Notes From A Soccer Junkie

Just about.

After three visits from Global Exterminating’s finest, my apartment has been officially declared bedbug-free. Problem numero uno was solved which brings us to problem numero dos, the disappearance of my previous host, Jatol. We had some issues getting things sorted out with our new host, Bluehost, and it took some time to rebuild the site and, while we aren’t all the way there, things are looking good enough to start posting.

Before we get to it, let mention a work in progress here (you know, kind of like the Red Bulls backline after 28 games). Be sure to read the “My Story” page to learn how a dude from Buffalo, who’s soccer career ended at the age of 12, found his way back to the beautiful game and how it supplanted hoops as my favorite sport. If that’s not reason enough, then check it out for a cool pic of the first soccer team I fell in love with, the Buffalo Stallions.

I made a deal with the devil today. I always talk soccer with the coterie of Chivas fans — Guadalajara not LA — that work at the deli across from my office. Being an American football fan who believes in supporting my domestic league so that MLS can continue it’s slow but steady climb towards becoming a top tier league, I did something that I still can’t believe I did. I bet on DC United to win a game.

Tonight in the return match of the DC – Chivas de Guadalajara series in the Copa Sudamericana, taking place at Chivas’s Estadio Jalisco, I bet one of the committed Goats fans from the Riverside Deli that DC would beat Chivas tonight.

Of course, I would rather it be any MLS team but DC in the Copa Sudamericana but the fact is DC beating Chivas and advancing in the Copa is MLS’s best chance at enhancing it’s international image and earning some respect this season.

Hoping DC wins sucks but I’m betting on the MLS more than I’m betting on a single team.

At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

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It was just like old times for David Beckham at the grand opening of the new Wembley Stadium, a 1-1 draw between England and Brazil, as Becks set up England’s only goal off a picture perfect free kick and left the game to a standing ovation.

Beckham’s somewhat surprising resurrection as an integral member of England’s national team could complicate his first season with the Los Angeles Galaxy. Due to join the Galaxy in a month, there’s almost ceaseless speculation in England that Becks could try to back out of the deal. Galaxy Prez Alexi Lalas has been forcefully trying to scuttle such speculation, as an LA Times write-up on yesteday’s game and Beckham’s status makes clear:

Not a chance, according to Alexi Lalas, the Galaxy’s president and general manager.

Interviewed in midweek, Lalas was emphatic that Beckham and his handlers had not asked to cancel his contract, renegotiate, delay his mid-July arrival or have him lent to another club in order to keep playing in Europe for another year.

“It’s never been brought up by either side. It’s never been an option,” Lalas said.

The chance that Beckham could do an about-face after signing a contract with MLS and the Galaxy in January that will earn him a minimum of $6.5 million a year was pounced upon by English newspapers after Beckham was named to England’s team for Friday’s match and for Wednesday’s European Championship qualifying game against Estonia.

“Becks’ L.A. Move in Jeopardy” screamed the headline in one English tabloid.

Lalas laughed at that notion and said Beckham would join the Galaxy in July as planned. All the same, the fact that Beckham has clawed his way back into the England team picture could present the Galaxy and MLS with problems.

Obviously, I have no fucking idea what’s going through Beckham’s mind as he enjoys this moment in the sun, he is saying the right things — as far as MLS and the Galaxy are concerned — about coming to LA, telling the English media, “The U.S. season is shorter — we only play 30 games a year — so we get more time off. I’ll be a lot fitter, still as fit as I am now, maybe more fit.”

Considering that he and Posh have been house hunting and have been consulting with ill-tempered and potty-mouthed English chef Gordon Ramsey on opening a restaurant in LA, I’d guess that he’s ready to live in the US full-time.

Beyond that, I think he genuinely wants to be the guy that takes the game of soccer to the next level in the US. If the cursory searches I have done on eBay for tickets to see Beckham and the Galaxy play are any indication, fans are geeked to see him play in the USA.

Make no mistake, when he does arrive in LA, Becks is going to be a dominant presence on the field in the MLS. Whether or not his individual brilliance will be enough to lift a Galaxy side that is struggling right now is a different question. All Beckham needs is a single chance each game to make a difference for the Galaxy.

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Just caught up with The Underground and it seems that the MLS is heading to Vegas. With it’s exploding population that is currently 25% Hispanic and growing, Sin City is a natural choice for an MLS franchise except for one problem: it’s in the middle of the fucking desert!!

The ideal option for a stadium would be that some of the many moneymen in Vegas pony up for a soccer specific stadium with a retractable roof. If that doesn’t occur, and I don’t expect it to, the Vegas side would have to play almost all of its home games from June through August at night. Regardless of what time the Vegas side play it’s games, I expect them to have one of the better home field advantages in MLS for reasons both weather and Vegas Strip related.

Of course, the best thing about the Vegas franchise is coming up with names. There’s a great thread over at MLSU on possible names. My choice for a name is Make It Rain SC but I also like Roll The Bones LV.

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Both the MLS Underground, MLSU to those in the know, and Soccernet have the same number one; my New York Red Bulls, but after that it gets kind of interesting.

For some reason, Soccernet still has New England at #2 and Kansas City ranked 3rd even though the Wizards stormed into the Revs house and returned to the heartland with an exhilarating 4-3 came from behind win over the Revs. That victory was due almost entirely to New England’s lack of quickness and speed on the backline. Eddie Johnson scored three goals off direct through balls that saw him just run past a flat-footed, slower than an Amish buggy Revs’ backline. MLSU gets it right, ranking The Wiz 2nd and the Revs 3rd.

Also, Soccernet is still overlooking Toronto FC. This week, following TFC’s 2-2 draw at Columbus — a game in which prized Argentine import Guillermo Barros Schelotto and Costa Rican striker Andy Herron showed that they’ll be a nice tandem for the Crew, linking up for the Crew’s second goal — Soccernet still has TFC 10th. Yet again, it’s MLSU showing up the WWLIS by ranking ascendant TFC — a side that’s won two and drawn once in it’s last four and has added Jeff Cunningham — 8th.

Aside from RSL, who seem done unless they can miraculously find a transcendent star to save the sinking ship in Salt Lake, this is shaping up to be the most exciting season in MLS history. And not just because David Beckham is on his way to LA.

In the Eastern Conference, New York, New England, and Kansas City are currently engaged in a three-way duel first. The Red Bulls visit the Natural Born Finisher & Co. this Saturday night for what is certainly the best MLS scrap of week 9. Don’t count out emerging DC, Columbus, or even Chicago yet, as Cuauhtémoc Blanco could be just the tonic to help the anemic Fire find the net. If he can’t, then maybe El Matador can. Throw TFC in as very good spoilers in the East.

The Western Conference may not be as deep as the East but Colorado and Chivas USA are within striking distance of conference-leading FC Dallas. Chivas, which seems to have it’s best side since entering MLS in the 2005 season, just blanked The Hoops 2-0 this past Saturday. And that English guy will be suiting up for the other LA team in another six weeks so, yeah; the race is on the West also.

If you’re not watching now, then you’re missing out. It’s game on for the MLS in the Summer of 2007.

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My Memorial Day weekend kicked off early when I joined the ESC for Thursday night’s rousing Red Bulls 3-0 rout of Chicago. The booze was flowing almost as abundantly as were Juan Pablo Angel goals that night, which made for a rough Friday at work. Thank Jeremy’s Ale House and the Master Spreader for my Friday afternoon beer and crabcakes that helped me make it to happy hour.

Turns out that the Angel and the Red Bulls set the tone for MLS’s Memorial Day Weekend, as a frenetic and exciting spate of games — the 0-0 Chicago-Real Salt Lake snoozefest being the only downer but what can you expect from a Fire squad that can’t score and a RSL side that flat-out stinks — featured not only a hat trick from the Natural Born Finisher but two goals from Toronto FC to help them earn their first ever point away from BMO Field.

If, like me, you were beating all comers at baggo at a rooftop BBQ on Saturday and rocking the blender drinks like Tom Cruise in Cocktail at your own cookout on Sunday, thereby missing a scintillating weekend of soccer, the folks at Climbing The Ladder have come through with their Week 8 goals mix. For my money, the goal of the week was the scorching rip off a free kick by TFC’s Jim Brennan. My vote helped to make that the official MLS Goal of the Week. All the other goals can be seen below.

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And his name is Juan Pablo Angel.

In his last two games with Red Bull New York, the second and third MLS games of his career, all Angel has done is score three goals and dish out two dimes. Typically, you don’t want to make conclusions based upon such a short body of work but, fuck it, my championship-starved soul leads to making such conclusions and I’m going to say that Angel is the most dominant player in MLS right now.

The Red Bulls took a decent Chicago side behind the woodshed tonight, scoring two goals in the first three minutes to finish this Primetime Thursday scrap before it even got going. Angel, the pick-up of the year thus far in MLS, officially extinguished the Fire by scoring his second goal of the game at about the 70 minute mark to top off a 3-0 Red Bulls win.

With Angel starting, the Red Bulls are 2-0 with a goal differential of 7-0. Claudio Reyna has yet to join Angel and teen prodigy Jozy Altidore got his first run — and first goal of the game — with Angel tonight. This is an MLS monster.

They ain’t King Kong yet but the 2007 Red Bulls are looking more and more like the team to beat in MLS.

I have tons of pics from the party at Giants Stadium but no energy to post them tonight. Check back over the weekend.

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Check ‘em out on ESPN Soccernet

Along with being notable this week for the distinct divide between the top five teams — New England, New York, FC Dallas, Kansas City, and Colorado — and the rest of the league, are worth checking out if only for the latest Zinedine Zidane to MLS rumor. After being rumored to be on the way to Chicago and to join Becks in LA, ESPN Soccernet comes up with this juicy tidbit: The Portuguese media have suggested that Zinedine Zidane could be on his way to save the Dynamo.

Whether or not Zidane shows up in H-Town, there can be little doubt that MLS is generating buzz and interest in circles that were unthinkable a couple years ago. If Bruce Arena and Red Bull’s largess can keep the Red Bull’s winning, then the nation’s biggest media and most soccer-savvy market might finally embrace soccer MLS-style.

It doesn’t help that the construction of Red Bull Stadium is going to be delayed by two months and may not, if things go completely south, open at all next summer but Red Bull Stadium will be built, which means that the question for MLS in NYC is if you build it, will they really come?

For now the league’s second best team will continue to ply it’s trade in wholly unsuitable and soccer unfriendly Giants Stadium in the swamps of New Jersey.

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AC Milan claim Champions League title 2-1.

Despite Liverpool’s late goal by Dirk Kuyt, which added an element of drama to the final minute of play and nearly three minutes of injury team, the fact is this game was lost by Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez some time between the 60th and 78th minute of play when he just couldn’t figure out how to get his leading scorer in the Champions League, Peter Crouch, in the game.

Trailing 1-0 after Filippo Inzaghi’s first goal a minute into the second half, the Reds had countless chances to even the score before Inzaghi scored again. Unfortunately for Liverpool fans and people that didn’t want to see an AC Milan squad that didn’t belong in the Champions League win, without Crouch taking up space in the box and occupying AC Milan defenders, none of those chances ended with a goal. Time after time, swerving cross and corner were wasted, as no Liverpool players were able to get a head or foot on the ball.

While Crouch didn’t get an assist on Kuyt’s goal, AC Milan was so preoccupied with him that several defenders gravitated towards Crouch, which left Kuyt alone to redirect the header into the goal. It was at the moment that Rafi’s folly became abundantly clear.

I don’t know what was behind the hesitation in getting Crouch into the game but I do know that he seemed ready to come in around the 60-minute mark. As to why it took Benitez another 19 minutes to substitute him for Javier Mascherano, I’m certain the English press, especially the tabloids, will relentlessly and rightfully rake Rafi over the coals for this episode of brainlock, indecision, or whatever it was.

All that being said, Reds supporters should be happy with the way their team played today and in the Champions League. Put simply, Liverpool dominated the game today but were victims of, along with Benitez’s questionable coaching, two relatively lucky goals by AC Milan. Add another minute or two to injury time and this game just might’ve gone an extra 30 minutes.

But that didn’t happen and instead AC Milan, a team that never, ever, never in a million years, should have been allowed to compete in the Champions League are champs. I have a difficult time accepting that, which is why I can’t wait for 2007-08 Champions League to kick-off.

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You were wondering, NFASJ is officially cheering for Liverpool in the Champions League final. Not only are we cheering for the Reds but we expect them to win:

Go Reds!

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Something had to happen.

Toronto FC has quickly set the standard for crowd support, as their frenzied fans have made each of TFC’s four home games a rollicking party. Unfortunately, the two things mostly missing from the raucous festivities at BMO Field have been goals and dubbyas.

Sure, Mo Johnston’s boys hung three goals on Chicago in their 3-1 win over the Fire, scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over the defending champs and scored against DC in a taut 2-1 loss this past Saturday but the fact is only struggling Houston and anemic Columbus have scored fewer goals than TFC this season. As versatile and scrappy as Alecko Eskandarian is, he’s just not one of MLS’s best finishers.

Real Salt Lake’s Jeff Cunningham, last season’s Budweiser Golden Boot Winner (awarded to MLS’s leading goal scorer, is, which is the main reason the Eskandarian-Cunningham swap makes sense for TFC but why does it work for RSL?

According to James Edward of the Deseret Morning News, RSL’s new leadership, coach Jason Kreis and technical director John Ellinger, freed salary cap space to make a huge splash by signing an impact player and relative big name in soccer.

Equally as important, the trade frees up even more salary cap space as Kreis and RSL technical director John Ellinger scan the globe for an impact player to fill the team’s three vacant roster spots.

Cunningham was making $220,000 whereas Eskandarian, who was traded to Toronto from D.C. United in the offseason, only makes $155,000.

That extra $65,000 combined with the nearly $300,000 that was freed up when Kreis retired and Luis Tejada was released gives Real Salt Lake a lot of leverage in the global free agent market.

Whether or not RSL are able to sign a player of the caliber they’re apparently seeking, their ambition speaks volumes about the future direction of MLS.

With Juan Pablo Angel looking dominant, Becks on the way, and Chelsea’s studly Ukranian striker Andriy Shevchenko talking about coming, it’s clear that MLS squads no longer need fear plunging into the international marketplace to find players. Considering Kreis’s obvious appeal as a coach, don’t be surprised if Real Salt Lake is the next MLS side to land an international star.

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