What I want the draw to be

Ahh the Champions League Draw is set for tomorrow and if only I had my ways, although I am sure UEFA will have theres...

Liverpool v Barca - get one of the bastards to knock off the other bastards
Manchester United v Real Madrid - Make Beckham's return be for other than a Charity Game
Arsenal v  Celtic - have to have an English team take on a Scottish team
O. Lyon v Roma - So Scott wouldnt be able to watch his team on ESPN 2 once again
AC Milan v PSV - What can I say? I like this match up
Chelsea v Lille - So Drogba could speak French on the field
Valencia v Porto - Battle of the Iberian Peninsula
Bayern v Inter - The only other remaining big clubs eliminate one of the others from the Competition


my guess - uefa will get 'pool to play celtic and arse to play barca, manu will get lille, chelsea v porto cause of the jose connection

we shall see

Adieu Adu!

The Freddy Adu era is over at DC United. Bout time. While he may turn out to be among the best players ever is soccer, the betting here is that it's not going to happen and I'd be surprised if he makes that large an impact on soccer's larger stages. He's a good player, has shown flashes of excellence, but they've been too few to warrant the salary he's commanded from DCU and MLS (over $500,000). Part of the problem has been his attitude: he arrived at DCU expecting to start and play 90 minutes every game. But he was only 14! And there's a world of difference playing among other teenagers and playing against folks who started their professional careers before he was born!

Not all of this was his fault. He was signed in part to put MLS on the world map and this was too large a burden to place on the shoulders of someone so young. And I think he bought too much into the Adu hype going on around him, thinking that he was better than he is, and not working hard enough to get better.

Maybe he'll flourish at Real Salt Lake in a central midfield role or as a striker. But at DCU he clearly was not better than either Moreno or Gomez, so there was no way he was going to start in place of either of them. So in the long run, perhaps this is one of those deals that helps both teams as well as the players involved: DCU deals away an attitude problem and gets the right to replace him with a foreign player as well as a draft pick; RSL gets a "star," who may help them draw fans to their home games.

Of course, this depends on how long he stays state-side. Adu worked out with ManU recently and turns 18 next summer. He wants to play with a European club, but wonder whether he'd accept a second level club or agree to sign with a club like ManU with an understanding that he'll be on loan to a bottom table club for a season or two. As hungry as ManU may be for better off-the-bench options late in games, that role probably would not sit well with Adu and I don't think he's ready for the speed and strength of the English game. I can't imagine him replacing any of the starters for ManU or any of the better clubs in the top leagues at this point in his development.

Also leaving DCU is Nick Rimando, who lost his starting keeper's job to Troy Perkins this past season. Not to take anything away from Perkins (who was named top MLS goalkeeper in 2006), I always thought Rimando did a solid job for United. Here's hoping he has better luck -- and stays healthy -- with RSL.

chelsea looks unimpressive (again)

yes they should have won- the two hit posts in the dying moments were heartbreaking- but this team is going backward until they unclog the midfield. playing with 4 central midfield players (any of which i would be happy to see at Man U, except maybe for Ballack- he is stealing Roman's money) is nuts and the congestion it produces is startling. they looked so much more a threat once Robben and swp were introduced (no thanks to swp who continues to waste away into something resembling an MLS player- it shows there is a cost when you sell your soul to the devil for a few pounds). i am not sure what his greatness is thinking about, but this is not working.

Klinsmann withdraws from consideration!

ESPN is reporting that Jurgen Klinsmann has withdrawn his name from consideration for the USMNT head coach position. The article notes:

"Klinsmann, in a statement sent to ESPN, said: 'Sunil [Gulati] and I have concluded our discussions about the U.S. men's national team program, and I have withdrawn my name from consideration as coach. I'm not going to go into details about our conversations. But, I certainly want to wish the next coach of the U.S. men's national team much success, and I want to, also, thank Sunil for the opportunity to exchange ideas.'"

Apparently, the problem was neither money nor the potential Nike/Addidas conflict. Rather, the issue was control of the program. According to Fox Soccer Channel, "there had always been the question of whether or not Klinsmann would accept the culture of U.S. Soccer. Power, and the sharing of it, was said to be a consistent theme in the talks and it could be that despite agreeing in principle, the two parties could not settle on an agreement that would give Klinsmann the autonomy he desired."

Fox is also reporting that for now, Bob Bradley, the Chivas USA coach, will lead the team on an interim basis as it prepares for friendlies against Denmark and Mexico.

This is a stunning disappointment and it lends support to the Ref's comment earlier this week that what the US MNT needs is not only a strong coach, but new civilian leadership at the top. If team control is the make or break issue, one has to wonder whether the team would be more successful if the coach has the authority to make player personnel decisions as opposed to other team management officials. Given the results from Germany, I'd have had no doubts about trying it Klinsmann's way until such time as it proved unsuccessful.

I think

US Soccer needs a new president

The Ref Gets His "7"

Just got word from the Ref: a very high score on his recert exam coupled with fast times on the 12 minute run and the two sprints: Ref is now a Grade 7 referee! Way to go! Shows what hard work and studying can do for you (the same type of dedication he's bring to his college course work, to be sure ;-) ).

England

Will never have success with all the attention that the press gives them.... Saying McClaren is NUTS on the cover of the sports page the day of a hyped friendly doesnt exactly give confidence to the players or the country. Unity supports the players... The olympics can be an example of a country coming together behind a team and winning like "the miracle on ice" or more recently the Ivory Coast and getting into the world cup. But it should be the opposite. I believe that the trudo wrote in one of his college essays that France united together after they won the WC in 98. It was a diverse team and they were winning and it was uniting a country that has many differences.
So through all this it leaves me to believe that England just have to win for any unity to happen. The problem is how many games do they have to win. Red Sox fans are still in a daze after winning the World Series over 2 years ago, yet put that in major competition form for England (such as Euro and WC) and England would never be satisfied.

So in the end I am going to sit back and watch England self destruct

Chelsea whining must stop

Today sees another article (http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=390277&cc=5901) with a Chelsea player complaining about the ref. This all comes from the top, with Jose seemingly whining after every game. I watched the game vs tottenham, and felt that Graham Poll (The Ref's favorite) did a fine job- Drogba did push off on the disallowed goal, albeit ever so slightly but it doesn't take much of a shove to get someone off balance, Terry did seem overly agressive after the incident in front of the goal and shame on him for doing so when he had a card already. Chelsea pushes everything to the edge- hard fouls, not moving back from the ball for free kicks, diving, complaining about everything during the game- and they have since Jose got there. All of which is fine, but then take your yellow cards with some grace when they come.

Half way there!

Belated congratulations to the Ref, who passed his on-field assessment for an upgrade to Grade 7! Not only passed but received high praise from his assessor, one of the top guys in US soccer's ref community. All that's left are the upgrade class (and recert exam) and the physical fitness test, both of which the Ref should pass with ease.

I had the privilege of working one of the lines in the Ref's upgrade game, and it was clear that he was in control throughout. He demonstrated good use of the advantage call, letting play continue, while acknowledging that he saw the foul but letting the players play through. He called two penalty kicks, one a clear easy foul (hard charge from behind) and one a tougher call on handling in the penalty area. It was the right call, but not as obvious as the first. The assessor made several important suggestions for improvement, but on the whole, it was a great afternoon.

Blowing up Europe's Top Teams

According to news reports, FIFA and an international players' union on Thursday "signed a 'memorandum of understanding,' [proposing] the implementation of a six plus five system, whereby six members of a side must be eligible to play for the club's national association."

The ink was barely dry on the memorandum when Arsene Wenger, Arsenal's manager, complained: "'It is not to protect the national identity, it is to protect the national teams, their competitions, and their incomes,' said the Arsenal manager.

'Football bodies have to care about the level of the game - the level of the game does not mean protect mediocrity.'

When Arsenal reached the Champions League final last season, they only had two Englishmen in their starting XI - Sol Campbell and Ashley Cole. Both have now left the club.

Defender Justin Hoyte is likely to be the solitary Englishman in the side when the Gunners line up to face West Ham on Sunday."

Not to single out Arsenal -- other teams in the EPL, notably Chelsea and ManU, as well as top teams in the other European leagues, such as Barcelona and Real Madrid in Spain, may be forced to alter substantially their rosters to comply with this rule if it it is adopted as official policy.

What to think about it? On the one hand, it would open up opportunities to a country's nationals to get an opportunity to play in their country's top leagues. It also might level the playing field among clubs in first divisions by limiting the number of internationals and spreading the talent around. It also could lead to a reduction in salary among some of the top internationals as fewer slots would be available on the super rich teams, while raising it for the locals. And it could have a positive effect on a country's National team: more players would have the chance to develop their skills in the top league. The Italian league may offer an example: the winning side in the 2006 all played for the Serie A.

On the other hand, it could affect the quality of play in some of the top leagues, because the teams top heavy with internationals would have to dump some of their players and replace them with locals who would not be as good.

So what do you think?

Rant 3 - That Moment

I can only imagine that final whistle. The feeling of winning the Champions League or say in America, The World series (the final out would be different I guess). The elation, joy, relief, the rush. I bring this up because I tuned into the world series for the last inning. I saw that last out when all of St. Louis jumped up and down for their beloved Cards. Yet to be honest I wasn't impressed. Maybe it was the TV coverage but I don't think so. The players themselves on the field didn't seem as joyous as previous winners. I didn't see anyone throw their gloves up. I didn't see anyone just fall over in pure joy (exhaustion wouldn't be an excuse for a baseball player until maybe a 12 inning game). They all just ran to the mound, hugged, fell over when someone finally pushed and then a few of the outside players jumped on top. The hugs were there, the TV cameras turned to the crying wives in the stands. Yet it just didn't feel right. Eh, it might be my ideas about baseball that sway my decision about the pure celebrations but it just wasn't there. I go back to my earlier idea about how majors sports are now seen as jobs. Those NBA players like Juan Howard who take the biggest contract they can get yet never seem to perform the same, eh they got it in the bank why should they.
I think back two years ago to Boston winning the world series, now that was a celebration. 96 years of celebration came rushing out by anyone who ever associated themselves with a tea party connection. I cant discuss Italy winning the world cup because of the poor coverage provided here in the states, overall is just seemed like a sigh of relief from the every present press coverage Italian soccer players get (Brits should learn by example and ease up, Italy had lower expectations due to the scandal at home and thus less pressure).
And I digress to those same people that live for the pressure, for those high profile moments, let it be Michael Jordan or a Zizou. They celebrated the most cause hell if they messed up, the really messed up, and Zizou knows he really messed up. My call to celebrations is somewhat muted by also the call for easier goal celebrations. Hell they better score a goal, hit a home run, or get in the end zone sometime soon again so why celebrate so much. Ill give Frank Lampard an excuse for his brilliant goal against Barca yesterday. It wasn't even him who celebrated the most but Robben who jumped on top of him.
Where is the passion. I know its still there. I know St. Louis could have also seemed a little more excited. Hell most of the photos I saw the next day were of things that actually occurred during the game, not the champagne baths or on field celebration, and for once that's a shame.

Good Article

Calling on the MLS to stop being stupid. HERE

Rant 2

Ah. It was perfect. The slow motion replay almost made me cry. The graceful-ness, the perfection, the utter sadness of a great dive. In his defence, he has been a good boy so far this season. He has gone through a lot of tough challenges, including one earlier in the game that seemed to have made him gone dizzy. I am of course talking about Drogba.

His sheer strength is known. Some of the goals he has scored in the Prem have been amazing and his goal in the game yesterday showed his touch. If one thing about his game changed it would be his diving. I mean he has cleaned it up along with C. Ronaldo but its not all the way there for either of them. But the topic of diving isnt just relegated to those two anyway but to the state of the game in its essance.

The best part of the game in its present state is its pace. It goes back and forth and keeps the heart racing for all 90 minutes. But there are different types of dives. There are the fall overs - when the player gets touched a little and falls, these are the most confused. There are the blatants - when they jump and fall over when not even touched, example would be drogba. Then there are those that get fouled but over shadow the foul to draw a card or waste time.

A place to start is with the players themselves. They need to realize how they are hurting the game. Blame needs to rest on their shoulders since they decide to dive and no one else. 2nd comes in the Coaches and Board of Directors. Cause in the end the buck stops there. Clubs can dish out fines for unsporting behavior and coaches can bench people or speak out about their players to the media. 3rd or 4th depending how one counts, in comes the league. Who says they shouldnt review those falls that seem as though the player is acting he is going to lose a leg.

In the end of course comes the referee. He or She is on the field as well. I dont think the first step is with them but it isnt the last either. Leagues need to be there to back up their referees. No chastizing them to the public like Sepp Blatter because they get enough in the media and from their fellow peers. Yes, referees are harsh on fellow referees. At first, a dive is a hard call to make and its hard to give the player a yellow card for such an offense especially if play continues and the referee doesnt want to slow down play. For example the referee gave Henry a yellow for using his arm before scoring against Moscow. Of course the replays show that the ball didnt touch the arm but then again the Referee made the judgement to go against the grain and call something very similar to a dive. In the end they are all simulations of legal play.

thoughts welcomed

Champions League win shows Man U weaknesses

I watched Man U play today and despite their 3-0 win over Copenhagen (please tell me why are some of these teams even in this thing? Real plays a team from the always powerful Romanian league and we are supposed to care?) I can't help but be concerned. Carrick looks like he is intent on proving that someone can be more overpriced than SWP for Chelski, O'Shea looks like a statue despite his goal (which was pure luck), Scholes does not scare anyone anymore except for with his shooting from distance, Giggs is 103 years old, and Darren Fletcher may play well for Scotland but for the Red Devils he seems to run around aimlessly. This team has no midfeild player (except for Ronaldo who really is a forward out on the wing) who can put his stamp on the game, has no ability to consistently move the ball through the midle of the pitch and the lack of service is killing Rooney. I have pointed this out before, but Sir Alex hasn't won anything except for an FA Cup in 2004 (and that was against Millwall for pete's sake) without Beckham. For all his faults, there is no better crosser of the ball and his style worked great in the EPL.

As much as I hate saying it, it doesn't seem that this team has any chance of keeping the Chelsea "team" from winning the title again, and certainly Arsenal- losing in Moscow was very impressive- has no chance.

Rant

I wont lie nor do I feel like I should lie. I havnt watched a baseball game in a while. A long while. And Ill be blunt: Its all because of steroids. But then again to be honest I have been less and less keen to watch most sports. Whether it’s the ‘roids or anything else there is too much scandal in sport nowadays.
Rafael Palmeiro ruined it for me. I am a D.C. boy, born and raised. So I rooted for the Os. Palmeiro was one of the good guys. Always there, always trust worthy, sure he took a break and went to the Rangers, but he came back. And when asked he flat out denied he used anything, only to be proved wrong.
That’s where it started. Baseball lost all interest to me. Basketball lost taste after Artest rushed the crowd. Plus with a postseason as long as the regular season why not just start paying attention in April instead of November. Oh yea, is the NHL even around even more? And if you really want to know, I am a soccer lover. The beautiful game cause it truly is, yet diving is uncontrollable. I will be pompous here as well by saying the MLS needs to change its format cause if 8 out of the 12 teams make the playoffs then you might have the 8th place team winning the cup (and its happened). Ridiculous (cause D.C. United should have the title).
Something needs to be done in the sports realm. How many players remember those days when they dreamed about playing in that big game? That they used to sleep in their pee-wee jerseys the day before the game. Did Big Mac and Sosa forget that their kids will one day ask them the same question that reporters do every day?
My suggestion: force every professional player in their respective sport to go to a youth game. Spend a day at those fields. Those very fields they grew up playing on. The field of my youth is in downtown D.C. with Stoddert Soccer. And calling it a field would be nice, it was a dust bowl, just compacted soil.
I come back to baseball because yet again another October is upon us. Which means that the Yankees are playing, it has been that way for most of my life (in the playoffs every year since 1995). Yet, the boys in pinstrips wont get my support, not sure if it’s the AL East hatred, or my father’s Red Sox blood in me, or that Steinbrenner who just throws money at the trophy. Maybe just maybe Jason Giambi’s mom will pick him up after a game and give him a little chat and remind him about what his dreams used to be.

Chelsea is?

ON TOP!!!

On top of the table after gameweek 6.

Now since Chelsea has claimed the prem they can focus on Champions league

round up

Aight. So I take some time away from work to write about this past week and this upcoming weekend.
First off, Alonso scored once again from his half but all I can say is that it was all luck. The goal would not have happened if the GK hadnt slipped. So still nothing as impressive as Beckham's strike while at Man Yoo.
2nd, all the talk of "bungs" shows my lack of knowledge about british terminology (yet I found French terms here). Big Sam at Bolton was named heavily from what I have read and nothing looks good. Although every club is asking for evidence to be shown. Chelsea and Liverpool are fighting back after the TV Show approached them and not the other way around. but most of all it seems like BBC is reaching although I am sure some illegal stuff happens in the game but then again how can USA talk about it when we allow steriods in baseball.
3rd, why are we concerned about the premiership anyways when they all crash out of the carling cup? 8 of the best teams in england were in action during this round and half of them crashed out. Reading maintained to further my opinion that they will avoid the drop due to their togetherness even though they dont have "premiership qaulity" players. But Man City, Wigan, Fulham, and Boro dropped. Beaz still hasnt come thru at Man City yet although he has already stated he wants to stay in England, I think he needs to prove that he should be kept first.
4th, and most crushing I think is that Klinsmann is going somewhere else. A huge blow, the US job should be his. He did a great job this summer and I think he was the fresh blood US soccer needs. However he is now consulting for Austria thru 2008 for Euro. Since they qualify as the hosts he doesnt even need to worry about the run up but just about the draw and who they will end up facing. He doesnt even need to worry about selections since he is only an Advisor! Sunil disappoints me.
Two coaching notices: Some important matches in their time. Wenger will celebrate his 10th aniversary at Arsenal this week. So ten years ago this week the french infusion started. Yet he still cant speak without the french in it. Eh, Mais, But, Eh, Such is life.... please he and Jens should be sent back. (jens might be deported anyways due to kicking a water bottle at Man U fans so police are taking care of the situation anyways) The 2nd is Sheffield United's Warnock will be at the helm for his 1,000th game as a manager. He even says he hasnt been unemployed more than 3 weeks since 1980s which is something to be celebrated. Yet, he needs some help to keep his team up in the prem and he should admit it.
Finally, a different Harry is magical in england. That would be the one at Pompey. He has his team on top, yes i know only a few games in. However they dont seem to be doing too bad. Sol in the back has changed the team into a rock, only one goal allowed in the prem. Yet he isnt in the England squad. McClaren is still in his transition phase so ill give him a break but maybe just maybe he should give Sol a second call and give him a chance.

I realize that is all in the past for now, a look towards the future shall come but help me along

Say it's not so!

Yesterday i commented on a posting by the ref on the US coaching vacancy and said "i vote for klinsman, but really say 'anyone but Sven.'"

Along comes today's New York Times which has the headline "U.S. Seeks Eriksson as Team Manager".

God help us.

see story at www.nytimes.com/2006/09/15/sports/soccer/15soccer.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

And the new coach?

Ok so Bruce stepped down a while ago, either that or his contract wasn't renewed at this point I am not sure. July 9th was the end of the tournament and it is now two months later and there is no USA national team coach. While I believe Mooch is still in charge as interim there needs to be a head coach and soon. England knew who the next coach would be before the tournament. South Africa got a new coach right after along with Germany and Italy, both countries didn't wait longer than two weeks.
Klinsmann seemed to be the perfect match - speaks English, lives in the states, got Germany to the semi finals(when no one thought they had a chance). However the current US Soccer president seems to be in no rush. He is even making a list, which has been said to include DC United coach Novak. But for more competition to Klinsmann comes Jose Pekerman.
As the article states Pekerman is a possible for the US coaching slot although he doesn't speak English but has a lot of past history with youth development. The main problem right now is money. The head of US Soccer is known for being stingy. He was once with the NE Revolution and kept their payroll the lowest in the league, but this is one position that money shouldn't be the biggest problem but the vacancy there is right now.

Nice Job, Ref!

Watched the Ref work yesterday at a U19 boys game. It was his third game of the day, after centering a U16 boys game (5 yellow cards!) and working 15 minutes in the center and then on the line of a U19 boys game. So by the time of his final game, he was a bit more than run out.

But all things considered, he kept up pretty well with the boys. For the most part, the players played a clean game and there were very few fouls. The Ref also plays advantage quite well, letting fouls go when the attacking team retained possession. One thing I think he needs to work on here is calling the play back when the advantage doesn't pan out, but for the most part, he uses this tool quite well given his years on the job and level of experience. (Way better at this than yours truly.)


One other thing stood out: the Ref gave only yellow card during the game and it was not clear from the stands what it was for. After the game, he told me that it was for dissent. The technique he used was what I'd call the English method -- you see this a lot in the EPL. When the ball went out of touch, the Ref called to the player to be carded to come over to him, he took out his pad, talked to the player as he wrote the number in his book and then took out the card and held it up. Very calm and very, very professional. Who says watching hours and hours of soccer on FSN is not educational?!?

It's been a while . . .

since I posted; a WC hangover I'm slowly getting over.

Like the Ref, I also have begun my fall refereeing season, though with decidedly less competitive games. Last weekend, when the Ref's games were washed out, my games were played: a couple of centers at the U11 and U13 level (the U11 was a solo) and lines at the U13 and U14 level. Nothing particularly striking about any of these games, aside from the absence of vocal complaints about calls or noncalls from any of the participants! I think everyone was too wet to complain (it spritzed through the first 3 1/2 hours I was out there; the sun made a brief and surprise appearance for the last half hour of the final game, drying me off for the car ride home).

Yesterday, I was part of a 2-ref team at a private school JV boys game. Again, nothing remarkable about the game. There were only a couple of fouls all game, one team play fairly well and the other relied on counterattacks that were few and far between, several ending with offside calls when balls were played to players totally unaware of where they were in relation to the defense.

Just one other comment for now. Let me preface this by saying that I think I do an OK job as a ref. Foul recognition remains a work in progress, as is knowing when to use cards and when to use words to deal with problem players. But the one thing I do pride myself on is the effort I bring to each game, no matter the level. I try to stay up with play and will run as hard as I can to be in position to make calls. From first game to last game. So it grieves me no end when I work with folks who don't make the effort. When I am in the center and have an AR who is constantly behind the play, it makes it hard to rely on him/her for the offside call. Same thing in a 2-ref game: both refs need to keep an eye on the offside line as well as watch play when it moves to the other half of the field. And don't think the players, coaches, and fans don't notice.

Lions, Transfers, Goals oh my

    So I tried to make a play on words and I know it failed, eh I tried.  So much happened this past week.  Of course England got on track with Euro with a 5 - nil thrashing of Andorra (Crouch x2, Gerrard, Defoe x2).
    West Ham came out on top in what is an unbelievable transfer move with Tevez and Mascherano.  I am a little sketched out about this.  The same group wants to buy West Ham that sold the players, just seems a little shady, but then again Chelsea is my team and everything they do is shady.  While West Ham was celebrating all the top teams were in spin mode, Man U released a press statement saying that they thought about the duo but decided they werent worth the trouble.  We will see how Sir Alex thinks when he realizes how much a striker shortage he has.
    Back to the Euro Qualifiers.  While Steve's competitive era started off with a bang some others didnt do so well.  Italy is still in their "hangover" from the WC and only got the 1-1 tie.  And guess who they have next and where they play... France in the Stade de France.  Too bad Zizou wont be on the pitch, the Italians would probably be scared if even stepped in the stadium.  Talking of the French brings me to Jose's slave comments about Makalele.  Claude had sent in his letter saying he was retiring from international football after the world cup final, which is a great stage to go out on, however Raymond called up the player and threatened to have him benched for Chelsea if he did not show.  Kind of sucks.  Another French Chelsea player, Gallas, who finally moved to the French Suburb of London that is called Arsenal, as reportedly said that if he was played in games for Chelsea he would have scored Own-goals against his team.  My question is how did it get so bad for him.  He missed the USA tour, he could have come late, eh oh well Chelsea has 4 england regulars in their midfield and defense... not too bad.
    Refereeing started off well, it should only get more interesting.  I have a boys varsity game tomorrow afternoon between a public and private school in the area. While my games this weekend got canceled due to a tropical storm, this next weekend I have a u16 center and a u19 center, should get very fun/interesting...
im sure something else will come up this week

High School is upon us

Since everyone that writes or has written on this blog has gotten out of high school as of now. I look back at High School soccer. I think of HS soccer today because tomorrow I take the field once again, as my name would say the ref. The players on the field could be only a year younger than myself. While some find this as a setback I am willing to embrace it. Its like that parent that trys to be too hip or something, at least that was my idea when a referee would try to drop a line from the latest rap song in his pre-game instructions. The thing about it is that he would only think that it was the latest rap song yet it would have come out 3 months ago. I like talking to the players and reasoning with them. No matter what happens I know that I am right in the end, I have the final say. And for the most part there arent 37 different camera angles and wire-reporters at the game waiting to pounce on my mistakes, that is if I make any. I am looking forward to this upcoming fall season, and sharing it with all 2 common readers of this blog...

The Diving Team has a new member

    I can honestly say I used to be a fan.  Even though he was on the opposing team and seemed to crush my beloved Chelsea, in any game that had a peice of hardware on the line, I did not care.  He is a good player and can crush a ball from 40 yards out.  His goal in last year's FA Cup final to put it into extra-time was unbelievable.  But I think that was the last honest moment in his body.
    Since then Stephen Gerrard has sunk down to the lowest levels.  In the run up to the World Cup he was shown to have dove at the slightest touch to win England a Penalty.  He then dove in the World Cup adding his name to the list with C. Ronaldo, who has been on the list for a while, or the rest of the Portugese team.  But Now he has brought it to the EPL.  Liverpool down one-nil against new-boys Sheffield United were lucky to come away with a point after Stevie G. fell to the ground in the penalty area.
    Now this is not a complaint against the referee, or any referee, cause who can really keep up that quickly with the ball that is played from behind midfield up to lightening fast player.  The center referee sees Gerrard lifts his leg as if he is clipped and assumes it is so, cause hey its Stevie G and he dont dive.  The assistant referee is on the side the player slide in from, so the back of the defender is what the AR is seeing.
    But in the end this is what we get.  A world class player sinking to new lows.  We can only hope that at the end of the year we see him on his ass:

Gameweek 1 - The English League

With the new season upon us and the champions, Chelsea, having a record 220 million pound payroll. Who will fight and scrap for those precious points? Who will be the surprise teams? Will the newly promoted be able to escape the drop? Will Graham Poll give more than 3 yellow cards to a single player?
The questions will be answered starting in the morning, with THE CHANNEL (TC) showing: Magpies v Wigan, Bolton v THFC, and Reading v Boro (tape delay). Side note, The Ref will be calling Fox Soccer Channel by the name of The Channel or TC for short, thus no reference will be made to the Fox Network from this point on by The Ref, thank you. So Paul Jewell will take on the no-longer-interim Roeder. We have a look at a team trying to crack into the top 4 with THFC. And we get to see two Americans start the journey of keeping a team in the top Flight with Reading (Convey and Hahnemann).
Chelsea start their title defense for the 2nd year running against Man City. The new signing, Ballack, is in doubt do to hip injury. Joe Cole is out as well, along with Makalele, Geremi, Cech, and Huth. So the payroll might be worth it for the month of August and hopefully the fitness talked about in the two blogs below will have been pushed into the back of the mind as an after-thought.

So now I must force myself to sleep with only 8 hours and 20 minutes til the first kickoff of the 06/07 season.

My rebuttle (rebuttal):

to meanbald guy below:
Liverpool's first game was on July 15th, only 6 days after the world cup final. With their first team starters reporting and ready for action on August 1st. Liverpool lost on August 1st 2-nil to Grasshopper Club Zurich. Not that big of a name. Their following game was against FSV Mainz which was a 5-nil loss. Their first competitive game against Haifa, which was due to take place in Israel but due to some chicken-@$$ rafa, the game was moved to a neutral, meaning pro-liverpool site. Haifa was up 1-nil before liverpool came back for the win. Hardly a great start but they did pull off the 2-1 win over my beloved Chelsea.
Chelsea's arguement: 3 games against 3 competitive teams of fit players. First against the very in form MLS Allstars, Chelsea had control of much of the game however the fitness of the MLS players in the end brought them the victory. A win against Feyenoord away and then a 1-1 draw with Celtic at home (Celtic had started their preseason in Mid-July as well in the USA against DC United).

So my thought process is such. I am not worried about the loss to Liverpool cause they are a team that has had more games however I am worried about Chelsea fitness. Yes Lamps had a poor world cup but once he gets one goal in the prem he will be back in form. Cudicini knows that goal was his fault and I am sure he is still pissed at himself about that but hey CECH is in goal. SWP wont start in place of Robben, and although you say he was poor in the CS he was unbelievable against the MLS all-stars. Sheva proved his worth with his goal, and hopefully Ballack will be fully fit for the season opener.

but hey atleast adidas makes chelsea look good, liverpool's collar is stupid.

chelsea looks unimpressive

after watching the community shield twice this week, i have come to two conclusions. one, liverpool looks very good. two, and my focus here, chelsea looks very questionable. yes, i know that it was an exhibition and yes, i know that ballack etc didnt play, but the point of this superteam is to have interchangeable parts and i don't see it. if cech goes down, cudicini certainly doesnt look like he can step in. if they don't get ashley cole, it's hard to see wayne bridge (what was he doing on the crouch goal?) getting it done. swp is a shell of the player he was at man city and kalou looks horrible. lampard's dreadful (to say the least- everyone criticizes becks but lampard was the most disapointing player on england- and maybe in the tournament- by far) world cup seeems like it is leaving a hangove on him at this point. without joe cole for who knows how long and with mourinho's bad haircut, it could be a long year for jordan gray, steven cohen and the rest of the chelsea mob.

what are you doing August 19th?

i will be on my couch watching the EPL. having post WC withdrawal. need it bad.

Assessing a Ref

The Ref asked me to watch his co-ed rec game and report on the refereeing in that contest. As noted in his post below, he has been, oh, a bit dissatisfied with the refereeing and, in particular, doesn't think the refs take the game seriously enough. After watching the game, I would agree that the level of refereeing is not great and that neither ref working the 2-man system is working all that hard.

There were few challenging plays during the game, no really significant blown calls, a few questionable whistles. On one play, the ref called for a corner kick, thinking the ball went off the GK. When the Gk said he didn't touch the ball, the ref changed the call. I don't think the other team was pleased. (It looked from where I was that the ball did hit the GK, but I was down the field on the other side of the halfway line.) The ref on the far side from where I was standing did little running (yes, it's really, really hot here and they were working several games, but still . . . ). He was in position to make a couple of offside calls, but only by happenstance did he saunter down there in time. Generally, he wasn't close to the 2d to last defender, especially when the ball got down low towards the goal line. His partner on my side also rarely ventured close to the halfway line, and neither ever pinched in towards the middle of the field when the ball was on the far side away from them. For example, on corner kicks, neither moved up to watch the action at the top of the 18. In their defense, the one time action called for a card, the near side ref was right on it.

The game was fun to watch, with some positive play by members of both teams. Many players had a good feel for the game and demonstrated solid skills. As for the Ref, he got himself fouled in the PA, the near side ref called it, and he easily placed the ball to the left side of the net as the keeper dove right. (Making up for a miss on a semi-break away from the right side, his shot hitting side netting.)

one last (?) word on WC referees

this was originally posted as a comment on the last topic on the site but i feel that the topic is important enough to merit it's own headline

i couldn't disagree with the AR more on the qualiity of WC refereeing. the incompetence was shocking and meanspirited. the inconsistentcy we saw from play to play(think about the calls and non calls in the Spain/Tunisia game as an example). the constant talk throughout germany was about how bad the officiating was- i have watched the cup religiously since we began to be able to see all of the games live (was that first in 94?) and this was far and away the most dismal performance i have seen by the officials. as i have posted bfore, the favoritism shown towards the big teams (with Italy being peerhaps the biggest beneficiary. the penalty against the aussies and the calls in the US game were absurd- i watched the US game on tv, in an unbiased French bar with italian fans, and everyone there thought the calls against the US were too severe- and don't get me started on the call against Gooch in the Ghana game).

the diving calls, or lack of them, were an embarassment to the game and it is clear that it has to be taken out of the refs hands and be subject to post game video review. i would also endorse the idea of a 2nd ref on the field to catch these cheats more effectively (and for lots of other reasons). guys like cristiano ronaldo need to be severely disciplined- expelled from the game if necessary.

On the other side of the Whistle

This past World Cup saw plenty of Referees get their decisions questioned. Everyone is able to make their opinion known and make comment as well. However no one could ever saw that a referee was not taking the game seriously. Each referee was putting their all into every game whether it was the first or the last game of the tournament. Even the referee took the Coasta Rica v Poland game seriously even if the outcome didnt matter at all.

Now getting to my problem at the moment. When I referee, I take games seriously, sure some might be more light-hearted and other more serious but that does not mean I do not give the same amount of effort to each game. No matter what game I referee, I know I am getting paid and there is a standard for that. A referee accepts an assignment and fee to referee a game so he or she should referee at the best of their ability and give all their effort.

I say this because during this summer I have been playing in a saturday/sunday coed recreational league. I have been going as a pick up player, I just ask the teams there if they might need another player and most of the time they allow me to jump in. Each team however pays dues over $1200 worth for 8 games at least. And that doesnt include uniforms and getting to and from the games. The league seems willing to only pay 2 referees and one of them is there for games on saturday and sunday and other one seems to rotate between the main referee's son and friend. All three of these people bring a bad name to referees. I know its only a sunday league but that doesnt mean you can be texting on your cellphone during the game or sitting in the middle of the field waiting for the next game to start. Worst of all is the positioning. Neither referee is with the 2nd to last defender on the touch line or even on the goal line when the ball calls for it. Sometimes the main referee is talking to the players on the bench and then sees someone fall over and calls it from the opposite half of the field.

These referees do not take their job seriously nor do they realize the money being spent on the other side by the players themselves. I am not condoning referee abuse by yelling at the referee but I will say I have had to talk to the referees about how can they call a foul when they arent even in a position to see the foul.

The AR is going to see one of the games in the league I am talking about this upcoming weekend, maybe he will disagree and tell me that as being a player my vision is blinded, but for right now I feel disgusted.

And the champions will be wearing...

With Adidas their new clothing provider English Champions Chelsea just revealed their new shirt.

And a new look to the Man U Shirt as well.

Not much change overall with Chelsea but this is the first look with the AIG sponsor on the Man U shirt. Also their crest is on a patch that is then put on the shirt, nice touch nike.

2010: Where in the world?

Hold up with all this South Africa business. Great country and would love to go back but the question is finally being asked can they do it in 3 years. Get this there is a contingency plan and guess where? USA or Australia. Click here for more info.

Betrayed yet looking forward

As we all know what happened in the final the only word that comes to mind is Betrayal. I was rooting for France because of Zizou. Of course I had also been drawn in by Ribery and Henry's cutting runs. But when I saw what had happened the next 20 minutes of my life didnt really matter. Seeing Italy celebrate didnt bring goosebumps because of that partial glory feeling one gets by seeing such a celebration. I just sat there, looking at the screen, getting even more upset about Balboa. All the commentators kept score of who the best referees were and how the coaches were doing but all along ESPN needed to keep track on their man, their color guy, Balboa. Everyone I have talked to since the World Cup has agreed, HE WAS HORRIBLE. Even his wikipedia profile talks about him alienating true soccer fans. John Harkes did a great job and, like referees, should have been given the final.

As we turn towards the upcoming European season we actually start here in the states. The USA being the choice destination for teams to get some warm up before the demanding day in and day out grind starts back overseas. Just last week we saw Celtic come over to DC and get a lashing from DC United 4-nil. Lack of fitness clearly showed and temper as well, as celtic were out run and given one red card during the next match. Within the next week we will see the MLS Allstars playing Chelsea FC in Chicago. The MLS team will be coached by the DC Unite Coach Peter Nowak and anchored by 7 DC United players on the 18 player roster.

This just in: Bruce Arena will become the new head coach of Red Bull NY. Which gives him the chance to bring the last place team in the east for the 4th spot in the playoffs and then make a run for the championship, which will most likely happen. He is also replacing the lovable, hugable, and small Richie Williams that was the interim coach and one-time player for Arena at DC United. All the best to the former metrostars. However this brings up the DC v NY feud: How could Bruce ever go against his former club, oh wait, this is the MLS. Nevermind.

Please let the english season start so that I can see some good soccer and get this lingering feeling that nothing good in soccer is happening right now. Of course Chelsea is the team to beat, with signings of Sheva and Ballack, but with Man U's finicial dealings and lack of a strike force and Arsenal dealing with too many stikers and not enough in the back, I am looking at Tottenham to creep up the table. They just brought in Zokora and are linked with bringing in demoted-juve star Pavel Nedved.

Thats all for now but there will be more to come...

Didn't take long

for the Zidane meltdown to become available on YouTube.

Italy Survives

Hoisting its fourth World Cup, Italy survives France 5-3 in penalties after a 120-minute 1-1 draw. And I mean survives. France dominated play the final 45 minutes of regular time and for the first 20 of overtime. Even having Thierry Henry subbed off three minutes into the second OT period and then losing Zidane to the most bizarre red card (and most clearly deserved) three minutes later, France remained more of a threat than Italy. In fact, Italy rarely challenged the French defense, keeping 7-8 players back no more than 20-25 yards from their defensive goal for much of the OT period. It seemed less about playing for penalties than simply being completely drained: Italy was playing its second 120 minute game in four days.

What to day about this picture? Look at yesterday's post. The saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words. This picture and the ones posted yesterday bring stunned silence. Today's papers offer no explanation. Zidane hasn't spoken to the press since the Cup began. What could he say? What could Marco Materazzi have said or done to have warranted such a reaction? I once had a 16-year-old boy tell me he pushed his opponent because the other guy said something that required him to defend his honor. You expect overreaction and dumb behavior from a 16-year-old. Zidane doesn't have that excuse.

But nothing should be allowed to tarnish Italy's overall performance. The team's defense lived up to its reputation: no goals scored against it in the run of play, one on an own goal and one on a PK. But it was more of a bend, not break defense: Buffon led the tournament with 27 saves (by contrast, Barthez made only 14 saves in 7 games). But he rose to every occasion, here nudging Zidane's late header over the cross-bar.

One final note on the officiating over the past several games. Hector Elizondo, yesterday's ref, did a superb job, as did the refs in most of the knock-out games. He had great field presence, was remarkably fit -- covering as much ground as any of the players (without the option that field players have of conserving energy when necessary). While some will dispute the PK in the 7th minute and question whether he should have awarded a second to France in the 53rd, I think both were strong decisions, easily defended. (The difference between the penalty called and the noncall, it seems to me -- and I'll need to review the second incident -- is that in the first incident, Malouda took the ball and was splitting two defenders, moving towards the goal with ball still within playing distance, when the trailing defender clipped his heels. In the second incident, Malouda was running to the left of the goal, pretty deep, and the ball was going away from him and into touch. I don't think he would have had a chance to play the ball before it went out of play had he stayed upright. Elizondo also seemed to have a pretty strict standard when it came to player falls, being particularly wary of flopping.)

So that's all from me for now. What do you think??

Complete Lunacy

Going with heart

One game left.

Not the final I expected, nor one that most thought would take place. That Italy is in the final perhaps is not a huge surprise, given that they have been pretty highly ranked for ever and have been playing pretty solid soccer for a long time. France clearly is the bigger surprise: an aging team that returned a lot of the players from the 2002 team that failed to make it out of group play or even score a goal.

So the head says Italy: it has been the most consistent team in the tournament, the most organized, the most dangerous. With 11 goals from 10 players, opponents can't key on one or two. The defense has been magnificent, with no goals surrendered from the play of opponents. And unlike the stereotype of Italian soccer, that of playing only defense with an occasional foray into the attacking half, this team has played aggressive soccer, looking to score as well as defend.

But! France has been playing with heart, especially over the past three games. After the French beat Togo to get into the first knock-out game against Spain, a French fan I met at the bar where I was watching the game said, Spain would be hard to beat: "Too strong, too hard." But win France did, with a splendid effort from Frank Ribery and two late goals from a couple of the old men, Patrick Viera and Zinedine Zidane. Of course, this just won France a date with Brazil. You know, BRAZIL. Of course, all France did was dominate the game, the 1-0 score not indicative of how much France controlled the game. And Zizou was magnifique! His cross to Theirry Henry was perfect and the resulting goal as pretty as any scored in the tournament. Against Portugal, France wasn't as dominant and the game not as pretty, but to my mind that's as much because of the way Portugal played in this WC. Even here, Zidane showed his cool talent, taking three steps to the ball on the PK and blasting the ball past Ricardo.

It comes down to this: I'd really like to see Zidane win this, his final soccer game. He has been such a pleasure to watch this tournament -- not flashy, just brilliantly consistent. I'd be great for his final game to end with him accepting the WC trophy as France's captain.


Of course, if the game comes down to a question of goal keeping, all bets are off. I've been very impressed with Buffon and, though he's not been challenged all that often, whenever he's faced the attack from an opponent, he's been up to the challenge. With Barthez, you hold your breath and pray that he'll make the right decision (come out, stay back??), hold onto the ball (Figo missed a lot of net the other day after a Barthez bobble), and not make that one (or two or three) mistakes that can cost a team. History is a bit comforting here: Barthez has had something on the order of 9 clean sheets in WC play and the last time he played in a WC final, he didn't allow a goal against Brazil. And the French defense is not too shabby, either.

My guess: France 2-1 over Italy.

See you after the game.

Germany's strong finish

Three goals during the run of play! The second half of the consolation game was fun to watch as four goals were scored, three of them during the run of play.

The first goal, by Germany's Bastian Schweinsteiger was a thing of beauty. From one angle, the ball seemed to change directions twice. Portugal's keeper was helpless. A few minutes later, Schweinsteiger's free kick was deflected into goal by Portugal's Petit, and at the 78 minute mark, Schweinsteiger completed his evening with a second rocket, a shot that kept curving away from Ricardo, who was helpless on all three goals. At the other end of the pitch, Oliver Kahn made several great saves, was beaten on a great cross from Figo to Nuno Gomes, and was a bit lucky just before the goal when a ball was headed at his leg while he seemed to be looking elsewhere upfield.

For Germany, a great way to end WC 2006; but for Portugal, not so good. And, in particular, for Cristiano Ronaldo, I hope a learning experience. He's got too much talent to squander with flops and dives. He got no breaks from the referee today, and deserved none, as he continued to fall with the slightest of touches. The crowd, partisan to be sure, jeered his every touch. Between now and Euro 2008, I hope he's able to redeem himself by playing smarter and by avoiding the drama. Apparently, as reported here, Germany's Lukas Poldolski won the FIFA young player award over Ronaldo in large measure because of "fair play" issues.

another link worth checking out

i seemto be into links at the moment- check out this one from an op-ed in today's NY Times. when the nba went to three refs, everyone thought it would ruin the flow of the game- and that hasnt happened. two refs in soccer seems so obvious to me (combined with some sort of post game video policing to combat cheats like C. Ronaldo and anyone else from Portugal or Argentina).

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/08/opinion/08hirshey.html?th&emc=th

allez les bleus! forza azzurri! i can't decide.

Swim Meet or Soccer Match?

You be the judge.

Italy-France in the Final

With humility, I refer you back to my prediction post here. As I was pouring over scouting reports making my picks, Ms. AR said that she probably could do as well using darts or picking by uniform color. No doubt about that! (Ukraine-Czech Rep in the knock-out stage? Not even close. WHAT was I thinking?? Or smoking?!?!?!)

The Italy-Germany game was great fun to watch. Good, attacking soccer. Both teams played aggressively, with the Italians clearly the better team overall. The old story-line, which gets repeated current evidence notwithstanding, that Italy only plays defense and waits for the counterattack simply does not mirror what has become a more interesting approach to the game. Italy's late subs, adding more up-front firepower, not only was intended to put better spot-kickers into the game just in case it went to penalties, but also added to the offensive pressure Italy placed on Germany. I also have to say that I was pleased to see, finally, goals scored sort of during the run of play. (While the first goal followed a corner kick, it did not come directly off the kick, so I count that as during the run of play.) I've not kept track, but it seems to me that a high percentage of goals have come from set pieces, which only underscores the importance of drawing that foul (or as meanbaldguy laments, diving) near your opponent's goal.

The France-Portugal game was less thrilling. Choppy play. As far as I am concerned, the better team won and I'm not disappointed Portugal is out. Of all the games and teams I watched over the past several weeks, Portugal, it seemed to me, spent more time diving and simulating fouls than any of its competitors. I say this with disappointment, too, because there are players on the team who I like and who are genuinely great at what they do (their day jobs as footballers and not as thespians): Figo, Deco, Maniche, Ronaldo, Ricardo, and so forth. But for whatever reason, as the WC went on, the team seemed less interested in play and more interested in attempting to draw fouls and cards. As for France, it's been improving from game to game. While this performance wasn't as compelling as its victory over Brazil (a victory foreshadowed by the way Ghana, without all of France's weapons, outplayed Brazil for all but a few brief but critical moments), this is a team on a mission: not only to reach the final but to will the WC outright and send Zizou, the best player of his generation, into retirement with a second cup.

Both Italy and France have been playing good offensive soccer. Who will win? I'll ask my wife and get back to you.

US Fans Not Happy With ESPN

The Wall St Journal published an article a couple of days ago addressing fan displeasure with the ABC/ESPN broadcast of WC2006. The main focus of the article is the No. 1 play-by-play guy Dave O'Brien who brought about zero experience with soccer broadcasting to the job. Less is said about some of the more (in my mind) egregious comments of his "color" side-kick, Marcello Balboa, or some of the other innanities mouthed during pre-game, half-time, or post-game from the studio hosts.

To read the article, click on the comment section link

check this out

see this post from soccernet for a great view on the diving problem that i have ranted about in the past. this problem must be fixed- the integrity of the game is at risk.

http://soccernet.espn.go.com/columns/story?id=373195&root=worldcup&cc=5901&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab1pos1

What, no soccer today?

Sixty games down and four to go in the 2006 WC. Yesterday was a day off and there's nothing to watch today (not even on GOL-TV). Yesterday, we got our soccer fix at a Washington Freedom game, played out at the Soccerplex in Germantown, Md. The Freedom, a team composed of former members of the last Freedom team from the WUSA, a couple of Australian national team players, current and former college players, members of the US U-21 women's team, and others, played a similarly composed team from New York. Freedom won 3-0, thanks to a brilliant corner from Lori Lindsey (pictured above from an earlier game) headed smartly by Joanna Lohman in the first half and two late second half goals, the first from Lohman (who almost had a third goal), and a final goal from a player whose name I didn't catch.

I was fun to be at a game and not in front of the television (though for the Ref, who also was at the game, quite a different atmosphere from his last live game in Munich; pobrecito). It also was fun to watch a game played at a different tempo, to watch careful midfield play, to watch crisp passing, and to watch team play and goals scored not off of set pieces but in the actual flow of the game (only the first goal came from a set piece).

Now, what do I do today??

More on the WC later.

Back and Ready

Its been a while since anyone has posted on the blog and I apologize for that. Its been a while for me especially. Back from Germany with experiences that will last a lifetime (Dancing with Aussies in a Munich Square after a tie with Croatia, fun stuff). With the Quarter-finals starting tomorrow just a few ideas that should get out there.

I AM THROUGH WITH THE AMERICAN NAMES FOR THE WORLD'S BIGGEST COMPETITION. I will not stand for the quater-finals being called the Elite 8 (Its not March Madness) or the 2nd round being called the Sweet Sixteen. No more comparing the world's most notable athletes to American athletes (You can not compare Ronaldinho to anyone in the world in any sport I do not care about Michael Jordan or Lebron James). And as the MeanBaldGuy has stated before THE WAVE or "La Ola" (pardon the spelling if it is wrong) is stupid and should be banned. No need to show it on TV either, WE WANT TO WATCH THE GAME!

And now a notice to American announcers, especially Balboa: Get over the horrible Russian referee and stop complaining about cards. One minute you say that the ref was good in giving the 2 cards so early in the game then the next moment its too early for a third. CARDS DO NOT HAVE A TIME LIMIT OR RESTRAINT, they can be given at any moment of the match. And a notice to Dave Obrien and JP, you do not have to talk every moment of the game, be more like europeans please, they have perfected the game and everything about it, all you need to say is the last name of the person who has the ball. NO need for you to say "Swung outside to SOandSO, he passes it back to SOandSO" we are watching the game on TV we CAN SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING. If not we as sure would be listening on the radio and not to you.

Now to the games themselves. France v Spain was the last 2nd round game and just gets me even more excited for the next round. Great game, probably one of the best in the tournament. The type of game even if you arent rooting for someone your heartbeat is still racing. Germany v Argentina is the game to watch tomorrow, Ukraine plays too negative to really threat Italy especially with their 2nd striker out. I'm spent for now but stay tuned for more.

Ghana 2 - US 1

The dream is over. The US has crashed and burned its way out of the WC. And unlike the Italy game, when (let's be honest here) the team played its way to 9 men, here the referee really did botch a major call. At least, none of the replays I've seen suggest that Gooch's bump of Razak Pimpong merited a foul call, let alone a PK. A game-changing call. Yes, the US had another 45 minutes to play, but going to the locker room even is much different going in behind.

That said, the US never played with the intensity or imagination or speed needed to match their competition in any of the three games it played. The Czechs, a team later exposed as slow, ran through and around the US. The Italy game showed that the US has heart, but not the skill to match a top team. Against Ghana, the team's weaknesses were on full display: lack of depth, poor first touch on the ball, insufficient speed, lack of imagination. Too often, the US offense consisted of long balls over the top hoping that a single striker, usually Brian McBride, could bring the ball down and get a shot on the ball. This is less a strategy for success than a hope for a miracle -- sort of the hail Mary of soccer.

Other shortcomings: a lack of patience in the midfield. Argentina and Brazil pass the ball from side to side, up and back, probing defense before striking. Players move constantly. There was little of that from the US. After a handful -- a small handfull -- of passes, the US tries to strike, but there's nothing there. On set pieces, the US was dreadful. In the Ghana game, the US had a late free kick from just outside the box on the left, which Donovan sent far over the far post. The US rarely threatened. And although the team did have seven corners and seven shots, only three of these shots were on goal.

So although the US MNT did get -- well, look up and to your right -- on the PK call, there were too many other problems and issues with this team that led to this early exit. And if this was the best US team ever, all it shows is that the world has also improved and that the US remains a developing soccer nation.

Stressed

So it's D-Day for the US MNT. To say I'm feeling a bit stressed is an understatement.

I'd feel better if the team had been performing well but had been unlucky. The fact is, however, that the team has not performed very well and has given little reason to suspect things will be different today.

In the Washington Post this morning, the team's woeful offensive performance was noted: tied with T&T for last in goals scored at 0 (own goals don't count); second from the bottom in shots per game at 7; last place for shots on target at 0.5 per game; and third from bottom in corner kicks at 2.5 per game.


So this is either the breakout game we've been waiting for or the boys are packing their bags and heading home to watch the rest of the cup with us here stateside.

Starting line-ups are in and Conrad is starting in place of Pope and Lewis is in for Mastroeni. Arena also is starting Beasley in place of Convey, and the team is coming out in a 4-5-1 alignment. We'll see whether these make much of a difference.

England: A Tale of Two Teams

It was the best of halves, it was the worst of halves, they attacked creatively, they defended dully, they showed promise of better things, they showed weaknesses easy to exploit, they showed age and wisdom, they showed age and slowness of foot, it was a half of hope, it was a half of despair, they could see a path to glory, they could feel the ground fall beneath their feet. In short, it was a game from which England could take away some hope of advancement, but one that revealed serious weakness that may lead to problems, if not in it's next game against Ecuador, then certainly in the round of eight.

The first half of the ENG-SWE game showed the Brits at their best: crisp midfield play, good buildup, solid control of the ball and the tempo. Joe Cole's goal was a beauty -- a soft shot lofted high towards the far post, over the outstretched hand of Andreas Isaksson, Sweden's 6'5" keeper. But Marcus Allback's tying goal for Sweden seemed to take the air out of England and the game turned on a dime. Now Sweden had possession, played with a flair and intensity that had been lacking. England's second goal came against the run of play, on a fine cross from J Cole -- easily the Man of the Match -- headed home by Gerrard, a 69th minute sub for a tired Rooney. But this was a short-lived lead: five minutes later, Sweden scored its second goal, on a ball that any number of English players should have knocked out of harm's way.

Ominous for England: their poor defending on set pieces, particularly corners. Allback's goal on a corner saw him come out to meet a low near post kick unguarded and his flick to the far post was unstoppable. So the next time Sweden had a corner you might have anticipated better defending on him. You would have been wrong. In fact, Sweden had several solid chances to score on corners and set pieces throughout the second half. Then in the 90th minute, on a throw-in, you would have thought that the ball was giving off some strong negative vibes towards the English defenders the way they avoided it as it wended its way through the goal area and into the net, with the barest of touches from Larrson.

More ominous: the loss of Owen, who went down with a knee injury and may be out of action for five months. England, which brought only four strikers, is down to three: Rooney, Crouch, and Walcott, the 19-year-old Arsenal forward who has yet to play a minute in the WC (and who never played a minute in any of the matches leading up to the WC, or even a minute in the EPL). You have to wonder whether Sven Goran-Ericksson, the English manager, now wishes he'd brought someone with a tad more experience at high level soccer to the WC.

So what to make of this game and these teams' chances. The Germany-Sweden game should be a barn-burner. The Swedes have shown flashes of brilliance and but for brilliant goalkeeping in the T&T game, would have had a second group victory. I think my German-traveling colleagues will have a great final game to watch before returning state-side. As for England-Ecuador: this game is harder to call. Some of Ecuador's shortcomings were exposed in the Germany game, though the team rested five starters. If the England of the first half plays, Ecuador could be in for a long day of chasing the ball around the midfield. But if they play England's second half team, Ecuador could see itself moving much farther into the tournament than anyone could have expected.

Not Klose!!

In a final conversation before I had to head out to a meeting this morning, the Ms. asked who the key players were for both Ecuador and Germany. After identifying several key Ecuadorians, I turned to the German squad: Miroslav Klose, I told her, was the go-to-striker on the German team; Ballack is the key midfielder, but also a prolific goal scorer. These were among the several important German players.

So I'm at my meeting and my phone vibrates -- only a few minutes after the game started. Already 1-0 Germany!! And it got worse (from our perspective, not that of my traveling colleagues). Two more times my phone buzzed, but that "0" never changed and the German numbers kept going up. When I got back to the office and could look at the summary, it was there staring me in the face: Klose: 2 goals;, Poldolski: 1 goal;, man-of-the-match: Ballack. And the report from my wife: Germany clearly dominated, was the better team, and that while Ecuador had chances, they couldn't get a shot on net. Look at it this way: a learning experience and it will get them ready to play their next opponent, which will be another European team.

So, now I know where I'll be Sunday and who I'll be rooting for in the second round's third game.

Germany is amazing, but why not rant?

Our world cup adventure continued last night with tix to the Spain /Tunisia game in Stuttgart. great fans, great time, fun game. our trip is great- beyond my high expectations, but let's list some of my least favorite things about the world cup:

The Wave- what a joke. sitting in a stadium, watching a great game, soaking in the atmosphere (passion, national pride, respect for the other team- incredible) and then some idiots decide to start the wave. whoever invented this needs to be tortured in some awful medieval fashion and i would like to observe. just watch the game!

Diving- the refs and FIFA need to do a better job with this. every time i see a guy writhing around, trying to draw a foul, and then he sprints around 30 seconds later- i just want to puke. i understand that things hurt a lot at first, but if you act like you are going to die, then either die or leave the game. fakers should be tossed from the game- italy and argentina would have no players left however.

Referees- I am sorry Peter, but I have to agree with Arena here. after last night's game (every call went Spain's way) and the Brazil/Aussie and US/Italy games, it is clear to me that the calls are incredibly biased in favor of the big soccer nations. is this because the refs are in awe of the houseold name players and the incredible traditions or because they know (hopefully unconciously but i have my doubts) that the big FAs control their destiny as refs (working big tournaments, prestige, etc.). Perhaps the answer is to have all professional refs- amateur refs don't really work in the NFL and their certainly is enough money in world football to have a cadre of full time pros available for big games in the big leagues and on the world stage.

Go Germany and Sweden!

What's Spanish for "Classy"?

Just finished watching Spain-Tunisia (on tape; some of us have to work). Notwithstanding an early Tunisia goal (on some brilliant ball work by a Tunisian player in the PA), the Spaniards dominated this game from start to finish. Holding the ball for 66% of the game, outshooting Tunisia 24-4 (at one point, Spain had taken 10 shots at the Tun goal to none for their opponents), Spain looked pretty on TV. We'll have to wait for the Ref and crew to comment on the game from the perspective inside the stadium.

Of all the games I've watched over the past week and a half (something like 31-32 games played to date; I've seen maybe 20 live or on tape), Spain has looked among the best sides. Great flowing passes, working to get the ball inside to forwards, creative playmaking. Even though Tunisia had 9-10 players inside its own half once it scored the early goal, Spain continued probing, exploring the defense, finding openings, making several hard shots on frame. The Tunisia keeper made several reflex saves, keeping Spain off the scoreboard quite a long time.

Tomorrow, we begin the final set of games to determine either who advances or, in some groups, the placement of teams. First up is surprising Ecuador against the host Germans. Clear rooting interest here in this household: Ecuadorian family member. Ms. AR works with a bunch of folks with connections to Germany, so we're hopeful she'll have something to cheer about at the office. Ecuador has played well in its first two games, so a defeat of Germany is not out of the question.

The other game of significance is England-Sweden. As noted in an earlier post , England hasn't beaten Sweden since 1968. Of course, these sorts of stats are deceptive: the players have changed a bit over the years. None, in fact of the players was born the last time England beat the Swedes. But for the English players, this has to weigh on the English psyche as they get ready for the game.

However things shake out, I have a pretty good inkling that my colleagues in Germany would love to see a England-Germany game, which would require German and Swedish victories, a not unlikely occurrence.

Thanks, Eric.

Following the conclusion of the USA-Italy game, Eric Wynalda, the “expert” commentator for ABC/ESPN made the following comment: There are two kinds of referees, bad and worse. And this one [ref in US-ITA] was worse.” He also said, “Players win games, coaches lose games, and referees ruin games.”

Aside from the abject stupidity of this comment, Wynalda’s statement is surely to have a real positive effect (ha!) on the work I do on weekends and often weekday evenings.

I belong to several refereeing organizations. Every week during the intense spring and fall soccer seasons, I get emails from referee assignors pleading for help on uncovered games. There simply aren’t enough refs to staff all of the games that get played in the metro area in which I live.

When I go to periodic meetings of a couple of these organizations, I am struck by a couple of things. First is the dedication that many of my fellow refs make to the sport. Sure there are some who barely move on the pitch and are in it for the money (no one’s getting rich here). But the vast, and I mean vast, majority of my colleagues work hard at it – study hard, run hard, really try hard.

My second observation: this is an aging population. When I look around the room at these meetings, I see more grey hair and bald heads than (I fit both categories) than I think I should. We need young folks with an interest and passion about soccer to step up and take up reffing or else we’ll see a slow stagnation in the numbers of kids playing because games won’t be staffed. Too often this past season, I’ve either soloed or been a part of a two-person crew (one center ref and one Assistant Ref; we can’t use the two-ref system in a USSF game) in rec league games played by high school age players. Forget making the close offside call on the team attacking the side away from the AR. And if you’re caught deep in the AR-covered end, you also might miss the most blatant offside. There’s too much field and the players are too fast and there’s often too much flow in and out of offside position to be right on top of this play.

Why are there so few folks willing to don the yellow striped shirts? Maybe it’s the disrespect evidenced by Wynalda’s comments. This pervasive feeling among players that there is no such thing as a good ref or that we’re all at minimum bad, if not worse than bad. You hear it often on the sidelines from parents, coaches; on the fields from players. After my first year on the pitch, when I wasn’t very good, I thought about quitting. But then I met some other refs, received encouragement, and decided to work at this to get better. I think I have (just this past season, a losing coach actually told me and my co-ref on a 2-person HS JV game that we were the best he’d seen that season; my colleague this game was The Ref). But for kids starting out, having an adult yell at them, belittle them, insult them, why go back for more? Many don’t.

True story: a young teenage female ref was working a rec league game of even younger girls. A parent of one of the players was yelling at her during the game, complaining of calls. The ref’s mom arrived at the field towards the end of the game to pick up her daughter. She heard this parent’s comments, walked up to him, and said: “That’s my daughter out there.” While that shut him up for the remainder of this game, who knows whether he learned any lasting lessons.

So who is Eric Wynalda? How many World Cup trophies did he hoist during his career? How many championship trophies? League titles? Oh, none. Must have been the refs' fault.

Until Wynalda steps onto a soccer field to ref a game, he should be a bit more careful about his comments. It also might be helpful to ABC’s viewers to invite a ref to provide some expert commentary about this aspect of the game, to actually have someone comment who knows what he or she is talking about. ABC prides itself on being an innovator in televised sports. And this surely would be new: an actually knowledgeable expert.

Where to begin . . .

A more tense game I can't imagine (until the next US game against Ghana, perhaps).

THE US MNT played a much more physical and invigorating game on Saturday and left with both a point and life. A US victory against Ghana and an Italian win against the suddenly vulnerable Czechs puts the US through. With so much at stake for all four teams, I imagine this coming Thursday to be a pretty intense day.

As for the US game: Three red cards, two of which were straight reds and the third on a second yellow; a second goal allowed by the US off a head in the PA, an own goal (when does the US score for itself -- has to happen against Ghana or the US is toast), an offside call denying the US a late goal when down to 9 men (the right call); finally some solid play from Kasey Keller in net -- lots of end-to-end action, especially with all that open space.

What to make of the officiating in this game? Jorge Larrionda, from Uruguay, certainly made his presence known in the game. Regarding the first red, this seemed right both at the time an on reflection. As a ref, you look for things like elbows near the face; you don't watch the flight of the ball, but watch the players: are they playing the ball or each other? Is one focused on the ball or on his opponent? And when the ball comes down, where are the hands -- on the opposing player (in the back, on shoulders, etc.)? This ball wasn't so high and in the flow of play there was no need to use arms to gain lift -- sometimes a player swings an arm out to try to get higher. This wasn't that. The red was called for.

The second red to Bocanegra? Harder call. Yes, a two-footed tackle, but seemed more from the side and not back. It also seems to me we've seen this play throughout the tournament and if it has drawn anything, the color has been yellow and not red. [In a Washington Post story printed Monday, US MNT Coach Bruce Arena is quoted as saying that Mastroeni only had himself to blame for the call and card, and that "It was a poor error of judgment on the part of Pablo and on a play with about a minute to go in the half in an area of the field where it didn't matter."]

The final red went to Pope, at the 47th minute. The problem here is two-fold: Pope received what seemed a soft yellow in the first half and this made him vulnerable to the second yellow-red send off. Slo-mo replays of the second card seem to indicate he got the ball well before the Italian player fell over his leg. At real speed, maybe a card is justified, maybe not. But the ref should have remembered that Pope was carrying a red and maybe have given him a stern warning that early in the second half.

Other observations? First, as noted above, the offside call against the US on the Beasley shot into the net was the right call. McBride was in an offside position right in front of the Italian keeper. While he didn't touch the ball, he clearly was interfering with play. Too bad. But the good news is that Beaz finally showed up. He had space to run and did make his presence known on a few more occasions than in the first game.

Keller also showed up. He'd been looking nervous and shaky to me. Finally, late in the game, he made some saves that should help him get grounded for the Ghana game. Midway through the game, I was thinking that if the US had something to play for on Thursday, that maybe Howard should get the call. But Keller's late heroics has me leaning towards favoring no changes between the posts.

And in that game, the US won't have Pope or Bocanegra out there. My guess is that Eddie Lewis gets a second start in the back and that maybe someone like Olsen gets on the field. Or Arena could use a 3-5-2 and place Donovan in midfield and have Johnson join McBride up front. I don't think the loss of Pope should hurt the US; in my view, he's not as good as he once was -- the first Italian goal came when he left his man unmarked in the PA -- and the US has more than enough resources to replace him. Similarly, while Bocanegra plays with physical intensity, he's not irreplaceable on the pitch.

More later.

S&M Gets Spanked

Some headlines write themselves, and were I a more mature person, I would have resisted the obvious. But I'm not, so there you go.

What can one say about a game that ends 6-0? Argentina seems the class of this WC and should easily win this group and move on. Although the Dutch are also 2-0, they've struggled against these same teams that Argentina beat rather convincingly.

As for the other games yesterday, I will say that the IC are likely to be the best team not to advance. They play with heart and with speed and skill and have been a pleasure to watch. As for Mex-Angola: I'm not sure what to make of this game. Mexico had chances but Angola's keeper played splendidly. They also hit more than a few off the woodwork -- bad luck and all.

One of the things that concerns me at this point in the tournament, and I'll write more on this later, has to do with the poor showing of the CONCACAF teams: USA, Costa Rica, Mexico and T&T. So far, the conference is 1-4-2. I think only Africa has fared worse, winless so far in the WC. Not only does this showing underscore the totally unrealistic nature of FIFA rankings (Mexico is 4th, US 5th), but it give ammunition to those who think awarding 4 spots to the conference unfairly penalizes either Europe or South America. More on this later (and let me know what you think).