday, March 29, 2010

News and Views from Monday Mar 29

MLS
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Club Tournaments
US News
Around the World

Sunday, March 28, 2010

After the Weekend Mar 27-28

Openers

For months MLS fans have been reading about the great new league website. It was going to be the cat's meow, all the rage, chock full of cool stuff and all that. Well, the site debut was met with nearly universal scorn and ridicule, and rightly so. For a major league website of a sport that struggles to get ink in the traditional news media, and therefore is regarded as the source of all things MLS, the rollout was akin to launching a new automobile model and shipping it out without the motor.
Now I'm not without sympathy. I've done technical web work and understand the difficulties in rolling out a new product, but when you have a perfectly serviceable website, and you've spent a ton of money on your new website, as with any software, the major expense is in the error checking and testing and it's very apparent that MLS did not understand that. From no scores to incorrect game dates, just to name a few, the problems with the site are an embarrassment.
The soccersphere is awash with others echoing the same bewilderment and you can see that the work is ongoing, as I noticed changes(fixes) from this morning to this afternoon. I'm sure they'll eventually get it right, but for the site to be introduced on First Kick weekend, with more than the normal attention being paid by sports fans, this was, and is, just plain bad.
Here's one of my favorite soccer writers, Bill Archer, on the release.
3:00pm PT: Just visited the site. There's just something wrong about the 'MLS News' box displaying links to Euro football stories. Go to the News page, and instead of having MLS as the first(and default tab), the All News tab is the default. The schedule is still an abomination. Did you know Seattle played Philadelphia on Friday? Colorado vs Chivas on Saturday? Four games on Sunday March 28?
FYI: The real schedule for this week is:(all times ET)

THU 4/1 HOU v RSL 9:00pm ESPN2
THU 4/1 LA v ChivasUSA 11:00pm ESPN2
SAT 4/3 COL v CHI 4:00pm Telefutura
SAT 4/3 DCU v NE 7:30pm
SAT 4/3 SEA v RBNY 10:30pm FSC

The new MLS website shows ...

THU 4/2 HOU v RSL 2:00am
THU 4/2 LA v ChivasUSA 4:00am
FRI 4/3 COL v CHI 9:00pm
SAT 4/4 DCU v NE 12:30am
SAT 4/4 SEA v RBNY 3:30am

looks like Greenwich(that's England) time to me. Oh my!!! Eurosnobs have taken over MLS!

MLS
Player Moves
The Business of Soccer
Interesting Reads
Around the World

Title and Champions League Races in Europe

 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Manchester Utd 32   23  3  6  51  72 
 Chelsea  32   22  5  5  53  71 
 Arsenal  32   21  5  6  40  68 
 Tottenham 31   17  7  7  28  58 
 Liverpool 32   16  6  10  21  54 
 Manchester City 30   14  11  5  16  53 
Bundesliga
 Schalke 04 28   17  7  4  24  58 
 Bayern Munich 28   16  8  4  29  56 
 Bayer Leverkusen 28   14  11  3  26  53 
 Dortmund 28   14  7  7  13  49 
 Werder Bremen 28   13  9  6  23  48 
 Hamburg SV 28   11  11  6  15  44 
Ligue 1
 Bordeaux 28   17  5  6  23  56 
 Montpellier 30   17  5  8  7  56 
 Auxerre 29   16  7  6  6  55 
 Lille 30  16   6  8  24  54 
 Lyon 30  15   9  6  18  54 
 Marseille 28   15  8  5  20  53 
Serie A
 Internazionale 31   18  9  4  30  63 
 AS Roma 31   18  8  5  21  62 
 AC Milan 31   17  9  4  20  60 
 Palermo 31   14  9  8  8  51 
 Napoli 31  12   12  7  5  48 
 Juventus 31   14  6  11  4  48 
La Liga
 Real Madrid 29   24  2  3  55  74 
 Barcelona 29   23  5  1  53  74 
 Valencia 29   15  8  6  13  53 
 Mallorca 29   14  5  10  12  47 
 Sevilla FC 29   13  6  10  5  45 
 Athletic Bilbao 28   12  6  10  2  42 

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

News and Views from Wednesday Mar 24

MLS First Kick is Here!
MLS
Player Moves
Club Tournaments
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Around the World

Monday, March 22, 2010

News and Views from Monday Mar 22

MLS
Player Moves

As you might expect, roster moves are happening fast and furious. And there will certainly be more between now and the roster compliance deadline on Wednesday at 5pm ET.
By my reckoning, and this is by no means a complete list, these players of note(or dubious note) are available:

Keepers: Eylander, Busch, Kocic, Graczyk, Pardo
Mids: Szetela, Van den Bergh, Ribiero, Cox, DiRaimondo, Elliott, Leyva
Defenders: Pitchkolen, Dalby, Vaughn, Purdy, Wagner, Parke, Talley
Forwards: Diz, Ely Allen, Sanchez, Claudio Lopez
And of course, a host of 2010 draftees that haven't stuck.
Interesting Reads
Around the World
The Business of Soccer

Sunday, March 21, 2010

After the Weekend Mar 20-21

Openers

No MLS strike. But you know that already. Hell, how could you not? It's great news and I'm eager to see the details.
I think we're looking at a terrific 2010 season. Lots of newcomers to watch for. Lindpere showed a flash with his goal against Santos and general midfield play. Alviro Saborio teaming up with Findley in RSL is something I'm eager to see. Can Ike Opara team up with Brandon McDonald and turn around the worst defense in the league at San Jose?
Then there are the question marks. Can two DP's that joined the league mid-season show that they're worth the DP tag? I'm talking about Landin in Houston and de Guzman in Toronto. Can the Wizards show some consistency with all of the changes on the roster? Will FC Dallas continue their strong form from last season, and will anybody show up at Pizza Hut Park to see it?
And then of course there's Philadelphia. Can they come close to matching Seattle's inaugural performance?
Grab your scarves, brewskis, twinkies and whatever else floats your boat, the fun starts this Thursday.
For you number freaks, as I did last season, I'll be posting attendance numbers and a few other things at MLS Talk each week.

And here are a few pieces I've been holding onto that I'll either archive or toss into digital oblivian.
MLS Preseason
Interesting Reads
Around the World

Title and Champions League Races in Europe
 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Manchester Utd 31   22  3  6  47  69 
 Arsenal  31   21  4  6  40  67 
 Chelsea  30   20  5  5  42  65 
 Tottenham 30   16  7  7  26  55 
 Manchester City 29   14  11  4  18  53 
 Liverpool 31   15  6  10  18  51 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 27   16  8  3  30  56 
 Schalke 04 27   16  7  4  22  55 
 Bayer Leverkusen 27   14  11  2  28  53 
 Dortmund 27   14  6  7  13  48 
 Werder Bremen 27   12  9  6  21  45 
 Hamburg SV 27   11  11  5  16  44 
Ligue 1
 Bordeaux 28   17  5  6  23  56 
 Montpellier 29   17  5  7  10  56 
 Auxerre 29   16  7  6  6  55 
 Marseille 28   15  8  5  20  53 
 Lille 29  15   6  8  21  51 
 Lyon 29  14   9  6  16  51 
Serie A
 Internazionale 29   17  9  3  28  60 
 AC Milan 29   17  8  4  21  59 
 AS Roma 29   16  8  5  18  56 
 Palermo 29   13  8  8  6  47 
 Sampdoria 29   13  8  8  2  47 
 Juventus 29   13  6  10  5  45 
La Liga
 Real Madrid 27   22  2  3  52  68 
 Barcelona 27   21  5  1  50  68 
 Valencia 27   14  8  5  15  50 
 Mallorca 27   14  4  9  13  46 
 Sevilla FC 27   13  5  9  8  44 
 Athletic Bilbao 27   12  6  9  4  42 

Friday, March 19, 2010

News and Views from Friday Mar 19

MLS Preseason
MLS
Player Moves
Interesting Reads(and listens)
Around the World
The Business of Soccer
Club Tournaments

Thursday, March 18, 2010

News and Views from Thursday Mar 18

Openers
MLS Preseason
Club Tournaments
Interesting Reads

Fake Sigi to Strike? - A Response

In response to Fake Sigi's post in which he expresses his intent to strike ....

From the offices of Dewey, Burnham, and Howe
speaking for our client Fake Sigi Enterprises

Dear Fake Sigi,

We were distressed to learn of your unhappiness with the current arrangement between you and Fake Sigi Enterprises. We would like to address the issues you raise with the idea of coming to an amicable agreement that will satisfy your needs.

1) Fake Sigi Enterprises is run like a cartel

Yes it is. FSE owns you, your thoughts, your words, and anything else we can squeeze out of you. We'd like to thank the last 30 years of deregulation that has permitted us to operate in our free market system in a manner that permits us to behave in whatever way we feel is best for us. As for our employees, f*ck 'em.

2) Fake Sigi does not have freedom of movement

We believe we can help with this issue. Our client's board, being a group of anal retentive folks, completely understand your situation. With that in mind, we have contracted with our new sponsor, Ex-Lax, to provide you with all the movement you can handle.

3) Fake Sigi's contract has been routinely terminated and is not guaranteed, but I am unable to write for another blog

This is a misrepresentation of our agreement. You are perfectly free to write for another blog, but please be aware that should you choose to return to the fascinating world of dumping on soccer morons, providing insight that will get rotten tomatoes tossed your way and a revenue stream that wouldn't make indigents in Mumbai jealous, FSE owns the rights to the moniker 'Fake Sigi' as well as all images, prior blog posts, and anything else we can snag without getting caught. Should you choose to write for another blog, therefore, any reference to 'Fake' 'Sigi' or anything else that could connect you to your prior soccersphere life as 'Fake Sigi' will be met with a shitstorm of legal proceedings that will leave you beating your head against a wall so until you become as stupid as most of the commenters on Big Soccer.

As to your quality of life issues, we feel we must take issue with your characterization. Be honest, you already had a laptop, were subscribing to multiple media outlets in order to watch awful football, and reading the rants of crazed footie fans. Why do you think we hired you? It's like hiring a carpenter that owns his own tools. For us it means, as in the words of that great businessman Forrest Gump, 'one less thing'.

We must say, that we find it wholly unprofessional of you to air your grievances in public and at this point are inclined to allow you to pursue other career options, including those in the food service industry or in general sales. To that end we have composed a letter of recommendation and have taken the initiative of sending it to both the McDonald's and Wal-Mart home offices.

We wish you all the best.

Dewey, Burnham, and Howe

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

News and Views from Wednesday Mar 17

Openers
  • Peter Wilt's proposed solution to MLS labor issue. Read it. Agree with it or not, the best article on the subject to date, hands down. And by the way, I disagree with several of Peter's offerings. I may choose to elaborate in a separate post, but for now, some of the commenters are doing a fine job of extending a reasoned, rational discussion.
MLS Preseason
MLS
Player Moves
Around the World
Club Tournaments

Champions Leagues - Euros for UEFA - A Blip for MLS

I recently wrote a post about MLS and the CONCACAF Champions League, specifically addressing the lack of interest shown by MLS teams and MLS fans, among other things. Last week the Columbus Crew, the last MLS team standing in the competition, came back from 2-0 to draw against the 2009 Apertura winner Toluca. The return leg is this week.

Why you should be watching Columbus from Andrea Canales.

And why it's so important for Euro clubs to both qualify and do well in the UEFA Champions League.
Liverpool's Champions League Hangover.
Here's Part 2 on the Liverpool Hangover.

Why do I point to these two teams out of all that are participating in Champions League tourneys around the world? Easy, Columbus, because I'm an MLS fan and big supporter of the CONCACAF Champions League, and Liverpool, because it's exploits highlight what's both right and wrong with the Euro competition. Liverpool's failure to advance out of the group phase this year signals end of a five year period in which it finished no worse that achieving the round of 16. They were winners in 04-05, runner up in 06-07, quarterfinalists in 07-08 and 08-09 and made the round of 16 in 05-06.

You can see from the chart below(and in more detail in the article linked above) that this means big money. The big clubs in Europe that play in the tourney year after year have ratcheted up their spending so that in some cases, failure to make the Champions League may make the difference between profit and loss for a season. That's an enormous amount of pressure and a cycle that has been a major contributor to the spiraling payrolls in Euro ball. And as for the managers, Jose Mourinho was hired to coach Inter Milan, replacing Roberto Mancini, despite Mancini's guiding the club to three straight Scudetto titles because of his failure in the UCL. Mourinho himself, some say, was discarded from Chelsea for the same reason.

But to get back to the point of this little diatribe of mine, Liverpool's failure to reach the round of 16 costs the club at least 3m Euros. If they had made it out of the quarterfinals and lost, they would have earned an addtional 3.3m Euros. For Columbus, if they fail to win their quarterfinal tie vs Toluca, they will have earned zero prize money. If they win the tournament, the club will earn $77,000, and from that 50% will be the players' share. Talk about lack of incentive! (note: I haven't listed it, but the UCL has prize money for all clubs, including those that qualify and lose in the preliminary rounds)

Postscript: Just to add a little spice to this disorganized post, yeah, I admit it, Inter Milan has advanced to the UCL quarterfinals. Why do I mention this? Because Serie A, whose teams have performed poorly in the two Euro tourneys in recent years, is in jeopardy of losing one of its prized Champions League slots to Germany. The performances of Inter and Juventus(in the Europa League tourney) will determine if, or when, the swap of UCL places occurs.

CONCACAF CL
 Quarterfinal Teams $11,000  
 Quarterfinal Winners $16,500  
 Semifinal Winners $22,000  
 Winner $27,500  
  
 Winner Total $77,000  

UEFA CL
 Advance to Round of 16  € 3,000,000 
 Quarterfinal Winners  € 3,300,000 
 Semifinal Winners  € 4,000,000 
 Runner-up  € 5,200,000 
 Champion  € 9,000,000 
  
 Winner Total € 19,300,000.00 

UEFA CL prize money
1 Euro = $1.37 US as of March 16, 2010

Champions' League websites.

CAF Champions League(Africa)
AFC Champions League(Asia)
CONCACAF Champions League(North America)
Copa Libertadores(South America)


Tuesday, March 16, 2010

News and Views from Tuesday Mar 16

MLS Preseason
MLS
With the season's scheduled opener just over a week away, owners have started to go public with their views about the labor negotiations. Here are a few links to their comments and what some in the soccersphere think about them.
Club Tournaments
Howard Hamilton weighs in on the 2nd legs of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals.
Interesting Reads

Monday, March 15, 2010

News and Views from Monday Mar 15

Openers
  • OK, even though I mentioned it in my last post, it feels like half of today's soccersphere is about David Beckham. So to repeat, Becks tore his achilles on Sunday, had surgery on Monday and will not return to the pitch until September(at the earliest).
  • Several MLS players and MLS academy team players have been named to the USMNT U-20 team that will participate in the Dallas Cup. Additionally FC Dallas' Bryan Leyva will play for the U-18 Mexican Men's National Team as they prepare for the Mediterranean International Cup in April.
  • I've touted Freddie Ljungberg's blog before, and here's another chance to give it a read. He comments on player freedom in this post.
MLS Preseason
Player Moves
Around the World
Interesting Reads

Sunday, March 14, 2010

After the Weekend Mar 13-14

MLS Preseason

Interesting Reads
  • Have you read about former MLS'er Herculez Gomez and his adventure in the Mexican league?

The Business of Soccer

Around the World
  • Eredivisie round-up.
  • Recap of Mexican League action.
  • David Beckam's dream of playing in the 2010 World Cup is ended with a possible career ending injury. He ruptured his left Achilles' tendon in a match on Sunday. Awful news. I was watching the match when he pulled up lame and it was obvious that he was in serious distress.


Title and Champions League Races in Europe
 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Manchester Utd 30   21  3  6  46  66 
 Chelsea  29   20  4  5  42  64 
 Arsenal  30   20  4  6  38  64 
 Tottenham 29   15  7  7  25  52 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 26   16  8  2  31  56 
 Schalke 04 26   16  6  4  22  54 
 Bayer Leverkusen 26   14  11  1  31  53 
 Dortmund 26   13  6  7  10  45 
Ligue 1
 Bordeaux 27   16  5  6  21  53 
 Montpellier 28   16  5  7  9  53 
 Auxerre 28   15  7  6  5  52 
 Lille 28  15   6  7  23  51 
Serie A
 Internazionale 28   17  8  3  28  59 
 AC Milan 28   17  7  4  21  58 
 AS Roma 28   15  8  5  16  53 
 Palermo 28   13  7  8  6  46 
La Liga
 Real Madrid 26   21  2  3  50  65 
 Barcelona 26   20  5  1  48  65 
 Valencia 26   13  8  4  13  47 
 Sevilla FC 26   13  5  8  10  44 

The races in Germany and Italy have assumed a heightened importance as Italy is in danger of surrendering its fourth UEFA Champions League berth to Germany. The results of this year's UCL and Europa League will be the determining factor.

Friday, March 12, 2010

News and Views from Friday Mar 12

Openers
MLS Preseason
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Around the World
Club Tournaments

Thursday, March 11, 2010

News and Views from Thursday Mar 11

Openers
  • You may read how the DC United win at Santos Laguna is the first club victory for a US team in Mexico. When the feat is repeated in a game that means something, I'll make a point of it, but for now, so what.
  • Word is out that the MLS players have voted to strike if no labor agreement is reached by March 25, the scheduled opening day. More meetings with the Federal mediator have been set, so again, it's wait and see. If you want to read every smidgeon or rumor, use Google or Bing.
MLS Preseason
MLS
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
The Business of Soccer
Club Tournaments
Around the World

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

News and Views from Wednesday Mar 10

Columbus' Steve Lenhart, scorer of both goals in their opening leg CONCACAF Champions League draw with Toluca, signing autographs while in Arizona

MLS Preseason
Player Moves
Interesting Reads
Club Tournaments
The Business of Soccer
Other Stuff

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

News and Views from Tuesday Mar 9

 Hejduk and Schelotto both missed the 1st leg of the Crew's CCL tie with Toluca due to yellow card accumulation during the group phase.

MLS Preseason
Quakes update from London.
The Fullback Files' DC United roster reset.
I generally like to get more than one point of view on whatever it is I read about. With that in mind, here are a couple of preseason looks at DC United. One from Avi Creditor on Ives website, the other from Drew Epperly at WV Hooligan.(note that Drew's piece is a week old, lots can happen in one week)
Continuing with the theme from above, a pair of looks at the KC Wizards. Again please note that Drew's look is now nearly a month old. First, Kristian Dyer of ESPNSoccernet. Then, the WV Hooligan view.
RBNY wins 5th preseason match.

Player Moves
Rapids roster moves, one keeper in, one striker out and more.
Houston waives Harmse. Also, Houston signs academy product Navas Cobo.

Interesting Reads
Pros like the inside of the foot.

The Business of Soccer
Footiebusiness with some tidbits on FIFA World Cup sponsorship and MLS event revenues for host cities.
Russian clubs on shaky ground as season set to open.
The second post in a series on Supporter ownership of football clubs. Find a link to the first part in yesterday's post.

Club Tournaments
CONCACF Champions League - Columbus comes back to draw Toluca.
Asian Champions League update.
Copa Libertadores - Sao Paolo upset.

Around the World
Tom Vickery reports on World Cup bound Argentina.
Colombia Apertura - Round 8.

Monday, March 8, 2010

News and Views from Monday Mar 8

MLS Preseason
MLS
 Player Moves
Interesting Reads
  • Grant Wahl with an excellent piece on Landon Donovan as his Everton loan ends.
  • Tom Dunmore castigates the IFAB and FIFA for their decision to eschew technology.
  • Andrew Guest on African Soccerscapes.
The Business of Soccer

Sunday, March 7, 2010

After the Weekend - Mar 6-7

 Arizona Sahuaros/Kansas City Wizards action

MLS Preseason
Dallas/Chicago will scrimmage in Magnolia state.
ChivasUSA to scrimmage with Fresno.
RSL preseason scrimmage.
The Fullback Files looks at DC United's roster.
Houston and Austin scrimmage to a draw.
Sounders and Whitecaps in scoreless draw.
Wizards end Arizona stay with win.

MLS
One of my favorite writers, Bill Archer, lays into both sides of the CBA. One shot for the players, one for the owners.

Player Moves
Philadelphia signs Colombian Roger Torres.
Toronto release Carl Robinson, who is on trial now with RBNY.

Interesting Reads
International Football Association Board (IFAB) say no to technology in football.
Thanks to Richard Whittall for this own goal.
A brief intro to the 2010 J-League.

The Business of Soccer
Painting an un-pretty picture of EPL club finances.
FC Moscow go out of business.
A proverbial guide for new football owners.
Footiebusiness: What it means to mediate.

Club Tournaments
An Idiot's Guide to the Asian Champions League.

Around the World
Melbourne will play in the A-League's Grand Final for 3rd time in 4 years.

Title and Champions League Races in Europe
 GP  W   D  L   GD  Pts 
EPL
 Manchester Utd 29   20  3  6  43  63 
 Chelsea  28   19  4  5  39  61 
 Arsenal  29   19  4  6  37  61 
 Tottenham 28   14  7  7  23  49 
Bundesliga
 Bayern Munich 25   15  8  2  30  53 
 Schalke 04 25   15  6  4  21  51 
 Bayer Leverkusen 25   13  11  1  29  50 
 Hamburg 25   11  10  4  18  43 
Ligue 1
 Bordeaux 25   16  4  5  22  52 
 Montpellier 27   16  4  7  9  52 
 Lyon 27  14   8  5  17  50 
 Marseille 26   14  7  5  19  49 
Serie A
 Internazionale 27   17  8  2  30  59 
 AC Milan 27   16  7  4  20  55 
 AS Roma 27   15  7  5  16  52 
 Palermo 27   13  7  7  7  46 
La Liga
 Real Madrid 25   20  2  3  47  62 
 Barcelona 25   19  5  1  45  62 
 Valencia 24   13  7  4  16  46 
 Sevilla FC 25   13  4  8  10  43